(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. will ban imports of Russian oil and other energy products, but will not be joined in doing so by many European allies and partners.
The move is expected to trigger sharply higher gasoline and other energy prices in the U.S. and worldwide.
Speaking from the White House, he said it means “the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.”
The decision was made in “close consultation” with U.S. allies, some of whom he said would not be “in a position” to do the same but he stressed the alliance remained united.
Biden has been under growing political pressure from both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill to go forward with a ban even though the White House initially resisted, saying it wasn’t in the U.S. “strategic interest” to limit the world’s energy supply and drive up gasoline prices.
On Monday, top lawmakers announced they had come to a deal on bipartisan legislation that would punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, by banning the import of Russian oil and other energy products — as well as suspending normal trade relations with Russia and a House vote was expected this week.
Biden’s announcement is likely to cause gasoline prices in the U.S. — already at record highs — to soar even higher.
“I’m going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike here at home,” Biden said.
About 8% of U.S. imports of crude oil and petroleum products came from Russia last year, according to preliminary U.S. government data; 3% of U.S. oil came from Russia.
White House officials also say the impact on Russia, which sent just 1% of its oil exports to the U.S. in 2020, would not be great — especially when its oil and gas sector is already “de facto sanctioned” because of harsh restrictions on Russian banks.
There is less appetite in Europe for a ban on Russian oil and gas imports, since European nations rely heavily on Russia for their energy needs — nearly half of Russian oil exports go to Europe, according to U.S. government figures — and analysts say a ban would raise Europe’s energy prices significantly.
(WASHINGTON) — The Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act, which would make lynching a hate crime under federal law, now heads to President Biden’s desk.
The Senate unanimously passed the bill on Monday.
Congress has failed to pass anti-lynching legislation over 200 times. The bill is the first legislation of its kind in more than 100 years that has a chance at being signed into law.
“While this will not erase the horrific injustices to which 10s of 1000s of African Americans have been subjected over the generations, nor fully heal the terror inflicted on countless others, it is an important step forward as we continue the work of confronting our nation’s past in pursuit of a brighter and more just future,” said Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor.
Lynchings were used to murder and terrorize the Black community in the U.S., predominantly in the South, from the 1880s to 1960s, the NAACP states. The Equal Justice Initiative, a racial justice advocacy and research organization, has documented nearly 6,500 racial terror lynchings in America between 1865 and 1950.
An offense can be prosecuted as a lynching when the offender conspires to commit a hate crime that results in someone’s death or serious bodily injury under this bill. This includes kidnapping and aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to kidnap, abuse, or kill.
A perpetrator can be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for lynching alone, raising the maximum sentence by 20 years from previous versions of the legislation.
The act is named after 14-year-old Emmett Till, who was kidnapped, beaten and lynched in Mississippi in August 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman.
His death remains a symbol of racism and brutality against Blacks in the U.S.
“If Emmett Till was still with us, his family might call him granddad,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said in a tweet. “Tonight, after decades of delay, Congress passed the bill named for him. When President Biden signs it, lynching will become a federal hate crime. I’m thinking of our ancestors and our babies tonight.”
Black Americans remain the most targeted group in the U.S. when it comes to reported hate crimes. They made up 2,871 of the 8,263 reported hate crimes in 2020 — or 34% — according to the FBI.
“By passing my Emmett Till Antilynching Act, the House has sent a resounding message that our nation is finally reckoning with one of the darkest and most horrific periods of our history and that we are morally and legally committed to changing course,” said Rep. Bobby L. Rush, D-Ill., after the House passed the bill.
ABC News’ Rachel Scott contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Attorneys for Prince Andrew and his accuser Virginia Giuffre filed notice Tuesday morning in the Southern District of New York court informing the court that the parties have officially settled the case.
The court document states the case has been dismissed, “with prejudice” and that “each party” will bear their own costs and fees. “It is so stipulated,” the document concludes.
The stipulation for dismissal awaits a signature from the judge.
Last month, Prince Andrew agreed to settle a sexual assault lawsuit from Giuffre.
