It's Friday morning, what do we know?
Omar loses her committee assignment and Russia attacks more civilians
What do we know?
For a GOP that’s intellectually bankrupt and bereft of serious policymaking, all that remains is “owning the libs” and petty acts of revenge. House Republicans implemented that hollow policy on Thursday, when they ousted Democrat Ilhan Omar from a high-ranking committee. The bad faith move came in response to Democrats removing Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar from their committees two years ago for comments they made. To be clear, Ilhan Omar is a noxious human being and an antisemite, she shouldn’t be in Congress or on any committees, but that’s not why House Republicans did this. Principles were never involved, it was pure payback
Sometimes you’re the bug, sometimes you’re the windshield. On Thursday, Alphabet, parent company of Google, was the bug. The company posted a fourth consecutive quarter of declining profits, with reported income dropping by 34%. Meta, on the other hand, got to be the windshield on Thursday, adding a massive $100 billion in market value in a single day after a better-than-expected earnings report
Attempted coup aside, some of the most idiotic and damaging decisions Donald Trump made were geopolitical. Among them, Trump damaged U.S. alliances in a fashion that strengthened Chinese and Russian positions. The Biden administration is attempting to rollback some of Trump’s idiocy and reassert U.S. leadership in the Asia-Pacific. In that effort, the U.S. announced Thursday that it would have an increased military presence in the Philippines, strengthening our partnership with the island nation of 110 million, while also placing additional U.S. troops within spitting distance of the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait
According to data released by the Department of Homeland Security, about 74% of the children who were separated from their parents at the border have been reunited. Of the 3,881 kids who were separated, 2,176 were reunited before the formation of a task force by President Biden designated to locate and unite families and another 689 since the formation. About 1,000 kids remain separated from their parents
Tensions continue to be high between NATO-member Turkey and several other NATO nations, as well as some NATO hopefuls. The tensions began when Sweden, a country applying for NATO membership, allowed an anti-Muslim protest to go on in Stockholm a couple of weeks ago. NATO members, Denmark and the Netherlands, also saw far-right, anti-Muslim protests around the same time. In response, Turkey announced it would not accept Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance. Over the last week, several Western nations, including the U.S. issued warnings to their citizens of potential violence if they are traveling in Turkey and closed some diplomatic missions. A move over which Turkey has taken offense. Relations with Turkey have soured over the last decade as its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has moved the country in a direction many characterize as undemocratic
Congresswoman Mary Peltola hired a man named Josh Revak to a key position as state director. Why is this newsworthy? Because Revak, a Republican, ran against Peltola in the recent House election. Peltola said she hired Revak because he has the skills serve the people of Alaska
What do we know in Ukraine?
Russian missiles struck another residential neighborhood on Thursday, this time in the eastern city of Kramatorsk. The strike was the second attack on the city in 24 hours, following a missile attack on an apartment building on Wednesday. The strike came as rescue workers sifted through the rubble of the Wednesday attack, searching for survivors. Dozens of neighborhood residents joined rescue workers as they searched for survivors of the attack in what has become a somber and familiar ritual throughout the country. Officials said Russian attacks throughout Ukraine overnight killed at least eight people and wounded another 29. Russia has been intensifying its strikes against targets—both civilian and military—in eastern Ukraine over the last few weeks. Presumably, ahead of an offensive that many suspect may begin around the one-year anniversary of the war, on February 24th
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was in Kyiv on Thursday ahead of a summit scheduled for today. Leyen met one-on-one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where she reiterated her support for Ukrainian admission into the EU. In recent weeks, Zelenskyy has taken steps to root out corruption by public officials, a reform that’s crucial to both Ukrainian membership in the EU and the confidence of Western allies as they continue to deliver military aid
The U.S. is expected to announce a new $2.7 billion round of military aid today. The package will include longer range missiles than the U.S. has previously supplied. The White House has been reluctant to send long-range missiles out of concern Ukraine would attack targets inside Russia, but the priority of shoring up Ukrainian air defense now takes precedence. Along with the missiles, the U.S. is sending equipment that can connect all Ukraine’s air defense systems
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