Pressure is mounting against Russia as its forces close in on the Ukrainian capital. A report on climate change from a UN panel paints a bleak future for the planet. And it turns out that RV life isn’t for everyone.
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Support for Ukraine grows as Russia moves closer to Kyiv
Countries have tightened the noose around the Russian economy on Monday, announcing new sanctions against its central bank and individuals, and Switzerland broke its position of neutrality to join the European Union in its actions. The moves came as Ukrainian and Russian delegations met at the Belarusian border for their first direct talks since Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said it would demand an immediate ceasefire. In response to the Russian invasion, the UN was meeting in two separate forums: the General Assembly met only for its 11th emergency meeting, and the 15-member Security Council met again for discuss the crisis. Battered by global sanctions, Russia’s Central Bank has dramatically raised interest rates in an attempt to slow the rouble’s fall. Russia’s conventional military assault on Ukraine moved towards the end of its fourth day with fighting on the streets of the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, and troops closing in on the capital, Kyiv . The latest updates.
Are the soldiers of Snake Island alive?
A group of Ukrainian soldiers who caught the world’s attention after they told a Russian warship to “fuck you” may be alive, according to Ukrainian officials. Soldiers on Snake Island, a small island in the Black Sea, shot to fame last week after a Russian warship told them to surrender or be bombed, according to a tweet from the Ukrainian Embassy in Georgia. Ukrainian officials said last week that all 13 soldiers had been killed. But the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said in a statement that the soldiers may have been captured by Russian forces and were still alive.
What is everyone talking about
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“Parts of the planet will become uninhabitable”
Life in some places on the planet is rapidly reaching the point where it will be too hot for the species that live there to survive, international climate experts said in a report on Monday. “With climate change, parts of the planet will become uninhabitable,” said German scientist Hans-Otto Pörtner, co-chair of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II, which produced the published report. in Berlin. The report assesses the scientific literature documenting the devastating effects of human-induced climate change on society and ecosystems around the world. The group studied the vulnerability of people and ecosystems to climate change and how adaptation could help reduce risk, said Pörtner and co-chair Deborah Roberts of South Africa.
RV sales have surged amid COVID, and not everyone is thrilled
It didn’t take long for Karin Smith to realize the RV life was not for her. The resident and single mother of Jupiter, Florida bought a 1995 Fleetwood Bounder in January 2021, hoping for peace of mind amid skyrocketing rent and a way to see the America with her son. But owning a motorhome was more complicated than she thought. “It just started to look like a money pit,” she said. “I really started thinking about things like: Is it safe? What would I do with Wi-Fi? I work remotely; do I work listening to neighbors arguing or 14 people doing the party next door for two days? Everything fell apart.” She ended up selling the RV six months after buying it. She never drove. Smith is just one of many Americans who have become RV owners during the pandemic. Many are happy with their purchase and sales show no signs of slowing down, but some owners note that rising travel costs and growing crowds have made RV travel more difficult. Rising prices play a big role. It’s not just gasoline — which is definitely taking a hit on its wallet with the national diesel average nearing $4 a gallon — but basics like campgrounds and RVs themselves. same. More and more RV owners are thinking about their pandemic purchases.
Really fast
An “atmospheric river” washes over the Pacific Northwest
An “extreme” atmospheric river was pouring into the Pacific Northwest on Monday, and with it will come the threat of floods and avalanches, say the forecasters. Meteorologists said rain amounts will range from 2 to 4 inches early this week from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, and locally higher amounts are possible on the windward sides of the mountains through Wednesday. A flood watch is in effect for more than 5 million people in Washington and Oregon, the National Weather Service said, including the Seattle and Tacoma metro areas. An avalanche warning is also in effect for the Washington Mountains, and “very dangerous avalanche conditions” are expected, according to the Northwest Avalanche Center in Seattle. Bad weather is courtesy of an “atmospheric river,” a ribbon of water vapor that can stretch for thousands of miles from the tropics to the western United States. Between 250 and 375 miles wide, the River of Moisture provides fuel for massive rains and snowstorms that can cause flooding along the West Coast.
A break in the news
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