promoearn: US fears Russian 'concentration' camps

Sunday, March 20

Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend

At least 1 dead, 28 wounded in a shooting at an Arkansas car show. And fears are rising over Russian-organized "concentration and prisoner camps." It's the weekend's biggest news.

Mariupol school sheltering 400 residents is bombed

The pounding of the besieged southern port city of Mariupol intensified Sunday as Russia's bloody assault on Ukraine waded deeper into its fourth week. The Mariupol city council accused the Russian military of bombing an art school where about 400 people had taken shelter. There was no immediate word on casualties at the school, but the city council said on social media the building was destroyed and people could remain under the rubble.

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Fears arose over the prospect of Russian-organized "concentration and prisoner camps" after the Mariupol city council said Ukrainian passports were taken from people who were given a piece of paper that "has no legal weight and is not recognized throughout the civilized world." The city council also claimed Russian soldiers have forced more than a thousand city residents to be relocated to Russia. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Sunday that she could not confirm those reports but expressed concern about the prospect of Russian-organized "concentration and prisoner camps."

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Of 3 million refugees who have fled Ukraine since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, most have come to Poland. But an estimated 350,000 have entered Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries. Most are women and children, as most men of fighting age have been ordered to stay behind to defend their country. Now, government workers and aid groups are trying to help, conducting a hurried symphony across multiple languages, from Russian and Romanian, which is spoken in Moldova, to French and English. Read more here.

Saturday recap: Zelenskyy calls Mariupol terror a war crime; Russia uses first hypersonic missile.

At least 1 dead, 28 wounded in shooting at Arkansas car show

One person was in custody and a search was underway for another shooter Sunday after a rampage at a southeast Arkansas car show left at least one person dead and 28 wounded, police said. Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said more arrests were possible after "gunfire that swept across a crowd" in Dumas, a town of less than 5,000 people about 90 miles south of Little Rock. "One suspect is in custody and a search is continuing today for others who may have been firing," Sadler said. Dumas Police Chief Keith Finch said an unknown number of children were among the injured.

•	Atlanta spa shootings, one year later: Families share their 'pain,' denial,' and 'collective grief'.

Crime scene tape lies on the ground, Sunday, March 20, 2022 at the scene where a shooting that left over 20 injured and one dead occurred Saturday night in Dumas, Ark. (Staci Vandagriff/The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)

Staci Vandagriff, AP

Real quick

•	Did charter schools game the system? Many cashed in on forgiven PPP loans they didn't actually need.
•	South Carolina moves forward on firing-squad executions for death sentences.
•	Twin girls born at 22 weeks after mom was 'upside down' for six days finally go home.
•	Cut taxes to make gas cheaper? Maryland and Georgia try it temporarily — and other states might too.
•	Judge rules Kim Davis, who denied same-sex marriage licenses in Kentucky, violated couples' rights.
•	Florida woman: 'We were weightless' as a suspected tornado lifted her home off the ground.

March Madness

The men's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 is set but the defending champion won't be part of it. No. 1 seed Baylor was eliminated by North Carolina in overtime Saturday in a physical game that USA TODAY Sports columnist Dan Wolken says the referees let get out of hand. Elsewhere on Saturday, No. 1 Gonzaga avoided a similar fate by making key plays down the stretch to send Memphis home. And No. 15 seed Saint Peter's continued its Cinderella march, knocking out No. 7 Murray State to reach its first Sweet 16. The women's Sweet 16 will be finalized Monday, with No. 1 seed N.C. State against No. 9 Kansas State among the games on tap.

•	Are you not entertained? If not, the problem isn't women's basketball. It's you, writes USA TODAY Sports' Nancy Armour.

Tar Heels forward Brady Manek (45) was ejected after being called for a flagrant foul in the second half against Baylor.

Kevin Jairaj, USA TODAY Sports

Virginian-Pilot reporter killed in Norfolk shooting

A Virginia newspaper reporter was one of two people killed after a shooting outside a restaurant and bar early Saturday morning, police said. At least 3 other people were injured. Sierra Jenkins, a 25-year-old education reporter for The Virginian-Pilot, was at Chicho's Pizza Backstage in Norfolk with a friend, her family said. Restaurant manager Rory Schindel said bartenders announced last call around 1:30 a.m., and when customers began to leave, an argument began outside the bar, followed by gunshots. The Norfolk Police Department said officers arrived on the scene just before 2 a.m. to reports of multiple gunshot victims. One man, identified as 25-year-old Devon Harris, was pronounced dead at the scene. Jenkins was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where she later died, police said.

A person walks by Chicho's Pizza Backstage, in Norfolk, Va., Saturday, March 19, 2022, where a fatal shooting took place outside the restaurant and bar earlier in the day. Newspaper reporter Sierra Jenkins was one of the people killed during the shooting after getting caught in the crossfire.

Stephen M. Katz, AP

Hello, spring! Long time, no see.

At long last spring is finally here. The vernal (aka spring) equinox – the beginning of astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere – occurs Sunday. The equinox is the moment the sun's rays shine directly on Earth's equator. Sunday will be one of two days out of the year – the other being the autumnal equinox in September – when the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in roughly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness almost everywhere on Earth. For the folks down under in the Southern Hemisphere, it's the autumnal equinox this Sunday, marking the first day of autumn.