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Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Wake-Up Call: 10,000 Civilians Dead In Mariupol


U.S. CLOSELY MONITORING CHEMICAL WEAPONS USE CLAIM: The mayor of Mariupol, the southern port city in Ukraine that has suffered some of the worst attacks and suffering since the war began, said yesterday that more than 10,000 civilians had been killed in his city, and that it could be ever higher than 20,000. Mayor Vadym Boychenko accused Russian forces of having blocked humanitarian convoys into Mariupol for weeks in part to hide the civilian death toll, and alleged, as have Ukrainian officials, that Russian forces have brought in mobile cremation units to burn the bodies.
 

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said yesterday evening that it was closely monitoring a claim that Russia used chemical weapons in Mariupol. The original report was made on the social media app Telegram, where the far-right Azov Regiment claimed in a post that Russian forces used, quote, "a poisonous substance of unknown origin" that was dropped by a drone. It said there were no serious injuries. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement, "We are aware of social media reports which claim Russian forces deployed a potential chemical munition . . . We cannot confirm at this time and will continue to monitor the situation closely."

The U.S. and other allied nations said that Russia is continuing to ready for what's expected to be a new, more focused offensive in the eastern part of Ukraine. AP cited a senior U.S. defense official as describing a long Russian convoy now heading toward the eastern city of Izyum with artillery, aviation and infantry support. The official also said more artillery is being deployed near the city of Donetsk. The British Ministry of Defense said Russian forces are continuing to leave neighboring Belarus to support operations in eastern Ukraine, focused on the Donbas region.

U.N.: Nearly Two-Thirds of Ukrainian Children Fled Homes: The United Nations' children's agency said yesterday that nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have fled their homes since the invasion began in late February. Ukraine’s U.N. ambassador has also claimed that Russia has taken more than 121,000 children out of Ukraine into Russia, most of them from Mariupol, and reportedly created legislation to simplify and accelerate adoption of Ukrainian orphans, and even Ukrainian children who still do have parents and other relatives.

➤DATA EXPECTED TO SHOW MARCH INFLATION AT 40-YEAR HIGH: The consumer price index being released today is expected to show that prices increased 8.4 percent in March from 12 months earlier, which would make it the fastest year-over-year inflation rate since December 1981. It would also be higher than the 7.9 percent increase in February, which was itself a four-decade high. Economists have also forecast that prices increased 1.1 percent from February to March, the biggest monthly increase since 2005. The March data will be the first to fully include the surge in gas prices after Russia's invasion of Ukraine that triggered tough Western sanctions against Russia and disrupted global food and energy markets.
 

➤U.S. PULLS NON-EMERGENCY CONSULAR STAFF FROM SHANGHAI AMID ONGOING COVID LOCKDOWN: The U.S. late Monday ordered non-emergency consular staff to leave Shanghai, which remains under an ongoing tight lockdown to try to contain a Covid-19 surge. Many residents in the Chinese city of 26 million have been confined to their homes for up to three weeks, and they've been describing an increasingly difficult situation, with people unable to leave their homes to even get food or daily necessities. Additionally, people who test positive have been forced to go to mass quarantine centers. The State Department said the new order is an upgrade from an advisory last week that made the decision to leave voluntary.


➤FORMER VIRGINIA POLICE OFFICER CONVICTED IN JAN. 6TH TRIAL: A former Rocky Mount, Virginia, police officer was convicted by a federal jury Monday of six counts related to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, including that he interfered with police officers at the Capitol and entered a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, a large wooden stick. Thomas Robertson was found guilty on all the counts against him, with prosecutors having said he stormed the Capitol with another off-duty officer to obstruct Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory. Robertson's attorney said he will appeal.

➤‘SENIOR MOMENTS’ BECAME MORE WIDESPREAD DURING THE PANDEMIC: If you’ve been experiencing some ‘senior moments’ during the pandemic you’re not the only one. Neuroscientist Dr. Sara Mednick tells the Wall Street Journal, “Our brains are like computers with so many tabs open right now. This slows down our processing power, and memory is one of the areas that falters.” Memory experts say that ‘senior moments,’ or fleeting bursts of forgetfulness, are becoming more commonplace. The Wall Street Journal notes that it’s a time of great transition as many return to work and settle into new routines, plus you add in the uncertainty of the war in Ukraine, and it’s not a surprise that our brains are on cognitive overdrive. Dr. Grant Shields, who has done research on this topic, says stress plays a big role, and that research shows that people who experience “recent life stressors” have memory issues. He adds that chronic stress can damage the brain, resulting in memory issues. Experts also say the monotony created by the pandemic in our day to day lives also doesn’t help our memory, as “memory benefits from novelty.” If you are concerned about your memory, it’s always a good idea to make an appointment with your doctor—especially if other people notice it as well.

➤PHILADELPHIA REINSTATES INDOOR MASK MANDATE, FIRST MAJOR CITY TO DO SO: Philadelphia reinstated its indoor mask mandate Monday after its confirmed Covid-19 cases rose by more than 50 percent in 10 days, the first major U.S. city to do so. The city's health commissioner, Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, said that spike in cases, which it's believed is being driven by the highly contagious omicron subvariant, reached the threshold at which city guidelines call for people to wear masks indoors. Philadelphia had ended its indoor mask mandate on March 2nd, at a time when most states and cities dropped their mask requirements as the omciron wave faded and the CDC changed its guidelines to focus more on hospital capacity over case counts.

