Following Sinwar’s Death, World Leaders Press for Peace in Middle East
Israeli officials announced Thursday that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, architect of last year’s October 7th attack, had been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces. “Hamas will no longer rule Gaza,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu celebrated, while saying that the war is not yet over. “Today we have settled the score. Today evil has been dealt a blow, but our task has still not been completed.”
President Biden congratulated Netanyahu and expressed hope that hostilities in the Middle East would simmer down. “There is now the opportunity for a ‘day after’ in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Biden said. “Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all of those goals. That obstacle no longer exists.”
President Biden has asked Anthony Blinken to travel to Israel in hopes of resuming talks for a cease-fire and a return of hostages.
Other News:
- Candidates Make Final Pitches to Voters: With 17 days left till the election, former President Donald Trump and Vice-President Kamala Harris are crisscrossing the country, making their final appeals to voters. According to the RCP Average of top battleground states, Trump leads Harris by only 0.8%. Pollsters find Trump under-performing with women voters and Harris trailing in support from black and Hispanic men.
- “Chopsticks” Embraces Returning Rocket Booster: Elon Musk’s SpaceX succeeded in its most daring attempt yet in the development of its Starship rocket: catching the return booster back at the launch pad with mechanical arms dubbed “chopsticks.” Seven minutes after the launch of the Starship, at the flight director’s command, the first-stage booster flew back to the launch pad. The launch tower’s monstrous metal arms caught the descending 232-foot stainless-steel booster and gripped it tightly, dangling it well above the ground. With a few small repairs, Musk is confident that the rocket booster can be reused, potentially saving SpaceX millions per launch. NASA has paid SpaceX $2.8 billion to develop the Starship to be capable of sending astronauts back to the moon by 2026.
- Increased Support for Ukraine: This Wednesday, President Biden announced a new $425-million-dollar military aid package to Ukraine, which includes munitions, armored vehicles and other weapons, according to The New York Times. This comes as France’s new “kamikaze” remote control drone weapons will arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks.
- FBI Revised Figures: Violent Crime up in 2022: The 2022 crime statistics released last year originally showed a 2.1% decrease in violent crime compared to 2021. The FBI has now revised those figures to show a net increase of 4.5%, resulting in 80,029 more violent crimes in 2022 than in 2021. John Lott, founder and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, found that under the umbrella of violent crime, there were an additional 1,699 murders, 7,780 rapes, 33,459 robberies and 37,091 aggravated assaults in 2022. The Biden/Harris administration formerly touted the original numbers as a win for their administration, with Vice-President Harris most recently bringing them up in her debate against former President Trump.
