October 15, 2024

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• The U.N. Security Council issued a statement yesterday expressing “deep concern” over the wounding of U.N. peacekeepers, the level of civilian casualties and displacement, and the destruction of infrastructure in ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. The statement was issued following the wounding of five U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. [more]
• At least 21 people were killed yesterday in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the northern Lebanon village of Aito, according to the Lebanese Red Cross. Reports note the Israeli military did not immediately comment on the target of the strike, which took place far from the Hezbollah militant group’s main areas of influence in the south and east. [more]
• Palestinian health officials say at least 15 people were killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza towns of Beni Suhaila and Fakhari. [more]
• Speaking today in Geneva, U.N. refugee agency Middle East Director Rema Jamous Imseis said that over a quarter of Lebanon is now under evacuation orders as Israel continues to expand its operations against the Hezbollah militant group. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 964 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Speaking Friday in Berlin, Germany, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Western nations to continue to support his country against the Russian invasion and suggested that Ukraine wants to “end the war no later than in 2025.” [more]
• Russian military officials said yesterday that their forces have captured the village of Levadne in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region – the third time the village has changed hands since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. [more]

HURRICANE MILTON | A new World Weather Attribution report suggests that rainfall and wind associated with Hurricane Milton were strengthened by about 20-30% and 10%, respectively, by human-caused climate changed. [more]

FLORIDA | Reports say television stations in Florida continue to air ads supporting the abortion-rights measure on next month’s election ballots despite receiving letters from the state health department warning of possible criminal charges over what state officials say are untrue statements. Television station attorneys and Federal Communications Commission officials have said the ads are protected First Amendment speech. [more]

U.S. MILITARY | Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced today that more than 800 veterans who were kicked out of the U.S. military for their sexual orientation under the Pentagon's now-repealed “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy will have their service discharges upgraded to honorable following a proactive Defense Department review of cases. [more]

MAINE | Attorneys representing 100 survivors and family members of victims of the October 2023 mass shooting carried out by Army Reservist Robert Card in Lewiston, Maine, have filed initial paperwork to begin the process of suing the U.S. Army over what they say were failures to act on warning signs that Card presented a danger to others. [more]

CANADA AND INDIA | In a continuation of tensions over the June 2023 killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada yesterday expelled five Indian diplomats identified as persons of interest in a possible plot to assassinate Nijjar. India characterized the Canadian allegations as “absurd,” and expelled five Canadian diplomats in response to Canada's move. [more]

KOREA | South Korean officials say North Korea appears to have begun following through on its recently announced plans to block road and rail crossings between the two countries, destroying sections of at least two cross-border roads early today. [more]

LITHUANIA | The opposition Social Democratic Party won the most parliamentary seats in the first round of Lithuania’s national elections on Sunday and has reportedly begun talks with other left-leaning parties to form a coalition to oust the ruling center-right Homeland Union party of Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė. A second round of voting is scheduled for October 27. [more]

GERMANY | Germany's largest industrial union is reported to have rejected an offer of a 3.6% pay raise for workers in key industries over a period of 27 months and has warned of possible strikes as early as October 29. [more]

JAPAN | Official campaigning for Japan’s October 27 parliamentary elections begins today with more than 1,300 candidates expected to enter the races for the 465-seat Lower House. [more]

OIL MARKETS | Oil prices are down about 4% today after the International Energy Agency said public reserve levels and spare production capacity in oil-rich countries remain high enough to offset any potential supply disruptions caused by Middle East tensions and violence. [more]

SPACE | NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida yesterday on a mission to Jupiter's moon Europa, where the craft is expected to carry out research into the possibly-life-supporting water, energy, chemistry, and stability conditions on the moon’s surface beginning in 2031. [more]

COLLEGE BASKETBALL | Kansas tops the first AP Top 25 preseason men’s college basketball poll, followed by Alabama, UConn, Houston, and Iowa State. [full preseason poll] [more]

R.I.P. | Lilly Ledbetter, the former Alabama factory manager who became a leader of the equal pay movement, and for whom the landmark Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was named, died Saturday at the age of 86, according to a statement released by her family yesterday. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1529, the siege of Vienna ended with Austrian forces repelling the invading Turks, turning the tide against nearly a century of conquest in Europe by the Ottoman Empire. [more history]