Monday morning news - March 7, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

U.S., European allies could send more war planes to Ukraine » Russia renewed its shelling in the port city of Mariupol on Sunday, breaking a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine and halting efforts to evacuate civilians.

Food, water, medicine, and other supplies are in desperately short supply in Mariupol. The two sides negotiated a humanitarian corridor out of the city, but Russian attacks quickly shut that down.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova said Sunday…

MARKAROVA: It’s evident, clear to us that what they’re doing is illegal and it’s war crimes. I mean, they are targeting hospitals. They are targeting schools. They are targeting civilians.

The UN says the number of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the country has now topped 1.5 million. In many cases, they are divided families with women and children moved to safety as able-bodied men stay behind to fight.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a televised address, again urged the West to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

But that would require Western powers to potentially shoot down Russian aircraft. And US Secretary of State Tony Blinken explained …

BLINKEN: The president also has a responsibility to not get us into a direct conflict, a direct war with Russia, a nuclear power, and risk a war that expands.

But the West may grant two other requests of Zelenskyy’s: First to cut off Russian oil imports. Blinken said the United States is now in “very active discussions” with European partners to do just that.

And second, to send more warplanes to Ukraine’s military.

BLINKEN: We're talking very actively about this, looking at what we could do to backfill Poland, if it chooses to send the MiGs and the SU planes that it has to Ukraine, how we can help by backfilling what they're giving to the Ukrainians.

MiGs and SU planes are fighter jets that the Ukrainian military knows how to fly. If Poland sends those planes to Ukraine, the United States could make up for it by sending jets like F-35s to Poland.

At least 7 people killed as tornadoes touch down in Iowa » At least seven people are dead, including two children, after several tornadoes swept through central Iowa over the weekend.

Severe thunderstorms spawned the twisters, and at least one touched down in an area southwest of Des Moines.

What was estimated to be an EF-3 tornado destroyed buildings and ripped down trees and power lines near the town of Winterset.

Madison County Emergency Management director Diogenes Ayala told reporters…

AYALA: We’re going to rebuild. We’re definitely going to rebuild. We just need the time to get together and to heal.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for Madison County, which frees up resources for response and recovery efforts.

Alex Krull with the National Weather Service said it was somewhat unusual that this storm hit in the month of March.

KRULL: Typically, violent supercells with tornadoes are more common in the Midwest in the months of April and May. I wouldn’t necessarily call it rare, though, because we can point to other events that have happened in March.

The storm was the worst to slam the state since 2008 when a tornado destroyed nearly 300 homes and killed nine people in northern Iowa.

U.S. gas prices top $4 per gallon, could soon shatter record » U.S. gas prices just saw the biggest jump since Hurricane Katrina. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has that story.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: For the first time in 14 years, American drivers are now paying $4 per gallon for regular unleaded.

The national average has soared about 40 cents per gallon over the past couple weeks, since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

And analysts say there’s a very good chance that we’ll soon be paying the highest price ever for gas in the United States. The record is $4.11 per gallon. The record dates back to 2008 as Hurricane Katrina disrupted the oil and gas industry.

The lowest average price right now, according to AAA, is in Missouri: $3.60 per gallon.

The highest average price? California at five dollars and 29 cents.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

The Batman soars into first place at weekend box office » AUDIO: [The Batman trailer]

At the weekend box office, The Batman soared into first place with a blockbuster opening.

TRAILER: The Riddler, he’s asking for you. The killer left this for the Batman.

The newest Batman reboot hauled in an estimated $129 million domestically over the weekend. That’s the second-best total opening of the pandemic era, trailing only Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Uncharted finished second with another $11 million in ticket sales. The treasure-hunt action-adventure has now cracked the $100 million mark since its release two weekends ago.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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