(NEW YORK) — When it comes to the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, brackets are either busted or booming. So one brand came up with a way to sweeten the experience for everyone.
Krispy Kreme announced on Thursday that through Sunday, March 27 all guests who bring in their bracket — whether it’s on paper or an app — will receive a free Original Glazed doughnut each day they do so.
Customers who join the confectioner’s rewards program can also get a dozen Original Glazed doughnuts for just $1 with the purchase of any regularly priced dozen through Monday, April 4.
The offer is valid in shop, drive thru and online with the Krispy Kreme app.
(NEW YORK) — Pale pastel colors and fresh fruit are just a couple of indicators that we’ve left winter behind and moved on to sunnier spring days ahead.
Dairy Queen has embraced both the flavors and colors for spring with a dose of nostalgia for its latest limited-time menu addition.
The light purple hued fruity blast dipped cone is made with DQ world-famous soft serve in a cone that’s dipped into a fruity cereal flavored shell.
(WASHINGTON) — In the fall of 2020, after Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the presidential election, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, repeatedly urged White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to attempt to overturn the election results, according to text messages obtained by congressional investigators.
“Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!” Thomas wrote to Meadows on Nov. 10 after the election was officially called for Biden. “You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”
Sources familiar with the text messages, which were obtained by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, confirmed their authenticity to ABC News. The content of the messages was first reported by The Washington Post and CBS News.
Meadows, who did not respond to all of Thomas’ missives, texted in late November that Trump’s challenge of the election results was “a fight of good versus evil.”
“Evil always looks like the victor until the King of Kings triumphs,” he wrote. “Do not grow weary in well doing. The fight continues. I have staked my career on it. Well at least my time in DC on it.”
“Thank you!! Needed that! This plus a conversation with my best friend just now … I will try to keep holding on. America is worth it,” Thomas replied.
The messages — more than two dozen between Thomas and Meadows in November of 2020, and one from Jan. 10 — were among the thousands of pages of text messages, emails and documents Meadows voluntarily turned over to the committee last year, before he reversed course and decided not to cooperate with the inquiry.
Thomas did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News. A spokesman for the committee declined to comment on the messages or their contents.
Thomas, a longtime conservative activist, told the Washington Free Beacon in March that she and her husband don’t talk to each other about their work.
“Like so many married couples, we share many of the same ideals, principles, and aspirations for America,” Thomas told the conservative news outlet. “But we have our own separate careers, and our own ideas and opinions too. Clarence doesn’t discuss his work with me, and I don’t involve him in my work.”
Thomas said that she attended the “Stop the Steal” rally outside the White House on Jan. 6, but left early because it was cold. She said she had no role in planning the event.
Regarding the attack on the Capitol, Thomas told the Free Beacon she was “disappointed and frustrated that there was violence that happened following a peaceful gathering.”
Ethics experts have raised questions about Thomas’ work on major issues that come before the Supreme Court, on which her husband sits.
In January, the court declined to block the Jan. 6 committee from obtaining Trump White House records over the objection of only one justice: Clarence Thomas.
“There were some eyebrows raised when Justice Thomas was that lone vote,” said Kate Shaw, ABC News Supreme Court analyst and Cardozo Law professor. “But he did not explain himself, so we don’t actually know why he wished to take up the case.”
There are no explicit ethics guidelines that govern the activities of a justice’s spouse, experts say, but there are rules about justices avoiding conflicts of interest. Federal law requires that federal judges recuse themselves from cases whenever their “impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
(NEW YORK) — Two years ago, two women — complete strangers — embarked on a remarkable journey together and today, they say they’ve become “family.” Now, they’re opening up about their story in the hopes of helping others.
Kelly Taylor Savant, 41, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had been trying to conceive for six years. She and her husband, Kyle Savant, found out they were expecting twins in 2014 but then Savant had a miscarriage and underwent a dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure.
