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| Monday, February 15, 2021 | |
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| | | | 1. Trump Acquittal Roils GOP Former President Donald Trump was acquitted in his second impeachment trial Saturday by a 57-43 vote that saw seven Republicans vote “guilty” with Democrats. Despite voting to acquit, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for the Capitol riot and vowed to steer the GOP toward a post-Trump future. One side effect? Sen. Lindsey Graham predicts Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump will win the GOP Senate primary in North Carolina after incumbent Sen. Richard Burr voted to convict. Meanwhile, Democrats are moving on to President Joe Biden’s agenda beginning with the much-anticipated $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. Sources: NYT, The Guardian |
| 2. Crackdown Feared as Tanks Deployed in Myanmar The dark clouds are gathering. Myanmar’s military government deployed armored vehicles on the country’s streets yesterday, raising fears of a brutal crackdown after 10 days of protests. But demonstrators reemerged today, facing rubber bullets and arrests in their bid to reverse the Feb. 1 coup that supplanted the country’s elected government. Among their demands are the release of leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who’s due to remain in detention at least until Wednesday, while 13 nations and the European Union urged Myanmar authorities to not respond violently to those “protesting the overthrow of their legitimate government.” Sources: NYT, CNN, CNBC |
| 3. Fukushima Quake an Aftershock of 2011 Disaster Shaken, again. A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Japan Saturday near Fukushima, the site of a devastating quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that killed more than 18,000 people a decade ago. The country’s meteorological agency called it an aftershock of 2011’s 9.0 magnitude quake. Operators of the defunct Fukushima plant said no abnormalities were detected, though more than 100 people were injured and nearly 850,000 households were left without power. As a sign of recovery, Fukushima had been slated to host events in the 2020 Summer Olympics before it was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sources:CNN, NBC, BBC |
| 4. Oil Prices Surge With Mideast Mayhem The Syrian army said it thwarted “Israeli aggression” over Damascus today amid increasing bombings against suspected Iranian targets there, while the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it intercepted an explosive drone from Iran-backed Houthis yesterday. The violence helped raise oil prices to levels not seen in a year, further boosted by hopes that vaccine rollouts and a new U.S. stimulus package will restart businesses and put drivers back on the road. Meanwhile, pro-oil legislators are set to fight the confirmation of Rep. Deb Haaland, who’s joined fellow Native Americans to protest pipeline construction, to run the Interior Department. Sources: Reuters, WSJ (sub), Al Jazeera |
| 5. Also Important … As survivors marked yesterday’s third anniversary of the shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school that claimed 17 lives, President Biden urged Congress to ban assault weapons and mandate background checks for gun purchasers. Carlos Menem, who led Argentina out of an economic crisis as president for a decade ending in 1999, has died at the age of 90. And Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are expecting a second child, who would be eighth in line to the throne. Coronavirus Update: Researchers have discovered seven new U.S.-origin variants of the virus that may, like the British and South African strains, be especially contagious. Auckland, New Zealand, has gone into a new lockdown after three people tested positive for COVID-19. And Britain has set up hotels to quarantine arrivals from a “red list” of 33 nations. |
| | | 6. ‘When Katty Met Carlos’ How is Generation Z shaping your world? As the oldest members are turning 24, they’re already shaking things up at the ballot box and in the workplace, with demands that companies take a stand on social justice and other political issues. Today's episode of When Katty Met Carlos reveals conversations with 20-year-old Deja Foxx, the youngest staffer on Vice President Kamala Harris’ election campaign, and Maya Penn, who started her own sustainable fashion brand at only 8 years old. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, the iHeart Radio app or wherever else you get your podcasts. |
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| | | | | 1. Is Tunneling the Answer to Brexit Friction?They’re calling it “Boris’ burrow.” Britain’s Network Rail infrastructure agency is studying the feasibility of a 25-mile, $13.9 billion tunnel connecting Scotland and Northern Ireland, which could get a green light within weeks. The link was originally conceived as a bridge by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2018, but the tunnel plan is cheaper and avoids harsh Irish Sea weather. The potential link is encouraging for Britain-friendly Northern Irish politicians at a time when trade disputes with the EU threaten to isolate their country. Plans might be derailed, however, if Scotland’s new independence bill picks up steam. Sources: The Telegraph, The Scotsman, Daily Mail |
| 2. Guinea Declares New Ebola Epidemic This time there’s a vaccine. The West African nation yesterday announced that it’s battling a new epidemic after three people died from the brutal hemorrhagic fever. Guinea was the starting point for the world’s worst Ebola epidemic, which killed 11,000 across that nation and neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone from 2014 to 2016, but there’s reason for hope this time: Congo had success quelling an outbreak last summer with a new vaccine, and although more cases have recently surfaced there, the World Health Organization is already on the ground establishing testing sites and supplying vaccines. Sources: NY Daily News, ReliefWeb, NPR |
| 3. Can Love Conquer the Pandemic? It might not cure the virus, but love has a greater resistance than we thought a year ago, according to OZY’s Sunday Magazine. While many anticipated that divorces would skyrocket, the number of people reporting their marriage is in trouble has actually decreased, and plenty of unmarried folks admit they’re “apocalypsing” — treating their latest squeeze as if it’s their last. Married couples are finding, by and large, that 24/7 togetherness under lockdown can actually strengthen relationships. Even friendship has endured, with cases of shunned lockdown rule-breakers being balanced out by pods of friends who socialize responsibly. Sources: OZY |
| 4. ‘Woke Police’ Comments Bench ‘The Bachelor’ Host Even his girlfriend was disappointed. Chris Harrison, one of America’s most recognizable TV personalities as the long-running host of The Bachelor, is “stepping aside” after defending a contestant from the “woke police,” as he put it. Photos have emerged of an antebellum plantation-themed fraternity party attended by Rachael Kirconnell, who is competing this season for the heart of the first Black bachelor, Matt James. Both she and Harrison have apologized, but the franchise's first Black Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay, who hosted the Extra show where Harrison’s comments aired, said she plans to cut ties with the show. Sources: Yahoo, Page Six |
| 5. Lightning, 16-Car Crash Hit Daytona 500 “Unbelievable!” Aric Almirola’s exclamation at being nudged from behind to start a crash that eliminated him and 15 other drivers summed up a Daytona 500 that was stopped again minutes later by a nearby lightning strike. While the event was paused for five hours in lap 15, drivers raced to local fast-food drive-thrus to pick up orders for their crews. After another 185 laps of the NASCAR season opener, Michael McDowell, who’d weaved through the pileup — and another fiery last-lap crash involving three other drivers — took home his first Harley J. Earl Trophy. Sources: ESPN, SI, CBS, Tampa Bay Times |
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