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IMPORTANT
| | | Paper Chains | Garland Appoints Special Counsel in Biden Docs Probe Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped Robert Hur to investigate any potential mishandlings of the classified documents found at President Biden’s pre-presidency D.C. think-tank office and Delaware home. Hur was appointed by Donald Trump, whose own confidential papers investigation is drawing unfavorable comparisons. The announcement comes as a second batch of documents was discovered beside Biden’s beloved Corvette in Delaware. “My Corvette is in a locked garage, okay? So, it’s not like they’re sitting out in the street,” Biden snapped at reporters on Thursday. Hur’s appointment could mean Biden will not be permitted to speak so freely going forward. (Source: The Hill, WaPo) |
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| | | Us Vs. Them | Lula Points Fingers at ‘Bolsonaristas’ as Clean-Up Continues “I am waiting for the dust to settle,” Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said of Jan. 8’s storming of congressional buildings in Brasilia. But wide screening of government employees is underway over suspicions supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro had been helped in entering the complex. The doors of the Planalto, one of three buildings trashed during the riot and where the presidential offices are, remained intact despite widespread damage, suggesting inside help, Lula said. Now it’s time to clean house: “Nobody who is suspected of being a hardcore Bolsonarista can be allowed to remain in the palace.” (Source: The Guardian) |
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| | | | | Slick | Exxon Knew About Global Warming in the 70s. It Didn’t Matter. Scientists at oil and gas giant ExxonMobil predicted climate change decades ago, a study released Thursday revealed. By looking at Exxon’s projections between 1977 and 2003, Harvard researchers found the company’s modeling predicted both the rise in temperatures over the years and when human-caused climate change would be identifiable. Researcher Geoffrey Supran underscored Exxon’s science but noted that the company then spent “the next couple of decades denying that very climate science.” In 2015, Exxon was widely criticized after a leaked document showed the fossil fuel company predicted the world would feel the “dramatic environmental effects before the year 2050.” (Sources: CNN, New Scientist) |
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| | | School’s Out | UK’s Winter of Striking Discontent University workers from 150 U.K. institutions will spend a combined 18 days on strike across February and March, the University and College Union announced Friday. The decision comes after union members rejected a 4-5% salary increase offered by administrators. That offer falls below cost of living rises, the union said. It’s another headache for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who is fending off calls to boost healthcare funding to fix staffing issues within the National Health Service. Nurses and paramedics have staged strikes in recent months, with junior doctors threatening to join them in the coming weeks. (Sources: BBC, The Guardian) |
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| | | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: High-profile. Tetsuya Yamagami was charged with murder and gun charges on Friday over last year’s assassination of Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe on a Nara city street. His lawyers said the trial may take months to begin. (Source: AP) Ticking clock. Chinese-owned social media app TikTok will soon be banned from the phones of public officials in Wisconsin and North Carolina due to cybersecurity concerns. The states follow the lead of others and the federal government. (Source: Al Jazeera) Rising. Unemployment will likely rise globally this year as the world’s economies feel the brunt of fiscal tightening, International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said. (Source: Le Monde) |
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INTRIGUING
| | | Loved Her Tender | Graceland, Tinseltown Stunned by Sudden Death of Lisa Marie Presley Presley, the 54-year-old only child of Elvis Presley and a successful entertainer in her own right, was hospitalized Thursday in Los Angeles after a heart attack. The news shocked Hollywood after Presley appeared in good health this week celebrating Elvis at the Golden Globes. “I’m so proud. I know that my father would also be very proud,” she said shortly before Austin Butler won the Globe for his portrayal of Elvis. Presley remained surrounded by famous men for much of her life, including marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage. She is survived by her mother, Priscilla, and three daughters. (Source: Variety) |
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| | | | | Crashed | Old Tech Caused This Week’s FAA Outage A damaged database file crashed the Notice to Air Missions system, grounding flights across the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration said. Officials identified the issue late Tuesday and rebooted the system off-peak early Wednesday, but the system came back online far slower than expected. One aviation source blamed budget shortfalls, although “I assume now they’re going to actually find money to do it.” Earlier, the FAA promised to update an antiquated system that required air traffic controllers to use paper flight strips to track aircraft, but a complete digitalization of the system won’t happen until the end of 2029. (Source: Ars Technica) |
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| | | Send It Home? | Sotheby’s Is Auctioning Off Relics. This Māori Tribe Wants Them Back “We have so few of these taonga and treasures left in our possession,” Ngārimu Blair, deputy chair for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei people, said of the two clubs listed on the auction house’s website. The tribe has few remaining artifacts after waves of looting and displacement, and at least one of the clubs on sale — a carved pounamu — was gifted under the condition it would be returned. A British vice-admiral was given the club in 1886 by tribal chief Pāora Tūhaere on condition it remained within the man’s family. Blair said that hopefully, a would-be buyer would consider returning it. (Source: The Guardian) |
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| | | Flying High | The Truth Is Out There — Or Maybe It’s Just a Balloon Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon, or UAP, is the new official name for UFOs, and the Pentagon recorded a lot of them in 2022. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, a new agency tasked with a wide remit including annual reports on mysterious things in the sky, recorded 247 UAPs in the U.S. in 2022. That’s an increase, but is likely due to a combination of increased vigilance and “reduced stigma surrounding UAP reporting” within the Air Force and military — most likely to spot UAPs — the report found. Many of the reported UAPs turned out to be balloons or “balloon-like entities.” (Source: Vice) |
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| | | Bold and Bowled | All Out Between Australia and Afghanistan Cricket Over Rights “We did not take this decision lightly,” Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley said of the Australian men’s withdrawal from three one-day international matches against Afghanistan in March. “Basic human rights is not politics,” he said, adding that the organization consulted with the Australian government and other bodies before making the decision. Cricket Australia has been monitoring the rights situation in Afghanistan and drew the line at banning women from higher education. Afghanistan’s top player Rashid Khan, a vocal supporter of his countrywomen, slammed Cricket Australia’s decision and said he is “strongly considering” his future in Australia’s summer Big Bash League. (Source: France24) |
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