📌 US-Russia Meet, Spain Courts Migrants, More

US and Russian officials met today in Riyadh for the highest-level talks to date on ending the war in Ukraine.

US officials cast the discussions as an initial contact to determine whether Moscow is serious about ending the war after Putin and Trump spoke last Wednesday. They are expected to discuss ways to end the three-year-old conflict in Ukraine and restore American-Russian relations.

Ukraine, which is not attending, says no peace deal can be made on its behalf. "We, as a sovereign country, simply will not be able to accept any agreements without us," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last week.

European governments, alarmed at the possibility that Russia and the US could sideline them from negotiations that will determine the future security of the continent, have also demanded a role in peace talks.

Russia said the talks would focus on ending the war and restoring "the whole complex" of Russia-US ties, which the Kremlin described as "below zero" under the previous administration of Joe Biden.

Spain has become Europe’s buzziest economy, fuelled in part by the government’s strikingly different approach to migration.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (pictured) has rallied his country to view migration as a realistic means of growing the economy and sustaining the welfare state. Spain’s economy expanded by 3.2% last year, far outpacing Germany’s 0.2% contraction, France’s 1.1% growth and Italy’s 0.5%.

The figure was also ahead of Britain, whose total GDP grew by 0.9% last year, and the Netherlands’ 0.8% growth. Crucial to this growth was the movement of people, said Javier Díaz-Giménez, a professor of economics at the IESE Business School.

High rates of migration have helped Spain push unemployment to its lowest since 2008, as migrants have plugged the gaps in a labor market where the working-age population is aging. Economists at JPMorgan noted in a report that 2022 saw the highest net migration in 10 years, at close to 750,000.

Spain’s migrants have grown from less than 2% of the population in 1998 to over 15% in 20 years. The government is helping migrants navigate the labor market to help ensure they are not confined to low-skilled, low-paying jobs and reducing red tape for residency applications.

Rafael Doménech, the head of economic analysis at Spain-based bank BBVA, cautioned it was too soon to draw any sweeping lessons. “In five or 10 years … we can evaluate how well Spain has done.”

Measles continues to spread across the US as an outbreak in Texas rapidly grows and cases are confirmed in nearby states.

In western Texas, a measles outbreak doubled from 24 confirmed cases on Tuesday to 48 cases on Friday, the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said. This marks the largest measles outbreak in the state in more than 30 years, the DSHS said.

All of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or those whose vaccination status is unknown, and 13 have been hospitalized so far. Gaines County is the epicenter of the outbreak, with 42 cases confirmed among residents, said the DSHS.

In New Mexico, three cases were confirmed last week in Lea County, which borders Gaines County. A connection to the Texas outbreak is suspected but is unconfirmed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 14 other cases in five states this year.

Vaccine exemptions among children in Gaines County — the epicenter of the Texas outbreak — have grown. About 7.5% of kindergarteners had parents or guardians who filed for an exemption for at least one vaccine in 2013. Ten years later, that rose to over 17.5%, according to state health data.

Experts said vaccine hesitancy, defined as delaying or refusing vaccination despite widespread availability, is a contributing factor to the outbreak. The CDC recommends two vaccine doses, the first at 12 to 15 months and the second at 4–6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective, it said.

At least 11 died in Kentucky from a storm that battered the state on the weekend with another cross-country storm imminent.

"Kentucky is still experiencing widespread impacts from the severe weather," Gov. Andy Beshear warned on social media Monday morning. "We need everyone to be aware that conditions are dangerous, and folks need to stay off the roads in areas with high water.”

Over 1,000 people have been rescued across the state, the governor said. In Louisville, crews have conducted over 30 rescues in the flash flooding, Mayor Craig Greenberg said. One storm-related death was also reported in Georgia.

The storm dumped over 8 inches of rain in Kentucky and Tennessee and 5 inches in Virginia. Wind gusts topped 70 mph in North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey. The strong winds continued across the Northeast through Monday night.

