🏦 Markets: A third consecutive economic report showed higher-than-expected inflation in January, forcing Wall Street to end the week on a sour note.

All three major stock indexes were down 1% or more for the day, putting a cap on the worst week thus far this year.

The Nasdaq Composite was the week’s biggest loser, closing down 3.3% compared to the previous Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was close behind at just under 3% and the S&P 500 lost about 2.7% of its value over the course of the week.

🏁 Off to the races: While longtime fans of Formula 1 racing already know the thrilling action and breathtaking speed on display, it appears that a growing number of Americans are only now discovering the appeal. CEO Stefano Domenicali is enthusiastic about the opportunity to reach a captive new audience in the United States, asserting: “I’m pretty convinced we are just scratching the surface of this market. We are just looking into the future.” So what’s causing the Formula 1 renaissance? One key factor appears to be the fact that 22-year-old Logan Sargeant became the first American driver in the sport since the 2015 season. Additionally, the U.S. will host more races this year — three to be exact — than any other nation. Two of those races (in Austin and Miami) were held last year and both shattered records. The third will take place in Las Vegas.

📖 Returning to normal: Puffin, a publishing house that handles acclaimed children’s author Roald Dahl’s books, ruffled some feathers recently by making some sweeping changes to the language used in several classic tales. In an effort to appease modern audiences, the company nixed certain words related to race, appearance, and other factors that might be deemed offensive. But instead, the move sparked a fierce backlash from a number of Dahl fans and fellow authors. In response, Puffin confirmed that it would be releasing a so-called “Classic Collection” with all of the original words in place. The managing editor of Puffin’s parent company, Penguin, explained: “We’ve listened to the debate over the past week, which has reaffirmed the extraordinary power of Roald Dahl’s books, and the very real questions around how stories from another era can be kept relevant for each new generation.”

♨️ Something in the air: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced this week that roughly 2 million air fryers would be recalled after reports of fires and burns associated with their use. Thousands more were similarly recalled in Canada and Mexico. The affected products were manufactured by Cosori and involved overheated wires that could spark fires, excessive smoke, or lead to injuries. Anyone who currently owns one of the recalled air fryers is asked to halt further use and contact the manufacturer for a replacement or exchange. In a statement on the matter, Cosori apologized and insisted that all of its products “are rigorously and routinely tested for consumer safety and are in full compliance with established industry standards.”

⛓️ 16 more years: The chances that disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein will ever be released from prison got even slimmer this week with the addition of another 16-year prison sentence. He was already serving 23 years for sexual assault and rape when he was sentenced in Los Angeles on Thursday following a conviction on similar charges. A jury found him guilty of three out of the seven criminal counts he was facing and a judge handed down a sentence near the 18-year maximum term. The 70-year-old’s attorneys claimed that his “bad health” was a factor and asked for concurrent sentences, but the court determined that he would serve them consecutively.

Yesterday marked a somber occasion for Ukrainian citizens and their supporters around the globe. It was one year earlier that Russian troops invaded their country, sparking a military crisis that has seen the United States and allied nations worldwide provide billions of dollars in aid and a variety of military equipment.

Many experts initially believed could have been an easy operation for Russia, but Ukraine has proved capable of pushing back against Vladimir Putin’s military offense.

By the numbers

Viewing the Russia-Ukraine war in an abstract manner can make it difficult to assess the true humanitarian toll that the invasion has taken on both sides of the shared border.

Reviewing some of the staggering statistics involved, on the other hand, will offer some important context:

• At least 100,000 Russian troops and 13,000 Ukrainian service members have died.
• More than 7,000 Ukrainian civilians — including 400+ children — have also been killed.
• Russian forces fire off roughly 20,000 rounds of artillery daily, compared to between 4,000 and 7,000 from Ukraine.
• 8 million+ Ukrainian citizens — nearly 20% of its prewar population — have left the country.

The hardest hit Ukrainian regions include the Donbas, which involves largely Russian-speaking provinces that have been involved in the fighting for nearly a decade. More than 3,400 civilians have died in this region alone since 2014.

A unified effort

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been an effective leader on the world stage, convincing allies to support his country’s fight for freedom and democracy. U.S. President Joe Biden staged a surprise visit to the capital city of Kyiv earlier this month where he reiterated America’s support.

Nevertheless, Zelenskyy looks back on Feb. 24, 2022, as “the hardest day of our modern history,” adding: “We woke up early and haven’t fallen asleep since.”

Although the White House has been a steadfast proponent of green energy initiatives, it’s clear that fossil fuels are here to stay until the infrastructure exists to provide more eco-friendly options.

This week, the Department of Energy took a significant step toward reaching the Biden administration’s goals by providing a significant investment in offshore wind energy production.

A multi-agency summit

According to the Energy Department, several other federal agencies — the Departments of the Interior, Transportation, and Commerce — joined forces for the recent Floating Offshore Wind Shot Summit.

As a result of the meeting, the Biden administration has established new goals and new funding to capture even more of the energy potential produced by winds blowing over the ocean.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm affirmed: “President Biden wants America to become a global leader of offshore wind technology and deployment, and with his historic climate investments, DOE is capturing this potential to spur private investment, boost the domestic supply chain, and deliver on our bold clean energy goals.”

Planning for the future

Talking specifics, the federal agencies said that they believe offshore wind energy can increase by more than 70% by 2035, at which time they say it will be able to provide 15 gigawatts of power.

Another piece of the puzzle discussed during the recent summit involves using funds from the Inflation Reduction Act to conduct a 20-month study meant to address any limitations to providing wind power to homes and businesses along the West Coast.

Furthermore, the Energy Department explained that it would be working with a number of private and public partners to expand the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium. This group recently added California and now includes seven states committed to researching new and more efficient ways to harness wind power.

When the Taliban captured control of Afghanistan, its member quickly imposed a number of strict laws limiting the rights of girls and women nationwide. Among the most notable examples is a restriction on higher education — but some activists are risking their own safety to fight against the oppression.

The story of M.H.

One Afghan teen who is experiencing the impact of the Taliban’s extremist agenda is M.H., who didn’t want to be identified by her name out of fear of retaliation. After graduating high school at 15, she hoped to challenge gender stereotypes by becoming an engineer.

Instead, she’s faced with the fact that people in her position can’t even legally attend college. That rule went into effect when she was just a few courses away from attaining her degree and is estimated to impact about 90,000 women across Afghanistan.

“Now I cannot even apply for any further education because I have no document to prove that I finished my engineering degree,” she said.

After the Taliban took over in 2021, women soon began to see their rights evaporate, but individuals like M.H. refused to simply acquiesce.

“I cried myself to sleep for many days, but then I told myself, ‘I cannot let this be my reality.’”

Exploring alternatives

Technically, the Afghan law allows women to enroll in college under certain circumstances and on a part-time basis, but the power of the internet has expanded the horizons of students like M.H.

A number of private universities from around the world have started offering online classes like the ones that she is currently taking.

As University of the People President Shai Reshef explained: “The future prospects for Afghan students are indeed bleak but that does not mean they should stop their educational journeys.”