Savant says the procedure later led her to develop Asherman’s syndrome, which according to the Cleveland Clinic, is a rare condition where scar tissue builds up in the uterus, which can lead to infertility. Within the six-year period, she had another miscarriage, tried in vitro fertilization, intrauterine insemination and had other surgeries, all in the hopes of possibly growing her family.
After consulting with multiple doctors and considering her options, Savant started exploring surrogacy. “When I realized I needed a carrier, I didn’t know where to start, I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know anybody who had ever had one,” she recalled in an interview with GMA.
Then she came across a Facebook post by Jasmine Johnson Isaac, a nurse and a mom of four from Denham Springs, Louisiana.
Finding each other on Facebook
Isaac had been thinking about becoming a surrogate for a while, but didn’t know where to begin. She decided to post online and hoped that someone interested would reach out. “As a young woman, I’ve always wanted to be a surrogate,” Isaac told GMA. “I have kids of my own, and the love that I have for my kids, I just feel like other women deserve the same thing.”
The two connected and began talking online, later realizing they only lived about 15 minutes away from each other. In August 2020, they took a leap of faith and met in person for the first time.
“When we met up, she had already gotten clearance from her OB-GYN to carry, which is the first step,” Savant said. “Then we went to dinner — me, my husband, her and her husband — and I just knew someone who was going to bring their husband to dinner to meet us was probably someone who was going to follow through with their words.”
The dinner was a success and the Isaacs and the Savants agreed to team up. Savant and Isaac secured lawyers, Kristen Stanley-Wallace and Julie Udoessien, who walked them through the legal process in Louisiana, and searched for medical professionals to help them realize a shared dream.
Hanging onto hope
They started the medical clearance process in September 2020 and by April 2021, they began the embryo transfer. Then, they hit a major setback — Jasmine didn’t get pregnant.
“I at that point, honestly felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. I had tried for now going on seven years because I was still trying every month myself, like why not?” Savant said. “She actually is the one, when I called her, she said, ‘We’re doing this again.’ … And she is one of the only reasons, the most influential reason that I did a second transfer.”
For the second transfer, Savant and Isaac switched doctors, seeking the care of Dr. Warren Jay Huber of The Fertility Institute of New Orleans.
By the summer of 2021, Isaac found out she was pregnant. “When I got a solid positive, I went to the store and I purchased a teddy bear and I got a little box,” she recalled. “I put a picture of the pregnancy test inside of the box and it was pretty much telling her that it’s a good chance that they have a baby on the way.”
Isaac delivered the surprise present to Savant’s workplace and left it with a secretary while Savant was away. “She was just so excited once she found that box and just to hear her on the phone and just to hear the excitement in her voice, it was everything for me,” Isaac said.
Along with Savant, Isaac credits her mother, husband of nine years, Maurice Isaac II, and one of her close co-workers for helping her through the surrogacy journey, one she was determined to see to the end. “In the past, I’ve had a miscarriage and just the feeling like my body isn’t doing something that it was supposed to do, it took a toll on me. So of course, if I can help another woman get past that … if they have that want and desire to have a child and I can help, I want to do that,” she said.
“It’s something that my whole heart is in,” Isaac said. “The love that I have for my kids – who doesn’t deserve to experience the same joy that I have, the joys of motherhood?”
A dream realized
Isaac explained that due to blood pressure concerns, doctors decided it was best for her and the baby to be induced. On Valentine’s Day of this year, baby Ainsley Rain Savant arrived.
A nurse working with Dr. Kristin Chapman at Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, helped capture the special moment, taking photos during labor and delivery. Savant shared them along with a heartfelt message on Facebook, writing in part, “There just aren’t enough thank you’s in the entire world. Jasmine has single handedly changed me and Kyle’s lives forever for the better and I thank God for her every day. She lives life with no fear, no regrets and a desire to make others happy! She’s simply the best.”
Savant says the big day felt surreal. “I was in shock when I saw the baby. I was immediately in love. I gave Jasmine a huge hug after and my husband did too and we have pictures of it all. I mean, it was the best moment of my entire life and Jasmine always says, ‘Kelly you don’t realize what you’re doing for me.'”
