Biden Approves Military Aid Drops Into Gaza

21 weeks ago President Joe Biden said Friday that the U.S. will begin air-dropping humanitarian assistance into Gaza, a day after dozens of Palestinians were killed during a chaotic encounter with Israeli troops.The president announced the long-considered move after at least 115 Palestinians were killed and more than 750 others were injured, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, on Thursday when witnesses said nearby Israeli troops opened fire as huge crowds raced to pull goods off an aid convoy.Israel said many of the dead were trampled in a stampede linked to the chaos and that its troops fired at some in the crowd who they believed moved toward them in a threatening way. Biden made the announcement while hosting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White house.

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President Joe Biden on Friday signed a short-term spending measure that keeps one set of federal agencies operating through March 8 and another set through March 22 — officially staving off a partial government shutdown that would have started on Sunday. The measure gives lawmakers some more time to draft and pass spending measures to keep the federal government operating for the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. Washington has been running on a series of short-term measures because Congress, as it routinely does, had failed to enact full-year spending bills on time.

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U.S. health officials say Americans with COVID-19 no longer need to stay in isolation for five days. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its longstanding guidance on Friday. People can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving and it’s been a day since they’ve had a fever. COVID-19 is no longer the public health menace it once was and most people have some degree of immunity from vaccinations or from infections. And some experts note that many people are not following the five-day isolation guidance anyway.