| | | On Valentine’s weekend Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky continued to preach love not war, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. Police reopened the busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing, but a deal between protestors and the city of Ottawa seemed to be dead in the snow. The Los Angeles Rams became only the second team in history to win the Super Bowl on home turf. And a glimmer of hope shone out of Africa, where human infections with Guinea worm have been all but eradicated. All this and more in today’s PDB. | | |
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| IMPORTANT | | | 1 - We Need to Talk Ukraine President Urges Calm. Minister Demands Russia Meeting As tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has drawn on his acting background to caution against panic at every turn. Not even Russian naval exercises in the Black Sea could unsettle him: Zelensky claimed there was no proof a Russian invasion was imminent, and on Sunday he invited President Joe Biden to Ukraine. But not all in his government are keeping up the act. Requesting a meeting with Russia within 48 hours, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned: “Russia … must fulfill its commitment to military transparency in order to de-escalate tensions and enhance security for all.” (Sources: BBC, NYT) |
| 2 - Deal or No Deal? Ambassador Bridge Opens But Ottawa Deal in Doubt The Ambassador Bridge linking Canada and the U.S. was reopened Sunday after a six-day closure. Police arrested around 25 protestors at North America’s busiest land border. Also on Sunday, CBC News reported that a deal had been reached between Ottawa’s mayor and Tamara Lich, one of the protest organizers. The deal would see protesters move out of downtown Ottawa — now in its third week of a standstill — to join protesting truckers at the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway. Hours after the city’s announcement, Lich tweeted: “No ‘deal’ has been made. End the mandates, end the passports.” (Sources: CBC, BBC) |
| 3 - Ramming it Home Los Angeles Rams Win the Super Bowl in Their Home Stadium The Cincinnati Bengals, who led by 7 points in Q3, very nearly pulled off the upset of the century. But sanity prevailed as the Los Angeles Rams’ star receiver Cooper Kupp touched down with 1:25 remaining to take the Rams into a 23-20 lead. Mighty Aaron Donald then threw Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to the ground with 39 seconds remaining in a game-ending sack. The game, which many feared would be overshadowed by the Brian Flores discrimination lawsuit, exceeded expectations. But Eminem’s decision to take a knee during the halftime show ensured that the league’s challenges were not forgotten. (Sources: LA Times, WSJ) |
| 4 - Going, Going, Guinea Guinea Worm on the Verge of Being Eradicated Last year, only 14 people were reported infected with Guinea worm, a parasite that can reach 3 feet long and causes painful skin lesions. In the 1980s, Guinea worm infected 3.5 million people in 20 countries yearly. Because there’s no recognized treatment or vaccine, eradication efforts have focused on identifying contaminated water sources and using pesticides to disinfect them. Challenges remain as the parasite still infects animals. But Adam Weiss, director of the Carter Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program is optimistic: “It will take more work, but if we couldn’t do it, I’d be the first one to say it.” (Source: Nature) |
| 5 - Briefly Here are some things you should know about today: Valieva cleared. Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian figure skating sensation, has been cleared to compete at the Winter Olympics despite failing a pre-games drug test. (Source: AP) Mother jailed. Rebecca Hogue has been jailed for 16 months under Oklahoma’s “failure to protect” laws after her boyfriend killed her two-year-old son while she was at work. Before committing suicide her boyfriend had carved the words “Rebecca is innocent” into a tree. (Source: BBC) Avocados halted. The U.S. government suspended all imports of Mexican avocados Sunday after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico was threatened. (Source: AP) |
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| | | Catch the Newest Episodes of The Carlos Watson Show, Season 4
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| INTRIGUING | | | 1 - Roach for My Valentine Roses are Red, Roaches are Ew “Roaches are forever” — thus proclaims the website of the Bronx Zoo’s long-running Name a Roach program. This Valentine’s Day a growing number of zoos and conservation centers in the U.S. and elsewhere are peddling the right to name a roach. While the Houston Museum of Natural Science agrees that roaches symbolize “endless love” other establishments see it differently. The San Antonio Zoo’s Cry Me A Cockroach fundraiser encourages patrons to name their beastie after an ex-lover or a troublesome boss. And the Hemsley Conservation Centre in England welcomes all names: They already have roaches called Boris Johnson and David Cameron. (Sources: NPR, Reuters) |
| 2 - Myth Bust Looking After the Grandkids Doesn’t Make You Feel Younger Grandparents looking to get out of childcare duty have a new ace up their sleeves. A study published in The Journals of Gerontology last week found that caring for grandchildren failed to make grandparents feel any younger than their actual age. While earlier research had found that grandparents who looked after the tots felt younger than their peers, this is the first study to look at the same people before and after stepping into the breach. Co-author Dr. Valeria Bordone posits that rather than childcare making grandparents feel young, it’s the grandparents who feel young already who do more childcare. (Source: The Guardian) |
| 3 - Not Quite Pompeii Spanish Ghost Village Emerges From the Depths Trick or treat? Aceredo, a Spanish border village that was flooded to make way for a hydroelectric dam, has reemerged. This after a drought and what regional mayor Maria del Carmen Yanez terms “quite aggressive exploitation” by a Portuguese power company caused water levels to hit 15%. While roofs and windows are mostly destroyed, walls, roads and even crates of wine bottles have survived to provide a snapshot of a world cut short in 1992. “It’s terrible, but it is what it is. That’s life. Some die and others live,” said Jose Alvarez, a former construction worker from the area. (Source: Reuters) |
| 4 - Walking the Talk President Walks Bullied Girl to School When the President of North Macedonia heard an 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome was being bullied about her condition, he took matters into his own hands — literally. President Stevo Pendarovski held Embla Ademi’s hand as he walked her to her elementary school in the city of Gostivar last week. He also gave her gifts and sat with her parents to try to find solutions to the daily challenges faced by the family. “We are all equal in this society,” Pendarovski said. “I came here to give my support and to raise awareness that inclusion is a basic principle.” (Source: CNN) |
| 5 - Mr. Padel Paddle Obscure Court Sport Explodes in Italy As Covid ripped through Italy in 2020, the government banned all contact sports. But one sport that made the safe list was padel — an outdoor mashup of tennis and squash invented by a Mexican businessman in 1969. Italians quickly realized that padel — played on courts surrounded by walls and wire mesh — provided a fun workout, even for beginners. Since then, padel courts in the country have increased fivefold, to nearly 5,000, and clubs are springing up everywhere. “No sport in Italy has ever had such success in such a short time,” said Salvatore Palumbo, a tennis champ turned padel teacher. (Source: The Guardian) |
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