Month: February 2022

Tensions rose over the weekend as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered nuclear deterrent forces to be on high alert, and the United States advising that Americans should leave Russia as soon as possible.

As fighting continued across Ukraine overnight into Monday morning, Ukraine and Russia prepared to meet at the border of Belarus, where Kyiv said it would push for a cease-fire during the talks with officials from Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had agreed to meet with the Russians on the border of Belarus “without preconditions” after speaking with that country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, but added that he did not expect those ‘talks to be fruitful.’

Meanwhile, the European Union made a historic move to finance the purchase and delivery of lethal weapons to aid the Ukrainian resistance.  FedEx and UPS announced they were suspending shipments to Russia, further isolating Russia’s economy from the rest of the world.  And Google will no longer allow Russian state media outlets to run ads, following a similar decision over the weekend from YouTube, and from Meta — Facebook’s parent — saying it would suspend Russian state media’s ability to run ads and monetize them on its platforms.

For full, in-depth coverage of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, head to NBC News at the link here, or click the link to ABC news below.

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Congress is lifting its mask requirement on the House floor, making face coverings optional for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday. Federal regulators eased guidelines last week in a rethinking of the nation’s strategy to adapt to living with COVID-19.

Congress’ Office of the Attending Physician announced the policy change Sunday, lifting a requirement that has been in place for much of the past two years on Capitol Hill.  The Capitol move also comes just one day before Washington’s mask mandate expires on Monday, and as a host of states and local governments have begun implementing the new CDC guidelines and lifting mask-mandates indoors and in schools.

The nation’s capital is now in an area considered low risk under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new metrics, which place less of a focus on positive test results and more on what’s happening in community hospitals. The new system greatly changes the look of the CDC’s risk map and puts more than 70% of the U.S. population in counties where the coronavirus is posing a low or medium threat to hospitals. Healthy people in those risk areas can stop wearing masks indoors, the agency said.

Mask-wearing will still be a personal choice in Congress and special precautions will be in place for Biden’s speech. Unlike last year’s joint address, this year will be open to all members of Congress. All attendees will be required to take a COVID-19 test before entering the chamber ahead of Biden’s address.

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