Photograph of teacher bloodied by Russian attack on Ukraine dominates front pages as Putin sends his troops to war
The front pages in Britain and around the world are devoted to the shocking events in Ukraine, with graphic images of the destruction unleashed by Vladimir Putin.
A photograph of a woman with a bloodied and bandaged head in the wake of a Russian attack dominates the front of the Guardian with the headline “Putin invades”.
Continue reading...Inflation is rising, Republicans are resurgent – and the increasingly embattled president now has a foreign policy crisis to deal with
For weeks, Joe Biden has issued urgent warnings that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen at any moment. The moment came overnight, when Russian troops began attacking Ukraine by land, air and sea.
For the US president – increasingly embattled at home by a resurgent Republican party – it was evidence that the White House had largely assessed the Ukraine crisis correctly, even though their preference would have been to be wrong about their predictions of a disastrous war in Europe.
Continue reading...Trio of former Minneapolis officers found guilty of violating the civil rights of Floyd, murdered by Derek Chauvin in May 2020
A jury has convicted three former Minneapolis police officers of violating George Floyd’s civil rights.
Floyd, a Black man, was killed by white police officer Derek Chauvin. His video-taped death triggered widespread outrage and sparked anti-police brutality protests that spread across the US and the world.
Continue reading...New Brunswick officials say baffling disorder that causes memory loss and cognitive decline is from known neurological condition
After warning medical professionals to be on the lookout for a baffling neurological condition that produced memory loss, muscle wasting and severe cognitive decline, authorities in the Canadian province of New Brunswick have concluded that no such illness exists, a finding that has prompted skepticism and disbelief as families search for answers.
New Brunswick officials last year flagged a possible “cluster” of residents suffering from an unknown neurological syndrome, similar to those of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Symptoms were varied and dramatic: some patients started drooling, and others felt as though bugs were crawling on their skin.
Continue reading...Judge says Scotty David, who may have failed to disclose childhood abuse during jury selection, must return for court hearing
A juror in Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal trial who might not have disclosed childhood sexual abuse during jury selection for the high-profile case will now be questioned publicly as Maxwell’s team seeks a retrial, court papers released on Thursday said.
One newly released document also includes the written questionnaire that Juror No 50 completed during the selection process. In response to the question “Have you or a friend ever been the victim of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual assault?” the juror marked the “no” box.
Continue reading...President takes aim at Russia’s largest banks and companies but is emphatic US troops will not engage in conflict in Ukraine
Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled a fresh round of what he said would be crippling sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, declaring that Vladimir Putin “chose this war” and that he and his country would bear the consequences.
The harsh new sanctions target Russia’s largest banks and companies, effectively cutting them off from western financial markets, while imposing restrictions on the exports of advanced technology used to power the country’s military and tech sector.
Continue reading...'Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war, and now he and his country will bear the consequences,' said US president Joe Biden during an address at the White House. Biden described Russian president Vladimir Putin as an assailant who launched 'a war without a cause' and a misguided dream of recreating the Soviet Union. His comments come after Ukrainian forces battled Russian invaders on three sides after Moscow mounted an assault by land, sea and air, prompting tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. 'Putin's aggression against Ukraine will end up costing Russia dearly,' Biden said
Analysis: Immediate options seem limited and fraught with risk, but if Putin wants less Nato, he may ultimately end up with more
In the wake of what the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, described as Russia’s “fully fledged invasion of Ukraine”, the west has to decide how to respond to what France’s Emmanuel Macron has called a turning point in European history.
Yet can the west now offer Ukraine more than a mixture of prayers, sanctions and diplomatic demarches? Throughout this conflict western intelligence has shown it has been able to predict Putin’s next step, but less capable of stopping it. Boris Johnson told the Ukrainian people “we are with you”, but what this western solidarity means in practice is now up for debate.
Continue reading...Latest updates: US secretary of state says Russia plans to encircle and threaten Kyiv; Ukrainian spokesman condemns ‘totally pointless attack’
We’re beginning to get a picture of what the Russian invasion may be aiming to achieve although with the huge caveat that everything is incredibly chaotic.
CNN has pictures of what appears to be a column of tanks crossing in the area of the Senkivka border crossing with Belarus.
Some congressional Republicans have attempted to blame Joe Biden’s foreign policy for enabling Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“These developments were not inevitable,” congressman Andy Barr said. “The Biden Administration’s weak and feckless foreign policy not only failed to deter this aggression, it invited this outcome.”
