World roundup: November 1 2023

Stories from Israel-Palestine, China, Libya, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

November 1, 1922: The last Ottoman Sultan is deposed.

November 1, 1955: The Vietnam War begins, at least according to the US government. Even though the Viet Cong had already begun battling the South Vietnamese government and the North Vietnamese government wouldn’t officially get involved until the following year, this is the date the US government reorganized its Military Assistance Advisory Group for Indochina by country. The birth of “MAAG Vietnam” is considered by Washington to mark the start of the war, and when it lists US deaths in the war it starts the count on this date.

MIDDLE EAST

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

In Israel-Palestine news today:

• The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) apparently thought that bombing Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp was so nice that they’ve now done it thrice. The IDF followed up Tuesday’s initial bombing with a second attack later in the day in another part of the camp, then struck a third camp neighborhood on Wednesday. Casualty figures are continuing to mount and at last check stood at 195 dead, 777 wounded, and some 120 still missing. Hamas is claiming that seven of its hostages were among the dead.