Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Zelesky Says Russians Reducing Port City To Ashes


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address last night that the city of Mariupol, which has been under siege by Russia for weeks, is being, quote, "reduced to ashes," but said the city will "survive." Civilians able to escape the port city described widespread devastation by the constant Russian bombardment, as well as street-to-street battles. Bodies were left unburied as those remaining in Mariupol struggle to survive with power, water and communications knocked out. Russian forces in other parts of Ukraine were either stalled or advancing slowly, and the Ukrainian army said it had taken back Makariv, a strategically important suburb of the capital of Kyiv. 
 
As more than 8,000 civilians evacuated to more safe areas yesterday, including some 3,000 from Mariupol, European Union foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine, particularly in Mariupol. Borrell said, "what’s happening in Mariupol is a massive war crime. Destroying everything, bombarding and killing everybody in an indiscriminate manner," and emphasized, quote, "war also has law."

Zelenskyy said Monday night in an interview with Ukrainian TV channels that he was prepared to discuss a commitment from Ukraine not to seek NATO membership, in exchange for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of Russian troops, and a guarantee of Ukraine’s security. As for the status of Crimea and the separatist eastern Donbas region, Zelenskyy said they'd be ready to discuss that after a cease-fire and steps toward providing security guarantees.

➤BIDEN WARNS U.S. COMPANIES ABOUT POTENTIAL RUSSIAN CYBERATTACKS: President Biden warned U.S. companies Monday about potential cyberattacks by Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, and urged them to harden their systems against any such attacks. Speaking before corporate CEOs at the Business Roundtable, Biden said there was what he called "evolving intelligence" that Russia is considering launching cyberattacks against critical infrastructure targets. Biden’s top cybersecurity aide, Anne Neuberger, expressed frustration at a press briefing earlier in the day that there’s no intelligence suggesting a specific Russian cyberattack against U.S. targets, but there's been an increase in what she called "preparatory activity," like scanning websites and hunting for vulnerabilities.


➤NO SURVIVORS FOUND OF PLANE CRASH IN CHINA: No survivors have been found after the crash Monday of a China Eastern plane with 123 passengers and nine crew members on board into a remote mountainside. It's unknown what caused the Boeing 737-800 jet to fall from the sky shortly before it would have begun its descent for arrival in the city of Guangzhou, bursting into a huge fireball when it crashed. The plane had taken off from the city of Kunming and was flying at 29,000 feet when it entered a steep, fast dive around 2:20 p.m. local time. According to data from FlightRadar24.com, it plunged to 7,400 feet before briefly regaining about 1,200 feet in altitude, then dove again.

➤SENATE HEARINGS BEGIN FOR SUPREME COURT NOMINEE JACKSON: Confirmation hearings began before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who, if confirmed, with be the first Black woman on the nation's highest court. The 51-year-old delivered a statement in which she thanked God and her family, spoke about her love for the country and the Constitution, and stressed that she's always been an independent judge who takes a "neutral" posture, saying she'd judge cases, quote, "without fear or favor." Republicans indicated that they will ask Jackson pointed question over the next days, particularly focused on her record on criminal issues, while Democrats in their opening statements tried to preemptively rebut that criticism.


➤MIAMI BEACH IMPOSES SPRING BREAK CURFEW AFTER SHOOTINGS: With spring breakers having descended on Miami Beach, city officials declared a state of emergency Monday and announced a curfew for parts of the South Beach area after two shootings over the weekend that left five people injured. Mayor Dan Gelber said yesterday, "We can't endure this anymore, we just simply can't. This isn't your father's, your mother's spring break. This is something totally different." He said the tens of thousands of people who come to Miami Beach form a, quote, "young, party-hard crowd," stating, "We don't ask for spring break, we don't promote it, we don't encourage it, we just endure it, and frankly, it's something we don't want to endure." The curfew will be from 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday through Monday, and be for an area of South Beach with several bars and restaurants.


➤STUDY..‘GOOGLE EFFECT’ MEANS YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO FORGET INFORMATION YOU READ ONLINE:  You can get information about nearly anything instantly using the internet, but a new study finds Googling information can make you more likely to forget things compared to reading it in a book. This phenomenon is known as “digital amnesia” or “the Google effect.” University of Cologne researchers write, “When externally stored information is easily accessible and retrievable, individuals are not inclined to deeply process the details since they can easily look up the information whenever needed. […] This strategic management of knowledge allows individuals to save attentional resources for other day-to-day activities.”

