Friday, March 4 top news briefs
Today is Friday, March 4. I am taking Alex’s place today. Ready for the top news briefs?
Updates on war in Ukraine
Here are updates on the war in Ukraine.
Russian forces shelled a nuclear power plant overnight in Zaporizhzhia. There was a fire at one of the buildings and it caused worldwide concern of a radioactive disaster, but the fire has now been extinguished. Russian forces have seized that nuclear power plant. It is the largest one in Europe.
The Pentagon said Russia has launched over 500 missiles in Ukraine.
Russia has banned Facebook and Twitter as well as blocking access to Russian-language media produced outside the country. The reason: the systemic distribution of fake information about what is happening in Ukraine.
The Russian president, Mr. Putin, signed a law that criminalizes any public opposition to or independent news reporting about the war against Ukraine. This means disseminating “fake news” about the Russian military and its “special military operation” in Ukraine could result in up to 15 years in prison. The law takes effect as soon as Saturday.
The NATO Secretary-General said again that the military alliance would not set up and enforce a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine. If they did, they would have to be prepared to shoot down Russian aircraft, and NATO isn’t doing that now.
Ukraine has begged NATO to do more for them. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is still in the capital city of Kyiv. There is a 40-mile long Russian military convoy that is still slowly moving towards Kyiv.
Donald Trump described Russia's attack on Ukraine as a "holocaust" and said Russia has to “to stop killing these people” in a Fox News interview. Trump's comments represent a huge shift, exactly one week since he praised Putin as a "genius" and "very savvy" on February 23.
Supreme Court upholds death sentence of Boston bomber
The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to support the death sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the younger of two brothers who placed bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon. Three people, including a 8-year-old by, died at the scene. A police officer was killed a few days later by the brothers. The older brother died during a police chase and the younger was captured and has been in custody since then.
A lower federal court said the trial for Tsarnaev had several mistakes so there would have to be a new trial, but the Supreme Court has decided “no” — to keep the death penalty in place.
It is not clear if Tsarnaev will be put to death because there is now a moratorium (pause) on federal executions.
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NFL ends all Covid protocols
The NFL has halted all aspects of its Covid-19 protocols including mask, testing and social distancing requirements regardless of vaccination status, citing recent trends showing that the spread of the coronavirus is declining. Though each club can require it individually.The league is encouraging everyone to continue monitoring for symptoms of Covid-19 on a daily basis before entering the team facility. Any individual who tests positive must isolate for five days after the positive test.
About 95 percent of the players and nearly 100 percent of team personnel were vaccinated, the league reported. The NFL becomes the first major American sports league to drop Covid-19 protocols.
Peace Corps to begin sending volunteers abroad
The Peace Corps will start sending volunteers overseas again in mid-March after it evacuated them from posts around the world two years ago due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They plan to return volunteers to the more than 60 countries throughout the year, based on the number of Covid-19 cases and hospital capacity in the host country. It is currently recruiting for 24 posts. An initial group of new volunteers will go to Zambia and the Dominican Republic this month.
That is all the top stories for today and stay with the light!
https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-putin-news-03-04-22/index.html
https://www.politico.eu/article/bbc-russia-suspends-news-operation-free-speech-curbs-ukraine-war/
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/03/04/metro/us-supreme-court-reinstates-tsarnaev-death-penalty/