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Pentagon again rejects Poland’s plan to make US provide Ukraine fighter jets

March 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) – The Pentagon on Wednesday, for the second day in a row, rejected a plan by Poland to provide Ukraine with its Soviet-era warplanes through U.S. hands, saying the proposal would risk wider war between Russia and NATO.

Poland’s announcement Tuesday, which shocked U.S. officials, peaked hope in Ukraine that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s calls for more fighter jets would be answered.

But Poland’s proposal essentially punted the responsibility to the U.S. by calling for America to take control of the MiG-29 fighter jets at a U.S. air base in Germany and then provide them to Ukraine — an idea the Pentagon roundly rejected as “not tenable.”

Hours after the White House left the door open to a deal Wednesday, saying “logistical and operational” details were being discussed among the U.S., its NATO allies, and Ukraine, there was another surprise: The Pentagon roundly rejected the idea altogether.

“We do not support the transfer of additional fighter aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force at this time and, therefore, have no desire to see them in our custody either,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said Wednesday.

The back-and-forth by both NATO allies has sparked confusion and exasperation. Poland originally opposed a transfer while the U.S. backed it — until Poland suddenly proposed doing so through the U.S., which now opposes it.

“This is not pingpong. This is about people’s lives. We ask again — make the decision faster. Don’t throw the responsibility. Send us the jets,” Zelenskyy said in a speech Wednesday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, recounting what she said was a 45-minute call with Zelenskyy about the U.S. providing lethal aid, said, “He wants the planes, the planes, the planes.”

Russia has warned any country from allowing Ukraine to use its airfields to support military aircraft, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying Wednesday, “This is an extremely undesirable and potentially dangerous scenario.”

U.S. intelligence has concluded the same thing, according to Kirby, who added that sending Ukraine additional fighter jets is not what Kyiv needs now in its fight against invading Russian forces and their overwhelming bombardment.

“There are alternative options that are much better suited to support the Ukrainian military in their fight against Russia. We will continue to pursue those options,” Kirby told reporters Wednesday.

Ukraine’s air force already has “several squadrons of fully mission capable aircraft,” he added, and the U.S. instead plans to continue providing “the systems that they need most to defeat Russian aggression — in particular, anti-armor and air defense.”

The U.S. has provided Ukraine with Stinger missiles — shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles that previous administrations had viewed as too escalatory to provide. The United Kingdom announced Wednesday it would provide its similar system known as Starstreak.

But for now, the U.S. is drawing the line against fighter jets, which U.S. officials say would be logistically difficult to deliver to Ukraine without risking Russian retaliation.

“The intelligence community has assessed the transfer of MiG-29s to Ukraine may be mistaken as escalatory and could result in significant Russian reaction that might increase the prospects of the military escalation with NATO,” Kirby said.

Just days ago, however, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. had given “a green light” to Poland to provide the planes directly to Ukraine, although he said it was Poland’s choice.

Polish officials opposed the idea, fearing exactly the scenario Kirby laid out — with Russian strikes on Polish airfields. The Polish prime minister’s office even called reports the country would provide warplanes “FAKE NEWS‼️” in a tweet Sunday.

But two days later, Poland stunned the U.S. by saying it would provide over two dozen MiG-29 fighter jets to the U.S. “immediately and free of charge,” sending them to Ramstein Air Base and “at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America.”

“That actually was a surprise move by the Poles,” Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, told the Senate hours later, adding, “It wasn’t pre-consulted with us.”

Surprise turned to opposition, with the Pentagon calling the plan “not tenable” for the risk it would pose to U.S. service members.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak Wednesday, thanking him, but expressing outright opposition, per Kirby.

Western countries have significantly escalated their military aid to Ukraine, providing thousands of anti-tank missiles in recent weeks alone, according to a U.S. official.

But warplanes now seem to be a step too far, along with a no-fly zone. U.S. and NATO officials have repeatedly warned their forces will not get involved in the conflict in any way, fearing a Russian attack that could quickly spiral into war between nuclear-armed states.

