Wednesday morning news: January 18, 2023

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Ukraine » The White House is condemning Russia’s latest deadly attack on a civilian target. The death toll now stands at at least 45 after Russian missiles destroyed an apartment building in the town of Dnipro.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

PIERRE: We will continue our work to hold Russia’s forces accountable for the atrocities they’ve caused and also the war crimes.

America’s top military officer, Gen. Mark Milley met with Ukraine’s highest-ranking commander in Poland on Tuesday, just miles from the Ukrainian border.

It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two top generals. The meeting comes as the West ramps up the military aid to Ukraine, including Patriot missile batteries.

ZELENSKYY: [Ukrainian]

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Netherlands just announced that it will send a Patriot battery to Ukraine.

Ukrainian troops are currently training at an Army base in Oklahoma, learning how to use and maintain the systems.

IAEA mission starts at Ukraine plants » Meantime, in Ukraine, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency is now helping to run nuclear energy plants across the country.

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi visited the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant on Tuesday.

GROSSI: We are leaving now a group of experts who are going to be staying here permanently. And it will be the same in all these other places. Working hand in hand with our Ukrainian hosts to facilitate some technical support…

Russian shelling near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has alarmed officials throughout the war.

World Food Program director on Ukraine war impact » The head of the World Food Program says the war in Ukraine is largely to blame for a growing hunger crisis around the world. Executive Director David Beasley.

BEASLEY: The number has now jumped from 276 million people to 350 million people marching to starvation, not knowing where their next meal is coming from, because Ukraine alone grew enough food to feed 400 million people.

Ukraine is often called the breadbasket of the world. It’s one of the three global exporters of grain.

Beasley explained that the lack of Ukrainian food exports has hit third-world countries especially hard.

He attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland today where almost 600 CEOs and more than 50 heads of state have gathered to discuss economic concerns around the world.

Biden Dutch PM meeting » Biden hopes to persuade the Dutch to join the U.S. in limiting China’s access to advanced semiconductors through export restrictions.

BIDEN: Together we're working on how to keep a free and open Indo-Pacific and, quite frankly, meet the challenges of China.

The Netherlands-based tech company ASML is a major manufacturer of lithography machines that design and produce semiconductors, which could be used in advanced military systems.

China is one of ASML’s largest clients.

Blinken on Biden docs » Secretary of State Tony Blinken says he had no idea that classified documents were stored at President Biden’s old Washington office.

Blinken was the managing director of the Penn-Biden Center for Diplomacy and Engagement where the documents were found.

BLINKEN: I was surprised to learn that there were any government records taken to the Penn-Biden center. I had no knowledge of it at the time.

The documents were from Biden’s time as vice president. More classified documents were found at the president’s Delaware home.

Chinese population decline » China’s population dropped last year for the first time in more than half a century, the government announced Tuesday. WORLD’s Lauren Canterberry has more.

LAUREN CANTERBERRY, REPORTER: The country’s population declined by 850,000 people in 2022, the first reported decrease since China’s Great Famine ended in 1961.

Chinese citizens have blamed the plummeting birth rate on high costs of living and an economic downturn.

In 2016, China ended its decades-long one-child policy. The policy led to widespread forced abortions and child abandonment.

It also created a disproportionate ratio of men to women and placed a heavy burden of caring for the elderly on younger generations.

For WORLD, I’m Lauren Canterberry.

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

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