Aid For Ukraine, Self-Driving, & The Return Of Vinyl Records

Aid For Ukraine, Self-Driving, & The Return Of Vinyl Records

March 13, 2024

Hello, readers – pleased Wednesday! Today, we’re speaking about Robert Hur’s testimony, assist for Ukraine, Haiti’s ongoing points, spiritual discrimination in India, automated driving programs, Proposition 1 in California, and the resurgence of vinyl records. 

Want solutions? We’ve bought you coated: DP 3/8 Quiz Answers. Hats off to Janice S., who scored an ideal 10 on final week’s quiz. Check again subsequent week for one more probability to check your present affairs acumen!

“The solely wealth which you’ll maintain without end is the wealth you’ve gotten given away.” – Marcus Aurelius

Tell Us What You Hur-d

On Tuesday, former particular counsel Robert Hur testified in a Congressional listening to relating to his investigation into President Joe Biden’s dealing with of labeled authorities supplies. In his report, Hur had described Biden as a “well-meaning, aged man with a poor reminiscence,” concluding that he had not acted with malice and deciding to not press prices in opposition to Biden. The evaluation drew criticism from either side of the aisle – Democrats known as it a partisan takedown of Biden’s psychological state, whereas Republicans accused Hur of unfairly defending the president. 

With Hur’s report set in stone, each events used this week’s listening to to take potshots at one another. Republicans pushed the previous particular counsel to explain Biden as “senile,” utilizing a dictionary definition of the phrase. “I didn’t. That conclusion doesn’t seem in my report,” Hur replied. Democrats, in the meantime, pushed comparisons to Trump. Two Representatives requested if Biden directed his lawyer to deceive the FBI. The reply was a flat “no” for Biden, however Democrats emphasised that the identical couldn’t be stated for Trump, who was indicted on prices of mishandling high secret paperwork final 12 months. 

We Found $300 Million Lying Around, Here You Go!

While Biden’s conduct was being questioned in Congress, the president was busy getting some work achieved within the White House. National safety adviser Jake Sullivan introduced that the U.S. would give $300 million price of weapons to Ukraine, saying that the cash had been freed up because of “unanticipated price financial savings in contracts that DOD negotiated to interchange tools we’ve already despatched to Ukraine via earlier drawdowns.”

A spokesman for the Pentagon stated the invoice would ship Ukraine a menu of various navy provides, together with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, artillery rounds, and small arms ammo. The comparatively small assist bundle comes as Democrats maintain attempting to push a bigger protection assist invoice to ship over $60 billion in navy assist to Kyiv.

On the bottom, teams of pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters claimed to have launched profitable assaults into Russian territory on Tuesday, seizing management of some areas in Russia’s border areas. Meanwhile, dozens of Ukrainian long-range drones had been launched at targets inside Russian territory, hitting a couple of items of infrastructure however in the end inflicting minimal lasting injury, in accordance with Moscow. The Kremlin added that Russian forces had killed a minimum of 234 of the fighters concerned within the border skirmishes.

Punted From Port-Au-Prince

• At this level, we’ve written each variation of “issues are getting worse in Haiti” doable, so let’s lower proper to the chase: Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has introduced that he shall be resigning from his place and dissolving his authorities. He will hand energy over to a transitional council, which is able to then arrange elections for the subsequent official authorities.
• Henry’s resignation comes after weeks of heightened gang violence within the nation, which compelled Haiti to declare a state of emergency final weekend when gangs attacked police stations and prisons throughout the nation. Following the mass jail breaks, Jimmy Cherizier, the top of the highly effective “G9 and Family” gang, threatened that violence would proceed till Henry stepped down. According to at least one nonprofit, gangs now management about 80% of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital metropolis.

Citizenship For Everyone (Except You)

• On Monday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s authorities introduced plans to implement a controversial citizenship legislation that may profit folks of all faiths apart from Muslims. The Citizenship Amendment Act, handed in 2019, fast-tracks the naturalization course of for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians who fled to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan earlier than 2014 – however notably excludes these advantages for Muslims from these nations (that are all majority Muslim).
• Combined with a proposal for a nationwide registry of residents, the Citizenship Amendment Act was met with widespread protest when it handed in 2019, as many in India thought it will undermine the nation’s secular nature. Now, the political local weather has modified considerably. Modi’s authorities has more and more stoked divisions between India’s Hindu majority and its giant Muslim minority, and the prime minister has remained conspicuously silent relating to a latest spike in violence in opposition to Muslims. In a latest assertion, human rights watchdog Amnesty India stated that the Citizenship Amendment Act “legitimizes discrimination based mostly on faith” and is “exclusionary in its construction and intent.”

