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The 32-year-old daughter of an ex Kentucky a senator was killed while her father was wounded in a shooting during an invasion of the family mansion home in the state.

Jordan Morgan, who lived part-time at a home in Richmond, died while her father was taken to hospital, state police said.

Former United States official Wesley Morgan owns the home, according to the Madison County Property Valuation Administrator’s office, and was previously put up for sale by Morgan.

Wesley Morgan’s 32-year-old daughter, Jordan Morgan, was killed in a home invasion

The incident took place at Morgan’s $ 6.5 million mansion in Richmond, Kentucky, pictured

Morgan confirmed to Leader of the Lexington Herald that his daughter Jordan was killed. He also said that he and his wife had been “shot”.

Mr Morgan was taken to hospital after the shooting but released home Tuesday.

Several people were sleeping in the home when someone or possibly a group of people entered the home and fired, police said. Morgan was able to return fire, police said.

The armed suspect then left the house and no other shots were fired.

Investigators returned to the scene on Wednesday afternoon. Sergeant Robert Purdy, pictured, addresses the public for help

Former Wesley Morgan, 71, was shot dead along with his wife after exchanging gunfire with an invader before dawn on Tuesday.

Kentucky State Police said they received a call at 4:30 p.m.

Detectives are still in the “very early stages, preliminary stages of the investigation,” said Kentucky State Police Officer Robert Purdy, and the motive is still unknown.

“This is not the kind of incident or situation we see a lot in Madison County,” he said. NBC News.

“I know the family and it is a tragic loss for the community. As a father myself, I can’t imagine anything like this happening. Our hearts go to them.

Investigators returned to the scene on Wednesday afternoon. Sergeant Purdy turned to the public for help.

“Honestly, we believe that someone knows something and we just want to get accurate information,” he said.

The Madison County Coroner’s Office confirmed that Morgan had been shot “more than once.”

Morgan served one term as state representative for Richmond and Beria in Madison County.

While in office, Morgan, who owns several liquor stores in Kentucky, was accused of smuggling alcohol across the county.

At the time, doing so without a carrier’s license was illegal.

The house is said to be “the safest home on the market” and was built to withstand an earthquake.

A judge eventually dropped the charges after the state law was changed.

Morgan continued to unsuccessfully challenge Senator Mitch McConnell in the state’s Republican primary in 2020.

His daughter, Jordan Morgan, worked on Republican Matt Bevin’s successful campaign for governor of Kentucky in 2015 and worked with him a year and a half later as a member of his communications team.

In 2017, she left the world of politics to become an assistant to a community attorney prosecuting crime based in Boone County. She recently joined Reminger Law Firm in Lexington.

“Reminger wishes to express its sincere condolences to Morgan’s family,” the company said in a statement. “She was a nice colleague and a promising lawyer. We are shocked and saddened by the circumstances surrounding her unfortunate death. ”

Jordan was last in the news in 2017 after receiving inappropriate text messages from one of four Republicans in the House of Representatives involved in a secret sexual harassment agreement with another employee.

One message is shown on The courier newspaper read “You’re about 1.8 feet tall with black hair and high heels and you can probably find a way to convince someone of something if you need strength, haha.”

Morgan had announced his 14,300-square-foot mansion with six bedrooms and seven bathrooms for sale last year. The property was complete with an underground, reinforced steel bunker

When the house was put up for sale, it was announced complete with a nuclear bunker and capable of withstanding a nuclear attack and the strongest earthquake. The photo shows the food reserves

Morgan had announced his 14,300-square-foot mansion with six bedrooms and seven bathrooms for sale last year.

Comes complete with a saltwater pool, steam sauna and heated floors on a 200-acre lakeside property.

However, perhaps its most unusual feature is the 2,000-square-foot, fully loaded underground bunker, located behind a huge steel and concrete door.

$ 6.5 million list advertises the home as capable of withstanding a nuclear attack and the strongest earthquake, with the bunker alone worth $ 3 million.

“It was built by someone who wanted the best refuge for the fallen. He wanted to be very secure and he wanted to have things that none of the others had, “said listing agent Marilyn Hoffman of Hoffman International Properties. Realtor.com. “It’s a nuclear, biological and chemical refuge.”

Zillow described the home as “the safest home on the market in this country”.

“I just wanted somewhere safe,” Morgan said at the time the home was on the market.

The husband of the cinematographer shot and killed by Alec Baldwin on the set of his Western has told of his shock and anger at Baldwin’s failure to take responsibility for her death.

Halyna Hutchins 42, died on October 21 when a prop gun used in the film Rust fired, shooting Hutchins in the chest.

Baldwin, 63, was told the gun he brandished was ‘cold’ – not loaded – and on December 3 he told ABC News that he did not feel guilty for her death, because he did not believe he was responsible.

‘Watching him I just felt so angry,’ said Matt Hutchins, Halyna’s husband of 16 years.

‘I was just so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way and then to not accept any responsibility after having just described killing her.’

Matt Hutchins, husband of Halyna Hutchins and father of their nine-year-old son Aldous, spoke to Hoda Kotb for an interview to be aired on Thursday

Matthew and Halyna Hutchins are pictured with their son Aldous, aged nine

Halyna Hutchins, 42, was shot and killed on set on October 21

Halyna Hutchins is shown on set with Alec Baldwin, who was also the executive producer of Rust, and the film’s other stars – Josh Hopkins (left), Travis Fimmel (second from right) and Jensen Ackles (right)

Alec Baldwin is seen on Wednesday in New York City with two of his children

Baldwin, seen on Wednesday, angered Hutchins with his claim that he felt no guilt for his wife’s death

Hutchins, a Harvard-educated lawyer, told Today in an interview to be broadcast in full on Thursday that he felt the majority of the blame lay with Baldwin.

Baldwin, in the December interview, said: ‘Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but it’s not me.’

Hutchins said: ‘The idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me.

‘But gun safety was not the only problem on that set. There were a number of industry standards that were not practiced and there’s multiple responsible parties,’ he added.

Hutchins met Baldwin in New Mexico, shortly after the fatal shooting.

‘Her husband comes to town, her husband Matthew,’ Baldwin said in the December interview.

‘And I met with him and their son. He was as kind as you could be. ‘

Asked what he said, Baldwin replied: ‘I didn’t know what to say. He hugged me and he goes, ‘I suppose you and I are going to go through this together.’ And I thought, ‘Well, not as much as you are.’

Hutchins, who has a nine-year-old son named Andros with his late wife, filed a wrongful death suit against Baldwin on February 15.

Brian Panish, representing Hutchins, said the Oscar-nominated actor and others are named defendants ‘responsible for the safety on the set and whose reckless behavior in cost cutting led to the senseless and tragic death of Halyna Hutchins.’

The suit also names the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, who has said that she loaded the antique Colt .45 revolver with what she believed were dummy rounds.

Gutierrez-Reed named crew member Seth Kenney, who supplied ammunition to the set, in her own suit, filed in January.

Gutierrez-Reed gave the gun to Dave Halls, an assistant director on the movie, who is also named in the Hutchins family’s lawsuit.

The set of Rust, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch outside of Santa Fe

She was shot just moments after the crew entered a church set to rehearse a scene (above)

The gun prepared by the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed (right), discharged in Baldwin’s hands as it was aimed at Hutchins (left)

Halls told Baldwin the gun was ‘cold’.

Gutierrez-Reed, in her suit, described the set of Rust as a ‘rushed and chaotic atmosphere, (that) created a perfect storm for a safety incident.’

NBC News reported that ‘multiple previous misfires’ by the same prop gun that killed Hutchins caused multiple crew members to walk off the movie’s set hours before the incident.

Lane Luper, who served as the film’s A-camera first assistant, said he quit one day before the fatal shooting because employees were being overworked, COVID-safety was not being enforced properly, and gun safety was poor.

