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The House has passed a bill to widen the federal definition of antisemitism. Critics of the bill included Jerry Nadler, the most senior Jewish member of Congress and a strong supporter of Israel. Nadler said, "This bill threatens to chill constitutionally protected speech. Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute discrimination. The bill sweeps too broadly." 

As negotiations continue over a ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to invade the southern city of Rafah with or without a ceasefire deal. In a statement, Netanyahu said, “The idea that we will halt the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question."

MORE:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv4D7... 

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A group of more than 50 journalism professors has written to The New York Times calling on the paper to commission an independent review of its report that members of Hamas committed widespread sexual violence on October 7.

Numerous media outlets have raised questions about the paper’s reporting, which was written in part by a freelance Israeli journalist who had liked multiple posts on social media advocating for violence against Palestinians.

Shahan Mufti, a professor at the University of Richmond, told The National the goal of the letter is to get the Times to correct or retract the December 28 article headlined "Screams Without Words" due to the urgency of the situation as Israel continues its deadly assault on Gaza, justified in part by claims of sexual violence by Hamas.

"For some reason the Times is digging its heels deeper and deeper even as the story continues to disintegrate,” Mufti told the UAE-based newspaper.

More headlines:  https://youtu.be/flTkLpaEcbw 

The New York Court of Appeals has overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction.

In a 4-3 decision, the state's highest court ordered a retrial, saying the original prosecution had improperly included testimony from women whose allegations were not part of the case against the disgraced Hollywood producer.

Weinstein has been serving a 23-year prison sentence. He will remain in prison because he is also serving a 16-year sentence for a separate conviction in California. It will be up to the Manhattan district attorney whether to retry Weinstein. 

The Senate approved sending more money to Israel on the same day that the United Nations called for an independent probe into the discovery of over 300 bodies, many which are suspected to have been executed, in a mass grave at the Nasser Medical Complex following Israel's weekslong siege on the hospital. Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, emphasized that the killing of patients would constitute a war crime.

On Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel refused to support the U.N. call for a probe into the mass graves in Gaza, stating that the U.S. will await further information from Israel first. 

Google has fired some 50 workers in retaliation for last week’s protest against Project Nimbus, Google’s cloud computing contract with Israel. The firings reportedly included workers who were simply bystanders during the sit-in. 

A new United Nations report about Palestinians released from Israeli detention includes details of horrific abuse, including routine beatings, sexual harassment and humiliation, being attacked by dogs, and more. 

More headlines: 

Maine is the latest state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a plan to transform how U.S. presidents are elected. 



Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., have already pledged to award their combined electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the nationwide popular vote — regardless of which candidate carries individual states. The compact will only go into effect once supporters control at least 270 votes, the minimum number needed to elect a president. Maine's addition brings the campaign up to 209. 



Support for the National Popular Vote idea has grown in recent years after both George W. Bush and Donald Trump were elected president despite losing the popular vote.

More headlines:  https://youtu.be/jq-iRF_mnvg