“It’s something that she’s been waiting for a very long time,” Isaac added. “So it was just so self-fulfilling for me to just do that for her. And just to see the expression on her face was enough.”
As for baby Ainsley’s name, Savant said, “We wanted to use the name Rain as a middle name just to signify the rainbow after the storm. … It’s the blessing after all of the devastation.”
A rainbow baby is a term often used for a baby born after a mother suffers a miscarriage, stillbirth or loss of an infant.
After their extraordinary journey, Isaac and Savant say they now consider each other family. “Not a day goes by since August of 2020 that we have not spoken,” Savant said, adding that she considers Isaac “the best person I have ever met.”
Sharing hope
Isaac and Savant say they’ve had to navigate several regulations and laws in Louisiana, which only allows for gestational carriers if certain conditions are met.
“In Louisiana, a lot of people don’t know how really strict it is,” Isaac said. “My husband actually had to be involved with it and he’s been supportive this entire time. He actually had to do lab work and testing and of course, he had to be on board with me doing it as well. I couldn’t do it without him, without him agreeing that it’s OK.”
“Jasmine and I’s hope is that this brings awareness and Louisiana can start looking at their outdated laws and maybe make some changes,” Savant said.
For others interested in becoming a surrogate, Isaac says you should be sure of your decision and recommends setting up a solid support system. “If you’re interested in becoming a surrogate, of course do not offer unless you know you’re fully on board with doing so. You don’t want to get anyone excited that you’re going to do something and then step back on it. You kind of set them back a little bit doing so.”
Savant also hopes their story offers hope to others struggling with infertility. “I think women almost feel like there’s no hope for them like, they just want to give up because it’s too hard. So I would want them to know go see your fertility doctor. Join a few surrogacy Facebook groups, research the laws in your state. Go speak to an attorney.”
“This can be done,” she added. “You just need to be persistent, stick with it, and not give up your dream. Giving up can’t be an option if you really want this.”
(WASHINGTON) — The iconic cherry blossoms that circle the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., reached peak bloom Monday, according to the National Mall.
Peak bloom occurs when 70% of the Yoshino cherry blossoms are open and typically lasts several days, according to the National Park Service.
The cherry trees “signal Washington’s beginning of spring with an explosion of life and color that surrounds the Tidal Basin in a sea of pale pink and white blossoms,” the service said on its website.
Each year, crowds flock to the blossoms, which share a landscape with the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
The flowers really defy description, National Mall spokesperson Mike Litterst told ABC News.
“If you live in Washington, D.C., it’s a beautiful sign that spring is here and that we made it through a long winter,” he said. “Really, over the last 110 years, cherry blossoms (have) become the city’s grandest kind of tradition.”
The final stage in the flowers’ bloom came a day before the beginning of the predicted timeframe, which was between March 22 and 25, according to the Park Service website.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival, which began March 2, goes through April 17.
The festival’s website says it “welcomes more than 1.5 million people to enjoy diverse and creative programming promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty, and community spirit.”
Its president, Diana Mayhew, said just like the cherry blossoms, the annual festival represents hope, renewal and spring.
“I think people just look forward to this time of year, and of course the beautiful cherry blossom trees,” she said. “They’re just unique. And (they) themselves bring so many people to reflect and enjoy (the) beauty of nature.”
The planting of cherry trees in Washington D.C. began in 1912 as a gift of friendship from the people of Japan to the people of the United States, according to the National Cherry Blossom Festival website.
To help care for the trees, Litterst advises visitors not to climb them, pick their blossoms or break their branches.
“Many of the trees are 60, 70, 80 years old, if not older, and are more fragile than they appear,” he said. “And we ask people to stay on the sidewalks and the walkways as much as they can to keep from walking on and damaging the roots.”
