January 22, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 108 of the conflict:

• In a statement released yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected conditions presented by Hamas to end the Gaza conflict and return Israeli hostages. The conditions include, according to Netanyahu, the end of military operations and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and leaving Hamas intact. [more]
• The Hamas-controlled Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 25,105 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, and more than 60,000 have been wounded, in the Israeli military response to the October 7 Hamas attacks. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 697 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Arriving in Ukraine for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said today that, “it is very important to build the feeling that Poland is the most reliable and most stable ally of Ukraine in this deadly clash with evil.” [more]
• Moscow-aligned authorities in the Russia-occupied eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk say least 25 people were killed, and another 25 were wounded, yesterday when Ukrainian artillery shells hit a market on the outskirts of the city. Ukrainian officials have not issued a statement on the incident. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination yesterday, leaving Donald Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley as the only remaining major candidates in tomorrow’s New Hampshire Republican primary. [more]

U.S. MILITARY | The U.S. Central Command says two Navy SEALs lost in the Arabian Sea 10 days ago during a mission to board a ship to confiscate Iranian-made weapons are now considered deceased and that the search for them has been changed to a recovery effort. [more]

MALARIA | Cameroon today became the first country to routinely vaccinate children against malaria. The Central African nation hopes to vaccinate about 250,000 children this year using GlaxoSmithKline’s Mosquirix, the first malaria vaccine endorsed by the World Health Organization. [more]

CHINA | Authorities in China’s southwestern Yunnan province say at least two people were killed, and more than 40 others remain missing, this morning following a landslide near the village of Liangshui. [more]

SAUDI ARABIA AND ISRAEL | Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, said yesterday that his country will not normalize relations with Israel, nor contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza, without the existence of a credible pathway to an independent Palestinian state. [more]

PAKISTAN | Reports say Pakistani security forces killed at least seven militants today in a clash near Quetta in the country’s southwestern Baluchistan province, which borders Afghanistan. [more]

GLOBAL MIGRATION | The U.N. International Organization for Migration has launched its Global Annual Appeal for 2024, seeking $7.9 billion from the international community to protect migrants, reduce displacement, facilitate regular pathways for migration, and improve the Organization’s delivery of services. [IOM statement] [more]

SPACE | Japan became the fifth country ever to successfully complete a soft landing of a spacecraft on the moon Saturday. Officials at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency say the “Moon Sniper” lander’s activity on the moon could be shortened due to apparent issues with the craft’s solar panels. [more]

COLLEGE BASKETBALL | With last night’s victory over Oregon State, Stanford women’s basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer won her 1,203rd game, passing Duke and Army coach Mike Krzyzewski’s total and becoming major college basketball’s winningest coach of all time. [more]

GOLF | University of Alabama sophomore Nick Dunlap won The American Express tournament yesterday – the first win by an amateur at a PGA Tour event in 33 years. [more]

FOOTBALL | Matchups for next weekend’s AFC and NFC championship games are set following this weekend’s divisional playoff games in which the Kansas City Chiefs, the Baltimore Ravens, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Detroit Lions advanced. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Mean Girls" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $11.7 million in receipts, followed by "The Beekeeper" and "Wonka." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that a Texas statute criminalizing abortion in most instances violated a woman's constitutional right of privacy. The landmark decision was overturned in 2022, returning responsibility for abortion-related legislation to the individual states. [more history]