AP Top News at 11:58 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is ordering 2,000 U.S.-based troops to Poland and Germany and shifting 1,000 more from Germany to Romania, demonstrating to both allies and foes America’s commitment to NATO’s eastern flank amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Russia fired back with a sharply worded objection, calling the deployments unfounded and “destructive.” Russian President Vladimir Putin also had a new telephone exchange with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. But readouts from both governments showed no progress, with Putin saying the West was giving no ground on Russia’s security concerns and Johnson expressing deep concern about Russia’s “hostile activity” on the Ukrainian border, referring to Putin’s buildup of 100,000 troops there.
Coronavirus pandemic
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army said Wednesday it will immediately begin discharging soldiers who have refused to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine, putting more than 3,300 service members at risk of being thrown out soon. The Army’s announcement makes it the final military service to lay out its discharge policy for vaccine refusers. The Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy have already discharged active-duty troops or entry-level personnel at boot camps for refusing the shots. So far, the Army has not discharged any. According to data released by the Army last week, more than 3,300 soldiers have refused to get the vaccine.
NEW YORK (AP) — Four men face charges that they were members of the drug distribution crew that supplied a deadly mix of narcotics to Michael K. Williams, the renowned actor from “The Wire” who overdosed just hours after buying fentanyl-laced heroin in a deal recorded on security camera video. The man seen on camera handing Williams the drugs on a Brooklyn sidewalk, Irvin Cartagena, was charged with directly causing the actor’s death, authorities said. Williams’ death was investigated by the New York City police department, but the charges were brought by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who revealed that the suspects had been under surveillance even before the actor’s fatal overdose last September.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden had Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over to the White House on Wednesday to talk about how to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court. Biden has promised to nominate the first Black woman to the high court to fill the spot being vacated by Justice Stephen Breyer, who is retiring at the end of this term. The president, who has promised to make a decision by the end of the month, has amassed a list of potential candidates that includes women with a range of professional expertise, from federal defenders to longtime judges and academics.
BEIJING (AP) — The last time the Olympics came to China, he oversaw the whole endeavor. Now the Games are back, and this time Xi Jinping is running the entire nation. The Chinese president, hosting a Winter Olympics beleaguered by complaints about human rights abuses, has upended tradition to restore strongman rule in China and tighten Communist Party control over the economy and society. Xi was in charge of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing that served as a “coming-out party” for China as an economic and political force. A second-generation member of the party elite, Xi became general secretary of the party in 2012.
CHICAGO (AP) — A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path brought a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow to the central U.S. as airlines canceled thousands of flights, officials urged residents to stay off roads and schools closed campuses. The blast of frigid weather, which began arriving Tuesday night and continued Wednesday, put a long stretch of states from New Mexico and Colorado to Maine under winter storm warnings and watches. On Wednesday morning, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan saw freezing rain, sleet and snow. By midday Wednesday, some places had already reported snow totals exceeding or nearing a foot, including the central Illinois town of Lewistown with 14.4 inches (36.6 centimeters) and the northeastern Missouri city of Hannibal with 11.5 inches (29.2 centimeters).
CHICAGO (AP) — Ex-Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke is set leave prison on Thursday after being locked up less than four years, and in the city that witnessed the historic murder conviction of the first officer for an on-duty shooting in a half century, that release is seen as another chapter in a troubling history of race and policing. Among many there was hope that Van Dyke’s 2018 conviction of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery signaled a willingness to hold officers accountable. But word that he’s being set free after serving about three years and four months of his sentence of six years and nine months has turned McDonald, and them, into victims again.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Apparently adulterated cocaine killed 20 people and seriously sickened 74 others in Buenos Aires, health officials said early Thursday as authorities searched frantically for the remainder of the deadly batch to get it off the streets before it is consumed. Experts were still analyzing the drug to determine what was in it that caused the deaths. Judicial officials said one hypothesis being considered was that the cocaine was intentionally adulterated as part of a settling of scores between traffickers. Police said that the cocaine was sold in the poor neighborhood “Puerta 8” in San Martín — a suburb to the north of Argentina’s capital — and that a dozen people had been arrested.
Washington has some new Commanders in town. The NFL team announced its new name on Wednesday, 18 months after fresh pressure from sponsors helped persuade the once-storied franchise to drop its old moniker following decades of criticism that it was offensive to Native Americans. The organization committed to avoiding Native American imagery in its rebrand after being called the Washington Football Team the past two seasons. Washington is the latest American major professional team to abandon its name linked to Native Americans, and it was considered one of the most egregious. Suzan Shown Harjo, who is Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee, called the change “an amazing and a giant step in the maturation of America.” The 76-year-old Harjo has been advocating for sports teams to drop Native imagery and mascots since the 1960s.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A retired Army lieutenant colonel who was a pivotal witness in the first impeachment case against Donald Trump has sued the oldest son of the former president and other Trump allies, accusing them of participating in an “intentional, concerted campaign of unlawful intimidation and retaliation” over his decision to testify. The lawsuit from Alexander Vindman, who testified during 2019 impeachment proceedings about a phone call in which Trump pressed his Ukraine counterpart to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, was filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington. Trump was impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate in February 2020.