(NEW YORK) — At least three people were injured early Sunday in a shooting outside of a residential hall at Oklahoma State University, authorities said.
One of the injured victims is a student at the Stillwater, Oklahoma, school, according to the Oklahoma State University Police Department.
No arrests have been announced in the shooting.
The shooting was reported around 3:40 a.m. local time outside the Carreker East residential hall, according to the OSU police statement.
“Initial reports indicate a large, private party occurred at an off-campus location. After the gathering disbanded, some attendees returned to Carreker East, where the shooting occurred,” according to the police statement.
OSU Chief of Police Michael Beckner said one of the victims is known to be an OSU student.
All of the victims were taken to hospitals in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
There is no ongoing threat to the campus, according to the statement. Officials requested that anyone with information about the shooting contact the OSU Police Department.
Beckner said campus police officers first learned of the shooting when they overheard a radio call from a Stillwater police dispatcher of a gunshot victim at a McDonald’s several miles from the college.
He said campus officers went to the McDonald’s and found the person suffering from gunshot wounds and began to provide medical aid.
Beckner said that about the same time, campus police received calls of a shooting occurring on campus in the area of the residential halls.
Beckner said when officers got to the scene, people were leaving the area in cars, and officers stopped several of the vehicles at gunpoint. He said that no victims were at the scene when officers arrived.
But while on the scene, officers received word that a person shot at the school had been dropped off at the Stillwater Medical Center, and another victim of the shooting had shown up at the Tulsa Medical Center.
Beckner said all three victims of the shooting were in stable condition on Sunday afternoon.
While interviewing potential witnesses, officers learned that a shooting had just occurred in the parking out outside the Carreker East residential hall.
Beckner said witnesses told officers that the shooting stemmed from a dispute that had erupted earlier at a party at the Payne County Expo Center in Stillwater and spilled over to an after-party on campus.
Asked about the dispute by reporters, Beckner said, “A disagreement between several people. That’s as far as I’ll say.”
(HONG KONG) — An Emirates Boeing 747 cargo plane skidded off the runway after arriving at Hong Kong International Airport and landed in the sea, according to airport authority.
Two security personnel were killed in the incident that occurred at approximately 4 a.m. Monday morning, local time, according to Hong Kong police.
They were not aboard the plane, but were in a petrol car that fell off the runway at the same time as the aircraft. One individual was declared dead at the scene and the other after being transported to an area hospital, police said.
The personnel, both men and longtime employees of the airport, were rescued from inside the submerged vehicle that was over 22 feet under the surface of the water and about 16 feet away from the embankment, according to officials.
Police said they suspect the plane struck the ground vehicle as it fell off the runway.
Four crew members on board the plane were rescued and taken to the hospital, according to police.
The weather and runway were safe for operation at the time, according to Hong Kong Airport Authority, and the cargo plane never signaled any issue before veering left halfway down the north runway and crashing through the perimeter fencing and into the sea.
The plane had originally departed from Dubai, officials said.
The airport authority said rescue operations began immediately after the incident, and the Airport Emergency Centre has been activated. The airport’s north runway is closed.
According to FlightRadar24’s review of ADS-B data, when the plane hit the water, it was traveling at about 49 knots.
(WASHINGTON) — Speaker of the House Mike Johnson defended labeling this weekend’s “No Kings” rallies opposing President Donald Trump as “hate America” rallies, arguing that he was not referring to Democrats themselves but the message of the protesters.
“Just on this notion that these are, ‘hate America’ rallies — and you not only talked about anarchists, antifa advocates, pro-Hamas wing — you said this is the modern Democratic Party,” ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl asked, referring to comments Johnson made last week. “But I remember not that long ago what you said after the murder of Charlie Kirk when you said that we should view fellow Americans, not as our enemies, but as our fellow countrymen.”
“I’ve never called anybody an enemy,” Johnson said, but claimed that “there were a lot of hateful messages” during Saturday’s protests.
