October 22, 2024

MIDDLE EAST | Updates from regional conflicts:

• Lebanese health officials say at least 13 people were killed, and 57 others were wounded, yesterday when an Israeli airstrike hit buildings facing the main government hospital in Beirut. [more]
• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on his 11th trip to the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict, arrived in Tel Aviv today for talks aimed at reviving cease-fire negotiations following the recent killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 971 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• The U.N. Population Fund’s Florence Bauer said yesterday that Ukraine’s population has declined by about 10 million – or about 25% – since the February 2022 start of the Russian invasion due to the departure of refugees, collapsing fertility rates, and war deaths. [more]
• Speaking before the U.N. Security Council yesterday, deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood said the U.S. is consulting with its allies and partners on the implications of reports of North Korean troops being deployed to Russia to support the invasion of Ukraine. [more]

U.S. ONLINE REVIEWS | A Federal Trade Commission final rule announced in August that bans fake reviews and strengthens related penalties went into effect yesterday. Along with addressing fake, for-hire, and insider reviews, the rule prohibits businesses from using unfounded legal or physical threats or other intimidation to prevent or remove negative consumer reviews. [press release] [full rule text] [more]

MINNESOTA | Reports say several student protesters were arrested yesterday at the University of Minnesota after briefly occupying an administrative building at the Minneapolis school during pro-Palestinian demonstrations. [more]

U.S. NAVY | The U.S. Navy has identified the two aviators who died last week when their fighter jet crashed during a training flight near Washington state’s Mount Rainier: Lt. Cmdr. Lyndsay P. Evans, a Naval Flight Officer, and Lt. Serena N. Wileman, a Naval Aviator. [more]

WASHINGTON | Police in Fall City, Washington, say a teen suspect has been arrested following the shooting deaths of five people – two adults and three teenagers – inside a home in the Seattle-area town. Authorities say the incident appears to involve members of a family and that there are no indications of related threats to the wider community. [more]

U.S. ELECTIONS | In separate rulings yesterday, courts in Michigan and North Carolina rejected Republican-led efforts to block voting in next month’s elections by people who have never lived in the states but were born overseas to parents who were residents of the states. [more]

CALIFORNIA | Amidst ongoing contract talks, more than 2,400 Kaiser Permanente psychologists, therapists, social workers, and other mental health workers went on strike in Southern California yesterday, citing increased workloads and staffing shortages as the reason for the work stoppage. [more]

U.S. ARTS AND HUMANITIES | President Joe Biden awarded the National Medals of Arts and National Humanities Medals to 39 recipients yesterday. Among the Arts recipients were filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, and Ken Burns and singers Missy Elliott and Queen Latifah, while Humanities recipients included playwright-screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, historian Jon Meacham, and actor and literacy advocate LeVar Burton. [more]

TAIWAN | One week after holding large-scale naval and air military exercises near Taiwan, the Chinese military conducted live-fire exercises today off the coast of China’s Fujian province, which faces Taiwan. In a statement addressing the drills, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said it could not rule out that the new exercises were one of China’s ways to “expand the deterrent effect in line with the dynamics in the Taiwan Strait.” [more]

CUBA | Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel says at least six deaths have been linked to Hurricane Oscar, which struck the Caribbean island nation Sunday amidst an ongoing nationwide power outage. [more]

VIETNAM | The Vietnamese National Assembly elected army general Luong Cuong as the country’s new president yesterday. Cuong, 67, replaces To Lam, who was formally appointed as the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party in August. [more]

PERU | Following years of legal proceedings, former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, who governed from 2001 to 2006, was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison yesterday after being convicted on corruption-related charges. [more]

GERMANY | Researchers at the Robert Koch Institute for public health say the first case of a new mpox variant has been detected in Germany, but note that the infection was acquired abroad and that the risk to the general population in Germany is considered to be low. [more]

BASEBALL | According to ticket resale outlet StubHub, the average asking price for a ticket for this Friday’s opening game of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers was $1,358 as of yesterday evening. [more]

SOCCER | In an open letter announced yesterday, more than 100 women’s soccer players criticized world soccer governing body FIFA’s sponsorship deal with Saudi Arabian state oil giant Aramco, citing concerns over women’s rights and safety, LGBTQ+ rights, and the health of the planet as reasons for objecting to the sponsorship agreement. [more]

BASKETBALL | The 2024-25 NBA season opens tonight with a game between the reigning league champion Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1962, in a nationally broadcast address, U.S. President John F. Kennedy revealed the presence of Soviet-built missile bases under construction in Cuba and announced a naval blockade of all offensive military equipment being shipped to the Communist island nation. The Cuban Missile Crisis is widely considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into full-scale nuclear war. [more history]