Monday, March 7 top stories
It is Monday, March 7. Here are today’s top stories.
Russia and Ukraine hold third round of peace talks
Today Russia and Ukraine held a third round of diplomatic negotiations. Russia said it will end the war if Ukraine amends its constitution to “reject any aims to enter any bloc,” such as NATO or the European Union. Russia also wants Ukraine to recognize Crimea and separatist areas in eastern Ukraine as Russian. A Ukrainian official said no agreement was reached, but there was some small progress on evacuation of civilians.
Prior to the meeting, Russia made a proposal to provide evacuation routes from Ukraine into Russia or Belarus, but Ukraine rejected it, saying it was “completely immoral.”
Almost all of assembled Russian troops now in Ukraine
News reports say almost 100% of the Russian troops that assembled near Ukraine’s borders over the past months are now in Ukraine. This is about 150,000 troops.
News reports say Russia is stepping up its bombing on civilian targets and infrastructure. Ukrainian officials say almost 1,000 towns in Ukraine are without electricity, water and heat.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, an U.N. group that monitors nuclear activity around the world, said it is concerned about two nuclear power plants in Ukraine: Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia. The IAEA said phone lines, emails, and faxes were not functioning in these plants, so they are not able to communicate with staff there. The staff are under the control of Russian armed forces, so it is concerning.
National average for gallon of gas above $4
The national average for a gallon of gas is just above $4.00, which is the highest since 2008. CNBC said this is a result of the war in Ukraine, as there are concerns about the supply of crude oil. Russia is one of the world’s top producers and exporters of oil and gas, so with them being directly involved in the war and facing economic sanctions from the world, energy prices are impacted.
The U.S. has not imposed a ban on Russian oil, but there is pressure from Americans for President Biden to place the ban. The U.S. has spent about $1 billion per month on Russian oil imports in 2021. Ukrainian President Zelensky has called on the U.S. and Europe to boycott Russian oil. Top European leaders, specifically Germany, have been reluctant to ban Russian oil because they are very dependent on it.
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U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner detained in Russia
Last weekend news broke that U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, who plays for the WNBA team Phoenix Mercury and has won two U.S. Olympics gold medals, has been in jail in Russia since February. Russian authorities said Griner was caught carrying cannabis vape cartridges at a Moscow airport. Griner was in Russia to play for a Russian basketball league during the winter, which she has done for the past seven years. She earns over $1 million per season in Russia, which is more than four times the amount she earns with the WNBA.
There is little information on Griner’s situation. The Biden administration said they couldn’t comment on it due to “privacy considerations.”
Griner’s wife, Cherelle, posted on Instagram that she is going through “one of the weakest moments of my life.” She said she needs privacy as she continues to work on getting her wife home safely.
Deadly tornadoes hit central Iowa
Several tornadoes hit central Iowa on Saturday afternoon, killing seven people and destroying multiple homes. One tornado struck an area near Des Moines and killed four adults and two children under the age of five. The victims came from three different homes. Less than an hour later, another tornado touched down in another area and killed one person staying in a RV at a campground.
ISIS-K claims responsibility for Pakistani mosque bombing
On Friday, there was a bomb blast in a mosque in northwestern Pakistan that killed at least 57 people and injured over 100. ISIS-K, an affiliate of ISIS, claimed responsibility and said that the bombing was conducted by a suicide bomber from Afghanistan. It is one of the worst terrorist attacks to hit Pakistan in recent years.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/world/europe/ukrainian-family-killed-war.html
https://www.axios.com/russia-ukraine-invasion-day-12-555ad039-6426-4ae9-ac8d-8e9a3a5a6f69.html
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03/07/world/ukraine-russia-war
https://www.instagram.com/p/CavgToGuCVn/
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/wnba-brittney-griner-wife-thanks-fans-privacy-arrest
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/6/staff-at-ukraines-nuclear-plant-now-under-russian-order-iaea
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/04/world/middleeast/pakistan-peshawar-mosque-explosion.html
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/officials-killed-tornado-tore-central-iowa-83281484