The sum of the settlement was not disclosed, and a letter to the court said that Prince Andrew “intends to make a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights.”
Giuffre had alleged that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her to Prince Andrew, who she claimed took advantage and sexually abused her when she was under 18.
Prince Andrew had repeatedly denied the allegation and attacked Giuffre’s credibility and motives.
Giuffre and Epstein settled a civil lawsuit for $500,000 in 2009, which was the basis for Prince Andrew’s argument to have the case dismissed.
Epstein died by suicide at the at Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan in 2019. He had been set to stand trial for allegedly sexually abusing dozens of girls in New York and Florida.
(DES MOINES, Iowa) — Six teenagers have been arrested on murder charges stemming from a drive-by shooting Monday outside a Des Moines, Iowa, high school that left a 15-year-old boy dead and critically injured two female students, police said on Tuesday.
The teenager who was fatally shot is believed to have been the intended target, the Des Moines Police Department said in a statement Tuesday.
Most of the suspects were arrested within an hour of the shooting and all were in custody in several hours, police said.
“While this incident occurred outside of a school, it could have occurred in any one of our neighborhoods. The school is where the suspects found their target,” police said in the statement.
The two wounded teenage girls remained in a hospital Tuesday with life-threatening injuries, police said.
The names of the suspects and the victims were not released.
In addition to first-degree murder, the suspects were charged with two counts each of attempted murder, authorities said.
Overnight, homicide detectives executed multiple residential and vehicle search warrants, and recovered multiple firearms, police said.
The shooting unfolded Monday afternoon outside East High School. The two injured girls were both students at the school, while the slain boy was not, police said.
The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
“Unfortunately, what happened here … is just another pointless tragedy in our community, people using firearms to settle their differences,” Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert said Monday.
The high school was immediately on lockdown Monday afternoon, but Des Moines Public School District tweeted students were being dismissed on time after police and the school district gave an all-clear.
(NEW YORK) — Two studies published Monday show how COVID-19 infection is associated with higher rates of brain tissue abnormalities.
These effects were subtle and it’s possible many of the people who experience them will heal on their own without medical intervention. But these findings could help explain the cognitive decline experienced by some COVID-19 survivors.
Because the studies evaluated patients who became sick with COVID-19 before vaccines were widely available, it’s not clear if this tissue damage happens among vaccinated people. Experts are hopeful vaccines would offer some protection against neurological damage, as they do help reduce the risk of other types of tissue damage.
The first study, published Monday in the journal Nature, looked at more than 400 people ages 51 to 81 who tested positive for COVID-19 from the U.K. Biobank study, comparing MRI scans taken prior to infection against those taken an average of five months after infection.
Researchers from the University of Oxford found that even people with mild COVID-19 symptoms had signs of slightly reduced brain size and subtle tissue damage — especially in the region of the brain associated with sense of smell.
“The fact that this study demonstrates a loss in brain volume over several months is concerning and could imply accelerated brain aging,” said Dr. Leah Croll, a vascular neurology fellow at New York University Langone Health.
Added Croll, “We need more time to understand what this actually means for patients. There is not enough meaningful clinical data here to know if the imaging findings truly match up with changes in cognitive functioning.”
The second study, published in Neurology, found evidence of damaged neurons and glial cells, which are fundamental cells in the brain.
Researchers from Northwestern Medicine studied 64 people, some of whom had been hospitalized with COVID-19, and others who hadn’t been hospitalized but later experienced long-haul symptoms.
They didn’t use MRIs, but rather looked for biomarkers, or molecular signatures, of brain damage.
“There were two markers of brain damage, or rather a marker of direct damage to nerve cells and another marker that indicates there is increased inflammation in the central nervous system or brain itself,” said Dr. Barbara Hanson, a researcher at the Northwestern Medicine Neurology COVID-19 research lab.
The study found evidence of brain inflammation that correlated with symptoms of anxiety reported by COVID-19 long-hauler patients.
Researchers hope the finding will bring some relief to COVID long-haulers, who often express frustration that their neuropsychiatric symptoms are dismissed.
