After spending more than a month amassing Russian soldiers near the Ukrainian border, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced, on February 24th, that “special military operations” had begun in eastern Ukraine under the pretext that his forces will “denazify” regions that fall under Russian control. Missile and artillery attacks began on Ukrainian air bases and the capitol Kyiv, along with Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to the international community for further sanctions on Russia, as well as shipments of arms to keep the Ukrainian military fighting. Many countries responded, with Germany - who just days before had halted the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas line project with Russia - said they would send 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. This move was significant for Germany as it meant a reversal of their policy to not send weapons into war zones. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson committed similar military aid, including helmets and body armor.
The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution over Russian objections Thursday commending progress in peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban while urging stepped-up efforts to tackle terrorist attacks by the Taliban, al-Qaida, the Islamic State extremist group and their affiliates. The vote in the 193-member world body was 130 in favor, Russia against, and China, Pakistan and Belarus abstaining. Fifty-nine countries did not vote.
Nearly a decade ago, after a string of assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists shook Tehran, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was assigned the task of guarding them. The very presence of the powerful IRGC was meant to be deterrent enough to prevent enemy intelligence operatives from further killings, conducted as part of a covert war waged in earnest at the time by Israel and the United States to slow down Iran’s nuclear advances.
A Japanese spacecraft is nearing Earth after a yearlong journey home from a distant asteroid with soil samples and data that could provide clues to the origins of the solar system. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft left the asteroid Ryugu, about 180 million miles from Earth, a year ago and is expected to reach Earth and drop a capsule containing the precious samples in southern Australia on Dec. 6.
In Europe there are signs the second wave may have peaked, and according to the professor leading the latest UK trials, multiple vaccines could be used to boost the immune response to coronavirus. Professor Saul Faust, chief investigator for the Janssen phase-three trial, said different responses brought about by vaccines could work together to shield people from the disease. Speaking about the importance of manufacturing more than one coronavirus vaccine, Prof Faust said, "Over time we'll learn how to use those vaccines together. It could be that giving one vaccine and then another gives you an even better and longer immune response."
Millions of men, women and children in war-torn Yemen are facing famine, top United Nations officials warned on Wednesday as they appealed for more money to prevent it. "We are on a countdown right now to a catastrophe," U.N. food chief David Beasley told the U.N. Security Council. "If we choose to look away, there's no doubt in my mind Yemen will be plunged into a devastating famine within a few short months." The United Nations describes Yemen as the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with 80% of the people in need of help.