March 4, 2022

UKRAINE | Updates on the Russian invasion of Ukraine [more]:

• Russian forces have seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant near the city of Enerhodar. Nuclear regulators say a fire at the plant, which is the largest in Europe and which produces about 25% of Ukraine’s power, had not affected critical equipment and no increases in radiation have been detected.

• At a meeting in Belarus yesterday, delegates from Russia and Ukraine agreed on humanitarian corridors in the conflict zone that would allow civilians to flee Ukraine and establish routes by which humanitarian aid supplies could be delivered. Reports say the next round of talks between the parties will be scheduled for early next week.

• Russian officials say nearly 500 Russian troops have been killed and about 1,600 wounded in the nine days of fighting in Ukraine.

• Ukrainian officials report that a Russian airstrike destroyed the power plant in the city of Okhtyrka yesterday, leaving the city without heat or electricity.

• A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators introduced a bill yesterday that would ban U.S. imports of Russian oil.

• Reports say that Russia’s state communications agency, Roskomnadzor, has blocked Russian access to the websites of BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Deutsche Welle, and other western media outlets for what is says is the spreading of misinformation on the conflict in Ukraine.

PARALYMPICS | The 2022 Winter Paralympics open today at the “Bird’s Nest” stadium in Beijing, China. The games are scheduled to last through March 13. [more]

GLOBAL ECONOMY | David Malpass, president of the World Bank, said in an interview that the war in Ukraine will have severe economic impacts far beyond the borders of Ukraine, particularly in the areas of fuel and food prices. [more]

PAKISTAN | Reports from Pakistan say at least 30 people were killed today when a bomb exploded inside a Shiite Muslim mosque in the city of Peshawar. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack. [more]

SOCCER | The Russian Football Union is expected to file an appeal today with the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the recent decision by FIFA and UEFA to exclude its national and club teams from international competitions. [more]

CHINA | China’s National People’s Congress opens its annual session tomorrow in Beijing. Meetings of the 3,000 member largely-ceremonial parliament are typically used to announce broad economic, environmental, and military goals for China. [more]

OPIOID CRISIS | A plea deal reached between Purdue Pharma and prosecutors in U.S. states over the company’s role in the opioid crisis will require the Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma, to pay as much as $6 billion and to give up ownership of the company. The deal, which must still receive court approval, would also shield the Sackler family from further related prosecution. [more]

ABORTION | Florida’s state Senate yesterday voted to give final passage to a bill to ban abortions in the state after 15-weeks of pregnancy. The bill, which passed the state’s House in February, is expected to be signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | The U.S. Labor Department is scheduled to release its February employment report today. The report is expected to show labor market conditions tightening further, with the unemployment rate resuming its downward trend and a shortage of workers continuing to drive up wages. [more]

TANZANIA | Tanzania’s opposition Chadema political party says that its chairman, Freeman Mbowe, was freed from government detention today after prosecutors dropped charges of economic crimes and terrorism against him.  [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | Today in 1789, the U.S. Constitution went into effect as the governing law of the United States, the date having been established by Congress. [more]