| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Tuesday, February 15, 2022 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. Markets rise on Ukraine-Russia de-escalation hopes, Canada's Trudeau invokes emergency powers, and a judge deals Sarah Palin a loss in her New York Times case. Plus, read our special report on the U.S. school board members getting death threats amid rage over race, gender and mask policies. | | | | | Today's biggest stories  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin Wall in Moscow, February 15, 2022 WORLD Russia said some of its military units were returning to their bases after exercises near Ukraine, following days of U.S. and British warnings that Moscow might invade its neighbor at any time. The news drew a cautious response from Ukraine and Britain but prompted a sharp rally on financial markets, as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz flew to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin.
Faced with truckers' protests popping up across the nation, and hampering cross border trade, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau became the only Canadian leader since his father 50 years ago to declare a state of emergency in peacetime. The 'Freedom Convoy' protests were started by truckers opposing a COVID-19 vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers.
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has argued that her positive drug test was caused by a mix-up with her grandfather's heart medication, an Olympic official said. The 15-year-old's defence was revealed as Beijing braced for an unprecedented Olympic moment - the world's top figure skaters will compete in the evening's single competition with the likelihood they will not receive medals at the Winter Games.
A series of small earthquakes has struck near North Korea's shuttered nuclear test site, South Korea has said, highlighting the area's geological instability as Pyongyang hints it could resume testing for the first time since 2017.
French far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour had a phone call with former U.S. President Donald Trump who told him not to give in to pressure, a senior official of Zemmour's campaign said. Trump's 2016 presidential run is often cited as a blueprint for the current campaign of former French talk show commentator Zemmour, who has been convicted several times for inciting racial hatred.
|  Angry parents and community members protest after a Loudoun County School Board meeting was halted by the school board because the crowd refused to quiet down, in Ashburn, Virginia, June 22, 2021 U.S.
School board members across the United States have endured a rash of terroristic threats and hostile messages ignited by roiling controversies over policies on curtailing the coronavirus, bathroom access for transgender students and the teaching of America’s racial history. In a special report, we document the intimidation.
If Democrats are to keep control of Congress in this year's midterm elections, moderates in highly competitive districts, such as Representative Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, must hold on to their seats. Yet Slotkin and two fellow Democratic lawmakers who were part of the 2018 Democratic 'blue wave' say continuing fights within their own party risk dooming them to devastating losses this year.
A surprising and unusual ruling against Sarah Palin in her defamation case against the New York Times has narrowed the former Alaska governor's route to victory but the high-profile suit is far from over, legal experts said.
The accounting firm that handled Donald Trump's company's financial statements dropped it as a client and said it could no longer stand behind a decade of statements, a court filing showed.
A federal prosecutor in Georgia said that three white men on trial for hate crimes in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, had a long history of using racial epithets and undoubtedly killed him because of his race. | BUSINESS Bristling tensions and looming laws in Europe could offer clues to two questions: Can bitcoin be a safe-haven asset? And can Russia emerge as a crypto superpower? The answer to the first, for now at least, is no.
Intel signed a deal to buy Israeli chipmaker Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion, as it looks to further expand its manufacturing capacity and technology portfolio amid rising demand.
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk donated a total of 5,044,000 shares in the world's most valuable automaker to a charity in November last year, its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed. The donation was worth $5.74 billion.
An ex-Credit Suisse manager told a Swiss court that millions of euros were paid out of accounts linked to a Bulgarian wrestler at the center of an international drugs probe, despite the bank's legal compliance department being alerted.
As traditional automakers prepare to churn out electric vans and trucks, startups are focused more than ever on finding a competitive or technological edge to stay on the road once their bigger rivals start moving through the gears.
| | | | | | | Video of the day  Plastic waste upcycled into religious items in Thailand Hoping to inspire more Thais to recycle plastic waste, two local companies have teamed up to make Buddhist amulets by using nine types of recyclable materials ranging from plastic bottles to nylon fishing nets. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
