Thursday, February 17, 2022

Wake-Up Call: U-S Says Russia Is Adding Troops On Ukraine Border


The U.S. said Wednesday that Russia has increased the number of its forces along the Ukraine border by as many as 7,000 troops, despite Moscow's claims several times this week that it was pulling back some military units, claims about which the U.S. and its Western allies have been skeptical. AP reported that a satellite imagery company, Maxar Technologies, reported that Russia had built a new pontoon bridge and a field hospital in neighboring Belarus. Asked why Russia would claim to be withdrawing forces when there's no evidence of that, State Department spokesman Ned Price said, "This is the Russian playbook, to paint a picture publicly . . . while they do the opposite." Meanwhile, Ukraine's president declared yesterday a day of "national unity," with Ukrainians waving the country's flag in the streets and from their windows across the country.

 
➤LAST U.S.-CANADA BRIDGE TRUCK BLOCKADE ENDS, OTTAWA PROTESTERS WARNED BY POLICE: The last blockade of a bridge between the U.S. and Canada by truckers protesting Covid restrictions and mandates ended Wednesday, with all border crossings open for the first time in more than two weeks after they'd disrupted cross-border trade. Those who'd blocked traffic at the crossing between Emerson in Manitoba and North Dakota drove away without any arrests. With the national capital of Ottawa, where the protests began nearly three weeks ago, now the remaining site of them, police warned participants yesterday to leave or risk arrest, giving them leaflets saying they could face charges, lose their licenses and have their vehicles seized. The warnings came two days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked Canada's Emergencies Act. The trucks have been blocking traffic in downtown Ottawa since late January, and residents have complained about loud honking and being harassed and intimidated on the streets. Interim Police Chief Steve Bell said yesterday, "We are going to take back the entirety of the downtown core and every occupied space. We are going to remove this unlawful protest. We will return our city to a state of normalcy."


➤FBI SAYS AHMAUD ARBERY DEFENDANTS REPEATEDLY USED RACIAL SLURS: An FBI witness testfied yesterday in the federal hate crimes trial of three men convicted of state murder charges in the Georgia death of Ahmaud Arbery, saying that two of three men, all of whom are white, repeatedly used racial slurs in texts and social media posts, including some violent comments. Arbery was Black. Intelligence analyst Amy Vaughn referred to more than a dozen conversations Travis McMichael, the man who shot Arbery, and William "Roddie" Bryan had with others in which they often used the n-word to describe Black people. Among other comments, McMichael also said in one conversation that Black people, quote, "ruin everything," and he commented on a 2018 Facebook video of a Black man pranking a white person, "I'd kill that f***ing n****r." The FBI wasn't able to access the phone of Greg McMichael, Travis' father, because it was encrypted. The McMichaels chased down Arbery in a pickup truck as he jogged through their neighborhood in February 2020 and Bryan joined them. Travis killed him with a shotgun. The defense has said they were suspicious of Arbery because he was repeatedly seen inside a nearby home that was under construction.

➤RETAIL SALES IN U.S. GREW ALMOST 4% IN JANUARY, NEARLY TWICE WHAT ANALYSTS EXPECTED:  Retail sales in the U.S. grew by nearly four percent in January. The Commerce Department released its monthly report yesterday (February 16th) and says sales nationwide increased 3.8 percent in January to $649.8 billion—well above the 2.1 percent growth that most economists predicted. The figure also showed remarkable improvement over December, when sales saw a decline of 2.5 percent. The report reflects some improvement in supply chain shortages that have plagued global industries for much of the past two years. The Omicron variant also began to ease in January, which experts believe also accounts for some of the economic growth. Earlier this month the Commerce Department said inflation in the U.S. rose by 7.5 percent for the 12 months ending in January to the highest level in 40 years.


