August 5, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 304 of the conflict:

• Ten months into the war in Gaza and amidst growing concern over the potential for escalating violence between Israel and Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, as well as Iran itself, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting yesterday that he considers Israel to already be in a “multi-front war” with Iran and its proxies. The Iranian foreign ministry said today that while it is not looking to escalate regional tensions, the death of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an Israeli attack in Tehran last week must be punished. [more]
• The Israeli military says two soldiers were wounded early today when Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group launched a drone attack on a military base in northern Israel. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 893 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday that his country’s military has started flying donated F-16 fighter jets for combat operations against Russian forces, but noted that Ukraine still does not have enough pilots trained to use the F-16s or enough of the jets themselves. [more]
• Reports say Ukrainian officials in the country’s eastern Donetsk region have announced the mandatory evacuation of children and their guardians from several towns in the region where Russian forces have made recent advances. [more]

HURRICANE DEBBY | Hurricane Debby, a Category 1 storm, made landfall along Florida’s Big Bend coast near Steinhatchee this morning. Officials have warned of the potential for record-setting rains, catastrophic flooding, and life-threatening storm surge from the slow-moving storm as it impacts Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | U.S. stock indices fell significantly on Friday, and futures are down today, following the release of the Labor Department’s July jobs report, which showed an unexpectedly-high increase in unemployment to 4.3% – the highest since October 2021 – and a lower-than-expected 114,000 new jobs created for the month. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Upon the conclusion of delegate voting, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to formally become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee later today, and will announce her choice for her vice-presidential running mate tomorrow, according to reports. [more]

BANGLADESH | Amidst ongoing anti-government protests, army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced today that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and that a new interim government would be formed. Reports say more than 100 people, including 14 police officers, died in clashes between protesters and police in the South Asian nation over the weekend in continuing violence sparked by tensions over the allocation of government jobs that morphed into widespread anti-government demonstrations. [more]

U.K. | British Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened an emergency meeting of cabinet ministers and law enforcement officials today amidst ongoing far-right violence against asylum seekers and immigrants sparked by last week’s knife attack on a children’s dance class in Southport. Authorities note that there is no evidence the knife attack was linked to immigration or religion. [more]

GLOBAL ECONOMY | Stock indices worldwide are generally down today amidst concern over the state of the U.S. economy, led by a more than 12% fall on Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index. [more]

VENEZUELA | Amidst ongoing unrest related to his contested victory in the country’s presidential election, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said Saturday that more than 2,000 opponents had been arrested and that federal authorities would continue to detain protesters and send them to prison. [more]

NORTH KOREA | At least 250 missile launchers capable of firing nuclear munitions have been delivered to frontline military units, according to a statement by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un yesterday. Kim said the new launchers would give North Korea’s military an “overwhelming” advantage over South Korea and called for ceaseless expansion of his military’s nuclear program. [more]

NORTH KOREA AND RUSSIA | Russian state news agency TASS reports that President Vladimir Putin has offered humanitarian assistance to North Korea to assist in recovery from recent flooding that is reported to have flooded 4,100 houses, 7,410 acres of agricultural fields, and numerous other public buildings, roads, and railways. [more]

PARIS OLYMPICS | As of 7 a.m. ET today, the U.S. leads the overall medal count at the Paris Olympics with 72, followed by China, France, Great Britain, and Australia. In other Olympic news:

• American Noah Lyles claimed the ‘world’s fastest man’ title yesterday with a win in the 100-meter sprint at the Paris Olympics. Lyles finished the race in 9.784 seconds – just five-thousandths of a second ahead of Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson. [more]
• In the last Olympic swimming events of the Paris Games yesterday, the U.S. won the gold medal for the women’s 4x100-meter medley relay, while China won the men’s 4x100 medley relay. [more]
• Serbia’s Novak Djokovic defeated Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz yesterday to win the men’s tennis gold medal at the Paris Olympics. [more]

BASEBALL | The Chicago White Sox lost their 20th consecutive game yesterday, marking Major League Baseball’s longest no-win streak in 36 years. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Deadpool & Wolverine" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $97 million in receipts, followed by "Twisters" and "Trap." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1964, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson put the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution before Congress. It served as the principal constitutional authorization for the subsequent escalation of the United States' military involvement in the Vietnam War without a formal declaration of war by Congress. [more history]