June 3, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 241 of the conflict:

• Amidst pressure on Israel to consider accepting a Gaza cease-fire deal proposed Friday by U.S. President Joe Biden, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said yesterday that his country is seeking an alternative to Hamas for governing the Palestinian enclave. [more]
• Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said today that critical humanitarian aid deliveries through Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt cannot resume unless Israel relinquishes control of the crossing and turns it over to Palestinians. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 830 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Speaking at a news conference in Singapore yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused China of helping Russia to pressure international leaders to not attend a mid-June peace conference in Switzerland that aims to develop a framework to end the Russia-Ukraine war. [more]
• Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said today that the United States could face “fatal consequences” if it allows Ukraine to use U.S.-donated weapons to strike targets within Russia’s borders. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | Police in Akron, Ohio, say one person was killed, and 24 others were wounded, in the early hours of Sunday when an unidentified gunman or gunmen opened fire during a street party in the city’s southeast. No arrests related to the incident have been made. [more]

CALIFORNIA | Officials say a wildfire that started Saturday 60 miles east of San Francisco, California, and that has forced the evacuation of thousands of people, was about 50% contained as of yesterday evening. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the Corral Fire has burned some 22 square miles of land. [more]

U.S. IMMIGRATION | President Joe Biden is expected to issue an executive order tomorrow that reports say would automatically deny entrance to migrants once the number of people encountered by U.S. border officials exceeds a new daily threshold. [more]

OREGON | Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife and Department of Agriculture closed the state’s entire coastline to mussel harvesting on Friday following an “unprecedented outbreak” of paralytic shellfish poisoning that has sickened at least 20 people. [more]

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL | Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in the federal trial of Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, on three felony charges related to his purchase and possession of a handgun while being a user of illegal drugs in 2018. [more]

MEXICO | Claudia Sheinbaum is the projected winner of yesterday’s presidential election in Mexico. Sheinbaum, a protégé of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will be the country’s first woman president. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | U.N. officials say more than 300 people were killed, and thousands of homes were destroyed, in May due to unusually heavy seasonal rains across Afghanistan. [more]

SRI LANKA | Schools were closed across Sri Lanka today as the South Asian island nation deals with ongoing floods and mudslides brought on by heavy rains. Reports say at least 10 people have died and more than 5,000 have been evacuated due to the severe weather's effects. [more]

GEORGIA | Shalva Papuashvili, speaker of Georgia’s parliament, signed a controversial foreign influence bill into law today amidst ongoing protests by critics who say the measure will restrict media freedom and jeopardize the Eastern European country’s bid to join the European Union. [more]

ISRAEL AND SYRIA | Syria’s state-run SANA news agency says several people were killed in Israeli airstrikes near the city of Aleppo early today. Israel, as is its normal practice, has not acknowledged the strikes. [more]

SOUTH AFRICA | The African National Congress party lost its outright parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years in last week’s elections and is reportedly seeking to form the country’s first post-apartheid coalition government. [more]

OIL SUPPLY | The OPEC+ group of oil producing nations yesterday announced the extension of a series of oil production cuts totaling 5.8 million barrels per day through the end of 2025. [more]

INDIA | Voting in India’s six-week-long phased national election ended Saturday. Votes are scheduled to be counted, and results announced, tomorrow. [more]

U.K. AND CHINA | China’s Ministry of State Security said today that it has identified two Chinese citizens who were recruited to spy for the U.K.’s MI6 foreign intelligence agency and who passed government secrets to U.K. officials while working for a Chinese government “central state agency.” [more]

KOREA | Following several days of North Korea flying balloons carrying trash and manure into South Korea, authorities in the South announced yesterday that a 2018 inter-Korean agreement aimed at easing frontline tensions would be suspended until mutual trust is restored. After the South Korean announcement, North Korea said it would halt the balloon campaign. [more]

SOCCER | Real Madrid defeated Borussia Dortmund, 2-0, on Saturday at London's Wembley Stadium to win the club’s 15th Champions League title. [more]

GYMNASTICS | Ahead of this summer’s Paris Olympics, Simone Biles won her ninth U.S. Gymnastics Championships all-around title yesterday in Ft. Worth, Texas. [more]

HOCKEY | The Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers advanced to the NHL’s Stanley Cup Final after winning their respective series against the New York Rangers and the Dallas Stars over the weekend. Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is scheduled for Saturday night. [more]

GOLF | Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre won the RBC Canadian Open yesterday to claim his first PGA Tour title. In LPGA play, Yuka Saso won the U.S. Women’s Open yesterday for the second time. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "The Garfield Movie" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $14 million in receipts, followed by "IF" and "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1989, the Chinese government called in the military to put down a pro-democracy demonstration in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in which more 100,000 people took part.  The military clampdown resulted in hundreds of deaths. [more history]