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System intended to rectify disproportionate number of abducted and sex-trafficked Black children overlooked as runaways'California has become the first state to create an alert system specifically geared towards finding missing Black women and girls. Senate bill 673 was signed by Gavin Newsom earlier this week amid a wave of bills that have come across the governor's desk and were either approved or vetoed.Ebony alerts would allow the California highway patrol to trigger emergency notifications on phones and road signs - similar to Amber and Feather alerts - to let people know that a Black person between the ages of 12 and 25 is missing in the area. Continue reading...

Frustrated US district judge Aileen Cannon shuts down conflict-of-interest hearing after lawyers make surprise requestThe federal judge in the criminal case about Donald Trump's retention of classified documents rebuked prosecutors for wasting the court's time" on Thursday with their sudden request to partly restrict the lawyer for one of Trump's co-defendants.US district judge Aileen Cannon abruptly postponed the hearing after getting the request - which came after prosecutors had first said they would not seek disqualification. Continue reading...

The 23-year-old Black man was stopped as he was walking home from a store, placed in a neck hold and injected with ketamineA jury has convicted one Colorado police officer and acquitted another for the 2019 homicide of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old whose death at the hands of law enforcement while on a walk home sparked international outrage and years of protests.A jury found Randy Roedema, an Aurora police department (APD) officer, guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault on Thursday. A second officer, Jason Rosenblatt, was found not guilty of manslaughter and assault. Both had held him on the ground and ignored his cries saying he couldn't breathe. A third officer, who was the first to approach McClain, is also facing charges and has an upcoming trial. Continue reading...

Ground forces are gathering near the border, as UN says that Gaza is dangerously close to running out of food and water

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Report comes amid pressure for Biden to deny Iran revenues amid speculation over how big a role Tehran played in Hamas attackA contentious deal to unfreeze $6bn of Iranian oil revenues has been plunged into uncertainty amid reports that the Biden administration has persuaded Qatar to withhold the funds in breach of a previous agreement following the devastating attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel.There has been mounting pressure from both Democrats and Republicans for the White House to deny Iran access to the revenues in the face of speculation over how big a role Iran played in the weekend's attack by Hamas, Tehran's close ally and proxy. Continue reading...

Judge asks Bankman-Fried's lawyer to have a word with him' after prosecutors complain of possible intimidationSam Bankman-Fried scoffed" as his former paramour and business partner, Caroline Ellison, testified against him in his Manhattan federal court crypto fraud trial, prosecutors alleged.This accusation against Bankman-Fried - who faces seven counts related to the collapse of FTX - came during a sidebar between lawyers and judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday that was neither audible to the courtroom gallery nor jury. Transcripts of the trial published Thursday detailed the exchange. Continue reading...

Obstacles include Uygur's overseas birth in Istanbul that seemingly renders him unqualified under the US constitutionCenk Uygur, founder and outspoken host of the progressive Young Turks TV show, said he could win the Democratic nomination for president despite obstacles including his own overseas birth in Istanbul seemingly rendering him unqualified under the US constitution.Joe Biden is not going to win", Uygur, 53, said on his show on Wednesday, announcing his extremely long-shot primary campaign to challenge the sitting president. Continue reading...

New Jersey Democratic senator has resisted calls for his resignation in the middle of a corruption scandalFederal prosecutors on Thursday filed a superseding indictment against the Democratic senator Bob Menendez, charging him with being an unregistered agent of the Egyptian government, a court filing showed.The New Jersey senator has thus far resisted calls for his resignation. His trial on corruption charges will begin next May. Continue reading...

Feared defender of the Chicago Bears NFL team, who later acted on television and in filmsIn 1986, when the Super Bowl champions the Chicago Bears sold out Wembley Stadium, Britain's favourite players were the silky smooth runner Walter Sweetness" Payton and the lovable lineman William the Refrigerator" Perry. But that belied the American football team's historical identity, born in the 30s when Bronko Nagurski led the feared Monsters of the Midway". And no Bear was more of a monster than Dick Butkus, who has died aged 80.In 2009 the NFL proclaimed Butkus the most feared tackler of all-time. Tackling wasn't good enough ... Dick loved to crush people," said his teammate Ed O'Bradovich. Deacon Jones, a Hall of Fame defender for the Los Angeles Rams, called Butkus a well-conditioned animal. A stone maniac. Every time he hit you he tried to put you in the cemetery, not the hospital." Steve Sabol, with typical NFL Films hyperbole, described Butkus as his favourite player. His career was the most sustained work of devastation ever committed, anywhere ... he mauled and tore ball-carriers apart." Continue reading...

