Yesterday, the Pentagon announced that the US will send an advanced missile defense system to Israel, along with approximately 100 American troops needed to operate it. In a statement, the Pentagon’s press secretary said the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, is intended “to help bolster Israel’s air defenses” and defend Israel and Americans in Israel from “any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran.” The decision comes as Israel plans a retaliatory attack against Iran, after the country fired approximately 200 missiles at Israel earlier this month. As the US gears up to send THAAD, the Israeli military said a Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in Israel yesterday killed four soldiers and injured at least 60 people. Hezbollah claimed responsibility, saying it was retaliation for Israeli strikes last week.

President Biden traveled to Florida yesterday to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Milton, which made landfall near Sarasota last week as a Category 3 storm. At least 23 people have died, nearly a million Floridians are still without power, and many in hard-hit Tampa and St. Petersburg are struggling to get gas. During the visit, Biden — who approved a major disaster declaration for the state on Friday — announced an additional $612 million for energy resilience projects in states impacted by recent hurricanes. Meanwhile, experts warn that hurricane season may not be over as they monitor the Caribbean, where weather models have indicated “tropical development could occur.”

Last year, a Texas man made headlines when he sued the friends of his ex-wife for helping her obtain abortion pills — seeking over $1 million in damages for their alleged “criminal and murderous actions.” But on Thursday, days before the trial was set to begin, Marcus Silva asked the court to dismiss his claims, stating that the parties had reached a settlement. (While court records didn’t include its terms, a spokesperson for the defendants said it didn’t involve any financial payments.) Silva’s case — which was a first-of-its-kind lawsuit “targeting those who help facilitate a medication abortion in a state where abortion is illegal” — had alarmed abortion rights advocates that it could establish a dangerous precedent.