(WASHINGTON) — On the fourth anniversary of the “March For Our Lives” rally, more than 1,100 body bags — each one representing 150 people — were placed on the National Mall Thursday to mark the more than 170,000 people who have died from gun violence in the U.S. since the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“This could happen to your community again, unfortunately at this point in America, it’s not a matter of what, just every single day,” David Hogg, Parkland survivor and co-founder for March For Our Lives, told ABC News. “People ask me, ‘Are you worried about the next part?’ I say yes, but actually more worried about … that this is a preventable issue.”
March For Our Lives is a nonprofit organization that formed after thousands came to Washington, D.C., to demand action in the gun violence epidemic in the wake of the Parkland shooting, which left 14 students and three staff members dead.
While the organization said it has made strides to combat violence in the past four years, it said Congress needs to do more.
It’s calling on Congress to create a White House senior staff position dedicated to gun violence, pass universal background checks, provide a comprehensive plan on how to combat gun violence and invest in research and community-based violence intervention, the organization told ABC News.
The body bags facing the Capitol Thursday spelled out “Thoughts and Prayers,” a common phrase lawmakers use in the wake of tragedies.
“We want to provide a stark reality and visual of what not having done anything for years looks like,” Daud Mumin, March For Our Lives board of directors co-chair, told ABC News.
“Thoughts and prayers are reserved for things that are outside of our control, that are outside of our responsibility and ability, right? Gun violence is not a natural thing. Give us your action…. So for Congress, it’s got to be with us or against us,” Mumin said.
Even though Democrats took the White House, Senate and House in 2020, the activists said no major gun control legislation has been passed.
While President Joe Biden has called on Congress to act and pass background checks, Hogg said simply calling for it is not enough.
“We need leadership, not salesmanship on this issue,” Hogg said.
Biden signed executive orders last year aimed at tackling gun violence, with special attention to “ghost guns,” which are firearm kits that can be purchased online and assembled at home.
In the coming months, a measure that will modify the federal definition of “firearm” to include unfinished gun parts like frames and receivers is expected to receive approval. The Justice Department introduced the proposal in May 2021 in an effort to curb the rise of ghost guns.
As midterms approach and candidates begin to develop campaign strategies and court voters, March For Our Lives activists urge younger voters to consider their representatives’ records on gun reform as they cast their vote.
“People in Congress were not courageous enough to do something to end this problem,” Jaclyn Corin, a Parkland shooting survivor and a co-founder of March For Our Lives, told ABC News. “And so we’re going to be going up all the time every day, making sure that this issue is solved … every single person should be concerned and so many mothers and fathers and children or parents or children and it’s unacceptable that these are preventable deaths.”
Gun violence has been on the rise across the country in recent years and activists said it’s time for cities and a country plagued by it to step up.
The young activists said they plan to continue their fight no matter what happens in Congress and urge more young people to do the same.
“Your work is not going unnoticed … I want [Chicago] Mayor Lori Lightfoot, as well as Joe Biden, to understand you begged and begged for our votes, but you’re not going to keep get getting voted in if you’re not going to do anything,” Trevon Bosley a March For Our Lives Board Member, told ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — March marks World Endometriosis Awareness Month dedicated to recognizing and advocating for the estimated 190 million women worldwide who suffer from endometriosis.
Taylor Keefe was 13 years old when she first saw a gynecologist.
“Every time I was on my period, I had no functionality. I would be bent over in pain for days at a time, screaming and crying,” said Keefe, now a 26-year-old clinical mental health counselor in New Jersey. “After two years of missing school and not being myself, my parents were concerned so I went to a gynecologist.”
It wasn’t until seven years later — after many more doctor visits, pain medications and various hormonal treatments — that Keefe was diagnosed with endometriosis, a disease where the tissue forming the inner lining of the uterus is found outside of the uterus such as within the fallopian tubes, ovaries, bladder and intestines.
Lesions from endometriosis can cycle monthly with the hormonal environment of the menstrual cycle and cause severe pain, infertility, and other associated symptoms in any of the affected organs such as painful urination, bowel movements, nausea, vomiting or bloating.
