September 19, 2024

LEBANON AND ISRAEL | A day after hundreds of pagers used by the Hezbollah militant group exploded across Lebanon, a second series of explosions involving hand-held radios used by the group took place yesterday. Reports say at least 20 people were killed, and another 450 were wounded, in the second wave of explosions, which Hezbollah has blamed on Israel. While not directly claiming responsibility for the explosive attacks, Israeli officials have stated that the recent days have seen “the start of a new phase in the war.” [more]

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 349 of the conflict:

• The U.N. General Assembly voted 124-13, with 43 abstentions, yesterday to support a Palestinian-backed, non-binding resolution that calls for Israel to end its “unlawful presence” in the occupied West Bank and Gaza within a year. Palestinian U.N. ambassador Riyad Mansour called the vote an important milestone for “freedom and justice,” while Israel’s U.N. Ambassador, Danny Danon, characterized the resolution as one that “backs the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic terrorism.” [more]
• Speaking to reporters in Cairo, Egypt, yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said surprise escalations in violence in both Gaza and Lebanon threaten to derail ongoing efforts to negotiate a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 938 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian officials say their forces shot down all 42 drones and one of four missiles launched by Russia overnight in Moscow’s latest targeting of energy infrastructure facilities across Ukraine. [more]
• Reuters cites unnamed Indian and European government and defense industry officials as saying that artillery shells sold by Indian arms makers have been diverted by European customers to Ukraine and that India has not intervened to stop the trade despite protests from Moscow. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | With economic projections bolstered by inflation declines from a high of 9.1% in mid-2022 to about 2.5% last month, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by half a point yesterday to about 4.8% – down from a two-decade high of 5.3% and the Fed’s first rate cut in more than four years. Fed policymakers signaled that additional rate cuts are likely later this year, with more to follow in 2025 and early 2026. [more]

U.S. ELECTIONS | Among items of interest in the U.S. presidential elections:

• FBI officials say Iranian hackers who stole information from former President Donald Trump’s campaign tried to interest campaign officials for then-candidate President Joe Biden in the materials, but that there is no indication Biden staffers responded to the contacts or knew their origin. [more]
• Representatives for both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris met for the first time this week with White House transition staff, as required by the Presidential Transition Act. [more]
• A new report from tech giant Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center identifies two Kremlin-backed groups that report authors say appear to have shifted to targeting the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris. [full report] [more]

U.S. GOVERNMENT FUNDING | The House yesterday rejected a measure backed by Speaker Mike Johnson that would have temporarily extended federal government funding past the October 1 budget deadline and linked the funding to a requirement that proof of U.S. citizenship be presented when people register to vote. [more]

MARYLAND | In a lawsuit filed yesterday in Maryland, the U.S. Justice Department contends that the owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused the March collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge contributed to the disaster by ignoring known mechanical and electrical problems on the vessel. The lawsuit seeks to recover more than $100 million in government funds spent to clear the bridge site and re-open the Port of Baltimore. [more]

CALIFORNIA | Health officials in Los Angeles urged residents yesterday to use insect repellent and eliminate mosquito breeding sites following the confirmation of at least three locally-acquired cases of dengue fever thought to be linked to mosquito bites in the city’s Baldwin Park neighborhood. [more]

U.S. SPACE PROGRAM | The families of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Christine Darden, whose contributions to the U.S. space program as mathematicians were publicized in the book and movie “Hidden Figures,” were presented with the Congressional Gold Medal yesterday in a U.S. Capitol ceremony. A medal honoring all women who worked as mathematicians, engineers, and “human computers” in the U.S. space program from the 1930s to 1970s was also presented at the ceremony. [more]

PORTUGAL | Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro declared a state of calamity yesterday for several northern regions of his country hardest hit by more than 100 wildfires that have burned more than 15,000 hectares (or 37,000 acres) this week. Reports say the fires have put some 210,000 people at risk of related dangers. [more]

VENEZUELA | Former opposition candidate Edmundo González said yesterday that he was forced to sign a letter acknowledging his defeat in July’s disputed presidential election in Venezuela in which incumbent President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner.  González, who became the subject of an arrest warrant after the election, claimed he was told he would not be allowed to leave the country if he did not sign the letter – a contention that Maduro representatives deny. [more]

HAITI | The creation of a provisional electoral council was announced by Haiti’s transitional government yesterday – an important move in preparing the gang-ridden Caribbean nation to hold its first general elections since 2016. [more]

ITALY | Local media reports say about 1,000 residents of northern Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region were evacuated to shelters overnight amidst heavy rains that caused widespread flooding in the area. [more]

CUBA | Citing his “"fearless opposition to authoritarianism through art,” Norway’s Rafto Foundation for Human Rights today announced Cuban artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara as the 2024 winner of the annual Rafto Prize awarded to defenders of human rights and fighters against oppression. [more]

HONG KONG | Chu Kai-pong, 27, became the first person convicted under Hong Kong’s controversial new national security law yesterday when a court in the Chinese territory sentenced him to 14 months in jail for wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” which the court deemed to be “seditious.” [more]

AI | Among seven recommendations included in a U.N. artificial intelligence advisory group final report released today are: the creation of an international scientific panel on AI and standardized AI-related definitions, establishment of regular intergovernmental AI policy dialogues, as well as a global development fund, and the formation of a permanent U.N. AI office. [press release] [full report] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1881, James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, died 2 1/2 months after being shot by Charles Guiteau. Garfield was succeeded by Vice President Chester A. Arthur.  [more history]