U.S. President Joe Biden Biden said overnight that the U.S. military will help establish a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza as a way to boost the delivery of aid for Palestinians trapped in the besieged territory by the Israel-Hamas war.

He unveiled the plan during his State of the Union address to Congress. The move comes after Biden last week approved the U.S. military airdropping aid into Gaza.

Paul Simon's latest honor places him among public figures well outside the music industry. He is this year's winner of PEN America's PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, which previously has been given to former President Barack Obama, the late Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and Stephen King among others.

The 82-year-old Simon is known for such classic songs as "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "The Sound of Silence" and for his globe-spanning musical tastes, from Brazil to South Africa to his native New York City. Later this month, he will be featured in the MGM+ docuseries "In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon."

Joe Biden and Donald Trump each won the White House by razor-thin margins in key states.

Now, with a reprise of their bitter 2020 campaign all but officially set after Super Tuesday, the two campaigns are unveiling their strategies for a matchup between a president and his immediate predecessor.

The first fatal attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on shipping threatens to further sever a crucial maritime artery for global trade and carries with it risks beyond those just at sea.

Already, the White House is warning that there will be a response to Wednesday's attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden. What that will look like remains unclear, but the U.S. has already launched round after round of airstrikes targeting the Houthis, a rebel group that has held Yemen's capital since 2014, and more are likely on the way.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince transferred another 8% of shares in the kingdom's oil giant Saudi Aramco to the country's prominent sovereign wealth fund on Thursday. The shares are worth some $160 billion.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's decision comes as the kingdom is trying to build a series of megaprojects and invest in sports and other fields aggressively abroad to wean the country off of relying solely on oil.

For the ninth straight month, Earth has obliterated global heat records — with February, the winter as a whole and the world's oceans setting new high-temperature marks, according to the European Union climate agency Copernicus.

The latest record-breaking in this climate change-fueled global hot streak includes sea surface temperatures that weren't just the hottest for February, but eclipsed any month on record, soaring past August 2023's mark and still rising at the end of the month. And February, as well the previous two winter months, soared well past the internationally set threshold for long-term warming, Copernicus reported Wednesday.

Rafael Nadal pulled out of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday night, a day before he was supposed to play his first official match in two months.

Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, posted the news on social media, writing that he was announcing the withdrawal "with great sadness."

A tough day for Carlo Ancelotti ended on a good note as Real Madrid advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the fourth straight season despite a lackluster performance against Leipzig on Wednesday.

After being accused of tax fraud by Spanish tax authorities during the day, Ancelotti saw Madrid struggle in a 1-1 draw with Leipzig that was just enough to put the European powerhouse into the last eight thanks to the 1-0 win from the first leg in Germany three weeks ago.

Manchester City continued its pursuit of back-to-back Champions League titles by advancing to the quarterfinals of European club soccer's elite competition with a 3-1 win over Copenhagen on Wednesday.

Goals from Manuel Akanji, Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland at Etihad Stadium saw City complete a 6-2 aggregate win.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

The most enduring English Premier League rivalry in recent times will end this season when Jurgen Klopp steps down as Liverpool manager and, presumably, makes life a lot easier for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola.