Russia has started evacuating its embassy in Kyiv, as fears mount that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be about to order an invasion of Ukraine.
Russian state news agency Tass reported that Russia began pulling personnel from its diplomatic posts in Ukraine on Wednesday.
The move came a day after the Russian Foreign Ministry announced a plan to evacuate, citing threats against Russians in Ukraine.
At the same time, Ukraine urged its citizens to leave Russia as the region braced for a military confrontation, with some 150,000 Russian troops deployed around Ukraine’s borders.
Putin on Tuesday received authorization to use military force outside his country and the West responded with sanctions.
The jury hearing the case against three former Minneapolis police officers charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights needs only to get instructions from the judge before starting deliberations Wednesday.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys spent a full day Tuesday in closing arguments that recapped a month of testimony and sought to sway the jury toward their view of the case.
For prosecutors, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao “chose to do nothing” as a fellow officer, Derek Chauvin, squeezed the life out of Floyd. Defense attorneys countered that the officers were too inexperienced, weren’t trained properly and did not willfully violate Floyd’s rights.
The three are charged with depriving Floyd of his right to medical care when Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes as the 46-year-old Black man pleaded for air before going silent. Kueng and Thao are also charged with failing to intervene to stop Chauvin during the May 25, 2020, killing that was captured on bystander video and triggered protests worldwide and a reexamination of racism and policing.
An email sent out to St. Thomas students, faculty and staff Monday named the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences finalists and their presentation schedule for students. Executive Vice President and Provost Eddy Rojas, who sent the email, also announced that each finalist would be given a chance to hold an open forum on campus and students will be allowed to provide feedback.
The search committee, headed by English Department Chair Olga Herrera and School of Engineering Dean Don Weinkauf, narrowed the position down to four finalists.
Emily Todd, the current acting chair of the department of English for Westfield State University.
St. Thomas’ current Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Mark Stansbury-O’Donnell.
Vice Dean of Research and Entrepreneurship at Washington University Bill Tolman.
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies at the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University Cara Cilano.
Madeline Combs can be reached at comb5953@stthomas.edu.