Month: March 2022

German car manufacturer BMW announced Wednesday that they are recalling more than 900,000 vehicles to fix a problem that could start a fire in the engine because the heater for the positive crank case ventilation valve may short circuit.

The recall applies to 917,000 cars and SUVs in the United States. It applies to a number of different models, between the 2006 and 2013 model years, including several X5, X3, Z4, 3 Series, 5 Series and 1 Series.

This is the third recall for many of the vehicles over the same engine ventilation issue. BMW issued recalls for the same part in 2017 and 2019 and then expanded the recall to include 2012 and 2013 models. Documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show BMW expects around 1% of the recalled vehicles to have a problem.

BMW said it will begin notifying affected owners in April, and that anyone with one of the models in question can enter the Vehicle Identification Number online to see if the recall is applicable.

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A maternity and children’s hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol has been destroyed by Russian air strikes, officials say. Regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said that at least 17 people were wounded, including women in labor. Russia’s bombing of the maternity hospital again prompted Ukraine’s leader to again demand the world help. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took to Twitter to rebuke Western allies’ refusal to institute a no-fly zone over the area to combat Russian fighter jets, saying:  “People, children are under the wreckage. Atrocity! How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror? Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have power but you seem to be losing humanity”

Police and soldiers rushed to the scene to evacuate victim from the hospital at the coastal city of Mariupol — where bodies are piling up so fast that locals have begun burying them in mass graves.  Regional police official, Volodymir Nikulin, said of the bombing: “Today Russia committed a huge crime. It is a war crime without any justification.”    The airstrike occurred during what was supposed to be a regional cease-fire in the already “apocalyptic’’ city to allow safe evacuations of thousands of innocent residents. However, Russian troops have repeatedly violated their pledge to stop attacks along the safety corridors, and local officials in Mariupol are now using mass graves to bury some of the thousands they say have been killed in “pure genocide.’’

While Ukraine insisted that Russian forces deliberately targeted the hospital, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed Wednesday, “Russian forces do not fire on civilian targets.”  However when asked about the issue at a separate briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said, “Obviously that’s a horrific outcome. regardless of whether it was intentional or not. If it’s true — we have no reason to doubt that it’s true — we just can’t independently verify, it’s just another indicator of the supreme sacrifices that the Ukrainian people are making that they shouldn’t have to make. We’re talking, you know, families, children, killed, wounded, displaced, all of it, all of it avoidable. All of it completely avoidable.”

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After President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian oil imports on Tuesday, the U.S. Stock Market closed the day with losses, giving up earlier gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 184.74 points after having risen more than 585 points earlier in the session, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.72% as both indexes fell deeper into correction territory. The Nasdaq Composite fell further into bear market territory, sliding to 0.28%.

Markets turned around as investors weighed Biden’s announcement prohibiting all U.S. sales and imports of Russian oil to hold Moscow accountable for an “unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine.” The national average for U.S. gas prices also rose to $4.17 per gallon, exceeding the prior record of $4.11 from July 2008 which was not adjusted for inflation. Rising oil prices brought on by the conflict as well as broad increases in commodities amid rising inflation caused concern of a recession among investors.

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A Texas man was convicted on Tuesday on five counts for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.  The guilty verdict is a milestone victory for federal prosecutors in what was the first trial among hundreds of cases arising from last year’s riot. More than 775 people have been arrested in connection with the deadly insurrection, while more than 200 of them have already pleaded guilty, according to data from the Justice Department. More than 100 people have already been sentenced.

The federal jury in Washington, D.C., deliberated for 4 hours, convicting Guy Wesley Reffitt of obstructing Congress’ joint session to certify the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021, of interfering with police officers who were guarding the Capitol and of threatening his two teenage children if they reported him to law enforcement after the attack. Jurors deliberated about three hours and convicted him on all counts.

Reffitt, a member of the extremist Texas Three Percenters militia who lives in Wylie, Texas, was turned in to police by his teenage son, Jackson Reffitt. The younger Reffitt testified against his father during the trial last week. He told the court his father bragged about being on the Capitol steps with a weapon and appeared to be proud of his participation in the riots.  Jackson Reffitt said his father threatened to shoot him if he turned him in, saying his father told him and his younger sister after he returned home from Washington D.C.: “If you turn me in, you’re a traitor, and traitors get shot.”  Jackson Reffitt said he recorded conversations with Guy Reffitt, who confirmed he brought a weapon onto the Capitol grounds.

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One teenager was killed and two others were in critical condition after a shooting on Monday afternoon outside a high school in Des Moine, Iowa.  A 15-year-old boy did not survive his injuries, said Des Moines Fire Department spokesperson Ahman Douglass. Two others, a 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old girl, were hospitalized in critical condition.

The shooting happened outside on the East High School campus. It has not been confirmed whether the victims were students at the school. East Principal Jill Versteeg said “I think we can all agree an event like this is everyone’s worst nightmare. Tonight, hug your students and love them.”  A statement from Des Moines Public Schools said that East High School will be closed Tuesday, adding: “The DMPS grief team will be available at East High for students and staff beginning tomorrow through the remainder of the week. School counselors will be available at our other schools for students who need additional support.”

Des Moines confirmed the shooting took place on school grounds, but outside the main building before 3 p.m on Monday.  Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said potential suspects were detained, but no charges had been filed as of press time: “We’ve got some potential suspects detained. That will be a piece that moves through the night that we’re going to have to be working on. The kids in that school are our community’s most precious cargo. So the medics and the firefighters did an outstanding job getting up here.”

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Ukraine side cited progress in establishing humanitarian corridors, despite negotiators from Ukraine and Russia failing to reach a breakthrough during a third round of peace talks on Monday.  Safe corridors meant to allow Ukrainian civilians to flee the country, which were negotiated in the second round of talks, failed to materialize earlier in the day. The cease-fire began early Monday to allow refugees to flee in four Ukrainian cities — Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy and the southern port city of Mariupol — but was quickly shattered.

Lead Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said there had been small but “positive” movement in “improving the logistics of humanitarian corridors” under which local cease-fires could be set up to facilitate the evacuation of civilians as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its 12th day. Podolyak said in a Twitter post: “Intensive consultations have continued on the basic political block of the regulations, along with a ceasefire and security guarantees.” 

His Russian counterpart, Vladimir Medinsky, however, said no substantial progress had been made in Monday’s talks, telling reporters: “Our expectations from negotiations were not fulfilled. We hope that next time we will be able to take a more significant step forward.”  Medinsky said he “hoped there would be progress” in an upcoming fourth round of talks at an unspecified date and location.

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