Friday, March 25, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Russian Forcibly Moving Civilians To Russia


As the war in Ukraine moved into a second month yesterday, the country accused Russia yesterday of forcibly moving hundreds of thousands of civilians into Russian territory from destroyed Ukrainian cities. Ukraine's ombudsperson, Lyudmyla Denisova, said 402,000 people had been taken against their will, including 84,000 children, and claimed they might be used as hostages to pressure Ukraine to surrender. Russia gave almost the same number for Ukrainains who it said relocated to Russia, but who it said wanted to go. Russian Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev said the civilians evacuated to Russia were from the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, which are predominantly Russian-speaking. But Donetsk Region Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said people are being forcibly moved into Russia.


President Biden and Western allies pledged new aid for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia during a day of emergency summits in Brussels of NATO, the European Council and the Group of Seven industrialized nations (G7). During appearances via video, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded for planes, tanks, rockets, air defense systems, and other weapons. But while western nations are continuing to send military hardware to Ukraine, it was unlikely that Zelenskyy will get everything he asked for due to concerns over triggering a wider war. The member nations also discussed during their meetings how they might respond if Russia were to use chemical, biological or even a nuclear weapon. Biden said in a news conference after that meeting that a chemical attack would, quote, "trigger a response in kind." He added, "You’re asking whether NATO would cross. We’d make that decision at the time."

 

Biden, who will visit Poland today, which has taken in some two million of the 3.5 million refugees who've fled Ukraine, announced yesterday that the U.S. would welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, and will provide another $1 billion in food, medicine, water and other supplies. In addition to meeting with Poland's president, Biden will also visit U.S. troops who've been deployed there in recent weeks to bolster NATO’s eastern nations.

➤NORTH KOREA SAYS TEST-FIRED BIGGEST ICBM YET: North Korea said Friday that it had test-fired its biggest intercontinental ballistic missile yet, that coming the day after South Korea and Japan said they'd detected the North launching an ICBM in its first long-range test since 2017. It was also North Korea’s 12th round of launches this year. The announcement from the North had leader Kim Jong Un vowing to expand his country's, quote, "nuclear war deterrent," while readying for what it called a "long-standing confrontation" with the U.S. Analysts suggested the missile test-fired could reach targets 9,320 miles away, which would put the entire U.S. mainland within reach. The U.S. requested an open U.N. Security Council meeting on the launch, and also imposed new sanctions against five entities and individuals in Russia and North Korea over transferring sensitive items to the North’s missile program.

➤LAWMAKER CONVICTED OF LYING TO FEDERAL OFFICIALS ABOUT ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION: Rep. Jeff Fortenberry was convicted yesterday of lying to federal authorities about an illegal $30,000 contribution to his campaign from a foreign billionaire at a 2016 fundraiser. The nine-term Nebraska Republican had denied to the FBI that he was aware he had received illegal funds from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent. Sentencing is set for June 28th. Fortenberry said he would appeal, saying the process had been unfair. The trial was the first of a sitting congressman since Democratic Rep. Jim Traficant of Ohio was convicted of bribery and other felony charges in 2002.



➤WEEKLY UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS LOWEST SINCE 1969: The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to its lowest number since September 1969, declining by 28,000 to 187,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average for first-time claims also fell to levels not seen in five decades, down to 211,750. A total of 1,350,000 Americans were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended March 12th, which is also a five-decade low.

➤ARIZONA LAWMAKERS PASS BAN ON SURGERY FOR TRANS MINORS, TRANS ATHLETES: Arizona lawmakers passed legislation yesterday to ban gender reassignment surgery for minors and transgender athletes from playing on girls sports teams, becoming the latest Republican-controlled state to pass restrictions related to transgender issues. Republican Governor Doug Ducey hasn't said if he'll sign the measures. Supporters of the bill related to surgery for minors said it would prevent children from making permanent decisions that they might later regret.

🍺AFTER IMPOSING SPRING BREAK CURFEW, MIAMI BEACH NOW LIMITING ALCHOL SALES: Miami Beach has been grappling with how to handle spring break after an outbreak of violence last weekend. After imposing a curfew earlier this week, the city has now also limited alcohol sales in certain areas this weekend where there is a curfew. City leaders on Wednesday (March 23rd) ordered that the "sale or distribution of any alcoholic beverage(s) for off-premises consumption" would be banned in the curfew area after 6 p.m. Thursday night, tonight and Saturday night. The curfew was set earlier this week from midnight to 6 a.m. in the entertainment district from Thursday night to Monday morning. Businesses in the curfew area must close by midnight. The curfew and limit on alcohol sales were put in place after five people were injured in two separate shootings last weekend, and after nine officers have been hurt since the start of the spring break season amid huge crowds and parties.

