Brand Logo
Israel tensions, Dagestan violence and Saudi pilgrim deaths

 
Today's MIDEAST story

Israeli defense chief visits US as Hezbollah tensions rise

What happened
As Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant arrived in Washington on Sunday for several days of talks with top officials, Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his refuted claim that the U.S. was holding up Israeli munition shipments. The Israeli prime minister also said the ground war in Gaza was winding down and he will send more troops to Israel's border with Lebanon as fighting with Hezbollah tips toward war.

Who said what
Netanyahu told Israel's right-wing TV network Channel 14 that decreased fighting in Gaza meant he can send "some of our forces north." He said he hopes the fighting with Hezbollah could be solved by diplomatic means, but "we can fight on several fronts and we are prepared to do that" unless the militants moves far back from the Israeli border.

Hezbollah warned last week that it has new weapons and intelligence capabilities, and would likely be joined by tens of thousands of other Iran-backed fighters if war broke out. U.S. Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Charles Q. Brown said Iran "would be more inclined to support Hezbollah" than Hamas, and the U.S. would be less able to help Israel against close-range attacks from Lebanon.

Responding to Netanyahu's claims about weapons bottlenecks, the White House said it won't "keep responding to the prime minister's political statements," adding, "We look forward to constructive consultations with Defense Minister Gallant in Washington this week."

What next?
Gallant will discuss the Gaza and Hezbollah situations with his U.S. counterparts but he also has "another, more subtle mission," Semafor said: "To repair the rift between the U.S. and Israel" after Netanyahu's barbs.

 
 
Today's international story

Gunmen in Dagestan hit churches, synagogues

What happened
Gunmen in Russia's southern Dagestan republic carried out what authorities called a coordinated terrorist attack on Orthodox churches, synagogues and police outposts in two cities, Derbent and Makhachkala. Sergei Melikov, Dagestan's governor, said "more than 15 police officers fell victim" in Sunday's attacks, along with a priest and several other civilians.

Who said what
The assailants were not immediately identified, "but Dagestan has in the past been the scene of Islamist attacks," the BBC said. Sunday's attacks, three months after about 140 people were killed in an assault on Moscow's Crocus City Hall theater, "raise concern about the vulnerability of Russia's internal security as critics have blamed authorities for diverting resources toward cracking down on political dissent" and waging war in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal said. Kremlin allies tried to pin the Moscow attack on Ukraine, though ISIS-K claimed responsibility.

What next?
Since 2022, "Russians have been led to believe that their principal adversaries are Ukraine and the 'collective West,'" the BBC said, and "that's a message Russian authorities are reluctant to change." Dagestan began three days of mourning on Monday.

 
 
Today's Demographics Story

1300 Hajj pilgrims died in scorching Saudi heat

What happened
At least 1,301 Muslims died in Mecca during the five-day Hajj pilgrimage as temperatures soared to a record 125 degrees Fahrenheit, Saudi Health Minister Fahd Al-Jalajel said Sunday. He said 83% of the dead were pilgrims who lacked permits and did not have access to air conditioned tents and transportation between holy sites.

Who said what
"Unfortunately — and this is painful for all of us — those who didn't have hajj permits walked long distances under the sun," al-Jalajel said.

Traveling to Mecca to complete the Hajj is required of "every able-bodied Muslim" once in their lifetime, but the Saudis approve only so many special permits each year, The Washington Post said. "Hundred of thousands of people who don't secure permits still manage to participate," typically on "tourism visas arranged by unlicensed travel operators."

What next?
A 2019 MIT study predicted "the Hajj would be held in temperatures exceeding an 'extreme danger threshold'" in 2047 and beyond, The Associated Press said. In the meantime, the lunar calendar followed by Islam will push the Hajj "11 days earlier each year," meaning in a few years "it will fall in the winter," with milder weather.

 
 

It's not all bad

As part of the Requiem in Power (RIP) project, thousands of solar panels are being installed at three cemeteries in Valencia, Spain. This urban solar farm, Spain's largest, will generate more than 440,000 kilowatts of electricity every year, preventing the release of at least 140 tons of carbon dioxide, local officials said. Because the graveyards are in the center of Valencia, the wattage "isn't lost through the transfer of power from the countryside into the city on long power lines," Good News Network said.

 
 
Under the radar

Doctors in the U.S. have been seeing an increase in patients with more severe symptoms caused by the sexually transmitted infection syphilis, including vision problems, headaches and hearing loss. These symptoms are increasingly common despite being typically associated with infections that have gone untreated for years, rather than recently acquired infections. 

The opening section of the CDC's 2022 STD Surveillance Report hints at experts growing weary of failing to stop this mounting STI crisis. "Yet again, more than 2.5 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were reported in the United States," said the CDC. The report's findings, including record high numbers of syphilis and chlamydia cases, "underscores that STIs must be a public health priority." 

Within the epidemic, syphilis is "one infection that stands alone," Dr. Laura Bachmann, the acting director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention, said in a statement. It has "emerged as a unique public health challenge." The data shows a nearly 80% increase in cases between 2018 and 2022, reaching 207,255, the greatest number reported since 1950. There were also more than 3,700 cases of infants being born with syphilis, the highest number of congenital syphilis cases reported in one year since 1994. 

Health organizations need to "meet people where they are," said Bachmann. Often, the most important work happens outside the clinic, "whether it be reaching out to communities with testing, interviewing patients to offer services to their partners or delivering treatment directly to someone."

 
 
On this day

June 24, 2022

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that the Constitution does not guarantee the right to have an abortion. The decision led to abortion restrictions in numerous GOP-controlled states, and the issue is expected to be a significant factor in the upcoming presidential election.

 
 
TODAY’S newspaperS

The first debate between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump is this week, and "Trump's trash talking" could help Biden beat severely deflated expectations, The Boston Globe says. The New York Times profiles the "3 men at the core of Biden's brain trust" while The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says "Biden's pre-debate offensive gears up to rebuild coalition" that beat Trump in 2020. Not everyone loves their choices this time around, though, and The Washington Post examines "the 'double haters'" who "may decide the election."

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Puss on wheels

A cat named Bao Zi broke the record for fastest 10 meters on a skateboard by a feline, after traveling the distance in 12.85 seconds. Bao Zi showed a "keen interest in skateboards," owner Li Jiangtao, a dog trainer, told Guinness World Records, and it took about a year for him to get Bao Zi up to speed. Due to this success, Jiangtao now trains cats as well, teaching them how to use and flush toilets.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harold Maass, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images; National Antiterrorism Committee / Handout via Reuters; Issam Rimawi / Anadolu via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images