Calls for a “limited” no-fly zone — over western Ukraine to allow for refugees to exit and aid to enter, or over humanitarian corridors — have fallen flat, too.

“Introducing, in our case, American service members in Ukraine, on Ukrainian territory or soil, or American pilots into Ukrainian airspace, whether on a full or on a limited basis, would almost certainly lead to direct conflict between the United States, between NATO and Russia, and that would expand the conflict. It would prolong it. It would make it much more deadlier than it already is,” Blinken said Wednesday.

To some analysts, a no-fly zone would not be a silver bullet here either, with the Kremlin using long-range artillery, even indiscriminate shelling, to grind Ukrainian forces and civilian targets down. Russia has now launched more than 710 missiles against Ukraine — about half of which have been launched from within Russian territory, according to a senior U.S. defense official.

“The best way to help protect the skies is through anti-air weaponry, which the U.K. is now going to be supplying to Ukraine,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said alongside Blinken at the State Department.

While the Biden administration has said repeatedly it’s consulting with allies and partners on what other military aid to provide, it’s unclear what else it could be. Some 75 percent of a $350 million package approved by Biden late last month has already made it into Ukrainian hands, according to officials.

But beyond individual missiles, the U.S. may be considering anti-missile batteries like the Patriot system. Nuland declined to speak publicly about that option, but told a Senate panel Tuesday there are “other things” on Ukraine’s “list that we think we can do, and I’ll leave it at that.”

ABC News’s Luis Martinez and Matt Seyler contributed to this report from the Pentagon, Sarah Kolinovsky, Molly Nagle, and Justin Gomez from the White House and Benjamin Siegel from Capitol Hill.

US-Russian International Space Station partnership in jeopardy over geopolitical tensions

March 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — For the past 24 years, the U.S. and Russia have worked together to construct and maintain the International Space Station, where research has led to some of the most important discoveries of the 21st century.

Now, 227 miles below the unrivaled laboratory, Russia has waged a war in Ukraine that’s pitted the country against the U.S. and its allies — leaving the future of the ISS in question.

“When you’re in space and you’re flying around the Earth at 17,500 miles an hour and in a very hazardous environment, cooperation is the most important thing,” said former astronaut Scott Kelly.

The ISS is divided into two sections: the Russian Orbital Segment operated by Russia and the United States Orbital Segment run by the U.S. American and Russian astronauts were the first to step inside the ISS in 1998.

Watch the full story on “ABCNL Prime” TONIGHT at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

From there, the partnership has continued. When the U.S. shuttle program ended in 2011, U.S. astronauts like Cady Coleman relied exclusively on Russian rockets to get her on board the station.

Coleman said once on board the craft, where you came from didn’t matter, and it was all about how to work and live with one another.

“Space is hard and space is dangerous. And in my experience … with our Russian partners it means sitting down, having a meal together,” said Coleman. “It means talking about what’s hard for you, what’s hard for them and how together we can get this accomplished. [We] look each other in the eye and realize that we’re all about the same thing.”

Coleman said that American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts would cooperate on everything from life-or-death missions to the mundane.

“I was up there with the three Russian cosmonauts,” said Coleman.”[We] share a goal of exploring space … and that goal doesn’t change whether we’re on the Earth or living up on the space station.”

NASA’s reliance on Russian rockets ended in 2020 when SpaceX debuted its Crew Dragon Capsule, but talks are underway to allow Russians on future SpaceX flights.

Russian cosmonauts continue to train at NASA’s facility in Houston.

Astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who holds the ongoing record for longest space flight, is set to end his 355 days in space in just three weeks. The plan is for him to land in Kazakhstan with two Russian cosmonauts on a Russian spacecraft.

But unprecedented sanctions against Russia could put Vande Hei’s return on hold. After Russia invaded Ukraine nearly two weeks ago, President Joe Biden announced new sanctions, including cutting more than half of Russia’s high-tech imports.

