Good Evening,
It's Monday, February 22nd. |
Garland: Capitol Riot Investigation Top Priority
Judge Merrick B. Garland today said the United States faces “a more dangerous period” from domestic extremists than it faced at the time of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and praised the early stages of the investigation into the “white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol” on January 6 as appropriately aggressive. Garland said the Capitol Riot investigation will be his first priority if confirmed, as the NYT reports. |
Vaccine Data Shows Decline in Infections, Hospitalization after First Dose
In the first study to describe the nationwide effectiveness of two vaccines, researchers in Scotland reported today that both the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca shots greatly reduced hospital admissions from Covid-19 among the elderly—by up to 85 percent and 94 percent, respectively, as the Washington Post reports. |
Treasury Climate Stress Tests
The U.S. Treasury may be able to facilitate climate stress tests on U.S. banks and insurers, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said today, though the tests likely wouldn’t impose capital requirements or limit dividend payouts as existing stress tests do, as the WSJ reports. |
Executive Education
CSIS is now accepting applications for the Spring 2021 Belt and Road Executive Course. Drawing insights from leading experts and the CSIS Reconnecting Asia Project, this course reveals how China's $1 trillion foreign policy effort is impacting commercial and strategic realities on the ground. |
Coronavirus Crisis Update
The Coronavirus Crisis Update podcast brings you the latest updates and analysis from CSIS experts and the leaders directing the global response. Past guests include NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, IHME Director Dr. Chris Murray, Covid-19 Advisory Group members Dr. Luciana Borio and Dr. Celine Gounder, chef Jose Andres, and more. Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify. |
Video Shorts
Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Data Unpacked,” Testify,” “What's Happening,” “Preview,” and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel! |
In That Number
56,159
There were 56,159 people hospitalized as of February 21, the lowest since November 7.
Source: The Covid Tracking Project |
Critical Quote
“I believe the problem is there’s no willingness to work together. Until they overcome that, I don’t know what will happen.”
— Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-KS) |
iDeas Lab
New satellite imagery from CSIS's Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative finds that Vietnam continues to make modest improvements to its facilities in the Spratly Islands. In the past two years, West Reef has seen significant new construction, including several coastal defense installations, administrative buildings, concrete pads and bunkers, and a large tower structure presumably for communications or signals intelligence.
The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and multimedia. |
Optics
(Photo credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images.) A car carrying the body of protester Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing heads a convoy during her funeral service, after she was shot during a rally against the military coup. |
Recommended Reading
“The Smart Way out of the Middle East,” by CSIS’s Jon Alterman. |
This Town Tomorrow
Tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m., the CSIS Americas Program hosts Brazilian minister of the economy Paulo Guedes to discuss Brazil’s potential accession to the OECD.
Then, at 3:00 p.m., the CSIS Missile Defense Project will hold a conversation on missile defense and defeat with the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John Hyten.
Later, at 7:00 p.m., the Stimson Center and Sejong Institute will webcast a moderated discussion on the Biden and the Moon administrations’ approaches to North Korea, as well as the implications for inter-Korean, U.S.-North Korea, and U.S.-South Korea relations.
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Video
SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna today joined CSIS’s Suzanne Spaulding to discuss the recent hack that compromised government and business networks across the United States. Watch the event here.
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Podcasts
In this inaugural episode of CSIS's newest podcast, host Mariana Campero speaks with Kim Breier, former assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, and Luis de la Calle, the former under secretary at the Mexican Ministry of Economy, to discuss Mexico’s economic and political priorities.
Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts. |
Smiles
In the early 1990s, the Spin Doctors and Blues Traveler were two of the best rock bands around. They weren’t breaking new ground in the way that Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and other Seattle bands would alter the sonic architecture in the coming years, but they were a blast to experience live and to jam with on the radio.
That’s why I loved seeing this video that the Spin Doctors recently put out of their two most popular tracks from their multi-platinum selling record “Pocket Full of Kryptonite” (1991). The other thing I loved about this video is that these guys are all about the same age as I am, and I remember hanging out with them at the Wetlands in New York and the Bayou in DC when we were in our early 20s. It’s nice to see that they’ve aged…gracefully: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPa0CiWeoOI. |
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I invite you to email me at [email protected] and follow
me on Twitter @handrewschwartz
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