Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed victory in the battle for the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol Thursday, despite an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian troops remaining holed up at a sprawling steel mill there. Putin ordered against storming the remaining stronghold in the devastated southern city, instead directing that the facility be sealed off, quote, "so that not even a fly comes through," apparently intending to wait for them to surrender when they run out of food or ammunition.
Meanwhile, new satellite images released yesterday by satellite image provider Maxar Technologies showed what it said were more than 200 mass graves in a town outside of Mariupol called Manhush. Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko accused Russia of taking the bodies of civilians from his city and burying them in mass graves in Manhush, charging they were, quote, "hiding their military crimes" against civilians. The Mariupol City Council said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that the mass graves could have as many as 9,000 bodies.
Russia continued its air and artillery attacks along the 300-milesfront in eastern and southern Ukraine where it began a new phase of the war this week. However, AP cited military analysts as saying Russian forces didn't appear to gain any significant ground over the past few days, stating that they are still ramping up the offensive.
U.S. Sending $800 Million in Weapons, Ammunition: President Biden announced yesterday that the U.S. is sending another $800 million in weapons and ammunition to Ukraine in the coming days, raising to $3.4 billion the amount of security assistance the U.S. has sent since Russia's February 24th invasion. Biden also said he'll ask Congress next week to approve billions more in aid for Ukraine because the aid package passed last month is almost all gone.
➤ISRAELI POLICE STORM JERUSALEM HOLY SITE AFTER PALESTIANS THROW ROCKS: Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem Friday, a sensitive site that's holy to both Muslims and Jews, after Palestinian youths threw stones at a gate where they were stationed. More than two dozen Palestinians were wounded. There have been clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at the site over the last week, the unrest coming amid heightened tensions followed a string of fatal attacks on civilians in Israel in recent weeks and Israeli military arrest raids in the occupied West Bank in response. There were three rockets fired into Israel Thursday from the Gaza Strip, and Israeli launched airstrikes on militant locations in Gaza in return.
➤FORMER PRESIDENT OF HONDURAS EXTRADITED TO U.S.: Former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández was extradited to the U.S. yesterday, just three months after he left office, to face drug trafficking and weapons charges. U.S. prosecutors allege Hernandez was involved in a, quote, "corrupt and violent drug-trafficking conspiracy" in which more than 550 tons of cocaine were brought into the U.S. They allege he received millions of dollars from drug cartels, and that he used the money to finance his political campaigns, and that he also engaged in voter fraud in the 2013 and 2017 Honduran presidential elections.
➤HOUSE GOP LEADER MCCARTHY SAID IN AUDIO WOULD URGE TRUMP TO RESIGN: House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said to fellow GOP lawmakers in newly-revealed audio from just four days after the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol that he would urge then-President Donald Trump to resign. The audio was posted by the New York Times yesterday and aired on MSNBC.
In the recording, McCarthy is heard discussing the Democratic effort to remove Trump from office and saying he would tell Trump, "I think it will pass and it would be my recommendation he should resign." He also said in the call that he doubted Trump would do so. After the Times published a story earlier in the day describing the conversation, McCarthy said in a statement that it was, quote, "totally false and wrong," and his spokesman said, "McCarthy never said he’d call Trump to say he should resign."
➤STUDY..FOR COOPERATIVE TEAMS, MODESTY LEAVES THE BEST IMPRESSION: When trying to cooperate with others, you’ll want to be modest. University of Michigan researchers conducted six experiments, and found people believe someone who shows off their social status cares more about their own self-interest than helping others and are less willing to collaborate with them. The data also shows that people will change how they present themselves depending on their social goals. Study leader, Dr. Shalena Srna explains, “Posting about your luxury purchases and expensive vacations on Instagram or TikTok may help you persuade others, intimidate competitors and succeed on the dating market—at least for men—but it could also signal to potential friends or future employers that you are unlikely to think about the needs of others. This becomes a tricky balancing act for people who may want to impress others while others while also demonstrating that they can be a ‘team player.’”
➤NAVY OPENS PROBE AFTER DEATH OF SEVEN SAILORS ON AIRCRAFT CARRIER, FOUR BY SUICIDE: The U.S. Navy has opened an investigation into the command climate and culture on board the aircraft carrier USS George Washington after the deaths of seven of its sailors in the last 12 months, four of them by suicide. Three of the sailors' suicide deaths took place in just one week earlier this month. The USS George Washington has been in port in Newport News, Virginia, since 2017 undergoing a refueling and overhaul process that's carried out halfway through the life of a carrier. The process was supposed to last two years, but it has been delayed multiple times by the pandemic and other issues.
