Friday, 11 February 2022

Friday Briefing: Macron refused Russian COVID test in Putin trip over DNA theft fears

Friday, February 11, 2022

by Linda Noakes

Hello

Here's what you need to know.

Russia masses more troops near Ukraine, Valieva's positive drug test prompts global outrage, and hot U.S. inflation fuels the case for a 'big-bang' Fed rate hike.

Today's biggest stories

A satellite image shows a close-up of troops and equipment at Oktyabrskoye air base, Crimea, February 10, 2022

WORLD

Russia is now massing yet more troops near Ukraine and an invasion could come at any time, perhaps before the end of this month's Winter Olympics, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. French President Emmanuel Macron refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian COVID test when he arrived to see President Vladimir Putin this week, to prevent Russia getting hold of Macron's DNA, two sources in Macron's entourage told Reuters.

Teen figure skating sensation Kamila Valieva won a gold medal having earlier failed a drug test and Olympic officials will fight Russia's decision to let her compete at the Winter Games, the International Testing Agency said. Here's what you need to know about trimetazidine, the banned drug that Valieva tested positive for.

The United States, Australia, Japan and India pledged to deepen cooperation to ensure the Indo-Pacific region was free from "coercion", a thinly-veiled swipe at China's growing economic and military expansion, as their top diplomats convened to also tackle climate change, COVID and other threats.

A Myanmar army officer who defected and fled the country has detailed battlefield losses to rebels in the southern part of Chin state, with at least 50 soldiers killed and 200 badly wounded in 2021 by opposition fighters with homemade weapons.

London police chief Cressida Dick resigned after Mayor of London Sadiq Khan told her he was not satisfied she could root out the racism, sexism and other problems that still existed within the force. Confidence in the Metropolitan Police has been shaken by the abduction, rape and murder of a woman by one of its officers, and recent revelations of a culture of bullying, racial discrimination and misogyny.

Demonstrators and supporters of former President Trump hold signs as the motorcade of President Joe Biden passes by in Brandy Station, Virginia, February 10, 2022

U.S.

A U.S. congressional committee is investigating former President Donald Trump's handling of White House records after 15 boxes of documents were transferred from his Florida resort to a federal agency, including whether the material included classified information. An upcoming book written by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said staffers found documents clogging Trump's toilet in the White House during his tenure - an account that the Republican former president called "categorically false."

President Joe Biden said he had done a thorough check on about four potential nominees for the Supreme Court and that he expects whomever he chooses will get some Republican support in the Senate.

A Minnesota judge approved the "no-knock" raid that killed Amir Locke in Minneapolis last week, believing it was needed to protect the investigating officers and the public, court documents showed.

The U.S. Senate approved a bill that would ban companies from forcing employees who allege sexual assault or harassment to settle their claims with an arbiter without the option of filing a lawsuit.

An unidentified woman has filed a civil lawsuit that accuses American rapper Snoop Dogg of sexual assault and battery after she attended one of his concerts in 2013. Snoop Dogg is one of the hip-hop megastars set to perform at the Super Bowl on Sunday.

BUSINESS

Pressure increased on the Federal Reserve to take a stronger stand against inflation after an unexpectedly large jump in U.S. consumer prices defied hopes that the pocketbook squeeze would ease and bolstered the view that the U.S. central bank is behind the curve.

Britain's economy shrank by less than feared in December when the wave of Omicron COVID cases prompted many people to work from home and avoid Christmas socializing, but analysts warned that surging inflation would slow the recovery in 2022.

Australia withdrew a cartel lawsuit against Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and four former executives over a $1.8 billion share issue, a stunning retreat from what would have been the country's biggest white-collar criminal trial.

The strong subscriber additions by Disney+ in the latest quarter helped Walt Disney Co's flagship streaming service close the gap with market leader Netflix, but industry watchers focused on future prospects for streaming in a saturating market.

A California state agency has sued Tesla over allegations by some Black workers that the company tolerated racial discrimination at an assembly plant, adding to claims made in several other lawsuits against the electric car maker.

WINTER OLYMPICS

See our full coverage of the Beijing Games

With tears and hugs, White bids farewell to competition

Quote of the day

"We should never have allowed things to get to the point where we are at risk of losing a national icon"

Josey Sharrad

International Fund for Animal Welfare manager

Australia lists koalas as endangered in two eastern states

Video of the day

'Golfing' cockatoos use tools to complete tasks

The birds were given a stick and a ball and had ten minutes to release a cashew nut from a specially designed box.

And finally…

The sad and sorry story of Dolly the diseased and doomed dinosaur

In a Jurassic Period landscape in what is now southwest Montana, an adolescent long-necked dinosaur was miserably sick with flu and pneumonia-like symptoms. Some 150 million years later, the skeletal remains of that unfortunate beast show the first-known dinosaur with evidence of respiratory illness.

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