Following surgery at age 21, she was found to have more than 20 endometriosis implants in various organs. Keefe recalls the first thing her surgeon told her parents was, “She’s not crazy.”
“The disease itself and dealing with it has been invalidating for years because doctors invalidate it, friends and family invalidate it,” said Keefe, who said she felt validated for the first time with her diagnosis.
Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women of reproductive age in the United States, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). However, many women go undiagnosed for years due to such a broad range of symptoms and limited awareness of the disease, experts say.
“There is a lack of awareness. Women are usually treated for everything other than endometriosis when they present,” Dr. Tamer Seckin, an endometriosis surgeon in New York and co-founder of The Endometriosis Foundation of America, a nonprofit organization focused on increasing endometriosis awareness and research, told “Good Morning America.” “They get the runaround and get diverted to other specialties whether for bladder symptoms or IBS.”
Endometriosis often begins as small, scattered lesions on the inner lining of the abdominal cavity, known as “peritoneal endometriosis,” according to Seckin. These lesions can be very small in increments of millimeters and not show up on imaging tests such as ultrasounds.
“When [physician] don’t find anything, it’s easy to think the pain is in patient’s head and that’s really the crux of the problem,” Seckin said.
Endometriosis is most commonly diagnosed in women in their 30s and 40s, according to ACOG, however, it can affect adolescents as well.
Celebrities like Lena Dunham and Amy Schumer have previously publicly shared their own journeys with endometriosis and eventual hysterectomy, spotlighting the ultimate treatment for the disease for many women.
“Because I had to work so hard to have my pain acknowledged, there was no time to feel fear or grief to say goodbye,” Dunham wrote about getting a hysterectomy at age 31 in a 2018 article for Vogue. “I made a choice that never was a choice for me, yet mourning feels like a luxury I don’t have.”
Removal of the uterus, tubes and ovaries is considered the most definitive and “last resort” treatment for endometriosis, according to ACOG.
Because one can no longer bear children after a hysterectomy, it is often a difficult decision for women who have endometriosis. Removal of the ovaries also means surgically-induced menopause and this carries other health implications and consequences from low estrogen.
Therefore, many women choose to manage their symptoms with medications or fertility-sparing surgeries, where endometriosis lesions are removed, but uterus and ovaries are left behind.
However, as many as 8 in 10 women have pain again within two years after fertility-sparing surgeries, according to ACOG, because all of the endometriosis tissue was not removed.
Hysterectomy is also not necessarily a cure for endometriosis, as the disease often may have spread beyond the reproductive organs. About 10% of women return with endometriosis symptoms and 4% need additional surgery following a hysterectomy with removal of ovaries, according to a study published in Fertility and Sterility.
Non-surgical management options for endometriosis include use of birth control pills and other hormonal medications used to ease periods and pain symptoms.
“I think it’s important to recognize management versus treatment,” said Seckin, adding that while birth control pills and hormonal medications may help manage symptoms, “They don’t treat the endometriosis. The lesions don’t clear. They stay there. Treatment is removing the tissue.”
Following her first surgery at age 21, Keefe underwent two more surgeries within five years for progressive disease. All of her surgeries have been excision surgeries where endometriosis lesions were removed, and her reproductive organs preserved.
She said while a hysterectomy may be in her future at some point, she hopes to experience motherhood first, saying, “Becoming a mom has been a dream my whole life.”
Keefe, who experienced a pregnancy loss last year, said she is aware of the effect endometriosis may have on her fertility. She froze her eggs at age 23, at the advice of her doctors, in case she needs them in the future to get pregnant.
“To get a positive pregnancy test was one of the happiest days of my life. I never thought I would see that,” said Keefe, adding that after her pregnancy loss, she fears pregnancy “might never be a possibility.” “This might be the pattern every single time as a result of the scar tissue and all the damage from endometriosis.”
