- Israel has made a second incursion into Gaza, and the intense bombing continues. Phone and internet services are now down in the territory, and the food shortage is growing. Amid this, the US is asking Qatar to clamp down on Al Jazeera's coverage of the conflict (perhaps they don't like too much coverage of what's really going on, nor what people like Andrew Mitrovica are saying in opinion pieces on the platform). And when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had the audacity to suggest (rightly) that Hamas' attacks "did not happen in a vacuum", even as he (also rightly) condemned the attacks, Israel's leaders were apoplectic; their ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, declared that UN representatives would not be issued visas, and called for Guterres' resignation. For a different take, it's also worth reading Jonathan Freedland's compassionate lament. In any case, whether one agrees with Freedland's take or not, lament is about all that one can do these days, as there seems to be no realistic prospect of peace there in our lifetime, unless one means the "peace" that will result if one side is expelled or exterminated, or if climate change gets severe enough to make life in the region untenable for both sides.
- The conflict's impact abroad continues as well. When the municipal council of Waverley, NSW (a suburb of Sydney) debated a motion to condemn Hamas' attacks, councillor Dominic Wy Kanak introduced a proposed amendment to also (not instead, it should be noted) condemn the "war crimes perpetrated by a right-wing Israeli government including the bombing of Palestinian civilians", it was not well received. Only one other councillor, deputy mayor Ludovico Fabiano, voted in favour of the amendment, but that is not the shocking part. The shocking part is that the council then voted to strip Fabiano of his deputy mayor position, and Wy Kanak of his positions on several committees of council, in response to a Change.org petition. For her part, the city's mayor, Paula Masselos, declared that Fabiano wasn't sacked because of his vote, but because he had "lost the confidence of the community".
- The suspect in the Maine shootings remains at large, though the "shelter in place" order has been lifted as the river where his car was found is being searched.
- Russia is reportedly executing soldiers who retreat in the face of the Ukrainian advance. "Pour encourager les autres", no doubt.
- A convicted murderer who escaped from prison in 2019 and was at large until this year is the prime suspect in the fire that destroyed a historic building in Montreal in March, killing seven people.
- Boston Dynamics is teaming up with ChatGPT to enable their latest robot dog to talk and serve as a tour guide.
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