Good morning
Holocaust Memorial Day
I start with this, because I am inspired by the story of 97 year old Lily Ebert from London, who has just been interviewed after recovering from Covid19. She spent 3 weeks fighting the virus but she is so much more than that. Lily was Auschwitz where her mother brother and sister were murdered. 6 million jews were killed by the nazi’s in the holocaust and today we remember them. But, Lily said something simple and powerful today. She was asked how do you keep going, and she responded “because I choose life and to carry on”. And in this pandemic and amidst so many challenges we should remind ourselves we are fighters too and we choose life and never give up.
https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/26/woman-97-who-survived-auschwitz-and-covid-urges-never-give-up-13965971/
Covid UK Toll
More than 100,000 people have now died in Britain from the virus. We didn’t have test and trace, we didn’t lock down early enough, and then we did but it was too short and we didn’t communicate well with masks and restrictions to the public. And they still have not properly closed airport to isolate the stop the virus. New Zealand and large parts of Asia did what was needed and now generally cafes and restaurants and businesses are open and people are not dying. Britain has disastrous leadership. and P.M. Boris Johnson has helped lead the country over a cliff on Covid19. Johnson was insisting on shaking peoples hands when Italy was struggling under Covid. He later got the virus himself. Like Trump, Johnson failed in a national strategy to contain Covid and bears huge responsibility for these deaths.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55757378
Vaccine Nationalism
The EU Is demanding vaccine makers register exports of vaccines made in Europe and sent to the UK. That’s because The UK is well ahead of The EU on vaccinations, and there is anger The UK has contracted more vaccines ahead of other European Countries. The EU argues it paid for vaccine research and deserves a bigger share of production of limited supply. And there’s more. Because South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged wealthy countries to stop "hoarding" coronavirus vaccine. The fact is the distribution of vaccines will not be fair, and poorer countries will be at the back of the bus.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/26/head-of-astrazeneca-confirms-uk-has-prior-claim-on-vaccine
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1389508/Coronavirus-vaccine-South-Africa-news-Covid-19-jabs-European-Union-UK-WHO-ont
Russia
Nuclear arms and their storage and deployment may not be high on your list of concerns right now but thats because generally Russia and America had cooperating on inspections and verifications since the Cold War so that each side can loo into storage places and take some solace by knowing the other country is not about to attack. There are roughly 1500 nuclear warheads in each Country and they are managed by an agreement called START. Yesterday, Presidents Biden and Putin agreed to extend that treaty for five years. And Biden also reportedly scolded Putin on the jailing of Navalny, and the hacking of American computer systems including Treasury and Home land Security.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/26/head-of-astrazeneca-confirms-uk-has-prior-claim-on-vaccine
On Back Story with Dana Lewis I interviewed Zhanna Nemtsov the daughter of Boris Nemtsov who was murdered in front of the Kremlin. Zhanna speaks of a the birth of a new national political movement in Russia and the desire to remove Putin.
And,The Former Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Kasyanov calls on the EU to pursue sanctions to force the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Plus, analysis of what comes next by Russia expert Alex Kokcharov.
Because you read this news letter you can access the podcast link before anyone else today. Back Story with Dana Lewis - Russia’s Growing Dissent.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/7499026
Zhanna is compelling and she talks about why her fathers 2015 murder directly in front of the Kremlin remains unsolved.
Canada not to proud…
…of the proud boys and so it has declared this white supremacist group a terrorist organization. That’s exactly what America should be doing with White Supremacists but has acted slowly to confront them.
While Proud Boys are notorious for their violent altercations with antifa in U.S. cities such as Portland and New York, as well as the insurrection in D.C., the group was established in 2016 by Canadian Gavin McGinnis the co-founder of Vice Media.
Canada is trying now to root out proud boys from it’s military.
https://www.thestar.com/politics/2021/01/13/canadas-outgoing-military-commander-sounds-alarm-over-threat-of-xenophobia.html
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/proud-boys-speak-out-against-tyrants-after-canada-votes-to-label-them-a-terrorist-group/ar-BB1d6jVv?__s=w4n4z7u8mat4rgmlypeh
On Back Story podcast how do we confront radicalization on the internet and elsewhere?
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/episodes/7372033
That’s our news round up today. Thanks for reading. Please share our free (for now) news letter and subscribe to Back Story with Dana Lewis.
Have a good day everyone.