Back Story Newsletter
Good Morning, I was away for a short break but I am back to London and tracking the news for you.
Russia-Ukraine
War is looming, but there is still hope of political dialogue with Russia, as French President Macron has brokered a summit possibility between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden.
If the summit actually occurs, it would only follow a Thursday meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and U.S. Sec. of State Blinken.
In the meantime the situation has only escalated this weekend;
-more Russia troops have been spotted closer to the Ukraine border in “attack formation” said U.S. officials
-joint military exercises in Belarus with Russian forces ended Sunday, but have now been extended which is by itself an ominous sign
-shelling in the break away regions of Eastern Ukraine on Ukraine front line forces has increased and Russian backed rebel leaders ordered the evacuation of citizens into Russia. Ukrainian forces has responded to the shelling by firing back along the line of contact between the two
-Ukraine is pushing the West to implement sanctions sooner than later, saying financial penalties such as access to Western goods and currency markets won’t do anything after an invasion. But U.S. officials say the sanctions are meant to deter and for that reason should only be implemented if an invasion takes place
Where are we really? Russia appears ready to invade but continues to deny it has a plan to do so. That’s obviously a charade by the Kremlin. The notion of a large scale operation aimed at Ukraine and including its capital Kyiv would create a massive humanitarian disaster as 44 million people would potentially be displaced.
Is there a solution? A discussion on halting NATO expansion would have to take place as part of Russia’s demands. But Russia in turn would have to respect Ukraines borders which seems unlikely given NATO’s positions on keeping the door open to Ukraine and others, and Russia’s determination to use Ukraine as a buffer against the West.
But Ukraine is unlikely to admitted to NATO while part of its territory is dispute with Russia which annexed Crimea in 2014, and is deeply involved in funding, arming and commanding break away regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
But Russia can always save face and pull back from a war, it continues to deny it will launch or has planned, and that gives people some hope.
The Queen And Covid
95 year old Monarch Queen Elizabeth has caught covid although her symptoms are reportedly a mild cold, and she is continuing to carry out duties this week.
The Queen was exposed to covid by her son and heir to the throne Prince Charles say palace officials, and there have been other cases of staff with covid in her Windsor castle home.
Today the British P.M. Boris Johnson is expected to announce all restrictions on covid are going to be dropped, and that controversially includes dropping self isolation rules for people who have covid.
Canada Truckers
Ottawa, the Canadian capital is quiet after police moved in Friday and cleared protesters who have blockaded the downtown for almost a month. What started as an anti vaccine protest, morphed into a wider challenge to Government and Police Canada that has never experienced before and seemed unprepared to confront.
More than 100 people face criminal charges and police have announced in the coming months they will search for the identities of anyone who participated in the protests, and freeze crowd funding money in their accounts, as well as pursue charges against them.
Truckers who represented a minority of drivers, will say their protest was about freedom from government restrictions and tyranny. The majority of Canadians who have supported vaccines and restrictions meant to save lives, will say good riddance to the protests and supported the emergency measures taken by the Liberal Government to end the blockades that have links to U.S. right wing groups including funding and organization.
China Olympics
The China Olympics may have been low key in some Western countries but the games were a huge success in China.
While some countries boycotted the games sending athletes but no officials because of human rights concerns, and Beijing covid lockdowns made it almost audience free, by Wednesday, 600 million or 40% of the Chinese population -- had tuned in to watch the Games on television in China, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
US viewing figures have been markedly down compared to previous Olympics, but the boost in Chinese audiences will likely make Beijing 2022 among the most watched Winter Games in history.
Through Tuesday, an average of 12.2 million people watched the Olympics in prime-time on NBC, cable or the Peacock streaming service, down 42 percent from the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. The average for NBC alone was 10 million, a 47 percent drop, the Nielsen company said.
On Sunday night, Chinese President XI and IOC President Thomas Bach helped hand off to Milan-Cortina, which will host the 2026 Winter Games.
Credit Suisse
A massive leak carried by 48 media organizations has revealed that Credit Suisse harboured the hidden wealth of clients involved in torture, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and other serious crimes.
Swiss Banks were once the favoured secret locations for the rich to stash their undeclared wealth, but that was supposed to have been history, but this leak has again raised questions about banking compliance regulations and raised questions about promises to clean up money laundering and illicit accounts that should never have passed internal compliance regulations.
Credit Suisse is one of the largest wealth managers in the world, handling more than 1.6tn Swiss francs for clients. It has responded to the leaks which included the accounts of the King of Jordan, by saying the media organizations used selective information and says these are historical matters relating to a tiny fraction of its customers. It says it has kept pace with banking regulations across the sector, putting in place a strict zero-tolerance policy towards tax evasion and stringent control measures to counter money laundering.
That’s a look at Monday! Please share this newsletter and make sure you subscribe.
Dana
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20220221-biden-agrees-in-principle-to-ukraine-summit-with-putin-brokered-by-macron
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/we-will-actively-look-to-identify-you-ottawa-police-chief-warns-departed-protesters
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60453566
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/20/china/china-winter-olympics-domestic-success-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/feb/20/credit-suisse-secrets-leak-raises-painful-questions-for-the-bank