📌 Peace Talks, Bolsonaro Charged, More

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US is working toward a “fair“ and “sustainable“ solution to end Russia’s three-year war.

He added that both Moscow and Kyiv would have to make concessions to achieve peace. Rubio offered his assessment after he and other key US officials met for over four hours in Saudi Arabia with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his aides in a first effort toward ending the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy objected to being excluded from the meeting, a position that drew criticism from President Donald Trump. “Today I heard, ‘Well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years,“ Trump said of Ukraine’s leaders. “You should have never started it.“

Zelenskyy postponed a trip to Saudi Arabia that had been scheduled for this week, suggesting that he wanted to avoid his visit being linked to the negotiations. He is due to host the US envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, for talks today.

The US and Russia agreed to “appoint respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible,“ State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement. Bruce characterized the meeting as “an important step forward“ toward peace.

Rubio said Ukraine and European nations would have to be involved in talks on ending the war. He said that if the war is halted, the US would have “extraordinary opportunities … to partner“ with Russia on trade and other global issues.

Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has been charged with leading a conspiracy to cling to power through a military coup.

The South American country’s attorney general, Paulo Gonet, leveled the charges against the radical rightwing populist and several key allies on Tuesday night. He accused Bolsonaro and six key associates of leading a criminal organization with an “authoritarian power project.“

The alleged plot, he wrote, included a plan to poison Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and shoot dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a foe of the former president.

Bolsonaro, who experts say faces 38–43 years in jail, stands accused of being involved in an attempted coup d’état, an armed criminal association, and the violent abolition of the rule of law. He has repeatedly denied breaking any laws and said he was “not at all worried about these accusations.“

News that Bolsonaro was officially charged was welcomed by opposition politicians and progressive Brazilians who despise him for his anti-scientific handling of the Covid pandemic, his hostility to minorities, indigenous communities and the environment, and his attacks on Brazil’s democratic system.

Bolsonaro’s senator son, Flávio Bolsonaro, rejected the charges on X, claiming there was “absolutely NO PROOF against Bolsonaro.“ The case will be considered by Brazil’s supreme court in the first half of this year.

Police discovered a boy and two girls abandoned by their mother and living in squalor for at least five years.

They discovered the boy, 15, and the two girls, 13 and 12, while conducting a welfare check in southeastern Michigan. They had been living without parental guidance since the height of Covid.

All three are in reasonably good health after undergoing initial medical examinations and are scheduled to undergo more in-depth physical and mental health examinations soon, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. They had been living on bread and occasional food delivered by DoorDash and Instacart.

The three youths are recovering while in the care of a social services organization. Their mother is in custody at the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, which is weighing charges. The Oakland County Sheriff's Office raised money to help pay for their medical bills and education.

Bouchard said gaps in the local school enrollment process caused the kids to go missing without notice. None of the three has received any schooling since their abandonment, and they stayed indoors watching TV to pass the time, Bouchard said.

Their father was in prison when the mother abandoned her children, but he was released. In 2022, he obtained a court order enabling him to visit the youths. The mother refused to let him see them.

Over 150 false killer whales have been stranded on a remote beach in Tasmania, Australia.

Of the 157 beached whales, only 90 were still showing signs of life, Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) liaison Brendon Clark said. Officials said they have been unable to refloat the whales and will euthanize them “for animal welfare reasons.“

Beached whales’ survival rates are low, as their bodies are crushed by their weight when outside water. Attempts to return them to sea can be dangerous for rescuers. The whales can weigh anywhere from 1100 – 6600 pounds, and some sunk into the sand where they were stranded.

The stranding was the first by false killer whales in Tasmania since 1974. It wasn't clear what may have caused the stranding, and carcasses would be examined for any clues, authorities said.

Most people are more likely to trust AI to make inconsequential decisions, such as music suggestions, says a study.

Researchers at the University of South Australia assessed responses from nearly 2,000 participants across 20 countries and found that statistical literacy affects trust differently.

People who understand that AI algorithms work through pattern-based predictions with biases were more skeptical of AI's ability to make critical decisions. They found that older people and men were generally more cautious of algorithms as were those in industrialized nations such as Japan, the US, and the UK.

Lead author and human and artificial cognition expert Dr. Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos said the speed at which smart technologies are being used to outsource decisions is outpacing our ability to successfully integrate them into society.

“Our research found that in low-stakes scenarios, such as restaurant recommendations or music selection, people with higher levels of statistical literacy were more likely to trust algorithms,“ Dr. Marmolejo-Ramos said. “Yet, when the stakes were high, for things like health or employment, the opposite was true.“

Dr. Florence Gabriel, University of South Australia, said: “We need clear, jargon-free explanations that align with the user's concerns and context. That way, we can help people to responsibly engage with AI.“

Authorities in an urban center in the Philippines are offering a cash reward for mosquitoes to stop dengue from spreading.

Carlito Cernal, village chief of Barangay Addition Hills, announced the bounty of one peso (less than 2 cents) for every five mosquitoes after two students in his neighborhood died from the disease.

Cernal said the bounty was meant to supplement existing measures such as cleaning the streets and preventing the build-up of water where dengue-carrying mosquitoes lay their eggs.

The reward applies to live and dead mosquitoes and their larvae, Cernal added. Live mosquitoes will be exterminated using ultraviolet light. The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) said it “appreciates the good intentions of local government executives to fight dengue.“

It added: “We urge all concerned to please consult and coordinate with their local health officers or the DOH regional office in their area for evidence-based practices that are known to work.“

Cernal said he was aware that the bounty had been bashed on social media but that it was necessary for the community's health. Cernal said local health authorities recorded 44 cases of dengue in the area during the most recent surge of infections.

A Michigan judge has ordered shoplifters to pick up sponges to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring arrives.

Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart and rewards shoppers who could see higher prices, or possibly lose stores, if thefts continue. The car washes will be free.

“I don’t think everybody that steals is a bad person. Sometimes people are just down on their luck,“ said Clothier, who was recently elected to Genesee County District Court. “But there’s going to be consequences when you break the law.“

Clothier began ordering “Walmart wash“ sentences this week for misdemeanor shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township, 50 miles north of Detroit. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars at weekend events at that location in March and April.

“It’s an innovative approach,“ county Prosecutor David Leyton said of the car washes. “Even if it deters one person, then there’s some success there.“ And shoplifters won’t be the only people up to their elbows in suds. “I will be there washing cars with them,“ the judge said.