An estimated 4 in 10 women with infertility have endometriosis, according to ACOG.
Inflammatory changes from endometriosis could block fallopian tubes or impair sperm or egg function, causing infertility.
The search for a better diagnosis
Diagnosis of endometriosis is currently made by laparoscopy, a procedure where a surgeon directly inspects the organs inside of the pelvis using a camera to look for endometriosis lesions and collects biopsy samples for diagnosis.
“Definitive diagnosis requires laparoscopic surgery which many women do not really want to undergo and I think that contributes to long delays in diagnosis,” said Dr. Christine Metz, professor at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research.
The need for laparoscopic confirmation of lesions for diagnosis of endometriosis is a topic of debate among experts due to the costs and inherent risks of surgery.
Researchers from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, led by Metz and her colleague, Dr. Peter Gregersen, are working to develop a less invasive method to diagnose endometriosis through the use of menstrual blood samples.
According to the researchers, menstrual blood samples collected from patients with known endometriosis have distinct cellular profiles and inflammatory markers compared to samples from healthy women.
Metz said she hopes that, based on the current evidence, menstrual blood samples can be used as a screening tool prior to patients having to undergo laparoscopy for diagnosis.
“If you see that the patient has markers that are indicative of endometriosis, they would be recommended to go for the surgical definitive diagnosis,” she said.
Researchers hope this could help prevent delays in diagnosis by identifying and encouraging the subset of patients who may need laparoscopy.
While scientists continue to look for new ways to improve the diagnosis and management of endometriosis, there remain many unknowns and still no cure for endometriosis.
“There is a lack of funding, support and lack of research in this area considering that 10% of women have or experience endometriosis,” said Metz.
Seckin noted that the social stigma around periods and taboos surrounding women’s health issues contribute to the lack of awareness of endometriosis. He said he encourages his patients to speak up about their endometriosis to raise awareness.
Keefe said she has found empowerment in speaking about her endometriosis battle.
“It’s the most defeating of experiences in a lot of ways,” she said. “At the same time, we’re only going to be able to get through it if we lean on each other and we’re stronger together.”
Esra Demirel, M.D., an OB-GYN resident physician at Northwell Health, is a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time last week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Mar 25, 6:36 am
300 dead in airstrike on Mariupol theater, officials say
About 300 people were killed last week in a Russian airstrike on a drama theater-turned-bomb shelter in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, the city’s government said Friday, citing eyewitnesses.
“We didn’t want to believe in this horror,” the Mariupol City Council. said in a statement. “But the words of those who were inside the building at the moment of this terrorist act say the opposite.”
As many as 1,500 civilians had been taking refuge in the grand, columned Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama in central Mariupol when it was struck on March 16, according to the Ukrainian government. Satellite images showed huge white letters on the pavement in front of and behind the building spelling out “CHILDREN” in Russian — “DETI” — to alert warplanes to those inside.
Video circulating online and verified by ABC News shows the immediate aftermath of the strike on the theater. People covered in dust are seen trying to make their way out of the theater, walking down from the first floor staircase in an area of the building that was still standing at the time.
Since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian forces have been relentlessly bombarding Mariupol, destroying homes and leaving thousands of residents trapped. Ukraine has defied Russia’s ultimatum for its troops to lay down arms and surrender the strategic southeastern port city of 430,000.
-ABC News Patrick Reevell
Mar 25, 5:20 am
Russia claims to have seized 5 more localities in Ukraine
Russia claimed Friday that its forces had captured five more localities in Ukraine.
“The grouping of troops of the Russian Armed Forces advanced another 4 kilometers overnight and captured Batmanka, Mikhailovka, Krasny Partizan, Stavki and Troitskoe,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Ukraine did not immediately comment on the claim.
Mar 25, 5:10 am
US, EU announce plan to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian gas
U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Friday a joint task force to “reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels and strengthen European energy security,” amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Named the “Task Force for energy security,” the group will be chaired by one representative from the White House and one representative from the European Commission. They will work to ensure energy security for Ukraine and the European Union ahead of the next two winters by focusing on two main goals — diversifying liquefied natural gas supplies and reducing demand for natural gas, according to a fact sheet from the White House.
