Tuesday, March 1 top stories
It is Tuesday, March 1. Here are today’s top stories.
Updates on Russian invasion of Ukraine
Here are updates on the war in Ukraine.
A government building in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, was blown up by a rocket strike. This was in a popular area called the Freedom Square. At least seven people were killed. The city’s mayor said there was another rocket strike in a residential neighborhood that destroyed a hospital, resulting in several fatalities. The city has faced multiple shelling from Russian forces.
In Kyiv, the capital city, a radio and television tower was hit by a projectile that caused a large explosion. At least five people were killed near the tower. It caused local TV channels to go off air.
Ukrainian President Zelensky said Russia committed war crimes and terrorism because they targeted civilians with bombs.
The U.N. said at least 136 Ukrainian civilians, including 13 children, were killed over the first five days of the Russian invasion. Today is the sixth day of war.
The convoy of Russian military vehicles that was recently photographed is actually 40 miles long. It was previously thought that it was only three miles long, but it’s much more massive. The convoy is moving towards the northern part of Kyiv. A U.S. official said the convoy is moving slowly because of resistance and a lack of gas and food for the convoy.
There are some reports out there that say there is a low morale among Russian troops because they didn’t realize they would be ordered to invade Ukraine and engage in warfare.
In southern Ukraine, in the city of Kherson, videos show an apartment building being struck with an explosive projectile and Russian military vehicles and troops walking around city streets. The city’s mayor posted on social media that the city is still under Ukrainian control.
Today the Russian military issued a warning that it would conduct strikes on government buildings in Kyiv that house Ukraine’s security services and communication facilities.
Ukrainian President Zelensky said in a speech to the European Parliament on Tuesday that Ukraine needs to become an equal member of Europe by being granted EU membership. But the EU said it would be a difficult process to get Ukraine in.
A Ukrainian journalist named Daria Kaleniuk confronted the U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson by telling him that he needs to enforce a no-fly zone and be willing to fire on the Russian military to stop airstrikes. She said Boris and “NATO is afraid of World War 3 but it’s already started.”
The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine has increased to just under 700,000. A little less than half of the refugees have gone into Poland. A CNN reporter said some people have waited for several days and fell ill because of freezing temperatures. The reporter said there were two different flows of people, with one group consisting of Ukrainians, mostly women and children, and another group consisting of mostly male international students from various African and Asian countries.
There are concerns of racism on the latter group with stories of Black or Brown international students being refused entry on buses traveling to the border, being forced to walk long distances, or at worst being physically assaulted by Ukrainian guards. A spokesperson for the Ukraine border guard said the allegations of segregation are untrue and that the guards are working under enormous pressure. Another Ukrainian official said they want to first release women and children and that foreign men must wait for them, but that they would release all foreigners without hindrance.
The African Union said the reports of mistreatment towards Africans are “shockingly racist” and “violate international law.”
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Biden to give SOTU Address
President Biden will give his first formal State of the Union address as president tonight. The main topics that are expected from Biden are the war in Ukraine, the Covid-19 pandemic, and his Supreme Court justice nomination. The speech will take place around 9 p.m. Eastern Time. Ukrainian President Zelensky said he hopes Biden would give a strong message about Russia’s invasion.
Asian woman dies after November attack in NYC
A 61-year-old Asian woman, GuiYing Ma, passed away on Monday from injuries she sustained in her head from an attack in November in New York City. Ma was sweeping a sidewalk on a Friday morning when a homeless man who was sleeping on the sidewalk used a rock to attack her. Ma had permanent damage to the right side of her head and was in a coma. Ma’s family said she did show signs that she understood her husband’s voice and that she woke up briefly one time when her husband was visiting.
The New York Police Department arrested a suspect, Elisaul Perez, who is 33. He was charged with two counts of felony assault and another charge. Now it is possible that he will be charged with murder.
The family of Ma said she was the “fourth Asian American in New York City to die in the last two months as a result of violence against the AAPI community.” The family is asking for tougher law enforcement for the safety of the AAPI community.
Father kills 3 kids, an adult, and himself at church
On Monday night in Sacramento, California, a father walked into a church and used a gun to kill three of his daughters, who were 9, 10, and 13 years old and an adult who was supervising the three children. The father then turned the gun on himself. He was identified as David Fidel Mora-Rojas. The names of the victims haven’t been released.
A local sheriff said the gunman had a restraining order against him and that he was only allowed to have supervised visits with his children. The sheriff said the mother of the children is safe. It didn’t seem like the church was holding services — that it was just supposed to be a supervised visit that turned out in this terrible incident.
That’s all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03/01/world/ukraine-russia-war
https://www.axios.com/ukraine-refugees-russian-invasion-un-9f8b6e8e-87ed-4a5b-b7e9-d9229b373dca.html
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03/01/us/biden-state-of-the-union
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/28/europe/students-allege-racism-ukraine-cmd-intl/index.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/russia-ukraine-news-kyiv-war-putin-invasion-talks-today/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/28/us/guiying-ma-death-new-york-asian-hate-crime/index.html
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-an-asian-lady-assaulted-by-hate-crime-in-nyc
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/28/us/sacramento-church-shooting/index.html
https://www.kcra.com/article/law-enforcement-church-arden-sacramento-county/39271675#
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/us/church-shooting-sacramento.html