Good morning.
One 12 months in the past, Hamas launched a shock assault on Israel that killed 1,200 individuals – the deadliest occasion for Jewish individuals because the Holocaust. An extra 251 had been taken hostage. Within the months that adopted, the Israeli offensive in Gaza laid waste to the densely populated coastal territory and has to date killed nearly 42,000 individuals, in keeping with Palestinian well being authorities.
As Israel marked the day with vigils and protests across the nation, Hezbollah rockets struck Haifa, Israel’s third-largest metropolis, wounding 5, in response to the nation’s bombardment of Beirut. A brand new Israeli army division has been despatched to southern Lebanon, elevating questions over the scope of Israel’s operation within the nation.
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What number of hostages stay in Gaza, one 12 months later? Almost 100 hostages have but to return residence. Whereas hopes had been raised by the discharge of 117 hostages early within the conflict, together with 105 in an trade throughout a quick ceasefire in November 2023, extra hostages have been discovered useless than alive throughout Israeli operations because the offensive has dragged on. One 12 months later, some households are simply studying that their family members had been killed within the preliminary assaults, with their stays nonetheless in Gaza.
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How are the households of hostages coping? “I’ve had enough. A year is just too long. I can’t take it any more,” says Aviva Siegel, who was held hostage for 51 days earlier than being launched however whose husband, Keith, remains to be captive. For the households of the six Thai migrant staff who’re nonetheless being held, the lack of reports has been insufferable.
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What is occurring in Gaza? The Israel Protection Forces has referred to as on residents within the northern Gaza Strip, the place 300,000 persons are estimated to have remained, to evacuate southward in the direction of the so-called humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi, the place an estimated 1 million displaced persons are sheltering.
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One 12 months later, what are situations like for Palestinians in Gaza? Well being staff who volunteered in Gaza say that past the airstrikes and army operations which have destroyed a lot of the territory, malnutrition is a big downside, in addition to worsening sanitation and the restricted entry to water. Medical provides are exhausting to return by, with medics reporting that they’re working with out necessities similar to surgical robes and gauze. Whereas polio vaccinations began final month, the brutal actuality was that among the youngsters being vaccinated within the morning can be seen as casualties by the night, stated one physician.
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How are individuals marking the first anniversary around the globe? From London to Berlin to Tokyo, persons are honoring the reminiscences of these killed within the 7 October assaults with memorials, in addition to taking to the streets in protest towards the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Within the US, cities and campuses are on excessive alert for any unrest.
Nonetheless reeling from Hurricane Helene, Florida braces for Hurricane Milton
Simply days after Hurricane Helene devastated swaths of Florida, the state is making ready for Hurricane Milton to hit its western peninsula by midweek. Milton was upgraded to a class 1 hurricane on Sunday, prompting Florida to develop its state of emergency.
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Are Floridians evacuating? Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida’s emergency administration division, is urging residents to arrange for the “largest evacuation that we have seen most likely since 2017 Hurricane Irma”. Greater than 6.8 million individuals had been evacuated for Irma. Pinellas county issued obligatory evacuation orders for six hospitals, 25 nursing properties and 44 assisted residing services, totaling about 6,600 sufferers, whereas Pasco county has issued obligatory evacuations to enter impact Monday at 10am for all these in low-lying or flood-prone areas.
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What’s Governor Ron DeSantis saying? With 4,000 Nationwide Guard troops serving to state crews to take away particles, DeSantis has directed that Florida crews dispatched to North Carolina in Helene’s aftermath return to the state to arrange for Milton. “We’re going 24-7,” the governor stated. “It’s all hands on deck.”
In different information …
Stat of the day: At the least 200 individuals stay lacking after Hurricane Helene
Greater than per week after Hurricane Helene made landfall within the south-east US, killing no less than 230 individuals, search-and-rescue efforts proceed for lots of extra who stay lacking. Throughout six states, shattered communities are selecting up the items, with the size of destruction nonetheless unknown.
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What would be the long-term results of Helene? Specialists imagine the fallout from broken infrastructure – in addition to rampant misinformation – will plague communities for years, if not a long time. Whereas bronchial asthma flare-ups and respiratory issues are prone to enhance with mildew and standing water, different areas working with out working water are elevating issues about sanitation, together with the unfold of viruses similar to hepatitis A and abdomen bugs.
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How are native communities coming collectively to fill the gaps? With some residents complaining concerning the response from federal and state governments, mutual help teams are stepping up to offer their communities with the non-perishable meals, turbines, menstrual merchandise and child provides they want.
Don’t miss this: Jewish Individuals and Palestinian Individuals replicate on the Center East battle, one 12 months on
Within the 12 months after the 7 October assaults, Jewish Individuals and Palestinian Individuals throughout generations and political divides have been pulled right into a disaster unfolding half a world away. As Jewish Individuals grapple with antisemitism – “People hold me accountable for the Israeli government,” stated 30-year-old Lea Silvert, whose aunt and uncle had been killed by Hamas in the course of the 7 October assaults – Palestinian Individuals wait in worry to listen to from kin nonetheless in Gaza. “I’ve lost 20 relatives since Israel’s attacks on Gaza,” stated Dr Emad Shehada, 48.
Trump’s media technique has advanced this election cycle with the present state of the rightwing media panorama. Whereas Fox remains to be a dominant supply, it’s not practically Trumpy sufficient for probably the most Maga adherent, regardless of a few of its hosts embracing election denialism. As an increasing number of conservatives flock towards far-right influencers and lesser-known retailers constructed round Trumpism, the previous president’s grip on rightwing media grows stronger – and the bubbles wherein a divided US stay develop into echo chambers.
Local weather test: The world’s rivers are drying up
In 2023, the world’s rivers dried up on the highest charge in three a long time, in keeping with the World Meteorological Group (WMO). Just like the 2 earlier years, greater than 50% of world river catchment areas confirmed irregular situations in 2023, with most being in deficit, particularly in massive territories of North, Central and South America. On the opposite aspect of the world, in Asia and Oceania, the massive Ganges, Brahmaputra and Mekong River basins skilled lower-than-normal situations nearly over your entire basin territories.
The WMO secretary normal, Prof Celeste Saulo, stated: “As a result of rising temperatures, the hydrological cycle has accelerated. It has also become more erratic and unpredictable, and we are facing growing problems of either too much or too little water.”
Final Factor: ‘My disability is the least interesting thing about me’
The actor Adam Pearson was born with neurofibromatosis kind 1, a genetic situation that produces benign pores and skin tumors throughout his face. However he didn’t let that cease him from pursuing a profession in leisure. Pearson obtained his first large break in 2013, when he was picked by the director Jonathan Glazer for the movie Below the Pores and skin with no appearing expertise in any way. Over the subsequent decade, he has grown his profession and is starring in A Totally different Man alongside Sebastian Stan.
“I didn’t think disabled people were allowed in films, because I didn’t see any. Up until quite recently, only two disabled actors have won Oscars playing disabled characters,” Pearson stated. “And I’m like: ‘That’s pretty fucked up, right?’”
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