“I have heard of long COVID clinics closing and dropping patients. At some point, the doctors that are researching it may just give up. Where does that leave all of us?” long COVID patient Frank Ziegler asked.
Launch
Massive Tesla data leak reportedly details Autopilot complaints
Via The Los Angeles Times, summarizing reporting from the German newspaper Handelsblatt: “How bad is Tesla Autopilot’s safety problem? According to thousands of complaints allegedly from Tesla customers in the U.S. and around the world, pretty bad.”
Launch
‘Something was badly wrong’: When the U.S. realized Russia was actually invading Ukraine
A must-read from Politico: “A first-ever oral history of how top U.S. and Western officials saw the warning signs of a European land war, their frantic attempts to stop it — and the moment Putin actually crossed the border.”
Launch
Billionaires at Davos don’t think COVID is a cold
“We don’t deserve to be shoved back into poorly ventilated workplaces while our politicians and press assure us that only crazy people would demand to breathe clean air,” writes Julia Doubleday.
Launch
The looming Republican dispute over Ukraine
Recently elected Republicans are ready to fire up the base with anger over billions spent to protect allies overseas.
Launch
Translated excerpts of intercepted phone calls by Russian soldiers shed light on failure of Putin’s plans
“In phone calls to friends and relatives at home, Russian soldiers gave damning insider accounts of battlefield failures and civilian executions, excoriating their leaders just weeks into the campaign to take Kyiv.,” The New York Times reports.
Launch
Peak inflation? Why some prices are tumbling fast
“Crude oil, wheat and lumber are among commodities that have tumbled recently. Shipping rates on major trade routes are sinking from record highs. And used-car prices, which surged during the past two years, are showing early signs of tailing off,” The Globe and Mail reports.
Launch
Jonathan Pie: Bye Bye Boris
Watch a British humorist react to the news that Boris Johnson is resigning as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Launch
Battle for Donbas will be decisive, former British commander says
“Donbas could put the Russians back on a successful footing or bring them to what is essentially a defeat,” says General Sir Richard Barrons, the former commander of the UK’s Joint Forces Command.
Launch
Watch President Joe Biden’s speech in Warsaw responding to Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine
Watch President Biden deliver remarks on the united efforts of the free world to support the people of Ukraine, hold Russia accountable for its brutal war, and defend a future that is rooted in democratic principles.
Launch
Fitch downgrades Russia’s credit rating amid Ukraine crisis, says default is ‘imminent’
“They can’t get their hands on money or securities or goods or services. They are outcast and they will over the shorter term freeze to death,” financial services veteran George Ball said in comments to The Washington Post.
Launch
“Financial nuclear bomb” falling on Russia as a consequence of Putin’s aggression, ex-Russian central bank governor says
“The war came and the money ran out — the money ran out sooner than the war ended,” said Sergei Aleksashenko.
Launch
Dan Shaughnessy reflects on how the Olympics have become “a big bowl of bad”
“The Beijing Olympics… are a big bowl of bad, unfolding in a country ruled by fear and oppression,” the Boston Globe columnist writes.
Launch
Putin is making NATO stronger, whether he starts a war in Ukraine or not
“The Russian leader may have thought NATO was in disarray and the U.S. in retreat, but we’ve already seen it’s quite the opposite,” David Rothkopf writes in a piece for The Daily Beast.
Launch
In Russia, the pandemic is beating Putin
“A deadly virus can’t be ignored, jailed, exiled or co-opted — nor can it be locked down without great economic cost. That puts President Vladimir Putin of Russia in a bind. The pandemic, perhaps his hardiest foe to date, has starkly revealed the limits of his power,” writes Alexey Kovalev, the investigations editor at Meduza, an independent Russian news outlet.
Launch
How the September 11th attacks changed us
“The betrayal of America’s professed principles was the friendly fire of the war on terror,” Carlos Lozada writes.
Launch
Biden, allies frustrated with media’s hawkish coverage of Afghanistan withdrawal
“After years of ignoring Afghanistan, many close to the Biden White House — and the president himself — feel some major outlets are adopting a pro-war stance,” Huffington Post’s Daniel Marans writes.
Launch
Siberia’s wildfires are bigger than all the world’s other blazes combined
“Siberia is so vast that huge fires can burn without threatening any major settlements, transportation systems or infrastructure — but are still part of a swath of infernos that together are larger than all the other blazes around the world,” Robyn Dixon reports.
Launch
The newest Trump social networking play is tied to a Bannon-allied Chinese billionaire
“GETTR has existed as a Chinese language social media network linked to Guo Wengui,” Politico reports. “It was unveiled as a new platform by Jason Miller on Thursday.”
Launch
Global approval of the United States has rebounded under Biden, survey finds
“The United States’ favorability rating grew at least 23 percentage points from last year in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, and a majority of respondents in all four view the country positively,” The Washington Post reported, summarizing findings from a new survey by Pew Research.
Launch
Gaza conflict stokes “identity crisis” for young American Jews
“A new generation is confronting the region’s longstanding conflict in a very different context, with very different pressures, from their parents’ and grandparents’ generations,” The New York Times reports.
Launch