June 22, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 119 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have captured several settlements near Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, in the eastern Luhansk region. [more]
• Authorities in Kharkiv say at least 15 people in the city were killed by Russian rocket and artillery strikes overnight in the heaviest attacks on the city in weeks. [more]
• Reports cite Russian officials as saying a Ukrainian drone attack appears to have been responsible for a fire at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia's Rostov region, bordering Ukraine. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | At least 920 people are reported to have been killed, and another 600 injured, when a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Afghanistan's eastern Khost and Paktika provinces this morning. Afghan Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund has convened an emergency meeting in Kabul to coordinate relief efforts for the affected regions. [more]

GUN LEGISLATION | The U.S. Senate is expected to vote this week on a bipartisan package of gun-related measures. The legislation would expand background checks for gun purchasers under the age of 21 and strengthen so-called "red flag" laws aimed at preventing purchases by those deemed to be a threat to themselves or others by a court. Also included are provisions to increase mental health and suicide prevention program access, expand background checks for persons convicted of some domestic violence crimes, and help prevent illegal gun purchases by a third party for someone who is not legally allowed to buy them. [more]

SRI LANKA | Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe characterized his country's economy as "collapsed" today, following several months of food, fuel, and electricity shortages. [more]

CHINA | Chinese authorities say tens of thousands of people have been evacuated and thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed as severe flooding continues in the country's southern provinces. Heavy rain is expected to continue in the area for the next several days. [more]

UVALDE | Robb Elementary School, site of last month's mass killing of 19 children and two teachers by a teenage gunman in Uvalde, Texas, will be demolished, according to the city's mayor, Don McLaughlin. [more]

FUEL PRICES | Reports say U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to ask Congress today to enact a three-month suspension of the federal gasoline tax in an effort to fight high gas prices. The federal gas tax currently adds 18.4 cents to the cost of a gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents to a gallon of diesel fuel. [more]

FAIR HOUSING | Under the terms of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Facebook has agreed to change its algorithms to prevent discriminatory housing advertising and be subject to Justice Department oversight regarding discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. [more]

LAND MINES | The Biden administration announced a new policy yesterday under which the U.S. military will ban its own use of anti-personnel land mines, except for potential use of the explosive devices as a defensive measure in South Korea. [more]

SUPREME COURT | The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the state of Maine must allow parents who receive taxpayer-funded tuition assistance funds to use them at religious schools, saying a ban on the practice had violated the First Amendment. [more]

WILDFIRES | A report released yesterday by the U.S. Forest Service says mistakes the Service made in a prescribed burn earlier this year caused the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon wildfire that burned more than 340,000 acres and destroyed hundreds of homes in New Mexico in April. The fires are still burning and are considered 71% contained. [more]

U.K. INFLATION | A new report from the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics says the annual inflation rate in Britain rose to a 40-year high of 9.1% in May. [more]

BULGARIA | Members of the Bulgarian parliament will vote today on a no-confidence motion against the country's minority government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov. [more]

YELLOWSTONE | Three of five entrances to Yellowstone National Park will be opened to the public today after all were closed on June 13 due to flooding and related infrastructure damage caused by heavy rains and snowmelt. [more]

ENTERTAINMENT | The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced yesterday that songwriter Diane Warren and directors Peter Weir and Euzhan Palcy will receive honorary Oscars at this year's Academy Governors Awards. Additionally, actor Michael J. Fox will receive the organization's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. [more]

TENNIS | Novak Djokovic has been  named the top-seeded man, and Iga Swiatek the top-seeded woman, for this year's Wimbledon tennis tournament, which begins June 27. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1941, Germany violated the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of 1939 and attacked the Soviet Union during World War II. [more history]