February 18, 2022

UKRAINE | Pro-Russian rebel forces and Ukrainian military officials have reported continued artillery shelling in eastern Ukraine for the second day in a row. NATO officials say that violence in the area could be used by Russia as a pretext for invading Ukraine. [more]

VIRGINIA | Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin yesterday signed into law a measure that ends mask mandates in Virginia public schools. Additionally, the law, which goes into effect March 1, requires schools to provide in-person learning five days per week and bars school districts from implementing local mask mandates. [more]

FBI | The U.S. Justice Department announced yesterday that the FBI is creating a new unit that will focus on blockchain analysis and virtual asset seizure. [more]

CANADA PROTESTS | An amended class-action lawsuit filed by owners of downtown Ottawa businesses against organizers of the trucker protests has added 31 new defendants. The lawsuit names protest organizers and leaders, as well as financial donors to the protest effort as defendants and is seeking $306 million in damages for disrupting business operations in Ottawa. [more]

SEVERE WEATHER | Millions of people in England and Ireland are under severe weather warnings today and have been urged to stay at home as Storm Eunice is expected to bring winds of up to 100 miles per hour to the region. [more]

AUSTIN | An Austin, Texas, grand jury yesterday indicted 19 Austin police officers on charges of aggravated assault in connection with violence against protesters in the city in 2020. The May, 2020, protests were related to the murder of George Floyd. [more]

WORLD FINANCE | G20 finance ministers and central bankers are concluding a two-day meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, today. Attendees are expected to release a statement at the end of the conference that calls for affordable access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and warns of significant economic consequences of geopolitical tensions. [more]

COVID-19 | The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that more than one million excess deaths in the U.S. during the pandemic are attributable either directly to COVID-19 infections or to fatal complications of other health conditions exacerbated by COVID or pandemic-related delays in medical care. [more]

INDIA | A court in India today sentenced 38 men to death and 11 others to life in prison in connection with a series of bomb blasts in the city of Ahmedabad in 2008. The Muslim group “Indian Mujahideen” claimed responsibility for the July, 2008, bombings, which killed more than 50 people. [more]

TRUMP ORGANIZATION | New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled yesterday that former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump must comply with subpoenas seeking their testimony in a civil investigation of the Trump Organization’s financial practices. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1930, American Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered the dwarf planet Pluto using a 13-inch telescope at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. [more]