October 5, 2023

UKRAINE | Today is day 588 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian officials say 24 of 29 Russian drones launched in an overnight series of attacks on the southern and central Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kirovohrad regions of Ukraine were shot down. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the drone attacks, though reports say two civilians were killed early today in a Russian artillery strike on the port city of Kherson. [more]
• International Monetary Fund European department deputy director Uma Ramakrishnan said yesterday at a news conference in Kyiv that the IMF expects that the United States will continue to play a leading role in obtaining multinational support for Ukraine’s economy during the Russian invasion despite ongoing concerns about U.S. congressional support for Ukraine aid. [more]

NOBEL PRIZES | Norwegian author Jon Fosse was named the recipient of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature today for his body of works ranging from plays to novels and children’s books that “give voice to the unsayable.” [more]

U.S. LABOR | An estimated 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers are expected to take part in three days of strikes that started yesterday over pay, staffing, and working condition issues as their union seeks a new contract with the health care company. Kaiser Permanente warns that the strikes could cause delays at its facilities, but that its 39 hospitals, including emergency rooms, will remain open. [more]

U.S. BORDER WALL | The Department of Homeland Security yesterday announced in a posting in the U.S. Federal Register that it has waived 26 federal laws, including provisions of the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and Endangered Species Act, to allow construction of a section of border wall in Texas’ Starr County, which, according to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, is an area of “high illegal entry” along the U.S.-Mexico border. [more]

CALIFORNIA | Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are among those expected to speak at a memorial service for the late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein today in San Francisco. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan have both announced plans to seek the House Speaker position following this week’s vote that removed Kevin McCarthy from the role. [more]

MACARTHUR GRANTS | Current U.S. poet laureate Ada Limón, Hawaiian cultural heritage activist Patrick Makuakāne, and Virginia Tech environmental engineer Linsey Marr, who studies the airborne transmission of viruses, are among this year’s 20 recipients of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s so-called “genius grants.” Recipients receive a grant of $800,000 over five years to pursue their work. [full recipient list] [more]

GLOBAL CLIMATE | A new report from Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service says this September was the hottest ever recorded, with an average global surface air temperature of 61.5 degrees Fahrenheit – 1.69 degrees above the 1991-2020 average for September – and .92 degrees Fahrenheit above the previous warmest September, recorded in 2020. [more]

EUROPEAN COMMUNITY | European leaders are set to begin meeting today at the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, for the European Political Community forum, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, migration, tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and European Union membership issues expected to be among the main topics of discussion. [more]

ISRAEL AND AZERBAIJAN | The Associated Press cites flight data and Armenian officials as indicating that Israel supplied Azerbaijan with powerful weapons in the weeks leading up to last month’s Azerbaijani military offensive in the Nagorno-Karabakh region that resulted in the capitulation of ethnic Armenian separatists in the region. The AP report notes that Israel’s foreign and defense ministries declined to comment on the use of Israeli weapons in Nagorno-Karabakh, but that Israeli officials have stressed the importance of military cooperation with Azerbaijan as a means of containing Iran in the past. [more]

SYRIA | Preliminary reports from Syrian state media say a drone attack on a military college in the country’s Homs province today killed several people and wounded others. Further details have not yet been published. [more]

MORE SYRIA | Emergency response workers in northwestern Syria say at least five civilians were killed, and nine others were injured, when a Syrian government artillery strike hit a family home early today in the village of Kafr Nouran. Reports note that government forces have targeted al-Qaeda-linked militants in the region previously. [more]

INDIA | Authorities in India’s northeastern Sikkim State say at least 14 people were killed, 100 remain missing, and more than 2,000 required rescue due to flash floods in the region yesterday. Reports say the flooding and damage were exacerbated by the failure of a dam on the Teesta River after heavy rains. [more]

ISRAEL AND WEST BANK | Palestinian officials say two Palestinian men were killed today during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank’s Tulkarem refugee camp. Israeli officials say five border police officers were wounded in the incident. [more]

TAIWAN | Taiwanese officials say 190 people were injured early today when Typhoon Koinu made landfall in the island’s southernmost regions with heavy rains and record-setting winds. Reports say wind gusts of 212.9 mph (342.7 kph) and sustained winds of 123.5 mph (198.7 kph) were recorded on Taiwan’s outlying Orchid Island overnight. [more]

JAPAN | Operators of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant began releasing a second round of treated radioactive wastewater into the ocean today amidst ongoing concern over the releases from neighboring countries. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings says it will release about 7,800 tons of treated water into the Pacific Ocean over the next 17 days. [more]

SOCCER | World soccer governing body FIFA announced yesterday that the 2030 men’s World Cup will be played in six countries on three continents. The tournament will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, and will feature games in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay as a way of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup final in 1930, which took place in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo. FIFA officials note that this will be the first World Cup to be played on more than one continent. [more]

BASEBALL | With last night's 2-0 Wild Card Series win over the Toronto Blue Jays, the Minnesota Twins advanced to the American League Division Series for the first time in 21 years. The Twins will face the defending World Series champion Houston Astros in the best-of-five Division Series. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1813, during the War of 1812, a British army with some 1,000 Indian allies under the famed leader Tecumseh was defeated by U.S. troops in the Battle of the Thames in what is now Ontario, Canada. [more history]