Oxfam and over 35 other humanitarian groups have issued a dire warning about Israel’s siege on northern Gaza. In a statement, the groups said, “The Israeli forces’ assault on Gaza has escalated to a horrifying level of atrocity. Northern Gaza is being wiped off the map.” Israel has barred nearly all food into the area, while attacks on displaced people continue.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has sent Israel a written warning that the U.S. may cut off military assistance if Israel does not boost humanitarian aid access to Gaza within the next 30 days. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote, “We are now writing to underscore the U.S. government’s deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory.”

The Biden administration has continued to arm Israel despite findings by its own experts at USAID and the State Department that Israel has routinely impeded delivery of food and medicine to Gaza, in violation of U.S. law. On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller faced numerous questions about U.S. policy. This is Reuters journalist Humeyra Pamuk.

Humeyra Pamuk: “Given you are already saying humanitarian assistance is very low, and putting in front of Israel a bunch of concrete measures on how to improve it, why are you waiting for another 30 days to implement the law?”

Matthew Miller: “Because we believe it’s appropriate to give them a chance to cure the problem.”

Humeyra Pamuk: “Other outlets have reported that — Reuters has reported all the way back in April that officials from this department have assessed in internal memos that Israel, quote, 'is persistently and arbitrarily impeding aid in Gaza.' So, if the law is already being, like, I mean — if it’s already doing it, why is the United States waiting?”

Matthew Miller: “So, first of all, that has not — so, we’ve been over this before, I know, from this podium. There are people that reach that conclusion, and there are people inside this building who reach the opposite conclusion. So I think it’s important to state that for the record.”

In Lebanon, Israel attacked a municipal building in the southern town of Nabatieh, killing six people, including the town’s mayor. The BBC reports the mayor and other city workers were killed while holding a meeting to discuss coordinating aid for civilians remaining in the area. Israel also bombed the village of Qana, striking a healthcare center and several homes, killing at least 15 people. Israel also bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut just hours after the U.S. State Department said it opposes the “scope and nature” of Israel’s attacks on Beirut.

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses calls for a ceasefire, the U.N. Refugee Agency is warning 25% of Lebanon is now under forced evacuation orders from Israel.

Rema Jamous Imseis: “Israeli airstrikes and Israeli evacuation orders continue to increase the areas impacted. So, now that we have over 25% of the country under a direct Israeli military evacuation order, just yesterday we had another 20 villages issued with an evacuation order in the south of the country.”

In Georgia, more than 325,000 voters cast ballots Tuesday on the first day of early voting — that’s more than twice the previous record set four years ago. Meanwhile, a Georgia judge has blocked a controversial new rule set by the Georgia State Election Board that would have required election workers to hand-count the number of ballots cast in each precinct on Election Day.

More questions are being raised about Trump’s mental state after a town hall event in Pennsylvania took an unexpected turn on Monday when two audience members fainted. Trump ended up taking just five questions from the crowd before making this announcement.

Donald Trump: “Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music. Let’s make it into a music. Who the hell wants to hear questions, right?”

For the next 30 minutes, Trump’s staff played music while the former president swayed and bopped to the music on stage along with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who was hosting the town hall. Trump eventually left the stage without taking any more questions. On Tuesday, Kamala Harris responded to Trump’s town hall by writing online, “Hope he’s OK.”

On Tuesday, Trump appeared at the Economic Club of Chicago, where he was grilled about reports that his economic proposals could devastate the U.S. economy. He was asked by Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait, who cited a recent study by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

John Micklethwait: “If you add up all the promises you’ve made, and your plans would add $7.5 trillion to the debt, that’s more than twice the total for Vice President Harris. You’re on course to push up debt up to 150% of GDP. This is a very business-like audience.”

Donald Trump: “Yeah.”

John Micklethwait: “Why should they trust you with that?”

Donald Trump: “Because we’re about growth. She’s got no growth whatsoever, and we’re all about growth.”

Newly disclosed federal filings show multibillionaire Elon Musk has officially become one of Donald Trump’s biggest financial backers. Musk gave around $75 million to his pro-Trump super PAC in the last quarter. Meanwhile, Miriam Adelson, the billionaire wife of the late casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, gave $95 million to her pro-Trump super PAC. Earlier this year, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Miriam Adelson is pushing Trump to support Israel annexing the entire occupied West Bank.

On Tuesday, the popular radio host Charlamagne tha God interviewed Kamala Harris in Detroit in what was billed as an audio town hall. During the event, Harris agreed that Trump’s vision for the country could be described as fascism.

Vice President Kamala Harris: “The other Donald Trump is about taking us backward.”

Charlamagne tha God: “The other is about fascism. Why can’t we just say it?”

Vice President Kamala Harris: “Yes, we can say that.”

The World Food Programme is warning millions of people in southern Africa are facing the region’s worst food crisis in decades due to a devastating drought. Five countries — Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe — have already declared national disasters. The World Food Programme said Tuesday the drought could deepen into a “full-scale humanitarian crisis.”

Tomson Phiri: “A historic drought, the worst food crisis yet, has devastated more than 27 million lives across the region. Some 21 million children in southern Africa are malnourished. For many communities, this is the worst food crisis in decades.”

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper says 92 people are still missing in the state after Hurricane Helene devastated the city of Asheville and other mountain communities over two weeks ago. The storm’s death toll stands at around 250 across six states.

The number of migrants dying in New Mexico near the U.S.-Mexico border has increased tenfold over the past five years. Over 220 bodies have been found since January 2023. Many of the victims are believed to have died from dehydration and malnutrition as they attempted to cross scorching hot desert or mountain areas to seek refuge in the United States.

Google has announced plans to build seven nuclear reactors in the United States to help power the company’s data centers and artificial intelligence systems. The announcement comes just a month after Microsoft said it would fund the reopening of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, the site of the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history.

Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing six new rape and sexual assault lawsuits. Combs has been jailed since mid-September after pleading not guilty to federal racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and other charges. The attorney Tony Buzbee has said he is representing more than 120 people who have made sexual assault and rape allegations against Combs, who was once one of the most powerful figures in the entertainment world.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reveals new details about how Combs attacked a UCLA football coach and choked an intern in the coach’s office in 2015 in a dispute over how the coach had treated Combs’s son.