2024 Republican frontrunner called Hezbollah militant group very smart', prompting a stern reaction from the White House

Adam Aron duped into sending explicit photos to Mia', fake ballet dancer created by US woman who pleaded guilty to cyberstalkingThe boss of the world's largest movie theatre chain sent sexually explicit messages and photos to a woman who then tried to blackmail him for hundreds of thousands of dollars.Adam Aron, the chief executive of AMC Entertainment, which also owns the Odeon chain in Europe, exchanged messages for weeks last spring with an individual he believed was a ballet dancer with whom he had previously been in a romantic relationship. Continue reading...

LA have been the most consistently successful regular season team in the National League for years. But they stumbled in the postseason once againThe Los Angeles Dodgers achieved a special kind of baseball ignominy on Wednesday night, in the third game of their National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the third inning, Dodgers pitcher Lance Lynn became a successful launching pad for four Arizona home runs. It was the first time a team had homered that many times in a single playoff inning, made more preposterous by another would-be home run flying just outside the foul pole. The next pitch became a real home run, and Arizona's four runs in the inning stood up in a 4-2 final score and three-game sweep for the D-backs. The Dodgers, winners of 100 regular-season games, won none in the postseason.For Los Angeles, the manner of the defeat was brutal, but the end outcome was typical. The Dodgers are the most consistent franchise in the National League and one of the game's financial juggernauts. They've cleared that 100-win plateau five times in seven years and were paced to do so again in 2020's pandemic-shortened season. They managed a World Series win in that Covid-addled year, giving their fans some salvation. Otherwise, postseason torture has come to define this era of Dodger baseball. Continue reading...

Republicans scramble to find a replacement for the ousted Kevin McCarthy as world events demand the attention of the US Congress

Antony Blinken has visited Israel in a show of solidarity after the Hamas attacks and said the US would 'always be there' for its ally. In a joint statement with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the US secretary of state said Washington was working closely with Israel to secure the release of people taken hostage by Hamas. The war has already claimed at least 2,600 lives on both sides

US secretary of state appears with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and says Washington working to secure release of hostagesAt least 25 Americans have been killed in the attack by Hamas militants in Israel, Antony Blinken said on Thursday, during a visit to show solidarity with Israel.In a joint statement with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the US secretary of state said Washington was working closely with Israel to secure the release of people taken hostage by Hamas. Continue reading...

Bank to cancel almost 18m in pay and bonuses due former CEO, who also faces potential FCA fine of 1.8mThe former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley has been banned from holding any senior City role and is set to miss out on nearly 18m in pay and bonuses after the UK's financial watchdog ruled he had misled it over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.The Financial Conduct Authority said it would also fine Staley 1.8m for failing to disclose the extent of his close personal relationship" with the late sex offender. Continue reading...

Official data shows consumer price index up to 3.7% as central bank keeps watchful eye on latest inflation figuresPrice growth held steady in the United States last month as the Federal Reserve mulls the next stage of its battle against inflation.The consumer price index rose at an annual pace of 3.7% in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was in line with August's 3.7% reading. Continue reading...

Trump son-in-law says his mother called him to say top Democrat upset her with remarks to our friends on the Upper East Side'Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the US Senate, upset Jared Kushner's mother by telling her friends her son would go to jail over his ties to Russia, Kushner said on Wednesday.My poor mom, I told her to stop, you know, reading whatever. I said, I promise you, we didn't do anything wrong, it's good,'" Kushner told the Lex Fridman Podcast. But you know, she'd call me [to] say ... Our friends on the Upper East Side were talking with Chuck Schumer, who says Jared's going to jail.'" Continue reading...

