News Wrap: Israel’s parliament votes to bar UNRWA from working there

In our news wrap Monday, Israel’s parliament voted to bar the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from working in Israel, U.S. officials say North Korea has sent 10,000 troops to Russia to help Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, protests erupted in the country of Georgia amid anger over the disputed parliamentary elections and police say ballot box fires in Oregon and Washington are connected.
Geoff Bennett:
We start today’s other headlines with the move by Israel’s Parliament that threatens the work of the largest humanitarian organization in Gaza.
Lawmakers approved a pair of laws that will bar the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA from conducting any activity in Israel. They also cut the aid group’s diplomatic ties with Israel and designated it a terror organization. Israel accuses UNRWA of allowing suspected Hamas militants to infiltrate its staff, including during the October 7 terror attack.
It comes as Palestinian officials say the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 43,000. Meantime, the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting today to discuss the fallout from Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Iran Friday night, while, at the State Department, U.S. officials pushed against any further attacks.
Matthew Miller, State Department Spokesman:
Israel had a right to respond to that attack. We supported their right to do so. They responded on Friday night. We believe this should be the end of that — of the matter. If Iran does respond in any way, we will continue to defend Israel.
Geoff Bennett:
Israel’s strike targeted Iran’s military facilities, but avoided the country’s nuclear and energy sites. It comes after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel earlier this month in response to the assassinations of several officials of Iran and its allied militant groups.
U.S. defense officials say that North Korea has sent 10,000 troops to Russia to help Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine. The Pentagon says they’re expected to start fighting in Ukraine within the next several weeks. President Biden today called the development very dangerous.
Meantime, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters today that some North Koreans have already been sent to aid Russian forces in the Kursk region, where Ukraine fighters are holding Russian territory.
Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary-General:
The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security. It undermines peace on the Korean Peninsula and fuels the Russian war against Ukraine.
Geoff Bennett:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is due to discuss the deployment of North Korean troops to Ukraine when he meets with his South Korean counterpart later this week at the Pentagon.
In the country of Georgia, protests erupted in the capital, Tbilisi, today amid ongoing anger over the weekend’s disputed parliamentary elections. Tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied outside Parliament after opposition parties refused to recognize the results of Saturday’s election, saying the vote was rigged.
The ruling Georgian Dream Party, which has ties to neighboring Russia, has declared victory. Georgia’s pro-opposition president says Russia influenced the vote and called on Western allies to stand behind the Georgian people.
Salome Zourabichvili, President of Georgia (through interpreter): We have to create the full picture of how this unique, unprecedented theft happened, which was conducted en masse and systemically, which was a preplanned, huge operation that stole our votes, that stole the Parliament from us and stole the Constitution.
Geoff Bennett:
Adding to the mix today was a surprise visit to Georgia by Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Hungary currently holds the rotating E.U. presidency, and Orban has served as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin’s closest partner within the group.
Police say that a pair of ballot box fires in Oregon and Washington state are connected and that they have identified a suspect vehicle. In Portland, Oregon, three ballots were ruined after a fire suppression system did its job after a blaze started there.
But, in nearby Vancouver, Washington, a fire burned hundreds of ballots after that box’s system failed. Vancouver is in Washington’s Third Congressional District, which is expected to be one of the closest house races in the country. Police say any such attacks are a threat to the election process.
Amanda McMillan, Portland, Oregon, Assistant Police Chief:
Acts like this are targeted and they’re intentional, and we’re concerned about that intentional act trying to affect the election process. We’re dedicated to stopping that kind of behavior.
Geoff Bennett:
Officials say, in both cases, that people who had their ballots damaged can obtain a new one.
Virginia Republican officials have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the commonwealth to move forward with removing roughly 1,600 alleged noncitizens from its voter rolls. Today’s appeal comes after a federal appellate court upheld a judge’s order restoring the registrations.
Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin had ordered the launch of a voter removal program in August. The Justice Department sued, saying it violated a 90-day so-called quiet period that prevents such actions so close to an election. Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in nationwide elections.
Quarter Pounders will be back on the menu at some 900 McDonald’s locations this week after health officials ruled out beef patties as the source of a recent E. coli outbreak. One person died and at least 75 others were sickened across 13 states. The FDA believes that slivered onions, all from a single facility, were the likely source of the contamination. McDonald’s says they have cut ties with that supplier indefinitely.
For now, the burgers will be served without onions at the affected restaurants.
On Wall Street today, stocks ended higher to start the week. The Dow Jones industrial average added more than 270 points on the day. The Nasdaq gained nearly 50 points, so about a quarter-of-1-percent. And the S&P 500 also ended in positive territory.