News roundup for Tue, Mar 8, 2022 – The Prepared

Editor’s note: Thanks to everyone who gave feedback! If you have any news items or intel that you think we should feature, drop the links in the comments section of the most recent roundup.

Ukraine

Talks between Russia and Ukraine are not going very well—two previous attempts have been made for a ceasefire to allow Ukrainians to evacuate cities under siege, but violations of those ceasefires have occurred each time. A third attempt is to be made. There is no sign of a truce on the horizon despite the involvement and encouragement of many world leaders. 48 different nations have supplied Ukraine with monies, military assets, or assistance so far during the war. Putin is demonstrably upset about the assistance countries are giving Ukraine and he is keeping tabs on countries he deigns as having committed “unfriendly actions.” Over 1.5 million refugees have fled Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russians are rushing to shop so that they can get needed items before the economy gets worse. Store shelves are not looking too hot in Ukraine. The Russian economy is expected to contract another 35% in the second quarter. Some Russian workers are already having to strike because they haven’t been paid.

Russia may have attacked and sunk an Estonian cargo ship off the coast of Odessa. The UK has doubled the number of troops it has stationed in Estonia and tanks and other military assets are being shored up in the Baltics as well:

🇬🇧 and 🇪🇪 are close @NATO partners, working to bolster European security & in support of 🇺🇦.

The UK has doubled the number of troops in Estonia and sent more vehicles.

Defence Ministers @BWallaceMP and @MoD_Estonia Kalle Laanet met today to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/DLdoFHQJqN

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 3, 2022

Elon Musk is sending Starlink Satellites to help Ukrainians connect to the internet. The problem with this? The signal can be triangulated and used to target those who use it:

Re: @elonmusk‘s starlink donation.

Good to see.

But remember: if #Putin controls the air above #Ukraine, users’ uplink transmissions become beacons… for airstrikes.

Some background 1/ pic.twitter.com/0p6J87TtUF

— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) February 27, 2022

Ukraine is pushing to rapidly integrate its grid with the European Union, to keep electricity flowing if major plants are taken down.

Supply chain

UK dockworkers and US West Coast dockworkers are refusing to load or unload Russian cargo.

Wheat prices have essentially doubled. Corn prices are also spiking. Russia produces not just wheat, but a huge portion of the fertilizers used around the globe. Some countries, especially in the Middle East and North Africa, are at high risk for famine in the wake of the war-disrupted grain supply—some are already calling for help:

Wheat prices 📈 pic.twitter.com/YSsViMwm7f

— Ryan Petersen (@typesfast) March 5, 2022

The cost of gas is soaring in the US—it’s nearly $7/gallon in some regions of Los Angeles County. The national average is about $4/gallon right now.

Pandemic

Remember that, starting this week, you can order a new round of free tests, even if you already had ordered them in the past.

Hong Kong, South Korea, and New Zealand are getting absolutely slammed by BA.2—this is concerning because these countries were once so tightly controlling spread. Either BA.2 is particularly nasty, or this is simply what happens when a mutant strain finally lands in a “no COVID” zone:

4 Asian-Pacific countries have experienced severe Omicron waves, but only 1 has an extremely high death toll. Why? /1@OurWorldInData pic.twitter.com/SOEx7K0vsc

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) March 5, 2022

People who have recovered from COVID are still having significant morbidity from their previous infections. The best policy is not getting it. These “living with COVID” government approaches that many countries are adopting are problematic because they’re giving people a false sense of safety:

🚨: If not for the war in Europe, the story below might’ve been one of world’s biggest today. The largest-ever study comparing those who got COVID-19 and recovered and those who never got infected reveals major lasting health problems for the former group. https://t.co/1ihdgyEpno

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 5, 2022

General COVID statistics readout for the US:

U.S. COVID update:

– New cases: 5,010
– Average: 46,575 (-405)
– States reporting: 10/50
– In hospital: 32,890 (-1,228)
– In ICU: 6,480 (-192)
– New deaths: 157
– Average: 1,545 (-)

More data: https://t.co/YDZSbYO7l7

— BNO Newsroom (@BNODesk) March 7, 2022

The global death toll is approaching 6 million deaths. If we calculate excess deaths the actual toll could be about 14 million.

The rest

Lake Powel has dropped to the lowest level it’s ever reached, only 24% of its capacity. The Lake is the second-largest reservoir in the country and it supplies hydroelectric power to Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Nebraska. If it drops much lower those states could lose a significant portion of their power supply. Water will have to be released from smaller reservoirs to prevent this from happening.

There was a deadly tornado in Iowa on Saturday, killing seven people. Impacted areas are facing $1 billion in damage.

A Sarajevo survivor shares tips on how to survive a war zone as a civilian.

In good news, the US unemployment rate fell from 4% to 3.8% in February.

In even better news, the United Nations has started negotiations on a global treaty to restrict the growth of plastic pollution.