News Wrap: Golan Heights damaged by Hezbollah rocket attack on Israel

In our news wrap Wednesday, Hezbollah fired more than 50 rockets toward Israel, Congo health authorities reported more than 1,000 mpox cases in the last week, divers recovered five more bodies from the luxury yacht that sank off Sicily’s coast, Russia says Ukraine launched a large drone attack on Moscow, and revised data showed the U.S. economy added fewer jobs than previously reported.
William Brangham:
Hezbollah fired more than 50 rockets towards Israel today, some causing damage in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Israel’s ambulance service reported the projectiles hit several private homes and injured one person, causing alarm among community members.
Einav Perez, Golan Heights Resident (through interpreter):
Some of the residents want to leave. Others are patriots who want to stay. But it cannot continue this way. Every sound of a door shutting makes us think it’s a boom. This time, it wasn’t a door, but a serious boom that cost us a lot.
William Brangham:
Hezbollah says the barrage was in response to Israeli airstrikes deep inside Lebanon.
Residents of one Lebanese village held a funeral today for a man they say was killed in an Israeli attack. It comes a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with mediators in the region to push a proposal aimed at bridging the gaps in the Gaza cease-fire talks. Egyptian officials reportedly expressed skepticism today that Hamas would in fact accept that proposal. Talks are expected to resume in Cairo tomorrow.
Health authorities in Congo say they have recorded more than 1,000 mpox cases in the last week amid an urgent need for vaccines. Congo accounts for more than 90 percent of the cases reported in Africa so far this year. Last week, the WHO classified the outbreak as a global health emergency.
African officials say Western nations in Japan have pledged several hundred thousand vaccine doses, but Congo’s health minister says the country alone needs some three million doses to control the outbreak.
In Italy, divers found five more bodies while searching the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday. Recovery crews unloaded body bags from a rescue vessel in Porticello. They’re still searching for one final missing person. Fifteen other passengers and crew escaped in a lifeboat and were rescued.
Authorities say they believe the British-flagged Bayesian, seen here in file video, was struck by a tornado on the water, which is known as a water spout. But questions remain as to why the yacht sank so quickly.
Russian officials say that Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks on Moscow last night since Russia’s invasion in 2022. Russia claims to have struck down 45 drones, including 11 over Moscow itself. There has been no independent verification of those figures.
That comes as Ukraine digs in to defend the city of Pokrovsk in Eastern Ukraine from Russian advances. Its capture would be an important victory for Russia, as Ukraine pushes forward with its own incursion further north in Russia’s Kursk region.
In Moscow today, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Ukraine’s military advances there undermine any chances for peace talks.
Maria Zakharova, Spokeswoman, Russian Foreign Ministry (through interpreter):
Who will negotiate with them after this, after the atrocities, the terror that they are committing against peaceful residents, the civilian population, infrastructure and peaceful facilities?
William Brangham:
Ukraine’s military claims to have taken nearly 500 square miles in Kursk since it first entered Russian territory earlier this month.
Back here in the U.S., the economy added far fewer jobs last year and into 2024 than previously reported. In its revised data out today, the Labor Department said that there were 818,000 fewer jobs created between April of last year and this March. That’s an average of 174,000 jobs per month, far fewer than the 242,000 that was initially reported. This downgrade follows a disappointing report last month and comes as the U.S. Federal Reserve considers whether to cut interest rates next month.
On Wall Street today, stocks ended slightly higher after the Fed raised hopes of an interest rate cut next month. The Dow Jones industrial average added 55 points, inching closer to the 41000-point level. The Nasdaq tacked on more than 100 points for a ninth win in 10 sessions. The S&P 500 also ended higher on the day.
And we have two passings of note.
New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr. Died earlier this morning. The 14-term Democrat was a fixture of his hometown of Paterson, where he had served as mayor, before running for Congress in 1996. Pascrell was a long time advocate for emergency responders and sat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. No cause of death has been announced, but he had been in and out of the hospital for months.
Congressman Bill Pascrell was 87 years old.
Also today, NBA Hall of Famer Al Attles has died. As one of the first Black head coaches in the league, Attles led the Golden State warriors to a championship in 1975. Attles, seen here defending a pass in 1963, was known as the Destroyer for his particularly physical style of play.
He spent six decades with the Warriors as a player, a general manager, and team ambassador. It is the longest stint by a player with the same franchise in NBA history. Al Attles was 87 years old.