Israel, Ecuador, and 'Ring of Fire' Photos

Evacuations in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday the country's military operations were focused on completely dismantling Hamas, signaling Israel is planning to mount a full-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip. The comments come a week after an invasion and subsequent brutal attack by Hamas against unsuspecting civilians in southern Israel (see previous write-up).

Hundreds of thousands of troops have amassed at the border with Gaza, while Israel urged residents in northern Gaza to evacuate southward. Analysts say the operation is expected to begin in northern Gaza, focusing on a network of underground tunnels used by Hamas.  

International officials continued to warn of an impending humanitarian crisis—particularly at hospitals and shelters—following a full blockade by Israel of goods entering Gaza. Israel has argued the blockade is necessary to push Hamas to release more than 100 hostages taken during the initial attack.  

As of this writing, the combined death toll has passed 4,000 civilians, including at least 1,400 Israelis and more than 2,600 Palestinians. Close to 30 Americans are believed to be among those killed.

Separately, the US sent a second aircraft carrier, the USS Eisenhower, to the Eastern Mediterranean in hopes of deterring the escalation of a broader regional conflict. See a breakdown of the US-supplied military hardware used by Israel here.

AI Unwraps Ancient Scrolls

A newly developed machine learning algorithm has, for the first time, decoded parts of a burned manuscript recovered from the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum. The breakthrough was made by 21-year-old Luke Farritor, a University of Nebraska computer science student, as part of a $1M competition to digitally restore the scrolls. A single full word, translated as "purple," was revealed.  

Situated just west of Mount Vesuvius, the city fell victim to the same massive first-century eruption that buried nearby Pompeii. Like its neighbor, much of the city was preserved under a blanket of ash. Roughly 1,800 manuscripts were accidentally found in the mid-18th century—charred but intact—housed in a single villa potentially owned by the father-in-law of Julius Caeser. 

Farritor was awarded $40K for being the first to identify a single word—the competition's $700K grand prize goes to the first team to decode four separate passages (read more here).

Ecuador Votes

Conservative lawmaker Daniel Noboa defeated leftist Luisa Gonzalez in Ecuador's presidential race Sunday, garnering roughly 52% of the vote and capping a six-month campaign that saw one of its leading candidates assassinated amid a wider surge in gang-related violence. 

At 35, Noboa will become the youngest president in Ecuador's history, achieving the goal his father Álvaro Noboa—the country's wealthiest individual—aspired to five times. Noboa has held positions in his father's businesses—including Bonita bananas, a major exporter of the fruit—and was elected to the National Assembly in 2021. His campaign focused on reducing record crime levels, increasing youth employment, and expanding healthcare access while reducing taxes.   

The irregular election was called after current president, Guillermo Lasso, utilized a constitutional mechanism in April that both dissolved the legislature and triggered new elections as he faced an impeachment trial over embezzlement charges. Noboa will face reelection in just a year and a half.

Science & Technology

Business & Markets

Politics & World Affairs

Saturday's Ring of Fire eclipse, in photos.

This artist creates portraits out of pebbles. 

How spandex became standard for superheroes. 

The newest way to laugh over text: IJBOL. 

Why bedbugs just keep spreading. 

America graduates its first space ranger.

Buy your next Ferrari with your cryptocurrency. 

Teenager solves Rubik's cube in record time—while skydiving.

Clickbait: The domino effect, but with cereal boxes.

Historybook: Marie Antoinette is executed (1793); Author Oscar Wilde born (1854); The Walt Disney Co. is founded (1923); Actress Angela Lansbury born (1925); Tony, Academy, and Emmy Award-winning actress Shirley Booth dies (1992).