Tuesday,  February 1st, 2022 

Russia, U.S. clash at U.N. over Ukraine Russia and the United States clashed over the Ukraine crisis during a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday. Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya accused the U.S. of “provoking escalation” by falsely claiming Russia, which has massed 100,000 troops near the Ukraine border, is preparing to invade its neighbor. “You’re waiting for it to happen, as if you want your words to become a reality,” he said. Nebenzya directed his remarks at U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who accused Moscow of “attempting, without any factual basis, to paint Ukraine and Western countries as the aggressors to fabricate a pretext for attack.” Russia wants the U.S. and its allies to bar Ukraine from joining NATO as a condition for easing tensions, but the U.S. and NATO have ruled that out. THE WASHINGTON POST 

Judge rejects Arbery hate-crime plea deal A federal judge on Monday rejected plea deals for Gregory and Travis McMichael, two of the three white Georgia men facing federal hate-crime charges for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man they chased through their neighborhood. Travis McMichael, 36, his father, Gregory McMichael, and William Bryan were found guilty of murder in November, and the McMichaels were sentenced to life without parole. The McMichaels had agreed to plead guilty to the hate-crime charges, but Arbery’s family strenuously objected to the deal, which would have let them spend 30 years in federal prison instead of remaining in Georgia state custody in exchange for admitting the crime was racially motivated. Judge Lisa Godbey gave the McMichaels until Friday to decide whether to enter a guilty plea or go to trial. THE NEW YORK TIMES 

FDA gives full approval to Moderna coronavirus vaccine The Food and Drug Administration on Monday gave full approval for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. The drug, Spikevax, is the second coronavirus vaccine to become fully licensed in the United States. The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine was the first, receiving full FDA approval in August. Also on Monday, Maryland-based Novavax submitted its long-awaited application for emergency use authorization for its vaccine. Novavax’s vaccine is made differently than the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which use messenger RNA to provoke an immune-system response to the virus. Novavax’s shot is a protein vaccine, delivering nanoparticles of the coronavirus spike protein to get the immune system to attack the infection. STAT NEWS 

Spotify shares rebound after Rogan apology Spotify’s stock rebounded Monday from a plunge triggered by allegations that podcast host Joe Rogan was spreading COVID-19 misinformation. The shares had dropped from $193.56 per share on Jan. 24 to $173 per share as of Friday after singer Joni Mitchell and other artists joined folk-rock star Neil Young by removing their music from the streaming platform to protest Rogan’s inaccurate comments about coronavirus vaccines and treatments. The stock jumped back to $195.36 per share, rising 12 percent on Monday after Rogan apologized for his COVID comments and promised to “do better.” Spotify said it would add a content advisory to COVID-centered episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience, a key show in its bid to expand beyond music. REUTERS 

U.K. ‘partygate’ report says Downing Street lockdown parties ‘difficult to justify’ A senior British civil servant, Sue Gray, released a long-awaited report on a series of Downing Street parties held while Britain was under coronavirus lockdown, saying they were “difficult to justify” and showed a serious “failure of leadership.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized Monday but rejected calls to resign over what has come to be known as “partygate.” Johnson promised reforms in the way his office operates. “I get it, and I will fix it,” Johnson said in Parliament after Gray published the interim findings. Gray’s report covered just four of 16 parties, held in 2020 and 2021, that she investigated. She withheld what she found on the other events at the request of London police to avoid “any prejudice” to a new criminal investigation. CNNTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

EPA reasserts authority to regulate mercury emissions at aging power plants The Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it would reassert its authority to restrict toxic mercury in emissions from coal-burning power plants, reversing a Trump-era rollback. The move against mercury, a neurotoxin that threatens brain development in children and fetuses, is the latest in a series of actions planned by the Biden administration to cut air and water pollution. President Biden has vowed to make U.S. electricity production carbon-neutral by 2035 as part of his effort to step up the nation’s efforts to fight climate change. “Regulations to require power producers to fully internalize the cost of their product are decades overdue,” said Thom Cmar, an attorney with the law firm AltmanNewman who represents environmental groups. THE WASHINGTON POST 

Pence’s former chief of staff reportedly testifies to Jan. 6 committee Marc Short, former Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, testified before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, CNN reported Monday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Short reportedly testified before the committee last Wednesday, after receiving a subpoena. Short was with Pence at the Capitol during the riot, when some members of the crowd angry at Pence for saying he couldn’t overturn President Trump’s election loss shouted that the former vice president should be hanged. Short’s appearance was the most significant sign yet that Pence’s team is cooperating with investigators. Short participated in a critical White House meeting on Jan. 4, 2021, when then-President Donald Trump and attorney John Eastman tried to pressure Pence into overturning the election results. CNN 

