September 7, 2023

UKRAINE | Today is day 560 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• At least 17 people were killed, and another 32 were wounded, when a Russian missile struck a market in the eastern Ukraine city of Kostiantynivka yesterday. Speaking at a news conference following the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there were no military units in the area of the strike. [more]
• During his visit to Kyiv yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced more than $1 billion in new military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, which includes about $175 million in weapons from Pentagon stockpiles, $100 million in grants for Ukraine to purchase military arms and equipment, and nearly $805 million in non-military aid for areas such as law enforcement and humanitarian efforts. [more]

COLORADO | A lawsuit filed yesterday by the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on behalf of six Republican and unaffiliated voters in Colorado seeks to bar former President Donald Trump from appearing on the 2024 Republican primary ballot in Colorado. The lawsuit says Trump is ineligible to be president, citing the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which bars from office any person who “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” [more]

U.S. MILITARY | In an op-ed in the Washington Post this week, the civilian leaders of the U.S. Army, Air Force, and Navy urged Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville to end his blocking of some 300 military promotions, saying that Tuberville’s actions are “putting our national security at risk” and are “unfair to these military leaders and their families.” Tuberville began blocking military promotions about six months ago in opposition to a Defense Department policy of paying for travel when a service member goes out of state to get an abortion or other reproductive care. [more]

TEXAS | U.S. District Judge David Ezra ruled yesterday that Texas must remove large floating barriers from the Rio Grande River by September 15, calling the buoys a threat to safety and to U.S-Mexico relations. The ruling was in response to a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit against Texas over the barriers, which were part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to stop illegal migration across the U.S. southern border. [more]

OIL AND GAS | The U.S. Department of Interior announced yesterday that it is cancelling the seven remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, overturning sales conducted near the end of the Trump administration. [more]

U.S. LABOR | United Auto Workers’ President Shawn Fain said yesterday that the union intends to go on strike against any U.S. automaker that does not reach a new contract agreement with workers by the time current contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. on September 14. [more]

TRUMP GEORGIA ELECTION TRIAL | Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said yesterday that Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, co-defendants in the Georgia trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump on charges of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state, will be tried together, with their trial beginning October 23. McAfee also cast doubt on the viability of holding the trials of all 19 co-defendants in the case at the same time. [more]

BIODIVERSITY AND INVASIVE SPECIES | In a new report this week, the U.N. Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services says that more than 37,000 alien species have been introduced – deliberately or inadvertently – by humans into environments around the world, more than 3,500 of which are invasive alien species that pose threats to nature, economies, food security, and human health. [press release] [policy document] [more]

MEXICO | All federal penalties for abortion were invalidated by Mexico’s Supreme Court yesterday, which said that criminalization of the procedure was unconstitutional because it “violates the rights of women and people with the ability to gestate.” Reports note that a variety of restrictions on abortion remain in effect in some of the country’s 32 states. [more]

CHINESE ECONOMY | Sparking a drop in stock market values around the world, customs data released yesterday showed that Chinese imports and exports both fell in August, compared to the year-ago period. [more]

MYANMAR | Speaking on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Indonesia today, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged the international community to seek a unified strategy to address the security and humanitarian crises in Myanmar and urged the country’s military to free all political prisoners and pursue a return to democratic rule. [more]

AUSTRALIA AND CHINA | In what reports say is a signal of a slight thaw in relations, Australia and China opened their first high-level dialogue in three years yesterday in Beijing. The talks are expected to focus on trade, conflict resolution, and interpersonal links between residents of the two countries. [more]

U.K. AND E.U. | Two years after leaving the European Union, the U.K. yesterday rejoined two E.U. scientific programs – the research collaboration project Horizon Europe and the E.U. space program’s Copernicus Earth observation component. [more]

TENNIS | Semifinal matchups are set following yesterday’s matches at the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Carlos Alcaraz will face Daniil Medvedev and  Ben Shelton will play Novak Djokovic tomorrow in the men’s semifinals. In the women’s bracket, Coco Gauff will play Karolina Muchova and Madison Keys will play Aryna Sabalenka tonight. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1963, the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in Canton, Ohio. Among the first inductees were Harold "Red" Grange, Jim Thorpe, Earl "Curly" Lambeau, Bronko Nagurski, and George Halas.  [more history]