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IMPORTANT | | Push and Pull | Ukraine Reclaims Strategic Kyiv Suburb, Russia Captures Aid Workers Defiant Ukrainians continue to repel the relentless assault by Russian forces closing in on the capital city. On Tuesday, Ukrainian fighters retook the suburb of Makariv, where a key highway passes into Kyiv, after a fierce battle. But in the southern city of Mariupol, which remains under heavy assault, Ukrainian officials claim Russian troops hijacked a humanitarian convoy and captured 15 aid workers and truck drivers. Meanwhile, Ukrainian military commanders said they believe Russian troops are facing shortages due to disrupted supply lines and only have three days of food, fuel and ammunition remaining. (Sources: The Guardian, AP, NYT) |
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| | | Navalny’s ‘Sham’ Sentence | Prominent Putin Critic Sentenced to Nine Years in Russian Prison Aides to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are “very concerned” he’ll be assassinated in prison after he was found guilty of fraud Tuesday in a trial widely condemned as a sham. The sentence replaces the term Navalny was already serving for breaking bail while hospitalized for a poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. The outspoken opponent of President Vladimir Putin will now serve about seven years in a strict maximum security prison, further removed from society than his old cell in Moscow. After his sentencing Navalny encouraged supporters to fight against the “war criminals” in “the deceitful and thievish Putin's regime.” (Sources: BBC, Yahoo News) |
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| | SCOTUS Ruckus | GOP Goes on Offensive on Day Two of Jackson Confirmation Hearings While Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson fielded questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, several Republican lawmakers took a combative tone with the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court. Sen. Josh Hawley grilled Jackson over a child pornography case where she sentenced a defendant to a shorter term than federal guidelines recommended. Meanwhile, Sen. Ted Cruz questioned her on the hot-button topic of critical race theory, asking if it would influence her rulings. “I’ve never studied critical race theory and I’ve never used it,” Jackson said. “It doesn’t come up in the work that I do as a judge.” (Sources: WaPo, The Hill) |
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| | Royal Pain | Jamaicans Call for Apology, Reparations as British Royals Visit Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, touched down in Kingston Tuesday as part of a larger Caribbean tour that coincides with the 60th anniversary of Jamaica’s independence and the 70th anniversary of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. But their welcome wasn’t entirely warm. In an open letter over the weekend, 100 Jamaican leaders protested the couple’s visit, citing England’s colonization and abuse of the island nation, while in the capital city dozens of protesters gathered outside the British High Commission to demand an apology and reparations from the royal family after 300 years of colonial rule. (Source: Al Jazeera) |
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| | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: White House press secretary Jen Psaki tests positive for COVID. She’ll no longer travel to Europe with President Joe Biden this week. (Source: The Guardian) Disney employees walk out. Hundreds of employees marched in front of the entertainment company’s headquarters in Burbank, California, to protest its mild response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. (Source: NPR) Adult film star Stormy Daniels loses defamation suit appeal, owes former President Donald Trump $300,000 in legal fees. Daniels tweeted that she’d rather go to jail than pay him, while Trump called it a personal victory. (Source: NBC News) |
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| | | INTRIGUING | | Oink You Very Much | Researchers Develop Algorithm to Decode Pig Communication In an international study published earlier this month, researchers used artificial intelligence to analyze 7,414 sounds from 411 pigs in various circumstances. The pigs’ behavior and heart rates were recorded along with their vocalizations so that the algorithm could begin to figure out which sounds correlated with which emotions. Researchers found that in negative situations pigs squeal or scream at high frequencies, while in positive situations their barks are shorter and grunts drop from higher to lower frequencies. The algorithm, which is designed to improve animal welfare, became practically fluent in pig-speak, classifying sounds accurately 92% of the time. (Source: The Guardian) |
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| | | Man’s (Expensive) Best Friend | NYC Fire Department Will Deploy Robot Dogs to Protect Firefighters The FDNY now has two of the $75,000 metal dogs developed by robotics company Boston Dynamics. “Spot,” as the model is affectionately called, is able to move across difficult terrain that wheeled robots struggle with. The fire department hopes to use them in situations that could endanger human firefighters’ lives, like chemical attacks, natural disasters and industrial accidents. New York City’s police department drew widespread public criticism when it signed on to use the 70-pound, four-legged robots back in 2020. Fears of police militarization and civil liberties violations prompted the NYPD to cancel its $94,000 contract with Boston Dynamics. (Source: The Hill) |
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| | We’re Back, Baby | Air Pollution Returning to Pre-Pandemic Levels Across the US Nature is definitely not healing, y’all. IQAir, a Swiss company that monitors air quality across the globe, reported that fine particle air pollution in the U.S. rose 7% from 2020 to 2021, and seven of the nation’s most populous cities have fully returned to pre-COVID levels. Atlanta and Minneapolis lead the charge, with 33% and 35.7% increases. Much of that pollution can be attributed to wildfires, increased traffic and stagnant air. The report warns that air pollution has been directly linked to adverse health effects like strokes, heart disease and lung cancer. (Source: NBC News) |
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| | Beyond the Outer Limits | NASA Confirms 5,000 Known Planets Outside Our Solar System The U.S. space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has honed its ability to find new planets over the years, and has now officially confirmed 5,000 beyond our corner of the universe. “It's not just a number,” explained NASA researcher Jessie Christiansen. “Each one of them is a new world.” Traditionally exoplanets have been found with the “wobble” method, where scientists watch for variations in starlight that indicate the gravitational pull of orbiting planets. Now most new exoplanets are found using the “transit” method, where a telescope watches for dips in starlight that indicate a planet passing in front of the star. (Source: NPR) |
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| | Calling It Quits | Ash Barty Announces Retirement From Tennis at 25 The world No. 1 shocked sports fans today, announcing the end of an impressive tennis career via a social media interview. “I am spent,” Barty said. “I just know physically I have nothing more to give.” Since going pro in 2011, Barty won 15 tour-level singles titles and another 12 in doubles, spending a remarkable 121 weeks atop the world rankings. The Australian native is also the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champ. Barty explained, “I don’t have the physical drive, the emotional want and everything it takes to challenge yourself at the very top of the level any more.” (Sources: The Guardian, ESPN) |
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