Humans have filled the world’s oceans with more than 170 trillion pieces of plastic, dramatically more than previously estimated, according to a major study released Wednesday.It's after midnight in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know
Ukrainian forces continue to defend against Russian attacks in the battered city of Bakhmut, according to the military's General Staff.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russian troops will have an "open road" to capture other key cities in eastern Ukraine if they seize control of Bakhmut. He defended his decision to keep Ukrainian forces in the besieged city and in his nightly address, announced the death of Dmytro Kotsiubaylo, a celebrated Ukrainian fighter who was killed in Bakhmut.
As of Tuesday, nearly 4,000 civilians remain inside Bakhmut, according to the country's Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. She said Ukrainian workers were still working to evacuate the remainder of the population, but the current situation makes their jobs even more difficult.
Five women denied abortion care in Texas sue state over bans
Five women denied abortions in Texas, along with two doctors, have sued the state after they were refused abortion care despite suffering severe complications with their pregnancies.
None of the plaintiffs’ fetuses had a chance of survival. The state’s abortion bans are supposed to allow for the procedure in cases where there is a fatal diagnosis for the fetus, as well as when the pregnancy poses substantial harms to the pregnant person’s health.
And yet, under the overlapping abortion bans in effect in Texas – which threaten doctors with losing their medical licenses, hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and up to 99 years in jail for providing abortion care – the plaintiffs claim they were not given the healthcare they needed and were entitled to.
US agency sues Exxon for discrimination after nooses found at plant
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Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) was sued for racial discrimination by a U.S. federal agency on Thursday, with charges alleging that the oil major failed to protect workers from harassment after nooses were found at one of its facilities in 2020.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said in a statement that a Black employee at Exxon's chemical plant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, found a hangman's noose at his work site in January 2020.
The EEOC said that at the time of this report, Exxon was already aware of three other such instances of nooses being displayed at the complex and a nearby refinery, and that a fifth noose was reported later in 2020.
According to the EEOC, Exxon investigated some of these incidents, but not all, and "failed to take measures reasonably calculated to end the harassment."
Trump ‘successfully chilled’ FBI from being willing to investigate anything related to him: Peter Strzok
FBI agent Peter Strzok on Wednesday said former President Trump and others “successfully chilled the FBI’s willingness to investigate anything” Trump-related, complicating later inquiries into the former president’s handling of classified document.
Strzok took to Twitter to comment on new reporting from The Washington Post indicating that FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors squabbled over how aggressively to criminally investigate Trump’s handling of classified documents, including whether to conduct a surprise search of his Florida residence.
“Trump, [Attorney General William] Barr, [special counsel John] Durham, and others successfully chilled the FBI’s willingness to investigate anything related to Trump. The FBI handled Trump with unprecedented kid gloves, afraid to follow the facts for fear of political blowback, delaying the investigation for months,” Strzok wrote in one tweet.
Drones fly deep inside Russia; Putin orders border tightened
Drones that the Kremlin said were launched by Ukraine flew deep inside Russian territory, including one that got within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Moscow, signaling breaches in Russian defenses as President Vladimir Putin ordered stepped-up protection at the border.
Officials said the drones caused no injuries and did not inflict any significant damage, but the attacks on Monday night and Tuesday morning raised questions about Russian defense capabilities more than a year after the country’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
FBI arrests man who allegedly stormed Capitol wearing panda head
An individual wearing a panda headpiece became known online as “#SeditionPanda” after being seen in footage of the riotous crowds marching toward the Capitol on Jan. 6.
According to an FBI agent’s statement included in the complaint, investigators identified Rumson as the individual sporting the panda costume based on footage of the headpiece both on and off throughout the riot.
The individual in the headpiece can allegedly be seen in footage entering the Capitol and roaming the interior halls. Investigators identified Rumson leaving the Capitol less than 15 minutes later without the panda costume.
The filing further alleges that Rumson was heard yelling “GET A RAM!” as he stood near the Senate wing door just before the door was breached for a second time.
Rumson was arrested in Florida on Monday, according to the records.
Russia Launches Rescue Ship To Space Station After Leaks
Russia launched a rescue ship on Friday for two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut whose original ride home sprang a dangerous leak while parked at the International Space Station.
The new, empty Soyuz capsule should arrive at the orbiting lab on Sunday.
The capsule leak in December was blamed on a micrometeorite that punctured an external radiator, draining it of coolant. The same thing appeared to happen again earlier this month, this time on a docked Russian cargo ship. Camera views showed a small hole in each spacecraft.
The Russian Space Agency delayed the launch of the replacement Soyuz, looking for any manufacturing defects. No issues were found, and the agency proceeded with Friday’s predawn launch from Kazakhstan of the capsule with bundles of supplies strapped into the three seats.
Another House Republican Is Under Fire For Reportedly Embellishing His Résumé
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) is facing criticism following an investigation by a news outlet in his home state that claims he ― much like Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) ― embellished parts of his résumé.
The probe by Nashville’s WTVF-TV found that Ogles, who was sworn into office last month, has a background “filled with exaggerations,” such as his claim on his congressional website that he’s an economist and “studied policy and economics.”
There is little evidence to back up such a claim, according to the TV station, and his alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University, declined to confirm the nature of his degree from there.
A look back at Ogles’ website over two decades ago shows a claim that he studied foreign policy and the Constitution at Middle Tennessee State University and Western Kentucky University.
Western Kentucky told WTVF that Ogles majored in English and allied language arts in the 1990s.
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