July 11, 2023

UKRAINE | Today is day 502 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ahead of the NATO summit in Lithuania today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it would be “absurd” if NATO leaders fail to provide Kyiv details on a timeframe and conditions for Ukraine joining the alliance. [more]
• Ukrainian officials say Russian drone strikes targeted the capital Kyiv, the southern port city of Odesa, and multiple sites in the Kherson region overnight and that 26 of 28 drones used in the strikes were shot down. [more]
• French President Emmanuel Macron said today that increased weapons and equipment delivery to Ukraine from his country will include long-range missiles, which Ukraine has been seeking from various supporting nations. [more]

U.S. SOCIAL MEDIA AND GOVERNMENT | The Biden administration yesterday asked a federal appeals court to put on hold a lower court ruling barring many forms of executive branch communication with social media companies. [more]

TRUMP DOCUMENTS TRIAL | Attorneys for former President Donald Trump asked the Florida federal court hearing his case related to the alleged illegal retention of classified documents to postpone the scheduled December 11 trial start date, saying “The government’s request to begin a trial of this magnitude within six months of indictment is unreasonable.” [more]

NORTHEAST U.S. FLOODING | Multiple regions of the northeastern U.S. remain affected by widespread flooding today, with significant damage, flight delays, and road closures reported in New York, Vermont, and Connecticut following heavy rainstorms. [more]

U.S. MEDIA | The New York Times announced yesterday that it is disbanding its sports department and will rely on coverage from The Athletic website, which the Times acquired last year for $550 million. [more]

NATO | A two-day summit of NATO leaders begins today in Vilnius, Lithuania, where the war in Ukraine, member nation defense spending, Ukraine’s desire to join the alliance, and regional defense plans are expected to dominate the agenda. The summit starts a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled he would move forward with Sweden’s bid for membership by sending the Nordic country’s accession documents to the Turkish Parliament for approval, which he had refused to do for more than a year. [more]

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT | In an update to its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development goals, the United Nations said today that, “Of the approximately 140 targets that can be evaluated, half of them show moderate or severe deviations from the desired trajectory,” that “more than 30% of these targets have experienced no progress or, even worse, regression below the 2015 baseline,” and that “the combined impacts of the climate crisis, the war in Ukraine, a gloomy global economic outlook, and lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed systemic weaknesses and significantly hampered progress towards the Goals. [full report] [more]

ISRAEL | Reports say protesters blocked highways into multiple Israeli cities today, including Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv, following yesterday’s initial parliamentary approval of a government plan to limit the powers of the country’s judiciary. Authorities say at least 42 people have been arrested in connection with the protests. [more]

E.U. AND U.S. DATA PRIVACY | The European Commission yesterday approved the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, concluding that U.S. business and government entities that sign onto the framework ensure an adequate level of protection for personal data to comply with the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. With the adoption of the adequacy decision, European Economic Area entities are able to transfer personal data to participating entities in the U.S. without having to put in place additional data protection safeguards. [more]

SOLOMON ISLANDS | According to a joint statement today by China and the Solomon Islands, the two countries have signed an agreement to increase cooperation on “law enforcement and security matters” as part of efforts to build a “comprehensive strategic partnership.” The agreement is widely seen as part of China's ongoing effort to increase its influence in the Pacific region.  [more]

U.K. ECONOMY | According to data released by the U.K. Office for National Statistics today, wages in the U.K. rose 7.3% in the three-month period ended in May, but the country’s ongoing high inflation rate of 8.7% means that the real value of earnings are still falling. [more]

PAKISTAN | Ahead of a Wednesday meeting of the International Monetary Fund at which the group’s executive board is expected to give final approval to a $3 billion loan to Pakistan amidst the country’s ongoing economic crisis, Saudi Arabia deposited $2 billion into Pakistan’s central bank today to help stabilize Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves. [more]

BASEBALL | Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won Major League Baseball’s All-Star Home Run Derby last night — matching his father’s 2007 title and becoming the first father-son duo to win the contest. [more]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL | Northwestern University yesterday fired Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald amidst a hazing scandal in the school’s football program. A university investigation did not find that Fitzgerald knew about the hazing, but school administrators said he missed significant opportunities to find out about it. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1804, Aaron Burr fatally shot Alexander Hamilton in Weehawken, New Jersey, in a duel that was the culmination of a bitter rivalry that had developed between the two high-profile post-colonial American politicians. [more history]