Monday, February 28th, 2022
Nuclear Alert, New SCOTUS Nominee & NCAA History
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Rothys.com/newsworthy and kiwico.com (Listen for the discount code)
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want to review the latest happenings...
Russia-Ukraine Fighting Latest
Gunfire and explosions are still going off in Ukraine as Russian troops try to take over. However, Russians are facing tough resistance. Russia has launched hundreds of missiles in Ukraine since the invasion began, and street fighting has been reported in several cities around Ukraine. Russia has damaged several airfields, fuel facilities, homes, hospitals, and schools, killing hundreds of civilians. Russia also started to cut off port access, which could be a huge blow to Ukraine’s economy. Still, as of this morning, Russia doesn’t control any of Ukraine’s major population centers.
Read more: WaPo, AP, CNN, WSJ, Axios
Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks
Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia are meeting today for peace talks in Belarus. These will be the first talks since the invasion started last week. It’s not clear exactly what the meeting might accomplish, especially since one of Russia’s main objectives is to force Ukraine’s current government out of power. As one Ukrainian official put it, we’ll “listen to what Russia has to say.”
Read more: Politico, NPR, NY Post, Telegram
UN General Assembly/NATO Response Force
The United Nations is holding a rare emergency session of its General Assembly today to vote on a resolution calling for peace. This has only happened 10 other times since the UN was founded nearly 80 years ago. Also, for the first time, the NATO Response Force was activated. It includes service members from several countries who specialize in land, air, sea, and special operations forces. That still doesn’t mean any U.S. or NATO troops will go into Ukraine or Russia, but the idea is the force will be ready to defend NATO countries if needed.
Read more: CNN, Politico, WaPo, NATO, Defense Dept.
More International Aid to Ukraine
The U.S. is sending Ukraine another $350 million worth of weapons. This is the third big weapons shipment from the U.S. to Ukraine. On top of that, Belgium promised 2,000 machine guns and 3,800 tons of fuel. France is sending defensive military equipment. Even Germany, which has a long-standing policy of not sending weapons to war zones, decided to send hundreds of rocket-propelled grenades and 1,000 antitank weapons to Ukraine. Plus, the European Union is sending weapons and other equipment to a country under attack for the first time in EU history.
Read more: Reuters, NBC News, AP, Jerusalem Post
New Russia Sanctions
Then there are even more new sanctions against Russia, including what could be the most crippling financial penalties yet. The U.S. and its allies decided to block certain Russian banks from being able to access the SWIFT international payment system. To put it simply, SWIFT makes cross-border payments possible, transferring trillions of dollars a year. It’s now the main system for financing international trade. The idea of keeping Russia, the world’s 11th largest economy, out of it is unprecedented. It will impact Russia’s exports of everything from oil and metals to grains in the U.S. and Europe.
Read more: Axios, AP, Reuters, ABC News, White House, US Treasury
New SCOTUS Nominee
President Biden held up his promise to nominate the first Black woman for the U.S. Supreme Court. If she’s confirmed in the Senate, Ketanji Brown Jackson would also be the first former public defender to sit on the bench. Jackson went to Harvard for her undergraduate and law school degrees, served on the U.S. sentencing commission, and eventually became a federal judge. She was also once a law clerk for retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, the man whose seat she could be taking. She still has to survive a Senate confirmation, though. Confirmation hearings could start next month.
Read more: AP, WaPo, Fox News, CNN, White House
New CDC Mask Guidelines
As expected, the CDC decided to loosen its advice about masks. Instead of focusing just on positive test results, the new guidance looks more at what’s happening at hospitals. Right now, the CDC’s risk map puts more than 70% of the American population in places where hospitals aren't seriously at risk of being overwhelmed. So, the federal agency says healthy people in those areas can stop wearing masks, even indoors. However, people still have to wear masks on public transportation since that mandate still stands. Private businesses can also still set their own mask policies.
Read more: CNBC, WSJ, NPR, AP, CDC
U.S. Tech Limit Russian Ads
Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Google-owned YouTube are cracking down on the country’s ads because of what’s happening in Ukraine. They don’t want Russia controlling the narrative since it’s known to spread disinformation. Facebook’s parent company, Meta, said it won’t run ads anywhere from Russian state media, and Twitter is pausing ads in Ukraine and Russia. Meanwhile, YouTube is blocking the Russian state-owned media outlet RT and other Russian channels from making money off ads. Russia started restricting Twitter and Facebook for some people there anyway.
Read more: NPR, Axios, BBC, Cnet, Reuters, Meta, Twitter
Starlink Satellites Active in Ukraine
A top Ukrainian official tweeted a request to billionaire Elon Musk, and Musk made it happen just 10 hours later. Ukraine’s vice prime minister sent the SpaceX founder a public plea to help bring the internet back to parts of Ukraine that lost power in the recent attacks. Musk tweeted back a short time later, saying that SpaceX Starlink internet service is now active there, and more terminals are “en route”. He didn’t give any other details. Remember, the Starlink system is SpaceX's mission to send thousands of satellites into orbit to bring the internet to the most remote areas of the world.
Read more: Fox Business, NY Post, CNN, Elon Musk
SAG Awards
Awards show season is in full swing, and the SAG awards kicked it off with a few firsts last night. Netflix’s most popular series of all time, ‘Squid Game’, became the first non-English language series and first Korean title to win a SAG award. It won three. Plus, ‘CODA’ actor Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man to win a SAG award, and Ariana Debose is now the first Latina actress to get a SAG film honor.
Read more: Vanity Fair, AP, CNN, USA Today, SAG
NAACP Image Awards
Will Smith took the top actor award for ‘King Richard’ at the NAACP Image Awards, and Jennifer Hudson won Best Actress for her role in ‘Respect’. Hudson also scooped the Marquee Entertainer of The Year. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were awarded the President’s Award for their activism. Netflix’s western movie, ‘The Harder They Fall’, won big, getting the best film award, along with four others.
Read more: Deadline, ET, AP, NAACP
Suni Lee New Gymnastics Skill
An Olympic gold medalist landed a move that’s never been seen before in collegiate gymnastics. Suni Lee, who goes to Auburn, pulled out a skill on the uneven bars called the Nabieva. It’s a skill so hard it’s never been done in NCAA’s history. It has the most difficult rating there is in gymnastics. Not only did Lee nail that move, but she also scored a perfect 10 in a different event: the beam. Her team won Friday's meet with its best-ever team score.
Read more: Montgomery Advertiser, BMTN, Auburn Gymnastics, NCAA
Money Monday: Ukraine Donations
Reality star and business owner Bethenny Frankel is sending $10 million in aid to Ukrainians through her disaster relief initiative called bstrong. Separately, A-list couple Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively pledged to match donations to support Ukrainian refugees up to $1 million. Ukraine’s government tweeted out its crypto wallet on Saturday, and so far, research firm Elliptic says it’s gotten more than $12 million in cryptocurrency donations and nearly $19 million total to help fight Russia.
Celebrities Donate: Complex, NY Post, Ryan Reynolds, bstrong
Donate Here: UNHCR
Cryptocurrency Donations: Forbes, CNBC, BuzzFeed, Elliptic