February 28, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 145 of the conflict:

• The families of many of the hostages held by Hamas since the October 7 attacks on Israel began a four-day march from southern Israel to Jerusalem today to demand further action be taken to free the hostages. [more]
• The Hamas-controlled Palestinian Health Ministry says that, as of today, at least 29,954 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 734 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, yesterday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged the international community to liquidate some $300 billion in frozen Russian assets and use the funds to support Ukraine’s reconstruction and resistance to the Russian invasion. [more]
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will co-host a summit of officials from 13 southeastern European countries in Albania today, with support for Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion, defense and political cooperation, and security agreements expected to be main topics of discussion. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries, respectively, in Michigan yesterday – one week ahead of the March 5 Super Tuesday primaries, in which 15 states and one territory hold nominating contests. [more]

U.S. GUN RIGHTS | The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments today on the legality of a federal ban imposed during the Trump administration on so-called “bump stocks,” which enable semiautomatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns. [more]

TEXAS | Gov. Greg Abbott has issued emergency and disaster declarations for at least 60 Texas counties this week as a series of wildfires in the state continues to spread, with the Texas Panhandle region being most prominently affected. [more]

HAWAII | Gov. Josh Green said yesterday that Hawaii's $175 million compensation fund for victims and families of victims of last year’s wildfires on the island of Maui will begin accepting applications at the end of this week. [more]

BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY | Members of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees are scheduled to hold a closed-door deposition of Hunter Biden today as part of the Republican impeachment inquiry into his father, President Joe Biden. [more]

INDIANA | The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday allowed Indiana’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors to take effect, removing a temporary injunction issued by a district court judge nearly a year go. [more]

U.S. AND SOUTH KOREA | In a joint announcement yesterday, the U.S. and South Korean militaries said the annual Freedom Shield exercise and associated field training will begin Monday, March 4, and continue through March 14. North Korea has long viewed the joint exercises as rehearsals for an invasion. [more]

EUROPEAN ASYLUM | According to data released by the European Union Agency for Asylum today, the number of applications for asylum in E.U. countries rose 18% to 1.14 million in 2023 – the highest level since the bloc’s 2015-2016 migrant crisis. [more]

JAPAN | The operators of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began releasing a fourth batch of treated and diluted radioactive wastewater into the ocean yesterday amidst ongoing concern over safety issues associated with the release. [more]

MORE JAPAN | The Japanese Health and Welfare Ministry reported yesterday that there were 5.1% fewer babies born and 5.9% fewer marriages in Japan in 2023, compared to 2022. Officials say the 2023 birth rate, which was the lowest since Japan began compiling such data in 1899, is a troubling sign of the country’s decades-long population decline. [more]

MEXICO | Central Mexico’s Popocatépetl volcano discharged smoke and ash yesterday, affecting some flights out of Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport and prompting officials to issue a limited volcano threat declaration. [more]

GERMANY | German authorities say a former member of the now-defunct left-wing Red Army Faction militant group was arrested this week in Berlin after more than 30 years of being sought by police. Daniela Klette, 65, was arrested in connection with a series of decades-old robberies carried out by the group in northern Germany, as well as an attempted murder. [more]

GREECE | Train and ferry services across much of Greece have been disrupted today as unions protest to support an end to wage controls imposed during the country’s 2010-2018 financial crisis. [more]

RUN-D.M.C. | A New York federal jury found two men guilty yesterday of killing hip-hop group Run-D.M.C. star Jam Master Jay in 2002. Prosecutors say Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington killed the artist, born Jason Mizell, as revenge for a failed drug deal. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1991, the Persian Gulf War, an international conflict that was triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, ended as Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein accepted a cease-fire agreement. [more history]