According to Hanson, about a third of people with COVID-19 develop some form of long-COVID symptoms — many of them neurological symptoms like decreased memory, headache and dizziness.
Hanson predicted that COVID-19-related neurological symptoms could become even more prevalent in the decade to come.
But two years into the pandemic, it’s not clear yet if people will grapple with lifelong symptoms, or if they will eventually heal, experts said.
“It’s too soon for us to know if this damage will last or if people can recover from it over time,” Croll said.
Dr. Pooja Sharma is a family medicine resident at Emory University in Atlanta. Sony Salzman is the coordinating producer of ABC’s 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, don’t appear to have advanced closer to the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.
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 08, 10:21 am
Russian Defense Ministry claims Kyiv is ‘against’ evacuation of Ukrainians to Russia
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Tuesday that Ukrainian authorities are “categorically against” evacuating residents of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol to Russia.
“The authorities in Kyiv are continuing to categorically reject all main routes of evacuation from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Mariupol to the territory of the Russian Federation,” Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, said at a briefing.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the Ukrainians only confirmed one of the 10 evacuation routes Russia proposed. The confirmed route is from the city of Sumy, through Poltava and to the border with Poland, Mizintsev said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed more than 2.5 million Ukrainians asked to be evacuated to Russia.
“Following the past day, 2,541,367 appeals from individual Ukrainian citizens, as well as foreigners made via various communication channels requesting to save and evacuate them from 1,917 settlements in Ukraine have already been processed in our database,” Mizintsev said.
The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed checkpoints in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova and Romania “were virtually ill prepared” to receive Ukrainian refugees.
“People are forced to leave their cars and walk on foot carrying their heavy bags. Lines are up to 40 kilometers long, and the crossing time is over two days,” Mizintsev said.
-ABC News’ Anastasia Bagaeva
Mar 08, 10:06 am
Vatican secretary of state speaks with Russia foreign minister
Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, spoke on the phone with the Russian foreign minister to convey Pope Francis’ “deep concern about the ongoing war in Ukraine.”
Parolin reiterated the pope’s “call for an end to armed attacks, for the securing of humanitarian corridors for civilians and rescuers, and for the replacement of gun violence with negotiation.”
The pope announced Sunday that he has dispatched two cardinals to Poland and Hungry. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski traveled to the Polish-Ukraine border to visit refugees and volunteers in shelters and homes, while Cardinal Michael Czerny will arrive in Hungry on Tuesday to visit reception centers for migrants arriving from Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Phoebe Natanson
Mar 08, 10:06 am
Vatican secretary of state speaks with Russia foreign minister
Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, spoke on the phone with the Russian foreign minister to convey Pope Francis’ “deep concern about the ongoing war in Ukraine.”
Parolin reiterated the pope’s “call for an end to armed attacks, for the securing of humanitarian corridors for civilians and rescuers, and for the replacement of gun violence with negotiation.”
The pope announced Sunday that he has dispatched two cardinals to Poland and Hungry. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski traveled to the Polish-Ukraine border to visit refugees and volunteers in shelters and homes, while Cardinal Michael Czerny will arrive in Hungry on Tuesday to visit reception centers for migrants arriving from Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Phoebe Natanson
Mar 08, 9:02 am
US says Russia seems to be observing cease-fire but unclear for how long
While the United States welcomes Russia’s declaration of a temporary cease-fire in several besieged areas of Ukraine, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said Tuesday it remains unclear exactly how long Russian forces will hold fire.
“We think this is obviously a welcome step that the cease-fire seems to be being observed by the Russians. They don’t exactly have a good track record in that regard. So it’s welcome to see people are able to get out,” Kirby told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview on Good Morning America.
“But,” Kirby added, “that cease-fire’s going to expire in a number of hours and so it’s yet to be seen how much more violent the shelling and the bombardments are going to get.”
While Ukraine has continued to call on NATO to establish a no-fly zone over the country — something Washington has already ruled out — along with more help from the U.S., Kirby said there are other steps being taken.
