Monday, February 7, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Tensions Rise Over Ukraine


FRENCH PREZ TO RUSSIA, GERMAN LEADER TO U.S. AMID CONTINUED HIGH TENSIONS OVER UKRAINE: French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today as part of the continuing effort to de-escalate the continued high tension over fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before leaving for Russia, Macron spoke by phone yesterday with President Biden, and he will then head to Ukraine on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Germany's new leader, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, will be in Washington today, meeting with Biden and members of Congress as he seeks to reassure the U.S. that his country stands with them and other NATO allies against any Russian aggression toward Ukraine. Germany has faced criticism for refusing to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons, but Scholz said they are doing their part by giving Ukraine significant economic support.


Amid these developments, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on several Sunday morning news shows yesterday that Russia could invade Ukraine, quote, "any day," stating, "If war breaks out, it will come at an enormous human cost to Ukraine, but we believe that based on our preparations and our response, it will come at a strategic cost to Russia as well." His remarks came the day after U.S. officials confirmed Russia has assembled at least 70 percent of the military firepower it likely intends to have in place by the middle of the month to give Putin the option of launching an invasion.

🚚OTTAWA DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY OVER ONGOING PROTESTS: Ottawa's mayor declared a state of emergency in Canada's capital city yesterday because of ongoing Covid-19 mandate and restriction protests that have paralyzed the downtown area. Mayor Jim Watson said the declaration gives the city some additional powers that could help buy equipment needed by frontline workers and first responders, but that it highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government. About one hundred protesters had remained in Ottawa since last weekend's "truck convoy" protests, but thousands more descended on the city again over the weekend. Residents are angry about horns being blared non-stop, the blocking of traffic, and harassment by the protesters.


Some U.S. Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have expressed support for the protest, which Ontario Premier Doug Ford has called an occupation and the police chief a "siege."
 

🚺RAMPANT SEX ABUSE BY CORRECTIONS OFFICERS AT FEDERAL WOMEN'S PRISON: An Associated Press investigation has found what it called a "permissive and toxic culture" at the women's federal correctional institution in Dublin, California, where inmates say they've been victimized by rampant sexual abuse by correctional officers and even the warden, and threatened or punished when they tried to report it. Reflecting the years of sexual misconduct and abuse, AP said both prisoners and workers at the facility call it "the rape club." The report said the allegations have resulted in four arrests so far.
 

➤PENCE'S EX-CHIEF OF STAFF SAYS TRUMP GOT ADVICE FROM 'SNAKE OIL SALESMEN' ABOUT ELECTION: Marc Short, who was former Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, said on NBC's Meet the Press yesterday that former President Donald Trump got advice from, quote, "snake oil salesman" who falsely told him Pence could overturn the 2020 election results. Short stated, "Unfortunately, the president had many bad advisers who were basically snake oil salesman giving him really random and novel ideas as to what the vice president could do." He continued, "I believe that Joe Biden is the duly elected president of the United States. The reality is that there was not enough significant fraud that was presented that would have overturned any of those states' elections." Short's remarks come two days after Pence said in speech to the conservative Federalist Society that Trump was wrong in saying the vice president has the power to overturn an election.

 

➤NAVY SEAL TRAINEE WHO DIED AFTER 'HELL WEEK' IDENTIFIED: The Navy on Sunday identified the SEAL candidate who died just hours after completing the "Hell Week" test Friday as 24-year-old Seaman Kyle Mullen. Mullen died at a San Diego-area hospital after he and another trainee, whose name hasn't been released, reported symptoms of an unknown illness. The cause of death is still unknown and is being investigated. The other trainee remains hospitalized in stable condition, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Navy said neither had an accident or unusual incident during Hell Week, the grueling, days-long physical test that ends the first phase of assessment and selection to be a SEAL.

