1A

A big story has been lurking in the background these last few weeks – climate change. Last week the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest report: "Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability." The report gives example after example of ways climate change is impacting human lives now.

The report is concerning, but it also makes one thing clear: it's not too late.

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A new report from the CDC reveals that pregnancy-related death rates are going up. In 2020, pregnancy-related mortality rose by nearly 20 percent compared to the previous year.

This is all taking place during a global pandemic that has strained hospital systems and made even routine procedures a difficult and sometimes dangerous task. But pregnancy-related deaths have been going up long before COVID-19, having almost doubled in the past 30 years.

How has the pandemic impacted maternal mortality and what is being done to reverse this long-standing trend?

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Following the passage of laws in Russia last week, people can now receive up to 15 years in prison for publicly opposing the war in Ukraine—or for even calling it a "war" to begin with.

The law doesn't only impact traditional media. Russia blocked access to Facebook and Twitter in retaliation for removing content by Russian-backed media outlets like Russia Today and Sputnik.

We dive into the troubling pattern of censorship in Russia.

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Truck driving in America remains in crisis. There are 80,000 fewer drivers on the road than needed, according to the American Trucker's Association.

This dearth is having a ripple effect on the supply chain crisis. Approximately 71 percent of all freight moved across the United States was carried by trucks last year.

What challenges are truck drivers facing today and what does the future of the industry look like?

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Marlon James is the author of five books. His 2014 novel, "A Brief History of Seven Killings," won the Man Booker Prize in 2015.

"Seven Killings" tells the story of post-colonial Jamaica through the voices of twelve narrators and spans decades of contemporary Jamaican history.

His latest work is a little different. The Dark Star Trilogy is a series of fantasy novels that take place in a fictionalized version of ancient Africa.

There are monsters, violence, and an epic quest. It's been called "an African Game of Thrones."The second book in the series, "Moon Witch, Spider King," was released in February. James joins us to discuss creating a fantasy world and what's next in the series.

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U.S. authorities continue to explore the nation's options in Ukraine. Sanctions continue to be placed on Putin's economy, leading the country's currency to fall in value and many Russians to withdraw their money from banks. At the State of the Union President Joe Biden indicated he supports a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but still spoke against sending American troops to the country.

Texas announced that it will investigate the parents of transgender children in the state for possible instances of child abuse.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a reduction in the severity of their mask guidelines. Major cities are dropping vaccine and mask mandates in a variety of settings.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian citizens are fleeing the country as Russia continues to attempt to take control. The Ukrainian government announced that 2,000 civilians have died as a result of Russian attacks.

We cover all this and more during the News Roundup.

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More than a million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded last week.

It's the largest mass exodus in Europe since the Balkan War in the 1990s. The U.N. warns that number could reach four million in the coming month.

Where are those who are leaving going? And why are some Ukrainians staying put?

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Last month, 22-year-old Amir Locke was killed by a Minneapolis SWAT officer during a raid in the apartment in which he was staying.

The officer was using a no-knock warrant, allowing law enforcement to enter the apartment without giving notice of their presence. Locke, a Black man, was not a suspect in the investigation that led to the raid.

Amir Locke's death has raised concerns over the use of no-knock warrants, which have been banned in four states. Minnesota is not one of those states, but state and city legislators are once again calling for no-knock warrants to be restricted.

We talk about no-knock warrants and the impact they have on police reform measures.

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Texas kicks off the 2022 midterm elections March 1. But Democrats and political strategists have been raising the alarm about a problem months before ballots were ready to be cast: Spanish-language misinformation.

Latinos were the second-largest voting bloc in the 2020 presidential election for the first time. And nearly 70 percent of those voters get political information from social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube, according to the research group Equis Labs.

So how does Spanish-language misinformation fit into that voting pattern? And how will it affect the midterms?

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The battle for Ukraine could come to an end soon. Despite Russia's best efforts to invade its neighbor this weekend, Ukrainians held the capital city of Kyiv. Now, ceasefire talks between the two nations have begun.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fled to safety while others have taken to underground bomb shelters.

The world is watching the situation tensely as Russian President Vladimir Putin put his country's nuclear forces on high alert.

Where does the conflict stand and how are global leaders responding?

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