What recent policy changes has the Coast Guard made regarding symbols of hate?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. The U.S. Coast Guard is reaffirming that the display of nooses and swastikas are displays of symbols of hate. That's after a new Coast Guard policy appeared to downgrade the severity of the symbols. From Member Station WHRO in Norfolk, Steve Walsh reports.
As first reported by the Washington Post, the Coast Guard released a new harassment manual which labeled things such as displaying the Confederate flag as merely divisive. The manual also eliminates a standalone process for investigating instances of hate.
The Coast Guard pushed back at the idea that the policy had been weakened, but late Thursday issued a new policy saying that nooses and swastikas and other symbols of hate must be removed from all Coast Guard facilities. The Department of Defense has been going through a similar process of reviewing hazing, bullying, and harassment definitions across the military, but has not released a policy.
For NPR News, I'm Steve Walsh.
U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is in Ukraine. He has presented a peace plan aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine. The plan was drafted recently by President Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his Russian counterpart, a businessman.
NPR has learned that the plan would require Ukraine to surrender territory in the eastern part of its country to Russia, even though Russia does not control all of that region. NPR's Franco Ordonez says that goes against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's position.
Ukraine has repeatedly said that they will not give up territory to Russia that it doesn't already control. And in a statement and his evening address last night, Zelensky said that the plan could activate diplomacy, but he also urged caution, charging that Russia does not actually want peace.
NPR's Franco Ordonez reporting. India's biggest oil refinery says it has stopped buying oil from Russia. For months, the Trump administration has demanded that India stop purchasing Russian oil. Officials claim India has been helping pay for Russia's war in Ukraine. NPR's Omkar Kandekar has this report.
Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries bought Russian oil worth billions of dollars last year. Now it says it has stopped its purchases to comply with the European Union's upcoming sanctions on Russia. The announcement comes weeks after President Trump said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to stop buying Russian oil.
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