Friday,  April 1st, 2022 

Russia, Ukraine agree to Mariupol cease-fire Russian and Ukrainian officials on Thursday announced a temporary cease-fire in the battered southern port city of Mariupol to let civilians out and humanitarian aid in. About 100,000 residents are believed trapped in the besieged city, which was home to 450,000 before Russia invaded Ukraine. Both sides have accused the other of violating local cease-fires intended to let civilians leave through humanitarian corridors. The International Committee of the Red Cross is hoping that the temporary cease-fire will let the convoy of 45 buses reach trapped civilians. “Time is running out to help these people,” said ICRC spokesperson Alyona Synenko. THE GUARDIAN 

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says that Ukraine has sent buses to Mariupol in an effort to evacuate citizens from the city. (BBC News) 

Biden orders oil release  President Biden on Thursday ordered the release of one million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve over 180 days to help bring down crude oil prices driven up by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Oil prices fell slightly in anticipation of the announcement. The release — the largest since the emergency stockpile was established in the 1970s — will help offset the loss of about three million barrels per day of Russian oil. “It is still a Band-Aid on a significant shortfall of supply,” said Scott Sheffield, chief executive of Pioneer Natural Resources, a major Texas oil company. THE NEW YORK TIMES 

Putin tells foreign buyers to pay for Russian gas in rubles  Russian President Vladimir Putin told foreign buyers of Russian natural gas to pay in rubles starting Friday or face supply cuts. Putin said buyers would have to open ruble accounts in Russian banks and use them to pay for their gas. “Nobody sells us anything for free, and we are not going to do charity either,” he said. The decree renewed a demand European countries, who get a third of their gas from Russia, have already rejected. Germany, which has already activated an emergency plan that could include rationing, called Moscow’s move “blackmail.” Energy exports offer Putin his most powerful tool for countering sanctions Western nations have imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  REUTERS 

Russian media censorship agency Roskomnadzor threatens to fine Wikipedia up to 4 million rubles (about US$49,000) if it does not delete information that goes against the Kremlin’s official narrative on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Forbes) 

The city of Bucha, located in the Kyiv Oblast, is recaptured from Russian troops. (Ukrinform) 

Russian sources claim the Ukrainian Air Force hit the city of Belgorod with airstrikes for the second time, hitting several fuel facilities. (AP News) 

Ceasefire talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations resume via video link. (Times of Israel) 

Eight people are killed and 20 more injured during a coal mine collapse in Aleksinac, Serbia. (Al Jazeera) 

Four pilots are killed after a pair of KAI KT-1 Woongbis belonging to the South Korean Air Force crash into each other over a mountain northeast of Sacheon, South Korea. (Deutsche Welle) 

The U.S. CDC announces that the Biden administration have ended Title 42, a series of COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Trump administration to prevent migrants from entering the United States. The measure will take effect on May 23. (CNBC) 

Following a meeting with Indigenous delegates Pope Francis apologizes for the “deplorable conduct” by members of the Catholic Church for actions in the church-run residential school system. (CBC News) 

Inflation gauge jumps to 40-year high The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, rose 6.4 percent in February compared to a year earlier. It was the biggest increase in 40 years. The change reflected sharply higher prices for necessities, including food and gasoline. So-called core inflation, which leaves out volatile food and energy costs, increased by 5.4 percent. The data didn’t cover the full impact of Russia’s Ukraine invasion, which sent oil and gasoline prices soaring. Consumers increased their spending 0.2 percent in February, down from a 2.7 percent increase in January. Adjusted for inflation, consumer spending fell 0.4 percent in February. CNBC 

Russians return Chernobyl to Ukrainians Russian troops left the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant and returned control to Ukrainians on Friday. The move came after Russian soldiers got “significant” radiation doses while digging trenches around the restricted site, Ukraine state power company Energoatom said. Energoatom, which operates the site, did not provide details on how many Russians were exposed to contamination near the plant, which has been closed since suffering the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986. Russian forces seized the site early in their invasion of Ukraine, which started Feb. 24. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is withdrawing from the north and center of the country to regroup and prepare for new powerful attacks in the southeast. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Kushner interviewed by Jan. 6 committee Jared Kushner appeared virtually on Thursday before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Kushner is former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and the first known close Trump relative to speak with the panel. Kushner served as one of Trump’s senior White House advisers. During an interview with MSNBC, committee member Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) said the interview was “really valuable” to the committee. Luria said Kushner was asked about published reports regarding the days leading up to the Capitol attack. Kushner, who was traveling on Jan. 6, “was able to voluntarily provide information to us to verify, substantiate, provide his own take on this different reporting,” Luria said. MSNBC 

Turkish prosecutor calls for moving Khashoggi trial to Saudi Arabia A Turkish prosecutor on Thursday called for moving the Istanbul trial of the Saudi suspects in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Khashoggi, a frequent critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, appeared to have been killed and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on orders from the “highest levels” of the Saudi government. A U.S. intelligence report released a year ago also said the crown prince approved the operation, which the Saudi government denies. The case increased tensions between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which sharply cut its imports of Turkish goods. REUTERS 

U.S. to let citizens pick ‘X’ gender marker on passports The United States will officially allow citizens to select “X” as a gender marker on their passports beginning next month, Jessica Stern, U.S. diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, announced on Thursday. Stern called addition of the third, gender-neutral marker a “momentous step” that would recognize “that there is a wider spectrum of humanity than is represented by a binary sex designation on passports.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in June 2021 the U.S. would add a “gender marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons.” He said Thursday the X gender marker being made available to U.S. citizens is a “historic moment” and a “meaningful step towards LGBTQI+ inclusivity.” NBC NEWS 

A Palestinian man throws a Molotov cocktail at Israeli security forces in Hebron, who shoot him dead. (Jerusalem Post) 

Fox News hires Caitlyn Jenner as contributor Fox News Media announced Thursday it had hired former Olympic decathlon champion and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner as a contributor. “Caitlyn’s story is an inspiration to us all,” Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott said. “She is a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community.” Jenner came out as transgender and started publicly identifying as a woman in 2015. She ran for California governor last year in a failed attempt to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). She has appeared on Fox News numerous times, and said she was “humbled by this unique opportunity to speak directly to FOX News Media’s millions of viewers.” FOX NEWS 

U.S. hits Russian tech companies with sanctions The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on tech companies and individuals suspected of helping Russia and its military evade economic penalties over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The new sanctions target nearly three dozen people and companies, including supercomputer company T-Platforms, leading Russian microchip maker Mikron, and Serniya Engineering, which the Treasury Department says helped get international technology and goods for Russian military and intelligence services. Treasury said the list included shell companies set up to evade earlier sanctions. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. would “continue to target Putin’s war machine with sanctions from every angle until this senseless war of choice is over.” THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

‘Morbius’ predictably slammed with absolutely terrible reviews Leave it to Sony to squander any goodwill gained through Spider-Man: No Way Home within four months. The reviews are in for Morbius, the new Spider-Man spinoff movie from Sony starring Jared Leto, and as you might have expected, they’re absolutely awful. USA Today‘s Brian Truitt declared it the “worst superhero movie since” the infamous disaster Fantastic Four (2015), while Rolling Stone said it’s possibly the “single most anemic Marvel movie ever made,” Mashable called it a “toothless and tedious chore,” and The Playlist said it’s so bad it’s “just kind of depressing.” The film currently holds an unbelievably low 16 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. For comparison, 2016’s Suicide Squad has 26 percent. Morbius is one of Sony’s Spider-Man spinoffs like Venom, but it’s not a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — even though the marketing appears entirely built around tricking people into thinking it is. How does Marvel boss Kevin Feige feel about the idea of people walking out of Morbius thinking it’s the latest MCU entry? Probably not great!  ROTTEN TOMATOES 

