June 27, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 265 of the conflict:

• Concluding a trip to the U.S. yesterday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he had presented a three-level proposal to U.S. officials for the governance of post-war Gaza that would include local Palestinians, regional partners, and the U.S., but not Israel or Hamas. [more]
• The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry said today that 47 Palestinians were killed, and 52 others were wounded, in Gaza by Israeli forces over the past 24 hours, bringing to 37,765 the number of people killed, and to 86,429 the number wounded, in Israeli military operations in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 854 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• European Union leaders are expected to begin a two-day summit in Brussels today with the signing of a security agreement with Ukraine to demonstrate the bloc’s ongoing support for Kyiv’s battle against the Russian invasion. [more]
• Lieutenant-General Andreas Marlow, head of the European Union’s special military training command near Berlin, said today that more Ukrainian army recruits could receive basis military training in Germany starting in 2025 if Kyiv shifts selected more advanced training back to Ukraine. [more]
• Responding to a European Union action earlier this month that banned four Russian media outlets for being “Kremlin-linked propaganda networks,” Russia announced this week that it has banned 81 European media outlets from broadcasting or distributing content inside Russia. [more]

U.S. SOCIAL MEDIA | In a 6-3 ruling yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision that found the federal government to have unconstitutionally pressured social media platforms to remove content considered false or misleading. Writing for the majority, Justice Amy Coney Barrett said that multiple states and other plaintiff parties lacked legal standing to sue over the issue. [more]

U.S. ABORTION | According to a decision apparently inadvertently posted early on its website yesterday and obtained by Bloomberg News, the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to reinstate a lower court order that would allow hospitals in Idaho to perform emergency abortions to protect a patient’s health. [decision document] [more]

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE | According to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, 57% of U.S. adults say they are either “extremely” or “very” likely to watch some or all of tonight’s CNN-hosted presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The 90-minute debate is scheduled for 9pm Eastern time tonight. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | The Department of Homeland Security said yesterday that arrests for illegal border crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border have fallen more than 40% in the three weeks since President Biden announced the suspension of asylum application processing during periods of high arrest numbers. [more]

FLORIDA | Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a measure into law this week that bans the intentional release of balloons in Florida due to the risks they pose to marine and other wildlife. Children under the age of 7 will be exempt from the law. [more]

U.S. TAXES | A new report from the Internal Revenue Service’s independent National Taxpayer Advocate says that while the IRS’ overall taxpayer services have vastly improved in recent years, the agency’s delayed and backlogged handling of identity theft cases is “unconscionable.” [press release] [full report] [more]

U.S. ENERGY | According to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. energy production exceeded national energy consumption in 2023 by more than any other periods since related data began to be collected in 1949, with the year’s 4% increase in energy production driven largely by growth in the production of natural gas and crude oil. [full report] [more]

BOLIVIA | Bolivian army chief General Juan José Zuniga and other military leaders were arrested last night, hours after leading an apparent failed coup attempt in what they said was action to remove President Luis Arce from power and “restore democracy” to the South American country amidst its ongoing financial crisis. [more]

FRANCE | Ahead of next week’s national elections, the French government yesterday ordered the dissolution of multiple extreme right and radical Islamic groups that Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said were found to be peddling extremist hatred and posed risks of violence. [more]

SUDAN | A new analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification global hunger monitoring group says some 26 million people in Sudan, or over half of the African country’s population, is facing food crisis or worse conditions and that there is a risk of famine in 14 regions if the country’s year-long civil war escalates further. [more]

NORTH KOREA | North Korea claimed today to have successfully tested a new multiwarhead missile yesterday – an assertion disputed by South Korean officials, who say the North’s missile launch appeared to fail in its initial stages. [more]

KENYA | President William Ruto said yesterday that he will withdraw a controversial finance and tax bill that has sparked days of protests in Kenya in which at least 23 people have died. [more]

CANADA | More than 30 years after imposing a moratorium on cod fishing in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador due to dwindling stocks, Canada’s Fisheries Department announced yesterday that it will reestablish a commercial cod fishery in the province and allow a total catch of 18,000 tons for the 2024 season. [more]

SPACE | NASA has announced the awarding of an $843 million contract to Elon Musk’s SpaceX to build the vehicle that will bring the International Space Station out of orbit by 2030. [more]

BASKETBALL | The Atlanta Hawks selected France’s Zaccharie Risacher with the first pick in last night’s NBA draft. Alex Sarr and Reed Sheppard were taken second and third by the Washington Wizards and Houston Rockets, respectively. [full draft list] [more]

SOCCER | In what many see as one of the biggest upsets in European Championship history, Georgia beat Portugal, 2-0, yesterday to advance to the knockout stage of the Euro 2024 tournament. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1871, the yen – first minted in 1869 – was adopted as Japan's official monetary unit when the government suspended the exchange of Tokugawa coinage and clan currency notes issued by feudal lords since the 16th century. [more history]