October 27, 2023

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 21 of the conflict:

• Israeli tanks and troops conducted limited ground operations in northern Gaza for a second straight day today in action Israeli Defense Force officials say is preparatory to the “next stages of the war.” [more]
• Speaking at an emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas yesterday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that the United States would “not be spared from this fire” if Israel continues its military operations against Hamas and the Palestinian people in Gaza. [more]
• In a declaration adopted at a summit in Brussels yesterday, European Union leaders reiterated their condemnation of the Hamas attacks on Israel, but also expressed their “gravest concern for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza” and called for “continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs.” [more]
• In a poll conducted by Israel’s Maariv newspaper, 29% of Israelis surveyed said Israel should immediately escalate its military operations to a large-scale ground offensive in Gaza, while 49% said “it would be better to wait” on starting such an offensive, and 22% were undecided. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 610 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today denied recent reports that operation of Ukraine’s Black Sea export corridors had been suspended due to threats from Russian warplanes and sea mines. [more]
• U.S. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said yesterday that intelligence indicates that Russia has executed soldiers who fail to follow orders and threatened entire Russian military units with death if they retreat from artillery fire in Ukraine. [more]

U.S. AND SYRIA | U.S. fighter jets conducted airstrikes on two sites in eastern Syria early this morning in response to 19 attacks on U.S. bases in the region since October 17 in which at least 21 U.S. personnel were injured. Officials say the two sites targeted, both near Boukamal, are linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and were used to store the types of munitions used in the attacks on U.S. facilities. [more]

MAINE | The manhunt for Robert Card, the suspect in Wednesday night’s shootings in Lewiston, Maine, that killed 18 people and wounded 13 others, continues today. Reports say local schools and businesses remain closed and residents remain under shelter-in-place orders as hundreds of local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel take part in the search for Card. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | According to Commerce Department data released yesterday, the U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 4.9% annual rate in the July-September quarter – the largest quarterly expansion in almost two years and up from the 2.1% annual rate increase of the previous quarter. [more]

MARYLAND | Pedro Argote, the man suspected of killing Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson in Hagerstown, Maryland, last week was found dead yesterday about 8 miles from where the judge was killed. Authorities say details about the time or cause of Argote’s death are not yet available, pending an autopsy examination. [more]

GEORGIA | U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled yesterday that some of Georgia’s most recent congressional, state Senate, and state House districting maps were drawn in a racially discriminatory manner in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Jones ordered the state to redraw its voting maps to create additional Black-majority districts by December 8. It is not yet clear if Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration intends to appeal the ruling. [full ruling] [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Democratic U.S. congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota is expected to officially announce a challenge to President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination today in New Hampshire. [more]

U.S. AND CHINA | Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan today in Washington, D.C., in a second straight day of talks that Wang said yesterday he hoped would “push the relationship as soon as possible back to the track of healthy, stable, and sustainable development.” [more]

MEXICO | Relief and recovery efforts continue in the Mexican resort city of Acapulco today in the aftermath of Hurricane Otis, which struck the city as a Category 5 storm on Wednesday. Officials say at least 27 people died, and three people remain missing, due to the storm, and that some 250,000 homes and businesses in the region are still without power today. [more]

KOREA | South Korean military officials said today that South Korean and U.S. troops conducted live-fire exercises this week to train to respond to any potential “Hamas-style surprise” attacks by North Korea. [more]

NIGERIA | Nigerian authorities this week announced the arrest of more than 70 people in the country’s northern Gombe state on suspicion of intending to take part in a same-sex marriage ceremony. The arrests, criticized by opponents as an abuse against the LGBTQ+ community, were made under Nigeria’s Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2013. [more]

MALAYSIA | In a continuation of Malaysia’s unique monarchical system in which the heads of its nine royal families take turns to be monarch for a five-year term, the country’s royal families yesterday elected Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar from the southern state of Johor to be Malaysia’s next king. [more]

BASEBALL | Game 1 of the World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers is scheduled for tonight. Former U.S. President George W. Bush, who was once a part owner of the Rangers franchise, is expected to throw out the ceremonial first pitch as part of pre-game activities at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1978, Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel were awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for negotiations that resulted first in the Camp David Accords, and then in a peace treaty between their countries. [more history]