April 28, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 64 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Germany's lower house of parliament approved a petition today in support of providing heavy weapons to Ukraine. [more]
• British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss yesterday called for Western allies to supply Ukraine with tanks, warplanes, and other heavy weapons. [more]
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky predicted yesterday that Russia plans to hold a referendum in the Russian-occupied city of Kherson in an attempt to create a so-called People’s Republic of Kherson, similar to the pro-Russian territories in eastern Ukraine. [more]
• U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is scheduled to meet today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. [more]
• The Canadian House of Commons voted unanimously yesterday to characterize Russia's attacks in Ukraine as a "genocide." [more]
• In a speech yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of "lightning fast" retaliation against any country that attempts to interfere with Russia's military operations in Ukraine. [more]

HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE | Ceremonies are taking place in Israel and elsewhere around the world today marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, which honors the more than 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. [more]

CIVIL RIGHTS | A report released yesterday by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights concludes that the Minneapolis Police Department has engaged in a "pattern or practice of race discrimination" over the past decade. The studies on which the report was based were undertaken following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. [full report] [more]

AFGHANISTAN | Citing a Pentagon document obtained by its reporters, CNN reports that the U.S. left more than $7 billion worth of weapons, vehicles, and other equipment in Afghanistan following its withdrawal from the country in 2021. [CNN report] [more]

HAITI | Officials in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince say at least 20 people have been killed and thousands have fled their homes due to widespread gang fighting in the city this week. [more]

ENDANGERED SPECIES | A new study published in the journal Nature this week concludes that 21% of more than 10,000 species of reptiles studied around the world since 2005 are classified as endangered, critically endangered or vulnerable to extinction. [full study] [more]

COVID-19 | Health officials in Beijing, China, moved most school classes in the city's Chaoyang district to online learning today in an attempt to fight the district's rising number of COVID-19 infections. [more]

U.S. BORDERS | A federal judge yesterday halted a Biden administration plan to lift the Trump-era Title 42 policy that restricts some border crossings due to the threat of COVID-19. A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for May 13. [more]

HUNGARY | The European Commission yesterday triggered for the first time a rule-of-law mechanism that could allow it to withhold funds from the Hungarian government. Hungary will have two months to respond to the Commission's charges of rule-of-law violations. [more]

MEDICINE | Researchers say they have identified a genetic mutation tied directly to the development of the autoimmune disease lupus. The findings, published this week in the journal Nature, could provide direction for the development of new treatments for the disease. [full study] [more]

PRISONER EXCHANGE | The U.S. and Russia carried out a prisoner exchange yesterday, with former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed being exchanged for Russian national Konstantin Yaroshenko. Reed was arrested in Russia in 2019 on charges of assaulting a police officer, while Yaroshenko was serving a prison sentence in the U.S. on drug trafficking charges. [more]

U.S. JUDICIARY | The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to pass a bill strengthening financial and stock trade disclosure rules for federal judges and U.S. Supreme Court justices. The Senate passed its version of the bill in February. [more]

NFL | The first round of the 2022 NFL draft is scheduled to take place tonight, with the Jacksonville Jaguars having the No. 1 overall selection for the second year in a row. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1952, the Allied occupation of Japan came to an end after seven years of rapid social and economic change following the country's surrender in World War II. [more history]