The Full Belmonte, 4/2/2022
“Russian forces continued pulling out from northern Ukraine as they build up in the east and south, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy calling the withdrawal ‘slow but noticeable’ in an early-morning video address from Kyiv. ‘I emphasize once again: hard battles lie ahead.’
The U.S. defense department is sending $300 million in additional military and medical assistance to Ukraine, including the Switchblade dive-bombing drone.
European Union leaders said they told China in a virtual summit they expect Beijing to help end Russia’s war in Ukraine and not to interfere with international sanctions imposed on Moscow. President Xi Jinping said Beijing finds the situation in Ukraine ‘deeply regrettable.’
In China, Shanghai’s 25 million residents are almost all under some form of lockdown as the financial hub struggles to contain the coronavirus’s highly contagious omicron variant.” Read more at BloombergA destroyed tank likely belonging to pro-Russian forces in Mariupol on March 23. Photographer: SOPA Images/LightRocket
A volunteer helped a woman arriving from Mariupol at a refugee center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, yesterday.Felipe Dana/Associated Press
“A humanitarian convoy was set to try again to deliver aid to the besieged city of Mariupol, in southern Ukraine. Signs emerged that Russian troops were retreating north of Kyiv.” Read more at New York Times
“Russians have begun to rally behind President Vladimir Putin’s assertion that they are under siege from the West.” Read more at New York Times
PHOTO: RUSSIAN EMERGENCIES MINISTRY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
“Ukrainian forces struck inside Russian territory, Russia said. Attack helicopters executed a low-flying predawn raid, hitting a civilian oil-storage facility outside Belgorod, near the border between the two countries, Russian officials said. Ukrainian officials didn’t immediately take responsibility for the attack. The southern Ukrainian coastal city of Mariupol remained closed, though Russia had said it would allow civilians to evacuate.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Chris Smalls, a leader of the effort to organize at one of Amazon’s Staten Island distribution centers, after the votes were tallied in New York City on Friday.
PHOTO: JASON SZENES/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
“Amazon warehouse workers in New York voted to establish the company’s first union in the U.S. The 2,654 to 2,131 vote could encourage further unionization efforts at the country’s second-largest private employer, which has long resisted labor organizing, or persuade Amazon to make changes to avoid such efforts, labor experts said. The results of a second vote at an Amazon facility in Alabama were close enough to require a hearing, which could take place in the next several weeks.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“The U.S. labor market got stronger in March. Employers added 431,000 jobs, marking the 11th straight month of gains above 400,000. The unemployment rate fell to 3.6% in March from 3.8% a month earlier, close to a 50-year low set in February 2020. As the Omicron-driven Covid-19 wave retreated, more consumers began opening their wallets; restaurants, manufacturers and retailers ramped up hiring; and more people returned to the workforce.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Ramadan, the ninth month on the Islamic calendar, begins this weekend, and Muslims around the world will begin their sunrise-to-sunset fasts, abstaining from food and drink. Along with fasting, Muslims also attend nightly prayers, attempt to finish readings of the Quran, the Islamic holy book, and donate to charities throughout the month. Each year, the day it starts and ends changes as it goes with the lunar calendar. The idea behind fasting is to practice self restraint, and every Muslim that has reached puberty, and is physically capable, is required to fast. Muslims believe that Ramadan is meant to strengthen their relationship with God, and for many, it is a time to celebrate with family, friends and community.” Read more at USA Today
“The U.S. Navy plans to name a ship after Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A new replenishment oiler will bear the late Supreme Court justice’s name, joining a class of ships that is named after the late civil-rights champion Rep. John Lewis. The vessels, two of which are under construction, are named after Harvey Milk, Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Robert F. Kennedy and Supreme Court justices Earl Warren and Thurgood Marshall.” Read more at New York Times
“The police said on Thursday that five fetuses had been removed from a home in Washington that, according to an anti-abortion group, belonged to an activist who was charged by the Justice Department this week with blocking access to an abortion clinic in October 2020.
The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia would release only the address where the fetuses were found. Terrisa Bukovinac, the founder and executive director of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, confirmed that the home belonged to Lauren Handy, 28, the group’s director of activism, who was arrested and charged with federal civil rights offenses this week.” Read more at New York Times
“Sarah Palin, a former Alaska governor and the Republican nominee for vice president in 2008, said Friday that she was entering the race for Alaska’s lone congressional seat, marking her return to national politics after she helped revive the anti-establishment rhetoric that has come to define the Republican Party.
She will be joining a crowded field of nearly 40 candidates to fill the House seat left vacant by Representative Don Young, whose unexpected death last month has spurred one of the largest political shifts in the state in 50 years.
