Two epidemics

Opioid overdoses at record levels; President Joe Biden announced unilateral sanctions on Russia for election interference and hacking. Tonight's Sentences was written by Greg Svirnovskiy. TOP NEWS Opioid-fueled drug overdoses rise in lockdown David Gannon/AFP via Getty Images - Opioid deaths in America reached new highs last year, as Americans found themselves isolated and increasingly out of work. More than 87,000 Americans were killed in fatal overdoses leading up to September 2020, a 29 percent increase from the previous year. The biggest spike occurred in April and May 2020, just after lockdowns began in large swaths of the country. [[Axios / Bryan Walsh](] - A report on Cook County on Illinois’s opioid epidemic concluded the increased overdoses likely came from a variety of factors, including changes in supply. Support services and naloxone distribution centers also have had trouble getting help for people who overdose. [[US News & World Report / Maryann Mason](] - Fentanyl use is spreading. The synthetic opioid has a much higher potency than traditional heroin varieties, and is far deadlier. It was at first localized in the Northeast, but has since become widely used across the country. [[The Economist](] - Fentanyl is deadliest when laced with stimulants like cocaine or methamphetamine. While opioid deaths used to accumulate in predominantly White suburban areas, the highest increase in death from opioids has more recently been among Black Americans. [[New York Times / Abby Goodnough](] - All this comes as a tool that the federal government has used in the nationwide crackdown on opioids may soon lose congressional backing. [[Associated Press / Michael Balsamo](] [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Biden announces new sanctions on Russia - President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a sweeping new array of sanctions meant to punish Russia for its hacking of federal agencies, 2020 election interference, and alleged attempts to encourage Taliban attacks against US military personnel in Afghanistan. [[NBC News / Alexander Smith, Kristen Welker, Andrea Mitchell, and Abigail Williams](] - 32 entities and individuals are being sanctioned, alongside six companies that aid Russia's cyber program. Biden is also expelling 10 Washington-based Russian diplomats, and he’s barring American banks from buying debt from Russian institutions. [[Axios / Zachary Basu and David Lawler](] - In an early sign that the sanctions were having their intended effect, the ruble dropped to its lowest level since December 2020. [[Bloomberg](] - The Biden administration already implemented one round of economic sanctions toward Russia. That was for the poisoning of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny; Americans had coordinated with the EU and Great Britain in planning those moves, but the latest round is unilateral. [[New York Times / By Julian E. Barnes, David E. Sanger, and Lara Jakes](] - Biden has been active in pushing Vladimir Putin to meet him in a summit hosted by a third country. The move, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said, is key to avoiding a “cycle of confrontation” and could set the two sides up for a “stable and predictable” relationship. [[CNN / Kylie Atwood and Kate Sullivan](] MISCELLANEOUS Europe just surpassed 1 million Covid deaths, according to the WHO. Worldwide, almost 3 million deaths have been linked to Covid-19. Three countries, the United States, Mexico, and Brazil, have had a combined million deaths. [[Associated Press](] - Thailand’s transport minister has Covid-19, as the country grapples with its largest wave to date. Thailand’s cases in the year’s first three months of 2021 are double what the country had all year last year. [[Associated Press / Busaba Sivasomboon and Grant Peck](] - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, rejected initial nuclear deal talks in Vienna as “not worth looking at.” This comes as Iran is beginning to enrich uranium up to 60 percent in response to an attack on its nuclear facilities, likely from Israel. [[Al Jazeera](]. - Numbering roughly 576,000, US jobless claims are at their lowest point since the beginning of the pandemic. The totals come as the economy continues to exceed expectations in bouncing back from Covid-induced recession. [[MarketWatch / Jeffry Bartash](] Help keep Sentences free "I appreciate thoughtful, balanced, educational and informative journalism. ... I love the Sentences format that quickly allows me to sort through various articles when time is scarce." —Mary, Vox Contributor [Contribute]( VERBATIM “I wanted to demonstrate with my visit the ongoing commitment of the United States to the Islamic Republic and the people of Afghanistan. The partnership is changing, but the partnership is enduring.” [[Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaking in Afghanistan Thursday in the wake of President Biden's decision to pull US troops](] LISTEN TO THIS [How to replace everything in the industrialized world]( Climate writer and Vox contributor David Roberts talks with Jessika Trancik, associate professor at the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society at MIT. They discuss many aspects of the vast undertaking to remake our world in response to the realities of climate change. [[Spotify](] [Read more from Vox](#) [Yes, you can be vaccinated and still get Covid-19. 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