Monday Briefing: The U.S. to deploy troops to Israel

October 14, 2024

	By Gaya Gupta

Good morning. We’re covering American troops in Israel and Latino voters in the U.S.

Plus, 200,000 stories of Modern Love.

A large Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system.

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in Guam in 2023. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

The U.S. will deploy about 100 troops to Israel for missile defense

The Pentagon said that it was sending an advanced missile defense system to Israel, along with about 100 American troops to operate it. It is the first deployment of U.S. forces to Israel since the Hamas-led attacks there on Oct. 7, 2023.

The move will put American troops operating the system, a ground-based interceptor designed to defend against ballistic missiles, closer to the widening war in the Middle East. It comes after Iran launched about 200 missiles, including ballistic missiles, at Israel on Oct. 1 and as Israel plans its retaliation.

When asked about it on Sunday, President Biden said only that he had ordered the Pentagon to deploy the system “to defend Israel.”

In Israel: Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a drone strike against a military base in northern Israel that injured dozens.

In the West Bank: We rode along on two bus trips, one for Israelis, the other for Palestinians, that tell a story of separate and unequal roadways.

Investigation: Secret documents show Hamas tried to get Iran to join the attacks last Oct. 7.

June Kim

Harris has struggled to win over Latinos, new poll finds

Vice President Kamala Harris’s support among Hispanic voters is in dangerously low territory for Democrats, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll. Donald Trump, however, has maintained his strength with the group, even as he closes his campaign with a sharply anti-immigrant message.

The findings highlight the key role the group plays in deciding control of the White House. The survey also suggests that voters’ choices could still change: About one-quarter of respondents said that they were undecided or persuadable, slightly higher than likely voters overall. Those undecided voters lean toward Harris.

Details: The poll of Hispanic likely voters conducted this fall shows striking signs of support for Trump’s most aggressive immigration policies. More than one-third of Hispanic voters say they support both building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and deporting immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally.

Interviews: In Nevada, a key battleground state, Latinos told us that they are losing faith in government.

Analysis: Nate Cohn breaks down five possible explanations for the increases in support for Trump among Black and Hispanic voters, particularly young men.

More on the U.S. election

Americans head to the polls in less than a month.

In an interview with Lulu Garcia-Navarro, JD Vance rejected the idea that he has changed, defended his ideas and still wouldn’t say if Trump lost the 2020 election.
In the final stretch of the race, Trump is feeling aggrieved, unappreciated by donors and fenced in by security concerns.
Barack Obama’s recent remarks that some Black men are not “feeling the idea” of a female president were blunt and urgent, but also potentially alienating for a vital group of Democratic voters.

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

Ladakh’s local hero demands India to pay attention to his people

A man gestures with his hands in front of a slanted bookshelf.

Sonam Wangchuk, an activist from the Ladakh region of India. Tauseef Mustafa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Nestled in the Himalayas between China and Pakistan, the remote Ladakh region of India is critical to national security. But ever since the Indian government decided to bring the region under direct federal control, its residents lack much autonomy and fear the effects of development on its fragile ecosystem.

A native of Ladakh, the activist Sonam Wangchuk, is leading protests to demand the country to pay more attention to his people. In the past month, Wangchuk and his supporters have trekked to New Delhi to demand that the government agree to restart talks over how their land is governed. Wangchuk is also more than a week into a planned 28-day fast — one he said he would end if the government agreed to negotiate.

MORE TOP NEWS

Buildings in the city of Odesa, Ukraine, with the Black Sea in the background.

The Port of Odesa in March. Russia has intensified its strikes on this region of Ukraine recently. Oksana Parafeniuk for The New York Times

Ukraine: Russia appears to be trying again to prevent grain exports with an intensifying campaign of strikes on the city of Odesa.
Japan: Nihon Hidankyo, a collective of Japanese atomic bomb survivors, was awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.
Nepal: Living high on the Tibetan Plateau, residents of the Humla District contend that China’s “new Great Wall” is encroaching on the country’s territory.
Canada: Faced with a growing popular backlash, one of the world’s most immigrant-friendly countries is tightening its rules.
South Korea: The country has the world’s lowest birthrate, and many people live alone — and, increasingly, with dogs.
Space: SpaceX flew a 233-foot rocket booster back to its launch site, and caught it out of the air with two giant mechanical arms.
Business: Companies like Amazon have required a return to the office five days a week despite findings showing benefits to employers that allow some remote days.

Sports

A woman running while hold a Kenyan flag behind her. People in a crowd behind a barricade look on in the background.

Ruth Chepngetich after crossing the finish line of the Chicago Marathon. Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune, via Associated Press

Running: At the Chicago Marathon, Ruth Chepngetich became the first woman to ever finish in less than 2 hours 10 minutes.
Tennis: Aryna Sabalenka strengthened her grip on the year-end world No. 1 ranking by defeating Zheng Qinwen at the Wuhan Open.
Running: “Shoe doping” changed marathon times in ways we still don’t understand.

MORNING READ

An illustration of a boy holding a flower and several other flowers nearby.

Brian Rea

Twenty years ago this month, Daniel Jones began editing The Times’s Modern Love column. After reading some 200,000 stories — some perplexing, some devastating, some inspiring — he recalls the seven lessons that have helped him love better.

Lives lived: Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland who campaigned for the country to leave the U.K. and led the nation during an independence referendum, died on Saturday. He was 69.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Sexy, strange and surreal: Parris Goebel’s muscular dances for Rihanna, SZA and other stars are reshaping what modern pop choreography looks like.
A century-old clue: A boot found on Mount Everest could shed light on the mysterious disappearance of the climbers who tried to be the first to reach the summit in 1924.
No more tourist traps: Tourism has rebounded worldwide since a pandemic-induced dip. But not in Hong Kong: This year, it welcomed just half as many visitors as it had in 2018.
Staking out the elusive moose: While reporting on Newfoundland’s invasive moose population, the Times correspondent Ian Austen recounted the difficulty of spotting one in the wild.

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

ARTS AND IDEAS

A photo illustration shows a pink onesie attached to a flagpole against a blue sky background.

Photo Illustration by Matt Chase

Can the government get people to have more babies?

Starting in the 1990s, Japan began rolling out policies designed to incentivize people to have more babies: extended parental leave, subsidized day care and direct cash transfers, to name a few.

But none of it worked. The number of babies born in Japan last year fell to the lowest level on record. Governments across Europe, East Asia and North America have joined Japan, but modern families just don’t seem to want to grow larger. So what might actually induce people to have more babies? And if nothing really works, why not? Read more here.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Armando Rafael for The New York Times

Cook: “Sugo finto” translates from Italian to “fake sauce” — but this vegetable ragu is full of real flavor.

Listen: Stanley Tucci discusses his new book, “What I Ate in One Year,” on our Book Review podcast.

Tech: Apple is preparing to turn its AirPods Pro 2 into easy-to-use aids for people with mild to moderate hearing loss.

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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