March 30, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 35 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates [more]:

• Following Ukraine-Russia negotiations yesterday, Russian officials pledged to significantly reduce military operations near the cities of Kyiv and Charnihiv. [more]
• Ukrainian and U.S. officials say the Russian move may signal a repositioning of Russian forces instead of a withdrawal, and have adopted a wait-and-see approach to the Russian pledge.
• Officials in Chernihiv say Russian strikes in and around the city continued overnight despite the Russian pledge.
• Ukrainian officials say they have noted some movement of Russian forces toward eastern regions of the country.
• In a call with French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that shelling of the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol will only end when Ukrainian troops surrender. [more]

COVID-19 | A Reuters report says that cases of COVID-19 infection in Asia have surpassed a total of 100 million. The report further notes that the region reports over 1 million new COVID-19 cases about every two days, and that more than 1 million COVID-related deaths have occurred in Asia since the beginning of the pandemic. [more]

MORE COVID-19 | The US Food and Drug Administration yesterday authorized a second coronavirus vaccine booster shot for Americans aged 50 and older. The second booster must come at least four months after those eligible received their first booster shot of any approved COVID vaccine. [more]

GERMANY | Amidst concerns that Russia will cut its oil supplies to Europe, Germany's Economy Minister Robert Habeck yesterday activated the country’s ’early warning phase' of an existing gas emergency plan, meaning that a crisis team will actively monitor oil imports and storage. [more]

POLAND | Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said yesterday that his country will end all oil imports from Russia by the end of 2022. Morawiecki also noted that Polands intends to end coal imports from Russia by May. [more]

JANUARY 6 INVESTIGATION | Reports say records obtained by the House committee investigating the January 6 attacks on the U.S. capitol show a seven-hour activity gap in the phone logs of former President Donald Trump from that day. [more]

ECONOMY | Finance officials in Spain reported yesterday that inflation in the country rose to 9.8% over the past year — the highest level since May 1985. [more]

MORE ECONOMY | A panel of independent economic advisors to the German government predicted today that the country’s gross domestic product will expand by only 1.8% this year, compared to the 4.6% predicted previously. [more]

AUSTRALIA | Large areas of the northern New South Wales coast in Australia are under evacuation orders due to significant flooding following heavy rains. [more]

CIVIL RIGHTS | US President Joe Biden yesterday signed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law. The law officially designates lynching as a federal hate crime for purposes of prosecution. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | The World Bank announced yesterday that it is putting four projects in Afghanistan worth about $600 million on hold due to concerns over a decision by Taliban leaders in the country to ban girls from returning to public high schools. [more]

NORTH KOREA | Officials in South Korea say the March 24 North Korean launch of what was thought to have been a large new type of intercontinental ballistic missile was actually an older, smaller ICBM originally tested in 2017. [more]

HONG KONG | The U.K. announced today that it is withdrawing its judges from service on Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal, saying continued service on the court would appear to endorse a Hong Kong administration "which has departed from values of political freedom, and freedom of expression."  U.K. judges have served on the court since the former British colony was returned to China in 1997. [more]

ISRAEL | Police in Israel say at least five people were killed yesterday in the city of Bnei Brak by a Palestinian gunman. The attack was the third such incident in Israel in recent days. [more]

NFL | The National Football League has announced a change to its overtime rule in playoff games. Starting this season, if the team possessing the ball first in overtime scores a touchdown on that series, the opponent still gets a possession. In recent seasons, that touchdown would have ended the game. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1867, William H. Seward, secretary of state under U.S. President Andrew Johnson, signed the Alaska Purchase, a treaty ceding Russian North America to the United States for a price — $7.2 million — that amounted to about two cents per acre. [more history]