‘I think with Rust, it was the perfect storm of the armorer, the assistant director, the culture that was on set, the rushing. It was everything,’ he told Good Morning America about the events that led up to the fatal shooting.

‘It wasn’t just one individual. Everything had to fall into place for this one-in-a-trillion thing to happen.’

In his letter of resignation, Luper said there had been two accidental weapon discharges on set and one accidental sound-effects explosion that went off around the crew.

‘There have been NO explanations as to what to expect for these shots. When anyone from production is asked we are usually met with the same answers about not having enough time to complete the day if we rehearse or that ‘this is a 21 day shoot,” Luper wrote in the letter.

He added that the crew grew exhausted of the long commutes from the set to their lodging, which for some more than two hours away.

‘In my 10 years as a camera assistant I’ve never worked on a show that cares so little for the safety of its crew,’ Luper said.

In a statement to Sky News, a spokesperson for the producers hit back at his claims, saying: ‘Mr Luper’s allegations around budget and safety are patently false, which is not surprising considering his job was to be a camera operator, and he had absolutely nothing to do with it or knowledge of safety protocols or budgets.

‘As we continue to cooperate with all investigations, we are limited in what we can say,’ the spokesperson continued.

‘However, safety is always the number one priority.’

Baldwin insisted that he was unaware of any problems on set.

He was rehearsing a scene in which he pulls out his gun and, in an interview with ABC on December 2, said that he never pulled the trigger, but the gun went off anyway.

Hutchins, a 42-year-old cinematographer, was shot and killed. The director of the film, Joel Souza, was shot in the shoulder and survived.

It is unclear why it has taken so long for New Mexico police to seize Baldwin’s phone.

The actor has insisted that he has fully cooperated with the investigation.

Baldwin on December 2 gave an emotional interview to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, in which he said he did not pull the trigger, and felt no guilt because he believed he had done nothing wrong.

Alec Baldwin, 63, spoke to George Stephanopoulos for an interview which aired on December 2

Baldwin wept as he described accidentally shooting dead his cinematographer on the set of his film Rust during an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos

Baldwin speaks on the phone in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on October 21 after he was questioned about the shooting

‘I let go of the hammer, bang. The gun goes off. Everyone is horrified. They’re shocked. It’s loud,’ he said.

He told Stephanopoulos that he didn’t know she’d died until hours later, at the end of his police interview when he was photographed in the sheriff’s parking lot in Santa Fe.

He said that he has been told by people ‘in the know’ that it is ‘highly unlikely’ he’ll face criminal charges.

‘Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who it is, but it’s not me,’ Baldwin told Stephanopoulos.

‘Honest to God, if I thought I was responsible I might have killed myself. And I don’t say that lightly.’

He also took a swipe at former President Donald Trump, his media foe who he impersonated on Saturday Night Live, for suggesting that he ‘loaded the gun himself.’

‘He said that I did it deliberately. Just when you think things can’t get any more surreal, here’s the president of the United States making a comment on this tragic situation.’

Baldwin described in detail for the first time the immediate aftermath of the accident on October 21.

He was filming a scene inside a church on the set of the movie when the gun was handed to him.

‘She’s getting me to position the gun – everything is at her direction. I draw the gun, to her marker. I’m not shooting to the camera lens, I’m shooting just off. In her direction. This was a completely incidental shot, that may not have ended up in the film.’

Baldwin says he cocked the gun, and was discussing with Hutchins how it looked on camera.

‘I’m just showing. I go, ‘How ’bout that? Does that work? You see that? Do you see that?’ And then she goes, ‘Yeah, that’s good.’

‘I let go of the hammer, bang. The gun goes off. Everyone is horrified. They’re shocked. It’s loud. They don’t have their earplugs in.

Hutchins’ October 19, 2021 Instagram post showed cast members and staffers, including Baldwin alongside Hutchins herself and armorer Gutierrez-Reed (circled left to right) on the set of Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Baldwin’s version of on-set tragedy

‘I’m just showing. I go, ‘How ’bout that? Does that work? You see that? Do you see that?’

‘And then she goes, ‘Yeah, that’s good.’

‘I let go of the hammer, bang. The gun goes off. Everyone is horrified. They’re shocked. It’s loud. They don’t have their earplugs in.

‘No one was – the gun was supposed to be empty. I was told I was handed an empty gun.

‘If they were cosmetic rounds, nothing with a charge at all, a flash round, nothing.

‘She goes down, I thought to myself, ‘Did she faint?’

‘The notion that there was a live round in that gun did not dawn on me ’till probably 45 minutes to an hour later.’

He added: ‘Well, she’s laying there and I go, ‘Did she hit by wadding? Was there a blank?’

‘I never pulled the trigger. No, no, no. You would never do that.

‘The gun was supposed to be empty. I was told I was handed an empty gun.

‘Nobody gave a f*** who you are any more until this. You see a lot of people with their phones now, in a coffee shop,’ he said, showing them filming him.

‘No one was – the gun was supposed to be empty. I was told I was handed an empty gun. If they were cosmetic rounds, nothing with a charge at all, a flash round, nothing.

‘She goes down, I thought to myself, ‘Did she faint?’ The notion that there was a live round in that gun did not dawn on me ’till probably 45 minutes to an hour later.’

He added: ‘Well, she’s laying there and I go, ‘Did she hit by wadding? Was there a blank?’ Sometimes those blank rounds have a wadding inside that packs, it’s like a cloth that packs the gunpowder in. Sometimes wadding comes out, it can hit people, and it could feel like a little bit of a poke.

‘But no one could understand. Did she have a heart attack? Because remember the idea that someone put a live bullet in the gun was not even in reality.’

‘I never pulled the trigger. No, no, no. You would never do that.’

Halls, the assistant director who was watching, confirmed Baldwin’s account, through his lawyer.

He said he stood over her for ‘about 60 seconds’ and was then ushered out.

‘Was she conscious?’ Stephanopoulos asked.

‘My recollection is yes,’ said Baldwin.

He said ‘no one had any idea’ there was live ammunition used until a police officer showed a photo of the shrapnel removed from Souza’s arm.

He said then began ‘the agony, insanity, that someone put a live bullet in the gun.

‘She was laying there and she was there for a while.

‘I was amazed at how long they didn’t get her in a car or get her out, but they waited until a helicopter came,’ he said.

‘And by the time the helicopter took off with her we were literally all glued to that process outside.

‘When she finally left, I don’t know how long she was there for.

‘She kept saying, she’s stable, just as you disbelieve there was a live round in the gun, you disbelieve its going to be a fatal accident.

‘At the end of my interview with the sheriff’s department, they told me ‘we regret to inform you she didn’t make it,’ they told me then and there.’

He added: ‘That’s when I went outside and called my wife.’

Prince Harry must not qualify for substitution the queen as a state adviser because he no longer resides in the country, reveals a new briefing in parliament.

But Prince Andrew he could still replace his mother if she became incapacitated, although he had to resign from public office and relinquish his HRH title due to the Epstein scandal.

This week, the Library of the House of Commons quietly published for the first time guidelines on what measures could be introduced if the monarch is unable to perform his royal functions.

An intense public debate ensued over the roles of the Dukes of Sussex and York as “substitutes” for the sovereign, and both have now left as working royalty, especially in light of the 95-year-old queen’s recent ill health.

She tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, but was well enough to maintain her weekly phone audience with Boris Johnson last night.

The parliamentary briefing will increase the pressure on Buckingham Palace to take legal steps to resolve the issue once and for all.

Prince Harry (pictured with the queen) should not be eligible to replace the queen as state councilor because he no longer resides in the country, reveals a new briefing document

The newspaper says Andrew is still eligible for state counsel despite the Epstein scandal

There were calls for the appointment of the next two high-ranking royals, Prince Edward and Princess Anne, in their place.

