Democrats in key states see Biden as dragging the party down

Democrats in key states see Biden as dragging the party down

The New York Times reports: Democrats in battleground states are growing increasingly anxious about President Biden’s low approval ratings, worrying that voters’ persistent antipathy toward his leadership could not only cost the party the White House but also weigh down the candidates who are sharing the ballot with him. These Democrats fear that the Biden campaign is late in building a strong organization in the handful of states that are likely to determine next year’s presidential election. They point to…

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The cruelty and futility of Israel’s starvation blockade on Gaza

The cruelty and futility of Israel’s starvation blockade on Gaza

Alexander B. Downes writes: Immediately after Hamas’s terrorist attack of Oct. 7 that killed more than 1,200 Israelis, Israel imposed a “complete siege” on Gaza. “No electricity, no food, no water, no gas — it’s all closed,” as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant put it. For weeks, supplies into Gaza were reduced to a trickle. Although the recent cease-fire increased the number of trucks carrying aid to about 150 per day, that is a drop in the bucket compared to…

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Americans beg for help getting family out of Gaza

Americans beg for help getting family out of Gaza

The Associated Press reports: Fadi Sckak has already lost his father to the violence in Gaza. He wants to help his mother escape that fate. “I just want to see my mother again, that’s the goal,” said Sckak, a university student in Sunnyvale, California. The 25-year-old is one of the Palestinian couple’s three American sons, including an active-duty U.S. soldier serving in South Korea. “Being able to hold her again. I can’t bear to lose her.” His mother, Zahra Sckak,…

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‘You no longer represent us’: NJ Muslims mobilize against longtime congressman over Israel stance

‘You no longer represent us’: NJ Muslims mobilize against longtime congressman over Israel stance

Politico reports: Last time Rep. Bill Pascrell faced a serious primary challenge, he ended up winning by a 20-point margin after the Arab American community rallied in support of the New Jersey Democrat. Now that same constituency is turning against him, posing a major threat to the 14-term House member over his stance on the Israel-Hamas war. Arab Americans protested outside his district office in Paterson, home to Little Ramallah, the largest Palestinian American enclave in the country. They’ve held…

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Nikki Haley surges in New Hampshire poll to within four points of Republican leader Trump

Nikki Haley surges in New Hampshire poll to within four points of Republican leader Trump

The Guardian reports: The former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley has pulled within four percentage points of frontrunner Donald Trump in New Hampshire’s 2024 Republican presidential primary, a contest which could prove closer than expected for the ex-president, according to a new poll. In an American Research Group Inc poll released on Thursday which had asked voters whom they preferred in the New Hampshire primary scheduled for 23 January, Haley earned 29% support to Trump’s 33%. That meant the gap…

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Israel’s military campaign in Gaza seen as among the most destructive in recent history, experts say

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza seen as among the most destructive in recent history, experts say

The Associated Press reports: The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, experts say, now sits among the deadliest and most destructive in recent history. In just over two months, the offensive has wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. It has killed more civilians than the U.S.-led coalition did in its three-year campaign against the Islamic State group. The Israeli military has…

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The case of al-Shifa: Investigating the assault on Gaza’s largest hospital

The case of al-Shifa: Investigating the assault on Gaza’s largest hospital

The Washington Post reports: Weeks before Israel sent troops into al-Shifa Hospital, its spokesman began building a public case. The claims were remarkably specific — that five hospital buildings were directly involved in Hamas activities; that the buildings sat atop underground tunnels that were used by militants to direct rocket attacks and command fighters; and that the tunnels could be accessed from inside hospital wards. The assertions were backed by “concrete evidence,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said as…

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NYT investigation tracked Israel’s use of one of its most destructive bombs in southern Gaza

NYT investigation tracked Israel’s use of one of its most destructive bombs in southern Gaza

The New York Times reports: During the first six weeks of the war in Gaza, Israel routinely used one of its biggest and most destructive bombs in areas it designated safe for civilians, according to an analysis of visual evidence by The New York Times. The video investigation focuses on the use of 2,000-pound bombs in an area of southern Gaza where Israel had ordered civilians to move for safety. While bombs of that size are used by several Western…

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Meta: Systemic censorship of Palestine content

Meta: Systemic censorship of Palestine content

Human Rights Watch: Meta’s content moderation policies and systems have increasingly silenced voices in support of Palestine on Instagram and Facebook in the wake of the hostilities between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 51-page report, “Meta’s Broken Promises: Systemic Censorship of Palestine Content on Instagram and Facebook,” documents a pattern of undue removal and suppression of protected speech including peaceful expression in support of Palestine and public debate about…

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U.S. and Europe eye Russian assets to aid Ukraine as funding dries up

U.S. and Europe eye Russian assets to aid Ukraine as funding dries up

The New York Times reports: The Biden administration is quietly signaling new support for seizing more than $300 billion in Russian central bank assets stashed in Western nations, and has begun urgent discussions with allies about using the funds to aid Ukraine’s war effort at a moment when financial support is waning, according to senior American and European officials. Until recently, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen had argued that without action by Congress, seizing the funds was “not something that…

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Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s top-secret Hawaii compound

Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s top-secret Hawaii compound

Wired reports: According to plans viewed by WIRED and a source familiar with the development, the partially completed compound consists of more than a dozen buildings with at least 30 bedrooms and 30 bathrooms in total. It is centered around two mansions with a total floor area comparable to a professional football field (57,000 square feet), which contain multiple elevators, offices, conference rooms, and an industrial-sized kitchen. In a nearby wooded area, a web of 11 disk-shaped treehouses are planned,…

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Does quantum theory imply the entire Universe is preordained?

Does quantum theory imply the entire Universe is preordained?

Eddy Keming Chen writes: Was there ever any choice in the Universe being as it is? Albert Einstein could have been wondering about this when he remarked to mathematician Ernst Strauss: “What I’m really interested in is whether God could have made the world in a different way; that is, whether the necessity of logical simplicity leaves any freedom at all.” US physicist James Hartle, who died earlier this year aged 83, made seminal contributions to this continuing debate. Early…

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Entire Gaza population facing hunger crisis, famine risk, UN-backed report finds

Entire Gaza population facing hunger crisis, famine risk, UN-backed report finds

Reuters reports: The entire 2.3 million population of the Gaza Strip is facing crisis levels of hunger and the risk of famine is increasing each day as the Israel-Hamas war grinds on, a U.N.-backed body said in a report published on Thursday. That makes the proportion of households in the Palestinian enclave that are in hunger crisis, or suffering from high levels of acute food insecurity, the largest ever recorded globally, the report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification…

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Fighting terrorism did not mean Israel had to ‘flatten Gaza’, says Emmanuel Macron

Fighting terrorism did not mean Israel had to ‘flatten Gaza’, says Emmanuel Macron

The Guardian reports: Emmanuel Macron has said that Israel’s goal of fighting terrorism did not mean it had to “flatten Gaza”, referring to its response to Hamas’s attack on 7 October. “We cannot let the idea take root that an efficient fight against terrorism implies to flatten Gaza or attack civilian populations indiscriminately,” Macron told the France 5 broadcaster. The French president called on Israel “to stop this response because it is not appropriate, because all lives are worth the…

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