Tuesday, March 8 top stories
It is Tuesday, March 8. Here are today’s top stories.
Biden bans Russian oil
President Biden announced that the U.S. would ban Russian imports of oil and natural gas due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Biden said this means that Russian oil will no longer be acceptable to U.S. ports and that the American people will deal another blow to Russian President Putin and his “war machine.”
News analysts explained that the U.S. gets less than 10% of its oil from Russia and that we import oil from an array of other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Canada. But the situation with banning Russian oil has caused oil supply fears and as a result, U.S. gasoline prices has climbed to a record average price of $4.17 a gallon, or an average of $5.28 in California.
The Biden administration is now looking to get additional oil from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Iran, which has their own set of human rights issues, but apparently the U.S. is willing to overlook that because of the Russian invasion.
European countries have not imposed a ban on Russian oil because they are much more dependent on it compared with the U.S.
High school drive-by shooting
On Monday afternoon, outside of a high school in Des Moines, Iowa, there was a drive-by shooting that killed a 15-year-old boy and injured two female students aged 16 and 18, who are still in the hospital. The name of the high school is East High School.
Today police said they arrested six teenagers and charged them with first-degree murder after their investigation determined that the gunshots came from multiple shooters from multiple vehicles.
The ages of those who were charged ranged from 14 to 17. All of them are residents of Des Moines.
The 15-year-old boy who died was not a student at the school and police said he was the target of the drive-by shooters. The two girls who was hit were bystanders caught in the shooting. There is not much other information now about the shooters and what their motive was.
Proud Boys leader charged
Enrique Tarrio, one of the leaders of the Proud Boys, a far-right group, was charged with conspiracy today in connection to the Jan 6. Capitol riot. He was arrested in Miami, where he lives.
Tarrio was not in D.C. at the time of the riot, but he is accused of coordinating and communicating with other members of the Proud Boys to break into the Capitol.
In separate but related news, a jury in D.C. found a Jan. 6 rioter, Guy Reffitt, guilty of all of his five charges: obstruction of Congress, bringing guns into D.C., carrying a handgun on Capitol grounds, interfering with Capitol Police, and obstruction of justice by threatening his son and daughter when he returned to his home state of Texas. This is the first federal trial related to the Capitol riot. Reffitt faces 20 years in prison on two of his charges and will be sentenced on June 8. Reffitt was a part of a far-right group called the Three Percenters.
There are still over 500 more cases involving Capitol rioters in the justice system.
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2,000 to 4,000 Russian troops killed
U.S. officials said they believe that between 2,000 to 4,000 Russian troops were killed during the invasion of Ukraine. The war has continued into its 13th day.
The U.S. officials said Russia did not expect this level of loss and that Russian President Putin may turn to more brutal tactics in the coming days and weeks to try and take over the capital city of Kyiv.
CIA Director William Burns said he believes that Putin is not crazy, but has hardened views and is determined to prevail in Ukraine. Burns said the level of resistance from Ukrainians has surprised and unsettled him. The CIA said they are keeping a close eye on the level of support Putin has in Russia.
Zelensky addresses U.K. parliament
Ukrainian President Zelensky gave a virtual address to the U.K. House of Commons. Zelensky compared what Ukraine is going through with what England went through when the Nazis attacked them. He asked the U.K. to help keep Ukrainian skies safe, which is akin to asking for a no-fly zone. The members of parliament gave Zelensky a standing ovation but it doesn’t seem like the U.K. will step in on a military basis to order and enforce a no-fly zone. U.K. PM Boris Johnson said they would continue to provide Ukraine with humanitarian aid, military support, and impose sanctions against Russia.
McDonald’s closes restaurants in Russia
McDonald’s said it would temporarily close 850 of its restaurants in Russia. The CEO said the closure is due to the “needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine.” The CEO said it would continue to pay its Russian employees, which totals 62,000 staff members, and that its charity program in Russia would continue to operate.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03/08/world/ukraine-russia-war
https://www.kcci.com/article/shooting-reported-outside-des-moines-iowa-school/39359495#
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/08/politics/january-6-reffitt-verdict/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/08/zelensky-uk-parliament-address-war-ukraine/