August 12, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 311 of the conflict:

• In a joint statement released today, the leaders of France, Germany, and the U.K. endorsed a U.S.-led call for the immediate resumption of Gaza cease-fire talks and the immediate restoration of the delivery of humanitarian aid to the region. [more]
• Amidst ongoing concern over the potential for regional escalation of conflicts in the Middle East, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin yesterday ordered a guided missile submarine to the region and accelerated the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group’s travel to the area. [more]
• Palestinian health officials say at least 80 Palestinians were killed, and 50 more were injured, Saturday when an Israeli airstrike hit a school being used as a shelter in central Gaza City. Israeli officials say the strike targeted a Hamas command center in the school's compound. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 900 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Six days into a Ukrainian military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indirectly acknowledged the push into what he termed the “aggressor’s territory” Saturday. Reports say evacuation of civilians continues today in Kursk and that more than 20 temporary accommodation centers for evacuees have been set up in the region. New reports this morning cite military officials as saying Ukrainian forces appear to have expanded their offensive to include Russia's Belgorod region, which has also seen evacuations. [more]
• Russia and Ukraine each blamed the other for starting a fire yesterday at the dormant Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Reports cite officials as saying the fire caused serious damage to one of the plant’s cooling towers, but that no signs of elevated radiation from the plant have been detected. [more]

COLORADO | In multiple shooting and knife incidents in Colorado over the weekend: four people were killed, and one other was wounded, in the Denver suburb of Commerce City; one person was killed and three others were injured in two separate incidents in the city of Aurora; and one person was killed, and six others injured in a series of shootings and stabbings in Denver itself, according to area police. [more]

U.S. SUBSCRIPTIONS | As part of the Biden administration’s “Time is Money” initiative aimed at reducing unnecessary complications in interacting with companies, the Federal Trade Commission is expected to finalize new rule proposals as early as today that would require companies ranging from online platforms to cable services and gym memberships to make it as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up for one. [more]

GREECE | Authorities in Athens, Greece, say some 670 firefighters and 80 members of the armed forces are involved in battling a wildfire on the northern fringes of the city today. Reports note that hospitals and residential regions of the area have been evacuated. [more]

BRAZIL | Authorities in Brazil’s São Paulo state say all 58 passengers and four crew members died Friday in the crash of a Voepass airlines’ ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop plane near the city of Vinhedo. [more]

MORE BRAZIL | According to newly released data from Brazil’s Environment Ministry, deforestation in the country’s Amazon rainforest declined by 46% in the past year, compared to the previous 12-month period, reaching its lowest level since 2016. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | Police in the Afghan capital of Kabul say one person was killed, and 13 others were injured, yesterday when an explosive device was used to target a van carrying members of the Shiite minority community. The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack. [more]

UGANDA | Authorities say at least 21 people were killed late Friday in the partial collapse of a landfill site that followed heavy rains in the Ugandan capital of Kampala. [more]

VENEZUELA | International Criminal Court prosecutors said today that they are “actively monitoring” events in Venezuela, where security forces have launched a crackdown on opposition activists in the aftermath of the nation's disputed presidential election in which incumbent President Nicolás Maduro was named the winner. [more]

TANZANIA | Reports say police arrested senior leaders of Tanzania’s main opposition political party, CHADEMA, along with hundreds of the party’s supporters, yesterday ahead of a planned meeting in the African country’s southwest region. The arrests came after police banned the meeting, saying the event was likely to breach the peace. [more]

PARIS OLYMPICS | The U.S. led the overall medal count at yesterday's conclusion of the Paris Olympics with 126, followed by China, Great Britain, France, and Australia. The U.S. and China tied in the gold medal count with 40 each. In other Olympic news:

• The U.S. women's soccer team beat Brazil, 1-0, Saturday to win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. The game was the third Olympic final in which the U.S. defeated Brazil. [more]
• American gymnast Jordan Chiles has been asked to return the bronze medal she received for the floor exercise competition at the Paris Olympics following a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that overturned a U.S. appeal of the event scoring. U.S. gymnastics officials have filed a challenge to the court decision. [more]
• The U.S. men’s and women’s basketball teams won their respective finals against France at the Paris Olympics over the weekend. It was the eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal for the women and the fifth consecutive for the men. The finals marked the first time in Olympic history that both gold medal basketball games featured teams from the same two countries. [more]

GOLF | Aaron Rai shot a 6-under-par 64 yesterday to win the Wyndham Championship and claim his first PGA Tour victory. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Deadpool & Wolverine" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $54.2 million in receipts, followed by "It Ends With Us" and "Twisters." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1990, the most complete and best-preserved skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex was found on South Dakota's Cheyenne River Sioux reservation. It was nicknamed Sue, after Susan Hendrickson, the paleontologist who discovered the dinosaur fossil. [more history]