Bruce Willis’ health raised concerns on set for years, report says Directors who worked with Bruce Willis were concerned about his health for years before he stepped away from acting due to aphasia, an upsetting new report from the Los Angeles Times says. Willis reportedly “has been exhibiting signs of decline in recent years,” and those who worked with him on some of his recent films were unsure if he “was fully aware of his surroundings on set.” Apparently, Willis’ film shoots had to be limited to two days, his dialogue scenes needed to be trimmed, and he had to have his lines fed to him in an earpiece. “Someone would give him a line and he didn’t understand what it meant,” a crew member said. The actor would reportedly sometimes question where he was. “We are all Bruce Willis fans, and the arrangement felt wrong and ultimately a rather sad end to an incredible career, one that none of us felt comfortable with,” director Jesse V. Johnson said. Critic Matt Zoller Seitz suggested the reporting revealed the “financial exploitation of an actor with a debilitating health condition.”  LOS ANGELES TIMESTHE WEEK 

Ashley Tisdale made her husband buy 400 books to fill bookshelves before a video shoot Ashley Tisdale may not be as voracious a reader as her house would lead you to believe. Tisdale gave Architectural Digest a tour of her new home in Los Angeles, and at one point, she showed off some bookshelves. But she couldn’t help admitting they weren’t so full until pretty recently. “These bookshelves, I have to be honest, actually did not have books in it a couple of days ago,” she said. “I had my husband go to a bookstore, and I was like, ‘You need to get 400 books!’” Tisdale says he suggested they should simply be “collecting books over time,” but she wasn’t about to show bare shelves to the world. “I was like, ‘No, no no no, not when AD comes.’” After the moment went viral on Twitter, Tisdale sought to “clear this up,” writing, “There are some of my books from over the years in there but … any interior designer would have done the same.” Well hey, we appreciate the honesty, and shoutout to whichever bookstore made an absolute killing that day. INSIDERARCHITECTURAL DIGEST 

Michael Bay admits he ‘should have stopped’ making ‘Transformers’ movies Steven Spielberg almost saved all of us from a whole lot of pain. Director Michael Bay admitted to Unilad UK he “made too many” Transformers movies, despite advice from Spielberg, who produced the franchise. “Steven Spielberg said, ‘Just stop at three,” Bay said. “And I said I’d stop. The studio begged me to do a fourth, and then that made a billion too. And then I said I’m gonna stop here. And they begged me again.” Bay ended up making five Transformers movies, the most recent of which was 2017’s The Last Knight, and critics widely hated every installment after the first. The franchise is set to return with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts in 2023, though Bay won’t be directing this time, having finally taken Spielberg’s advice years too late. “I should have stopped,” Bay said. “[But] they were fun to do.” Well, at least someone had fun. UNILADVARIETY 

Thursday, March 31st, 2022 

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirms that Russian forces have handed over control of the former nuclear power plant back to Ukraine. Russian troops also withdraw from the city of Slavutych, returning to Belarus. (CNBC) 

Two people are killed and 14 more injured as the Israeli Defense Forces raid the city of Jenin in the West Bank in order to capture a suspect linked to Tuesday’s shooting in Bnei Brak. (Times of Israel) (Haaretz) 

The world expo in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which was delayed to October 1, 2021, closes after six months. (AP) 

U.S. President Joe Biden orders the release of up to one million barrels of crude oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the next six months in an attempt to contain inflation. (The Guardian) 

Pakistan disbands ll the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), which was overseeing the COVID-19 response in the country, as the infection’s numbers were at the lowest since the start of the outbreak early in 2020. (Reuters) 

Georgia says plans by the breakaway state of South Ossetia, which is internationally recognized as occupied Georgian territory, to hold a referendum on becoming a part of Russia are “unacceptable”. (Reuters) 

Sri Lanka Police impose an indefinite curfew in the city of Colombo after protesters attempted to storm president Gotabaya Rajapaksa‘s private residence amid anger over worsening economic conditions and power outages in the country. (Al Jazeera) 

Scientists sequence the complete human genome for the first time, more than three decades after the Human Genome Project was first commenced. (CNN) 

The End Friday 

Thursday, March 31st, 2022 

Biden to order massive oil-reserve release President Biden is preparing to announce the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve for up to 180 days to help bring down high gasoline prices. The order could come as soon as Thursday when Biden addresses his plans to fight high pump prices, The Washington Post reported. Oil and gasoline prices have jumped since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, and the United States and its allies hit Moscow with harsh sanctions. Crude oil traded at nearly $105 per barrel on Wednesday, up from $60 a year ago, but fell 4 percent after the plan was reported. The average U.S. price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.24 on Wednesday, according to AAA, up from $3.60 last month and $2.90 last year. THE NEW YORK TIMES 

Germany launches emergency measures in case Russia cuts energy supplies Germany activated a national gas emergency plan on Wednesday to start preparing for possible shortages due to the possibility that Moscow could halt deliveries unless the country pays for Russian natural gas in rubles. Under the “early warning stage,” Germany is warning of possible rationing and setting up a crisis team with federal and state officials, as well as regulators and corporate executives, said Robert Habeck, the economy minister and vice chancellor. The emergency efforts highlight the risk European countries face due to their reliance on Russian oil and gas as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine escalates tensions between Moscow and the West. Group of 7 energy ministers on Monday rejected Russia’s demand for payment in rubles, although Moscow said a workaround would let Germany and other European countries continue paying in euros for now. THE NEW YORK TIMES 

China’s manufacturing, service sectors contract  China manufacturing data released Thursday suggested that lockdowns in areas affected by the country’s latest coronavirus outbreaks had put a dent in factory activity. China’s official purchasing managers index for the manufacturing sector fell to 49.5 in March from 50.2 in February, according to the National Statistics Bureau. The result was in line with the expectations of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. The service sector took a similar hit as people avoided malls and restaurants. China’s jump in COVID-19 cases due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant has prompted restrictions in industrial districts, including Changchun in northeastern China and the southern technology hub of Shenzhen, as well as lockdowns in Shanghai, China’s most populous city. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

Energoatom confirms that the Russian forces who occupied the former nuclear power plant in Chernobyl have left the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. (Ukrinform) 

NASA astronaut returns with Russians after longest spaceflight for an American Two Russian cosmonauts and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei landed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday after a historic mission to the International Space Station amid soaring tensions between Russia and the United States over Ukraine. Vande Hei spent 355 days in space, setting a record for the longest single spaceflight for an American. The Soyuz spacecraft touched down under a parachute in a remote area at 7:28 a.m. Eastern, and rescue crews rushed to the capsule, setting up a medical tent to quickly check the astronauts’ health. Rob Navias, a NASA public affairs official, said on a space-agency broadcast that it was “a perfect landing, a bull’s eye touchdown,” with “the crew feeling fine, everything going by the book.” THE WASHINGTON POST 

Russia dismisses talk of progress in Ukraine negotiations Russia on Wednesday downplayed reports of progress at this week’s peace talks with Ukraine as Russian forces intensified their offensive in eastern Ukraine. “No one said that the sides have made headway,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. “We can’t point to anything particularly promising.” On Tuesday, Moscow negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to discuss peace once a draft deal was ready. Russia promised to reduce operations around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, to “increase mutual trust,” but renewed shelling in those areas made Ukrainian and Western leaders skeptical. With Russia, Zelensky said, “you can trust only concrete results.” THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

Biden tells Zelensky U.S. to give Ukraine another $500 million in aid President Biden spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday and told him during the call that the United States would give Ukraine an additional $500 million in “direct budgetary aid” as it battles Russia’s invasion. That would bring total U.S. aid to $2.5 billion, according to Fox News. The two leaders also discussed U.S. efforts to provide security assistance requested by Ukraine, and other ways to help Ukraine’s military, the White House said. Zelensky tweeted that he and Biden “shared assessment of the situation on the battlefield and at the negotiating table,” and “talked about specific defensive support, a new package of enhanced sanctions, macro-financial and humanitarian aid.” The White House also said it would take in up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. NBC NEWS 

Russia investigation origins counter-narrative  The Federal Election Commission fines the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign for violating rules with the funding of the Steele dossier, a dossier which made accusations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Both the DNC and the Clinton campaign have agreed not to contest the fines and pay a civil penalty of US$105,000 and US$8,000 respectively. (Business Insider) 

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says that Ukraine has sent buses to Mariupol in an effort to evacuate citizens from the city. (BBC News) 

Australia revokes the most favoured nation status for Russia and Belarus, and will impose 35% tariffs on produce coming from these countries starting on 25 April. (The Guardian) 

