August 16, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 315 of the conflict:

• Negotiators from the U.S., Israel, Qatar, and Egypt are holding a second day of talks today in Doha in an effort to bring about a cease-fire in Gaza and prevent the Israel-Hamas war from growing into a wider regional conflict. [more]
• Mahmoud Abbas, president of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, said yesterday that he plans to travel to Gaza to show solidarity with the Palestinians there and urged Muslim leaders from around the region to join him on the visit. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 904 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• In an interview with Russian state television yesterday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Russia and Ukraine should negotiate an end to their conflict to prevent the war from spilling over into Belarus. [more]
• Ukrainian officials ordered the evacuation of the eastern Donetsk region city of Pokrovsk today as Russian forces approach the area. [more]

MPOX | Just days after the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency over the spread of mpox in Africa, Pakistan’s health ministry confirmed the country's first case of the viral disease this year, Sweden confirmed a case of an mpox variant previously only seen in Africa, and China said it plans to screen people and goods entering the country for mpox over the next six months. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | In what analysts suggest is a sign that the economy remains resilient even while slowing under the pressure of high interest rates, the Commerce Department reported yesterday that retail sales in the U.S. rose 1% from June to July – up from a slight decline the previous month and the largest increase since January 2023. [full report] [more]

U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT | The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits fell 7,000 to a lower-than-expected 227,000 for the week ended August 10, according to Labor Department data released yesterday. [full report] [more]

CALIFORNIA | Police in Los Angeles say five people have been arrested on suspicion of having roles in the overdose death of actor Matthew Perry last year. Investigations have focused on how Perry, who co-starred in the sitcom “Friends,” obtained the large amounts of ketamine that was cited as the cause of his death. [more]

ILLINOIS | President Joe Biden is expected to designate a national monument today to commemorate the 1908 race riots in Springfield, Illinois, in which several people were killed, hundreds were injured, and dozens of Black-owned homes and businesses were destroyed. [more]

HURRICANE ERNESTO | Ahead of its arrival at Bermuda later today, Hurricane Ernesto strengthened into a Category 2 storm overnight. Hundreds of thousands of people in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are reported to still be without power in the wake of the storm. [more]

MEXICO | In a new report, Mexico’s governmental Truth Commission says it has uncovered more evidence that Mexican authorities executed and disposed of the bodies of as many as 1,500 dissidents during the country’s 1965-1990 crackdown on leftist social and guerrilla movements. [more]

SOMALIA | Amidst ongoing concern over acts of domestic terrorism, particularly by the al-Qaida-linked extremist group al-Shabab, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously yesterday to authorize the African Union to maintain a peacekeeping force of more than 12,000 troops in Somalia through the end of 2024. [more]

THAILAND | Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, was elected Thailand’s new prime minister by the country’s parliament yesterday. [more]

JAPAN | Many flights and trains have been cancelled today in the Tokyo, Japan, region ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Ampil, which meteorologists say will bring strong winds, heavy rains, and potential flooding as if passes offshore this evening. [more]

SOUTH SUDAN | A new security bill that allows warrantless arrests is reported to have automatically become law in South Sudan yesterday after President Salva Kiir failed to either sign or veto the measure within 30 days of its approval by the African nation’s parliament. [more]

TECH INDUSTRY | California-based technology giant Cisco Systems said this week that it plans to cut 7% of its global workforce, or about 5,900 jobs, as part of restructuring efforts aimed at shifting its focus to rapid-growth areas such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. [more]

SOCCER | Reports say former Tottenham, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino is in final negotiations to become the new coach of the U.S. men’s national soccer team. [more]

R.I.P. | Actor, singer, and game show host Peter Marshall, best known for hosting the NBC game show “The Hollywood Squares” from 1966 to 1981, died yesterday in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 98. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1977, Elvis Presley, the “King of Rock and Roll,” died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 42. Also on this date, forty-one years later, in 2018, singer Aretha Franklin, known as the “Queen of Soul,” died in Detroit at the age of 76. [more history]