Black Sea deal; Signal app; Return to office order
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Today’s top stories
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard appeared before U.S. senators yesterday to answer tough questions about how the security breach that led to secret war plans being shared with a journalist could have happened. They were both included in a group chat on the app Signal, along with The Atlantic‘s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. Other officials in the chat discussed the U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen. The messaging app isn’t a secure U.S. government communications system.
- Ratcliffe stated that U.S. officials are allowed to use Signal to communicate for government work purposes. He and Gabbard said there was no classified information in the chat from an intelligence perspective, ‘s Ryan Lucas tells Up First. They continued by saying that when it comes to specific military information about the airstrikes, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has the authority to determine what is classified. Lucas says top House and Senate Democrats called for an investigation into the breach.
As federal employees return to the office under the Trump administration’s orders, some have found shortages of desks, Wi-Fi, toilet paper and more. One remote employee of the Department of Agriculture was given a list of possible locations they would have to work from. One was described as a storage unit. Confused, the employee drove to the location and it turned out to be just that — a storage facility.
- The owner of the storage unit told the employee that the federal government rents a unit at that location to store a boat. The employee won’t be working out of that unit. Their situation is one example of the kind of confusion some federal workers are experiencing around the return-to-work mandate, ‘s Shannon Bond says. In many cases, offices are not equipped for the influx of workers. Bond says bringing people back into offices that can’t accommodate them will cost the government money.
After three days of negotiations in Saudi Arabia, the White House announced yesterday that Ukraine and Russia have made new progress toward a peace deal. Both countries tentatively agreed to stop fighting in the Black Sea, ensuring that free commercial shipping can resume in that region.
- The White House has shifted tactics away from a full ceasefire to pursuing smaller limited ceasefires that work toward a wider peace, ‘s Charles Maynes says. It’s not clear when the partial ceasefire would begin or if conditions for it could be met. The Kremlin issued a statement saying the deal would only come into force once the U.S. lifted sanctions-related entanglements to Russian maritime trade. Essentially, Moscow wants the U.S. to resolve complaints that doomed an earlier U.N.-brokered deal that attempted to get Russian and Ukrainian grain and fertilizer out to world markets. Maynes says the U.S. can’t remove all of the barriers without European allies agreeing to do much of the same.
Today’s listen
Life advice
- Battery induction stoves are part of New York’s plan to eliminate fossil fuels from large buildings. They use magnetism to heat pans.
- Heat pumps use less energy to heat and cool homes than traditional furnaces and air conditioners. They can require expensive modifications, but now manufacturers are developing them with window-installation capabilities.
- Plug-in heat pump water heaters are designed to replace gas water heaters. Laura Nakamura, who made the switch last year, says it wasn’t a significant overhaul to make the change. “It’s just as hot. And the water is still just as wet.”
3 things to know before you go
- Bears across Europe are competing in March Napness, an annual bracket-style tournament to determine which hibernating bears will remain in hibernation the longest.
- On New Year’s Eve of 2022, Eleanor Heginbotham spent the holidays alone for the first time in decades after her husband died. To lift her spirits, she visited the post office to mail holiday cards. When she tried to leave, her car wouldn’t start. In a moment that reminds her of a poem, a group of strangers stepped in to help her. One of those unsung heroes would later become a friend.
- Oscar-winning director Hamdan Ballal was released yesterday after being attacked by Israeli settlers on Monday and later detained by Israeli security forces, his lawyer tells . Ballal is one of the directors of No Other Land, a documentary about Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.