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Good night. Right here’s the newest on the finish of Monday.
1. President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to be despatched to Ukraine’s breakaway areas for “peacekeeping features.”
The Kremlin printed decrees shortly after Putin acknowledged the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, the 2 territories in japanese Ukraine managed by Moscow-backed separatists. Western leaders worry that the transfer may very well be a prelude to a full-scale invasion of Ukraine that will set off one of many largest conflicts in Europe since World Struggle II.
In an deal with to the nation, Putin made the case that Ukraine was, by historical past and make-up, an integral a part of Russia. He appeared to put the groundwork for motion past recognizing the breakaway republics. He demanded that Ukraine “instantly stop army motion” and warned that, “if not, the whole duty for the potential of a continuation of bloodshed shall be absolutely and wholly on the conscience of the regime ruling the territory of Ukraine.”
In response to Russia’s recognition, the Biden administration mentioned it will impose restricted sanctions on the 2 separatist areas, but it surely didn’t impose any penalties straight on Russia. Leaders of the E.U. additionally condemned Putin’s transfer and vowed to impose sanctions.
2. The specter of conflict in Ukraine has already taken an financial toll. It may worsen.
President Biden’s promise of extreme sanctions towards Russia and the potential of retaliation by Moscow have despatched Russian shares sinking and pushed up fuel and oil costs. Russia gives greater than a 3rd of Europe’s pure fuel, which heats properties, generates electrical energy and powers factories, and the tensions are driving some vitality costs up fivefold, upending individuals’s lives.
3. The world’s reopening continues.
Australia welcomed worldwide guests for the primary time in practically two years. In London, Prime Minister Boris Johnson mentioned it was time to stay with the coronavirus, saying an finish to England’s remaining restrictions and most free testing. Israel will reopen to all international vacationers, beginning subsequent week.
Queen Elizabeth, who turns 96 in April, examined optimistic for Covid over the weekend, and was “experiencing delicate, coldlike signs,” Buckingham Palace mentioned Sunday.
As individuals around the globe grapple with the prospect of dwelling with the virus, one query looms giant: How quickly earlier than they want one other Covid vaccine shot? Not for a lot of months, and maybe not for years, in response to a flurry of latest research.
4. Jurors within the hate crimes trial of Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers are deliberating over one query: Did the three white males kill the younger Black man due to the colour of his pores and skin?
The jury spent hours listening to proof that the defendants harbored racist beliefs. In his closing argument immediately, a federal prosecutor mentioned the “defendants didn’t present Ahmaud Arbery the dignity {that a} canine deserves when it will get hit by a automotive” and that the actions of the lads have been about race.
However over the course of the trial, no proof has been offered that exhibits that racist slurs and insults have been aimed particularly at Arbery. A lawyer for one of many defendants argued that his consumer needed to cease Arbery as a result of he suspected him of being concerned in crimes in his neighborhood, not as a result of he was Black.
5. A high court docket decriminalized abortion in Colombia, the third main Latin American nation to permit entry to the process.
The ruling by Colombia’s Constitutional Court docket decriminalized abortions within the first 24 weeks of being pregnant and set the stage for the federal government in Bogotá to manage the method additional. It follows years of organizing by ladies throughout Latin America for extra rights, together with entry to abortion. Mexico’s Supreme Court docket decriminalized abortion in September, and Argentina’s Congress legalized it in late 2020.
The choice got here because the U.S. has been transferring in the other way, with the U.S. Supreme Court docket contemplating a case that might overrule Roe v. Wade. Right here’s how U.S. abortion regulation compares to different nations.
6. A number of consideration across the November midterm elections has centered on the Home, however the Democrats’ Senate majority can also be in play.
The 4 Democratic senators most in danger — Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire — are going through powerful campaigns due to inflation, voter anger and sinking approval of President Biden.
State-by-state fights over redrawing districts will even play a central position within the midterms. A type of maps creates an unlikely political marriage between conservative Staten Island and liberal Park Slope, Brooklyn. The brand new map will support Democratic efforts to win a Republican-held Home seat in New York.
7. Black farmers have been promised debt aid. They acquired foreclosures notices as a substitute.
Lawsuits from white farmers have blocked $4 billion of pandemic support that was allotted to Black farmers, a gaggle that has endured a long time of discrimination from banks and the federal authorities. Courts in Wisconsin and Florida sided with plaintiffs who argued that the debt aid amounted to discrimination. A category-action lawsuit towards the Agriculture Division is continuing in Texas this yr.
Late final yr, the federal government despatched hundreds of letters to minority farmers who have been behind on their mortgage funds warning that they confronted foreclosures, together with a couple of third of the 15,000 socially deprived farmers who utilized for the debt aid, in response to the Agriculture Division.
10. And at last, a world of gators, dolphins and sharks.
After a storm disrupted plans for a 99-mile paddling tour of Florida’s Everglades, a Occasions journalist’s journey on the water took a extra reflective flip. Stephen Hiltner reworked his itinerary and deliberate for a much less formidable loop between distant campsites, with fewer miles and extra time for shut remark.
On this distinctive ecosystem, which encompasses the most important subtropical wilderness reserve on the North American continent, Hiltner noticed wading birds, American alligators, dolphins, bull sharks and a wealth of colourful flora. The outcome was a “transformational expertise” wherein he was capable of look intently, pay attention intently and take up the surroundings.