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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.
Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.
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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
3. Immigration
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
Otter takes surfer’s board
You’ll have to fork over a pretty penny if you want to stay in the country singer’s “Gypsy Wagon.” Take a look inside here.
Airline reveals ‘Skynest’ bunk beds for economy class passengers
Improving comfort for *all* passengers is a top priority for a carrier that operates some of the longest flights on the planet.
What’s next for Serena Williams after her first-round exit at Wimbledon?
Well, a loss is always an opportunity to begin again. Here’s what the future may hold for the tennis star.
In 1922, Klondike bars sold for just 10 cents apiece. They’re technically cheaper now
You don’t hear about many products getting cheaper over time… Learn how this beloved – and affordable – ice cream snack has stayed relevant over decades.
Cameron Diaz is coming out of retirement
After an eight-year hiatus, rom-com queen Cameron Diaz is making movies again. She credits a fellow actor friend for getting her “back in action.”
TODAY’S NUMBER
20 quadrillion
That’s how many years disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly was sentenced to serve in prison Wednesday for federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. As the judge read Kelly’s sentence in the Brooklyn court, survivors of his abuse held hands and prayed. Kelly showed no emotion.
TODAY’S QUOTE
“This was a brazen scheme of staggering proportions.”
– Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, after a stretch of multimillion-dollar beachfront property was returned to the descendants of its Black owners this week, nearly a century after the parcel was taken by the city in the Jim Crow era. Known as Bruce’s Beach, the resort in the city of Manhattan Beach had offered Black families a place to enjoy the California life in the early 1900s until harassment from the Ku Klux Klan tore away at their dreams. The land – which was purchased by the Bruce family in 1912 for $1,225 – is now worth an estimated $20 million.
TODAY’S WEATHER
Check your local forecast here>>>
AND FINALLY
Happy Peace Day
Watch this professional jumper leap off a cliff in Italy wearing a flying squirrel suit! It’s petrifying, yet so beautiful at the same time. (Click here to view)