My company in Germany has demanded my swift return from climate-change fieldwork near Papua New Guinea. I can't do itTwo weeks ago, my employer presented me with a stark ultimatum: return to my offices in Kiel, Germany, within five days, or lose my job. I am a climate researcher and since March 2023, I have been completing vital fieldwork into the social impact of climate change almost 24,000km away by overland routes, on the island of Bougainville off the coast of Papua New Guinea.My fieldwork had been mired in unforeseeable problems, from natural disasters to security threats, and my employer was, unsurprisingly, unhappy that my return had been delayed by many weeks. The urgency of their request to return meant I would have to jump on a plane if I was to meet the deadline; but for me, this was not an option. I have been practising conscientious objection to flying for more than 10 years. My employer has supported me on a slow trip" in the past. I do not boycott flying altogether, but I will only catch a plane when no other alternative exists.Gianluca Grimalda, formerly senior researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, is a social scientist interested in social cohesion and adaptation to climate change Continue reading...

Frankie Dettori has put plans to retire later this year on hold to continue his racing career in the United States. The 52-year-old jockey, who has ridden more than 3,300 winners, will move to California later this year, and will also race in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.He revealed: "I've still got the fire inside me that I want to do it a little bit more" but said he would stick to his word and would ride his "final race in front of a big crowd like Ascot" later this month.

Investigation raises questions about transparency and governance of $1bn citizenship by investment scheme

Chief justice says Traci Soderstrom showed gross neglect of duty' after she mocked prosecutor and praised defense attorneyA new Oklahoma judge could lose her job for sending more than 500 texts to her bailiff during a murder trial, including messages mocking the prosecutor, praising the defense attorney and calling a key witness a liar.The chief justice of the Oklahoma supreme court recommended the removal of Lincoln county district judge Traci Soderstrom in a court filing on Tuesday, following an investigation by the state council on judicial complaints. Continue reading...

Spokesperson for IDF also says Hamas fighters still trying to cross into Israel. Plus, why are one in seven of us addicted to ultra-processed foods?Good morning.Israel will not restore power, water or fuel to Gaza until the hostages taken by Hamas over the weekend are freed, an Israeli minister has said. Israel believes Hamas is holding about 150 Israeli hostages inside Gaza.What's happening on the ground today? At around 4.30am, Israel's military said it was conducting a large-scale strike" on targets belonging to Hamas in Gaza. It did not provide details. Israel is expected to launch a ground offensive in Gaza in the coming days.How has Forbes responded? Dan Alexander, a senior editor at Forbes and the author of a 2020 book, White House Inc: How Donald Trump Turned the Presidency Into a Business, tweeted: Hey Donald Trump, if you want to point out a single false fact in any of the articles I've published about you - or in the book I wrote about you - feel free. In the meantime, I'm going to keep reporting - and carefully fact-checking every word I publish."What else is going on for Trump? A federal judge is today expected to weigh whether the lawyers for Trump's two co-defendants, charged with trying to obstruct the US justice department from retrieving classified documents from his Mar-a-Lago club, had conflicts of interest and should be ordered off the case. Continue reading...

Combatants in this war have a duty not to target innocent people regardless of what they believe the other side' has doneDuring one of my several trips to Israel, I visited Sderot, thanks to an Israeli friend who loved showing his country to non-Israelis. The town has about 30,000 people, and the Gaza Strip, from which Israel withdrew in 2005 but has blockaded ever since, lies a mile or so away.After Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel, a horrifying video of Sderot emerged. Gunmen from Hamas, more specifically its military arm, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, roamed its streets in pickup trucks and on foot. They had a common purpose of shooting anyone they encountered: pedestrians, people at a bus stop, motorists and motorcyclists. Continue reading...

The 20-year-old is a vital part of Borussia Monchengladbach's rebuild. His development is crucial for club and countryThe seconds were ticking away, seemingly more quickly than normal, and Borussia Monchengladbach were heading for another home defeat. This one, a fourth out of four against bottom club Mainz, would really sting.One of their young players had seen enough. In the 89 minute he picked the ball up some distance from goal, scurried towards the penalty area, shifted it on to his right foot and thrashed a rocket of a shot up and over Robin Zentner from range before the goalkeeper could even think about getting himself set. Borussia-Park erupted, and Gladbach had salvaged a point. Continue reading...