A crowd of 91,553 attends the second leg of the quarterfinal between archrivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid at Camp Nou in Barcelona. This set a new record for documented attendance at a women’s sporting event, surpassing the 90,185 attendance at the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final. Barça won 5–2 on the day and 8–3 on aggregate. (ESPN) 

Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters announces that two firefighters are injured, and five firetrucks were damaged during the wildfire that broke out near the Wears Valley community. (WATE-TV) 

A chartered helicopter heading for Ulupna Island in Victoria, Australia, crashes into Mount Disappointment, killing all five people onboard. (ABC News Australia) 

Micronesian president David Panuelo urges Solomon Islands to not sign a security pact with China, citing “grave security concerns” and arguing that the Pacific islands would be “the epicenter of major confrontation between these major powers”. (Reuters) 

Rock throwing causes a bus to crash into a car in Halhul, West Bank. Two people are injured. (Times of Israel) 

The acting Australian Information Commissioner orders the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to comply with a request by The Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 which the PMO had previously rejected and search the mobile phone of Prime Minister Scott Morrison for correspondence with Morrison’s friend and QAnon conspiracy theorist Tim Stewart, who the Australian Broadcasting Corporation alleged influenced Morrison’s use of the term “ritual abuse” in a speech to survivors of child sexual abuse in 2019. (The Guardian) 

Aides afraid to tell Putin about Ukraine failures Declassified U.S. intelligence indicates that aides misinformed Russian President Vladimir Putin about setbacks in his invasion of Ukraine because they were afraid to tell him the truth, the White House said Wednesday. “One of the Achilles’ heel of autocracies is that you don’t have people in those systems who speak truth to power or who have the ability to speak truth to power,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. “And I think that is something that we’re seeing in Russia.” Putin’s isolation due to the pandemic and his public scolding of advisers who disagree with him have contributed to the problem, leaving Putin without accurate information about his army’s failures and the use of conscripts on the front lines in Ukraine. CNN 

Governors in 2 more states sign transgender sports bans  Oklahoma and Arizona on Wednesday became the latest states to ban transgender women and girls from competing as females in state school athletics, from kindergarten to college. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, both Republicans, signed the bans into law. “When it comes to sports and athletics, girls should compete against girls. Boys should compete against boys. And let’s be very clear: That’s all this bill says,” Stitt said to justify the exclusion of trans girls. Arizona’s ban applied to trans girls at both public schools and private institutions that compete against them. Ducey also signed another bill banning gender-affirming care for trans youth. Critics say these bans harm transgender youth who already often struggle with being isolated and excluded at schools. ABC NEWS 

U.S. plans to end Title 42 border policy in May The Biden administration is preparing to lift an emergency public health order imposed early in the coronavirus pandemic to curb immigration over land borders, The New York Times and CBS News reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the plan. Federal officials are expected to announce the change as early as this week. It would take effect in May, making it possible again for asylum seekers to enter the United States without being promptly sent back in the name of fighting coronavirus infections. Federal authorities are bracing for the possibility that the lifting of the order, known as Title 42, will spark a new surge of migrants from Central America and other areas to the southwest border. CBS NEWS 

An Israeli civilian is stabbed with a screwdriver and seriously injured on a bus in Neve Daniel, West Bank. The attacker is killed by another passenger. (Haaretz) 

Meta reportedly paying consultants to turn public against TikTok Meta, the parent company to Facebook, is paying one of the “biggest Republican consulting firms” in the U.S. to try and “turn the public against” online video app TikTok, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. The firm Targeted Victory has been working to “undermine” TikTok by implementing a national media and lobbying campaign that places “op-eds and letters to the editor in major regional news outlets, promoting dubious stories about alleged TikTok trends that actually originated on Facebook,” according to the Post. The firm has also been pushing political reporters and local politicians to move against TikTok, Facebook’s biggest competitor. Operatives were “encouraged to use TikTok’s prominence as a way to deflect from Meta’s own privacy and antitrust concerns,” the Post reported. THE WASHINGTON POST 

The Israeli Defense Forces raid the city of Jenin in the West Bank, killing two people and wounding 14 more. The purpose of the raid is to capture a suspect linked to the Bnei Brak shooting two days prior. (Haaretz) 

Bruce Willis, diagnosed with aphasia, retires from acting Bruce Willis has been diagnosed with aphasia and will retire from acting, his family said in an Instagram post Wednesday. The family said his illness was “impacting his cognitive abilities.” According to Mayo Clinic, aphasia “robs you of the ability to communicate.” It can come on abruptly due to stroke or head injury, or slowly from a slow-growing brain tumor or a disease. “We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him,” said the statement from Willis’ daughters Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel, and Evelyn Willis, his wife Emma Heming Willis, and his ex-wife Demi Moore. PEOPLE 

‘Game of Thrones’ prequel ‘House of the Dragon’ to premiere in August Winter is coming … this summer. HBO has finally revealed when the highly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon will debut: August 21. That’s less than two weeks before Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which premieres on Sept. 2 — meaning the competing fantasy shows will be debuting new episodes at the same time. Set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is centered around House Targaryen, and it’s based on George R.R. Martin’s book about the history of the Targaryens, Fire & Blood. Martin is involved in the show, and earlier this month, he said that “what I have seen” from the series, “I have loved.” Any bets on how many more pages of The Winds of Winter he’ll have written between now and House of the Dragon‘s premiere? We’ll be optimistic and guess … 20.   VARIETY 

Ezra Miller allegedly threatened couple in their bedroom after bar incident Things just went from disturbing to even more disturbing in the world of Ezra Miller. The Flash actor this week was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and harassment over an incident at a bar in Hawaii after allegedly “yelling obscenities” and grabbing a microphone from a woman singing karaoke and lunging at a man playing darts. Now, a couple has requested a restraining order against the actor, claiming that after being released on bail, the Fantastic Beasts star burst into their bedroom and said, “I will burn you and your slut wife.” Police reportedly escorted Miller, who allegedly also stole a passport and wallet, off the property. As if that wasn’t enough, The Associated Press reports Miller “has been the source of police calls in Hilo 10 times since March 7.” In case you were wondering, the song the woman was singing that apparently set off Miller was … “Shallow” from A Star Is Born. Maybe Miller just got really mad after remembering Bradley Cooper was snubbed at the Oscars that year, in which case, same.  ROLLING STONE 

Oscars co-host Wanda Sykes says Will Smith should have been kicked out Two out of three 2022 Oscars hosts have now shared their Slap takes. Amy Schumer said Wednesday she’s “still triggered and traumatized” over Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars over a joke about his wife. “The whole thing was so disturbing,” Schumer said, adding, “Waiting for this sickening feeling to go away from what we all witnessed.” Co-host Wanda Sykes used similar language on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “I just felt so awful for my friend Chris,” Sykes said. “It was sickening. I physically felt ill, and I’m still a little traumatized by it.” Sykes went further by slamming the Academy for not immediately removing Smith. “For them to let him stay in that room and enjoy the rest of the show and accept his award, I was like, ‘How gross is this?’” Sykes said. “‘This is just the wrong message.’ You assault somebody, you get escorted out the building, and that’s it.” Sykes also revealed what she would have done in that scenario: got up on stage after Smith won Best Actor and joked, “Unfortunately, Will couldn’t be here tonight.”  PAGE SIX 

Wednesday, March 30th, 2022 

A U.S. official says that Russian forces have begun withdrawing from the Chernobyl area and have moved into Belarus. (France 24) 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says more than four million Ukrainians have fled the country since the invasion began on February 24. (France 24) 

U.S. President Joe Biden receives his second booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. (CBS News) 

The U.S. CDC removes their travel warnings for cruise ships, which were imposed during the beginning of the pandemic. However, passengers will still be required to be vaccinated and to test negative for COVID-19. (The Washington Post) 

According to a new study, the antiparasitic drug ivermectin does not prevent hospitalizations from COVID-19. (New England Journal of Medicine) 

Ukrainian negotiator Davyd Arakhamia says that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations will resume their peace talks online on April 1 after the latest round of negotiations in Turkey has ended. (Reuters) 

The South Korean military says that last week, North Korea tested Hwasong-15 from November 2017, instead of a Hwasong-17. This comes a day after the defense ministry and lawmakers also confirmed this. (DW) 

