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CARL AZUZ: From Eastern Europe to Eastern Asia
and from the Pacific Ocean to Paris, France,
we're going globe trotting in today's show.
I'm Carl Azuz, and we're glad to have you along for the ride.
Let's get started.
Civilian casualties are increasing
in the war in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, a maternity hospital in the Ukrainian port
city of Mariupol was bombed.
Police in the area initially reported
that 17 people were injured.
The two sides fighting in the war, the Russian
and Ukrainian militaries, each blamed
the other for the attack.
A few hours before the bombing, a Russian government
spokeswoman said Ukrainian forces had moved workers
and patients out of the hospital and put combat units in it,
but video recorded after the attack
showed civilian patients and staff members
emerging from the wreckage.
The Mariupol City Council and the Ukrainian president
say Russia bombed the hospital.
Strikes were reported on Wednesday
at other civilian locations in Ukraine
as well as at military sites.
NATO, an alliance of US and European countries,
has been looking at ways to send more weapons
to help the Ukrainian military.
What NATO doesn't want to do, though,
is to get directly involved in the fight against Russia.
They don't want the conflict to extend beyond Ukraine,
which is not a member of NATO.
So when it comes to enforcing a no-fly zone to keep aircraft
out of Ukraine or to giving the nation fighter jets
as its government has requested, NATO countries
have been reluctant because Russia
has said those actions would make them
direct participants in the war.
Along with the international sanctions, the penalties
on Russia's economy placed by other governments,
numerous American and European businesses
are suspending some or all of their operations
in Russia in protest over its invasion of Ukraine.
These companies include Apple, Disney, Exxon,
IKEA, McDonald's, PayPal, Visa, and WarnerMedia,
which owns CNN.
In the parts of Ukraine where the fighting was suspended
yesterday, there was gridlock on the roads
as thousands of people tried to get
away from areas of conflict.
MATTHEW CHANCE: Well, you can see there are thousands
of people now in their own cars streaming out
through these safe corridors that have been set up
by the Russians and the Ukrainians
to give these people a chance to escape
the ferocious bombardment that they've been suffering.
Some of the cars have got children written on them.
There's one over here with the word "de ty" written on them.
They've all filled with their own children, other people's
children, children of neighbors as they've taken with them,
just anything they can do to get them out
into the relative safety of Kyiv and onward
towards the west, many of them heading towards Poland
to the west of Ukraine.
You see here as well there's been some effort set up
as a sort of reception for the people
because a lot of the people we've spoken
to inside these cars say that they've spent
days without any proper food, without any water,
without any light.
It's been really, really difficult for them.
And so, you know, even though this isn't perfect,
it is at least a chance for these people to--
well, to save their own lives.
Matthew Chance, CNN, on the outskirts of Kyiv.
CARL AZUZ: Up next, what's been called South
Korea's unlikable election.
According to the Reuters news agency,
both of the major candidates for the country's next president
had high disapproval ratings going in.
South Korean leaders are limited to one term lasting five years,
and anyone who gets elected has instant geopolitical challenges
to deal with.
South Korea is an ally of the United States,
a status it shares with Japan, which
is less than 200 miles east.
But in the other direction at roughly
the same distance is mainland China, and across the border
is North Korea.
Both of those countries are US rivals.
Managing all that is only part of the challenge
for prospective South Korean leaders.
PAULA HANCOCKS: Now it has been a particularly tight race
between these two leading contenders
for president of South Korea.
One liberal, one conservative.
They are ideologically opposed, the two men, and whoever
takes power in May as president of this country
will have some significant foreign-policy
issues to deal with.
It is worth pointing out that neither one of them
actually has any foreign-policy experience to speak of.
For example, you have Lee Jae-myung on the liberal side.
Now, he is a former mayor.
He's a former governor.
And then on the conservative side you have from the People
Power Party Yoon Suk-yeol, who is
effectively a political novice.
He's a former state prosecutor.
