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Israel’s military was on Thursday drafting a plan for a possible ground operation in Gaza as the crisis in the region worsened amid mob violence and a rising death toll, with continued airstrikes and rocket attacks.
On Wednesday night, racist mob attacks spread throughout Israel in the worst Arab-Jewish chaos for years. Far-right Jewish mobs searched for Arabs on the streets and Palestinian citizens of Israel clashed with police. One such attack, on a motorist, was televised.
The Israeli army’s attack plans will be presented later on Thursday to military leaders who will decide whether to submit them to the government, according to a military spokeperson.
Early on Thursday morning, thousands of Israelis went into shelters. The Israeli military has launched hundreds of airstrikes in Gaza since Monday, killing four senior Hamas commanders and 12 more operatives, and in Gaza City targeted two high-rise buildings of flats and offices.
It comes after Israel vowed not to stop attacking Gaza until there is “complete quiet”.
At least 72 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict on Monday, including 16 children. Seven people have been killed in Israel, including a five-year-old boy.
A journalist was filmed reporting live from Gaza City as a neighbouring building was hit by an Israeli airstrike:
Joe Biden spoke to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday, telling him: “My expectation and hope is that this will be closing down sooner than later.” But he said Israel had the right to defend itself against incoming rockets. Russia called for an urgent meeting of the US, Russia, UN and the EU.
America’s largest fuel pipeline has restarted operations after it was shut down by a cyber-attack – but prices are soaring amid panic-buying
The Colonial pipeline reopened on Wednesday night after it was forced to close for nearly a week after a ransomware attack, causing fuel shortages in the south-east.
Thousands of gas stations ran out of supplies after drivers started panic-buying after the shutdown of the US’s largest fuel pipeline – despite government warnings not to.
Announcing the reopening, Colonial said in a statement that all lines “will return to normal operations”. But they said it would take several days for deliveries to return to normal.
Who was responsible for the attack? The FBI confirmed on Monday that it was DarkSide, a cybercriminal collective that has hacked multiple companies in the US and Europe. Colonial has reportedly not paid any ransom.
Earlier this week, one in five gas stations in Atlanta were out of fuel. And a state of emergency has been declared by Georgia, Virginia, Florida and North Carolina.
Panic-buying has pushed fuel prices to their highest levels in six years, the American Automobile Association said.
Elon Musk has said Tesla will no longer accept bitcoin due to concerns over fossil fuels
Tesla’s billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, said the company had suspended use of bitcoin for purchase of its electric vehicles, citing fears about the world’s biggest cryptocurrency’s “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels”.
The company started accepting bitcoin in March. Musk tweeted that it planned to start using it again “as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy”.
Following the tweet, bitcoin fell nearly 17% – its lowest point since the beginning of March.
How does bitcoin use fossil fuels? Bitcoin mining – the process by which the currency is created using high-powered computers that compete to solve complex mathematical puzzles – is powered by electricity generated by fossil fuels, especially coal. At current rates, it is using approximately the equivalent amount of energy each year as the Netherlands did in 2019.
Meanwhile, small farms say Biden’s carbon markets are not as good as they look.
Liz Cheney says she will ‘lead the fight’ for a Republican party based on conservatism after being removed from its leadership
The Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney remained defiant after being ousted from her post as the No 3 House Republican on Wednesday for her criticism of Donald Trump.
She said America needed a Republican party “based upon fundamental principles of conservatism” and vowed: “I plan to lead the fight to do that.”
Her removal was widely expected after she refused to stop blaming the former president for inciting the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.
Before the vote, seen as a bellwether for the future of the Republican party, she addressed the caucus and was even booed by some of her colleagues. “If you want leaders who will enable and spread his destructive lies, I’m not your person,” she said.
Why did the Republicans oust Cheney? And other key questions answered here.
Cheney’s ousting proves the “big lie” is the Republican party’s religion, writes the Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, David Smith.
Meanwhile, Caitlyn Jenner’s attempt to be California’s next governor is falling flat.
In other news …
Philadelphia marks the city’s first official day of remembrance for the 1985 Move bombing. The police aerial bombing of the Black liberation group Move killed 11 people, including five children, destroyed 61 houses and left 250 people homeless. Philadelphia city council last year formally apologized for committing one of the worst atrocities in America’s history of racial violence. But last month it was discovered that the bones of two of the children who died have been held at the University of Pennsylvania without their parents’ knowledge.
Ellen DeGeneres is to end her long-running daytime talkshow amid tanking ratings and following allegations of bullying and workplace toxicity. The host, who recently celebrated her 3,000th episode, said on her talkshow yesterday that next season would be her last. The show’s end signifies how celebrity culture has shifted, writes Adrian Horton.
There are alarming levels of “forever chemicals” in US mothers’ breastmilk, a study has found. Toxic chemicals known as PFAS were found in all 50 samples tested at levels nearly 2,000 times higher than what is considered safe in drinking water.
Two transgender women in Cameroon have been convicted of “attempting homosexuality” and sentenced to five years in prison amid fears of a crackdown on the LGBT+ community. Social media celebrity Shakiro, identified in court as Loïc Njeukam, and Patricia, identified as Roland Mouthe, were convicted on Tuesday after being arrested in February at a restaurant in Douala.
Stat of the day: Pokémon playing cards are fetching as much as $400,000 amid surge of interest during pandemic
Texas-based Heritage Auctions said boxes of the 1999 US first edition had fetched the huge sum at auction in recent months following demand from generation X-ers and millennials after coronavirus hit. Such is the resale value of Pokémon cards that US retail giant Target has announced it will stop selling them out of an “abundance of caution” for staff and shoppers after a man pulled a gun during a fight over trading cards in a parking lot in Wisconsin last week.
Don’t miss this: Tracey Emin on beating cancer
The British artist talks about beating cancer as she shares her movingly frank cancer self-portraits. “You can go off into a corner and curl up and die, or you can just get on with it,” she tells Jonathan Jones … or this: 100 hours behind the wheel with the lowriders of Los Angeles
Last thing: would you get a vaccine for $1m?
Officials have dangled beer, bonds and scholarships as incentives for getting vaccinated, but Ohio has trumped them all by offering cold hard cash. Its governor, Mike DeWine, yesterday announced a lottery scheme that will award five of its residents who have had at least one jab $1m.
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