The United States sanctions the Iranian ballistic missile program. (CNN) 

Tunisian President Kais Saied orders the Assembly of the Representatives of the People to be dissolved, after 116 of the 124 MPs who convened online voted earlier in the day to strip Saied of the “exceptional measures” he had taken on since last July. (Reuters) 

Russia announces that it will ban all usage of software from other countries in government agencies beginning in 2025. Additionally, beginning on March 31, all foreign software purchases for government agencies must be pre-approved by the government. (Reuters) 

It is reported that Russian government hackers have attacked and compromised the servers of Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs since late 2021. (Direkt36) 

The End

Wednesday, March 30th, 2022 

The Hubble Space Telescope has seen the most distant single star it has ever seen, the star named Earendel by astronomers is 28 billion light-years away. It’s the farthest detection of a star yet, dating back 900 million years after the Big Bang. This discovery surpasses Hubble’s record from 2018 when it discovered a star that existed when the universe was roughly four billion years old. (CNN) 

Ukraine says that Russian artillery and aircraft have targeted a Red Cross hospital in the city of Mariupol. (Times of Israel) 

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk calls for Russia to withdraw from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone area and calls for Russian troops occupying the former nuclear plant to pull out. (Reuters) 

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan attack a military base in the Pakistani city of Tank, killing six soldiers. (Arab News) 

The South Korean military says that last week, the North Korea tested Hwasong-15 from November 2017, instead of a Hwasong-17. This comes a day after the defense ministry and lawmakers confirmed the same thing. (DW) (CBS News) 

The President of South Ossetia, Anatoly Bibilov, declares that the partially recognised state will undertake “legal steps” in the near future for annexation to Russia. (Meduza) 

A person carrying a knife stabs a police officer in the Mahane Yehuda Market of Jerusalem, Israel. The policeman receives slight injuries. (Jerusalem Post) 

South Korea launches a solid-fuel indigenous space rocket at the Agency for Defense Development site at Taean County in the South Chungcheong Province. (Korea Herald) 

Russia, Ukraine signal progress in peace talks A Russian official on Tuesday said the country’s forces would radically “reduce military activity” around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the northern city of Chernihiv. Russian strikes continued overnight in these areas, however. Ukrainian representatives detailed potential concessions on territory Ukraine appeared to have lost to invading Russian forces. Russia said it was prepared to schedule a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, once the two sides reach a draft peace deal. Ukraine said the two presidents could discuss control over the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, which has been claimed by pro-Russia separatists and which Moscow no longer considers part of Ukraine. Ukraine also proposed a 15-year negotiation process on Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Russia annexed in 2014. THE NEW YORK TIMES 

Trump’s White House phone logs show 7 1/2-hour gap on Jan. 6  White House phone logs show a seven-and-a-half-hour gap in then-President Donald Trump’s calls on Jan. 6, 2021, which includes the period when a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol, hoping to overturn his election loss to President Biden, The Washington Post and CBS News reported Tuesday, citing documents they obtained. The lack of notations from 11:17 a.m. to 6:54 p.m. leaves the House committee investigating the insurrection with no record of Trump’s phone activity during the period when lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence were forced to seek shelter as Capitol police battled rioters. Despite the gap, there have been extensive reports about conversations Trump had with allies during the attack. THE WASHINGTON POST 

FDA, CDC approve 4th vaccine shot for people 50 and older The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized a fourth shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for people 50 years of age and older. Anyone in that age group who has had the initial two shots and a booster will be eligible for the fourth dose four months after their last shot. Health officials are expected to stop short of recommending the second booster. The authorization came after preliminary data from Israel showed that the fourth shot increased protection from death during the country’s Omicron wave. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promptly signed off on offering the second boosters, making people who had received a single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine and a booster eligible, too. ABC NEWS 

Poland blocks Russian coal imports Poland plans to block imports of Russian coal as part of its effort to reduce its energy dependence in response to Russia’s Ukraine invasion, government spokesperson Piotr Mueller said Tuesday. Poland, which gets about 13 percent of its coal from Russia, will impose fines on companies that bring Russian coal into the country. Mueller said Poland decided to take the action on its own after waiting for the entire European Union to do it. The E.U., the United States, and other nations have hit Russia with a variety of sanctions since it sent troops into Ukraine just over a month ago, but Europe’s dependence on Russian energy has complicated discussions on cutting purchases of Russian fuel. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

21 states file lawsuit over Biden administration mask mandate for travelers Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in Tampa, Florida, challenging the Biden administration’s mask mandate for people in airports and on planes, trains, and buses. Moody, joined by attorneys general from 20 other states, argued that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overstepped its legal authority by imposing the mandate. The attorneys general said that due to the “outright disdain for the limits” on the federal government’s power, they were asking the court to ban enforcement of the mask requirement. It was the latest attempt by Republican leaders in Florida and other states to challenge President Biden’s COVID-19 policies. The Transportation Safety Administration, which has extended the mandate through April 18, said it wouldn’t comment on pending litigation. THE MIAMI HERALD 

Anxiety about inflation highest since 1985 Americans’ level of concern about inflation is at its highest point since 1985, a Gallup poll released Tuesday found. Seventeen percent of respondents said “high cost of living/inflation” was the most important problem currently facing the United States, up from eight percent in January. An additional 15 percent said the biggest problem was either “fuel/oil prices” or the “economy in general.” Fifty-nine percent said they worry “a great deal” about inflation, including 79 percent of Republicans, 25 percent of Democrats, and 63 percent of independents. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that consumer prices increased by 7.9 percent between Feb. 2021 and Feb. 2022, the biggest one-year jump since 1982. GALLUP 

Biden signs bill designating lynching as a federal hate crime President Biden on Tuesday signed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law, making lynching a federal hate crime. “Racial acts of terror still occur in our nation,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in the signing ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. “And when they do, we must all have the courage to name them and hold the perpetrators to account.” Lawmakers had failed nearly 200 times in the last 120 years to pass antilynching laws before Congress approved this legislation in March. It is named after a Black 14-year-old who was abducted, tortured, and murdered in 1955 after being accused of whistling at and grabbing a white woman in Mississippi. Biden thanked supporters of the law for “never ever giving up.” NPR 

Palestinian gunman kills 5 in Israel A gunman on a motorcycle fatally shot four people at two locations in Bnei Brak, a crowded ultra-Orthodox city in central Israel just east of Tel Aviv. Police killed the suspected attacker. It was the second mass shooting this week and appeared to be the latest in a series of attacks by Arab militants ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the anniversary of the 2021 Gaza war. Israel arrested five Palestinians in connection with the shooting spree, and identified the attacker as Diaa Hamarsheh, 27, a Palestinian from the West Bank. Two previous attacks were attributed to Arab citizens of Israel who were influenced by the Islamic State. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called an emergency security meeting and vowed to fight “a wave of murderous Arab terrorism” with “perseverance, stubbornness, and an iron fist.” THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Queen Elizabeth makes 1st public appearance in months at Prince Philip memorial service Queen Elizabeth joined other members of the royal family and dignitaries for a memorial service honoring her husband Prince Philip, who died last year. It was the queen’s first public appearance in five months. The 95-year-old British monarch has been forced to cut back on her duties since an unspecified illness in October, followed by a coronavirus infection last month. She entered the service at the historic Westminster Abbey in central London escorted by son Prince Andrew, who was making his first public appearance since settling a sexual assault suit linked to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Due to pandemic restrictions, only 30 people were allowed inside for Philip’s funeral last April, but 1,800 guests were invited to Tuesday’s service. REUTERS 

Biden administration to impose tougher fuel economy standards The Biden administration plans to announce tougher vehicle fuel economy standards, reversing former President Donald Trump’s rolling back of mileage requirements tightened by the Obama administration, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing federal officials. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Deputy Administrator Steven Cliff are expected to unveil the administration’s plans in a “major announcement” on Friday, the Transportation Department said. The NHTSA in August proposed raising Corporate Average Fuel Economy requirements by 8 percent a year for 2024 through 2026 vehicle models, which would increase the fleetwide mileage average by 12 miles per gallon in 2026 compared to 2021, and reduce fuel costs by $140 billion for new vehicles sold by 2030. REUTERS 

