Weekly Review
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the war in Gaza will continue for “many more months,” and the Biden Administration bypassed Congress to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel, which included almost $150 million worth of military equipment.1 2 The United Nations announced that roughly 150,000 people had been displaced in central Gaza, the Gaza health ministry announced that almost 22,000 people had been killed since October 7, and South Africa filed a case with the International Court of Justice, alleging that Israel was engaging in “genocidal acts.”3 4 5 Israel announced that it had killed one of Hamas’s senior leaders in a strike on Beirut, and Hezbollah said it would seek “punishment” for the killing.6 Israel’s Supreme Court struck down a controversial law that would have limited the court’s power, and hundreds of anti-Netanyahu Israeli protesters called for new elections.7 8 Russia launched a barrage of missiles at Ukraine, killing at least 39 people, before Ukraine fired 22 missiles on a Russian city, killing at least 22 people.9 10 Ksenia Fadeyeva, an associate of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was sentenced to prison for nine years, days after Navalny was located at an Arctic prison colony following weeks of uncertainty regarding his whereabouts.11 12 South Korea’s opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck.13
An earthquake in Japan killed at least 62 people, and a Japan Airlines flight collided with a coast guard plane on a runway at Tokyo’s airport, killing five coast guard members who were en route to respond to the earthquake; all 379 people aboard the Japan Airlines flight survived.14 15 The FBI investigated a New York man who crashed a car full of gas canisters into another car, and a car crashed into a church in Chicago.16 17 It was reported that gun deaths decreased across the United States by an average of 8 percent over the course of 2023, though rates remained much higher than before the pandemic.18 A federal appeals court allowed a California law banning people from carrying guns in most public places to take effect.19 A man was arrested after breaking into the Colorado Supreme Court and opening fire; no one was killed or injured.20 The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department released body-camera footage of an officer killing a black woman who had called the police to report a man for domestic violence.21 A police officer killed his wife and children in New York, a man killed his wife and child in Massachusetts, and a woman in Hawaii was murdered by her estranged husband.22 23 24 A judge in Harris County, Texas, and an Indianapolis football player were arrested on suspicion of domestic violence.25 26 The Baltimore Ravens honored Ray Rice, who in 2014 knocked his fiancée unconscious and then dragged her out of an elevator at an Atlantic City casino, as a “legend of the game.”27
An Amazon warehouse in New York asked its employees if they were facing financial hardship during the holiday season and encouraged them to write to the company’s mascot, an orange blob named Peccy, to fulfill their “holiday wishes.”28 “It’s not just the magic of the season that helps Santa deliver presents worldwide. It’s also the fortifying nutrients of whole milk,” said North Carolina representative Virginia Foxx, arguing in favor of a bill to bring whole milk back to school cafeterias.29 30 A North Carolina pastor attempted to throw a McDonald’s worker into a deep fryer, claiming the worker “disrespected” his wife.31 “We regret that this happened,” said a spokesperson for ESPN after the network aired a video of a woman’s breast during the Sugar Bowl.32 A criminal summons was issued for a police officer in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, after she allegedly stole $50 gift cards to PetSmart and Amazon from an animal shelter.33 The six foot-long skull of a pliosaur sea monster went on display at a museum in England, a crocodile jumped into a fisherman’s boat in Australia, and Steamboat Willie, the first iteration of Mickey Mouse, entered the public domain.34 35 36 NASA sent the first laser-beamed video from deep space back to Earth, featuring a cat named Taters bouncing on a sofa.37 —Megan Evershed