Ms. Palin said in a statement that she planned to honor Mr. Young’s legacy, while painting a dystopian picture of a nation in crisis and criticizing the ‘radical left,’ high gas prices, inflation and illegal immigration.
‘America is at a tipping point,’ she said in the statement. ‘As I’ve watched the far left destroy the country, I knew I had to step up and join the fight.’” Read more at New York Times
“WASHINGTON — At 12:01 a.m. on Friday, precisely 72 years after enumerators began knocking on the doors of some 46 million American houses and apartments, the federal government made public what they learned: the ages, incomes, addresses, ancestry and a trove of other facts about the 150.7 million people who were counted in the 1950 census.
Those millions of census forms, painstakingly filled out by hand in ink, were posted online by the National Archives and Records Administration, which by law has kept them private until now. The records, searchable by name and address, offer an intimate look at a nation on the cusp of the modern era — for the merely curious, a glimpse of the life parents or grandparents led, but for historians and genealogists, a once-in-a-decade bonanza of secrets unveiled….
The last release of similar data was in 2012, when the National Archives made details of the 1940 census public. The government has imposed a 72-year ban on the release of census records since 1952, when the Census Bureau turned over to the National Archives all the data it had collected since the first census in 1790.” Read more at New York Times
“ALBUQUERQUE — As universities across the United States face steep enrollment declines, New Mexico’s government is embarking on a pioneering experiment to fight that trend: tuition-free higher education for all state residents.
After President Biden’s plan for universal free community college failed to gain traction in Congress, New Mexico, one of the nation’s poorest states, has emerged with perhaps the most ambitious plans as states scramble to come up with their own initiatives.
A new state law approved in a rare show of bipartisanship allocates almost 1 percent of the state’s budget toward covering tuition and fees at public colleges and universities, community colleges and tribal colleges. All state residents from new high school graduates to adults enrolling part-time will be eligible regardless of family income. The program is also open to immigrants regardless of their immigration status.
Some legislators and other critics question whether there should have been income caps, and whether the state, newly flush with oil and gas revenue, can secure long-term funding to support the program beyond its first year. The legislation, which seeks to treat college as a public resource similar to primary and secondary education, takes effect in July.
Although nearly half the states have embraced similar initiatives that seek to cover at least some tuition expenses for some students, New Mexico’s law goes further by covering tuition and fees before other scholarships and sources of financial aid are applied, enabling students to use those other funds for expenses such as lodging, food or child care.” Read more at New York Times
“Biden’s Bid to Salvage New-Deal Dream Hinges on Manchin — Again
Biden’s Build Back Better plan rivaled the ambition of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Depression-era New Deal, with a price tag of $3.5 trillion. Erik Wasson, Nancy Cook and Laura Davison outline how its demise boils down to a miscalculation in the White House’s handling of Joe Manchin, the often unpredictable Democratic senator from West Virginia.” Read more at BloombergBiden in the Oval Office of the White House. Photographer: Al Drago/The New York Times
“Falsehoods Aired on Spanish Radio Delude Voters Before Midterms
Spanish-language media in the U.S. is being targeted with misinformation about voter fraud, the pandemic, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Maria Curi writes how the practice may threaten the Democrats’ chances in the upcoming congressional elections.” Read more at Bloomberg“Two European Strongmen Bid to Keep Power in the Shadow of War
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic are bidding to keep their grip on power in elections that have put a spotlight on their close ties to Putin. Misha Savic and Zoltan Simon explain how the war in Ukraine has overshadowed the votes.” Read more at Bloomberg“Pope Francis apologized today for the abuses Indigenous children suffered in Canada from the 19th century until the 1970s.
Why it matters: Nearly 150,000 Indigenous children are believed to have been forced away from their families into Church-run residential schools, which were set up to convert them to Christianity.” Read more at Axios
Cassidy Caron, head of an Indigenous delegation from Canada, speaks in St. Peter's Square after meeting with Pope Francis on Monday. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images
Will Smith accepting the best actor Oscar.Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
“Will Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts over his slap of Chris Rock at the Oscars.” Read more at New York Times
“The photographer Patrick Demarchelier helped to define fashion and celebrity in recent decades. He died at 78.” Read more at New York Times
Jen Psaki walks into the briefing room with deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on March 15. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“White House press secretary Jen Psaki is in exclusive talks with MSNBC to join the network after she leaves the White House around May, Axios' Sara Fischer scooped this morning.
The deal is nearly final, but no contract has been signed. Government ethics rules have stipulations about how public employees can pursue private-sector job opportunities while in office.
To start, Psaki will host a show on NBCUniversal's streaming platform, Peacock. She’ll also be part of live programming across MSNBC.” Read more at Axios
Mike Krzyzewski, center, Duke’s coach.Jamie Squire/Getty Images
“Duke vs. North Carolina, N.C.A.A. men’s Final Four: Somehow, college basketball’s biggest rivals had never met in the N.C.A.A. tournament before today. Duke and North Carolina — located about 10 miles apart — bring a century’s worth of grudges to this matchup, and at stake is a spot in the national title game. If that weren’t enough intrigue, this is also the final season for Duke’s Hall of Fame head coach, Mike Krzyzewski. Last month, North Carolina spoiled his final home game. Will the Tar Heels end his career, too? 8:50 p.m. Eastern tonight on TBS.” Read more at New York Times
Agencies
UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) celebrates after defeating the Stanford Cardinal in the women’s Final Four on Friday night in Minneapolis. Photograph: Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports
“Paige Bueckers scored 14 points and UConn advanced to the national championship game with a 63-58 win over defending champion Stanford on Friday night.
The Huskies will face South Carolina for the national championship on Sunday.
It’s UConn’s first trip to the championship game since 2016, when the Huskies won the last of four straight championships. Since then, the team has suffered heartbreaking defeats in the national semi-finals, losing twice in overtime.
UConn (30-5) will be seeking their 12th national championship, and the Huskies have never lost in an NCAA title game.
They had to work to get to the finals. Leading by 52-44 with 1:26 left, Stanford made a furious rally thanks to a few costly UConn turnovers.
Haley Jones led the Cardinal (32-4) with 20 points.
South Carolina 72, Louisville 59
Aliyah Boston had 23 points and 18 rebounds to back up her AP National Player of the Year award and carry South Carolina to the NCAA championship game with a victory over Louisville.
Brea Beal matched her season high with 12 points and helped hold Cardinals star Hailey Van Lith to nine points on 4-for-11 shooting as the Gamecocks (34-2) delivered another stifling defensive performance.
Coach Dawn Staley will try to win her second national championship, eight months after the Hall of Famer led the US Olympic team to a gold medal in the Tokyo Games.
Destanni Henderson scored 11 points with 3-for-6 shooting from three-point range and had four assists for South Carolina, which improved to 13-0 this season against AP-ranked opponents.
Emily Engstler led Louisville (29-5) with 18 points and nine rebounds as the Cardinals went 1 for 8 from three-point range and were never able to find a rhythm in the half court against the No 1 overall seed in this tournament. The Cardinals were the only team in this Final Four without a title.” Read more at The Guardian
“Hope Solo, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and former star goalkeeper for the United States soccer team, was arrested on Thursday in North Carolina and charged with impaired driving, resisting arrest and misdemeanor child abuse, the police said.
Ms. Solo, 40, had her two children in the vehicle when she was arrested in the parking lot of a business in Winston-Salem, the police said. She was later released from the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center, the police said, adding that no further information was available.
A passer-by had noticed Ms. Solo passed out behind the steering wheel for more than an hour with the vehicle’s engine running and her 2-year-old twins in the back seat, The Associated Press reported, citing arrest reports.
‘On the advice of counsel, Hope can’t speak about this situation, but she wants everyone to know that her kids are her life, that she was released immediately and is now at home with her family, that the story is more sympathetic than the initial charges suggest, and that she looks forward to her opportunity to defend these charges,’ Rich Nichols, Ms. Solo’s lawyer, said in a statement that was also shared by Ms. Solo on Twitter.
Ms. Solo is one of the most decorated players in U.S. Soccer history and was widely considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world before her contract was terminated in 2016 for what U.S. Soccer called ‘conduct that is counter to the organization’s principles.’
The termination — and a six-month suspension from the women’s national team — came after Ms. Solo derided the Swedish women’s team that beat the United States in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as a ‘bunch of cowards’ for their defensive style of play.
For more than a decade, Ms. Solo had been a dominant force between the goal posts. She won gold medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Olympics in London, and she anchored the U.S. team during its 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup championship run. She won two Golden Glove awards as best goalkeeper at the World Cup, in 2011 and 2015.
But her playing years were shadowed by controversies that tested the patience of U.S. Soccer. She clashed with coaches, criticized teammates and fought with former national team stars on social media.
In 2014, she was charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault in what the police in Kirkland, Wash., described as an alcohol-fueled confrontation with her half sister and nephew. U.S. Soccer was criticized for not suspending Ms. Solo at the time. The case was dismissed in 2018.” Read more at New York Times