November 25, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 274 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• About 60% of Kyiv was without power yesterday due to continued Russian shelling of the region’s electricity infrastructure, according to the capital city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko. Reports today say repair efforts continue to be made across Ukraine to restore power to residents, with state energy firm Ukrenergo saying 50% of the country's power demand was not being met as of yesterday evening. [more]

U.S. HEALTH | Healthcare officials across the U.S. are warning of risks to both health and the healthcare system due to significant increases in flu and respiratory syncytial virus infections at the same time as COVID-19 infections are still resulting in more than 3,000 hospital admissions every day. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Results of Alaska’s ranked-choice voting in the November 8 elections were announced this week, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski winning re-election and Democrat Mary Peltola winning the race for the state’s single seat in the House. [more]

SUGAR | The U.S. Customs and Border Protection service announced this week that it will ban products from the company Central Romana — the largest sugar producer in the world — from being imported into the U.S. over allegations that the company uses forced labor in its production. Banning of the company’s sugar, which is sold under the “Domino” brand in the U.S., is expected to result in increased sugar prices. [more]

TRUMP | Under a recently implemented New York law allowing victims to file sexual assault lawsuits that would otherwise have exceeded statutes of limitations, writer E. Jean Carroll has sued former President Donald Trump in New York for allegedly raping her in the 1990s. [more]

CALIFORNIA | The National Weather Service has issued “red flag” fire risk warnings for portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties in Southern California as dry conditions and wind gusts up to 70 mph are expected in the region. [more]

EUROPEAN ENERGY | Debates at an emergency meeting of European Union energy ministers yesterday failed to result in an agreement on implementing a bloc-wide natural gas price cap to shield E.U. citizens from large energy cost spikes linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Another meeting of the bloc’s energy ministers is scheduled for December 13. [more]

PAKISTAN | Former Pakistani intelligence chief Asim Munir has been named the new head of Pakistan’s military by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. [more]

ISRAEL | As part of ongoing efforts to form a coalition government, Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party signed an agreement today under which Itamar Ben-Gvir's far-right Jewish Power party will head Israel’s police ministry and hold a seat in the country’s security cabinet. [more]

COVID-19 | Health officials in the Chinese industrial hub city of Zhengzhou have ordered lockdown measures as COVID-19 infections in the city and across China spiked this week to the highest levels since April. [more]

JAPANESE ECONOMY | Government data released today shows that the Tokyo core consumer price index — a leading measure of nationwide price trends and inflation across Japan — rose 3.6% in November, compared to the year-ago period — the highest annual increase since April 1982. [more]

MALAYSIA | Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as Malaysia’s new prime minister yesterday at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur. [more]

ONLINE HATE SPEECH | According to an Associated Press report, the latest European Union analysis of hate speech moderation by social media platforms says Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube all did worse on the level of hate speech-flagged content reviewed within 24 hours in 2022, compared to 2021, while TikTok improved over the same period. Most companies’ removal rate of flagged content also fell during 2022, with only YouTube’s rate increasing. [more]

TWITTER | New Twitter owner Elon Musk announced yesterday that he will begin an “amnesty” program next week for suspended Twitter accounts that have not “broken the law or engaged in egregious spam." [more]

CRYPTO | Cryptocurrency exchange Binance yesterday pledged $1 billion to support cryptocurrency industry recovery and consumer protection efforts following the recent collapse of rival exchange FTX. [more]

VEHICLE RECALLS | Ford Motor Co. announced yesterday that it is recalling some 634,000 SUVs worldwide due to an issue with possible cracked fuel injectors that can lead to engine fires. The recall covers Bronco Sport and Escape SUVs from the 2020 through 2023 model years. Also yesterday, Chinese regulators said that Tesla is recalling more than 80,000 China-made and imported cars produced from as early as 2013 for software and seat belt issues. [more on Ford] [more on Tesla]

WORLD CUP | Switzerland beat Cameroon, 1-0, Portugal beat Ghana, 3-2, Brazil beat Serbia, 2-0, and Uruguay and South Korea tied, 0-0, in yesterday’s World Cup matches in Qatar. Today’s matches include Wales vs Iran, Qatar vs Senegal, the Netherlands vs Ecuador, and the United States vs England. [full schedule and results] [more]

ATHLETICS | Kenya’s sports ministry acknowledged yesterday that there is a significant problem with doping among Kenyan track and field athletes, saying in a statement that the issue is being addressed as “a matter of top strategic national interest.” [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1936, Germany and Japan formed the Anti-Comintern Pact against the Soviet Union. [more history]