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IMPORTANT | | | Talk Is Cheap | Another Round of Talks Begins as Air Raid Sirens Wail Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine early Tuesday as Russian and Ukrainian negotiators readied for face-to-face talks in Turkey. This after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian forces had retaken Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, and the Russian advance appeared to have stalled on several fronts. The U.S. and Ukraine aren’t expecting much from the first direct talks in over two weeks. Zelenskyy is willing to consider the Kremlin’s request for neutral status, but Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has warned that “not an inch of land” will be ceded to Russia. President Vladimir Putin is not into compromises. (Sources: Reuters, AP, Business Insider) |
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| | | The Slap Heard Round the World | Will Smith Apologizes to Chris Rock for Academy Awards Assault “I was out of line and I was wrong,” Smith wrote in a public apology to the comedian, viewers at home and producers of the awards ceremony. During Sunday’s Oscars broadcast, Smith stormed onstage and slapped Rock for joking about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, whose head was shaved due to an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss. Smith explained, “Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.” The Academy is reviewing the incident and “will explore further action and consequences.” (Sources: AP, CNN) |
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| | | | | Chemical Warfare? | Roman Abramovich Suffered ‘Suspected Poisoning’ During Peace Talks The Wall Street Journal and Bellingcat have alleged that the Russian billionaire suffered symptoms consistent with poisoning at peace talks on the Ukraine-Belarus border earlier this month. The owner of London’s Chelsea Football Club and two Ukrainian peace negotiators complained of sore eyes and peeling skin, but have since recovered. Shortly after the news broke, an unnamed U.S. official said the men’s symptoms were likely due to “environmental” factors, not poisoning. But the White House may be playing down suggestions that anyone, especially Russia, used chemical weapons in Ukraine to avoid having to take retaliatory action. (Sources: WSJ, BBC, Reuters) |
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| | | Crypto’s Back | Buoyant Bitcoin Takes Crypto Market Above $2 Trillion Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has rocked stock markets, traditional currencies and even gold — but cryptocurrencies have proved surprisingly resilient. And now they seem to have the wind in their sails. Hitting a high of $47,765 on Monday, Bitcoin broke above the narrow range it’s traded in for most of 2022, marking an 18% rise since March 21. The total value of the cryptocurrency market rose above $2 trillion on Friday, although the $3 trillion it briefly achieved last November is still a long way off. Experts are divided on where the market will go next. (Source: Reuters) |
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| | | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Two strikes. Peruvian President Pedro Castillo has survived his second impeachment vote in just eight months in office. (Source: Reuters) On the loose. Nhlanhla “Lux” Dlamini, the leader of an anti-immigration militia in South Africa, has been granted bail after being arrested on suspicion of assault, intimidation and burglary. (Source: Al Jazeera) You don’t say. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed the controversial education bill known as “Don’t Say Gay” — which limits classroom discussion about gender identity and sexual orientation — into law. (Source: AP) |
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| | | INTRIGUING | | | | | Blood-Sucking Vampires | What Makes Vampire Bats Tick? Scientists have figured out why three species of vampire bats (out of 1,400 bat species) are the only mammals that can survive on a diet of just blood. After comparing vampire bats’ genomes with 26 other bat species, they identified 13 missing or no-longer-working genes in the blood-suckers. The 3-inch-long bats from South and Central America are basically “living Draculas,” said co-author Michael Hiller of Germany’s Max Planck Institute. “Blood is a terrible food source,” said Hannah Kim Frank of Tulane University, who was not involved in the study. “It’s totally bizarre and amazing that vampire bats can survive on blood.” (Source: AP) |
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| | | Tetanus, Anyone? | How Scientists Are Using Tetanus to Treat Pancreatic Cancer This one’s a bit of a mind-bender. Researchers think they’ve come up with a way of leveraging tetanus immunity (we all got tetanus vaccines as kids) to target treatment-resistant pancreatic cancer. It’s a tricky cancer to treat because the immune system fails to recognize affected cells — but delivering benign tetanus proteins into pancreatic tumor cells in mice caused their immune system to kick in. The tumors shrank by an average of 80%, the metastases by 87%, and the mice lived roughly 40% longer. Whether the treatment will work in humans remains to be seen: A clinical trial is imminent. (Source: The Scientist) |
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| | | Walkie-Talkies | Canned Chicken Feet and Necks Hit the Big Time Chew on this. Chicken feet and necks — known locally as walkie-talkies — have long been fried or grilled as affordable street food in the townships of South Africa. But now, thanks to the vision of 26-year-old Eiren Drake and his late grandfather, Spencer, they’re available in canned form across the country. Drake has signed a three-year exclusive deal with the country’s biggest retailer, which will carry the high-protein, low-cost meal in over 500 Shoprite stores. In a nation with a 34.9% unemployment rate, Drake’s company, Tin Stuf, already employs 35 people per shift. He hopes to double this soon. (Source: Business Insider) |
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| | | Time’s Fool | Should We Heed Senate Proposals to Make DST Permanent? Waking up an hour earlier is no fun. So much so that the Senate passed a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent from late next year. The future of the bill is uncertain: President Joe Biden’s kept quiet, and by the time it reaches the House they’ll have forgotten the pain of March 14. The last time we tried permanent DST (in 1974) folks hated getting up in the dark and heading out in the gloom. Polls clearly indicate that Americans would prefer not to change their clocks twice a year, but the alternatives may be even less pleasant. (Source: The Atlantic) |
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| | | To Infinity and Beyond! | Golf Pro Moves From 824th to World No. 1 in Two Years Scottie Scheffler became the world’s top-ranked player when the Official World Golf Rankings were released Monday. “I’ll believe it when I see it on the world rankings tomorrow,” the New Jersey native said after defeating Kevin Kisner in the final of the 2022 WGC-Dell Match Play on Sunday. Scheffler was ranked 824th in the world just two years ago, and he hadn’t won on the PGA tour until February of this year. Since then, he’s triumphed in three of his last five starts. No surprise that he’s now one of the favorites for the April 7-10 U.S. Masters. (Sources: Reuters, SI) |
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| | | COMMUNITY What else are you curious about? Share your questions or thoughts with us at [email protected] |
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