America’s robust support for Ukraine has resonated across Europe and beyond. Yet as Congress holds up new aid, and Ukraine’s supplies dwindle, comes a question: Has the U.S. support shifted from “as long as it takes” to “as long as we could”?

• Major Pakistan ruling: A Pakistani court sentences former Prime Minister Imran Khan to 10 years in jail for leaking state secrets, the harshest sentence against him in multiple cases coming just days before national elections.
• Asia flashpoint: The Philippines and Vietnam agree to work together in the South China Sea, avoiding incidents and broadening cooperation between their coast guards. The growing alliance will likely be frowned upon by China, which claims virtually the entire waters. 
• Alaska snow: A new storm has dropped nearly 16 more inches of snow on Anchorage, bringing the seasonal total past 100 inches. It’s the earliest Alaska’s largest city has reached that mark.
• Russian skating controversy: Russian skater Kamila Valieva has been disqualified for doping at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. The Russian gold from the team event will now go to the U.S. team.

Read these news briefs.

After years without pushing a dogma, the Kremlin is espousing social conservatism as a defense against what it perceives as an amoral West. Ironically, Moscow’s concern may be a reflection of the West’s own culture wars.

The world is increasingly questioning what it owes victims of state genocide, enslavement, and policies of exclusion. Germany’s atonement after the Holocaust shows a path – albeit a bumpy one – forward.

American shrimp boats are being made obsolete by foreign shrimp farms, many with dubious practices. To survive, boat captains will need to reinvent themselves as innovators and entrepreneurs.

Miles of Freedom helps people leaving prison. The most important thing it offers: community.

For more than a decade, Airbnb has donated millions to charitable causes, sometimes with help from the hosts who rent out properties on the booking platform. The goal of these grants has been to “unlock the creative power” of hospitality based on the idea that generosity evokes emulation and is intrinsic to each individual. This year, the company’s nonprofit arm tried something different.

It allowed a board representing hundreds of Airbnb hosts to select projects in their communities worthy of a donation. That extension of trust to the hosts was widely admired in the philanthropic world as one way to create ripples of giving. Last week, the company donated $10 million to more than 120 nonprofits in 44 countries.

“It’s important for us to be stewards of our community,” Nadia Giordani, who rents out a house in Atlanta and serves on the Airbnb Host Advisory Board, told The Associated Press. She was thrilled to hear how other hosts are supporting nonprofits near them.

Trust, it turns out, can have significant influence on generosity, according to a report this month by the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland. Relying on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the institute found that trust in others, particularly neighbors, encourages people to participate in community groups and civic organizations, leading to higher rates of giving and volunteering.

Being a member of a religious congregation has the largest influence on individual philanthropy. And the report notes this: “The Internet age has prompted dramatic changes in the importance of community organizations and informal groups in people’s lives – and the pandemic has caused even more profound changes to the way people engage with groups.”

The idea that kindness begets kindness was reinforced this week by this new finding from the Christian research group Barna:

More than half of U.S. adults who reported making charitable donations within the last year (54%) said they have received “extraordinary generosity from others,” compared with only 36% of nongivers.

A similar theme is found in a new book by Chris Anderson, the curator of TED Talks for 23 years during which he put the world’s top thinkers and doers on a stage in front of a camera for anyone to listen to.

The book, entitled “Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading,” is based on his revelation that generosity is “the essential connecting thread between the most important lessons” he’s ever learned.

“It’s not just about giving away money. Simply adopting a generous mindset can make a difference. That can lead to gifts of time, talent, creativity, connection, and basic human kindness,” he writes. These gifts “have the potential to create amazing chain reactions.”

He provides an example of reaching out with compassion to listen to those with whom we disagree on issues. “If you’re successful, there’s a powerful knock-on benefit: You are helping change the tone of public discussion today. That’s a gift to all of us.” Trust wins. Again.