Happy Wednesday! How are you planning to celebrate National Lima Bean Respect Day?

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• Serhiy Gaidai—the governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region—told reporters on Tuesday that Russian forces had captured Kreminna, leading Ukrainian troops to withdraw from the eastern city of about 18,000. A senior Pentagon official told reporters yesterday that seven flights worth of military equipment for Ukraine—from the $800 million in additional support approved last week—are expected to arrive in Eastern Europe in the next 24 hours, and President Joe Biden indicated his administration will likely send still more weaponry in the coming days and weeks.

• Moderna reported Monday that new, non-peer reviewed clinical data showed its first bivalent COVID-19 vaccine booster—designed in February 2021 to better protect against the Beta variant—generated a more robust and longer-lasting antibody response than its original vaccine against not only the Beta variant, but the Omicron variant as well. The booster is unlikely to be used because Moderna is currently testing an Omicron-specific vaccine, but the Beta results serve as an encouraging proof of concept.

• Pakistan’s military conducted airstrikes on Afghanistan’s Khost and Kunar provinces over the weekend, reportedly killing more than 40 people—including women and children—and injuring 20 more. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry claimed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists have been using Afghan soil “with impunity” for months to target Pakistani security forces from across the border, and urged the Taliban to “take stern actions” against the militants.