September 10, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 340 of the conflict:

• Palestinian health officials say at least 40 people were killed, and 60 others were wounded, early today in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza's coastal Muwasi tent camp that houses thousands of Palestinians displaced by the war. Israeli officials say the strike targeted senior Hamas militants embedded in the area. [more]
• In an Associated Press interview yesterday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said the death and destruction in Gaza is the worst he has seen in his seven years in office. Guterres also noted that while he thinks Israel would not agree to it, the U.N would be willing to play a supporting role in any Gaza cease-fire. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 929 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Russian officials say more than 140 Ukrainian drones targeted multiple regions in Russia overnight. Reports note that while most of the drones were shot down, two residential buildings just outside Moscow were damaged in the attack, which also prompted the temporary closure of three Moscow-region airports. [more]
• In a show of their countries’ close partnership and joint support for Ukraine amidst the Russian invasion, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy are scheduled to visit Ukraine together later this week. [more]

U.S. MILITARY HONORS | Top Republican and Democratic leaders for both the House and Senate are expected to speak today at a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda to posthumously present the Congressional Gold Medal to 13 U.S. service members killed during the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in December 2021. [more]

U.S. ELECTIONS | The first, and perhaps only, debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is scheduled for tonight at 9 pm ET. The debate, hosted by ABC, comes just 56 days before the U.S. general election. [more]

CALIFORNIA | Gov. Gavin Newsom announced yesterday that the California National Guard would be deployed to support firefighting and related evacuation efforts in San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles. The region’s Line Fire, which started Saturday, has burned more than 23,000 acres and was considered 5% contained as of last night. [more]

KENTUCKY | Police in Laurel County, Kentucky, have issued an arrest warrant for Joseph Couch, 32, who is the suspect in a series of shootings along Interstate 75 on Saturday that wounded five people. Reports say Couch, who remains at large, sent a text message shortly before the shootings in which he said he intended to “kill a lot of people.” [more]

U.S. GULF COAST | Meteorologists say Tropical Storm Francine is expected to strengthen to hurricane status today and continue its north-easterly path toward Louisiana, where it is expected to make landfall tomorrow. [more]

U.S CRYPTO SCAMS | According to a new FBI report, Americans lost more than $5.6 billion in 2023 to fraud schemes involving cryptocurrency, with fraudulent investment schemes accounting for most of the losses. [full report] [more]

NORTH KOREA | In a speech yesterday marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to increase efforts to make his country’s nuclear arsenal ready for combat with the United States. [more]

PAKISTAN | Several top leaders of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf opposition party were arrested on charges of inciting violence yesterday – a day after tens of thousands of Khan’s supporters took part in street protests to demand his release from prison. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk warned yesterday that the ruling Taliban’s repressive control of women in Afghanistan is unparalleled and that its continuation will jeopardize the country’s future. [more]

NETHERLANDS | A Dutch court yesterday convicted two Pakistani religious and political leaders in absentia of incitement to murder and related crimes related to threats against anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders. [more]

NIGERIA | Emergency officials in Nigeria say at least 48 people were killed Sunday in an explosion that followed the collision of a fuel tanker truck and another vehicle in the Agaie region of the country’s north-central Niger state. [more]

EL SALVADOR | Reports say El Salvador’s national police director and other high-ranking police officials were among nine people killed Sunday in a military helicopter crash in a rural area of El Salvador’s La Union region. [more]

EAST TIMOR | An estimated 600,000 people attended an outdoor mass overseen by Pope Francis today in East Timor’s Tasitolu park – a figure representing almost half of the Southeast Asian nation’s population. [more]

CHINESE ECONOMY | According to customs data released today, China exported $308.65 billion worth of goods in August – a higher-than-expected 8.7% increase over the year-ago period. Imports into China rose just 0.5% over the same period. [more]

AUSTRALIA | Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said today that his government plans to introduce legislation this year to implement a minimum age limit of between 14 and 16 years for children in Australia to be allowed to access social media platforms. The move comes amidst growing calls for children to be protected from harms and risks, including bullying, associated with social media use. [more]

E.U. TECH | In a pair of tech-related rulings today, the European Union’s Court of Justice upheld a 2.4 billion euro antitrust fine against Google over charges related to the company’s shopping recommendations and rejected an appeal by Apple to block a European Commission order that the company pay 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland. [more]

SPACE | The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission was launched early this morning from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew of four private astronauts is scheduled to test new spacesuit designs and conduct the first private spacewalk over the course of the five-day mission. [more]

SOCCER | According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese Football Association announced yesterday that it has banned 43 people – 38 players and five officials – for life over allegations of match-fixing and other forms of corruption. [more]

COUNTRY MUSIC | Nominations for the 2024 Country Music Association Awards were announced yesterday, with singer Morgan Wallen receiving a pack-leading seven nominations, including for entertainer of the year. Other entertainer of the year nominees were Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton, and Lainey Wilson. [full nomination list] [more]

R.I.P. | Actor James Earl Jones, whose more than 200 film and television roles included voicing Darth Vader in “Star Wars” and roles in “The Field of Dreams,” and “The Lion King,” died yesterday at the age of 93. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1608, having survived capture by the Powhatan Native American tribe (reputedly through the efforts of Pocahontas, a chief's daughter), John Smith became president of Jamestown colony, the first permanent English settlement in North America. [more history]