* An important announcement: “President Joe Biden said Monday ‘there will no longer be Nord Stream 2,’ a crucial European gas pipeline, if Russia further invades Ukraine with ‘tanks or troops.’”
* In related news: “Entering a critical week in the standoff over Ukraine, neither Russia nor the United States sounded optimistic about intensifying diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions.”
* Labor news: “A Biden administration task force on organized labor on Monday issued a set of recommendations that could make it easier for federal workers and contractors to unionize.”
* Afghanistan: “The military investigation into the deadly attack during the Afghanistan evacuation has concluded that a suicide bomber, carrying 20 pounds of explosives packed with ball bearings, acted alone, and that the deaths of more than 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were not preventable.”
* In the wake of the fatal shooting of Amir Locke: “Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis on Friday announced a moratorium on no-knock warrants one day after the Police Department released body camera footage of its SWAT team fatally shooting a man who was lying on a couch under a blanket during an early-morning raid.”
* An important update in the Bannon story: “The Justice Department has sought phone and email records of a defense attorney who represented Stephen K. Bannon, the former adviser to President Donald Trump, in his dealings with a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and his subsequent indictment for contempt of Congress, his defense said.”
* Did an out-of-context quote from White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki dominate conservative media coverage for days? Apparently, yes. * The Competes Act is headed to a conference committee: “House Democrats used a mostly party-line vote Friday to pass broad legislation aimed at boosting science and technology investments for several federal agencies, in an attempt to position the country to better compete with China.” * IRS news: “The Internal Revenue Service is abandoning its plans to partner with an outside company that would have used facial recognition to verify new accounts, the agency announced Monday.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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