WORLD NEWS FLASH
MIDDLE EAST
UN – The number of people killed in Gaza has exceeded 5,000 according to latest reports from de facto authorities there, amid intensifying Israeli airstrikes in response to Hamas attacks, while humanitarians repeated urgent calls for a ceasefire and more aid convoys.
Echoing that message, UN health agency (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a new appeal on Oct. 23 for “sustained safe passage” for medical essentials and fuel to keep health facilities open.
“Lives depend on these decisions,” he insisted on social platform X (fka Twitter).
Latest media reports citing the Gaza Ministry of Health indicate that the number of people killed in Gaza since Oct. 7 has risen to 5,087.
Women and children have made up more than 62 percent of the fatalities, while more than 15,273 people have been injured.
In addition to the overall death toll, the number of UN staff members working with the Palestine refugee agency UNRWA, has reached 35, according to the latest situation report released late on Monday. A further 18 staffers have been injured.
At least 40 UNRWA installations have been damaged since the violence began on Oct. 7.
UNRWA said nearly 600,000 internally displaced are sheltering in 150 UNRWA facilities overall with nearly 420,000 seeking refuge in 93 of the agency’s shelters in Middle, Khan Younis and Rafah areas, further to the south – that’s an increase of around 14,000 civilians in the past 24 hours.
In its latest humanitarian update on the crisis UN humanitarian aid coordination office, OCHA, said that more than 1,000 have been reported missing and “are presumed to be trapped or dead under the rubble.”
The largest medical facility in Gaza, Shifa hospital, is now treating around 5,000 patients, many times beyond its normal figure of around 700.
The UN Spokesperson said on Oct. 23 that the average number of people staying in Gaza shelters is 4,400, around 2.5 times their designated capacity.
Around 70 civilians are sharing space in each UNRWA classroom.
According to Israeli official sources quoted by OCHA, some 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, the vast majority in the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 which triggered the latest conflict.
OCHA said that the reported fatality toll is “over threefold the cumulative number of Israelis killed” since it began recording casualties in 2005.
At least 212 Israeli and foreign nationals are being held captive in Gaza, the Israeli authorities have said. Two hostages were released Oct. 20. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly called upon Hamas to release hostages immediately and unconditionally.
A new aid convoy entered Gaza from Egypt on Oct. 23 through the Rafah border crossing comprises 20 trucks according to the Egyptian Red Crescent, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing reporters in New York.
He said that was equivalent to just four percent of the pre-crisis level of daily needs, for commodities for Gaza’s population of more than two million.
This was the third such delivery after the crossing opened on Saturday for the first time since the start of the conflict, following intense diplomatic efforts.
A total of 34 trucks with aid provided by the UN and the Egyptian Red Crescent entered the enclave over the weekend. The UN has stressed that to respond to soaring humanitarian needs, at least 100 aid trucks per day are required.
The development comes as (UNRWA) warned that it was set to run out of fuel within days, putting the humanitarian response in Gaza at risk.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said that without fuel, “there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries” and that “no fuel will further strangle the children, women and people of Gaza.”
UNITED STATES
REDLINING INITIATIVE PAYING OFF
The Justice Department announced Oct. 19 that its Combating Redlining Initiative has secured over $107 million in relief for communities of color nationwide that have experienced lending discrimination by banks or other mortgage lending businesses. As a part of the $107 million, the Department also announced a $9 million agreement with Ameris Bank to resolve allegations that Ameris engaged in a pattern or practice of redlining predominately Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Florida.
Redlining is an illegal practice in which lenders avoid providing credit services to individuals living in or seeking to live in, communities of color because of the race, color, or national origin of the residents in those communities.
“As today’s case makes clear, redlining is not just a relic of the past,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “That is why, two years ago this month, the Justice Department launched our Combating Redlining Initiative, and once today’s settlement is approved, that Initiative will have secured more than $100 million for communities across the country that have been harmed by discriminatory lending practices. This work is just the beginning – the Justice Department currently has over two dozen active investigations into redlining, spanning neighborhoods across the country.”
In October 2021, Attorney General Garland announced the Combating Redlining Initiative, the Department’s most aggressive coordinated enforcement effort to address redlining. The Department has partnered with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, federal financial regulatory agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and state Attorneys General offices to enforce federal fair lending laws that prohibit redlining, including the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
Since 2021, the Department has secured 10 settlement agreements with banks and mortgage lending institutions to provide credit opportunities to communities of color in Houston, Memphis, Philadelphia, Camden, Wilmington, Newark, Los Angeles, Columbus, Tulsa, Rhode Island, and now Jacksonville. These agreements have provided millions of dollars to redlined communities and have helped to make homeownership a reality for families of color who have been unfairly denied access to credit.
