10 things you need to know today: January 3, 2024

1. Hamas deputy leader killed in Beirut blast

An alleged Israeli drone attack killed the deputy head of Hamas, Saleh al-Arouri, in a Beirut suburb on Tuesday. Israel did not comment officially, but two senior U.S. officials confirmed to The New York Times that Israel was responsible. Hamas condemned the strike, which Lebanon's prime minister called an attempt "to drag Lebanon into" the Israel-Hamas war. A U.S. official told the Times the killing was likely the first of many covert strikes against Hamas leaders linked to the group's deadly Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. Hamas's leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said two leaders of the group's armed wing had been killed in the explosion. Reuters, The New York Times

2. Harvard President Claudine Gay resigns

Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned Tuesday after weeks of intense pressure that started with criticism of her testimony during a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism. Harvard's board backed Gay, the first Black person to serve as the school's president, but her failure during the hearing to specify that calling for genocide against Jews would violate the school's rules triggered scrutiny that resulted in allegations of plagiarism in her academic work. Gay, who served just six months in the post, wrote in a letter to the Harvard community that she decided to resign "so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual." The Boston Globe, NBC News

3. 5 confirmed dead in fiery collision on Tokyo runway

Five people were confirmed dead on a Japanese Coast Guard earthquake relief plane after a collision on the runway of Tokyo's busy Haneda Airport with a Japan Airlines flight. The Japan Airlines plane, which was carrying 379 passengers, caught fire but all of its passengers and crew managed to escape on inflatable slides just before the aircraft was engulfed in flames. Former commercial pilot Rodger Whitfield told The Guardian, "We just witnessed a miracle," adding, "The way they got all those passengers off that airplane is almost beyond belief." One person on the Coast Guard plane survived. Regulators and police are investigating how the planes wound up on the same runway. The Guardian, The Associated Press

4. U.S. asks Supreme Court to let it cut Texas razor wire on border

The Biden administration on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to restore the federal government's authority to cut razor wire that Texas officials placed along the U.S.-Mexico border to deter migrants crossing into the United States. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans last month sided with Texas, which sued the Department of Homeland Security under state trespass laws after Border Patrol agents cut barbed wire installed by state officials. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued in court papers that Congress had given the Border Patrol the right to enter private property to enforce federal border laws, and that state governments can't override federal authority over immigration. The Wall Street Journal

5. Trump appeals Maine's decision to keep him off ballot

Former president Donald Trump on Tuesday challenged Maine's decision to keep him off the state's presidential primary ballot. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled last week that Trump's actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack disqualified him under the 14th Amendment's clause barring insurrectionists from office. The Republican frontrunner called Bellows, a Democrat, "biased" and asked the Kennebec County Superior Court to put her decision on hold while he appeals. Trump reportedly is preparing a separate appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court over a decision by Colorado's top court to bar him from that state's ballot. Several other states are considering whether Trump's actions made him ineligible to run. The Washington Post, USA Today

6. Japan earthquake death toll rises as rescuers 'battle against time'

The death toll from central Japan's powerful 7.6 magnitude earthquake rose to at least 62 on Tuesday as aftershocks continued to shake the Noto peninsula. Authorities warned of possible landslides as rescuers rushed to find survivors in freezing rain. "Rescue efforts are a battle against time," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. Tens of thousands of homes were knocked down, according to Japanese media. Toshitaka Katada, a University of Tokyo disaster expert, told The Associated Press that people were prepared for the disaster with evacuation plans and emergency supplies because they had lived through previous quakes. "There are probably no people on Earth who are as disaster-ready as the Japanese," Katada said. The Associated Press, CNN

7. Russia hits Ukraine's biggest cities with intense air strikes

Russia launched a wave of major air strikes against Ukraine's two biggest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, on Tuesday. The attacks killed at least five civilians and injured 135 others, Ukraine's Interior Ministry said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strikes caused widespread damage and hurt power supplies. Russia has intensified its attacks in Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Monday that Ukraine's strike on the Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukraine border would "not go unpunished." That air strike killed 25 civilians in Belgorod, according to Moscow. Reuters

8. Tesla sets a quarterly record for EV sales

Tesla delivered a record 484,507 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2023, exceeding anaylsts' expectations of 475,000 to 480,000. The production brought the U.S. electric vehicle maker's total for the year to more than 1.8 million vehicles. That was enough for Tesla to remain the world's No. 1 EV maker for the year, but China's BYD sold 526,409 fully electric vehicles to beat Tesla in quarterly EV sales for the first time thanks to its broader lineup of cheaper models in China. A year ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told analysts Tesla might produce two million cars in 2023, but price cuts failed to boost demand enough for the company to hit that target. Electrek, The Detroit News

9. Maersk halts shipping in Red Sea after weekend attack

Danish shipping giant Maersk said Tuesday it was halting voyages in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden "until further notice" after Houthi militants from Yemen attacked one of its cargo ships over the weekend. "An investigation into the incident is ongoing and we will continue to pause all cargo movement through the area while we further assess the constantly evolving situation," the company said in a statement. Maersk is the world's largest container shipping company. A major rival, Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, also said it would halt shipping through the area until Jan. 9 or later. Houthi rebels have attacked ships with missiles, drones, and gunfire from small boats since November in support of Hamas' war with Israel. USA Today

10. Former Kentucky official ordered to pay same-sex couple's lawyers

A federal judge has ruled that former Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk Kim Davis must pay $260,104 in fees and expenses to attorneys who represented one of the same-sex couples whose request for a marriage license she denied due to her personal beliefs. The judgment added to the $100,000 in damages a jury said Davis should pay after losing a lawsuit over the 2015 case. Davis' lawyers had argued the request for fees was excessive, but U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning disagreed. Bunning said the couple, David Ermold and David Moore, "sought to vindicate their fundamental right to marry and obtain marriage licenses" and won, so Davis must pay their attorneys' fees. Lexington Herald-Leader, The Associated Press