Tuesday Briefing: Israelis and Palestinians mourn a year of loss

October 8, 2024

	By Gaya Gupta

Good morning. We’re covering the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks and why many Arab Americans aren’t voting for Kamala Harris.

Plus, Chappell Roan navigates the demands of fame.

Three women leaning against one another on a bench, with flags and memorials around them and a crowd in the background.

Relatives and friends of victims of the Oct. 7 attacks at the site of last year’s Nova music festival. Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times

Israelis and Palestinians reflected on a year of loss

Anger and pain dominated the vigils and protests held around the world yesterday to commemorate the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks. Israelis held a solemn memorial in the Re’im forest, the site of a music festival where hundreds were killed. Families of the hostages gathered at a large public plaza in Tel Aviv known as Hostage Square.

In Gaza, Palestinians looked back on a year of unparalleled loss: homes destroyed, livelihoods upended and loved ones killed. Here’s more on the day’s events.

I spoke to Raja Abdulrahim, a Times correspondent based in Jerusalem, about her reporting over the past year and the moments that stood out to her.

“After a year of war, when I speak to Gazans, all I hear is despondency — about how long the war has lasted and how there is no end in sight, with no progress with the cease-fire talks,” she said. “They also speak about how the attention of the international community has shifted away from this terrible war, which has wrought unimaginable death and destruction on the tiny Palestinian territory.”

Analysis: A year on, hatred is the only winner in the war, my colleague Roger Cohen writes. It towers over the ashes of a two-state Israeli-Palestinian peace and threatens to spread across the Middle East.

The latest: Israel’s military said that it conducted extensive strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon yesterday and that it had sent in more troops. It also struck Gaza after Hamas targeted Tel Aviv with a rare rocket attack.

A portrait of Imam Hassan Qazwini at his mosque in Dearborn Heights, Mich.

Imam Hassan Qazwini said he planned to vote third party this year after supporting President Biden in 2020. Sarah Rice for The New York Times

Arab voters are rejecting Harris in Michigan

Many Arab Americans are outraged by the Biden administration’s support for Israel as it wages war in Gaza and now in Lebanon. Nowhere is this more politically important than in Michigan, a crucial battleground state with a significant population of Arab American and Muslim voters.

In the Detroit area, support for the Democratic ticket has all but vanished, interviews this weekend with voters, activists and community leaders showed. Some voters are now considering backing third-party candidates or Donald Trump instead of Kamala Harris. “I would rather have us not be involved in Israel whatsoever,” said one voter, Fatima Klait. “But I do believe that Trump would do less damage overseas.”

More on the U.S. election

Americans head to the polls in less than a month.

An interview Harris did with “60 Minutes” is set to be broadcast at 8 p.m. Eastern, part of a media blitz Harris is leading this week.
A new analysis found that Trump’s economic plans could add as much as $15 trillion to the U.S. debt over a decade.
The serial entrepreneurs behind Trump’s new cryptocurrency project have left a trail of lawsuits, unpaid debt and tax liens.

Do you have questions about the election? Send them to us, and we’ll find the answers.

A close-up of a mature adult woman leaning her head onto her hands.

Getty Images

Have we reached peak human life span?

Life expectancy has risen significantly over the past century, thanks to medical and technological advancements. But a new study looking at data between 1990 and 2019 found that while average life expectancies increased in many countries, the rates at which they rose slowed down.

The new research suggests that while more people regularly live to their 70s, 80s and 90s, getting the average age up beyond that will prove difficult. “We’re basically suggesting that as long as we live now is about as long as we’re going to live,” said S. Jay Olshansky, a professor who led the study.

MORE TOP NEWS

A person stands at a lectern while three people sit at a long table in the background. A projection of two people's portraits displays on the wall behind them.

