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Russia partial cease-fire in Ukraine, gas tops $4: 5 Things podcast
On in the present day’s episode of the 5 Issues podcast: Russian partial cease-fire begins in Ukraine
It is not clear how lengthy the transfer, designed to assist civilian evacuations, will final. Plus, Assistant Washington Editor Ledyard King talks about low voter turnout for congressional primaries, lethal tornadoes tear by Iowa, cash and tech reporter Terry Collins breaks down the rise in all-cash residence shopping for and the nationwide common for gasoline tops $4.
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Hit play on the participant above to listen to the podcast and observe together with the transcript under. This transcript was robotically generated, after which edited for readability in its present kind. There could also be some variations between the audio and the textual content.
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I am Taylor Wilson and that is 5 Issues you must know Monday, the seventh of March 2022. Right now, a brief stop hearth in Ukraine. Plus gasoline costs might quickly attain file highs and extra.
Listed here are a number of the prime headlines:
- Israel fired a number of missiles in direction of Syrian army positions close to Damascus earlier in the present day, killing two civilians. It was the primary Israeli assault inside Syria since Russia, a supporter of President Bashar Assad, invaded Ukraine.
- Firefighters in Florida proceed to battle a pair of huge wildfires within the state’s Panhandle. One hearth is greater than 9,000 acres giant.
- And Main League Baseball is anticipated to cancel one other week of standard season video games quickly after labor negotiations yesterday introduced little progress. The primary week of the season has already been canceled.
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Russia continues to shell cities throughout Ukraine.
[Sounds of shelling in Ukraine, woman in a Mariupol hospital]
These are the scenes inside a hospital in Mariupol on the nation’s Southeastern coast. Town has been slammed by Russian assaults over the previous week and is now in determined want for meals, water, drugs, and different provides. Russian and Ukrainian forces had agreed to an 11-hour cease-fire there to permit civilians to be evacuated. However Russian assaults once more rapidly closed the humanitarian hall over the weekend. The Worldwide Committee of the Pink Cross estimates that some 200,000 persons are nonetheless making an attempt to flee town.
Nonetheless, each Russia and Ukraine have apparently agreed to a extra nationwide cease-fire starting this morning. It ought to apply for civilians from Kyiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv and Sumy in keeping with a Russian activity drive, although it isn’t clear if preventing will cease past the areas talked about or when the cease-fire would finish. The West continues to largely again Ukraine with support and weapons shipments, together with huge sanctions on Russia, however no NATO troops have been despatched to Ukraine. US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, although, mentioned yesterday that NATO international locations now have the inexperienced gentle to ship fighter jets as a part of their army support. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is more and more pissed off with not getting extra assist and has referred to as for a no-fly zone over Ukraine. NATO has to this point dominated that out due to fears of sparking a wider conflict.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, in the meantime continues to justify the invasion by pointing fingers at Ukraine. He repeated a few of these feedback to Turkish president, Recep Erdogan, yesterday. Putin launched the invasion with false accusations at Ukraine, saying it is led by neo-Nazis intent on undermining Russia with the event of nuclear weapons.
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A brand new spherical of redistricting is lowering the variety of aggressive seats within the Home. Meaning congressional primaries matter greater than ever. The issue although is 80% of voters do not take part in them. USA TODAY Assistant Washington Editor, Ledyard King, explains what’s being performed to attempt to get the next turnout.
Ledyard King:
There’s a variety of teams on the market that, what I name good authorities teams. These are folks that need to improve the vote of participation in numerous methods. There is a couple particularly. Unite America is one, one other is the Bipartisan Coverage Heart. They usually acknowledge how primaries principally are the deciders of who will get to go to Capitol Hill and be in Congress. And a number of the issues that they need to do is open up primaries. So for example, proper now most states have what they name a closed or partially closed main. That’s to say that not each voter can get to take part. For 9 states, for instance, if you’re a Republican, you get to vote within the Republican main. In case you’re a Democrat, you possibly can vote within the Democratic main. However in the event you’re an impartial, you may’t vote in both. If you’re a Democrat, you may’t vote in a Republican main. In case you’re a Republican, you may’t vote in a Democratic main. These are examples of closed primaries and the Bipartisan Coverage Heart, for instance, needs all states to open up.
In addition they need to make the first date in the future of the yr. Election Day, November, is at all times the primary Tuesday. Nicely, on the first calendar, it is everywhere in the map. It is over a number of months and it modifications generally from election to election, so persons are confused. Folks, who’re already uninterested within the course of, aren’t actually positive when their main dates are. So these teams need to guarantee that there’s one main day the place everyone is aware of when it’s to allow them to go vote. They usually additionally need to guarantee that all of the elections occur on the identical day. For instance, federal elections generally aren’t held on the identical … primaries that’s, aren’t held on the identical day as primaries for states and for native workplaces. So it is a mishmash of dates and elections workplace and so they need to preserve it to 1. They prefer to have in the future the place everyone comes out and vote.
