Monday, May 2, 2022

Wake-up Call: Ukranian Civilians Evacuated From Steel Plant


Ukrainian civilians began evacuating over the weekend from the sprawling steel plant in Mariupol where they have been holed up for nearly two months in bunkers underneath the plant. They have been there along with an estimated 2,000 Ukranian fighters in the last remaining pocket not occupied by Russian forces in the devastated southern city. Video released Sunday by Ukrainian forces showed woman and children climbing over a large pile of rubble they left the steel plant and then boarding a bus.

 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address on his Telegram messaging channel yesterday that more than 100 of the evacuated civilians were expected to arrive in the city of Zaporizhzhia Monday. A brigade commander of Ukraine's National Guard said Sunday night that several hundred civilians were still at the plant, as well as nearly 500 wounded soldiers.



House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a top-level U.S. congressional delegation that made a surpise visit to Ukraine on Saturday. Pelosi and the six members of Congress met with Zelenskyy and his top aides for three hours in Kyiv. In a video released by Zelenskyy's office, Pelosi says, "Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done. We are on a frontier of freedom and your fight is a fight for everyone." The trip wasn't disclosed until the U.S. group was out of Ukraine, and no details were released on how they reached Kyiv or left the country. Pelosi is set to meet Polish President Andrzej Duda today in Warsaw.

First Lady to Meet with Ukrainian Refugees in Slovakia: First Lady Jill Biden will meet with Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia next Sunday as part of a five-day trip to Slovakia and Romania that begins on Thursday, the White House announced yesterday. Both countries share borders with Ukraine and have been taking in some of the 5.5 million refugees that have fled the country since Russia's February 24th invasion. In additional to government officials, the first lady will also meet with U.S. servicemembers, U.S. Embassy personnel, humanitarian aid workers and educators during her trip.


➤TWO RESCUED AFTER CHINA BUILDING COLLAPSE, NEARLY 60 TRAPPED OR UNACCOUNTED FOR: Two people were rescued Sunday from the rubble of a building that collapsed in China more than 50 hours earlier. Seven people have been rescued in all from the collapse in the city of Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, while about 20 others were still trapped and another 39 hadn't been accounted for. Chinese news agency Xinhua said the building had eight floors, including a restaurant on the second floor, a cafe on the third floor, and residences on the top two floors. Meanwhile, nine people were arrested on suspicion of causing a major liability accident, including the building owner, three people in charge of design and construction, and five people for a false safety assessment for a guest house on three of the building’s floors.


Casey White, Vicky White

➤U.S. MARSHALS OFFER $10K FOR INFO ON ESCAPED INMATE, MISSING CORRECTIONS OFFICER: The U.S. Marshals Service said Sunday that it's offering up to $10,000 for information about a 38-year-old inmate who escaped in Florence, Alabama, Friday and a corrections officer who is considered "missing and endangered." Casey Cole White was jailed on a capital murder charge at the Lauderdale County Detention Center. The assistant director of corrections, 56-year-old Vicky White, left the jail Friday morning with Casey White to go to a nearby courthouse for what she said was a mental health evaluation for the inmate and they disappeared. She was alone with him, which the sheriff said violated department policy, and it turns out there was no such evaluation scheduled. No-one realized they were missing until about six hours after they left the jail. The vehicle they were in was later found at a nearby shopping center. The U.S. marshal for northern Alabama said in a statement Sunday, "Casey White is believed to be a serious threat to the corrections officer and the public." However, Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton said they are "aggressively investigating" and would be looking into previous interaction between the two to, quote, "see if something else was going on."

➤RUSSIAN OFFICIAL SAYS PULLING OUT OF SPACE STATION: The head of Russia's space agency said that his country is pulling out of the International Space Station because of the Western sanctions imposed to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg reported, citing Russian state media outlets Tass and RIA Novosti. Dmitry Rogozin said, according to the outlets, "The decision has been taken already, we’re not obliged to talk about it publicly. I can say this only -- in accordance with our obligations, we’ll inform our partners about the end of our work on the ISS with a year’s notice." NASA had said last month that Russia was committed to the ISS, despite Rogozin having threatened several times since the invasion that it would end cooperation on the space station over the sanctions.

