July 7, 2023

UKRAINE | Today is day 498 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• The U.S. is expected to announce a new $800 million military aid package to Ukraine today that include cluster munitions, Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles, and various forms of ammunition for small arms, artillery, and missile systems. [more]
• European Union officials said today that E.U. member states and the E.U. Parliament have agreed to a plan for 500 million euros in funding to boost ammunition and missile production for Ukraine. [more]

U.S. GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL MEDIA | The Biden administration yesterday asked a federal appeals court to stay U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty’s order earlier this week that limits executive branch communications with social media companies. Critics of Doughty’s order say it could hamper attempts to fight misinformation, while supporters of the order say it prevents the government from acting to illegally censor speech protected by the 1st Amendment. [more]

TEXAS | Patrick Crusius, 24, who pleaded guilty in February to killing 23 people at an El Paso Walmart location in 2019, is expected to be sentenced to multiple life terms in federal prison today at his sentencing hearing. Reports note that Crusius could still face the death penalty in a separate case in a Texas state court. [more]

U.S. AND CHINA | Amidst ongoing technology and economic tensions and accusations of unfair trade practices by both the U.S. and China, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said today in Beijing that, ““A decoupling of the world’s two largest economies would be destabilizing for the global economy, and it would be virtually impossible to undertake.” [more]

SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN | Following a 22-month review, the South Korean government today formally endorsed Japan’s plans to release treated wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean. South Korean officials say the wastewater release will meet international safety standards and have negligible environmental and health impacts. [more]

ISRAEL AND WEST BANK | Israeli security agency officials say two Palestinian men wanted in connection with a shooting attack on a police vehicle earlier this week were killed in an Israeli raid today in the West Bank city of Nablus. [more]

U.K. HOUSING | British mortgage lender Halifax reports today that home prices in the U.K. fell 2.6% in June, compared to the year-ago period — the largest year-over-year monthly price drop since June 2011. [more]

MYANMAR | Government officials in Myanmar say the pro-democracy People’s Defense Force guerrilla group was responsible for a mortar attack on Wednesday that killed at least 15 civilians in the village of Ngwe Twin. PDF leaders have denied the government’s charges. [more]

ITALY | Authorities in Milan, Italy, say six people died, and at least 80 others were injured, early today when a fire broke out at a nursing home in the city. [more]

COSTA RICA | Former Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis was charged with corruption today in connection with allegations of improper transfer of government funds to the state-owned bank Bancredito in 2017, according to the country’s attorney general. Solis has denied the charges. [more]

BRAZIL | Environment Ministry officials in Brazil say satellite data indicates that areas of the Amazon rainforest at high risk of possible deforestation fell 33.6% from January to June of this year, compared to the same period last year under the country’s previous administration. [more]

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday granted full approval to Eisai and Biogen's drug lecanemab — the first such approval of a drug shown to slow cognitive decline in patients with mild dementia and other symptoms caused by early Alzheimer’s disease. [more]

SOCIAL MEDIA | Reports say attorneys for Twitter sent a cease-and-desist letter to Meta this week warning of possible legal action over Meta’s new text-based social media platform Threads. Twitter accused Meta of improper hiring of former Twitter employees and use of trade secrets — charges Meta has denied. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1898, the U.S. Congress annexed Hawaii through a joint resolution signed by President William McKinley, paving the way for the islands to become a territory (1900) and later a U.S. state (1959). [more history]