New York Times buys Wordle The New York Times announced Monday that it has purchased Wordle, the word game that went viral this year. Only 90 people played Wordle on Nov. 1. The number grew to 300,000 by mid-January. By the end of the month, millions of people were trying to solve the daily word puzzle. The game’s creator, software engineer Josh Wardle, created it in 2013 and released it in October, but its popularity exploded when he made it easy for players to share results on Twitter and Facebook. Wardle said the Times paid a price “in the low seven figures.” The purchase was part of the newspaper’s effort to use games to help in a push to boost digital subscriptions. Wordle will remain free for now, the Times said. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

Tributes pour in for former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst after her death Mourners flooded social media on Monday with tributes to Extra correspondent and former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst, who died in a fall from her New York City apartment building on Sunday. Kryst, 30, received a law degree from Wake Forest University after completing her undergraduate studies at the University of South Carolina, where she ran track. Her death, which is being investigated as a suicide, left former colleagues, fans, and those who knew her for her charity work stunned and deeply saddened. “Cheslie was a remarkably gifted young lawyer,” USC Interim President Harris Pastides tweeted Monday. “My thoughts are with all who knew & loved her. For those who are struggling, please make your well-being a priority.” USC Women’s Basketball Coach Dawn Staley tweeted the number for a suicide hotline. THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER 

Sony to buy video-game developer Bungie for $3.6 billion Sony announced Monday that it would acquire video-game developer Bungie for $3.6 billion. Bungie is best known for creating the popular Destiny series and the original Halo games. Halo was available on Microsoft’s Xbox when the software maker owned the game, which has since moved to 343 Industries, but it couldn’t be played on Sony’s PlayStation. “This is an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience,” Sony Interactive Entertainment President Jim Ryan said. “We understand how vital Bungie’s community is to the studio and look forward to supporting them as they remain independent and continue to grow.” THE VERGE 

Monday,  January 31st, 2022 

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are expecting their 1st child Baby, it’s cold outside — but that didn’t get in the way of Rihanna’s outdoor pregnancy reveal. Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are expecting their first child together, and they confirmed the news via what People described as a “snowy walk outdoors” in New York City over the weekend. The two were photographed on a walk in Harlem, with Rihanna’s jacket partially unbuttoned to show her baby bump, despite NYC’s winter storm. “They weren’t out long, as it seemed pretty chilly out there, before heading back to their apartment,” TMZ wrote. Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have been together since 2020, and she told British Vogue in 2020 she wanted to have “three or four” kids. Meanwhile, A$AP Rocky told GQ last year he hoped to become a father “if that’s in my destiny,” adding, “I think I’d be an incredible, remarkably, overall amazing dad. I would have a very fly child. Very.”  PEOPLETMZ 

Nick Cannon is expecting his 8th child There’s a lot of baby news to go around today, including from one of the usual suspects in that department. Nick Cannon has announced he’s expecting his eighth child, confirming the news on his talk show after a gender reveal party over the weekend. The “next mother,” as Cannon put it, is model Bre Ties, and the baby boy will be her first child. Cannon, meanwhile, has 10-year-old twins with his ex-wife Mariah Carey, a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old with Brittany Bell, and 7-month-old twins with Abby De La Rosa. He and Alyssa Scott also had a son, Zen, who died from cancer in December. “As everybody knows, I have a lot of children,” Cannon said. “I love them all dearly, sincerely.” Last year, Cannon confirmed he was “having these kids on purpose,” assuring fans, “Trust me there’s a lot of people that I could’ve gotten pregnant that I didn’t.” PEOPLEPAGE SIX 

Thandiwe Newton blasts ‘jibbering fool’ Sean Penn: ‘You used to be sexy’ Thandiwe Newton isn’t having Sean Penn’s latest nonsense. The Westworld star took to Twitter to call out Sean Penn after the Licorice Pizza actor complained in an interview that men have become too feminized and that “cowardly genes” lead to them wearing skirts. “Dude what are you SAY-ING??” Newton tweeted in response. “Like for REAL? You’re a jibbering FOOL. MF you used to be sexy but now you’re just tragic.” Noting that Penn made his comments in an interview where his daughter was present, Newton also asked, “In front of your DAUGHTER!? That poor little mite.” Besides, Penn may have committed the greatest sin of all, Newton suggested: making it slightly more difficult to enjoy the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie. “Please stop ruining the brilliance of #LicoricePizza with this nonsense,” Newton begged. VARIETY 