“It’ll degrade their aerospace industry, including their space program,” Biden said during a White House address Feb. 24.

Shortly after the remarks, NASA released a statement on U.S.-Russian civil space cooperation, saying that “no changes are planned” and that the agency will continue to support “ongoing in orbit and ground station operations.”

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s Space Agency and a close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, responded to Biden in a series of hostile tweets. On Feb. 26, he posted a video in Russian that threatened to leave Vande Hei behind in space and detach Russia’s segment of the space station altogether.

Kelly said he felt compelled to speak up and engaged with Rogozin on Twitter.

“I was just enraged that he, the [cosmonauts], said that they were going to leave an American crew member behind. I never thought I would ever hear anything so outrageous,” said Kelly.

NASA has remained silent on Rogozin’s threats to abandon Vande Hei in space. Prior to the conflict in Ukraine, Russia had announced plans to pull out of the space station as early as 2025.

Although war continues to wage on Earth, Kelly said he hopes that the U.S.-Russian partnership in space can be mended.

“I’ve known [people at the Russian Space Agency], many of them for well over two decades, I trust them. I’ve literally trusted them with my life before,” said Kelly, who added that the U.S. should still “prepare for the worst” and “hope for the best.”

Kelly said the ISS is an example of where peace is possible because all astronauts share a common goal: to explore and learn.

“I just hope people realize and want to keep this partnership together because it is one of the few things that unites all of humanity together,” said Kelly. “I think one of the biggest successes of the International Space Station is the international aspect of giving us something to work on together, that makes us friends.”

As refugees, fighters and survivors, Ukrainian women document life in war

March 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — When one Ukrainian woman woke up and answered a frantic call from her mother on the morning of Feb. 24 — before the sun had even risen — she heard screams and tears on the other side of the line, telling her what she feared the most.

“My mom called me crying and screaming: ‘Run away right now to the bomb shelter, because the war has been started,'” she said.

The woman looked through her kitchen window and saw half the sky had already been overtaken by dust from explosions in the region. Since that day, when her life shifted drastically, she and other four women have been documenting video diaries of their journeys to safety as they escape the war.

“My country is at war right now,” one woman said. “We forgot what is sleep. We forgot what is food. We forgot what is normal life. We forgot what is work. We forgot what is not to shake with any noise outside. We now know what is death.”

In less than two weeks since the invasion started, more than 2 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, with their lives packed in a few bags on the way to neighboring countries.

Out of the 2 million refugees, approximately 1 million are children — including 8-year-old Eva.

“On Feb. 24, I woke up to the sounds of sirens,” she said. “For five days, I haven’t slept in my bed. My dad does everything to keep me safe. None of this would have happened if the Russian president did not start the war.”

Poland has welcomed the highest number of refugees since Feb. 24, with over 1.2 million Ukrainians having crossed the border, according to the UNHCR. Others have fled to the nearby countries of Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova.

The agency also reported that almost 100,000 Ukrainian refugees have fled to Russia since the invasion began.

Some, though, have no other choice except to seek shelter as their cities are bombarded with Russian missiles. The sound of explosions, buildings falling and screams of fear have been a constant, they said.

A 19-year-old woman was forced to leave her flat in Kyiv to seek safer shelter amid the Russian shelling.

“Rockets, tanks, gunfire. It’s no longer nightmare. It’s my reality. The reality of all Ukrainians now,” she said. “We are strong nation and we will not give up. I would like to convey to the world we are at war now, and tomorrow, it can be with you. Let’s stop it together.”

Others have decided to join the fight to defend their country.

On the front lines of the war, some women are taking up arms and making Molotov cocktails.

When Russia began its invasion, the Ukraine State Border Guard Service announced that all men between the ages of 18-60 were banned from leaving the country and must instead join the troops.

Women make up close to 15% of Ukraine’s military personnel — over 30,000 soldiers — according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

In one video diary, another woman said she has friends who have taken on the responsibility to defend their country against Russian troops. She said she is afraid of whether she will ever see her friends again.