The next cross-country storm is already underway, with snowy weather scattered across the Cascades, Rockies and into the Plains. The system is forecast to sweep south and east through into Wednesday.

The snow flurries will be followed by plunging temperatures, with more than 65 million Americans now under cold weather alerts across 13 states from Texas to Minnesota. Tulsa could feel like 17 below zero Wednesday and Thursday, with Dallas feeling like 10 below zero.

A widespread search for three Zizians, a cult-like group connected to at least six deaths, met with success.

Ziz, also known as Jack LaSota (pictured), is the Zizians’ mysterious leader. She was arrested by the Maryland State Police Sunday evening alongside Michelle Zajko and Daniel Blank, authorities said. All are expected to make their first appearances in a Maryland court today.

An offshoot of a Berkeley, California-area, rationalist movement, the Zizians are reportedly anarchists and radical vegans seeking to understand human cognition. LaSota, a former computer programmer, believes the two brain hemispheres can operate separately, with different beliefs and genders.

As leader of the Zizians, LaSota tended to recruit “smart, mostly autistic-ish transwomen who were extremely vulnerable and isolated” reports say. The Zizian group has been linked to killings across the country, and LaSota and Zajko appear to be at the center of the cases.

The exact role of LaSota, who faked her death in 2022, is unclear. She’s been seen at crime scenes, questioned by authorities, and, in one earlier instance, arrested on charges of obstructing police in Pennsylvania.

Zajko is considered a person of interest in her parents’ killings in Pennsylvania, the same case LaSota was arrested in connection to. Blank, who was Zajko’s roommate in Vermont, was also involved in that case. Zajko is also a person of interest in a shootout last month in Vermont that killed a Border Patrol agent.

North Korea's foreign ministry said today it will keep bolstering its nuclear force.

The country denounced a recent joint pledge by the US, South Korea and Japan for its denuclearization, according to state media KCNA.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi held talks on Saturday on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich and issued a statement reaffirming their commitment to North Korea's complete denuclearization.

Pyongyang's foreign ministry criticised the countries for pursuing an "outdated, absurd" plan, warning against seeking what it called "foolish acts inciting collective hostility and conflicts.”

"As long as the US and its vassal forces' hostile threat exists, the DPRK's nukes are means for defending peace and sovereignty and a means for legitimate self-defense entrusted by the constitution of the state," an unnamed ministry spokesperson said, vowing to continue strengthening its nuclear force.

South Korea's foreign ministry commented: "North Korea will never be recognized as a nuclear weapons state. We hope that they will realize that the development of nuclear weapons and missiles will only hinder their own security and economic development."

Rick Fingeret was walking his dogs down their Naples, Fla., street when he felt a tug on their leashes.

Fingeret was passing a pond in which he had seen alligators lounging every so often. This time, an 11-foot-long gator left its watery home, sprinting with its mouth open towards them at around 10 mph.

“I tripped in all the frenzy,” Fingeret said. “And the minute I fell” — he claps his hands together to simulate the gator’s jaws closing — “he got me. Every so often, I’d feel a tug. He wanted to move me, but he couldn’t. I was bigger than he had anticipated.”

Fingeret said he wanted it to know he was there. “I had a lot of fight left in me. And I was very conscious of not passing out. Because the minute that would happen, I would be done.” He started hammering at the beast’s scaley armor, poking its eyes, and trying to pry open its jaws without any luck.

Neighbors Walt Rudder and Paula Keegan were driving by when they saw and heard Fingeret on his side, next to his dogs, screaming for help. Fingeret instructed his neighbor to gather up his dogs and put them in the car — and then run the lizard over with it.

Rudder needed one pass over the alligator’s midsection before it ran back down to its pond. The neighbors used a t-shirt and dog leash to stop the bleeding. Fingeret did not sustain any serious injuries. Fingeret nominated the neighbors for a contest for their deed that saw them win two tickets to a Jay Leno show.