Thirty years from now, the next generation will look back at their risk-filled childhoods and think: They loved me yet they let me do that?!'When Carl Frampton from Belfast was seven years old, his mum thought he was a bit on the timid side - shy and short of confidence. So she took him along to a boxing gym, as you do. The coaches there spotted something unusual about him. Most seven-year-olds burst into tears when they get punched for the first time. But for reasons as much of a mystery to him now as to everyone else then, little Carl shed no tears. He could take the punches. Three decades and two world titles later, it looks like his mum made the right decision.When I was in my early teens, I was also on the end of some bad stuff at school, so I told my mum I wanted to take up boxing. She said absolutely not and that was the end of that. Another good decision. My boxing journey wouldn't have lasted beyond the first punch. Undoubtedly, I would have cried me a river and walked out, never to return.Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Brussels is right to backtrack on its threats - cutting the territories' largest aid package would only inflame the crisisJustified shock and outrage over the Hamas atrocities in Israel are driving some European politicians into ill-judged responses that risk exacerbating this crisis. Four European Union member states - Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden - have announced they will review and temporarily suspend their bilateral development aid to the Palestinian territories. On Monday, the EU commissioner Oliver Varhelyi unexpectedly declared - in a social media post - a freeze on EU development assistance to the Palestinians worth 690m. The scale of terror against Israel was a turning point", Varhelyi wrote. Providing around 300m annually, the EU is the occupied territories' largest international source of aid.The Hungarian commissioner's solo, and seemingly unauthorised, move was later reversed after a backlash from several governments, along with objections from the EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, and the European Council president Charles Michel. The EU will now review its aid, not formally suspend it. Varhelyi - who was nominated by the Hungarian premier Viktor Orban, a close ally of Benjamin Netanyahu - is in charge of EU relations with neighbouring countries and rarely misses an opportunity to position himself as Israel's staunchest ally in Brussels.Martin Koneny runs the European Middle East Project (EuMEP), a Brussels-based NGO Continue reading...

Prosecutors say lawyers for co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira had conflicts of interest and should be ordered off caseA federal judge was expected on Thursday to weigh whether the lawyers for Donald Trump's two co-defendants, charged with trying to obstruct the US justice department from retrieving classified documents from his Mar-a-Lago club, had conflicts of interest and should be ordered off the case.The hearings - at 1pm and 3pm ET - are notable because an adverse decision by the US district judge Aileen Cannon could have major ramifications: Trump's lawyers are in an informal joint defense agreement with his co-defendants' lawyers, which could be upended if new lawyers were to come in. Continue reading...

Ex-president claims magazine, citing his $600m loss, worked with prosecutor who sued him and assigned writers to hit him hard'Donald Trump demanded" an apology from Forbes magazine after it dropped him from its list of the 400 wealthiest people in the US for the second time in three years.I hereby demand a full apology from the failing Forbes magazine," the former president wrote on Wednesday on Truth Social, the reportedly struggling social media platform he set up after being expelled from mainstream platforms over the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Continue reading...

The profile of Inter Miami - and the league itself - have been boosted by the Argentinian's arrival. But it's led to an increase in prices for someIt's difficult to overstate the impact Lionel Messi has had on Inter Miami and MLS since he joined the club in July. But there are some concerning signs underneath the veneer of Messi Mania.Soccer in North America will never be the same," Camilo Durana, the executive vice-president of Apple partnership, properties and events at MLS, told Forbes in June, days after the announcement that Messi was moving to the league. Continue reading...

The last pick in the 2022 draft is now leading the league in most QB metrics. He is the ideal quarterback for a phenomenally talented San Francisco teamIt's hard to move these days without being hit with a strident opinion about Brock Purdy.Either he's the second coming of Tom Brady: a late-round draft pick who fell through the cracks, knows how to win and has pushed his offense to another level. Or he's the latest product of the Kyle Shanahan system: a so-so quarterback playing in the ideal setup with a stellar supporting class. Continue reading...

