(HOOD COUNTY, Texas) — Extreme weather conditions are causing deadly wildfires across the country.
A wildfire in central Texas that started over the weekend has burned over 11,000 acres and injured a firefighter, according to Hood County officials. Officials with the forest service said the fire started in Erath County and is moving north.
The wildfire, known as “Big L” by the Texas A&M Forest Service, started in a grassy area where it quickly began to spread due to the gusty winds and dry heat. The Hood County Emergency Management department said the city of Lipan, about 18 miles west of Granbury, was being evacuated and residents were urged to head east toward Granbury.
As of Monday morning, the Big L fire was about 20% contained and residents who evacuated were allowed to return home.
Four firefighters were wounded after battling the “Big L,” according to Hood County officials. One firefighter suffered first-degree burns but has been treated and released from the hospital. The other three firefighters suffered dehydration and have since recovered, officials said.
A red flag warning and high wind alerts have been issued for some areas throughout southern Texas as gusty winds and dry conditions continue to fuel wildfires.
With wildfires raging throughout Texas, severe storms expected to arrive later Monday night into Tuesday morning could potentially bring the precipitation needed to combat the dry heat and strong winds.
(WASHINGTON) — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233-year history, will appear on Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first of four days of high-profile confirmation hearings.
Monday’s session kicks off at 11 a.m. with 10-minute opening statements from Senate Judiciary Committee members, five-minute statements from outside introducers, and then, 10 minutes from Jackson herself.
Jackson, 51, who currently sits on the nation’s second most powerful court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, will face questions from the committee’s 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats over two days, starting Tuesday. On Thursday, senators can ask questions of the American Bar Association and other outside witnesses.
While Democrats have the votes to confirm President Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court nominee on their own, and hope to by the middle of April, the hearings could prove critical to the White House goal of securing at least some Republican support and shoring up the court’s credibility. Jackson has been vetted twice previously by the Judiciary Committee and twice confirmed by the full Senate as a judge — most recently last year, with three Republican votes.
Jackson, who would replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer if confirmed, has spent the last month meeting with senators from both parties behind closed doors on Capitol Hill ahead of publicly testifying to her qualifications for the nation’s highest court.
Here is how the news is developing. Check back for updates:
Mar 21, 11:06 am
Jackson’s family in the room as confirmation hearings kick off
Confirmation hearings for Judge Jackson — Biden’s first nominee to the Supreme Court — are officially underway. Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., gaveled them in just after 11 a.m.
To begin, the committee’s 22 members will each have 10 minutes each for opening statements ahead of two introducers to Jackson and an opening statement from Jackson herself.
If confirmed, Jackson would become the first Black woman on the nation’s highest court.
A Monmouth University Poll released this morning found a majority of Americans (55%) say Jackson should be confirmed as an associate justice on the Supreme Court. Only 21% say she should not be confirmed, and 24% offered no opinion.
Jackson’s husband, Patrick, two daughters, Talia and Lelia, and her parents, Johnny Brown and Ellery Brown, are all in attendance for the historic event.
In a sign of pandemic restrictions easing across the country and in Washington, almost no one in the hearing room was wearing a mask.
Mar 21, 10:31 am
Ketanji Brown Jackson: The meaning behind the name
Judge Jackson recounted in a 2017 speech that her parents, Johnny and Ellery Brown, wanting to show pride in their African ancestry, asked her aunt, who was then in the Peace Corps in West Africa, for a list of African girl names.
Taking one of her suggestions, Jackson’s parents named her Ketanji Onyika, which translates to “lovely one.”
Jackson’s parents grew up in South Florida under segregation, “but never gave up hope that their children would enjoy the true promise of America,” Biden said at a White House event last month introducing Jackson.
Biden said Jackson was a “star student” who fell in love with a law career while watching her own father going to law school at the University of Miami, often drawing on coloring books at the dining room table next to her father’s homework. Jackson went on to attend Harvard Law School herself, despite some cautioning her against setting her sights too high.
“My life has been blessed beyond measure and I do know that one can only come this far by faith,” Jackson said at the White House. “Among my many blessings, the very first is the fact that I was born in this great country. The United States of America is the greatest beacon of hope and democracy the world has ever known.”
She married Patrick Jackson, a general surgeon, in 1996, and the couple has two daughters, Talia, 21, and Leila, 17.
