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Tuesday is International Women’s Day, an important official holiday in Russia and Ukraine dating from the Soviet era. Women are normally feted with flowers and chocolates and speeches, but this year the holiday was overshadowed in Ukraine by war, and in Russia by economic chaos. Sugary messages of love and support were shared on social networks as in previous years, but many were tinged with sorrow or pleas for peace.

FILE - In this June 1, 2021, file photo, state Sen. Mia McLeod, left, stands in the sanctuary of Shiloh Baptist, her family's church, talking with Rev. Coley Mearite in Bennettsville, S.C. In her campaign for South Carolina governor, state Sen. Mia McLeod has rolled out an agenda she says she hopes will advance opportunities for the state's Black population. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File) In her campaign for South Carolina

By RONALD BLUM Locked gates are shown at Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, Wednesday, March 2, 2022, in Atlanta. With owners and players unable to agree on a labor contract to replace the collective bargaining agreement that expired Dec. 1, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred followed through with his threat on Tuesday and canceled the first two series for each of the 30 major league teams. (AP

By SCOTT MCFETRIDGE and JOSH FUNK Cleanup efforts are underway in Winterset, Iowa, on Sunday, March 6, 2022, after a tornado tore through an area southwest of town on Saturday. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Des Moines Register Seven people were killed, including two children, when several tornadoes swept through central Iowa, destroying homes and knocking down trees and power lines in the state’s deadliest storm in more than a decade, authorities said.

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., right, with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., speaks about their bill to ban Russian energy imports, Thursday, March 3, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is facing intense pushback from all corners of Washington after calling for the Russian people to end the Ukraine war by assassinating President Vladimir Putin. White House press secretary Jen

By JEFFREY MERVIS Robert Dixon has spent more than 50 years mentoring physics students at historically Black colleges and universities. MATTHEW ODOM Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States have had outsize success in launching Black students into physics. Although only 9% of all Black undergraduates attend the country’s 100 HBCUs, those schools for decades have awarded the majority of physics degrees earned by Black students. HBCUs

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson smiles as she sits down for a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) The Senate Judiciary Committee said Wednesday that confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson will begin March 21, keeping the Senate on track for a possible final vote next month.  Sen. Dick

By CHRIS MEGERIAN President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Washington. (Shawn Thew/Pool via AP) Midway through his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Joe Biden pleaded with the country to finally, after nearly 1 million deaths, stop viewing the coronavirus as a political fault line.  “Let’s use this moment

By GARY D. ROBERTSON North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday ordered state offices under his control to terminate government contracts that benefit Russian businesses in response to its war against Ukraine. The directive also meant some liquor was getting removed from shelves at government-operated alcohol stores. Cooper’s executive order directs agencies and departments to review existing contracts and terminate those that directly benefit businesses that are headquartered in Russia or have their

By ZEKE MILLER and COLLEEN LONG The chamber of the House of Representatives is seen at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, where President Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union speech Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress and the nation. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Facing disquiet at home and danger abroad, President Joe Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address