UAE names suspects in killing of Jewish community leader
The United Arab Emirates named three Uzbek nationals as suspects in the killing of Zvi Kogan, a Jewish community leader whose body was found Sunday, Nov. 24. Emirati authorities identified the suspects as 28-year-olds Olimpi Tohirovic and Mahmudjun Abdurrahim, and 33-year-old Azizbek Kamilovich. All three have been arrested, and legal proceedings are underway, according to officials.
Kogan, a 28-year-old Israeli-Moldovan citizen and emissary of the Chabad movement, went missing Thursday, Nov. 21, in Dubai. He was later found dead in Al Ain, near the border with Oman. Emirati state-run WAM news agency released blurred images of the suspects in handcuffs and prison uniforms, with their faces concealed by black masks.
Israeli investigators, working with Emirati authorities, believe the suspects may have been hired assassins, though those who orchestrated the killing remain unidentified. Early suspicions of Iranian involvement have been denied by Tehran’s embassy in Abu Dhabi.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the killing, calling it a “heinous antisemitic terrorist attack.” He vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice and praised Emirati cooperation in the investigation.
The UAE condemned the killing. Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba described it as an attack on the nation’s values of coexistence and tolerance. Kogan’s death raised concerns about the safety of Jewish communities in the Gulf state. Those communities had become more visible following the 2020 Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and the UAE.
Statement from Ambassador Al Otaiba: “Today the UAE mourns for Rabbi Zvi Kogan. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and community over his senseless death. (1/4)
The murder has unsettled the UAE’s small but growing Jewish community. Synagogues in Dubai remain closed amid heightened security concerns since the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, while the government-approved synagogue in Abu Dhabi remains open. Jewish leaders reported that informal gatherings have shifted to private homes for safety reasons.
Israel’s National Security Council has renewed travel warnings for Israeli citizens in the UAE and urged them to limit movement, avoid public displays of Jewish or Israeli identity and stay in secure areas.
The killing also comes amid escalating regional tensions. Israel has intensified its campaign against Iranian-linked groups following the Gaza war, raising concerns about potential reprisals abroad. Similar incidents of attempted attacks on Israeli nationals have been reported in other countries, including Turkey.
The body of Kogan, who also managed a kosher grocery store in Dubai, has been returned to Israel for burial.
US to auction public land for oil, gas drilling as COP28 is set to begin
Another 26 parcels on 9,000 acres in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Nevada, North Dakota, and Utah will come up for bids on Nov. 30, Dec. 5, and Dec. 12, the same time that international leaders will be meeting at COP28 in Dubai to discuss phasing out fossil fuels.
“We’re disappointed the Biden Administration did not follow through on a promise of no new leasing, and instead, the residents of the Gulf of Mexico are having their resources sold off for bargain prices once again,” said Christian Wagley, coastal organizer at Healthy Gulf.
News of this week’s auction has already drawn criticism from environmental groups, who accuse the president of violating a 2020 campaign pledge.
Once in office, Biden’s attempts to end new leasing of public lands for drilling were blocked by the courts, and the president’s Inflation Reduction Act required oil and gas leases before the federal government could lease land for renewable energy.
The U.S. and dozens of other nations attending COP28 in Dubai hope to solidify the world’s first deal to end fossil fuel use altogether, a deal the nations failed to nail down in July. According to White House officials, President Biden will not attend the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.
Yet most governments are still strolling when they need to be sprinting.
UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell
News of Biden’s absence comes as top U.N. climate officials warn that crisis is knocking on the door. U.N. Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell spoke exclusively with The Guardian on the importance of this year’s conference.
“We’re used to talking about protecting people on the far-flung frontlines. We’re now at the point where we’re all on the frontline,” Stiell said. “Yet most governments are still strolling when they need to be sprinting.”
Biden has attended the conference for the past two years. Though no reason has been given for Biden’s absence, senior White House officials have pointed to the president being consumed in recent weeks with the war between Israel and Hamas.
On Thursday, Nov. 30, President Biden is expected to host a bilateral meeting with Republic of Angola President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço. Biden is then scheduled to attend the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, according to the president’s schedule released by the White House.
