March 23, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 28 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates [more]:

• Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of taking 15 aid and rescue workers into custody in the southern port city of Mariupol where some 100,000 civilians remain without basic necessities, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
• NATO, EU, and Group of Seven officials are scheduled to hold talks in Brussels over the next two days. Reports say the talks will partially focus on potential new sanctions against Russia and increased enforcement of existing sanctions.
• Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda has blamed hackers for an article being posted on its website that claimed 9,861 Russian troops have been killed and more than 16,000 wounded in the invasion of Ukraine. The article was removed from the website shortly after being posted.

NEW ORLEANS | At least one person was killed when a tornado touched down in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, yesterday. Significant damage from the tornado was also reported in nearby New Orleans. [more]

U.S. SUPREME COURT | The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a third day of hearings today on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court. [more]

NEW YORK CITY | A lawsuit filed this week by the Legal Aid Society accuses the New York Police Department of illegally and surreptitiously collecting genetic material from thousands of New York citizens and indefinitely storing the gleaned DNA information for use in future investigations. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | In a reversal of previously announced policy, Taliban officials in Afghanistan said today that schools for girls above sixth grade would not be re-opened pending further evaluation of such a move. [more]

REAL ESTATE | U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to announce plans today for new steps being taken to address findings that lower real estate appraisals tend to be given to  Black and Latino homeowners compared to white homeowners. [more]

PHILANTHROPY | Reports say MacKenzie Scott has donated $436 million to Habitat for Humanity International and 84 of its U.S. affiliates. Scott is the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. [more]

CYBERSECURITY | The hacker group that claimed responsibility for recent attacks on Microsoft and Nvidia said this week that is has compromised data at Okta, a company that provides login functionality for thousands of companies and organizations. [more]

COVID-19 | A new study in the medical journal Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology concludes that people who survive COVID-19 infection have up to a 40% increased risk of being newly diagnosed with diabetes up to a year after infection compared to those people never infected with COVID-19. [more]

COVID-19 | White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday and will not travel to Europe with President Biden tomorrow for talks with EU and NATO leaders. [more]

DRUG RECALL | Drug maker Pfizer has announced a voluntary recall of multiple lots of its Accuretic high blood pressure medicine due to higher-than-acceptable levels of a substance called nitrosamine. [list of recalled lots] [more]

NICARAGUA | Former Nicaraguan presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro Barrios was sentenced to eight years in prison yesterday after being convicted of financial crimes earlier this month. Critics say the conviction is the latest crackdown on opposition politicians and activists by the administration of President Daniel Ortega, [more]

AIR TRAVEL | Air New Zealand announced yesterday that it has begun selling tickets for  direct flights between Auckland and New York City. The flights are expected to take 16-18 hours one-way. [more]

CALIFORNIA | The Sacramento, California, teachers' union last night announced plans to strike today over pay and staffing issues. [more]

TENNIS | Top-ranked women's tennis star Ash Barty announced her retirement from professional tennis today. Barty, 25, has won three grand slams and is the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY |  On this date in 1775, Patrick Henry, a major figure of the American Revolution, delivered the well-known speech featuring the phrase “give me liberty or give me death” at the second Virginia Convention, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia. [more history]