July 10, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 278 of the conflict:

• Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed today that some 60% of Hamas fighters in Gaza have been killed or wounded since October 7, while Palestinian health officials, who do not differentiate between militant and civilian casualties, note that 38,295 Palestinians have been killed in the ongoing conflict. [more]
• Reports say at least 25 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike yesterday on a school being used as a shelter in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 867 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Speaking to NATO leaders in Washington, DC, yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the alliance to provide his country with timely and substantial support amidst the ongoing Russian invasion and said the U.S. must be “uncompromising in defending democracy” from Russian President Vladimir Putin. [more]
• At the opening of the NATO summit in Washington, DC, yesterday, alliance members pledged to supply Ukraine with dozens of air defense systems in the coming months, including at least four Patriot missile systems. [more]

TEXAS | Amidst ongoing high temperatures and recovery from the landfall of Hurricane Beryl, an estimated 1.7 million homes and businesses in the Houston, Texas, region remained without power as of last night. [more]

U.S. STATISTICAL DATA | A new report from the American Statistical Association says census data and other statistics produced by 13 principal federal statistical agencies and other programs that provide government, personal, and business decision-making insights, are at risk due to proposed federal budget cuts, lack of autonomy, and political interference. [executive summary] [full report] [more]

NEVADA | Amidst an ongoing heatwave, Las Vegas, Nevada, is expected to have a record fifth-straight day with temperatures over 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46.1 Celsius) today. Reports cite National Weather Service officials as saying the region is experiencing its most extreme heatwave since 1937, when records began to be kept. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | In Senate testimony yesterday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the most recent inflation readings for the U.S. indicate “modest further progress” in efforts to reduce the country’s inflation rate to the Fed target of 2% and that as more progress is made the Fed will look to “loosen policy at the right moment.” [more]

U.S. AND TAIWAN | Raymond Greene, the newly appointed top U.S. envoy to Taiwan, reaffirmed U.S. support for Taiwan today amidst ongoing tensions with China, which claims the island territory as its own. After meeting with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, Greene said the U.S. “will strongly support Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities." [more]

NATO | At a summit in Washington, DC, yesterday, NATO member countries pledged to increase their industrial defense capacities and signed a nearly $700 million contract for increased production of Stinger portable surface-to-air defense systems. [more]

SAUDI ARABIA AND SYRIA | As part of ongoing efforts to normalize relations, regular commercial air flights between the Syrian capital of Damascus and Saudi Arabia resumed today for the first time in more than 10 years. [more]

MIDDLE EAST | Yemen’s Houthi rebels yesterday claimed responsibility for three recent attacks on internationally flagged cargo ships in the Red Sea region, including a Tuesday attack on a U.S-flagged container ship that the U.S. Navy’s Joint Maritime Information Center said was the longest-distance Houthi attack since November. [more]

INDIA | Reports say at least 18 people were killed, and at least 19 others were injured, today when a double-decker bus collided with a milk truck in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state. Local authorities say the cause of the collision is still under investigation. [more]

PAKISTAN | Government authorities in Pakistan say the country’s army-run Inter-Services Intelligence agency has been authorized to intercept telephone calls and other types of messaging. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the intercept powers would be restricted to tracking criminal and terrorist activity and that the government would ensure they did not infringe on people's lives and privacy. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | The National Samsung Electronics Union says thousands of its members in South Korea are expected to take part in an indefinite extension of its ongoing strike over pay and benefit issues. Samsung Electronics, South Korea’s largest company, says the strike, which started Monday, has not affected production. [more]

JAPANESE ECONOMY | Japan’s Nikkei 225 share index closed at a record high for the second day in a row today, continuing the market’s bullish run that has seen advances of 30% in the past year and 5% in the past three months. [more]

SOCCER | Spain beat France, 2-1, yesterday to advance to the finals of the 2024 European Championship soccer tournament, where they will play the winner of today’s match between the Netherlands and England. [more]

MORE SOCCER | Argentina beat Canada, 2-0, last night to advance to the finals of the Copa America soccer tournament, where they will play the winner of tonight’s match between Uruguay and Colombia. [more]

COFFEE PRICES | Arabica coffee futures hit a nearly two-year high yesterday amidst supply concerns that could drive price increases for beverages made from the popular coffee variety in the near future, according to a new Bloomberg report. [more]

R.I.P. | Joe Bonsall, the Grammy Award-winning tenor for the country and gospel group the Oak Ridge Boys, died yesterday at the age of 76 following a years-long battle with the neuromuscular disorder Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. In his more than 40 years with the Oak Ridge Boys, Bonsall was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Hall of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1962, Telstar 1, the first communications satellite to transmit live television signals and telephone conversations across the Atlantic Ocean, was launched, inaugurating a new age in electronic communications. Telstar 1 failed after only seven months of service due to damage from Starfish Prime, a high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the United States, but remains in Earth orbit today. [more history]