December 18, 2024

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that his country's military forces would occupy a buffer zone on the Syrian border with the Israel-held Golan Heights until any security concerns that have arisen out of the recent ouster of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government by rebel forces are resolved. [more]
• A group of Palestinian families filed a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department yesterday, alleging that the department circumvented a U.S. human rights law known as the Leahy Law by continuing to fund and support Israeli military units accused of atrocities in Gaza and the Israel-occupied West Bank. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1028 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Russian security officials say a 29-year-old man from Uzbekistan has been detained in connection with the death of senior general Igor Kirillov and his assistant in a bomb attack in Moscow this week and that the suspect was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence to carry out the attack. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | According to Commerce Department data released yesterday, retail sales in the U.S. rose 0.7% in November – up from a 0.5% gain in October – with a large part of the gain driven by increased auto sales. Compared to November 2023, retail sales for the month were up 3.8%. [full report] [more]

MORE U.S. ECONOMY | The Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce a quarter-point cut in its benchmark interest rate later today, from about 4.6% to approximately 4.3%. Analysts say the Fed may also suggest that it will slow its pace of rate cuts in 2025 due to inflation remaining stuck above the 2% target rate. [more]

U.S. SPACE PROGRAM | NASA announced yesterday that the return to Earth of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams has been postponed again due to a delay in sending their replacements to the International Space Station. Wilmore and Williams, whose stay on the station was supposed to last only eight days following their June 5 launch, are now scheduled to return to Earth in late March or early April of 2025. [more]

OHIO | Amazon Web Services announced this week that it will increase its investment in Ohio-based data center infrastructure by $10 billion. The company’s planned spending in the state through 2029 now stands at more than $23 billion. [more]

U.S. CONGRESS | The Associated Press, citing an interview scheduled to be published later this week, reports that President Joe Biden has endorsed a ban on stock trading by members of Congress while they are in office. [more]

NEW YORK | Manhattan prosecutors added a charge of murder as an act of terrorism yesterday to the existing murder charge against Luigi Mangione, who is implicated in the December 4 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. [more]

GLOBAL OIL SUPPLY | Reuters cites unnamed delegates to the OPEC+ oil production alliance as saying that group members are wary of a potential drop in oil prices due to possibly renewed increase in U.S. oil output under a second Trump administration. [more]

CANADA | Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing increased calls tor resign following this week's resignation of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and amidst plummeting popularity due to cost-of-living increases and high inflation. [more]

VANUATU | Authorities say at least 14 people were killed, and hundreds of others were injured, in yesterday’s 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck just off the coast of the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. Damage assessment and rescue operations are ongoing across the country and the number of casualties is expected to rise. [more]

GHANA | Ghana’s Supreme Court today dismissed two separate cases challenging the legality of the African country’s strict anti-LGBT bill, paving the way for it to be submitted to the president for signing into law. [more]

SOCIAL MEDIA | Facebook parent company Meta was fined 251 million euros yesterday by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission after the company was found to have violated multiple provisions of the E.U. General Data Protection Regulation following an investigation into a 2018 data breach that exposed information on millions of users. Meta says it intends to appeal the decision. [more]

AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY | Japanese automakers Nissan Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. confirmed today that they are discussing ways to more closely collaborate, but denied that a decision has been made for the companies to merge. [more]

BASKETBALL | The Milwaukee Bucks won the in-season NBA Cup tournament last night, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder, 97-81. Bucks’ forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored 26 points in the final, was named the tournament’s most valuable player. [more]

SOCCER | Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior and Barcelona standout Aitana Bonmati were name FIFA’s men’s and women’s players of the year, respectively, yesterday. [more]

MORE SOCCER | Former U.S. women’s national team captain Becky Sauerbrunn announced her retirement from professional soccer yesterday. Sauerbrunn played in three Olympics and three Women’s World Cups and was a four-time Defender of the Year in the National Women’s Soccer League. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1865, by proclamation of U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward, the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, outlawing slavery, officially entered into force, having been ratified by the required number of states on December 6. [more history]