An immigrant from Laos who has been battling cancer won an enormous $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot in Oregon earlier this month. But Cheng “Charlie” Saephan's luck hasn't just changed his life — it's also drawn attention to Iu Mien, a southeast Asian ethnic group with origins in China, many of whose members fled from Laos to Thailand and then settled in the U.S. following the Vietnam War. During a news conference Monday introducing him as one of the jackpot winners, Saephan wore a sash identifying himself as Iu Mien. Cayle Tern, president of the Iu Mien Association of Oregon, says the win is significant because so many Iu Mien refugees came to the U.S. with nothing.

Israel plans on opening a major humanitarian aid crossing into hard-hit northern Gaza. That's according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who spoke Tuesday during his latest visit to the Mideast. Israel’s war against Hamas has flattened huge swaths of the territory’s north, and famine is imminent for the hundreds of thousands of civilians who remain. Blinken is trying to advance cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, and talks appear to be gaining momentum. However, hours before he landed in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to launch a ground offensive into Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah — “with or without a deal” to halt the fighting and release Israeli hostages.

A Silicon Valley-backed campaign to build a new city in California for up to 400,000 people says it submitted enough signatures to qualify the initiative for the November election. If Solano County elections officials agree, voters in the San Francisco Bay Area county will decide whether to allow urban development on land now zoned for agriculture. Voters would need to approve the change for the development to be built. Jan Sramek, who heads the company behind the campaign, submitted more than 20,000 signatures to the elections office Tuesday, more than the 13,000 needed. He proposes a development of homes and a walkable downtown. Critics say he should build housing within existing cities.

The U.S. and allies are scrambling to pull together a complex system that will move tons of humanitarian aid into Gaza by sea. Nearly two months after President Joe Biden gave the order, U.S. Army and Navy troops are assembling the large floating platform several miles off the Gaza coast that will be the launching pad for deliveries. But any eventual aid distribution — which could start as soon as early next month — will rely on a complicated logistical and security plan with many moving parts and details that are not yet finalized.