September 11, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Update from day 341 of the conflict:

• Palestinian health officials say the ongoing polio vaccination campaign in Gaza – undertaken after the territory’s first case of the disease in 25 years was detected earlier this year – has reached an estimated 82.5% of targeted children. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 930 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:

• Ahead of today’s joint visit to Kyiv, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy formally accused Iran yesterday of supplying Russia with short-range ballistic missiles for use in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and announced new sanctions on Moscow and Tehran related to the weapons transfer. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Preliminary estimates suggest that some 75 million people watched last night’s debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in which the presidential candidates responded to questions on topics including the economy, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, abortion, tariffs, immigration, border security, and the January 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol. [watch the full debate] [more]

HURRICANE FRANCINE | Residents of southern Louisiana are bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Francine as a Category 1 or 2 storm later today. Meteorologists say other areas, including the coastal regions of Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle are also at risk from heavy rains, flooding, and storm surges associated with the storm. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | According to a new report from the Census Bureau, the inflation-adjusted median income of U.S. households rose 4% to $80,610 in 2023 - the measure's first increase since 2019. The report also notes that the proportion of Americans living in poverty fell slightly to 11.1% in 2023 and that the ratio of women's median earnings to men's widened for the first time in more than 20 years as men's income rose more than women's for the year. [full report] [more]

MORE U.S. ECONOMY | Economists surveyed by data company FactSet predict that government data due out today will show consumer inflation to have fallen to 2.6% in August, compared to the year-ago period – down from 2.9% in July and the lowest level since March 2021. [more]

CALIFORNIA | Police in California arrested Justin Wayne Halstenberg, 34, yesterday on three arson charges in connection with the Line Fire, which has burned more than 51 square miles in the state’s San Bernardino County region. [more]

TENNESSEE | Opening statements are scheduled for later today in the trial of three former Memphis, Tennessee, police officers charged with federal civil rights violations in the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols. [more]

U.S. AND CHINA | A federal judge is scheduled to rule today on the plea deal offered to former CIA officer and contract linguist for the FBI Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, who pleaded guilty in May to charges of spying against the U.S. for China. Under the proposed deal, Ma would face 10 years in prison. [more]

U.S., ISRAEL, AND WEST BANK | Following last week’s shooting death of dual U.S.-Turkish national Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, U.S. officials called yesterday for an overhaul of the manner in which Israel conducts its military operations in the West Bank. Israel says Eygi was killed unintentionally when its troops opened fire during a protest march in the village of Beita. [more]

ISRAEL AND LEBANON | Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group says senior group commander Mohammed Qassem Al-Shaer was killed yesterday in an Israeli airstrike on the village of Qaraoun in western Lebanon’s Beqaa district. Reports say Hezbollah responded to the strike by firing dozens of rockets into northern Israel, which prompted further Israeli strikes on missile launch and other infrastructure sites. [more]

VIETNAM | The death toll in Vietnam from Typhoon Yagi and its associated floods and landslides rose to at least 155 yesterday when a flash flood swept through the mountain village of Lang Nu in the country’s northwestern Lao Cai province, killing 30 people. [more]

MEXICO | Just hours after protesters broke into Mexico’s legislative building in Mexico City, the country’s Senate passed a set of constitutional reforms that includes requiring all federal judges to be elected. Supporters say the change is necessary to address corruption in the courts, while opponents say it will threaten judicial independence. [more]

PAKISTAN | Gohar Khan, the head of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf opposition party, was released from police custody yesterday – just a day after his arrest along with other opposition leaders on charges of inciting violence during protests demanding the release of the former prime minister from prison. [more]

KENYA | Kenya’s main international airport is experiencing flight delays and cancellations today as hundreds of airport workers begin a strike to protest against a proposed operations agreement with an Indian company that labor leaders say would lead to job losses and poorer working conditions. [more]

AUSTRALIA | Reports say dozens of people were arrested today in Melbourne, Australia, following clashes between police and demonstrators during protests at the site of a defense industry exposition in the city. [more]

GERMANY | Authorities in Dresden, Germany, say traffic and utility service has been disrupted in the city following the partial collapse of the Carola Bridge into the Elbe River. No injuries were reported in the incident, which remains under investigation. [more]

SOCCER | Former Tottenham and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was hired yesterday to be the new coach of the U.S. men’s national soccer team. Pochettino is the team’s 10th coach in 14 years. [more]

BASEBALL | Manny Machado hit his 26th home-run of the season last night to become the San Diego Padres’ all-time career home-runs leader with 164. [more]

ENTERTAINMENT | Katy Perry will be awarded the Video Vanguard Award for lifetime achievement at tonight’s MTV Video Music Awards ceremony. Taylor Swift leads the list of potential awardees with 11 nominations, followed closely by Post Malone with 10. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 2001, al-Qaida terrorists hijacked four jetliners in the eastern United States, crashing the planes into New York City's World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks, which sparked the U.S.’ war on terror and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. [more on the September 11 attacks] [more history]