Vox Sentences - The Super Bowl's nod to controversy

Hip-hop takes the stage at Super Bowl LVI; Hong Kong faces its worst wave of the pandemic yet.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

Super Bowl rolls on amid recent controversy

Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images

• The spectacle of the Los Angeles Rams’ 23-20 Super Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bengals took center stage on Sunday despite ongoing criticism of the NFL’s allegedly discriminatory hiring practices. [NYT / Ken Belson]
• The halftime show featured all hip-hop artists for the first time in NFL history. The halftime show, produced by Jay-Z, featured performances from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige, and a reference to the NFL’s diversity problems — Eminem taking a knee. [MSNBC / Ja’han Jones]
• Eminem kneeled at the end of his performance of "Lose Yourself" in an apparent nod to former San Fransisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who began the practice to protest police brutality in 2016. The NFL has denied reports it asked the rapper not to do so. [Guardian]
• Earlier this month, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL, alleging racial discrimination in its hiring practices. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross allegedly offered Flores $100,000 to intentionally throw games in 2019. [Vox / Jamil Smith]
• In other sports news, Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian skater, will be allowed to compete after testing positive for a banned substance weeks ago, but there won’t be any medals awarded in any event she wins until after a full investigation is conducted. [Washington Post / Emily Giambalvo and Adam Kilgore]

Hong Kong "overwhelmed" by its worst pandemic surge

• Hong Kong is "overwhelmed" by Covid-19 as daily cases have surged 20-fold in just two weeks, with a record 2,000-plus cases reported on Monday. [Reuters / Farah Master and Twinnie Siu]
• Hong Kong has some of the world’s strictest Covid restrictions, and so far, the measures have been successful: The city has seen just 221 deaths over the first two years of the pandemic. But the latest wave of omicron is straining resources. On Sunday, Hong Kong said it would focus on securing hospital isolation space for children to combat the wave instead of requiring everyone with Covid to seek medical help. Those with mild symptoms are now being asked to remain at home. [NYT / Austin Ramzy]

• “The onslaught of the fifth wave of the epidemic has dealt a heavy blow to Hong Kong and overwhelmed the city’s capacity of handling,” Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s leader, said on Monday. “The situation is highly undesirable, and the government feels worried and sorry about it,” Lam added. [Guardian / Helen Davidson]

The western US and northwestern Mexico face the worst drought in at least 1,200 years, according to a new study. [NPR / Nathan Rott]

• A retired Florida police captain will face trial this week, eight years after fatally shooting a man in a movie theater. [CNN / Dakin Andone]
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies are working behind the scenes to ensure Trump-backed candidates don’t win in the 2022 midterm elections. [NYT / Jonathan Martin]
• The United States has suspended avocado imports from Mexico after a US official carrying out an investigation received a threatening call. [CNN Business / Karol Suarez]

“We are now in the toughest battle with this virus in two years, and we believe infection numbers will remain high.” 

[Edwin Tsui of the Center for Health Protection describes the pandemic surge facing Hong Kong / Washington Post]

Can science help us predict whether a relationship will succeed? Or is it all just chaos? [Spotify]

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