March 2, 2023

UKRAINE | Today is day 371 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Reports say at least three people were killed, and six others wounded, when a Russian missile hit an apartment building in the southeastern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia early this morning. [more]
• Media reports in Russia say Kremlin officials are taking steps to "destroy Ukrainian terrorists" following allegations of a cross-border attack by a Ukrainian sabotage group in Russia's Bryansk region. [more]

U.S. POLITICS | Reports say President Joe Biden is expected to issue the first veto of his presidency to block a measure passed by Congress this week that would overturn a Department of Labor rule allowing asset managers to consider environmental, social and corporate governance factors when making investment decision for retirement funds. [more]

FLIGHT SECURITY | Marc Muffley, 40, of Pennsylvania, was arrested yesterday and charged with attempting to place an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft after he allegedly checked a suitcase with an explosive device hidden in the lining on to a Florida-bound flight at Lehigh Valley International Airport. [more]

CYBERSECURITY | The Biden administration yesterday announced a new, comprehensive National Cybersecurity Strategy that, among other things, aims to increase efforts to defend critical infrastructure, disrupt the activities of threat actors, and increase government-business and U.S-international cooperation to address cybersecurity threats. [full strategy document] [more]

NEW YORK | New York City and the New York Police Department announced yesterday that they have agreed to pay nearly $7 million to more than 300 protesters who were arrested, detained, or subjected to violence during June 2020 demonstrations that followed the death of George Floyd. Each of the protestors in the case will receive $21,500. [more]

SIRHAN | A California parole board declined to free Robert F. Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan, 78, from prison yesterday, saying he still lacks insight into what caused him to shoot the then senator and presidential candidate in 1968. [more]

PANDEMIC FRAUD | The White House said yesterday that President Joe Biden is seeking $1.6 billion in new funding to address fraud related to COVID-19 pandemic relief programs. According to a fact sheet, the funds would be used to ensure investigation and prosecution of criminal syndicates involved in systemic pandemic fraud, invest in fraud and identity theft prevention efforts, and help victims of identity theft. [more]

HAVANA SYNDROME | U.S. intelligence officials say there does not appear to be a link between any foreign adversary and hundreds of cases of so-called "Havana syndrome," in which people have reported headaches, dizziness, and other symptoms and which has been theorized to be associated with some form of directed energy. Investigators say no single explanation has been found for the cases and that many appear to be linked to environmental factors or undiagnosed illnesses. [more]

G20 | A meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 20 world-leading economies began today in New Delhi, India, where the war in Ukraine and China’s global influence are expected to be among the main topics of discussion. In a video address to delegates, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged countries to work for greater cooperation, saying, “We should not allow issues that we cannot resolve together to come in the way of those we can.” [more]

YEMEN | British naval officials said yesterday that the Royal Navy conducted an operation on February 23 in which anti-tank missiles and fins for ballistic missile assemblies were seized from a small boat thought to have been heading from Iran to Yemen. The operation was in support of U.N. resolutions that ban the transfer of arms to Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. [more]

GREECE | Railway workers are on strike today in Greece over working conditions and what they say is a lack of modernization of the country’s rail system. The strike was called in the aftermath of Tuesday's collision of a passenger train and a freight train that killed at least 43 people near the northern Greece town of Tempe. [more]

TAIWAN | The U.S. State Department said yesterday that it has approved a new sale of $619 million worth of missiles and related equipment to Taiwan for use with the Asian territory's fleet of F-16 fighter jets that were previously purchased from the United States. [more]

ARGENTINA | Reports say more than half of Argentina was without power for several hours yesterday after a large wildfire brought down power lines and forced a nuclear power station to be taken offline. Authorities say the outage has been largely resolved as of this morning. [more]

VIETNAM | The Vietnamese National Assembly today elected Vo Van Thuong as the country's new president. Thuong's election follows the January resignation of his predecessor, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, amidst a nationwide crackdown on corruption. [more]

SPACE | Following a mission delay earlier this week, astronauts from the United States, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates were launched into space aboard a SpaceX rocket early this morning from Kennedy Space Center. The crew will spend several months aboard the International Space Station. [more]

DIABETES | Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, one of the major suppliers of insulin in the U.S., announced a price-cutting plan yesterday under which it intends to cap diabetes patients' out-of-pocket costs for insulin to $35 per month. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1956, the North African country of Morocco, situated directly across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain, proclaimed its independence from France. [more history]