Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.
(Want to get this newsletter in your inbox? Here’s the sign-up.)
Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.
1. Russian forces invaded Ukraine in the hours before dawn, igniting battles around the country that have left dozens of soldiers and civilians dead — and the world watching.
By sunset, special forces and airborne troops were closing in on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. A senior U.S. Defense Department official said that Russian forces “have every intention of decapitating the government and installing their own method of governance.” Here are the latest updates.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians fled imperiled cities, but many were met with lanes of buses and cars that were backed up for miles.
Russian forces captured the Chernobyl power plant, the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. The condition of the plant and its nuclear-waste storage facilities was unknown.
2. President Biden announced more sanctions against Russia in an address to the nation, denouncing Putin for launching a “brutal assault on the people of Ukraine” overnight.
“Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war,” Biden said in remarks from the White House. “And now he and his country will bear the consequences.”
Biden said the U.S. would cut off Russia’s largest banks and companies from the Western financial markets and would restrict exports of technology to Russia. He said the actions would vastly degrade the country’s ability to thrive in the weeks, months and years ahead.
Stocks and energy markets swung wildly; by most measures, European markets were hit hardest. Oil prices spiked and remained at levels not seen since 2014.
The president said that he had authorized sending more troops to Eastern European countries in the NATO alliance, but he reaffirmed that American troops would not fight with Russia in Ukraine. He did say the U.S. would defend its allies if Russia moved beyond Ukraine’s borders.
3. President Vladimir Putin said that Russia “remains one of the most powerful nuclear states” and warned against international interference.
In a speech announcing the Russian attack on Ukraine, Putin railed against what he called America’s “empire of lies” and threatened “consequences you have never faced in your history” for “anyone who tries to interfere with us.”
Putin’s speech, intended to justify the invasion, seemed to come close to threatening nuclear war.
Many Russians have embraced Putin during his 22 years in power for what they saw as his rationality and astute risk management. With his decision to go to war with Ukraine, that image has been upended. Thousands of Russians took to the streets to protest.
4. Three former Minneapolis police officers were found guilty of violating George Floyd’s rights.
A federal jury determined that the officers — Tou Thao, 36; J. Alexander Kueng, 28; and Thomas Lane, 38 — had willfully violated Floyd’s constitutional rights in May 2020 by not providing medical care when he lost a pulse, and that two of them were also guilty of not intervening to stop a fellow officer, Derek Chauvin, from planting his knee on Floyd’s neck.
Sentencing will be determined at a future hearing. The officers face between a year and life in prison.
The case was an extraordinarily rare example of the Justice Department’s prosecuting officers for inaction while another used excessive force. The verdicts signal to police departments that juries may become more willing to convict not just officers who kill people on the job but also those who watch them do it.
5. Hopeful business executives are (again) planning a return to the office.
This time is different, they say, as the United States nears two years since the coronavirus pandemic sent many office workers home. Testing is widely available, many workers are vaccinated and executives are hopeful.
In other virus news, Queen Elizabeth canceled her virtual events for a second time since testing positive amid an outbreak of coronavirus cases at Windsor Castle.
Los Angeles County will no longer require masks at indoor public places for those with proof of vaccination, beginning on Friday. On Monday, Washington, D.C., will end a citywide mask mandate and Chicago will loosen its mask rules.
6. Kevin McCarthy, the top House Republican, is plotting a rise to be the next House speaker.
Even as he courts the party mainstream, McCarthy has defended Republicans who have called the riot of Jan. 6, 2021, a righteous cause, linking his fate to the far-right fringe to secure a foothold.
With an eye on the November elections, some House Democrats from conservative-leaning districts are circulating a reworked legislative agenda that embraces popular initiatives and rejects the left’s most divisive ideas. The plan underscores Republicans’ success at weaponizing issues like school closures and “defund the police” efforts in competitive districts.
7. A botanist is using science and Celtic wisdom to save trees.
Diana Beresford-Kroeger lives in the woods of Canada, in a forest she helped grow, an arboreal Noah’s Ark of specimens that can best withstand a warming planet.
From there, Beresford-Kroeger, 77, has worked to save some of the oldest life-forms on Earth by charming its humans. She has moved Jane Fonda to tears. She inspired Richard Powers to base a character of his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “The Overstory,” in part on her; he has called her a “maverick” and her work “the best kind of animism.”
8. A Yeezy Gap/Balenciaga collaboration has arrived. Is it worth it?
“Yeezy Gap engineered by Balenciaga,” a much-hyped joint collection of the artist formerly known as Kanye West (now just Ye) and the designer formerly known as Demna Gvasalia (now just Demna), was unveiled three months ahead of schedule.
Our chief fashion critic writes that the collection presents an opportunity to buy a piece of this cultural moment in the shape of a $140 T-shirt. And while the names themselves are intensely potent, the clothes, so far, are kind of … not.
9. A memoir by William Barr, essays by Sarah Polley and more: Here are 14 books coming out in March.
Two novels explore the desires of the literary life: Claire-Louise Bennett’s “Checkout 19” explores a young woman’s artistic development, and in Lee Cole’s debut, “Groundskeeping,” someone with literary dreams begins a relationship with an established author.
In nonfiction, William Barr’s memoir promises an accounting of his two tenures in the administrations of George H.W. Bush and Donald Trump. And in “Run Towards the Danger,” the actress and screenwriter Sarah Polley talks about such varied topics as stage fright and a difficult childbirth.
10. And finally, some things can be taken to the grave. Including cars.
People can and do get buried in their cars. Though some recent viral stories about the uber-rich being buried with their luxury cars have been stunts or proven false, it has happened, as with the Cadillac Eldorado that required 16 gravesites.
Others are tantalizingly plausible, like the Beverly Hills heiress who was reportedly buried with her baby-blue Ferrari in 1977. The editor of the Ferrari Club of America’s magazine insists it’s true — it was in her will, and a register says that the owner of left-hand-drive chassis No. 5055 was “buried in car in San Antonio.”
According to one lawyer: “You don’t have to be buried in a casket — there’s no law against an alternative container.” (In Texas, at least.)
Have an eccentric evening.
Eve Edelheit compiled photos for this briefing.
Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern.
Want to catch up on past briefings? You can browse them here.
What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com.
Here are today’s Mini Crossword, Spelling Bee and Wordle. If you’re in the mood to play more, find all our games here.
