| Good morning. It's Tuesday, March 1, and today is Mardi Gras. Take a break from doomscrolling and make a King Cake to celebrate. But first, let's get to the news. | | |  | Russia is escalating its attacks on Ukraine's major cities. | - The latest: Ukrainians are preparing to defend the capital of Kyiv as a 40-mile convoy of Russian troops and artillery gets closer. Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, faced heavy bombardment and a growing death toll.
- Talks yesterday ended with no breakthrough, but the two sides agreed to continue discussions.
- A wider overview: There's little sign the fighting will end soon. The invasion hasn't gone Russia's way so far, but it's doubling down instead of scaling back.
| | |  | Russia's economy is already taking a huge hit. | - The value of its currency, the ruble, has plunged after Western sanctions, and officials kept Moscow's stock exchange closed yesterday and today.
- Western businesses, including Shell and GM, said they are leaving the country.
- In other news: Sports leagues, including soccer's governing body and the NHL, have started to sideline Russian teams and business partners.
| | |  | Texas votes today in the first primary of the election season. | - What to know: The state has new, restrictive rules that have caused confusion and could especially affect seniors and people of color.
- The changes: It's harder to vote by mail (thousands of early ballots have already been rejected), you can't vote by drive-through and there are no more 24-hour polling places.
- On the ballot: Candidates for Texas's 38 U.S. House seats, plus big names running for governor, attorney general and more.
| | |  | President Biden will give his first State of the Union address tonight. | - What to expect: A major focus on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the fight to defend democracy.
- The schedule: It starts at 9 p.m. Eastern time at the U.S. Capitol, where coronavirus restrictions will limit who's there in person. The Post will have live coverage starting at 8 p.m.
| | |  | Blood tests show over 140 million Americans have had the coronavirus. | - That's about 43% of the country, according to new CDC estimates, and about double what national coronavirus case counts show.
- The data: It comes from samples taken across the U.S. in January that are tested for coronavirus antibodies from infection.
| | |  | There's massive flooding in eastern Australia. |  Maryborough, Australia, on Monday. (Queensland Fire and Emergency Services/AP) | - At least 10 people have died and thousands have evacuated their homes in cities like Brisbane.
- What's happening: Torrential rain, tied to a La Niña weather pattern, has swept through 185 miles of the coast since last week. Flash flood warnings are in place for Sydney today.
| | |  | Teachers across the country have started dumping letter grades. | - Why? The classic A-F system can be unfair to lower-income students, studies show, and the digital "homework gap" has grown during the pandemic.
- What are the alternatives? Some, like Santa Fe Public Schools, are switching to standards-based grading, which measures performance on benchmarks — not behavior, such as late assignments.
You're all caught up. See you tomorrow. But before you go … small changes alone won't stop climate change, but that doesn't mean you should feel helpless: Here are 10 steps you can take to lower your carbon footprint.  (Jordan Robertson for The Post) | Do you know someone who would like this newsletter? Share it with them. Prefer push notifications? Download The Post's app to get one when The 7 publishes. | | | |
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