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Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Thursday, February 24, 2022:
RUSSIA INVADES
Russian President Vladimir Putin last night officially launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine. In a televised speech at 6 a.m. local time, Putin said the goal of the operation was to demilitarize rather than occupy the country in an effort to support the Russian-backed separatist territories that formed in eastern Ukraine in 2014. He also offered a stern warning to the rest of the world as they weigh their responses: “Anyone who tries to interfere with us, or even more so, to create threats for our country and our people, must know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences as you have never before experienced in your history.” President Joe Biden responded that “the world will hold Russia accountable," as reports trickled in of explosions in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. NY TIMES
CORRECTION TERRITORY
None of this bodes well for the markets. The S&P 500 sunk deeper into correction territory on Wednesday, as investors weighed the economic repercussions of war in Ukraine. The impact on oil and gas prices, already elevated globally, has been top of mind, especially in Europe, which depends on Russia for a third of its natural gas. Adding to the uncertainty, Biden on Wednesday imposed sanctions on the company behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany. The U.S. has long pressed Germany to scrap the project, but the country has struggled to balance its energy needs with geopolitical commitments CHEDDAR
VACCINATION DRIVE EBBS
The U.S. vaccination drive is slowing to a crawl as the omicron wave recedes. The number of people getting their first shot is down to 90,000 per day, which is the lowest daily rate since the vaccination campaign began in earnest back in December 2020. The drop-off is especially concerning here in the U.S., where just 76 percent of the population has received at least one shot, and less than 65 percent are fully vaccinated. Public health officials are also concerned about a fast-spreading new omicron variant, which now accounts for a third of global cases, and is fueling worries that the current pullback in COVID restrictions could be premature.
CANADA UNFREEZES ACCOUNTS
Canada is now telling banks to unfreeze the bank accounts of individuals who helped organize the recent trucker-led protests against COVID restrictions. The move marks a reversal for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his liberal government, which had insisted the emergency measure was necessary to combat illegal activity at the time. The policy had gotten significant backlash from liberals and conservatives alike before it was rescinded. WSJ
Meanwhile, Washington, DC, is bracing for its own possible wave of trucker protests ahead of Biden's State of the Union address next week. Under the banner of "Freedom Convoy 2022," multiple groups are calling for the administration to end all COVID restrictions and vaccine mandates. While it is still unclear if the truckers will come out in force, the Department of Defense has approved the deployment of 700 National Guard Troops as a precaution. WSJ
TRUMP CHINA POLICY SCRAPPED
A Trump-era program known as the China Initiative, which aimed to combat trade espionage and cybercrime, is getting scrapped. The Department of Justice on Wednesday announced that it is effectively ending the program in favor of a fresh approach that looks more broadly at threats from other hostile nations, not just China. One reason for the overhaul is that critics accused the existing program of having an ethnic and racial bias and targeting innocent Chinese American citizens, as well as creating a climate of fear and paranoia at U.S. universities. CNN
WILDFIRES GETTING WORSE
A new U.N. report said wildfires are getting worse globally due to a combination of climate change and changing land use patterns. The problem spans from the Western U.S. to eastern Australia, and could produce an unhealthy spike in smoke pollution as well as a range of other problems. Exacerbating the problem is the vicious cycle of global warming: higher temperatures leads to more fires, which leads to more carbon in the atmosphere, which leads to more warming and more fires. AP
DC TO CRYPTO PIPELINE
The revolving door between Washington, DC, and the private sector is getting a whole lot of traffic these days as former government officials flock to crypto companies in droves. New research has found that nearly 240 officials from across the federal government now work in the crypto sector, and that many of these hires came directly from agencies that regulate the financial sector. The exodus lines up neatly with efforts by the crypto industry to ramp up lobbying as lawmakers and regulators weigh new rules for the sector. CHEDDAR
CALL OF DUTY DELAYED
Mark your calendars, gamers, the new Call of Duty game isn't coming out until 2023. The popular first-person-shooter franchise has put out a new title every year since 2005, but now Activision Blizzard is breaking that streak with a slightly longer release schedule. The company reportedly decided to make the change after the most recent release didn't meet expectations. In the meantime, the goal is to release additional content for its existing titles to hold fans over. BLOOMBERG
OSCARS SLIM DOWN
The notoriously long-winded Oscar ceremony is getting drastically slimmed down in a bid to boost falling ratings. The 94th Academy Awards will present eight additional awards off-air, including film editing, production design, sound, makeup and hairstyling, music (original score) and the three short film awards (documentary, live-action, and animated). The announcement is already getting backlash from movie fans who see the change as a diss to filmmakers. If it's any consolation, those speeches will appear in edited form during the broadcast. CHEDDAR
LEFTOVERS: HYPERDUPE
Virgin Hyperloop is changing course. The futuristic high-speed transportation system, which was originally envisioned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is no longer planning to carry passengers and will instead focus on moving freight. The shift was highly controversial within the company, and culminated in the firing of almost half of its employees last Friday. The news is also a blow to transit-heads who were looking forward to getting shot through a vacuum at 600 miles per hour. Now it looks like that privilege could be reserved for our Amazon packages. INSIDER
