Egg Prices at Record Highs in the U.S.
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Newsbites
Chart of the week: Ukraine’s military expenditures (USD, $Billions)
Hamas “returned” four deceased bodies to Israel this week as part of the agreement to begin returning hostages. The eerie scene showed Hamas soldiers in black masks carrying the bodies, with a large display behind them of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu with vampire teeth and the four victims. But upon returning home, Israel has reported that while Hamas claimed the four bodies were Shiri Bibas, her toddlers Ariel (4) and Kfir (10 months), and Oded Lifshitz, only the two young boys, murdered in captivity, were identified by Israel's National Institute of Forensic Medicine, with Shiri, the mother, not among them. (video)
More: Thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv Square for a prolonged moment of silence after the bodies were returned.
Pope Francis, 88, is in the hospital after contracting pneumonia in both lungs. The Vatican said the Pope’s condition was showing signs of improvement on Wednesday, when he received the Eucharist and then held a 20-minute private visit with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.
IVF Executive Order: President Trump directed his assistant for Domestic Policy to provide within 90 days “a list of policy recommendations on protecting IVF access and aggressively reducing out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment.” About 2% of all babies in the U.S. are born through IVF, and the average cost for a cycle of IVF treatment can range from $12,000 to $25,000.
Elon Musk has 13 kids: Ashley St. Clair, a 26-year-old MAGA influencer, said she had a baby with Elon Musk and was told to keep it quiet. She posted on her X account this week saying, “Five months ago, I welcomed a new baby into the world. Elon Musk is the father. I have not previously disclosed this to protect our child's privacy and safety, but in recent days it has become clear that tabloid media intends to do so, regardless of the harm it will cause.”
More: Musk has 13 kids with four different women, two of whom were his wives.
Plane Crash in Toronto: A Delta flight from Minneapolis crashed as it attempted to land at Toronto’s Pearson airport on Monday. The plane hit the ground with such impact that the wings were torn off and the plane burst into flames as it tipped over. While a number of people were taken to the hospital, incredibly none of the 80 passengers died or sustained life-threatening injuries. Bystander video captures the moment the plane attempted to land. Canada’s Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation.
Kash Patel confirmed: Trump’s pick for FBI Director was confirmed by the Senate (51-47) on Thursday. Patel has said he will release the Jeffrey Epstein files to expose who was involved in the global sex-trafficking ring.
Egg prices at record highs: The average cost of a dozen eggs reached $4.95 in January - a new record in the U.S. The spike in price has been driven by the Avian Flu which began spreading among chickens around 2022 and has risen more recently. More than 100 million U.S. chickens, turkeys and egg-laying hens have been killed since 2022. If one chicken obtains the disease, the entire flock is killed.
More: The Egg Clearinghouse (ECI), dubbed the “Wall Street of Eggs,” is an online exchange in New Hampshire that connects farmers and buyers bidding on truckloads of eggs. In February there were 10 sellers and 200 buyer bids compared to 50 sellers and 60 buyers a few years ago.
Trump Calls Ukrainian President Zelensky a “Dictator”
In just four weeks, the Trump Administration has drastically changed U.S. policy and rhetoric with respect to the war in Ukraine. There are now direct lines of communication between Russia and the U.S., as well as Ukraine. This approach has discouraged many NATO allies and Ukraine, who now feel “sidelined” by the U.S. communicating directly with Russia and also criticising Ukraine publicly.
Here’s a basic timeline of core events:
November 7: President-elect Trump and Putin talk after the election. Trump tells Putin to not escalate the war before he gets sworn into office.
February 12: Trump and Putin hold a “lengthy and highly productive” phone call about beginning the process of peace talks. On the same day, U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, tells the NATO summit that he “does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement,” and that it is “unrealistic” that Ukraine would be able to reclaim all of the land Russia has taken.
February 18: Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials meet with Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia to discuss peace-agreements. Ukraine and other NATO allies are not in attendance.
February 19: President Trump calls Zelensky a “dictator without elections” and claims his support in Ukraine is at 4%.
Other relevant changes:
Pause in aid: Unlike the Biden Administration, which provided over $65 billion in military aid since February 2022, Trump has not pledged any new military aid packages. This marks a significant reduction in military equipment.
Increase in European defense: Trump’s Administration has communicated to European NATO allies that it expects them to boost their defense spending from 2% to 5% of their GDP to ensure security and less reliance on the U.S.
Sanctions threat to Russia: Trump has employed threats of economic pressure, such as additional tariffs and sanctions, to compel Russia to negotiate.
Change in rhetoric: Trump has been generally quiet about Russia, while slamming Ukraine as to how they have handled the war.
Trump calls Zelensky a “dictator”
President Trump did not mince words this week when criticised that he has sidelined Ukraine from peace talks. “They've had a seat for three years, and a long time before that,” Trump told reporters. “They [Ukraine] should’ve gone in and made a deal a long time ago.”
Trump also seemed to agree with Russia’s argument that Ukraine should hold a new presidential election before any peace negotiations are agreed upon (Ukraine’s presidential elections would have happened in March 2024 but were postponed due to the war).
“We haven’t had elections in Ukraine. Where we have martial law, essentially, martial law in Ukraine,” Trump said. “I mean I hate to say it but he’s [Zelensky] down at 4% approval rating.”
Note: a recent poll from The Kiev Independent shows 57% of Ukrainians trust President Volodymyr Zelensky as of February.
Later in the week, Trump ramped up his attacks, describing Zelensky as a “dictator without elections.” He encouraged Zelensky to “move fast or he's not going to have a country left...I love Ukraine but Zelensky has done a terrible job."
Zelensky says Trump lives in world of disinformation
“Unfortunately, President Trump – I have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for, the American people who always support us – unfortunately lives in this disinformation space,” Zelenksy said.
“We have seen this disinformation. We understand that it is coming from Russia. And we have evidence.”
Trading jabs, JD Vance responded to Zelensky’s comments:
“His country wouldn’t exist without the generosity of the United States of America. Say thank you. It’s stupid. Badmouthing Trump in public will not change his mind. Zelenskyy needs better consultants.”
Phones in School: UK Study Suggests Restrictive Policies Less Effective Than Hoped
In the UK, many schools restrict phone use for students during the day, while other schools have permissive policies (few or no restrictions). Researchers set out with a hypothesis: restrictive policies would 1) improve adolescent mental wellbeing and 2) lower the overall amount of time students spend on their phones.
They were surprised, then, that the results found no difference in adolescent mental wellbeing scores between students attending schools with restrictive policies versus permissive policies.
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