Regulator accuses TurboTax maker Intuit of misleading consumers  The Federal Trade Commission is suing TurboTax maker Intuit, accusing it of misleading consumers with ads promising “free” tax filing even though millions wind up being ineligible for the no-charge software option. “TurboTax is bombarding consumers with ads for ‘free’ tax filing services, and then hitting them with charges when it’s time to file,” said Samuel Levine, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement. “We are asking a court to immediately halt this bait-and-switch.” The consumer protection agency said about two-thirds of tax filers in 2020 were ineligible for various reasons, including being gig workers or having farm income. Intuit said it would fight the suit, saying its ads resulted in “more Americans filing their taxes for free than ever before.” THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Job openings remained near record highs last month Job openings hovered near record highs at 11.3 million last month as the number of people quitting their jobs remained little changed at 4.4 million, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The number was roughly the same as in January, and down slightly from December’s record. Hires edged up to 6.7 million, an increase of 263,000 over the previous month. After dropping at the height of COVID-19 lockdowns two years ago, the rates at which prime-age workers aged 25 to 54 who are working or seeking jobs have bounced back to pre-pandemic levels, although economic growth is so strong that there aren’t enough workers to meet demand. About three million people have not yet returned to the workforce. Some economists say companies need to lure workers back by offering better pay and benefits. THE NEW YORK TIMES 

Ezra Miller arrested for alleged disorderly conduct How much worse can things get for the Fantastic Beasts franchise? Ezra Miller has been charged with disorderly conduct and harassment after being arrested over an incident at a bar in Hawaii. Police said the actor, who plays the Flash in the DC universe and stars in next month’s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, “became agitated while patrons at the bar began singing karaoke.” Miller “began yelling obscenities and at one point grabbed the microphone from a 23-year-old woman singing karaoke (disorderly conduct offense) and later lunged at a 32-year-old man playing darts (harassment offense),” police said, adding that “the bar owner asked Miller to calm down several times to no avail.” Previously, Miller posted a bizarre video in January appearing to randomly threaten a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Miller also made headlines in 2020 for appearing to choke a woman at a bar in Iceland. If the Academy ends up taking back Will Smith’s Oscar, does that mean the Flash actor’s place atop the all-important Oscars Cheer Moment poll is also in danger?   THE WEEK 

Jada Pinkett Smith — and Will Smith’s mom — speak out after The Slap Welcome to day two of Slap fallout, folks! Will Smith on Monday night finally apologized directly to Chris Rock for slapping him at the Oscars, calling his behavior “unacceptable and inexcusable,” and on Tuesday, his wife Jada Pinkett Smith sort of broke her silence on Instagram. “This is a season for healing and I’m here for it,” she wrote. Well, Chris Rock’s face definitely needed some healing, so, agreed! Meanwhile, Will Smith’s mom shared her take. Speaking to Philadelphia’s 6ABC, Carolyn Smith said her son is a “very even, people person,” and “that’s the first time I’ve ever seen him go off. First time in his lifetime … I’ve never seen him do that.” On the flip side, Jim Carrey in a CBS interview went off not only on Smith, but on the Oscars audience who still gave him a standing ovation after the slap. “I was sickened by the standing ovation,” Carrey said. “I felt like Hollywood is just spineless en masse.”  VARIETY 

Amy Schumer clarifies Kirsten Dunst was ‘in on’ Oscars bit Not a tremendous amount of people are talking about it, for obvious reasons, but Amy Schumer also received a bit of backlash for something she did during the Oscars. In the aftermath of the Slap, there was a bit in the show where Schumer told viewers about “seat-fillers,” and she jokingly pretended to think Kirsten Dunst was one, leading the actress off-camera and taking her chair. “You know, that was my wife, Amy,” Jesse Plemons told her, to which Schumer responded, “You’re married to that seat-filler?” The gag, of course, was Schumer being oblivious to the fact that Dunst is a highly respected actress, but it sparked a surprising amount of backlash from people who accused Schumer of disrespecting Mary Jane herself. On Instagram, Schumer addressed the backlash, writing, “I love her too! That was a choreographed bit she was in on. Wouldn’t disrespect that queen like that.” Wow, next you’re going to tell us Schumer isn’t even really Spider-Man, either. And people wonder why no one wants to host the Oscars.  VANITY FAIR 

Britney Spears slams Justin Timberlake on Instagram Remember that period last year post-Framing Britney Spears when everyone was dragging Justin Timberlake non-stop? Well, Britney Spears is bringing a little bit of that energy back on her Instagram page. In a since-deleted post, the pop star slammed her ex, Justin Timberlake, accusing him of using her for “FAME AND ATTENTION.” She wrote from the perspective of Jesus (?) telling her that “your ex … served with his first album using your name claiming you did him dirty.” Timberlake famously implied Spears cheated on him in a song on his first solo album, “Cry Me A River,” with a music video featuring a woman who looked quite a bit like her. Last year, shortly after a New York Times documentary about Spears was released, Timberlake apologized to both her and Janet Jackson, acknowledging he has “benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism.”  BUZZFEED NEWS 

Hilaria and Alec Baldwin are expecting another child Hilaria and Alec Baldwin aren’t quite in Cheaper by the Dozen territory, but they’re getting a little closer. Hilaria Baldwin revealed Tuesday on Instagram that after “many ups and downs over the past few years,” she has an “exciting up” to share: she and Alec Baldwin are expecting another baby. This will be the couple’s seventh child together, and she called the baby a “blessing and a gift during such uncertain times.” She shared the news alongside video of her and Alec playing with their kids, who range in age from 13 months to eight years old. Alec Baldwin also has a 26-year-old daughter with his ex-wife Kim Basinger. “We were pretty sure our family was complete,” Hilaria Baldwin wrote, “and we’re beyond happy with this surprise.” This was Hilaria’s first Instagram post since she announced a social media hiatus on March 4, making her the one human being on Earth who did not share a hot take about The Slap.  PEOPLE 

Tuesday,  March 29th, 2022 

A missile strike hits the regional administration’s headquarters in Mykolaiv, killing twelve people and injuring 22 others. (Reuters) 

Russian troops begin retreating from positions in Kyiv Oblast and Chernihiv Oblast, according to Ukrainian and American officials. The United States European Command confirms the Russian withdrawal, observing a “major strategy shift”. (U.S. News) (Times of Israel) 

Roman Hrybov, the border guard who told the Russian warship command over the radio “Russian warship, go fuck yourself” in defiance of its order to surrender Snake Island, is freed in a prisoner swap. Initial reports erroneously suggested that 13 border guards on the island had died. (The Guardian) 

The U.S. deploys 200 marines from the Marine Air Control Group 28, 10 F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets, and an unspecified number of C-130s to Lithuania as part of NATO’s response to Russian military aggression in Eastern Europe. (USNI) 

The Ukrainian and Russian delegations hold face-to-face peace talks in Turkey for the first time in two weeks. (AP) 

Russian officials agree to “fundamentally cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv” during the negotiations. (The Guardian) 

A shell strikes a temporary Russian military camp near the city of Belgorod, 25 km from the Russia–Ukraine border. (Reuters) 

Five people are killed and another is injured during a series of drive-by shootings in Bnei Brak, Tel Aviv District, Israel. The attacker, a Fatah sympathizer, is shot dead. (Jerusalem Post) (Times of Israel) 

The Saudi-led military coalition suspends all military activity in Yemen. (Arab News) 

Six Pakistani crew members and a Russian and a Serbian soldiers are killed as a MONUSCO helicopter crashes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The rebel March 23 Movement group is accused of being behind the crash. The group has denied their involvement. (Reuters) 

It is announced that officials from Russia and Belarus will not be welcomed at the upcoming ceremony to mark the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp due to their role in the invasion of Ukraine. (Forbes) 

The U.S. FDA and the CDC approve fourth doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for people over the age of 50 years. (CNBC) 

Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and the Czech Republic expel Russian diplomats. (Reuters) 

Russia expels diplomats from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, in retaliation for the earlier expulsions of Russian diplomats from these countries. (Reuters) 

South Korean lawmakers and the defense ministry say that last week, North Korea has tested a Hwasong-15, which was successfully tested in November 2017, instead of a Hwasong-17. (ABC News) (AP) 

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby says that the U.S. is still analyzing the missile test recently conducted by North Korea. (Korea Herald) 

The Democratic Republic of the Congo joins the East African Community, becoming the largest country in both area and population to do so, and thereby granting the bloc access to the Atlantic Ocean. (Bloomberg) 

The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency seizes the 58.5 metre superyacht PHI on the River Thames in London after its unnamed Russian oligarch owner was sanctioned by the British government. (Reuters) 

U.S. President Joe Biden signs the Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law, which makes lynching a federal crime. (CBS News) 

A regional court in the border town of Hajnówka rules that pushbacks against migrants on the Belarus–Poland border violated Polish law. 