👑QUEEN ELIZABETH MARKS 70 YEARS ON THE THRONE: Queen Elizabeth the Second marked 70 years on the throne Sunday, the only British monarch to ever rule that long. In a statement, the 95-year-old queen remembered the death of her father, King George the Sixth, when made her the monarch at just 25 years old, and renewed a pledge she made on her 21st birthday to devote her entire life to the service of the U.K. and the Commonwealth. Public celebrations of the queen's platinum jubilee are scheduled for early June. The queen also made headlines by saying in the statement that it's her, quote, "sincere wish" that Prince Charles' wife, Camilla, be known as "Queen Consort" when her son becomes king, something Charles has long wanted. There have questions for many years about the status of Camilla, who was initially disliked by Britons because of Charles' infidelity with her during his marriage to Princess Diana. But the public mood has softened toward her in the years since Charles and Camilla's 2005 marriage, in part because of all the charity work she has done in her role.

🏫STUDY..55 PERCENT OF HIGH SCHOOLS DON'T THINK COLLEGE IS NECESSARY:  Many American high schoolers plan to go to college after they graduate, but a majority of them, 55 percent, said in a new survey that they don't think college is necessary to have a successful career, compared to 45 percent who think it is. The OnePoll survey of 2,000 U.S. high school students found that two-thirds saw how important essential workers and skilled trade careers have been during the pandemic, leading 45 percent of them to be more interested in pursuing those kinds of jobs. At the same time, one-third have no post-graduation plans, and for students who haven't considered alternatives to college, 51 percent said they didn't know enough about other options, such as skilled trades. Two in three say their schools offer vocational classes that teach them practical skills and essential careers, and an even greater 79 percent believe high schoolers should teach vocational skills. Whatever career they choose, an overwhelming 82 percent agreed the most important thing to them is to do something they’re passionate about.

➤MOMS ARE TURNING TO SCREAM SESSIONS AND RAGE LINES: Moms have been dealing two years of parenting through a pandemic, and they’re feeling the stress. As a result, some mothers are gathering together to scream out their feelings, while those who can’t get childcare have the option of calling a new “rage line” set up by the grassroots mothers advocacy group Moms Rising. In its effort to amplify the frustrations of caregivers, the organization is inviting moms to vent over phone, video, or email in messages that will be shared with policymakers. But this all begs the question—is this type of venting actually helpful? Psychologist Andrea Bonior says it depends—some may find cathartic release, while for others, “it’s just going to make things worse because it’s going to accentuate and feed into some of those deeper feelings that already feel unmanageable—and now if you get to a point where you feel like the only way to manage them is to yell and scream, it’s not going to be helpful.” Bonior also notes that there may be some benefits to it, for example joining a scream circle with other moms may be less about the screaming and more about the fellowship and there’s proven psychological value in sharing your experience with others and feeling like you’re not alone in the fight.

⛟INCREASE IN HOME DELIVERY SERVICE USAGE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC UNLIKELY TO LAST: Services like Instacart, Grubhub, DoorDash, and Amazon existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but demand for groceries, food, and other products purchased online to be delivered substantially increased during the pandemic. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers found that over 90 percent of people who use online delivery services would likely revert back to their original way of shopping once the pandemic is over. Study leader Dr. Cara Wang explains, “It is likely that the increased use of e-commerce is not the result of market competition, where the most efficient competitor outperforms the others. Rather, an external distribution—the pandemic—significantly altered the playing field. Once this external effect is removed, some of the gains made by the delivery services will likely fall off.” The data also shows that both the initial adoption of delivery services and the intent to continue using them varies by goods type. Grocery deliveries had the highest proportion of new adopters, followed by home goods, food, and finally, other packages. The study also revealed that the number of users of grocery deliveries increased by 113 percent during the pandemic, and nearly half of these new adopters would not continue using the service once the pandemic is over.

