September 12, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 201 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• The Russian Defense Ministry on Saturday said that its troops have been ordered to pull back from the area around the city of Kharkiv. The announcement followed earlier Ukrainian military claims of significant advances in the region. [more]
• Amidst an ongoing counteroffensive by Ukrainian troops, reports say Russian forces hit multiple power stations in missile attacks overnight, including in Kharkiv, where much of the city remains without power. [more]
• Reports say the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was reconnected to Ukraine's external electricity grid yesterday, allowing operators to shut down its last operational reactor. Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency say shutting down the reactor is a safety measure, but that external power will still be required to run the plant's cooling and other safety capabilities. [more]

9/11 | In ceremonies yesterday marking the 21st anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, President Joe Biden spoke at the Pentagon, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Ground Zero in New York City, and First Lady Jill Biden spoke in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at the site of the crash of United Flight 93. [more]

OREGON | Authorities in Lane and Deschutes counties in Oregon have issued evacuation orders following the significant spread of the region's Cedar Creek wildfire over the weekend. [more]

WASHINGTON | Public school classes in Seattle have been cancelled for the fourth day in a row today due to the city's ongoing teacher strike over pay and classroom support issues. [more]

CANCER | U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to announce a series of measures today aimed at "ending cancer as we know it." Biden will speak at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, where he will address his goal, announced earlier this year, of reducing U.S. cancer fatalities by 50% over the next 25 years. [White House fact sheet] [more]

MONKEYPOX | Health officials in California's Los Angeles County say they are investigating a possible second U.S. death from monkeypox. California reported 4,140 cases of the disease last week, 1,694 of which were in Los Angeles County. [more]

ETHIOPIA | Tigray forces battling government troops in northern Ethiopia said yesterday that they are willing to participate in an immediate cease-fire and move forward with a peace process led by the African Union. [more]

PAPUA NEW GUINEA | A report from the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Asia and the Pacific says at least four people were killed in Papua New Guinea yesterday when a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific island nation. [more]

SWEDEN | Preliminary results from Sweden's parliamentary election yesterday suggest the conservative bloc of parties appears to have won a majority in the country's 349-seat parliament, defeating the left-wing bloc led by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson. Final results are expected Wednesday. [more]

U.K. | The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II will be flown from Scotland to London tomorrow, where it will lie in state at Westminster Hall from Wednesday until the late monarch's state funeral on September 19. [more]

MEXICO | Reports say at least 20 people died Saturday when a bus and a fuel truck collided in the northern Mexico state of Tamaulipas. [more]

COVID-19 | New Zealand lifted most of its remaining COVID-19-related restrictions today, including mandated masking in most public places, vaccine mandates, and vaccine requirements for tourist entry into the country. Restrictions still in place include masking in healthcare facilities and mandatory isolation for seven days after testing positive. [more]

TENNIS | In the finals of the 2022 U.S. Open, Carlos Alcaraz beat Casper Ruud yesterday to win the men's championship and Iga Swiatek defeated Ons Jabeur to win the women's championship on Saturday. [more]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL | The top five teams in this week's Associated Press college football poll are, in order, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, and Clemson. Of note, Notre Dame fell out of the top 25 after losing to Marshall, and Texas A&M fell from No. 6 to No. 24 after losing to Appalachian State. [full top 25]

FORMULA 1 | Max Verstappen won his 11th race of the year yesterday at the Italian Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Charles Leclerc in second place and George Russell in third. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1959, the Soviet Union launched Luna 2, the first space probe to hit the Moon. [more history]