Mar 21, 10:22 am
In nominating Jackson, Biden fulfilled campaign pledge
With Biden’s nomination of Judge Jackson, he officially followed through on his 2020 campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court and his vow to make the high court look more “like America.”
“For too long our government, our courts haven’t looked like America,” Biden said at a White House event last month introducing his historic pick. “And I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications. And that we inspire all young people to believe that they can one day serve their country at the highest level.”
A former clerk to retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, Jackson has more than eight years experience on the federal bench, following a path through the judiciary traveled by many nominees before her. If confirmed, she would be the first federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court and the first justice since Thurgood Marshall to have criminal defense experience.
“She listens. She looks people in the eye, lawyers, defendants, victims and families. And she strives to ensure that everyone understands why she made a decision, what the law is and what it means to them,” Biden said. “She strives to be fair, to get it right, to do justice.”
While the White House was eager to follow through on Biden’s pledge, an ABC News/Ipsos poll from January found just 23% of Americans said they wanted him to automatically follow through on his history-making commitment. Over three-quarters of Americans (76%) said they wanted Biden to consider “all possible nominees.”
Mar 21, 10:02 am
Jackson preps for intense hearings by — knitting
While Judge Jackson has more experience fielding questions during high-intensity Senate hearings than any Supreme Court nominee since Clarence Thomas in 1991, she has described the process as “extremely nerve-wracking,” although she’s seen Senate confirmation three times.
To offset that nervous energy, Jackson says she took up — knitting.
“The lights are as bright as they are in here, in terms of cameras and attention, and you do your best not to make a fool of yourself in front of the senators,” Jackson said in a conversation for the D.C. Circuit Historical Society in 2019.
She said that she “started so many scarves I could have outfitted a small army,” recalling her first Senate confirmation process in 2012, when she was nominated by then-President Barack Obama to serve on the U.S. District Court in Washington. She currently sits on currently sits Washington’s federal appellate court.
Ahead of this week’s marathon questioning, Jackson met one-on-one with 44 senators ahead of her hearings next week, including all members of the Judiciary Committee and its 11 Republican members, according to former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, the White House “sherpa” for the nominee, escorting her on Capitol Hill.
Mar 21, 9:40 am
Some in GOP paint Jackson as ‘soft on crime,’ White House rejects accusation
Several GOP senators have telegraphed plans to question Judge Jackson’s defense of detainees at Guantanamo Bay as a private defense attorney, her support of reduced sentences for convicted drug offenders and the backing of her nomination by outside progressive advocacy groups.
In a sign the hearings could get contentious, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri — a former Supreme Court clerk for Chief Justice John Roberts and a potential presidential hopeful — suggested in a barrage of tweets Thursday that Jackson has a “long record” of letting child porn offenders “off the hook” and suggested she is “soft on crime.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki pushed back last week, calling it a “last-ditched eve-of-hearing desperation attack.”
“The facts are that, in the vast majority of cases involving child sex crimes, broadly, the sentences Judge Jackson imposed were consistent with or above what the government or U.S. probation [authorities] recommended. And so, this attack that we’ve seen over the last couple of days relies on factual inaccuracies and taking Judge Jackson’s record wildly out of context,” Psaki said.
While court records show that Jackson did impose lighter sentences than federal guidelines suggested, Hawley’s insinuation neglects critical context, including the fact that the senator himself has voted to confirm at least three federal judges who also engaged in the same practice. ABC News’ Devin Dwyer fact checks Hawley here.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Mar 21, 9:23 am
Will any Republicans vote for Jackson?
Judge Jackson has been vetted twice previously by the Judiciary Committee and twice confirmed by the full Senate as a judge — most recently last year, with three Republican votes. She was also confirmed by the Senate in 2010 as vice-chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
GOP Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Lindsey Graham voted in favor of Judge Jackson’s confirmation to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in June 2021, but after private meetings with Jackson this month, all three were noncommittal about supporting her again.
While Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin has said he is hopeful more than three Republicans will support the nomination this time around, GOP Whip Sen. John Thune said last week he would be surprised it that were the case.
“I think it’s important to recognize that she has been confirmed three times now, so this is not a candidate who is a blank slate to us,” Collins said after spending more than 90 minutes one-on-one with Jackson. “I will, of course, await the hearings before the Judiciary Committee before making a decision.”
