| | | Tensions rose on the Russia-Ukraine border over the weekend as the U.S. and U.K. took a more aggressive stance toward an intransigent President Vladimir Putin. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave Boris Johnson and others a lesson in leadership from the COVID frontlines, and Dr. Anthony Fauci offered cautiously optimistic assessment of the COVID situation in the U.S. on Sunday. Meanwhile, Arizona Democrats formally censured Sen. Kyrsten Sinema for her stubborn stance against amending the Senate’s filibuster rules. All this and more in today’s PDB. | | |
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| IMPORTANT | | | 1 - It’s Getting Hot in Here The US, UK and EU wade deeper into the Russia-Ukraine standoff After Friday’s inconclusive talks, the international response to a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine escalated over the weekend. With more than 100,000 Russian troops massed at the Ukrainian border, the State Department ordered relatives of U.S. diplomats stationed in Kyiv to prepare for departure. Senior Pentagon officials also warned that President Joe Biden was considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops, along with warships and aircraft, to the region. Until now, the U.S. has shown restraint out of fear of provoking an invasion. Meanwhile, Britain claimed that Russia planned to install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine. Russia dismissed the report as “disinformation.” (Sources: NYT, DW) |
| 2 - Jacinda’s COVID Wedding Woes New Zealand’s prime minister cancels her wedding amid Omicron fears Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern once again reminded the world what real leadership looks like. On Sunday, she announced her wedding would be canceled despite gatherings of up to 100 vaccinated people being permitted in the country. While New Zealand — which boasts a 94% vaccination rate for people over 12 and tallies 52 COVID-related deaths — can thank its remote location, relative prosperity and small population in its COVID success story, Ardern’s selfless, unwavering leadership has been a big factor. “I am no different to … thousands of other New Zealanders who have had much more devastating impacts,” she said. (Sources: Reuters, BBC) |
| 3 - Good News at Last Fauci is confident the US will hit its omicron peak in February “Things are looking good.” Such was Dr. Anthony Fauci’s sunny assessment of the COVID situation in the U.S. on Sunday. Though the omicron variant has fueled unprecedented case numbers across the nation — with an average of 705,000 new cases daily — numbers are already dropping in the Northeast and upper Midwest. While Fauci acknowledged that some southern and western states have yet to peak, he predicted an imminent nationwide turnaround, much like the steep omicron waves experienced by South Africa and the United Kingdom. Warning of “some pain” for the unjabbed, Fauci urged Americans to get vaccinated and to wear masks, even in schools. (Sources: ABC, NYT) |
| 4 - Sinema Gets Censured Arizona Democrats rebuke their own in filibuster fracas The Arizona Democratic Party formally censured Sen. Kyrsten Sinema for voting against changing the Senate’s filibuster rules. Democrats seeking to amend the filibuster from 60 votes to 51 to allow them to pass crucial voting rights protections were stymied by Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who voted with all 50 Republican senators to keep the filibuster at 60. The gesture underscored growing anger among Democrats, who say Sinema has impeded President Biden’s agenda. Sinema may face stiff opposition from her party in her 2024 reelection bid, as activists vow to withhold donations and search for a liberal primary challenger. (Sources: The Hill, NYT ) |
| 5 - Briefly Here are some things you should know about today: Four-time Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi won’t run after all. The former prime minister ended weeks of speculation by announcing he would not run for president. (Source: AlJazeera) Burkina Faso government denies coup attempt. Gunfire heard at army bases across Ouagadougou and near the president’s home fueled rumors of a coup attempt, but President Roch Kaboré, whose whereabouts remain a mystery, insists he’s still in power. (Source: BBC) The Peruvian government declares a 90-day environmental emergency. The La Pampilla refinery blamed freak waves caused by last week’s undersea eruption for 6,000 barrels of crude oil that spilled into the Pacific. (Source: DW) |
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| | | Watch Dr. Fauci As He Weighs in on Vaccines, Lockdown Trade-Offs, COVID Communication … and the Next Pandemic
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| INTRIGUING | 1 - Tahiti’s Underwater Rose Garden Massive untouched coral reef discovered off the coast of Tahiti While Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk fixate on the final frontier, scientists are exploring unknown worlds far closer to home. A UNESCO-led mission to map the ocean floor in French Polynesia has discovered a pristine reef of rose-shaped corals at a depth of 100 feet. Coral reefs, usually found in shallower water, have been decimated by climate change, with at least a 50% decline globally since the 1950s. But the discovery of this thriving reef in deeper water is cause for hope. “We know the surface of the moon better than the deep ocean,” said Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s director general. (Source: The Guardian) |
| 2 - French Fish Bowl Freeze French aquarium brand stops selling fish bowls because they drive fish mad Major French petcare brand AgroBiothers Laboratoire has announced it will no longer sell fish bowls as they “drive fish mad and kill them quickly,” said CEO Matthieu Lambeaux. Goldfish are social creatures that can live up to 30 years in large aquariums or outdoor ponds. But solitary confinement in tiny bowls often results in death within months. France, Europe’s largest goldfish market, has refused to mimic Germany and other EU nations in banning the bowl. But Lambeaux, whose company sold 50,000 bowls last year, was uncomfortable with profiting from offering children the “possibility to see goldfish die slowly.” (Source: Reuters) |
| 3 - Illinois Ice Pancakes Ice creates strange and beautiful formations on Chicago’s Lake Michigan Pancakes are meant to be warm and comforting, but the round discs of ice photographed in and around Chicago are neither of these things. Ice pancakes, which form when chunks of ice repeatedly bump into one another (hence the raised edges), are common in the Arctic but rarely make an appearance in the Lower 48. The secret recipe, according to Andrea Vander Woude, a researcher at the NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, is a sustained period of temperatures “just right below freezing” with “a little bit of wave action.” Take note, photographers; these miracles of nature can disappear within an hour. (Sources: CNN, Block Club Chicago ) |
| | | 4 - Mindful Monk Moves On Vietnam’s Father of Mindfulness and emissary of peace dies at 95 Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddhist monk known as the Father of Mindfulness, has died at the age of 95. Hanh rose to prominence in the 1960s for his opposition to the Vietnam War – a stance that earned him American mistrust as a “pro-Communist propagandist” and a four-decade exile from his native Vietnam. Martin Luther King Jr., a close friend, nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Hanh wrote over 100 books, translated into over 40 languages, including The Miracle of Mindfulness, which is widely credited as having introduced Eastern mindfulness to Western audiences and inspiring a new kind of psychotherapy. (Sources: WaPo, The Guardian.) |
| 5 - Divisional Daring … and Disaster Late field goals abound as both No. 1 seeds are toppled The Kansas City Chiefs scraped past the Buffalo Bills 42–36 in an overtime extravaganza late Sunday night, with 25 points scored in the last two minutes of the regulation game — the highest in NFL postseason history. All three other weekend playoff games ended in away wins via field goals late in the game. The San Francisco 49ers nudged the Green Bay Packers from the competition 13-10, while Cincinnati toppled the Tennessee Titans 19-16. In the weekend’s other thriller, the Los Angeles Rams edged out defending champs Tampa Bay 30-27. Stay tuned for next Sunday when four gets slashed to two. (Source: BBC) |
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