Continue reading...First two months of 2022 alone have seen more than 300 manatee deaths as major conservation effort to rescue population
More than 80 Florida manatees are currently in rehab centers across the US as officials and conservations work to rescue a population that has been hit hard by starvation.
The data released by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and US Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday underscores the peril facing the manatees, and comes amid a major conservation effort that includes a feeding program distributing 3,000lb of lettuce daily at a site on the Florida coast.
Continue reading...Energy-efficient passive design is catching on in New York and other cities as climate concerns rise
The first night Stephanie Silva spent at her new Brooklyn apartment was uncommonly quiet. So was the following morning and the next day. The 32-year-old native New Yorker had forgotten the last time she was able to mute the city of 8.2 million.
“It’s like a sanctuary,” Silva says, but as soon as she opens the street-facing windows, the bustling outside noise fills her living room. Once she closed the windows again, the difference was instantly noticeable. “Since moving here my anxiety went out the window,” Silva says, referring to the 10th-floor affordable apartment in Ocean Hill, part of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. But what sets this 67-unit building apart from the rest of the housing in the city is its “passive” element.
Continue reading...Carey Dunne and Mark Pomerantz of the Manhattan district attorney’s office quit amid signs that the move on Trump is stalling
One of the most aggressive criminal investigations against Donald Trump appears to be running into the sand after the two leading prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office investigating the former president’s finances resigned.
The inquiry by Manhattan prosecutors into the operations of Trump and the Trump Organization has been among the most dangerous of the many legal perils facing him. The investigation, which began in August 2018 under the former district attorney Cyrus Vance and continued under incumbent Alvin Bragg, has dug ever deeper into alleged discrepancies in the value of the family’s assets in an effort to show a pattern of fraudulent behavior.
Continue reading...House speaker Nancy Pelosi is now holding a press conference on Capitol Hill, after attending the Munich Security Conference last week.
Pelosi attacked Russian President Vladimir Putin for recognizing the two self-proclaimed republics in east Ukraine and ordering troops into the region, repeatedly describing him as a “tyrant”.
Continue reading...Experts see move from Russian-controlled territories as final pretext for full invasion
Russia’s ambassador to the United States has hit back at the imposition of sanctions imposed by US president Joe Biden, suggesting the move would hurt global financial and energy markets as well as ordinary citizens.
According to a recent post on the Russian embassy Facebook page early Wednesday, ambassador Anatoly Antonov said:
Sanctions will not solve anything regarding Russia. It’s hard to imagine that anyone in Washington is counting on Russia to review its foreign policy course under threat of restrictions.
I don’t remember a single day when our country lived without any restrictions from the Western world. We learned how to work in such conditions. And not only survive, but also develop our state.
Continue reading...Group calling itself the ‘People’s Convoy’ is one of several due to arrive in capital, similar to the demonstrations in Ottawa
A group of US truckers were due to embark on Wednesday on a 2,500 mile cross-country trip from California to Washington to protest against coronavirus restrictions.
The group, which is calling itself the “People’s Convoy”, is one of several starting from different parts of the country and due to start arriving in the US capital at various points through to late next week – all inspired by the demonstrations that recently paralyzed Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, for weeks.
Continue reading...Myles Harris was preparing to shoot a story when he turns to look at traffic and recognizes approaching car: ‘That’s my Mom, hold on’
A video of a local television reporter in Ohio being surprised at work by his mother has gone viral, striking a chord with parents and their children alike.
ABC 6 reporter Myles Harris was preparing to shoot a story with his back to a road when he turned to look at traffic and appeared to recognize an approaching vehicle.
Continue reading...The White House is urging liberal groups to support nominees against critics’ attacks, CNN reports
Joe Biden has interviewed at least three potential supreme court nominees and is expected to reveal his decision by the end of this month, according to multiple sources close to the president.
Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra Kruger and J. Michelle Childs – all Black women – were among the contenders who spoke with the president, those familiar with the matter told CNN and the Washington Post.
Continue reading...Some people getting Pfizer or Moderna Covid vaccines should consider waiting up to eight weeks between the first and second doses, instead of the three or four weeks previously recommended, US health officials said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday quietly changed its advice on spacing the shots.
Continue reading...Trump’s former lawyer may reveal the roles played by Republicans to prevent certification of Joe Biden’s election victory
Donald Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani is expected to cooperate with the House select committee investigating January 6, and potentially reveal his contacts with Republican members of Congress involved in the former president’s effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The move by Giuliani to appear before the panel – in a cooperation deal that could be agreed within weeks, according to two sources briefed on negotiations – could mark a breakthrough moment for the inquiry as it seeks to interview key members of Trump’s inner circle.
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