A government source said: “There was a lot of noise about Harry and Andrew and their roles as state advisers, and it was thought that important MPs had all the facts. It has nothing to do with Her Majesty being ill.

The regency laws of 1937 and 1953 are designed to deal with four potential scenarios: a monarch succeeding the throne before the age of 18, a monarch becoming permanently or temporarily incapacitated, and the absence of the monarch from the United Kingdom.

In the event of temporary incapacity for work or absence from the United Kingdom, the Queen may appoint State Councilors to ensure the continuation of “public service”.

Duties include giving royal assent to acts of parliament, approving public appointments and ministers to the crown, and fixing the Great Seal of the Kingdom – a symbol of royal power – to royal proclamations or written patents.

According to 1937 law, all advisers must be members of the royal family.

There were calls for the appointment of the next two dignitaries to the throne – Prince Edward and Princess Anne (both standing behind the Queen) – in place of Harry and Andrew.

They consist of the husband or wife of the monarch and the next four in succession.

Following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh last May, the current advisers are the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of York.

Most importantly, however, the newly published guidelines state: “According to the 1937 Act, a public adviser must be domiciled in ‘some part’ of the United Kingdom.”

He added: “The Regency Act of 1943 adds the discretionary provision that if he ‘appears before the sovereign’, that any eligible adviser will be ‘absent from the United Kingdom or intends to be absent for the whole or part of the period of such a delegation ”, Then Letters Patent [a legal tool available to the monarch] “May foresee” the release of that person.

Harry remains sixth in line to the throne, but has not lived in the UK since late 2019.

However, the law does not provide for the exclusion of a family member who is no longer a working king, as long as he remains in the line of succession, so Andrew, who is ninth, can be called to stand.

Both the Queen and the Prince of Wales tested positive for Covid earlier this month. If they were both unable to fulfill their constitutional obligations, they would fall to William and Harry.

State councilors often performed royal functions during the queen’s reign. In 1974, Queen Mother and Princess Margaret declared a state of emergency and dissolved parliament when the Queen was on an official visit to the Pacific with her husband.

Buckingham Palace said last night that there is no “change” in the current councilors. An aide said there were “no plans” to change them.

Sources speculate that the royal family may be concerned about the “beyond the lake” response if changes are made. “They may just not be willing to sting the bear,” they said.

■ The BBC launches a national vote for 10,000 citizens to win free tickets to the Queen’s platinum anniversary celebrations. He is hosting a platinum party at the Palace on June 4.

There are 5,000 pairs of free tickets available today at 7am at www.bbc.co.uk/platinumjubileeconcert.

The victims of a Louisiana the sheriff, who was convicted of child rape and incest, managed to stand up to his attacker as he was sentenced to four life sentences on Tuesday.

Jack Strain, the former sheriff of St. Tammany Parish, was convicted in November of four counts of aggravated incest, one count of misconduct with a minor and one count of sexual assault.

He was sentenced on Tuesday to four life sentences without parole on aggravated rape charges, 15 years and a $ 15,000 fine for each aggravated charge of incest and five years for misconduct with a minor and five years for sexual assault, according to FOX 8 News.

Judge A. Bruce Simpson also imposed an additional 30 years for crimes committed against some of his family members, NOLA.com reports, and the 59-year-old Strain now also has to pay $ 30,000 in fines and nearly $ 28,000 in court costs.

Lawyers say Strain will appeal the decision.

But after the verdict, some of his victims got a chance to face the man who harassed them as little boys, as one of the victim’s mothers said he was praying he would “never get away”, so “never, never will to hurt another child. “

Jack Strain, former sheriff of St. Tammany Parish, was convicted in November on charges of incest and sexual assault

One of his victims, Mark Finn, a childhood friend of Strain, unloaded in half an hour as he called him a predator, a monster and a pervert of his sentence on Tuesday.

Patricia Finn, Mark’s mother, said she blamed herself for not realizing what her son was going through and told WWL that Strain had “got exactly what he deserved”.

Patricia showed old photos of Mark when he was a little boy who was abused

Mark Finn, a childhood friend of Strain, unloaded for half an hour on Tuesday as he called him a predator, a monster and a pervert.

He asked Steen, who also pleaded guilty to a concession scheme in December, how he likes to wear prison clothes.

“I did more than 25 years – prison, prison, halfway through and you controlled me,” said Finn, who testified that the sexual violence he suffered at the hands of Strain between the ages of 6 and 11, along with the things he Strain made him watch – leading to drug problems, deep anger and inability to believe.

“What did you do to me?” My family? ”He asked. “My mother thought you were God and wouldn’t hurt her boy, but you did.”

At one point, Finn looked directly at Steen and said, “Look at me, are you sorry? If you’re sorry, I’ll forgive you. If not, I hope you rot in hell.

Strain reportedly said nothing, but Finn’s mother, Patricia, said WWL: He kept looking at me.

She said she blamed herself for what happened to her son, saying: “I am a mother, I should have known. But I swear to God I didn’t.

“Because I’ve known this man since I was 10 and I would never have thought of it.”

Skip Keane, another victim, also spoke out against Strain in sentencing on Tuesday, telling him: “You are the reason my wife and children have memories of an angry, uncontrollable man who would attack for no reason.

“I hate myself more days than not,” he said. “I have considered suicide. It depends on you.

“You better be glad I can’t catch you, my friend,” he threatened. “You better rejoice.”

Steam, at the center, was sentenced on Tuesday to four life sentences without parole

He had previously pleaded guilty to a refund scheme while in office

Strain headed the St. Tammani Sheriff’s Office from 1996 to 2016, before losing his re-election.

He was arrested in 2019 on charges of incest and rape following a state investigation into his sexual crimes against minors.

The indictment alleges that he raped one victim between June 1, 1979 and July 19, 1980, and against another victim between January 1, 1975 and September 8, 1981, according to the indictment. Strain would have been 12 years old in January 1975.

He was also charged with aggravated incest with a third victim and misconduct with the same victim between 1 April 1996 and 1 July 2002.

He was also charged with aggravated incest and sexual assault against a fourth victim on June 1, 2004.

Strain was also charged, using his position as sheriff to cover up his crimes by offering his victims jobs and pay.

Strain led the St. Tammani Sheriff’s Office from 1996 to 2016, before losing his re-election

At last week’s trial, FOX 8 reported that five victims, some of whom are relatives of the Strain, testified to the sexual violence they were facing.

They all said they saw Steen as an older brother or father, but he betrayed their trust when he mistreated or raped them in tents, campers and his bedroom. In many cases, the abuse continued into adulthood.

A jury found him guilty on all eight counts just five hours after the two-week trial ended.

Patricia Finn later said she did not get any “satisfaction” from Strain’s suppression.

“I remember the little boy I fell in love with when I was 10 – to do this to my 6-year-old.” I blame myself.

“How could I not see the pain my child is going through.

“I live with it in my heart and brain 24 hours a day,” she told WWL, “He got exactly what he deserved,” and said, “They have a special place in hell for you.”

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, wrote a letter to FBI urges the agency to check whether police use data from rape kits to link victims of sexual violence to other crimes.

San Francisco police were accused last week of doing just that by linking DNA from a rape kit to a woman who said she was sexually assaulted to link her to an unrelated property. crime.

The city’s district attorney, Chesa Budin, said he had learned that DNA samples collected from rape victims were included in a database of suspects.

It is unclear whether the woman was convicted on the basis of DNA.

Referring to this incident, Schiff, a California Democrat, wrote on FBI Director Christopher Ray: “While some details of this reported incident remain unclear, they deserve your attention and action, because even the feeling that law enforcement is looking for DNA profiles collected from victims of sexual violence can have a chilling effect on the desire to reports sexual assault attacks.

“Do current federal laws and regulations allow law enforcement agencies to upload DNA profiles obtained from victims of crime to the database of violators of the National DNA Index System?” Schiff asked.

