May 6, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 213 of the conflict:

• Hamas militant group officials said yesterday that the latest round of cease-fire and hostage release talks with Israel have ended with no deal reached. [more]
• Israeli officials yesterday ordered the Israel-based offices and operations of Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network to close. Reports say the order included the confiscation of broadcasting equipment and the blocking of Al Jazeera’s broadcasts and websites within Israel. [more]
• The Israeli army today ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from a portion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone. The move is seen as a possible precursor to a long-expected Israeli military ground operation in the city and has been characterized by Hamas as a "dangerous escalation." [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 802 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• In what they characterized as a response to “provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials regarding the Russian Federation,” Russian Defense Ministry officials today announced plans for drills simulating the use of tactical nuclear weapons. The announcement follows recent statements by French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron expressing continued support for Ukraine. [more]
• Officials in Russia’s Belgorod region say Ukrainian drone attacks killed six people and injured another 35, overnight near the village of Berezovka. Reports cite regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov as saying the attacks struck two buses carrying civilians. [more]

WESTERN U.S. WEATHER | Portions of the Sierra Nevada region in both California and Nevada received their heaviest snowfall of the season yesterday, with 26.4 inches of snow forcing the closure of multiple highways and interstates. [more]

TEXAS | Schools, businesses, and roads in some areas of southeastern Texas remain closed today as the region begins to recover from several days of flooding that killed at least one person and led to hundreds of rescues and evacuations. [more]

COLLEGE PROTESTS | According to an Associated Press report, an estimated 2,500 people have been arrested at some 50 U.S. college and university campuses where pro-Palestinian protests have taken place since April 18. That number includes about 25 arrests made over the weekend at the University of Virginia. [more]

U.S. AUTO INDUSTRY | Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to announce more than $100 million in new funding today geared toward auto worker retraining and small- to medium-sized auto supply company conversion programs to strengthen electric vehicle manufacturing activities. [White House fact sheet] [more]

GERMANY AND RUSSIA | Germany has recalled its ambassador to Russia for consultations following accusations from Berlin that a group linked to Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency carried out cyberattacks against German defense and aerospace firms over the past two years. [more]

MEXICO | Authorities in Mexico’s Baja California state say three people have been arrested in connection with the murders of two Australian men and an American who were vacationing on the Baja peninsula before going missing last weekend. [more]

PANAMA | Preliminary results suggest that former minister of security José Raúl Mulino, whose candidacy was upheld by the country’s Supreme Court just last week, will win yesterday’s presidential election in Panama. [more]

BRAZIL | Authorities in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state say massive flooding over the past seven days has killed at least 75 people, injured another 155, and forced more than 60,000 from their homes. Reports note that more than 100 people remain missing in the flooded regions. [more]

CHAD | According to a Reuters report, today’s presidential election in Chad marks the first such polling in Africa’s Sahel region since a wave of military coups swept the region beginning in 2020. [more]

CHINA AND EUROPE | Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Paris, France, today, where he is scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for talks expected to center on trade policies and the war in Ukraine. Xi is scheduled to visit Serbia and Hungary during the course of his three-day visit to Europe. [more]

AIRLINE INDUSTRY | Australia’s Qantas Airways has reportedly agreed to pay $79 million in compensation and fines to settle a lawsuit that claimed the company sold tickets on thousands of flights that had already been cancelled from May 2021 through July 2022. [more]

HORSE RACING | Mystik Dan won the 150th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, narrowly beating Sierra Leone and Forever Young in the race’s first three-horse photo finish since 1947. [more]

TENNIS | Andrey Rublev beat Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Iga Swiatek defeated Aryna Sabalenka, this weekend to win the men’s and women’s titles, respectively, at the Madrid Open. [more]

GOLF | Taylor Pendrith recorded his first PGA Tour victory yesterday, passing Ben Kohles on the final hole to win the CJ CUP Byron Nelson tournament. [leaderboard] [more]

ENTERTAINMENT | An estimated 1.6 million people packed Brazil’s Copacabana beach Saturday for a free concert by pop star Madonna to mark the end of her “Celebration” world tour. [more]

WEEKEND MOVIES | "The Fall Guy" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $28.5 million in receipts, followed by a re-release of "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" and "Challengers." [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1935, the Works Progress Administration, which employed millions of Americans to work on public works projects during the Great Depression, began operating under an executive order signed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  [more history]