No Republican senator has publicly disputed Jackson’s qualification to be a justice, though several have raised concerns about her rulings and presumed judicial philosophy.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Mar 21, 9:06 am
What to expect at Monday’s hearings
Monday marks the first day of four high-profile hearings where the Senate Judiciary Committee and American people will hear from Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — President Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court nominee and the first Black woman nominated to the nation’s highest court in its 233-year history.
The hearings will gavel in at 11 a.m. with 10-minute statements from the committee’s 11 Republican and 11 Democratic members. Following member opening statements, Judge Thomas Griffith, formerly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and professor Lisa Fairfax of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School will have five minutes each to introduce Jackson, whom they know personally.
Finally, Judge Jackson will then deliver an opening statement in the afternoon for 10 minutes. ABC News will air special coverage of her remarks.
And for the first time since the pandemic, for each half-hour of the proceeding, up to 60 members of the public invited by senators will also be allowed to attend.
(WASHINGTON) — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233-year history, will appear on Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first of four days of high-profile confirmation hearings.
Monday’s session kicks off at 11 a.m. with 10-minute opening statements from Senate Judiciary Committee members, five-minute statements from outside introducers, and then, 10 minutes from Jackson herself.
Jackson, 51, who currently sits on the nation’s second most powerful court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, will face questions from the committee’s 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats over two days, starting Tuesday. On Thursday, senators can ask questions of the American Bar Association and other outside witnesses.
While Democrats have the votes to confirm President Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court nominee on their own, and hope to by the middle of April, the hearings could prove critical to the White House goal of securing at least some Republican support and shoring up the court’s credibility. Jackson has been vetted twice previously by the Judiciary Committee and twice confirmed by the full Senate as a judge — most recently last year, with three Republican votes.
Jackson, who would replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer if confirmed, has spent the last month meeting with senators from both parties behind closed doors on Capitol Hill ahead of publicly testifying to her qualifications for the nation’s highest court.
Here is how the news is developing. Check back for updates:
Mar 21, 10:02 am
Jackson preps for intense hearings by — knitting
While Judge Jackson has more experience fielding questions during high-intensity Senate hearings than any Supreme Court nominee since Clarence Thomas in 1991, she has described the process as “extremely nerve-wracking,” although she’s seen Senate confirmation three times.
To offset that nervous energy, Jackson says she took up — knitting.
“The lights are as bright as they are in here, in terms of cameras and attention, and you do your best not to make a fool of yourself in front of the senators,” Jackson said in a conversation for the D.C. Circuit Historical Society in 2019.
She said that she “started so many scarves I could have outfitted a small army,” recalling her first Senate confirmation process in 2012, when she was nominated by then-President Barack Obama to serve on the U.S. District Court in Washington. She currently sits on currently sits Washington’s federal appellate court.
Ahead of this week’s marathon questioning, Jackson met one-on-one with 44 senators ahead of her hearings next week, including all members of the Judiciary Committee and its 11 Republican members, according to former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, the White House “sherpa” for the nominee, escorting her on Capitol Hill.
Mar 21, 9:40 am
Some in GOP paint Jackson as ‘soft on crime,’ White House rejects accusation
Several GOP senators have telegraphed plans to question Judge Jackson’s defense of detainees at Guantanamo Bay as a private defense attorney, her support of reduced sentences for convicted drug offenders and the backing of her nomination by outside progressive advocacy groups.
In a sign the hearings could get contentious, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri — a former Supreme Court clerk for Chief Justice John Roberts and a potential presidential hopeful — suggested in a barrage of tweets Thursday that Jackson has a “long record” of letting child porn offenders “off the hook” and suggested she is “soft on crime.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki pushed back last week, calling it a “last-ditched eve-of-hearing desperation attack.”
“The facts are that, in the vast majority of cases involving child sex crimes, broadly, the sentences Judge Jackson imposed were consistent with or above what the government or U.S. probation [authorities] recommended. And so, this attack that we’ve seen over the last couple of days relies on factual inaccuracies and taking Judge Jackson’s record wildly out of context,” Psaki said.
While court records show that Jackson did impose lighter sentences than federal guidelines suggested, Hawley’s insinuation neglects critical context, including the fact that the senator himself has voted to confirm at least three federal judges who also engaged in the same practice. ABC News’ Devin Dwyer fact checks Hawley here.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Mar 21, 9:23 am
Will any Republicans vote for Jackson?
