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Israel grieves, Harris and Biden rally, and Maduro loses plane

 
Today's MidEast story

Israel mourns slain hostages, protests Netanyahu

What happened
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets Sunday and Monday to demand a deal to release hostages held in Gaza and mourn the six Israelis found dead in a Hamas tunnel over the weekend. Israel said the six hostages were shot at close range Thursday or Friday, shortly before Israeli troops reached the tunnel. The protesters blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for stalling a hostage deal. Israel's largest labor union also held a truncated general strike on Monday. 

Who said what
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, eulogizing Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin at his funeral Monday, apologized "on behalf of the state of Israel" for failing to protect him on Oct. 7 and for failing to "bring you home safely." Netanyahu, in a press conference Monday evening, asked "forgiveness" from the families of the six slain hostages but said he won't give up his insistence that Israel's military indefinitely occupy the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border.

Netanyahu's Philadelphi demand "appeared to dim, if not dash, prospects for a truce," The New York Times said, and sparked an open conflict with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu and Gallant got in a "shouting match" at a security cabinet meeting Thursday, The Associated Press said. Gallant, who cast the lone vote against Netanyahu's plan to maintain control over the corridor, urged the cabinet to reconsider on Sunday. 

What next?
President Joe Biden — who said "no" when asked Monday if Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a Gaza deal — met with his negotiating team on a "take it or leave it" deal for Israel and Hamas. Netanyahu "seems to believe he can ride out the demands for a deal being made from the street, at least for now," the BBC said. "But the demands from his own defense minister, from the U.S. president, could prove harder to ignore."

 
 
Today's POLITICS story

Harris, Biden campaign together at union rally

What happened
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to labor groups in Michigan and Pennsylvania on Monday while her running mate, Tim Walz, rallied with union workers in the third "Blue Wall" state, Wisconsin. Harris and President Joe Biden appeared together at a Labor Day rally in Pittsburgh, their first joint event since Biden dropped out of the race.

Who said what
Harris, who spoke after Biden in a packed Pittsburgh union hall, said she was "so proud" to be in "the most pro-union administration in America's history." She said she agreed with Biden that "U.S. Steel should remain American-owned and American-operated," not sold to Japan's Nippon Steel. Biden said Harris would be a "historic pro-union president."

Harris has been "one of Biden's chief validators," The Associated Press said, and now she "looks to lean on Biden — a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania — to help win the potentially decisive state." Biden "remains an unpopular president," but many voters in Pennsylvania "still view him as 'Union Joe,'" Politico said. 

What next?
Labor Day traditionally kicks off the final sprint to Election Day, but now it's also the "beginning of voting season, as the first mail ballots go out to voters in North Carolina this week," The Washington Post said. Donald Trump — who held no events on Labor Day — is "approaching the final nine weeks" of the campaign as a "race to drag Kamala Harris down" toward his level of unpopularity.

 
 
Today's INTERNATIONAL Story

US seizes private jet of Venezuela's Maduro

What happened
The U.S. has seized a luxury jet used by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Justice Department announced Monday, saying the Dassault Falcon 900EX was purchased by a shell company in violation of U.S. sanctions and smuggled out of the U.S.

Who said what
The plane, "described by officials as Venezuela's equivalent to Air Force One," was flown to Florida from the Dominican Republic, where it had been undergoing repairs, CNN said. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the aircraft was "illegally purchased for $13 million" for use by "Maduro and his cronies." Venezuela's government said the seizure of Maduro's jet "cannot be described as anything other than piracy."

What next?
Maduro's private jet was one of dozens the U.S. has seized from top Venezuelan leaders either sanctioned or indicted for alleged drug trafficking or corruption. Investigating the "corrupt practices of the Venezuelan government" is a "continued body of work," Anthony Salisbury, a special agent at Homeland Security Investigations, told The Associated Press. "Obviously, we are not done yet." The U.S. will be pursuing forfeiture with the confiscated Falcon, CNN said, so "the Venezuelan government has a chance to petition for it" after the U.S. searches it for evidence.

 
 

It's not all bad

A man in Taiwan is tackling fashion waste by creating "sea wool," a sustainable alternative to artificial textiles made of oyster shells. More than 176,000 tons of mollusk shells are discarded annually, and entrepreneur Eddie Wang's innovative process turns this waste into a flexible yarn similar to sheep's wool. Inspired by local traditions, Wang now produces roughly 1,000 tons of sea wool thread every year, earning nearly $6 million.

 
 
Under the radar

"Is it still safe to fly?" That was the alarming question asked by London's Sunday Times as it reported that this year was already "one of the worst for air accidents that anyone can remember."

The year got off to a tragic start in January when Japan Airlines Flight 516 collided with a De Havilland coast guard plane as it landed in Tokyo, killing five people. Within days, a panel blew out on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, "leaving a gaping hole in the cabin" and "terrified passengers breathing through oxygen masks," said Euractiv. These two incidents saw "aviation safety thrown into the spotlight." 

Part of the problems stem from Boeing quality control lapses. But turbulence has also been a major issue this year, causing serious injuries along with the first death on a large commercial airliner since 1997. Climate change is to blame for growing turbulence as rising air temperatures disrupt the speed and flow of jet streams, Paul Williams, a professor of atmospheric science at the U.K.'s Reading University, said to The Sunday Times. But there "needs to be more study" done to confirm this, said Nick Careen, the head of operations, safety and security at the International Air Transport Association. 

Air travel is still safer than most other modes of transportation. The odds that a plane you are flying on will crash are one in 1.2 million, and the odds of dying in an airline crash are one in 11 million, according to a Harvard University study in 2017. To put these figures in context, your chances of dying in a car accident are one in 5,000.

 
 
On this day

September 3, 1783

The American Revolution officially ended after representatives from the United States, Great Britain, Spain and France signed the Treaty of Paris. Britain formally recognized the independence of its 13 former colonies in America, signifying their status as a free nation.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

"Israelis stage mass demonstration to urge deal" after six hostages were found slain in a Gaza tunnel, The Washington Post says on Tuesday's front page. "Grief, hope at hostage funeral," The Wall Street Journal says, quoting the father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin: "Hersh, we failed you." USA Today leads with another quote from Jon Polin: "May his memory be a revolution," a variation on the traditional Jewish condolence "may their memory be a blessing." Polin wasn't alone in criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reluctance to strike a hostage deal — "Outrage builds as Netanyahu will not budge on cease-fire," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Fruitless trafficking

Millions of dollars worth of methamphetamine disguised as produce was seized at a U.S.-Mexico border crossing last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said. Border Patrol agents found 1,220 packages of drugs wrapped in colored plastic to resemble watermelons tucked inside a tractor-trailer packed with fruit traveling through the checkpoint near San Diego. The bust came one week after agents at the same crossing discovered more than 600 pounds of meth in a shipment of celery.

 
 

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

Image credits, from top: Mostafa Alkharouf / Anadolu via Getty Images; Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images; Miguel Gutierrez / AFP via Getty Images; Leon Neal / Getty Images