Back Story Newsletter
Good morning,
UK Rail Strike
Ugh! Coming to London to work? Don’t as the city is slammed with the biggest rail strike in 30 years, as workers refuse to accept minimal pay raises and threats of more layoffs as inflation spikes.
Across the UK, rail strikes have shut down over ground and under ground rail lines for a 2nd straight day in a strike the struggling Conservative Government of Boris Johnson eyes as a possible political revival.
Translation - the Government won’t negotiate with the unions and is blaming the Labour opposition party for the unrest hoping the angry travellers will help the Conservatives in upcoming by-elections.
People I know are staying at home this week instead of going to the office. The food delivery guy on a scooter says a 5 minute delivery takes 30 minutes, and these guys know how to drive around stalled traffic.
More cars, equals gridlock and the situation will only get worse this week.
The RMT Union is calling for a pay rise of 7%, while employers have offered a maximum of 3%. Inflation - the rate at which prices are rising - is currently 9% but the Bank of England forecasts it will reach about 11% in the autumn.
And other unions are watching and planning possible strikes too as workers struggle to deal with inflation.
Lithuania and Kaliningrad
The relatively small Baltic nation of Lithuanian was one of the first to call for sanctions against Russia, and has backed Ukraine with weapons and support from the get-go.
Lithuanian was occupied by Soviet forces, and its history is riddled with Russian invasion and attempts of subjugation.
So Lithuania jumped at the chance to enforce sanctions against Russian shipments banned by the EU from Russia to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
Kaliningrad uses train shipments from Russia to bring everything from food to fuel to steel to its Baltic port, home of the Russian Baltic sea fleet.
Russia has reacted with rage threatening undefined actions against Lithuania for the “blockade” but as the EU points out restrictions only apply to sanctioned goods. Passengers and other goods are free to pass overland to Kaliningrad.
Kaliningrad is key for Russia as an enclave in the EU, and is Russia’s western most outpost equipped with missiles and possibly nuclear warheads.
Watch this story - the situation matters because it could bring Russia into direct conflict with a NATO country.
Ukraine War
Ukraine’s army said it launched operation was airstrikes on Zmiinyi Island, also known as Snake Island, causing “significant losses” to Russian forces. The military’s southern operational command said it “aimed strikes with the use of various forces” and the military operation was continuing. Russia says it repelled the attack
Russia says two American’s captured in fighting in Ukraine could face the death penalty. The U.S. says the men must be treated as captured prisoners of war and cannot be executed under rules of war
There are 568 civilians thought to be holed up in Sievierodonetsk’s Azot chemical plant, as Russian attacks intensify in an effort to capture Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk region, said Lysychansk was getting shelled “en masse”
Russia has resumed shelling of the City of Kharkiv where at least 15 civilians were killed in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region by Russian shelling on Tuesday, according to the regional governor, Oleh Synegubov.
Over all - Russian is trying to finish its seizure of the Luhansk region in the Donbas this week. Russia may be experiencing large numbers of casualties, but is having success on the ground because it’s concentrated its forces around Sievierodonetsk and surrounding villages.
Ukraine is fighting back with some of the newest high range artillery systems from the west that have finally arrived on the front line. But Ukrainian forces are in danger of being cutoff in the so called ‘pocket’ there, as Russian forces are pressing in from 3 sides.
Jan 6th Committee
If you think you’ve heard it all before…The committee hearings are sensational in laying out the planned and choreographed attempts by former President Trump to over turn election results and drive American democracy off a cliff.
It was an illegal attempt to grab power by Trump and its damaging testimony from his own inner circle and key allies.
The hearings seem to be laying out the case for a criminal case against Trump.
To charge Trump will be dangerous, but to not pursue the attempt to overturn American democracy is just as fraught with danger.
Almost 6 out of 10 Americans want former President Donald Trump criminally charged in connection with the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, an ABC News/Ipsos poll shows.
The poll found that 58% of Americans say Trump should face criminal charges for the role he played in the riot, a higher percentage than in late April, when it was 52% in an ABC News/Washington Post poll.
The poll found that 91% of Democrats say the former president should be criminally charged, compared with 19% of Republicans.
Have a good day everyone and share this newsletter.
Dana Lewis