Brief News

Ukraine

In an emotional address to the UN Security Council, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian troops of killing civilians for “pleasure” and warned more atrocities could occur.

Zelensky’s speech came a day after he visited the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where shocking images of bodies in the streets emerged over the weekend.

Separately, the top US military officer told lawmakers that the world is becoming more unstable and the “potential for significant international conflict is increasing, not decreasing”.

Severe storms

More than 45 million people are under an enhanced severe weather threat across the Southeast US, where a powerful storm could deliver a triple threat of wind, tornadoes and flooding. Parts of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and the western Carolinas could see damaging winds and a few tornadoes in the coming days, according to the latest forecasts.

A flood watch is also in effect for about 2 million people in the region, with some isolated areas getting around 5 inches of rain. The storm system is hitting the region at an unfortunate time, as most areas remain in recovery mode from recent  tornadoes and treacherous thunderstorms. At least two people were killed yesterday by the storms, local officials said.

Abortion

The Oklahoma legislature passed a near-total ban on abortion, making exceptions only in the case of medical emergencies. The bill would make performing an abortion or attempting to perform the procedure a felony punishable by a maximum fine of $100,000 or a maximum of 10 years in state prison, or both.

The legislation passed the state Republican-led House by a 70-14 vote, without debate or questions on the floor. The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who previously promised to sign every bill limiting abortion that came across his desk.

This comes as several state legislatures have advanced bills restricting abortion access. Last week, Arizona’s Republican governor signed into law a ban on abortions after 15 weeks, with no exceptions for cases of rape and incest.

Student loans

The Biden administration extended its pause on federal student loan repayments through August 31. The repayment freeze, which has been in place since the beginning of the pandemic, was scheduled to expire on May 1.

But due to increased pressure from other Democrats and consumer advocate groups, President Joe Biden will move the date yet again as inflation and ongoing supply chain issues continue to make everyday items more expensive.

Borrower balances have effectively been frozen for more than two years, with no payments required on most federal student loans since March 2020.

Recession

Deutsche Bank is the first major bank to forecast a US recession that will begin late next year.

The Federal Reserve’s fight against rising inflation and its aggressive tightening of monetary policy will push the economy into a recession. Hopes that inflation would rapidly cool off have been dashed because of the war in Ukraine.

Energy and food commodity prices have spiked since the start of Russia’s invasion and there are still looming concerns that the Fed will have to rapidly raise interest rates to get prices under control.The exact severity of recession is uncertain, but Deutsche Bank expects it to be “mild” compared to the past two downturns.