Daily Briefing: Aid arrives in Gaza

The U.S. military says it has started moving aid to Gaza using an American-built floating pier. Four people are dead and hundreds of thousands are without power after severe storms lashed Texas and Louisiana. Seventy years after Brown v. Board outlawed segregation in schools, disparities in teaching prevail.

👋🏾 I'm Jane, Daily Briefing author. Is a taco a sandwich? A judge made a ruling after a yearslong debate.

Now, here's Friday's news.

U.S. military begins Gaza Strip aid deliveries from floating pier

The U.S. military said Friday it has started moving aid to the Gaza Strip using a floating pier it built off the coast of the Palestinian territory. U.S. Central Command said no U.S. troops went ashore as trucks began using the makeshift dock. President Joe Biden announced the pier would be constructed in March as aid officials pleaded with Israel to improve land-route access to Gaza for relief supplies. The U.N. and international officials have stressed the maritime access for aid deliveries should not be viewed as a substitute for land routes to Gaza via Israel and Egypt. Read more

Four dead after severe storms lash Texas

Powerful storms blasted Texas on Thursday evening with winds as high as 80 mph and heavy rain, killing four, causing power outages to more than a million customers, toppling trees and dumping even more heavy rain on a region already waterlogged from recent storms.

A tornado watch shifted eastward with the storms, sliding from Texas to southern Louisiana as the strong storms moved through the region.

• Flood warnings or watches for intense rainfall were in effect through Mississippi and Alabama and as far east as the Florida Panhandle, and the National Weather Service warned of a "high risk" of excessive rainfall at the Texas-Louisiana state line north of Beaumont through Friday morning.

• As of 5 a.m. Friday, power outages in Texas affected over 820,000 homes and businesses, according to poweroutage.us. In Louisiana, more than 170,000 customers were without electricity.

More news to know now

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pardons Daniel Perry, who killed a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020.

• CDC unveils dashboard to track bird flu as virus spreads among dairy farms.

• House GOP passes bill to force Biden to send bombs to Israel, testing Democratic unity.

• Democrats want more answers from Justice Clarence Thomas about $267,000 loan for RV.

• On today's The Excerpt podcast, Biden invokes executive privilege to shield Hur interview tapes from the House. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche to Michael Cohen: 'That was a lie!'

Former President Donald Trump's defense team tried to undermine star witness Michael Cohen's credibility in a fiery exchange at Trump's New York hush money trial Thursday. "That was a lie!" Trump lawyer Todd Blanche exclaimed about Cohen's earlier testimony that a call with Trump's bodyguard Keith Schiller was about paying adult film star Stormy Daniels to stay silent about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump. Trump is charged with more than 30 counts of falsifying business records. Read more

There's a surprising reason why many schools don't have a single Black teacher of color

Middle school educator Jeffrey Lee is the only Black male English teacher at his school, northwest of Philadelphia. "It can be a lonely existence. I almost feel like the last dinosaur that roamed the Earth," Lee said. "I have students say, 'You’re the first African American or male teacher of color' they’ve ever had." Seventy years after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation in public schools, Lee's story illustrates a lingering imbalance at schools nationwide: Students of color now make up nearly half of America's students, but the number of teachers and principals of color has not kept apace. Read more

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• Taco Bell brings back beloved Cheesy Chicken Crispanada for limited time.

• Memorial Day sales are coming. Here's what you need to know.

Eighty years after Pearl Harbor, beloved 'Cremo' buried at Arlington

Frances Griffin never got the chance to meet her uncle, who was among thousands killed at Pearl Harbor, when Japan launched its Dec. 7, 1941, attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii. All the 81-year-old has of Frank Hryniewicz's memory is the family's deep lore and a heartbreaking letter written after his death from her father. But, on Thursday, Griffin and her family came together to see Hryniewicz' remains buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a full military ceremony. Read more

Photo of the day: Portrait of King Charles incites mixed reactions

King Charles III this week unveiled the first official portrait of himself since his coronation last May. The portrait by artist Jonathan Yeo depicts Charles, 75, against a background of vivid red hues, wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards military unit with a butterfly just above his shoulder. But the fiery red painting has generated mixed reactions from the public, with one person saying on Instagram that it "looks like he's in hell."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gaza aid, Texas storms, Trump trial, Brown vs. Board: Daily Briefing