“We are accelerating and expediting the shipment of arms and materiel to Ukraine. In fact, another shipments arrived in eastern Europe just overnight and they will be sent in to Ukraine in the coming hours and days, and there’s more coming,” Kirby said. “And it’s not just the United States. Fourteen other nations are also providing security assistance to Ukraine to help them fight.”
But on the potential of the U.S. replacing Polish fighter jets, should Poland send theirs to Ukraine, Kirby said it was a “possibility” but was non-committal.
“We’re not going to stand in the way of another sovereign nation if they want to provide aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force. Now that’s certainly their decision and we respect that,” he said. “This issue of whether we backfill it with American jets — we’re looking at that as a possibility here, but there’s an awful lot of logistical and financial issues that have to be dealt with on how that would happen. No decision has been made yet.”
When asked about the risk of a wider war if that happens, Kirby said: “That’s a possibility that we’re always looking at.”
“That’s certainly in the back of everybody’s mind, not just the United States but in NATO nations as well. You don’t want to escalate this conflict any bigger and any worse than it already is. You’re talking about Russia, a nuclear armed power. The consequences for escalating this conflict could be devastating, not just for the people of Ukraine but for the European continent,” he said.
Mar 08, 8:40 am
US to ban Russian oil imports, source says
The White House is expected to announce a ban on U.S. imports of Russian oil as soon as Tuesday, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Mar 08, 8:26 am
Child died from dehydration in besieged Mariupol, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that a child has died from dehydration in the besieged port city of Mariupol.
“Russia is for sure to blame for the deaths of people from airstrikes and in the blocked cities,” Zelenskyy said in a televised address. “But the responsibility is also on those who during these 13 days can’t make a decision in their offices in the West, an obviously necessary decision. Those who don’t secure Ukrainian sky from Russian murderers, who didn’t save our cities from airstrikes, these bombs and missiles, although they can.”
“We have been hearing promises about support for 13 days that the jets are about to arrive,” he added. “We have heard promises about securing humanitarian corridors. They didn’t work. We don’t have time to wait. People in Mariupol don’t have time to wait.”
Zelenskyy said trucks carrying humanitarian aid have been sent to Mariupol. He accused the International Committee of the Red Cross of “forbidding the use of its emblem on our cars,” but did not give further details. Videos posted to social media on Tuesday purportedly show vehicles heading to Mariupol from other Ukrainian cities bearing signs with a red cross, but it’s not clear who pasted them there.
“The drivers are heroes who understand they can be killed by Russian troops,” Zelenskyy said. “If you kill those people, the whole world will be the witness.”
Mar 08, 7:33 am
One million children among those who have fled Ukraine: UNICEF
Out of the more than two million people who have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, half of them are children, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
UNICEF spokesperson James Elder called it a “dark historical first.”
Mar 08, 7:15 am
Shell pledges to stop buying Russian oil and gas
Energy giant Shell announced Tuesday plans to withdraw from its involvement in all Russian hydrocarbons, including crude oil and natural gas, amid Russia’s unprovoked invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
“As an immediate first step, the company will stop all spot purchases of Russian crude oil. It will also shut its service stations, aviation fuels and lubricants operations in Russia,” Shell said in a statement.
Shell will immediately stop buying Russian crude oil on the spot market and not renew term contracts. The company will also change its crude oil supply chain to remove Russian volumes, but said “this could take weeks to complete and will lead to reduced throughput at some of our refineries.”
In addition, Shell will shut its service stations, aviation fuels and lubricants operations in Russia, and will start a phased withdrawal from Russian petroleum products, pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas.
The company apologized for buying Russian oil last week.
“We are acutely aware that our decision last week to purchase a cargo of Russian crude oil to be refined into products like petrol and diesel — despite being made with security of supplies at the forefront of our thinking — was not the right one and we are sorry,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement. “As we have already said, we will commit profits from the limited, remaining amounts of Russian oil we will process to a dedicated fund. We will work with aid partners and humanitarian agencies over the coming days and weeks to determine where the monies from this fund are best placed to alleviate the terrible consequences that this war is having on the people of Ukraine.”
