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| Good morning, Daily Briefing readers. The Biden administration and its allies are hitting back at Russia for its invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions. "They're behaving like thugs and bullies," said Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, while announcing his country's penalties against Moscow. Meanwhile, truckers opposed to vaccine mandates and pandemic-related restrictions are heading to Washington, D.C. And more freezing weather is on the way for some – but a warmer spell for others. |
| It's Steve and Jane, with Wednesday's news. |
| ⚖️ A jury found three white men guilty of hate crimes and attempted kidnapping for the 2020 murder of Ahmaud Arbery after determining they targeted him because he was Black. |
 | | Shortly after the verdict was announced, Arbery's parents emerged from the courthouse holding hands with attorney Ben Crump. They raised their clasped hands to cheers from supporters. | | USA TODAY | |
| 🔴 Zoe Sozo Bethel, the reigning Miss Alabama for America Strong, has died. She was 27. |
| 🍚 A teen ate leftover rice and noodles. Hours later, doctors amputated his legs and fingers. |
| ⚽ "An exponentially better place than when we found it": The American women players settled an equal-pay lawsuit against U.S. Soccer for $24 million. |
 | | U.S. women soccer players reached a landmark agreement with the sport's American governing body to end a six-year legal battle over equal pay. | | USA TODAY Sports graphic | |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, hear what sanctions the U.S. and other countries are placing on Russia. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| Here's what's happening today: |
'Hit more. Hit hard. Hit now': Sanctions against Russia take effect |
| President Joe Biden said Russia's actions in Ukraine will trigger massive sanctions , a response he has been threatening for weeks as President Vladimir Putin built up troops on Ukraine's borders. Biden announced financial sanctions on banks and Russian officials close to Putin and their sons as punishment for what he called "the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine." He said the U.S. would impose "full blocking" on two large Russian financial institutions and "comprehensive sanctions" on Russian debt. "That means we've cut off Russia's government from Western finance," Biden said. "It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either." |
| The sanctions also block the newly built Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline which is not yet in operation. Additional sanctions will be put in place if Russia moves further into Ukraine, Biden said. "We call on partners to impose more sanctions on Russia now," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. "Now the pressure needs to step up to stop Putin. Hit his economy and cronies. Hit more. Hit hard. Hit now." |
 | | President Joe Biden said Russia's actions in Ukraine will trigger massive sanctions. | | USA TODAY | |
Convoys say they plan to shut down DC beltway; National Guard troops expected |
| A series of trucker protest convoys are headed for the nation's capital , and it is unclear whether the protests will bring the kind of chaos that paralyzed the Canadian capital of Ottawa for three weeks. Bob Bolus says he's leading the Freedom Convoy of trucks from Pennsylvania to Washington on Wednesday. His complaints include vaccine mandates and pandemic-related restrictions. Another group of truckers, calling themselves the People's Convoy, will leave from California on Wednesday, planning for a March 5 arrival in D.C. It was unclear exactly when or where protests would take place. The D.C. government and the U.S. Capitol Police requested National Guard assistance in dealing with the convoys, and the Pentagon is expected to approve the deployment of 700 to 800 unarmed troops, a U.S. official told the Associated Press on Tuesday. |
Just for subscribers: |
| 🔵 "Murkiness and doubt": Putin playbook meant to throw White House, allies off balance on Ukraine invasion |
| 🔴 In the birthplace of the KKK, a new group is working to make the city's monuments more representative of Black history. |
| 🚨 "I still live in fear": LGBTQ Americans say a lack of federal protection can ruin lives. |
| ⚖️ What the hate crime verdicts in Ahmaud Arbery's death say about justice and race in America. |
| ⛽ Russia's invasion of Ukraine will only add fuel to the fire of the already-high gas prices: Just how high they will eventually go will depend on Russia's next moves. |
| 🚨 "The world does not seem to care enough": What life is like in Ukraine as Russia invades. |
| The Presidents Day sale is happening. Sign up as a USA TODAY subscriber for just $1 per week for 52 weeks. Here is all of our subscriber content. |
Jury set to begin deliberations in trial of 3 officers charged with violating George Floyd's civil rights |
