June 26, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 264 of the conflict:

• The Associated Press cites unnamed U.N. sources as saying senior U.N. officials have warned Israel that aid operations in Gaza could be suspended if Israel does not take urgent steps to better protect humanitarian workers. [more]
• Reports cite local residents as saying Israeli military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah intensified overnight, with Israeli tanks moving toward the city’s northern regions amidst heavy clashes with both Hamas and Islamic State militants. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 853 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian military officials say Russia has launched 96 glide bombs, two missile strikes, 4,000 artillery shells, and 44 kamikaze drones at targets across Ukraine over the past 24 hours. [more]
• Regional authorities say Russian forces dropped a powerful glide bomb on Ukraine’s Donetsk-region city of Selydove yesterday, damaging 37 homes, six multi-story buildings, and administrative infrastructure. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared gun violence a public health crisis yesterday and called for the implementation of various measures to reduce gun-related deaths. In his “Firearm Violence: A Public Health Crisis in America” advisory, Murthy notes that 48,204 people in the U.S. died from firearm injuries in 2022 and that such injuries are the leading cause of death for U.S. children and adolescents aged 1-19. [press release and infographics] [full advisory] [more]

MORE U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | Authorities in North Las Vegas, Nevada, say five people were killed, and one other was wounded, Monday night in a series of shootings at an area apartment complex. The suspected shooter, 47-year-old Eric Adams, killed himself yesterday morning as he was confronted by police officers. [more]

OKLAHOMA | The Oklahoma Supreme Court yesterday blocked the establishment of what would have been the first publicly funded religious charter school in the U.S., saying the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board’s approval of an application by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma for the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School violated both the U.S. and Oklahoma constitutions, which prohibit government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.” [more]

U.S. MIDWEST WEATHER | The National Weather Service extended flood warnings for multiple rivers in South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota yesterday amidst regional heavy rains and flooding that have breached levees, weakened dams, and prompted evacuations. [more]

TRUMP NEW YORK TRIAL | New York Judge Juan M. Merchan yesterday modified the gag order imposed on former President Donald Trump during his business records falsification and hush money trial that resulted in 34 felony convictions. Merchan freed Trump to speak publicly about witnesses and jurors in the trial, but left in place restrictions on comments about court staff, their families, and prosecutors until Trump is sentenced on July 11. [more]

U.S. RAILWAYS | National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy yesterday accused Norfolk Southern of repeatedly trying to interfere with the agency’s investigation into the railway’s February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and of trying to shape the agency’s conclusions on the handling of chemical spills in the incident. [more]

U.S. AND RUSSIA | The closed-door trial of American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich began today in Yekaterinburg Russia. Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on espionage charges related to what prosecutors say was the gathering of secret information about a plant that produces and repairs tanks and other military equipment - charges Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. government all deny. [more]

NATO | Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was formally appointed by NATO ambassadors today to be the alliance’s next secretary-general, taking over from Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg, whose term in office ends on October 1. [more]

E.U. CLIMATE | The European Union today launched the “Climate City Capital Hub,” which aims to raise some 650 billion euros of public and private funding for climate measures in 112 European cities aiming to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. [press release] [more]

KENYA | Reports say at least eight people were killed, and dozens of others were wounded, yesterday when police opened fire with both live rounds and rubber bullets on protesters in the Kenyan capital Nairobi who were attempting to storm the parliament building in which proposed national tax increases were being debated. [more]

KOREA | South Korean officials say a suspected hypersonic missile launched by North Korea exploded in flight today over the waters off the Korean Peninsula’s eastern coast. The North Korean launch comes amidst increased tensions marked by, among other things, propaganda and trash balloon launched across the countries’ border, resumption of live-fire drills in the border region by South Korea, and the arrival of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier in South Korea on Saturday ahead of military drills with Japanese and South Korean forces. [more]

MALI | The International Criminal Court today convicted al-Qaida-linked extremist leader Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud of war crimes and crimes against humanity for actions including torture and cruel treatment between 2012 and 2013 while serving as the de facto chief of the Islamic police in the historic desert city of Timbuktu. [more]

PARIS OLYMPICS | Nielsen’s Gracenote Sports, using data from key global and continental competitions since the 2021 Summer Games, has released its initial prediction of medal counts for the upcoming Paris Olympics. The U.S. is predicted to win the most medals overall, followed by China, Great Britain, France, and Australia. [full medal predictions] [more]

BASKETBALL | The Atlanta Hawks have the first pick in tonight’s first round of the 2024 NBA draft. Among this year’s top draft prospects are France’s Alex Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher, and University of Connecticut star center Donovan Clingan. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1945, the Charter of the United Nations was signed by 50 nations in San Francisco, California, committing signatories to maintain international peace and security, uphold international law, achieve "higher standards of living" for their citizens, address "economic, social, health, and related problems", and promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.” The Charter entered into force on October 24, 1945, which is considered the United Nations' official starting date. [more history]