Nearly 200 dead as Israeli airstrikes continue in Gaza City
In today's episode of 5 Things: Nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed in recent violence. Plus, a wildfire spreads in Los Angeles, an associate of Rep. Matt Gaetz pleads guilty in a sex trafficking case that might involve him, Starbucks joins companies in letting vaccinated Americans ditch their masks and it's time to file your taxes.
Hit play on the podcast player and read along with the transcript below.
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Monday, the 17th of May, 2021. Today, Israel continues with deadly airstrikes in Gaza, plus firefighters work to contain a wildfire in Los Angeles, and more.
Taylor Wilson:
Here are some of the top headlines:
Bill Gates was investigated by Microsoft before stepping down from the company's board in 2020. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal board members made a decision that it was not appropriate for Gates who co-founded the company to continue sitting on the board as they investigated his prior romantic relationship with a female Microsoft employee. Gates resigned before the investigation was finished. And a spokesperson told the Journal that his decision to transition off the board was unrelated.
A suspect has been arrested after a four-year-old was found dead on a street in Dallas over the weekend. 18-year-old Darren Brown was charged with kidnapping and theft.
And a tiger seen wandering a Houston neighborhood last week is headed to an animal sanctuary. Police said the nine-month-old tiger named India appeared in good health.
Taylor Wilson:
Israel continues to slam Gaza with airstrikes. A strike Sunday killed at least 42 Palestinians, including 10 children. It was the deadliest single attack in the recent wave of violence between Israel and the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza. Also over the weekend, an Israeli airstrike destroyed a Gazan high-rise building that housed offices for Associated Press and Al-Jazeera journalists. The Israeli Military gave warnings to those inside and they evacuated before three missiles hit the 12-story building, collapsing it. AP President and CEO, Gary Pruitt called the incident shocking.
Gary Pruitt:
We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli Military would target and destroy the building housing AP's Bureau and other news organizations in Gaza. They've long known the location of our bureau and knew journalists were there. We received a warning that the building would be hit. We are seeking information from the Israeli Government and are engaged with the US State Department to try to learn more. This is an incredibly disturbing development. We narrowly avoided a terrible loss of life. A dozen AP journalists and freelancers were inside the building. And thankfully we were able to evacuate them in time. The world will know less about what's going on in Gaza because of what happened today.
Taylor Wilson:
The Israeli Military defended the strike saying that Hamas had operations in the tower. Spokesman Jonathan Conricus:
Jonathan Conricus:
Regarding the Al-Sharouk tower, it's not a media tower and it's not a media center. It is a tower that was used by Hamas for three main purposes. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but mostly Hamas, Islamic Jihad have an office there as well. The IDF decided to strike that tower and out of consideration for the safety of civilians, non-combatants, of course journalists, enough time was given for these people to evacuate the building.
Taylor Wilson:
On Monday, Israeli war planes rocked Gaza City in a 10-minute attack that spanned across different neighborhoods and airstrikes have damaged a major line feeding electricity from the only power plant in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address Sunday that Israel's attacks would continue at full force. Hamas is also pressing on launching rockets at civilian areas in Israel. One slammed into a synagogue in the southern part of the country hours before evening services for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, though, no injuries were reported. At least 188 Palestinians have been killed in recent attacks, including 55 children. And more than 1200 people are injured. Eight people in Israel have been killed, including a child.
Taylor Wilson:
Among those killed in the Israeli air attack on Sunday was Dr Ayman Abu Al-Ouf. He was the Head of the Internal Medicine Department at Al-Shifa hospital, and a senior member of the hospital's Coronavirus Management Team. Two of his children were also killed. His death comes with Gaza's healthcare system in pieces since a 2007 Israeli-Egyptian blockade following Hamas' rise in power. The territory has been struggling with a COVID-19 surge and low vaccination rates, even before recent violence. Negotiations are ongoing for peace in the region. And the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting over the weekend on the conflict. Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki spoke, as did Israel's UN Ambassador, Gilad Erdan.
Riyad al-Maliki:
How many Palestinian civilians killed is enough for condemnation. We know a single Israeli is, but how many Palestinians? 200 Palestinians have been killed. A third of them, children and women. What is the threshold for outrage?
Gilad Erdan:
This is not the first time that Hamas has indiscriminately fired deadly missiles at Israeli civilians, while hiding behind Palestinian civilians. But this time it's different. It was completely premeditated by Hamas in order to gain political power.
Taylor Wilson:
For all the latest stay with the World News section on usatoday.com.
