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IMPORTANT
| | | Disaster | Ukrainian Interior Minister Among 16 Dead in Helicopter Crash Government officials including Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi and ministry staffers were killed when a helicopter struck a 14-story residential building and a daycare in Brovary, a Kyiv suburb, Wednesday morning. At least three children are dead and 29 people were injured. Monastyrskyi, who was in charge of police and emergency services, is Ukraine’s most senior official to have died since the war began. The crash’s cause is unknown, but Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said, “We are considering all possible versions of the helicopter crash accident.” A deputy for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the officials had been visiting one of the country’s “hot spots.” (Sources: AP, NYT) |
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| | | | | Digging a Deeper Hole | German Police Carry Greta Thunberg From Mining Protest Site The Swedish climate activist gave anti-coal protests in the abandoned western German town of Lützerath a boost with her arrival last Friday. Protesters had occupied derelict buildings owned by energy giant RWE that were scheduled for demolition amid plans to expand the Garzweiler mine. On Tuesday authorities razed the remaining buildings and police cleared several dozen activists from the site, reportedly for safety reasons. “Greta Thunberg was part of a group of activists who rushed towards the ledge,” a police spokesperson explained. The protest comes as Germany all but abandons its renewable energy plans amid energy shortages in Europe. (Sources: DW, WaPo) |
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| | | Qatargate | European Parliament Braces for Tell-All From ‘Destroyed’ Ex-MP Italy’s Pier Antonio Panzeri is one of four suspects detained in Belgium for allegedly accepting bribes from Qatar and Morocco in exchange for influence in Europe. Both countries have denied the allegations, but Panzeri has agreed to a plea deal in which he’ll tell prosecutors everything he knows about the alleged plot. “This is a man who is destroyed and he doesn’t have much of a life left,” said Panzeri’s lawyer. The allegations have devastated Panzeri’s human rights organization, Fight Impunity, with major donor Human Rights Foundation demanding it return some of its $650,000 funding, and several high-profile Europeans abandoning its board. (Sources: BBC, Politico) |
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| | | Holding the Line | Maria Ressa, Rappler Cleared in Philippine Tax Evasion Case “Today, facts win, truth wins, justice wins,” Ressa said after the Court of Tax Appeals ruled in the veteran journalist’s favor. Charges were brought against the online publication and Ressa, its founder, in 2018. Government prosecutors argued that Rappler evaded tax payments by raising capital through partnerships with foreign investors and violated a law outlawing foreign ownership of Philippine media. Ressa, who shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, sparred frequently with former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte over his deadly war on drugs and attacks on media, prompting critics to call the charges against her “bogus and politically motivated.” (Sources: AP, Rappler) |
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| | | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Musical chairs. Vietnam's President Nguyen Xuan Phuc announced he’ll step down this week, signaling a new era in Vietnam’s notoriously opaque politics amid a sweeping anti-corruption purge. (Source: BBC) Bracing. Peru’s President Dina Boluarte warned protesters to demonstrate “peacefully and calmly” as thousands from across the country travel to Lima to demand her resignation. (Source: AFP) Crypto woe. Disgraced exchange FTX said around $415 million in cryptocurrency had been stolen by hackers since it filed for bankruptcy in November. Founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is accused of stealing billions from FTX users, said the company’s lawyers presented an “extremely misleading” view of its finances. (Source: Reuters) |
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INTRIGUING
| | | Scandi Mystery | Next to an Ancient Norwegian Grave, the World’s Oldest Runestone It’s a “dream for runologists,” according to Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History. Norwegian archaeologists unearthed the stone, measuring around 12 by 12 inches, in 2021 in Tyrifjorden, northwest of Oslo. On Tuesday the museum announced that carbon dating of artifacts, including bones and wood, found near the runestone suggests it dates to between A.D. 1 and 250, making it centuries older than any other known specimen. One larger mystery still remains: This latest discovery is inscribed with the word “idiberug,” which is unknown to researchers — though some speculate it could indicate who is in the grave. (Source: Phys) |
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| | | Blue Screen of Doom | Microsoft Set to Cut Thousands of Jobs This Week Employees from across the tech giant’s global operations are likely to be affected, with around 5% of staff — 11,000 workers — facing the chopping block. Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella is slated to address investors next week, heightening expectations that the cuts are imminent. It would be another in a series of heavy blows to the tech sector following layoffs at Twitter, Salesforce and Amazon, among others. Microsoft previously warned of a slowdown in cloud computing as corporate clients weather economic headwinds. Still, under Nadella, Microsoft has its eye on growth including a takeover bid of game giant Activision Blizzard. (Source: Sky) |
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| | | | | Fallen Star | Porn Star Ron Jeremy Ruled ‘Incompetent’ in Rape Trial The 69-year-old is in “incurable neurocognitive decline,” Judge Ronald Harris declared nearly a year after Jeremy’s mental health was questioned. He faced over 300 years in prison in 33 rape and sexual assault cases dating back to the early 1990s, with 21 accusers ranging in age from 15 to 51. Next month Harris is expected to rule on the terms of Jeremy’s confinement in a mental health facility. Attorney Stuart Goldfarb has maintained his client’s innocence since he was arrested in 2020, saying it’s “unfortunate due to medical condition he will not go to trial and have the opportunity to clear his name.” (Source: Deadline) |
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| | | Tall Tales | The ‘Irish Giant’s’ Long Farewell in London When Charles Byrne — who measured a remarkable 7 feet, 7 inches — died in June 1783, he begged friends to bury his body at sea. Instead, as one contemporary newspaper reported, “The whole tribe of surgeons put in a claim for the poor departed Irish Giant, and surrounded his house just as Greenland harpooners would an enormous whale.” His remains spent 200 years displayed in London’s Royal College of Surgeons’ Hunterian Museum. But after a five-year closure, when the museum reopens in March, Byrne won’t be there. While he hasn’t been granted his sea burial, the museum’s agreed to place his remains in storage. (Source: Smithsonian) |
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| | | Tuned In, Turned Off? | Sorry About That: BBC Apologizes for On-Air Porn Prank Viewers tuning in for Tuesday night’s Wolverhampton-Liverpool soccer match were greeted by loud pornographic noises from the booth just before kickoff. Host Gary Lineker struggled to keep a straight face as he cut to Alan Shearer on the pitch. Minutes later, Lineker tweeted a photo of a phone taped behind the set, saying, “As sabotage goes it was quite amusing.” The BBC is taking matters more seriously, apologizing and vowing an investigation. Liverpool had a better night, downing the Wolves 1-0 with a goal from Harvey Elliott that Lineker described as “a screamer … which was not the only one we’ve had tonight.” (Source: The Guardian) |
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