Israel ends two-week raid on Gaza's main hospital and Powerball jackpot nears $1 billion: Morning Rundown

Israel ends two-week raid on Gaza's main hospital and Powerball jackpot nears $1 billion: Morning Rundown
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Israel withdraws from Gaza’s main hospital after a deadly two-week raid. No. 11 seed N.C. State upsets Duke to advance to Final Four. And the Powerball jackpot is now almost at $1 billion for tonight’s drawing. 

Here’s what to know today.

Israel withdraws from Gaza’s main hospital after two-week raid

Al Shifa Gaza City (AFP - Getty Images)
Al Shifa Gaza City (AFP - Getty Images)

The Israeli military has withdrawn from Gaza’s main hospital after a two-week raid. The Israel Defense Forces said its troops and tanks had withdrawn from Al-Shifa after killing hundreds of Hamas fighters, as well as seizing weapons and intel documents. The World Health Organization said 21 patients died during the operation, which left the medical complex in ruins and those sheltering at the site in dire conditions. Palestinian officials said bodies had been left scattered in the dirt around burned-out buildings.

Tens of thousands of Israelis marched against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night, in the largest protest since the war began. The crowds who gathered in Jerusalem, including families of Israelis still held in Gaza, called for new elections and railed against the government’s failure to free the hostages. Senior Israeli and American officials will take part in a virtual meeting today to discuss alternatives to a ground assault on Gaza’s overcrowded southernmost city of Rafah, an Israeli official told NBC News today

Follow live updates.

More coverage of the Israel-Hamas war:

  • Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., said this week that the conflict in Gaza should be over quickly “like Nagasaki and Hiroshima,” and that the United States should refrain from sending any humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave as Israel’s war with Hamas continues.

  • The U.S. is sending a fresh round of bombs to Israel, two senior officials told NBC News, undermining the Biden administration’s public expressions of frustration at Israel’s conduct in the war.

  • Netanyahu is recovering after undergoing successful hernia surgery yesterday, a hospital spokesperson said.

Men’s NCAA Final Four is set with 11th seed N.C. State’s shocking upset of Duke

Mark-Antony Richards (Brandon Wade / AP)
Mark-Antony Richards (Brandon Wade / AP)

In a shocking Elite Eight upset, 11th-seeded N.C. State powered through to beat the Duke Blue Devils 76-64, paving the way to its first Final Four appearance in almost 40 years. N.C. State pulled away with a double-digit lead with just under 7 minutes left in the second half, sealing the deal for the Wolfpack and kissing the Blue Devils’ chances at yet another Final Four appearance goodbye. An 11th seed is the lowest-seeded team to ever make the Final Four, tying the record with LSU (1986), George Mason (2006), VCU (2011), Loyola Chicago (2018) and UCLA (2021), according to the NCAA.

The Wolfpack will face the Purdue Boilermakers — a No. 1 seed — on Saturday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The other semifinal game will pit the No. 1-seeded UConn Huskies against the fourth-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide.

The winners of each of those games will play each other in the NCAA championship game, which is set for April 8, also at State Farm Stadium.

A hormonal condition that affects millions of women is difficult for doctors to diagnose and treat. Here’s why.

Photo illustration of female reproductive system and scattered pills  (Leila Register / NBC News; Getty Images)
Photo illustration of female reproductive system and scattered pills (Leila Register / NBC News; Getty Images)

After almost a century of disagreements over what exactly defines polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, it’s still incredibly poorly understood. The FDA has not approved a medication specifically for PCOS, despite the estimated 5 million women in the U.S. who have been diagnosed with it.

Women with PCOS and the doctors who care for them say they want better options — treatments for the condition’s root causes rather than bandages for individual symptoms.

PCOS is linked to infertility, irregular or missed periods, weight problems and other debilitating symptoms. But those symptoms vary so widely that any single drug would be unlikely to help all patients, doctors say.

Powerball jackpot at almost $1 billion after no winner in latest drawing

A Powerball lottery ticket is filled out (Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images file)
A Powerball lottery ticket is filled out (Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images file)

The Powerball jackpot is now almost at $1 billion — and no, this is not an April Fools’ joke.

If a winner is selected, this will be the fifth-largest prize in the Powerball’s history. The Powerball multiplier was at 3x, skyrocketing the prize to $975 million for the upcoming drawing tonight.

The last Powerball jackpot was won Jan. 1 for $842.4 million by a ticket in Michigan. The record Powerball jackpot is $2.04 billion, a prize won by a ticket in California in 2022.

When the solar eclipse arrives, N.Y. prisons will be locked down

Preparations for the solar eclipse have ramped up as the highly anticipated astronomical event nears — those preps, it turns out, include New York’s prisons.

The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision announced its plans to cancel visitations at almost two dozen facilities in the path of totality April 8. In total, the department said, 23 facilities “will experience total darkness ranging from approximately one and a half minutes to approximately three and a half minutes.” Those sites will be closed to visitations all day, while facilities not “directly” in the path will end visits early.

Politics in Brief

Soaring prices: Florida has seen a population boom, but many longtime residents and recent transplants say rising costs and divisive politics have them fleeing.

White House: Conservative outlets accused the White House’s annual Easter celebrations of banning religious themes from the children’s egg decorating contest, even though that guidance predated the Biden administration. 

Election 2024: Sen. Raphael Warnock criticized former President Donald Trump over the $60 Bibles he is selling in partnership with country music star Lee Greenwood.

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Staff Pick: How to not burn your eyes while watching the eclipse

A woman watches the Annular Solar Eclipse with special sun filter glasses (Carlos Tischler / Future Publishing via Getty Images file)
A woman watches the Annular Solar Eclipse with special sun filter glasses (Carlos Tischler / Future Publishing via Getty Images file)

The countdown is on for the upcoming total solar eclipse, which happens in exactly a week! As people across the U.S. make plans for the celestial event, it’s important to keep safety in mind. It’s never safe to look directly at the sun without proper eclipse glasses. But how can you get your hands on a pair, and how will you know if they’re not counterfeits? Reporter Jesse Kirsch, producer Will Ujek and I wanted to help clear things up with this guide. We hope it helps you prepare for the big day!

 Denise Chow, science reporter

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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com