BEIJING WINTER OLYMPICS: Highlights:
  • U.S. Wins Silver in Team Figure Skating - The U.S. won its first-ever silver medal in the team figure skating event, after taking bronze in 2018 and 2014. Helping win silver were Evan Bates and Madison Chock, who came in first in ice dancing. The Russian Olympic Committee won gold and Japan took bronze.
  • Russian Skater Valiyeva First Woman to Land Quad in Olympics - Kamila Valiyeva, Russia's 15-year-old figure skating wonder, became the first woman to land a quad jump in the Olympics, doing it in the free skate during the team competition. She also landed a second quad in the performance, but fell on a third.
  • U.S. Men's Figure Skater Zhou Tests Positive for Covid-19 - U.S. Figure Skating said Monday that Vincent Zhou tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday. He was having additional testing to confirm the result. Zhou, who skated the long program for the U.S. in the team competition Sunday, is scheduled to skate the short program in the men's individual competition Tuesday. It's now unclear if he'll be able to compete.
  • Switzerland's Feuz Wins Downhill Gold, 41-Year-Old French Skiier Takes Second - Skier Beat Feuz of Switzerland won gold in the men's downhill, finishing just 0.10 seconds ahead of Johan Clarey of France. The 41-year-old Clarey became the oldest man to win an Olympic medal in Alpine skiing. Matthias Mayer of Austria won bronze.
  • American ​Mikaela Shiffrin Disqualified in Giant Slalom - U.S. skier Mikaela Shiffrin, who was a favorite to win a medal in five events, was disqualified in her first, the giant slalom, when she lost control coming around a gate early in the race, slid and fell on her side. Shiffrin was the defending Olympic gold medalist.
  • American Kauf Wins Silver in Women's Moguls - American Jaelin Kauf won silver in women's moguls skiing, coming in second to Jakara Anthony of Australia, who took gold. Russian Anastasiia Smirnova won bronze.
  • U.S. Women Rout Switzerland 8-0 in Hockey, Archrival Canada Next - The U.S. women's hockey team routed Switzerland 8-0. The defending Olympic gold medalists will now face archrival Canada in the Group A finale on Tuesday.
🥇MEDAL COUNT: (As of 4:00 a.m. ET) - The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) is in first place with six medals, followed by Canada, Austria and Italy, all with four. In the gold medal count, Sweden leads with three, and the ROC and Norway each have two. The U.S. has three medals overall, all of them silver.   ESPN'S MEDAL TRACKER: https://es.pn/3LhCHxF

🎾CHINESE TENNIS PLAYER PENG SHUAI MET WITH IOC PRESIDENT: Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who's been the subject of concern after briefly disappearing from public view in November after a quickly-removed post on social media that accused a Chinese official of sexual assault, met with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach in Beijing over dinner Saturday, the IOC revealed. Peng also sat for an interview with French sports newspaper L'Equipe that was published Monday in which she said the concern for her is based on, quote, "an enormous misunderstanding," as she denied having accused the official of sexual assault. L'Equipe said it had spoken to Peng a day earlier in Beijing in an interview organized through China’s Olympic committee. It also said it had to submit questions in advance, and that a Chinese Olympic committee official sat in on the interview and translated Peng's comments from Chinese.


🏈AFC BEATS NFC 41-35 IN PRO BOWL: The AFC beat the NFC 41-35 in the NFL's Pro Bowl in Las Vegas yesterday, which returned after it wasn't played last year due to the pandemic. L.A. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert won the offensive MVP, passing for 98 yards and throwing for two touchdowns to Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews. Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby won the defensive MVP with two sacks, three batted passes and three tackles. The game had seven interceptions, with at least one thrown by each of the six quarterbacks.

🏈SAINTS' KAMARA ARRESTED FOR BATTERY AFTER PLAYING IN PRO BOWL: New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara was arrested on a battery charge after playing in the Pro Bowl yesterday, during which he had four catches for 23 yards. The 26-year-old is alleged to have beaten someone the night before in a Las Vegas nightclub, and was charged with battery resulting in substantial bodily harm. His bail was set at $5,000 and a court hearing is scheduled for today. Kamara is one of the NFL's top running backs.

🏈DOLPHINS HIRE MIKE MCDANIEL AS NEW HEAD COACH: The Miami Dolphins hired San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel as their new head coach Sunday, his first NFL head coaching job. McDaniel, who is biracial, is the first minority candidate hired so far this offseason. He's taking over after Miami fired Brian Flores last month after three seasons. Flores has since sued the Dolphins, the NFL, the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos, claiming racist hiring practices for coaches and general managers.

🏀JOKIC GETS TRIPLE-DOUBLE IN NUGGETS WIN, LEAGUE-LEADING 14TH: Denver's Nikola Jokic had a triple-double in the Nuggets' 124-104 win over the Brooklyn Nets yesterday, his NBA-leading 14th this season. Jokic had 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.


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