News
Associated Press, ,
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-a3092d8e476949ed7c55607a645a9154
Russian forces shelled Europe’s largest nuclear plant early Friday, sparking a fire as they pressed their attack on a crucial energy-producing Ukrainian city and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea.
Leading nuclear authorities were concerned — but not panicked — about the damage to the power station. The assault triggered phone calls between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders. The U.S. Department of Energy activated its nuclear incident response team as a precaution.
The attack on the eastern city of Enerhodar and its Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant unfolded as the invasion entered its second week and another round of talks between the two sides yielded a tentative agreement to set up safe corridors to evacuate citizens and deliver humanitarian aid.
A fire broke out at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant which is Europe’s largest power station following an attack from Russian forces.
CNN, – March 4, 2022
Russian troops have occupied Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, after fierce fighting near the Ukrainian facility that drew international condemnation and sparked fears of a potential nuclear incident.
Those concerns were quickly downplayed by experts, who warned against comparisons with the plant at Chernobyl, where the world’s worst nuclear disaster occurred in 1986.
Modern plants are significantly safer than older ones like Chernobyl, they said. But analysts nonetheless expressed horror that Russia’s violent invasion of Ukraine has spilled into nuclear facilities, a development with few recent parallels.
And the operator and regulator of the site have communicated that the situation on the ground is “extremely tense and challenging,” according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
A bill by Senate Republicans to terminate the national emergency declaration for the Covid-19 pandemic passed 48 to 47 Thursday on a party-line vote.
While the legislation has a slim chance of passing the Democrat-controlled House and President Joe Biden has already threatened to veto the bill, the vote is yet another rebuke of the administration’s pandemic policies at a time it is seeking billions from Congress to keep them going for several more months.
Republicans brought the bill to the floor using a technical process under the National Emergencies Act, which allows for a simple majority floor vote if the committee of jurisdiction fails to take up the bill within two weeks.
Given several absences on the Democratic side of the aisle — with some members out sick with Covid and others mourning the death of a relative — the measure was able to pass.
PBS NewsHour – March 4, 2022 (12:33)
New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including Russia’s ongoing assault against Ukraine and President Biden’s State of the Union address and his agenda moving forward.
Politico,
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/03/senate-votes-to-end-covid-19-emergency-declaration-biden-threatens-veto-00013946
CNN, March 4, 2022 – 1:30 pm (ET)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/04/politics/kamala-harris-romania-poland/index.html
The White House is actively discussing sending Vice President Kamala Harris to Poland and Romania, a source familiar with the discussions tells CNN, although the source cautioned no final decision have been made.
The discussions come as the White House continues to show support for Ukraine as it enters a dangerous new phase in the Russian invasion.
A potential trip would come on the heels of Harris’ latest international travel to the Munich Security Conference, where she met with US allies and partners including Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Harris also spoke with Poland and Romania’s prime ministers by phone earlier this week.
In our era of political polarization, hardly anything can unite a majority of Americans. That’s why new polling from CNN on the crisis in Ukraine is so encouraging: 84% of both Democrats and Republicans support increased economic sanctions against Russia. A remarkable 65% of Republicans and 64% of Democrats think we should be doing more to support the Ukrainians.
This unity was obvious at President Joe Biden’s State of the Union on Tuesday, where Democrats and Republicans gave him and Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova multiple standing ovations when the President discussed Ukraine’s fight for freedom.
Anytime Americans agree on something is notable, but it is particularly remarkable given numerous partisan attempts to have us look away, do less and allow Russian leader Vladimir Putin to run roughshod over the Ukrainian people.
The Senate voted 48-47 Thursday afternoon to end the national emergency declaration, the latest in a campaign to return to normal despite the Biden administration’s wariness to declare a wind-down.
The Republican-backed bill stands a slim chance of passing in the Democrat-controlled House, and President Joe Biden has already threatened to veto such a measure, POLITICO’s Alice Miranda Ollstein notes. But the building pressure is a bad sign for the Biden administration, which has no intention of ending the emergency before July and could very well extend it further into the year.
NBC, March 4, 2022 – 12:00 pm (ET)
