October 24, 2023

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 18 of the conflict:

• Hamas militants released two more hostages overnight – both elderly Israeli women. More than 200 people kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attacks are believed to still be held hostage in Gaza. [more]
• Israel said today that it carried out more than 400 airstrikes on Gaza over the past 24 hours as Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli cities continued. Palestinian officials say more than 700 people in Gaza were killed in the latest day of airstrikes. [more]
• U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said yesterday that there has been an increase in attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed militias, increasing concerns about the possibility of “significant escalation” and expansion of regional conflicts. [more]
• Officials with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees say 35 of their workers have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, including six yesterday. [more]
• French President Emmanuel Macron is in Israel today, where he is scheduled to meet with the families of French citizens killed or taken hostage in the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Macron said he traveled to Tel Aviv to express support for Israel and ensure that it is “not left alone in the war against terrorism.” [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 607 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Authorities in southern Ukraine say 14 Russian attack drones and a cruise missile were shot down overnight, and that debris from one of the drones damaged a warehouse in the Black Sea port of Odesa. [more]
• Ukrainian military officials say Russia continues to intensify its attacks on the eastern Ukraine cities of Avdiivka and Kupiansk. [more]

U.S. CONGRESS | Three weeks after Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker of the House Of Representatives, the House Republican conference is scheduled to hold a first round of internal balloting later this morning to choose among eight candidates to be the new Speaker. [more]

TRUMP NEW YORK FRAUD TRIAL | Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen is scheduled to testify today in the New York civil trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump and others on charges of business fraud, conspiracy, insurance fraud, and falsification of business records. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | The bond-equivalent yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note – a key benchmark for setting other interest rates, including mortgages and corporate debt – briefly rose above 5% yesterday for the first time since 2007, signaling a resilient economy, but concern about high consumer interest rates. [more]

LOUISIANA | Severely limited visibility due to dense fog and smoke from marsh fires is being blamed for a series of vehicle accidents along Interstate 55 near New Orleans, Louisiana, yesterday. State police say an estimated 158 vehicles were involved in the accidents, in which at least seven people died, and 25 others were injured. [more]

U.S. LABOR | The United Auto Workers union expanded its six-week-old strike against the Big 3 U.S. automakers again yesterday, with 6,800 union workers at the Stellantis Ram pickup truck assembly plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, joining picket lines. [more]

U.S. AND CHINA | Amidst ongoing U.S.-China tensions, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan after he arrives in Washington, DC, Thursday for a three-day, top-level diplomatic visit. Chinese officials have described Wang’s visit as reciprocal to Blinken’s visit to Beijing in June. [more]

NATO | Reports say Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed and submitted a protocol for Sweden’s admission into the NATO alliance to Turkey’s parliament for ratification yesterday following months of opposition to Sweden’s bid. It is not yet known when the issue will be considered by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. [more]

MEXICO | Authorities in Mexico’s southwestern Guerrero state say at least 19 people, including a local security secretary and 12 police officers, were killed in the state yesterday amidst an ongoing crisis of gang and cartel violence. [more]

ICELAND | Rights organizers called for women and nonbinary people across Iceland to take part in a one-day “Women’s Day Off” strike at work and home today to push for an end to unequal pay and gender-based violence.  Among those reported to be taking part in the strike are Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir and other female government officials. [more]

BANGLADESH | Emergency workers in the central Bangladesh district of Kishoreganj say at least 17 people were killed, and dozens of others were injured, yesterday, when two trains collided near Dhaka. The crash is thought to have occurred after one train disregarded a routing signal. [more]

GERMANY | Maritime officials in Germany say two cargo ships – the British-flagged Verity and the Bahamas-flagged Polesie – collided in the North Sea off the German coast early today and that several crew members from the Verity, which sank after the accident, are missing. [more]

NORWAY | Managers of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, which at $1.4 trillion is the world’s largest, said today that the fund posted a $33.8 billion loss in the third quarter of 2023 due to heavy declines in the value of equities and bonds. [more]

MOLDOVA | Moldovan authorities blocked access to more than 20 prominent Russian news and media websites in Moldova today, saying the sites had been used as part of an information war against the country. The move is in addition to a June 2022 ban on Russian TV news in Moldova, which was imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [more]

BASEBALL | The Texas Rangers beat the Houston Astros, 11-4, last night in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series to advance to the World Series, where they will face the winner of tonight’s Game 7 of the National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks. [more]

BASKETBALL | The 2023-24 NBA season gets underway tonight with two games: the Los Angeles Lakers vs the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns vs the Golden State Warriors. [full season schedule] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1945, the charter for the United Nations—the world's premier international organization, established at the end of World War II to maintain world peace and friendly relations among nations—entered into force. [more history]