January 2, 2025

MIDDLE EAST | Update from regional conflicts:

• Reports say at least 18 people, including two high-ranking Hamas police force officials, were killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Palestinian health officials say women and children were among those killed. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 1043 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Transit of Russian gas supplies to European customers through Ukraine’s pipeline network was halted yesterday after a pre-war transit deal expired at the end of 2024. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the move would cause Russia to lose “one of the most profitable and geographically accessible markets” for its gas. [more]

NEW ORLEANS TERROR ATTACK | Investigators have named Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, as the man who carried out the vehicle attack early yesterday in New Orleans, Louisiana, killing 15 people and injuring dozens of others, when he drove a pickup truck through crowds of people celebrating the New Year on the city’s famed Bourbon Street. Authorities say evidence points to Jabbar, who was a U.S. citizen and military veteran, having been inspired by the Islamic State terrorist group. [more]

NEVADA | Police in Las Vegas, Nevada, say the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel yesterday is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism. Reports say the vehicle was loaded with fuel canisters and other explosive devices and that seven people were injured in the incident. [more]

NEW YORK | At least 10 people were injured in an overnight shooting incident outside a nightclub in New York City’s Jamaica neighborhood when four gunmen opened fire on a group of people waiting to enter the club. Investigations into the shooting are ongoing this morning. [more]

HAWAII | Police in Honolulu, Hawaii, say three people were killed, and 20 others were injured, in an explosion of illegal fireworks at a home in the city near midnight on New Year’s Eve. City authorities have asked people to abandon the tradition of setting off fireworks and have promised tougher penalties for illegal fireworks. [more]

PUERTO RICO | Power has been restored to approximately 98% of electricity customers in Puerto Rico after the U.S. territory suffered a widespread power outage on New Year’s Eve. Reports cite officials at the island’s Luma Energy as suggesting that the outage was caused by a failure in a main underground power line. [more]

U.S. PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS | Among 20 people to be awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal in a White House ceremony today are:  former congresswoman Liz Cheney, former Senators Ted Kaufman and Chris Dodd, same-sex marriage advocates Mary Bonauto and Evan Wolfson, Frank Butler, who set new standards for using tourniquets on war injuries, and former Army nurse Diane Carlson Evans, who founded the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation. [more]

U.S. AND CHINA | In a continuation of ongoing trade and security tensions between the two countries, China today announced new sanctions against dozens of U.S. companies, including high-profile defense contractors Raytheon, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin. China’s Ministry of Commerce says it added 28 companies to its export control list on national security grounds, banned the export of items that have both civilian and military uses, and banned 10 companies from doing business in China due to the sale of arms to Taiwan. [more]

PAKISTAN | Following weeks of violence in which at least 130 people were killed, tribal leaders and local authorities in Pakistan’s northwestern Kurram district have reportedly reached a disarmament and peace agreement between minority Shiite and majority Sunni tribes. [more]

RUSSIA | Russian authorities have warned of potentially severe environmental damage from spilled fuel oil that has leaked out of two storm-damaged tankers in the Kerch Strait, near Moscow-occupied Crimea. The ships were damaged in a storm on December 15. [more]

TAIWAN AND CHINA | Taiwan's defense ministry says China carried out its first combat patrol of the new year around the island territory today, with some 22 Chinese military aircraft and multiple warships taking part in a “joint combat readiness patrol.” [more]

BULGARIA AND ROMANIA | Full membership in the European Union’s Schengen ID check-free travel zone was implemented in Bulgaria and Romania yesterday, extending the countries’ previous air and sea lack of access restrictions to include land borders. [more]

MONTENEGRO | Authorities in Montenegro say a gunman killed 12 people in the western town of Cetinje today before killing himself during a standoff with police. The shootings reportedly followed a bar brawl and took place at multiple locations to which the shooter traveled following the initial incident. [more]

INDIA | Authorities in India removed some 337 tons of toxic waste yesterday from the site of the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak disaster that killed thousands of people, marking the start of efforts to comply with a court order mandating the removal, treatment, and destruction of toxic materials from the site. [more]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL | Texas, Penn State, and Ohio State have advanced to the quarterfinals of the college football playoffs with wins over Arizona State, Boise State, and Oregon, respectively. The final participant in the quarterfinals will be decided by today’s game between Notre Dame and Georgia, which was delayed from yesterday due to the terrorist attack in New Orleans. [playoff bracket] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1492, Granada, home of the Alhambra palace and the seat and final stronghold of the Moorish kingdom in Spain, was surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II and Isabella I, ending the Reconquest. [more history]