Representative Adam Schiff wrote a letter to the FBI asking the agency to check whether police are using data from rape kits to link victims of sexual violence to other crimes.

Schiff wrote to FBI Director Christopher Ray above: “While some details of this reported incident remain unclear, they deserve your attention and action, because even the feeling that law enforcement is searching DNA profiles collected from victims of sexual violence may has a chilling effect on the willingness to report sexual assault. “

“Will you try to tell state and local law enforcement why why having a DNA profile of a victim of a crime in this way, especially a victim of sexual violence, will have a chilling effect on reporting rape and sexual assault?” He said.

Schiff asked Ray to respond by March 4 and said he was ready to draft legislation banning cross-testing of DNA rape kits with other criminal databases.

Buden and many local lawmakers condemned the “legally and ethically wrong” practice and warned that it would stop future victims from moving forward.

Since then, San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott has launched an investigation into the allegations and vowed to end the practice.

“Whatever disagreement we have with District Attorney Budin, we agree that this issue needs to be addressed,” he said in a statement. “Ultimately, our respective departments exist to administer justice to victims of crime. The last thing we need to do is discourage their cooperation with us to achieve this.

The suspect Budin is talking about may have been identified by storing DNA in a non-victim database, Scott added.

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott (right) says if Budin’s (left) allegations are true, he is committed to ending the practice.

Buden said he was calling for an end to the practice, which is being investigated by the legislature and the police

“Rape and sexual violence are violent, dehumanizing and traumatic,” he said in a press release Monday. “I am concerned that victims who have the courage to undergo an invasive examination to help identify their perpetrators are treated as criminals, not supported as victims of crime.

“We need to encourage survivors to come out, not gather evidence to use against them in the future. This practice treats victims as evidence, not as human beings.

Victims of sexual violence who report to the police are often asked to pass an exam so that investigators can gather evidence. The victim presents his or her own DNA so that it can be excluded as evidence in the analysis of the samples.

Using their DNA to convict them of future crimes could prevent future victims from moving forward, Budin’s office said.

Democrat Sen. Scott Wiener said he was working with the prosecutor’s office to deal with the situation.

Rape in San Francisco has dropped dramatically in the last five years; 207 were reported in 2021, compared to 446 rapes investigated in 2017.

Ronen drafts legislation to prevent San Francisco practice and says evidence from rape victim kit should be used exclusively to investigate sexual assault

“Going out after sexual assault to provide a rape kit can be re-traumatic,” he said in a statement. “Too many people decide not to take this step, given the trauma. Yet survivors can at least be sure – or so they thought – that the sample they provide as a rape kit will only be used to investigate sexual violence and not misused for other purposes.

“If survivors believe their DNA could be used against them in the future, they will have another reason not to participate in the rape kit process.”

District 9 Superintendent Hillary Ronen said she had asked the city attorney to draft legislation to prevent the use of evidence from the rape kit for any purpose other than investigating the rape.

“There are already huge barriers for rape victims to show up to report the crime,” Ronen said.

The DNA of rape victims must be protected at all levels of government, everywhere.

Rape cases in San Francisco are declining, police data show. In 2021, 207 cases were reported, compared to 449 rapes investigated in 2018.

However, there are other violent crimes in the city of Northern California, and Budin has been widely criticized for enabling criminals with his crime reform policies.

The city’s chief of police has publicly criticized Buden for showing leniency to criminals, and earlier this month accused him of withholding evidence of shootings involving officers and deaths in custody.

A white teacher at a multiracial elementary school in San Diego was fired for using the N-word while reciting an iconic Harlem Renaissance poem about the black writer Countee Cullen’s experience of racism as a child.

Amy Glancey, a fourth-grade teacher at High Tech Elementary School in Point Loma, read aloud the racial insult from the famous poem Incident, which caused two upset students to leave the classroom while others complained to the school’s dean.

“I can’t believe you did that!” Said a student before leaving the room with another insane peer, Glance said Los Angeles Times columnist Sandy Banks.

‘Miss. Glancy, you don’t understand how hard it is to hear that word, “said a Glancy student an hour before complaining to the dean.

Glancy, who is in her first year teaching at High Tech Elementary School, told Banks that she decided not to censor the poem “to demonstrate that the poet’s words can evoke emotion – in this case anger and sadness.” .

Amy Glancy, a white elementary school teacher in San Diego, was fired for using the word N while reciting the famous Harlem Renaissance poem “Incident.” She is pictured above with a group of her students

When she read the racial slander, two students stormed the classroom and others reported it to the school’s dean. Count Cullen’s “Incident,” published in 1925, describes his experience of racism as a child.

She said she did not expect to be at the center of a debate over whether young children should be exposed to harmful language or other sensitive material in an educational setting.

Earl Cullen’s “Incident,” published in 1925, describes a narrator who visits Baltimore at the age of eight to see a “Balitmore” boy stick out his tongue and call the narrator an N-word.

The narrator writes about the impact of the interaction and how, even though he spent seven months in the city, this is the memory that stands out the most.

“On Tuesday, a High Tech Elementary teacher read a poem to students that included language that was upsetting to some students. We take these issues very seriously, “said High Tech spokesman Anthony Milican San Diego Union Tribune in a statement

An Incident by Count Cullen

Once, while driving in old Baltimore, full of hearts, full of heads, I saw a Baltimore fortress looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very young, And he was not older, And so I smiled, but he stretched out his tongue and shouted at me: “H ****”.

I saw all of Baltimore from May to December; Of all the things that happened there, that’s all I remember.

Milican confirmed that Glance was on administrative leave after the incident and said the school was “committed to ensuring that the school is a safe place for all our students,” Milican added.

After seeing the reactions of his students, Glancy apologized in an email to parents seen by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“I learned a great lesson today as I tried to teach your students the mood and tone of poetry,” she wrote.

“The lesson was intended to show that the poet’s words can evoke emotion – in this case anger and sadness. “Unfortunately, this caused some very big emotions for the students, which I did not expect,” she wrote.

A high-tech elementary school in the United School District of San Diego is listed with 64% of minorities enrolled in american news – 42.2% are Hispanic / Latino, 36% are white, 7.2% are Asian / Asia Pacific, 6.7% are black or African American, 5.7% are of mixed ethnicity and 2.1% are Indians.

Michael Dominguez, chairman of the San Diego Unified School’s Ethnic Studies Committee, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that he advises anyone who is not black not to use the word N, even if it is in an educational context.

“Words matter to everyone … without context, without preparation, without framing and thinking, seeing one of these words or hearing one of these words pop up in the context of literature can be really triggering because it triggers this whole historical a relationship of trauma, frustration and feelings about something else, “Dominguez said.

“It requires training, it requires skills and support, and we need to give our teachers more than that, not on a superficial level,” he said.

Francine Maxwell, chair of the San Diego-based Black Men and Women United, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that she had received calls from families at the High Tech Elementary School about the incident.

“We need to acknowledge the trauma that has been caused and what we can do to get through it and start treatment,” she told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Given that this is the month of black history and things are getting worse, we see this as an opportunity to start a dialogue that has not taken place.”

Count Cullen, born Count Leroy Porter, moved to the pastor of the largest congregation in Haarlem, the Rev. Frederick A. Cullen of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Salem, beginning in 1918 after his paternal grandmother and guardian died.

He began his poetic career at New York University before pursuing his master’s degree at Harvard University, where he published his first volume of poetry, Color, according to his biography at the Poetry Foundation.

Cullen received a Guggenheim Fellowship to write poetry in France in 1928 and married Nina Yoland Dubois, the daughter of the famous civil rights activist WEB DuBois. Cullen was discreetly bisexual and left his marriage by writing a letter in which he confessed his love for his wife’s men.

He had a series of homosexual relationships before marrying Ida May Robertson in 1940, with whom he remained until his death in 1946.