➤GOOGLE MAKES IT EASIER TO REMOVE PERSONAL INFORMATION FROM SEARCH: Search engine Google is now making it easier to remove personal information from search results. The new policy will now remove links to sites that include a phone number, email address, or physical address. This information could potentially include images of identification documents or login credentials. To make a removal request, users can fill out a form that lists the URL of the content you want removed and screenshots showing the specific identifying content. Google will then review and grant or deny said request.

🏀NBA PLAYOFFS: Results from second-round games yesterday:
  • Milwaukee Bucks 101, Boston Celtics 89 - Milwaukee leads series 1-0
  • Golden State Warriors 117, Memphis Grizzlies 116 - Golden State leads series 1-0
🏀BUCKS, WARRIORS WIN TO KICK OFF NBA PLAYOFFS' SECOND ROUND: The defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors won yesterday to kick off the second round of the playoffs. The Bucks topped the Boston Celtics 101-89, helped by a triple-double from Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 24 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists. The Warriors edged the Memphis Grizzlies 117-116, despite forward Draymond Green controversially being ejected for a flagrant foul just before halftime. Officials believed Green hit Memphis' Brandon Clarke in the face after a missed layup and threw him to the ground, but it appeared Green tried to help hold Clarke up as he hit the court. That's what Green said on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show, after the game, stating, "I actually tried to hold him up," and that the flagrant foul call was, quote, "probably a reputation thing."


🏒NHL PLAYOFFS BEGIN TONIGHT: The first round of the NHL playoffs begin tonight after the last game of the regular season yesterday, a 4-3 Winnipeg Jets win over the Seattle Kraken that was the day's only game. Neither the Jets nor the Kraken, who just finished their inaugural season, made the playoffs. Tonight's matchups are: Boston Bruins at Carolina Hurricanes; Tampa Bay Lightning at Toronto Maple Leafs; St. Louis Blues at Minnesota Wild; and Los Angeles Kings at Edmonton Oilers.

🎾DJOKIVIC, NADAL CRITICIZE WIMBLEDON BAN ON PLAYERS FROM RUSSIA, BELARUS: Top-ranked men's tennis player Novak Djokovic of Serbia and fourth-ranked Rafael Nadal of Spain yesterday criticized Wimbledon's decision to ban players from Russia and Belarus from this year's tournament, which begins in late June, over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Speaking from Spain, where both are preparing for the Madrid Open, 21-time Grand Slam winner Nadal said, "I think it’s very unfair . . . it’s not their fault what’s happening in this moment with the war." Djokovic stated, "I think it’s just not fair, it’s not right[.]" Both the men's and women's tennis tours have criticized the decision, which was announced last month. The most high-profile player affected is Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who's the second-ranked men's player in the world.

⚾REDS, AT 3-19, HAVE WORST START IN FRANCHISE HISTORY: The Cincinnati Reds were blown out 10-1 by the Colorado Rockies for a sixth straight loss yesterday, bringing their record to a dismal 3-19, the worst season start in franchise history. It's also tied with three other teams for the second-worst start through 22 games in baseball's Modern Era (since 1900), behind only the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who began the season with a 1-21 record.
 

⚾COLLEGE PLAYER THROWS SECOND-FASTEST PITCH EVER RECORDED: Tennessee pitcher Ben Joyce threw the fastest pitch in college baseball history and the second-fastest pitch ever recorded in the Volunteers' 5-3 win over Knoxville on Saturday. Joyce threw the 105.5 mile-per-hour fastball in the top of the eighth inning, the hardest-thrown pitch ever recorded in college baseball. It was also the second-hardest thrown pitch in baseball history, behind only Aroldis Chapman’s 105.8 mph fastball in the major leagues in 2010.



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