Mar 08, 6:49 am
Two children among at least 21 killed by Russian airstrike in Sumy: Ukrainian officials
At least 21 civilians, including two children, were killed by a Russian airstrike in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy on Monday night, according to the regional prosecutor’s office.
The strike hit a residential area of Sumy, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, which the regional prosecutor’s office said was still on the scene searching for victims Tuesday.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk called on Russian forces to maintain the agreed upon temporary cease-fire in Sumy and four other Ukrainian cities to allow civilians to evacuate Tuesday. She said Russian authorities have confirmed to the International Committee of the Red Cross that one evacuation route out of Sumy will be open, but Ukrainian officials are awaiting confirmation on the other routes they submitted.
Mar 08, 6:19 am
Over two million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
More than two million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Over 1.2 million of the refugees from Ukraine are in neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.
“Today the outflow of refugees from Ukraine reaches two million people. Two million,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Tuesday in a post on his official Twitter account.
Mar 08, 5:36 am
Russia declares temporary cease-fire for humanitarian corridors in five Ukrainian cities
Russia declared Tuesday a temporary cease-fire in five besieged cities of Ukraine, including the capital, to let civilians leave.
“For safe evacuation of civilians from populated areas, a cease-fire is declared and humanitarian corridors are opening from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Mariupol from 10:00 a.m. today,” Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a press briefing.
All five cities except Kyiv had sustained brutal, indiscriminate bombardment in recent days.
It’s the fourth attempt to hold fire and allow civilians to escape the onslaught since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have been holding talks in recent days, and the Russian delegation has previously agreed to a temporary cease-fire and opening of humanitarian corridors in parts of Ukraine. But Russia has violated its own cease-fire and shelled evacuation points, while falsely accusing Ukraine of using people as human shields.
The hard-hit cities of Kharkiv and Mariupol were reported to be quiet Tuesday morning, with a local official telling ABC News that the center of Mariupol, a strategic port in the southeast, is not being shelled for the first time in days.
Ukraine said Russia has agreed this time to allow civilians to evacuate not only to Russia but also to other parts of Ukraine. Columns of buses and trucks with humanitarian aid are currently headed to Sumy, Mariupol and possibly other cities.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Russia has confirmed to the International Committee of the Red Cross that one route out of Sumy will be open. Vereshchuk said she hopes Russia will confirm routes for the other cities and also for the eastern city of Volnovakha. She warned Ukraine has information that Russia may have plans to disrupt the evacuations by leading civilians out of the agreed safe routes, in order to claim that Ukraine is not observing the agreement.
Petro Andrushenko, advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, said the city plans to evacuate people as long as Russian forces do not fire. A column of 60 buses and nine trucks of medical aid and food are headed to Mariupol now, and the hope is that at least 4,000 people can be evacuated via the buses plus an unknown number of private cars that will join the convoy, according to Andrushenko.
“If Russia doesn’t break it, we plan to evacuate people,” Andrushenko told ABC News via telephone Tuesday morning.
Mar 08, 2:05 am
World Bank approves $723 million in emergency support for Ukraine
The World Bank said its board approved a package of loans and guarantees for Ukraine totaling $723 million.
The funding will help the Ukrainian government pay for government services, “including wages for hospital workers, pensions for the elderly, and social programs for the vulnerable,” the bank said in a statement on Monday.
The bank said it’s preparing an additional $3 billion in support for Ukraine and neighboring countries, which have taken in more than 1.7 million refugees since the Russian invasion began.
“The World Bank Group is taking quick action to support Ukraine and its people in the face of the violence and extreme disruption caused by the Russian invasion,” World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement. “The World Bank Group stands with the people of Ukraine and the region. This is the first of many steps we are taking to help.”
The funding announced on Monday includes $350 million in supplemental loans, along with guarantees totaling $139 million from the Netherlands and Sweden, the bank said. Grant financing totaling $134 million will come from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Iceland. Japan is providing $100 million in additional financing, the bank said.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will announce as early as Tuesday that the U.S. will ban imports of Russian oil, a source told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega.
The White House said Tuesday morning that Biden has added a 10:30 a.m. event to his schedule about “actions to continue to hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine.”
