September 14, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 203 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that Ukrainian forces involved in a large-scale counteroffensive have retaken control of about 8,000 square kilometers of territory previously occupied by Russian troops. [more]
• Ukrainian forces regained control yesterday of the town of Vovchansk, which was captured on the first day of the Russian invasion and is located just two miles from the Russian border, according to a statement from Ukraine's border guard services. [more]

ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN Clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces continued for a second day today, with each side blaming the other for new rounds of artillery shelling. Reports say the two days of fighting between the countries have killed about 100 troops in total. [more]

BOSTON | The FBI is assisting in investigations today following the explosion of a package late yesterday on the campus of Northeastern University in Boston that wounded one university staff member. A second explosive device was neutralized by the Boston police bomb squad, according to reports. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | U.S. stock indices fell sharply yesterday following the release of government data showing that consumer prices rose 8.3% in August, compared to the year-ago period, and 0.1% from July. [more]

WASHINGTON | With the reaching of a contract agreement between Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association teachers' union yesterday, public school classes in Seattle are set to begin today following a multi-day teacher strike that had delayed the start of the school year. [more]

ABORTION | Both houses of West Virginia's Republican-controlled legislature passed a near-total state abortion ban yesterday. Governor Jim Justice is expected to sign the bill into law, which would make West Virginia the second state to almost completely ban abortions following the overturning of the Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling by the Supreme Court earlier this year. [more]

U.S. MILITARY | The independent commission charged with reviewing the use of Confederate names and references on U.S. military bases and assets released its final list of ships, base roads, buildings, and other items that they said should be renamed yesterday. Retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, vice-chair of the commission, said the final cost for all of its renaming recommendations would be nearly $62.5 million. [more]

TRUMP INVESTIGATIONS | A federal judge yesterday unsealed additional portions of the FBI affidavit used to obtain the search warrant authorizing the seizure of documents from the Florida home of former President Donald Trump last month. The newly un-redacted information reveals that a hard drive was obtained by investigators following a subpoena for surveillance footage recorded inside Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. [more]

CLIMATE | In a report drawing on data from several U.N. agencies, the World Meteorological Organization says there is about a 48% chance that global temperature rise compared to pre-industrial times will reach 1.5 degree Celsius in the next five years and that worldwide climate-related disasters cost about $200 million and kill 115 people per day. [detailed findings] [more]

TAIWAN | Reuters cites unnamed sources as saying the U.S. is considering options for a sanctions package against China to deter it from invading Taiwan as military tensions in the Taiwan Strait escalate. [more]

ETHIOPIA | At least 10 people were killed this morning in airstrikes by Ethiopian government forces on the northern Ethiopia Tigray region's capital city of Mekele, according to health officials in the city. [more]

EUROPEAN POWER | European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen yesterday proposed capping the revenues of European electric companies that she says are making extraordinary profits due to the war in Ukraine and climate change. Van der Leyen said the proposal could raise up to $140 billion to help people dealing with increased energy prices. [more]

QUEEN ELIZABETH II | The coffin of late British monarch Queen Elizabeth II arrived in London last night, where it will lie in state at Westminster Hall for four days ahead of her September 19 state funeral. [more]

TECHNOLOGY | The European Court of Justice’s General Court today upheld a 2018 antitrust fine of more than 4 billion euros that Google was ordered to pay over anticompetitive policies related to the dominance of its Android smartphone operating system. [more]

PRIVACY | South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission said today that it has fined Alphabet's Google and Facebook parent company Meta $50 million and $22 million, respectively, for consumer privacy violations, saying the companies failed to properly inform users prior to collecting and analyzing online behavioral information to infer interests and provide targeted advertising. [more]

NBA | The National Basketball Association said yesterday that it has suspended Phoenix Suns managing partner Robert Sarver for one year and fined him $10 million following an investigation into racist and sexist conduct. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | U.S. General Winfield Scott's advance on Mexico City was marked by an unbroken series of victories that culminated on this day in 1847, when he entered Mexico City and ended the military phase of the Mexican-American War. [more history]