“We just can’t close eyes and let the authoritative regime do anything they like,” she said.

“I have friends who are 90 years old, 20 years old, and they are now defending Kyiv. No one knows whether they will be alive and that’s horrible,” she said. “I can’t imagine how it can happen in the civilized world when everyone should obey international law.”

As of March 9, the U.N. has verified more than 1,400 civilian casualties in Ukraine, including 516 deaths and 908 injuries, but says the real toll is much higher.

Fear continues to rage as the conflict escalates. The unity among the citizens of Ukraine, however, has been a source of motivation for many, according to one woman.

“We are scared. We’re really scared. But more than we are scared, we are motivated. We are motivated to defend our lands, to defend our country and to defend the ones who we love,” she said. “It is horrible [and] I would never wish for anyone to experience.”

What conservative Yoon Suk-yeol’s win as South Korea’s president means for US-North Korea relations

March 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(SEOUL, South Korea) — Yoon Suk-yeol, of the conservative People Power Party, won the presidential race in South Korea after a bitter nail-biting vote count overnight. Results show a deeply divided country with 48.56% of ballots going to Yoon, and his rival Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party garnering 47.83%.

The race had been marred by negative campaigning plagued by a series of scandals involving corruption, malfeasance and even rumors about wives and a child.

Yoon, set to serve a five-year term, will lead Asia’s fourth-largest economy which has been hit hard by the pandemic, surging home prices and still faces threats from North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. His biggest foreign policy challenge will be to navigate his country stuck in between growing rivalry among two of its biggest trading partners, the U.S. and China.

As president he is likely to revive conservative foreign policies by taking a tougher stance against North Korea centered around a stronger U.S. alliance.

“Peace can only be maintained when there is strong deterrence. A war can only be prevented by securing a preemptive strike capability and showing the will to pursue it. As we have seen in Ukraine, a country’s national security and peace cannot be protected by paper and ink,” he said during a presidential debate last month.

A newcomer into politics, Yoon spent 27 years of his entire career as a prosecutor rising to prominence by prosecuting big political players.

His team of conservative policy specialists will likely advocate a militarily stronger South Korea with heavy investments in national defense. “A sense of national security crisis have heightened in South Korea as North Korea’s nuclear threat intensifies and also especially after Russia invaded Ukraine. Yoon will make a rational decision,” Bong Youngshik of Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies told ABC News.

Yoon was also open to seeking additional deployment of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile system into his country as deterrence from North Korea’s nuclear threats.

“He will demand North Korea to denuclearize before any negotiations. Instead of pursuing dialogue, Yoon intends to deploy additional units of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile system and strengthen joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises in proportion to North Korea’s missile threats.” Cheong Seong-Chang, researcher at the Seoul-based Sejong Institute, told ABC News.

“Yoon’s government will take a different stance from the Moon administration in dealing with North Korea. He won’t be offering sanctions relief unless North Korea makes significant steps to denuclearize, if there happens to be any.” Shin Beom Chul, director of the Center for Diplomacy and Security at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, told ABC News.

ABC News’ Hakyung Kate Lee, Eunseo Nam and Hyerim Lee contributed to this report.

Dad speaks out after preemie twins evacuated from Kyiv in 14-hour rescue mission

March 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Twin Ukrainian boys who were born shortly after Russia began its attack in the country have been safely evacuated to Poland.

The twins’ father, Alexander Spektor, who lives in Chicago with the boys’ mother, Irma Nuñez, was able to meet his sons for the first time after their rescue Monday. The boys were born 10 days premature on Feb. 25.

“My sister told me that she never saw me spring that fast toward anything,” Spector said of his rush to see his twin sons, Lenny and Moishe. “We saw the pictures and the videos before but just to see the little tiny human bodies in front of us was just out of this world.”

The past two weeks have been agonizing for Nuñez and Spector, who was born in Kyiv and came with this family to the U.S. as a refugee.

