December 27, 2024

MIDDLE EAST | Update from regional conflicts:

• Israel and Hamas traded accusations this week over the reasons for delayed progress in peace negotiations, which had been reported last week to be nearing an agreement. Hamas has accused Israel of introducing new conditions related to troop withdrawals from Gaza, while Israel says Hamas has reneged on understandings previously agreed upon. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1037 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Russia continued its targeting of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this week, launching 78 air-, ground-, and sea-launched missiles and 106 drones at Ukrainian fuel and energy sources on Christmas day. [more]

U.S. HOLIDAY SPENDING | According to a report from retail sales tracker MasterCard SpendingPulse, this year’s holiday sales in the U.S, from November through Christmas Eve, rose 3.8% compared to 2023, with approximately 10% of the spending taking place in the last five days of the holiday season. [more]

NEW YORK | Under a measure signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul yesterday, New York State is expected to fine fossil fuel companies a total of $75 billion over the next 25 years to pay for damage caused to the climate. Reports say companies will be fined based on the amount of greenhouse gases they released into the atmosphere between 2000 and 2018 and that the money raised is intended to be spent on mitigating the impacts of climate change. [more]

U.S. AND CANADA | Amidst ongoing tensions over potential new tariffs under the incoming Trump administration, Canada’s finance and foreign ministers are in Florida this week for meeting with Tom Homan, President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar.” [more]

GLOBAL CLIMATE | In a year-end report following the warmest year ever recorded, researchers at World Weather Attribution and Climate Central say human-caused climate change was responsible for an average of 41 extra days of dangerous heat around the world during 2024 and that it worsened much of the world’s damaging weather events that occurred this year. [Climate Central's 2024 in Review report] [more]

AZERBAIJAN | Numerous aviation experts and government officials say evidence suggests that an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed Wednesday while attempting to land in Kazakhstan was struck by Russian air defense munitions as it approached its original destination of Grozny, Russia. Thirty-eight people were killed in the crash, which Russian authorities said appeared to have been caused by a bird strike. [more]

CHINA | Chinese military officials today announced the launch of a new type of naval ship – a “light aircraft carrier” that uses an electromagnetic catapult to allow fighter jets to launch directly off its deck and is intended to deploy ground troops in landing crafts and provide them with air support. [more]

FINLAND AND RUSSIA | Finland has reportedly detained a ship linked to neighboring Russia as part of investigations into an incident earlier this week in which a Baltic Sea power cable and several underwater data cables were damaged. The detained ship, the Eagle S, is flagged in the Cook Islands, but it thought to be part of a shadow fleet of fuel tankers controlled by Russia. [more]

HAITI | In ongoing gang violence in Haiti, two journalists and one police officer were killed Tuesday in a shooting attack at a reopening ceremony for the largest public hospital in the capital Port-au-Prince. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | The opposition-controlled National Assembly voted Friday to impeach acting South Korean President Han Duck-soo amidst disputes over the appointment of members of the country’s Constitutional Court, which is considering whether to dismiss or uphold the impeachment of elected President Yoon Suk Yeol and will now take up the case of Han, as well. [more]

GERMANY | Following a no-confidence vote in Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier this month, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier formally dissolved the German parliament today and set February 23 as the date for new national elections. [more]

INDIA | A seven-day national mourning period was declared in India today in honor of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who died yesterday and was widely regarded as the architect of India’s economic reform policies of the early-1990s. [more]

IRAN | More than two years after the apps were banned during a period of mass anti-government protests, officials announced this week that Iran’s prohibition against WhatsApp and Google Play has been lifted. [more]

ATHLETES OF THE YEAR | The Associated Press has named WNBA star Caitlin Clark and Major League Baseball’s Shohei Ohtani its female and male athletes of the year, respectively. It is the third time Ohtani as received the award, tying him with basketball great Michael Jordan and trailing only four-time winners Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, and LeBron James. [more]

FOOTBALL | Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson set a new NFL record for most career rushing yards by a quarterback in Wednesday’s 31-2 win over the Houston Texans. Jackson finished the game with 6,110 career rushing yards, moving him past the previous record held by Michael Vick. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1831, Charles Darwin set sail on the HMS Beagle, beginning the voyage on which he would formulate his theory of evolution. [more history]