While you were sleeping, we compiled the biggest stories of the day in one place. Each story has a quick and easy summary, so you're prepared for whatever the day brings. Just click on the links if you want to know more!
1. Florida reports more than 1K COVID-19 deaths in a week
Florida reported 1,447 more coronavirus deaths in the last week with a daily average of 207, but there's good news.
Florida reported 4,020 daily coronavirus cases, the lowest in two months, and the 5,502 hospitalizations with the disease are less than one half during the omicron peak. Death reports often lag behind cases by several weeks.
The number of hospitalized COVID patients was 5,506 on Sunday, down nearly 25% in a week and 53% from its peak during the omicron surge
2. Russia says some forces pulling back amid Ukraine crisis
Russia says that some units participating in military exercises will begin returning to their bases, but didn't say how many or where they were deployed.
The return adds to glimmers of hope that the Kremlin may not be planning to invade Ukraine imminently, but officials gave no details on the pullback.
The announcement Tuesday came after Russia’s foreign minister indicated the country was ready to keep talking about the security grievances that led to the Ukraine crisis. That changed the tenor after weeks of rising tensions.
3. Father of Parkland school shooting victim climbs crane in protest
Monday was the fourth anniversary of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which claimed the lives of 14 students and three staff members.
Manuel Oliver, the father of Joaquin "Guac" Oliver, climbed a 150-foot crane early Monday near the White House to push for gun control and legislative action by Congress.
"I was in DC on December asking to meet @POTUS. Today GUAC is with me making he's own statement!" Oliver tweeted. "So the whole nation can judge our reality. 150 feet high in front of the WH. Peaceful action. Police is on the ground!"
Oliver was met by officers and escorted into an ambulance in handcuffs before he was led away. Biden released a statement Monday that said he stands with those working to end gun violence.
4. Judge tosses Zimmerman’s lawsuit against Trayvon Martin’s parents
A judge in Florida has dismissed a defamation and conspiracy lawsuit former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman had filed against the parents of Trayvon Martin, the teen he fatally shot almost a decade ago in a case that drew international attention about race and gun violence.
The other defendants in the lawsuit included HarperCollins Publishers, which had published a book Martin’s parents wrote about the case; Brittany Diamond Eugene; and Rachel Jeantel.
According to Zimmerman’s lawsuit, Brittany Diamond Eugene didn’t want to testify that she had been talking to Martin before he was killed. So her half-sister, Rachel Jeantel, pretended that she was talking to the teen before he was fatally shot. Jeantel ended up testifying at Zimmerman’s 2013 trial in Sanford, Florida.
The lawsuit claimed that Trayvon Martin’s parents, along with Crump, participated in the conspiracy in an effort to get charges filed against Zimmerman, have him tried and “destroy his good will and reputation in he community.” Zimmerman also claimed the defendants portrayed him as a racist murderer who racially profiled Martin.
5. Autopsy determines Brian Laundrie died by suicide
An official autopsy report conducted by a Florida medical examiner has determined that Brian Laundrie died by a suicide caused by a gunshot wound to the head.
Laundrie's skeletal remains were found in a thickly wooded area in the Carlton Reserve in Sarasota County in October, according to the medical examiner's report, and had been under "up to three feet and possibly more" of water for an extended period of time before being located.
The report confirms the account made by attorneys representing Laundrie's family in the days following the discovery of his remains.
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On This Day In History
On February 15, 1933, a deranged, unemployed brick layer named Giuseppe Zangara shouts "Too many people are starving!" and fires a gun at America’s president-elect, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Roosevelt had just delivered a speech in Miami’s Bayfront Park from the back seat of his open touring car when Zangara opened fire with six rounds. Five people were hit. The president escaped injury but the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, who was also in attendance, received a mortal stomach wound in the attack.
Several men tackled the assailant and might have beaten him to death if Roosevelt had not intervened, telling the crowd to leave justice to the authorities. Zangara later claimed I don’t hate Mr. Roosevelt personallyI hate all officials and anyone who is rich.
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