5 things to know for Sept. 3: Presidential race, Israel, Hotel strikes, China bus crash, Pope Francis

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Believe it or not, we’re already in the “ber” months — September, October, November and December. Travel experts told CNN that the fall season is “the best time of year to go pretty much anywhere” due to lower airfares, fewer people and nice weather. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Democrats had a busy campaign schedule on Labor Day, with Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appealing to union workers in major swing states. Harris praised the labor movement in a Detroit speech and vowed to ensure workers’ rights to unionize. She was later joined by President Biden for an event in Pittsburgh, where they outlined plans to maintain strong American steel companies. Meanwhile, Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, spoke to supporters in Milwaukee. While en route to the event, several vehicles in Walz’s motorcade were involved in a crash, and some passengers received non-life-threatening injuries. Former President Donald Trump, on the other hand, mostly stayed out of the spotlight as the two candidates gear up for next week’s debate. Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to Israel’s streets on Monday over the government’s failure to secure a ceasefire-for-hostages deal with Hamas. Demonstrations could be seen in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Caesarea and other sites across the country, fueled by the killing in Gaza of six hostages, whose bodies were retrieved by Israeli soldiers over the weekend. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of stalling efforts for a deal by some hostage families and their supporters. When asked Monday whether Netanyahu was doing enough to reach an agreement, President Joe Biden said simply: “No.” More than 100 hostages, including 35 believed to be dead, are still being held in Gaza — the vast majority of them taken during Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, when some 1,200 people were killed. More than 10,000 hotel workers are now on strike across 25 US cities. Unite Here, the union representing hotel employees, launched a nationwide strike against three major hotel chains over the Labor Day weekend. Workers say they want higher pay, better conditions and more staff. The union is asking for a restoration of many of the pandemic-era cuts that hotels made, including daily room cleaning. The union says the travel and hotel industries have recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic but worker salaries have not reflected the comeback. The hotel chains facing striking workers include Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott. The impacted hotels are reportedly still open but guests may deal with a skeleton staff unable to provide full services. A bus crashed into a crowd of students and parents outside a school in eastern China today, killing 11 people and injuring 13 others, according to police. The students were waiting to enter the gate of a middle school in the city of Tai’an in Shandong province when the bus slammed into them after 7 a.m. local time, state news agency Xinhua reported. The bus, specially customized for transporting students, “lost control” when it drove into an intersection, authorities said in a statement. The bus driver has been placed in police custody and the cause of the accident is being investigated.