“I mean, we have video and photos of pretty violent rhetoric calling out the president, saying fascists must die and all the rest,” he added. “So it’s not about the people, it’s about the message.”
Pressed by Karl about Johnson likening anarchists, antifa and Hamas to the modern Democratic Party, Johnson defended his remarks.
“I never said it was the whole Democratic Party, but you and I have to acknowledge the reality,” Johnson said before turning his criticism to New York City’s Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
“Look at what’s happening in New York. They’re about to elect an open socialist Marxist as the mayor of America’s largest city. There’s a rise of Marxism in the Democratic Party. It’s an objective fact, and no one can deny it,” he said.
Mamdani has previously stated he is not a “communist,” as Trump has called him. He identifies as a democratic socialist and has repeatedly claimed that label.
Johnson also argued the “No Kings” branding of the nationwide protests was ironic.
“If President Trump was a king, the government would be open right now. If President Trump was a king, they would not have been able to engage in that free speech exercise out on the (National) Mall,” he said.
Here are more highlights from Johnson’s interview:
On not yet swearing in Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva Karl: When are you going to swear in Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva?
Johnson: As soon as we get back to legislative session, when Chuck Schumer allows us to turn the lights back on.
Karl: Why haven’t you done already?
Johnson: Because this is the way the institution works. I’m following the Pelosi precedent, by the way.
…
Karl: And what about the Johnson precedent? I mean, you swore in two Republicans the day after their election.
Johnson: I’m happy to answer. I’m happy to answer. Pelosi precedent — Pat Ryan. Joe Sempolinski. They were elected during an August recess. So 21 days later, when the House returned to regular legislative session, they were administered the oath. That’s what we’re doing. We’re not in session right now. Rep. Grijalva was elected after the House was out of session. As soon as we returned the legislative session, as soon as the Democrats decide to turn the lights back on so we can all get back here, I will administer the oath —
Karl: You could swear in tomorrow, right?
Johnson: No. Not tomorrow. No, we couldn’t, we wouldn’t. There was an exception for two Floridians earlier in this Congress. But the reason was they were duly elected. They had a date set. They flew in all their friends and family and the House went out of session unexpectedly.
Karl: So if she flies in friends and family —
Johnson: We don’t have a date set. She was elected after we were out of session.
On former Rep. George Santos’ sentence being commuted
Karl: What do you make of that?
Johnson: The president has the right around the Constitution for pardon and —
Karl: For sure.
Johnson: And commutation, of course. We believe in redemption. This is a personal belief of mine. And I, you know, I hope Mr. Santos makes the most of his second chance.
…
Karl: Is it OK for him to say, essentially, “I’m pardoning someone because they always had the courage — “
Johnson: That’s not the reason.
Karl: “Conviction and intelligence to always vote Republican?”
Johnson: That’s one snippet of what he said, among many things about George Santos.
Karl: Should that be a factor in pardoning somebody that they vote Republican — or clemency?
Johnson: No, and I don’t think — I don’t think it was. No, I don’t think it was. I just think he’s talking about, this individual and his past, and at least he’s open and transparent about it. Joe Biden never told us anything. And frankly, we’re not even sure he knew who he’s pardoning on any one of those things.
How ICE is conducting enforcement operations Karl: I want to play something for you that (podcast host) Joe Rogan recently said about how this is being undertaken. Take a listen.
Joe Rogan (host, “The Joe Rogan Experience”): The way it looks is horrific. It looks — when you’re just arresting people in front of their kids and just normal, regular people that have been here for 20 years. That — everybody who has a heart can’t get along with that.
Karl: Do you worry that these ICE raids are going too far, or at least — or could go too far?
Johnson: I think everybody is aware of the optics, but I do believe in the rule of law. And I believe the American people were alarmed that the, the, the border was wide open for four years, and by many estimates, as many as 20 million illegal aliens get into the country, many of them hardened, dangerous criminals —
Karl: What you’re seeing people that have been in the country 20 years or more with that have families. You know, have American citizens as children, as spouses, that are facing, you know, these pretty rough deportations.
