May 7, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 214 of the conflict:

• Hamas officials said yesterday that the militant group has accepted the terms of an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal that Israel characterized as not meetings its core demands. [more]
• Reports say an Israeli tank brigade seized control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt today. It remains unclear if the military operation will be expanded into a long-anticipated major ground offensive in the city. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 803 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukraine’s SBU security service said today that it has foiled an attempt by agents of Russia’s FSB state security service to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other high-ranking Ukrainian officials. Reports say two Ukrainian government protection unit colonels have been arrested in connection with the assassination plot. [more]
• The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said today that accusations of the use of chemical weapons levied by both Ukraine and Russia against each other are “insufficiently substantiated,” but that the possible re-emergence of the use of toxic chemicals as weapons remains “extremely concerning.” [more]

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL | In a speech later today recognizing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's annual National Commemoration of the Days of Remembrance, President Joe Biden is expected to address topics including antisemitism, the Holocaust, free speech, and the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. [more]

TRUMP NEW YORK TRIAL | After imposing a tenth $1,000 fine on Donald Trump yesterday for violating a gag order in the New York business records falsification and hush money criminal trial of the former president, Judge Juan M. Merchan said he would consider a jail sanction against Trump for further violations, but would do so only as a last resort. [more]

U.S. FISHERIES | According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual “Status of the Stocks” fisheries report, the number of fish stocks on the overfishing list decreased by three in 2023, reaching an all-time low number of 21 stocks on the list. [press release] [full report] [more]

BIDEN CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS | The Associated Press cites unnamed sources as saying that the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee is moving forward with plans to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over the unredacted audio of an interview that was conducted as part of the special counsel investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents. [more]

U.S. AND RUSSIA | Amidst ongoing tensions between Washington and Moscow, U.S. officials say an American soldier, Army Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, has been arrested while visiting the Russian port city of Vladivostok and charged with stealing from his Russian girlfriend. [more]

CHINA | Authorities in China’s southwestern Yunnan province say two people were killed, and another 21 were injured, today in a knife attack on patients and staff at the Zhenxiong County People’s Hospital. A male suspect in the incident has been arrested and the motive for the attack is under investigation. [more]

INDIA | The third phase of India’s six-week national elections takes place today, with voters in 93 constituencies choosing among Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, the rival Indian National Congress party, and other powerful regional parties. [more]

SOUTH AFRICA | Five workers were killed, more than a dozen were seriously injured, and 49 remain missing, following the collapse yesterday of a multi-story apartment complex that was under construction in the South African coastal city of George. [more]

U.K. | The British Ministry of Defense says the names and banking details of thousands of current British soldiers, sailors, and air force members have been exposed in a payroll system data breach linked in reports to a Chinese hacking group. [more]

RUSSIA | President Vladimir Putin was sworn in for a record-setting fifth six-year term as Russia’s leader today in a Moscow ceremony boycotted by the U.S., U.K, Canada, and most European Union nations. [more]

AIRLINE INDUSTRY | The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said yesterday that it has opened an investigation into allegedly falsified inspection records on certain Boeing 787 aircraft at a South Carolina plant. Boeing engineering staff members say the alleged misconduct does not create an “immediate safety of flight issue.” [more]

BASKETBALL | The New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson last night became just the fourth player in NBA history to score 40 or more points in four consecutive postseason games, finishing with 43 points in the Knicks’ 121-117 win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. [more]

MORE BASKETBALL | The San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama was named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year yesterday. In his debut year, Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game. [more]

PULITZER PRIZES | Among the winners of the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes announced yesterday are: “Night Watch,” by Jayne Anne Phillips in the fiction category; “No Right to an Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston’s Black Workers in the Civil War Era,” by Jacqueline Jones in the history category, and “Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom,” by Ilyon Woo in the biography category. [full list of winners] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the British liner RMS Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans, out of the nearly 2,000 on board and indirectly contributing to the entry of the United States into World War I. [more history]