AP-EU-RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-THE-LATEST
Live Updates | Zelenskyy: Kyiv meeting set with US officials
Ukraine’s president said he would meet with the US secretary of state and the secretary of defense in kyiv on Sunday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about the plans Saturday at a press conference. He didn’t immediately share more details about Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin’s visit. The White House and State Department declined to comment on Saturday. Zelenskyy has for weeks urged Western allies to send more weapons to Ukraine to counter the Russian invasion.
RUSSIAN-UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine: Russians attempt to storm Mariupol plant and strike Odessa
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An adviser to Ukraine’s presidential office said Russian forces attempted to storm a steel mill that is the last defense bastion in the strategic port city of Mariupol. The reported assault came after the Kremlin claimed its army had seized all of Mariupol except for the resort factory. Earlier on Saturday, a Ukrainian military unit released a video of women and children locked underground and saying they longed to see the sun. On the eve of Orthodox Easter, the Russian army shelled other towns and villages in southern and eastern Ukraine. Officials said cruise missiles hit the Black Sea port city of Odessa, killing six people.
BC-AF-NIGERIA-OIL EXPLOSION
Explosion at illegal oil refinery in Nigeria kills over 50
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian police and officials say more than 50 people have been killed and many injured in southeastern Nigeria in an explosion that rocked an illegal oil refinery. The death toll could be over 100, according to a report by the Lagos-based Punch newspaper. The fire reportedly spread to neighboring houses. Declan Emelumba, state information commissioner of Imo, said the fire started on Friday evening and quickly spread to two fuel storage areas located in the crude oil refinery, causing the “complex engulfed by a rapidly spreading fire” in the area. He said the immediate cause of the blast and the extent of death, injury and damage were under investigation.
LEBANON-MIGRANTS
Boat carrying 60 migrants capsizes off Lebanese coast
BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese Red Cross said a boat carrying 60 migrants capsized off the coast of Lebanon. It was not immediately known if there were any casualties in Saturday night’s crash. The Red Cross says it has sent ambulances to the port in the northern city of Tripoli in case there are casualties. Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s office said the boat capsized shortly after leaving the northern coastal town of Qalamoun, near Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-largest city. For many years, Lebanon was a country that hosted refugees, but since the country’s economic collapse began in 2019, thousands of people have left on boats heading for Europe.
WESTERN FOREST FIRES
Wildfires merge in New Mexico, threatening rural villages
LAS VEGAS, NM (AP) — Flames from wind-driven wildfires on Saturday were scorching dry forests and grasslands and putting many small villages in New Mexico on the path to danger. A fire information officer for two wildfires in rural northern New Mexico said Saturday the fires merged while quadrupling in size since Thursday morning. East of Santa Fe, ranchers and other rural residents were abruptly told to leave by law enforcement. In Arizona, cooler weather with some humidity helped crews fight fires near Flagstaff and south of Prescott, but winds remained a concern. More than a dozen major fires were burning in Arizona and New Mexico, destroying dozens of homes and as of Saturday scorching more than 174 square miles.
AP-US-MICHIGAN-REPUBLICANS-CONVENTION
Michigan GOP picks candidates with Trump influence to the line
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Republicans are gathering to choose candidates for statewide races that former President Donald Trump has sought to sway while flirting with another House race White. About 2,000 delegates voted Saturday at a convention hall in Grand Rapids. The event is a test of Trump’s influence in contests for attorney general and secretary of state. Trump backed his allies Matthew DePerno as attorney general and Kristina Karamo as secretary of state. Political newcomers back his bogus election claims. Karamo won. DePerno performed well but was just short of the necessary majority, leading to another ballot.
POLAND-COAL MINE ACCIDENT
Rescuers find 4 of 10 miners missing in Polish coal mine
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish mining authorities said rescuers had reached four of 10 miners missing following an underground tremor and methane gas discharge Saturday at a mine in southern Poland. Mine authorities did not describe the condition of the four men but said the rescue team was unable to bring them to the surface immediately. Saturday morning’s accident took place at the Borynia-Zofiowka mine. This is the second coal mine accident in the region this week. Repeated methane explosions since Wednesday at the nearby Pniowek mine have killed five miners, left seven other miners and rescue workers missing and injured dozens. The search for the seven missing in Pniowek was suspended on Friday due to unsafe conditions.
DEATHS OF HOMELESS-LOS ANGELES
Overdoses, not COVID-19, lead to spike in homeless deaths in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly 2,000 homeless people died in Los Angeles County in the first year of the pandemic, a 56% increase from the previous year, a new report shows. mainly due to drug overdoses. Findings released Friday in a report from the county’s public health department showed that despite initial fears, the virus itself was not the primary culprit in deaths among California’s largest homeless population. But it has cut people off from mental health and addiction treatment after services were drastically cut to prevent the virus from spreading. The Department of Public Health reported 715 fatal overdoses among homeless people in the first year of the pandemic.
PERUVIAN RESIDENCY FILMING
Maryland man identified by police shot dead in incident at Peru envoy’s home
WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities have identified the man who was shot by U.S. Secret Service agents last week at the Washington residence of Peru’s ambassador to the United States. The Metropolitan Police Department said the man was Gordon Casey, a 19-year-old from Germantown, Maryland. Investigators have released no details about a potential motive for Wednesday morning’s incident. Police said the ambassador and his family were inside the home in the Forest Hills neighborhood of northwest Washington when they heard several smashed windows and called the Secret Service. Officers responding to a burglary in progress encountered a man they believe was armed with a metal stake in the backyard of the residence.
13-YEAR-OLD GRADUATE
13-year-old from Minnesota is about to graduate from college
MINNEAPOLIS, AP — A 13-year-old Minnesota boy is about to graduate from college _ with a major in physics and a minor in math. Elliott Tanner maintains a 3.78 grade point average at the University of Minnesota and participates in undergraduate research while mentoring classmates. He wants to be a theoretical high-energy physicist and ultimately a university professor of physics. Elliott’s mother, Michelle Tanner, said he started reading and doing math when he was 3 years old. After a few years of homeschooling and a high school program that took him two years to complete, he began attending college at the age of 9.
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