Johnson: Yeah. And no one takes any pleasure in that at all. What ICE has prioritized is the dangerous, hardened criminals first. And there’s probably a few million of those, OK? So they’ve been trying to round them up and send them back home with great success.
Whether he has concerns about military operations in the Caribbean Sea Karl: Don’t you have questions for him (Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth) about what’s happening in Venezuela? We have this buildup around Venezuela. We have the, the targeting of these boats. I mean, you must at least have questions. I know we have questions.
Johnson: The targeting of the boats? You have drug cartels bringing in fentanyl and boatloads of it that would kill potentially hundreds of thousands of Americans. What we’re doing is restoring —
Karl: You have no questions about how they’re doing.
Johnson: No, I believe in peace through strength. I think that the president and the commander-in-chief are in charge of ensuring national security and the safety of the American people. And I think most common-sense Americans look at that and say “Thank goodness.”
(PARIS) — Several people disguised as construction workers broke into the world-famous Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday, cracking open display cases and stealing jewelry that once belonged to Emperor Napoleon and his wife, officials said.
At least nine pieces of jewelry of “inestimable heritage and historical value” were taken in the brazen heist before the thieves made their getaway on motorcycles, two ministers said.
“Investigations have begun, and a precise list of the stolen items is underway,” the museum said in a statement.
Four thieves pulled off the apparently well-planned heist, according to authorities.
The theft took place around 9:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, just before the museum was set to open to the public, the Paris Police Prefecture said in a statement.
The team of thieves drove up to the side of the museum in what police described as a “mobile freight elevator” equipped with a metal ladder on the back that was extended up to a window, according to the Paris police.
“They deployed the freight elevator, securing the surroundings with construction cones, before accessing the second floor, in the Apollo gallery, by breaking the window with an angle grinder,” according to the police statement. “Inside, they then smashed two display cases, ‘Napoleon jewels’ and ‘French crown jewels,’ using the angle grinder and stole numerous pieces of high-value jewelry.”
Two of the thieves arrived at the museum in the mobile freight elevator, one wearing a yellow vest and the other an orange vest, according to police. Two accomplices arrived at the museum at the same time on what police described as “T-max vehicles” or sports motorbikes.
“The staff on site, upon seeing what was happening, took to safety,” according to the police statement. “An alarm was triggered at 9:37 a.m. The perpetrators exited through the window by going back down the freight elevator before fleeing on the two motorbikes at 9:38 a.m.”
Following the heist, police found two angle grinders, a blowtorch, gasoline, gloves, a walkie-talkie, a blanket, and a crown at the scene. Police also found a yellow vest that was apparently dropped by one of the fleeing perpetrators at the corner of Pont de Sully and Avenue Henri IV, several blocks from the Louvre, police said.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez in an interview on local radio said the value of the items would be “inestimable.”
The alleged robbery took about seven minutes, he said.
A notification posted on the Louvre’s website shortly afterward said, “The Louvre Museum will remain closed today for exceptional reasons. We thank you for your understanding.”
The decision to close the museum was made jointly by its management, the police and the Ministry of the Interior, museum officials said in a statement. The doors were closed as “a security measure and to preserve traces and evidence for the investigation,” the statement said.
Kaci Benedetti, who was visiting Paris from the United States, told ABC News she was standing in line to enter the museum on Sunday when a commotion began. Police were running along the courtyard where Benedetti and her family were waiting, she said.
She watched as the officers attempted to enter the building through a side door, but “could not because they were locked,” she said.
“We could see people inside running and some were banging on the glass doors to get out, but could not because they were locked,” Benedetti said. “Then police and military police arrived. After about an hour they announced the Louvre was closed for today.”
The news of the robbery came first from French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, who said on social media, “A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum.”
Dati added, “No injuries to report. I am on site alongside the museum teams and the police. Investigations underway.”
(NEW YORK) — A suspect remained at large Sunday after allegedly crashing a vehicle into a child’s birthday party being held on the lawn of a Maryland home, injuring 11 people, including a toddler, according to police.
