April 11, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 188 of the conflict:

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that in addition to continuing its operations in Gaza, the Israeli military is preparing “to meet the security needs of the State of Israel both in defense and attack” in other areas, as well. [more]
• Reports say three of the sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh were killed in an Israeli airstrike today near the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. Israeli military officials say Amir, Mohammad, and Hazem Haniyey were targeted as Hamas fighters, not because they were sons of the Hamas leader. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 777 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Swiss government officials said yesterday that more than 100 countries will be invited to participate in an international conference on developing a peace plan for Ukraine to be held in June near Lucerne, Switzerland. Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said Russia has been invited to the conference, but is not expected to attend the initial gathering. [more]
• In Congressional testimony yesterday, U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, head of the U.S. European Command, said Russia will soon be able to fire as many as 10-times more munitions at Ukrainian targets than Ukraine can fire if Congress does not soon approve funding for more military aid to Kyiv. [more]
• Reports say a major electrical power plant outside of Kyiv was destroyed today as Russian forces launched some 82 drones and missiles at power infrastructure sites across Ukraine. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | Police in Washington, DC, say one person was killed, and five others were wounded, yesterday when two yet-unidentified gunmen opened fire into a crowd of people on the street in the city’s Carver Langston neighborhood. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | Consumer inflation rose 0.4% from February to March – unchanged from the previous month – and year-over-year inflation increased 3.5% in March, according to data released yesterday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Analysts say the persistently high inflation rates cast doubt on the viability of multiple interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year. [full report] [more]

U.S. STUDENT LOANS | Seven states – Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oklahoma – filed a federal lawsuit this week seeking to block the Biden administration’s SAVE student loan repayment program, which offers lower payments and a faster path to loan cancellation for some borrowers and has already enrolled nearly 8 million Americans. The new lawsuit comes just a week after 11 other states filed a similar legal challenge to the SAVE program. [more]

U.S. INTELLIGENCE | Multiple House Republicans joined with Democrats yesterday to block consideration of a bill that would re-authorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which permits the warrantless monitoring of communications of non-U.S. citizens located outside the country, saying changes to the law do not do enough to protect the rights of U.S. citizens. [more]

CALIFORNIA | Federal fishery regulators voted yesterday to ban commercial and recreational salmon fishing off the coast of California for the second year in a row due to continuing drought and river conditions that have adversely affected salmon spawning grounds in the state. [more]

ARKANSAS | The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments today on Arkansas’ appeal of a lower court ruling that found the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors – the nation’s first such ban at the time it was adopted in 2021 – is unconstitutional. [more]

U.S. AND JAPAN | Following last night’s state dinner hosted by President Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress today, during he which is expected to emphasize the importance of a strong U.S.-Japanese relationship and the countries’ roles in international affairs. Kishida will be only the second Japanese leader to ever address Congress. [more]

WIKILEAKS | U.S. President Joe Biden said yesterday that he is considering a request by Australia to drop the U.S. push to prosecute Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for his publication of classified documents more than a decade ago. Assange, an Australian citizen, has been in government custody in the U.K. for years. [more]

GLOBAL CLIMATE | United Nations executive climate secretary Simon Stiell warned yesterday that dramatic changes in the world’s production of heat-trapping emissions is needed in the next two years to “save the world” by preparing for and preventing future global climate change. [more]

MIDDLE EAST | Amidst ongoing concerns over possible Iranian retaliation for the recent targeting of two of its generals in Syria by Israel, German airline Lufthansa announced today that it has suspended its flights to Tehran due to security concerns. [more]

INDONESIA | The Indonesian Transportation Ministry says some 193 million people, or nearly 72% of the country’s population, are expected to travel to their hometowns this week to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. [more]

PAKISTAN | Authorities in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province say at least 17 people were killed, and dozens of others were injured, yesterday when a bus on which they were traveling to a religious site crashed into a deep ditch. [more]

HAITI | Speaking at an event in New York yesterday, Brian A. Nichols, U.S. assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, said a transitional council responsible for choosing Haiti’s next leaders could be established as early as this week. Creation of the nine-member council comes amidst ongoing domestic and international concern over widespread gang violence in the Caribbean nation. [more]

TOGO | Togo’s government this week said a planned three-day protest over the arrest of opposition figures and the cancelling of presidential elections was illegal, heightening tensions in the West African nation, which has been ruled by the same family for almost 60 years. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | Following yesterday’s parliamentary elections in which liberal opposition candidates scored widespread victories, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and multiple senior advisers to President Yoon Suk Yeol offered to resign en masse today. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1968, a week after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which included the Indian Civil Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act, into law.  [more history]