As part of the agreement, the United States will work with international partners to put more liquefied natural gas on the EU market, pledging to make at least 15 billion cubic meters available in 2022, with increases expected going forward.
The White House stressed that the task force would also work with an eye towards clean energy, looking to reduce greenhouse gas intensity of all new liquefied natural gas infrastructure as well as demand for liquefied natural gas by “accelerating market deployment of clean energy measures.” Those measures include expediting planning of clean energy projects, like wind and solar power, and using smart thermostats and heat pumps in homes.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 24, 5:44 pm
Biden meets with European Council
U.S. President Joe Biden’s final meeting in Brussels on Thursday was with the European Council.
“They reviewed their ongoing efforts to impose economic costs on Russia and Belarus, as well as their readiness to adopt additional measures and to stop any attempts to circumvent sanctions,” the White House said in a statement.
The leaders said they willl continue “providing humanitarian assistance, including to neighboring countries hosting refugees, and underscored the need for Russia to guarantee humanitarian access to those affected by or fleeing the violence,” according to the White House.
They also “discussed EU-U.S. cooperation to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels, accelerate the transition to clean energy, as well as the need to respond to evolving food security needs worldwide,” the White House said.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time last week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Mar 25, 7:34 am
Biden departs Brussels for Poland
U.S. President Joe Biden departed Belgium on Friday morning and was en route to Poland for the final leg of his four-day trip aimed at maintaining unity among allies and supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
Biden was seen boarding Air Force One in the European Union’s de facto capital, Brussels, at 6:42 a.m. ET. He is expected to land in Rzeszow, Poland, at around 9:15 a.m. ET, where he will receive a briefing on the humanitarian response to the millions of people fleeing Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion. He will also meet with service members from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 25, 6:36 am
300 dead in airstrike on Mariupol theater, officials say
About 300 people were killed last week in a Russian airstrike on a drama theater-turned-bomb shelter in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, the city’s government said Friday, citing eyewitnesses.
“We didn’t want to believe in this horror,” the Mariupol City Council. said in a statement. “But the words of those who were inside the building at the moment of this terrorist act say the opposite.”
As many as 1,500 civilians had been taking refuge in the grand, columned Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama in central Mariupol when it was struck on March 16, according to the Ukrainian government. Satellite images showed huge white letters on the pavement in front of and behind the building spelling out “CHILDREN” in Russian — “DETI” — to alert warplanes to those inside.
Video circulating online and verified by ABC News shows the immediate aftermath of the strike on the theater. People covered in dust are seen trying to make their way out of the theater, walking down from the first floor staircase in an area of the building that was still standing at the time.
Since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian forces have been relentlessly bombarding Mariupol, destroying homes and leaving thousands of residents trapped. Ukraine has defied Russia’s ultimatum for its troops to lay down arms and surrender the strategic southeastern port city of 430,000.
-ABC News Patrick Reevell
Mar 25, 5:20 am
Russia claims to have seized 5 more localities in Ukraine
Russia claimed Friday that its forces had captured five more localities in Ukraine.
“The grouping of troops of the Russian Armed Forces advanced another 4 kilometers overnight and captured Batmanka, Mikhailovka, Krasny Partizan, Stavki and Troitskoe,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Ukraine did not immediately comment on the claim.
Mar 25, 5:10 am
US, EU announce plan to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian gas
U.S. President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Friday a joint task force to “reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels and strengthen European energy security,” amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Named the “Task Force for energy security,” the group will be chaired by one representative from the White House and one representative from the European Commission. They will work to ensure energy security for Ukraine and the European Union ahead of the next two winters by focusing on two main goals — diversifying liquefied natural gas supplies and reducing demand for natural gas, according to a fact sheet from the White House.
