April 23, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 200 of the conflict:

• Reports say Israeli forces have increased their shelling of areas in northern Gaza to the highest level in weeks, with specific targeting of the Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and the Gaza City suburb of Zeitoun. [more]
• The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says that the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza remains restricted, with an average of 186 aid trucks entering the Palestinian enclave per day this month – far below the agency’s targeted level of 500 trucks per day. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 789 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Officials in Odesa say at least nine people were injured in overnight Russian drone attacks on the Black Sea port city that damaged multiple residential buildings. [more]
• In a move Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says was part of an ongoing effort to intimidate Ukraine’s second-largest city, Russia destroyed Kharkiv’s 820-foot-high television tower in a missile strike yesterday, halting transmissions. [more]
• British officials said today that the U.K. has approved a new $620 million military aid package for Ukraine that includes 400 vehicles, 60 boats, 1,600 munitions, and 4 million rounds of ammunition. [more]

U.S. FOREIGN AID | The Senate is scheduled to vote today to approve bills that provide some $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Indo-Pacific allies. President Joe Biden has said he will quickly sign the measures, which were passed by the House over the weekend, into law. [more]

U.S. COLLEGE PROTESTS | Pro-Palestinian protests demanding a cease-fire in Gaza were held at several U.S. colleges yesterday, including Columbia, Yale, Harvard, and NYU, forcing the closure of some campus areas and resulting in numerous arrests over threats to Jewish community members and unruly behavior. [more]

JANUARY 6 | Isreal Easterday, a Kentucky man who took part in the January 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol, was sentenced to more than two years in prison yesterday for pepper spraying two police officers who were guarding entrances to the Capitol. [more]

MONTANA | A federal jury yesterday awarded $4 million each to the families of two people whose deaths in 2020 were found to be linked to BNSF Railway’s transport and spilling of asbestos-contaminated vermiculite in the town of Libby. Additional similar lawsuits against the railroad are still pending. [more]

TRUMP TRIALS | As former U.S. President Donald Trump’s New York hush-money and business records falsification trial continues, the U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled a special session for Thursday to hear arguments on Trump’s claim that he should be immune from prosecution over alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. [more]

AFRICAN MIGRATION | The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration said today that 16 people have died, and another 28 remain missing, after a boat carrying 77 migrants capsized off the coast of the northeastern African nation of Djibouti. [more]

U.K. | Following two months of delayed consideration, Parliament today approved British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to deport some migrants who enter the U.K. illegally to Rwanda. Supporters see the measure as a deterrent to migrants risking dangerous English Channel crossings, while opponents have characterized it as inhumane and cruel. [more]

GERMANY | Federal police in Germany have arrested at least four people this week on charges related to spying for China, one of whom works for a German far-right lawmaker in the European Parliament. [more]

MALAYSIA | Authorities say at least 10 people were killed today when two Malaysian military helicopters collided during a training exercise at a naval base in Malaysia’s northern Perak state. [more]

FASHION INDUSTRY | The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit yesterday seeking to block Tapestry, Inc.’s $8.5 billion acquisition of Capri Holdings Ltd., saying the merger would reduce competition and potentially depress employee wages in the fashion industry. [more]

GOLF | Scottie Scheffler finished with a 3-under-par 68 yesterday to win the rain-delayed RBC Heritage tournament – his fourth title in his last five starts. [more]

SOCCER | Inter Milan clinched the Serie A championship yesterday with a 2-1 win over AC Milan. [more]

FOOTBALL | The NFL’s Chicago Bears are expected to detail plans tomorrow to build a new publicly owned enclosed stadium on the city’s Museum Campus near Lake Michigan. It remains unclear when the team would move from Soldier Field, where it has played since 1971. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1635, the Boston Latin School was founded as the first public school in what would become the United States. At its founding, the school was open to all boys regardless of social class and helped set a precedent for tax-supported public education. [more history]