Crypto News: Russians flee as world condemns Putin annexations: Weekend Reads

President Vladimir Putin said Russia was "annexing" parts of Ukraine, including areas it doesn't control, in an expansionist move denounced as illegal by the United Nations.

Right-wing firebrand Giorgia Meloni followed her decisive election win in Italy with conciliatory comments, pledging to lead a government for all Italians amid concerns that the rights of marginalized groups may be at risk.

Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida, flooding entire towns, leaving millions without power and causing tens of billions of dollars in damage before heading northeast to the Carolinas.

Brazilian voters are casting ballots this weekend in a battle between President Jair Bolsonaro and leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in an election with major international implications, including about climate change.

Take a look at these stories and more in this edition of Weekend Reads. — Michael Winfrey

A woman hangs flags in Donetsk as people cast their votes in controversial referendums Ukraine on Monday. Source: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

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Putin Vows Annexation of Occupied Ukraine Lands Is 'Forever'
Vladimir Putin vowed Russia's annexation of four occupied regions in Ukraine is irreversible as he prepared to formalize Europe's biggest land grab since World War II. The UN, the European Union, the US and other nations rejected the move as illegitimate as Kyiv fought to recapture lost territory.

Putin's Annexation Plans Fail to Impress in Besieged Port City
The governor of Mykolayiv, a southern town under brutal bombardment since the start of the war, dismissed Putin's annexation plan. As Marc Champion writes, Ukrainians already living in the war zones say the Russian president's actions won't change anything.

Putin's Draft Order Sends 200,000 Russians Fleeing to the Border
At least 200,000 Russians fled the country after Putin issued a "partial" mobilization order in an exodus that's causing turmoil at the borders and stirring fears in neighboring states about potential instability. Helena Bedwell and Nariman Gizitdinov report.

Russians called up to fight are buying everything from camping gear to body armor, worried that the undersupplied army won't be able to provide them with even the basics at the front.

People carrying luggage on the Russian side of the border with Georgia on Sunday. Source: AFP/Getty Images

Iran's Drones Are Cheap, Plentiful and Helping Russia in Ukraine
After months of being hammered on Ukraine's battlefields by US kamikaze drones and longer-range rocket systems, Russia is striking back with a new capability of its own. Marc Champion looks at how Moscow is stepping up attacks on the port city of Odesa with winged missiles from Iran.

Nord Stream Gas Leaks May Be a New Disaster for the Climate
The rupture of the Nord Stream gas pipelines — which the US and EU countries blamed on Russia — points to a climate disaster. John Ainger and Aaron Clark explain how the breaches released the amount of gas with roughly the same climate impact over a 20-year period as the annual emissions from about 5.48 million US cars.

Norway's armed forces stepped up patrols of the country's energy facilities and NATO allies rushed to offer help, as the damage to key gas pipelines raised the stakes in Europe's energy conflict with Russia.

Gas leaks from a Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea on Thursday. Source: Armed Forces of Denmark

Britain's Crisis of Confidence Was Years in the Making
Britain is in a self-inflicted financial crisis that threatens to accelerate the economy's dive into recession. Take a look at how this week's market crash put the focus on investors' long-held fears about Britain's current-account deficit, as well as its fractious relationship with its closest trading partner and a mistrust of what politicians promise.

Same-Sex Parents in Italy Ask What's Next After Meloni's Win
Soon after Giorgia Meloni's landslide win in Italy's election, members of the Rainbow Families association of same-sex parents joined a heated email chain about the potential impact of the incoming right-wing government. As Chiara Albanese writes, the subject line read "Now What?"

Kamala Harris Under a Microscope: Deft Asia Diplomacy, TV Gaffe
Kamala Harris's tour of Asia was a microcosm of the state of her vice presidency. She visited with high-level officials and denounced China, but people most remember her gaffe of praising the "strong alliance" the US has with "the Republic of North Korea," Justin Sink and Nancy Cook report.

Florida's Retiree Population Bears Brunt of Hurricane Ian
Hurricane Ian pounded Florida with catastrophic winds and waves that wrecked entire towns. As Linda Poon explains, older people — a fifth of the state's population are over the age 65 — were most at risk in a region that's increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters.

Big Government Is Back With Massive Interventions to Avert Chaos
More than 40 years after policymakers embarked on a crusade to slash taxes and disentangle government influence from the economy, the pendulum is swinging back. As Alan Crawford reports, state intervention is back in vogue in a way we haven't seen since the early 1980s.

Iran Protests Show the Depth of Nation's Economic, Social Pain
The deadly protests in Iran have revealed frustrations among the country's people that go far beyond state-backed violence, political repression, and social strictures. As Golnar Motevalli reports, the country's economic isolation has produced a volatile backdrop for potential unrest.

China's Afghan Splurge Held Up Over Xinjiang Terrorism Worries
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan gave China a chance to expand its influence and secure access to vast mineral deposits. But as Eltaf Najafizada reports, Afghanistan's economy collapsing, and investment hasn't arrived as China says the Taliban isn't doing enough to crack down on a group with ties to separatists in the Xinjiang region.

China Ban on Lab Monkey Exports Hurts Vaccine, Drug Development
After Covid-19 hit, China halted exports of primates used in labs, snarling global efforts to develop treatments for everything from the next coronavirus variant to Alzheimer's. As Bruce Einhorn and Linda Lew explain, it has triggered one of the most consequential bottlenecks sparked by the pandemic.

World Fears for Fate of the Amazon Rainforest as Brazilians Vote
Brazilian elections rarely draw their fair share of notice abroad, but this year is different. Bolsonaro and Lula da Silva have global name recognition nearly comparable to Donald Trump and Hugo Chávez, and the contest may affect everyone on Earth.

Campaign banners for Bolsonaro and Lula in Brasília. Photographer: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Build-the-Wall Hardliners Win on Island of Haves and Have-Nots
The Dominican Republic has joined the global immigration debate after the pandemic sank hundreds of millions of people deeper into poverty in developing countries. Jim Wyss looks at authorities' efforts to build a wall to keep out people fleeing neighboring Haiti.

And finally … Toward the end of Jose Eduardo dos Santos's almost four-decade rule of Angola, Porsches, BMWs and even the occasional Ferrari drove through the streets of downtown Luanda past legions of beggars. But as Henrique Almeida and Candido Mendes report, a crackdown on graft means many rich Angolans are now trying to hide their wealth.