➤PALIN DEFAMATION SUIT JURORS SAW NEWS THAT JUDGE SAID WOULD DISMISS CASE: The jurors who ruled against Sarah Palin this week in the former Alaska governor's defamation trial against the New York Times saw push notifications on their phones while they were still deliberating that the judge had said he was going to dismiss the case, finding that Palin hadn't proved malice by the Times, according to court documents filed yesterday. The jurors told the court's law clerk that they "involuntarily" saw the push notifications on their phones, but, quote, "repeatedly assured the Court's law clerk that these notifications had not affected them in any way or played any role whatever in their deliberations." Although the judge said Monday that he would dismiss the case, he also said he'd allow the jurors to continue to deliberate to a verdict for potential appeal reasons. The jury returned their verdict rejecting Palins' claim a day later.

➤BIDEN ORDERS RELEASE OF TRUMP WHITE HOUSE VISITOR LOGS TO JAN. 6TH HOUSE COMMITTEE: President Biden has ordered the release by the National Archives of the Trump White House visitor logs to the House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Biden rejected the executive privilege claim made by former President Donald Trump. The visitor logs show appointment information for people who were allowed to enter the White House on that day. The Biden administration releases White House visitor logs voluntarily monthly as did the Obama administration.

➤UBER USERS CAN SEE THEIR RATINGS NOW: Although Uber users have long been able to see their average ratings from drivers, there are now able, starting yesterday, to see more detailed information. The platform's Privacy Center now shows riders and drivers a breakdown of their ratings, including how many one-star ratings and how many five-star ratings. Users should go to the privacy section of the settings menu, swipe to the right, select the "would you like to see a summary of how you use Uber" tile, scroll to "browse your data," and then tap "view my ratings."

➤STUDY..ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE HAVE BETTER IMMUNE SYSTEMS: Beauty isn’t the only thing attractive people have. Texas Christian University researchers found that traits traditionally linked to attractiveness, such as a symmetrical face and bright eyes, may be signs the body is better at fighting off infections. In their study, the scientists found people rated most attractive by other participants also had higher rates of phagocytosis, the process by which white blood cells destroy bacteria before it can make someone ill. It’s long been suggested that good-looking people are healthier as, for example, people with symmetrical faces are less likely to have had developmental problems in the womb or during childhood. Study leader Summer Mengelkoch adds, “With modern medicine, infections are not as deadly as they used to be, so perhaps it’s ok if people lower their standards and start to give people who are less attractive a shot.”

🛫THE DIRTIEST AREAS OF A PLANE ARE PROBABLY NOT WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT: Airplane bathrooms aren’t actually the dirtiest place on board. A new report from BestLife reveals seat back tray tables are the single most disgusting surface on just about any aircraft. A flight attendant tells Business Insider, “You may think that people only place drinks on seatback trays, but the person before you could’ve slept on it or used it to change a baby’s diaper. I’ve seen people put their bare feet on top of tray tables.” This echoes findings from a 2015 study that found seatback tray tables contained an average of 2,155 colony-forming units per square inch, and researchers said as a result you should try to eliminate any direct contact your food has with the tray table. The issue is the cleaning crew only has a limited amount of time to do their work, and is more likely to focus on more obviously dirty places such as the bathrooms, as opposed to seat back tables or windows, which BestLife also says are teeming with germs. So don’t underestimate how important sanitation wipes and hand sanitizer are to take on your next trip.



🎿BEIJING WINTER OLYMPICS:

