 Russia reportedly intensified its targeting of civilian areas nearly a week into its invasion of Ukraine. More than 2,000 civilians have been killed across the country so far, according to Ukraine's emergency service, with heavy losses resulting from airstrikes and artillery bombardments in Kharkiv. Nevertheless, the Russian advance into the Ukrainian capital Kyiv has remained largely stalled, with a huge convoy of Russian vehicles stretching for miles outside the city. More: - President Biden said "it's clear" that Russia has been targeting civilians, though he did not say if he believed the country was committing war crimes.
- Russia's Ministry of Defense said that 498 of its soldiers had been killed since the start of the invasion, with nearly 1,600 wounded.
- The ministry also said that it had killed 2,870 Ukrainian troops and captured 572 others. None of these numbers were independently verified.
- The United Nations General Assembly voted 141-5 to condemn the invasion, with only Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, and Syria voting no. There were, however, 35 abstentions, including from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Vietnam.
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 The White House announced a new plan for managing the COVID-19 pandemic in a 96-page report that focuses on prevention, treatment, and preparation for new variants. The broadest change from current policy in the plan is the establishment of a "test to treat" system, where patients can immediately get prescribed an antiviral medication after testing positive. To put the plan into action, Congress will need to increase funding to ensure adequate supply of antivirals and tests. The plan's four stated goals: - Protect against and treat COVID-19
- Prepare for new variants
- Prevent economic and educational shutdowns
- Continue to vaccinate the world
More: - The White House argues that, since early 2021, the U.S. has increased its ability to sequence and assess mutations, and detect emerging variants. The CDC's new National Wastewater Surveillance System will monitor wastewater samples from across the country to attempt to get ahead of new surges.
- The plan also calls for more funding to provide vaccines to nations around the world. So far, the U.S. has only distributed 475 million doses of the 1.2 billion it has pledged.
- The plan, which was previewed during President Biden's State of the Union address, is an attempt by the administration to promote normalcy, even though Biden said the U.S. aims to "combat the virus," and that "we will never just accept living with COVID-19."
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 The Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates by a quarter-percentage point at its meeting in two weeks, Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday. Powell said it was too soon to know how Russia's invasion of Ukraine would impact the U.S. economy, but that the Fed would "proceed carefully" as it continues with its plan to raise rates over the next year. While a few officials have suggested that they would support a half-percentage point rate increase, such a move has not been made since 2000. More: - Powell believes that inflation will peak and then recede this year, though higher rate increases are possible this summer if prices continue surging.
- Inflation fears have been exacerbated by the invasion, with supply chains, particularly in the energy sector, being disrupted.
- Powell is awaiting Senate confirmation for a second term as Fed Chair. That vote has been delayed following a Republican boycott targeting another one of President Biden's Fed nominees.
- Powell, a Republican, has seen bipartisan support during his tenure.
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 GOOD NEWS: Original and never-before-published sketches from Dr. Seuss will be used to inspire a new line of children's books written and illustrated by diverse creators, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced Wednesday. The original stories will target readers between 4 and 8, and each book will include the original Dr. Seuss sketch that inspired it. The move comes a year after the company pulled six Dr. Seuss titles from publication due to racist images. More: - Dr. Seuss Enterprises has not yet announced which authors and illustrators will be working on the books, due to continuing contract negotiations.
- Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Geisel, died in 1991. Today would have been his 118th birthday.
- He remains one of the most popular children's authors in America. In 2021, Forbes listed him as the fifth-highest paid dead celebrity of the year. (Fellow children's author Roald Dahl was number 1.)
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Tech firms including Google, Apple, and Roku removed Russia's state-backed RT network from their platforms to prevent alleged efforts by the Kremlin to influence public opinion regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Google has removed RT and Sputnik from its Play Store and Apple has done the same on its App Store everywhere outside Russia. The moves come out of concern that state-sponsored news organizations in Russia are spreading misinformation about the invasion. RT denied that it has reported falsehoods. More: - Many of the companies made their decisions on the same day that the National Association of Broadcasters urged carriers "to cease carrying any state-sponsored programming with ties to the Russian government or its agents."
- DirecTV said it would pull RT America from its channel lineups; Canada's cable broadcasters have followed suit.
- A number of major cable providers in the U.S., including Spectrum and Comcast, already did not offer RT America.
- Dish Network is continuing to broadcast RT, though the company said it is "closely monitoring the situation."
- RT was forced to register as a foreign agent in the U.S. in 2017 after American intelligence agencies called it "Russia's state-run propaganda machine."
- In addition to pulling RT from the App Store, Apple has also halted all product sales to Russia.
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 Joshua James, one of 11 alleged members of the far-right Oath Keepers charged with seditious conspiracy related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, has reached a deal with prosecutors and will plead guilty to at least some charges. James, who lives in Arab, Alabama, was also charged with assault and resisting officers. Prosecutors said James led a line of individuals "in a military style single-file formation" past officers and into the Capitol Rotunda. More: - The Oath Keepers' leader, Stewart Rhodes, was charged in the same federal indictment with seditious conspiracy.
- James had previously pleaded not guilty to the charges.
- The sedition charges against James are distinct from the hundreds of others brought against people in connection with Jan. 6 due to allegations that the Oath Keepers took part in an organized effort to disrupt the certification of the Electoral College.
- James' trial was originally set to begin in July.
- The court documents do not detail the terms of the plea deal.
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- Senate confirmation hearings to put Ketanji Brown Jackson on the Supreme Court will begin on March 21.
- Apple announced that its first event of 2022, called "Peek Performance," will be held virtually on March 8. The company is expected to unveil a new iPhone SE and an updated iPad Air.
- Former Louisville police detective Brett Hankison testified in his defense on Wednesday against wanton endangerment charges brought after he fired his weapon during the botched raid that resulted in the death of Breonna Taylor.
- Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich will sell the Chelsea Football Club following threats from the U.K. to sanction him due to his connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- Part of a SpaceX rocket is expected to collide with the moon at 5,800mph on Friday, though it will not be visible by telescope and the crash could take months to confirm.
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 |  | Jonathan Harris is a writer and editor who lives in Los Angeles. |  | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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