August 8, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 307 of the conflict:

• Amidst increased concern over the regional spread of violence in the Middle East following the recent deaths of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Israeli attacks, the U.K. and Egypt have reportedly asked their countries’ airlines to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace. [more]
• Israel’s Supreme Court is scheduled to consider a petition today to close a military prison where soldiers have been accused of abusing Palestinian detainees. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 896 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Reports say fighting in Russia’s Kursk region continues for a third day today following this week’s incursion by Ukrainian troops that has threatened the Russian town of Sudzha, which is a key shipping point for Russian natural gas to Europe. Alexei Smirnov, Kursk’s acting regional governor, declared a state of emergency yesterday, saying the move was necessary "to eliminate the consequences of enemy forces coming into the region." [more]

TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | After moving slightly offshore, Tropical Storm Debby made a second landfall overnight near Bulls Bay, South Carolina, today and is expected to bring heavy rains and potential flooding in South and North Carolina, Virginia, and further northward along the East Coast through the weekend. [more]

LOUISIANA | A boil water advisory is in effect for much of New Orleans, Louisiana, through later today following an incident in which a brief power outage Tuesday night caused a drop in pressure at the water treatment plant that serves most of the city. [more]

ALASKA | Officials say more than 100 homes in Alaska’s capital city of Juneau were damaged this week in flooding of the Mendenhall River caused by the retreat of the nearby Mendenhall Glacier, which serves as an ice dam along the river. [more]

GLOBAL CLIMATE | The European Union’s Copernicus climate agency announced yesterday that a year-long streak of monthly global average high heat records ended last month, with a 62.4-degree Fahrenheit (16.91 degrees Celsius) global average in July – just below the average for the same period last year. [more]

MPOX | World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday that he will convene an expert panel to determine if the spread of the mpox virus – also known as monkeypox – to 10 countries in Africa warrants the declaration of a global emergency. [more]

AUSTRIA | Three performances this week by pop star Taylor Swift in Vienna, Austria, have been cancelled following investigations into alleged plots to carry out an attack at the concerts. Authorities say three people, at least one of whom is reported to be linked to the Islamic State militant group and at whose home unspecified chemical substances and technical devices were found, have been arrested in connection with the plot. [more]

JAPAN | A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern coast of Japan early today, triggering a tsunami advisory for the country’s Kyushu and Shikoku islands. [more]

PAKISTAN | At least 154 deaths have been linked to the effects of nearly six weeks of monsoon rains in Pakistan this summer, according to the country’s National Disaster Management Authority. [more]

CHINA | Data from the China Passenger Car Association shows that the Chinese domestic auto sales industry reached a milestone in July, with more than half of all new vehicles sold in the country being so-called new-energy vehicles, which includes pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. [more]

SPAIN | Reports say police in Spain are searching for former Catalonia leader Carles Puigdemont, who unexpectedly returned to the country today and gave a speech in Barcelona despite a warrant for his arrest associated with the organization of an independence referendum in Catalonia nearly seven years ago. [more]

SPACE | NASA officials said yesterday that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose mission to the International Space Station started in June and was expected to last only about eight days, could remain in space until February 2025 due to ongoing concern over issues with the Boeing Starliner capsule in which they were supposed to return to Earth. [more]

PARIS OLYMPICS | As of 6 a.m. ET today, the U.S. leads the overall medal count at the Paris Olympics with 94, followed by China, France, Great Britain, and Australia. In other Olympic news:

• Australia’s Nina Kennedy won the women’s pole vault yesterday at the Paris Olympics, claiming her country’s Olympic national-record-setting 18th gold medal. [more]
• The U.S. women’s basketball team beat Nigeria, 88-74, last night to extend their winning streak to 59 consecutive Olympic contests and advance to the semifinals of the Paris Olympics. [more]
• In Paris Olympics track and field action yesterday, Quincy Hall won the gold medal in the men’s 400-meter race, finishing just 0.4 seconds ahead of Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1945, the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France signed the London Agreement, which authorized the Nürnberg trials, in which former Nazi leaders were indicted and tried as war criminals by the International Military Tribunal. [more history]