  • Canadian Women Beat U.S. for Hockey Gold Medal - Archrivals the U.S. and Canada faced off in the women's hockey gold medal game and Canada came out on top, beating the defeating Olympic champion Americans 3-2. Marie-Philip Poulin scored two of Canada's three goals, and Sarah Nurse had the third. The U.S., which gets the silver medal, fought back from being down 3-0, but didn't make it far enough, with their second goal coming with just 14 seconds left in the game. Finland won the bronze, beating Switzerland 4-0.
  • American Skier Mikaela Shiffrin Out Early for Third Time - U.S. skier Mikaela Shiffrin stunningly went out early in another race, missing a gate and landing on her hip in the slalom portion of the two-part combined event. She was in fifth place after the downhill portion. This was the third race in which Shiffrin was disqualified, after falling in the giant slalom and hitting a gate in the slalom, a particular surprise because they are her best events. She came in ninth in the super-G and 18th in the downhill. Defending Olympic champion Michele Gisin of Switzerland won the gold. So Shiffrin, who came to Beijing with the possibility of winning medals in five individual events, will go home with none from them. She has said she plans to appear in a sixth and final race Saturday, the team event.
  • U.S. Men Make Curling Semifinal with Win Over Denmark - The defending Olympic champion U.S. men's curling team made the semifinals with a 7-5 win over Denmark. They will play Great Britain in their semifinal competition. Sweden will play Canada in the other semi.
  • Ukrainian Skier Tests Positive for Doping - The International Testing Agency said Ukrainian cross-country skier Valentyna Kaminska tested positive for a steroid and a banned stimulant in a sample taken last Thursday. She already competed in all three of her events, finishing well out of the medals, and is now provisionally suspended pending a prosecution of her case. She is the second athlete to test positive for doping in Beijing, after Iranian skier Hossein Saveh Shemshaki. Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who's been allowed to continue competing, tested positive in a sample taken in December.
🥇MEDAL COUNT: (As of 4:00 a.m. ET) - Norway is in first place with 28 medals, followed by the Russian Olympic Committee with 24, and Germany has 21. In the gold medal count, Norway is first with 13, Germany is second with 10, and the U.S. is third with eight. The U.S. has 20 medals overall, eight gold, eight silver and four bronze. ESPN'S MEDAL TRACKER

OTHER SPORTS:

🏈VICTORY PARADE IN L.A. FOR SUPER BOWL CHAMPION RAMS: The Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams were celebrated with a parade and rally in L.A. yesterday. Fans lined the mile-long parade route as players went by in open-top, double-decker buses that went to a plaza outside Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for a rally. Although the Rams play in new SoFi Stadium, the Coliseum was their home for decades. Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. gave the key to his city -- which is home to SoFi Stadium -- to Rams owner Stan Kroenke as part of the celebration. Quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who was the Super Bowl MVP, and future Hall of Famer defensive tackle Aaron Donald were among those who spoke. Kupp responded to calls to "run it back" and win again next year by saying he thinks they can do it, declaring, "I really believe it. This is just the start." Meanwhile, Donald suggested he might not retire after all, saying, "We built a super team, we can bring the super team back. Why not run it back? We can be world champs again!"



🏀BULLS' DEROZAN BREAKS WILT CHAMBERLAIN RECORD: The Chicago Bulls' DeMar DeRozan yesterday broke a record set by NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain as he scored 38 points in the Bulls' 125-118 win over the Sacramento Kings. DeRozan, who made 16 of 27 field goals, became the first player in NBA history to score 35 or more points and shoot 50 percent or better in seven consecutive games. Chamberlain did it in six straight games twice, during the 1960-61 and 1962-63 seasons.

⚾PITCHER HARVEY COULD BE SUSPENDED AFTER ADMITTING GAVE OPIOIDS TO SKAGGS: Free agent pitcher Matt Harvey could be suspended for at least 60 days for admitting during federal court testimony Tuesday that he'd provided opioids to late pitcher Tyler Skaggs on several occasions, ESPN reported Wednesday, citing an MLB official who said it would qualify as distribution under the league's drug policy. Harvey was given immunity from the government to testify, meaning he can't be prosecuted for anything he admitted to in court. He testified in the trial of Eric Kay, the former Los Angeles Angels communications director who is facing charges of distributing fentanyl and causing Skaggs' drug-related death in 2019.

🏌WOODS SPEAKS ABOUT 'FRUSTRATING' PACE OF ONGOING RECOVERY FROM CRASH: Tiger Woods spoke Wednesday about the, quote, "frustrating" pace of his ongoing recovery from his car crash a year ago next week in which he suffered severe injuries to his right leg. Speaking at a news conference at the Genesis Invitational, which benefits his foundation, Woods said, "I wish I could tell you when I'm playing again. I want to know, but I don't. . . . What's frustrating is it's not at my timetable. I want to be at a certain place, but I'm not. I've just got to continue working."



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