➤JUSTICE THOMAS' WIFE SENT REPEATED TEXTS TO TRUMP CHIEF OF STAFF URGING ELECTION OVERTURN: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife, Virginia Thomas, sent texts to then-President Donald Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, for weeks after the 2020 presidential election imploring him to act to overturn the election results, The Washington Post and CBS News reported yesterday, citing copies of the texts they obtained. Copies of the texts were provided to the House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. The texts from Thomas, who has previously said she attended Trump's rally before the Capitol attack, cited false claims about the election from fringe websites and messages like, "The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Height of our History." Another said, "Biden crime family & ballot fraud co-conspirators (elected officials, bureaucrats, social media censorship mongers, fake stream media reporters, etc) are being arrested & detained for ballot fraud right now & over coming days, & will be living in barges off GITMO to face military tribunals for sedition." The texts suggest Meadows was willing to continue to try to find ways to overturn the election, saying in one, "I will stand firm. We will fight until there is no fight left."

➤TRUMP SUES HILLARY CLINTON, DNC, OTHERS OVER 2016 RUSSIA CLAIMS: Former President Donald Trump has filed a sweeping RICO lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, and 26 other people and entities, alleging they, quote, "maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative that [Trump] was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty [Russia]" to try and rig the 2016 election. The lawsuit filed in Florida seeks a jury trial and compensatory damages, claiming that as a result of the defendants' actions, Trump has suffered losses of at least $24 milliion. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation established that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Trump win and also found that Trump's campaign sought to capitalize on Russia's interference, but didn't establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump aides and any Russians.

➤WHITE HOUSE EASTER EGG ROLL RETURNING: The White House Easter Egg Roll is returning this year after not being held for the past two years because of the pandemic. The White House said yesterday that the Egg Roll will be held on Monday, April 18th, the day after Easter. The event, which welcomes thousands of people to participate in activities on the South Lawn, is the most popular publicly-attended annual event at the White House. The Easter Egg Roll has been held almost every year since 1878.
 
📲APPLE WORKING ON SUBSCRIPTION PLAN FOR HARDWARE:  Could you rent your iPhone or iPad in the future instead of owning it? A Bloomberg report says Apple is working on a subscription service for the iPhone and other hardware products, with people paying a monthly fee similar to paying a monthly app fee. However, the report cited sources as saying the project is still in development. The program would be different from an installment program because the monthly charge wouldn't be the price of the device spread out over 12 or 24 months, but instead be a monthly fee that depends on which device is being used. The report also said Apple has discussed letting people using the subscription service to swap out their devices for new models when they come out.



🏀GONZAGA, ARIZONA UPSET IN SWEET 16: Overall top seed Gonzaga and and fellow Number 1 Arizona were both upset as the first half of the Sweet 16 games were played in the men's NCAA basketball tournament Thursday. Number 4 Arkansas eliminated Gonzaga 74-68, and Arizona was ousted 72-60 by Number 5 Houston. Arkansas and Houston will advance to the Elite Eight along with Number 2 Villanova, which downed Number 11 Michigan 63-55, and Number 2 Duke, which topped Number 3 Texas Tech, 78-73. The other half of the Sweet 16 games will be played tonight, along with the first four Sweet 16 games in the women's tournament.

🏀SUNS CLINCH TOP SEED IN NBA PLAYOFFS: The Phoenix Suns clinched the top seed in the NBA playoffs last night with a 140-130 win over the Denver Nuggets. The Suns' Chris Paul returned from a broken right wrist that had kept him out since the All-Star break to help his team to victory, getting 17 points and 13 rebounds, while teammate Devin Booker had a season-high 49 points and 10 assists. Phoenix leads the NBA with a 60-14 record.

🏈SECOND GRAND JURY DECLINES TO INDICT DESHAUN WATSON: A second grand jury in Texas declined to indict quarterback Deshaun Watson Thursday on an allegation of sexual misconduct. Watson is now with the Cleveland Browns after they acquired him last week from the Houston Texans in a five-year, $230 million deal. Twenty-two female massage therapists have filed lawsuits against Watson, accusing him of sexually assaulting or sexually harassing them while they were giving him massages. However, two grand juries have now declined to indict him on charges relating to claims from some of the women. Cleveland is set to introduce Watson at a news conference today.

⛸U.S. WINS PAIRS FIGURE SKATING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FOR FIRST TIME IN 43 YEARS: American figure skaters Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier won the pairs gold medal at the world championships in Montpellier, France, Thursday, the first Americans to do so since 1979, 43 years ago. However, there is a very big asterisk. The top five pairs from last month’s Beijing Winter Olympics weren't at the world championships, with the Russian pairs teams who placed second, third and fourth banned because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the Chinese pairs teams who finished first and fifth not there because China chose not to send its skaters. Knierim and Frazier finished six at the Olympics.

🏈FIRE BREAKS OUT AT DENVER BRONCOS' STADIUM: A fire broke out at the Denver Broncos' stadium on Thursday, burning several rows of seats before firefighters were able to quickly bring it under control. The fire broke out on the fourth level at Empower Field at Mile High just after 2 p.m. and spread to the third level. Stadium officials said the fire took place in a construction zone near the East Club Lounge, but investigators haven't said what caused it. At least 100 people were attending an event on the second level, but no injuries were reported.



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