Month: March 2022

In a press statement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the U.S. government “assesses that members of Russia’s armed forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine.”  Blinken said since launching “his unprovoked and unjust war of choice” Russian President Vladimir Putin has unleashed unrelenting violence that has caused death and destruction across Ukraine.

Blinken said in the statement: “Last week, I echoed President Biden’s statement, based on the countless accounts and images of destruction and suffering we have all seen, that war crimes had been committed by Putin’s forces in Ukraine. I noted then that the deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime. I emphasized that Department of State and other U.S. government experts were documenting and assessing potential war crimes in Ukraine.”  Blinken said the U.S. government will continue to track reports of war crimes and will share information with allies and partners, as well as with international organizations and institutions “as appropriate.”

The statement said as with any alleged crime, a court of law with jurisdiction over the crime is ultimately responsible for determining guilt in specific cases. The state department said examples of Russian war crimes in Ukraine include attacks on hospitals, schools, ambulances, critical civilian infrastructure “and other atrocities.”

Editorial credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com

Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve as the U.S. secretary of state, died Wednesday at age 84. Her family confirmed in a statement that Albright died of cancer, adding that she was surrounded by family and friends at the time of her passing.  The statement read: “We have lost a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend,” as well as a “tireless champion of democracy and human rights.”

Former President Bill Clinton named Albright the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations shortly after he was inaugurated in 1993, and nominated her as the secretary of state three years later. She was confirmed in 1997 by a vote of 99-0. At the time, she was the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government. Albright served in the post for four years.

On Wednesday, Clinton remembered Albright as “an extraordinary human being” adding “because she knew firsthand that America’s policy decisions had the power to make a difference in people’s lives around the world, she saw her jobs as both an obligation and an opportunity. And she made the most of them in advancing peace, security and shared prosperity.”  The former president said he last spoke to Albright two weeks ago, sharing:  “She never lost her great sense of humor or her determination to go out with her boots on, supporting Ukraine in its fight to preserve freedom and democracy.” 

After leaving public office, Albright went on to teach at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and became a prolific author, writing seven New York Times bestsellers. In 2012, former President Barack Obama awarded Albright the Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.

Albright is survived by three daughters and six grandchildren, as well as a brother and a sister.

Editorial credit: mark reinstein / Shutterstock.com

The NYPD said on Tuesday that the woman suspected of shoving a beloved Broadway voice coach, causing her to suffer fatal injuries, has turned herself in. 26-year-old Lauren Pazienza of Port Jefferson on Long Island has been charged with manslaughter in the death of 87-year-old Barbara Maier Gustern.

For nearly two weeks, NYPD had been searching for Pazienza, who is accused of approaching Gustern from behind and pushing her to the ground just steps away from her apartment near West 28th Street and 8th Avenue in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. Gustern was responsive after the attack, telling a friend who came to her aid that she had “never been hit so hard” in her life. However, she later slipped into a coma and was taken to Bellevue Medical Center, where it was discovered that she had suffered traumatic damage to the left side of her brain; Gustern died March 15. The motive behind the seemingly unprovoked attack is unknown at this time.

Gustern was fondly regarded in New York’s theater community. She coached the cast of the 2019 Broadway revival of the musical “Oklahoma!,” The New York Times reported. She also once coached rock singer Debbie Harry of the group Blondie.

Editorial credit: Marco Curaba / Shutterstock.com

White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Tuesday that she tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time in five months.  In preparation for traveling with President Biden to Europe, Psaki said she took a polymerase chain reaction test Tuesday morning, which was positive. Per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Psaki will no longer be traveling with Biden.

Psaki said in a statement:  “Thanks to the vaccine, I have only experienced mild symptoms. In alignment with White House COVID-19 protocols, I will work from home and plan to return to work in person at the conclusion of a five-day isolation period and a negative test.”  This is the second time Psaki has tested positive for COVID-19; in October 2021, she announced she tested positive after members of her household came down with the virus.

Since Psaki said she had two socially distanced meetings with Biden on Monday, he also was tested for the virus, which was negative via a PCR test taken on Tuesday morning.  Biden plans to travel to Brussels for a NATO summit Thursday, before heading Friday to Poland to speak with President Andrzej Duda.

Editorial credit: DCStockPhotography / Shutterstock.com

Eric Greitens, Missouri’s former governor and current Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, has been accused by his ex-wife Sheena Greitens of allegedly being physically abusive and “unstable,” according to court records filed on Monday.

Sheena Greitens and Eric Greitens have been part of an ongoing child custody battle. Their divorce was finalized in May 2020 and a county court decision said the marriage was “irretrievably broken” and that a joint parenting plan is “in [the] best interest of minor children.” However, Eric Greitens has since said he wants full custody of their two children.

Greitens’ campaign said that the affidavit is part of a “politically-motivated attack.  His children deserve a father who will speak the truth and stand up against malicious attacks that are clearly politically motivated. This attack is nothing more than a sad attempt to force a father to yield custody of his children to a deranged individual.”  In a statement, Eric Greitens said: “I will continue to love and care for my beautiful sons with all of my being, and that includes fighting for the truth and against completely fabricated, baseless allegations. I am seeking full custody of my sons, and for their sake, I will continue to pray for their mother and hope that she gets the help that she needs,” adding that “ultimately truth will always prevail.”

Greitens served just over one year as Missouri’s governor before he resigned in 2018 after allegations of sexual misconduct and blackmail for allegedly taking a picture of his former hairdresser with whom he was having an affair, as well as an ethics investigation and a computer data tampering criminal charge. Greitens admitted to the affair and called it consensual, but denied taking the photograph and the blackmail accusation. Prosecutors dropped an invasion of privacy charge related to the alleged incident in May 2018.

Eric Greitens is looking to succeed retiring Republican Senator Roy Blunt in his bid for U.S. Senate. Also in the field are Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Representatives Billy Long and Vicky Hartzler. Hartzler, Schmitt, Long and Lucas Kunce, a Marine and Democratic candidate in the race, have called for Greitens to drop out of the U.S. Senate race.

The deadline for candidates to file for the Missouri primary is March 29, 2022; the primary is slated to be held August 2.

Editorial credit: Gino Santa Maria / Shutterstock.com

President Biden’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, addressed senators on the first day of confirmation hearings on Monday, telling the lawmakers she would “decide cases from a neutral posture” if they approve her nomination to the high court.  Jackson told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee: “Members of this committee: If I am confirmed, I commit to you that I will work productively to support and defend the Constitution and the grand experiment of American democracy that has endured over these past 246 years. During this hearing, I hope that you will see how much I love our country and the Constitution, and the rights that make us free.”

Jackson sat silently for most of the 4.5-hour session as the 22 committee members delivered opening statements and previewed their lines of inquiry for the two days of questioning ahead. Many Democrats lauded Jackson for shattering barriers with her nomination, and Republicans also applauded Jackson for her nomination, previewing the aspects of her professional record they plan to examine, namely the sentences she imposed on child pornography offenders while serving as a judge on the federal district court in Washington and clients she represented as a federal assistant public defender and in private practice. Many GOP members of the Judiciary panel pledged to avoid personal attacks on Jackson, but they still vowed to probe her judicial philosophy and views of the Supreme Court.

Jackson’s four-day confirmation hearings begin just 24 days after President Biden announced her as his nominee to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court.  Currently a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Jackson served on the federal district court in Washington for eight years and was a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. If appointed to the Supreme Court, Jackson will be the second-youngest justice at 51 years old.

Editorial credit: RozenskiP / Shutterstock.com