IMPORTANT | | |  | Closing In on Kyiv | Ukraine’s Capital Bombed Overnight; Russian Tanks Advance Kyiv residents who hadn’t already fled the city spent the night hunkered in basements, bomb shelters and metro stations. In an early morning briefing, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the obvious: The capital was hit by multiple missile strikes overnight. At least one apartment building suffered a direct hit and fighting at an airfield on the outskirts of the city raged on. This after Russian troops seized control of the Chernobyl nuclear complex and killed at least 137 Ukrainian citizens Thursday. Calling himself “target No. 1,” Zelenskyy vowed to remain in Kyiv and implored Western allies to come to Ukraine’s aid. (Source: BBC, NYT, AP) |
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|  | One Step Closer | Three Ex-Officers Guilty of Violating George Floyd’s Rights A federal jury found former Minneapolis police officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane guilty of denying Floyd’s constitutional right to medical care while in police custody. Thao and Kueng were also convicted of failing to stop colleague Derek Chauvin from kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. The three argued that they hadn’t been aware Floyd was in such dire need and that they’d deferred to the authority of Chauvin. “This is just accountability,” said George’s brother Philonise Floyd after the verdict. “It could never be justice because I can never get my brother back.” (Source: Reuters) |
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|  | Justice Done? | Pakistan Scion Sentenced to Death for Rape, Murder Zahir Jaffer, a U.S. national and member of one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families, has been sentenced to death for the murder of Noor Mukadam. Jaffer lured Mukadam to his house and held her there for two days before raping, murdering and beheading her. The case gripped a nation that ranks 130 out of 189 on the U.N.’s gender inequality index, and where elite families are often seen to be above the law. Describing the sentence as “very necessary,” the victim’s father said, “This is not just my daughter's case, it is a case for all the daughters of my country.” (Sources: Reuters, Al Jazeera) |
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|  | Hit ’Em Where It Hurts | West Announces Crippling Sanctions — But Are They Enough? President Joe Biden announced a raft of fresh sanctions that will hit 80% of Russia’s banking sector. The EU announced similar sanctions targeting 70% of the Russian banking market and key state-owned companies, including in the defense industry. But some, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, said Russia should be completely cut off from SWIFT, the financial-messaging infrastructure that links the world’s banks. Otherwise, Kuleba said, “The blood of innocent Ukrainian men, women and children will be on their hands.” Finance experts have suggested that removing Russia from SWIFT could embolden China without weakening Russia. (Sources: WSJ (sub), DW, The Guardian, AP) |
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|  | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Hostage drama. The man who held a hostage in the Apple Store in Amsterdam for hours before being run over by police has died in the hospital. (Source: AP) Opening up. Taiwan, one of the few countries still pursuing a zero-COVID policy, will reopen to business travelers, shorten quarantine for all arrivals and ease mask mandates from March 1. (Source: Straits Times) Black lives matter. Commemorating the 10th anniversary of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s racially motivated murder, activists described his killing as a watershed moment in U.S. race relations. (Source: AP) |
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| INTRIGUING | | | Spreading Like Wildfire | Wildfires to Increase by a Third by 2050 It’s getting hotter in here. The climate crisis and changes in land use are fueling a global increase in extreme wildfires. While it’s hard to imagine things getting much worse than they are now in some areas, a major U.N. report predicts that devastating fires will become 50% more common by the end of this century. The report advocates a radical shift in public spending. Currently, 50% of funding goes to extinguishing fires and not even 1% is spent on planning and prevention. The paper advises spending half on planning and prevention, a third on response and 20% on recovery. (Source: The Guardian) |
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| | | | | Old Bones | Africa’s Oldest Human DNA Has Plenty to Tell Us A study published in Nature presents genome-wide data from three Africans who lived between 16,000 and 18,000 years ago. Until now Africa’s oldest DNA dated back a mere 5,000 years. Because each person’s DNA contains genetic remnants of their ancestors’ ancestors, scientists can now peer back 80,000 years into Africa’s history. When comparing the new old DNA with that of others who lived more recently, the researchers found they were all descended from the same three genetic lineages. This confirms what linguists have long surmised: that a massive mixing of African hunter-gatherer cultures occurred 20,000 to 50,000 years ago. (Source: The Scientist) |
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| | | Till Death Do Us ... Unite | Octogenarian Australian Runaways Die Two Days Apart In January, 80-year-old Terry Gibbs drove 3,000 miles from his home in Queensland to the care home where his 84-year-old partner, Carol Lisle, had been moved. Gibbs bundled Lisle — who suffered from Parkinson’s disease and dementia — into his pickup and headed for home. Two days later police apprehended the dehydrated couple in a remote Aboriginal community. Gibbs was found guilty of unlawfully detaining a mentally ill person and given a seven-month suspended sentence and a two-year restraining order that barred him from visiting Lisle. This week the star-crossed lovers both died: She in her sleep and he in a head-on collision two days later. (Source: NYT) |
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| | | Doctors of Dance | Winners of ‘Dance Your Ph.D.’ Contest Announced A troupe of pigtailed dancers clad in ‘80s track jackets and brandishing baguettes while being electrocuted have helped Lithuanian scientist Povilas Šimonis win the overall and biology categories in this year’s “Dance Your Ph.D.” contest. His thesis showed how electric pulses can open yeast cells’ membranes, inactivate them, or make them more efficient. Other category winners included Xiaohan Wu’s solo ballet interpretation of her thesis on “probing cosmic reionization using the Lyman-alpha forest and the cosmic microwave background,” and a tango-inspired treatment of Mathilde Palmier’s thesis on the chemistry of aging bones. They have to be watched to be believed. (Source: Science) |
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| | | Final Verdict | Soccer Committee Strips Russia of Champions League Final Putin will have to watch the footy on the telly. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, UEFA — the governing body of European soccer — moved this season’s Champion’s League final from St. Petersburg to Paris. Elsewhere, German club Schalke 04 announced they’ll be removing the logo of Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy company, from their shirts. And the Polish, Swedish and Czech football associations said they won’t travel to Moscow for World Cup playoff matches. UEFA is still wondering what to do with the two remaining Russian teams in the Champions League. Good luck to them. (Source: The Guardian, AP) |
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| ABOUT OZY OZY is a diverse, global and forward-looking media and entertainment company focused on “the New and the Next.” OZY creates space for fresh perspectives, and offers new takes on everything from news and culture to technology, business, learning and entertainment. www.ozy.com / #CarlosWatson / #OZY Curiosity. Enthusiasm. Action. That’s OZY! |
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