Am surprised that she was still there.

Surge of poverty in Eastern Europe

Russia-Ukraine war and inflation have pushed 4 million children into poverty


Additional children going into poverty

Russia      +2,800,000
Ukraine        +400,000
Romania         +110,000
Croatia             +21,000
Kosovo             +16,000
Moldova            +14,000
Bulgaria            +12,000
Albania                +9,000
Serbia                 +8,000
Montenegro                +300


Additional population going into poverty

Russia      +8,300,000
Ukraine        +470,000
Romania         +400,000
Croatia             +83,000
Moldova            +60,000
Bulgaria            +47,000
Kosovo             +41,000
Albania               +35,000
Serbia                +28,000
Montenegro                +900


Source: UNICEF

If Russia were a democracy then based on these numbers it would have backed away from the war long ago.

Well, they won't...any time soon because Putin has made it clear he doesn't regret the invasion of UA.
Unfortunately more people will be brought to the poverty line in Western and Southern Europe too and the Govs will be pressured by the more extremist or nationalistic parties to pressure UA to make "peace" with RU. It's a domino effect. Just watch miss Italy who has recently won the elections over there...for example.
Europe must find sources to get their energy independence.

Back to the real world with poor news; BQ1 and BQ1.1 are sub variants of BA.5, which has long been the dominant Omicron strain in the U.S. and are spreadig rapidly but seem to be resistant to Evusheld, the main treatment used to protect the immunocompromised from Covid.
And a second monoclonal antibody treatment known as bebtelovimab is also unlikely to work,

And this has to do with Russia/Ukraine situation how exactly?

Probably in the sense that one more pandemic with a new more resistant variant of omicron is all we need now...? I think he transgressed the other thread, where people were talking about covid, lockdowns and inflation.
If economy deteriorates internally then the more extremist and/or nationalistic voices will put a pressure on governments to support Ukraine less, as if Ukraine behaves like a world bully and not Russia...
May the winter come and the cold kick in and we will probably see less sympathy for UA or for the refugees. I think Putin bets on it.

don't worry, as soon as ukraine has served its purpose many governments will be ready to throw them under a bus anyway.

nice interview in Politico, it touches many important aspects of Putin's expansionism war, the (non) possibilities of anti-war movements, about Musk and about our own perceptions, how big the conflict actually is (i.e. that actually the war is already much bigger than just a local spat).

Positive news on energy

So the growth was around 2% of the European Union’s electricity mix in a year, needs to be much more.

Claimed to be the first underwater photo from Nord Stream 1.
Very hazy but one could imagine the explosion coming from inside although maybe the gas pressure would be enough to bend things outward after the explosion.

https://tass.com/politics/1524633

TASS saying there was an unsuccesful Ukrainian assault through the river on Enerhodar power plant. Hard to confirm that, I hope these special forces were not really lost.

Welcome to Russia Comradess

He also signed a decree applying movement restrictions to the southern Russian regions of Krasnodar, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov — which border Ukraine — and the territories of Crimea and Sevastopol, annexed by Russia in 2014.
I thought he could only do this after declaring martial law but then what do I know?

Tough for the Russians wanting to flee Crimea

Over the last couple of months, the Russians have several times claimed to have defeated Ukraine attacks in this area, hard to know what is true any more.

Whatever I hope Ukraine does manage to liberate the NPP although there is a risk of Russia then shelling it.

The presumtive US house majority leader has now vowed to reexamine aid and weapons to the Ukraine and is saying that there are many problems in the US to keep funding Europe’s war.

Looks like he is talking himself out of the job.

when US intelligence was putting the blame on ukraine for the murder of dugina and the attack on the crimea bridge it seemed like they might be getting ready to distance themselves.

I read it as "wherever you are, we can get you, even in Russia. There's no safety for you". The same message Russia sent with the various murders abroad during the last decade or two.

they seemed to have fudged the message a bit when they apparently accidentally carbombed the wrong person.

it could be the message ukraine is trying to convey but even the US seem smart enough to distance themselves from such actions.