January 16, 2023

UKRAINE | Today is day 326 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Russia and Belarus have announced the start of two weeks of joint military air drills, raising concerns of a potential new war front along the Ukraine-Belarus border and possible Belarusian involvement in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. [more]
• Officials in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro said today that the death toll from a weekend Russian missile strike that hit an apartment building in the city has risen to at least 35 and that dozens more remain missing. [more]
• Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says that new and expanded combat training of some 500 Ukrainian troops began in Germany yesterday, with the aim of returning the troops to the battlefields of Ukraine within five to eight weeks. [more]

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. | Ahead of today’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in the U.S., and marking what would have been the civil rights leader's 94th birthday, President Joe Biden delivered the sermon yesterday at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church where King once served as co-pastor. [more]

PUERTO RICO | Responding to public anger over chronic power outages and charges of corruption, mismanagement and inefficiency in Puerto Rico’s government-operated Electric Power Authority, the U.S. territory announced yesterday that electrical power generation on the island will be privatized. [more]

BIDEN DOCUMENTS | House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer said yesterday that his committee wants to see all documents and communications related to the discovery of classified documents at the Delaware home of President Joe Biden. Comer’s statement came a day after an additional five classified documents were found at Biden’s home late last week by his attorneys. [more]

GUN VIOLENCE | Authorities in Harris County, Texas, say one person was killed and four others wounded early Sunday morning when multiple gunmen emerged from a car and fired more than 50 shots into a crowd outside a nightclub in suburban Houston. [more]

NEPAL | A national day of mourning has been declared for today in Nepal following the crash of a twin-engine Yeti Airlines flight en route from the capital Kathmandu to the tourist town of Pokhara. Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority says at least 68 people died in the crash and that the cause of the accident is under investigation. [more]

ITALY | Authorities in Italy say convicted Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, long considered the head of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra organized crime syndicate and who had evaded police for some 30 years, was arrested today at a private medical clinic in Palermo, Sicily. [more]

CHINA | Officials at China’s National Health Commission said Saturday that nearly 60,000 people in China died from COVID-19 between December 8 and January 12 — a significantly higher number than previously reported, but much lower than estimates from global health researchers. [more]

GLOBAL INCOMES | In its new “Survival of the Richest” report, British anti-poverty group Oxfam says that global inequality has risen recently for the first time in decades, with the world’s richest 1% of people having gained nearly twice as much wealth as the remaining 99% of the world population combined since 2020. [more]

U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS | U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is scheduled to meet with her Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier Liu He, in Switzerland on Wednesday. Economic developments between the two countries, including the U.S. ban on sales of advanced computer chips to China, are expected to be the main topics of discussion. [more]

EGYPT | A Egyptian court yesterday sentenced 38 people to life in prison, and another 44 people to prison terms of 5-15 years, for their actions and social media posts that prosecutors say triggered anti-government protests in September 2019 across the North African nation. [more]

GERMANY | Amidst personal and policy criticism, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht announced her resignation today. A replacement for the position has not yet been announced by the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. [more]

GREECE | Constantine II, the former and last king of Greece, who died last week, is scheduled to be buried today at Tatoi Palace on the outskirts of Athens. [more]

BASKETBALL | During last night’s 113-112 Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, LeBron James joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only NBA players to ever score 38,000 career points. [more]

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE | "Avatar: The Way of Water" topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated $31.1 million in receipts, followed by "M3gan," and "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish." [more]

ENTERTAINMENT | “Everything Everywhere All at Once” won the award for best picture at last night’s 28th Critics Choice Awards. Best actor and actress awards went to Brendan Fraser for “The Whale” and Cate Blanchett for “Tár,” respectively. [full list of winners] [more]

R.I.P. | Italian film star Gina Lollobrigida has died at the age of 95 in Rome, according to reports. Lollobrigida was among the top movie stars of the 1950s and 1960s, starring in many films alongside the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Rock Hudson, and Errol Flynn. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1991, the Persian Gulf War, triggered by Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in August 1990, began with a U.S.-led air offensive against Iraq that continued until a cease-fire was declared on February 28. [more history]