Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has defended his country’s attack on Hamas leaders in Doha amid growing international condemnation of the targeted air strike on Qatari territory. “If you want to move on,” he said, “you have to remove some of the people if they are not willing to get that deal.” 

What did the commentators say? 
By attacking “parties to a negotiation in the midst of their deliberations,” Israel has “literally blown up” Gaza ceasefire talks, said ABC News. The Hamas negotiators were the very people who could “approve a ceasefire and had already agreed to multiple proposals before.” This assassination attempt will “make any country or group question the point” of negotiating with Israel. 

Whatever “diplomatic momentum existed” has “evaporated into thin air,” said Daniel DePetris at The Spectator. The latest draft ceasefire was “tabled just a few days ago” but “now lies in tatters, if it was a serious proposal to begin with.” 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have “dealt a serious blow to a diplomatic process that was already on life support,” which was probably their “goal all along,” said DePetris. He has “clearly concluded” that ceasefire negotiations were “leading nowhere” and that “decapitating Hamas” is a more efficient way for Israel to “advance its war aims of destroying the group, bringing home Israeli hostages” and making sure that Hamas “can never rule again,” said the Council on Foreign Relations. 

For Hamas, the strike could be a “warning to get on with things” and “accept the deal on offer,” said David Patrikarakos at UnHerd. Either way, Netanyahu has “staked his legacy” on the “gamble” that “overwhelming strength and the repeated destruction of Israel’s enemies” can achieve "what diplomacy with Hamas has not.” 

What next? 
The Qatari government has commissioned a legal team to look into holding Netanyahu responsible for breaking international law with the attack. The EU may suspend bilateral support for Israel in the wake of the incident, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The proposed measures include sanctions targeting “extremist ministers and violent settlers,” as well as a partial freeze on trade agreements.

Amid a difficult job market, many have resorted to “job hugging,” or “holding onto their jobs for dear life” even if they aren’t progressing in their careers or lack motivation, said consulting firm Korn Ferry. The lack of higher career aspirations is a result of the poor job market that has made people uncertain about their employment futures.

Background
The job market has not been promising recently. The revised data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the U.S. job market was “much weaker in 2024 and early this year than originally reported, adding to concerns about the health of the nation’s economy,” said The Associated Press. Americans are spending more time in the job market compared to a few years ago. Many are unable to find jobs altogether.

The latest
In a job market without many openings or potential for upward mobility, job hugging is natural. Given recent and constant layoffs, people are “waiting and sitting in seats and hoping that they have more stability,” said Stacy DeCesaro, a managing consultant at Korn Ferry, to Fortune. 

This trend aligns with quiet quitting and quiet vacationing, as many are not necessarily engaged in their jobs and are more concerned about not having one. “They don’t seem happy, they don’t give 100%, and they don’t quit,” said The Wall Street Journal.

Job hugging also refers to the “reluctance of especially top performers to leave,” DeCesaro said to Insider. In many cases, workers who have outgrown their current roles are “sitting in the wrong seat at this time in their careers and clinging to it because of market fear,” said Forbes.

The reaction
The process of getting a job has become a “late-capitalist nightmare,” said The Atlantic. This can be bad for both employers and employees as “go-getters hankering for promotions might lose out if mediocre co-workers refuse to vacate the next rung on the corporate ladder,” said the Journal. There’s also less room for new grads to be hired. 

However, it could also be an opportunity. “Great teammates are not leaving for external jobs every couple of years,” said Korn Ferry, which means firms can “develop those talents and create more internal career paths.”

Young deacons await the start of a service marking Enkutatash, the Ethiopian New Year, at the Entoto St. Raguel Church in Addis Ababa. Like Catholic altar boys, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s deacons, or diyaqon, assist during divine services and liturgy.
Luis Tato / AFP / Getty Images

Say goodbye to beaches and waterparks, because fall is on the horizon and with it a collection of new albums. This includes highly anticipated LPs from some of the biggest names in show business.

Taylor Swift, ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ 
Many albums will come out this fall, but Swift’s 12th studio album will likely overshadow them all. She is at the height of her popularity and shows no signs of it diminishing. Fans will be able to purchase a “special limited vinyl edition of the album,” as well as a “special cassette edition,” said The Associated Press. (Oct. 3)

The Antlers, ‘Blight’ 
The Brooklyn indie band will release its seventh studio album, “Blight,” with “adventurous arrangements” that touch on “themes of wastefulness, environmental devastation and our passive destruction,” said Pitchfork. The release will feature nine songs and is the band’s first LP since 2021. The first song on the album, “Carnage,” is out now. (Oct. 10)

Mavis Staples, ‘Sad and Beautiful World’ 
The legendary singer and activist is back with a new album. “Sad and Beautiful World” will be a blend of old and new. Staples has highlighted one of the album’s signature songs: a cover of Kevin Morby’s “Beautiful Strangers.” That song is out now. (Nov. 7)