➤TOP MISSOURI SENATE CANDIDATE GREITENS' EX-WIFE ACCUSES HIM OF ABUSE: The ex-wife of former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens, who's a leading Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, accused him of being physically abusive and having such, quote, "unstable and coercive behavior" that steps were taken to limit his access to guns, according to new allegations revealed in court records Monday as part of their ongoing child custody dispute. Sheena Greitens sought a divorce from her husband after a sex scandal which led to his resignation as governor in 2018. In her affidavit, Sheena Greitens also claims that her ex-husband's, quote, "behavior included physical violence toward our children, such as cuffing our then-3-year-old son across the face at the dinner table in front of me and yanking him around by his hair.” She also said one of her sons came home from a visit with his father in 2019 with a "swollen face, bleeding gums and loose tooth" and said his "Dad had hit him." Eric Greitens said it was an accident while roughhousing, according to Sheena's affidavit.

➤COVID-19 ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER RISK OF DEVELOPING DIABETES: People who had Covid-19 were at greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes within a year, according to a large review of patient records released Monday. Researchers reviewed the records of more than 181,000 Department of Veterans Affairs patients diagnosed with Covid. The increased risk was seen even in people who had less severe or asymptomatic Covid, but the chances of developing diabetes was greater as the severity of the cases increased. The researchers determined that people diagnosed with Covid-19 were 46 percent more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes for the first time or be prescribed medication to control their blood sugar.

➤POLL...55 PERCENT REFRAIN FROM SPEAKING OUT OVER FEAR OF BACKLASH:  A recent poll that looked at how what's been dubbed "cancel culture" and political partisanship affect free speech in the U.S. found that more than half of respondents, 55 percent, said there was a time in the past year when they'd refrained from speaking out because of fear of backlash. About half of those in the New York Times Opinion/Siena College poll who said they'd experienced this said they were afraid of retaliation, about two-thirds wanted to avoid harsh criticism, and nearly all were trying to avoid conflict. Don Levy, director of the Siena College Research Institute, said, "There's a reticence for people to simply say, 'This is how I see the issues of the day; this is what I'm thinking,' that we are being shut down in our ability to freely express ourselves." However, nearly one-quarter of respondents aslo admitted they themselves have retaliated against or shut down someone else who was speaking due to their views.


🏈COLTS GET QB RYAN FROM FALCONS, WHO SIGN MARIOTA: The Indianapolis Colts acquired quarterback Matt Ryan from the Atlanta Falcons Monday for a third-round pick in this year's draft, and the Falcons quickly replaced Ryan by signing free agent quarterback Marcus Mariota to a two-year deal. The 37-year-old Ryan, the 2016 NFL MVP who's spent his entire 14-year career with the Falcons, replaces Carson Wentz, who was traded to the Washington Commanders after just one season. The 28-year-old Mariota heads to Atlanta after spending the past two seasons as backup to the Las Vegas Raiders' Derek Carr.

🏀OHIO STATE UPSETS LSU IN NCAA WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT'S SECOND ROUND: Number 6 Ohio State topped Number 3 LSU 79-64 in the biggest upset on the second day of Round 2 games in the women's NCAA basketball tournament Monday. There were also two smaller upsets by Number 5 teams of Number 4 teams, with Notre Dame trouncing Oklahoma 108-64, and North Carolina beating Arizona 63-45. The Sweet 16 games will start Friday.

 

🏌MICKELSON WON'T COMPETE IN MASTERS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1994: Three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson won't play in this year's tournament next month at Augusta National, the first time since 1994 that he won't compete in the major. Mickelson had been listed among the participants until yesterday, when his name was included instead among past champions who won't play. His absence comes as Mickelson has been involved in controversy since last month, when, in an excerpt from an upcoming unauthorized biography, he criticized the PGA Tour and said he was involved in creating the working agreement for a breakaway league being financed by Saudi Arabia, saying it was to gain leverage with the PGA Tour. Mickelson apologized days later, and said he was taking time away from golf.

🏈REPORT...MEYER'S TENURE AS JAGUARS COACH WAS 'TOXIC': Urban Meyer's brief 13-game stint as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars this past season was described by multiple people as a "toxic" environment, The Athletic reported Monday. One veteran member of the football operations staff told The Athletic, "The most toxic environment I’ve ever been a part of. By far. Not even close." The report includes accounts of Meyer belittling staff and players and regularly threatening to fire them, in one case blasting a player so harshly that the player cried. The report also said Meyer wasn't famliar with some of the best players in the NFL, asking one staffer, "Who’s this 99 guy on the Rams? I'm hearing he might be a problem for us," referring to L.A. Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Meyer was fired after 13 games, soon after the Tampa Bay Times reported that he'd kicked kicker Josh Lambo.



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