Good morning, please subscribe for free to this letter and share it!
Canada Sanctions - Russia
A Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in Ottawa was urged yesterday to sanction the inner circle of Vladimir Putin, as the only effective means of pressuring the Russian President. Leonid Volkov, an aid to jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, spoke by video link from Lithuania to the committee hearing.
Calls for increased sanctions on Russian oligarchs are not new. But the most revealing moment of the hearing was when Volkov urged Canada to pressure Britain to clamp down on the money trail that leads to London.
“I understand how complicated these processes are, how many legal complications,” Volkov said, But when it comes to international partners, Canada should focus on getting the U.K. on board with more sanctions.
“Let me suggest that the key part of the story is the U.K. here,” Volkov said. “If you can kind of push and influence the U.K. informally, it’s the most essential because 80 per cent of those assets in question are being stashed in London.”
“I will just mention that the government is aware of that, and there are conversations,” came the response from Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs.
Russia Troops Threaten Ukraine
Russia which had amassed more than a hundred thousand troops on Ukraines border announced recently it had only carried out a military exercise, and the troops would be leaving soon. And Russian media made a show of portraying a drawdown of military muscle.
Fact is NATO says the heavy equipment remains on Ukraines border and as many as 70 thousand Russian soldiers remain. Now U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has echoed the concerns on a trip to Kiev, saying "We look to Russia to cease reckless and aggressive actions”.
Whats Russia’s game? Putin says one thing but does another in Ukraine and along it’s borders fuelling Ukrainian views Russia wants to reoccupy Soviet era territory.
Our recent podcast ‘Russia’s Near Abroad’ lays out the threat and the consequence;
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/russias-near-abroad-and-nato/id1512445640?i=1000517056498
Covid Origins and Wuhan Lab Escape?
A year and a half after a pandemic crippled Countries and killed more than 3 million people, more and more evidence the Chinese are blocking data of experiments called Gain of Function in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Was Covid19 an experiment, that leaked out of the lab that was routinely engaged in strengthening Coronavirus ? And experts say the denials by the Chinese are becoming increasingly unbelievable.
On Back Story Host Dana Lewis talks to Science writer Nicholas Wade, who has written a long essay arguing that the “lab leak” hypothesis is more plausible than the “natural origin” theory.
And, Gilles Demaneuf who has signed a letter from 24 scientists from around the world is demanding a new investigation into the origins of covid and specifically demanding the WHO look into the lab in Wuhan. Demaneuf is a data analyst from DRASTIC, an international team of scientists and analysts attempting to fill in the gaps on Covid's origins.
Podcast link;
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/8471236
India Variant Growing UK
In Britain news leaks and a hum of growing concern as Government statistics on the India variant are beginning to reveal a new surge in Covid cases. The surge especially in London shows the India variant spreading fast, and becoming a new dominant variant that epidemiologists suggests is of great concern and has not yet been addressed by the UK Gov.
A variant known as B.1.617.2 is out pacing the UK Variant which came to dominate all other variants and spread like wild fire, forcing lockdowns across Europe and spikes in hospitalizations. The India variant appears to be stronger and with increased transmission and, may be vaccine resistant. More to come on this.
China’s Long March Rocket
…is coming soon to a night sky near you. But no one can tell you the exact moment and location this huge long march rocket 5 will come crashing back to earth. But it is the largest uncontrolled rocket that will partially burn up on reentry in the next few days, while some of it will crash to earth causing concern.
https://www.dw.com/en/chinas-rocket-uncontrolled-unpredictable-return-home/a-57425829
That’s our Friday brief. Have a good day everyone. And Subscribe to this news letter.
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/canada-should-target-sanctions-at-putin-linked-oligarchs-nalvany-aide-tells-mps
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/05/06/blinken-presses-russia-to-pull-troops-on-solidarity-trip-to-ukraine-a73824
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57016110