January 18, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 104 of the conflict:

• Citing medical staff and aid agencies, reports say Israeli military operations in southern Gaza are threatening the region’s largest remaining medical facility – the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. [more]
• Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, yesterday, Palestine Investment Fund chief Mohammad Mustafa said an estimated $15 billion will be needed to rebuild homes damaged or destroyed by Israeli military operations in Gaza. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 693 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian military officials say 22 of 33 attack drones launched by Russia overnight at targets across Ukraine were shot down. According to reports, those drones that were not shot down struck areas in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. [more]
• French President Emmanuel Macron will reportedly travel to Ukraine next month to finalize a security aid deal under which France is expected to provide Ukraine with bombs and long-range missiles. [more]

RED SEA | The U.S. Navy targeted 14 Houthi-controlled missile sites in Yemen yesterday with ship- and submarine-launched missiles in response to ongoing harassment of ships in the Red Sea by the militant group – the fourth such U.S. action against Houthi militants over the past several days. [more]

TRUMP CANDIDACY | A Maine judge yesterday put on hold a decision to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a similar action in Colorado. Both cases involve decisions to bar Trump from ballots over his actions surrounding the January 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol based on U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause. [more]

CALIFORNIA | Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week that he would not sign a proposed ban on tackle football for children under the age of 12 if the legislation is approved by the state legislature. Newsom said he is “deeply concerned” about the health and safety of young athletes, but that an “outright ban is not the answer.” [more]

U.S. AND RUSSIA | Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that his country would not resume nuclear arms control talks with the U.S. while Washington continues to support Ukraine. [more]

PAKISTAN AND IRAN | Reports say at least nine militants in Iran were killed today in airstrikes carried out by Pakistan in response to an attack by Iran earlier this week along the two countries’ shared border. Pakistani authorities say the strikes targeted the Baluch Liberation Army ethnic separatist group. [more]

PANAMA | Administrators of the Panama Canal say a severe drought that started last year has forced authorities to cut the important trade route’s traffic by more than 30%. Reports say reduced ship transits through the canal could result in between $500 million and $700 million in lost revenue in 2024. [more]

SYRIA AND JORDAN | Syrian opposition activists say at least nine people were killed today in an airstrike thought to have been carried out by Jordan’s air force on the Syrian village of Orman. Reports note that Orman is located in a region known for cross-border drug smuggling. [more]

THAILAND | Authorities in Thailand’s Suphan Buri province, about 75 miles north of Bangkok, say some 20 people were killed yesterday in an explosion at a fireworks factory. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. [more]

DAVOS | Among those scheduled to address attendees of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on day three of the summit today are Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Polish President Andrzej Duda, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. [more]

GLOBAL OIL DEMAND | The Paris-based International Energy Agency today revised its forecast for 2024 global oil demand upward for the third time in as many months. The agency’s prediction that global oil consumption will increase by 1.24 million barrels per day during the year remains significantly lower than the 2.25 million barrels per day rate projected by OPEC. [more]

KENYA | The International Monetary Fund announced yesterday that is has approved a new $941.2 million loan to Kenya to support the African country’s efforts to “sustain macroeconomic stability, strengthen policy frameworks, withstand external shocks, push forward key reforms, and promote more inclusive and green growth.” [more]

SPACE | The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s “moon sniper” spacecraft is scheduled to attempt a precision landing on the moon tomorrow. A successful landing of the unmanned craft would make Japan the fifth country to ever put a spacecraft on the moon. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 2002, the civil war in Sierra Leone, in which more than 50,000 people are estimated to have died and some 2,000,000 were displaced, was officially declared over after more than 10 years of fighting. [more history]