Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The latest in Ukraine: “Ukrainian cities remained under siege Friday as Russian attacks continued for the fourth week, pushing farther west in Ukraine. Local officials said that several missiles destroyed buildings at an aircraft repair facility near the airport in Lviv, which is around 40 miles from the border with Poland.”
* Vladimir Putin’s indefensible tactics: “With his troops bogged down in the mud, running out of food and fuel and hemorrhaging casualties, many analysts believe that Putin’s battle plan is in the mire — and in desperation he has pivoted to the brutal tactics used in the Russian republic of Chechnya in 1999 and in Syria in 2015. In both campaigns, Putin’s missiles and jets bombed and besieged residential areas, reduced apartment buildings to rubble, and targeted schools and hospitals in what watchdogs say could have constituted war crimes.”
* Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Russia’s false allegations about Ukrainian biological weapons research “sound like they were forwarded to him on a chain email from some dark corner of the internet.”
* This must’ve been an interesting conversation: “President Joe Biden on Friday warned Chinese President Xi Jinping against aiding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine. In a video conference, Biden ‘described the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia,’ the White House said.”
* A bizarre spectacle: "Vladimir Putin appeared at a huge flag-waving rally at a packed Moscow stadium Friday and lavished praise on his troops fighting in Ukraine, three weeks into the invasion that has led to heavier-than-expected Russian losses on the battlefield and increasingly authoritarian rule at home."
* All of the “no” votes on this were cast by Republicans: “The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill that would prohibit companies from enforcing increasingly common agreements that require workers and consumers to bypass court and bring legal disputes in private arbitration. The Democrat-led House voted 222-209 to pass the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act over the objections of Republicans and business groups who say it will deprive workers, consumers and companies of a faster and cheaper alternative to court.”
* Koch Industries: “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed Koch Industries on Thursday after the multinational giant confirmed that it will maintain its current business in Russia. ‘Koch Industries is shamefully continuing to do business in Putin’s Russia and putting their profits ahead of defending democracy. The noxious stench of Trump still hangs over Koch Industries,’ Schumer said in a joint statement with Sen. Ron Wyden, the chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee.”
* This is a weird story: “Former Washington state Rep. Matt Shea, the far-right Republican who was found by a House-commissioned investigation to have planned and participated in domestic terrorism, is in a small town in Poland with more than 60 Ukrainian children, trying to facilitate their adoption in America.”
* Good to know: "Researchers testing repurposed drugs against Covid-19 found that ivermectin didn’t reduce hospital admissions, in the largest trial yet of the effect of the antiparasitic on the disease driving the pandemic."
Have a safe weekend.