IMPORTANT | | | | | ‘Completely Immoral!’ | Ukraine Slams Russia’s Humanitarian Corridor Plans A spokesperson for Ukraine’s president has dismissed a Russian announcement that their forces would stop firing on Monday to allow civilians to evacuate the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy. “This is a completely immoral story. People’s suffering is used to create the desired television picture,” said Oleksiy Arestovich. Not only do the “humanitarian” corridors proposed by Putin all lead to either Russia or their ally Belarus, but the Russians have twice reneged on ceasefire deals agreed upon in Mariupol in recent days. “Citizens of Ukraine … should have the right to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine,” added Arestovich. (Source: DW, Reuters) |
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| | | Winding Back the (Atomic) Clock | Iran’s 2015 Nuclear Deal May Soon be Back on the Table Talks between senior Iranian officials and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Saturday may yet resuscitate the 2015 nuclear deal concluded between Iran and a group of six major world powers. The deal was scuppered in 2018 when then-President Donald Trump called it “defective at its core.” The IAEA’s insistence on conducting safeguards probes had been seen as a major obstacle to the deal’s reinstatement, but both sides signaled they’d reached an understanding at the meeting. Iran’s foreign minister promised to go to Vienna to sign the deal, provided sanctions are lifted and other demands are met. (Sources: Al Jazeera, BBC) |
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| | | Climate Curveball | Supreme Court Ruling Could Scupper Biden’s Climate Plans The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, a case that could devastate Joe Biden’s climate agenda. This after Presidents Obama, Trump and Biden all failed to pass their preferred emissions legislation. The court doesn’t usually hear cases when there’s no regulation to debate, but it made an exception after a group of Republican-led states and coal companies raised the specter of future regulations. The ruling, expected in June, could prevent the EPA from regulating future greenhouse gas emissions and might hamstring other U.S. agencies’ regulatory powers. Most energy companies are taking Biden’s side. (Source: Nature) |
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| | | Black Gold | Oil Prices Near Record High as US Considers Ban on Russian Crude Oil prices leaped more than $20 early Monday to hit $139.13 a barrel, as a U.S. and European ban on Russian crude looked increasingly likely. “It’s hard to see such sanctions not being imposed,” tweeted Mohamed El-Erian, chief economist at Allianz. While the price later stabilized at around $130, experts predicted the all-time high of $147.50, achieved in 2008, might soon be surpassed, with Bank of America chief economist Ethan Harris saying $200-a-barrel oil was a distinct possibility. Meanwhile, stock markets moved in the opposite direction, with most major Asian markets down around 3% by 7 a.m. GMT. (Sources: The Guardian, Reuters) |
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| | | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Mali massacre. A rebel attack on an army base in Mondoro, Mali, has left at least 27 soldiers dead. Seven more soldiers are missing and 33 were injured. (Source: Al Jazeera) That sinking feeling. A ship carrying possibly thousands of luxury cars that caught fire last week has sunk about 250 miles from Portugal’s Azores Islands. Authorities expressed fears the ship could cause major pollution. (Source: The Guardian) Just a game. At least 26 people were injured after violence broke out among the crowds at a top-flight soccer match in Querétaro City, Mexico. (Source: BBC) |
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| INTRIGUING | | | Haphazard Hackathon | Volunteer Hackers Wade into Russia-Ukraine Conflict Hordes of volunteer hackers from around the world have swarmed to help both Russia and Ukraine, leading to an unprecedented wave of attacks and making it hard to identify the culprits. The Ukrainian government has tried to bring some discipline to its “I.T. army,” posting instructions and potential targets on the chat app Telegram. But, experts warned, there’s only so much amateurs can achieve: “The land invasion is advancing, people are suffering, buildings are being destroyed,” said Lukasz Olejnik, a former cyberwarfare adviser for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. “Cyberattacks can’t realistically impact this.” (Source: NYT) |
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| | | Record-Breaking Root? | Humongous Hawaii Taro Root Could be World’s Biggest Talk about putting down roots. A 50-pound taro root harvested in South Kona that’s seven-times heavier than the current record holder has been entered for a Guinness World Record. Farmers Clarence and Nellie Medeiros said the whole plant weighed 100 pounds, was almost 10-feet high and could make enough poi (taro paste) to feed 180 people. Clarence, who harvested his first taro root when he was five, says there’s no great secret behind their record-breaking root: “We plant according to our land. We have pockets of dirt. Where we find the black dirt, that’s where we plant it.” (Sources: AP, West Hawaii Today) |
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| | | COVID Cloudburst | China’s Lockdowns Triggered Record Rainfalls A study in Nature Communications has shown that the abrupt drop in airborne pollutants due to China’s COVID-19 lockdowns was a major factor in the devastating rains of June and July 2020. Researchers found that around one-third of the rainfall could be directly attributed to cleaner air. Previous studies have linked aerosol pollution — which affects cloud formation and blocks sunlight — to a decline in summer rains in eastern and central China since the 1980s. Co-author Wang Hailong, of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, says they will now focus on the “impact of gradual emissions reductions on our climate.” (Source: SCMP) |
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| | | Encore! | Groundbreaking 16th-Century Female Composer’s Music Lives Again Better late than never. A dozen madrigals composed by the Italian Renaissance composer Maddalena Casulana in the 1500s will finally be premiered tomorrow, on International Women’s Day. Casulana was the first female composer to publish her own work, bringing out three books of madrigals under her name between 1568 and 1583. But until now only one of those collections had survived complete. In a moving dedication to her 1568 collection, Casulana wrote: “These first fruits of mine, flawed as they are … show the world the futile error of men, who believe themselves patrons of the high gifts of intellect.” (Source: The Guardian) |
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| | | | | Gone Too Soon | Shane Warne, Cricketing Great, Dies at 52 Warnie, the bottle-blond Australian who single-handedly revived the subtle art of leg-spin and was adored by fans and rivals alike, has died in Thailand of a suspected heart attack. On the field he was a genius: second-highest test wicket-taker of all time, bowler of the “ball of the century” and named one of five Wisden “cricketers of the century.” Off the field he was more human, but his ceaseless, boyish enthusiasm meant he made few enemies. “I’m so saddened by the sudden death of Shane Warne. He brought such joy to the game and was the greatest spin bowler ever,” said Mick Jagger. (Sources: ABC News, Reuters) |
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| ABOUT OZY OZY 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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