He has been under pressure from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress to go forward with a ban.
(NEW YORK) — Energy giant Shell announced on Tuesday plans to withdraw from its involvement in all Russian hydrocarbons, including crude oil and natural gas, amid Russia’s unprovoked invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
“As an immediate first step, the company will stop all spot purchases of Russian crude oil. It will also shut its service stations, aviation fuels and lubricants operations in Russia,” Shell said in a statement.
Shell will immediately stop buying Russian crude oil on the spot market and not renew term contracts. The company will also change its crude oil supply chain to remove Russian volumes, but said “this could take weeks to complete and will lead to reduced throughput at some of our refineries.”
In addition, Shell will shut its service stations, aviation fuels and lubricants operations in Russia, and will start a phased withdrawal from Russian petroleum products, pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas.
The company apologized for buying Russian oil last week.
“We are acutely aware that our decision last week to purchase a cargo of Russian crude oil to be refined into products like petrol and diesel — despite being made with security of supplies at the forefront of our thinking — was not the right one and we are sorry,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement. “As we have already said, we will commit profits from the limited, remaining amounts of Russian oil we will process to a dedicated fund. We will work with aid partners and humanitarian agencies over the coming days and weeks to determine where the monies from this fund are best placed to alleviate the terrible consequences that this war is having on the people of Ukraine.”
(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, don’t appear to have advanced closer to the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.
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 08, 6:49 am
Two children among at least 21 killed by Russian airstrike in Sumy: Ukrainian officials
At least 21 civilians, including two children, were killed by a Russian airstrike in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy on Monday night, according to the regional prosecutor’s office.
The strike hit a residential area of Sumy, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, which the regional prosecutor’s office said was still on the scene searching for victims Tuesday.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk called on Russian forces to maintain the agreed upon temporary cease-fire in Sumy and four other Ukrainian cities to allow civilians to evacuate Tuesday. She said Russian authorities have confirmed to the International Committee of the Red Cross that one evacuation route out of Sumy will be open, but Ukrainian officials are awaiting confirmation on the other routes they submitted.
Mar 08, 6:19 am
Over two million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
More than two million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Over 1.2 million of the refugees from Ukraine are in neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.
“Today the outflow of refugees from Ukraine reaches two million people. Two million,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Tuesday in a post on his official Twitter account.
Mar 08, 5:36 am
Russia declares temporary cease-fire for humanitarian corridors in five Ukrainian cities
Russia declared Tuesday a temporary cease-fire in five besieged cities of Ukraine, including the capital, to let civilians leave.
“For safe evacuation of civilians from populated areas, a cease-fire is declared and humanitarian corridors are opening from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Mariupol from 10:00 a.m. today,” Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a press briefing.
All five cities except Kyiv had sustained brutal, indiscriminate bombardment in recent days.
It’s the fourth attempt to hold fire and allow civilians to escape the onslaught since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have been holding talks in recent days, and the Russian delegation has previously agreed to a temporary cease-fire and opening of humanitarian corridors in parts of Ukraine. But Russia has violated its own cease-fire and shelled evacuation points, while falsely accusing Ukraine of using people as human shields.
The hard-hit cities of Kharkiv and Mariupol were reported to be quiet Tuesday morning, with a local official telling ABC News that the center of Mariupol, a strategic port in the southeast, is not being shelled for the first time in days.
Ukraine said Russia has agreed this time to allow civilians to evacuate not only to Russia but also to other parts of Ukraine. Columns of buses and trucks with humanitarian aid are currently headed to Sumy, Mariupol and possibly other cities.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Russia has confirmed to the International Committee of the Red Cross that one route out of Sumy will be open. Vereshchuk said she hopes Russia will confirm routes for the other cities and also for the eastern city of Volnovakha. She warned Ukraine has information that Russia may have plans to disrupt the evacuations by leading civilians out of the agreed safe routes, in order to claim that Ukraine is not observing the agreement.
