September 26, 2024

ISRAEL AND LEBANON | The U.S., E.U., France, Japan, and other allies jointly called yesterday for an immediate 21-day cease-fire along the Israel-Lebanon border in an effort to negotiate an end of the conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days. The countries supporting the cease-fire effort include: the United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, the U.K., Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 945 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• U.S. President Joe Biden announced a new $8 billion military aid package for Ukraine today, which includes, among other things, the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon, additional air defense systems, unmanned aerial systems, and air-to-ground munitions. [more]
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that any nation’s conventional attack on Russia that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country and possibly be grounds for Russian use of nuclear weapons. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today Putin’s statement was aimed at discouraging Ukraine's Western allies from supporting attacks on Russia. [more]

HURRICANE HELENE | The U.S. National Hurricane Center has warned of “catastrophic and deadly” storm surge in the Big Bend area of Florida ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is expected to make landfall late today as a Category 3 or 4 storm. [detailed info] [more]

U.S. SUICIDES | According to newly released data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, the suicide rate in the U.S rose about 30% between 2002 and 2018 to 14.2 deaths per 100,000 population, followed by  two years of decline in 2019 and 2020, and then an increase through 2022 back to a 14.2 per 100,000 rate – the highest age-adjusted suicide rate in the United States since 1941. [full report] [more]

NEW YORK | Reports say a federal criminal indictment on yet-undisclosed charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams is expected to be unveiled today in Manhattan. In a statement released yesterday, Adams described any charges he may face as “entirely false,” and said he intends to remain in office. [more]

U.S. SCHOOL VIOLENCE | Reports say President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order today that will mandate government studies of active shooter drills in schools and their effects on students and educators, as well as establish a task force on threats posed by machine-gun-conversion devices and 3D-printed guns. [more]

NORTH KOREA | In a parliamentary briefing yesterday, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said that North Korea is thought to have enriched enough uranium to build a “double-digit” number of nuclear bombs. [more]

HAITI AND DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | Speaking before the U.N General Assembly yesterday, Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said that his country would take unspecified “drastic measures” to protect itself if a U.N.-backed mission in Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, fails in its efforts to quell rampant gang violence. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | Australia, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands announced plans yesterday to start legal proceedings against Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban over alleged violation of a U.N. convention on women’s rights, to which Afghanistan is a party. Responding to the announcement, and despite widely publicized bans on women’s education, employment, and public appearances, Taliban officials said today that it is “absurd” to accuse them of gender discrimination. [more]

JAPAN | Members of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party are scheduled to choose between a record nine candidates tomorrow to replace outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. [more]

HONG KONG | Former Stand News editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam – the first two journalists convicted in Hong Kong under a colonial-era sedition law since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 – are scheduled to be sentenced to up to two years in prison today. [more]

PAKISTAN | Pakistani government officials said yesterday that at least 25 people have been killed, and dozens of others have been injured, since Saturday in clashes between Shiite and Sunni Muslim groups in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. [more]

SUDAN | Amidst the country’s ongoing civil war, the Sudanese army is reported to have launched a major offensive against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces today in an effort to take back control of the portions of the capital Khartoum that were lost at the start of the conflict. [more]

SOUTH KOREA | Ahead of the country’s ban on slaughtering, breeding, or selling dog meat for human consumption going into effect by 2027, the South Korean government announced plans yesterday to compensate dog farmers if they agree to shut down their businesses early. [more]

LITERATURE | David Waldstreicher’s “The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet’s Journey Through American Slavery and Independence” has been named this year’s winner of the George Washington Prize for works of literature arising out of the U.S. Revolutionary War era. [more]

BASKETBALL | Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier scored 42 points last night to tie the WNBA record for points in a playoff game and lead her team to a 101-88 win over the Phoenix Mercury. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1580, after nearly three years at sea, English Admiral Francis Drake arrived in Plymouth Harbour, England, completing his circumnavigation of the world. [more history]