Important Takeaways:
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a harsh response to the Hezbollah strike that killed 12 children amid calls by the international community for Israeli restrain.
- “Our response will come, and it will be hard,” Netanyahu said during a visit Monday to the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights that came under attack on Saturday.
- The state of Israel, he said, cannot and will not normalize this,” he stated.
- Late Sunday the security cabinet spent over three hours debating a response to the Hezbollah attack, authorizing Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to take action.
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Important Takeaways:
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday appeared to threaten to invade Israel in support of the Palestinians, and to put an end to the nearly 10-month-old war Israel is fighting against Hamas in Gaza.
- Turkey must be “very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to the Palestinians,” the Turkish leader said of the war. “Just as we entered [Nagorno-]Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we can’t do. We must only be strong.”
- As a member of NATO, which includes the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and other close allies of Israel, Erdogan would almost certainly face heavy opposition if he attempted to take military action over the war in Gaza.
- Since the war erupted with the October 7 terror assault in southern Israel, when Hamas killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians and abducted 251 others, the Turkish leader has met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul — where he encouraged Palestinians to unite against Israel, and has compared Israel to Nazi Germany and Netanyahu to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
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Important Takeaways:
- The Park Fire started Wednesday afternoon in a park and grew from about 6,400 acres late Wednesday night to 45,550 acres Thursday morning, then topped 164,000 acres — some 256 square miles — Friday morning, Cal Fire said. Containment had been at 3%, but it fell to zero percent.
- Cal Fire arson investigators have arrested a 42-year-old Chico man on suspicion of starting the blaze, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey announced. Officials later identified the suspect as Ronnie Dean Stout II.
- His arrest followed reports of a man seen pushing a burning car into a gully at around 3 p.m. Wednesday in the upper part of Bidwell Park, where the blaze broke out, the district attorney said. The car slid 60 feet down an embankment and went up in flames completely, sparking the Park Fire.
- Ramsey said the man was then seen calmly leaving the area among other residents who fled as the fire rapidly grew.
- The Park Fire is currently the largest, but far from the only, wildfire burning in California. And farther north, in Oregon, the Durkee Fire grew so large and powerful it created its own weather.
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Important Takeaways:
- “This executive order directs state agencies to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them – and provides guidance for cities and counties to do the same,” Newson said in a statement. “There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part.”
- Newsom’s executive order was buoyed by the US Supreme Court’s decision last month, which rejected arguments that ticketing homeless people for sleeping outside violates the Constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual” punishment.
- Chris Herring, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California Los Angeles, said “Before the Supreme Court ruling, cities were in the position where they would have to provide shelter offers before removing encampments,” “Now … they will be able to carry out these encampment sweeps with the very real threat of issuing people incredibly expensive fines of which people cannot pay and often results in a warrant or an arrest or can result in incarceration.”
- Herring said the timing of the order wasn’t surprising as Newsom seeks to “politically clear his name of the homeless crisis, especially as he’s in the national spotlight right now amid the presidential election.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Some state lawmakers opposed to the order said they aren’t necessarily opposed to the Bible being used or referenced. Two Democrats, who are former teachers, agree the Bible can provide important historical context.
- Where the lawmakers take issue is making teachers include the book in every lesson plan.
- “The districts are going to have to ensure that when they’re teaching our kids, when they talk about American history, when they talk about these moments that are historically factual, that the bible played a role, again not according to us, but according to those individuals in history, it will be covered in Oklahoma classrooms,” Walters said.
- “Highlighting the Bible is to fetishize one particular religious document to give it such significance in class that we start to lose sight of its meaning,” State Rep. John Waldron said.
- Despite no districts publicly getting on board with the Bible mandate, Walters wants to see it implemented statewide by the start of the school year.
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Important Takeaways:
- France’s high-speed train lines were targeted by multiple “malicious” acts including arson on Friday, in what has been described as “an attack on France” and “coordinated sabotage” to disrupt travel ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
- No-one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but given their scale and precision, it is clear they are more than just random acts of vandalism.
- The operator said the Atlantic, Northern and Eastern high-speed lines were impacted, with damage caused to several of its facilities
- At the same time, France has been among many European countries impacted by a wave of attacks that have been linked by officials to Russia. They have included arson and acts of sabotage against infrastructure. Russia has not responded to the allegations.
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Important Takeaways:
- North Korean hackers have conducted a global cyber espionage campaign in efforts to steal classified military secrets to support Pyongyang’s banned nuclear weapons program, the United States, Britain and South Korea said in a joint advisory on Thursday.
- The hackers, dubbed Anadriel or APT45 by cybersecurity researchers, are believed to be part of North Korea’s intelligence agency known as the Reconnaissance General Bureau, an entity sanctioned by the U.S. in 2015.
- The cyber unit has targeted or breached computer systems at a broad variety of defense or engineering firms, including manufacturers of tanks, submarines, naval vessels, fighter aircraft, and missile and radar systems, the advisory said.
- Victims in the U.S. have also included the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Randolph Air Force Base in Texas and Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, FBI and U.S. Justice Department officials said on Thursday.
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Important Takeaways:
- Harris’ comments provided the clearest explanation yet of her views on the conflict as she works to balance the issue that has not only divided the country but caused friction within the Democratic Party.
- Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that committing to the deal in its current form would mean “surrendering” to Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. A deal would “allow Hamas to rehabilitate… abandoning most of the hostages in Hamas captivity.” Smotrich wrote on X. “Do not fall into this trap!”
- The Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir wrote on X Friday, “The war won’t be ceased, Madame candidate.”
- Following Harris’ remarks, Israeli media have been quoting a “senior Israeli official” as saying that pressure from the US vice president to reach a ceasefire and hostages deal in Gaza is counter-productive and may put at risk efforts to reach an agreement
- The October 7 attacks killed 1,200 people in Israel and saw more than 250 others taken hostage.
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Important Takeaways:
- The earthquake, which happened about 10 miles northeast of Hermleigh in West Texas, initially registered as a 4.8-magnitude before being upgraded to 5.1.
- Twelve minutes after the first earthquake, a second earthquake registered as a 3.8-magnitude, according to the USGS data.
- A third earthquake happened about an hour later and registered as a 2.7-magnitude.
- The 5.1-magnitude earthquake was similar in size to the 4.9 that was felt across West Texas and into parts of North Texas on Monday night. Both earthquakes were on the higher end of what Texas experiences with earthquakes, though some in recent years have exceeded a 5.0-magnitude.
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Important Takeaways:
- As Iowa prepares to enact one of the nation’s strictest abortion laws, elected officials in Minnesota are ensuring out of state abortion seekers they are welcome to visit and access services.
- On Thursday, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Bloomington Mayor Tim Busse toured abortion provider Whole Women’s Health Alliance in Bloomington.
- “I’m really honored to be here,” Flanagan said after she and others toured the facility. “Sometimes the stigma that is attached to abortion care is just because people don’t know what happens.”
- The Bloomington clinic provides abortions up to 20 weeks, but Founder and CEO Amy Hagstrom Miller says the hope is to expand to 24 weeks.
- “One of the cool things about abortion is we get to sit with someone as they choose the course for their lives,” Hagstrom Miller said. “Abortion is a solution to an unplanned pregnancy, and unplanned pregnancy really shines a bright light on people’s lives. It has them examine their hopes and their dreams for their future.”
- “Let me just be clear. For our friends in Iowa, you are welcome here,” Flanagan said. “There are people who will provide care for you, and we are good neighbors here in Minnesota. So, if you’re afraid, come to Minnesota, we’ve got you.”
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