Nuñez and Spektor, who is now an American citizen, worked with a surrogacy agency to have a surrogate in Ukraine carry their sons.

When the surrogate went into early labor on Feb. 25, she got stuck in military traffic for three hours trying to make it to a hospital in Kyiv that was equipped to handle the delivery, according to Spektor.

The boys were born safely, weighing around 4 pounds each, but had to remain in the hospital due to their medically sensitive status as premature babies.

Nuñez and Spektor, an associate professor of Russian at the University of Georgia, spent the days and nights following their sons’ birth trying to evacuate them to safety.

“We haven’t slept in about 14 days,” Spektor said of himself and Nuñez. “We were taking shifts, and we were constantly making phone calls.”

He continued, “The hospital where the babies were before they were transferred to a different hospital didn’t have food for premature babies so we had to organize a food delivery for them. They didn’t have a shelter, so the agency we were doing the surrogacy with helped to transfer the babies to another hospital that had a shelter. It was just harrowing and horrible.”

Spektor and Nuñez had been unsuccessful in getting their twins out of Ukraine until Vecina, a Texas-based immigration rights organization, connected them with Project Dynamo, a volunteer-run organization in Florida that works independently to rescue people in war zones.

Bryan Stern, the founder of Project Dynamo, agreed to go into Kyiv with a team of doctors, neonatal specialists and a nurse to rescue Lenny and Moishe, as well as another premature baby not related to the family but also in need.

Stern and his team partnered with a Ukrainian ambulance crew to drive a three-vehicle convoy through Kyiv to the hospital and back across the border into Poland, dodging traffic and checkpoints along the way, according to Stern.

The vehicles were equipped with not just medical equipment but also extra gasoline, hot water bottles and hand warmers to protect the babies if anything happened.

“We were moving as expeditiously as we could,” Stern said of the 14-hour journey. “We were driving on the wrong side of the road. We were bypassing all the checkpoints and all the traffic with the checkpoints.”

Stern and his team successfully evacuated the three babies and the boys’ surrogate, who was not named. The surrogate was reunited with her biological son in Ukraine and they are now working to safely evacuate her out of the country, according to Spektor and Stern.

Stern said this was his first time rescuing premature babies from a war zone, adding, “I really can’t articulate in words the anxiety that I had for for about three, four days culminating with pulling into the hospital of Poland.”

“It was pretty amazing,” he said of the rescue.

Spektor met his sons for the first time near the border in Poland, and then traveled with them to a hospital in Rzeszow, Poland, where they are now being cared for by hospital staff.

“We visit them in the hospital every day now and just touch them,” he said, adding that the babies are doing well medically. “I changed my first diaper yesterday and that was tough. I almost passed out.”

“It was almost as scary as waiting for them,” Spektor added with a laugh.

Describing his and his partner’s joy, Spektor said, “We had two happiest days of our lives — when they were born and two days ago, when they were brought into the hospital.”

The twins will remain in Poland for a few more weeks, until they gain more weight and are able to bottle feed, according to Spektor.

Then they will return to Chicago where “a lot of people are waiting for them,” according to Spektor, who said family and friends are preparing the boys’ nursery at home.

“You never expect a war to break out when when you’re preparing for the baby, so a lot of our stuff is in storage now,” he said. “But there’s so many people who are willing to help, and they’re painting the babies’ room as we speak right now.”

Though he is overjoyed to have his sons with him, Spektor said he cannot forget about the children who remain in Ukraine.

More than 4,300 babies have been born in the country since the conflict with Russia began, according to a Facebook post from Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice.

“Our babies are [in Poland] now, they’re safe, but there’s so many other children in Ukraine,” said Spektor. “It’s heartbreaking.”

House committee makes allegations of potential ‘criminal conduct’ by Amazon to Justice Department

March 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The House Judiciary Committee wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland alerting him of potential “criminal conduct by Amazon and certain of its executives,” in a letter written by members of the committee and obtained by ABC News.