Petro Andrushenko, advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, said the city plans to evacuate people as long as Russian forces do not fire. A column of 60 buses and nine trucks of medical aid and food are headed to Mariupol now, and the hope is that at least 4,000 people can be evacuated via the buses plus an unknown number of private cars that will join the convoy, according to Andrushenko.
“If Russia doesn’t break it, we plan to evacuate people,” Andrushenko told ABC News via telephone Tuesday morning.
Mar 08, 2:05 am
World Bank approves $723 million in emergency support for Ukraine
The World Bank said its board approved a package of loans and guarantees for Ukraine totaling $723 million.
The funding will help the Ukrainian government pay for government services, “including wages for hospital workers, pensions for the elderly, and social programs for the vulnerable,” the bank said in a statement on Monday.
The bank said it’s preparing an additional $3 billion in support for Ukraine and neighboring countries, which have taken in more than 1.7 million refugees since the Russian invasion began.
“The World Bank Group is taking quick action to support Ukraine and its people in the face of the violence and extreme disruption caused by the Russian invasion,” World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement. “The World Bank Group stands with the people of Ukraine and the region. This is the first of many steps we are taking to help.”
The funding announced on Monday includes $350 million in supplemental loans, along with guarantees totaling $139 million from the Netherlands and Sweden, the bank said. Grant financing totaling $134 million will come from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Iceland. Japan is providing $100 million in additional financing, the bank said.
(NEW YORK) — Immigrant women in the U.S. often make nearly impossible and difficult decisions to leave behind family members, careers and various aspirations in order to create a new life for themselves in America.
“Like most of the people who immigrate to this country, I wanted more opportunities for my family,” Kandy Alva told ABC News’ Good Morning America about why she first moved to New York City from Peru in 2008. “Before I came I was in the management and hospitality field. Like all immigrants when they came to this country, even if you’re a professional in your home country, you just start at zero here.”
Alva earned her degree, worked as a nurse’s assistant in a nursing home and eventually pivoted to a culinary career running her own cake shop thanks to her time with Hot Bread Kitchen, an organization that helps immigrant women and women of color cultivate business skills, sharpen their culinary chops and build relationships for a local support network to forge their future endeavors.
In 2018, she saw the nonprofit’s culinary training program listed online, applied and secured an interview.
“There was more than 100 women in the same situation as me, with a lot of skills and they want to get ahead like me, most who were professionals in their own countries and want new opportunities,” she said.
Alva became one of 27 women from 10 different countries to make it into the culinary training program. After graduating in March 2019, Hot Bread Kitchen helped open another door, landing her an interview with the culinary team at Google, where she went on to work as a prep cook and restaurant associate in one of the tech giant’s New York cafeterias.
“We represent women at Hot Bread Kitchen,” she said. “Some women think we don’t have a chance in this world [or] think that you don’t belong in this country if you can’t do your goals — but if you make a lot of effort and focus on your dreams, your dreams can come true. I’m like a true example that immigrants can do amazing things for their future.”
“Now, after Hot Bread Kitchen,” Alva said “I started my own business, Sweet Kandy’s Cakes, and I’m very proud of that.”
Alva worked with her mother, who owned a catering business back in Peru, and said “all the skills I learned from my mom I have utilized in this country.”
“I feel very grateful for Hot Bread Kitchen and Google that gave me all the tools to get a position in this field,” she said. “Every woman has a different situation, but at the same time they have the same goal: to get ahead. I believe Hot Bread Kitchen is my family in this country because they check in and keep track of how I’m doing.”
“Most of the women in this field lost their jobs with COVID and we never felt alone in this moment. Hot Bread Kitchen always called us to see if we needed a part time job or just to say hi. That means a lot during difficult moments,” Alva said.
The nonprofit organization has welcomed women with open arms to their table since 2008 and helped them pave a path towards entrepreneurial success in the culinary industry. Recently, Hot Bread Kitchen found a new home for its headquarters at the former Food Network test kitchen space inside Manhattan’s bustling food hall Chelsea Market donated by Google.
The food career training program and job skills classes are back in action for the first time since early 2020 due to shutting down during the pandemic.