Judge Jackson has been vetted twice previously by the Judiciary Committee and twice confirmed by the full Senate as a judge — most recently last year, with three Republican votes. She was also confirmed by the Senate in 2010 as vice-chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
GOP Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Lindsey Graham voted in favor of Judge Jackson’s confirmation to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in June 2021, but after private meetings with Jackson this month, all three were noncommittal about supporting her again.
While Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin has said he is hopeful more than three Republicans will support the nomination this time around, GOP Whip Sen. John Thune said last week he would be surprised it that were the case.
“I think it’s important to recognize that she has been confirmed three times now, so this is not a candidate who is a blank slate to us,” Collins said after spending more than 90 minutes one-on-one with Jackson. “I will, of course, await the hearings before the Judiciary Committee before making a decision.”
No Republican senator has publicly disputed Jackson’s qualification to be a justice, though several have raised concerns about her rulings and presumed judicial philosophy.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Mar 21, 9:06 am
What to expect at Monday’s hearings
Monday marks the first day of four high-profile hearings where the Senate Judiciary Committee and American people will hear from Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — President Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court nominee and the first Black woman nominated to the nation’s highest court in its 233-year history.
The hearings will gavel in at 11 a.m. with 10-minute statements from the committee’s 11 Republican and 11 Democratic members. Following member opening statements, Judge Thomas Griffith, formerly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and professor Lisa Fairfax of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School will have five minutes each to introduce Jackson, whom they know personally.
Finally, Judge Jackson will then deliver an opening statement in the afternoon for 10 minutes. ABC News will air special coverage of her remarks.
And for the first time since the pandemic, for each half-hour of the proceeding, up to 60 members of the public invited by senators will also be allowed to attend.
(NEW YORK) — With rising costs and inflation impacting everything from food to gas, it’s no surprise that home prices for buyers and renters are also up.
Housing prices have soared, especially for renters. According to an analysis from Realtor.com, median rents spiked upward by approximately 20% year-over-year in January, and it’s not just large cities that are being affected.
Mid-size cities like Tampa, Florida, and Chandler, Arizona, southeast of Phoenix, are growing rapidly and residents are seeing rents shoot up as well. The two fastest-growing rental markets are currently in Miami and New Orleans.
Why is rent so high?
There are several factors that have contributed to higher rents, including a nationwide housing shortage, significantly higher housing costs and more young people entering an already crowded housing market.
How much should you spend on rent?
The 30% rule is a common one, where 30% of your gross income or your money after taxes is spent on housing. It’s a rule Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary recommends.
“The rule’s very simple, do not spend more than a third of your income, after-tax income, on where you’re renting or the mortgage you’re paying,” O’Leary previously told GMA.
If you can swing it, the 30% rule is a great guideline but for many in big cities, this might not be feasible or realistic.
A better method may be a 50/30/20 budget, where 50% is spent on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on debt and savings. Rent would fall under the 50% category.
Consider both budgeting rules to determine what you can afford — and you should definitely figure it all out before you jump into a new lease or renew your current one.
What can you do to lower your rent?
Remember that rent is negotiable.
Do your homework and compare similar listings. Take note of listings that cost the same and find out what they have and don’t have.
Compare yourself to a vacancy. Landlords need to spend money to advertise open apartments and it may help them save time and money if you decide to move in or stay.
Sell yourself and highlight the pros of renting to you. Do you always pay your rent on time? Do you keep a clean and tidy apartment? Do you have skills you can barter for a lower price? A property manager or owner may reconsider if you’re a more desirable renter than others.
If you plan on staying in one location for a longer period of time, ask for a discount for signing a longer-term lease.
Inquire about concessions like an earlier move-in date or a free month.
(WASHINGTON) — As Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — President Joe Biden’s pick for the Supreme Court — is set to face her Senate confirmation hearings beginning Monday, here are some key takeaways about the current process.
After the Senate Judiciary Committee concludes its hearings this week, Republicans can try to slow down Jackson’s nomination by boycotting a committee vote before her nomination heads to the full Senate, but Democrats could try to go forward, anyway.
Republicans did that when Democrats attempted to boycott a committee vote on Amy Coney Barrett.
At that time, Republicans controlled a majority of seats on the panel, so the chairman at the time — GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — went ahead without minority Democrats. They, instead, left pictures in their places of Americans who, they said, would be negatively affected should Barrett support striking down the Affordable Care Act.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., says he wants to run a fair process, so he is doing everything he can to get GOP buy-in moving forward. The goal is for Republicans to support the process, regardless of whether they support the nominee.
