Category World News

The highlights of Wednesday, March 19 are listed below.

Fighting

• Since the start of the war more than three years ago, the number of Russian soldiers who have been killed and wounded has increased to about 897,010. According to Ukraine, this number has increased. In the past 24 hours, 1, 560 service members have been killed or injured.
• Ivan Fedorov, the governor of the Zaporizhia region, claimed that Russia had launched 137 drone attacks in Ukraine, leaving about 3, 000 people without electricity as a result of the destruction of crucial infrastructure. Serhiy Lysak, the governor of the nearby Dnipropetrovsk, claimed another infrastructure facility was ablaze as a result of the barrage.
• 63 of the 137 Russian drones were shot down by the Ukrainian Air Force, according to the Ministry of Defense, while 46 of the 137 were completely neutralized by the Ukrainian Air Force.
• According to the Russian Defense Ministry, about 200 Ukrainian fighters launched a ground assault against the Belgorod region without success using five tanks, armored combat vehicles, and three demolition vehicles.

• Russia’s military has also accused Ukraine’s military of carrying out a cross-border attack, claiming that its forces “successfully stopped all attempts by the occupiers to secure a foothold” in the Sumy region.
• Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s request to put a 30-day stop to attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, there were explosions and air raid sirens in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, according to the AFP news agency.
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, claimed that Russia launched more than 40 drones into Sumy’s healthcare system.

diplomacy and politics

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who spoke to X on the phone call between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, described the conversation as “historical” and “epic” The world has significantly improved since President Trump and President Putin took office. he wrote.
• Putin reportedly agreed to a “limited” 30-day pause in fighting and for Ukraine and Russia to stop attacking one another’s energy sector. This was followed by Putin’s corresponding order to his military in Moscow.
• Putin also told Trump that the US and its allies must stop all military assistance to Ukraine, including foreign intelligence, in order for the hostilities to end, according to the Kremlin. Additionally, the Kremlin urged that Ukraine not be permitted to rearm in order for the ceasefire to work. Trump, however, stated to Fox News that Putin’s request for aid to Ukraine was not discussed in their phone call.
• Additionally, it was revealed that on Wednesday, Russia and Ukraine will exchange 175 prisoners for each.
• German and French leaders said they would continue giving Ukraine military support despite Moscow’s demands to stop providing them with intelligence and military support.
• The White House stated that talks over a “full ceasefire” and “permanent peace” in Ukraine are scheduled to start “immediately” in the Middle East following the presidents’ call.

Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine would support the plan to stop energy infrastructure attacks, but that he planned to contact Trump to get more information before Ukraine can provide a final response.
• Zelenskyy added that Russia’s “whole game is to weaken” Ukraine and that the Kremlin had no intention of putting an end to its invasion of Ukraine. According to Zelenskyy, “They are not even prepared for the first step, which is a ceasefire.”
• Trump was requested by US Democratic lawmakers to fund a previously government-sponsored initiative that was led by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab (Yale HRL) to track the widespread deportation of Ukrainian children. Additionally, they asserted that “devastating consequences” could have been caused by the repository’s persistent deletion.
• According to a report from the Reuters news agency, Ukraine signed a deal with Poland’s Orlen and the country’s Naftogaz to purchase 100 million cubic meters of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) in exchange.
• Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, claimed that the United Kingdom’s and France’s peacekeeping mission to Ukraine is likely to fail. A better option, in Meloni’s opinion, would be to expand NATO’s mutual defense umbrella.
• Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, announced a new joint task force with Ukraine to streamline the supply chain and strengthen support.

The release of thousands of pages of government documents about the death of John F. Kennedy (JFK) has led historians and internet sleuths on a mad dash to uncover fresh information about one of the most seismic moments in US history.

The National Archives announced on Tuesday that “every record that had previously been withheld for classification” had been made public and accessible online or in person.

The archives initially posted roughly 63 000 pages of documents online, with more to follow as they get digitized, on its website.

The release, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, contained approximately 80 000 pages of previously classified documents under the direction of Tulsi Gabbard.

Following Trump’s executive order in January, the release comes after the former president’s assassination, as well as documents pertaining to the killings of former US Senator Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

For more than six decades, popular intrigue and conspiracy theories have been at the forefront of the public’s attention as scholars and historians look through the documents for fresh insights into the circumstances surrounding JFK’s death.

According to a 2023 Gallup poll, 65% of Americans disapproved of the findings of the Warren Commission, which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former US Marine, was the one who killed the president on November 22, 1963, on his own accord.

20% of those surveyed said they thought Oswald had conspired with the US government, and 16% said they had worked with the CIA.

Scholars who examined Tuesday’s release found no deviation from the files’ initial assessment of Oswald’s dominant narrative.

After federal agencies, including the CIA and FBI, requested additional time to review sensitive documents, Trump pledged to release all outstanding records during his first term. However, he ultimately withheld thousands of files.

In 2022, Joe Biden’s administration will release thousands more documents.

The National Archives claims that more than 99 percent of the 320, 000 documents released to the public before Tuesday’s release, in accordance with the JFK Records Act.

If the president decided their release would “inflict such a significant harm” to national defense or other government functions of such gravity that it “outweighs the public interest in disclosure,” the 1992 law mandated that all remaining records be made public by October 26, 2017.

EXPLAINER

The mission went much longer than expected.

On June 5, 2024, American astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore boarded the Boeing Starliner Calypso. Eight days on the International Space Station (ISS) was intended for them.

However, the spacecraft’s thrusters malfunctioned as it approached the station, prompting NASA to keep them on the ISS while repairs were being made.

