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IMPORTANT
| | | | | Request Granted | US Agrees to Send Longer-Range Rockets to Ukraine Until now the U.S. had refused Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s repeated pleas for more advanced rocket systems, fearing they may be used against targets in Russia. But, writing in the New York Times, President Joe Biden said he’ll give Ukraine weapons “that will enable them to more precisely strike key targets” in order to strengthen their position at the negotiating table. “Ukraine’s talks with Russia are not stalled because Ukraine has turned its back on diplomacy,” Biden added. “They are stalled because Russia continues to wage a war.” The Kremlin views the move “extremely negatively”. (Sources: NYT, BBC, Reuters) |
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| | | SCOTUS Steps In | Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Texas Social Media Law An unlikely coalition voted 5-4 to block a Texas law that would’ve stopped social media firms from removing disagreeable posts. Justices John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer sided with groups looking to block the law, which was the brainchild of Republicans who feel that social media companies’ censorship policies are biased against conservatives. “This ruling means that private American companies will have an opportunity to be heard in court before they are forced to disseminate vile, abusive or extremist content,” said Matt Schruers, of the Computer & Communications Industry Association. Expect a full case on the law soon. (Sources: The Hill, NYT) |
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| | | No Questions Allowed | Journalists Thwarted as China Embarks on Landmark Pacific Tour China’s foreign minister Wang Yi is midway through an 8-day tour of 10 Pacific island nations — and he’s yet to answer a single question from a Pacific journalist at press conferences in Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa or Fiji. “The media briefing itself was run by the visiting government, the press passes were issued by the Chinese government,” said Fijian journalist Lice Movono. “They instructed us we would not be allowed to ask questions. When some of us yelled out questions anyway a Chinese government official yelled out to stop.” China is flexing its muscles in the region by signing bilateral deals. (Source: The Guardian) |
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| | | Omicron’s Toll | COVID-19 Death Rates Soared for Over-65s in 2022 While Omicron typically causes milder symptoms, it’s better at getting past immune defenses — and it took advantage of waning immunity from vaccines to kill older Americans at a faster rate than even the Delta variant. “This is not simply a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” said Boston University’s Andrew Stokes, who studies age patterns of COVID deaths. “There’s still exceptionally high risk among older adults, even those with primary vaccine series.” Among Americans aged 65 and older, Omicron peaked at 156 deaths per 100,000 for the unvaccinated, and 24 and 7 deaths per 100,000 for vaccinated and boosted individuals respectively. (Source: NYT) |
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| | | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Peace shattered. After two months of relative calm, Eritrean forces shelled a town in northern Ethiopia, killing a 14-year-old girl and injuring at least 18 people. (Source: Al Jazeera) Insult to injury. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny faces another 15 years in jail on charges of “creating an extremist group to fan hatred against officials and oligarchs”. He was sentenced to nine years in March. (Source: The Guardian) The mourning begins. The first of many funerals for the victims of the Uvalde school shooting took place yesterday. Ten-year-old Amerie Jo Garza was “a nice little girl who smiled a lot.” (Source: AP) |
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INTRIGUING
| | | | | Mummylode | Egyptian Archeologists Unearth Hundreds of Coffins, Statues Talk about the gift that keeps on giving. The Saqqara Necropolis near Cairo has yielded yet another massive bounty of 2,500-year-old artifacts. Monday’s big reveal — the fifth since archeologists began excavating the site in 2018 — included 250 sealed sarcophagi or coffins, 150 bronze statues, and a 10-yard-long papyrus scroll that might contain verses from the Book of the Dead. The sarcophagi haven’t been disturbed by tomb robbers and contain mummies, amulets and wooden boxes; while the statues depict idols including Anubis, Osiris and Isis. Work at the site is expected to continue for several years — so watch this space. (Sources: Reuters, CBS, Heritage Daily) |
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| | | Si Señor | Spain’s Customer Service Bill to Limit Computerized Calls Let’s all move to Spain. A draft bill presented Tuesday seeks to end those soul-destroying customer service “conversations” with a computer, by making it compulsory for companies to put an actual human on the line when requested. If signed into law, the bill would also require companies to answer calls within three minutes. “Customer service is a critical part of our relations with consumers which unfortunately and far too often causes endless headaches for Spanish families because … companies create bureaucratic labyrinths to stop you from exercising your right to service,” said Consumption Minister Alberto Garzón. (Source: AP) |
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| | | AM or PM? | Best Time to Exercise May Be Different for Men and Women Getting off the couch is always better than lounging around. But according to a study that tracked 30 men and 26 women for 12 weeks, women are better off exercising in the a.m., while men derive maximum benefit from evening exercise. Lead author Dr. Paul Arciero of Skidmore College said the time of day had more of an impact on exercise outcomes for women: Mornings were best for fat burning, while evenings were great for building muscle strength and improving mood. It’s still unclear why there’s such a difference, but Arciero suspects hormones and sleep-wake cycles play a role. (Source: BBC) |
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| | | Free-for-All | 98% of Deforestation Alerts in Bolsonaro’s Brazil Go Unpunished Since being elected President in 2019, Jair Bolsonaro has become synonymous with weakening environmental legislation and slashing funding to environmental agencies. But a new study reveals that there’s also almost complete apathy when crimes are reported: Brazil’s federal environmental protection agency issued infraction notices or embargoes for just 1.3% of deforestation alerts in 2019 and 2020. “It’s not a lack of information that’s causing inaction,” said lead author Marcondes Coelho-Junior. “It’s not like [they] didn’t know there was deforestation. But due to environmental policy weaknesses, there wasn’t any regulatory action.” State agencies have been better at responding than the federal government. (Source: Mongabay) |
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| | | King of Clay | Nadal Beats Djokovic in 4-Hour French Open Epic Rafael Nadal went into his quarterfinal against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic nursing a foot injury and struggling for form — but boasting a 109-3 win-loss record at Roland Garros. Last night he made it 110 wins, beating the Serb 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 in a thriller that ended after 1 a.m. local time. “The crowd have been amazing since the beginning of the tournament … I think probably they know that I’m not going to be here [many] more times,” Nadal said in his second retirement hint in as many matches. He’ll meet Alexander Zverev in the semifinal Friday, the Spaniard’s birthday. (Source: CNN) |
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