💸MORTGAGE RATES NOW HIGHEST IN 12 YEARS: Mortgage rates that had been low for a long time helped fuel the red-hot housing market, but rates are now the highest they've been in 12 years. The rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 5.11 percent for the week ending Thursday, the highest since it was 5.21 percent in April 2010. Just a year ago, it was 2.97 percent. Mortgages rates have been rising quickly and expected moves by the Federal Reserve as it tries to tame high inflation is expected to keep them increasing. CNBC says mortgage applications are dropping fast, with total volume down five percent last week from just a week earlier and down about half from the same time a year ago.
➤MISSISSIPPI IS THE NATION’S CHLAMYDIA AND GONORRHEA CAPITAL, OFFICIAL FIGURES REVEAL: Cases of common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) hit record highs across the US during the first year of the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released their annual surveillance report for 2020, and it shows cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis dropped slightly to 2.4 million in the first year of the pandemic, but officials warned this is likely due to a drop in testing.
The data shows that Mississippi was the top state for cases of chlamydia per 100,000 people with 803.7 cases, and the state was also the top state for cases of gonorrhea with 462.8 per 100,00 people. Nevada took the top spot for syphilis cases per 100,000 people with 72 cases, while Mississippi came in second with 71.6 cases. As far as the least-infected state, Vermont took the bottom spot among all three STDs.
Mississippi’s state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers says, “High rates in Mississippi are impacted by a number of factors including social determinants of health and inadequate access to care, negative impacts on health in communities with high social vulnerability, lack of health care coverage, which may contribute to a delay in seeking care, increases in drug use, and social stigmatization of being diagnosed with an STD. Some increases may certainly have been due to the interruption in routine healthcare access over the last two years.”
Results from first-round games yesterday:
- Memphis Grizzlies 104, Minnesota Timberwolves 95 - Grizzlies came back from being down 26 points for the win. - Memphis leads series 2-1
- Dallas Mavericks 126, Utah Jazz 118 - Dallas leads series 2-1
- Golden State Warriors 118, Denver Nuggets 113 - Golden State leads series 3-0
🏀BUCKS' MIDDLETON TO MISS REST OF FIRST-ROUND SERIES: Milwaukee Bucks star Khris Middleton has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee and will miss the rest of their first-round playoff series against the Chicago Bulls, the team announced yesterday. Middleton was injured in the fourth quarter of Milwaukee's Game 2 loss to the Bulls Wednesday, which tied the series at 1-1. Middleton will be reevaluated in two weeks.
🏀SUNS' BOOKER COULD BE OUT TWO TO THREE WEEKS: ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst reported Thursday that Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker has a grade 1 hamstring strain, which means he could be out for two to three weeks. Booker left Game 2 of the Suns' first-round playoff series against the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday after suffering the injury. It had been reported Wednesday that Booker had a "mild" hamstring injury and would miss the next two games of the series, but this latest report suggests he'll be out for the rest of the series and possibly beyond if the Suns advance.
🥊MIKE TYSON SEEN IN VIDEO PUNCHING PASSENGER ON PLANE: Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was recorded on video punching a fellow first-class passenger on a plane at San Francisco International Airport Wednesday night. TMZ first shared the video of the incident, which it said took place on a Jet Blue plane, showing Tyson leaning over the back of his seat and repeatedly hitting the man in the head, drawing blood. A spokesperson for Tyson said, "Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat." San Francisco police responded, with both men released pending further investigation, according to a statement. San Francisco police said the video has been shared with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, which has jurisdiction over the airport and is investigating.
🏈NFL ASKING JUDGE TO DISMISS COACHES' DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS OR SEND TO ARBITRATION: The NFL released a letter to a judge yesterday ahead of an initial hearing in a discrimination case brought by three Black coaches who allege racist hiring practices. In the letter, the league says it will ask the judge either to dismiss the claims by Brian Flores, Steve Wilks and Ray Horton because they lack legal merit, or force the matter into arbitration. The NFL denies the claims in the lawsuit, as well as citing jurisdictional, venue and statute-of-limitations defenses. The letter was prepared jointly by lawyers for the coaches and the NFL to notify the judge of each side’s positions. Lawyers for Flores and the other coaches say in the letter that they will oppose the NFL’s plans to force arbitration or to dismiss the case.
➤13 LARRY NASSER VICTIMS SEEKING $130 MILLION FROM FBI: Thirteen of Larry Nassar's sexual assault victims are seeking $10 million each from the FBI, a total of $130 million, claiming its agents bungled the investigation, leading to more sexual abuse by the now-jailed sports doctor. The Justice Department's inspector general has found that the FBI made fundamental errors when it learned of allegations against Nassar in 2015. Nassar was a Michigan State University sports doctor and a doctor at USA Gymnastics who's now serving decades in prison for his sexual assault of female athletes, including Olympic medal-winning gymnasts.
