Monday 14 February 2022

Monday Briefing: Ukraine hints at concessions to Russia

Monday, February 14, 2022

by Linda Noakes

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Russia says ties with the U.S. are "on the floor", figure skater Valieva is cleared to compete, and a Hollywood ending to the Super Bowl

Today's biggest stories

Residents take part in a military exercise for civilians conducted by a far-right radical group, Right Sector, in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 13, 2022

WORLD

Ukraine's ambassador to Britain backtracked on remarks suggesting that Kyiv would reconsider its attempt to join NATO as Russia masses a huge force within striking distance of its neighbor, but said other concessions could be on offer. Despite a recent uptick in bilateral dialogue, relations between Moscow and Washington are "lying on the floor", the Kremlin told Russia's RIA news agency.

Sport's highest court cleared 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to compete in her next Olympic event, but the teenager's doping charge that has rocked the Beijing Games remained unresolved.

The latest wave of COVID-19 infections has "overwhelmed" Hong Kong, the city's leader said on Monday as daily cases surged by some 20 times over the past two weeks, leaving hospitals short of beds and struggling to cope.

Talks to salvage Iran's 2015 nuclear deal are not at a dead end but key outstanding issues require political decisions by the West, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said. He also said a prisoner swap deal with the United States was on the agenda in parallel with the talks in Vienna.

A state in southern India re-opened some schools that had been closed following protests last week over female students not being allowed to wear hijabs, or head-to-toe burqas, in class. The issue, widely seen by India's Muslim minority community as a bid to sideline it by authorities in a Hindu-dominated nation, comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party prepares for elections in key states.

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford celebrates with the Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California

U.S.


The Los Angeles Rams rallied late to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 to deliver a Hollywood ending to the Super Bowl, securing the franchise's first championship since returning to the West Coast six years ago. Los Angeles-area natives Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre united for 'California Love', surprise guest 50 Cent hung upside down and rapper Eminem took a knee as superstars of hip-hop performed a high-energy halftime show.

In the past year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has deployed thousands of National Guard troops to the southern U.S. border, begun building a new border barrier, and arrested migrants for allegedly trespassing on private property. But as Abbott runs for a third term, conservative candidates challenging him in a March 1 Republican nominating contest contend he is still not tough enough on illegal immigration. We look at the Republicans trying to out-Trump each other.

Prosecutors at a federal hate-crimes trial face a challenge in proving that racial animus motivated the three white men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery, a Black jogger shot in a mostly white Georgia neighborhood, trial experts said. After five days of jury selection, the federal trial of Gregory McMichael, 66, his son Travis McMichael, 36, and neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan, 52, is set to begin in earnest.

An American Airlines flight headed to Washington was diverted to Kansas City after crew members and passengers subdued an unruly passenger. The U.S. Justice Department said last week it is "fully committed" to holding disruptive airline passengers who violate federal law accountable, but did not endorse Delta Air Lines' request to add convicted passengers to a government no-fly list.

BUSINESS

World shares skidded as warnings that Russia could invade Ukraine at any time drove oil prices to seven-year peaks, belted the euro and sent investors scuttling back to the safe-haven government bonds they have been dumping all year.

The Bank of England will raise interest rates faster than previously thought to tame surging inflation, according to economists polled by Reuters who significantly upgraded their forecasts for consumer price rises.

The former head of India's largest stock exchange shared confidential information with a yogi and sought his advice on crucial decisions, a probe by the market regulator has found, ahead of the bourse's much-awaited public listing.

At least six Chinese companies have lodged documents for New York listings in recent weeks, filings showed, promising an end to a months-long freeze after an unprecedented clampdown last year by Chinese regulators.

Sixty-five years after Aristotle Onassis founded Greece's Olympic Airways, another shipping entrepreneur is planning to take to the skies - this time in Italy, where Gianluigi Aponte's MSC has its sights on the successor company to Alitalia.

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WINTER OLYMPICS

See our full coverage of the Beijing Games

Papadakis and Cizeron keep it together to win ice dance gold

Quote of the day

"We’re fed up, we’re tired. We want Ottawa to be boring again"

Resident at a counter-protest

U.S.-Canada bridge reopens after police clear protesters

Video of the day

UK zoo names cockroaches after exes for Valentine’s Day

Requests have already been flooding in from all over the world to the Hemsley Conservation Centre, in southeastern England, which runs the project as a fundraiser.

And finally…

Venice's 'Carnival of hope' kicks off as COVID worries ease

The Venice Carnival began centuries ago as a period of excess before the rigors of Lent, the 40 days of fasting that traditionally precede Easter.

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