Vice President Kamala Harris is also not expected to attend the conference, though U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry and other top officials are scheduled to attend. In Dubai, nations are expected to discuss, among other topics, whether to make an agreement on phasing out fossil fuels.
Israel-Hamas cease-fire nears end as dozens of hostages released: The Morning Rundown, Nov. 27, 2023
As Israel and Hamas prepare for the final day of the limited cease-fire, there are talks of extending the hostage release deal. And, the world’s largest iceberg, grounded for decades, is on the move. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Monday, Nov. 27, 2023.
Israel, Hamas open to extend pause on final day of hostage release deal
And we will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones.
President Biden
In exchange, Israel has released more than 100 imprisoned Palestinian women and teenagers and allowed for more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. Monday, Nov. 27, a fourth exchange is expected that would see a total of 50 hostages freed by Hamas and 150 Palestinians released by Israel.
In the picture above, Avihai Brodutch hugs his children Oria Brodutch, 4, and Ofri Brodutch, 10, and wife Hagar Brodutch after being reunited with them in Israel on Sunday following their release.
Israel has said it would extend the pause in fighting by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. Hamas issued a statement Sunday, Nov. 26, that said it is looking to extend the short-term peace agreement by “seriously seeking to increase the number of those released from imprisonment.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded Sunday evening, Nov. 27, and said an extension in the pause in fighting would be “welcome.” He said, however, after the agreement ends, Israel would continue its mission of “eliminating” Hamas.
Get up to speed on the stories leading the day every weekday morning. Get The Morning RundownTM newsletter straight to your inbox!
On Sunday, Nov. 26, Hamas released more than a dozen more hostages, including 4-year-old Abigail Mor Edan, whose parents were killed in Hamas’ terror attack on Israel.
President Joe Biden spoke after the news of her release.
“Abigail was among 13 hostages released today from Gaza under the brokered and sustained, though intensive U.S. diplomacy,” Biden said. “She’s now safely in Israel, and we continue to press and expect for additional Americans will be released as well. And we will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones.”
U.S. officials this morning are not saying if an attack on a commercial cargo ship by pirates near Somalia on Sunday, Nov. 26, was related to the growing tensions in the region amid Israel’s war with Hamas. The U.S. Navy intervened to stop the hijacking.
Officials said two ballistic missiles were fired hours later at the responding Navy destroyer that responded to the scene. The missiles were fired from the part of Yemen that is controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The U.S. is investigating Iran’s possible involvement.
Arrest made in shooting of 3 students of Palestinian descent
Police say the gunman fired his weapon at least four times without speaking. Two of the students were wearing traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarves at the time. Authorities said two of the victims are U.S. citizens, and the third is a legal resident.
One of the students suffered serious injuries, and the others are in stable condition. Authorities said they are investigating whether the shooting was a hate crime.
Sen. Schumer to bring bill with Ukraine, Israel funding to the Senate floor
This is not just about Ukrainian or Transatlantic security, it’s about American security as well because an unchecked Putin would be an emboldened Putin
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
This follows Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s, R-La., attempt at pushing through an aid package to Israel while slashing IRS funding; that package passed the House but was quickly rejected by the Senate. For the Senate to pass any sort of funding for Israel and Ukraine, Senate Republicans insist it must include stricter border policies, an issue Schumer says is hyper-partisan.
Biden has attended the conference for the past two years. Though no official reason has been given for Biden’s absence, senior White House officials have pointed to the president being consumed in recent weeks with the war between Israel and Hamas.
Vice President Kamala Harris is also not expected to attend the conference, though U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry and other top officials are scheduled to attend. In Dubai, nations are expected to discuss, among other topics, whether to make an agreement on phasing out fossil fuels.
World’s largest icebergs is drifting away from Antarctic waters
Scientists say that the iceberg, being pushed by the wind and currents, has been moving faster and faster, making its way past the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Though the reason for its sudden movement remains unclear, scientists say it is less likely due to changing water temperatures. The scientific consensus is that eventually it would decrease in size and lose its grip on the ocean floor.
Three-year cruise canceled days before departure date
The three-year cruise was scheduled to begin in Amsterdam on Nov. 30, which was the third departure date told to passengers. On Nov. 17, passengers were notified by the Turkey-based company, Miray Cruises, that the cruise was canceled.
