October 2, 2024

MIDDLE EAST |

• Iran launched an estimated 180 ballistic missiles at Israel yesterday, saying the attack was in response to the killing of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and to the continuing Israeli military operations in Gaza and Lebanon. Israeli officials say damage from the missile attack has been limited and that almost all of the missiles were shot down by air defense systems. Reports say Iran has closed much of its airspace due to the potential for an Israeli military response to the missile attack. [more]
• Palestinian health officials say at least 51 people were killed, and another 82 were wounded, today in a large-scale Israeli ground and air operation in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. [more]
• Amidst the escalating and expanding violence in the Middle East, numerous countries have begun evacuating their citizens and are recommending against travel to the region. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 951 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukraine's eastern military command has reportedly ordered its forces to withdraw from the hilltop coal mining town of Vuhledar to avoid encirclement by advancing Russian troops and to “preserve personnel and military equipment.” [more]
• In comments published today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country now has the ability to produce four million drones annually and that it is quickly ramping up its production of other weapons, as well. [more]

HURRICANE HELENE | The death toll linked to Hurricane Helene has risen to at least 166 in states across the southeastern U.S., with hundreds of people still missing. More than 1.2 million homes and businesses in the Carolinas and Georgia remain without power in the aftermath of the storm and many areas remain without running water, communication, or transportation. Reports cite researchers as saying that the storm dropped an estimated 40 trillion gallons of rain on southeastern states – an amount equivalent to the water in about 60 million Olympic-sized swimming pools or 619 days of constant water flow over the Niagara Falls. [more]

KENTUCKY | Federal prosecutors filed new charges against former Louisville police officers Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany yesterday in connection with the March 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor. The new indictment charges both officers with falsifying the affidavit used to obtain the warrant authorizing the search of Taylor’s home during which she was killed. [more]

VERMONT | Following the settlement of more than 60 lawsuits, and with 30 other lawsuits still pending, related to the alleged sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in Vermont dating back to 1950, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington filed for bankruptcy on Monday. Bishop John McDermott said the goal of the filing was to reorganize finances to “fairly and equitably fulfill the Diocese’s obligations to all survivors of sexual abuse.” [more]

AFRICAN MIGRATION | The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration says at least 45 people died, and dozens of others remain missing, after two boats on which 310 migrants were attempting to travel to Africa from Yemen sank off the coast of the north-east African nation of Djibouti earlier this week. [more]

AUSTRALIA | Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reportedly called for the cancellation of a planned pro-Palestinian rally scheduled for next week to mark the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, calling the scheduled vigil “incredibly provocative” and one that would “cause a great deal of distress.” [more]

PAKISTAN | Authorities say at least six insurgents were killed by Pakistani security forces this week in a raid on a separatist group’s hideout in the Harnai district of the Pakistan’s Balochistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan. [more]

THAILAND | Reports say Thai police have arrested the driver of the school bus that caught fire yesterday in Bangkok, killing 23 people. The driver, Saman Chanput, has been charged with reckless driving causing deaths and injuries, failing to stop to help others, and failing to report the accident. [more]

TAIWAN | Thousands of people have been evacuated from low-lying areas of western and southern Taiwan ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Krathon, which is expected to hit the territory early tomorrow. Reports note that schools and government offices across the territory have been closed and all domestic flights have been canceled ahead of the storm's arrival. [more]

JAPAN | The Miyazaki regional airport on Japan’s Kyushu island was closed today after a bomb thought to have been dropped by the U.S. during World War II exploded near its runway. Officials say the airport is expected to resume operations by Thursday. [more]

MACARTHUR FELLOWS | Among this year’s 22 recipients of the so-called “genius grants” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation are sociologist Loka Ashwood, violinist and producer Johnny Gandelsman, evolutionary biologist Martha Muñoz, and legal scholar Dorothy Roberts. Recipients receive an $800,000 grant over five years to use however they want. [full list of 2024 recipients] [more]

R.I.P. | Actor John Amos, best known for his role as the family patriarch on the 1970s CBS sitcom “Good Times,” and for his role in the 1977 miniseries “Roots,” died in late August at the age of 84, according to a confirmation of his death by his publicist released just yesterday. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1836, naturalist Charles Darwin returned to England after a five-year journey on the HMS Beagle, on which he gathered the specimens and observations that led to his theory of evolution by natural selection. [more history]