Israel Attacked, Marathon Record, and the World's Best Street Food

Hamas Attacks Israel

Hundreds of people are dead and thousands more injured in Israel and the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise raid into Israel over the weekend. Reports suggest at least 700 Israelis have been killed, many of whom were civilians, while more than 400 Palestinians have died. Almost 5,000 people have been injured across both sides. The attack came one day after the 50th anniversary of the fourth Arab-Israeli war. 

Fighting began early Saturday (see photos), with Hamas launching thousands of rockets at cities across Israel, demolishing parts of a border fence, and infiltrating nine towns in southern Israel. Hamas fighters reportedly targeted both military sites and civilians, including opening fire on a late-night dance party near the Israeli-Gaza border that left at least 260 dead. 

Officials said as many as 130 Israeli civilians and soldiers had been taken hostage by militants, with some taken back to Gaza. Israel contacted Egypt to assist in their return; their status is currently unknown as of this writing. 

The Gaza Strip is a nearly 140 square mile area, home to roughly 2 million people, whose borders are controlled largely by Israel—tightly restricting the flow of goods and people in and out of the country. Hamas, both a militant group and political party with the stated goal of destroying Israel, has run Gaza internally since 2007. 

By yesterday afternoon, the US had deployed a carrier strike group to the Mediterranean in support of Israel. Events continue to unfold; see updates here. 

Quake Strikes Afghanistan

Roughly 2,400 people have died, and many more are trapped in western Afghanistan, after a pair of 6.3 magnitude earthquakes rocked Asia's poorest nation Sunday. The city of Herat, the nation's third-largest with over 600,000 residents, was the worst affected, with the quake's epicenter just 25 miles northwest of the provincial hub.

The Taliban-led nation has seen both government revenues and humanitarian aid dry up in the two years since the Islamist group's swift takeover on the heels of the United States' exit, crippling its already weak economy and exacerbating its ability to respond to disasters. The United Nations estimates nearly half its 39 million citizens face severe hunger. The deadly event follows last June's 5.9 magnitude quake, which saw over 1,000 killed.

The region sits at the intersection of three tectonic plates—Indian, Eurasian, and Arabian—and is part of the Alpide belt, the world's second-most seismically active fault. See photos of the damage here.

A New Marathon Record

Kenyan long-distance runner Kelvin Kiptum set a new, formally recognized marathon world record Sunday, finishing the Chicago Marathon in just over two hours. His 2:00:35 mark eclipses former record-holder Eliud Kipchoge's time of 2:01:09 (set last year in Berlin) and makes Kiptum the first athlete to finish under two hours and one minute in a record-eligible competition. On the women's side, Dutch runner Sifan Hassan set the second-fastest women's time on record, finishing in 2:13:44.

Record times have consistently trended downward (see chart), with records in recent years in part driven by advancements in running shoe technology. Nike unveiled its Vaporfly series in 2017, which the company claims increases running efficiency by up to 4%. Kiptum reportedly wore a pair of Nike prototypes not available to the general public. 

More recently, Adidas—whose runners dominated this year's Boston Marathon—released a $600 model meant to be worn a single time. See why some have characterized new shoe models as "technological doping" here.

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