 A Russian airstrike targeted a hospital in Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities, injuring at least 17 people, and potentially trapping others under rubble. More than 1,200 people have died in Mariupol since the Russian shelling started a week ago, while power and water services have largely been cut off in the city of nearly 450,000. More: - The hospital complex in Mariupol is the site of several buildings, including a maternity ward.
- The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that it had verified at least 18 attacks in Ukraine against health care targets, including facilities and ambulances.
Zoom out: - Ukrainian and U.S. officials warn that Russian forces will increase airstrikes and attempt to storm cities with ground troops after failing to overtake major cities since the invasion started on Feb. 24.
- Russia now controls several small cities in southern Ukraine as well as much of the eastern Donbas region. Their northern advance has gone slower, and officials expect an intensified assault against civilian targets in Kyiv and Kharkiv.
- Russian forces may be attempting to advance on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, which could isolate pockets of Ukrainian forces fighting in Donbas.
- Ukraine says it is concerned about a radiation leak from the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), however, said it has seen "no critical impact on safety."
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Democrats and Republicans in Congress have reached a $1.5T deal on a government funding package, including $14B in emergency economic and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine. The bill contains likely victories for both parties – Democrats are promoting the largest increase in non-defense discretionary funding in four years, and Republicans are lauding a $42B increase in defense spending. The package is a promised long-term funding deal, expected after months of short-term deals that temporarily averted government shutdowns. More: - Some more progressive Democrats have objected to a part of the plan that aims to rescind $15B of coronavirus aid set aside for state governments, which would be used to deliver tests, treatments, and vaccines on the federal level.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a compromise had fended off additional GOP attempts to remove aid earmarked for local governments.
- The House is likely to vote on the measure on Wednesday, after which it will head to the Senate.
- Some of the funding will enable the Biden administration to initiate work included in the 2021 infrastructure package.
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 Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Venezuela has released two jailed Americans after negotiations with senior Biden administration officials, the White House said. The release comes after the first visit by White House officials to the country since the late 1990s, and is potentially a sign that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro wants to improve his relationship with the U.S. The two released men are Gustavo Cárdenas, a Citgo executive, and Jorge Fernández, who was accused of terrorism by Venezuela in 2021 after allegedly using a drone. More: - Cárdenas was detained in 2017 alongside five other executives at the company who were accused of corruption. Those executives, and several other Americans, remain imprisoned in Venezuela.
- The U.S. State Department, in a statement, said both men were "unjustly detained" and have arrived back in the U.S. as of Wednesday morning, along with Roger Carstens, a Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs.
- According to officials, Carstens pushed for the release of all Americans – 10 in total – detained in Venezuela, and said that the door was open for future releases.
- The detained include former Green Berets Luke Denman and Airan Berry, who were arrested in 2020 during a failed attempt to overthrow Maduro, and former Marine Matthew Heath, who was detained in 2020 on weapons charges.
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 GOOD NEWS: A hybrid baby "narluga" is possible in the coming years, following a pod of beluga whales' adoption of a male narwhal, according to researchers. The narwhal is reaching sexual maturity, and researchers have confirmed that "hybridization is possible." The narwhal has been traveling with the beluga pod since at least 2016, when they were first spotted together in the St. Lawrence River. More: - Researchers say the male narwhal has engaged in many social interactions with the rest of the pod, but that he will need to be considered part of the "coalition" of male belugas in order to reproduce.
- "He is one of the crew; he is one of the buddies in there," researcher Robert Michaud said.
- After calves are born, it could be years before scientists can determine if one is a "narluga," given how similar it would look to other beluga calves at the onset.
- "Narluga" is not a scientific term, and is only used to describe potential hybrids of the species.
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 The first person ever to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died two months after the surgery, his doctors said Wednesday. David Bennett, 57, received the experimental transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart on Jan. 7. For several weeks, the pig heart was functioning as expected, and the University of Maryland Medical Center released regular updates indicating that Bennett was improving. His condition deteriorated earlier this month, and he died on March 8. More: - Despite Bennett's death, surgeons described the procedure as a "first step into uncharted territory" and an "incredible feat."
- The "xenotransplantation" of animal organs could potentially save thousands of lives every year; more than 100,000 Americans remain on organ waiting lists and 17 people die in the U.S. every day while waiting for a transplant.
- Doctors said they were "devastated" by Bennett's death, but called him "a brave and noble patient who fought all the way to the end."
- Bennett survived longer than any other xenotransplantation patient in the past. In 1984, a sick infant survived for 21 days with a baboon's heart.
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 School districts that required masks last fall saw 23% lower COVID-19 rates than districts that didn't, according to a new CDC study looking at data from Arkansas. The study, which looked at 233 school districts in the state, also found that COVID-19 cases declined after mask mandates were put into place. Schools that had a hybrid policy – for example, where masks were required in hallways but not in classrooms – saw fewer cases than districts with no mandates, but more than those with full mandates. More: - About 85% of the U.S. now has low enough case rates that the CDC does not recommend mandatory masks.
- Though national polls have consistently shown support for mask mandates in schools, lower caseloads nationwide and general pandemic fatigue may be altering public opinion.
- In a recent New Jersey poll, two-thirds of the state's residents said they agreed with the governor's decision to end the school mask mandate.
- Of the 500 largest school districts in the country, 31% still require masks to be worn at all times, down from 39.6% less than a week ago and 60.8% in early January.
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QUICK HITS - More than half of U.S. organizations said they currently spend $1M to $50M on AI initiatives every year, while another 15% are spending $51M or more according to LXT's new executive report.*
- A New York judge rejected a bid by Fox News to throw out a $2.7B defamation lawsuit brought by voting systems maker Smartmatic, which alleges that the network promoted false claims that the company helped rig the 2020 election. Smartmatic can pursue its case against Fox News and Rudy Giuliani, though the judge dismissed claims against Fox host Jeanine Pirro and Sidney Powell, a former attorney for Donald Trump.
- Tens of thousands of borrowers are likely to soon have their student loans forgiven through the Education Department's Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
- Conservative People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk-yeol has won South Korea's presidential election with a narrow victory over Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung.
- A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is asking the Justice Department to investigate Amazon over potential criminal obstruction of Congress during a 2019-2020 antitrust investigation. Read the group's full letter to the DoJ here.
- Disney+ has released a trailer for its "Star Wars" limited series "Obi-Wan Kenobi," which will be streaming on May 25.
- Not getting what you need from your payments processing company? Maybe it’s time for a new one.*
*This is sponsored content.
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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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