Not Today, Cupid

Start your day smarter with the most important world news, plus intriguing and offbeat stories. www.ozy.com [OZY]( [OZY]() Your World. Bold & Bright [Presidential Daily Brief]( Sponsored by [Cariuma]( Start your day smarter with a dossier on the most important world news, rounded off with a shot of intriguing and offbeat stories. Like the president, you deserve no less. Feb 14, 2023 Today Netanyahu’s contentious plans to overhaul the judiciary have left Israel on the brink of “constitutional and social collapse.” At least three people were killed and five critically injured in a shooting at Michigan State University. The sensors from the Chinese spy balloon have been recovered — much to the FBI’s excitement. And Bashar Assad has shown his human side by opening two additional border crossings into quake-stricken Syria. All this and more in today’s PDB. 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Inside the building, lawmakers sang protest songs, wept openly, and even called Netanyahu a “fascist.” While the PM accused the opposition of “deliberately dragging the country into anarchy,” President Isaac Herzog took the unusual step of wading into the debate. In a televised plea he called for all sides to work together to avoid “constitutional and social collapse.” A recent poll showed that just 28% of Israelis support Netanyahu’s proposals, while 50% oppose them. (Source: [Reuters]() MSU Shooting At Least 3 Killed and 5 Wounded, Gunman Is Dead Michigan State University campus was crippled by fear Monday night as a 43-year-old gunman with no apparent connection to the institution launched a deadly attack. The campus was quickly locked down and an intense manhunt ensued.“I thought I was going to die,” said Jane Nodland, a senior nursing major. “It sounded like he was right there.” Students were forced to hide for hours until the suspect was found dead off-campus with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The five injured people remain in critical condition and are being treated at Sparrow Hospital. The gunman and victims have not yet been named. (Source: [NYT]() Picking Up the Pieces Sensors From Chinese Spy Balloon Recovered off SC Coast Crews scouring the waters where a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down Feb. 4 found “significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces.” The FBI’s currently examining the items that also include “large sections of the structure.” Washington is adamant that the balloon was spying on sensitive military sites — but China claims it was a weather-monitoring airship that blew off course. Three other mysterious craft have subsequently been shot down, but National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said there was “no specific reason to suspect that they were conducting surveillance of any kind.” (Sources: [BBC](, [WaPo]() Glimmer of Hope Syria’s Assad Opens More Borders Into Quake Zone Last week’s devastating earthquake has precipitated a rare act of compassion from Bashar Assad. For the first time since the [Syrian civil war began](, President Assad will temporarily reopen two border crossings into the rebel-held northwest. “It’s going to make a big difference,” said a U.N. spokesman. “We are now using just one crossing.” Only eight search teams have entered Syria — compared with 130 in Turkey. While Syria’s official death toll of 5,700 is dwarfed by Turkey’s, it’s unclear how accurate Syrian figures are. There are also thought to be [5.3 million homeless people]( in desperate need of aid in north-west Syria. (Sources: [NYT](, [BBC]() Briefly Here are some things you should know about today: Now or never. U.S. officials warned their Ukrainian counterparts to do their utmost to change the trajectory of the war while weapons and aid from the West are still pouring in. (Source: [WaPo]() Checkmate. Sara Khadem, a promising Iranian chess player who chose not to wear a headscarf at an international tournament, has been forced to go into exile in Spain. (Source: [BBC]() Tragic. At least 20 people were killed and 60 injured when a bus collided with a cash-in-transit vehicle in South Africa. The vehicle drove into oncoming traffic, causing the bus to fall off a bridge and into a river. (Source: [News 24]() [A Special Offer For The OZY Family]( [Cariuma]( Look good while doing good with the cool sustainable sneaker brand, [Cariuma](. With over 20 thousand 5-star reviews and a waitlist that’s just cleared 77k, they’re not only a cult-favorite but have made OZY’s must-have closet staples for years now. Best of all, we’ve gotten OZY readers an exclusive code for 15% off. Use code [OZYFEB]( at checkout. [SHOP NOW]( INTRIGUING ‘A Tremendous Effort’ 8 Countries Eliminated a Tropical Disease Last Year In 2022, Congo eliminated [Guinea worm disease](, a grotesque parasitic infection that often causes disabilities. Uganda and Equatorial Guinea got rid of African sleeping sickness. And Togo, Malawi, Saudi Arabia and Vanuatu gave [trachoma]( the boot. It’s part of a growing trend: in the last 25 years almost 50 countries have eliminated a tropical disease and 11 nations have ditched more than one. “In every case, the outcome is exciting,” said the WHO’s Ibrahima Socé Fall. “Neglected tropical diseases are problems that affect the poorest of the poor, so we are always excited when we see people freed from the diseases.” (Sources: [Nature](, [WHO]() Great Ball of Fire ‘Spectacular’ Asteroid Explodes Over English Channel In the small hours of Monday morning the European Space Agency [tweeted a 15-minute warning](: “A 1-meter meteoroid (small #asteroid) has been detected and is expected to *safely* strike Earth’s atmosphere over northern France ... In the area? Look out for a #ShootingStar!” Night owls on both sides of the English Channel did just that — capturing some [incredible footage]( in the process. “Just saw it and it was magnificent,” tweeted @aljibaalu. “Green like a bright emerald then bright orange really quickly.” It was just the seventh time scientists had accurately predicted an asteroid impact — evidence of the “rapid advancements in global asteroid detection capabilities.” (Sources: [BBC](, [Sky News]() Missing Lynx French Lynx Population Down to 150 Adults — At Most Between 120 and 150 adult Eurasian lynxes remain in France. The big cats once roamed the entire Eurasian land mass — but habitat loss, poaching, inbreeding and traffic collisions have put them under severe pressure. In France, DNA tests revealed that their genetic diversity has been decimated: in practical terms the population has a level of diversity akin to that of just 38 cats. Nathen Huvier, an author on [the study](, said the animals will go locally extinct within 30 years unless something is done. “Reintroduction, replacement of poached lynxes, and exchange of orphan lynxes between care centers, are the best short-term solutions.” (Source: [The Guardian]() Crappy Response German Ballet Director Suspended for Smearing Feces in Critic’s Face Marco Goecke clearly didn’t get the memo about not reading your own reviews. During the interval of a recent show he strode towards Wiebke Huester — a critic who’d been uncomplimentary about one of his productions — and pulled out a bag containing animal feces. “He didn’t just throw it at me … he rubbed it in my face brutally, so the dog poop would stick in my face,” said Huester. The Hannover state opera house said Goecke had violated Huester’s “personal integrity in an unspeakable way” and suspended him. Goecke acknowledged his “choice of means wasn’t super” but defended his right to respond. (Sources: [AP](, [Daily Beast]() Seconds From Disaster UEFA Slammed in Report on 2022 Champions League Final Chaos An independent report commissioned by UEFA into the [mayhem in Paris]( pulled no punches. “UEFA, as event owner, bears primary responsibility for failures which almost led to disaster,” it stated. The theory peddled by UEFA and the French police — that the chaos was caused by thousands of ticketless Liverpool fans — was debunked as “wrongly inflated” and “reprehensible.” The panel was “particularly unimpressed” by the “objectively untrue” evidence given by UEFA’s head of events, concluding: “It is remarkable that no one lost their life … This situation was a near-miss: a term used when an event almost turns into a mass fatality catastrophe.” (Source: [The Guardian]() NOW STREAMING FROM OZY STUDIO COMMUNITY What else are you curious about? 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