The high school, in the United School District of San Diego, is listed as a 64% minority by US News

The charter school left Glance on administrative leave after the incident, saying the school was “committed to making sure the school is a safe place for all our students.”

Glance said she had decided not to censor the poem, “to demonstrate that the poet’s words can evoke emotion – in this case anger and sadness.”

Glance told Los Angeles Times columnist Sandy Banks that he wanted to “raise the voice of black poets” and chose Incident because of his focus on US history “from the point of view of non-whites.”

She added that after the students confronted her in an hour, she said she shared “the experience of the poet and his language and it is not my job to censor this.”

Glance told Banks that he was sorry to say the word out loud.

“I’m trying to get an education. I want to do better, “she told the writer.

“What I struggle most is that I am quite well educated and literate and I read a lot of opinions that are different from mine. I’m looking for information and I still had no idea. That’s what scares me, “she added.

Glance’s reaction comes amid an escalating debate on the censorship of literature and what is appropriate and necessary for young children to learn.

Last month, a Tennessee school board voted unanimously to remove Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel about Holocaust survivors from the eighth grade curriculum, citing a drawing of a naked woman, eight swear words and her “unwise or healthy” content.

The McMinn County Education Council voted 10-0 to remove Art Spiegelman’s Maus from the curriculum on Jan. 10, although teachers say the graphic novel is an “anchor text” in eighth-grade English arts education. and at the center of a month-long Holocaust study.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday he is revoking the wide-reaching emergency powers that put an end to the Freedom Convoy protest, but said an investigation into whether he was right to use it will not begin for two months.

Trudeau made the announcement after authorities ended the blockades at the borders and the occupation in Ottawa by truckers and others opposed to COVID-19 restrictions – with some police officers accused of beating innocent demonstrators.

The prime minister said the ‘threat continues’ but the acute emergency that included entrenched occupations has ended. His government invoked the powers last week and lawmakers affirmed the powers late Monday.

‘The situation is no longer an emergency, therefore the federal government will be ending the use of the emergencies act,’ Trudeau said. ‘We are confident that existing laws and bylaws are sufficient.’

The Emergencies Act allows authorities to declare certain areas as no-go zones. It also allows police to freeze truckers’ personal and corporate bank accounts and compel tow truck companies to haul away vehicles.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces the end of the Emergencies Act during a news conference, Wednesday

Police hang off a truck as authorities work to end a protest against COVID-19 measures that had grown into a broader anti-government demonstration

People walk toward Parliament Hill where earlier in the day police moved in on February 19

Protesters cheer for a truck leaving the area as police take action to put an end to a protest

Trudeau‘s government froze bank accounts and other assets during what leaders declared an ’emergency period’ in Ottawa.

Among those targeted was a single mom on a minimum wage job who donated just $50, according to one local Conservative MP, sparking outrage over what critics of Trudeau claimed was authoritarian behavior. Thousands of protesters flooded the streets outside Parliament Hill and blockades that shut down border crossings into the U.S.

Also, there were reports of arrests of some of the truckers. A trucker arrested as police cracked down on Freedom Convoy protestors in Ottawa has told of the farcical way the Canadian capital’s ‘Keystone Kops’ tried to bring the weeks’ long demonstration to an end.

Even the officers themselves were complaining about how disorganized the whole operation was, Guy Meister told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

‘You could tell they were overwhelmed. They were as dumb as a bag of hammers,’ Meister, 53, said.

‘They wanted to take my booking photograph, but I had to wait for several minutes because they were having issues with the “mug shot board.” They first took my picture before they realized that it didn’t have any numbers on the board I was holding.

‘What should have taken a few minutes turned into 20 minutes, all in the freezing cold.

Long-haul truck driver Guy Meister said Ottawa police who broke up the protests in the Canadian capital were as incompetent as the silent-movie Keystone Kops

Officers in full riot gear moved in Friday to break up the protests that had paralyzed Ottawa for weeks

Meister said he was zip tied outside in -5 degree Celsius (5 degree Fahrenheit) temperatures after he was arrested

An investigation into Trudeau’s decision to invoke the law and what came after begins in 60 days, according to the CBC. Canadian Parliamentarians will launch a committee to oversee that review next week.

The trucker protest grew until it closed vital trade routes along the Canada-U.S. border and shut down key parts of the capital for more than three weeks. But all border blockades have now ended and the streets around the Canadian Parliament are quiet.

‘We were very clear that the use of the emergencies act would be limited in time,’ Trudeau said.

Trudeau had warned earlier this week there were some truckers just outside Ottawa who might be planning further blockades or occupations. His public safety minister also said there was an attempt to block a border crossing in British Columbia over the weekend.

The protests, which were first aimed at a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers but also encompassed fury over the range of COVID-19 restrictions and hatred of Trudeau, reflected the spread of disinformation in Canada and simmering populist and right-wing anger.

A graffitied image of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seen as city employees clean up Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill

A vehicle is towed from Kent Street, as Canadian police worked to evict the last of the trucks and supporters occupying the downtown core

The self-styled Freedom Convoy shook Canada´s reputation for civility, inspired convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands and interrupted trade, causing economic damage on both sides of the border. Hundreds of trucks eventually occupied the streets around Parliament, a display that was part protest and part carnival.

For almost a week the busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing, the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, was blocked. The crossing sees more than 25% of the trade between the two countries.

Authorities moved to reopen the border posts, but police in Ottawa did little but issue warnings until Friday, even as hundreds and sometimes thousands of protesters clogged the streets of the city and besieged Parliament Hill.

On Friday, authorities launched the largest police operation in Canadian history, arresting a string of Ottawa protesters and increasing that pressure on Saturday until the streets in front of Parliament were clear. Eventually, police arrested at least 191 people and towed away 79 vehicles. Many protesters retreated as the pressure increased.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said those who had their bank accounts frozen were ‘influencers in the illegal protest in Ottawa, and owners and/or drivers of vehicles who did not want to leave the area.’

Workers reinforce a fence inside a protected zone around Parliament Hill

A flatbed removes a truck from the convoy after police cleared Wellington Street, previously occupied by the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa

The province of Ontario also announced it is ending its state of emergency but said the ’emergency tools provided to law enforcement will be maintained at this time as police continue to address ongoing activity on the ground.’

Those who block critical infrastructure face up to a year in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000.

The Canadian protest has inspired scores of truckers to begin their 11-day trek from California to the Beltway, a major highway encircling Washington DC, on Wednesday to protest COVID-19 vaccine and mandates in the US after the cavalcade raised more than $464,000 in donations.

The People’s Convoy – comprised of more than two dozen 18-wheelers, along with about 50 pickups and recreational vehicles – has called on the federal government to end the National Emergency enacted at the start of the pandemic, arguing the threat posed by the coronavirus has now receded.

President Joe Biden extended the emergency – which was set to expire next week – last Friday. He did so after arguing that ‘the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause significant risk to the public health and safety of the nation.’

The People’s Convoy argues the ‘government has forgotten its place’ and seeks to advocate for all Americans impacted by unconstitutional restrictions. Around 25 separate convoys are expected to join the group in DC.

‘This is for our freedoms, our human rights. Enough is enough,’ trucker Ron Coleman, 61, of Reno, Nevada, said as he prepared to make the 2,500-mile journey.

‘I think everybody’s here for different reasons, but it all boils down to the same thing: Freedom and liberty,’ echoed Shane Class, who had travelled from Idaho to join the rally. ‘It’s time for our government to start understanding that people want that freedom in the Constitution back.’

In response to the protest, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved a request from local DC government and the Capitol police to deploy 700 members of the National Guard to the capital city ahead of the convoy’s arrival. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said Guardsmen would not be armed, and will not be empowered to arrest people, but would be reporting wrongdoing to local police. Approximately 50 ‘large tactical vehicles’ will also be stationed in the city 24 hours a day.

