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1. Coronavirus
2. Congress
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who publicly publicized dangerous and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, will face a vote in the House plenary today on whether she should be removed from her duties on the committee. Greene was criticized for his marginal rhetoric, but maintained the support of House Republicans and avoided punishment. Meanwhile, some GOP members have turned their attention to Rep. Liz Cheney, pressing to challenge her leadership role because she voted in favor of impeaching former President Trump. However, Cheney prevailed in a Republican House vote yesterday. It is important not to draw a false equivalence between the two: Cheney, the daughter of a former vice president, crossed party lines in an impeachment vote; Greene promotes QAnon’s conspiracies and expresses support for the assassination of Democratic politicians.
3. Domestic extremism
The Department of Justice has opened more than 180 federal criminal cases against protesters and others linked to the siege of the United States Capitol. Prosecutors are investigating some of the stories of those involved, uncovering at least one case of stolen value (when someone lies about military service or awards) and a New Mexico county officer who said he wanted to return to President Biden’s possession with weapons in your car. The newly appointed Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, says the type of domestic terrorism seen on Capitol Hill is “one of the biggest threats” to the US at the moment, echoing the conclusions of a 2020 Homeland Security report. The Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered a staggered pause in operations across the U.S. army over the next 60 days, so that commanders can review the treatment of extremism among their ranks.
4. Russia
The United States has extended an important nuclear weapons control treaty with Russia for the next five years. The New START Treaty – the only one left to regulate the two largest nuclear arsenals in the world – was set to expire tomorrow. It allows verifiable limits for Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles, ballistic missiles launched by submarines and heavy bombers. Biden made renewing the treaty a priority as soon as he took office, while launching a review of Russian malfeasance, from the SolarWinds hack to the alleged rewards Moscow offered for the killing of American troops in Afghanistan. The treaty is one of several sensitive issues on which the United States will have to work with Russia, including efforts to sanction North Korea and ensure stability in Afghanistan.
5. Taiwan
The United States sent a guided-missile destroyer across the Taiwan Strait today, marking the first time that a U.S. warship has crossed the waterway that separates China from Taiwan during the Biden government. Taiwan will be another major foreign policy challenge for Biden. Taiwan is an autonomous island, but Beijing claims full sovereignty over it and is extremely sensitive when it comes to demonstrations of power in the area. Warships, for example, are seen by Beijing as provocations that threaten stability in the region by encouraging defenders of Taiwan’s independence. The Trump administration made strong gestures in support of Taiwan, including the sale of arms and the dispatch of high-level envoys to the region.
BREAKFAST RESEARCH
The record-breaking roller coaster will travel at over 155 mph
Just tie us up and come back in a few hours.
Peeps will be back for Easter after a 9-month hiatus
Ah, a little bit of sugary normality in these difficult times.
Archaeologists discover Egyptian mummies with gold tongues
Put that back! That’s how horror movies begin!
Ford receives a patent for a transparent breathing mask
But we kind of like never having to show the bottom of our faces …
Snoopers understand the conversations of other monkeys and judge whether they want to interact
Today we learn that marmosets are RUDE.
PERSEVERANCE PROFILES
February is Black History Month and every day we highlight black pioneers in American history. Find out more here.
James Armistead Lafayette, spy, c 1748-c 1830
Armistead provided crucial information that helped to defeat the British and end the Revolutionary War. Originally a slave, he worked as a double agent under Lafayette, the French general who helped American settlers fight for their freedom (Armistead added his surname to honor him). Virginia lawmakers, after Lafayette’s lobby, granted Armistead his freedom in 1787.
TODAY’S NUMBER
125,000
This is how many refugees President Biden has pledged to allow annually in the United States. The plan is to set this limit in October to start in the next fiscal year. Until then, Biden is expected to make an intermediate increase in the current threshold set by the Trump administration, which is 15,000.
TODAY’S QUOTES
“I was too confident to assume that everything would come back to me as ‘second nature’.”
An anonymous pilot, in a June report explaining why he neglected to activate the critical anti-icing system. The pandemic means that pilots are flying less, and many say it is rusting their skills.
TODAY’S CLIMATE
Check your local forecast here >>>
AND FINALLY
You missed a point!
This polite stamp is here to remind you to keep your surfaces clean! (Click here to view.)