The New York Times Morning Briefing - September 2, 2024 - by Natasha Frost - major protests in Israel and the latest from state elections in Germany.

 

September 2, 2024

	By Natasha Frost

Good morning. We’re covering major protests in Israel and the latest from state elections in Germany.

Plus: The Great Lego Spill of 1997.

Protesters in Tel Aviv on Sunday. Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

Thousands protested a hostage tragedy in Israel

Six Israeli hostages were found dead in a tunnel under the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said yesterday, an announcement that brought months of simmering public anger to a furious and grief-stricken boil.

A military spokesman said that the bodies of the captives, who ranged in age from 23 to 40 and included Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a dual Israeli American citizen, had been recovered beneath the southern city of Rafah. They had been “brutally murdered” shortly before, he added. Hamas said responsibility for the deaths lay with Israel for its failure to agree to a cease-fire deal. (Read about the hostages.)

Furious protesters flooded Israel’s streets last night, in one of the largest demonstrations in the nearly 11 months of war, to call on Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s prime minister, to agree to a truce that would allow the remaining hostages to be brought home. Hawkish elements in the Israeli government, by contrast, called for the war to be intensified in retaliation for the hostages’ deaths.

In Gaza: The Israeli military continued its bombardment of the territory, striking a former school that the military said Hamas was using as a “command and control complex.”

In the West Bank: Gunmen killed three Israeli police officers as they drove through the Israeli-occupied territory.

 U.S. ELECTION 2024

The presidential election is less than 70 days away. This is what we’re watching.

Donald Trump has trips scheduled to Arizona, California and North Carolina. Jim Vondruska for The New York Times

The final stretch of the U.S. election campaign

After a three-day weekend, the Harris and Trump campaigns will hit states across the nation this week in a rush of activity. Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance of Ohio are set to appear in Arizona, California and North Carolina, and Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota will be in Florida and Pennsylvania. Here’s the latest.

In comments on X on Saturday, Harris excoriated Trump for his campaign’s unauthorized filming in Arlington National Cemetery, adding that he had desecrated a solemn site that was not the place for politics. Trump responded yesterday by publishing statements attacking Harris from family members of 13 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan in 2022.

Oratorical genius? Trump has for weeks been urged by his advisers to remain on message. But at a rally on Friday, the former president insisted that his approach — bouncing from one topic to the next in a matter of seconds — was a rhetorical triumph. “I do the weave,” he said.

Here’s what else to know:

The Harris and Trump campaigns, when combined with their super PACs, have collectively raised at least $1.3 billion. Meet the biggest donors so far.

While the economy remains the top issue, a growing share of swing-state voters now say abortion is central to their decision. After Trump used A.I.-generated images to falsely claim an endorsement from Taylor Swift, thousands of Swifties gathered in support of Harris’s campaign.

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

Stay up to date: Live coverage | Poll tracker | “The Run-Up” podcast | On Politics newsletter

A gathering for the far-right AfD party in Erfurt, Germany, on Sunday. Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

Projected results from Germany’s state elections

The far-right party Alternative for Germany yesterday was said to be on course to become the strongest party in a state election for the first time, in Thuringia. It was also running a close second to mainstream conservatives in the state of Saxony. In both states, a new party rooted in the extreme left, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, was running third.

Neither party has a majority, and in both states, coalition negotiations are expected to take weeks.

Context: The elections in the two states in the former East Germany have been closely watched in Berlin as a measure of the rising strength of extremist parties, left and right, as well as of the weakening position of the centrist parties that make up the current federal coalition. Alternative for Germany’s success in Thuringia would be the first victory of a far-right party in a state election since the Nazi era.

MORE TOP NEWS

Nicole Tung for The New York Times

Ukraine: As the Russian Army closes in on the town of Pokrovsk, residents are fleeing. Egypt: Power shortages and an economic crisis have shuttered Cairo’s night markets during the only time when it’s cool enough to shop. Russia: A helicopter carrying tourists crashed near a volcano in Russia’s Far East on Saturday, killing at least 17 people, according to emergency officials. Japan: Six people have died after Shanshan, a storm that has weakened to a tropical depression, brought nearly three feet of rain to parts of the southernmost of the country’s main island. Venezuela: Maracaibo, the country’s second-most-populous city, has lost almost a quarter of its population. This is what the loss of 500,000 people looks like. Health: Over three years, older patients with kidney failure who started dialysis right away lived for just 77 days longer than those who never started it, according to new research. U.S.: About 10,000 hotel workers walked off the job after their union failed to come to an agreement with major hotel companies in contract negotiations. Paris: The city’s mayor said that the Eiffel Tower would keep the Olympic rings installed on the structure for the 2024 Summer Games. Norway: Hvaldimir, a celebrated beluga whale who was first spotted in 2019 wearing what looked like a camera harness, was found dead.

SPORTS NEWS

Soccer: Sporting Lisbon signed Conrad Harder from Nordsjaelland, beating out Brighton, which had set its sights on the player. U.S. Open: Emma Navarro knocked out Coco Gauff. Read other highlights from Day 7 of the tournament. Paralympics: The triathlon competition was postponed after further concerns about the quality of the water in the Seine.

MORNING READ

Guy Martin for The New York Times

Nearly 30 years ago, a cargo ship carrying nearly five million Lego bricks was hit by a rogue wave, and its shipping containers tumbled into the sea. Many of the pieces, which include dragons, octopuses and sharks, are still washing up on European shores.

Lives lived: The rapper Fatman Scoop, whose distinctive booming voice brought an electric energy to songs by Missy Elliott and Mariah Carey, has died at 56.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Happy birthday eggs! Women are throwing parties to celebrate taking charge of their fertility futures. A dog’s dinner: Should a reader have to tolerate other people’s smelly pets while dining out? Our Ethicist columnist weighs in. Cost of living: A home the size of one priced at $750,000 in Italy would cost an estimated $12 million in Manhattan. From Opinion: A Methodist minister makes the case for household chores as the key to a deeper life.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Ore Huiying for The New York Times

A post-colonial divide in Singapore

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, a British colonial official, is considered to have founded modern Singapore in the early 1800s, and tributes to him are everywhere on the island.

But a new statue has revived a debate about the legacy of colonialism in the prosperous seaport. On one side is the broader establishment, which has held up British colonial rule positively. On the other are those who want a closer inspection of the empire that Raffles represented and the racial inequity he left behind.

“It has been delivered as a hagiography rather than just history,” said one resident who wants to see the Raffles statues destroyed. “It’s so strange — the idea that one would defend colonial practice. It goes against the grain on what’s happening in many parts of the world.”

Read more about Raffles’s complex history.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Armando Rafael for The New York Times

Cook: Roasted tofu is the star of this tangy, spicy sheet-pan dish.

Read: This month, the Book Review Book Club will read and discuss “The Hypocrite” by Jo Hamya.

Watch: Choose from six new movies our critics are talking about.

Recap: Take our news quiz.

Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today’s Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. See you tomorrow. — Natasha

Reach Natasha and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.