| The jury hearing the case against three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd's civil rights is expected to begin deliberations Wednesday. Prosecutors and defense attorneys spent a full day Tuesday in closing arguments that recapped a month of testimony and sought to sway the jury toward their view of the case. For prosecutors, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao "chose to do nothing" as a fellow officer, Derek Chauvin , squeezed the life out of Floyd. Lane's attorney, Earl Gray, said his client was "very concerned" about Floyd and suggested rolling him onto his side so he could breathe, but was rebuffed twice by Chauvin. Kueng's attorney, Thomas Plunkett, said Chauvin was in charge and that police weren't adequately trained on the duty to intervene. Thao's attorney, Robert Paule, said his client thought the officers were doing what they believed was best for Floyd — holding him until paramedics arrived. |
Newsmakers in their own words: Phil Mickelson apologizes, takes issue with author |
 | | Phil Mickelson at the Kapalua Golf Club in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Jan. 5, 2022. | | Getty Images photo; USA TODAY Sports graphic | |
| In a statement released online Tuesday, six-time major champion Phil Mickelson addressed unflattering comments about the PGA Tour and others associated with the proposed Saudi Arabia-backed Super Golf League. |
| The World Golf Hall of Fame member apologized and said he was going to take time off and "work on being the man I want to be." But he also took issue with the person that reported the comments – Alan Shipnuck, author of the soon-to-be-released "Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf's Most Colorful Superstar." |
| Mickelson told Shipnuck he was one of the architects behind the proposed Saudi Arabia-backed league and said he hoped to use the venture that is guaranteeing exorbitant amounts of money as leverage against the PGA Tour. |
More snowy, cold weather for some, but warmer weather coming for others |
| While the central U.S. shivers, temperatures will be 10 to 25 degrees above average over most of the East Coast over the next couple of days. Several locations could see record-breaking high temperatures from Tuesday into Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, in the West, a separate storm that brought snow and rain to California on Tuesday will move into the central U.S. by Wednesday and Thursday, spreading more snow and ice across the region. A powerful storm continued to wreak havoc across the Upper Midwest on Tuesday as winter refused to relinquish its icy grip on the U.S. and the cold is expected to last throughout the week. |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday |
| 📅 It's "Twosday!" No matter where you are in the world, today's palindrome date is the same. |
| 🥶 A bone-numbing blast: Storm wallops the central U.S. with heavy snow and wind chills near 50 below. |
| 🌎 Scientists discover the Earth's inner core isn't solid or liquid. It's "superionic." |
| 🎥 Charlize Theron recalls Tom Hardy's "bad behavior" on the set of "Mad Max: Fury Road" in a new book: "I didn't feel safe." |
 | | Max (Tom Hardy) and Furiosa (Charlize Theron) team up in "Mad Max: Fury Road." | | Jasin Boland, Warner Bros. Pictures | |
MLB, players to continue negotiations as management says deadline looms |
| Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association will meet again Wednesday to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement . Less than a week remains until the sides reach what management says is a Monday deadline for a deal that would allow the season to start as scheduled on March 31. Players made a slight shift toward management Tuesday on their proposal for increased salary arbitration eligibility, lowering to the top 75% by service time among the group with at least two seasons in the majors but less than three. The union also asked for increases in the minor league minimum. Wednesday will be the 84th day of the second-longest work stoppage in baseball history. |
California wildlife officials search for 'Hank the Tank' |
| The search in California for a 500-pound bear called "Hank the Tank" continues Wednesday. According to a local report, the bear has broken into 38 homes in South Lake Tahoe, resulting in more than 150 calls to police. And now the California Department of Fish and Wildlife says there is only one option to resolve the issue: Killing the bear. However, Bear League, an advocacy group, said euthanizing the bear is unnecessary and cruel. |
📸 Photo of the day: Newly-discovered dinosaurs challenge what we thought we knew 📸 |
 | | An artist's conception of Llukalkan aliocranianus, a newly discovered species of meat-eating dinosaur. A skull of the dinosaur was found in Argentina. | | Jorge Blanco and Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | |
| Thought you knew all there was to know about dinosaurs? Think again. A host of the extinct creatures have been discovered by scientists over the past few years. The most recent finds include a 95 million-year-old fossil of an early common ancestor of the crocodile and alligator in Australia, and a newly discovered species of meat-eating dinosaur whose skull was found in Argentina. |
| Scroll through the gallery to see the most fascinating finds. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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