News Wrap: Storm system brings tornadoes to South and Midwest, snow to New England

In our news wrap Wednesday, a spring storm brought winter weather to New England and tornadoes to the South and Midwest, Taiwan reports nine people killed and hundreds hurt after the island’s strongest earthquake in a quarter-century, Ukraine lowered its military conscription age to 25 and Uganda’s constitutional court upheld an anti-gay law that calls for the death penalty in some cases.
Amna Nawaz:
In the day’s other headlines: A massive early spring storm brought a late winter to New England. The region braced for more than a foot of snow, especially in New Hampshire and Maine, with winds gusting up to 60 miles an hour. The storm also drenched the mid-Atlantic and Northeast with heavy rain.
Elsewhere, several states in the South and Midwest were cleaning up from tornadoes and flooding a day earlier. The extreme weather was blamed for at least one death.
Authorities in Taiwan report nine people were killed and hundreds hurt after the island’s strongest earthquake in a quarter-century. It struck during morning rush hour just off the eastern coast, about 90 miles from Taipei, the capital. Some older buildings tipped over, including one leaning at a 45-degree angle. Taiwan’s vice president said rescuers spent the day searching for survivors.
William Lai, Taiwanese Vice President (through translator):
The most important thing right now is to rescue people. We have to check carefully how many are still trapped. We must quickly help them, and the wounded should be given the best medical care.
Amna Nawaz:
Aftershocks continued throughout the day, but quakes are common in Taiwan, and much of the population quickly returned to their routines.
In Ukraine, the government has lowered its military conscription age to 25 as it tries to replenish its armed forces after two years of war. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed three bills into law today. They cut the draft age from 27 and also eliminated some exemptions.
NATO foreign ministers agreed today to begin planning long-term military support for Ukraine. The diplomats, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, met in Brussels. NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg pointed to the stalemate in Congress over American aid.
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General:
Because every time I meet representatives from the U.S. Congress — I met many of them over the last weeks — they assured me that there is a majority in the U.S. and also in the U.S. Congress for support. But, so far, they haven’t been able to turn that majority into decision, and that’s exactly what we all now are waiting for, and it is urgent.
Amna Nawaz:
Stoltenberg is pushing a $100 billion fund for Ukraine over five years, but so far the reaction among NATO members has been mixed.
Uganda’s Constitutional Court has upheld an anti-gay law that calls for the death penalty in some cases. The judges declined to overturn the law today. They did void some sections, including one that criminalized the failure to report homosexual acts. The statute targets what it calls — quote — “aggravated homosexuality” involving sexual relations with a minor or when infected with HIV.
Back in this country, crews in Baltimore cleared more wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge nine days after a giant cargo ship smashed into it. A second temporary channel has now been opened near the cobweb of jagged steel and concrete. Plans call for a third channel to let larger ships pass.
Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath, U.S. Coast Guard:
Those two alternate channels so far have produced eight commercial vessel transits. Those are tugs and barges inbound and outbound from the Port of Baltimore. So those two alternate channels are beginning to make a difference.
There’s much more work to go, but those are, again, small steps in a long marathon.
Amna Nawaz:
One shipping terminal is still operating in Baltimore’s outer harbor. The company says it expects to unload 10,000 imported cars and trucks from backlogged ships over the next 15 days.
Federal prosecutors are sharply criticizing a court order in former President Trump’s classified documents case. Federal Judge Aileen Cannon had asked attorneys to submit potential jury instructions, and she appeared to accept Mr. Trump’s argument that he acted within the law.
But in a filing late Tuesday, prosecutors called that — quote — “a fundamentally flawed legal premise.”
And on Wall Street, stocks mostly steadied after Tuesday’s sell-off. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 43 points to close at 39127. But the Nasdaq rose 37 points, and the S&P 500 added five.
Still to come on the “NewsHour”: former President Trump’s increasing use of incendiary rhetoric on the campaign trail; amid rising costs following fires and storms, FEMA is easing access to federal disaster assistance; a look at the historic rise in viewership of women’s college basketball; plus much more.