In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: War; violence; death] In Israel and Gaza: "Israeli airstrikes on Gaza killed four more Palestinians before dawn on Friday, raising the death toll from the four-day offensive to at least 102, including dozens of civilians, while a Palestinian rocket hit a fuel tanker at an Israeli gas station, causing a blaze. ...Medical officials in Gaza said at least 70 civilians, including children, are among the 102 killed since the offensive began Tuesday. The salvos into Israel have so far caused no fatalities, due in part to interception by Israel's partly U.S.-funded Iron Dome aerial defense system. But eight people were wounded, one seriously, by a rocket on Friday that hit a fuel tanker at a gas station in Israel's port city of Ashdod, an ambulance service spokesman said. Firefighters doused the flames. Israeli leaders, determined to end Palestinian rocket attacks deep into the country, have hinted that they could order the first ground invasion of the Gaza Strip in five years."

[CN: War; violence; death] In Russia and Ukraine: "Ukraine's military has said 23 servicemen have died in clashes with pro-Russia separatists across the east, a development that threatens to shatter slim western hopes of a truce in the three-month insurgency. ...The official spokesman of Ukraine's intensifying campaign against the rebel movement added that 93 troops had sustained 'wounds and contusions of varying severity.' Ukraine's defence ministry said in a separate statement that the toll included 19 troops who were killed early on Friday in a multiple rocket attack staged by insurgents near the Russian border. ...Friday's official death toll is the highest since Poroshenko tore up a brief ceasefire with the rebels on 1 July and relaunched an offensive that managed to dislodge the militias from key eastern strongholds they have controlled for nearly three months."

[CN: Child endangerment; xenophobia; abuse] Here is a breakdown of what would be funded by President Obama's $3.7 billion requisition to address the undocumented immigrant children crisis. The problem, from the start, with this entire program is that the focus is on deportation, of children who are risking everything to get here because they are in danger at home. "Under this scenario, rather than being transferred to HHS for screening by professionals to determine if they have been victims of trafficking or have claims to asylum, children could be subject to immediate deportation at the discretion of Border Patrol agents with no training in child welfare. That would be a very bad thing, not just for the kids who would be sent back to the dangerous conditions they risked their lives to escape, but for the nation and what it says about how we treat the most vulnerable among us."

Good: "Florida Court Declares One of the Worst Partisan Gerrymanders in the Country Unconstitutional."

All right then: "Amazon Wants Special Permission to Fly Its Delivery Drones, Dammit." Given that Amazon is a corporation, and this is AMERICA, I see no reason why the rules will not be bent in their favor.

Laverne Cox forever: "I'm just really proud of who I am. I love myself today—and I don't everyday. It's something I have to work at. My career and my life changed when I started accepting and embracing myself more. I hope this inspires my other black, trans folks to pursue their dreams, too."

[CN: Animal cruelty] And finally! Raju the Elephant is slowly starting his rehabilitation process. The humans in charge of his care are carefully trying to rebuild trust with him, and he now has a female companion elephant, whose history is similar to his. All the blubs.