Axios

Russia has been showing signs of a "willingness to have real, serious negotiations" on Ukraine, deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman told "Fox News Sunday."

The latest: Negotiations between the two countries will resume on Monday, according to Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Republicans are upping their investments in GOP tech startups as operatives try to make the party more technologically self-sufficient, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Political campaigning is a multibillion-dollar industry, and both parties are pouring money into products tailor-made to winning elections that can ween their campaigns off of legacy technology.

A big-time Maryland donor recently raised a lingering question in some corners of the Democratic Party: Can Black candidates run for and win statewide races?

Why it matters: Democrats rely on Black voters as a lifeline for their party, but Black candidates in 2022 are still plagued with electability questions.

• "Consider this: Three African-American males have run statewide for Governor and have lost," Barbara Goldberg Goldman wrote to fellow party insiders in December. "This is a fact we must not ignore."

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) has spent more time in Congress than anyone else currently in office, with 48 years in the House of Representatives, according to Quorum data.

By the numbers: The average American is 20 years younger than the average representative in the House and Senate. Forty percent of current senators and 26% of representatives are 65 years or older — and many have strolled the Capitol's marble halls for decades.

Former President Barack Obama has tested positive for COVID-19, he announced on Twitter on Sunday.

What they're saying: "I’ve had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise. Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, and she has tested negative," the 60-year-old former president wrote.

• "It’s a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven’t already, even as cases go down."

The International Monetary Fund expects a "deep recession" in Russia following the immense sanction regime imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva told CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

The big picture: “In terms of servicing debt obligations, we no longer think of Russian default as improbable," Georgieva added.

Top Democratic operatives see expanding defections by Hispanic voters to the GOP, worsening Democrats' outlook for November's midterms.

Why it matters: Democrats had hoped this might be a phenomenon specific to the Trump era. But new polling shows it accelerating, worrying party strategists about the top of the ticket in 2024.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said in a tweet Sunday that she agreed with a fellow Republican lawmaker who called former President Trump a "would-be tyrant."

Driving the news: Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) issued a statement Saturday night after Trump held a rally in the state to support his candidates of choice, including a challenger to Rice, local news outlet WBTW reported.

Most people you meet in everyday life — at work, in the neighborhood — are decent and normal. Even nice. But hit Twitter or watch the news, and you'd think we were all nuts and nasty. 

Why it matters: The rising power and prominence of the nation's loudest, meanest voices obscures what most of us personally experience: Most people are sane and generous — and too busy to tweet.