April 19, 2023

UKRAINE | Today is day 419 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that any decision by South Korea to supply arms to Ukraine would make the Asian nation a participant in the conflict. The statement came after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said his country would consider supplying such arms in the event of a major new attack against Ukrainian civilians by Russian forces. [more]
• The International Basketball Federation announced yesterday that Russia will remain banned from international basketball due to its invasion of Ukraine and that the country will not be allowed to participate in this year's pre-Olympic qualification tournaments. [more]

U.S. GUN VIOLENCE | Police in Maine say Joseph Eaton, 34, has been arrested in connection with the shooting deaths of four people at a house in the town of Bowdoin yesterday and the wounding of three other people on a nearby highway later in the day. [more]

2020 ELECTION | Fox News agreed yesterday to pay $787.5 million to settle the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit that claimed the broadcaster defamed Denver-based Dominion by spreading false claims that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election against then-President Donald Trump. [more]

ELECTION INFLUENCE | A federal grand jury in Florida voted yesterday to indict four U.S. citizens and three Russian citizens on charges of working with Russian intelligence services to try to influence U.S. elections. According to reports, the Russian’s charged in the case are alleged to have recruited members of political groups within the United States, including the African People's Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement, as well as members of the Black Hammer activist organization, to fund local elections and spread pro-Russian propaganda. [Justice Department statement] [more]

ABORTION | The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling today on lower court decisions that placed restrictions on the distribution of the abortion drug mifepristone and ordered the nullification of the FDA’s 2000 approval of the drug. [more]

UTAH | Governor Spencer Cox declared a state of emergency in Utah yesterday after record levels of snow began to melt and cause flooding. Authorities in the state say melting snow could cause continued flooding, avalanches, and landslides for several months. [more]

NEW JERSEY | A state rebate program for purchasers of electric vehicles in New Jersey was paused yesterday after officials said all of the funds allocated to the program for this fiscal year will soon have been distributed. Reports say the state’s Charge Up New Jersey program disbursed some $35 million this fiscal year and that the program is expected to resume later in the year. [more]

CALIFORNIA | The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that a 2019 ban on natural gas in new homes and buildings in Berkeley, California, violates federal law that gives the U.S. government the authority to set energy-efficiency standards for appliances. [more]

NEW YORK CITY | One person was killed, and five others were injured, yesterday when a parking garage in Manhattan’s financial district collapsed yesterday. The cause of the collapse, which occurred on the district’s Ann Street, is under investigation. [more]

POPULATION | According to the U.N.  Population Fund’s 2023 “State of World Population Report,” India will surpass China as the world’s most populous nation later this year, with India having an estimated 1.4286 billion people, compared to China’s 1.4257 billion.  Data from the report indicates that the China and India account for more than a third of the estimated global population of 8.045 billion and that the United States is the third most-populated nation, with about 340 million people. [more]

SUDAN | Amidst a failed 24-hour ceasefire that was to have taken place between warring parties in Sudan yesterday, U.N. officials say at least 270 people have been killed in fighting between Sudan’s military and the country’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. [more]

AFGHANISTAN | Achim Steiner, head of the U.N. Development Program, said yesterday that the U.N. may have to take the “heartbreaking" decision to pull out of Afghanistan in May if the ruling Taliban doesn’t rescind its ban on women in the country working for the international body. [more]

INDONESIA | One soldier was killed, and another four remain missing, in Indonesia’s Papua region in an attack earlier this week by the West Papua Liberation Army separatist group on troops taking part in a search operation, according to Indonesian military officials. [more]

NORTH KOREA | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said yesterday that his country has completed building its first military reconnaissance satellite and urged officials to accelerate preparations for its launch, according to the official KCNA news agency. [more]

MIDDLE EAST | In separate phone calls yesterday to his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang expressed his country’s willingness to facilitate peace talks between the two Middle Eastern parties. [more]

CHINA | Authorities in Beijing say at least 29 people died, and another 39 were injured, yesterday when a fire broke out at the city’s Changfeng Hospital. Reports say 12 people, including the hospital’s chief administrator and the head of construction crew working at the location, have been detained in connection with the fire. [more]

CANADA | An estimated 155,000 federal workers began a strike today over pay issues. The workers’ union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, says the strike is one of the largest in Canada’s history. [more]

RUSSIA AND VENEZUELA | On the second stop of his South American tour of four nations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with officials in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas yesterday, where he expressed support for the South American country and condemned U.S. sanctions against both nations. [more]

U.K. ECONOMY | The British Office for National Statistics reports today that year-over-year consumer prices in the U.K. rose 10.1% in March — the country’s seventh consecutive month of annualized inflation greater than 10%. [more]

E.U. SEMICONDUCTORS | Reports say the European Parliament and the 27 European Union member states have reached an informal agreement on the 43 billion euro E.U. Chips Act aimed at promoting Europe-based semiconductor research, design, testing, and development in an effort to reduce reliance on outside supplies of the essential computer components. [more]

AIR TRAVEL | A brief grounding of all Southwest Airlines flights by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration due to computer issues at the company led to the delay of some 2,200 Southwest flights — more than half of the company’s scheduled flights for the day. [more]

NFL | Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who suffered an on-field heart attack in early January, has reportedly been medically cleared to resume play and said yesterday that he intends to make a comeback to full NFL play. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the American Revolution began in an effort by 13 British colonies in North America to win their independence -- resulting, eventually, in the establishment of the United States of America. [more history]