The incident occurred around 10:15 p.m. on Saturday in a residential neighborhood in Bladensburg, Maryland, a few miles northeast of the nation’s capital.
Of those injured, nine were children, ranging in age from 2 to 9, and two were adults, the Bladensburg Police Department said in a statement on Sunday morning.
“A vehicle that traveled from the area of Annapolis Road struck several individuals that were gathered in front of the residence for a child’s birthday party,” according to the police statement.
The Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department said in a social media post Saturday evening that of the 11 people taken to the hospital, nine were juveniles, including “1 infant.”
“1 juvenile female & 1 infant transported in critical condition,” according to the Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department post. The other victims have “serious but not life-threatening injuries,” according to the post.
Seven of the victims were taken to Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.; three were being treated at Capital Regional Medical Center near Landover, Maryland; and one was being cared for at Howard University Hospital, according to the Sunday police statement.
“The driver of the vehicle fled the scene on foot after the collision and the identity of the driver is still under investigation as well as the cause of the collision,” according to the police statement.
(NEW YORK) — At least four U.S. states are under a severe thunderstorm watch.
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center issued the watch for northwest Arkansas, southeast Kansas, southern Missouri and eastern Oklahoma until 6 p.m. CT. The storm is expected to bring hail and damaging winds.
Wind speeds could reach 75 miles per hour and hail might be as large as 1.5 inches in diameter, according to the forecast.
Most of these areas have seen growing drought conditions over the last two months, so one to two inches of rain expected across the area will be much needed and welcomed to these areas. However, some localized flash flooding will be possible.
The rain will reach from the Florida Panhandle up to the eastern Great Lakes Sunday by the afternoon.
While the severe threat is expected to be lower, some storms capable of producing strong winds and large hail are possible for the central Gulf Coast, as well as from northern North Carolina and eastern Kentucky up to western New York.
(NEW YORK) — Activists and advocacy groups are staging a second round of “No Kings” protests across the country on Saturday in response to what they call abuse of power by President Donald Trump and his administration, including his immigration crackdown and his sending troops into American cities.
Organizers predict millions will take part.
Republicans are trying to brand the protests as “hate America” rallies and claim they’re prolonging the federal government shutdown.
Here’s what to know.
What are the “No Kings” protests? The daylong “No Kings” protests set for Oct. 18 follow up on the thousands held in mid-June. They are being run by a coalition of organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, Indivisible, 50501 and others. Organizers say there are more than 2,600 events planned nationwide — including major cities such as New York; Washington, D.C.; Chicago and Los Angeles — and say millions are expected to attend.
They have been “organized by regular people, by volunteers,” Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer of the ACLU, told ABC News.
While organizers have not released details on fundraising ahead of the protests, and the coalition has remained relatively decentralized, a few groups have indicated either heavy spending to promote the rallies or planned star power to increase buzz around them.
For instance, Home of the Brave, a political group, said Monday it was spending $1 million to advertise the No Kings protests, including in local and national newspapers.
Celebrities, including Jane Fonda, Kerry Washington, John Legend, Alan Cumming and John Leguizamo, are slated to attend, according to a fundraising email on Thursday from the political action committee Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
“We’ll be in the streets for immigrant families under attack and for voters who are being silenced. For communities being terrorized by militarized policing. For families who are about to lose their health insurance. And for every single person whose rights are threatened by this administration’s cruelty,” the group wrote in the email.
In advance of Saturday’s rallies, law enforcement is actively monitoring social media and the internet, as well as working with local organizers and potential counter-protesters, to get a sense of what might be expected. That vigilance comes as there continues to be heightened concerns about large-scale public gatherings, especially political events.
What are Republicans saying about the protests? Republicans have been slamming the protests, claiming that the protests are a reason the Democratic Party does not want to end the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune asserted on Wednesday that Democrats are waiting to solve the funding issues until after Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies.
“The truth is — what Democrats really want is something Republicans can’t give them. And that is the approval of their far-left base,” Thune said.
