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.

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.

A U.S. Navy ship and several Army vessels involved in an American-led effort to bring more aid into the besieged Gaza Strip are offshore from the enclave and building out a floating platform for the operation. The Pentagon said on Monday that the construction and operation of the pier and aid delivery will cost at least $320 million. U.S. officials have confirmed the ongoing construction off the Gaza coast. The U.S. and Israel have said they hope to have the mobile pier in place and operations underway by early May. Aid has been slow to get into Gaza, with long backups of trucks awaiting Israeli inspections.