10 things you need to know today: October 23, 2023

1. 2nd aid convoy enters Gaza

A second aid convoy of 14 trucks entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt on Sunday. Martin Griffiths, the United Nations' head of emergency relief, wrote on social media that the latest deliveries of food, water and medicine offered "another small glimmer of hope for the millions of people in dire need of humanitarian aid" in the conflict, which started with an Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel by Hamas militants. But Oxfam humanitarian leader Magnus Corfixen said the supplies were "a drop in the ocean" considering the need in the besieged Palestinian territory. Israeli forces continued to pummel Gaza with airstrikes while facing intensifying attacks from Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia that controls southern Lebanon. The New York Times, BBC News

2. 9 Republicans go for speaker's job

Nine Republican lawmakers entered the running to become speaker of the House ahead of a Sunday deadline after a bid by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) collapsed. Jordan, the hard-right chair of the House Judiciary Committee, briefly backed a proposal to give Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) expanded powers to allow the House to conduct some business as the power struggle drags on, but the GOP conference rejected that idea, too. "This is embarrassing for the Republican Party," former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was ousted in a push by a handful of far-right lawmakers, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "It's embarrassing for the nation." The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg

3. Russian missile kills 6 at Ukraine postal facility

A Russian antiaircraft missile killed six workers at a mail facility near the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv over the weekend, local officials said Sunday. Seventeen other postal workers were injured, some of them critically, Kharkiv's governor, Oleh Synyehubov, wrote in a post on Telegram. The strike was the deadliest in the region since another Russian missile killed more than 50 people attending a funeral earlier this month in Hroza, a village east of Kharkiv city. The area is less than 20 miles from the Russian border, so "Ukrainian air defense forces often have little time to intercept incoming missiles," and people have little warning to seek shelter, The Washington Post reported. The Washington Post

4. Far-right front-runner places 2nd in Argentina presidential election

Center-left Economy Minister Sergio Massa upset eccentric far-right libertarian Javier Milei to lead the first round of Argentina's presidential election on Sunday. Massa, who had trailed Milei in polls, took 36.7% to Milei's 30%. Center-right former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich came in third with 23.8%. Massa and Milei advanced to a second round to be held in November. Milei, an "anarcho-capitalist" economist whose brash, radical populism earned him comparisons to Donald Trump and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, told his deflated supporters not to lose hope, "because two-thirds of Argentinians voted for change." Massa promised "a government of national unity." NPR, The Guardian

5. Detroit synagogue leader mourned

Mourners praised Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll for her interfaith work and sense of justice during her funeral Sunday, a day after she was found stabbed to death outside her home. Woll's sister, Dr. Monica Woll Rosen, described her as the "kindest, most generous person I've ever met." Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose reelection campaign Woll had worked on, described the slain leader of Isaac Agree Downtown Detroit Synagogue as someone who acted with "passion for equal treatment for all people in every space." Woll, 40, was deeply involved in local, state and national politics. Police are continuing to investigate and said there was no evidence the murder was "motivated by antisemitism." USA Today, The Detroit News

6. Venezuelans pick Maduro challenger

Venezuelans on Sunday picked conservative opposition leader María Corina Machado to challenge the South American nation's authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, in 2024 elections, though she must first overcome a ban disqualifying her from holding office. Maduro's socialist government and the opposition agreed last week to compete in internationally monitored elections next year. A day after the deal was announced, the Biden administration rewarded the struggling South American nation's government by easing oil, gas and gold industry sanctions. Early returns showed Machado, an industrial engineer and former lawmaker, winning overwhelmingly to become the first candidate in more than a decade to have the entire opposition united behind her. The Washington Post

7. Iranian teen 'brain dead' after alleged clash with morality police

Iranian teen Armita Geravand has been declared "brain dead" three weeks after she was allegedly beaten by morality police who accused her of violating the country's hijab law. Geravand, 16, was hospitalized with head injuries and fell into a coma after the alleged Oct. 1 assault in a Tehran metro station. The government has denied Geravand was injured in an altercation with police. The case, which human rights activists compared to the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police last year, came weeks after Iran passed legislation imposing much harsher penalties on women found to be in violation of the Islamic Republic's mandatory dress code. CNN, BBC News

8. Philippines calls China 'aggressor' in South China Sea incident

The Philippines on Monday called China the "aggressor" in the Sunday collision of a Chinese coast guard vessel and a smaller wooden Philippine boat. Nobody was hurt in the incident, but Manila accused Beijing of "increasing tensions" in the South China Sea. The wooden boat was on a routine mission to resupply Philippine troops living on a former warship Manila grounded in 1999 to assert sovereignty claims on the Second Thomas Shoal. China's coast guard said Sunday's "slight collision" occurred when its vessel was "lawfully" blocking the boat from delivering "illegal construction materials." Reuters

9. Trump says Sidney Powell was 'never' his attorney

Former President Donald Trump wrote in a Sunday social media post that Sidney Powell, who pleaded guilty last week to charges related to Trump's effort to reverse his 2020 election loss in Georgia, was "never" his attorney. "Despite the Fake News reports to the contrary, and without even reaching out to ask the Trump Campaign, MS. POWELL WAS NOT MY ATTORNEY, AND NEVER WAS," Trump posted on Truth Social. In a 2020 tweet, Trump named Powell as a member of his legal team. Trump on Sunday said Powell was just "one of millions and millions of people who thought" he defeated President Biden. Powell agreed in a plea deal to testify in the trials of her co-defendants, including Trump. The Hill

10. 'Killers of the Flower Moon' can't dethrone Taylor Swift

Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro, had a strong opening weekend, but not strong enough to knock "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" from the top of the domestic box office. Scorsese's historical crime drama about murders of members of the oil-rich Osage nation in the early 1920s brought in $23 million, the director's third-best opening after "Shutter Island" and "The Departed." Swift's concert film posted $31 million in ticket sales in its second weekend, after a record-breaking opening weekend of $92.8 million, making it the first concert movie to top $100 million. The Associated Press called the battle for No. 1 "a movie match-up almost as unlikely as 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer.'" The Associated Press