The judiciary committee, led by Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline, alleges Amazon lied to Congress over whether it used data it collected from third-party sellers.

“Throughout the course of the Committee’s investigation, Amazon attempted to cover up its lie by offering ever-shifting explanations of what it called its ‘Seller Data Protection Policy,'” the letter says. “Among other things, in written statements to the Committee, Amazon made a distinction between the “individual” seller data that Amazon supposedly protected and the “aggregated” seller data that its private-label business could use.”

Amazon also allegedly lied to Congress about manipulating consumers’ search results, according to the committee.

“After Amazon was caught in a lie and repeated misrepresentations, it stonewalled the Committee’s efforts to uncover the truth. The Committee gave Amazon a final opportunity to provide evidence either correcting the record or corroborating the representations it had made to the Committee under oath and in written statements,” the letter says. “Instead of taking advantage of this opportunity to provide clarity, however, Amazon offered conclusory denials of adverse facts. In a November 1, 2021 communication to the Committee, a senior Amazon official dismissed the reports as inaccurate, attributing them to ‘key misunderstandings and speculation.'”

The judiciary committee further accused Amazon of refusing to turn over any documents related to the investigation they claim to have run on the manipulation of consumer search results.

The bipartisan letter also claims Amazon obstructed a congressional investigation.

“Amazon and its executives appear to have been “acting with an improper purpose” “to influence, obstruct, or impede . . . the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had,” the letter says. “Amazon has declined multiple opportunities to demonstrate with credible evidence that it made accurate and complete representations to the Committee during the Committee’s digital-markets investigation. The Committee’s findings and credible investigative reports suggest that Amazon’s representations were misleading and incomplete. And Amazon’s failure to correct or corroborate those representations suggests that Amazon and its executives have acted intentionally to improperly influence, obstruct, or impede the Committee’s investigation and inquiries.”

All of these reasons, the letter says, amount to enough substance for a Justice Department referral “to investigate whether Amazon or its executives obstructed Congress or violated other applicable federal laws.”

“There’s no factual basis for this, as demonstrated in the huge volume of information we’ve provided over several years of good faith cooperation with this investigation,” an Amazon spokesperson told ABC News.

A Justice Department spokesperson said the department has received the letter and will review it.

Trans youth care ban moves forward in Idaho legislature

March 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Idaho could become the latest state to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

Lawmakers in the State House voted in favor of bill HB 675, which makes it a felony to provide such care. Now the bill goes to the State Senate.

Anyone who provides or knowingly gives permission for a child or teen to receive hormone therapy or physical alterations to affirm their gender identity would be punished under this law and could face life in prison.

Gender affirmation is when transgender people make changes to their lives in accordance with their gender identity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That can be done through a change of clothing, hairstyles, mannerisms, names and pronouns.

Gender affirmation can also come in the form of hormone therapy or surgeries to alter one’s physical characteristics.

On the House floor, State Rep. Ilana Rubel told a story of her friend’s child who knew he was transgender from a young age. After he transitioned — publicly expressing oneself as another gender — Rubel said she saw him turn from a troubled youth to a successful college student.

“This is obviously not a step that a family takes lightly,” Rubel said. “This is a step that comes after literally thousands of hours of agonizing. There is no parent in the world who is just finding a way to force sex-change treatments on to their kids.”

She added, “They do this because they realize after endless excruciating probing that this is what their child needs.”

Rubel also noted that gender-affirming care is supported by medical organizations such as the American Medical Association, Idaho Medical Association, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics and more.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Bruce Skaug, said he does not support underage gender reassignment surgeries or therapies and claimed that “Europe is pulling back from this type of procedure now because they’ve seen negative effects and there’s no positive mental health effect for children,” though he did not cite specific research or examples.

“We need to stop sterilizing and mutilating children under the age of 18,” Skaug went on. “This is a mental illness that needs to be treated,” referring to trans identities.

He suggested that people rely on “old fashioned counseling, talk therapy” and “traditional psychology methods” to address trans identities and needs in youth.