The resolution with Ameris Bank was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, along with the Department’s complaint, and is subject to court approval. The Department’s complaint alleges that, from 2016 through 2021, Ameris Bank avoided providing mortgage services to majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville and discouraged people seeking credit in those communities from obtaining home loans.
Ameris’ home mortgage lending was focused disproportionately on white areas of Jacksonville while other lenders generated applications in majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods at three times the rate of Ameris. Although Ameris operates 18 branches in Jacksonville, Ameris has never operated a branch in a majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhood in the city.
The neighborhoods that the Department alleges Ameris redlined in Jacksonville are some of the same neighborhoods that were first redlined by Home Ownership Loan Corporation maps in the 1930s.
“Combating modern day redlining is one of the most important strategies for ensuring equal economic opportunity today,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “By taking on the discriminatory lending practices of banks and mortgage companies, we are helping to ensure that more Black, Hispanic, and other communities of color are able to buy a home, generate wealth, and fulfill the American Dream. This settlement marks a new pinnacle in our efforts to bring an end to redlining and provides tangible relief to communities that have been starved of access to credit for far too long.”
MASS SHOOTING UPDATE
Information recent as of 10-24-2023 at 12 p.m.
2023 Mass Shooting Stats: (Source: Mass Shooting Tracker – https://www.massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2023)
Total Mass Shootings: 639
Total Dead: 752
Total Wounded: 2534
Shootings Per Day: 2.15
Days Reached in Year 2023 as of Oct. 24: 297
EUROPE
BRINGING ATTENTION TO ACID ATTACKS
Government, law enforcement, academics, survivors, charities and industry, came together Oct. 23 to discuss the horrible nature of acid attacks and consider what more can be done to protect our society.
The meeting, jointly chaired by the Safeguarding Minister, Sarah Dines, and Katie Piper OBE, was an opportunity for government, policing, trading standards, charities, retailers and the delivery sector to discuss the action to date in preventing and tackling corrosive attacks and what more can be done to clamp down on these horrendous acts of violence which devastate lives.
Government action to tackle the use of acid and other corrosives in violent attacks is based on four key strands: strong policing, effective legislation, providing support for victims and survivors, and working with retailers to restrict access to acids and other harmful corrosive products.
Minister for Safeguarding, Sarah Dines, said, “Acid attacks devastate lives and leave victims with both emotional and physical scars and our thoughts remain with all the survivors and their families.
“The government is committed to doing all we can to prevent acid and other corrosive substances being used as weapons, and to ensure strong punishments for those who do so. We have already introduced the measures within the Offensive Weapons Act which makes it an offence to carry these substances in public, to ensure the cowards who use acids as weapons face the full force of the law, and also ban the sale of acid and other corrosives to under-18s and the delivery of such substances to residential premises and lockers to restrict the availability and prevent their misuse.
“We know that legislation alone will not prevent attacks, which is why conversations such as today’s are so important. I thank those who participated, especially, Katie Piper, Andreas Christopheros and the other survivors who are so brave and courageous.”
The round table brought together the many structures both inside and outside of government aimed at protecting the public from such attacks to discuss, retailers’ statutory obligations, including around age verification, and to ensure they have all the necessary tools to effectively enforce these measures.
The meeting also explored ideas about what more can be done to reduce the risk of corrosive products being misused as weapons, whether retailers are taking this seriously enough and if more can be done by staff to question the use at the time of purchase.
Katie Piper and Andreas Christopheros previously met with the Home Secretary on December 12, 2022 to discuss their concerns and ideas, which led to the event.
“Today was about progress, prevention and proactive conversation. Over the past couple of years I have worked tirelessly to keep this topic on the government agenda,” Piper said. “This is a very serious issue and statistics show violent crime using acid is increasing at an alarming and disturbing rate.
“Reducing accessibility and the sale of corrosive substances is absolutely crucial to reducing acid attacks, and the resulting horrendous impact it has on victims. Retailers, associations and delivery gateways all have a colossal duty and responsibility to help us in our aims.
“I remain absolutely determined in my mission for change – today for accessibility, but tomorrow also for sentencing, legislation, funding and increased regulation.”
“Surviving and living through the wake of an acid attack is a challenge like no other. Survivors are left broken physically, emotionally, and financially and many will carry these struggles for the rest of their lives,” said Christopheros.
“It’s promising that the government has engaged in our campaign for change, however, more needs to happen. We must keep pushing for a better future for survivors of these horrific crimes.”
