April 5, 2023

UKRAINE | Today is day 405 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is visiting Poland today, where he will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Talks are expected to focus on Ukrainian refugees that have fled to Poland, ongoing Western support for the war effort, and eventual reconstruction of Ukraine. [more]
• Reports say Russia’s U.N. delegation has invited Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, to address an informal meeting of the U.N. Security Council via video link today. Both the U.K. and the U.S. have protested the address by Lvova-Belova, who has been charged, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, by the International Criminal Court in connection with alleged abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children. [more]
• U.S. military officials announced a new $2.6 billion military aid package for Ukraine yesterday, bringing the total of U.S. security assistance since the Russian invasion began to about $35.1 billion. The new aid package will reportedly consist mainly of ammunition and funds for the purchase of munitions, radar systems, and new weapons. [more]

TRUMP INVESTIGATIONS | In a Manhattan court yesterday, former U.S. President Donald Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in connection with hush money payments alleged to have been made to influence the 2016 presidential election and then acting to conceal the nature of those payments. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges and later decried the prosecution in a speech before supporters at his home in Florida. [full indictment] DA’s statement of facts] [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | Labor Department data released yesterday shows that the number of job vacancies in the U.S. fell to 9.9 million in February, down from 10.6 million in January, with healthcare and professional services roles seeing significant declines. [more]

ENERGY PRODUCTION | The U.S. Department of Energy announced $450 million in funding yesterday for clean energy projects at current and former coal mine sites. [more]

WISCONSIN | In a closely watched judicial election yesterday, Democratic-backed Milwaukee judge Janet Protasiewicz was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, ensuring majority liberal control of the court for the first time in 15 years. [more]

CHICAGO | Former teacher and union organizer Brandon Johnson was elected Chicago’s new mayor yesterday, defeating former Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas. [more]

LEAD PIPING | A new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency survey concludes that there are approximately 9.2 million lead pipes carrying water into homes in the U.S., with Florida having the most, followed by Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and New York. The survey results will be used to determine the distribution of funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to find and replace the lead piping. [more]

U.S., TAIWAN, AND CHINA | Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is scheduled to meet with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles today as Tsai finishes her tour of the Americas. China has threatened unspecified retaliatory measures should McCarthy meet with Tsai. [more]

MEXICO | Mexican authorities have ordered the arrest of five people -- four workers and one migrant -- in connection with last week’s fire at an immigration center in northern Mexico that killed 40 people. [more]

ISRAEL, GAZA, AND WEST BANK | Israeli police clashed with Muslim worshipers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City yesterday, with reports saying dozens of people were injured in the fighting. The incident was followed by rocket attacks on southern Israel from Gaza, Israeli airstrikes in response to the rocket attacks, and the wounding of at least one Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank. [more]

JAPAN | Reports say new imaging from inside one of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant’s reactors shows significant deterioration of its supporting structures and walls, raising concerns about the safety of the site in the case of an earthquake or other major disaster. [more]

COVID-19 | Health officials in South Korea have announced plans to conduct weekly sewage and wastewater testing across the country to track the spread of COVID-19 and to help identify new waves of infection. Reports say the testing could also aid in the detection of other disease outbreaks. [more]

ITALY | Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was reportedly hospitalized in Milan yesterday due to respiratory issues and is being treated in intensive care. [more]

TIKTOK | Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office yesterday fined Chinese-owned video sharing app TikTok and its parent company 12.7 million pounds ($15.9 million) for violating U.K. protections against the use of personal information about young users. [more]

TALC SETTLEMENT | Reports say healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson has offered to pay $8.9 billion to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits it faces in connection with allegations that the company’s baby powder and other talc-based products caused cancer. The company had previously offered a $2 billion settlement. [more]

WRITING AWARDS | U.S. writers Ling Ma and Percival Everett are among this year’s winners of the Windham-Campbell Prize for literary achievement. Other recipients include Irish writer Darran Anderson and the U.K.’s Jasmine Lee-Jones and Susan Williams. [full recipent list] [more]

BASEBALL | The Associated Press reports that the average salary for Major League Baseball players rose to a record $4.9 million this season — up 11.1% from last year and the largest year-over-year increase since 2001. [more]

NCAA BASKETBALL | Purdue center Zach Edey has been named this year’s recipient of the John R. Wooden Award as the nation’s top men’s college basketball player. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark won the women’s Wooden Award. Edey and Clark were also named the AP’s national players of the year. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1792, George Washington issued the first presidential veto in U.S. history. The rejected legislation concerned congressional redistricting. [more history]