September 29, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 218 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin will sign annexation agreements with the four Ukrainian regions that held referendums on joining the Russian Federation tomorrow, according to a statement from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The four regions -- Luhansk, Kherson, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia -- represent about 15% of Ukrainian territory. [more]
• The U.S. yesterday announced an additional $1.1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, bringing the total of such aid to more than $16.2 billion since the Russian invasion began. [more]
• The Finnish government announced yesterday that it will significantly limit passenger traffic on Finland’s border with Russia and ban Russians from entering Finland on tourist visas beginning tomorrow. [more]

HURRICANE IAN | An estimated 2.4 million people are without power this morning in Florida after Hurricane Ian hit the state's southwestern coast as a Category 4 storm yesterday, causing extensive wind and flood damage as it moved across the state. Now a tropical storm, Ian is expected to emerge over Atlantic waters today before veering back ashore in South Carolina on Friday. States of emergency have been preemptively declared in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia, which are predicted to experience heavy rains and flooding from the storm into the weekend. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | According to police reports, at least six adults were wounded yesterday in a shooting at Oakland, California's Rudsdale Newcomer High School, which serves recent immigrants ages 16-21 who have fled violence and instability in their home countries. [more]

U.S. GOVERNMENT | The House and Senate are both expected to vote by tomorrow on a temporary government funding bill to avert a partial government shutdown ahead of the September 30 end of the fiscal year. The bill would extend government funding through December 16. [more]

RWANDA | The U.N. trial of Felicien Kabuga, a former businessman and radio station owner, on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in connection with the 1994 Rwandan genocide that saw the killing of more than 800,000 minority Tutsis by the ruling Hutu majority begins today in The Hague. [more]

KOREA | U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris concluded a four-day trip to Asia today with a visit to the Demilitarized Zone that separates North Korea and South Korea. [more]

U.K. ECONOMY | Speaking yesterday on the week-long U.K. economic and financial market tumble that followed the release of her economic recovery plan, British Prime Minister Liz Truss said, "We had to take urgent action to get our economy growing, get Britain moving, and also deal with inflation, and, of course, that means taking controversial and difficult decisions." [more]

MYANMAR | Reports say Aung San Suu Kyi, the former leader of now-military-ruled Myanmar, along with three members of her cabinet and Australian economist Sean Turnell, was convicted of violating the country's official secrets act yesterday. All of the defendants received three-year prison sentences in the trial, which was closed to the media and the public. Suu Kyi had already been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment on other charges, including sedition, election fraud, and corruption. [more]

MEDICAL AWARDS | Recipients of this year's Lasker Foundation awards for achievements in medical research were announced yesterday. Johns Hopkins University's Lauren Gardner received the public service award for the development of a popular COVID-19 tracking dashboard in the early days of the pandemic; the medical research award went to Yuk Ming Dennis Lo, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, for creating a prenatal blood test that can check for Down syndrome and other genetic conditions; and the basic research award went to a group of scientists for research on key immune proteins called integrins. [more]

ENVIRONMENT | A new report from nongovernmental organization Global Witness says that 200 environmental and land defense activists were killed around the world in 2021. Mexico had the highest number of such deaths in 2021, with 54. [more]

PORSCHE IPO | German carmaker Volkswagen set the offering price for its spinoff IPO of luxury carmaker Porsche at 82.5 euros per share yesterday. Shares in Porsche are set to begin trading in Europe today. [more]

R.I.P. | Rap artist Coolio, best known for his 1990s hits "Gangsta's Paradise" and "Fantastic Voyage," died yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 59, according to a statement from his manager. [more]

BASEBALL | The New York Yankees' Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run of the season last night, tying Roger Maris’ American League record. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1988, Discovery was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, marking a resumption of the NASA space shuttle program, which had been suspended following the Challenger explosion in 1986. [more history]