July 23, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 291 of the conflict:

• Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reports today that Hamas and Fatah, the two main Palestinian political factions, have signed a declaration in Beijing ending a yearslong rift between the groups. The declaration focused on “ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity” and comes amidst ongoing talks on potential leadership of Palestinian territories following the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. [more]
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington yesterday ahead of meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and an address before a joint session of Congress later this week that are expected to focus on Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza. [more]
• The Israeli parliament voted yesterday to give preliminary approval to a bill that would declare the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, or UNRWA, a terrorist organization and sever relations with the U.N agency. Reports note that Israel has accused UNRWA of collaborating with Hamas in Gaza. UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma characterized “the Israeli move as “unheard of in the history of the United Nations.” [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 880 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borell says Hungary, which currently holds the rotating E.U. presidency, has been stripped of the right to host the next meeting of E.U. foreign and defense ministers over its stance on the war in Ukraine and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen described as "nothing but an appeasement mission.” [more]
• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is in China this week for talks expected to center on possible ways for Beijing to help end the Russia-Ukraine war. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | The Associated Press cites data from Democratic delegates and state organizations as indicating that Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s presidential nominee following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not seek reelection. Reports say the Democratic National Committee intends to move forward with a virtual roll call vote to finalize the party’s presidential nominee by August 7 – 12 days before the party’s actual convention begins. [more]

U.S. ONLINE SAFETY | Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is expected to announce today that the Senate will consider legislation this week that focuses on protecting children from harmful online content by, among other measures, requiring online companies and platforms to take steps to prevent harm on platforms, to provide minors with options to protect their privacy, to limit other users from communicating with minors, and to limit features intended to “increase, sustain, or extend the use” of platforms. [more]

CYBERSECURITY | The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee has announced plans to question CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz regarding his company’s role in causing the global IT outage last Friday that disrupted industries including airlines, hospitals, banks, and other businesses around the world. Reports note that the IT outage was linked to a CrowdStrike update pushed to Microsoft Windows-based computers. [more]

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT | In testimony before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee yesterday, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said her agency failed in its mission to protect former President Donald Trump during the July 13 assassination attempt in which Trump was wounded. The ranking Republican and Democratic members of the Committee have called on Cheatle to resign in the wake of the agency’s failure. [more]

U.S. AND RUSSIA | A court in Russia’s central region of Tatarstan has confirmed the conviction of dual U.S.-Russian citizen Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, on charges of spreading false information about the Russian military. Kurmasheva was convicted last Friday and sentenced to 18 months in prison. [more]

GLOBAL AIDS/HIV | A new report from the United Nations agency tasked with leading the global effort to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic says 39.9 million people were living with HIV worldwide in 2023 – 9.3 million of whom were not receiving life-saving treatment. Officials with UNAIDS said one person dies from AIDS-related causes approximately every minute, and called for world leaders to boost resources and efforts to end the pandemic by 2030. [press release] [full report] [more]

ETHIOPIA | Local authorities in southern Ethiopia’s Kencho Shacha Gozdi district say 146 people were killed yesterday in mudslides caused by heavy rainfall. Search and rescue operations continue in the region this morning. [more]

BANGLADESH | Reports say internet service in Bangladesh is down for a fifth straight day today following a week of clashes between student-led protesters and police over the allocation of government jobs in which an estimated 100 people have been killed. Local authorities say the South Asian nation is relatively calm today following a court order that limited the percentage of government jobs allocated to family members of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971. [more]

ITALY | Incoming and outgoing flights at Sicily’s Catania airport have been halted today due to airborne ash caused by an eruption of the nearby Mount Etna volcano. [more]

PARIS OLYMPICS | Sports statistical analysis group Gracenote predicts that the U.S. will win the most overall medals at the Paris Olympics with 112 medals, followed by China with 86, Great Britain with 63, France with 60, and Australia with 54. [full projection] [more]

U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM | Basketball star LeBron James has been selected by fellow U.S. Olympians to serve as the male flag bearer at Friday night’s opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. The U.S.’ female flag bearer is expected to be announced today. [more]

TENNIS | Great Britain’s two-time Olympic men’s tennis singles champion Andy Murray has confirmed that he will end his playing career at the Paris Olympics, which open on Friday. [more]

MUSIC INDUSTRY | Rap artist Eminem’s latest album, “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce),” has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, unseating Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department,” which held the top spot for 12 weeks. [more]

R.I.P. | Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving original member of the iconic Motown group the Four Tops – best known for songs including “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” and “Standing in the Shadows of Love” – died yesterday at the age of 88, according to a statement released by his family. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1903, the Ford Motor Company sold its first automobile, a Ford Model A for $850. Five years later the company introduced its hugely influential Model T. [more history]