Monday, October 9, 2023

News roundup, 9 Oct 2023

- The death toll in the latest iteration of the Israel-Palestine conflict now exceeds 1,100; unusually, more of those deaths are Israeli than Palestinian, including about 250 people at a music festival. Israel has made a formal declaration of war and greenlighted "significant military steps" to retaliate, so that ratio may reverse soon, though the large numbers of hostages may complicate matters. Israel has also announced a "total blockade" of Gaza, including fuel, food, and water. There is also a lot of talk about the intelligence failure that made such a surprise attack possible.

- Russia intends to revoke their ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, although they are currently saying they will not actually test weapons until the US does.

- An earthquake in Afghanistan has killed over a thousand people, though that's not much more of a rounding error considering all that country has endured in the last 40 years.

- There's been a lot of attention focused on "flash mob" thefts from retailers in the US, though whether they are actually on the rise or just getting more media attention is a matter of debate.

- If you think people are meaner now than before the pandemic, you're not alone and probably not wrong.

- Despite some backtracking on the Greenbelt, the Ford government is still forcing municipalities to open up more land for development.

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