First Thing: Grief and anger in Israel after death of six hostages

General strike follows tens of thousands taking to the streets in protest against the government’s handling of the war in Gaza. Plus: fears of overtourism in Norway

Good morning.

Over the weekend, Israel confirmed the deaths of six more hostages taken in the 7 October attack by Hamas, with the Israeli military saying they were killed by their captors shortly before their bodies were found in a tunnel complex under Gaza.

The findings about how the six died did little to deflect widespread fury towards Benjamin Netanyahu and his rightwing coalition for failing to agree a US-backed hostages-for-peace deal with Hamas. Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Sunday night, chanting, “Bibi [Netanyahu’s nickname], you’re killing the hostages.” On Monday, the first nationwide general strike in Israel since the 7 October attacks began, bringing large parts of the economy to a halt. As they did the night before, protesters have begun blocking streets in their call for a ceasefire deal to bring home the remaining hostages.

Who is on strike in Israel? Municipalities including Tel Aviv, Givatayim, Herzliya, Ra’anana, Kfar Saba and Hod Hasharon are taking part, while others including Netanya and Sderot are holding solidarity strikes of several hours. All big banks are reportedly taking part, while hospitals are running at weekend capacity. Pre-schools are striking while some schools closed late morning. Ben Gurion airport closed between 8am and 10am, while in Tel Aviv the light rail came to a halt as did Haifa’s underground Carmelit railway. Major bus companies Egged, Dan and Metropolin are also taking part.

Do the families of the hostages support the strike and the protests? Yes. “We call on the public to prepare to bring the country to a standstill,” said the Hostage and Missing Families Forum. “These six individuals were taken alive, endured the horrors of captivity, and were then coldly murdered … A deal for the return of the hostages has been on the table for over two months. Were it not for the delays, sabotage and excuses those whose deaths we learned about this morning would likely still be alive.”

Who were the six hostages? Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Carmel Gat, 40; Alexander Lobanov, 33; Almog Sarusi, 27 and Ori Danino, 25.

How has Netanyahu responded to their deaths? While Hamas has blamed Israel and the US because Israel had not agreed to a ceasefire deal, Netanyahu blamed the Islamist militant group for blocking an agreement. While it is too early to tell, the anger over the deaths could reinvigorate the protest movement in Israel calling for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, as well as calls for new elections aimed at toppling Netanyahu’s rightwing government.

Far-right party in Germany poised for state election victory

The electorate in two closely watched elections in the former communist east made clear their dissatisfaction with Germany’s mainstream political parties, putting the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party in the top spot in Thuringia, with 32.8% of the vote, and second place in Saxony, with 30.6%. The preliminary results have prompted the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to urge mainstream parties to exclude “rightwing extremists”.

“Our country cannot and must not get used to this. The AfD is damaging Germany. It is weakening the economy, dividing society and ruining our country’s reputation,” he said.

What was the AfD’s response? While the 11-year-old AfD clinched its first mayoral and district government posts last year, it has never joined a state government. Alice Weidel, the AfD’s co-leader, said: “It is a historic success for us. It is the first time we have become the strongest force in a state election. It is a requiem for this coalition [in Berlin].”

In other news …

North Korean table tennis players have reportedly been placed under “ideological scrutiny” and could face punishment for taking part in a selfie on the Olympic podium with South Korean players.

Russia bombarded Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, with missiles early on Monday, sparking fires and damaging homes and infrastructure while injuring at least two people.

Donald Trump shared posts from Gold Star families that praised his visit to Arlington national cemetery, where two of his campaign aides allegedly shoved a cemetery worker so they could film the former president laying a wreath.

Stat of the day: More than 10,000 US hotel workers go on strike over Labor Day weekend

On Sunday, more than 10,000 workers went on strike and walked off the job at 24 hotels in eight cities across the US, after contract talks with the establishments’ owners collapsed. The Unite Here union, which represents workers in hotels, casinos and airports across the US and Canada, warned that the industrial action could escalate to other cities over holiday weekend that was expected to be the busiest on Labor Day records.

“The hotel industry has rebounded from the pandemic, and room rates are at record highs,” Gwen Mills, the union’s international president, said in a statement. “But hotel workers can’t afford to live in the cities that they welcome guests to. Too many hotel workers have to work two or sometimes three jobs in order to make ends meet.

“We won’t accept a ‘new normal’ where hotel companies profit by cutting their offerings to guests and abandoning their commitments to workers.”

Don’t miss this: The new focus of China’s internet police

In recent months, followers of influential liberal bloggers have been getting called in for questioning by the police in China, where the internet is tightly regulated. It has reached a point that Li Ying, who runs a popular Chinese-language X account, had to post an “urgent notice” that urged people to unfollow him because his followers in China were being called in to “drink tea” with the police, a euphemism for interrogations. Instead of targeting the bloggers themselves, it appears the Chinese authorities are now going after their private followers – sign of the growing severity of China’s censorship regime.

… or this: The 20th anniversary of Def Jam: Fight for NY

Twenty years ago this month, EA Games released Def Jam: Fight for NY, a video game featuring some of the music industry’s biggest rappers fighting it out on the streets of New York. To commemorate the anniversary of its release, the creators look back on the making of a game that still dominates social media conversation, despite never being remade or rereleased.

“I don’t think you could make this game today,” said Daryl Anselmo, a former EA employee and the game’s art director. “The climate is too hostile. But we only ever intended Def Jam: Fight for NY to be a fantasy, escapist experience. It was like the gangsta rap version of The Warriors. It was just a bit of fun; we trusted the audience knew it wasn’t cool to throw someone out of a window in real life! We really tried to respect the culture of hip-hop.”

Climate check: The right to roam in Norway

In Norway, friluftslivet (outdoor life) is seen as foundational to the mountainous country’s culture. Allemannsretten – which gives Norwegians the legal right to camp, swim, ski and walk freely in nature, regardless of who the landowner is – is the basis of friluftslivet. However, environmentalists are now warning that opening up the country’s “right to roam” laws to mass tourism could lead to environmental destruction, especially as interest in the the Nordic has risen among tourists seeking cooler destinations amid high temperatures in Europe.

Last Thing: A whale of a tale

The beluga whale rumored to be a Russian spy has died. Nicknamed Hvaldimir, a combination of the Norwegian word for whale, hval, and the first name of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, the beluga was found floating in the Risavika Bay in southern Norway on Saturday.

Hvaldimir was first spotted in April 2019 near the northern island of Ingøya, not far from Russian waters, wearing a harness and what appeared to be a mount for a small camera and a buckle marked with the words “Equipment St Petersburg”. His getup sparked allegations that he was a “spy whale” – the Russian navy has been known to have trained whales for military purposes, experts said. After rescuers removed his harness, the amiable beluga became a local celebrity, clearly enjoying interacting with people and at one point retrieving a woman’s iPhone after she dropped it in the water.

Sign up

First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.

Get in touch

If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email [email protected]