The End wednesday 

Biden says he was expressing ‘moral outrage,’ not calling for Putin’s ouster President Biden on Monday addressed the controversy over his statement over the weekend that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power,” saying he was expressing “moral outrage,” not calling for regime change. Biden said he was making “no apologies” and not “walking anything back,” but wanted to clarify that he “wasn’t articulating a policy change” when he called out Putin for the “brutality” of his invasion of Ukraine. Biden’s comment about Putin came at the end of a trip to Europe during which Biden focused on rallying allies behind efforts to support Ukraine and punish Russia for its attacks. Biden’s wording, however, drew criticism from Republicans and others who warned it would worsen tensions and possibly invite a response from Moscow. THE WASHINGTON POST 

Ukrainian forces retake Kyiv suburb ahead of peace talks Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country’s forces had “liberated” a Kyiv suburb, Irpin, as they struggle to retake territory from invading Russian forces ahead of a new round of peace talks in Turkey. Representatives of Ukraine and Russia are meeting in Istanbul on Tuesday for their first face-to-face talks in weeks. Despite gains around the Ukrainian capital, Russian forces are intensifying their attacks in eastern Ukraine and stepping up strikes against critical infrastructure in other parts of the country. The governor of Mykolaiv, a city in southern Ukraine, said Tuesday that a Russian missile hit the Regional State Administration building, in what appeared to be the most devastating strike in the center of the southern city since Russia invaded on Feb. 24. THE NEW YORK TIMES 

Florida governor signs legislation critics call ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday signed into law the state’s controversial “Parental Rights in Education” bill, which critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The law bans instruction regarding sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms from kindergarten through third grade. Those who support the legislation believe it allows parents the opportunity to decide when and where to introduce LGBTQ topics to their kids. Critics have assailed the bill as harmful to queer youth. The Walt Disney Company, which faced a backlash from employees for not openly opposing the bill before it was passed, said it would try to get the law repealed or struck down in court. NPR 

Biden unveils $5.8 trillion budget President Biden on Monday unveiled his $5.8 trillion budget plan, which calls for increased funding for the military and police, as well as for domestic programs. The spending plan also has a “Bipartisan Unity Agenda” covering cancer prevention, mental health care, and veterans services. The budget aims to reduce the national deficit by about $1 trillion over 10 years, mostly through a minimum tax that would be imposed on the nation’s wealthiest households. “We’re making real headway cleaning up the fiscal mess I inherited,” Biden said as he presented the spending plan. “We’re returning our fiscal house to order.” THE WASHINGTON POST 

Report: Russian billionaire, Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered poisoning symptoms Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators developed possible poisoning symptoms — including red eyes, painful tearing, and peeling skin — after a March 3 meeting in Kyiv, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters reported that a U.S. official said intelligence indicated the symptoms were likely due to “environmental” factors, not poisoning. Abramovich has shuttled between talks in several locations since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. He and the Ukrainian negotiators started suffering symptoms shortly after the meeting. The Journal‘s sources said the symptoms might have resulted from an attack by Russian hard-liners trying to sabotage peace negotiations. Their health has since improved. THE WALL STREET JOURNALREUTERS 

Most Americans now say they have had COVID-19 A majority of Americans — 52 percent — now say they’ve contracted COVID-19, according to a new Monmouth University poll. In January, 40 percent said they had been infected. In the new poll, just over 4 in 10 Americans said they’d tested positive or had been definitively diagnosed with the virus, while 10 percent said they weren’t diagnosed but know they had it. The survey appeared to be the first to suggest that more than half the U.S. population had been infected. An August poll by Pew Research Center found that 30 percent of Americans said they’d either definitively tested positive or felt “pretty sure” they’d had it, up from just 14 percent in August 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST 

Jared Kushner to appear before Jan. 6 committee Jared Kushner is expected to appear voluntarily this week before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, several people familiar with the matter told CBS News. Kushner is the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump, and served as one of his senior advisers in the White House. The panel also is expected soon to request an interview with conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, CNN reported Monday, citing sources familiar with the investigation. The committee reportedly had discussed Ginni Thomas before CNN reported last week that the panel had obtained 29 text messages in which she urges then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to continue fighting to overturn Trump’s loss to President Biden in the 2020 election. CBS NEWS 

Academy condemns Will Smith, opens formal review of Oscars slap The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued a statement Monday condemning actor Will Smith for striking comedian Chris Rock on the stage during Sunday’s Oscars ceremony. The Academy said in a statement that it had “started a formal review around the incident.” The organization said its Standards of Conduct prohibit “physical contact that is uninvited and, in the situation, inappropriate and unwelcome,” adding that violations can be punished with suspension or “expulsion from membership.” Smith, who later won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in King Richard, strode onto the stage and slapped Rock after the comedian, who was presenting an award, made a joke about the shaved head of his wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia, a hair-loss condition. PEOPLE 

Walmart to halt cigarette sales in some U.S. stores Walmart plans to stop selling cigarettes in some of its U.S. stores, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The decision followed years of internal debate about whether the retail giant should offer tobacco products, which health officials say are linked to 480,000 U.S. deaths per year. Walmart now plans to remove them from some stores in California, Florida, Arkansas, and New Mexico, the Journal reported. The company, which has more than 4,700 U.S. stores, has redesigned some of the stores to include more self-checkout registers and grab-and-go food or candy near the front of stores where Marlboro, Newport, and other tobacco products had been displayed. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

DeSantis signs controversial bill as Disney calls for its repeal Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday signed into law the state’s controversial so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which bans instruction regarding sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms from kindergarten through third grade. Those who support the legislation believe it allows parents the opportunity to decide when and where to introduce LGBTQ topics to their kids. Critics have assailed the bill as harmful to queer youth. The Walt Disney Company, which faced a backlash from employees for not openly opposing the bill before it was passed, said it would try to get the law repealed or struck down in court. “I don’t care what Hollywood says, I don’t care what big corporations say,” DeSantis remarked at the bill’s signing. “Here I stand. I’m not backing down.” NPRCNN 

SpaceX to end Crew Dragon production and focus on next-generation spacecraft  SpaceX has halted production of its Crew Dragon astronaut capsules, Reuters reported Monday, citing a company executive. “We are finishing our final [capsule], but we still are manufacturing components, because we’ll be refurbishing,” SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told Reuters. She added that the company could restart Crew Dragon production if necessary. The capping of the Crew Dragon fleet at four will help Elon Musk’s space transportation company, which aims for its spacecraft to be reusable, shift its focus to completing the development of the astronaut capsule’s successor, Starship, and SpaceX’s moon and Mars rocket. Starship is nearing its debut, but engine development snags and regulatory reviews have delayed its first launch. REUTERS 

Will Smith smacks Chris Rock at the Oscars Will Smith got in one little fight at the Oscars, and we all got scared. In the most shocking Academy Awards moment of the modern era, Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock right across the face on live television over a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith. “Keep my wife’s name out of your f–king mouth,” Smith angrily shouted as an uncomfortable silence enveloped the theater. What followed was a deranged final hour in which the Oscars just continued on as if nothing happened, and Smith soon won the Oscar for Best Actor — and received a standing ovation. In a bizarre speech, Smith tearfully apologized to the Academy but not to the guy he just assaulted, saying “love will make you do crazy things.” The Academy on Monday condemned Smith, saying it’s launching a “formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences.” The incident seemed to bring the absolute worst commentary out of everyone on both sides — either the slap was basically another 9/11 or it was, as Tiffany Haddish declared, the “most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Stop the hot take cycle, we want to get off! THE WEEK 

