Cease-fire talks: Discussions to extend the cease-fire between Hamas and Israel have been continuing, with Israel saying that it is willing to extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 hostages Hamas releases. Hamas has said that it would like to extend the temporary cease-fire. There are complications in locating and recovering all of the approximately 250 hostages that were taken during the Hamas attack on Israel of Oct. 7 since some of the hostages apparently are being held by small groups of radicals not controlled by Hamas.
Missiles fired: The U.S. Military Central Command reported this morning that U.S. and allied warships and associated aircraft responded to a distress call from the commercial ship Central Park in the Gulf of Aden. The crew of the Liberian-flag cargo vessel radioed that they were under attack by an unknown entity. U.S. and allied forces arrived on-scene and demanded release of the vessel. Subsequently, five armed individuals got off of the commercial ship and attempted to flee in a small boat. The USS Mason pursued the attackers and they eventually surrendered. Then, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen toward the general location of the USS Mason. The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden.
Musk in Israel: Elon Musk, who controls a satellite communications system called Starlink, arrived in Israel this morning and met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders. It was announced by Israel that Starlink will be allowed to be used as a communications channel in Gaza. They previously refused to allow it to be used because of concerns that it would help Hamas. Musk has been under criticism for allowing hate speech to flourish on his internet site X, formerly known as Twitter, including his own antisemitic remarks.
Burlington shootings: Police in Burlington, Vermont, report the arrest of a 48-year-old Burlington resident on charges of shooting three college students with Palestinian backgrounds. He is identified as Jason Eaton, who lived in an apartment building across from where the shooting incident took place. Agents from the federal government’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms made the arrest. Two of the victims are U.S. citizens and the third is a Palestinian student who is studying in the U.S. The FBI’s office in Albany said it is involved in the investigation.
Shopping records: Online shoppers in the U.S. are expected to spend $12 billion today, setting a new record for Cyber Monday. Sales are expected to increase by at least 5% from last year. According to Adobe Analytics, this year’s Black Friday online U.S. spending set a new record of $9.8 billion, up 7.5% from last year.
Supply chain: The White House this morning said that President Biden is taking nearly 30 new actions to strengthen supply chains critical to America’s economic and national security. These actions include establishing a new White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience. Biden also plans to use the Defense Production Act to increase production of essential medicines in America and mitigate drug shortages. The Department of Commerce is establishing a new data center to help identify where supply chain problems are emerging and allow early corrective action.