The company admitted it had no ship; another cruise company had purchased the vessel it had planned to use. Some passengers who remain in Istanbul, the original departure location, said they sold their homes in anticipation of their multi-year journey.
The company has said it would issue refunds in monthly installments beginning in December and pay for flights for passengers still stranded in Istanbul.
As global emissions reach new high, US, China take climate action before COP28
Fossil fuels accounted for 82% of global energy consumption in 2022, and with that came a new record for annual worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. It is an issue that the United States and China recently agreed to work on together.
When combined together, these countries account for 38% of the planet’s greenhouse gasses. On Nov. 14, representatives from both nations announced a deal that aims to increase clean energy, displace fossil fuels and reduce emissions.
The cooperation between the world’s two biggest emitters is occurring ahead of the United Nations’ COP28 climate summit, set to begin at the end of November. Officials from nearly 200 different countries will be gathering in Dubai to discuss global policies regarding climate action, which there is optimism the U.S. and China will now take a leading role on.
“I think it’s important that COP28 be more successful than expected, and that China and the U.S. show leadership on a range of issues in this regard,” John Quelch, a former associate in research at Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, told Straight Arrow News.
Leading up to this international conference, the U.N. has released a report detailing how far the world now is from reaching its previously set climate goals.
The report found that even if all countries stuck by their previous climate promises, the emissions total by the end of the decade is set to be considerably greater than the goal amount needed for staying on track to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
The warning comes amid steadily increasing global emissions in recent years. Though restricted travel and other economic activities due to COVID-19 saw greenhouse gas outputs drop in 2020, ultimately things quickly reversed course. The following year, worldwide demand for coal and natural gas were already hitting pre-pandemic highs, and by 2022, emissions from these two energy sources were back to reaching record-breaking levels.
“Obviously, with COVID, there has been some regression towards fossil fuels and away from the green technology commitments that many nations we’re making pre-COVID,” Quelch said.
Out of the $17 trillion spent by world governments on pandemic recovery efforts, only about 10% of that was spent on initiatives that would cut emissions. Meanwhile, close to 30% of the money went towards projects that are expected to increase emissions. Now with COP28 on the horizon, experts are hopeful that joint climate action efforts between the U.S. and China will help spur renewed progress on this issue.
“We’re going to have to take two steps forward to get past the one step back that the last four years represented,” Quelch said. “So China and the U.S. together can help do that, on behalf of the rest of the world.”
US, China issue climate change agreement ahead of Biden-Xi meeting
Ahead of Wednesday’s Nov. 15 meeting between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco, the United States and China announced an agreement to address climate change. In a statement on Tuesday, Nov. 14, the State Department said both countries will “rise up to one of the greatest challenges of our time for present and future generations of humankind.”
We’re very close to hitting rock bottom.
Former Miami Herbert Business School Dean John Quelch
The two economic giants agreed to revive a bilateral climate working group, which China suspended last year amid growing tensions over Taiwan, that will address issues like energy transition, methane, resource efficiency, and deforestation. By 2030, both countries aim to halt and reverse deforestation and forest loss through regulation and policy, and enforcing bans on illegal imports.
According to the State Department, both sides have agreed to hold a “high-level event on subnational climate action in the first half of 2024.”
The announcement comes less than a month before the annual U.N. climate change conference in Dubai and hours before the first in-person meeting in a year between the two countries’ leaders. The two leaders last met in Bali in November 2022.
🚨 Greenhouse gas levels have hit a record high. Again.
According to a new report from @WMO, carbon dioxide concentrations were a full 50% above the pre-industrial era for the first time.
With U.S.-China relations strained over the past year, from a spy balloon to close calls in the air to new export rules over semiconductors, China expert and former Miami Herbert Business School Dean John Quelch tells Straight Arrow News that this meeting is a good sign of things to come for the relationship between the two countries.
“We’re very close to hitting rock bottom. And I see the meeting in San Francisco, following a series of cabinet visits to Beijing, as very encouraging that we will look back on this as the turning point and that the relationship will be improving henceforth,” Quelch said.