If Republicans were to boycott the vote, Durbin would have a decision to make: attempt to change the rules, or have her nomination taken directly to the floor by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Should every Republican in committee vote against Jackson, thereby deadlocking the panel, Schumer would have to move to discharge her nomination. That would take a bit more time, potentially endangering Democrats’ goal of having Jackson confirmed to the high court before April 8, when the Senate begins a two-week recess in observance of the Easter holiday.
Filibuster of full Senate vote not allowed
Filibustering a full Senate vote on Supreme Court nomination is no longer allowed. Republicans lowered the vote threshold to a simple majority for Supreme Court confirmations in 2017 when then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., nuked the filibuster rule to get Justice Neil Gorsuch confirmed. Democrats made this move in 2013 for all lower-court nominations.
Hearings and confirmation can happen quickly
Democrats are eyeing a swift confirmation after what happened with Amy Coney Barrett, who out of the nine justices currently serving on the court waited the fewest days (27), according to Congressional Research Service. Justice Stephen Breyer said he will retire at the end of the current term, but a confirmation vote can take place while a retiring justice is still on the bench. That’s what happened when Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was being replaced with Samuel Alito.
The Congressional Research Service found the average amount of time for a nomination to be voted on in the Senate is 68.2 days, just over two months. The median is 69 days. Clarence Thomas waited the longest time — 99 days.
The vice president can break a Senate tie
Although Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe has said a vice president, in the role as president of the Senate, cannot cast a tie-breaking vote on a Supreme Court nominee, he appears to be virtually alone in that opinion.
Both Democrats and Republicans, including a former GOP Senate floor manager, have told ABC News — in no uncertain terms — that Vice President Kamala Harris can break any potential tie — and numerous other legal experts agree.
(WASHINGTON) — Justice Clarence Thomas has been hospitalized with an infection, the Supreme Court announced in a statement.
Thomas was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Friday evening after experiencing flu-like symptoms, Supreme Court spokesperson Patricia McCabe said in a statement.
He was diagnosed with an infection after undergoing tests and is being treated with intravenous antibiotics, McCabe said. She did not provide more details on the nature of the infection.
“His symptoms are abating, he is resting comfortably, and he expects to be released from the hospital in a day or two,” McCabe said. “Justice Thomas will participate in the consideration and discussion of any cases for which he is not present on the basis of the briefs, transcripts and audio of the oral arguments.”
After Justice Stephen Breyer, Thomas is the second-oldest justice on the Supreme Court at 73 years old. He is the most senior conservative.
Thomas does not have a known history of health issues and has been a vibrant participant in Court arguments over the past two years. He, along with the other eight justices, has been vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19, according to the Court.
The Court is reconvening Monday at 10 a.m. for two weeks of oral arguments. According to McCabe’s statement, it appears Thomas will not be participating in the arguments remotely but will still vote in the cases.
On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin a week of high-profile confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233-year history.
(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 this 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 21, 5:21 am
No surrender in besieged Mariupol, Ukraine says
Ukrainian officials rejected Russia’s demand that they surrender the southern port city of Mariupol on Monday morning.
Officials instead called on Russia to allow residents to evacuate safely from the city.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an early morning video address said his government was preparing to send buses to Mariupol on Monday to continue the evacuation.
“In besieged Mariupol, Russian aircraft dropped a bomb on an art school. People were hiding there. Hiding from shelling, from bombing,” Zelenskyy said, according to an official translation from his office. “There were no military positions. There were about four hundred civilians. Mostly women and children, the elderly. They are under the debris. We do not know how many are alive at the moment.”
Some who’ve left Mariupol have described dire circumstances, with constant shelling and little access to essentials, including food, water, and medicine, according to a report published Monday by Human Rights Watch.
“Mariupol residents have described a freezing hellscape riddled with dead bodies and destroyed buildings,” Belkis Wille, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “And these are the lucky ones who were able to escape, leaving behind thousands who are cut off from the world in the besieged city.”
Mar 20, 10:17 pm
Biden traveling to Poland Friday to discuss efforts to support Ukraine, humanitarian crisis
In addition to his trip to Brussels, President Joe Biden will also travel to Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, where he will hold a bilateral meeting with President Andrzej Duda.
“The President will discuss how the United States, alongside our Allies and partners, is responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Sunday.