Biden, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Pentagon have been accused of overreacting to the convoy after it emerged 500 DC cops had been put on standby for violence.

People’s Convoy organizers claim they do not intend to disrupt roads or bridges, like the Canadian protest did. However, some semi-truck drivers are already calling for widespread blockades, including Bob Bolus who on Monday vowed the Beltway and other roads in and out of DC will be shut down.

Bolus, who is leading a DC-bound convoy of about 25 semis from Pennsylvania, began his route Wednesday morning after suffering a more than two hour delay caused by a flat tire. He has not specified how they plan to block the Beltway but told WJLA: ‘We’re not going to cause a traffic problem any more than they live with every single day.’

Biden elected to extend the National Emergency despite calls from 70 House Republicans and Department of Health and Human Service Secretary Xavier Becerra urging him to end the declaration. The leaders cited access to vaccines, treatments and mental health impacts as reasons to let the order expire, as well as the fact that other nations have started transitioning out of pandemic restrictions.

‘[The] fact is we have a government that tries to push us around,’ trucker Mike Landis told the Los Angeles Times Tuesday when asked about the People’s Convoy. ‘At this moment, we are living without our Constitution. Our Constitution means nothing right now.’

The movement has attracted more than $464,000 in donations, according to the website, which organizers say will be used to reimburse fuel and other costs borne by participating truckers.

The Freedom Convoy sets off from the Adelanto Stadium in California on Wednesday afternoon

The two-dozen trailers are likely to be joined by other trucks as they make their way across the continental US

Supporters were seen waving flags as the convoy set off from Adelanto on Wednesday afternoon

Other protesters held up anti-censorship placards as the convoy began its intercontinental journey across the US

Scores of truckers began their 11-day trek from California to the Beltway, a major highway encircling Washington DC , on Wednesday in an effort to protest COVID-19 vaccine and mandates

People’s Convoy participants embark on their cross-country journey to DC from Adelanto, California on Wednesday afternoon

This map shows the route of the People’s Convoy from California to Washington DC, with organizers hoping that up to 1,000 trucks will take part

The U.S. believes that Russia will invade overnight on Wednesday, the Secretary of State said, as the United Nations called another emergency session of the Security Council.

Anthony Blinken, the Secretary of State, was asked by Lester Holt on NBC News on whether he thought there would be a full-scale invasion from Russia ‘before this night is over’.

Blinken replied: ‘I do. Unfortunately Russia has positioned its forces at the final point of readiness across Ukraine’s borders – to the north, the east, the south.

‘Everything seems to be in place for Russia to engage in a major aggression against Ukraine.’

Blinken added: ‘I can’t put a date or an exact time on it, but everything is in place for Russia to move forward.’

Blinken’s comments came as the UN prepared to hold its second – highly unusual – late night emergency session in three days.

The Council met on Monday night, with Russia – which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council – defiant in the face of criticism from other members. They will meet again on Wednesday at 9:30pm in New York.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday night addressed the nation, saying that he had tried to contact Vladimir Putin to discuss the situation, but Putin refused to take his call.

‘I initiated a telephone call with the president of the Russian federation. Result: silence,’ Zelensky said.

Zelensky also rejected Moscow’s claim that Ukraine was a threat to Russia.

‘The people of Ukraine and the government of Ukraine want peace,’ Zelensky said, adding that a Russian invasion would cost tens of thousands of lives.

Zelensky added that there were now 200,000 Russian troops amassed near Ukraine’s borders.

Zelensky said that the people of Russia were being lied to about Ukraine and urged them to help stop a possible war.

‘Who can stop (the war)? People. These people are among you, I am sure,’ he said.

Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, was asked on Wednesday night whether he expected Putin to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine overnight, and replied: ‘I do’

After responding to @LesterHoltNBC in the affirmative if he believes Russia will launch a full invasion of Ukraine tonight, Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he can’t put an exact date or time on it, but says everything is in place.

pic.twitter.com/4UbtTS3ZYa

— GlobalNewsToday #vaccine💉 and its pros and cons (@GlobalNewsToda3) February 24, 2022

The Pentagon on Wednesday gave its most dire assessment yet of the situation with the Ukraine, warning that 80 percent of Russian troops are in combat-ready positions with a full scale attack by Vladimir Putin imminent.

‘They’re ready to go now if they get the order to go,’ a senior Defense Department official told reporters, adding that the Russian forces were positioned between three and 30 miles to the Ukrainian border.

The White House backed up that assessment.

‘We have been saying ‘imminent’ for days now,’ press secretary Jen Psaki said at her daily press briefing.

The warning came amid additional signs Russia was ready to make its move. The Kremlin claimed on Wednesday that Putin had received an appeal for ‘help in repelling the aggression of the armed forces and formations of Ukraine.’

The leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk asked Russia’s president to use military force under treaties signed after Moscow recognized their independence from the Ukraine, Moscow said.

Western officials worry Putin could use a claim of Ukrainian aggression as a pretext for an invasion.

And an invasion appears to be ready at Putin’s order.

If it comes, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby warned that any attack by Putin ‘won’t be bloodless.’

‘There will be suffering,’ Kirby said. ‘There will be sacrifice. And all of that must and should be laid at his feet. Because he’s doing this by choice.

At particular risk is the northeastern city of Kharkiv, CNN reported, which sits about 18 miles from Russia.

The latest dire warning signs of a full-blown attack follow the West sanctioning the Kremlin’s inner circle; Ukraine issuing a nationwide state of emergency and moving to allow citizens to arm themselves; and Russia continuing to tell the world they will not be deterred in their advance into separatist regions Putin has declared independent.

Ukrainian government websites and banks have also been shut down because of a sweeping cyberattack while Moscow’s tactical units have formed into battle-ready units ready to attack from the north, east and south.

Meanwhile the U.S. has re-positioned its firepower and 4,700 paratroopers around eastern Europe, with F-35s fighter jets and a fleet of Apache attack helicopters being sent from Germany to Baltic states and Poland.

Since October, Russia has been building an enormous military force along Ukraine’s border, with as many as 190,000 troops in or near Ukraine, American and Ukrainian officials told The New York Times.

Zelensky has called up military reservists, declared a 30-day state of emergency and has urged his people to stand up and fight with their country on the brink of invasion.

‘Ukrainians are a peaceful nation,’ he said. ‘We want quiet. But if we are today silent, then tomorrow we will disappear.’

In addition to the troop movements, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, said government websites are the result of a ‘new mass distributed denial-of-service attack.’ It’s unclear who is behind the cyber intrusion.

Meanwhile, Russia warned there would be a ‘painful’ response to sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies against Putin’s inner circle.

A fresh round of sanctions that struck at the heart of Putin’s inner circle appear not to be working.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called them part of Washington’s ‘ongoing attempts to change Russia’s course,’ and added that the pressure will not prove to be a deterrence.

‘There should be no doubt that sanctions will receive a strong response, not necessarily symmetrical, but finely tuned and painful to the American side,’ the ministry said on Wednesday.

But the U.S. struck again with sanctions on Wednesday. Biden announced ‘sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its corporate officers.’

Biden said he made the decision after Germany called off certification of the pipeline, which was built to carry natural gas from Russia into Europe. Biden waived sanctions last year against Nord Stream 2 AG when the project was almost completed, in return for an agreement from Germany to take action against Russia if it used gas as a weapon or attacked Ukraine.

‘Through his actions, President Putin has provided the world with an overwhelming incentive to move away from Russian gas and to other forms of energy,’ Biden said, warning more sanctions could come.

As Russia pulled its diplomats from Kiev, Zelensky called for even harsher sanctions and warned the ‘future of European security is being decided now, here in Ukraine.’

