Wednesday morning news - April 6, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Zelenskyy addresses UN Security Council, demands justice for atrocities in Ukraine » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday by video. Heard here through an interpreter, he accused Russia of gruesome atrocities in Ukraine.

ZELENSKYY (interpreter): The massacre in our city of Bucha is only one of many examples of what the occupiers have been doing on our land for the past 41 days.

He said many other atrocities have yet to come to light publicly.

Once again, a warning here for young ears as the following is disturbing.

Zelenskyy talked about Ukrainians being blown up with grenades thrown into their apartments and crushed to death by tanks while in cars.

He said Russian soldiers brutalized and tortured civilians, cutting off limbs and cutting their throats. He said—quoting here—“women were raped and killed in front of their children. Their tongues were pulled out only because their aggressor did not hear what they wanted to hear from them.”

ZELENSKYY (interpreter): The Russian military and those who gave them orders must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes in Ukraine.

He called for those responsible to stand trial for war crimes in front of a tribunal like the one established at Nuremberg after World War II.

Top general urges more U.S. troops in eastern Europe » The top general in Washington wants to send more U.S. troops to eastern Europe.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said because of Russian aggression, the United States should consider building new bases on NATO’s eastern flank.

MILLEY: I believe that a lot of our European allies, especially those - such as in the Baltics, Poland, or Romania or elsewhere, they are very, very willing to establish permanent bases. They’ll build them. They’ll pay for them, etc.

He said forces could rotate through those bases, rather than make permanent deployments. That would bring down the cost.

Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on next year’s budget proposal. But much of the hearing focused on the war in Ukraine and what the United States can do to better help Ukraine and strengthen security across Europe.

The Pentagon continues to review its troop numbers across Europe, and whether to add more or shift some of those already there to other locations.

Rights group: Mali’s army, foreign soldiers killed civilians » Meantime in Mali, Human Rights Watch reports that the country’s military and foreign soldiers suspected to be Russians gathered and fatally shot hundreds of people late last month. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The watchdog group reported that the soldiers rounded up and killed about 300 people in the north African country. And Human Rights Watch called it the worst single atrocity in Mali’s 10-year fight against Islamic extremists.

The region has been largely controlled by al-Qaeda-linked extremists. The government is engaged in an effort to root out and eliminate terrorist elements. But the rights group reported that many of those rounded up were likely innocent civilians from the Peul ethnic group.

Witnesses identified many of the killers as white soldiers who didn’t speak French. The U.S. State Department confirmed in January that several hundred Russian mercenaries were brought into Mali in March to fight extremists. Mali’s government denies that, insisting they only brought in military trainers.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

2nd man arrested on gun charges in Sacramento mass shooting » Police in Sacramento arrested another suspect in connection to the mass shooting that killed six people in California’s capital.

Investigators say he is 27-year-old Smiley Martin, the brother of a man arrested one day earlier.

Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester told reporters …

LESTER: We expect as the investigation continues that we’ll be able to identify more people that were involved.

Officers arrested Smiley while he was hospitalized with serious injuries from the gunfire. When his condition improves enough for him to be jailed, he will be booked for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun.

More than 100 shots were fired early Sunday in downtown Sacramento, creating a chaotic scene. In addition to the six people killed, 12 were wounded, several critically.

Elon Musk joining Twitter board » Elon Musk is joining Twitter's board of directors a day after revealing that he'd become the social media platform's largest shareholder with a 9 percent stake. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has more.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: The billionaire has criticized Twitter publicly about its commitment to free speech.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said Musk is—quote—“both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term.”

Musk said he's looking forward to working with Agrawal and the board “to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!"

But he has not spoken specifically about any Twitter rule changes he might push.

Musk is barred from owning more than 14.9 percent of Twitter’s outstanding stock while he sits on the board. That according to a regulatory filing by Twitter.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

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

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