A trio of simultaneous crises sent the White House buzzing and threatened to reshape the presidential race this week, as President Joe Biden and the two candidates vying to replace him scrambled to recalibrate their schedules and strategies for a world that felt even more chaotic than usual.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers expressed relief over a special designation for this coming Jan. 6, saying it will boost security on what could be a tense day at the Capitol. But the move is just the beginning, some said.

Mass deportation of undocumented immigrants on the scale advocated by former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance would cost hundreds of billions of dollars to enact, and would only be possible with the creation of a massive detention camp system.

Israel bombed central Beirut in the early hours of Thursday, killing at least six people, after its forces suffered their deadliest day on the Lebanese front in a year of clashes against Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

RALEIGH, North Carolina — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris visited South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia on Wednesday to see first hand the devastation wrought in the U.S. Southeast by Hurricane Helene, which has killed at least 160 people.

Israel has barred U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres from entering the country, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday, criticizing him for failing to forcefully condemn Iran’s latest missile attack.

A strike by 45,000 dockworkers halting shipments at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports entered its second day on Wednesday with no negotiations currently scheduled between the two sides, sources told Reuters.

(Reuters) — The moon blotted out most of the sun across the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday afternoon, giving just a few specks of land an impressive annular “ring of fire” eclipse.