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 | | | Doping drama on ice | | Rewatching our favorite Super Bowl commercials on Valentine's Day. It's Monday's news. | | |
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| Despite a positive drug test, Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was cleared to compete at the Winter Olympics. And are you familiar with the story behind Valentine's Day? It's actually horrifying! |
| 💘 Roses are red, violets are blue. I didn't get you a present, hope you like news! xo, Laura. |
| But first, love is in the air! 🥰 Here's how Jill Biden, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Cardi B, Offset and more stars are celebrating Valentine's Day this year. |
| The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here. |
Russian skater Kamila Valieva cleared to compete despite positive drug test |
| Russian teen figure skater Kamila Valieva has been cleared to compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics despite a positive drug test . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Monday in favor of Valieva and the country's anti-doping agency, dismissing the provisional suspension that Valieva would have otherwise faced after she tested positive for a banned heart medication called trimetazidine. The ruling means that the 15-year-old will be able to compete in the women's individual competition, which starts Tuesday. She is favored to win gold in the event. The decision also sparked immediate backlash, including from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee whose CEO, Sarah Hirshland, said it was "disappointed by the message this decision sends." Valieva, the reigning Russian and European champion, helped Russia win gold in the team figure skating event at the Games last week with a pair of dazzling performances, where she became the first female to land any quad jump at the Winter Olympics. |
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Beleaguered Ontario to lift proof-of vaccination rule |
| Come March 1, proof-of-vaccination requirements will be lifted in the protest-weary Canadian province of Ontario. According to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, the decision was not a result of the protests that closed a key bridge from Windsor, Canada, to Detroit for a week and have paralyzed parts of the Canadian capital of Ottawa. The decision was made because "it is safe to do so," Ford said. A trucker-led "Freedom Convoy" was broken up over the weekend after a judge ordered the protest disbanded. About a dozen protesters who defied the order were arrested Sunday when the last vehicles blocking the bridge were towed away. "Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end," said Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor. |
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 | | A resident holds a sign towards protesters as they participate in a counter protest to stop vehicles from driving in a convoy en route to Parliament Hill, on the 17th day of a protest against COVID-19 measures that has grown into a broader anti-government protest, in Ottawa, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. | | Justin Tang, The Canadian Press via AP | |
What everyone's talking about |
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US Embassy moves out of Ukraine capital |
| The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine will be moved out of Kyiv ahead of a feared Russian invasion , Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday. Blinken said the embassy would be temporarily relocated from the Ukrainian capital to Lviv, in the western part of the country, near the border with Poland. The news came hours after the Kremlin signaled Monday it was ready to keep talking with the West about security grievances that led to the current Ukraine crisis, offering hope that Russia might not invade its beleaguered neighbor within days as the U.S. and Europe increasingly fear. On a last-ditch diplomatic trip, Germany's chancellor said there are "no sensible reasons" for the buildup of more than 130,000 Russian troops on Ukraine's borders to the north, south and east, and he urged more dialogue. Britain's prime minister said Europe is "on the edge of a precipice" – but added, "there is still time for President Putin to step back." |
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 | | Members of National Guard of Ukraine look out of the window as they ride in a bus through the city of Kyiv on Feb. 14, 2022. More NATO troops headed to Eastern Europe and some nations worked to move their citizens and diplomats out of Ukraine on Monday, as Germany's chancellor made a last-ditch attempt to head off a feared Russian invasion that some warn could be just days away. | | Emilio Morenatti, AP | |
Did you catch those commercials? |
| Nostalgia was the name of the game for the nonfootball elements of the Super Bowl this year. From the halftime show featuring appearances from the hip-hop icons of (some of) our youth, like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Eminem – to so many commercials that tugged at the heartstrings and enveloped us in a sense of nostalgia so strong you'd swear you just caught a whiff of some Bath & Body Works Sun-Ripened Raspberry body spray. Take Rocket Mortgage's commercial, which snatched the top spot in USA TODAY's Ad Meter contest for the second straight year. The mortgage and homebuying giant leaned on the lively charisma of Anna Kendrick to corral voters and claim the top spot for Super Bowl 56 with "Dream House," in which Kendrick and a cadre of kids help Barbie settle on her forever home. Cute! Check out USA TODAY Ad Meter's top 10 Super Bowl commercials. |
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 | | 2022 Super Bowl commercials: Rocket House and Rocket Mortgage | | Rocket House and Rocket Mortgage | |
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💘 The story behind Valentine's Day: Less about love and more of a bloodbath. |
| Here's a good one to tell you sweetheart about over dinner. While Valentine's Day might be associated with romance, the real story behind its namesake is one of heartbreak . There are multiple St. Valentines in history, and the historical origins of the figure are shaky. The most likely historical figure of St. Valentine is Valentine de Terni, according to an article in the academic journal Repertorio de Medicina y Cirugía. A Roman saint from the third century, Valentine de Terni was thrown in jail for marrying couples against the wishes of Emperor Claudius II, who banned marriage for military personnel. His jailer, a man named Asterius, taunted Valentine de Terni about his supposed powers as a Catholic priest, saying he should make his blind daughter be able to see again. By reciting a prayer, St. Valentine restored the girl's sight, and an awestruck Asterius converted to Christianity and released religious prisoners from jail. The emperor got sick of the whole thing and decided to behead St. Valentine and Asterius on Feb. 14, 271 A.D. Valentine de Terni reportedly wrote a letter to Julia (yes, the formerly blind girl) signed "from your Valentine." That's one heck of a meet-cute, but it gave rise to the celebration of his martyrdom. Happy Valentine's Day! |
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 | | St. Valentine might have been beheaded over a thousand years ago, but these days, we celebrate Valentine's Day in more conventional ways. A man walks on Valentine's Day with a bunch of red heart balloons through the city of Frankfurt, Germany. | | Sebastian Gollnow, AP | |
A break from the news |
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