The Oscars’ Twitter polls went about as well as expected Who could have foreseen getting Twitter involved in the Oscars might not go well? The Academy asked Twitter users to take part in two cringe-worthy online polls, one to select the best movie of 2021 and one picking the best “cheer moment” in a movie. Obviously, the Academy assumed Spider-Man: No Way Home would win, giving it a presence on the show after it didn’t earn a Best Picture nod. Instead, Zack Snyder fanboys made sure a forgettable scene from the Snyder Cut came in at number one in the cheer moment poll, and since it wasn’t eligible as the fan-favorite movie (as it’s technically a director’s cut of a 2017 film), they pushed Snyder’s Army of the Dead to the top spot. In second was the widely-panned Camila Cabello girlboss Cinderella movie, and in third was a Johnny Depp film pretty much no one has heard of let alone seen — all the way down at number four was No Way Home. Well, the Academy might have presented eight entire awards off the air, but at least they made great use of the extra time, right?  THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 

A bunch of historic Oscar wins were overshadowed by The Slap You wouldn’t really know it from looking at Monday’s coverage, but some non-slap things did actually happen at the Oscars, and a number of winners made history. CODA‘s Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man to win an Oscar for acting, while West Side Story‘s Ariana DeBose became the first openly queer woman of color to win an acting award. The Power of the Dog‘s Jane Campion became the third woman to win Best Director, and — get ready to feel old here — Billie Eilish became the first person born in the 21st century to win an Oscar, taking Best Original Song for “No Time to Die.” Apple TV+’s CODA also became the first streaming movie to win the Best Picture Oscar. Unfortunately, Will Smith’s nonsense seemed to overshadow almost all of this, the same way no one can tell you what happened at the 2017 Oscars before the Moonlight/La La Land mix-up. If your historic award win came during the same ceremony in which one of our favorite actors had a total meltdown on live TV, did it really happen?  THE WEEK 

Timothée Chalamet did not wear a shirt to the Oscars Perhaps just as distressingly, the slap overshadowed the fact that Timothée Chalamet was, in fact, shirtless at the Oscars. The Dune star wore a lace jacket to the ceremony with no shirt underneath, teaching us all that the Academy Awards do not, in fact, have a “no shirt, no shoes, no Oscars” policy. He was wearing Louis Vuitton womenswear, according to CNN, and W Magazine proclaimed his outfit “just rewrote the Oscars dress code.” Another bold fashion choice was made by Kristen Stewart, who wore short shorts. “This appeared to be the first pair of hot pants in the history of the Oscars red carpet,” The Wall Street Journal reported, and the choice allowed for our personal favorite tweet of the night: Los Angeles Times critic Justin Chang asked, “Did Kristen Stewart win for best live-action shorts?” According to Times reporter Amy Kaufman, Stewart “immediately changed out of heels and into flats the second she got off the red carpet.” She’s still the Best Actress frontrunner in our hearts.  CNNTHE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

Netflix bombs with just 1 Oscar win Maybe Netflix can thank Will Smith, though, seeing as we’re not talking more about what an embarrassingly terrible night they had. Netflix’s The Power of the Dog, you may recall, was once the overwhelming favorite to win Best Picture this year, and it had a whopping 12 nominations. Netflix had 27 nominations total, with other contenders like Don’t Look Up. In the end, though, the streamer won a grand total of one Oscar: Best Director for The Power of the Dog‘s Jane Campion, the only category it had basically no chance of losing. It was a pretty brutal showing, especially considering a Netflix competitor, Apple TV+, won Best Picture instead. But hey, it wasn’t a total loss: with Army of the Dead, Netflix did win the Twitter fan favorite poll (which wasn’t actually an official category and thus did not come with an Oscar). So they have that going for them! Who needs Best Picture, right?  VARIETY 

Monday,  March 28th, 2022 

Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn says that Irpin has been recaptured by Ukrainian Ground Forces. (Times of Israel) 

Russian artillery damages a school in Kharkiv. (Yahoo News) (Sky News) 

Russian troops shell Rubizhne, Luhansk Oblast, killing one person. (Ukrinform) 

Trostyanets is retaken by Ukrainian Armed Forces. (Jerusalem Post) 

Russia cautions against expecting any “significant breakthroughs” ahead of the first round of in-person negotiations with Ukraine. (MSN) 

Two Ukrainian negotiators as well as sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich are reported to have fallen victim to suspected poisoning during peace talks on the Belarus–Ukraine border earlier this month. Their health has since improved. (Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that some mayors abducted by invading Russian forces have been found dead. (Ukrayinska Pravda) 

Bandits bomb and open fire at a train carrying 970 passengers travelling from Abuja to Kaduna, Nigeria, killing 7 people and wounding 22 more. A number of others are kidnapped. (BBC) 

The United Kingdom’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency seizes P&O Ferries-operated ferry MS Pride of Kent at the Port of Dover after the ferry “failed safety checks” by authorities. It is the second P&O Ferries ship to be detained by UK authorities since the firm fired all 800 British crew members and replaced them with cheaper agency workers. (Sky News) 

The Department for Transport gives P&O Ferries a deadline of March 31 to rehire all the fired staff. (BBC News) 

Premier Daniel Andrews tests positive for COVID-19. (Sky News Australia) 

The Andorran government announces the lifting of indoor mask usage, except in sanitary spaces, as well as the need for antigen testing for nightlife. The government also announces the relaxation of the protocol for positive contacts. (Andorra Difusió) 

Kazakhstan says that it does not want to be behind a “new iron curtain”, and that international companies boycotting Russia are welcome to “move production to Kazakhstan”. (Reuters) 

The foreign ministers of Israel, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the United States Secretary of State, meet in Sde Boker, Israel, and agree to hold regular meetings about regional security and commit to further expanding economic and diplomatic cooperation. (Times of Israel) 

Twenty people are killed and four more are injured in a mass shooting at an illegal cockfighting pit in Las Tinajas, Michoacán, Mexico. (BBC News) 

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández will be extradited to the United States on drug trafficking charges. (France 24) 

Speaker of the Assembly Rached Ghannouchi announces that the parliament will hold two full sessions this week, the first time since President Kais Saied seized most executive powers and suspended parliament last July, to try to block attempts by Saied to adopt a new constitution that will solidify his rule. (Reuters) 

The End Tuesday 

Russian troops shell Rubizhne, Luhansk Oblast, killing one person. (Ukrinform) 

Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn claims Irpin has been recaptured by Ukraine. (Times of Israel) 

Zelensky says Ukraine ready to consider neutral status in peace deal Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that his country was prepared to discuss neutral status in a peace deal to end Russia’s invasion, but only if it’s approved in a referendum and compliance is guaranteed by third parties. “Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it,” Zelensky told Russian journalists in a video call ahead of a new round of talks with Russia on Monday. Ukraine’s military said Sunday its counter-offensives had forced Russian forces outside Kyiv back into Belarus. Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Agency, said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has realized “he can’t swallow the entire country” and might try splitting it, like North and South Korea.  REUTERS

China’s biggest city imposes its 1st coronavirus lockdown The government of China’s biggest city, Shanghai, announced Sunday night that it was imposing staggered lockdowns and mandatory coronavirus testing to help contain the latest COVID-19 outbreak. Local officials will start putting the policies into place on Monday. Shanghai, a global financial hub with a population of 26 million, had just a handful of new cases daily in early March, but new infections spiked to more than 2,600 on Sunday. Under the restrictions taking effect Monday, only citizens providing essential and public services will be allowed to leave their residences in half of the city for the next five days, and in the other half for the five days after that. Shanghai avoided full citywide lockdowns earlier in the pandemic.  THE NEW YORK TIMES

U.S. NATO ambassador says Biden comment doesn’t mean U.S. seeks Russia regime change U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith on Sunday reiterated the White House’s downplaying of President Biden’s declaration that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” after his country’s invasion of Ukraine. Smith emphasized that the United States does not have a policy aiming for regime-change in Moscow. She said Biden’s ad-libbed comment was a “principled human reaction” after meeting with Ukrainian refugees and hearing “their heroic stories as they were fleeing Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine.” Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press that Biden’s suggestion that the U.S. wanted Putin out of power played “into the hands” of “Russian propagandists.” NBC NEWS 

