Staff stripped, kids marched out. The World Health Organization accuses Israel of deliberately targeting its Gaza compound.
Plus, a quarter-million documents on Dr. King’s death will now become public. Why his family says: Handle with care.
And: It’s brutal, blistering and spreading. Who’s in the bullseye as the heat dome expands across the United States?
WHO says Israeli military attacked its staff residence
They escaped on foot and under fire. This morning, the World Health Organization (WHO) says its own staff in Gaza were targeted by the Israeli military in a series of strikes that left its operation in shambles.
In a post on X, the WHO says Israeli soldiers forced women and children to flee on foot during active strikes while “male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot, and screened at gunpoint.”
According to the Associated Press, Deir al-Balah is the only Gaza city that hasn’t faced widespread ground operations or massive destruction since the war began nearly two years ago.
Israel says it’s expanding its ground offensive to ramp up pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages from the October 2023 terror attack. About 50 hostages are still believed to be held. Less than half, or 23, might still be alive.
28 countries demand: War in Gaza ‘must end now’
Meanwhile, 28 countries — including the United Kingdom, Japan and multiple European nations — have issued a joint statement demanding an end to the war.
They cite “horrifying” recent killings of hundreds of Palestinians who were simply seeking food or aid, according to Gaza health officials and the U.N. human rights office. Their statement also comes as Gaza faces an urgent hunger crisis.
Israel fired back, calling the statement “disconnected from reality” and saying it sends the wrong message to Hamas.
Israel also accused Hamas of stalling by refusing to accept a temporary ceasefire and hostage release plan that Israel says it has already agreed to. Israel previously violated a similar ceasefire.
Trump administration releases King files after decades under seal
They were sealed for 50 years.
Now, the FBI’s surveillance records on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are out.
The Trump administration released more than 230,000 pages of FBI files Monday, documents tied to King’s 1968 assassination and the government’s years-long effort to track and discredit him prior to his death.
King’s children — Martin Luther III and Bernice King — say the release reopens an intensely personal wound.
In a statement, they ask the public to read the files with “empathy, restraint, and historical context.”
Some of the records outline how the FBI wiretapped King, bugged his hotel rooms and tried to destroy his reputation.
Others include memos, intelligence leads, and CIA documents tied to the investigation and the hunt for James Earl Ray — the man convicted in King’s assassination.
The King family has long believed that Ray did not act alone, or at all.
They also question the timing of this release, as Donald Trump faces growing pressure to unseal documents in another high-profile case — the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Bernice King weighed in on Instagram, posting a photo of her father with the caption: “Now do the Epstein files.”
House speaker stalls on vote to release Epstein files
The pressure is mounting on both sides of the aisles to release the full Epstein files.
But House Speaker Mike Johnson isn’t budging.
Johnson now says there will be no vote on the matter before Congress leaves for its August recess, saying that a vote is unnecessary and that “…we agree with the president.”
But other Republicans disagree. And Democrats do, too.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie is leading a bipartisan push to try to force a floor vote on the matter.
Even if successful, it likely wouldn’t happen until after Labor Day.
Meanwhile, House Democrats are accusing the Trump administration of “running scared.”
Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed his support for more transparency: “There’s a clear desire on behalf of the American people to get more information, then the right thing to do is to present the facts and the evidence to the American people so that they can make an informed decision about what may or may not have happened and who may or [may] not be implicated in the Jeffrey Epstein matter.”
The Department of Justice has formally asked a federal judge to unseal grand jury transcripts in the Epstein case. But for now, there’s no timeline on when — or if — that might happen.
Heat dome scorches Midwest, South; Millions on alert as temps top 100°
It’s high summer. And for tens of millions of Americans, it’s about to feel like it.
A massive heat dome is expanding across the American South and Midwest this week, locking in dangerous levels of heat and humidity.
Cities like Chicago, Kansas City and Memphis could hit their hottest temperatures of the year, with “feels like” readings soaring past 110 degrees in some spots. Here at Straight Arrow News headquarters, we’re like slated for 105 to 110 degrees through Wednesday.
And the misery won’t stop at sundown.
Overnight lows in places like St. Louis may not dip below 80 degrees, offering little relief for overheated bodies.
The National Weather Service has issued heat alerts for nearly 90 million Americans. They are calling it a heat dome. And unlike earlier heat waves, this one is expected to last longer, possibly into August.
Health experts warn that when it’s this hot, staying cool is not a luxury, it’s a necessity and a lifesaver.
COVID makes summer comeback: Nimbus and Stratus variants drive new uptick
Just when you thought COVID was in the rearview, it’s creeping back onto the radar.
New CDC data shows a surge in COVID infections across more than two dozen states, with ER visits for kids at their highest levels since March.
The new variants have names to match the forecast — Nimbus and Stratus — but their symptoms feel familiar: sore throat, cough, fever and fatigue.
CBS Medical Contributor Dr. John LaPook says the current vaccine does cover these variants.
The CDC now recommends most adults 18 and up — and everyone 65 and older — get the 2024-2025 COVID shot.
For kids? The guidance is to check with your doctor first.
Pepsi goes gut-friendly with new prebiotic cola
Finally this morning, a new twist in the soda wars.
Pepsi is trying to make your guilty pleasure feel a little less guilty with its first-ever pre-biotic cola.
PepsiCo announced Monday that it’s rolling out a “functional” soft drink designed to support gut health.
The new cola will come in two flavors, classic and cherry vanilla, and will be packed with three grams of pre-biotic fiber per can.
Pre-biotics — not to be confused with pro-biotics — feed the good bacteria in your gut.
And they’re having a moment in the sun, thanks to brands like Poppi and Olipop, which PepsiCo recently invested in.
The new cola will be sweetened with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup — which has been under fire for years.
This new “healthier” Pepsi drops online this fall and hits store shelves next year.