As part of the agreement, the United States will work with international partners to put more liquefied natural gas on the EU market, pledging to make at least 15 billion cubic meters available in 2022, with increases expected going forward.
The White House stressed that the task force would also work with an eye towards clean energy, looking to reduce greenhouse gas intensity of all new liquefied natural gas infrastructure as well as demand for liquefied natural gas by “accelerating market deployment of clean energy measures.” Those measures include expediting planning of clean energy projects, like wind and solar power, and using smart thermostats and heat pumps in homes.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 24, 5:44 pm
Biden meets with European Council
U.S. President Joe Biden’s final meeting in Brussels on Thursday was with the European Council.
“They reviewed their ongoing efforts to impose economic costs on Russia and Belarus, as well as their readiness to adopt additional measures and to stop any attempts to circumvent sanctions,” the White House said in a statement.
The leaders said they willl continue “providing humanitarian assistance, including to neighboring countries hosting refugees, and underscored the need for Russia to guarantee humanitarian access to those affected by or fleeing the violence,” according to the White House.
They also “discussed EU-U.S. cooperation to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels, accelerate the transition to clean energy, as well as the need to respond to evolving food security needs worldwide,” the White House said.
(NEW YORK) — As the United States continues to face the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations, the country’s largest city is offering new support for expectant people.
New York City will begin offering free doula access to families, Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday.
The city will also train more doulas — trained professionals who provide support to moms before, during and after childbirth — as part of its Citywide Doula Initiative, with the goal to train 50 doulas and reach 500 families by the end of June.
The initiative will focus on reaching birthing families in 33 neighborhoods “with the greatest social needs,” according to the city’s announcement.
As part of the effort, the city will also expand its Midwifery Initiative to nearly 40 public and private birthing facilities across the city, and has charged the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene with gathering data and developing a report on births and care with midwives.
“Today, we are announcing a multifaceted initiative to help reduce the inequities that have allowed children and mothers to die at the exact time when we should be welcoming a life,” Adams said in a statement. “By expanding and investing in both doulas and midwives, we are taking the steps necessary to begin to address the disparities in maternal deaths, life-threatening complications from childbirth, and infant mortality.”
New York City has a maternal mortality rate of 49.6 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to a report released last April by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Nationally, the U.S. has faced a growing maternal mortality crisis that only increased during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
It is a crisis that also disproportionately affects women of color.
In 2020, Black women died of maternal causes at nearly three times the rate of white women, up from around 2.5 times higher than in 2019, according to CDC data.
Black women also died in 2020 at higher rates than Hispanic women, who had a rate of 18.2 deaths per 100,000 births in 2020 — a more than 40% increase from the previous year.
Pregnancy-related deaths are defined as the death of a woman during pregnancy or within a year of the end of pregnancy from pregnancy complications, a chain of events initiated by pregnancy or the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiological effects of pregnancy, according to the CDC.
Because of the maternal mortality rate and its impact on women of color, a growing number of Black women see having a doula, particularly a Black doula, as a potentially lifesaving advocate during birth.
Dr. Jacquelyn McMillian-Bohler, a certified nurse-midwife and assistant professor in Duke University’s school of nursing, describes doulas as bridging the communication gap between health care providers and Black female patients.
“Our health literacy is poor across the board, and then when you add racism on top of that, it just creates another layer,” she told ABC News last year. “That’s what we’re doing with the doula, we’re trying to attack that health literacy piece that really affects outcomes.”
Dr. Ashanda Saint Jean, a board-certified OBGYN and chair of OBGYN for the Health Alliance Hospitals and Westchester Center Medical Health Network in New York, explained that doulas are a source of non-medical support for pregnant women before, during and after childbirth.
“A doula is a support person who has been trained and educated in labor and delivery,” Saint Jean said last year. “I’ve had a number of Black patients feel that having a doula is an extra layer of support where they’re able to more ask questions about their birthing experience and explore all measures to ensure a healthy outcome.”