Republican leaders have also framed the “No Kings” protests as a series of “Hate America” rallies, framing the upcoming events as meant to criticize America and what it stands for.
“And I encourage you to watch — we call it the ‘Hate America Rally’ that will happen Saturday,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. “Let’s see who shows up for that. I bet you see pro-Hamas supporters. I bet you see Antifa types. I bet you see the Marxists in full display, the people who don’t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic.”
Johnson did not provide any proof to support his claims that “pro-Hamas supporters” and “Antifa types” will show up. Organizers have said they cannot control who shows up to protests from outside groups and have emphasized wanting to keep protests respectful and nonviolent.
In an interview taped with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Thursday, Trump was asked about the rallies and he shot down that he was a “king.”
“They’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said.
Some state leaders have also said they are calling up more law enforcement in light of the protests, which supporters of the protests have said may be meant to “suppress” them.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, wrote on X on Thursday, that he “directed the Dept. of Public Safety and National Guard to surge forces into Austin” ahead of the rallies.
“Texas will NOT tolerate chaos. Anyone destroying property or committing acts of violence will be swiftly arrested,” Abbott wrote.
State Rep. Gene Wu, who chairs the state House’s Democratic caucus, wrote in response, “Sending armed soldiers to suppress peaceful protests is what kings and dictators do — and Greg Abbott just proved he’s one of them.”
How are protest organizers responding to Republican claims? Organizers have countered that Republicans in power are responsible for the ongoing shutdown, and have said that Johnson and some other Republicans not saying the name of the protest is telling.
“I think it’s really telling that he spent an entire week calling this a ‘hate American Rally,’ on the attack against this coalition and Americans across the country, and he won’t even say the name of the protest,” Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible, one of the major groups in the “No Kings” coalition, told reporters on a press call on Thursday.
“That’s because if you say the name of the protest, ‘No Kings,’ the entire argument falls apart … there is nothing more American than saying that we don’t have kings and exercising our right to peaceful protest,” Greenberg said.
When asked if they thought the claims from Republicans would impact participant turnout on Saturday, organizers said they think it could have the opposite effect.
“I think, if anything, it will increase turnout,” said Schifeling. “I think Americans can really see through these sad attempts to distract attention from the failure of these Republican Congress people and Republican Trump administration to actually address what most Americans want and need from their government.”
Ezra Levin, the co-executive director of Indivisible, told ABC News that he welcomes the publicity, but simultaneously believes Republicans are trying to stop Americans from exercising their First Amendment right.
“I think the Republicans and Trump see that the largest peaceful protest in modern American history is coming together on Saturday to push back against the authoritarian overreach by this regime and its supporters in Congress, and they’re looking for ways to message against it ahead of time,” he said.
(HILO, Hawaii) — Mount Kilauea, a volcano that has been active in recent years, erupted again on Hawaii’s Big Island, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Sustained high fountains of lava flowed from Mount Kilauea’s two vents, according to the USGS.
This is the volcano’s 35th eruptive episode since Dec. 23, 2024, according to the USGS.
Fountains of lava rapidly grew to about 500 feet when the south vent began erupting at 8:50 p.m. local time on Friday, according to USGS.
The plume of gas above the fountains of lava extended to 16,0000 feet above ground level, according to USGS.
Tephra, or volcanic fragments, have reportedly fallen in the area, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense.
“Fine ash and Pele’s hair [a type of volcanic glass] can be carried long distances and may impact a broad area of Kaʻu along the southern and southwestern parts of Mauna Loa,” according to USGS.
(NEW YORK) — With a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in effect, many questions about the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip remain. It may take decades, not years, to rebuild Gaza due to the massive destruction, an expert from the Brookings Institute told ABC News.
Under the ceasefire agreement, the Gaza Strip is set to be redeveloped for the Palestinian people. Jaco Cilliers, an official from United Nations Development Programme, said at a press conference on Tuesday that it had already cleared some 81,000 tons of rubble from the Gaza Strip and was continuing to do so.
