In the West Bank, Israel annexed 2,400 acres of land in the single largest seizure of Palestinian territory since the Oslo Accords; Bezalel Smotrich, the minister of finance, announced the seizure the day before Land Day, which commemorated the 48th anniversary of the killing of six unarmed Palestinians during a protest against the annexation of nearly 5,000 acres of land.1 2 World Court judges have ruled that famine is setting in in Gaza, where 12 people drowned as they attempted to swim to retrieve supplies from an American aerial aid drop that landed partially in the sea; at least 19 were reportedly killed when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd waiting for aid; and at least 27 people have died of starvation, at least 23 of them children.3 4 5 6 7 UN officials stated that two-thirds of hospitals in the region are nonfunctional; at Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, Israeli forces pulled out of a two-week raid during which they killed hundreds of Palestinians, reportedly leaving bodies that had been run over by vehicles.8 9 10 The military operation also destroyed multiple buildings, including the main emergency room and the maternity ward; 60,000 Gazan women are pregnant, with 5,000 expected to give birth within the next month.11 12 “The whole world is ganging up on us,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Nentanyahu, shortly before undergoing his second hernia surgery.13 14 The UN security council passed a ceasefire resolution, and the Biden Administration approved $2.5 billion to send warplanes and weapons to Israel only a few weeks after calling for a ceasefire.15 16 17 “It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick,” said Michigan Representative Tim Walberg of the war on Gaza.18
The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after a cargo ship crashed into one of its pillars, killing six construction workers.19 The U.S. Naval Ship Harvey Milk arrived in San Francisco, where it was greeted by Nancy Pelosi and a group of activists who chained themselves to the gangplank in protest of the vessel’s transport of arms to Israel.20 In Atlanta, activists scaled a 250-foot crane and chained themselves to the top as part of continued protests against the construction of a $109.5 million police training compound referred to as Cop City.21 22 “Police are the greatest people we have. There’s nothing and there’s nobody like ’em,” said Donald Trump as he spoke at the wake of the NYPD officer Jonathan Diller, before ordering $200 worth of burgers for his private jet flight back to Florida.23 24 New York Governor Kathy Hochul also reportedly attended the wake for 10 to 15 minutes; “No one told me to leave,” said Hochul of her abrupt exit.25 26 Former cop and current New York City Mayor Eric Adams unveiled new AI powered Evolv body scanners to be tested for use to detect guns in the subway; the technology “does not reliably detect knives or guns,” according to the claims of a lawsuit recently filed by shareholders of Evolv.27 28 “This is a Sputnik moment,” said Adams, who later in the week claimed, “I’ve been booed so much I think my name is boo.”29 30 “I’m haunted, every day, by what was lost,” said Sam Bankman-Fried after being sentenced to 25 years in prison for stealing $8 billion from customers as the founder of the crypto exchange company FTX.31 32 “How much free will do I actually have over my life? Is it possible that I actually had no choice at any point but to pursue VR and weapons development?” asked Palmer Luckey, the 31-year-old former CEO of Oculus and the current CEO of Anduril Industries, a company that has supplied hundreds of drones to Ukraine.33 Boeing’s CEO David Calhoun announced that he is stepping down, and President Biden gave Obama a ride to a campaign fundraiser in New York on Air Force One, from which journalists have reportedly been stealing a variety of objects, including custom glasses, plates, tumblers, and pillow cases.34 35 36
An Alaska airport plans to use a robot disguised as a coyote or fox to scare off wildlife.37 Dairy cows have tested positive for bird flu for the first time.38 In Thailand, a bill was passed to legalize same-sex marriage, and the Thai town of Lopburi was overtaken by rival monkey gangs.39 40 The U.S. figure skater Ilia “Quad God” Malinin, the only skater able to land a quadruple axel, won his first world title.41 The Tropicana resort is closing after 67 years in Las Vegas.42 In Orange County, two teenage girls were arrested for attempting to steal thousands of dollars’ worth of beauty products from a Walgreens; in Albuquerque, police on horseback chased down a Walgreens shoplifter; and the Lego company requested that the Murrieta Police Department stop using their toy’s likeness to censor faces in mug shots.43 44 45 In Bedfordshire, England, a bear took its own ride on a swan boat, and in Cheshire, England, a woman found out that the baby hedgehog she thought she rescued was actually a pom-pom.46 47 In Mississippi, a five-legged lamb was born; “I think that he will live a normal-for-him life,” said the lamb’s vet.48 Punxsutawney Phil and his wife Phyllis welcomed two children into the world.49 50 —Chloe Arnold
