News Wrap: Ukraine urges residents of Pokrovsk to evacuate as Russian troops close in

In our news wrap Friday, the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk has urged residents to evacuate as Russian troops close in, thousands protested in cities across India amid growing national anger after a trainee doctor was raped and killed at a government hospital, hurricane preparations are underway in Bermuda as Ernesto moves closer and former NPR chief executive John Lansing has died.

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Geoff Bennett: We start the day’s other news with the war in Ukraine.

After a week of headlines about Ukraine’s incursion into Russia, now it’s Russia which is looking to score a major military victory. Authorities in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk have urged residents there to evacuate as troops draw near. The city is one of Ukraine’s main defensive strongholds and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region.

Meantime, Ukraine’s army chief told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video call today that his forces are advancing a little over a mile into Russian territory. Ukraine says it now controls more than 440 square miles of Russia’s Kursk region.

Thousands of people protested in cities across India today amid growing national anger after a trainee doctor was raped and killed at a government hospital last week.

Protesters: We want justice! We want justice! We want justice!

Geoff Bennett: At one rally in New Delhi, medical workers in their white coats joined protesters to call for accountability. The protests started a week ago when police found the bloodied body of the 31-year-old at a medical college in Kolkata. An autopsy later confirmed that she had been sexually assaulted.

Dr. Hansika Anuragi, Protester (through interpreter): Women of this country are being wronged daily. Whether you are a rich or a poor woman, educated or uneducated woman, everyone’s fate is the same. Predators can do anything they want to women in this country. There is no justice. There is no action.

Geoff Bennett: The Indian Medical Association has called for a 24-hour withdrawal of services in protest starting Saturday, though they say essential services will still be provided.

Final hurricane preparations are under way in Bermuda as Ernesto churns closer to its coastlines. The Category 2 storm is strengthening as it moves up the Atlantic, packing maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour. Ernesto could drop a foot of rain on the British territory starting Saturday morning.

Meantime, in Puerto Rico, power has yet to be restored to some 250,000 people nearly three days after the storm made landfall there. Another 170,000 are without water. The outages in Puerto Rico have prompted health and safety concerns for the island, where more than 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

A jury in Florida has convicted a white woman in the fatal shooting of a Black neighbor over a dispute related to children playing near her home. The all-white jury found 60-year-old Susan Lorincz guilty of manslaughter after two-and-a-half-hours of deliberation. Lorincz had claimed self-defense when she fired a single shot through her front door in June of last year, killing 35-year-old Ajike “A.J.” Owens. She faces up to 30 years in prison.

President Biden designated the site of an infamous 1908 race riot in Illinois as a national monument today. Mr. Biden was joined by lawmakers and civil rights leaders in the Oval Office as he signed a proclamation making the site federal land. The monument covers more than 1.5 acres and serves as a reminder of the two-day riot by white mobs that resulted in the deaths of several Black residents and destroyed dozens of homes and businesses.

At the White House today, President Biden said it is important to remember such history and that it doesn’t fade away.

Joe Biden, President of the United States: People wanting to erase history, to literally erase history. We’re allowing history to be written, so our children, our grandchildren, everybody understands what happened and what could still happen.

Geoff Bennett: One notable fallout from the 1908 Springfield riots is that the tragedy helped lead to the creation of the NAACP.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy picked his former chief of staff today to replace Senator Bob Menendez, who plans to resign later this month following his federal bribery conviction.

At a press conference in Newark today, Governor Murphy said George Helmy will serve in the Senate until shortly after the November election. Once a winner is certified, Murphy will appoint that person to fill the role until the new Senate is sworn in early next year. Democratic Congressman Andy Kim is running against Republican real estate developer Curtis Bashaw to fill the seat left by Menendez.

On Wall Street today, stocks closed out their best week of the year with some modest gains. The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 100 points, as recent economic data calmed investors’ nerves. The Nasdaq tacked on 37 points to close out the week. The S&P 500 extended its winning streak to a seventh straight session.

And we at “PBS News Hour” are saddened to report that former NPR chief executive John Lansing has died just months after leaving the job. In his four-and-a-half years at the helm, Lansing saw NPR through the COVID pandemic, staff layoffs, and a financial crisis that he himself described as existential.

Before that, Lansing enjoyed a long career in broadcasting and cable television. John Lansing was 67 years old.