“There is now a room of 15 women learning and working so hard to get their first job in the culinary industry and it’s really incredible to have them here,” the organization’s senior communications manager, Jenny Kutner, told Good Morning America.
Fauzia Aminah Rasheed, the second-generation owner of beloved Bronx-based Jamaican food cart Fauzia’s Heavenly Delights, joined the small business program at Hot Bread Kitchen in 2018 alongside her mom.
“Being a part of Hot Bread Kitchen made me realize more than anything else in this entire process, how important it is to have a community,” she told GMA. “The things that you learned from just simply speaking to other people is way beyond what you would ever learn in a class — they really are able to help you with the ins and outs of what it means to be a business owner. And all of the little small nuances and details that you just don’t even think about.”
Their food truck has been in business for 25 years and Rasheed said it “all comes naturally” because it’s in her blood.
“But when I graduated Stony Brook University my mom asked, ‘Do you want to go ahead and start to take things over?’ I wanted to continue her legacy and all the hard work that she had put in, so I kind of stepped up and I’m trying to take the business into a whole different sphere,” she said.
Rasheed conceptualized a jarred spice line to get their brand into the consumer product space, but the mother-daughter duo needed a commercial kitchen to do so. That’s where Hot Bread Kitchen came in.
“They really meet you where you’re at. They were like we see that you’re starting from the beginning, here are the resources to do it, here’s community to help, and it’s just been nonstop blessings ever since,” Rasheed said. “There’s a lot of responsibilities that we have to juggle and the food cart itself is a lot of work, it’s like 7 to 7 every day. So that’s been a journey.”
“That was one of the main motivations for the whole concept was making your own version of what you really like from us and staying true to the flavors,” Rasheed said.
Her grandmother encouraged her to start the business, she said, because there wasn’t a jerk seasoning that lived up to what they ate in their home country.
“Now, the jerk chicken is basically one of our most popular, top selling items,” she said.
Working alongside women in their training, classes, mentorship and experience at Hot Bread Kitchen also gave Rasheed and her mom a greater sense of belonging in the culinary industry.
“Majority of them have been women and majority of them have been minorities and it’s just been really, really cool to kind of see yourself,” she explained. “So that familiarity has also been really nice and refreshing to be in that situation with so many people will look like you when they’re going through the same things that you are.”
Inci Mayo’s success at Hot Bread Kitchen in 2014 has led to longevity in baking. She landed a job on the bakery team at Whole Foods Market, took additional classes through the program with experts like Jeffrey Hamelman, and tirelessly pursued her new passion for pastry to eventually become the head baker at Restaurant Associates with Google.
“I took almost every opportunity they had,” she said. “My goal was to switch from bread only to the whole spectrum of pastry — I love the creative part of baking.”
As a German immigrant whose parents are from Turkey and family is still spread throughout Europe, Mayo said, “I didn’t find a good job when because my English wasn’t fluent when I got here eight years ago.”
“I appreciate Hot Bread Kitchen because I got the opportunity to take ESL classes [English as a secondary language] that was really helpful and a big support. I didn’t only learn how to make bread,” she said. “Hot Bread Kitchen showed me career opportunities that I didn’t think I was able to do by myself. I was at home baking every day and my husband said, ‘why don’t you do this as a profession?’ But I couldn’t afford the culinary arts school — then I saw Carla Hall on ‘The Chew’ talk about [HBK], which was really fortunate for me.”
The organization also provides its members with resources for part-time work, childcare and education, plus during the pandemic pivoted to create additional online resources and networking opportunities.
“Now, eight years later, I’ve created everything from a cookie to a tart to a cake, from flatbread to pizza and almost everything,” Mayo said. “I would like to move up and become a chef. In America I look up to people who can do the burden of being an entrepreneur with all kinds of skills and a plan to survive. When I do it, I want to be really ready with the management skills, people skills and financial skills. That is the dream.”
“I’m really grateful for the opportunities and the platform they’ve given women like me,” Mayo said. “I want to thank Hot Bread Kitchen for always thinking of me and I want to let other women to know that it’s a real game changer. You can really change your life.”
