December 9, 2024

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Following a two-week surprise offensive by rebel forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadi group that culminated in taking control of the capital Damascus, President Bashar Assad and his family fled Syria over the weekend, signaling an end to the country’s nearly 14-year civil war. [more]
• As rebel forces seized control of Syria over the weekend, the U.S. and Israel both carried out airstrikes on Syrian targets in moves aimed at reducing the offensive capabilities of Islamic militant groups in the country. [more]
• Palestinian health officials say at least 14 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes yesterday on the Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps in northern Gaza. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1019 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a new $988 million long-term military aid package for Ukraine on Saturday, consisting largely of drones and related technology and munitions for U.S.-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. Reports note that the latest package brings the total of U.S. aid to Ukraine to more than $62 billion since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022. [more]
• Following the deaths of 13 people in Russian missile attacks across Ukraine on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday confirmed the delivery of a second batch of F-16 fighter jets to his country from Denmark, saying that “If all partners were so determined, we would have been able to make Russian terror impossible.” [more]

U.S. FOREIGN POLICY | In a televised interview yesterday, President-elect Donald Trump called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and said he would be open to withdrawing the U.S. from the NATO alliance. [more]

U.S. BIRD FLU | The U.S. Department of Agriculture has ordered the nationwide testing of the country’s milk supply as part of efforts to monitor, and eventually eliminate, the presence of Type A H5N1 influenza, or bird flu, in dairy cow herds. Officials note that the presence of the virus has increased in raw milk products and that the risk to humans from the virus remains low. [more]

U.S. SOCIAL MEDIA | The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday upheld a law requiring social media platform TikTok to break off from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or be banned in the U.S. by mid-January, denying a petition from the company to overturn the law as a violation of the First Amendment. [more]

GLOBAL CLIMATE | The European Union’s Copernicus climate service says November 2024 was the second-warmest November ever recorded and that global temperatures for the year are on track to make 2024 the first calendar year in which the average temperature was more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. [more]

IRAN | International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said Friday that Iran has increased its use of advanced centrifuges and is poised to “quite dramatically” increase its stockpiles of near-weapons-grade uranium. [more]

HAITI | Haiti's National Human Rights Defense Network monitoring group says at least 110 people were killed over the weekend in gang attacks in the country's Cite Soleil slum after a gang leader accused elderly people of causing his child's illness through witchcraft. [more]

ROMANIA | Citing “unfair” and possibly illegal use of AI and social media, as well as the use of “undeclared sources of funding,” Romania’s Constitutional Court on Friday annulled the results of the country’s first round of presidential voting. The move came after far-right candidate Calin Georgescu emerged from being relatively unknown to being a frontrunner and amidst concerns over Russian campaigns to influence the election. [more]

TAIWAN AND CHINA | Authorities in Taiwan say China deployed approximately 90 naval and coast guard vessels to the waters near Taiwan today ahead of what are expected to be Beijing’s largest naval exercises of the year. [more]

AUSTRALIA | Federal authorities in Australia have declared an arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne last week to be an act of anti-Jewish terrorism. Reports say the declaration will increase resources available to investigate the arson and potentially increase the punishment of those who committed the act. [more]

TONGA | Siaosi Sovaleni resigned as prime minister of the South Pacific island nation of Tonga today ahead of a planned parliamentary no-confidence vote on his leadership. Sovaleni did not cite a reason for his resignation, but reports note that the move comes amidst recent periods of tension between the his government and Tonga's monarchy. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | In continuing fallout from last week’s short-lived imposition of martial law, South Korea’s Justice Ministry today imposed an overseas travel ban on President Yoon Suk Yeol as investigations continue into Yoon’s martial law declaration and opposition parties vow to continue to pursue his impeachment. [more]

KENNEDY CENTER HONORS | The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presented its annual awards for lifetime achievement last night, with awardees including the psychedelic rock band Grateful Dead, director Francis Ford Coppola, jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt, and the iconic Harlem theater The Apollo. [more]

FOOTBALL | Buffalo Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen became the first player in NFL history with three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in a single game in last night’s 44-42 Bills’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams. [more]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL | Following a weekend of conference championship games, selections for the NCAA’s first 12-team college football playoffs have been made. Teams selected, in order of seeding, are: Oregon, Georgia, Boise State, Arizona State, Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, Indiana, SMU, and Clemson. [more]

BASEBALL | The New York Mets have reportedly reached a record $765 million, 15-year contract agreement with star outfielder Juan Soto in what is believed to be the largest contract in team sports history. [more]

WORD OF THE YEAR | Dictionary-maker Merriam-Webster has announced “polarization” as its word of the year for 2024, with staff noting that the word’s increased use was seen in its senses of “tending toward the extremes rather than toward the center” and “causing strong disagreement between opposing factions or groupings.” [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Moana 2" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $52 million in receipts, followed by "Wicked" and "Gladiator II." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1979, some 12 years after the World Health Organization undertook an intensive global vaccination campaign against the disease, smallpox, which is estimated to have caused about 300 million deaths in the 20th century, was officially declared eradicated. [more history]