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IMPORTANT
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Falling dominoes
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Biden imposes tough sanctions as Russian troops enter Ukraine
President Joe Biden has targeted Russian banks and oligarchs with what he called a “first tranche” of sanctions cutting off Russia from Western finance. More than two dozen members of the European Union have agreed to impose their own first round of sanctions. And Germany announced it would not certify the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia, officially killing the lucrative and long-desired deal. All this in response to the movement of Russian troops into rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine, where the eight-year conflict has killed nearly 14,000 people. Western powers call it an invasion, but Putin has always rejected that term. (Source: PA, France 24)
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verdict on hate
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Ahmaud Arbery’s killers convicted of hate crimes
A day before the second anniversary of Arbery’s murder, Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan were found guilty of all federal charges they faced, including attempted kidnapping, use of a firearm to commit a crime and hate. crimes. Witnesses called by the prosecution described several racist remarks made by the men in the past, including an FBI analyst who shared messages and memes taken from their social media history and phone records. Neighbors and former colleagues of the McMichaels have also shared the troubling story of the father-son duo’s racism. (Source: BNC News)
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Colombia chooses the choice
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The Constitutional Court decriminalizes certain abortions
It’s part of a larger trend across South America called the “green wave,” after the bright green bandanas worn by pro-choice feminist advocates. Colombia joins Argentina, Mexico and Ecuador in relaxing abortion laws in a predominantly Catholic region. For the past 15 years, Colombians could only have abortions for three reasons: if the mother’s life was in danger, if the fetus was the product of rape, or if the fetus was fatally deformed. Now, all abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy have been decriminalised, a measure that could open the door to greater access to abortion down the line. (Source: AlJazeera)
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The final showdown falls
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Supreme Court deals fatal blow to Trump’s clock-draining strategy
Former President Donald Trump spent months trying to block US lawmakers from getting his White House records, appealing court rulings until the case finally reached the Supreme Court. But the high court denied Trump’s latest appeal to block the House committee from investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in a brief, unsigned order released Tuesday without comment. His refusal leaves intact a lower federal appeals court ruling that found Trump’s attempt to assert executive privilege over the documents was unconvincing. While Trump could still start new litigation to try to block the documents, that’s unlikely at this point. (Source: The hill)
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Briefly
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Right here are some things you should know today:
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancels his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The pair were due to meet in Geneva this week, but Blinken said Russia’s actions in Ukraine show Moscow is not serious about diplomacy. (Source: Reuters) Global COVID-19 cases have dropped 21% from last week. The World Health Organization reported that deaths fell by 8% worldwide to 67,000 last week, the first drop in weekly fatalities since early January. (Source: PA) Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor returns to oral arguments in person after starting the year remotely. Sotomayor is at high risk for COVID-19 and was the only judge to wear a mask yesterday. (Source: CNN)
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Catch the latest episodes of
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INTRIGUING
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Too many children left behind
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New paper explores why the United States is fighting child poverty
Economists Anna Aizer, Hilary W. Hoynes and Adriana Lleras-Muney have published a new article explaining why the United States lags far behind the rest of the developed world when it comes to tackling child poverty. During the pandemic, the Biden administration implemented an enhanced child tax credit, issuing checks to parents of up to $300 per month per child. The program has been a resounding success, reducing child poverty by about 30% and household food insufficiency by 26%. But Republicans in Congress blocked the renewal of the credit, saying it was too generous and encouraged parents to stop working. (Source: NPR)
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News gets old
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Americans, especially Democrats, are less interested in national news
A new poll from Gallup and the Knight Foundation found that, overall, Americans have become significantly less interested in national news over the past year. But what surprised researchers the most was that for the first time since 2018, Democrats said they were less interested in national news than Republicans and Independents. Only 34% of Democrats said they pay a lot of attention to national news, down from 69% last year. And within that demographic, young Democrats between the ages of 18 and 34 are driving the change: Only 24% reported high attention, down from 70% last year. (Source: Axios)
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Victory in women’s football
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Equal pay on the way for American football players after $24 million settlement
The women’s national team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation in 2019 for gender discrimination in compensation, medical treatment, travel and overall workload. Now, after a year-long fight, the case has been settled in court, ending in a $24 million settlement which states that men and women will now be paid equally in all friendlies and tournaments, including the World Cup. It’s long-awaited justice for a team that has won four FIFA Women’s World Cup titles, catapulting talented players like Hope Solo, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan to stardom. (Source: The hill)
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only snakes
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OnlyFans accused of blacklisting adult artists
The platform is not explicitly for pornography, but has become a lucrative way for adult performers to make money through a subscription model. Legal documents recently unearthed in November show rival adult website FanCentro accused OnlyFans of bribing its employees to facilitate a complex blacklist of adult performers working with other websites. They allege OnlyFans asked an undisclosed social media company to deactivate these artists’ accounts by placing their media in a terrorism database. OnlyFans says the legal claim has “no merit”, although it has yet to issue a legal response. (Source: BBC)
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Phew, false alarm!
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Green Bay Packers quarterback clarifies cryptic Instagram post
If you were alarmed by Aaron Rodgers’ thoughtful long post on Instagram with the hashtag #MondayNightGratitude, you’re not alone. Fans and NFL pundits went into a frenzy of speculation about his future, not least due to the inclusion of a photo showing his absence from a pre-game national anthem that many interpreted as his way to say goodbye. But Rodgers set the record straight yesterday The Pat McAfee Show, explaining that he had just completed a 12-day “Panchakarma” cleanse, which made him grateful to the people in his life. “There is nothing mysterious about gratitude,” he said. (Source: ESPN)
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COMMUNITY
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