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Good morning,

Only a couple days in and 2024 is already turning out to be a busy news year.

Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned Tuesday after multiple allegations of plagiarism of her academic work. It also follows scrutiny for testimony she gave at a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism.

In a letter to the Harvard community, she wrote: It has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual.

• On Monday, Gay was hit with six new allegations of plagiarism on Monday, which added to about 40 previously discovered. They accounted for nearly half of her published works.

• Harvard began investigating plagiarism allegations on November 2nd, even before she testified to Congress about campus antisemitism on December 5th.

Her six-month tenure is the shortest in the university’s 388-year history. We will be following what’s next for the school.

Wonder what Elle Woods is up to?

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

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🗞 TOP HAMAS OFFICIAL ASSASSINATED AS REGIONAL WAR FEARS INCREASE

The deputy head of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, and six others (including two leaders of Hamas’ armed wing) were killed in a drone strike in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday.

al-Arouri was the leader of Hamas’ West Bank operations — making him the most senior leader killed since Israel vowed to eliminate all Hamas members involved in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.

🚨 The killing— in an area of Beirut controlled by the Hezbollah terror group— has ignited fears that the Israel-Lebanon border could explode into all-out war. (There have been smaller, daily skirmishes until now).

HAMAS LEADERSHIP
Saleh al-Arouri was the deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau, putting him directly under leader Ismail Haniyeh (the group’s Qatar-based leader). al-Arouri served as a sort of Hamas ambassador to Iran and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group in Lebanon.

• Hamas says Arouri was "one of the architects" of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel.

• He was also one of the most wanted people by the Israeli intelligence services.

  • In 2014, al-Arouri, then a Hamas commander, planned the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank.

  • In 2015, he was named a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” by the US, which offered $5 million for info about him.

• 💡 Many Hamas leaders are based in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar.

FEAR OF ESCALATION
Hezbollah controls access to parts of Lebanon and operates inside the country with relative impunity. It allows leaders from groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad to operate from within its territory. Hezbollah began firing at Israel on Oct. 8, but fighting has been largely contained to a few miles at their shared border.

• Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel against trying to kill Hamas leaders in Beirut, and threatened a strong response if it happened. He is expected to give an address today.

  • On Tuesday he said: “We affirm that this crime will never pass without response and punishment,” claiming its fighters are at heightened readiness in order to retaliate.

• Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned what he called the “new Israeli crime” and an attempt to bring Lebanon into “a new phase” of the conflict. Leaders from Lebanon, which has a struggling economy and political chaos, have been pleading with Hezbollah and Iran not to drag the country into the Hamas-Israel war.

ISRAELI RESPONSE
So far, Israel has not taken official responsibility for the attack, however they have been effectively nodding that they were behind it.

• Mark Regev, an adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, said in an interview: "Whoever did it, it must be clear - this was not an attack on the Lebanese state…whoever did this did a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership".

THEN, THERE’S THE HOUTHIS
Since the start of the war, the international community has been concerned about the conflict spreading into a larger regional war. The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels based in Yemen are threatening to escalate things further with dozens of attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

Over the weekend, several Houthi boats attacked a vessel belonging to the shipping giant, Maersk. US military helicopters destroyed three of the boats. Iran then moved a warship to the Red Sea in response.

• The Houthis have been attacking commercial and merchant vessels in the Red Sea since November that they say are linked to Israel, but ships not destined for Israel, or with seemingly little connection, have been targeted.

  • 12% of global shipping goes through the Red Sea.

  • The attacks are leading Maersk, and other major companies to go different, longer routes around Africa and raise prices.

  • The US has launched a military operation to protect shipping, however President Biden is under pressure to do more to contain and stop Houthi attacks.

**We have a deep-dive on the Houthi rebels and impact of these attacks on the Mo News Premium Instagram Account. Join today for Deep-Dives and Answers to your news questions and to support Mo News.**

🌎 NEARLY THREE MONTHS OF WAR
It’s now been nearly three months since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th. As Israel vows to destroy Hamas, the country is entering a new phase of the war, saying it will withdraw thousands of soldiers from Gaza.

• Still, Israel says it’s preparing for fighting in the Gaza Strip to last throughout 2024.

• This signals a shift to a lower-intensity phase of the war.

• Israel military cited a growing toll on the Israeli economy after nearly three months of wartime mobilization — more than 350,000 reservists have been called up.

• Israel largely has control of Northern Gaza, home of Gaza’s largest city, and the fight is now focused on central and southern Gaza.

  • Hamas leaders, including the mastermind of October 7th, Yahya Sinwar, and 120+ remaining hostages are believed to be in the southern Gaza.

📌 President Biden has been pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take a more surgical approach to the war: using special forces to attack Hamas in order to minimize civilian casualties.

• Over half of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed, and about 85% of the strip's 2.2 million people have been displaced.

  • 22,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war according to local officials from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Half of Gaza is at risk of starvation with 90% saying that they regularly go without food for a whole day.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) charged with receiving gifts from Qatar in new allegations in corruption scheme (CNN)

📌 Trump appeals decision to ban him from Maine ballot (FOX NEWS)

📌 Next Republican presidential debate will only feature Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis (CBS NEWS)

📌 Biden administration asks Supreme Court to allow Border Patrol to cut or move razor wire at Texas border (NBC NEWS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Russia pounds Ukraine's two biggest cities in new wave of attacks (REUTERS)

📌 South Korean opposition leader recovering after being stabbed, suspect in custody (USA TODAY)

📌 Japan earthquakes: ‘battle against time’ to find those trapped under rubble as death toll rises (THE GUARDIAN)

📌 Hong Kong activist publisher Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty in landmark national security trial (NBC NEWS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Tesla reports record sales but growth slows in face of growing EV competition (CNN)

📌 US national debt tops $34T for first time in history (FOX BUSINESS)

📌 The world's hottest year may soon be an average one (AXIOS)

📌 7,000 pounds of ground beef sold across U.S. recalled over E. Coli contamination concerns (USA TODAY)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Mickey Mouse copyright expiration inspires horror movies, video games and memes (NBC NEWS)

📌 Michigan vs. Washington early picks, predictions, odds for College Football Playoff National Championship (CBS SPORTS)

📌 Rafael Nadal wins first competitive singles match in a year (ESPN)

📌 Aaron Rodgers says he plans on doing ayahuasca again this off-season: 'it was life-changing' (PEOPLE)

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🗓 ON THIS DAY: JANUARY 3

• 1959: Alaska became the 49th U.S. state.

• 1977: Apple was incorporated by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, later becoming one of the most valuable companies in the world.

• 1987: Aretha Franklin became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

• 2004: NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit landed on Mars to study the chemical and physical composition of the planet's surface.