AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EST
Russia to punish 'fake' war news, blocks Facebook, Twitter
DUSSELDORF, Germany (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday intensified a crackdown on media outlets and individuals who fail to hew to the Kremlin line on the war in Ukraine, blocking Facebook and Twitter and signing into law a bill that criminalizes the intentional spreading of what Moscow deems to be 'œfake'ť reports.
The moves against the social media giants follow blocks imposed on the BBC, the U.S. government-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and Latvia-based website Meduza. The government's sweeping action against the foreign outlets that publish news in Russian seeks to establish even tighter controls over what information the domestic audience sees about the invasion of Ukraine.
The state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said it cut access to Twitter and Facebook in line with a decision by the Prosecutor General's office. The watchdog has previously accused Twitter of failing to delete the content banned by Russian authorities and slowed down access to it.
The bill, quickly rubber-stamped by both houses of the Kremlin-controlled parliament and signed by Putin, imposes prison sentences of up to 15 years for those spreading information that goes against the Russian government's narrative on the war.
Russian authorities have repeatedly decried reports of Russian military setbacks or civilian deaths in Ukraine as 'œfake'ť news. State media outlets refer to Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a 'œspecial military operation'ť rather than a 'œwar'ť or an 'œinvasion.'ť
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Attack on Ukrainian nuclear plant triggers worldwide alarm
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) - Russian troops Friday seized the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe after a middle-of-the-night attack that set it on fire and briefly raised worldwide fears of a catastrophe in the most chilling turn yet in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Firefighters put out the blaze, and no radiation was released, U.N. and Ukrainian officials said, as Russian forces pressed on with their week-old offensive on multiple fronts and the number of refugees fleeing the country eclipsed 1.2 million.
With world condemnation mounting, the Kremlin cracked down on the flow of information at home, blocking Facebook, Twitter, the BBC and the U.S. government-funded Voice of America. And President Vladimir Putin signed a law making it a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison to spread so-called fake news, including anything that goes against the official government line on the war.
While the vast Russian armored column threatening Kyiv remained stalled outside the capital, Putin's military has launched hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites across the country, and made significant gains on the ground in the south in an apparent bid to cut off Ukraine's access to the sea.
In the attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the southeastern city of Enerhodar, the chief of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said a Russian 'œprojectile'ť hit a training center, not any of the six reactors.
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Live updates: Zelenskyy accuses NATO of allowing bombings
The latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war:
KYIV, Ukraine - In a bitter and emotional speech, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized NATO for refusing to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying it will fully untie Russia's hands as it escalates its attack from the air.
'œAll the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you, because of your weakness, because of your lack of unity,'ť he said in a nighttime address. 'œThe alliance has given the green light to the bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages by refusing to create a no-fly zone.'ť
On Friday, NATO refused to impose a no-fly zone, warning that to do so could provoke widespread war in Europe with nuclear-armed Russia.
'œAll that the alliance was able to do today was to pass through its procurement system 50 tons of diesel fuel for Ukraine. Perhaps so we could burn the Budapest Memorandum,'ť Zelenskyy said, referring to the 1994 security guarantees given to Ukraine in exchange for the withdrawal of its Soviet-era nuclear weapons.
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Russia's nuke plant attack revives Chernobyl disaster fears
LONDON (AP) - Russia's attack on a nuclear power plant in Ukraine has revived the fears of people across Europe who remember the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which killed at least 30 people and spewed radioactive fallout over much of the Northern Hemisphere.
The U.N nuclear energy watchdog said no radiation was released after Russian forces shelled the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the early hours of Friday.
But that did little to ease growing concerns in Western Europe. Even before the attack, Russia's invasion of Ukraine had heightened concerns about the vulnerability of the nuclear reactors that provide about 50% of the country's electricity. In addition to the danger of explosives damaging the reactors, plant managers and technicians must have unfettered access to the plants to ensure they operate safely, nuclear experts warned.
Pharmacies in some Eastern European and Scandinavian countries reported a surge in demand for iodine tablets, which can be used to protect children from radiation exposure. Politicians rushed to criticize Russia's 'œreckless'ť actions, and Ukrainian authorities renewed calls for a no-fly zone to ensure Europe doesn't face another nuclear disaster.
'œI didn't really sleep last night,'' said Paul Dorfman, who led the European Environment Agency's response to Chernobyl and was glued to the news from Ukraine on his phone. 'œThe fact is that when things go really wrong with nuclear, you can begin to write off a lot of people's lives.''
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For families, $6B deal with OxyContin maker is just a start
For those who lost loved ones in the opioid crisis, making sure the family behind OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma paid a price was never just about money. What many wanted was a chance to confront the Sackler family face to face, to make them feel their pain.
While some may get that chance - at least by video - under a tentative settlement reached Thursday that also would force the Sacklers to pay out billions, the families still are coming away feeling empty, conflicted and angry yet again. There's a bit of hope mixed in, too.
Nothing, though, will bring back any of the lives lost or hold the Sacklers fully accountable, in their eyes.
'œI'd like to see the Sacklers bleed all they can, but the bigger picture for me is what they're doing to clean up the mess,'ť said Vicki Meyer Bishop of Clarksburg, Maryland, who lost her 45-year-old son, Brian Meyer, in 2017. 'œWe're all so very worried about the next generation and the next child who will be lost.'ť
The Sacklers, whose wealth has been estimated in court filings at over $10 billion, will get to hang on to a chunk of their vast fortune and be protected from current and future civil lawsuits over opioids.
