World roundup: September 23 2024

Stories from Lebanon, Mali, Russia, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

September 23, 1803: A small British army defeats a Maratha army as much as six or seven times its size at the Battle of Assaye. The British victory helped establish military supremacy in the Deccan, the Maratha Empire’s home turf, and led to Britain’s victory in the Second Anglo-Maratha War. It also boosted the military career of the British commander, Major General Arthur Wellesley, who would later be made the first Duke of Wellington and become a major thorn in Napoleon’s side.

September 23, 1932: Abdulaziz “Ibn Saud” unites his two kingdoms, the Nejd and the Hejaz, into one, the new Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Commemorated annually as Saudi National Day.

MIDDLE EAST

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

With most attention on Lebanon right now, the Israeli military (IDF) continued its airstrikes on Gaza on Monday, hitting a number of targets including yet another school-turned-shelter in Nuseirat. Apparently it was another Hamas command center. They sure do seem to have a lot of those. Monday brought a new form of misery to Palestinians in Gaza, as heavy overnight wind and rain flooded tents and blew many of them away in the Mawasi displaced persons camp. According to Reuters the price of plastic sheeting in Gaza has risen four-fold or more in just the past couple of days due to the weather. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency is calling for an influx of materials to prepare adequate shelters for the hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians ahead of winter. Given the overall dearth of aid coming into Gaza this seems like another basic need that will go unmet.