October 4, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 223 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian forces have reportedly made significant advances in their counteroffensive in southeastern Ukraine, including breaking through Russian lines near the town of Dudchany along the Dnipro River in the Kherson region. [more]
• Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said today that more than 200,000 people have been conscripted into the Russian army since President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of reservists in September. [more]

HURRICANE IAN | Reports say that, as of yesterday evening, an estimated 520,000 homes and businesses in Florida remain without power in the wake of Hurricane Ian. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against CNN yesterday in which he accuses the news network of defaming him in an attempt to damage possible future political campaigns he may undertake. In a related statement, Trump suggested that he may file similar lawsuits against other news organizations. [more]

NORTH KOREA | Japanese and South Korean defense officials say North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan this morning for the first time in five years. The missile flew for approximately 2,800 miles before landing in the Pacific Ocean. [more]

WOMEN IN SPORTS | An independent investigation commissioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation concludes that verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct has become systemic in women's professional soccer in the United States and that such abuse often begins in youth leagues. The investigation team was led by former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates. [more]

SUPREME COURT | The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today in an Alabama case that centers on the issues of the Voting Rights Act and how state legislatures draw congressional district lines when the state's voters are racially polarized. [more]

TECH AND TERRORISM | The U.S. Supreme Court said yesterday that it will hear two cases in which the families of people killed in terrorist attacks have sued social media companies, claiming that the companies helped terrorist groups spread their messages and radicalize new recruits. The cases are seen as important challenges to U.S. laws that generally exempt internet platforms from liability for material posted by users. [more]

U.S. VOTING | The Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity office warned yesterday that Russia is actively trying to amplify doubts about the integrity of U.S. elections and that there is evidence China is working to undermine American politicians it sees as threats to Beijing’s interests. [more]

ECUADOR | Reports say at least 15 people were killed, and 20 others injured, yesterday in clashes amongst prisoners in Latacunga prison in central Ecuador. [more]

EUROPEAN ENERGY | In a jointly written op-ed in the Irish Times yesterday, European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton called for the 27 E.U. member nations to move forward with a joint borrowing plan to address the bloc's ongoing energy price crisis. [more]

KENYA | In a move aimed at helping to address the East African country's worst drought in 40 years, Kenyan President William Ruto announced yesterday that the country's ban on genetically modified crops, which has been in place since 2012, has been lifted. [more]

IRAN | Iranian state media reports today that the country's Space Research Center and Defense Ministry successfully launched a space "tug" craft yesterday that is capable of shifting satellites between orbits. [more]

CLIMATE | U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said yesterday that the world is in a "life-or-death struggle" for survival due to accelerating climate change and global warning and called for the world's wealthiest countries to do more to limit the dangers. Guterres' statement comes ahead of a major U.N. climate conference to be held in Cairo, Egypt, in November. [more]

PAKISTAN | U.N. humanitarian aid officials announced yesterday that, in addition to a previously announced $160 million aid package, they will seek an additional $656 million from member states for aid to survivors of recent catastrophic flooding in Pakistan. [more]

U.S. AUTO SALES | Auto industry tracker Edmunds reports that sales of new vehicles in the U.S. fell 0.9% in the third quarter of 2022 and that the average auto loan interest rate in the same period was 5.7% -- up from 4.3% in the year-ago period. [more]

NOBEL PRIZES | Scientists Alain Aspect, John Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger were named the winners of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics today for "experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science". [more]

BASEBALL | The St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols hit his 703rd career home run yesterday, driving in an on-base player and moving Pujols past Babe Ruth to take second place in career runs-batted-in, with 2,216, behind only Hank Aaron, who had 2,297 career RBIs. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, which orbited Earth until 1958, inaugurated the space age, and heightened Cold War competition between the Soviet Union and the United States. [more history]