More Mixed Nuts

• Romanian courtroom grants UK’s request to extradite Andrew Tate, as soon as native authorized circumstances are concluded (AP)
• US conducts defensive airstrikes as Houthis fireplace anti-ship ballistic missiles (ABC)
• Cargo airplane carrying 15 crashes in Russia, ministry says (ABC)
• Diane Abbott calls Tory donor’s feedback horrifying (BBC)
• India joins choose group of countries capable of fireplace a number of warheads on a single ICBM (CNN)

Middle East Mixed Nuts

• Dual US-Israeli citizen Itay Chen, who was thought to have been held hostage in Gaza, was killed October 7, IDF broadcasts (CNN)
• US intelligence report states Netanyahu’s viability to guide Israel is in jeopardy (CNN)
• Senators Urge Biden to Stop Arming Israel, Citing Violation of U.S. Aid Law (NYT, $)
• If Israel invades Rafah, Biden will take into account conditioning navy assist to Israel (Politico)

Maybe Don’t Let Jesus Take The Wheel

• The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety examined 14 superior driver help programs and gave 11 of them a “poor” score. These programs are supposed to maintain autos of their lanes and from hitting vehicles in entrance of them. The know-how usually solely works on highways, however Tesla’s Full Self Driving can be alleged to work on floor streets. 
• Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self Driving and related programs from Ford and Nissan had been all ranked as “poor.” General Motors’ Super Cruise was rated as “marginal.” Only Lexus’ Teammate with Advanced Drive system acquired an “acceptable” score – and that’s nonetheless not the best score. In different phrases, you would possibly need to keep focus whereas driving.

The Bear Cares About Mental Health

• With over one million ballots nonetheless to be counted, California’s Proposition 1 opponents conceded that it’s prone to move. “We virtually took down the bear, however it seems like we’ll fall quick,” learn a press release launched yesterday, although the opponents famous they count on the margin to be pretty slim. The measure would supply $6.38 billion to enhance and lengthen the state’s psychological well being sources.
• California has practically half of the nation’s unsheltered inhabitants. Nationwide surveys counsel a minimum of 21% of these experiencing homelessness report having a critical psychological sickness, and 16% report having a substance use dysfunction. On Tuesday, the “sure” vote for Proposition 1 gained 0.2% over the “no” vote, with the vote standing at 50.4% to 49.6%.  

More Nuts In America

• Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, who raised alarm over airplane high quality, is discovered useless (NPR)
• ‘Digital fentanyl’: Pence requires passage of TikTok invoice (Politico)
• Trump allies fireplace dozens of RNC employees in wake of committee management shake up (USA Today)
• Old energy strains plus local weather change imply a rising threat of utilities beginning fires (NPR)
• Two 18-year-olds are being held on $2M bail in Philadelphia bus cease taking pictures that injured 8 teenagers (NBC)

The Tables Turn, And What’s Old Is New Again

• For the primary time in three a long time, the costs of vinyl records shall be used to calculate U.Okay. inflation statistics, highlighting the comeback of the audio format. Each 12 months, the UK’s Office for National Statistics updates a basket of key items and companies, the costs of which it makes use of to calculate the nation’s inflation price. On Monday, the ONS replace added 16 gadgets and eliminated 15 to precisely symbolize what British shoppers are shopping for these days.
• “Our inflation basket of products presents a captivating snapshot of client spending via the years,” stated an ONS spokesperson in a press release. “Often the basket displays the adoption of latest know-how, however the return of vinyl records reveals how cultural revivals can have an effect on our spending.” The final time vinyls had been included within the U.Okay.’s inflation basket was 1992, however their return to favor displays their huge comeback – in 2023, 6.1 million vinyl records had been bought nationwide.
• Other additions to the checklist this 12 months embrace air fryers, rice muffins, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and spray oils. These additions point out the nation’s elevated concentrate on wholesome residing. Hand sanitizer, baking trays, and roasting tins are all on the best way out this 12 months – hand sanitizer utilization has dropped because the finish of the pandemic, and Britons appear to be baking lower than ever.

More Loose Nuts

• NASA’s Crew-7 returns to Earth in SpaceX Dragon from ISS mission ‘benefitting humanity’ (USA Today)
• Mars could possibly be driving ‘big whirlpools’ within the Earth’s deep oceans, new examine finds (CNN)
• Study: Conflicting values for Hubble Constant not on account of measurement error (Ars Technica)
• Disneyland plan for long-term main growth in Anaheim clears essential hurdle (LAT, $)
• Over 1 in 10 highschool seniors report utilizing delta-8 THC (NBC)

 

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March 13, 2024 at 04:03AM