Christine Olsson/EPA, via Shutterstock

Nobel Prizes: Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun won the prize for physiology or medicine for the discovery of microRNA, which helps determine how cells develop and function.
Ukraine: A Russian hypersonic missile hit a military base, the air force said, as Moscow expands a campaign of air assaults aimed at wearing down Ukraine’s air defenses.
Tunisia: Exit polls showed that President Kais Saied easily won re-election, the latest sign that authoritarianism has returned to the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
Russia: A 72-year-old U.S. citizen was sentenced to six years and 10 months in a penal colony on charges of serving as a mercenary in Ukraine.
Philippines: Rodrigo Duterte, who retired as president in 2022, filed papers to run for mayor of Davao, his family’s political stronghold.
Space: The Hera spacecraft lifted off on a journey to visit an asteroid and to see how to build a planetary defense strategy of deflecting killer asteroids.
India: Two climbers, one American and one British, were rescued from a Himalayan mountain after being stranded for three nights.
Pakistan: Two Chinese nationals were killed and another was injured after a convoy was attacked in Karachi. A separatist group claimed responsibility.
U.S.: Floridians prepared for mass evacuations as Hurricane Milton, the second major hurricane in two weeks, took aim at much of the state’s Gulf Coast.
China: The push by Pinduoduo, the country’s second largest online retailer, to lower prices is contributing to a deflation downturn.

Sports

Soccer: Johan Neeskens, the former Ajax and Barcelona legend, has died at age 73.
Formula 1: Lando Norris spoke to The Athletic about his dramatic rise and bid for the title.
Basketball: Here are The Athletic’s predictions for each N.B.A. team in 2024-25.

MORNING READ

A woman posing with a poster that reads: “A manel a day keeps democracy away.” The m in manel is next to a crossed-out p, which would have made the word panel.

Ying Lao has spoken out against “manels,” or all-male panels, organized by the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar. Lauren DeCicca for The New York Times

A panel discussion in Myanmar about female leadership had two speakers. Both were male. Scores of “manels” — all-male panels — have been organized over recent years by the pro-democracy movement, according to Ying Lao and other gender equality activists. They say excluding women from these discussions hurts efforts to oust Myanmar’s military rulers.

Lives lived: Christopher Ciccone, who devoted himself to his sister Madonna but later wrote a memoir chronicling experiences that he described as “abuse,” has died at 63.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Maggie Smith smiles. She holds her clasped hands to her face. She has white-grey hair and wears no make up.

Paul Marriott/Shutterstock

Glamour shot: Maggie Smith’s ad campaign for the brand Loewe reminds us that age itself may be the ultimate luxury.
Ask Vanessa: Our chief fashion critic explains the relationship between purse size and power: the bigger the job, the smaller the handbag.
Endless Netflix: The streaming revolution has distorted our collective viewing habits — and our sense of the culture.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times .

ARTS AND IDEAS

A pop star dressed in a corset and torn fishnets sings into a microphone onstage.

Fletcher Moore for The New York Times

Can a pop star set boundaries with her fans?

Chappell Roan may be the most energizing breakout star in American pop music this year. Her debut album that arrived just over a year ago, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” now sits at No. 2 on the Billboard chart.

She’s grown from cult queer-pop hero to zeitgeist-shaping star, Jon Caramanica, the Times pop music critic, writes. As she’s being embraced, she’s also being tested by her newfound fame. The last couple of weeks have forced Roan to draw the line between her real-life and online fandoms.

RECOMMENDATIONS

A cast-iron Dutch oven sits against a marbled gray background. Inside the pot are a mix of vegetables and chicken suspended in a broth. Off to the left are spoons and chopsticks.

David Malosh for The New York Times

Cook: This chicken and vegetable donabe is both soothing and speedy.

Read: “Paper of Wreckage” chronicles the last 50 years of a notorious American tabloid.

Listen: David Marchese interviewed Al Pacino about, well, everything.

Travel: To really explore Peru, try a hop-on, hop-off bus.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Gaya

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