Gaza's main hospital 'no longer functioning' and Tim Scott suspends campaign: Morning Rundown

Infants born prematurely at Gaza’s main hospital are dying as the facility goes out of service. Sen. Tim Scott suspended his 2024 presidential campaign. And new experimental drugs for cholesterol show “revolutionary’’ promise.

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Gaza’s main hospital no longer functioning, WHO says

The situation at Gaza’s main hospital is “dire and perilous,” with Al-Shifa no longer “functioning as a hospital,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned. He said patient fatalities had increased significantly amid the spiraling humanitarian situation at the hospital, which has seen heavy bombardment and intense fighting outside the facility.

Newborns are at particular risk as power fails and resources run out, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which said many babies born prematurely face possible “death at any moment.” Three babies at Al-Shifa died over the weekend, while 36 are desperately in need of care after they had to be removed from incubators due to lack of power, Abusada said.

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The U.S. military struck sites in Syria used by Iran-affiliated groups, the latest response to continued attacks against American personnel in the region. Fears of escalation have also risen on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon after days of intense exchanges.

Western diplomatic efforts will now feature a high-profile ex-leader, with former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron named the country’s top diplomat. His surprise return followed the firing of a senior minister who criticized police handling of pro-Palestinian protests, as the crisis rippled beyond the Middle East.

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Tim Scott drops out of the 2024 presidential race

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina announced that he’s dropping out of the 2024 Republican presidential campaign. “When I go back to Iowa, it will not be as a presidential candidate. I am suspending my campaign,” Scott said in an appearance on former GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy’s Fox News program. “I think the voters, who are the most remarkable people on the planet, have been really clear that they’re telling me: not now,” Scott continued. Multiple Scott staffers told NBC News they got no warning he was ending the campaign, only finding out by watching the candidate say so on TV.

Experimental drugs for cholesterol show revolutionary promise

New, experimental drugs designed to drive down dangerous levels of cholesterol were shown to be safe and effective in two groundbreaking bodies of research presented yesterday at an annual meeting of the American Heart Association. Both medications target people born with a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol. While drugs like statins, as well as diet and exercise, can help these individuals manage cholesterol, they cannot change the underlying genetic cause.

The two approaches work in different ways, but with a singular mission: go after genes responsible for raising cholesterol to change the trajectory of a person’s risk for heart attack and stroke.

Two students accuse Hillsdale College of retaliating against them after they reported sexual assaults

Two women who reported to their conservative Michigan college that they were sexually assaulted have accused the school in a lawsuit of blaming them for being raped and conducting phony investigations.

Grace Chen, who is currently a junior at Hillsdale College, alleged that after the assault the school refused to protect her from the assailant and failed to explain its findings. Danielle Villarreal wound up leaving the school after discovering that the student she said attacked her had not been punished and was still on campus.

“You have this feeling like there’s a target on your back and you’re not getting any support from the school,” Villarreal, who now attends Vanderbilt University, told NBC News. “I felt it wasn’t safe for me to be there anymore.”

Today’s Talker

Taylor Swift gave a shout out to her much-discussed new relationship…

...after changing the lyrics to her song “Karma’’ to include a reference to Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce. Kelce appeared just as surprised as concertgoers when Swift snuck in the lyric change. She further elated fans after the show by running into Kelce’s arms and planting a kiss on him — their first caught on camera — as the pair walked off together backstage.

Politics in Brief

FBI Investigation: New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended his role in the new Turkish consulate building project amid reports that he pressured the city to approve the building despite safety concerns.

Biden’s campaign: President Joe Biden is starting to shift more into re-election campaign mode, with plans to attack his likely 2024 Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.

U.S.-China relations: A series of obstacles in U.S.-China relations will hang over this week’s meeting between Biden and Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Staff Pick: A confrontation, then a ‘deafening’ silence

The surging number of antisemitic incidents in the U.S., including on college campuses, has received significant media attention. But this story explores an incident that has yielded few headlines: an act of hate against pro-Palestinian students at the University of Texas at Austin. The pro-Palestinian students believe that the university would have responded far more forcefully had the victims been Jews. “Palestinian students on this campus, frankly, are seen as a footnote,” one told me.

In Case You Missed It

• Los Angeles motorists have been urged to take public transport after a massive fire closed a major interstate near the city’s downtown.

• Philadelphia 76ers forward Kelly Oubre was struck and injured by a vehicle in a hit-and-run in Center City, Philadelphia.

• “The Marvels” had the worst opening weekend ever for any Marvel Cinematic Universe film at $47 million, the lowest in the 30-plus-film franchise’s history.

• A circus lion escaped and was seen roaming around heavily populated streets for hours in a suburb of Rome before being sedated and captured by authorities.

• Texas A&M fired coach Jimbo Fisher, a move that will cost the school more than $75 million.

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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com