The Political Thread

[Chris]

American girl, 4, among 17 hostages freed on third day of cease-fire

Third group of hostages set to be released as truce holds.

www.nbcnews.com

• Seventeen hostages were released by Hamas today, including 4-year-old American Abigail Edan, according to a list from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. In exchange, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners, all of whom were minors, according to a Qatari spokesman.
• Yesterday, 13 Israelis and four Thai citizens were released after an hourslong delay, bringing the total to 26 Israelis, of the 50 expected to be freed from Gaza. Thirty-nine Palestinian prisoners were released yesterday as part of the hostage-prisoner swap.

 

[Chris]

Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their truce for two more days, according to officials in Qatar who helped negotiate the initial cease-fire, as Israeli officials signaled that a fourth exchange of hostages and prisoners would go forward Monday.

Israel-Hamas War: 11 Israeli Hostages Are Released (Published 2023)

The latest releases came after Qatari officials, who helped negotiate the initial deal, said Israel and Hamas had agreed to pause fighting for another two days.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Chris]

November 27, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

The first groups of Israelis and Palestinians have been released under a brokered agreement that brought a temporary halt to fighting in Gaza. Israel said it received a list of a second group to be freed Saturday — and it includes children, a source told CNN.

www.cnn.com

• A new group of 11 freed hostages is back in Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said Monday. All are Israelis, according to an IDF spokesperson.
• The release came after Qatar said an agreement had been reached to extend the Israel-Hamas truce in Gaza by two additional days. Under the agreement, Hamas will release 10 hostages each day, according to an Israeli senior adviser.
• The four-day truce, which was slated to end on Tuesday, marked the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the conflict, bringing temporary respite to the besieged enclave and allowing the release of some hostages.
• Over the first three days, Hamas released 58 hostages, primarily women and children. Israel freed 117 Palestinians from prison, mainly women and minors, many of them who were detained but never charged.

 

[Chris]

Koch Network Endorses Nikki Haley in Bid to Push G.O.P. Past Trump (Published 2023)

The support will give Ms. Haley more organizational strength in the field as she battles Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida for the No. 2 spot in the Republican presidential race.

www.nytimes.com

The political network founded by the Koch brothers is endorsing Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary race, giving her organizational muscle and financial heft as she battles Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida for second place in Iowa.

 

[Chris]

International assassination plot against Sikh separatist in New York foiled: Indictment

Law enforcement officers uncovered the alleged scheme earlier this year.

abcnews.go.com

An Indian national was charged Wednesday in New York with plotting to kill a Sikh separatist, a scheme uncovered earlier this year by a consortium of law enforcement officers working an undercover drug case.

Nikhil Gupta is accused of paying a hit man to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a leader of Sikhs for Justice, a New York-based group that is pushing for an independent Sikh state within India.

A task force led by the Drug Enforcement Administration discovered the alleged plot after a different Sikh separatist was killed in Canada, sources familiar with the case told ABC News. The Canadian killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to accuse New Delhi in what became an international incident.

 

[Chris]

Truce in Israel-Hamas war extended by a day, minutes before it was set to expire

The Qatari Foreign Ministry said the truce was being extended under the same terms as in the past. The truce was set to expire Thursday morning.

apnews.com

Israel and Hamas on Thursday agreed to extend a temporary truce by another day minutes before it was set to expire, said Qatar, which has been mediating between the two sides.

Negotiations on extending it came down to the wire, with last-minute disagreements over the hostages to be freed by Hamas in exchange for another day of a halt in fighting.

 

[Chris]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/30/health/lead-water-pipes-removed-10-years-epa-proposed-rule/index.html

The US Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a rule that would require water systems across the country to replace millions of lead service lines within 10 years.

The rule would accelerate progress toward the Biden administration goal of removing 100% of lead pipes; lead exposure is linked to significant health and developmental problems, especially for children. The EPA proposal said lines must be replaced within 10 years, regardless of the lead levels in tap or other drinking water samples. Additional time could be allowed “in limited circumstances” for some systems that need complete system-wide line replacements, the proposal said.

 

[Chris]

UN Declares 2023 Hottest Year Ever as Crucial Climate Summit Starts

This is the warmest year recorded in human history, UN Secretary-General António Guterres tells delegates at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai.

www.bloomberg.com

The planet has been so hot in 2023 that even before the year ends, the World Meteorological Organization has declared it the warmest ever recorded.

Global temperatures were around 1.4C (2.5F) above the pre-industrial average for the first 10 months of the year, according to the WMO’s Provisional State of the Global Climate Report 2023. That provides enough certainty to declare it the hottest year on record even with a month left to go, in what is a stark warning to climate negotiators gathered in the Middle East.

 

[Chris]

Israel Knew Hamas’s Attack Plan More Than a Year Ago (Published 2023)

A blueprint reviewed by The Times laid out the attack in detail. Israeli officials dismissed it as aspirational and ignored specific warnings.

www.nytimes.com

Israeli officials obtained Hamas’s battle plan for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack more than a year before it happened, documents, emails and interviews show. But Israeli military and intelligence officials dismissed the plan as aspirational, considering it too difficult for Hamas to carry out.

The approximately 40-page document, which the Israeli authorities code-named “Jericho Wall,” outlined, point by point, exactly the kind of devastating invasion that led to the deaths of about 1,200 people.

 

[Deezy]

Great now they have their "inside job" water pistol angle for the conspiracy nutters.

 

[O-Blaze]

 

[Chris]

Highlights From the Vote to Expel George Santos From Congress (Published 2023)

Mr. Santos, a New York Republican, is the sixth member of the House to be expelled in the body’s history. “To hell with this place,” he said after his colleagues ousted him.

www.nytimes.com

Mr. Santos, a New York Republican, is the sixth member of the House to be expelled in the body’s history. “To hell with this place,” he said after his colleagues ousted him.

 

[Comrade Khan]

Does that mean there's like a special election and democrats coukd gain a seat ir is he just replaced by another R on the interim

 

[Chris]

Inmate Stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 Times, U.S. Says (Published 2023)

John Turscak, 52, has been charged with attempting to murder Mr. Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who is serving more than two decades in prison for the murder of George Floyd.

www.nytimes.com

An inmate has been charged with attempted murder for stabbing Derek Chauvin 22 times last week at a federal prison in Tucson, Ariz., the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona said on Friday.

The inmate, John Turscak, 52, is accused of stabbing Mr. Chauvin with an improvised knife on Nov. 24.

 

[Alexa]

Being part of the LGBTQ+ community is now considered being part of a terrorist organization in Russia now