Weekly Review
Despite warnings from the United Nations, the U.S., and other world leaders, Israel escalated its attack on southern Gaza, killing dozens of people in the city of Rafah, where more than a million have sought shelter.1 2 “The moral thing is to understand that every Arab is a suspect,” said an Israeli soldier, while the head of UNICEF said that “civilians are pushed into a corner” with “nowhere safe to go.”3 4 5 Gaza’s death toll since October 7 surpassed 28,000, according to its Ministry of Health, and Israel rescued two of the hostages in Hamas captivity; 132 remain, at least 30 of whom are now dead, according to Israeli intelligence.6 7 8 Japan pledged $106 million in aid to Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replaced his top general as the country faces a shortage of soldiers in the fight against Russia.9 10 11 12 Asked by Tucker Carlson about the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “Don’t you have anything better to do?” and Russia barred the antiwar candidate Boris Nadezhdin from running against Putin.13 14 Bombs killed at least 30 people in Pakistan the day before parliamentary elections in which allies of the country’s jailed former prime minister and opposition leader, Imran Khan, won the most seats; the Islamic State claimed responsibility for one of the attacks.15 16 In northern India, municipal authorities demolished a mosque and a religious school, leading to protests and clashes in which at least five people were killed; in Brazil, police are investigating former President Jair Bolsonaro amid accusations of an attempted coup; and in Canada, an ex-intelligence official was sentenced to 14 years in prison for divulging state secrets.17 18 19
Nikki Haley lost Nevada’s Republican primary to the “None of These Candidates” ballot option, and Marianne Williamson ended her bid for the presidency.20 21 The Supreme Court signaled it would rule in favor of Donald Trump staying on state ballots, and a federal court rejected Trump’s appeal for presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for interference in the 2020 election.22 23 President Joe Biden accidentally invoked dead politicians and was deemed a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” in a special counsel’s report, which found that he had disclosed classified information following his tenure as vice president.24 25 26 Mexico replaced China as the leading source of imports to the U.S., and a Mississippi attorney said that a man misidentified and killed by police had no constitutional rights because he wasn’t a U.S. citizen.27 28 “The thing about the old days, they the old days,” said the Hawaii Supreme Court after issuing new gun-carrying laws, quoting the HBO crime series The Wire.29 “We’re talking about the ones that are on crack, and they break your door down, and they’re standing in your living room growling and tearing your house apart,” a Florida legislator explained to a state committee regarding a bill to remove most penalties for killing bears without authorization.30 Days after record-breaking storms killed nine people in California, a self-driving car in San Francisco’s Chinatown was set alight by a firework thrown during Lunar New Year celebrations.31 32 OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, is reportedly seeking up to $7,000,000,000,000 to overhaul the semiconductor industry with AI chips.33
Federal safety regulators warned families of “TV tip-overs” ahead of the Super Bowl, which the Kansas City Chiefs won in overtime, and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg reminded Tesla owners not to wear Apple’s virtual reality headset while driving.34 35 36 A law in Australia introduced “the right to disconnect” outside of work hours, scientists discovered a hidden ocean on Saturn’s smallest moon, and a study found that Viagra may help protect men against dementia.37 38 39 Two JetBlue planes collided on the tarmac at Boston’s Logan Airport, and a cruise ship hosting a music festival promising “six terrifying nights of music and madness” crashed into a pier in Jamaica.40 41 An FBI contractor arrested for stealing a car from the bureau’s headquarters said he had received “coded messages” that he was in danger, and Fairfax County police will purchase 450 “Spider-Man-like” lassos for subduing suspects.42 43 “I’m on top of the world. I got a broom, like I’m sweeping my grandma’s living room,” said the rapper Killer Mike days after winning three awards at the Grammys, where he was handcuffed and escorted out for an alleged misdemeanor.44 45 The entry “Taylor Drift” won a snowplow-naming contest in Minnesota.46 A boy got trapped in a claw machine in Brisbane, and a woman who fell into a New Hampshire dumpster survived being compacted with the trash four times.47 48 Climbers of Mount Everest will now be required to bring their poop back to base camp; “Our mountains have begun to stink,” said a local leader.49 —Becky Zhang
