March 14, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 19 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates [more]:

• A western Ukraine military base was hit by Russian airstrikes yesterday, killing at least 35 people and wounding another 134. The attack on the Yavoriv military base, which is about 25 miles northwest of Lviv and only 12.5 miles from the border with Poland, marks one of the largest Russian actions in the far western region of Ukraine since the invasion began.
• Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said this weekend that convoys with foreign weapons could be considered legitimate military targets in Ukraine.
• Officials in the southern port city of Mariupol said yesterday that at least 2,187 city residents have been killed in attacks by Russian forces.
• As many as 12,729 Ukrainians were successfully evacuated from Ukrainian cities besieged by Russian forces on Saturday, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
• U.S. and Chinese officials are set to meet today in Rome amidst reports that Russia asked China for military aid to assist in its invasion of Ukraine.
• Ukrainian and Russian delegates are scheduled to meet via videoconference today for a fourth round of talks aimed at achieving a cease-fire.
• Russian media regulators have announced that the popular Instagram social media platform will be blocked in Russia starting today. Twitter was limited and Facebook blocked in earlier moves by Russia.

SAUDI ARABIA | The state-run Saudi Press Agency has announced that Saudi Arabia executed 81 people on Saturday who had been convicted of various crimes ranging from killings to belonging to militant groups. The mass execution was the largest in the kingdom's modern history. [more]

U.S. HEALTHCARE | A new report from the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation says that people in the United States owe at least $195 billion in medical debt, despite 90% of the population being covered by some kind of health insurance. The report says about 16 million adults in the U.S. owe more than $1,000 in medical bills, while three million owe more than $10,000. [more]

IRAQ | Iran's Revolutionary Guard has claimed responsibility for a series of missile attacks that hit near a U.S. consulate compound Sunday in Iraq's Kurdish regional capital city of Erbil . Reports say at least a dozen ballistic missiles were fired into the city from outside Iraq. Iranian officials say the attack was made in retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard last week. [more]

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO | At least 75 people died in a weekend train crash in the  southeastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The cause of the crash is under investigation. [more]

GAS PRICES | As of this weekend, the average price of regular-grade gasoline in the U.S. was $4.43 per gallon, up 79 cents over the past two-week period, according to the Lundberg Survey of U.S. fuel markets. [more]

COVID-19 | The Chinese National Health Commission reported 3,122 new COVID-19 cases in China on Sunday. Rising case numbers in China have prompted new lockdowns in the cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen. [more]

COVID-19 | Former U.S. President Obama shared on Sunday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 after experiencing relatively minor symptoms for "a couple days.” [more]

R.I.P. | Oscar-winning actor William Hurt died yesterday of natural causes at the age of 71, according to his family. Hurt won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in 1985's "Kiss of the Spider Woman," and was nominated for the same award for "Children of a Lesser God" and "Broadcast News." He was also well known for his roles  in "The Big Chill" and, more recently,  as General Thaddeus Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. [more]

FILM | The 2022 British Academy Film Awards were held at London’s Royal Albert Hall yesterday. “The Power of the Dog” won the Best Film award, and Leading Actor and Actress awards went to Will Smith (“King Richard”) and Joanna Scanlan (“After Love”). [full list of winners]

FILM | “The Power of the Dog” won Best Picture, and Will Smith (“King Richard”) and Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) won the best actor and actress awards at last night’s Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles. [full list of nominees and winners]

NCAA BASKETBALL | Selections were made for this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on Sunday. Number one seeds in the draw included Gonzaga, Baylor, Kansas, and Arizona. [full bracket]

SOCCER | Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 806th career goal on Saturday, breaking the FIFA all-time record for match goals in men’s soccer. [more]

NFL | Seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady, who announced his retirement in January, said yesterday that he will, instead, return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his 23rd NFL season. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1899, German military official Ferdinand, Graf von Zeppelin, received a U.S. patent for a “navigable balloon”; the first zeppelin made its initial flight the following year. [more history]