October 14, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 232 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• At a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels yesterday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that while NATO is not a party to the conflict in Ukraine, the alliance will "continue to support Ukraine, for as long as it takes." The statement came following earlier pledges by several NATO nations to provide additional aid, including multiple air defense systems, to Ukraine. [more]
• Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin announced yesterday that free accommodation would be provided for residents of Ukraine's partially occupied Kherson region who want to evacuate to Russia. The announcement came following an earlier statement from the British military that "Russian occupation authorities have likely ordered preparation for the evacuation of some civilians from Kherson." [more]
• Representatives from 46 national parliaments to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted almost unanimously yesterday to approve a resolution calling on European countries to "declare the current Russian regime as a terrorist one." Ninety-nine of the 100 representatives voted in support of the resolution, while one Turkish member abstained from voting. [more]
• Alexei Miller, CEO of Russia's Gazprom natural gas company, said yesterday that a large section of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines may well have to be replaced following damage to the pipelines last month. Russia has characterized the explosions that damaged the pipelines, which were built to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany, as "terrorism," while E.U. leaders said the damage was caused by "sabotage." [more]

JANUARY 6 | Members of the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously yesterday to subpoena former President Donald Trump to provide testimony under oath before the committee. The committee also presented information indicating that the Secret Service was aware of possible violence at the Capitol in the days leading up to January 6, and that Trump had long planned to insist he won the 2020 election, regardless of the election result. [more]

U.S. SOCIAL SECURITY | Social Security benefit payments in the U.S. will increase by 8.7% starting in January, according to the Social Security Administration — the largest cost-of-living increase for the program in more than 40 years. [fact sheet] [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | Authorities say five people were killed yesterday when a gunman opened fire along a walking trail in Raleigh, North Carolina. The gunman, whose identity has not yet been released, was arrested last night following an hours-long manhunt. [more]

PARKLAND SHOOTING | A Florida jury yesterday recommended that the man responsible for the 2018 shooting deaths of 17 people at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School not be executed and that he, instead, spend life in prison without the possibility of parole. Nickolas Cruz, now 24, pleaded guilty to the shooting last year. [more]

FLORIDA | Following requests from Lee, Charlotte, and Sarasota counties, each of which sustained major damage from Hurricane Ian late last month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order yesterday expanding voting access in the three counties for the upcoming midterm elections. [more]

CHINA | The 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, at which Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to be re-elected to an unprecedented third term as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, opens this weekend in Beijing. [more]

IRAN | In a report published yesterday, human rights organization Amnesty International says that at least 23 children ages 11-17 have been killed by Iran's security forces since September 16 in actions aimed at quelling ongoing widespread anti-government protests. [more]

KOREA | South Korea imposed its first unilateral sanctions on North Korea in five years yesterday following the North's latest round of missile tests and military drills, which included a ballistic missile launch, the firing of at least 170 artillery rounds, and warplane maneuvers along the border with South Korea. [more]

WEST BANK | Reports say at least one Palestinian was killed and another critically wounded in clashes early today between Israeli forces and armed Palestinians in the West Bank city of Jenin. [more]

U.K. ECONOMY | British Prime Minister Liz Truss is expected to announce plans today to abandon portions of her government's proposed budget in a move aimed at calming market and economic turmoil that followed the earlier announcement of the budget's provisions. [more]

ELECTRIC VEHICLES | Electronics giant Sony and carmaker Honda announced yesterday that they will collaborate to produce electronic vehicles, with the first car model from Sony Honda Mobility Inc. expected to go on sale in the U.S. by 2026. [more]

CLIMATE | The Portugal-based Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation announced yesterday that it is awarding its 1-million-euro Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity to two climate organizations: the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the independent Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1926, English author A.A. Milne published Winnie-the-Pooh, a children's book featuring the adventures of a honey-loving bear and his friends, including Eeyore and Piglet. [more history]