May 22, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 229 of the conflict:

• Ireland, Spain, and Norway announced yesterday that they will recognize an independent Palestinian state, with officials noting that they expect other European countries will join with similar recognition before the move is formalized on May 28. Leaders of the countries said the recognition is key to the achievement of a two-state solution to end ongoing Israel-Palestinian violence. [more]
• Israel yesterday temporarily shut down an Associated Press video camera that provided a live view of Gaza from the southern Israeli town of Sderot, citing a new media law that bans the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, which is a subscriber to Associated Press video feeds, as the reason for the move. Operation of the video camera has since been restored following widespread criticism of the Israeli move. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 818 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Reports cite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as saying in an interview this week that he is urging Western partners to become more directly involved in fighting the Russian invasion of his country by helping to intercept Russian missiles. [more]
• Speaking at a conference today in London, U.K. Defense Minister Grant Shapps cited British and U.S. intelligence as indicating that China is providing or preparing to provide Russia with lethal aid for use in its war against Ukraine. [more]

TRUMP NEW YORK TRIAL | After calling only two witnesses, defense attorneys rested their case yesterday in the New York business records falsification and hush money criminal trial of former President Donald Trump. Closing arguments in the case have been scheduled for May 28. [more]

U.S. GASOLINE | The Department of Energy yesterday announced the pending release and sale of 1 million barrels, or 42 million gallons, of gasoline from the nation’s Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve as part of efforts to lower gasoline prices ahead of the summer travel season. [press release] [more]

IOWA | Reports say multiple people died, and at least 12 others were injured, yesterday when a powerful tornado destroyed much of the town of Greenfield, Iowa. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Items of note in politics and elections in the U.S. from yesterday include:

• California State Assembly member Vince Fong was elected to complete the remainder of the term of former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. [more]
• Both the district attorney and judge in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump were reelected. [more]

OKLAHOMA | The U.S. Justice Department yesterday sued Oklahoma, seeking to block a state law that makes it a crime to live in Oklahoma without legal immigration status. Similar laws in Texas and Iowa have also been challenged by the Department. [more]

U.S. DEMOGRAPHICS | According to a new academic analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, the number of people in the U.S. who report being of both Latino and Asian American or Pacific Islander heritage has more than doubled, from 350,000 to 886,000, over the past 20 years. [full study] [more]

SPACE WEAPONIZATION | Russia today denied as “fake news” an assertion by the U.S. Space Command yesterday that said a recent Russian Soyuz rocket launch likely involved “a counterspace weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit.” [more]

IRAN | Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei presided today over the funerals of late President Ebrahim Raisi and others killed Sunday in a helicopter crash. [more]

GLOBAL CLIMATE FUNDING | A new Reuters analysis of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development data indicates that wealthy nations including Japan, France, Germany, and the United States have profited from loans or conditions associated with a global program that provides funds to developing countries to help deal with the effects of climate change. [Reuters report]

PAKISTAN | Pakistan has repatriated an estimated 4,000 of its citizens, mostly students, from Kyrgyzstan over the past week following a wave of recent attacks on foreigners and migrants, according to Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar. [more]

DENMARK | Authorities in Denmark announced today that the Danish arm of the Bandidos motorcycle club has been temporarily banned, citing the group’s violent behavior that poses a threat to lives, safety, and public order. [more]

U.K. | According to Britain’s Office for National Statistics, annual inflation in the U.K., as measured by the consumer price index, fell to 2.3% in April – down from 3.2% in March and the lowest level since July 2021. [more]

HAITI | Haiti's transition council said yesterday that the Caribbean nation’s national police force will head the U.N.-backed international security mission to Haiti, which is expected to launch by the end May. [more]

BASKETBALL | San Antonio center Victor Wembanyama is the first player in NBA history to make the league’s All-Defensive first team as a rookie, having been named to the first team yesterday along with defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert of Minnesota, Miami’s Bam Adebayo, New Orleans’ Herb Jones, and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis. [more]

LITERATURE | The novel Kairos, written in German by Jenny Erpenbeck and translated by Michael Hofmann, and which tells the story of a love affair between a younger woman and older man in 1980s Germany, has been named the winner of this year’s International Booker Prize. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1968, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion, with 99 men aboard, sank in the Atlantic Ocean. The remains of the submarine were later found under 9,800 feet of water on the ocean floor some 400 miles southwest of the Azores. [more history]