December 26, 2023

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 81 of the conflict:

• Reports say a peace plan proposed by Egypt to end the Israel-Hamas conflict calls for a phased exchange of hostages and the formation of a Palestinian government to oversee both Gaza and the West Bank. [more]
• Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reports that a high-ranking Iranian general was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Damascus, Syria, yesterday. The strike came amidst growing concern over the Israel-Hamas conflict spreading into wider regional violence in areas including Syria, Iran, Yemen, and Lebanon. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 670 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• The Russian Defense Ministry said today that a Russian landing ship in Crimea was damaged overnight by plane-launched guided missiles and that two Ukrainian fighter jets involved in the attack were shot down by anti-aircraft fire. [more]
• According to Ukrainian air force officials, Russia launched 19 drones against targets in Ukraine’s Odesa and Mykolaiv regions overnight – 13 of which were shot down. [more]

U.S. WEATHER | Portions of Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming are under blizzard warnings today, according to the National Weather Service, which says that wind gusts up to 75 mph and snowfall of up to 1-2 inches per hour could make travel in affected regions “difficult to near impossible.” [more]

TRUMP FEDERAL ELECTION TRIAL | Following Friday’s Supreme Court rejection of a request to take up an accelerated review of claims of immunity by former President Donald Trump, attorneys for Trump filed briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit over the weekend saying that Trump was acting within his role as president in pursuing claims of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election. The appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments in the matter on January 9. [more]

U.S. LABOR | According to an Economic Policy Institute report, the minimum wage in 22 U.S. states will increase on January 1, raising pay for an estimated 9.9 million workers nationwide. The increases will result in some $6.95 billion in additional wages, according to the report. [more]

U.S., IRAN, AND IRAQ | The U.S. carried out retaliatory airstrikes this morning against the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia and other related groups in Iraq following attacks by the militant groups yesterday that wounded three U.S. service members at an airbase near the city of Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. [more]

TURKEY AND SYRIA | The Turkish defense ministry reported yesterday that at least 25 Kurdish militant troops were killed in Syria and northern Iraq yesterday in airstrikes that followed weekend attacks in which at least 12 Turkish soldiers were killed. [more]

IRAN | Reuters cites officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency as saying that Iran has reversed a months-long slowdown in the rate at which it is enriching near-weapons-grade uranium. Reports say the IAEA verified the increased enrichment on December 19 and 24 at Iran’s Natanz and Fordow enrichment facilities. [more]

NIGERIA | Government officials in Nigeria said today that at least 140 people were killed by gunmen who attacked remote villages in north-central Nigeria’s Plateau state over two days. Reports say 17 communities were targeted in the weekend attacks. [more]

CONGO | Officials in eastern Congo say at least four people were killed, and 20 others remain missing, following a landslide yesterday in the country's South Kivu province. [more]

SERBIA | Serbian police are reported to have arrested at least 38 people yesterday during protests over alleged irregularities in the country’s December 17 elections. Reports say those arrested are facing charges of inciting violent change of constitutional order. [more]

ETHIOPIA | Reports say Ethiopia, by failing to make a $33 million payment on its $1 billion international bond, today became the third African country in as many years to default on its international debt. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 2004, a large earthquake shook the Indian Ocean floor west of the island of Sumatra, triggering a devastating tsunami that swamped coastal areas from Thailand to Africa and killed more than 200,000 people. [more history]