'Eager To Splurge'

What You Need To Know

Today’s posts that caught my eye:

1. The Child Tax Credit expired at the end of last year. New Columbia University research finds that “the number of American children in poverty spiked dramatically in January. The Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University said that the child poverty rate rose from 12% in December 2021 to 17% last month, an approximately 41% increase. The study found that an additional 3.7 million children are now in poverty relative to the end of December, with Black and Latino children seeing the biggest percentage point increases.”

2. Appropriate and devastating analysis from the WaPo on the disaster the the Olympics figure skating became: “On Thursday night, the sport did what the Court of Arbitration for Sport declined to do after her positive drug test shook these Beijing Olympics. It took action and handed down the cruelest punishment possible. The result broke the child.”

3. Americans are finally emerging from the pandemic eager to splurge on everything from travel and sports events to restaurants, cruises and theme parks, notes the WSJ.

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The World

Wall Street and European stocks sank as the US said Russia was on the brink of invading Ukraine within several days. The Nasdaq faced the brunt of the losses, sliding 2.9%, while the S&P 500 closed down 2.1%. The market declines this year have wiped more than $3tn off the value of US stocks, with the S&P 500 down over 8%. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US ambassador to the UN, said in a tweet that “the evidence on the ground is that Russia is moving towards an imminent invasion.” (Financial Times)

Violence escalated in eastern Ukraine, with Russian-backed separatists and authorities in Kyiv trading accusations over cease-fire violations along the front line separating the two sides as Western governments said Moscow continued to mass troops on the borders of its smaller neighbor. Russia submitted a UN report that formally leveled allegations Russian leaders have made repeatedly in recent weeks—that Ukraine is pursuing a “genocide” against Russian speakers. Western officials dismiss those accusations as a disinformation effort to justify military action against Kyiv. (Wall Street Journal)

• Russia expelled U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Bart Gorman. The move was announced on Thursday but a senior State Department official said he left last week. (Reuters)

China has spent at least $8.8B to host the Winter Olympics, with the cost to retrofit or build a dozen new venues almost double the original budget, despite a pledge to ensure the Games would be “economical.” The Chinese government has disclosed little about the costs of the Games, which Beijing has sought to use as a showcase for its rising global status. But dozens of procurement and bidding documents show that officials spared little expense. Making enough artificial snow for the skiing events in Yanqing, 90km from Beijing, has also been a challenge. China spent about Rmb10bn to turn an undeveloped mountain valley into an Olympic ski resort and sliding complex, including Rmb755m to build a system to pump in water to produce snow. (Financial Times)

• Kamila Valieva’s torment will be the sad legacy of the Beijing Olympics. The Russian figure skater, just 15 and lost in doping purgatory, glued herself to the anguish for 2½ minutes. It hurt like 2½ hours. On Thursday night, the sport did what the Court of Arbitration for Sport declined to do after her positive drug test shook these Beijing Olympics. It took action and handed down the cruelest punishment possible. The result broke the child. (Washington Post)

Police said action to bring an end to the demonstrations that have paralyzed Canada’s capital for several weeks was “imminent,” as officers descended on the downtown core and authorities began cordoning off a wide swath of the city with nearly 100 checkpoints. “It’s time to go,” interim Police Chief Steve Bell, speaking at a news conference, told the protesters who have remained defiant in the face of repeated warnings. “Your time in our city has come to an end and you must leave.” (Washington Post)

• Canada was warned before protests that violent extremists infiltrated convoy. Intelligence assessments warned in late January that it was ‘likely’ extremists were involved in protests. (The Guardian)

The death toll from mudslides and floods in Brazil's colonial-era city of Petropolis rose to 117 on Thursday and was expected to increase further as the region reels from the heaviest rains in almost a century. (Reuters)

Rise up Movement @Riseupmovt

Brazil : At least 78 people found dead after severe flooding in #Petropolis Brazil

The UK’s Met Office has issued a rare “stay indoors” warning as the worst storm in 30 years is set to batter Britain with 100mph winds on Friday. The army is on standby as Storm Eunice threatens to send debris flying, blow off roofs and bring down power lines. A red weather warning — the highest alert — is in force for winds in the southwest, with an amber warning across most of England until 9pm. Yellow alerts for wind and snow are in place in the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland until 6pm. (The Times)

Nearly three-quarters of Americans have some Covid immunity. (The Guardian)

The number of American children in poverty spiked dramatically in January after the expiration of President Biden’s expanded child benefit at the end of last year. The Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University said that the child poverty rate rose from 12% in December 2021 to 17% last month, an approximately 41% increase. The study found that an additional 3.7 million children are now in poverty relative to the end of December, with Black and Latino children seeing the biggest percentage point increases. (Washington Post, Columbia University)

As midterms near, Democratic backlash against far-left plans is growing. While such proposals helped channel anger against President Donald Trump, many Democrats now see them as extreme and harmful to their prospects. As Democrats look fearfully toward the midterm elections, many of the party’s candidates, strategists and voters are recoiling from some of the left-wing proposals that gained prominence during the Trump administration. While they helped channel widespread anger with the former president’s rhetoric and policies while he was in office, many Democrats now see them as too extreme and harmful to Democratic prospects this fall. Others who opposed them previously are speaking up more emphatically. The result is a growing backlash against more-liberal officeholders, challengers and plans. In multiple states, Democrats running in competitive areas are scrambling to push back against the “defund the police” movement embraced by far-left activists, with some forced to try explaining past associations with the controversial slogan. (Washington Post)

Major companies are not living up to the promises they have made to reduce their carbon emissions to zero. An analysis of publicly available corporate documents, such as annual sustainability reports, shows that 25 companies — which together are responsible for about 5% of global emissions — are actually committing to do far less. Of the 25 companies, selected to represent a cross-section of industries, just 3 — the Danish shipping giant Maersk, the UK communications firm Vodafone and the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom — have clearly committed to deep decarbonization. Thirteen of the 25 provide detailed plans that would, on average, curb emissions by just 40%, rather than 100%, over the next few decades; the other 12 companies have not provided any details about what exactly they are committing to do. (Nature)

The percentage of U.S. adults who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual has increased to a new high of 7.1%, which is double the percentage from 2012, when Gallup first measured it. (Gallup)

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Economy