Today's Liberal News

Ukraine update: Scarce Russian gains, but an escalating humanitarian crisis

The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine continues to grow, with 1.7 million refugees seeking safety across the border while civilians in Ukrainian cities under Russian artillery and missile attacks remain trapped. Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to push forward with only modest gains, and Ukrainian defenders continue their success in reaching far into Russian supply convoys.

It took some two hours for accused man to attack seven Asian women

In what has become a violent trend of attacking Asian Americans, a 28-year-old man was charged on Wednesday of hate crimes after he was identified as the assailant in a two-hour violent spree through Manhattan last Sunday. Steven Zajonc was charged with seven counts of assault and attempted assault and seven counts of harassment and aggravated harassment after he allegedly punched a 57-year-old Asian American woman without saying a single word, The New York Times reported.

Educators in St. Paul and Minneapolis may be going on strike soon. Here’s why

by Cirien Saadeh

In a Feb. 24 announcement, teachers with the Saint Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE) and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT), which includes both teachers and Education Support Professionals, announced an intent to strike. Filed with the state of Minnesota’s Bureau of Mediation, the intent to strike was authorized by the board in a vote counted Feb. 17 and provides a legally-mandated, 10-day warning to the school districts about a possible strike.

Putin’s propaganda show: U.S. neo-Nazis may idolize Vlad, but the feeling isn’t mutual

U.S. neo-Nazis and white supremacists may idolize Russian leader Vladimir Putin, but he just revealed that he really considers them to be “morons” even though they serve his interests as “useful idiots” by sowing disinformation, discord, and hatred in the U.S.

And that’s not all Putin had to say Saturday at a bizarre “Beauties and the Beast” propaganda event at an Aeroflot training center near Moscow.

‘Democracy is not a spectator sport,’ co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate says amid tide of hate attacks

Long before she was recognized by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential individuals, received the White House Champions of Change award from President Barack Obama, became the executive director of the AAPI Equity Alliance (AAPI Equity), or co-founded Stop AAPI Hate, Manjusha Kulkarni witnessed the fight against racism first-hand. 

Her family immigrated from India to the U.S.

The Key to Escaping the Couple-Envy Trap

As a couples therapist, I often hear clients compare their romantic relationship with those of their friends or co-workers. Some do it to express satisfaction with their own partner. But more often, they wonder if they’d be happier with someone more attractive, more sensitive, funnier, smarter, or richer than the person they’re committed to.

The Strategy That Can Defeat Putin

First came the shock: the sight of missiles and artillery shells slamming into apartment buildings, helicopters pirouetting in flames, refugees streaming across the border, an embattled and unshaven president pleading with anguished political leaders abroad for help, burly uniformed men posing by burned-out tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, Russian police spot-checking cellphones on Moscow streets for dissident conversations. Distress and anger and resolution were natural reactions.

Venezuela’s Train to Nowhere

In 2011, Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, announced that he had cancer. The details of his illness, and his treatment by doctors in Cuba, remained a mystery: He wouldn’t say what type of cancer it was or where it had been found in his body. But a presidential election was scheduled for the following year, so in January 2012, Chávez announced that he was cured and prepared to start campaigning.

Tolerating COVID Misinformation Is Better Than the Alternative

On December 30, 2019, Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital in Hubei, China, began to warn friends and colleagues about the outbreak of a novel respiratory illness. Four days later, he was summoned to appear before local authorities, who reprimanded him for “making false comments” that “severely disturbed the social order.

“He Promises & He Lies”: Ukrainians Say Putin’s Word Can’t Be Trusted as Ceasefire Breaks Down

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered its 12th day as civilians across Ukraine are shelled while trying to flee for safety. More than 1.5 million refugees have now left Ukraine in what the United Nations is calling the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II. We speak to Kateryna Ivanova, who ran a dental clinic with her husband just outside of Kyiv, about the toll of war on daily life as medical professionals risk their lives by staying behind to meet the shortage.

What Would a Ukraine-Russia Peace Deal Look Like? Anatol Lieven on Ways to End Putin’s War

After multiple failed peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Russia has promised a ceasefire and several so-called humanitarian corridors to allow Ukrainians to flee to predetermined countries, though similar agreements have fallen apart amid continued Russian shelling of civilian areas. We speak to Anatol Lieven from the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft about what a Ukraine-Russia peace deal could look like and what is at stake in a prolonged war.