Psaki’s statement did not specify if Biden will do anything else during his trip to Poland, which has taken in more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees since the start of the conflict with Russia.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 20, 5:36 pm
Russia gives Ukrainian forces in Mariupol until morning to surrender: Reports
Russia has given Ukrainian forces in the besieged city of Mariupol until Monday at 4 a.m. local time to surrender, according to reports.
Gen. Col. Mikhail Mizintsev, a senior Russian commander, warned the city’s local authorities, including the mayor, that if they do not surrender they will face a “military tribunal,” according to Russian state media.
He called on the official authorities in Kyiv to “see reason” and to cancel orders given earlier that he said oblige Ukrainian fighters “to sacrifice themselves and to become the ’martyrs of Mariupol.’”
Russian forces have been trying to push deep into Mariupol, engaging in street-to-street fighting while indiscriminately bombarding the city. Ukrainian troops defending the city are believed to be under severe pressure right now.
Mizintsev said Russia has proposed opening humanitarian corridors beginning at 9 a.m. Monday to allow Ukrainian troops and civilians to leave Mariupol.
He claims Russia’s goals in the city are “purely humanitarian” and repeated Russia’s false claims that it was Ukrainian “nationalist” forces that have destroyed several major civilian buildings, which in reality have been struck directly by Russian air and missile strikes.
“We call on the units of the Ukrainian armed forces, the battalions of the Territorial Defense, foreign mercenaries, to cease military action, lay down their arms and to leave for the territories controlled by Kyiv via the humanitarian corridors agreed with the Ukrainian side,” Mizintsev reportedly said. “Moreover, the safe exit of all those laying down their arms is guaranteed and the sparing of their lives.”
Mar 20, 4:27 pm
Zelenskyy criticizes Israel for not providing arms to Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed members of the Knesset, the legislature of Israel, on Sunday, criticizing the country for not doing more to help Ukraine.
During the address, Zelenskyy drew parallels between Ukraine and Israel’s challenges with their neighbors and questioned why Israel has not sent arms to Ukraine or imposed sanctions on Russia.
“Everyone in Israel knows that your missile defense is the best,” Zelenskyy said. “It is powerful. Everyone knows that your weapon is strong. Everyone knows you’re doing great. You know how to defend your state interests, the interests of your people. And you can definitely help us protect our lives, the lives of Ukrainians, the lives of Ukrainian Jews. One can keep asking why we can’t get weapons from you. Or why Israel has not imposed strong sanctions against Russia.”
Zelenskyy described the Russian invasion as “a large-scale and treacherous war aimed at destroying our people,” quoting former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, who was born in Kyiv.
“We intend to remain alive. Our neighbors want to see us dead,” Zelenskyy said. “This is not a question that leaves much room for compromise.”
During Zelensky’s speech, the Knesset’s cyber unit and the National Cyber Directorate fought off a number of cyberattacks aimed at interrupting the live-streamed speech, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing the Knesset.
(DUMAS, Ark.) — At least 28 people were shot, including six children, at a car show in rural Arkansas on Saturday night. At least one person has died, according to police.
The shooting took place in Dumas, about 90 miles southeast of Little Rock, at about 7:30 p.m. local time, according to Arkansas State Police.
Keith Finch, Dumas’ chief of police, told ABC News that children were among those injured in the shooting and were taken to a Children’s hospital for treatment. Organizers for the event told ABC News that the children were injured but are “doing OK.”
Preliminary information suggests the shooting was the result of a gang-related fight that spilled into a public area and not a random act. Detectives are continuing their investigation, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
Finch said police have a person of interest in custody but continue to investigate whether more people may have been involved.
It’s unclear what caused the shooting or the conditions of many of those injured.
The deceased victim has been identified as Cameron Shaffer, 23, of Jacksonville, Arkansas, according to ABC News Arkansas affiliate KATV.
“The shooting spree in Dumas last night at a community family event represents a total disregard of the value of life,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement Sunday.
(DALLAS) — “Multiple” people were shot and one was killed Saturday night in Dallas, officials said.
“At this time, I can confirm one individual was shot and transported to a local hospital where they died from their injuries,” the Dallas Police Department told ABC News. “Multiple individuals were also shot and injured during this incident. This is an active investigation and information is limited.”
Police said they responded at about midnight to the 5200 block of Botham Jean Boulevard.
