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IMPORTANT | | Marking a Grim Milestone | Day 50: Zelenskyy Praises Ukrainian ResolveIn his nightly address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised his compatriots for withstanding “50 days of Russian invasion, although the occupiers gave us a maximum of five.” Zelenskyy remembered how world leaders had “advised me to flee the country … to actually surrender to tyranny,” and he expressed gratitude for “everyone who supported our state.” But his most heartfelt appreciation was for all Ukrainians: “During the 50 days of this war, Ukraine became a hero for the whole free world. For those who have the courage to call a spade a spade. For those who are not poisoned by propaganda.” (Sources: AP, The Guardian) |
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| | | Musk Makes His Move | Tesla Billionaire Offers to Buy Twitter On April 1 it emerged that Elon Musk had been buying up Twitter shares. Now the world’s richest person has offered to pay $43 billion for a 100% stake in the company. Twitter’s board is mulling a response to the bid, which values Twitter shares at $54.20 — 38% more than when his current 9.1% stake was disclosed. Musk said the offer isn’t “a way to sort of make money” but rather an attempt to build “an inclusive arena for free speech.” He hinted at approaching shareholders directly in a hostile takeover bid if the board rejects his offer. (Sources: Reuters, The Verge) |
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| | Returning the Favor | Ukraine Braces for Retribution After Russian Warship Destroyed The Kremlin finally admitted that the Moskva cruiser had sunk, although it flatly denied that it was the result of a Ukrainian attack. Ammunition onboard caught fire, according to Moscow, and the ship succumbed to “stormy seas” while being towed to port — though a weather report for the area indicated only light rain and winds of 4 miles per hour. Actions speak louder than words, however: Kyiv was subjected to the harshest airstrikes since Russia retreated from the region, and residents of the capital expect more retribution. “Oh well,” tweeted Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko, “we’ll just keep standing to #Russia’s annoyance.” (Sources: Al Jazeera, The Guardian) |
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| | Islamic State ‘Beatle’ Convicted | British National Found Guilty for His Role in Deaths of 4 Americans A Virginia jury concluded that El Shafee Elsheikh was one of the notorious “Beatles” — a group of Islamic State hostage-takers known for their northern English accents and predilection for extreme cruelty. Elsheikh was found guilty despite the fact that none of the surviving hostages could identify him as a Beatle. The group went to extreme measures to ensure their faces were never seen. “Praise God! I'm so thankful,” said Diane Foley, the mother of James Foley, whose 2014 beheading was filmed by the group and shared widely on the internet. “I'm so proud of the American justice system.” (Source: NPR) |
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| | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Home sweet home. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gave 79-year-old Ri Chun Hi — the country’s most famous state TV anchor — a luxurious new home and asked her to continue to be the voice of the Workers’ Party. (Source: AP) No bail. A federal judge ordered that Frank James, the suspect in the Brooklyn subway shooting, be held without bail until his trial. (Source: NYT) The game’s up. Juan Orlando Hernández, who was the president of Honduras until January, will be extradited to the U.S. to face weapons and drug trafficking charges. (Source: Al Jazeera) |
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INTRIGUING | | | Say What? | Blind Mexican Cave Fish Have Regional Accents One form of the Mexican tetra is blind as a bat, lives in underground caves, and uses clicks to communicate. But after studying 44 hours of fish gossip from six different caves, Harvard researcher Carole Hyacinthe and colleagues found significant variations from cave to cave. Fish in a cave called Molino were soprano-esque in their clicking, while those from Subterráneo were deep and booming and fish in Pachón clicked 10 times faster than others. “Maybe after a million years it will have drifted so much that they will not be able to understand each other anymore,” said co-author Sylvie Rétaux. (Source: New Scientist) |
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| | Dog Eat Dog | Firm Pays $900K to Settle Dog-Leasing Allegations Monterey Financial Services LLC has settled allegations of illegal dog-leasing in Massachusetts. Leasing a dog is similar to leasing a car: You cough up every month for a set period and if you want to own the mutt there’s an additional payment at the end of the lease. Skip a payment, though, and it might be repossessed. The firm agreed to cancel about $700,000 of outstanding debt, stop collecting on active leases and transfer ownership of the dogs to the people who leased them. They’ll also pay $175,000 in restitution to consumers and $50,000 to the state. (Source: AP) |
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| | Blocos Blocked | Rio de Janeiro’s Street Carnival Troupes Fight for Their Right to PartyThanks to COVID-19, the Brazilian city’s famous pre-Lenten carnival has been canceled two years running. This year authorities finally relented and the famous contest between samba schools in the Sambódromo stadium will go ahead next weekend, two months later than usual. But the ban hasn’t been lifted on blocos — booze-fueled music troupes that roam the streets, attracting hundreds of thousands of partygoers — and they’re not happy. More than 120 blocos signed a manifesto this week declaring, “The streets belong to the people and we are free to speak.” And on Wednesday night hundreds of glitter-smeared street carnival enthusiasts protested downtown. (Source: The Guardian) |
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| | | Look Ma, No Hands! | Puzzled San Francisco Police Pull Over Driverless CarIt wasn’t even an April Fool’s joke. San Francisco police who pulled over a car for driving without headlights on April 1 were left bemused when they found no one inside. In a now-viral video an officer is heard exclaiming, “Ain’t nobody in it. This is crazy!” The car, operated by GM’s Cruise unit, then speeds away through an intersection and pulls over again. As Cruise waits for approval for a driverless taxi service in the city, it’s running a small trial offering free driverless rides to the public every night. Cruise blamed the lack of headlights on “human error.” (Source: Reuters) |
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| | I’m Out | The Russian Olympic Champion Who’s Had It With Putin On Feb. 22, modern pentathlete Aleksander Lesun announced that he’d never compete for Russia again. The Rio gold medalist, who acted on impulse and had no backup plan, is in a tiny minority. Before Russia passed a law criminalizing dissent on March 22, some sportspeople, like tennis star Andrey Rublev, expressed misgivings about the war. But now that speaking out can lead to 15 years behind bars they’ve gone quiet. Many others actively support the war. “I am sorry to admit that Russian sportspeople can't influence the situation,” said Lesun. “And a lot of them do not even understand what is happening.” (Source: BBC) |
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| ABOUT OZYOZY is a diverse, global and forward-looking media and entertainment company focused on “the New and the Next.” OZY creates space for fresh perspectives, and offers new takes on everything from news and culture to technology, business, learning and entertainment. Curiosity. Enthusiasm. Action. That’s OZY! | |
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