Israel-Hamas war: Israel’s defense minister said this morning that Israel has cut off electricity, water and food shipments to Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas. The Israeli military said it has retaken towns and villages that Hamas captured during the initial attack on Israel over the weekend. Israel has called up 300,000 reservists and tank columns were observed moving into position for what could be a ground invasion of Gaza. Hamas said this morning that four of the approximately 100 hostages taken during its attack on Israel were killed by Israeli air strikes. A U.S. National Security Council spokesperson said this morning that nine Americans are known to have been killed by Hamas terrorists. The U.S. has deployed a task force close to Israel that includes the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford.
Pence defends Biden: Former Vice President Mike Pence has criticized by name Republican presidential nomination candidates Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy for blaming President Biden for Hamas having attacked Israel over the weekend. Pence says those three and other Republicans who have advocated retreat from the world stage and U.S. isolation are really to blame because their isolationist statements signaled Hamas that Israel might not have U.S. support. Pence also pointed a finger at the three and other Republicans who want the U.S. to end aid to Ukraine to help Russia’s Putin win that war.
Death toll in earthquake: More than 2,000 people were killed in the earthquake that struck Herat province in the western part of Afghanistan over the weekend. International aid from the U.N. and individual countries is being rushed to the stricken area. Some survivors have been dug out by hand from the rubble of hundreds of buildings that collapsed.
New UAW strike: About 4,000 members of the United Auto Workers Union went on strike against Mack Truck this morning. The union and the company negotiators had agreed on a new five-year contract, but the union members rejected the contract. Mack is owned by Volvo Trucks and UAW President Shawn Fain told the company that 75% of the UAW members who voted said “no” to the contract.
Phones hacked: The Washington Post reports that Vietnam tried to hack and load spyware onto the phones of CNN reporters, executives at Washington think tanks and Capitol Hill leaders. The Post says that Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and chair of its subcommittee on the Middle East were among those whose phones were targeted.
Nobel Prize in Economics: The Nobel Prize in Economics has been awarded to Claudia Goldin of Harvard. Her work has examined differences between the employment levels of men and women in the labor force and how much they are paid. She found that about 50% of women participate in the labor force while 80% of men do. Goldin examined labor market data covering a span of about 200 years.
