August 1, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 300 of the conflict:

• Iranian officials will reportedly meet with representatives of regional allies and proxies from Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen today to discuss potential retaliation against Israel for the airstrike this week that killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. [[more](Iranian officials will reportedly meet with representatives of regional allies Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen today to discuss potential retaliation against Israel for the airstrike this week that killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. [more])]
• Israel’s military said today that Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’ military wing and a key architect of the October 7 attacks, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on July 13. Hamas has not confirmed Deif’s death. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 889 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Reports cite U.S. officials as saying that Ukraine has received its first shipment of F-16 fighter jets, which it has been seeking for months amidst Western concern that the fighter jets could lead to an escalation in the war against the Russian invasion. [more]
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with French media this week that Kyiv does not want China to act as a mediator in the conflict with Russia, but hopes Beijing will put more pressure on Moscow to end the war. [more]

U.S. AND RUSSIA | Reports say signs of a significant prisoner exchange between Russia and the U.S., possibly involving jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and some 30 others, have increased today. Neither government has yet to confirm any new prisoner exchange activity. [more]

9/11 | The U.S. Department of Defense said yesterday that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has, along with two accomplices, agreed to plead guilty to planning the 9/11 attacks in exchange for not facing the death penalty. Mohammed has been in U.S. custody since 2003. [more]

U.S. BLOOD SUPPLY | Reports say more than 250 hospitals in the southeastern U.S. have been asked to activate their critical blood shortage protocols after the OneBlood not-for-profit blood center was hit yesterday by a ransomware attack that disabled much of its information technology systems. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | Ahead of the release of official data, the Associated Press cites unnamed Customs and Border Protection officials as saying that arrests of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally fell by about 30% in July to the lowest level of the Biden administration. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | Despite noting that there has been “further progress” in reducing inflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged yesterday, but suggested that a long-anticipated rate cut could come as early as September. [more]

HAWAII | Governor Josh Green said yesterday that he expects a $4 billion settlement of lawsuits linked to the 2023 Lahaina wildfire that killed 102 people on the Hawaiian island of Maui could be announced as early as next week. [more]

U.S. SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES | The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said yesterday that it is investigating reports that a Tesla was operating on the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system when it hit and killed a motorcyclist near Seattle in April. [more]

LEBANON AND ISRAEL | The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah confirmed yesterday that Fouad Shukur, a top commander of the group, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Tuesday. Lebanon’s health ministry reports that at least five others were killed in the airstrike, which Israeli officials say was carried out in response to a Hezbollah rocket attack that killed 12 young people over the weekend in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights. [more]

VENEZUELA | Amidst opposition claims of electoral fraud, President Nicolás Maduro has asked Venezuela’s high court to conduct an audit of last Sunday’s presidential election in which he was declared the winner. Reports note that election officials in the South American country have yet to release voting tallies from polling stations. [more]

INDIA | Officials in India’s southern Kerala state say the death toll from this week’s mudslides in the state’s Wayanad district has risen to at least 194 and that more than 180 people remain unaccounted for. [more]

U.K. | Police in Southport, England, say a 17-year-old suspect has been charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with Monday’s knife attack at a children’s summer vacation workshop in the city in which at least three children were killed and 10 other people were wounded. The name of the suspect has not been released due to his age. [more]

MPOX | Health officials in both Kenya and the Central African Republic have declared outbreaks of mpox, previously known as monkeypox, following the detection of new cases of the viral disease. [more]

PAKISTAN | Disaster management officials in Pakistan say some areas of the country’s cultural capital of Lahore received as much as 14 inches of rain in a few hours today and have warned of ongoing risks of flash floods and landslides. [more]

GERMANY | Cargo flights at eastern Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport were suspended for several hours overnight when climate activists staged a protest inside the airport perimeter. The demonstration was the latest by the Last Generation activist group to affect operations at multiple airports in Germany. [more]

AIRLINE INDUSTRY | Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said yesterday that his company is facing some $500 million in costs associated with July’s CrowdStrike-related global IT outage. [more]

PARIS OLYMPICS | As of 6 a.m. ET today, the U.S. leads the overall medal count at the Paris Olympics with 30, followed by France, China, Great Britain, and Australia. In other Olympic news:

• France's Léon Marchand completed a men's swimming double yesterday at the Paris Olympics, winning and setting new Olympic records in both the 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter breaststroke events. [more]
• American Katie Ledecky won the 1,500-meter freestyle swimming event at the Paris Olympics yesterday – her eighth Olympic gold medal and 12th medal overall. [more]
• In women’s soccer play yesterday, the U.S. and Canada both advanced to the Olympic quarterfinals yesterday with wins over Australia and Colombia, respectively. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1980, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was sworn in as the fourth president of Iceland, becoming the world’s first woman democratically elected head of state. [more history]