But they will have some significant issues
to deal with--
for example, Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Both candidates have had to apologize during the campaign
for either statements or tweets they have done
during the campaign stage, but they
both say that they do support the sanctions against Russia.
And, of course, when it comes to North Korea,
they will be dealing with a North Korea who
is far more concerned at this point with testing weapons
systems and launching missiles than actually
talking to the United States, let alone to South Korea.
Now, Lee from the liberal side is saying that he would follow
what President Moon Jae-in has been doing in the fact
that he wants engagement with North Korea.
He would have a step-by-step process
towards denuclearization.
Yoon Suk-yeol on the conservative side
is far more hard line, saying he would
only ease sanctions once there is complete denuclearization.
For voters coming to the polls, they
are looking at the economy.
They are looking at the extremely
expensive housing market here.
That is a big consideration.
And also gender issues have really played
into this year's election.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
CARL AZUZ: The two South Korean candidates
have been neck and neck in the polls,
but after the votes had been counted overnight,
the President-Elect was the conservative candidate Yoon
Suk-yeol.
He won 48.5% of the ballot while the liberal candidate,
Lee Jae-myung won 47.8%.
The US government congratulated Yoon and said it looked forward
to expanding the close cooperation between America
and South Korea.
The last American state to have a mask mandate
plans to get rid of it but not until later this month.
Hawaii has had some of the strictest coronavirus
rules in the country.
Its governor says because COVID cases and hospitalizations have
been decreasing there, like they have been in the vast majority
of the US, Hawaii will end its mask mandate
on March 25 at 11:59 PM.
That's also when people who travel there won't have to show
proof they've been vaccinated or a negative COVID test in order
to avoid spending five days in quarantine.
Compared to most other states, Hawaii
has had a relatively low number of COVID cases and deaths
blamed on the disease, but its governor
says mask requirements could still be reinstated if there's
another surge of coronavirus.
And Hawaii's Department of Education
says students will still be required to wear masks
in public schools, though they can take them off
when they're outside.
Like other states and countries around the world,
Hawaii has seen protests over its COVID restrictions.
10-second trivia-- which of these options
is not the name of a real spider?
Hercules baboon spider, face-sized tarantula,
Brazilian salmon pink birdeater, or Mothra huntsman?
Though they frequently eat moths,
no spider has yet gotten the name Mothra huntsman.
The not so itsy-bitsy spider has climbed all over the American
Southeast.
Will it be headed north?
That is the question concerning the Joro spider,
a multicolored arachnid that can grow larger
than the palm of your hand.
This species is not native to the United States.
It's from Southeastern Asia, and no one
knows how it got to America.
But in recent years, it spread rapidly
in the warm Southern climate.
And while the Joro spider is venomous--
it poisons the insects it eats-- biologists say it's not
considered a threat to humans.
They also don't think it's a threat to the environment,
even though it's an invasive species,
but scientists say more research needs
to be done on that to be sure.
They're also uncertain about whether these large spiders
will crawl or travel in the wind to locations farther north.
Some say they can withstand colder climates
but that the northern and western US
are too cold for these creatures' comfort.
This year's agriculture fair in Paris,
France, had a pretty grand finale,
sheep on the Champs- lysées.
2,022 sheep along with herders and hundreds of artists
ambled along the acclaimed Avenue.
But Carl, you may be asking, why?
One breeder said it's to show the city slickers in Paris
that there's a large economy that depends
on farming in the mountains.
Various animals and performers strolled for one kilometer
down the Champs- lysées.
That's not just a yarn.
We're not trying to pull the wool over your eyes.
Maybe it took a little herd mentality,
but that close-knit community was
able to blanket an entire street covering crosswalks
and cross stitch like there was "mutton" to it.
I'm Carl Azuz.
Today's shoutout takes us to Jacksonville
Lighthouse Charter School.
It is located in Jacksonville, Arkansas.
Come on back tomorrow for Friday's
awesome edition of "CNN 10."
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