Ukrainian servicemen check the situation on the position near the Katerynivka village not far from pro-Russian militants controlled city of Luhansk, Ukraine

President Joe Biden’s administration has warned the Ukrainian government that the latest intelligence points to a full scale attack by Vladimir Putin ‘imminently’ with almost 100% of Russian forces on the border ready to move in. Putin watches Fatherland Day celebrations on Wednesday after praising Russia’s fleet of hypersonic weapons

Russian armored vehicles are loaded onto railway platforms at a railway station in the Rostov-on-Don region, not far from Russia-Ukraine border, on Wednesday. The latest dire warning signs of a full-blown attack follow the West sanctioning the Kremlin’s inner circle, Ukraine issuing a nationwide state of emergency allowing citizens to arm themselves and Russia continuing to tell the world they will not be deterred in their advance into regions Putin has declared independent

Putin has recognized two areas in eastern Ukraine as independent and authorised Russian troops to go in on ‘peacekeeping’ missions. Rebels already hold part of that territory (in red) but Putin has recognised a much-wider region (yellow) amid fears he will now try to seize it. There are also fears he is preparing to attack Kharkiv in Ukraine (green) after massing forces nearby

Putin is thought to be planning a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, having recognised two areas in the east of the country as independent earlier this week. Rebels already hold part of that territory (in dark red) but Putin has recognised a much-wider region (shaded red) amid fears he will now try to seize it

Russia has up to 190,000 troops backed by tanks, artillery, fighter jets and bombers surrounding Ukraine from three sides, as the US warns of a full-scale invasion of the whole country including an attack on the capital, Kiev

A Ukrainian soldier talks with her comrades sitting in a shelter at the line of separation between Ukraine-held territory and rebel-held territory near Svitlodarsk, eastern Ukraine

Russian armored vehicles at the railway station in Rostov region, Russia. Since October, Russia has been building an enormous military force along Ukraine’s border, with as many as 190,000 troops in or near Ukraine, American and Ukrainian officials told The New York Times

Meanwhile the U.S. has re-positioned its firepower and 4,700 paratroopers around eastern Europe, with F-35s fighter jets and a fleet of Apache attack helicopters being sent from Germany to Baltic states and Poland

Russia has for months been massing troops, tanks, and support vehicles (pictured) on the border with Ukraine and is now thought to have up to 190,000 men ready to attack the country

Russian armoured troop transports are pictured in an assembly area, amid fears they could soon roll across the border and into Ukraine – sparking the most-serious war in Europe for decades

Russia has alternately claimed to be staging routine training exercises in its border regions, withdrawing its forces and reinforcing its allies in the region – all of which has been dismissed by the West as pretense (pictured, a Russian soldier)

Meanwhile, Council secretary Oleksiy Danilov said that Ukraine would introduce a 30-day period of emergency in a ramping up of precautions as Russian troops and blood supplies headed to frontlines in what U.S. officials said were ‘plans for war’. Ukrainian lawmakers are also working on legislation to allow its citizens to carry firearms.

U.S. moves troops to Baltic NATO states

The U.S. military has moved troops to the Baltic nations in an effort to bolster NATO’s eastern flank bordering Russia as Ukraine prepares for a full-scale invasion.

Up to 190,000 Russian troops have surrounded Ukraine, including Russian forces that have deployed to Belarus, which border NATO members Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.

This has been nominally for military exercises, which have been watched over by Putin and Belarusian strongman President Alexander Lukashenko.

Biden confirmed he was moving additional U.S. troops to the Baltics, though he described the deployments as purely ‘defensive,’ asserting, ‘We have no intention of fighting Russia.’

The U.S. will send about 800 infantry troops and 40 attack aircraft to NATO’s eastern flank from other locations within Europe, according to a senior defense official.

In addition, a contingent of F-35 strike fighters and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters will also be relocated.

The measures came as Russian forces rolled into rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine after Putin said he was recognizing the independence of the separatist regions in defiance of U.S. and European demands.

It move came after President Putin boasted of Russia’s preparedness and ‘advanced weapons’ including hypersonic missiles in a sabre-rattling speech.

Putin, speaking on Defender of the Fatherland Day, which marks the first mass draft into the Red Army in 1918, congratulated the armed forces on their ‘professionalism’ and said he was assured they would stand up for the country’s national interests – which he said are ‘non-negotiable’.

The Russian leader insisted that diplomacy with the West is still possible but gave no hint that he is willing to back down over any of his security demands – including that Ukraine disarm and drop its bid to join NATO. These have been dismissed by the U.S., Kiev and NATO as non-starters.

President Biden warned it was clear the Russian leader was preparing for conflict after U.S. sources observed Russia moving supplies of blood towards its border with Ukraine, saying: ‘You don’t need blood unless you’re planning to start a war.’

In a sign that a diplomatic solution appears unlikely, Blinken called off a high-level summit with Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov scheduled for Thursday.

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who also cancelled his meeting, said Putin no longer accepted Ukraine’s independence under international law.

Earlier Wednesday, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense council approved plans to declare a state of national emergency, with measures requiring stepped-up document and vehicle checks across the country. The declaration needs to be formally approved by parliament.

They would apply to all parts of Ukraine except for its two Russian-backed eastern separatist regions, where a deadly insurgency that has claimed more than 14,000 lives broke out in 2014.

Danilov said each of Ukraine’s regions would be able to select which particular measures to apply, ‘depending on how necessary they might be’.

‘What could it be? This could be added enforcement of public order,’ Danilov said. ‘This could involve limiting certain types of transport, increased vehicle checks, or asking people to show this or that document,’ he added, calling it a ‘preventive’ measure.

Additionally, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday urged its citizens in Russia to leave immediately. The ministry also recommended that Ukrainians not travel to Russia and warned the government may not be in a position to help any of its citizens in Russia.

Russia, meanwhile, began pulling personnel from its diplomatic posts in Ukraine, state news agency Tass reported. By Wednesday afternoon, the Russian flag was no longer flying over the embassy in Kiev, according to an Associated Press photographer.

Hopes for a diplomatic solution seem to be fading.

Biden warned on Tuesday that an invasion of Ukraine is already underway but could quickly ramp up into all-out war, with blood supplies being moved to the frontlines which could be used to treat injured soldiers.

‘This is the beginning of a Russian invasion. You don’t need blood unless you’re planning to start a war,’ Biden declared as he levied sanctions against Russian banks and promised harsher measures to come.

Biden said two Russian financial institutions, VTB and Russia’s military bank, will face sanctions. He also said Russia’s sovereign debt will be sanctioned so Russia ‘can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade its new debt on our markets, or European markets either.’

The administration also named five individuals being targeted, including Alex Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service; Putin’s deputy chief of staff Sergey Keriyenko; and Petr Fradkov, the CEO of Russian Promsvyazbank, the country’s largest military bank.

The White House warned more individuals could be targeted, with a senior administration official saying: ‘No Russian financial institution is safe if this invasion proceeds.’

Trans-Atlantic allies are lining up behind the American condemnation of Russia. Germany made the first big move, taking steps to halt certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia, cutting off what Biden’s administration called a ‘cash cow’ for Moscow.

Britain also announced sanctions on three billionaires with close links to Putin, and five small lenders including Promsvyazbank.

Australia, Canada and Japan also announced sanctions. Australia will impose travel bans and financial penalties on eight members of Russia’s National Security Council. Canada sanctioned two Russian banks and Japan imposed financial penalties on Moscow.

Fighting also escalated along the frontlines between separatist forces and Ukraine’s men overnight, with one Ukrainian soldier killed and six injured in shelling. A house was also hit in the village of Muratovo.

Tensions between East and West dramatically ratcheted up Tuesday as Putin was granted authority by Russia’s lap-dog parliament to use military force abroad, a move that paves the way for him to attack Ukraine.

Hours earlier, he had given a speech in which he made expansionist claims about rebel-held territory in Ukraine’s east – saying Russia has recognized areas currently held by Ukrainian troops as belonging to the separatists.

