April 22, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 58 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Officials in the port city of Mariupol say Russian forces have buried as many as 9,000 civilians killed in the Russian siege of the city in mass graves outside the city. [more]
• U.S. President Joe Biden announced an additional $800 million in military aid for Ukraine yesterday. The aid package includes heavy artillery, trucks, drones, and ammunition. [more]
• Russian military action has caused up to $60 billion in damage to Ukrainian buildings and infrastructure so far, according to World Bank President David Malpass. [more]
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been named as a 2022 recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for acting to protect democracy. [more]

JERUSALEM | Clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians continued today in the area around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. Reports say police in full riot gear entered the compound when Palestinian youths hurled stones at a gate where they were stationed. [more]

ONLINE REGULATION | Reports say the European Union is nearing a deal to pass the Digital Services Act, which would require Facebook, YouTube and other large internet services to combat misinformation, stop targeting online ads based on a person’s ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation,  and remove flagged hate speech, terrorist propaganda and other material defined as illegal by countries within the European Union. [more]

U.S. DRUG POLICY | The Biden administration unveiled its first national drug control strategy yesterday, which aims to lay out comprehensive plans to address addiction and the overdose epidemic. The strategy will now be sent to Congress for legislative development. [White House fact sheet] [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | Federal Reserve Chair  Jerome Powell said yesterday that the monetary policy body would likely consider a 50 basis point interest rate increase at its meeting in May and that two or more increases of similar size could take place this year. [more]

EMPLOYMENT | Weekly initial  claims for unemployment benefits fell by 2,000 last week to 184,000, according to U.S. Labor Department data released yesterday. Overall, 1.42 million Americans were collecting traditional unemployment benefits in the week of April 9. [more]

FLORIDA | The Florida House of Representatives gave final approval yesterday to a measure that would strip Disney of its special tax status and nearly autonomous control of a large section of central Florida on which its Walt Disney World theme park is located. The bill, which is expected to be signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is largely seen as a response to Disney's criticism of state policies on race, gender and the coronavirus. [more]

COVID-19 | Health officials in Philadelphia announced last night that the city would lift its indoor mask mandate effective this morning, just days after reinstating the policy. [more]

FRANCE | Polls indicate incumbent President Emmanuel Macron leads far-right challenger Marine Le Pen by as much as 12% ahead of this Sunday's presidential election in France. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | The Islamic State in Khorasan Province group or IS-K has claimed responsibility for yesterday's explosion inside a Shiite mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, that killed 12 people and injured another 40. [more]

STREAMING | CNN announced yesterday that it is shutting down its new CNN+ streaming service less than a month after its launch. Reports say the company spent some $100 million and hired nearly 500 employees during the CNN+ buildout. [more]

TWITTER | Reports say Tesla CEO Elon Musk has arranged for up to $25.5 billion in loans and other debt to aid in his $43.4 billion takeover bid for Twitter. [more]

SPORTS | Swimming world governing body FINA has suspended Russian Olympic gold medallist Evgeny Rylov for nine months following his participation in a rally in support of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | First celebrated on this date in 1970 in the United States, Earth Day helped spark the environmental movement and quickly grew into an international event. [more history]