Middle East Updates & Winning A Fight With A Crocodile
November 10, 2023
Hostages & Humanitarian Pauses
Israel has generated a few newsworthy stories in recent days. First, sources told the media that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a deal that would have exchanged the release of some of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 in exchange for a short ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The full details of the deal are unclear, with some sources saying that the number of hostages released was between 10 and 15, though other sources claimed that the number was closer to a few dozen. It’s estimated that around 240 hostages were taken in the attacks, but it’s unclear how many are still being held alive by the group.
On the brighter side of things – though if you really think about it, it’s pretty bleak – the White House said on Thursday that it had negotiated daily, four-hour-long pauses in Israel’s military operations in Northern Gaza. The pauses will be used to allow humanitarian aid into the area, while also letting civilians leave the enclave, which is currently surrounded by the IDF.
Speaking of which, thanks to pictures taken by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-1 satellite, researchers now have a better look at the damage done by IDF airstrikes. Their findings show that about 27% to 35% of all buildings in Northern Gaza have been damaged, and about 13% to 18% of all buildings across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. That’s about 38,000 to 51,500 buildings. “It’s just steadily increasing,” said one satellite imaging expert. “There’s broad damage in areas where people live — cities, refugee camps.” The U.N. estimates that 1.5 million people have been displaced by the conflict thus far, and Gaza’s Health Ministry estimates that over 10,000 Gazans have been killed by the IDF and its bombing campaign.
Want To Know More?
- Hearst asks staff to report colleagues’ ‘controversial’ posts to management (WaPo, $)
- Mossad, CIA chiefs meet Qatar PM in Doha on Gaza hostage deal (Reuters)
- Sunak Clashes With Police Chief Over Planned Pro-Palestinian March (NYT, $)
- Emmanuel Macron rejects Israeli plan for safe zones in southern Gaza (Guardian)
- Israel’s friends must give it ‘hard truths’ over Gaza assault, says Greek PM (Politico)
- More than 500 Biden campaign alumni want a Gaza ceasefire (Vox)
- Red Cross Convoy Hit Delivering Supplies to Gaza Hospital (WSJ, $)
Some Good News
- Lost French love letters from the 1750s reveal what life was like during wartime (NPR)
- Have a $2 bill laying around? It could be worth thousands (CBS)
- To help 2024 voters, Meta says it will begin labeling political ads that use AI-generated imagery (AP)
- On Monkey Island, scientists have rare access to more than 6 decades of biological, behavioral data (CBS)
- Vatican says it’s permissible for transgender Catholics to be baptized (AP)
For all our Sunday Daily Pnut readers – there will not be a Sunday edition this weekend in observance of Veteran’s Day. We want to give a big thank you to all who serve and their families!
It’s Hot…And It’s Only Getting Hotter
- According to a new report by U.S.-based climate nonprofit Climate Central, the past 12 months have been the hottest ever recorded on Earth. The report analyzed the months spanning November 2022 through October 2023, and found that they were about 2.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1.32 C) warmer than pre-industrial averages.
- “This is the hottest temperature our planet has experienced in something like 125,000 years,” said Andrew Pershing, the group’s vice president of science. The analysis found that 25% of people globally experienced a five-day heat wave made more likely by climate change last year, with 90% of people experiencing at least 10 high-temperature days also brought about by global warming. The organization says that we’re expected to feel the full warming effects of the El Niño weather pattern next year, though the cycle just began this year.
A Calm And Measured Airstrike
- On Thursday, the U.S. launched an airstrike on a facility in eastern Syria in retaliation to a series of attacks on U.S. troops situated in the Middle East. The strike apparently destroyed a weapons warehouse being used by an Iran-backed militia group – the U.S. claims that most of the attacks on its Middle East troops have been perpetrated by various groups funded by Iran.
- The facility, according to the White House, was known to be in use by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard up until the strike. “The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests,” said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Another U.S. defense official told the press that just “a couple” of people were killed in the airstrike. The official added that the airstrike was designed not to escalate any conflicts in the region, and was conducted only after Russia was notified.
