News Wrap: Rebuilding Baltimore bridge will take 4 years and cost $2 billion

Amna Nawaz:

In the day's other headlines: Hamas announced it's sending a delegation back to Egypt, a possible sign of progress in talks on a Gaza cease-fire with Israel. The group said its goal is to work toward an agreement.

In the meantime, a U.N. report said it will take until at least 2040 to rebuild all of the destroyed homes in Gaza. The report estimated that nearly 80,000 housing units have been flattened in the war.

U.S. intelligence officials say Iran's allies have paused attacks on American troops, at least for now. Groups linked to Tehran carried out a series of strikes on U.S. forces in the Middle East after the war in Gaza began. But at a Senate hearing today, the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, said the situation has calmed.

Avril Haines, U.S. Director of National Intelligence: Iranian-aligned militia groups in the region continue to plan attacks against our forces, but have broadly paused conducting such attacks, though it is not clear how long that pause will last.

Amna Nawaz:

Haines said there's no assessment yet on when militia attacks might resume.

Former President Trump has stepped up his threats to reject November's presidential election results if he does not win. On Wednesday, he was asked specifically about Wisconsin. He told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — quote — "If everything's honest, I'd gladly accept the results. If it's not, you have to fight for the right of the country."

The former president made similar statements in 2016 and in 2020.

President Biden stopped in Charlotte, North Carolina today to speak with relatives of four law enforcement officers killed this week. They were shot while trying to serve a warrant. Today, the president met with the local police chief and others at the Charlotte Airport before seeing the families in private.

The European Union will send more than a billion dollars in aid to Lebanon to curtail the flow of migrants to Cyprus and Italy. Lebanon hosts more than 785,000 Syrian refugees, plus hundreds of thousands of others.

In Beirut today, European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appeared with Lebanese prime minister and the president of Cyprus on the aid deal.

Ursula von der Leyen, President, European Commission:

We are committed to maintain legal pathways open to Europe and resettle refugees from Lebanon to the European Union. At the same time, we count on your good cooperation to prevent illegal migration and to combat migrant smuggling.

Amna Nawaz:

The E.U. has arranged similar funding deals with Egypt, Tunisia and Mauritania in a bid to tighten border controls and human smuggling.

In Southeastern China, the death toll from a collapsed mountainside highway has risen to 48. On Wednesday, state TV showed cranes lifting vehicles crushed after tumbling through the section of road that gave way in Guangdong province. It followed a month of heavy rains.

State officials in Maryland announced today that rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore will take four years and nearly $2 billion. The span collapsed in late March when a container ship rammed into a support column. Six members of a road crew were killed. On Wednesday, a fifth body was recovered. The sixth worker has not yet been found.

Part of Interstate 95 in Connecticut will be closed for days after a gasoline tanker truck crashed today on a bridge over the highway. The wreck shut down the main north-south highway linking New England with New York. Traffic was backed up for dozens of miles. The governor said the bridge will have to be replaced.

And on Wall Street, stocks made up some lost ground after strong corporate earnings reports. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 322 points to close at 38225. The Nasdaq rose 235 points, or 1.5 percent, and the S&P 500 added 45.

And a European court has sided with Italy against the Getty Museum in California in a fight over an ancient Greek statue. The Victorious Youth sculpture dates back from 300 to 100 B.C. It was pulled from the sea bottom by Italian fishermen in 1964. Italy argues it was illegally sold to the museum in 1977. Getty officials say they're considering a further appeal.