Tuesday’s Mini-Report, 10.10.23

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* American fatalities in Israel: “President Joe Biden said in a news conference that 14 Americans have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war. On Monday, officials said 11 Americans had been killed.”

* American hostages in Israel: “President Biden said during his remarks today from the White House: ‘We now know that American citizens are among those being held by Hamas.’ He didn’t specify how many.”

* Military support: “The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group has arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean to support Israel, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.”

* Diplomatic support: “”U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel to show “unwavering” support for the country following Hamas attacks, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing this afternoon. Blinken will leave tomorrow and is expected to arrive in Israel on Thursday.”

* Interesting group of countries: “France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States today expressed unified support for Israel while condemning Hamas’ attack and tactics.”

* Meanwhile in New York, former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg took the stand earlier today: “…Weisselberg just acknowledged that from 2011 until Trump became president, he would give Trump the statements of financial condition before they were finalized. Trump had an opportunity to review the statements and Weisselberg said he ‘periodically’ received comments on them.”

* The coup in Niger: “The U.S. officially determined Tuesday that a military coup took place in Niger in July, suspending nearly $200 million in aid to the West African country. Just over two months ago, a general declared himself the new leader of Niger following the removal of the country’s elected president.”

* A fascinating report on an underappreciated part of public education: “With about 66,000 students — more than the public school enrollment in Boston or Seattle — the Pentagon’s schools for children of military members and civilian employees quietly achieve results most educators can only dream of.”

* A good summary of what Elon Musk has wrought: “He blew up the old verification system, replacing a hand-picked group of journalists whose identities were confirmed by the company with a hodgepodge of culture warriors paying $8 a month to float to the top of replies. He began paying the culture warriors based on the views they got. He blocked and threatened reporters. He sued activists. He began charging eye-watering rates to access the platform’s API, driving away academic researchers. He stripped headlines off the previews of articles. He promoted the accounts of conspiracy theories and right-wing extremists. This is a system designed to cause chaos in the information environment, and it is working by design.”

See you tomorrow.