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IMPORTANT |  | Total Ban? | EU Plans Phased Ban of Russian Oil, Targets More Banks “Today, we will propose to ban all Russian oil from Europe,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament Wednesday. She also announced plans to sanction Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, and to block Russian broadcasters from European airwaves. The plan, if approved by EU governments, would see Russian crude phased out within six months and refined products by the end of the year. “It will not be easy, because some member states are strongly dependent on Russian oil,” she said. “But we simply have to do it … Putin must pay a price, a high price, for his brutal aggression.” (Source: Reuters) |
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|  | Fallout | Supreme Court Confirms Roe v. Wade Leak, Tempers Continue to Flare On Tuesday Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the document penned by Justice Samuel Alito was authentic. He called the leak “a singular and egregious breach” of trust and reminded Americans that the draft opinion — which could overturn the case that guarantees the right to an abortion — was by no means final. President Joe Biden vowed to make abortion rights the defining issue of the upcoming midterms, calling the potential judgment “really quite a radical decision.” Republican House leaders lauded it as “a decision that protects our most basic and precious right, the right to life.” Each side accused the other of orchestrating the leak. (Sources: CNN, NYT) |
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| |  | Guess Who’s Back? | Trump-Backed JD Vance Wins Ohio GOP Senate PrimaryThe bestselling author of Hillbilly Elegy took 32.2% of the vote, ahead of party insiders Josh Mandel (23.9%) and Matt Dolan (23.3%). Before former President Donald Trump endorsed him last month, Vance — who stridently criticized Trump four years ago before doing an about-face — had been languishing in third place. The narrow margin of his victory and other results Tuesday night suggest the battle between the Trump and establishment factions is yet to be decided. Vance will go up against Democrat Tim Ryan, who garnered 69.7% of votes in his primary, for the Senate spot. (Sources: Politico, NYT) |
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|  | ‘The Horror! The Horror!’ | Azovstal Survivors Recount Ordeal, UN Raises Rape AllegationsJoseph Conrad’s damning indictment of humankind and imperialism is as relevant now as it was in 1899. As 156 civilians evacuated from Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steel plant arrived in Ukraine-controlled Zaporizhzhia, some spoke to the media. “People rot in basements,” said Sergey Kuzmenko, while another Mariupol resident said her city had become “a living hell.” Meanwhile, Pramila Patten, U.N. special representative on sexual violence in war, announced that men and boys were among the dozens of alleged victims of rape by Russian soldiers. “All the warning signals are flashing red in Ukraine, with allegations of brutal sexual violence emerging,” she said. (Sources: CNN, Sky, The Guardian) |
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|  | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Bienvenidos. The U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, issued its first visas in four years after a disruption caused by alleged sonic attacks on its staff. A short queue was seen outside its consular section Tuesday. (Source: Al Jazeera) Spanish spyware shocker. Yesterday it was announced that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s phone had been infected with Pegasus spyware. Today it emerged that there were more than 200 possible victims. (Source: The Guardian) Attack condemned. The African Union has condemned an attack on a military base in Somalia by al-Shabab militants that killed an unknown number of Burundian peacekeepers. (Source: France 24) |
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INTRIGUING
| | | Clutching at Straws | Experts Weigh In on Putin Parkinson’s RumorsSince video emerged of Russian President Vladimir Putin clutching a table during a briefing, some have used it as proof he has Parkinson’s disease. What unites everyone making this claim is that they aren’t neurologists. “Real neurologists are … taught never to comment on people who are not their patients,” said neurogeneticist John Hardy. When pressed, Hardy said Putin had “no sign of parkinsonism in my view.” University of London neurologist Ray Chadhuri agreed. “Looking at the short clip, I can find no evidence that I can tell of parkinsonism in Putin.” Putin is also rumored to have intestinal cancer. (Source: DW) |
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| | Christmas Comes Early | $942M Heavy-Ion Accelerator Has Nuclear Physicists SalivatingDecades after the idea was proposed, the 1,500-foot-long Facility for Rare Isotope Beams was inaugurated at Michigan State University this week — ahead of schedule and on budget. “This project has been the realization of a dream of the whole community in nuclear physics,” said Ani Aprahamian, an experimental nuclear physicist. The new facility can produce rare isotopes orders of magnitude more quickly than previously possible. Among other things, scientists will use it to find out more about how stars and supernova explosions create most of the elements in the universe and to chart unexplored regions of exotic atomic nuclei. (Source: Nature) |
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| | ‘Books Behind Bars’ | Bolivian Prisoners Read Books to Cut Jail Time Following the success of a similar program in Brazil, inmates in 47 of Bolivia’s overcrowded prisons can reduce the time they spend behind bars by reading books. More important than the sentence reductions, which normally amount to days or weeks, is the spread of literacy among some of Bolivia’s most desperate people — and the hope that it may bring them second chances. So far 865 inmates have signed up. “When I read, I am in contact with the whole universe. The walls and bars disappear,” said Mildred, an inmate at the Obrajes women's prison in capital city La Paz. (Source: Reuters) |
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| | Morbid Mishap | Shanghai Up in Arms as Man in Body Bag Found to Be AliveA video has gone viral of morgue workers discovering that the “body” they’re offloading from their van is actually alive — sparking outcry in a city reeling from five weeks of grueling COVID-19 lockdown. The footage, filmed Sunday afternoon, shows workers pulling a body bag onto a trolley. After looking inside the bag, one declares: “Alive! Did you see that? Alive!” Another responds, “Do not cover him again!” The elderly nursing home resident is reportedly in stable condition. Five people, including the head of the nursing home and a doctor, are under investigation. The morgue workers, meanwhile, were rewarded with $750 each. (Sources: CNN, The Guardian) |
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| | Game of Two Halves | Liverpool FC Finds Its Mojo to Make Champions League Final The Reds went into the second leg of their semifinal against Spain’s Villareal with a 2-0 advantage that made them firm favorites in the European soccer tournament. By halftime, that lead had been wiped out, and Villareal’s “Yellow Submarine” had Liverpool rattled. Manager Jurgen Klopp’s halftime talk clearly did the trick, as a new Liverpool emerged from the dugout. Goals from Fabinho, Luis Díaz and Sadio Mané — two achieved thanks to comical errors from Villareal’s Argentine goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli — gave them a 5-2 aggregate victory. Liverpool will face either Real Madrid or Manchester City in the May 28 final in Paris. (Source: BBC) |
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