December 17, 2024

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said yesterday that a deal with Hamas to implement a cease-fire in Gaza is closer than ever. The statement came as mediators from the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt say both sides have recently shown greater flexibility in peace negotiations. [more]
• In his first public comments since fleeing to Moscow after his government was overthrown, former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said today that he wanted to continue fighting against rebel forces but was evacuated by Russian forces after the Russian base in northwestern Syria at which he was located came under attack. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1027 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian officials say their country’s security service carried out the bomb attack that killed Russian Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological, and chemical protection forces, today in Moscow. [more]
• The European Union announced new sanctions yesterday on dozens of people linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including two top North Korean defense officials, a military unit implicated in an attack on a Kyiv children’s hospital, the heads of various Russian companies in the energy sector, and Chinese suppliers of drone technology. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | A teacher and a student were killed, and six other people were wounded, yesterday when a 15-year-old female student opened fire with a pistol at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. Authorities say the shooter, identified as Natalie Rupnow, died at the scene of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and that the motive for the shooting is under investigation. [more]

TRUMP NEW YORK CONVICTION | New York Judge Juan M. Merchan ruled yesterday that President-elect Donald Trump’s business records falsification and hush money conviction in May should not be thrown out because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity. Merchan denied Trump’s claims that evidence used in the case was related to official acts that would be covered under immunity protections. [more]

U.S. SOCIAL MEDIA | Attorneys for the video sharing platform TikTok asked the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday to block a federal law that would ban the platform in the U.S. unless its China-based parent company agrees to sell it. Without a court-ordered freeze, the law will take effect January 19. [more]

LOUISIANA | Advocates for the New Orleans Police Department are expected to argue in federal court today that federal oversight of the department, which has been in place since 2011, should be ended due to improvements that have been made in its operations, policies, and leadership. [more]

U.S. JORDAN, AND IRAN | The U.S. Justice Department announced charges yesterday against two men, including a dual Iranian American citizen, in connection with a conspiracy to export sensitive technology to Iran that was used in a drone attack in Jordan that killed three American troops early this year. [more]

E.U. HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE | The European Parliament today awarded the E.U.’s top human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize, to Venezuelan opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia in recognition of their “tireless efforts to restore freedom and democracy in Venezuela and ensure a fair, free, and peaceful transition of power.” [press release] [more]

MAYOTTE | French authorities say aid is being rushed to the country’s Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, where hundreds, and possibly thousands, of people are thought to have been killed when the region was struck by Cyclone Chido on Saturday. Reports say almost all of Mayotte is without power, water, and other basic supplies in the aftermath of the storm. [more]

VANUATU | Casualty and damage assessments are underway today in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck just off the country’s coast early this morning. A tsunami warning was cancelled two hours after the quake. [more]

AUSTRALIA | In response to a recent increase in antisemitic acts, the premier of Australia’s Victoria state proposed new restrictions on protesters today that would ban protests outside places of worship, prohibit protesters from flying flags and displaying symbols of groups listed by Australia as terrorist organizations, and forbid the use of face masks by protesters to conceal their identities. [more]

PAKISTAN | Authorities in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province say two police officers were killed, and three others were wounded, today in a militant attack on a local police outpost. [more]

CHINA | Reports say China has launched its first batch of Guowang satellites, which, like SpaceX’s Starlink system, are intended to provide high-speed internet service around the world. [more]

SOCCER | European soccer governing body UEFA announced yesterday that it will double the prize money for the 2025 Women’s European Championship to 41 million euros. Reports note that the women’s championship payouts still significantly lag behind those of the men’s championship, which had a total prize fund of 331 million euros for the Euro 2024 tournament. [more]

FILM | Among this year’s 25 selections for inclusion in the U.S. Library of Congress’ National Film Registry as “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant films are: “Dirty Dancing” (1987), “Beverly Hills Cop” (1984), “The Miracle Worker” (1962), “No Country for Old Men” (2007), and “Pride of the Yankees” (1942). [full list of 2024 selections] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1903, brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, conducted the first successful manned powered-airplane flights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, using their experimental craft, the Wright Flyer. The first flight lasted approximately 12 seconds and covered a distance of about 120 feet. [more history]