September 3, 2024

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 333 of the conflict:

• A rare general strike was held across Israel yesterday amidst increasing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas militants in Gaza. The strike, as well as widespread protests, followed Sunday's recovery of the bodies of six Hamas-held hostages killed as Israeli forces approached the tunnel in which they were being held. [more]
• The U.K. announced yesterday that it is suspending exports of some weapons and other defense equipment to Israel over concern that the materials could be used in violation of international humanitarian law in Gaza. [more]
• Following the recent discovery of Gaza’s first case of polio in 25 years, a large-scale vaccination campaign began yesterday in the Palestinian enclave in which local health authorities and United Nations agencies plan to vaccinate some 640,000 children against the disease by September 9. Israel and Hamas have agreed to observe a temporary cease-fires in designated areas to facilitate the vaccination program. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 922 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today that at least 41 people were killed, and 180 others were wounded, today in a Russian ballistic missile strike that hit a military school and a nearby hospital in the central Ukraine city of Poltava. [more]
• Reuters cites unnamed U.S. officials as saying that, while a final decision has not yet been made, the U.S. is considering providing Ukraine with long-range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles that could be used by Kyiv to strike military targets deep within Russia. [more]
• Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Mongolia today – his first visit to a member nation of the International Criminal Court since the Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader over the alleged abduction of children from Ukraine. Reports note that ICC member nations are required to detain subjects of Court warrants, but that Mongolia has given no sign that it will do so with Putin. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | In separate high-profile gun violence incidents over the Labor Day holiday weekend:

• Four people were killed on a commuter train in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park yesterday. Authorities say the suspect in the shooting has been arrested and that the weapon used in the shooting has been recovered. [more]
• NYPD officials say a gunman targeting a specific group of people opened fire yesterday at New York City’s 57th annual West Indian American Day Parade, injuring five people, two of whom are considered to be in critical condition. [more]

U.S. LABOR | An estimated 10,000 hotel workers represented by the Unite Here union began a multi-day strike Sunday at 24 hotels in eight U.S. cities, including Honolulu, Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, and Seattle. The union says more workers could join the strike in coming days to demand workload and income changes. [more]

POLAND | A funeral mass and state burial were held yesterday in Poland for more than 700 victims of Nazi Germany’s World War II mass executions whose remains were recently uncovered in northern Poland’s so-called Valley of Death. [more]

CONGO | Authorities say at least 129 people were killed, most in a stampede, during an attempted mass jailbreak at Kinshasa’s Makala Central Prison yesterday. Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemin Shabani says at least 24 of those who died were shot by guards as they attempted to escape. [more]

INDIA AND PAKISTAN | Reports cite Indian and Pakistani authorities as saying that at least 33 people have died over the past two days in monsoon-driven floods and landslides in the regions surrounding India’s Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states and Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. [more]

CHINA | Police in China’s eastern Shandong province say a bus crashed into a group of students and parents outside a middle school early this morning, killing 11 people and injuring 13 others. Reports say the driver of the bus is in police custody and the incident remains under investigation. [more]

SWITZERLAND | Federal prosecutors in Switzerland have reportedly opened an investigation into possible electoral fraud following the release of an advocacy group’s report of finding thousands of fake addresses, falsified birth dates, and repeated signatures in voter rolls. [more]

PHILIPPINES | Schools, government offices, and many businesses are closed today in the Philippine capital Manila and surrounding regions following heavy rains over the weekend that triggered flooding and landslides in which at least 14 people died. [more]

BRAZIL | The Brazilian Supreme Court yesterday upheld last week’s decision to suspend access to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, in the South American country over platform owner Elon Musk’s refusal to name a local legal representatives, as required by law. [more]

JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA | Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit South Korea later this week for what is expected to be his last summit aimed at improving historically strained ties between Japan and South Korea before he leaves office later this month. [more]

VENEZUELA | An arrest warrant was issued yesterday for Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González following government allegations of his role in conspiracy, falsification of documents, and usurpation of powers related to last month’s disputed presidential election in which incumbent President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner. [more]

GERMANY | Executives at automaker Volkswagen say industry pressures could force the company to close production plants in Germany and end a longstanding job protection pledge in force since 1994 that would have barred layoffs at the company through 2029. [more]

TUNISIA | Electoral officials in Tunisia announced yesterday that only two of 17 potential candidates qualified to challenge President Kais Saied in the North African country’s elections next month. One of the approved candidates, businessman Ayachi Zammel, was arrested shortly after the announcement on charges related to allegations of falsification of signatures from registered voters. [more]

GLOBAL TRAVEL INDUSTRY | A new report from the World Travel and Tourism Council suggests that the travel industry's contribution to global GDP in 2024 will increase 12.1% year-over-year to a record $11.1 trillion, which would be about 10% of global GDP. [more]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL | Tenth-ranked Florida State is 0-2 on the season following last night’s 28-13 loss to unranked Boston College – a record analysts say is likely to put FSU outside the Top 25-ranked teams. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1783, American and British representatives signed the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the Revolutionary War and recognized the sovereignty of the United States of America. [more history]