The respected Uyghur scholar became a powerful symbol of the devastation of that culture. Her imprisonment cannot go unchallengedI last saw Rahile Dawut in 2016, at a conference we'd organised in Hong Kong. We sat in a sunny precinct, drank coffee, and enjoyed a rare moment of calm before the gathering storm. She was detained in 2017, and this week we have confirmation, via the US-based Dui Hua Foundation rights group, that Dawut has been jailed for life by China for splittism": a deliberate attempt to split the Chinese nation.When we met in 2016, Dawut was already experiencing trouble. On her journey from Urumqi to Hong Kong, her plane was diverted due to snow, and she and a student checked into a hotel in Chengdu. They were woken in the middle of the night by the local police: the hotel had reported them because their ethnicity was marked as Uyghur" on their passports, and Uyghurs no longer had the right to travel freely within their own country.Rachel Harris is professor of ethnomusicology at Soas University of LondonDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

There is still a slim chance of peace if wiser counsels prevail and other major powers intervene in a coalition of the willingIsrael has just experienced the worst day in its history. More Israeli civilians have been slaughtered in a single day than all the civilians and soldiers Israel lost in the 1956 Sinai war, the 1967 six-day war and the 2006 second Lebanon war combined. The stories and images coming out of the area occupied by Hamas are horrific. Many of my own friends and family members have suffered unspeakable atrocities. This means the Palestinians, too, are now facing immense danger. The most powerful country in the Middle East is livid with pain, fear and anger. I do not have either the knowledge or moral authority to speak about how things look from the Palestinian perspective. But in the moment of Israel's greatest pain, I would like to issue a warning about how things look from the Israeli side of the fence.Politics often works like a scientific experiment, conducted on millions of people with few ethical limitations. You try something - whether increasing the welfare budget, electing a populist president or making a peace offer - witness the results, and decide whether to proceed further down that particular path; or you reverse course and try something else. This is how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has unfolded for decades: by trial and error. Continue reading...

Former president said he was the best friend Israel has ever had' and attacked Biden's foreign policy at Florida event on WednesdayDonald Trump used the war in Israel to test new lines of attack against Joe Biden at a Republican event on Wednesday in Palm Beach, as his campaign sought to weaponize for political gain the deepening conflict that could still be raging around the time of the 2024 presidential election.The former president's extended remarks on Israel, at an event hosted by the longtime pro-Trump group Club 47, provided a clear insight into Trump's intention to wield the war as a cudgel against Biden on touchstone foreign policy issues. Continue reading...

Alan Weber was reportedly screaming and breaking items inside a Long Island home before confronting police while wearing a maskA police officer fatally shot a man who charged at authorities with two swords on Long Island, New York, and the police commissioner said Wednesday that the shooting appeared to be justified.Alan Weber, 54, was pronounced dead at a hospital after Tuesday night's shooting in Elwood. Continue reading...

US president Joe Biden says he would argue that the Hamas attack on Israel was 'the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust', and called the militants' actions 'A campaign of pure cruelty ... against the Jewish people'. Biden also warned Iran to be careful,' adding that the US is sending more military assistance to help Israel fight Hamas militants.

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Five Democrats join Republicans in calls to renege on agreement unless it is proved country wasn't involved in assaultJoe Biden is under pressure from fellow Democrats to refreeze $6bn of Iranian oil revenues released last month as part of a prisoner exchange deal amid accusations that Iran played a key role in last weekend's deadly attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas.Five Democratic senators up for re-election next year have joined Republican calls for the US president to effectively renege on the agreement that led to the release of five Americans held captive by Iran unless it is proved that the country's theocratic regime was not involved in Saturday's assault, which killed more than 1,000 Israelis. Continue reading...

