AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EST

Biden orders forces to Europe amid stalled Ukraine talks

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Joe Biden is ordering 2,000 U.S.-based troops to Poland and Germany and shifting 1,000 more from Germany to Romania, demonstrating to both allies and foes America's commitment to NATO's eastern flank amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

Russia fired back with a sharply worded objection, calling the deployments unfounded and 'œdestructive.'ť

Russian President Vladimir Putin also had a new telephone exchange with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. But readouts from both governments showed no progress, with Putin saying the West was giving no ground on Russia's security concerns and Johnson expressing deep concern about Russia's 'œhostile activity'ť on the Ukrainian border, referring to Putin's buildup of 100,000 troops there.

The Biden administration is aiming to demonstrate U.S. resolve without undermining efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Biden notably has not sent military reinforcements to the three Baltic countries on NATO's eastern flank - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - that are former states of the Soviet Union.

No U.S. troops are being sent to Ukraine, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday said the administration has stopped calling a Russian invasion 'œimminent,'ť because that word implies Washington knows Putin has made a decision to invade. Officials say Putin's intentions remain unclear.

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Army to immediately start discharging vaccine refusers

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Army said Wednesday it will immediately begin discharging soldiers who have refused to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine, putting more than 3,300 service members at risk of being thrown out soon.

The Army's announcement makes it the final military service to lay out its discharge policy for vaccine refusers. The Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy have already discharged active-duty troops or entry-level personnel at boot camps for refusing the shots. So far, the Army has not discharged any.

According to data released by the Army last week, more than 3,300 soldiers have refused to get the vaccine. The Army has said that more than 3,000 soldiers have been issued official written reprimands, which suggests they are already identified in the disciplinary process, and some of them could be among the first to be discharged.

The Pentagon has ordered all service members - active-duty, National Guard and Reserves - to get the vaccine, saying it is critical to maintaining the health and readiness of the force. COVID-19 cases continue to surge around the country as a result of the omicron variant.

Roughly 97% of all Army soldiers have gotten at least one shot. More than 3,000 have requested medical or religious exemptions.

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Digital warfare tech at sea helping US foes evade sanctions

MIAMI (AP) - Technology to hide a ship's location previously available only to the world's militaries is spreading fast through the global maritime industry as governments from Iran to Venezuela - and the rogue shipping companies they depend on to move their petroleum products - look for stealthier ways to circumvent U.S. sanctions.

Windward, a maritime intelligence company whose data is used by the U.S. government to investigate sanctions violations, said that since January 2020 it has detected more than 200 vessels involved in over 350 incidents in which they appear to have electronically manipulated their GPS location.

'œThis is out of hand right now,'ť Matan Peled, co-founder of Windward and a former Israeli naval officer, said in an interview. 'œIt's not driven by countries or superpowers. It's ordinary companies using this technique. The scale is astonishing.'ť

Peled said U.S. authorities have been slow to catch on to the spread of technology that has been part of the electronic warfare arsenal for decades but is only now cropping up in commercial shipping, with serious national security, environmental and maritime safety implications.

Windward was able to identify suspect ships using technology that detects digital tracks that don't correspond to actual movements, such as hairpin turns at breakneck speed or drifting in the form of perfect crop circles.

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Senate Dem leader meets with Biden to talk Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Joe Biden had Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over to the White House on Wednesday to talk about how to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Biden has promised to nominate the first Black woman to the high court to fill the spot being vacated by Justice Stephen Breyer, who is retiring at the end of this term. The president, who has promised to make a decision by the end of the month, has amassed a list of potential candidates that includes women with a range of professional expertise, from federal defenders to longtime judges and academics.

Schumer, D-N.Y., said after the meeting that it went well, and repeated that as soon as Biden decides on the nominee, the Senate will move quickly to fill the vacancy. A White House official said Biden hosted Schumer for a conversation about the court as he continues his efforts to consult lawmakers while he reviews candidates. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press to discuss a closed-door meeting.

On Tuesday, Biden played host to Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and ranking Republican Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. The president also spoke by phone with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The court was made up entirely of white men for almost two centuries. Justice Clarence Thomas and the late Thurgood Marshall are the only two Black men who have served on the court. There has never been a Black woman.

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President Xi Jinping, China's 'chairman of everything'

BEIJING (AP) - The last time the Olympics came to China, he oversaw the whole endeavor. Now the Games are back, and this time Xi Jinping is running the entire nation.

The Chinese president, hosting a Winter Olympics beleaguered by complaints about human rights abuses, has upended tradition to restore strongman rule in China and tighten Communist Party control over the economy and society.

Xi was in charge of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing that served as a 'œcoming-out party'ť for China as an economic and political force. A second-generation member of the party elite, Xi became general secretary of the party in 2012. He took the ceremonial title of president the next year.

Xi spent his first five-year term atop the party making himself China's strongest leader at least since Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s. Xi was dubbed 'œchairman of everything'ť after he put himself in charge of economic, propaganda and other major functions. That reversed a consensus for the ruling inner circle to avoid power struggles by sharing decision-making.

The party is crushing pro-democracy and other activism and tightening control over business and society. It has expanded surveillance of China's 1.4 billion people and control of business, culture, education and religion. A 'œsocial credit'ť system tracks every person and company and punishes infractions from pollution to littering.

