Troops on heightened alert amid Russia-Ukraine tensions, Dry February?: 5 Things podcast
On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: US orders 8,500 troops on heightened alert amid fears Russia will invade Ukraine
The move shows genuine fear that Russia will do so amid tense talks in recent weeks and troops on the border. Plus, NOW reporter Jordan Mendoza explains the consequences of a massive iceberg that broke off Antarctica, crews fight a fire near Big Sur, California, NOW reporter Marina Pitofsky has some tips for extending Dry January and baseball inducts its next Hall of Fame class.
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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Tuesday, the 25th of January 2022. Today, troops on alert amid Russia-Ukraine tensions. Plus, what a massive broken off iceberg is doing to the ocean, and more.
Here are some of the top headlines:
- A pair of earthquakes shook Haiti yesterday. The 5.3 and 5.1 magnitude quakes killed at least two people and destroyed nearly 200 homes.
- Three firefighters are dead after part of a vacant home in Baltimore collapsed yesterday while they were battling a fire. Another remains in critical condition.
- And at least eight people are dead after a stadium crush at the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament in Cameroon. The incident came as fans tried to enter the stadium for the West African country's match against Comoros and may have been connected to fans trying to avoid COVID-19-related checks to enter the stadium.
The Pentagon has ordered 8,500 troops on alert today to potentially deploy to Europe as part of a NATO Response Force. The alert comes alongside worries that Russia will make a military move on Ukraine. Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby.
John Kirby:
As the president has said, even as we continue to prioritize diplomacy and dialogue, we must also increase readiness. In support of its obligations to the security and defense of NATO and the security of its citizens abroad at the direction of the president and following recommendations made by Secretary Austin, the United States has taken steps to heighten the readiness of its forces at home and abroad, so they are prepared to respond to a range of contingencies, including support to the NATO Response Force if it is activated. All told, the number of forces that the secretary has placed on heightened alert comes up to about 8,500 personnel.
No decisions have been made to deploy any forces from the United States at this time. And why say heightened alert? In some cases, some of these forces were already on a heightened posture, readiness to deploy posture, and the secretary decided to make it even more, shorten the tether even more. So in some cases, units would go from, say, 10 days prepared to deploy. Now they're at five days. That's not the case for every unit that is being notified that they're in a heightened alert. Some are simply more ready and postured that way than others. The idea, though, is that all of these units that he is putting on prepare to deploy will be ready to go on a shortened timeframe.
Taylor Wilson:
The move suggests hope is fading that Russian President Vladimir Putin will pull his hundred thousand troops away from Ukraine's border any time soon. Beyond the future of Ukraine, the credibility of NATO itself is also being tested. The military alliance involves more than a dozen countries and is central to US defense strategy. But Putin sees it as a threat to Russian security. Russia denies that it's planning an invasion and says that Western accusations are a cover for NATO's own planned provocations.
An iceberg once bigger than Delaware broke off Antarctica in 2017. Since then, it's dumped nearly a trillion tons of water in the ocean. NOW reporter Jordan Mendoza has more.
Jordan Mendoza:
This iceberg was so massive that when it was on its own, it was the largest iceberg in the world and it was bigger than the state of Delaware, so that's a pretty good size. And then just over time, it was drifting up north towards kind of South America, and it got close to this island. And when it was getting close to this island, it started rapidly shrinking and shrinking and getting smaller because the water was getting warmer. And by the time it got to this island, it was no longer an iceberg. It was completely gone.
The thing that they're really intrigued with is because this iceberg, it's made out of freshwater, it's made out of... It's frozen water. And it's freshwater that's all of a sudden, cold freshwater popping up in an area that is mostly warm saltwater. And so the mixture of that, it creates a very... something that you don't really see a lot happening in the world. And it's going to start off by affecting microorganisms, like plankton and things like that. And then, so once it starts affecting that, then you're going to start seeing the ripple effects of it affecting larger animals and life. And so there's just really, there's no clear understanding right now of whether this iceberg melting at a rapid pace was a good thing or a bad thing.
Taylor Wilson:
For more, search iceberg on USATODAY.com.
Crews will continue to work today to contain a wildfire near Big Sur, California. The blaze is called the Colorado Fire because of its origin in the Palo Colorado Canyon and was 40% contained as of last night. Its estimated size was cut down to about 700 acres as of Sunday, down from more than a thousand after initially roaring toward the Southern California coastline on Friday night thanks to wind gusts of more than 50 miles an hour. Officials are worried about the upcoming forecast with no precipitation expected until at least next week. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Lots of people are increasingly trying out Dry January. The plan involves not drinking alcohol all month after the rush of the December holidays, and the annual challenge offers a chance to reset and maybe even reflect on the influence of alcohol in your life. But with just a few days left, what if you just kept going? NOW reporter Marina Pitofsky has some tips.
Marina Pitofsky:
So for folks who are wrapping up Dry January and have enjoyed their experiences - they feel more rested, they feel more alert, things like that - there are definitely a few good steps they can take to continue limiting how much they drink for the rest of the year, even after Dry January ends. One would be making a pros and cons list about drinking. So think about what you don't like about drinking, how it makes you feel, the sort of drawbacks. And then think about what you do like about drinking. I spoke to one expert who said, if you're drinking to relieve stress, there are ways to do that without alcohol, if you want to cut back. So you might like exercising, you might like calling a friend, other options, should you want to choose those instead of a glass of wine or a beer at the end of the day. One more thing could be to really make a plan about how you want to approach this with friends and family. If you're at a party or you're watching the game with friends, just sort of think about what you want to say and do ahead of time, whether that's getting a non-alcoholic drink, just so you at least have something in your hand, explaining that you feel better as you cut back, or whatever else works for you.
Taylor Wilson:
For Marina's full piece, check out the Life section on USATODAY.com where you can also find all kinds of health and wellness coverage.
Baseball's 2022 Hall of Fame Class will be revealed today, but the class might be better known for who doesn't make it in. Barry Bonds, widely considered one of the best, if not the best player of all time, is on his 10th and final year on the ballot and is expected to miss out thanks to accusations of performance-enhancing drug use. The same goes for 7-time Cy Young Award pitcher Roger Clemens for the same reasons, and Sammy Sosa's 600 plus home runs likely won't be enough to beat his own PED accusations. Meanwhile, Andrew Jones will hope his fifth year on the ballot is enough time to have convinced voters that 10 Gold Gloves as one of the best outfielders of all time is sufficient. And David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez enter their first years on the ballot. This year's results will be revealed on MLB Network at 6:00 PM Eastern, 3:00 Pacific with a show beforehand. You can also follow along with USA TODAY Sports.
And you can find 5 Things seven mornings a week right here wherever you're listening right now. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show, and I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.