HAMAS vs. Israel (Shutterstock).

Heavy fighting resumed in the West Bank in Palestine on Friday, as air strikes by Israeli planes flew missions over the city of Jenin.

Starting on Tuesday, combat missions have sought to target Hamas militants and Israel claimed it had killed a senior commander of the militant group.

The attacks are said to be intended to forestall or prevent a Hamas attack, but Palestinians claim it’s a widening of the war and that since the attacks into the northern West Bank “at least 663” Palestinians have been killed.

The total number of Palestinians who have died since the conflict began on Oct. 7 is now put at 40,000 people.This latest round of fighting comes after the collapse of talks brokered by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar aimed at creating a stable cease-fire.

Isolated incidents in other parts of the West Bank have resulted in three deaths among Palestinians and three injured Israelis.

Brazil blocks X social network

A Brazilian judge on Friday ordered the X (formerly Twitter) social network to be blocked after owner Elon Musk refused to comply with the judge’s orders.

ELON MUSK (Flickr/Steve Jurevtson).

An estimated 200 million users of X in Brazil have lost access, by order of Alexandre deMoreas, a Supreme Court justice.

Musk objects to demands that he remove X accounts that allegedly were in violation of Brazilian law.

“Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes,” said Musk.

The judge also froze the assets of SpaceX’s Starling satellite-internet service in an effort to collect $3 million in fines against X.

 Heavy Labor Day weather in Northeast, gulf

Labor Day weekend is often a time for travel, but vacationers may find they will have to deal with unfriendly weather.

In both the Northeast and Gulf area, heavy rain and powerful winds may buffet roads and airports, while the interior Northwest and northern Rockies will be hit by unseasonably hot temperatures. The thermometer could reach as high as 100 degrees.

The cold front that’s set to hit the Northeast will also bring showers and storms across the South and Southeast.

Weather: Getting toasty this weekend

We doubt it’s the last warm weekend of the summer, but our West Orange County cities can expect daytime highs ascending into the mid-80s. Saturday is forecast to have a high of 81 with an overnight low of 65. Sunday will rise to 84 (67), then edge up to 85 (67) on Monday and arrive at 86 (67) on Tuesday. Skies will be partly cloudy all weekend.

Great Thoughts

“A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he may not sit on it.”

– Dean Inge