Rachel Zegler addresses ‘Snow White’ casting backlash Rachel Zegler and Andrew Garfield are teaming up to “educate” her Snow White haters. The West Side Story and tick, tick…Boom! stars were the latest to be paired for Variety‘s Actors on Actors series, and their conversation touched on the backlash Zegler received after being cast as Snow White in Disney’s live-action remake. “You don’t normally see Snow Whites that are of Latin descent,” Zegler said, recalling how many “people were angry.” Garfield described those people who spent days whining as the ones “we need to educate, the people that we need to love into awareness,” to which Zegler replied, “Love them in the right direction, exactly.” She added, “At the end of the day, I have a job to do that I’m really excited to do. I get to be a Latina princess.” Garfield was personally thrilled by the “perfect” casting, concluding, “You are Snow White. You are canon Snow White at this point in my imagination.”  VARIETY 

Leatherface is warned he’ll be ‘canceled’ in ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ trailer Perhaps the real way to prevent slasher villains from returning over and over is to dig into their old tweets. Netflix dropped the trailer for its new Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel on Monday, which according to filmmaker Fede Álvarez will see Leatherface take on “millennial hipsters.” The footage ends with an insane moment that’s either hilarious or deeply cringeworthy: Leatherface, a clearly deranged man, is seen standing in front of a group of people on a bus who proceed to pick up their phones and start filming him, with one guy warning, “Try anything and you’re canceled, bro!” Naturally, Leatherface immediately murders him. Finally, a film willing to take down entitled millennials for trying to cancel anyone just because they massacred dozens of people with a chainsaw! We look forward to the new Nightmare on Elm Street where Freddy Krueger is forced to step down from hosting the Oscars and complains about being censored on Joe Rogan’s podcast.   ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

The End Tuesday 

Sunday, January 30th, 2022 

Trump says he’ll pardon Jan. 6 rioters if he wins a 2nd term Former President Donald Trump said Saturday that, if he wins a second term as president, he plans to pardon those charged for their actions during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. “If I run, and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly,” Trump said at a rally in Conroe, Texas. “And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons, because they are being treated so unfairly.” Trump called the prosecutors who have charged more than 700 people with crimes for their role in the incident, “vicious, horrible people” and “racists.”THE NEW YORK POST 

Biden visits Pittsburgh following bridge collapse  Ten people were injured after a snow-covered bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Friday morning. Three people were taken to the hospital, and no fatalities have been reported. The bridge that collapsed is known as the Fern Hollow Bridge and is located in the city’s Point Breeze neighborhood. A driver and two passengers were on a bus that was on the bridge when it gave way. President Biden made a scheduled visit to Pittsburgh only hours after the collapse. “The idea that we have been so far behind on infrastructure, for so many years — it’s just mind-boggling,” Biden said. REUTERS 

Global vaccine administration total surpasses 10 billion doses Over ten billion vaccine doses have now been administered globally, representing a new milestone in the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In wealthy countries, 77 percent of people have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, versus less than 10 percent in low-income countries. Even as the U.S. and parts of Europe build out their booster campaigns to fight the Omicron variant, more than one-third of the world’s population is still waiting for a first jab. NEW YORK TIMES 

Pennsylvania Democrats won’t endorse in Senate primary  The Pennsylvania Democratic Party voted Saturday not to endorse a candidate in the primary race for the Senate seat currently occupied by retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.). Rep. Connor Lamb (D), a moderate from Western Pennsylvania, received 159 votes at the meeting in Harrisburg, falling 17 short of the two-thirds majority needed to secure the endorsement. Lamb, who trails progressive Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) in the polls, had campaigned aggressively for the endorsement, portraying himself as the candidate most likely to win in the November general election. Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz is currently the frontrunner in the state’s Republican primary.  POLITICO

North Korea tests most powerful missile since 2017 North Korea launched a missile Sunday, ending a month that saw an unusually high number of weapons tests. Observers believe this latest launch to be the longest-range missile North Korea has tested since 2017. North Korea suspended nuclear and long-range ballistic missile testing in 2018, but this test likely marks the end of that self-imposed moratorium. The missile was launched at 7:52 a.m. local time and did not enter the airspace of any other country.   NPR

North Korea launches an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) from its Chagang Province. The missile reached an altitude of 2,000km before landing in the Sea of Japan. It is North Korea’s first IRBM launch since 2017. South Korea’s National Security Council holds an emergency meeting in response to the launch. (BBC News) 

U.K. may send troops to Eastern Europe as foreign secretary calls Russian invasion ‘highly likely’  British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Sunday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is “highly likely” but that it is “very unlikely” British soldiers would be deployed to fight the Russians directly. The U.K. has sent lethal weapons to Ukraine and is considering sending more troops to NATO member countries in Eastern Europe. Truss also said new sanctions against Russia, which the Foreign Office is expected to announce Monday, could target “any interest that has an impact on the Russian government.” BBC

