 |
| |
 | | | 'We will meet this test' | | The nation digests Biden's first State of the Union address, Russia escalates attacks in Ukraine and more news you need to know Wednesday. | | |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Good morning, Daily Briefing readers! President Joe Biden vowed to halt Russian aggression in Ukraine, tame high inflation and fight the coronavirus in his first State of the Union address. Major League Baseball and the players union will leave Jupiter in Florida after failing to come to a collective bargaining agreement. And, Christians around the world are celebrating Ash Wednesday. |
| It's Jane, with Wednesday's news. |
| 🗳 Texas primary elections: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott won the Republican party nomination and will face Democrat Beto O'Rourke in the November general election. |
| ⛸ Russia's figure skaters were banned from the upcoming world championships, not because of state-sponsored doping, but for President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. |
| 🗣 Republican congresswomen Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene could be heard heckling President Joe Biden as he delivered his State of the Union. |
 | | Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., left, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., right, scream "Build the Wall" as President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address. | | Evelyn Hockstein, AP | |
| 🖋 Opinion: Rep. Boebert's State of the Union heckle disrespected the president and veterans like me, writes USA TODAY Opinion editor Eileen Rivers. |
| 🏥 Nearly 90% of COVID patients who didn't get critical care therapy they needed died despite being young and healthy, researchers found. |
| 🎤 "American Idol" judge Katy Perry was moved by Grace Franklin – the granddaughter of the late soul legend Aretha. But fellow judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan voted no, leading Perry to storm off the set. |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, tech reporter Jessica Guynn has advice on what you can do to protect yourself from Russian cyberattacks . You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| Here's what's happening today: |
Biden aims to reset presidency, condemns Russian invasion of Ukraine in first State of the Union address |
| Many Americans Wednesday are analyzing key takeaways from President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address directed to a nation eager to move on from the deadly coronavirus pandemic but worrying over inflation and conflict with Russia. The president kicked off his speech strongly condemning Russia for its "unprovoked" invasion of Ukraine, including closing off U.S. airspace to Russian planes. Domestically, he hailed a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, urging Americans to see the virus, and not each other, as the enemy. And he also addressed inflation, with price jumps hitting 40-year highs recently pressuring American families. Biden asked Republicans to stop using the coronavirus pandemic as a "partisan dividing line" – and called for bringing COVID-19-related shutdowns of schools and businesses to an end. Biden will head to Wisconsin on Wednesday in an effort to show Americans that his domestic agenda is working. |
| 🔵 For first time in history, two women sat behind president at State of the Union. |
| 🔴 Republican rebuttal: Republicans used Biden's address to launch campaign-style attacks. |
Russia escalates attacks on Ukrainian civilian areas, hundreds of thousands flee |
| Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have fled the country as Russian military forces escalated attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine's largest cities Tuesday. It sets the stage for "Europe's largest refugee crisis this century," said Shabia Mantoo, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, whose agency estimates 675,000 people have fled to neighboring countries since the Russian invasion began last week. Russian troops have killed hundreds of civilians, realities that qualify Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, observers say. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said an attack Tuesday on the main square of the country's second-largest city "is a war crime." The U.N. General Assembly will vote Wednesday on a resolution demanding that Russia immediately stop using force against Ukraine and withdraw its military from the country, and condemning Moscow's decision "to increase the readiness of its nuclear forces." |
 | | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called an attack on Kharkiv's main square "frank, undisguised terror." | | USA TODAY | |
| 📩 The news in your inbox: Get the latest updates on the situation in Ukraine. Sign up here. |
Just for subscribers: |
| 🌎 A world of change: Biden seeks his footing as his agenda and the landscape are transformed | SOTU analysis. |
| 🔵 "We will fight and win": Ukrainian civilians find ways, big and small, to resist Putin's invasion. |
| ⚖️ Is Putin committing war crimes? Likely, but calling him out is unlikely to stop him. |
| 🧳 "Endo has stolen so much": Traveling with endometriosis requires planning. |
| 🏈 "A sad day": Failed MLB lockout negotiations leave the sport reeling and the future uncertain | Opinion. |
| These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here. |
| Are you already a subscriber and want all of the subscriber-only content emailed to you directly every day? We can do that! Sign up for that here. |
MLB owners, players union leave Florida with Opening Day canceled |
| Major League Baseball and the players union will leave Jupiter, Florida, Wednesday after the two sides could not come to a labor agreement. Without a collective bargaining agreement, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday announced he has canceled Opening Day and the first two series of the 2022 season for each team, covering March 31-April 6. If the cancellations hold, it could result in the first regular season games lost to a labor dispute since 1995. The MLBPA said in a statement that Manfred's "defensive lockout" was "a culmination of a decades-long attempt by owners to break our player fraternity. As in the past, this effort will fail." Manfred has said the earliest possible time for negotiations to reopen would be Thursday. |
Fed Chair testifies before Congress, potentially offering clues on inflation curbs |
| Investors may get clues into what lies ahead as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies before Congress Wednesday. Powell's appearance before the House financial services committee comes as the stock market tumbles amid the prospect of higher interest rates and an escalating war between Russia and Ukraine. In January, Powell signaled that a rate hike this month was all but certain as the Fed tries to contain the nation's worst bout of inflation in 40 years. Since then, however, Russia has attacked Ukraine, driving up oil and gasoline prices and worsening supply chain bottlenecks, which could mean even higher inflation. At the same time, the invasion raises the specter of slower economic growth if soaring prices and supply snarls curtail spending, and falling stocks dampen the confidence of consumers and businesses. |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday |
| 🔴 Russia has been accused of using "vacuum bombs" in Ukraine. What are those? |
| 🚙 RV sales surged because of COVID-19. And not everyone is thrilled with their purchase. |
| 👨💻 Americans are at higher risk of Russian cyberattacks after Ukraine invasion: What you should do right now. |
| 🚨 Poison centers around the country sound the alarm on a toxic chemical in some COVID-19 at-home tests. |
| Ash Wednesday: Christians mark start of Lent |
| Today is Ash Wednesday, which for Christians marks the start of the 40-day penitential season of Lent. On Ash Wednesday, a priest or minister places ashes on a worshipper's forehead in the shape of a cross, signifying a person's acknowledgement of their sins — the same sins Christians believe Jesus Christ gave his life for when he died on the cross. The six-week Lenten period culminates with Easter, when Christians believe Jesus died and was resurrected. Christians show repentance for their sins during Lent with fasting, prayer and by giving up luxuries or doing good works. |
📸 The celebration, the spectacle the magic: Mardi Gras kicks off in New Orleans 📸 |
 | | A person makes faces as they march in the Societe de Sainte Anne parade during Mardi Gras on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) | | Gerald Herbert, AP | |
| Residents in New Orleans and elsewhere have been donning their most flamboyant outfits for Mardi Gras. The iconic holiday, the French translation for "Fat Tuesday," is also known as Carnival Tuesday and Pancake Tuesday. The day, filled with indulgence and celebration, always comes before Ash Wednesday. |
| Scroll through the gallery of colorful, elaborate and dazzling Mardi Gras parades. |
| And what would a Mardi Gras celebration be without a king cake? Check out these confections – they're a work of art. |
| |
| |
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment