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RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russians push deeper into Mariupol as locals plead for help
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces have pushed deeper into Ukraine’s besieged and battered port city of Mariupol. Heavy fighting shut down a major steel plant there, and local authorities in the city pleaded for more Western help. The fall of Mariupol, the scene of some of the war’s worst suffering, would mark a major battlefield advance for the Russians, who are largely bogged down outside major cities more than three weeks into the invasion. Russian forces have already cut Mariupol off from the Sea of Azov, and its fall would link Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, to territories controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in the east. Ukraine’s president, meanwhile, repeated his call for Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with him.
AP-EU-RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-THE-LATEST
Live updates: Zelenskyy to Swiss: Freeze oligarchs’ accounts
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the Swiss government to freeze the bank accounts of all Russian oligarchs. Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported that Zelenskyy, who spoke via livestream on Saturday to thousands of antiwar protesters in the Swiss city of Bern, said that “in your banks are the funds of the people who unleashed this war. Help to fight this. So that their funds are frozen. SRF also reported that the Ukrainian president criticized the Swiss multinational food conglomerate Nestle, which has decided not to withdraw from Russia for the time being, as opposed to many other international companies.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR-OIL
Halliburton, Schlumberger suspend operations in Russia
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. oil field services companies Halliburton Co. and Schlumberger are suspending their operations in Russia as the Houston, Texas-based businesses react to U.S. sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Halliburton said Friday that it paused future business in Russia as the company complies with sanctions that prohibit transactions and work, including for certain state-owned Russian customers. Halliburton says it will prioritize safety and reliability as it winds down its remaining operations in the country. Schlumberger said it immediately suspended investment and technology deployment to its Russia operations. As the war continues, companies that remain are under increasing pressure to leave.
BC-US-RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-THE-GRIND
Denied swift victory, Russian military maintains strong hand
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than three weeks into his invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initial aim of an easy change in government in Ukraine is long gone. But Russia’s military still has a strong hand. Military analysts warn that with its greater might and stockpile of city-flattening munitions, Russia’s military can still fight for whatever Putin may plan next, whether that’s leveraging a negotiated settlement or brute destruction. Michael Clarke, former head of the British-based Royal United Services Institute defense think tank, predicts that even in what Clarke calls a “dreadful mess,” Putin’s instinct will be to double down.
AP-EU-NORWAY-NATO-US-PLANE-CRASH
4 US Marines die in NATO drill when Osprey crashes in Norway
HELSINKI (AP) — Authorities say that four U.S. Marines have been killed when their Osprey aircraft crashed in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise unrelated to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere tweeted Saturday that they were killed in the crash on Friday night. The cause was under investigation. But Norwegian police reported bad weather in the area. The Marines were assigned to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, II Marine Expeditionary Force. They were taking part in a NATO exercise called Cold Response. The aircraft was an MV-22B Osprey.
IRAQ-IRAN ATTACK
Iraqi Kurdish oil tycoon’s home in ruins after Iran strike
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Iranian missiles that struck northern Iraq earlier this week have laid to waste the sprawling mansion belonging to an Iraqi Kurdish oil tycoon near a U.S. consulate complex in the Iraqi city of Irbil. Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said it launched the attack last Sunday at what it described as a “strategic center” of the Israeli spy agency Mossad in retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two of its members the previous week. Baz Karim Barzinji, CEO of the Iraqi Kurdish oil company KAR group, denies any links to Mossad. The missiles gutted his beautiful home but he says he is grateful his family was unharmed.
SUPREME COURT-NOMINATION-GUANTANAMO
Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Guantanamo clients an issue for GOP
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee will face sharp questions from Republican lawmakers this coming week about the work she did as a public defender representing four Guantanamo Bay detainees. Some Republicans say Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has a record of what they say is “defending terrorists” and they plan to raise questions about it at her Senate hearings that begin Monday. But some prominent Republicans have previously defended those who represented Guantanamo detainees, saying ensuring everyone access to a lawyer is a fundamental part of the American legal system. Jackson has written that under “the ethics rules that apply to lawyers, an attorney has a duty to represent her clients zealously,” no matter their own views
AP-US-WRONGFUL-CONVICTION-KANSAS-LAWSUIT
Wrongfully convicted man sues Kansas county for $93 million
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man who spent 23 years in prison for a double murder he didn’t commit is suing the county where he was convicted and a former police officer for $93 million. Lamonte McIntyre and his mother allege the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, is responsible for the actions of former detective Roger Golubski. They accuse Golubski of coercing McIntyre’s mom into sex and then framing her son for the double murder when she rejected later sexual advances. Golubski denies the allegations. A judge on Thursday set a Nov. 7 jury trial for the lawsuit. McIntyre was released from prison in 2017. He now lives in Arizona.
AP-US-MINNESOTA-PUBLIC-DEFENDERS
Minnesota public defenders reach deal to avert strike
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota public defenders have reached a tentative contract agreement, averting a walkout could have brought much of the state court system to a standstill. Negotiators for the unionized attorneys and the Minnesota Board of Public Defense met with a state mediator Friday. Union spokesman Gus Froemke said Saturday that the agreement was reached shortly before midnight. Public defenders across Minnesota say they’ve been pushed to the brink by routinely high caseloads amid the coronavirus pandemic. The strike was set to begin as early as Tuesday. The union says the tentative agreement includes cost of living adjustments through 2023.
STABBING DEATH-FLORIDA
One-time escapee found guilty in stabbing murder
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida defendant who once made national news when he escaped by dashing out of a courtroom during a pretrial hearing on murder charges has been convicted of that killing. Dayonte Resiles was convicted Friday of first-degree murder for the 2014 stabbing death Jill Halliburton Su at her suburban Fort Lauderdale home. Su was bound and stabbed during a burglary. Prosecutors said DNA tied Resiles to the scene. The jury will now decide whether the 27-year-old Resiles will be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. During a 2016 hearing, Resiles fled from a hearing, running down stairs to an awaiting car. He was recaptured after a six-day manhunt.
