Wednesday, March 27

5 things to know Thursday


Ukrainian officials skeptical of Russian pledge to reduce military operations

The demilitarization of Russia is “well underway,” Ukraine’s UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the UN Security Council Tuesday as the conflict in Ukraine has entered its second month. According to Kyslytsya, Russian forces have lost over 17,000 military personnel and over 1,700 armored vehicles since its invasion of Ukraine over a month ago. Russia itself Tuesday announced it would scale back military operations near Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. But Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said they distrust Russia’s announced withdrawal, and American officials remained skeptical. “Yes, we can call those signals that we hear at the negotiations positive. But those signals don’t silence the explosions of Russian shells,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday night. Negotiations between the two nations are expected to resume in Istanbul Wednesday, five weeks into what has returned into a bloody war, with thousands dead and almost 4 million Ukrainians fleeing the country.

Severe weather moving in fast on the Deep South

Another multi-day severe weather outbreak is on tap for the central, southern and eastern US this week. While storms were expected to fire up Tuesday across the central US, the day with the highest risk for severe weather will be Wednesday in the Deep South, forecasters said. More than 55 million people are at risk of some type of severe weather Wednesday, the Storm Prediction Center said. On Thursday, that number drops down to 20 million. States such as Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are all in the area where the risk is the highest. “All severe hazards are possible, including significant likes over 75 mph and strong (EF2+) tornadoes,” according to the Center. Flash flooding will also be a concern Wednesday, especially as rivers remain at fairly high levels after the last outbreak of rain and storms.

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Pennsylvania interstate likely to reopen Wednesday after accident

A portion of a Pennsylvania highway remained closed Tuesday as cleanup continued following a deadly pileup during a Monday snow squall. The northbound lanes of Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County stayed closed as authorities removed multiple tractor trailers and debris, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said. Pennsylvania State Police advised drivers to avoid the area and estimated in a statement on Twitter that the road would likely reopen Wednesday morning. More than 50 vehicles were involved in the fiery crash that killed at least three people and injured dozens more. The wrecks occurred near Minersville, about 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia, John Blickley of the county’s emergency management office, told USA TODAY. “This is probably the most significant crash we’ve had on the interstate in years,” he said Tuesday.

USMNT on brink of World Cup qualification

The US men’s national soccer team is on the brink of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. On Wednesday night, the USMNT will play in Costa Rica in its final World Cup qualifier (9:05 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network). Thanks in large part to a 5-1 route of Panama Sunday, the US would have to lose by six goals or more against Costa Rica in order to put its World Cup hopes in jeopardy. That scenario is highly unlikely, even given the USMNT’s dismal record in Costa Rica, where it has never won a World Cup qualifier (0-9-1 all-time). The top three teams in the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) automatically qualify for the World Cup, while the fourth-place team must compete in an inter-continental playoff. The US currently sits in second place in the Concacaf World Cup qualifying standings. Canada, a surprise team atop the standings, already has clinched a World Cup berth — its first since 1986. Mexico is also in line to qualify for the World Cup for the eighth consecutive time.

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‘Moon Knight’ premieres on Disney+

“Moon Knight,” the latest TV series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first to feature a character not already seen in past adventures, debuted on Disney+ Wednesday morning with new installments set to be released weekly. The six-episode series follows Moon Knight, one of the identities of Marc Spector, who has dissociative identity disorder and has been losing control of his body. Among his other people he is Steven Grant, a British museum gift-shop worker, who becomes aware of the other identities and struggles to regain some stability. Moon Knight and his many people are played by Oscar Isaac and he is joined by Ethan Hawke as antagonist Arthur Harrow, Egyptian-Palestinian actor May Calamawy as Layla El-Faouly, an adventurer from Spector’s past, and F. Murray Abraham providing the voice of the Egyptian god Khonshu, for whom Spector is an avatar. “Moon Knight,” created by Jeremy Slater (Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy”), is being billed as a limited series.

Contributing: The Associated Press




www.usatoday.com

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