Additional World News
- Thai farmhands in Israel face a grim choice: work in a war zone or go home to poverty (NPR)
- US Reaper drone shot down near Yemen by Iranian-backed Houthi militants, defense official says (ABC)
- Reuters denies any suggestion it had prior knowledge of Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel (Reuters)
- Alejo Vidal-Quadras: Former Catalan politician shot in the face in Madrid (CNN)
- Two demonstrators killed amid anti-mining protests in Panama (CNN)
- Spain: Sánchez set to stay PM after controversial amnesty for Catalan separatists (Guardian)
- Russia launches deadly missile strike on civilian ship at Ukraine’s Black Sea port (CNN)
“Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.” – Baruch Spinoza
The Real Spammers Were In Congress All Along
- On Thursday, the Judiciary Committee abruptly adjourned a meeting and delayed a vote on issuing subpoenas to billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow and conservative legal activist Leonard Leo in regards to…let’s call it “questionable ethical behavior” on the Supreme Court. It is unclear when the votes will now take place.
- The committee’s chairman, Sen. Dick Durbin, said the vote was delayed because Republicans had filed 88 amendments at the last minute that Democrats had not yet gotten to review, but that they are still committed to issuing subpoenas. Durbin said that Crow and Leo have not been cooperative in the investigation thus far.
Someone Call My Cousin Vinny
- Federal prosecutors announced on Wednesday that ten members of the Gambino crime family have been charged in a ploy to gain control of New York’s carting and demolition industries. The 16-count indictment on charges of racketeering conspiracy, extortion, witness retaliation, and union-related crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace, was part of an international effort.
- Italian authorities also arrested six organized crime members and associates on mafia association and other criminal charges. The indictment says the group “knowingly and intentionally conspired” to violate racketeering laws and are accused of other crimes like extortion, embezzlement and wire fraud.” Some defendants allegedly put in motion a plan to set fire to the home of a man “while his wife and children were inside” to receive extortion payments.
Additional USA Reads
- Virginia’s governor declares a state of emergency over wildfires (NPR)
- 7 Nashville police employees placed on leave as department probes school shooter’s leaked writings (NBC)
- DOJ announces arrests in ‘high-end brothel network’ used by elected officials, military officers and others (CNN)
- Authorities investigating ‘suspicious’ envelopes sent to election offices in Washington, Georgia (ABC)
- Paul Pelosi attack suspect’s federal trial begins in San Francisco (NBC)
- Trump’s lawyers mount long-shot bid to toss NY fraud lawsuit (Reuters)
- In School Board Elections, Parental Rights Movement Is Dealt Setbacks (NYT, $)
Man Is The Real Apex Predator
- It’d be tough to imagine a more Australian headline than this one: a man in Australia has survived a crocodile attack after he bit the crocodile on the eyelid. Cattle farmer Colin Deveraux told national broadcaster ABC that he was working along the Finniss River in the Northern Territory when he stopped to check a “billabong” – a pond that’s left when a river recedes.
- “I took two steps and the dirty bastard latched onto my right foot,” Deveraux said. He managed to stop the bleeding with some rope and later traveled to the hospital, where he was told he had damage to his tendons and “two big slashes just about the full length of the foot.” “It all happened, like I said, in about eight seconds,” he said. So, if you’re down under any time soon, be on the lookout for a croc with a chunk of its eyelid missing.
Additional Reads
- Rats Can Use Imagination to Navigate in Virtual Reality, Study Finds (Smithsonian)
- Killer whales sink yacht after 45-minute attack, Polish tour company says (CBS)
- New island emerges after undersea volcano erupts off Japan, but it may not last long (ABC)
- OpenAI introduces custom AI assistants called “GPTs” that play different roles (Ars Technica)
- Steering wheel rhinestones can become dangerous projectiles in a crash, government warns (CNN)
- Blue diamond sells for more than $44 million at Christie’s auction in Geneva (ABC)
- Man on Led Zeppelin IV Cover Identified 52 Years After Album’s Release (Pitchfork)