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Big cities drop more COVID-19 measures in push for normalcy
NEW YORK (AP) - New York City and Los Angeles are lifting some of their strictest COVID-19 prevention measures as officials in big cities around the U.S. push for a return to normalcy after two grueling years of the pandemic.
New York City, which has long prided itself as having the nation's toughest COVID-19 safety protocols, will do away with several of its mandates next week, including required masking in public schools and vaccination requirements at restaurants, entertainment and cultural venues, the mayor announced Friday.
On the other side of the country, residents in Los Angeles County were no longer required as of Friday to wear masks at restaurants, bars, gyms, shops and other businesses, though the city of Los Angeles is still requiring many indoor businesses to verify that their patrons are fully vaccinated.
The moves to ease the mandates comes as government officials around the U.S. have been easing COVID-19 guidelines and signaling that the risk of virus spread is retreating - at least for now.
Illinois lifted face mask requirements for many indoor spaces on Monday, and Boston will lift similar rules on Saturday. Chicago stopped requiring proof of vaccination to dine in restaurants. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that most Americans can now safely take a break from wearing masks, including students.
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Pence hits Trump: No room in GOP 'for apologists for Putin'
WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Vice President Mike Pence will urge Republicans to move on from the 2020 election and will declare that 'œthere is no room in this party for apologists for Putin'ť as he further cements his break from former President Donald Trump.
Pence, in a speech Friday evening to the party's top donors in New Orleans, will take on those in his party who have failed to forcefully condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin for his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
'œWhere would Russian tanks be today if NATO had not expanded the borders of freedom? There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin,'ť Pence will say, according to excerpts from the speech. 'œThere is only room for champions of freedom.'ť
Pence does not directly reference the former president in excerpts shared ahead of his remarks. But Trump has repeatedly used language that has been criticized as deferential to Putin, including calling the Russian leader 'œsmart'ť while insisting the attack never would have happened on his watch.
Pence will also continue to push back on Trump's lies about the 2020 election as he lays the groundwork for a possible 2024 presidential run. Trump, who has been teasing his own comeback bid that could potentially put the two in direct competition, has continued to falsely insist that Pence had the power to overturn the 2020 election, which he did not.
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High court reimposes Boston Marathon bomber's death sentence
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court has reinstated the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
The justices, by a 6-3 vote Friday, agreed with the Biden administration's arguments that a federal appeals court was wrong to throw out the sentence of death a jury imposed on Tsarnaev for his role in the bombing that killed three people near the finish line of the marathon in 2013.
'œDzhokhar Tsarnaev committed heinous crimes. The Sixth Amendment nonetheless guaranteed him a fair trial before an impartial jury. He received one,'ť Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority, made up of the court's six conservative justices.
The court reversed the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, which ruled in 2020 that the trial judge improperly excluded evidence that could have shown Tsarnaev was deeply influenced by his older brother, Tamerlan, and was somehow less responsible for the carnage. The appeals court also faulted the judge for not sufficiently questioning jurors about their exposure to extensive news coverage of the bombing.
In dissent for the court's three liberal justices, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote, 'œIn my view, the Court of Appeals acted lawfully in holding that the District Court should have allowed Dzhokhar to introduce this evidence.'ť
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Voter turnout sagging in troubled voting rights hub of Selma
SELMA, Ala. (AP) - Fewer and fewer people are voting in Selma, Alabama. And to many, that is particularly heartbreaking.
They lament that almost six decades after Black demonstrators on the city's Edmond Pettus Bridge risked their lives for the right to cast ballots, voting in predominantly Black Selma and surrounding Dallas County has steadily declined. Turnout in 2020 was under 57%, among the worst in the state.
Rep. Terri Sewell, a Black Democrat whose district includes her hometown of Selma, said Friday she was shocked to learn of the decline, reported by The Associated Press.
'œYou would think that Selma and Dallas County, we, of all places, should know the importance of voting in every election,'ť Sewell said in an interview. Voter apathy is a problem, she said.
Thousands will gather March 6 for this year's reenactment of the bridge crossing to honor the foot soldiers of that 'œBloody Sunday'ť in 1965. Downtown will resemble a huge street festival during the event, known as the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee, with thousands of visitors, blaring music and vendors selling food and T-shirts.
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Pulitzer winner Walter Mears dies, AP's 'Boy on the Bus'
WASHINGTON (AP) - Walter R. Mears, who for 45 years fluidly and speedily wrote the news about presidential campaigns for The Associated Press and won a Pulitzer Prize doing it, has died. He was 87.
'œI could produce a story as fast as I could type,'ť Mears once acknowledged - and he was a fast typist. He became the AP's Washington bureau chief and the wire service's executive editor and vice president, but he always returned to the keyboard, and to covering politics.
Mears died Thursday at his apartment in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, eight days after being diagnosed with multiple forms of cancer, said his daughters Susan Mears of Boulder, Colorado, and Stephanie Mears of Austin, Texas, who were with him.
They said he was visited on his last night by a minister, with whom he discussed Alf Landon, the losing Republican presidential candidate in 1936, a year after his birth.
Mears' ability to find the essence of a story while it was still going on and to get it to the wire - and to newspapers and broadcasters around the world - became legend among peers. In 1972, Timothy Crouse featured Mears in 'œThe Boys on the Bus,'ť a book chronicling the efforts and antics of reporters covering that year's presidential campaign.