Ukraine wants the U.S. to tone down the invasion rhetoric Ukraine would like foreign assistance from the United States and its allies in its standoff with Russia; but outside of providing defense weaponry, the country would prefer the U.S. just stay quiet. “When they start saying that tomorrow, you’re going to have war, just take into consideration that the first thing we do not need in our country is panic,” said Oleksii Danilov, leader of Ukraine’s security council. “Why? Because panic is the sister of failure.” He added, “That’s why we are saying to our partners, ‘Don’t shout so much.’ Do you see a threat? Give us 10 jets every day. Not one, 10. And the threat will disappear.” THE NEW YORK TIMES 

‘Do it now,’ Marine Le Pen tells party members who want to defect French right-wing presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said Saturday that anyone who wants to leave her National Rally (RN) party should “do it now.” The announcement comes in the wake of several defections to rival candidate Éric Zemmour, whose overtly reactionary campaign stands in contrast to the traditionally far-right RN’s attempts to broaden its appeal by taking more moderate stances. On Friday, Le Pen reacted to news that her niece, Marion Maréchal, had declined to back her presidential campaign and had floated the possibility of “returning to politics” to support Zemmour. THE GUARDIAN 

Trudeau flees after trucker convoy enters Ottawa  As thousands of protesters entered Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family were moved from their home to an undisclosed location somewhere in the city on Saturday afternoon due to security concerns. A “Freedom Convoy” of truckers and other protesters entered the Canadian capital city of Ottawa Saturday to protest Trudeau’s COVID-19 policies. Law enforcement expressed concerns that violent “lone wolf” actors may have concealed themselves in the crowd, but the protests remained peaceful. THE INDEPENDENT

White House rebukes GOP senator who said SCOTUS pick will be ‘beneficiary’ of racial ‘quota’  White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement Saturday that President Biden’s pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court reflects “the best traditions of both parties and our nation.” He pointed out that Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump both pledged to fill open SCOTUS seats with female justices. Bates was responding to comments Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) made Friday in which he pointed out the irony of using “affirmative racial discrimination” to put a Black woman on the Supreme Court while the court is hearing a major case on affirmative action in college admissions. He also said whoever Biden nominates would be the “beneficiary” of a racial “quota.” CNN 

After seven inconclusive ballots, Sergio Mattarella is elected for a second term as President on the eighth ballot. (ANSA) 

Italian President Sergio Mattarella elected to 2nd term Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who at age 80 had hoped to retire, has been elected to a second seven-year term after electors failed to agree on any other candidate. Italy’s president is elected not by popular vote, but by a group of 1,009 “great electors” comprising members of parliament and regional representatives. Mattarella received 759 votes on the eighth ballot. Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who asked Mattarella on Saturday to accept a second term, said the result is “fantastic news for Italians.” Right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni said Mattarella had been “forced” to remain in office by a parliament “not fit for Italians.” CNN 

Manchester United F.C. and England player Mason Greenwood is arrested by Greater Manchester Police on suspicion of rape and assault after videos and images of alleged abuse of his partner were posted on social media. (BBC News) 

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal defeats Russian Daniil Medvedev in five sets to win the men’s singles title at the Australian Open. The victory makes Nadal the men’s tennis player with the most number of Grand Slam titles (21), which is an all-time record. (The Guardian) 

Tom Brady might not be retiring after all Despite ESPN’s announcement Saturday that quarterback Tom Brady, who many consider the greatest of all time, had decided to retire after 22 NFL seasons, other sources now say Brady has not yet made up his mind. Two anonymous sources say the seven-time Super Bowl winner told Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht he was still weighing his options. Brady’s father told a group of reporters the same thing. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

‘Aaron Rodgers’ stars in Russian propaganda in new SNL cold open In the most recent Saturday Night Live cold open, a military officer and two White House advisors (Kenan Thompson, Alex Moffat, and Ego Nwodim) assembled to brief President Biden (James Austin Johnson) on Russia’s disinformation campaign against Ukraine. The campaign included an ad starring NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers (Pete Davidson). “Oh no! I am American balltoss player Aaron Rodgers, and my car has broken down in Ukraine,” Davidson-as-Rodgers said in an Eastern European accent. To save himself, he sang a version of the State Farm jingle: “Like a good neighbor, Russia is there!” The company’s logo appeared on the screen, revealing State Farm’s Russian name to be Колхоз, a term referring to Soviet-era collectivized agriculture. CNN 

The End