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Winter storm packing snow, freezing rain moves across US

CHICAGO (AP) - A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path brought a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow to the central U.S. as airlines canceled thousands of flights, officials urged residents to stay off roads and schools closed campuses.

The blast of frigid weather, which began arriving Tuesday night and continued Wednesday, put a long stretch of states from New Mexico and Colorado to Maine under winter storm warnings and watches. On Wednesday morning, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan saw freezing rain, sleet and snow.

By midday Wednesday, some places had already reported snow totals exceeding or nearing a foot, including the central Illinois town of Lewistown with 14.4 inches (36.6 centimeters) and the northeastern Missouri city of Hannibal with 11.5 inches (29.2 centimeters).

'œAnd it's still snowing across these areas,'ť said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

Central Illinois and northern Indiana appeared likely to receive the most snowfall, with expected totals ranging from 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 centimeters) by the end of Thursday, Orrison said.

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Ex-cop who killed Black teen leaving prison: Was it justice?

CHICAGO (AP) - Ex-Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke is set leave prison on Thursday after being locked up less than four years, and in the city that witnessed the historic murder conviction of the first officer for an on-duty shooting in a half century, that release is seen as another chapter in a troubling history of race and policing.

Among many there was hope that Van Dyke's 2018 conviction of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery signaled a willingness to hold officers accountable. But word that he's being set free after serving about three years and four months of his sentence of six years and nine months has turned McDonald, and them, into victims again.

'œThis is the ultimate illustration that Black lives don't matter as much as other lives,'ť said the Rev. Marshall Hatch, a prominent minister on the city's West Side. 'œTo get that short amount of time for a murder sends a bad message to the community.'ť

To give the teen and the community the justice it hoped it had with Van Dyke's conviction, the NAACP this week asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to bring federal civil rights charges against Van Dyke. McDonald's grandmother, Tracie Hunter, has asked for the same thing.

Whether those charges are coming is unknown. But what's clear is that Van Dyke's release comes at a perilous time for the city and its police force. Chicago is experiencing a surge in violet crime and had more homicides last year than in any of in the last quarter century and nearly twice as many as were reported in 2014, the year Van Dyke killed McDonald. The city continues to pay multi-million settlements to victims of police abuse. And just this week, prosecutors said they would vacate the convictions of nearly 50 more people who were framed or falsely accused by police of drug crimes.

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Adulterated cocaine kills 20, sickens 74 in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Apparently adulterated cocaine killed 20 people and seriously sickened 74 others in Buenos Aires, health officials said early Thursday as authorities searched frantically for the remainder of the deadly batch to get it off the streets before it is consumed.

Experts were still analyzing the drug to determine what was in it that caused the deaths. Judicial officials said one hypothesis being considered was that the cocaine was intentionally adulterated as part of a settling of scores between traffickers.

Police said that the cocaine was sold in the poor neighborhood 'œPuerta 8'ť in San Martín - a suburb to the north of Argentina's capital - and that a dozen people had been arrested.

'œThis event is absolutely exceptional. We have no precedent,'ť San Martin Attorney General Marcelo Lapargo told cable channel Todo Noticias. 'œIf the situation has escalated and the nature of trafficking has changed to the point where this becomes commonplace, I hope I never see it again.'ť

Argentine authorities initially reported that eight members of the same group had died after buying the drug Tuesday. But as time passed, the number of deaths grew. The province's health ministry said early Thursday that 20 people had died and 74 more were in the hospital, with 18 of those requiring mechanical respiration.

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4 charged after overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams

NEW YORK (AP) - Four men face charges that they were members of the drug distribution crew that supplied a deadly mix of narcotics to Michael K. Williams, the renowned actor from 'œThe Wire'ť who overdosed just hours after buying fentanyl-laced heroin in a deal recorded on security camera video.

The man seen on camera handing Williams the drugs on a Brooklyn sidewalk, Irvin Cartagena, was charged with directly causing the actor's death, authorities said.

Williams' death was investigated by the New York City police department, but the charges were brought by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who revealed that the suspects had been under surveillance even before the actor's fatal overdose last September.

It was a sting that bore a striking resemblance to the kind depicted on 'œThe Wire,'ť where Williams gained fame playing the bandit Omar Little.

For months, a paid informant working for the NYPD had been making controlled buys of heroin on the same block where Williams purchased his drugs. An undercover police officer made one buy just days before the actor copped his fatal dose, court papers said.

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Washington's NFL team unveils new name as Commanders

Washington has some new Commanders in town.

The NFL team announced its new name on Wednesday, 18 months after fresh pressure from sponsors helped persuade the once-storied franchise to drop its old moniker following decades of criticism that it was offensive to Native Americans. The organization committed to avoiding Native American imagery in its rebrand after being called the Washington Football Team the past two seasons.

Washington is the latest American major professional team to abandon its name linked to Native Americans, and it was considered one of the most egregious.

Suzan Shown Harjo, who is Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee, called the change 'œan amazing and a giant step in the maturation of America.'ť The 76-year-old Harjo has been advocating for sports teams to drop Native imagery and mascots since the 1960s.

'œThat's sort of our place in the world, Native people's place in the world, to help the rest of the country come to grips with its past and to understand how to move on,'ť she said. "And, I hope, how to do it with grace.'ť