Canadians support actions against Russia over Ukraine, but have economic concerns: poll

… The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found strong support for Canada’s sanctions on Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, and sections of the Russian economy including the oil sector. Eight in 10 Canadians surveyed said they would support even more sanctions.

And although less than half of Canadians who answered the poll said they are prepared to pay more for gas because of those sanctions, 73 per cent said doing nothing will encourage Russia to take further military action elsewhere.

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Trudeau returns from Europe having run out of people who will give him the time of day, sanctions oligarch Abramovich

WARSAW — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau capped a weeklong European trip Friday by slapping new sanctions on the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has become an international poster boy for the largesse that enabled President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.

Abramovich is a major shareholder in Evraz, a British multinational manufacturing company that operates a steel mill in Regina. Britain also sanctioned Abramovich on Thursday, as pressure continued to grow on the Boris Johnson government to bring down the hammer on the owner of its famed Chelsea Football Club. Abramovich has aimed his super yacht into the Mediterranean Sea to avoid having his assets seized.

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What Putin Needs to Negotiate a Deal on Ukraine

One of the biggest questions about the war in Ukraine at this point is what Russian president Vladimir Putin’s exit ramp would look like. He has too much of his standing and prestige invested in this expedition for the United States and its allies to expect him to execute a U-turn and a tail-between-the-legs withdrawal, even if Ukrainian resistance were to continue being as stubborn and effective as it has been so far. For any outcome to be acceptable, Putin has to be able to portray himself, with the aid of his propaganda apparatus, as a winner.

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Identities of Russian soldiers revealed through facial recognition technology

Russian soldiers are posting on social media only to have their identities revealed by facial recognition software.

Tactical Systems Academy, a law enforcement and military training company, tweeted the results of its facial recognition searches to reveal the identities of two Russian soldiers since the invasion into Ukraine began. It specializes in gathering intelligence via open sources, and its clients include the French Armed Forces and several police departments.

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The Green Immoralists

Thousands are dying from Russian missiles and bombs in the suburbs of Ukraine.

In response, the Biden Administration’s climate-change envoy, multimillionaire and private-jet-owning John Kerry, laments that Russian President Vladimir Putin might no longer remain his partner in reducing global warming.

“You’re going to lose people’s focus,” Kerry frets. “You’re going to lose big-country attention because they will be diverted, and I think it could have a damaging impact.”

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Finally, Real Refugees: Do you care about fleeing Ukrainians? What an Islamophobe you are!

From one end of Western Europe to the other, the mass migrations of the last generation or two have turned the words “immigrant” and “refugee” into veritable synonyms for “Muslim.” Thanks to government generosity on a Herculean scale, Muslims by the million have been provided, at taxpayer expense (but without taxpayers ever being consulted), with incomes, homes, furnishings, cars. They’ve been allowed to bring over their family members, who in turn have been allowed to bring over their family members. Some have been grateful; some have even gone on to pursue estimable careers and contribute to the general welfare. Many, however, have responded to all this largesse with a contempt for their hosts – a contempt rooted largely in the Koran’s teachings about infidels – and a staggering sense of entitlement.

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On the front line: If Kharkiv falls, all of Ukraine falls

The first casualty of war is time. Ask the young soldier at the front when the attack happened, or the old lady in the hospital bed when her home was shelled, and they look at you confused. Was it 24 hours ago, or 48? The days have become one, they tell you.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, time is elastic. It’s close to the border with Russia and the nightly shelling from Russian artillery and warplanes gives no rest. The past two weeks have seemed like an eternity, yet peace can be remembered as if it were yesterday.

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Zelensky’s former press secretary tweets and then deletes message saying it would be a ‘tragedy’ if Kamala Harris becomes President

Kamala Harris

Volodymyr Zelensky’s former press secretary tweeted then deleted a post on Thursday saying it would be a ‘tragedy’ if Vice President Kamala Harris were to one day be president after she laughed through questions at a press conference in Poland about the refugee crisis in Ukraine.

‘It would be a tragedy if this woman won the presidency,’ Iuliia Mendel, who served Zelensky’s administration from June 2019 until July 2021, wrote on Twitter before quickly deleting the post.

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Trudeau rejects Zelensky’s request for a no-fly zone citing fears of Russian escalation

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he was forced to deny Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to authorize a no-fly zone over Ukraine citing fears about triggering an escalation from Russian forces.

Speaking to CTV National News Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme, Trudeau confirmed Zelensky asked him directly to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine during a phone call Thursday.

 

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Drone footage shows ambush of Russian tanks by Ukrainian forces

Dramatic drone footage emerged on Thursday of a Ukrainian ambush on a Russian armoured column just outside Brovary, an eastern suburb of Kyiv.

Bellingcat, the specialist open source investigator, said it had geolocated the video, to a lightly inhabited area on the E95 road about 35km (22 miles) from the centre of Kyiv, a direct route to the east of the capital where Russian forces have been trying to mass.

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Populism strengthened the hand of authoritarian leaders like Putin who will pay for his crimes says hypocrite who turned Emergencies Act on his own citizens

Putin will pay for ‘war crimes he’s committed in Ukraine,’ Justin Trudeau says

BERLIN—Canada and European leaders condemned Russia’s bombing of a Ukrainian maternity hospital as an atrocity. And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Russian President Vladimir Putin would be held accountable by the International Criminal Court for “war crimes he’s committed in Ukraine.”

Trudeau made the comment after delivering a foreign policy speech in Berlin on the need for democracies to make a “constant effort” to counter apathy, disinformation, low voter turnout and the rise of populism that may have strengthened the hand of authoritarian leaders like Putin.

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Joe Biden begs dictators for oil while Canada’s energy industry remains hobbled

U.S. President Joe Biden is learning a hard lesson about the geopolitics of energy and what it means for America and its allies to be reliant on oil and gas produced by unsavoury regimes.

On Tuesday, the Biden administration followed Canada’s lead and banned petroleum imports from Russia, in response to its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

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Harris slammed for laughing after question about Ukrainian refugees

Vice President Kamala Harris has been criticized for breaking into laughter Thursday after she was asked whether the US will take in Ukrainian refugees.

The awkward moment took place during a joint press conference with Poland President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw.

The two leaders had been asked similar questions about the US accepting Ukrainian refugees or otherwise easing pressure on Poland’s strained humanitarian resources.

Junior giggling like a school girl.

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