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IMPORTANT
| | | | More Mariupol Misery | UN Plans Third Evacuation From Ukrainian ‘Hellscapes’ Yesterday the United Nations and the Red Cross completed two evacuations from besieged Mariupol including the Azovstal steel mill, rescuing nearly 500 people. Today they will embark on a third, said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who vowed “to do all we can to get people out of these hellscapes.” Evacuations have been complicated by Russia’s push for victory in Azovstal — allegedly to give them something to celebrate on Monday’s national holiday. The 2,000 remaining Ukrainian fighters will “stand to the end,” said Kateryna Prokopenko, wife of one of the defenders. “I am going mad from this. It seemed like words of goodbye.” (Source: Al Jazeera) |
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| | Beyond Roe | Will the Supreme Court Leak Open the Floodgates?Warnings that scrapping Roe v. Wade would lead to other attacks on civil liberties are already coming true. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that he’d try to overturn a 1982 court decision requiring schools to educate undocumented immigrants. A Lousiana Legislature committee approved a proposal that would classify abortion as a homicide. The bill, if implemented, would open the door to criminal prosecutions against people who have abortions. And the well-funded anti-abortion movement isn’t restricted to the U.S.: It has already poured millions into fighting abortion in Latin America and Africa and it’s coming for Europe next. (Sources: The Guardian, NYT) |
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| | After the Partygate | Labour Surges in UK Local Elections After Johnson’s MisdemeanorsFor a while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine took the heat off embattled Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but yesterday’s election results suggest voters haven’t forgotten that he repeatedly attended illegal parties during COVID-19 lockdowns — and subsequently denied it. Early results showed Johnson’s Conservatives had lost 131 council seats while Labour and Liberal Democrats gained 87 and 42 respectively, claiming key London councils like Westminster, which had been under Conservative control for 50 years. Labour leader Keir Starmer hailed it as a “big turning point,” but Conservative co-chair Oliver Dowden stuck up for his leader, arguing, “Labour are certainly not on the path to power.” (Sources: The Guardian, BBC) |
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| | Seesaw Margery Daw | Asian Markets Continue Slide After Wall Street’s Thursday LossesWednesday saw the Dow Jones and Nasdaq record their biggest single-day gains since 2020. On Thursday both indexes shed those gains, and then some — with the Dow losing 3.1% and the Nasdaq 4.9%. The trend continued in early Friday trading with Asian shares tumbling and China’s yuan plunging to an 18-month low. The falls could be attributed to Wall Street’s losses and China’s economy grappling with a COVID-19 surge, according to Dickie Wong of Hong Kong brokerage Kingston Securities. “The silver lining is the expectation that new Chinese fiscal measures could come out over the weekend,” he added. (Sources: Reuters, MarketWatch) |
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| | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Pass the sugar. Swiss police seized 1,100 pounds of cocaine at a Nespresso factory after workers found a strange white substance in sacks of coffee beans. (Source: The Guardian) King without a crown. A day after alleged Colombian drug trafficker Dairo Antonio Úsuga, better known as Otoniel, was extradited to the U.S., New York prosecutor Breon Peace celebrated the fact that “one of the most dangerous, most wanted drug kingpins in the world” would “finally face justice.” (Source Al Jazeera) Mea culpa. Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde will visit the Democratic Republic of Congo in June. Millions of Congolese died during Belgium’s bloody rule. (Source: AFP) |
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INTRIGUING
| | | Cut the Bull | Eating 20% Less Beef Could Halve DeforestationMeat-free Mondays for the win. A modeling study published in Nature this week showed that replacing one-fifth of global beef consumption with a meat substitute by 2050 could halve deforestation and its associated carbon emissions. Methane emissions would be cut by 11%. Halving beef consumption would slash deforestation and associated emissions by 80%. While eating less beef can only be a good thing for the planet, lead author Florian Humpenöder of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany warned that it won’t solve the climate crisis. “It should not be seen as a silver bullet,” he said. (Source: Nature) |
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| | Glass Ceiling | Ms. Pac-Man, Video Game Trailblazer, Inducted Into Hall of Fame The 1981 sequel to the runaway success of Pac-Man gave the world its “first widely recognized female video game character,” said Julia Novakovic, archivist at the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Ms. Pac-Man was inducted alongside iconic games Dance Dance Revolution, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Sid Meier’s Civilization. “Ms. Pac-Man represented a turn in the cultural conversation about women’s place in the arcade, as well as in society at large,” said Novakovic. But 41 years later, there’s still a way to go: female pro gamers earn millions less than men, and misogyny is rife in game chats. (Source: AP) |
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| | Splat Survey | Flying Insect Numbers Plunge in UK A survey of splats on car license plates showed the number of flying insects in Great Britain declined by almost 60% between 2004 and 2021. The drop was worst in England (65%) and Wales (55%). Scotland’s smaller 28% fall might be because habitat fragmentation, climate change and pesticides are less intense there. With only two large splat surveys so far, there’s a chance that 2004 was a good year for insects and 2021 a bad one. But the 60% drop tallies with figures from elsewhere. Healthy environments depend on insects to recycle organic matter, pollinate plants and control pests. (Source: The Guardian) |
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| | Beeeeep! | Maine Moves Closer to Banning License Plate Obscenities Settle down now. Yesterday Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows published draft rules that would ban references to sex acts, genitalia and profanities on state license plates. Since the loosening of language restrictions on vanity license plates in 2015, Mainers had been unable to keep their minds out of the gutter, leading to a steady stream of complaints from more prudish motorists. “Incitement to violence, profanity, ethnic, racial, religious, or other slurs, or reference to illegal or criminal activity — all of which unfortunately can be seen on Maine registration plates today — are all directly contrary to the public interest,” said Bellows. (Source: AP) |
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| | Betting the Farm | Book Excerpt Reveals Scale of Phil Mickelson’s Gambling Losses Quoting a source with access to Securities and Exchange Commission documents, the upcoming biography by golf writer Alan Shipnuck reveals that between 2010 and 2014 Mickelson’s losses totaled more than $40 million. Mickelson’s proclivity for “action” has long been known in golfing circles but episodes like winning a 22-1 bet that the Baltimore Ravens would win Super Bowl XXXV were typically filed under “folksy charm.” The new revelations hint at a far bigger problem. In 2016 Mickelson forfeited nearly $1 million that the SEC said “wasn’t his to make” when he acted on a stock tip based on insider trading. (Source: Golf) |
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