Geese on Campus | Photo by Bethany Althauser | The Wright State Guardian
From local happenings to national topics and global events, here is the news worth knowing from the week of Sept. 16, 2024.
Local
Ohio officials approves language for anti-gerrymandering measure that calls for the opposite
On Wednesday, Sept. 18, Ohio election officials have approved ballot language that will describe this fall’s Issue 1, a redistricting measure, as requiring gerrymandering when the proposal is intended to do the opposite, according to the Associated Press. The Republican-controlled Ohio Ballot Board approved the language in a 3-2 party-line vote.
Citizens Not Politicians, the group behind the Nov. 5 amendment, sued last month, asserting the language “may be the most biased, inaccurate, deceptive, and unconstitutional” the state has ever seen.
The amendment in full can be found here.
National
UCLA Board approves more non-lethal weapons for police after Israel-Hamas war protests
On Thursday, Sept. 19, The University of California board of regents approved additional non-lethal weapons requested by UCLA police, according to the Associated Press. UCLA handled some of the nation’s largest student protests against the Israel-Hamas war.
Clashes between protestors and counter-protestors earlier this year on the campus led to more than a dozen injuries, and more than 200 people were arrested at a demonstration the next day.
The equipment UCLA police requested and the board approved included pepper balls and sponge rounds, projectile launchers and new drones.
Global
Two waves of deadly explosions hit Lebanon and Syria
On Tuesday, Sept. 17, pagers used by hundreds of Hezbollah members exploded almost simultaneously in parts of Lebanon and Syria, according to the Associated Press. The attack killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded thousands more.
On Wednesday, Sept. 18, another wave of deadly explosions were triggered in Beirut and parts of Lebanon. At least 25 people were killed and more than 600 were wounded.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant made no mention of the explosions of electronic devices, but praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies and said “we are at the start of a new phase in the war.”
Israel strikes Beirut after Hezbollah rockets land in northern Israel
On Friday, Sept. 20, Israel launched a rare airstrike that killed a senior Hezbollah military official in a densely populated neighborhood of southern Beirut, according to the Associated Press. At least 12 people were killed in the attack.
The Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the strike on Beirut’s southern Dahiya district targeted and killed Ibrahim Akil, a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, as well as 10 other Hezbollah operatives.
The strike comes after Hezbollah launched rockets into northern Israel. Hezbollah said that its attacks had targeted several Israeli military sites along the border with Katyusha rockets, including multiple air defense bases as well as the headquarters of an Israeli armored brigade.