However, it is unclear when reconstruction will begin and who will finance the effort, the Brookings Institute expert, Hady Amr, told ABC News.
“I don’t think there’s any modern comparison to what’s going to need to happen in the Gaza Strip right now,” Amr, the former U.S. representative for Palestinian affairs from 2022 until 2025, said. “The level of destruction and devastation is just absolutely immense.”
About 83% of all buildings in Gaza City alone were damaged as of Sept. 23, according to the United Nations Satellite Center. About 40% of those buildings were destroyed.
“Imagine not just your house was destroyed, your block was destroyed, your neighborhood was destroyed, but 80 to 90% of the universe that you have access to,” Amr said.
Schools, hospitals, as well as water and electricity infrastructure have all been devastated during the two-year war from Israel’s extensive military campaign on the Gaza Strip, Amr said.
“It’s just going to be incredibly difficult for people to just even continue to survive while the reconstruction takes place,” Amr said.
Israel has faced heavy criticism and condemnation over its military action in Gaza from humanitarian rights groups and aid groups.
In September, the International Association of Genocide Scholars — the world’s largest group of academic scholars studying the topic — passed a resolution saying Israel’s “policies and actions” in Gaza “meet the legal definition of genocide,” established by the U.N. in 1948.
Israel has denied that it is committing a genocide in Gaza and denied claims that it has targeted civilian infrastructure. As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel has agreed to allow into Gaza higher volumes of much needed aid.
Recovery Significant amounts of equipment and supplies will be needed to begin recovery, another expert said.
“With the rubble and the massive destruction, there is also concern that there are a number of victims, of bodies, that are buried in that rubble — they would also need to be exhumed,” Mona Yacoubian, the director and senior adviser of the Middle East Program at the bipartisan, nonprofit think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ABC News.
Before reconstruction can begin, there need to be areas that are safe and cleared of unexploded ordnance, Yacoubian said. Amr echoed this point, noting that removing unexploded ordnance and removing rubble will both be a “massive issue” that could take years.
There needs to be a restoration of services like running water and electricity in the meantime, according to Yacoubian.
“There’s going to need to be a massive scale up of life saving assistance just to ensure that people are getting food and medical assistance and also shelter, so perhaps tents, and all the kinds of things that are required,” she said.
The ceasefire agreement ensures humanitarian aid can resume entry into Gaza immediately at a larger scale.
“At a minimum, aid quantities will be consistent with what was included in the January 19, 2025, agreement regarding humanitarian aid, including rehabilitation of infrastructure (water, electricity, sewage), rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries, and entry of necessary equipment to remove rubble and open roads,” the agreement released by the White House said.
Since the ceasefire went into effect on Oct. 10, it’s unclear how much additional humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza, though Israel has long maintained they have always allowed enough aid into Gaza.
The UN and other international aid organizations have reported they are able to move more freely around Gaza in areas where the IDF has withdrawn, but additional border crossing points have yet to open.
Challenges ahead Many challenges lie ahead, starting with whether this is really the end of the conflict, according to Amr.
“The central challenges today are ending the war, getting Israel to end its military occupation, and then we need to get to a situation where there can be a security force that comes in to provide basic security. Once that happens, that’s when reconstruction can start,” Amr said.
He highlighted another issue in the reconstruction.
“Freedom of movement of people and goods, that is the central challenge. Palestinians have the skills and knowledge and in fact, much of the Persian Gulf was built with Palestinian knowledge, know-how and manpower. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have long worked in Israel as construction workers,” Amr said.
“It’s just a question of getting access to having the basic freedom to import what they need to get going,” he added.
Who will pay? It will take about $70 billion to rebuild Gaza, according to an operational damage and needs assessment conducted jointly by the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank.
European and Arab nations, Canada and the U.S. appear willing to contribute to the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild Gaza, the UN official said on Tuesday.
