In Ukraine, at least 19 people were killed and dozens more left injured Monday as Russia’s military continued to rain bombs and missiles down on cities. The Kremlin said the long-range airstrikes were aimed at Ukraine’s energy and military infrastructure in retribution for a weekend explosion that damaged a key bridge linking Russia to Crimea, the Ukrainian territory annexed by Moscow in 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed Ukraine for the blast, calling it an “act of terrorism.” This morning, Ukraine’s military claimed to have shot down several Russian cruise missiles.

Russia’s latest strikes came as the U.N. General Assembly gathered for an emergency session on Monday, ahead of a vote later this week on whether to accept Russia’s annexation of four partially occupied territories of Ukraine. Poland’s U.N. ambassador was among those urging member states to condemn Russia’s move.

Krzysztof Szczerski: “Not condemning the attempted annexation means weakening the U.N. Charter and weakening the whole U.N. system. One cannot expect U.N. institutions to function efficiently if one votes not accordingly to the very foundation they were established upon.”

Today Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is holding virtual talks with leaders of the G7, including U.S. President Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss. It’s expected that Zelensky will ask for even more heavy weaponry, including advanced air defense systems.

The leader of Belarus said Monday he will deploy a joint military task force with Russia near Belarus’s border with Ukraine. President Alexander Lukashenko said he’d agreed to the deal during a meeting last weekend with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. Lukashenko announced the troop movements as he warned NATO not to station nuclear weapons in Poland, suggesting he may be preparing to allow Russia to deploy nuclear arms to Belarus.

President Alexander Lukashenko: “Military and political leaders of NATO and several European countries are already openly considering options of possible aggression against our country, including launching of a nuclear strike. … Tell the president of Ukraine and the other lunatics, if any of them are still there, that the Crimean bridge will seem to them like a walk in the park if they ever touch a single meter of our territory with their dirty hands.”

In Venezuela, at least 36 people were killed by devastating floods over the weekend in the north-central state of Aragua. Fifty-six people remain missing. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said the equivalent of one month of rain fell in just eight hours. In Central America, Tropical Storm Julia brought intense rainfall to regions already saturated by weeks of heavy rains, triggering flooding and mudslides that killed at least 28 people in Guatemala and El Salvador.

A new joint report from the United Nations and the Red Cross warns that current rates of greenhouse gas emissions are set to drive more intense heat waves that will cause large-scale suffering and loss of life across huge swaths of Africa and Asia, where human life could become unsustainable by mid-century. The report warns heat waves will add to mass migration and further entrenched inequality — impacts that are already emerging today.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has made an urgent appeal for funding, warning of “severe cuts” unless his agency raises another $700 million by the end of this year. Filippo Grandi said Monday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had pushed the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes worldwide to more than 100 million. He said that’s led the U.N. refugee agency’s annual budget to balloon to over $10 billion.

Filippo Grandi: “And while the Ukraine response has been and must continue to be well funded, this has to be the target for all operations. Funding for new emergencies, like Ukraine, needs to be in addition to, not instead of, the others.”

In Haiti, several people were shot Monday — at least one of them fatally — after police fired tear gas on thousands of protesters who took to the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince. Protesters demanded the resignation of the U.S.-backed Prime Minister Ariel Henry and called on the government to reverse its decision to seek foreign military assistance.

Jean Levelt: “Unemployment, the high cost of living, insecurity — it is all for these reasons that I am in the street. I take to the streets to say no to the occupation.”

The United Nations is urging the activation of a “rapid action force” to Haiti to combat armed gangs that have blockaded the main terminal in Port-au-Prince, blocking imports of food, fuel and other necessities. This comes amid warnings of a looming public health disaster after a new outbreak of cholera emerged this month. In 2010, U.N. peacekeepers inadvertently sparked a cholera outbreak that killed 10,000 people, and U.N. forces in Haiti have been accused of sexual violence.

In the occupied West Bank, a 12-year-old Palestinian child died Monday, two weeks after being shot and seriously wounded by Israeli forces during a raid in the Jenin refugee camp in late September. Mahmoud Mohammad Samoudi was at least the 165th Palestinian killed by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip this year alone. At least 44 of those killed were children.

