Weekly Review

In a press statement, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated the United States’ intention to gain a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council and proclaimed that human rights would be the cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy.¹ The U.S. State Department said the sale of $2.5 billion in arms to Egypt, which Human Rights Watch has described as “a human rights black hole,” would “improve the security of a Major Non-NATO Ally country”; days later, the United States denied the country $130 million of those weapons because of human rights concerns.^{2 3} President Biden promised “swift and severe consequences” if Russia, which has handed out 500,000 Russian passports to Ukrainians and deployed thousands of troops to Ukraine’s eastern and northern borders over the past few weeks, invaded Ukraine.^{4 5} “I was watching one of you on television pointing out the fact that—and I think you got it right, whoever it was—I’m embarrassed I don’t remember who—saying that this is all Putin,” said President Biden at a White House press gaggle.⁶ “I don’t think even his people know for certain what he’s going to do.” Russia, which annexed Crimea in March of 2014 and has maintained a military presence in and around Eastern Ukraine since, announced and then called off naval maneuvers in international waters 150 miles from Ireland.^{7 8} Boris Johnson, who once defended British soldiers who shot Northern Irish civilians in the back on Bloody Sunday, faced widespread criticism after newly public emails confirmed that the British prime minister had prioritized the evacuation of dogs over Afghans during the fall of Kabul.^{9 10} Two Chinese officials posted identical tweets that used four photos from Syria to criticize the United States’ war in Afghanistan.¹¹ The Chinese government stated that it would allow the United Nations high commissioner for human rights to visit Xinjiang province after the Beijing Winter Olympics, to which the United States and United Kingdom will not send any officials, provided that the trip is “friendly.”¹²

Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, argued before politicians at the Council of Europe that his plan to hold World Cups every two years could prevent African migrants from meeting their “death in the sea.”¹³ Justice Stephen Breyer, who routinely came last in public opinion polls asking Americans to name members of the Supreme Court, announced that he would retire after 27 years on the bench.¹⁴ Federal prosecutors reached a plea deal that will obviate hate crime charges for two of the three men convicted in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery, and for the second time in January, multiple HBCUs reported bomb threats on the same day.^{15 16} “Feel those emotions, go to a kickboxing class, have a margarita, do whatever you need to do this weekend,” said the White House press secretary Jen Psaki in response to the failure of The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act.¹⁷ President Biden visited a bridge in Pittsburgh after it had collapsed to promote his infrastructure plan.¹⁸ It was reported that Tesla code now tracks how much vehicle passengers adjust their seats and that Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit suicide hotline that uses AI-driven chat technology, has been sharing information with its parent company’s for-profit arm to create customer service software.^{19 20} A new paper from Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology claims that life began after retrovirus DNA fell from space, but cephalopod eggs arrived preformed in a kind of stasis.²¹

“I am here by special divine appearance,” said a woman who, having been caught on camera during the January 6 Capitol riot calling for Nancy Pelosi to be brought out and hanged, was denied her request to be released from custody pending trial.²² Unbeknownst to a woman who survived being shot in the 2015 Bataclan theater attack, a Paris orthopedic surgeon put up for sale an NFT of her X-ray, showing a Kalashnikov bullet lodged in her arm.²³ The National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, shut its doors for three days because a nearby MAGA event called “We Stand America” posed a credible threat to the sanctuary; the leader of a border wall–funding group has pushed an unsupported claim that the center’s “butterfly freak” staff use the center as a waystation for child sex trafficking.²⁴ After arresting a DoorDash driver, police in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, completed an Arby’s food delivery, and the Royal Veterinary College in London announced it is seeking volunteers for a feline diabetes trial, prompted in part by findings that nearly half of the United Kingdom’s pet cats are obese.^{25 26} In Los Angeles County, a 26-year-old adult convicted of sexually assaulting a child will serve time in juvenile detention, because they committed the crime when they were 17.²⁷