“We’ve heard very positive news from a number of our partners, including European partners… Canada” regarding their willingness to help, the official, Cillers, told a press conference, adding that there were also discussions with the U.S.
Oil-rich Arab Gulf states will likely be willing to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza, according to Amr and Yacoubian. Egypt could also provide a “logistical base,” he noted.
“United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, I think, are all poised to potentially fund this. Turkey, I think has a great interest in doing it, but their relations with Israel ar. … at a low point,” Amr said.
However, Yacoubian expressed her belief that more progress towards Palestinian statehood needs to be achieved before countries will commit.
“I think that we could certainly see Gulf countries funding it, but they have signaled that they will not fund reconstruction in Gaza in the absence of a longer-term solution to the conflict. And in particular, they are looking to see demonstrated progress on a path toward Palestinian statehood,” Yacoubian said.
(NEW YORK) — Some parts of the country are expected to face a colder and snowier season this year, but exact conditions will depend on which region you live in, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s winter season outlook.
The seasonal outlook from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, released Friday, predicts that the Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest will experience possible cooler-than-average temperatures, while much of the southern and eastern United States will face potentially milder temperatures than what is usually expected during the winter season.
NOAA’s winter outlook predicts whether parts of the country will be above, below or near average when it comes to temperatures and precipitation — from December through February.
The outlook does not forecast weather variations that happen over days, weeks or over one month, but rather what the overall average would likely look like.
December, in a particular region, could feature typical winter conditions. However, January and February could still end up being warmer than normal, swaying the three-month average to “above normal” for the entire season.
On the opposite spectrum, prolonged cold spells could happen anytime during the winter and tip the three-month average to “below normal” for the entire season. What the outlook means for a specific local area depends on the typical climate around it.
What does winter look like in terms of snow? While NOAA’s winter outlook does not predict snowfall for the season, it offers clues for what this winter could look like in terms of snowfall.
The outlook forecasts above-average precipitation possible for the Pacific Northwest, the northern Rockies, the Great Plains and the Great Lakes from December to February, which could come in the form of snow if cold enough conditions line up perfectly.
With the season’s snowfall dependent on storms that happen on a day-by-day basis, some of these areas could see these wetter conditions in the form of winter precipitation.
The southern half of the country — from Southern California through much of Texas, the exterior Southeast and the coastal Mid-Atlantic — will possibly see drier conditions than what is average for winter.
What previous winters have taught us According to the Environmental Protection Agency and NOAA, the contiguous United States has been getting warmer every season since the early 1900s.
The EPA and NOAA also found that winters specifically in the contiguous United States have increased by about 3 degrees Fahrenheit — the most of all four seasons.
NOAA reported that winter 2023-24 was the warmest winter on average for the country in 130 years, with more than half of all U.S. states seeing their top-10 warmest winters on record.
The last few winters have featured several snow outliers across the country, including record-breaking snow in the south in late January 2025 that turned deadly and a snow drought in the northeast that lasted more than 700 days and ended for some in 2024.
A Climate Central analysis found that for more than 2,000 locations across the country, nearly two-thirds of them are seeing less snow than they did in the early 1970s.
What’s shaping this winter outlook? A big part of what forecasters look for when predicting the seasonal trends are climate patterns, specifically in the Pacific Ocean.
The most influential one is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The ENSO is a natural variation of warmer, neutral and cooler waters along the equatorial waters of the eastern Pacific. This natural variation is one of the most significant driving forces of large-scale weather patterns over the Pacific Ocean, and eventually over North America.
Forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center say the ENSO has been in the cooler pattern, or La Niña, since September and expect it to continue for much of the winter before transitioning into a neutral pattern as spring begins.
This would likely put the U.S. in a dominant weather pattern for much of the winter that keeps the southern half of the country warmer and drier, while the Pacific Northwest out to the Great Lakes will likely be cooler and wetter than average.
This would likely put the U.S. in a dominant weather pattern for much of the winter that keeps the southern half of the country warmer and drier, while the Pacific Northwest out to the Great Lakes will likely be cooler and wetter than average.
