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The wild home-selling blitz is cooling down in the US, but home prices are still ludicrously high. The average home price last month was up 14.9% from a year ago.
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1. Coronavirus
President Joe Biden unveiled tough new sanctions against Moscow yesterday in response to Russian military actions currently unfolding in Ukraine. Calling the events “the beginning of a Russian invasion,” Biden laid out sanctions that would effectively cut off Russia’s financial institutions and oligarchs from Western finance. Biden also announced he is moving additional troops and equipment to “strengthen” US allies in the region. US officials say they’re holding out hope for the possibility of diplomacy to avert an all-out war, but also made it clear Biden is ready to go much further should an invasion of Ukraine escalate. The UK, Japan and Australia also plan to impose sanctions against Russia, and Germany has stopped the progression of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline – the $11 billion project that would boost deliveries of gas directly from Russia to Germany.
2. Debt ceiling
Official White House records show a gap of more than seven hours in the call logs of then-President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 as violence unfolded on Capitol Hill, The Washington Post and CBS News reported. That’s a massive gap in communication during a critical time, and now House investigators are looking into whether Trump communicated through other means during those hours – for instance, through burner phones or other people’s devices. The call logs were part of the records turned over earlier this year by the National Archives to the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack. Meanwhile, in an interview with JustTheNews, Trump continued a pattern of soliciting foreign help for domestic political affairs when he called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to release any damaging information he has about the Biden family.
3. Immigration
As expected, the FDA has authorized a second Covid-19 booster shot for adults over the age of 50 as soon as four months after their initial booster dose. The CDC has also given its permissive recommendation to the move, which means the agency doesn’t outright recommend it, but acknowledges it is something people can do if they want. There is general scientific agreement that third Covid-19 doses help strengthen immunity against severe illness from the virus, but the science is far from settled on when, or even if, fourth doses might be needed. Complicating things even further is the rise of the extremely contagious BA.2 variant, which is now the dominant coronavirus strain in the US.
4. Policing
5. France
Uganda has proposed steep penalties for anti-vaxxers that include fines and imprisonment as the country doubles down on its coronavirus vaccine mandate. The proposed bill states that those who do not get vaccinated against Covid-19 will be fined 4 million Ugandan shillings (around $1,137) or receive a jail term of six months. A parliamentary health committee said yesterday it is considering the proposed legislation to “ensure mandatory COVID-19 vaccination.” The East African country of around 45 million people has grappled with a series of lockdowns to manage the pandemic amid misinformation and hesitancy toward vaccines. Uganda has recorded more than 163,000 cases of coronavirus and 3,500 deaths, according to the latest government figures.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
After an 8-year wait, the US men’s soccer team will once again compete in a World Cup
We should all aspire to be so unbothered.
Prenuptial agreements aren’t just for the super wealthy. Should you get one?
Sure, it’s not exactly high romance, but planning for any eventuality is an attractive quality.
A thriller by Dolly Parton and 4 other books to put on your reading list, from Jake Tapper’s book club
The only thing more fun than a thriller by Dolly Parton would be a rendition of “Thriller” by Dolly Parton.
Katy Perry split her pants during a performance of ‘Teenage Dream’
“You make me feel like I’m wearin’ an un-serged seam!”
TODAY’S NUMBER
That’s the percentage of LGBTQ adults who identify as transgender. Today, March 31, is International Transgender Day of Visibility, a day for allies to show support for the transgender community and consider the state of trans representation. This year’s observance comes at an especially important time for advocates and activists who are fighting against rising numbers of anti-LGBTQ laws that specifically target trans people.
That’s how many Americans quit their jobs last month as the “great resignation” continues.
TODAY’S QUOTE
“I’m still kind of processing what happened, so at some point I’ll talk about that s***. And it’ll be serious and it’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes.”
President Joe Biden, who signed a bill into law that makes lynching a federal hate crime. The legislation, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act of 2022, is named after the 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago who was brutally murdered by a group of White men in Mississippi for allegedly whistling at a White woman in 1955.
TODAY’S WEATHER
Check your local forecast here>>>
AND FINALLY
Pickle sandwich. Pickle sandwich? Pickle sandwich!
Truly a classic moment in classical performance history: A jumpy audience member, caught off guard by a sudden entrance in the North State Symphony’s performance of Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. AH! (Click here to view)