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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israel, Egypt, and the United States held talks in Cairo yesterday on how to secure the Egypt-Gaza border, U.S. and Israeli officials said. Israel’s demand that the IDF continue to be deployed along the Philadelphi corridor has become a main sticking point in negotiations. Separately, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday denied that Israel is considering agreeing to the presence of an international force along the strip. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
Palestinian health officials said yesterday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 27 people across Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel issued fresh evacuation orders in central and southern Gaza, forcing more Palestinians to flee. Thousands were already on the move after Israel on Wednesday ordered civilians to leave several neighborhoods in central Gaza. Raja Abdulrahim, Abu Bakr Bashir, and Isabel Kershner report for the New York Times; Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
The bodies of six captives recovered by Israeli troops from a tunnel in southern Gaza had bullets, according to Hostages Family Forum, an advocacy group representing the families of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. An Israeli military spokesperson said it was too soon to rule whether gunshot wounds had caused their deaths. Ephrat Livni and Johnatan Reiss report for the New York Times.
Israeli authorities yesterday arrested four people for allegedly carrying out “terrorist incidents” against Palestinians, days after violence in the occupied West Bank left one person dead and another injured. Chantal Da Silva reports for NBC News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
A Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal is “now in sight,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the U.N. Security Council yesterday, despite growing indications from Israel and Hamas that a breakthrough is not imminent. Bethan McKernan reports for the Guardian.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday visited the border Sumy region for the first time since Ukrainian forces launched their incursion into Kursk. Zelenskyy also said on social media that Ukraine had captured another village in the region, but did not say which. Separately, Ukraine’s air force yesterday confirmed it used a U.S.-made GBU-39 bomb to strike a Russian platoon command post in Kursk. Illia Novikov reports for AP News.
Negative remarks about Putin on social media have increased since Ukraine launched an incursion two weeks ago, according to a firm that tracks Russian attitudes. Julian E. Barnes reports for the New York Times.
As Ukraine’s advance into Kursk has slowed, Russia’s drive toward Pokrovsk, a stronghold in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, has also gained momentum. In recent days, Russian troops have seized at least three settlements and reached a town along a railroad to Pokrovsk, a logistics hub for Ukraine’s army in the region. Constant Méheut reports for the New York Times.
Poorly trained recruits are contributing to loss of Ukrainian territory on the eastern front, commanders say. Samya Kullab reports for AP News.
Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday said that Ukraine attempted to strike a nuclear power plant in the Kursk region. Moscow has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of the incident, Putin said. A Ukrainian official dismissed the claim as “propaganda.” John Bacon reports for USA Today.
Russia’s security service yesterday launched criminal cases against multiple foreign journalists, accusing them of illegally crossing into the country’s territory to report on Ukraine’s Kursk incursion. The journalists include Nick Paton Walsh, CNN’s top international security correspondent, and two Ukrainian journalists. In response, a CNN spokesperson said the reporting was “protected activity” in accordance with international law. Robyn Dixon reports for the Washington Post.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Ukraine today for talks with Zelenskyy, making him the country’s first prime minister to make a Ukraine trip since Kyiv gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Tom Balmforth and Pavel Polityuk report for Reuters.
U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
Vice President Kamala Harris yesterday accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. CNN reports.
An Arizona man is wanted after threatening over social media to kill former President Trump, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office said yesterday. Jasper Ward and Kanishka Singh report for Reuters.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court yesterday ruled that Arizona could partially enforce a 2022 voting law tightening new voter registrations. The court determined that Arizona could require people registering to vote before November’s presidential election to prove their U.S. citizenship, but could not prohibit already-registered individuals from voting in the election unless they provided proof of citizenship. Charlie Savage and Abbie VanSickle report for the New York Times.
Arizona’s Supreme Court yesterday blocked an abortion rights amendment from appearing on the state’s November ballot, upholding an earlier decision by Secretary of State John Thurston rejecting the initiative. The court’s majority found that Thurston “correctly refused to count the signatures collected by paid canvassers because the sponsor failed to file the paid canvasser training certification.” Emily Cochrane reports for the New York Times.
HOUTHI ATTACKS
The Sounion oil tanker, which is anchored between Yemen and Eritrea carrying 150,000 tons of crude oil, poses a “navigational and environmental hazard,” according to Operation Aspides, the E.U.’s Red Sea naval mission. Separately, Yemen’s Houthis yesterday confirmed the group had earlier targeted the tanker. Jana Choukeir and Renee Maltezou report for Reuters.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Venezuela’s highest court yesterday declared that Nicolás Maduro won Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election. The Supreme Tribunal of Justice, which is stacked with Maduro allies, did not share any voting data to back up this claim. Julie Turkewitz and Genevieve Glatsky report for the New York Times.
A fraction of available aid trickled through the Adre border crossing from Chad into Sudan’s Darfur region this week after the Sudanese army temporarily lifted a ban on deliveries. After 15 trucks had moved through the crossing, out of a total of 131 at the border, the Sudanese government halted further movement “until procedures received yesterday are agreed,” according to the U.N. humanitarian affairs office. Reuters reports.
Afghanistan’s Taliban regime has issued a new set of “vice and virtue” rules regulating personal conduct. The laws forbid women from singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public, prohibits unrelated men and women from looking at another, and bans the playing of music. AP News reports.
China and Belarus have agreed to strengthen cooperation in a range of sectors including energy, trade, and security, according to a joint statement. The announcement comes after Chinese Premier Li Qiang met Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko in Minsk. Reuters reports.
A Romanian court ordered internet personality Andrew Tate to be placed under house arrest, his representative said yesterday, after he was among six people taken into custody in an investigation into human trafficking. Octav Ganea reports for Reuters.