Blinken reassures Israel and Arab allies Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday assured Israel and Arab allies in the Persian Gulf region that the potential revival of the international nuclear deal with Iran would not threaten their security. Blinken, speaking ahead of a meeting with Israel and four Arab nations, acknowledged the allies’ opposition to a possible deal they say will embolden Iran. “When it comes to the most important element, we see eye-to-eye,” Blinken said during a news conference with Israel’s foreign minister. “We are both committed, both determined that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon.” The Trump administration withdrew from the landmark deal in 2018, and it subsequently came apart. The Biden has been trying to restore it. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

FDA to authorize second boosters for people 50 and older The Food and Drug Administration is expected this week to authorize a second booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines for people aged 50 and older, The Washington Post reported Sunday, citing several government officials. The decision comes as the United States braces for a rise in COVID-19 cases from a fast-spreading Omicron sub-variant that has fueled a surge in Europe. The officials said the announcement could come as soon as Tuesday, and that the policy could still change. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, is expected to promptly sign off on the FDA decision. THE WASHINGTON POST 

ISIS suspect goes on trial for deaths of U.S. journalists, aid workers El Shafee Elsheikh, one of four Islamic State militants accused of murdering journalists and aid workers after traveling from London to Syria, goes on trial this week in connection with the deaths of four Americans. Elsheikh, 33, is the only alleged member of the notorious terror cell know as “The Beatles” to face trial in the United States. He and a friend, Alexanda Kotey, were captured by Kurdish forces in 2018, then transferred to U.S. custody. Kotey pleaded guilty last year. Elsheikh’s trial in a Virginia federal court begins Tuesday for his alleged role in the capture and murder of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. Mohamed Emwazi, dubbed “Jihadi John” in the press, killed many of the prisoners on camera. He was killed in a 2015 drone strike. THE WASHINGTON POST 

UNC beats St. Peter’s to take last spot in NCAA men’s Final Four The University of North Carolina trounced underdog St. Peter’s 69-49 on Sunday to earn the last spot in the Final Four of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. St. Peter’s was the first 15th seed in history to reach a regional final. But they couldn’t get shots to fall against Carolina, a No. 8 seed. UNC will play Duke in the Final Four for the first time in their storied rivalry. Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, in the last of his 42 seasons at the school, will be leading his team into a record 13th Final Four. Kansas, the lone surviving regional No. 1 seed, will play Villanova in New Orleans, with the winners of the two games facing off for the championship. The women’s Final Four will be set Monday. ESPN 

CODA becomes 1st streaming-service film to win Best Picture Oscar The Apple TV+ film CODA won Best Picture at Sunday’s Academy Awards, upsetting Netflix’s The Power of the Dog to become the first movie released by a streaming service to win the top Oscar. Jane Campion won Best Director for The Power of the Dog. Jessica Chastain won Best Actress for her role in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Will Smith, who rattled the event by slapping Chris Rock on stage, won Best Actor for his performance in King Richard. Ariana DeBose won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in West Side Story, becoming the first openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar, according to Variety. “Even in this weary world that we live in, dreams do come true, and that’s really a heartening thing right now,” DeBose said in her acceptance speech. THE NEW YORK TIMESVARIETY 

Biden set to release proposal for ‘Billionaire Minimum Income Tax’ President Biden on Monday is expected to unveil a proposal to impose a minimum 20 percent tax on the wealthiest 0.01 percent of Americans. The “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax,” which would affect about 700 households with a net worth of more than $100 million, would reduce projected federal budget deficits by more than $1 trillion over a decade. Half of the revenue from the tax would come from billionaires, many of whom pay low tax rates because they are not taxed on “unrealized gains,” such as increases in the value of their stock holdings. The document explains that, under Biden’s proposal, if a household’s tax bill falls short of 20 percent of “full income” (including unrealized gains), “they will owe a top-up payment to meet the 20 percent minimum.” THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

China’s biggest city imposes its 1st coronavirus lockdown The government of China’s biggest city, Shanghai, announced Sunday night that it was imposing staggered lockdowns and mandatory coronavirus testing to help contain the latest COVID-19 outbreak. Local officials will start putting the policies into place on Monday. Shanghai, a global financial hub with a population of 26 million, had just a handful of new cases daily in early March, but new infections spiked to more than 2,600 on Sunday. Under the restriction taking effect Monday, only citizens providing essential and public services will be allowed to leave their residences in half of the city for the next five days, and in the other half for the five days after that. Shanghai avoided full citywide lockdowns earlier in the pandemic. THE NEW YORK TIMESTHE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

FDA to authorize second boosters for people 50 and older The Food and Drug Administration is expected this week to authorize a second boosters of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines for people aged 50 and older, The Washington Post reported Sunday, citing several government officials. The decision comes as the United States braces for a rise in COVID-19 cases from a fast-spreading Omicron sub-variant that has fueled a surge in Europe. The officials said the announcement could come as soon as Tuesday, and that the policy could still change. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, is expected to promptly sign off on the FDA decision.  THE WASHINGTON POST 

Oil prices drop as Shanghai lockdown raises fears of weak demand Oil prices fell by more than $5 per barrel on Monday as Shanghai’s two-stage coronavirus lockdown stoked concerns of weakening demand for fuel. International benchmark Brent crude dropped by as much as $5.15, or 4.3 percent, to $115.32 a barrel, while U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell $5.30, or 4.7 percent, to $108.28 per barrel. Both benchmarks have gone through a period of volatility since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, soaring to more than $130 a barrel, then dropping below $100 before rising again. Last week, both benchmarks rose for the first time in three weeks, with Brent jumping by 11.8 percent and WTI rising 8.8 percent. REUTERS 

Sunday, March 27th, 2022 

Two people are killed and six more are injured during a mass shooting by two followers of the Islamic State in Hadera, Haifa District, Israel. The attackers are shot dead. (Reuters) (Times of Israel) 

CODA wins this year’s Best Picture, while Jane Campion wins Best Director for The Power of the Dog. (CNN) 

Will Smith wins Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard, shortly after assaulting presenter Chris Rock on stage for joking about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith’s hair loss from alopecia, while Jessica Chastain wins Best Actress for her portrayal of Tammy Faye Messner in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. (The Guardian) 

Dune wins the most awards in six, mostly untelevised, categories. (Showbiz Cheat Sheet) 

CODA star Troy Kotsur wins Best Supporting Actor, becoming the first deaf male actor to win an Academy Award. (Variety) 

Celebrities at the Awards wear blue and gold ribbons to stand in solidarity with Ukraine and pay tribute to the refugees. (The Wrap) 

Ukrainian Human Rights commissioner Lyudmyla Denisova warns that around 10,000 hectares of forest fires are currently burning near the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. (The Independent) 

A wildfire engulfs the uninhabited Gruinard Island in Gruinard Bay, Scotland. (BBC News) 

Shanghai imposes a lockdown in the Pudong area and other parts of the city. Additionally, areas near the Huangpu River will undergo four days of COVID-19 testing beginning tomorrow. (South China Morning Post) 

Chief Executive Carrie Lam announces that Hong Kong will begin offering COVID-19 vaccinations at home for elderly people in the coming weeks in order to increase the vaccination rate. (Bloomberg) 

Ukrainian delegate Davyd Arakhamia announces that in-person ceasefire talks between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations will occur in Turkey. The talks are expected to occur from March 28 to March 30. (Ukrinform) 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that the U.S. and their Gulf allies will deter Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, regardless if a deal to revive the 2015 agreement has been reached or not. (CNN) 

Russian artist Yevgenia Isayeva douses herself in fake blood during an anti-war protest in Saint Petersburg. She is later detained by police. (RFE/RL) 

El Salvador declares a state of emergency after 62 people were murdered in the country yesterday, making it the most violent 24-hour period since the end of the civil war in 1992. (BBC News) 

A referendum is held in Uruguay on whether to repeal the Urgent Consideration Law, which gives the government more power to dismantle protests and increased security measures after record high crime rates in Uruguay in 2017. (MercoPress) 

The End Monday