August 19, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 318 of the conflict:

• While mediators have expressed cautious optimism regarding the possibility of a new Gaza cease-fire and hostage-release deal, both Hamas and Israel have indicated there are issues with the proposed agreement on which they are unwilling to compromise. [more]
• The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility this morning for a bomb blast yesterday near a synagogue in Tel Aviv, Israel, that killed the suicide bomber that carried out the attack and wounded one other person. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 907 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Amidst Ukraine’s two-week-old incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday that the aim of the operation was to create a buffer zone to prevent attacks on Ukraine launched from Russian territory. The statement was Zelensky's first regarding the overall goal of the operation. Reports say Ukrainian forces have damaged at least three bridges in Kursk used to supply Russian troops. [more]
• Russian forces have captured the town of Zalizne in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, according to a statement released today by Russia’s Defense Ministry. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Reports say at least 20,000 people are expected to take part in demonstrations on various issues in Chicago today as the Democratic national convention opens in the city, leading up to the expected acceptance of the party’s nomination by Kamala Harris. [more]

CONNECTICUT | Officials say one person remains missing and about 100 others required evacuation by search and rescue teams yesterday amidst heavy rainfall and flash floods in the Connecticut counties of New Haven and Fairfield. [more]

HURRICANE ERNESTO | As Hurricane Ernesto moves further into the northeastern Atlantic today, the U.S. National Weather Service has posted a coastal flood advisory and warned of a high risk for rip currents along the U.S. Atlantic coast through this evening. [more]

U.S. AND KOREA | Eleven days of joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises begin today, with some 19,000 Korean military personnel expected to take part in the drills. The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises were criticized by North Korea today as being “provocative war drills for aggression.” [more]

SUDAN | Amidst the African country’s civil war, health officials in Sudan say a new cholera outbreak has killed at least 22 people and sickened more than 350. World Health Organization reports, however, have a higher estimate, saying Sudan has seen 78 cholera deaths among more than 2,400 cases through July of this year. [more]

U.N. AID SAFETY | The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says a record 280 U.N. aid workers were killed in 33 countries in 2023 – up from 118 in 2022 – and note that the death toll this year could be even higher, with 172 workers killed through August 7. Most of the 2023 deaths occurred in the first few months of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. [more]

VENEZUELA | Coordinated demonstrations took place Saturday across Venezuela and in cities around the world, including Tokyo, Sydney, and Mexico City, to support claims that Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González won last month’s disputed presidential election despite claims to the contrary by incumbent President Nicolás Maduro. [more]

CHINA AND PHILIPPINES | Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships collided early today near the disputed Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea, with each country blaming the other for the incident.  [more]

CHINA AND VIETNAM | Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnamese President To Lam signed a series of agreements today in Beijing ranging from cross-border railways, stronger trade relations, transportation infrastructure investment, and defense and security ties. [more]

SAUDIA ARABIA AND YEMEN | In an interview published by the BBC today, former Saudi intelligence official Saad al-Jabri cites a Saudi Interior Ministry source as saying that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman forged the signature of his father on the royal decree that sparked the kingdom’s yearslong war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. [more]

RUSSIA | The Shiveluch volcano on Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula erupted early yesterday, sending ash plumes some 3 miles into the sky and prompting aircraft warnings for the region. The eruption followed a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck off Kamchatka’s east coast. [more]

GOLD PRICES | U.S. gold futures are down slightly this morning after the precious metal hit an all-time high price of $2,509.65 per ounce on Friday. [more]

GOLF | Hideki Matsuyama shot an even-par-70 final round yesterday to win the PGA Tour postseason opener at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. [more]

TENNIS | Jannik Sinner defeated Alexander Zverev, and Aryna Sabalenka beat Iga Swiatek, yesterday to advance to the men’s and women’s finals of the Cincinnati Open, respectively, where they will face Frances Tiafoe and Jessica Pegula today. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Alien: Romulus" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $41.5 million in receipts, followed by "Deadpool & Wolverine" and "It Ends With Us." [more]

R.I.P. | Composer and rhythm and blues singer Maurice Williams, who, along with his backing group the Zodiacs, released the 1960 one-hit-wonder “Stay,” died earlier this month at the age of 86, according to a statement released this weekend by the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1692, four men and one woman were hanged after being convicted of witchcraft at Salem in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The story of one of the men, John Proctor, inspired Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible.” [more history]