June 6, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 244 of the conflict:

• Local health officials say more than 30 people, including 23 women and children, were killed early today in an Israeli missile strike on a central Gaza school run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. Israel has claimed that Hamas militants were operating from within the school and were planning attacks against Israeli forces. [more]
• Spain today became the first European country to ask to join South Africa's case before the International Court of Justice in which Israel is accused of genocide in Gaza. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 833 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Following recent U.S. permission for Ukraine to use donated weapons against targets within Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that his country could, in response, provide long-range weapons to other countries to strike Western targets. [more]
• Reports say Ukrainian drone strikes hit oil facilities in Russia’s Rostov and Belgorod border regions overnight, causing fires and explosions at the facilities. [more]

TRUMP GEORGIA ELECTION TRIAL | The Georgia Court of Appeals temporarily halted the state election interference case against former President Donald Trump yesterday while it reviews a lower court ruling that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis to continue prosecuting the case. [more]

WISCONSIN | Authorities in Dodge County, Wisconsin, say the warden of Waupun Correctional Institution has been charged with misconduct in public office and eight other staff members have been charged with felony inmate abuse for failing to provide basic care to inmates, at least four of whom died while in custody at the prison. [more]

U.S. COLLEGE PROTESTS | Thirteen people were arrested yesterday at California’s Stanford University after pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the school president and provost’s office, causing, according to authorities, extensive vandalism both inside and outside the building. [more]

D-DAY | Large-scale commemorations are taking place in France and other countries today to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied D-Day landings in Normandy that provided a spearhead to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II. [more]

CHILD HUNGER | A new report from the United Nations’ children agency, UNICEF, says about 1 in 4 children under the age of five worldwide, or some 181 million children, are experiencing severe child food poverty, putting them at risk of life-threatening malnutrition. The 2024 Child Food Poverty report says Africa’s population is the most affected by food poverty and cites growing inequities, conflicts, and the climate crisis as leading factors behind child food poverty. [press release] [full report] [more]

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT | Four days of voting in European Union parliamentary elections across 27 E.U. member states begin today. Analysts suggest that far-right parties could make significant gains in representation among the 720 parliamentary seats at stake. [more]

U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL | Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama, and Somalia are expected to be elected today to serve two-year terms as non-permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. [more]

CLIMATE FINANCING | Citing evidence of continued global warming and climate change, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called yesterday for a “windfall” tax on profits of fossil fuel companies to help pay for climate-, environmental-, weather-, and other related effects of continued pollution caused by the use of fossil fuels. [more]

SUDAN | Reports cite Sudan’s military as saying that as many as 150 people are feared dead following an attack on the village of Wad al-Nourah by the country’s Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, which has been fighting the military for control of the African nation for more than 13 months. [more]

GERMANY | In a security-focused speech to the German parliament yesterday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany will resume the deportation of criminals from Afghanistan and Syria regardless of their asylum applications. Scholz's comments follow last week's knife attack by an Afghan immigrant in Mannheim in which a police officer was killed and four other people were injured. [more]

INDONESIA | Three eruptions by Indonesia’s Mount Ibu volcano yesterday prompted authorities to raise related danger alerts to their highest level. While no injuries have been reported from the eruptions, authorities have urged people to stay at least 7 kilometers, or 4.5 miles, from the volcano. [more]

BIRD FLU | The World Health Organization said yesterday that a Mexican man’s death in April of this year was caused by the H5N2 strain of bird flu – a strain never before detected in humans. Mexican health authorities note that the 59-year-old man had underlying health conditions, including chronic kidney failure, diabetes, and high blood pressure that could have increased his susceptibility to the effects of the bird flu infection. [more]

JAPAN | Amidst steadily declining birth rates in Japan, the Tokyo city government is reportedly developing a government-sponsored dating app to encourage marriage and having children. [more]

AI | Reports say the U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have reached an agreement allowing investigations to move forward into possible antitrust violations by Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI related to the companies’ dominant roles in the artificial intelligence industry. [more]

SPACE | Following two cancelled countdowns in recent weeks, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were successfully launched into orbit yesterday in the inaugural mission of Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which was powered by United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket. [more]

BASKETBALL | Game 1 of the best-of-seven NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics is scheduled for tonight in Boston. [more]

MORE BASKETBALL | Leading the Las Vegas Aces to a 95-81 win over the Dallas Wings last night, A’ja Wilson became the first player in WNBA history to record at least 35 points, 10 rebounds, and five steals in a single game. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1944, during World War II, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, on “D-Day” as they began the liberation of German-occupied Western Europe. Approximately 11,000 Allied aircraft, 7,000 ships and boats, and some 160,000 Allied troops – most from the U.S., Britain, and Canada, but with contingents from multiple other countries – took part in the operation. [more history]