News Wrap: UN warns of famine in Gaza if more aid isn’t allowed in

Amna Nawaz:

The United Nations World Food Program warned that the war in Gaza has left more than 570,000 people starving, about a quarter of the population. Officials said 90 percent of Gazans routinely face days with nothing to eat at all. And they forecast the onset of outright famine unless something changes.

Arif Husain, Chief Economist, World Food Program:

I have seen Afghanistan. I have seen Yemen. I have seen Syria. I have seen South Sudan. I have seen Northeast Nigeria, pretty much everywhere. I have never seen something at this scale as it is happening in Gaza and at this speed, how quickly it has happened, just in a matter of two months.

Amna Nawaz:

Also today, World Health Organization officials who visited Northern Gaza reported none of the hospitals there are still functioning. All told, only nine health care facilities are still running in Southern Gaza.

The fighting in Gaza still shows no signs of abating on the ground or in the air. Intense Israeli strikes sent families ducking for cover behind cars today at Rafah along Gaza's Southern border with Egypt. Inside Israel, interceptors knocked out Hamas rockets aimed to Tel Aviv. Both sides insisted they won't back down, but U.S. officials vowed negotiations won't stop.

John Kirby, NSC Coordinator For Strategic Communications:

We're working on it every single day, almost every hour of every day, that there have been serious talks and negotiations over trying to get back into another pause and as hostage exchange.

I won't go into the details of that, understandably so, but I can tell you that they are very serious and we are very serious about getting that back in place.

Amna Nawaz:

Negotiations also continued at the U.N. Security Council in a bid to craft a cease-fire resolution that the U.S. will not veto.

In Sudan's civil war, the United Nations now estimates a new burst of fighting has forced up to 300,000 people to flee what had been a safe haven. Combat between the Sudanese military and a paramilitary group spread to Wad Madani this month, the capital of Jazeera province. About half-a-million people had sought refuge in that region after the war erupted in Khartoum last April.

Back in this country, former President Trump's ally Rudy Giuliani filed today for federal bankruptcy. That came days after a federal jury ordered him to pay $148 million to two former election workers in Georgia. Giuliani was found guilty of defaming them after the 2020 presidential election.

A new California law that banned carrying concealed guns in public parks, churches and playgrounds is now on hold. A federal court ruled Wednesday that it would deprive people of their ability to defend themselves. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney wrote that the law is — quote — "sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment and openly defiant of the Supreme Court."

The measure had been set to take effect on January 1.

On Wall Street, stocks recouped most of their losses from a day earlier, thanks to strong profit reports. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 322 points to close at 37404. The Nasdaq rose 186 points. The S&P 500 added 48.

And with Christmas close at hand, 'tis the season for ice skating in church. A holiday tradition in Belgium has transformed a baroque 18th century church into an ice rink in the city of Sint-Truiden. Skaters can zip around the nave, its floors coated in ice, and the walls are adorned with holiday lights. Organizers say weather prompted the move indoors, but they call it a win-win.

Philip Bronckaerts, Chair, Sint-Truiden Trade Association:

It's very ecological to use this ice rink because it's CO2-neutral. We're not using water or electricity. And on the other side, we give the church a service to the community.

Amna Nawaz:

The church is a historic religious landmark and is no longer used for actual services.