March 12: Putin, Ukraine

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NYC health commissioner declares ‘loneliness’ epidemic “57% of residents felt lonely some of the time or often, and 67% felt socially isolated in the prior four weeks.” ..... “Loneliness has been hiding in plain sight for years in America,” the commissioner wrote. “Rigorous scientific studies on the negative health effects of loneliness and social isolation exist — yet public health action has remained uneven.” ......... the need for social interaction is as primordial as the need to eat. ........ the health commissioner’s proposed anti-loneliness initiatives include holding regular community events to facilitate social interaction ....... the health commissioner’s proposed anti-loneliness initiatives include holding regular community events to facilitate social interaction

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Russia’s central bank head ‘is mourning for her economy’ Elvira Nabiullina, noted for her symbolic outfits, wore funereal black when announcing the economic response to sanctions ....... The governor of the central bank of Russia – famed for sending coded messages with her attire – had chosen to dress in funereal black as she warned about the devastating hit to the Russian economy from sweeping sanctions imposed by western governments in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine. ......... Highly respected in the international community, including among some of Putin’s harshest critics, Nabiullina is viewed as a moderniser who reformed the central bank and kept Russia’s economy out of worse trouble despite challenging conditions since taking her post in 2013. ........ “[She is] very highly regarded and respected. Viewed as competent, modest, and honest. ........ “She is trusted by Putin. She has built a lot of elements of fortress Russia – not just foreign exchange reserves but also a domestic payment system and the payment card ‘Mir’ – but I am sure she was not part of the narrow circle making the decision on going to war.” ........ Analysts expect Russia’s economy could be set for a deeper recession this year than the one caused by Covid-19. Sanctions freezing the central bank’s assets have severely limited Nabiullina’s room for manoeuvre. Out of $630bn (£475bn) in foreign currency reserves built up by the central bank – which could have been used to protect the rouble – experts say much of the sum has been rendered useless. ......... “She is a brilliant governor. The war is not her fault,” said one Russian economist based in London. “Putin makes geostrategical decisions with huge economic consequences and leaves it to his team of experienced technocrats to pick up the pieces and sort out the mess.” ........ An ethnic Tatar – the largest minority group in Russia – she was born in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, between the Volga river and Ural mountains, a year after the Cuban missile crisis. ......... she was the first woman to lead the central bank of a G8 country, before Russia’s suspension from the group of rich nations in 2014. ........ “There are signs of panic. It’s extraordinarily serious and it’s going to bring the Russian economy to its knees.”

Kyiv ‘ready to fight’ as Russian forces close in Ukraine capital Ukrainian president warns of ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ as hundreds of thousands of civilians remain under fire across country ........ Air raid sirens and shelling rang out over Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities on Saturday morning amid warnings from western defence officials that the Russians were beginning to gain ground around the capital. ....... But Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the capital was “ready to fight”. He called it a “city under siege”, with checkpoints prepared and supply lines in place. “Kyiv will stand until the end.” ......... “the bulk of Russian ground forces” were around 25km from the centre of Kyiv, while the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol remain encircled and continued to suffer heavy Russian shelling. ......... living conditions in the Kyiv region had deteriorated into a “humanitarian catastrophe” with disrupted gas, heating and water. The Ukrainian president said his country had reached a “strategic turning point” in the conflict. “It is impossible to say how many days we still have [ahead of us] to free Ukrainian land. But we can say we will do it,” he said. “We are already moving towards our goal, our victory.” ............ About 2 million people – half the population of the metropolitan area – had left the capital ....... Continuing Russian bombardments and attacks on civilians in cities across Ukraine have prompted warnings of “an unimaginable tragedy” and a new flurry of alarm from the UN that Russia is committing war crimes. ........ Hundreds of thousands of civilians remain trapped and under fire in Ukrainian cities, but the situation in Mariupol is especially dire. Ten days into Russia’s siege, its population has no access to electricity or mobile phone networks, and water and food are running out. ..........

Zelenskiy accused Russia of refusing to allow people out of Mariupol

....... Belarus might launch an invasion of Ukraine today ........ Ukraine accused Russia of staging “false flag” air attacks on Belarus from Ukraine to provide an excuse for an offensive. ........ Putin and Lukashenko agreed on Friday that Moscow would supply its smaller neighbour with military equipment and mutual support against western sanctions, including on energy prices ......... Foreign combatants have already entered the Ukrainian conflict on both sides, but the Kremlin has ramped up efforts to bring in reinforcements from Syria. Syria’s military has begun recruiting troops from its own ranks to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, promising payments of $3,000 a month – a sum of up to 50 times more than a Syrian soldier’s monthly salary. A furious Zelenskiy accused Russia of hiring “murderers from Syria, a country where everything has been destroyed … like they are doing here to us”. ............ The G7 group of wealthy nations said it would strip Russia of “most favoured nation” status under World Trade Organization rules. ......... and authorities moved to recognise Meta as an “extremist organisation”. ....... The US has also imposed sanctions on a group of Russia’s elite, including billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, three family members of Putin’s spokesman and members of parliament.

Archaeologists Find Evidence for 40,000-year-old Modern Culture in China No sapiens bones were found at Xiamabei, but archaeologists found a pigment-processing industry and miniaturized stone tools far in advance of their broad adoption in prehistoric China ............ Archaic humans began reaching Eurasia at least 2 million years ago, but the timeline of anatomically modern types spreading out of Africa is not known. In any case, by 40,000 years ago modern humans had reached northern Asia, replacing the archaic populations. ...... it seems they developed a unique stone technology culture that would only emerge broadly more than 10,000 years later. ....... Supporting evidence is the separate discovery of modern human remains dating to about 40,000 years ago at nearby Tianyuan Cave and Zhoukoudian Cave. Also a modern skullcap was unearthed at Salkhit and dated to about 34,000 years ago. These discoveries support the theory that the Xiamabei manufacturers were sapiens. ........... The archaeological record argues against the notion of linear, continuous cultural innovation, or of a fully formed set of adaptations that enabled early humans to expand out of Africa and conquer the world.