Good Evening,
It's Thursday, February 25th. |
India and Pakistan Announce Cease-fire for First Time in Nearly 20 Years
India and Pakistan announced today that their armed forces would cease firing across their shared border, the first such step since 2003 and a potentially significant move toward reducing tensions between the two rivals, as the Washington Post reports.
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New York Officials, Others Downplay Concern over New Coronavirus Variant
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s chief medical adviser on Thursday downplayed the results of two studies showing that a new coronavirus variant found in New York City in November may be more resistant to vaccines now being administered, as Reuters reports. |
Facebook Takes a Side, Barring Myanmar Military After Coup
Facebook said late Wednesday that it had barred Myanmar’s military from its platforms, weeks after the country’s fragile democratic government was overthrown in a military coup. The move, which also bars military-owned businesses from advertising on Facebook, plunged the social network more directly into Myanmar’s post-coup politics. The decision left little question that the company was taking the side of a pro-democracy movement against a military government that had abruptly seized power, as the NYT reports. |
Executive Education
Navigating U.S. Foreign Assistance features a hands-on study of the latest trends and techniques today’s international development and humanitarian leaders need to successfully maximize their impact. Through interactive seminars, expert-led case studies, and a culminating crisis simulation, participants will join a diverse network of industry professionals and pair their own unique experience with CSIS’s rich array of coaching resources. Register here. |
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
80%
From late December to early February, new cases among nursing home residents fell by more than 80 percent, nearly double the rate of improvement in the general population.
Source: NYT |
Critical Quote
“No one can predict the course of the pandemic. This really depends on our individual and collective measures.”
— Hans Kluge, W.H.O. Europe director |
iDeas Lab
The latest CSIS China Power Project feature breaks down SIPRI data on the global arms industry and explores China's efforts to develop its defense industrial base through efforts like military-civil fusion.
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: Nipah Dennis/AFP/Getty Images.) Airport workers transport a shipment of Covid-19 vaccines at the Kotoka International Airport as Ghana received the first shipment of Covid-19 vaccines from the Covax global Covid-19 vaccination programme. |
Recommended Reading
“A Post-Covid-19 Reset: The Future of Africa’s Foreign Partnerships,” by CSIS’s Judd Devermont. |
This Town Tomorrow
Tomorrow, at 12:00 p.m., the CSIS Defending Democratic Institutions Project host the second of its SolarWinds conversation about the lessons learned, implications of, and the path forward from the recent breach.
And, at 10:00 a.m., Acting Air Force Secretary John Roth participates in a fireside chat about aerospace warfare with the Air Force Association.
Later, at 2:00 p.m., Washington Post Live invites former Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a discussion about the Biden administration's foreign policy priorities. |
Video
Yesterday, CSIS hosted a panel of experts to consider the options available to the Biden administration to re-engage with Iran over its nuclear program, especially the “freeze for freeze” arrangement whereby Iran would freeze aspects of its nuclear activities in exchange for increased access to money. Watch the full video here.
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Podcasts
The second episode of Unpacking Impact features David McCormick, CEO of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds. Tune in for more on the crisis at the Capitol, addressing the opportunity gap, and our vulnerability to cyberattacks.
Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts. |
Smiles
Rock aficionados talk about the incredible string of albums that David Bowie stitched together from 1971’s “Hunky Dory” through 1983’s “Let’s Dance.” It is an astonishing body of work.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the five masterwork records the Police issued beginning in ’78 with “Outlandos d’Amour” through 1983’s “Synchronicity.” These days, it’s not the monster hits from these records that compel me—maybe those tracks never did as great as they are. Typically, when I listen to the Police records, I’m not cueing up “Roxanne” from Outlandos (1978), “Message in a Bottle” from “Regatta de Blanc” (1979), “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” from “Zenyatta Mondatta” (1980), “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” from “Ghost in the Machine” (1981) or “Every Breath You Take,” from “Synchronicity” (1983).
I’m drawn to tracks like “Hole in My Life” (’78), “Voices Inside My Head” (’80), “Secret Journey” (’81), and “Tea in the Sahara” (’83). And then there’s “Deathwish” from “Regatta de Blanc” (’79)… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQYjUimOi3E
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