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The United States and NATO have each sent written replies to Russia over its security demands, saying they would make no concessions when it comes to Ukraine’s possible future in the Western alliance.
Russia has demanded a guarantee that Ukraine will never be allowed to join the 30-country North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Moscow, which published its positions last month, has also called for NATO to withdraw troops and weapons from Eastern Europe.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “there is no change, there will be no change” on core principles such as Ukraine’s sovereign right to seek membership in whatever alliance it chooses. However, he said the documents submitted to the Russian Foreign Ministry “set out a serious diplomatic path should Russia choose it.” Mr. Blinken suggested the two sides could work toward arms-control agreements as a way of defusing the rising tension between Russia and the West.
- Trudeau extends military training mission in Ukraine for three years
- Campbell Clark: No weapons, but a government stance that brings the new Cold War home to Canada
- Konrad Yakabuski: Trudeau’s dithering on Ukraine should fool no one
- Lawrence Martin: In Moscow, war drums aren’t beating and the public doesn’t favour invasion
- Eric Reguly: Sanctions will hurt Russia if it invades Ukraine, but crippling pain is far from assured
A serviceman stands holding his machine gun in a trench on the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants at the frontline with Ukrainian government forces in Slavyanoserbsk, Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine, Jan. 25, 2022.Alexei Alexandrov/The Associated Press
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Bank of Canada holds off hiking interest rates, sets stage for March increase
The Bank of Canada laid down its final preparations yesterday for a sustained campaign against inflation, but stopped just short of launching the first of what it signalled will be a series of interest rate increases.
Policy makers decided to keep the central bank’s key interest rate at a record low 0.25 per cent, where it has been since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, they indicated that the economy had returned to full capacity and that the bank’s priority now is getting inflation back under control by raising borrowing costs.
The decision marks the end of nearly two years of emergency monetary policy stimulus, setting the stage for rate hikes to begin at the bank’s next policy meeting, on March 2.
- Bank of Canada inaction on rates adds more heat to housing market
- David Parkinson: Don’t misread the Bank of Canada’s decision as inaction. Interest rates will rise, and quickly
- The Decibel podcast: The Bank of Canada’s plan to cool inflation
- U.S. Federal Reserve plans to raise interest rates as soon as March to cool inflation
Parents fill in data gaps on COVID-19 cases in schools
Over the past week, in which students in Ontario returned to school buildings, Ottawa parent Katya Duhamel has been regularly updating a website with the number of positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff. She does so once in the morning, again for a few minutes during her lunch break, and then after she tucks her six-year-old into bed for the night.
While she continues with her efforts, the provincial government has abandoned notifying families of COVID-19 infections in schools.
In recent days, parents in several parts of the province have shared information on COVID-19 school cases in Facebook groups and other social-media platforms. It’s not the first time they’ve stepped in to help keep their children safe: Last year, some parents organized rapid testing in their school communities. The Ontario government blocked those efforts, but recently made rapid tests available to staff and students.
- Premiers intensify campaign for increase to Canada Health Transfer
- Robyn Urback: A COVID-19 vaccine mandate in schools could harm many low-income kids
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Police warn of disruptions as trucking protest heads for Ottawa: A convoy of truckers protesting against the federal vaccination mandate could arrive in the capital as early as today, and other groups and counterprotesters will likely join their multiday demonstration, Ottawa police say. Senior Ottawa law enforcement officials told the police board yesterday that the protesters are difficult to predict and officers are preparing contingency plans in case of violence.
- Editorial: Erin O’Toole has to unhitch Conservatives from the ‘Freedom Convoy,’ or get run over
- The Decibel podcast: Why protesting truck drivers are heading for Ottawa
Omar Alghabra says ‘terrorist’ tweet is example of hate: Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says a tweet from Ontario MPP Randy Hillier labelling him a “terrorist” is just another example of the “unacceptable” aggressions Canadian minorities deal with everyday. The tweet from Hillier was in response to Alghabra’s support for mandatory vaccines for cross-border truckers.
Canada has the natural gas, but can’t get LNG to Europe: Canada has ample reserves of natural gas but the country finds itself on the sidelines as a global coalition plans to boost shipments of the fuel in liquid form to Europe in case Russia halts its exports. Ambitious long-term plans to ship LNG to Europe from Nova Scotia, Quebec and New Brunswick have been either outright cancelled or suspended indefinitely.
Spotify removing Neil Young’s songs after ultimatum: Spotify confirmed yesterday that it has begun removing Neil Young’s music from the streaming service, two days after the star briefly posted a public letter calling on Spotify to choose between him and Joe Rogan, the star podcast host who has been accused of spreading misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines.
Picasso heirs to sell more than 1,000 NFTs: Heirs of Pablo Picasso, the famed 20th-century Spanish artist, are vaulting into 21st-century commerce by selling 1,010 digital art pieces of one of his ceramic works that has never before been seen publicly – riding a fad for crypto assets that have taken the art and financial worlds by storm.
MORNING MARKETS
World markets weigh Fed decision: Global stocks fell on Thursday after the Federal Reserve stuck to plans for an interest rate increase in March and more policy tightening to curb high inflation. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.43 per cent while Germany’s DAX fell 0.49 per cent. France’s CAC 40 was flat. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei fell 3.11 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.99 per cent. New York futures were little changed. The Canadian dollar traded at 78.88 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
David Shribman: “Ordinarily the announcement that the senior liberal on the Supreme Court is retiring would be a moment of deep disquiet among American liberals. Instead, the news that Justice Stephen Breyer is to announce his retirement Thursday produced a huge sigh of relief from that slice of American civic life.”
Brian Milner: “The plain truth is that Mr. Putin needs Europe, with its ever-expanding energy needs and its steady supply of euros, even more than Europe needs his gas. But even if he settles for something less sanction-provoking than a military assault on Ukraine, Europe’s energy woes aren’t going away any time soon.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Can you cure burnout by going on a vacation? A new segment of the travel industry thinks so
Almost two years into a global pandemic, most of us could probably handle a little more energy and a little less dread, confusion and chronic cortisol flooding. And while wellness tourism has long been a monster category, covering everything from dental care in Thailand to a hot-springs staycation, the ever-adaptive travel industry is now offering services tailored to an increasingly ubiquitous problem: how to deal with personal burnout.
MOMENT IN TIME: JANUARY 27, 1967
From left, Apollo 1 astronauts, Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee pose in front of their Saturn 1 launch vehicle at Launch Complex 34 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in January, 1967.NASA/NASA via The New York Times
Three U.S. astronauts die in Apollo 1 fire
Gus Grissom knew the Apollo 1 capsule he commanded was a dud. He said as much to his wife, Betty, in late January, 1967, when he plucked a lemon from a tree in his backyard and declared he was going to hang it on the spacecraft: a grim joke. Sure, he recognized that frequent design modifications were a fact of life in NASA’s rush to meet John F. Kennedy’s pledge to put an American man on the moon by the end of the decade. But engineers seemed to be making late changes at a frenetic pace. Still, when Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White clambered into the capsule for a test a few weeks before their planned February flight, they didn’t believe there was any imminent danger: The booster rocket hadn’t been fuelled up. But a short circuit under Grissom’s seat ignited the pure oxygen in the pressurized cabin, sparking a flash fire that turned the capsule into a furnace. The men were the first U.S. astronauts to die in a spacecraft accident. They would not be the last. Simon Houpt
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