More than 30 states have introduced some kind of legislation against transgender youth — including bills that ban trans girls from sports or designating changing rooms for trans children based on their assigned sex at birth.

Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior counsel at Human Rights Campaign, said she is disappointed that “some politicians in Boise have decided to follow Texas and Alabama down the path of imposing felony criminal penalties upon doctors who are simply doing their jobs.”

She noted that a recent study found that gender-affirming care reduces the risk of moderate or severe depression by 60% and suicidality by 73%.

South Korea elects former top prosecutor Yoon Suk-yeol as next president

March 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — South Korea elected Yoon Suk-yeol, of the conservative People Power Party, as its 20th president on Wednesday. Yoon claimed victory in a tight race against Lee Jae-myung, of the ruling Democratic Party.

“I learned a lot while carrying out the campaign, what is needed to be a leader of a country, how to listen carefully to the people,” Yoon said in his victory speech. “This election process and competition are all for the people. Election is over now, and we need to be all one for the people and our Republic of Korea,” he said as supporters cheered and chanted “regime change”.

Results show a close race with 48.61% of ballots going to Yoon, and Lee garnering 47.78%.

About 77% of South Korea’s 44 million eligible voters cast ballots in this election, according to the country’s National Election Commission. Yoon will replace President Moon Jae-in.

Yoon jumped into politics last June after a 27-year career as a prosecutor. He achieved fame during his career for his aggressive prosecution of political players, including former President Park Geun-hye.

He is well-known for his quote at a parliamentary inquiry after prosecuting his own boss, then-Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, in 2013 — “I am not loyal to the person but loyal to the organization.”

Moon appointed Yoon as the prosecutor general in 2019 to lead a national political campaign to investigate corruption, but Yoon spent most of his term going after President Moon’s ruling party officials, ministers and presidential aides.

Yoon’s break with Moon intensified after indicting Moon’s then-closest aide and former justice minister, Cho Kuk, in 2019 on several charges including bribery and document fraud. That angered Moon’s supporters and Yoon eventually stepped down from position amid political pressure.

He was courted by the People Power Party last year to run for the presidency.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Need a pep talk? Kindergartners share encouragement, joy in viral hotline

March 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(HEALDSBURG, Calif.) — A group of grade-schoolers is inadvertently bringing joy, laughter and some wise words to thousands of strangers, all thanks to their Peptoc art project.

Peptoc is the brainchild of art teacher Jessica Martin and artist Asherah Weiss, who worked with the K-6 students at West Side Elementary School in Healdsburg, California. The children created vibrant flyers and posters filled with charming drawings and reassuring messages.

But it’s the second component of Peptoc – a free hotline – that has unexpectedly gone viral.

To experience Peptoc, simply dial 707-998-8410 and you’ll be greeted by several students who will give you multiple options to choose from:

“Please listen to the following options for encouraging messages. If you’re feeling mad, frustrated, or nervous, press 1. If you need words of encouragement and life advice, press 2. If you need a pep talk from kindergarteners, press 3. If you need to hear kids laughing with delight, press 4. If you would like to make a donation to support this project, please press 6. For encouragement in Spanish, press 5.”

The kids are full of suggestions: punch a pillow or go scream outside if you’re frustrated; indulge in ice cream if you’re sad or angry. They can be the cheerleader that’ll pull you right out of an afternoon slump: Try it again! Believe in yourself! It’s OK to be different!

Another favorite? “Estás triste, va compra donas!” (Spanish for “If you’re sad, go buy doughnuts!”)

“There’s a pretty clear reason why this is so popular. We’re in a very broken world right now and we need to hear this, from children especially,” Martin told “Good Morning America.”

The artist and educator, who has led the art program at West Side for the last four years, said it was powerful to hear the young students share their positivity despite setbacks like the pandemic and ongoing challenges like wildfires.

