December 13, 2022

UKRAINE | Today is day 292 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Responding to a call from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for Russian troops to be withdrawn from Ukraine to begin a peace process, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Ukraine needs to accept the territorial reality of Russia’s September annexation of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions of Ukraine. [more]
• As many as 45 nations and 20 international institutions are expected to take part in an international donor conference for Ukrainian civilian aid that begins in Paris today. Speaking to the conference via video link, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that as many as 12 million residents of Ukraine are without power amidst the ongoing Russian invasion and that his country needs electricity generators as urgently as it needs military equipment for its troops. [more]

FUSION ENERGY | U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is expected to announce today that researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have, for the first time, achieved net energy gain in a fusion reaction — producing more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it. [more]

MARRIAGE LEGISLATION | President Joe Biden is scheduled to sign the Respect for Marriage Act into law today, codifying protections for same-sex and interracial marriages under federal law. The Act does not mandate that states legalize such marriages, but requires them to recognize all marriages that were legal where they were performed. [more]

TRUMP INVESTIGATIONS | Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger received a subpoena yesterday in connection with investigations into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election seeking “any and all communications in any form” between June 1, 2020, and Jan. 20, 2021, “to, from or involving” former President Donald, Trump, his campaign, lawyers and aides. [more]

WEATHER | Large portions of the central U.S. are under blizzard warnings today, with as much as two feet of snow expected to fall in some areas, including western South Dakota and northwestern Nebraska. The National Weather Service also warns that up to half an inch of ice could form in parts of Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | Economists surveyed by data firm FactSet predict that government data due out today will show that consumer inflation rose 7.3% in November, compared to the year-ago period, which, while still high, would represent a fifth straight month of slowdowns in year-over-year inflation. [more]

BIAS AND DISCRIMINATION TASK FORCE | The White House yesterday announced the formation of an inter-agency task group led by Domestic Policy Council and National Security Council staff to increase and coordinate U.S. government efforts to counter antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of bias and discrimination within the United States. [more]

CALIFORNIA | The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday refused a request from tobacco companies to stop a California law banning flavored tobacco products from taking effect later this month. The ban was approved by California voters in November. [more]

INDIA AND CHINA | Reports say both Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured, though none seriously, in hand-to-hand fighting between the two nations’ border patrols last week in the Tawang sector of India's northeastern Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China's south and is also claimed by Beijing. The incident is the first such clash between troops from China and India since a June 2020 outbreak of fighting that killed 24 soldiers in the Galwan Valley border area. [more]

U.K. RAIL STRIKE | Travel and freight disruptions are expected across the U.K this week as members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union take part in two 48-hour strikes — today and tomorrow and then Friday and Saturday — over pay and working condition issues. [more]

HONG KONG | The national security trial of Hong Kong pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai has been postponed until September 2023 pending a ruling from the Chinese government on whether Lai can hire a foreign attorney for his defense. Lai was arrested in August 2020 on charges of  endangering national security. [more]

BRAZIL | Supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose term in office ends on December 31, clashed with police in the capital city of Brasilia yesterday during protests that came just hours after Brazil’s electoral authority certified President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s October election victory over Bolsonaro. [more]

NEW ZEALAND | A unique plan to phase out tobacco smoking passed into law in New Zealand yesterday, imposing a lifetime ban on the purchase of tobacco by anyone born on or after January 1, 2009. [more]

SEMICONDUCTORS | Reuters cites unnamed sources as saying that, in reaction to U.S. regulations banning the export of some semiconductor technology and knowledge to China, the Chinese government is working on a  plan to provide up to $143 billion in support to its domestic semiconductor industry. [more]

TWITTER | Reports say members of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council, an advisory group formed in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm, and other problems on the social media platform, were informed by company owner Elon Musk yesterday that the council has been disbanded. [more]

CRYPTOCURRENCY | Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of failed cryptocurrency firm FTX, was arrested yesterday in the Bahamas at the request of the U.S. government. The arrest came after criminal charges related to the FTX collapse were filed against Bankman-Fried in U.S. federal court. [more]

VEHICLE RECALL | Chrysler parent company Stellantis has announced the recall of some 1.4 million pickup trucks worldwide due to potential tailgate latching issues. The recall covers various 2019 through 2022 model year Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 pickup trucks. [more]

ENTERTAINMENT | Nominations for the 80th Golden Globe awards were announced last night, with “The Banshees of Inisherin” leading in the film categories with eight nominations and “Abbott Elementary” leading the television categories with five nominations. The awards ceremony will be held on January 10. [full nominee list] [more]

WORLD CUP | Argentina and Croatia face one another today in the first 2022 World Cup semifinal game in Qatar. France will play Morocco tomorrow in the other semifinal game. [full bracket] [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army seized Nanjing, China, during the Sino-Japanese War, leading to the Nanjing Massacre, in which up to 300,000 Chinese may have been killed. [more history]