That has sparked fears he is preparing for a land-grab of that territory under the auspices of a ‘peacekeeping’ mission to the region which could extend even beyond those boundaries and all the way to the city of Kharkiv – where several major Ukrainian military bases are located.

Russian tanks and armored vehicles have been spotted hiding in civilian areas and the tree lines of forests in several areas just to the north of Kharkiv in recent days, within just three miles of the border.

Putin has up to 190,000 troops backed by thousands of tanks and artillery units, hundreds of fighter jets and dozens of bombers encircling Ukraine from three sides – with up to 10,000 men already thought to have moved into rebel-held areas of Donetsk and Luhansk on the current frontlines with Ukrainian forces.

Western nations have tried to present a united front in the face of the invasion, with more than two dozen European Union members unanimously agreeing to levy their own initial set of sanctions against Russian officials.

The U.S., meanwhile, moved to cut off Russia’s government from Western finance, sanctioning two of its banks and blocking it from trading in its debt on American and European markets.

The administration’s actions hit civilian leaders in Russia’s leadership hierarchy and two Russian banks considered especially close to the Kremlin and Russia’s military, with more than $80 billion in assets.

That includes freezing all of those banks’ assets under U.S. jurisdictions.

A Russian attack on Ukraine could start in the Donbass region (top right) with attempts to expand rebel-held areas, that could either be in coordination with or before a much wider assault on the entire country (top right). Should the fighting spill over Ukraine’s borders, it could drag in NATO forces stationed in Europe (bottom centre)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called up military reservists and is calling on upon the Ukrainian people to fight

The Russian Embassy in Kiev where its flag does not appear to be flying amid reports Moscow has recalled its diplomats

A Ukrainian pilot boards a fighter jet at an air base in an undisclosed region of the country early Wednesday, as he takes part in combat readiness drills amid fears Russian is about to invade

A Ukrainian Su-34 fighter jet, originally made in Russia, takes off from an airfield in an undisclosed region of the country amid fears that Russia is about to stage a full-scale invasion

The tail fins of Ukrainian Su-34 fighter jets are seen at an undisclosed air field somewhere in Ukraine as one takes to the skies during combat readiness checks ahead of what could be a full-scale Russian invasion

Ukrainian firefighters attempt to put out a blazing house in the village of Muratovo, close to the frontlines with pro-Moscow rebels in Luhansk, after it was shelled overnight

Ukraine said one soldier died and another six were injured in shelling by pro-Moscow rebels overnight, which also hit and destroyed a house in the village of Muratovo

Russian volunteers carry medical supplies to a warehouse in the city of Taganrog, close to the border of Ukraine, after Biden warned that blood is being moved to the frontlines in what is considered to be one of the final moves before an attack

Five of Putin’s ‘inner circle’ hit by sanctions

President Joe Biden took a direct hit at Vladimir Putin’s inner circle on Tuesday by invoking sanctions on five named individuals.

They are:

Alex Bortnikov, the head of Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (Russia’s principal security agency);

Bortnikov’s son Dennis, who is the deputy president of VTB Bank;

Putin’s deputy chief of staff Sergey Keriyenko;

Keriyneko’s son Vladimir, who is currently the CEO of VK Group which runs Russia’s version of Facebook;

Promsvyazbank CEO Pyotr Fradkov, head of nation’s largest military bank.

Biden said two Russian financial institutions, VTB and Russia’s military bank, will also face sanctions.

The two institutions ‘hold more than $80 billion in assets and finance the Russian defense sector and economic development,’ the White House noted in a fact sheet.

‘These measures will freeze their assets in the United States, prohibit U.S. individuals and businesses from doing any transactions with them, shut them out of the global financial system, and foreclose access to the U.S. dollar.’

Biden also said Russia’s sovereign debt will be sanctioned so Russia ‘can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade its new debt on our markets, or European markets either.’

Biden, though, did hold back some of the broadest and toughest of the financial penalties contemplated by the U.S., including sanctions that would reinforce the hold that Germany put on any startup of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline; an export ban that would deny Russia U.S. high tech for its industries and military; and sweeping bans that could cripple Russia’s ability to do business with the rest of the world.

Biden said he was moving additional U.S. troops to the Baltics, though he described the deployments as purely ‘defensive,’ asserting, ‘We have no intention of fighting Russia.’

The U.S. is sending about 800 infantry troops and 40 attack aircraft to NATO’s eastern flank from other locations within Europe, according to a senior defense official. In addition, a contingent of F-35 strike fighters and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters will also be relocated.

Earlier Tuesday, members of Russia’s upper house, the Federation Council, voted unanimously to allow Putin to use military force outside the country – effectively formalizing a Russian military deployment to the rebel regions, where an eight-year conflict has killed nearly 14,000 people.

Shortly afterward, Putin laid out three conditions to end the crisis that has threatened to plunge Europe back into war, raising the specter of massive casualties, energy shortages across the continent and global economic chaos.

Putin said the crisis could be resolved if Kiev recognizes Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014, renounces its bid to join NATO and partially demilitarizes.

The West has decried the annexation of Crimea as a violation of international law and has previously flatly rejected permanently barring Ukraine from NATO.

Asked whether he has sent any Russian troops into Ukraine and how far they could go, Putin responded: ‘I haven’t said that the troops will go there right now.’ He added that ‘it’s impossible to forecast a specific pattern of action – it will depend on a concrete situation as it takes shape on the ground.’

The EU announced initial sanctions aimed at the 351 Russian lawmakers who voted for recognizing the two separatist regions in Ukraine, as well as 27 other Russian officials and institutions from the defense and banking sectors. They also sought to limit Moscow’s access to EU capital and financial markets.

With tensions rising and a broader conflict looking more likely, the White House began referring to the Russian deployments in the region known as the Donbas as an ‘invasion’ after initially hesitating to use the term – a red line that Biden had said would result in severe sanctions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin Wall on the Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow

President Joe Biden said it defies logic to think Putin has taken such extensive military preparations, including putting 190,000 Russian troops on the border and moving blood supplies to those areas, for reasons other than invading Ukraine

Satellite imagery from Tuesday shows several new deployments of troops and equipment have been established in rural areas southwest of Belgorod, less than 20 kilometers to the northwest of the border with Ukraine

Satellite imagery provided by Maxar Technologies shows a close up of field hospital and troop deployment in western Belgorod, Russia, less than 20 kilometers to the northwest of the border with Ukraine

Satellite imagery provided by Maxar Technologies shows a close up of assembled vehicles at Bokov Airfield near Mazyr, Belarus, on Tuesday

Satellite imagery provided by Maxar Technologies shows armor and vehicles at a railyard in Belgorod, Russia, on Tuesday

Satellite imagery from Tuesday shows new deployments of troops and equipment that have been established in rural areas southwest of Belgorod, Russia, which is close to the Ukrainian border

‘We think this is, yes, the beginning of an invasion, Russia’s latest invasion into Ukraine,’ Jon Finer, principal deputy national security adviser, said on CNN.

‘An invasion is an invasion, and that is what is underway.’

The White House announced limited sanctions targeting the rebel regions on Monday evening soon after Putin said he was sending in troops.

A senior Biden administration official, who briefed reporters about those sanctions, noted ‘that Russia has occupied these regions since 2014’ and that ‘Russian troops moving into Donbas would not itself be a new step.’

Western leaders have long warned Moscow would look for cover to invade – and just such a pretext appeared to come Monday, when Putin recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk separatist regions.

The Kremlin then raised the stakes further by saying that recognition extends even to the large parts of those two regions now held by Ukrainian forces, including the major Azov Sea port of Mariupol.

He added, however, that the rebels should eventually negotiate with Ukraine.

Condemnation from around the world was quick.

In Washington, lawmakers from both parties in Congress vowed continued U.S. support for Ukraine, even as some pushed for swifter and even more severe sanctions on Russia.

Senators had been considering a sanctions package but held off as the White House pursued its strategy.