July 26, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 294 of the conflict:

• Following separate meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump today at the former president’s Florida home. [more]
• Following her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, U.S. vice president and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris said that while she has an “unwavering commitment” to Israel, she would not be silent about the “scale of human suffering in Gaza.” [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 883 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian national power grid operator Ukrenergo says more than 68,000 consumers in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr and Kyiv regions lost power overnight following Russian drone attacks that wounded at least 15 people and damaged power infrastructure. [more]
• The European Union announced today that is has made available to Ukraine the first tranche of funds – some $1.6 billion – from interest earned on an estimated $225 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets. [more]

FRANCE | Ahead of today’s Olympics opening ceremony in Paris and amidst heightened security for the Games, travel on France’s high-speed rail network was disrupted by what French police say were criminal acts of vandalism and arson at multiple locations. Authorities say train delays and cancellations linked to the vandalism are expected to affect as many as a quarter of a million people today and to last at least through the weekend. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | According to Commerce Department data release yesterday, the U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, grew at a stronger-than-expected 2.8% annual rate in the April-June quarter – up from a 1.4% annual rate in the January-March period. [more]

U.S. FISH HATCHERIES | The Departments of Commerce and Interior have announced a $240 million investment in salmon and steelhead fish hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest to support the treaty-protected fishing rights of Native American tribes and boost declining fish populations. [press release] [more]

U.S. ELECTIONS | The Federal Communications Commission proposed new rules yesterday that would require political advertisers to disclose any use of artificial intelligence in television and radio ads. Reports note that it is unclear if the new regulations could be in place before November’s presidential election. [press release] [more]

CALIFORNIA | Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered California state agencies yesterday to begin removing homeless encampments on state land. Newsom’s order to “move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them” follows the recent Supreme Court ruling that allowed cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces. [more]

OHIO | With a split ruling yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court said consumers cannot expect chicken wings advertised as “boneless” to actually be free of bones, rejecting claims by a restaurant patron who suffered medical complications from getting a bone stuck in his throat. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Michael P. Donnelly wrote: “When they read the word ‘boneless,’ they think that it means ‘without bones,’ as do all sensible people.” [more]

SOUTHEAST ASIA | Foreign ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations states – Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei, and Laos – began a multi-day summit in Laos yesterday amidst concern over regional influence efforts by both China and the United States. Top diplomats from the U.S., Russia, China, and India are expected to attend the summit for meetings and consultations. [more]

PAPUA NEW GUINEA | U.N. and local authorities said yesterday that at least 26 people in three villages were killed by a gang in Papua New Guinea’s East Sepik province recently. Reports say the attacks, thought to be linked to a dispute over land and lake ownership and user rights, took place on July 16 and July 18. [more]

CHINA AND INDIA | Meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Laos yesterday, the foreign ministers of India and China agreed that their countries need to work “with purpose and urgency” to deescalate tensions by withdrawing tens of thousands of troops stationed along their disputed Himalayan border. [more]

GLOBAL WARMING | Following the two hottest days ever recorded earlier this week, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said yesterday that the world is suffering from “an extreme heat pandemic” and urged countries to adopt plans to reduce heat-related deaths, particularly among poor, elderly, young, and sick vulnerable populations. [more]

PHILIPPINES | Coast guard officials in the Philippine capital of Manila say there is no evidence of oil leaking from a tanker that sank yesterday in Manila Bay, but that plans are being developed to siphon off the ship’s 1.4 million liters of fuel oil cargo to prevent a major oil spill. [more]

VENEZUELA | Official campaign activities ended in Venezuela yesterday, three days ahead of Sunday’s presidential election in the South American country in which President Nicolás Maduro is seeking a third term in office. [more]

SPACE | NASA officials say no date has yet been set for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return to Earth from the International Space Station due to ongoing investigations into problems with the Boeing Starliner capsule in which they were scheduled to return more than a month ago. [more]

ENTERTAINMENT STRIKE | Video game performer members of the SAG-AFTRA union went on strike today following failed negotiations with gaming industry companies over protections and compensation related to the use of artificial intelligence in games. [more]

BASEBALL | San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease threw the second no-hitter in Padres’ history and the second of the current Major League Baseball season last night in a 3-0 win over the Washington Nationals. [more]

SOCCER | In a pre-opening ceremony game yesterday, the U.S. Women’s national soccer team beat Zambia, 3-0, to open their Paris Olympics play in which the team is seeking its fifth Olympic gold medal. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser seized control of the Suez Canal and nationalized it, sparking a crisis that later resulted in French, British, and Israeli forces briefly occupying parts of Egypt. [more history]