October 20, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 238 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a declaration of martial law yesterday for the four illegally annexed Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. An additional decree signed by Putin expanded authority for emergency measures within Russia itself. [more]
• A closed U.N. Security Council meeting — requested by the U.S., France, and Britain —  was held last night to discuss the alleged transfer of military drones from Iran to Russia for use in Ukraine in potential violation of an export ban related to the 2015 international  nuclear agreement with Iran. Both Iran and Russia have denied that drones being used by Russian forces in Ukraine are of Iranian origin. [more]
• Ukrainian presidential adviser Kyrylo Tymoshenko said yesterday that Ukraine will begin to implement power restrictions in all regions of the country starting today. The statement comes amidst the ongoing Russian campaign of targeting Ukrainian electrical infrastructure, which reports say has severely damaged up to 40% of the country’s electric power system. [more]

TRUMP INVESTIGATIONS | In a ruling yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge David Carter ordered the release of communications between former President Donald Trump and attorney John Eastman to the House committee investigating the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. The ruling said the e-mail communications include evidence of potential crimes — specifically that Trump signed legal documents challenging the 2020 election results that contained voter fraud claims he knew to be false. [more]

COVID-19 | A newly released U.S. Government Accountability Office report based on CDC data concludes that COVID-19 was a contributing factor in 25% of maternal deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth in the U.S. over the combined 2020-2021 period. [more]

ELECTRIC VEHICLES | U.S. President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm yesterday announced the awarding of $2.8 billion in grants to 20 companies in 12 states to boost production of batteries for electric vehicles. The grants, which the recipient companies are required to match, are funded by the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed last year. [more]

CONSUMER PROTECTION | In a case brought by a payday lending group, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau federal watchdog agency is funded — through the Federal Reserve instead of directly through Congressional funding — is unconstitutional. Reports say the Bureau is likely to appeal the ruling to the full 5th Circuit Court and then to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary. [more]

U.K. POLITICS | Amidst growing calls for her to resign, U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss said yesterday that she has taken responsibility for mistakes made during her first weeks in office and “made the right decisions in the interest of the country’s economic stability.” [more]

SYRIA | The Associated Press cites internal World Health Organization documents as showing staff at the WHO’s Syria office have accused the agency’s Syria representative, Dr Akjemal Magtymova, of corruption, fraud, and misuse of WHO funds. Magtymova has described the accusations as “defamatory,” and the WHO has confirmed in a statement that it is reviewing the charges. [more]

CHAD | Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Deby declared a national state of emergency yesterday for the central African country due to flooding that has affected more than a million people in 18 of the country’s 23 provinces. [more]

SAKHAROV PRIZE | The European Parliament announced yesterday that it has awarded the 2022 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the people of Ukraine. The annual European Parliament award for defending human rights and freedoms is named for Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1818, the United States and Britain agreed to establish the 49th parallel as the official boundary between the U.S. and Canada. [more history]