World roundup: May 1 2024

Stories from Saudi Arabia, Chad, Haiti, and elsewhere

Happy May Day!

TODAY IN HISTORY

May 1, 1707: The Acts of Union, separately passed by the English and Scottish parliaments, go into effect, merging the two kingdoms into the newly christened Great Britain. The Scottish Stuart dynasty had been ruling both kingdoms (the “Glorious Revolution” notwithstanding) since James VI of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth I as James I of England, but the crowns had been held in personal union only. The Acts of Union made it a legal union and thereby completed the Scottish takeover of England. Or at least that’s how I like to think about it.

May 1, 1977: The Taksim Square Massacre

MIDDLE EAST

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spent Wednesday in Israel, meeting with Israeli officials and hostage families and later touring southern Israel as well as the seaport at Ashdod, which is supposed to play a significant role in an expanded humanitarian relief effort. He reiterated the Biden administration’s position that a failure to reach a ceasefire agreement would be entirely Hamas’s fault, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration of his own opposition to a ceasefire notwithstanding. Hamas officials dismissed Blinken’s comments and claim they’re still “studying” the latest ceasefire proposal, which presumably means they’re trying to reach an internal consensus on their response. There was apparently some expectation that said response would be available by Wednesday evening but as yet I haven’t seen anything in that regard.

In other items: