Nikki Haley on Biden and Trump; Boeing ousts executive : NPR

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Today’s top stories

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has yet to win a primary contest. Saturday’s primary has the highest stakes yet, as it’s in her home state of South Carolina. Ahead of the event, Haley has been making defiant speeches and sharpening her critique of former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the GOP nomination. Haley spoke yesterday with NPR’s Steve Inskeep about her campaign.

• On Up First today, Inskeep describes her journey as a “step-by-step campaign.” She wants to give Republicans as much time to vote as possible and will stay in the race until at least Super Tuesday on March 5, when most states vote. Haley criticized Trump’s opposition to funding for Ukraine, saying her fellow Republicans need to understand that “we need to prevent war. And the only way we prevent war is if Ukraine defeats Russia in this instance.” Still, when Inskeep asked who she’d choose between Biden and Trump, she said Biden was “more dangerous.”
• Hear more of Inskeep and Haley’s conversation on Morning Edition. 

An estimated 42% of adults in the U.S. know at least one person who has died of a drug overdose, according to a new RAND Corporation study. In states where overdose deaths are particularly high, including Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and all of New England, nearly one in two adults has a personal connection with someone who had a fatal overdose. (via WBUR)

• “This type of bereavement is creating vicious circles within communities, where there’s a death that spurs suffering, that spurs more deaths,” Alison Athey, the lead author of the RAND study, tells NPR network reporter Martha Bebinger of WBUR. The researchers say individual strategies are needed for the families left behind to stop the cycle of grief. They point to the support offered to those who have lost someone to suicide as a model. The authors add that we must stop shaming and blaming people who are addicted to opioids. The blame extends to families left behind, causing more anxiety and stress.

The Boeing executive at the head of the company’s troubled Max 737 program has left the company as part of a broader leadership change Boeing announced yesterday. Ed Clark oversaw Boeing’s company in Renton, Wash., where the Alaska Airlines plane whose door plug blew off midflight was assembled. His departure was announced yesterday in a company memo, along with Elizabeth Lund’s role in the newly created position of senior vice president of quality.

Today’s listen

Last October, Irish artist, teacher and activist Emmalene Blake painted a mural in Dublin inspired by a viral photo from Gaza of a Palestinian woman kneeling and cradling the dead body of a child wrapped in a white shroud. The mural became an iconic symbol of Palestinian grief amid the ongoing war and soon reached Samia al-Atrash, the woman in the photo. Al-Atrash reached out to Blake on Instagram to share more stories about the child in the photo: her niece Masa. Masa and her parents were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Oct. 21.

Listen to Blake and al-Atrash discuss how their long-distance friendship bloomed through shared grief, and hear Blake read a poem she wrote about Masa.

Life advice

Starting a new job or doing a new project at work can bring up many insecurities: What if your boss is bad? What if you don’t fit in with the team? Elainy Mata hosts New Here, a podcast from the Harvard Business Review that helps people navigate the professional world. Here are some of her favorite tips:

• Every office has its own culture. Step back to listen, observe and absorb it.
• If you just started a job and think your pay is too low, try working hard for six months before asking for your first raise.
• Own up to mistakes right away. See if your manager can help with damage control and think about how to do better next time.
• Is your boss the worst? This is one case where being direct and open is probably not the best option. Think about your shared needs and motivations, focus on how they prefer to communicate and don’t forget to take care of yourself.

3 things to know before you go

1. A Washington, D.C. man is suing Powerball after it denied him $340 million worth of winnings. The D.C. Office of Lottery and Gaming says the “winning” numbers on his ticket were posted online by mistake.
2. Scientists have discovered a Stone Age megastructure on the sea floor. They believe the half-mile-long wall, called the Blinkerwall, was built by hunter-gatherers to herd and hunt reindeer. 
3. In 2018, Julie Silverman developed a bad cough that got worse over the next few years. After several doctors dismissed her, a nurse practitioner and unsung hero’s diligence helped her get a diagnosis for a rare, fatal condition.

This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.