Baltimore archdiocese embroiled in child sex abuse scandal: April 6 rundown
A newly released report details child sex abuse scandals within the archdiocese of Baltimore. We have the staggering numbers listed in the state attorney general’s report. And Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death on the streets of San Francisco. These stories and more highlight the daily rundown for Thursday, April 6, 2023.
156 Maryland clergy and other allegedly abused 600 children
The offenders often escaped accountability, according to a long-awaited state report released by Maryland’s attorney general this week.
The report reveals the scope of alleged abuse spanning about 60 years and accused church leaders of decades of coverups. The state report goes into graphic detail of the child reported sex abuse and methods used by the church’s hierarchy.
The archbishop of Baltimore apologized on behalf of the archdiocese after allegations of abuse surfaced in the report.
China extends influence on Middle East
The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia met in China on April 6 for the first formal gathering of their top diplomats in more than seven years. China mediated to help broker a deal to restore relations between the top regional powers. After years of hostility and conflict across the Middle East, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to set aside differences and reopen diplomatic missions in a significant deal facilitated by China last month.
After their most recent meeting, the two countries decided to reopen embassies and consulates.
China’s involvement in the deal is significant. It’s a display of Beijing’s growing influence in the Middle East. For decades the U.S. had been the main mediator in the region.
Cash App founder stabbed to death
San Francisco police are investigating the murder of Cash app founder Bob Lee, who was stabbed on the streets of San Francisco. Police have made no arrests in the case as they search for a suspect.
The stabbing took place on April 4, shocking Silicon Valley. Lee was 43 years old, a father of two, and a well-known tech executive. He was chief product officer at cryptocurrency startup Mobilecoin and previously worked with former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey at Square. Lee created the mobile payment service Cash App.
Elon Musk responded to the news, calling violent crime in San Francisco “horrific.”
Lee had recently moved his family from San Francisco to Miami with his father, but friends say he was back in the city for a visit when he was attacked and killed.
Latest wave of deadly tornadoes
Over the past two weeks, more than 60 people have died in tornadoes across the U.S. That’s nearly triple the number from this time last year.
At least 11 tornadoes have been reported across Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois since April 4.
The latest wave of deadly tornadoes left a path of destruction across the Midwest on Wednesday, April 5. At least five people were killed and dozens injured when a large twister tore through Missouri and Kentucky.
This deadly storm comes just a few days after dozens of twisters upended lives from Delaware to Iowa, killing at least 33 people.
The storm system that brought tornadoes to the South and the Midwest is now heading East.
Portable generator regulations
The Consumer Product Safety Commission voted unanimously this week to advance a proposal that would require portable generators to emit less carbon monoxide and to shut off automatically when the deadly gas reaches a certain level.
The invisible and odorless gas emitted by the devices claims an average of 85 lives a year, making generators one of the deadliest consumer products the CPSC regulates.
World’s busiest airports of 2022
Out of the world’s top 10 busiest airports for passengers in 2022, five of them were located in one country — the United States.
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International airport was the world’s busiest airport for passenger volume. It was the busiest airport in 2021 as well.
In order following Atlanta were Dallas Fort Worth, Denver, Chicago O’Hare rounding out the top four. Los Angeles was sixth.
Dubai was the No. 1 airport for international passengers.
As protests on the streets of Iran continue, the so-called Islamic Republic is going after one of its high-profile athletes. An Iranian former soccer legend, Ali Daei, had his flight redirected mid-air as he was traveling to Dubai with his family. According to local reports, Iranian authorities are barring them and other high-profile figures from leaving the country over their outspoken support for widespread protests on the ground.
It’s been over a hundred days now since crowds like these flooded the streets of Iran. The protests were sparked in part by the death of Mahsa Amini, the woman who died in police custody.
It’s being called one of the largest anti-government demonstrations Iran has seen since the 1979 Islamic Revolution which brought clerics into power. Human rights organizations say at least 500 people have been killed in these protests. And more than 18,000 have been arrested so far.
The Iranian regime has also executed at least two people involved in the protests, sparking further condemnation by human rights groups.
While polling shows a significant fraction of Iran supports regime change, experts disagree as to whether Iran is in a position to effect that at this moment amid economic tensions. What is clear is that these protests have fundamentally changed the relationship between the state and the Iranian people.
