July 16, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 284 of the conflict:

• Scott Anderson, the U.N.’s deputy humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said yesterday that Israel has approved U.N. plans to bring more armored vehicles and personal protection equipment into Gaza for the safeguarding of U.N. humanitarian aid operations. [more]
• Palestinian health officials say at least 17 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight in the southern and central regions of Gaza. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 873 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• In his first news conference since returning to Ukraine from a trip the U.S. where he attended the recent NATO summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday that his country needs 25 Patriot air defense systems to fully defend its airspace, and urged Western allies to provide his country with more F-16 fighter jets than those already pledged. [more]
• Officials in Russia’s Belgorod, Voronezh, and Kursk regions say overnight Ukrainian drone attacks caused a fire at an electrical device factory and wounded at least six people. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | On the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, yesterday, former President Donald Trump announced first-term U.S. Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio as his vice-presidential running mate, and Trump and Vance were officially named the Republican party’s candidates for this November’s election. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | Speaking to the Economic Club of Washington yesterday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said recent indicators add confidence that inflation is slowing sustainably, adding support to analysts’ predictions of a possible interest rate cut as early as September. [more]

TRUMP DOCUMENTS TRIAL | U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon yesterday dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, saying the special counsel who filed the charges was illegally appointed by the Justice Department. Following the dismissal, special counsel Jack Smith’s office said it will appeal the decision. [more]

U.S. BORDER | According to Customs and Border Protection data released yesterday, arrests for illegally crossing the border from Mexico fell 29% from May to June to 83,536 – the lowest level since January 2021. [press release] [more]

U.S. SEVERE WEATHER | Reports say an estimated 460,000 homes and businesses were left without power yesterday following heavy storms and tornadoes in Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. [more]

EUROPEAN UNION | European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other top E.U. officials have announced plans to boycott informal meetings hosted by Hungary while the country holds the bloc’s rotating presidency. The move follows Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s visits to Russia and China, which many view as signaling a pro-authoritarian stance and against E.U. interests, since Hungary took over the E.U. presidency on July 1. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | Taliban officials say at least 40 people were killed, and at least 350 others were injured, in strong storms and intense rain yesterday in eastern Afghanistan. [more]

CHINA AND PHILIPPINES | Reports say a new agreement has established a direct telephone connection between Chinese and Philippine officials as part of efforts to prevent confrontations linked to territorial and operational disputes in the South China Sea from spiraling out of control. [more]

PAKISTAN | Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said yesterday that Pakistan’s government intends to file treason charges against former Prime Minister Imran Khan for wrongfully dissolving parliament in 2022 and to ban Khan’s political party from future elections for allegedly receiving foreign funding. A spokesman for Khan says the government moves are politically motivated. [more]

BANGLADESH | Reports say dozens of people were injured today in clashes between rival student groups and police attempting to quell the unrest at Jahangir Nagar University near the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. [more]

RWANDA | Electoral authorities in Rwanda say provisional results from yesterday’s presidential election indicate that President Paul Kagame, who has been in power since 2000, has won 99% of the vote. The election has been criticized by various rights groups over alleged suppression of dissenting viewpoints and the blocking of candidates from running for office. [more]

BOLIVIA | Bolivian President Luis Arce announced yesterday what he says is the South American country’s largest discovery of natural gas reserves in nearly 20 years. Arce estimated that the Mayaya X-1 gas field holds some 1.7 trillion cubic meters of gas with a market value of about $6.8 billion. [more]

THAILAND | Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said yesterday that registration will begin in August for a controversial program under which eligible businesses and individuals in Thailand can apply to receive digital money handouts of about $275 to spend at local businesses. About 50 million people are expected to take part in the program, which Thavisin announced in April as part of plans to boost Thailand’s economy. [more]

BASEBALL | Ahead of tonight’s Major League Baseball All-Star game, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández won last night’s Home Run Derby, hitting 14 home runs in the final round against Kansas City’s Bobby Witt, Jr. [more]

SOCCER | Gareth Southgate resigned from his position as manager of England’s national soccer team today. The move comes after England’s 2-1 loss to Spain on Sunday in the final of the European Championship. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1945, the United States conducted the Trinity nuclear test – the first explosion of a nuclear weapon – near Alamogordo, New Mexico, as part of the Manhattan Project. The U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan the following month, hastening the end of World War II. [more history]