Williams and Wilmore are now two of the longest-serving space travelers on a single mission thanks to their nine-month, 288-day mission.

Who has been in space for the longest?

The ISS travels to Mars on average 225 million kilometers (140 million miles) from Earth at an altitude of 354 kilometers (220 miles).

With more than a year spent on the ISS, astronaut Frank Rubio currently has the longest space mission of all time for NASA.

Valeri Polyakov, a Russian who spent 437 days on board the Mir space station, holds the overall record for a single spaceflight.

The SpaceX Crew-9 mission made its return to Earth when?

Williams and Wilmore’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft crashed about 5:57 p.m. local time (21:57 GMT), after undoing from the ISS at 5:05 p.m.

Aleksandr Gorbunov, a cosmonaut from Roscosmos, was aboard with Wilmore and Williams.

The lead up to the splashdown was live-streamed by NASA.

The crew will have to adjust both physically and mentally to returning to Earth.

How does physical health suffer from space travel?

The body feels brutally shivering in months of microgravity. Without the gravitational pull of the Earth, muscles and bones would deteriorate.

Because they don’t use their legs to support their weight, astronauts quickly lose muscle mass. They lose 1% of their bone mass each month, which is equivalent to an entire year of Earth ageing due to their fragile bones.

Another major issue is radiation. Despite the magnetosphere shielding the ISS, astronauts on missions lasting six months or longer receive more than ten times the radiation as it would naturally be on Earth. Long-term exposure is linked to higher risk of developing cognitive decline and cancer.

Body mass and fluids: While in space, astronauts lose about 20% of their body mass and about 5% of it.
• Muscle: Microgravity results in muscle atrophy, but taking supplements and two hours of exercise per day, six days per week can help.
• Skin: In space, skin thins, brittles, and heals more slowly.
• Eyes: Radiation increases the risk of cataracts while microgravity impairs vision.
• DNA: About 7% of genes are still inactive after returning to Earth, compared to the majority of genes.
• Cognitive psychology and radiation: Alzheimer’s may develop and cause brain damage. Motion sickness is caused by space changing orientation.
• Red blood cell production decreases as blood circulation slows down and red blood cell production slows down. Cardiac arrhythmia is a common condition.
• Immune system: It becomes less effective. Six months of space-time radiation exposure equals ten times the annual exposure on Earth.
• Bones: Approximately one-third of the bone mass is lost each month due to bone loss and deformation. Because of their increased spine expansion while in orbit, astronauts gain height.

How does the body repopulate from Earth?

Returning to Earth doesn’t immediately relieve astronauts’ bodies’ months of strain. Balance issues, dizziness, and weakened cardiovascular function are some of the symptoms of their bodies adapting to gravity.

Not everything comes back to normal even after a few months. They are susceptible to degenerative diseases, cancer, and nerve damage over the long term.

Return of the spine to normal size after entering space. Blood pressure is normalized, and flirtatious behavior is no longer a problem.
• After a week, motion sickness, balance issues, and disorientation are gone. Sleep resumes as usual.
• Two weeks later, body fluids that were lost are recovered and the immune system returns. Red blood cell production returns to normal levels.
• One month later, almost all of the muscle reformation has finished.
• Three months later, the skin has fully developed. Body mass is restored to Earth-levels, and visual issues no longer exist.
• Six months later, there is still a higher risk of bone fractures and cancer. Exactly 7% of genes are still in the disorder, compared to 93 percent of those that are back to normal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the overnight airstrikes against Gaza “only the beginning” were to cause hundreds of Palestinians to die.

Netanyahu stated in a televised address on Tuesday night that future ceasefire negotiations would “only take place under fire” and that Israeli forces would “increasing force” attack Hamas.

The Israeli leader said, “Hamas has already felt the weight of our force in the last 24 hours, and I want to assure you that this is only the beginning.”

“We will continue to fight to achieve all of our war goals, including the release of all of our hostages, the end of Hamas, and the guarantee that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”

Netanyahu’s defiant remarks come after Israel’s deadly attacks across Gaza shattered the fragile ceasefire&nbsp with Hamas, which started on January 19 and continued until January 20.

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the air strikes killed at least 404 Palestinians, many of whom were children, and injured more than 560 others.

In the process, the assault wiped out entire families in Gaza, including Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, Gaza City in the north, and Deir el-Balah in the center.

Due to Israel’s insistent request to extend the first phase of the ceasefire agreement until mid-April, talks on the second stage of the agreement have reached a standstill. This would result in the release of nearly 60 Hamas captives and the establishment of a permanent ceasefire.

In exchange for the start of second phase negotiations and the end of the Israeli blockade, which was put in place earlier this month, Israel rejected an offer from Hamas to release an American-Israeli dual national and the bodies of four dead captives.

Since the ceasefire’s start, which had been a six-week long first stage of negotiations, Hamas has released nearly 300 prisoners in exchange for nearly 2, 000 Palestinian ones.

Steve Witkoff, the US president’s envoy for the Middle East, had been pushing for a “bridge” proposal to extend the ceasefire beyond Ramadan and Passover prior to Israel’s assault.

In exchange for prisoners, Hamas would have allowed additional living prisoners as part of the proposed agreement while the parties worked out a framework for a permanent ceasefire.

Netanyahu directly blamed Hamas for the stagnant talks in his speech on Tuesday.

Hamas “absolutely refused to do so” according to Netanyahu, “while Israel accepted the offer of President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.” “I authorized yesterday the resumption of military action against Hamas because of this.”

Netanyahu also charged Hamas with being responsible for “every unintended casualty” in Gaza.

He advised Palestinian citizens to stay away from Hamas terrorists and urge the people of Gaza to leave.