Headlines From The Times

Here in the United States, we’re already feeling the cost of Russia’s war in a place none of us can escape: the rising price of oil.Today, we look into how global conflicts upend global energy supplies and efforts to fight climate change, how gas prices keep getting higher and might continue to rise, and what can be done about it.More reading:How high could gas prices go? More pain at the pump likely comingUkraine is a climate story. Because everything is a climate storyThe truth about L.A.’s most notoriously expensive gas stations

Greg Bledsoe is a former morning news anchor for NBC 7 in San Diego. About a year ago, he, his wife and their two children got into an SUV and began to drive. Forty-four states, more than 20 national parks and more than 27,000 miles later, they’re still at it.Today, Greg shares with us some of their stories — and lessons.More reading:Follow the Bledsoes’ adventures on InstagramOpinion: I live on the road with my wife and two young kids — and I highly recommend itCoronavirus ruined our family vacation this year. We turned to an RV for a new adventure 

For more than a month now, L.A. Times Middle East Bureau Chief Nabih Bulos has been on the ground in Ukraine, covering the escalating Russian invasion. Bulos has seen fierce fighting by Ukrainians, nonstop bombardment by Russians, hope and fear and chaos. He’s crisscrossed Ukraine to hear residents tell their stories.Today, he talks to us about what he has seen.More reading:Raining rockets, scattered corpses, an existential battle: A 500-mile journey across a week of war‘We’re keeping watch’: What foreign correspondents Nabih Bulos, Marcus Yam are seeing in UkraineDead soldiers. An icy river. Ukraine town on the front lines prepares to battle Russians

The European Union is doing everything possible to welcome Ukrainian refugees. And people around the world have donated money and supplies to help. But this open-arms response has people in similar situations wondering: Why so much goodwill toward Ukrainians, and not us?Today, we talk about the media’s role in deciding who is the “right” type of refugee — and how that helps or hinders displaced people around the world.More reading:In Ukraine reporting, Western press reveals grim bias toward ‘people like us’20 years after 9/11, an American Muslim recalls the costs of war you didn’t see on TVTrevor Noah slams media for racist remarks on Ukraine: War ‘was Europe’s entire thing’

Ariana DeBose has made history as the first Afro-Latino and openly queer woman to be nominated for an acting Academy Award. In this crossover episode with “The Envelope,” DeBose talks about the expectations she must carry, her experience with “West Side Story” and more.More reading:Ariana DeBose wants you to feel Anita’s presence before you even hear her‘West Side Story’s’ Ariana DeBose makes the case against ‘ethnically ambiguous’Here’s how Oscar nominee Ariana DeBose could make history

Aaron Bray is a San Diego native who’s lived the last couple of years in Kharkiv, Ukraine, after a stint with the Peace Corps. And now, alongside over a million Ukrainians and foreigners, he’s had to flee the country in the wake of Russia’s invasion.Today, we hear Aaron’s first-person story about what it was like to leave his adopted home behind … and why he says he’s going back.More reading:Read the L.A. Times’ full coverage of the war in UkraineCosta Mesa couple barely escape Ukraine with days-old newbornCommentary: ‘I’m scared, bro’: Inside Ukraine, through the harrowed eyes of two U.S. athletes‘A lot of innocent people will die’: Ukrainians in California decry Russia’s attack‘When there are troubles, we go to God’: Ukrainian Americans gather in grief at L.A. church 

A small, tight-knit community grew inside an abandoned building in L.A.’s Koreatown. The people who found shelter there felt lucky. In a city where unhoused people have to set up encampments wherever they can — in parks, on sidewalks, beneath freeway overpasses — this old building offered a real sense of home.But the people who lived there knew their community couldn’t last.More reading:In an abandoned Koreatown building, homeless Angelenos create a community‘Gimme Shelter’: The gap in California’s homelessness plan‘Remember that can easily be you’: Angelenos closest to the homelessness crisis urge compassion 

On Feb. 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping just hours ahead of the opening ceremony for the Beijing Winter Olympics. The meeting made headlines, and has people asking: Could China be the overlooked player in the Russia-Ukraine crisis?Today, we dive into the complicated history between the two countries — and whether Russia’s moves on Ukraine might serve as a template with China and Taiwan.More reading:Beijing may be tempted to side with Putin in the Ukraine conflict. But at what cost?Putin heads to China to bolster ties amid Ukraine tensionsOp-Ed: Whether it sides with Russia or not, China will pay a price 

Gun violence has killed more than 100,000 people in Mexico over the last decade. Yet most of the guns involved are illegal, smuggled into the country from the U.S. Now, the Mexican government has had enough.Today, we talk about a federal lawsuit filed by Mexico against American gun manufacturers that seeks to reduce the bloodshed.More reading:Column: Don’t shield U.S. gun makers from liability for Mexico’s gun violenceThere is only one gun store in all of Mexico. So why is gun violence soaring?Op-Ed: For Mexico, taking a stand against gun trafficking is a moral imperative

As more and more workplaces have instituted COVID-19 vaccine mandates, a cottage industry has sprung up to help skeptics evade them. Today, we look into what constitutes a deeply held religious belief, how those beliefs can play out in the workplace, and what employers can do about shady religious exemption requests.More reading:Online pastors, form letters: The cottage industry helping workers avoid vaccine mandatesNew workplace mandate for COVID-19 vaccine pushed by California lawmakersColumn: L.A.'s unvaccinated public workers go Ayn Rand, throw fit over city’s vaccine mandate