One of many issues that particularly the nice authorities teams have is that as a result of now the primaries have change into so vital, it will probably imply that probably the most excessive candidates come out of those elections. As a result of if it is simply the Republican Get together that is voting, or the Democratic Get together, the bottom of every get together are those that have a tendency to come back out. Nicely, the bottom of every get together tends to go for the extra excessive, the extra vocal, the extra polarizing candidate. And there is a concern that we’ll have a Congress with many extra polarizing candidates, sure, much more than there are in the present day, as a result of the primaries are the place the motion is. And by November, the seats are so crimson or so blue it does not actually matter who the opponent is.
Taylor Wilson:
For Ledyard’s full piece, try in the present day’s episode description.
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Not less than seven persons are useless in Central Iowa after a pair of tornadoes tore by the realm over the weekend. Two youngsters are amongst these killed. Six of these killed have been in and across the small hamlet of Winterset on the sting of the Des Moines metro space. One other twister struck an hour in a while Saturday in Lucas County. The storms are the deadliest in Iowa since 2008, when a twister killed 9 individuals.
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There’s presently an increase in all-cash residence shopping for that comes throughout a vendor’s market that exploded throughout the pandemic. Some consultants say that coming in with all-cash could also be the easiest way to win a bidding conflict or keep away from one altogether. Producer, PJ Elliott spoke with Cash and Tech reporter, Terry Collins, to search out out extra.
Terry Collins:
Most residence consumers need to attempt to get into to the market by utilizing all-cash corporations, equivalent to Ribbon, Orchard, Flyhomes and higher.com. Perhaps coming in with all-cash might be the easiest way to win a bidding conflict.
And it is a powerful market. It is an instance of how excessive and the way scorching the housing market is true now, to the place you might need a mortgage, pre-approved mortgage for a mortgage, however that will not be sufficient, as a result of the vendor might want all-cash. And a few bids even go up, along with all-cash, as much as perhaps between 20 to $30,000 increased. So it simply, this can be a snapshot of how aggressive the housing market is true now, most likely most we have seen in no less than greater than a dozen years or so.
PJ Elliott:
Is that this all-cash bubble going to burst or is that this going to be right here to remain and change into the brand new regular?
Terry Collins:
Oh, I believe this can be a development. I believe this can be a development, that I believe proper now you may see what’s taking place within the areas within the Southeast and the Southwest. And I am positive, as issues go, it tends to unfold so I will not be shocked to see it begin taking place. Then locations like on the East Coast and the West Coast and corporations like Ribbon, now are hoping to develop to fulfill that demand due to there’s such a brief provide of housing.
PJ Elliott:
So what about individuals who do not have the funds for, how are they capable of purchase homes?
Terry Collins:
Proper now, ooh, it is a powerful market. If you’re into eager to residence proper now, I believe you must have a number of lists of wishlists of what you assume you may afford, what you want to, and what could also be out of attain. Perhaps push these which might be out of attain now, until you are actually decided and also you’d have attempt to avoid wasting extra. However in the event you want the immediacy of eager to have a home between now and the subsequent 90 to 120 days or extra, you must attempt to discover viable alternate options, along with already taking place most likely in the event you’re being pre-approved and chances are you’ll pour a mortgage and issues like that.
As a result of it is actually aggressive proper now. An all cash-offer, as some have mentioned in my story, will help you bounce the road you probably have that, as a result of that is what sellers are in search of proper now. If the supply’s there and so they’re wanting in direction of that extra so than somebody who has a standard mortgage and such. It is only a demand proper now. There’s such a scarcity provide of homes. The demand’s excessive, simply quick provide. And proper now all-cash is seeming to be a kind of viable choices for sellers in a vendor’s market. For instance of the place all-cash provides and purchases are proper now, it is all-cash purchases comprise 30% of the market proper now, residence gross sales market, in comparison with about 19% of this time two years in the past, in keeping with the Nationwide Affiliation of Realtors.
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Taylor Wilson:
The nationwide common worth for gasoline has formally topped $4 a gallon. It is the primary time in over a decade that is occurred within the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and worldwide sanctions towards Russia. As of this morning, in keeping with AAA, the nationwide common is $4 and 6 and a half cents. That is up 14 cents from Saturday and up 40 cents from per week in the past. The file excessive for the nationwide common was $4 and 11 cents set on July seventeenth, 2008. And consultants say that file might be damaged by the top of the week.
Thanks for listening to five Issues. You’ll find us seven mornings per week, all yr lengthy, proper right here wherever you are listening proper now. Thanks as at all times to PJ Elliot for his nice work on the present. And I am again tomorrow with extra of 5 Issues from USA TODAY.