US president has pledged to give new military assistance to Israel and said the attack by Hamas on Saturday was the 'deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust'. Speaking at a Jewish community event in Washington DC, Biden reiterated that he backed Israel but also called on Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to 'operate by the rules of war'. At least 1,100 Israelis have died since Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel on Saturday, and at least 1,100 Palestinians were killed in Israel's retaliation

Former Alameda Research CEO describes in teary testimony how her ex-boyfriend Sam Bankman-Fried led her to commit fraudOn the sixth day of Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud trial, Caroline Ellison, his ex-girlfriend and colleague, described how relief washed over her when the FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapsed.Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, the hedge fund associated with the company, broke into tears as she described FTX's final days in testimony Wednesday. She said that, during last year's cryptocurrency crash, Bankman-Fried directed her to illegally appropriate FTX customers' money and lie to its many lenders. Continue reading...

New York lawmakers aim to expel the accused fraudster, who faces new charges under a superseding federal indictmentNew York Republicans in the US House on Wednesday moved to expel one of their own: George Santos, the serial fabulist and accused fraudster who faces new charges under a superseding federal indictment.Today, I'll be introducing an expulsion resolution to rid the People's House of fraudster George Santos," the GOP congressman Anthony D'Esposito said in a post on social media. Continue reading...

Court hears redistricting case after lower court ruled Republicans had unlawfully moved 30,000 votes out of a congressional districtThe supreme court's conservative majority appeared skeptical on Wednesday that South Carolina Republicans discriminated against Black voters when it redrew one of the state's congressional districts to make it friendlier to the GOP.During two-hours of oral argument on Wednesday, the court's conservative justices aggressively poked holes in a three-judge panel's ruling earlier this year finding that Republicans had unlawfully moved around 30,000 Republican voters out of South Carolina's first congressional district to make it more Republican. Chief Justice John Roberts, a key swing vote on the court, seemed unconvinced by the evidence the lower court had accepted, saying at one point the challengers were asking the court to embrace arguments that would be breaking new ground in our voting rights jurisdprudence". Continue reading...

Scalise defeats Jim Jordan by 113 votes to 99 but falls short of threshold needed to be elected speaker on House floorHouse Republicans nominated Steve Scalise to be the next speaker on Wednesday, a week after the unprecedented ouster of Kevin McCarthy. But a handful of objections to Scalise's nomination left House Republicans unable to move to a final floor vote, making it unclear when a new speaker might be elected.By a vote of 113 to 99, Scalise, currently the second-ranking House Republican, defeated a challenge from congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the judiciary committee and a far-right firebrand. Continue reading...

Celestial display will travel through eight states, where reservations and searches for flights are increasingAn annular eclipse will pass from Oregon to Texas on Saturday, offering millions of people the opportunity to witness a spectacular ring of fire" in the skies. As cities in the path are bracing for a flock of visitors this weekend, universities, parks, museums and planetariums are preparing to host and educate eager viewers.When the moon is farthest from Earth, an annular solar eclipse takes place. As it passes the sun, the moon does not block it entirely and instead leaves the sun's bright, outer edges visible, forming a fiery ring, or annulus, around the moon.This article was amended on 11 October 2023 to correct the number of annular eclipses astronomer Richard Rand has experienced. He has seen two and this one will be his third. Continue reading...

The weekend's devastating attacks in southern Israel and the relentless bombardment of Gaza have left millions traumatisedThe shock and horror of the massacres by Hamas in southern Israel have only intensified as the days have gone by and the full extent of the violence has emerged. Young revellers slaughtered as they fled a music festival; babies murdered with their parents; the very young and old taken hostage. This atrocity may not be an existential moment for the state of Israel, as the Yom Kippur war appeared to be 50 years ago. But for Israelis, and for Jews worldwide, their belief in a homeland where they could be safe after centuries of antisemitic persecution lies in tatters. The death toll stands at more than 1,200: Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed on one day," said Israel's president, Isaac Herzog.Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government of extremists has failed to keep its contract with the people. Israelis are stunned that the army took so long to arrive. An estimated 150 hostages are still held. Yet Haaretz reports that the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, urged that the country strike Hamas brutally, and not take the issue of the captives into account too much". This is the kind of partner on whom Mr Netanyahu still depends. While his political rival Benny Gantz has now joined an emergency national government, he is unlikely to be a moderating voice. Continue reading...