Taylor Wilson:
Fire fighters are continuing work to try and contain a fire that forced some 1000 evacuations around Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles over the weekend. The LA Fire Department said Sunday morning that warmer weather and afternoon winds might push the blaze toward the Northwest, which would threaten homes in the area. It's been burning through dry mountain vegetation that has not burned in over 50 years according to fire officials. The fire doubled in size Sunday to more than 1300 acres. It's not clear what sparked the fire, but it's being called suspicious. Arson investigators detained and then released one individual and then detained a second individual and were questioning them Sunday night.
Taylor Wilson:
Fire officials are mainly relying on airdrops of water, using helicopters to fight the flames on hard-to-reach steep terrain. The fire may mark one of many this year. Officials and residents are bracing for a harsh 2021 fire season after a second consecutive winter of below average rainfall. Last year's season set records with fires burning through more than 4% of Californian territory. Cal Fire says the fire season is starting earlier and ending later each year, pointing to climate change as a major reason.
Taylor Wilson:
An associate of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz is expected to plead guilty Monday to six of 33 federal charges against him, including sex trafficking a minor. Joel Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector will do so as part of a plea deal and will work to help other federal investigations. The plea deal puts pressure on Gaetz who faces a Justice Department investigation over whether he had sex with a 17-year-old. He's denied those accusations, calling them politically motivated lies, but in a letter from late last year leaked to The Daily Beast last month, Greenberg claimed that Gaetz was also involved with the same minor he's pleading guilty of sex trafficking. He said both he and Gaetz were unaware the girl was a minor.
Taylor Wilson:
Starbucks is joining a number of nationwide chains to let customers ditch their mask if vaccinated against COVID-19. The company said that masks will be optional for vaccinated Americans starting Monday, unless local regulations require them by law. They joined Walmart, Costco, Trader Joe's and others with similar new rules after the CDC issued guidance that those who are vaccinated can go maskless indoors and out with a few exceptions. Retailers including Apple, Target, CVS and Walgreens all say that they're still evaluating CDC guidance.
Taylor Wilson:
More Americans are getting vaccinated even as the rate slows down significantly. And there's increasingly data that vaccines protect against dangerous variants of the virus. Infections linked to the variant from India almost tripled last week in England, but British Health Secretary, Matt Hancock said that early lab results indicate the vaccines work against it. Vaccine rates still vary widely around the world with many countries still well below 10% of their population fully vaccinated. In the US, 47.4% of people have at least one dose of a vaccine, while 37.1% are fully vaccinated.
Taylor Wilson:
It's Tax Day. If you haven't filed yet, it's time to get moving. You can file an extension if you need more time, but your payment is still due at the deadline. Finance Reporter Jessica Menton was on the show last week. Here are some of her tips.
Jessica Menton:
You may want to consider filing an extension. Although it may sound tempting to do, there are a few things that people should keep in mind before they do that. Filing an extension when you owe taxes only gives you more time to file, not more time to pay. So that's really a key thing to remember. And that really means that your payment is still due at the tax filing deadline, which would be on Monday. So if you don't pay your estimated tax due by then, the IRS will end up charging you interest on the unpaid balance. So it's important to file on time or to get an extension so you don't get hit with a late filing or a late payment fee.
Jessica Menton:
There are some ways around it if you can't pay your taxes. You might end up qualifying for a payment plan or an installment agreement with the IRS that allows you to pay off any outstanding balance. And if you already have a payment plan, you might still qualify to use that plan option to revise your existing agreement. If you do expect a refund, you won't receive it until after you file your return and IRS ends up processing it. So it's better to do it as soon as possible.
Jessica Menton:
And it also depends on people's situations, depending on what kind of tax credits that they qualify for this year, because there's been so many changes in the pandemic and they've made changes to who can qualify for the child tax credit, the earned income credit, and then also people, they may have been eligible to receive a stimulus check last year, but for whatever reason, they didn't receive one. And there is the recovery rebate credit. So people have had to take more time to have those kind of considerations to what they qualify for.
Jessica Menton:
So it's best to make sure you're taking as much time as you need so that you can get those credits that you need, but also keep in mind that it's better to file sooner than later. But also, if you can't file for the deadline, you need to make sure that you file for an extension so that you don't end up getting hit with those penalties.
Taylor Wilson:
For more head to the Money Section on usatoday.com. Thanks for listening to 5 Things. And if you have a second, please drop us five stars on Apple Podcasts. You can also listen wherever you find your audio. Thanks as always to Claire Thornton and Shannon Green for their work on the show. 5 Things is part of the USA TODAY Network.