June 11, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 249 of the conflict:

• The U.N. Security Council voted, 14-0, yesterday, with Russia abstaining, to approve a resolution endorsing a three-phase cease-fire plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The resolution calls on both sides to fully implement the terms of the plan without delay and without condition. Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri indicated this morning that the group accepts the cease-fire resolution and is ready to negotiate its details. [more]
• Citing unnamed security officials, Israeli media reports that four Israeli soldiers were killed yesterday in the southern Gaza city of Rafah when explosives they were using to clear a building detonated prematurely. [more]
• In a briefing today, U.N. human rights office spokesman Jeremy Laurence said both Israel and Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes in connection with the weekend raid on Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp in which Israeli forces rescued four hostages and some 270 Palestinians were killed. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 838 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Government representatives, private companies, and aid organizations are taking part in a two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, which aims to support both the short- and long-term rebuilding of Ukrainian infrastructure in the face of the Russia invasion. [more]
• The U.S., after finding no evidence of gross violations of human rights by Ukraine’s high-profile Azov Brigade military unit – now the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov – announced yesterday that is has removed restrictions on the unit’s access to American weapons and training. [more]

U.S. FUEL PRICES | According to AAA, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.44 as of yesterday – down about 9 cents from a week earlier and down more than 19 cents from a month ago. [more]

MARYLAND | Officials in Baltimore, Maryland, announced yesterday evening that the main shipping channel into the city’s port has fully reopened to its original depth and width – 76 days after the port’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship. [more]

U.S. COLLEGE PROTESTS | Reports say at least 25 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested yesterday when police broke up an encampment on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, California, that had been declared illegal. [more]

UTAH | A budget estimate for Salt Lake City to host the 2034 Winter Olympics was released yesterday, with organizers projecting costs of just under $4 billion – about 1% less, when adjusted for inflation, than when it hosted the Olympics in 2002. [more]

NEW MEXICO | A New Mexico judge yesterday rejected a state government request to dismiss a lawsuit brought by environmental groups and Native Americans that alleges the state has failed to comply with a pollution control clause in the New Mexico Constitution by allowing increased oil drilling and production. [more]

RUSSIA AND BELARUS | According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the second phase of joint Russia-Belarus military drills on the battlefield deployment and use of tactical nuclear weapons begins today. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that his country has no need to use nuclear weapons to secure a victory in Ukraine, but had previously linked the drills to “provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against the Russian Federation.” [more]

YEMEN | Following last week’s arrest of 11 U.N. staff members by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Houthi officials said yesterday that they have broken up an “American-Israeli spy network” operating “under the cover of international and U.N. organizations.” Reports note, however, that videotaped confessions released as part of the Houthi announcement did not include any of the U.N. employees arrested last week. [more]

MALAWI | A national day of mourning has been declared in Malawi following the death of the African country’s vice president, Dr. Saulos Chilima, and nine other people in a plane crash yesterday in the Chikangawa mountain range. [more]

THAILAND | Officials in Bangkok, Thailand, say hundreds of caged animals died today when a fire swept through the city’s popular Chatuchak Market. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. [more]

SOUTH AFRICA | Former South African president Jacob Zuma's MK political party, alleging fraud in South Africa’s recent elections, says it has filed a suit with the country’s top court to block the newly elected parliament from convening this week. [more]

PAKISTAN | The World Bank announced the approval yesterday of a $1 billion loan for the construction of the Dasu hydropower project in northwestern Pakistan, which is expected to have a production capacity of 4,320 to 5,400 megawatts of electricity when completed. [more]

HOCKEY | The Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1, last night to take a 2-0 lead in the teams’ best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final series. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1955, more than 80 people were killed when two cars taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France collided and crashed into spectators. [more history]