Good morning. It's Monday, Feb. 17, and we're covering high-level talks between the US and Russia, another blast of winter weather, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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Officials Meet on Ukraine |
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top US officials will meet their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia today to begin discussing a path toward ending the war in Ukraine, according to reports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country had not yet been invited to participate.
The meeting follows a call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week and is the latest in the Trump administration's swift effort to draw down US involvement in the conflict. US officials in recent days have called on Europe to assume more control over its security situation, warned against Ukraine's pending NATO membership, and more.
The shifting dynamics come amid an uncertain time for Western Europe, with Germany—the bloc's largest economic power—set to hold snap elections Sunday. Current Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party has fallen to third place (see polls), behind the center-right Christian Democrats and the nationalist-populist Alternative for Germany (abbreviated as AfD). |
Polar Vortex Returns (... Again) |
The vast majority of the US will see subfreezing temperatures this week, as the latest in a series of winter storms sweeps across the country.
The weather pattern marks the 10th polar vortex to dip down into the contiguous 48 states this winter season, compared to the two to three seen during an average winter. The phenomenon occurs when the polar vortex weakens and destabilizes the polar jet stream, becoming wavy and stretching down into the US (see visualization). Researchers are unsure why it has occurred so frequently this season.
Thermometers are expected to drop below minus 10 degrees in the Dakotas and Upper Midwest, and below or near zero in areas ranging from Kansas to Maine. Regions as far south as Atlanta and Austin, Texas, could reach into the teens. By Wednesday, multiple inches of snow and ice are on track to blanket the Mid-Atlantic. See forecasts here. |
A search is underway for members of the cultlike Zizian group following a series of violent incidents across multiple states. The FBI conducted a search earlier this month in a wooded area near Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where the group had previously rented properties, and the effort follows a deadly shootout with Border Patrol officers in Vermont that left one agent dead.
The Zizians, led by 34-year-old Jack “Ziz” LaSota—who uses female pronouns and allegedly faked a death in 2022—are linked to at least six deaths in three states. The group, composed mainly of young, intelligent computer scientists, is known for its radical veganism and anarchist beliefs. Members often wear long black coats and have been involved in protests and violent confrontations, including an attack on a landlord in California and the double murder of a couple in Pennsylvania.
See more on the known cult members here and a timeline of events here. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> "Conclave" is big winner at 2025 British Academy Film Awards, hauling in four wins, including best film; see full list of BAFTA winners (More) | YouTube TV and Paramount reach deal to keep Paramount channels, including CBS and Nickelodeon, on the streamer (More) |
> Team USA hockey tops Canada 3-1 in 4 Nations Face-Off round-robin, will advance to Thursday's Final (More) | Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker accused by seven more women of sexual misconduct, bringing total accusations to 16 (More) |
> William Byron wins back-to-back Daytona 500 races for NASCAR Cup's season opening victory (More) | Stephen Curry named NBA All-Star game MVP, Mac McClung wins third-straight dunk contest (More) |
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> Apple to add its AI-powered assistant platform, Apple Intelligence, to Vision Pro headsets, along with more immersive content, in coming months (More) | Explore the company's nearly 50-year journey (1440 Topics) |
> Scientists develop synthetic diamond with 40% more toughness than diamonds found naturally on Earth; material was first observed in a meteorite but proved difficult to replicate (More) |
> New study suggests evolution of intelligent life on Earth was much more likely than previously assessed, challenging the current "hard steps" theory (More) |
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> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 0.0%, Dow -0.4%, Nasdaq 0.4%); all three indexes gain on the week, S&P 500 ends near record high (More) | Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, reports $400M in losses in 2024, $3.6M in annual revenue (More) |
> Uber sues DoorDash, accusing the food delivery platform of anticompetitive practices, including threatening restaurants unless they agree to exclusive partnerships (More) |
> Cryptocurrency scams reached at least $10B in 2024, driven by surge in "pig butchering" (More) | How "pig butchering" schemes work (More) |
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> Israel and Hamas complete sixth prisoner swap; 19 Israelis and more than 1,000 Palestinians have been exchanged since first phase of ceasefire went into effect Jan. 19 (More) |
> Justice Department asks judge to drop corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) after seven federal prosecutors, including the top Manhattan official, resign over orders (More) | See previous write-up (More) |
> Trump administration directs federal agencies to begin terminating employees still within their one- to two-year probationary periods (More) | Energy Department attempts to rehire nuclear safety experts laid off in broad firings (More) |
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