December 1, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 280 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• In a press briefing today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that, by supplying weapons and military training to Ukrainian forces, NATO and other Western nations are directly involved in the war in Ukraine, creating an existential threat to Russia and increasing the risk of a nuclear war. [more]
• Ukrainian military officials said yesterday that Russia has begun pulling some troops from towns on the Dnipro River bank opposite the southern port city of Kherson and that Russian forces have intensified their shelling across the river. [more]
• Speaking at a NATO summit yesterday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country’s most important needs at present are electrical equipment to repair infrastructure targeted by Russian forces and more advanced air-defense systems. [more]

GUN LEGISLATION | A federal judge in Portland, Oregon, will hear arguments tomorrow on the constitutionality of Oregon’s voter-approved Measure 114, which requires people to obtain a permit to purchase guns and bans high-capacity magazines, and which is scheduled to take effect on December 8. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | In a speech at the Brookings Institution yesterday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested that while the Fed will continue to increase interest rates and keep them high to fight inflation, the rate increase for December may likely be smaller than the four recent three-quarter point hikes. [more]

MORE U.S. ECONOMY | The Commerce Department yesterday revised its estimate of annual U.S. economic growth in the July to September 2022 quarter to 2.9% — up from the initial estimate of 2.6%. [more]

GIVING TUESDAY | The organization behind the GivingTuesday charity donation initiative says U.S. charitable donations in the 24 hours of this year’s Tuesday after Thanksgiving totaled a record $3.1 billion. [more]

RAIL STRIKE | Ahead of a December 9 strike deadline, the U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to pass a bill that would impose a compromise labor agreement on rail unions and companies. The bill will now be considered by the Senate and, if approved, sent to President Biden, who supports the measure, to be signed into law. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Democrats in the House of Representatives voted yesterday to name New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries the caucus’ Minority Leader when the new Congress convenes in January. Jeffries will be the first Black American to head a major political party in either chamber of Congress. [more]

CHINA | Guangzhou in the south, Shijiazhuang in the north, and Chengdu in the southwest are among there major Chinese cities that have announced an easing of COVID-19 testing requirements and other coronavirus-related restrictions. The move follows recent protests against anti-virus restrictions, which have not been specifically mentioned in the orders to reduce testing and lockdown measures. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | Taliban authorities yesterday announced a ban on Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty radio broadcasts in Afghanistan, citing unspecified complains and violations of laws by the U.S.-funded broadcasters. [more]

MYANMAR | Duwa Lashi La, acting head of Myanmar’s National Unity Government, which comprises remnants of the administration of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, said yesterday that at least 2,000 pro-democracy fighters have been killed in fighting the country’s military junta that seized power in 2021. [more]

SPAIN | Police in Spain are investigating multiple letter bombs sent to various officials and offices over the past few days, including ones to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, Spain’s Defense Ministry, a Spanish arms dealer, and the country's Torrejon de Ardoz air force base. [more]

ISLAMIC STATE | A spokesman for the Islamic State terrorist group announced yesterday that the group’s leader, Abu al-Hasan al-Hashmi al-Qurayshi, died in an unspecified conflict and that a new leader has been appointed. Previous U.S. military reports have said al-Qurayshi was killed in October by Syrian rebel forces. [more]

ENVIRONMENT | Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research reported yesterday that deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon slowed last year, compared to the previous year, but that the rainforest still lost some 4,500 square miles between August 2021 and July 2022. [more]

INTESTINAL INFECTIONS | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday issued its first-ever approval of a pharmaceutical-grade fecal transplant procedure for treatment-resistant  Clostridium difficile intestinal infection. The treatment involves placement of stool samples from screened healthy donors in patients’ intestines, which has shown to significantly increase the chance of fighting off the infection. [more]

SOCIAL MEDIA | Thierry Breton, the European Union’s commissioner for digital policy, told Twitter owner Elon Musk yesterday that the social media platform could face fines and a potential E.U. ban if it does not take steps to comply with the bloc’s Digital Services Act, which requires companies to moderate their platforms for material that promotes such things as  terrorism, child sexual abuse, hate speech and commercial scams, and which is due to take effect next year. [more]

WORLD CUP | Australia beat Denmark, Tunisia beat France, Argentina beat Poland, and Mexico beat Saudi Arabia in yesterday’s World Cup matches in Qatar. Today’s matches include Croatia vs Belgium, Canada vs Morocco, Japan vs Spain, and Costa Rica vs Germany. [full schedule and results] [more]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL | Reports say organizers of the Rose Bowl football game have agreed to a College Football Playoff plan to expand the playoff to 12 teams, clearing the way for the expansion to begin in the 2024 season. [more]

R.I.P. | Christine McVie, vocalist, songwriter, and keyboard player for the band Fleetwood Mac, died yesterday at the age of 79. While not providing details, McVie’s family says she “passed away peacefully at hospital” following a “short illness.” [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1955, in violation of segregation laws in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger and was arrested, sparking a 381-day bus boycott led by Martin Luther King, Jr. [more history]