➤BIDEN ANNOUNCES 'GHOST GUN' CRACKDOWN: President Biden announced a crackdown yesterday on "ghost guns," privately made guns that don't have serial numbers and are increasingly being involved in violent crimes. The new rule changes the definition of a firearm under federal law to include unfinished parts, like the frame of a handgun or the receiver of a long gun, and says those parts must be licensed and include serial numbers. Manufacturers must also run background checks before a sale. Gun rights groups are expected to file legal challenges.

➤CERTAIN PERSONALITY TRAITS ASSOCIATED WITH COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING LATER IN LIFE:  Your personality might have an impact on your brain down the line. University of Victoria researchers found people who are organized, with high levels of self-discipline, may be less likely to develop mild cognitive impairments as they age, while people who are moody or emotionally unstable are more likely to experience cognitive decline later in life. 

Lead study author, Dr. Tomiko Yoneda says, “Personality traits reflect relatively enduring patterns of thinking and behaving, which may cumulatively affect engagement in healthy and unhealthy behaviors and thought patterns across the lifespan. The accumulation of lifelong experiences may then contribute to susceptibility of particular diseases or disorders, such as mild cognitive impairment, or contribute to individual differences in the ability to withstand age-related neurological changes.” Study participants who scored high on the personality traits of conscientiousness or low in neuroticism were significantly less likely to progress from normal cognition to mild cognitive impairment over the course of the study. 

Researchers found no association between extraversion and ultimate development of mild cognitive impairment, but that those who scored high on extraversion—or low in neuroticism, or high on conscientiousness—tended to maintain normal cognitive functioning longer than others. There was no association between any of the personality traits and total life expectancy. The study had some limitations, and researchers say future studies need a more diverse sample of older adults, and should include the other two of the big five personality traits (agreeableness and openness).


🏀LAKERS FIRE HEAD COACH VOGEL AFTER THREE SEASONS: The L.A. Lakers fired head coach Frank Vogel Monday after three seasons that included a championship in his first year the team, the pandemic-disrupted season that ended with a championship won in the Florida bubble in October 2020. Vogel, who had a 127-98 record with the Lakers, was dumped after L.A.'s disappointing 33-49 season in which they missed the playoffs. ESPN had reported Sunday night after the Lakers last game of the season that Vogel was history, but he said at the post-game press conference that he hadn't heard anything.

🏀DREAM TAKE RHYNE HOWARD WITH FIRST PICK IN WNBA DRAFT: The Atlanta Dream took Kentucky guard Rhyne Howard with the Number 1 pick in the WNBA draft last night (April 11th) in New York. Howard was the SEC Player of the Year as a sophomore and a junior, and averaged 20.5 points and 7.4 rebounds during her senior season, leading her team in points, rebounds, three-pointers, steals and blocks. The Indiana Fever took Baylor forward NaLyssa Smith with the Number 2 pick, and the Washington Mystics took Ole Miss center Shakira Austin with the third selection.


🏀COMMISH SAYS WNBA DOING ALL IT CAN TO BRING GRINER HOME: In a news conference before the WNBA draft last night (April 11th), Commissioner Cathy Engelbert expressed her concern about Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia snce February, and said the league is doing all it can to get her back home. Engelbert said, "[W]e're trying everything we can, every angle, working with her legal representation, her agent, elected leaders, the administration. Just everybody in our ecosystem to try and find ways to get her home safely and as quickly as we can." Russian authorities have claimed that vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were found in Griner's luggage at a Moscow airport on February 17th. Russian media reported last month that her detention had been extended until at least May 19th.

🏀SACRAMENTO FIRES INTERIM HEAD COACH GENTRY: The Sacramento Kings fired interim coach Alvin Gentry on Monday, after he'd been promoted from associate head coach in November when Luke Walton was dismissed after a 6-11 start. The Kings ended the season at 30-52 on Sunday and missed the playoffs for a 16th straight season. Gentry has had other NBA head coaching stints, most recently with the New Orleans Pelicans from 2015 to 2020.

⚾CUBS RELIEVER THOMPSON SUSPENDED THREE GAMES FOR HITTING PLAYER WITH PITCH: Chicago Cubs reliever Keegan Thompson was suspended for three games on Monday by MLB for hitting the Milwaukee Brewers' Andrew McCutchen with a pitch in Saturday's game. Cubs manager David Ross was suspended for one game. Thompson hit McCutchen in the eighth inning of Chicago's 9-0 win and was ejected, but he's claimed he didn't do it on purpose. McCutchen was the first Brewer, but the fourth of five players hit in the game.

🌪U-S LOGGED RECORD NUMBER OF MARCH TORNADOES: The National Weather Service says the US logged 218 tornadoes in March—a record high for the month. The previous record high was 192 in March 2017. ABC News reports that many of the 2022 tornadoes came in the final days of the month. A powerful storm system on March 30th, for example, resulted in dozens of tornadoes throughout the South and Midwest. Now new storm systems have regions in Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana on watch over the next few days.

⛄APRIL SNOW STORMS HITS NORTHERN TIER: Winter ended weeks ago, but blizzard warnings were in effect on Monday for parts of three states across the northern Plains as AccuWeather forecasters warned that a "storm of the century" could unfold across the region this week. Elsewhere, winter storm warnings and watches dotted the weather map across the northern tier of the United States as a storm system, which came ashore in the Pacific Northwest, was expected to track eastward.

The storm system brought snowfall to Portland, Oregon, on Monday, the first time the Portland International Airport has ever recorded measurable snowfall in the month of April, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff.




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