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Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Tuesday, February 22, 2022.
RUSSIA ORDERS FORCES INTO UKRAINE
Following a fiery speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a decree ordering troops into two Russia-backed separatist territories in Ukraine. Putin said the forces will help "maintain peace" as violence breaks out in the region. The order doesn't spell out when forces will enter the country, but it's the biggest escalation yet of the conflict, which has helped stoke long-simmering tensions in the eastern part of the country. The White House said that it will soon issue an executive order prohibiting "new investment, trade, and financing” in the breakaway regions, in addition to tougher sanctions on Russia if it actually invades. NYT
CANADA CLEARS CAPITAL
Canada's winter of protests, blockades and encampments appears to be coming to an end. Police on Sunday arrested more than 190 demonstrators and towed nearly 80 vehicles in the nation's capital of Ottawa, effectively ending the weeks-long upheaval. Now the country's parliament is getting ready for a vote that will accept or reject Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's continued use of emergency powers to quell the protests, including freezing transactions suspected of funding organizers. “The situation is still fragile, the state of emergency is still there,” Trudeau said. WP
THE QUEEN IS SICK
Buckingham Palace on Monday announced that Queen Elizabeth II has tested positive for COVID-19. The 95-year-old British monarch is so far experiencing only "mild cold-like" symptoms, but the news nonetheless sent shockwaves across the country. The royal court spent much of the last two years trying to insulate the queen from infection, which proved impossible in recent weeks as she started attending public events again. While the queen is vaccinated, her advanced age and past health issues have the country on high alert. BBC
RETURN OF THE GUAC
The guacamole supply chain is back to business after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Friday that imports of Mexican avocados could now resume after a short ban. The agency last week paused imports of the popular fruit — yes, fruit — after a U.S. plant inspector was threatened. Reports of the industry's close ties to drug cartels followed, while growers and trade officials warned that the ban would be devastating to the Mexican economy. (Nearly all of the avocados in the U.S. come from Mexico). Both countries worked quickly to resolve the security concerns, and now the green stuff is flowing once more. CNBC
RENT PRICES SOARING
The rent is too darn high, according to a Realtor.com analysis. Across the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, median rent was up a whopping 19.3 percent in December from a year ago. While rent costs have outpaced inflation for years, the trend is now accelerating, even as the consumer price index showed prices overall rising 7.5 percent in January. Experts point to low vacancies, a nationwide housing shortage, and a lack of rent control laws, as property owners jack up prices in response to soaring demand and more limited supply. The rent hikes continued into 2022, with the month-over-month increase hitting a 20-year high in January. AP
EPSTEIN CONFIDANT DIES IN PRISON
Jean-Luc Brunel, a modeling agent with close ties to the late U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, was found dead in his jail cell on Saturday. The death is currently under investigation at the Paris prison where Brunel was being held on charges of rape and sex trafficking of minors. His alleged victims expressed dismay that their abuser would never face trial, echoing the disappointment of Epstein's accusers after he was found dead in prison back in 2019. AP
MCDONALD'S PIG PROBLEM
Carl Icahn has a problem with McDonald's pork suppliers. The billionaire investor is waging a proxy fight for two board seats aimed at getting the fast-food chain to stop sourcing from suppliers that use tiny "gestation crates" for holding pregnant sows. Nearly a decade ago, the company promised to stop buying from suppliers that used the crates by 2022. Now Icahn is arguing the company has failed to follow through, and using his leverage as a stakeholder to make it happen. Icahn notably pioneered activist investing, but this is one of the first times he's challenged a company's board around ethical sourcing practices. WSJ
PLANE SPOTTING
A new sensation is sweeping England: plane spotting. Last Friday, as 122-miles-per-hour winds buffeted the country, upwards of 200,000 people tuned into a live stream showing harrowing footage of planes struggling to land at Heathrow Airport in London. The source of the stream, Jerry Dyer's Big Jet TV YouTube channel, started as a niche interest for flight nerds and audio-visual geeks, but it now looks primed to become a national hobby. Dyer, who streams live every Wednesday or when there's windy conditions, said: "It's a fantastic thing to watch." CNN
NFT MARKETPLACE HACKED
The tight-knit community of people buying, selling and creating NFTs (non-fungible tokens) was rocked over the weekend by a hack that targeted users on the popular OpenSea marketplace. Some are blaming the hack a “phishing attack,” as in it slipped through an email, but others are pointing to lax cybersecurity at OpenSea. The jury is still out on the causes, but in the meantime, the hacker has made off with several high-value NFTs worth millions of dollars. VICE
LEFTOVERS: BURNING CARGO
Some news stories just smack of the current moment, and reports of a cargo ship catching fire in the Atlantic Ocean have 2022 written all over them. The 650-foot ship was loaded with electric Porches headed for Rhode Island, and while it's unclear if EV batteries started the fire, they are certainly making putting it out harder. The battery-fueled fire has been burning since last Wednesday, as the ship drifts 200 miles off the coast of the Azores. Supply chain issues are a dime a dozen these days, and the electric vehicle boom seems to generate a headline a day, but who could have predicted a floating bonfire of sports cars? THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL
