Russia attacks go on, SCOTUS asylum case, Chernobyl disaster anniversary: 5 things to know Tuesday

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Ukraine continues to absorb Russia's shelling attacks

Four people died and nine more were wounded Monday in the Russian shelling of the Donetsk region, the region's governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said Tuesday. Two of the victims were children: a girl, 9, and a boy, 14, Kyrylenko said in the messaging app Telegram. In other news, Ukrainian forces have repelled six attacks in the past 24 hours in the two regions that comprise the Donbas, Ukraine's industrial heartland, the General Staff said Tuesday. The Staff says Russian forces continue offensive operations in the country's east in an effort to take full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and establish a land corridor to Crimea. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Monday that Ukraine risks provoking World War III and said the threat of a nuclear conflict "should not be underestimated." In a Russian TV interview, Lavrov blamed Ukraine for stalled talks between the two nations, and accused the United States and Britain of pressuring Kyiv not to reach an agreement.

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Supreme Court hears challenge about 'remain in Mexico' policy as Biden faces immigration backlash

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday over President Joe Biden’s effort to suspend a Trump-era policy requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are considered. The appeal brings former President Donald Trump's "remain in Mexico" policy back before the justices, only months after a majority said the Biden administration did not properly shut down the controversial program and ordered immigration officials to reinstate it. Immigration has resurfaced as a key election controversy as the Biden administration comes under fire for attempting to end a related policy known as Title 42, in which migrants are rapidly expelled from the USA without legal review. Though the two programs are based on different laws, experts say the Supreme Court's ruling in Biden v. Texas may have implications for Title 42.

Chernobyl disaster anniversary: Russian invasion creates new dangers

The 36th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster is Tuesday. On April 26, 1986, reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl power station near Pripyat, Ukraine – then part of the Soviet Union – was destroyed by an explosion. At least 28 people were killed initially, but thousands more have died from cancer as a result of radiation that spread after the explosion. The resulting disaster has rendered the area surrounding the station uninhabitable, potentially for thousands of years. The International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday its director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, will visit the plant Tuesday, on the anniversary of the 1986 disaster. The IAEA said it will deliver "vital equipment," repair remote monitoring systems that stopped transmitting data to the IAEA and conduct radiological and other assessments at the site, which Russian forces held for five weeks during their invasion of Ukraine, until withdrawing March 31. Thousands of Russian troops did significant damage during the occupation and likely exposed many to radiation.

Wildfires tear across US, with more danger expected in Nebraska

Firefighters across the country are battling multiple wildfires as tinder-dry conditions and high winds whip up flames from Arizona to Florida — including a prairie fire in rural Nebraska that has killed one person, injured at least 15 firefighters and destroyed at least six homes. Thanks to lighter winds in the Midwest on Monday, firefighters made progress on the fire that's burned about 70 square miles of mostly grasslands and farmland near the Nebraska-Kansas state line. They made the most of the opportunity to dump water in dry creeks and draws filled with cottonwoods where dense fuels and brush has built up ahead of the return of more dangerous conditions expected on Tuesday, said Jonathan Ashford, spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team. "It's supposed to be about 20 degrees warmer tomorrow, lower humidity and increased wind," he said Monday night.

Beijing conducts mass COVID testing; Shanghai still under strict lockdown

The Chinese capital of Beijing was conducting mass testing Tuesday of most of its 21 million people as a new COVID-19 outbreak sparked residents to stockpile food and worry about the possibility of a lockdown. Meanwhile, the southern business hub of Shanghai is expected to remain under lockdown as it works to contain China's largest COVID-19 outbreak since 2020. The city has been under a strict lockdown since March amid the omicron variant outbreak. The 25 million residents have only gradually been allowed to leave their homes after three weeks of confinement. Public transportation has also been suspended and grocery stores are closed, leaving residents hungry and frustrated as they have to order food or wait for government drop-offs. Beijing has recorded 80 cases in the most recent wave, while Shanghai has seen more than 300,000 and 190 deaths this month.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Russia attacks go on, SCOTUS asylum case: 5 things to know Tuesday