Mexico has filed another lawsuit against five U.S.-based firearm dealers responsible for fueling the flow of illegal weapons and a surge in murders in Mexico. Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Monday the new lawsuit targets five gun shops based in Arizona that have made firearms widely accessible to “straw” buyers who then help smuggle them into Mexico. Ebrard said in recent years about 60% of the weapons seized in Mexico were traced back to 10 U.S. counties, mostly along the U.S.-Mexico border. This comes after a U.S. federal court in late September dismissed a separate $10 billion lawsuit Mexico filed last year against U.S.-based gun manufacturers.

In Thailand, families of the victims of last week’s massacre at a child care center gathered at Buddhist temples this morning to mark the end of three days of funeral ceremonies honoring their loved ones. A 34-year-old former police officer fatally shot and stabbed at least 36 people, including two dozen children, at the Young Children’s Development Center last Thursday. It’s the deadliest mass shooting in Thailand’s modern history. Meanwhile, two U.S. journalists who work for CNN apologized for their coverage of the deadly attack after entering, without permission, the building where the killings happened. Thai press groups accused CNN reporter Anna Coren and cameraman Daniel Hodge of breaching journalistic ethics.

In Ohio, U.S. Senate candidates squared off in a Monday evening debate that will help determine the balance of power in the next Congress. Republican venture capitalist JD Vance repeatedly defended the actions of Donald Trump, whose endorsement helped propel Vance to victory in Ohio’s Republican primary last May. He faces Democratic Congressmember Tim Ryan, who accused Vance of having his “dignity” taken away from him by the former president.

In Georgia, new details have emerged about how Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker paid for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. The anti-choice Republican has denied the reports, despite the existence of copious evidence, and over the weekend The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported text messages have emerged showing Walker’s wife reached out to the ex-girlfriend. Walker has publicly called for a total ban on abortions — without exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother.

This comes as Democrats hope to harness voter anger over the Supreme Court’s June ruling allowing states to ban abortion. In Wisconsin, Democrat Mandela Barnes is hoping to unseat Republican incumbent Ron Johnson to become the state’s first-ever African American U.S. senator.

Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes: “If I were in the U.S. Senate, I would absolutely vote to codify Roe v. Wade to protect the right to an abortion and the right to choose into law, once and for all, to protect women’s rights.”

The president of the Los Angeles City Council, Nury Martinez, has stepped down from her leadership role after she was recorded making racist remarks against Black and Indigenous people. Martinez made the comments last year during a conversation with Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, as well as L.A. Labor Federation President Ron Herrera, who has also just resigned his post. It is unclear who made the recording or who leaked it to the media, but it comes just weeks before voters head to the polls in Los Angeles to pick a new mayor. We’ll have more on this story after headlines.

In labor news, unionized railroad maintenance and construction workers have rejected a tentative deal with railroad carriers, renewing the possibility of a nationwide strike. The tentative agreement between unions and railroad carriers was brokered last month with the help of the Biden administration’s Presidential Emergency Board. It would add one additional paid day off and allow workers to take unpaid days to get medical care without being penalized by their employers; workers have denounced a lack of any paid sick time. The deal also included a pay raise of about 20% by 2024. Rail carriers have seen their profits soar in recent years while workers’ wages remained stagnant.

Renowned defense lawyer Billy Sothern has died by suicide. He was 45 years old. Sothern became known for defending low-income people across what’s known as the Death Belt, a region stretching from Alabama to East Texas where death penalty cases are prevalent. Sothern took up some of the toughest cases, including the wrongful conviction of Albert Woodfox, a former Black Panther who spent nearly 44 years in solitary confinement for a crime he always said he didn’t commit. Democracy Now! spoke to Billy Sothern in 2016 when Albert Woodfox was released from prison.

Billy Sothern: “If you look back through the course of Albert’s case, we see the suppression of evidence by the prosecution. We see ineffective assistance of counsel for people who can’t afford their own lawyers. We see an appellate process that’s incredibly resistant to providing new trials, even when it’s the manifest and right thing to do. So, while of course it’s amazing that after 43 years Albert Woodfox is now out of prison, it’s also horrifying that it took 43 years for this injustice to be corrected.”

Click here to see our interview with Billy Sothern.