“It was really hard for me to hold it together when I was recording them,” Martin recalled. “The overwhelming sweetness of these kids … was crushing me but also, it broke my heart a little bit too, because a lot of these kids, what they were saying — they’re in first and second grade — what they were saying was very profound and it really spoke to their life experience.”

Weiss, also an alum of West Side, has been sharing the students’ creative work and posting the flyers around Healdsburg. “Someone thought I was putting up a lost dog poster or something like that and they’re like, ‘Oh, what did you lose?’ And then they realized what we were doing and they were very, very happy to see that outside their door,” the 34-year-old recalled.

Martin added that she has received messages from people from around the world after Peptoc went live on Feb. 26.

“I just heard back from a bunch of people from Argentina and it ranges from a whole cancer ward of patients getting chemotherapy, to a lady who just found out her mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s to a fellow high school teacher just saying how incredible the project was. It’s touched a lot of people, so we’re pretty proud of these kids,” Martin said.

“One little small, easy act of kindness can easily touch millions in just a few days,” she added.

Martin said she and the school are determined to maintain Peptoc “for months or years” and is raising funds online to keep it going indefinitely. She pointed out that another hotline, Callin’ Oates, which lets callers request any Hall & Oates song, has been going strong for the last decade.

“Within the first few days, we were getting 500 calls an hour and we had to find $800 a day with that volume,” Martin said. “I eventually was able to talk with the president (of hotline service Telzio) and she donated a million minutes to the project. We’re currently now getting 5,000 calls an hour. And that million minutes, I think, probably will last us through the end of next week.”

For Martin, the runaway success and response to Peptoc shows how necessary arts education is in schools.

“If this isn’t proof to fund arts, I don’t even know what to say,” she said.

As for the future of Peptoc, Martin is planning to work with students to record more advice, including additional Spanish messages. She and Weiss hope the students will continue to learn from the powerful project too.

“You don’t ever know how your work is going to be received,” Weiss said. “But just to take the courage to do something is what the message I want people to take from this.”

Added Martin: “I hope that the memory of this experience they’ll carry that with them through their life, that they won’t feel like they’re helpless in a dark world.”

Pfizer launches clinical trial testing its COVID-19 pill in children aged 6 and older

March 9, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Pfizer announced Wednesday it is launching a clinical trial to study the effectiveness of its COVID-19 antiviral pill in young children.

The treatment, Paxlovid, was authorized in December 2020 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use in patients aged 12 and older who have mild-to-moderate symptoms and are at increased risk of severe illness.

The new trial is planning to enroll 140 children between ages 6 and 17 who will be split into two groups.

One group will weigh between 44 and 88 pounds and the other groups will weigh more than 88 pounds.

The group that weighs more than 88 pounds will be given the dose currently authorized for teens and adults while the group that weighs less will be given a smaller dose.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 11 million children under the age of 18 in the United States alone have tested positive for COVID-19, representing nearly 18% of reported cases and leading to more than 100,000 hospital admissions,” Mikael Dolsten, chief scientific officer and president of worldwide research, development and medical at Pfizer, said in a company statement.

“There is a significant unmet need for outpatient treatments that can be taken by children and adolescents to help prevent progression to severe illness, including hospitalization or death,” Dolsten said.

Children under age 6 will not be included in this study, but Pfizer said research is ongoing to determine the best dose for the youngest of children

Pfizer’s pill was hailed as a game-changer because it was the first COVID treatment that did not require an infusion, making it more convenient to give to patients.

The pill is made up of two medications: ritonavir, commonly used to treat HIV and AIDS, and nirmatrelvir, an antiviral that Pfizer developed to boost the strength of the first drug.

Together, they prevent an enzyme the virus uses to make copies of itself inside human cells and spread throughout the body.

Paxlovid is currently given as three pills twice daily over the course of five days.

Clinical trial data showed the pill reduced the risk of hospitalization and death for COVID patients by 89% within three days of the onset of symptoms compared to a placebo.

According to clinicaltrials.gov, the pediatric trial has three locations including Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.

ABC News’ Sony Salzman contributed to this report.

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