March 4, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 150 of the conflict:

• The U.S. joined other nations Saturday in beginning a series of airdrops of emergency humanitarian assistance into Gaza. U.S. military C-130 cargo planes were used to drop pallets of food containing some 38,000 meals in southwest Gaza in the first instance of what is expected to be an ongoing effort to deliver U.S. aid to the Palestinian enclave by air. [more]
• Israeli wartime Cabinet member Benny Gantz is scheduled to meet with U.S. political, diplomatic, and national security officials today in Washington, DC, for talks expected to center on a possible cease-fire plan for the Israel-Hamas conflict, the release of hostages, and U.S. support for Israel. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 739 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• In a speech in southern Russia today, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said that Russia would continue its “special military operation” against Ukraine until Ukraine surrenders, that Ukraine should be considered a part of Russia, and that peace talks with the current Ukrainian leadership led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should be ruled out. [more]
• Russian authorities claim that a recorded conversation between German military officials published on Russian social media over the weekend is evidence of Western countries' direct involvement in the war in Ukraine. The recorded conversation is reported to include discussion of Germany potentially supplying Ukraine with German-made Taurus missiles and possible uses of the missiles against Russian assets. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | Police in King City, California, say four people were killed, and three others were injured, Sunday evening when a group of masked men opened fire on people attending an outdoor party. Authorities say the suspects fled the scene by car and that the investigation into the incident is ongoing. [more]

TRUMP CANDIDACY | The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule as early as today on former President Donald Trump’s appeal of a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that ordered Trump’s removal from the state’s presidential primary ballot because of his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. [more]

ALABAMA | Thousands of people attended the finale of yesterday’s 59th anniversary commemoration of the Bloody Sunday attacks on civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama. Vice President Kamala Harris was among those who spoke at the city’s Edmund Pettus Bridge in recognition of the 1965 incident, which she and others called a defining moment of the civil rights struggle. [more]

U.S. WESTERN STORM | Portions of California and Nevada in the Lake Tahoe region received as much as seven feet of snow over the weekend, forcing the closure of highways and other roads and leaving thousands of homes and businesses without power. [more]

TEXAS | Firefighting officials in northern Texas say the Smokehouse Creek Fire – the state’s largest-ever wildfire – has burned more than 1 million acres as of yesterday and is estimated to be about 15% contained. [more]

NATO | The militaries of 13 NATO member nations begin two weeks of training exercises today in the northern regions of member nations Norway, Sweden, and Finland. More than 20,000 naval, air, and ground troops are expected to participate in the Nordic Response 2024 exercise. [more]

HAITI | Authorities in Haiti imposed a nighttime curfew and declared a 72-hour state of emergency yesterday following a weekend of increased violence that saw the Caribbean island nation’s two largest prisons overrun by gangs, releasing an estimated 4,000 prisoners. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said today that the South Korean government is taking steps to suspend the medical licenses of thousands of junior doctors who have been on strike for two weeks. [more]

SERBIA | Following an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe report of election irregularities in the Serbian capital of Belgrade, authorities announced yesterday that the city’s assembly elections will be rerun later this year, with the outgoing assembly remaining in place until the new election. [more]

INDO-PACIFIC | At a summit of Indo-Pacific and Southeast Asian regional leaders today in Melbourne, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, without specifically naming China, warned of serious threats to regional security and urged cooperation in the face of “destabilizing, provocative, and coercive actions including unsafe conduct at sea and in the air.” [more]

PAKISTAN | Pakistan’s National Assembly elected former premier Shehbaz Sharif – the younger brother of three-time premier Nawaz Sharif – as the country’s prime minister yesterday. [more]

E.U. MUSIC STREAMING | European Union regulators announced a 2 billion dollar fine imposed on Apple today for what E.U. competition and digital chief Margrethe Vestager characterized as Apple's abuse of its dominant position as a distributor of music streaming apps by preventing rival music steaming services from informing iPhone users that less expensive music subscriptions could be obtained outside of Apple's app store. [more]

BASKETBALL | In Iowa’s 93-83 win over Ohio State yesterday, Caitlin Clark became the all-time NCAA Division I scoring leader, passing the 54-year-old record of the late Pete Maravich. [more]

MORE BASKETBALL | LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score 40,000 career points Saturday. James is in his 21st season in the league and has played 1,475 regular-season games. [more]

SOCCER | The U.S. beat Colombia, 3-0, yesterday to advance to the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup. Tournament semi-final matches will be played Wednesday, with the U.S. facing Canada and Mexico taking on Brazil.  [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "Dune: Part Two" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $81.5 million in receipts, followed by "Bob Marley: One Love" and "Ordinary Angels." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1789, the U.S. Constitution went into effect as the governing law of the United States, the date having been established by Congress. [more history]