DAILY DOSE: February 20, 2022
Posted on 02/20/2022
1. U.K.’s Queen Elizabeth II (age 95) tested positive for COVID-19, according to an announcement by Buckingham Palace. She is experiencing mild symptoms. Queen Elizabeth is the world’s longest-reigning monarch.
2. MARTIAL LAW, NORTH OF THE U.S. BORDER. Ottawa police continue to crackdown on the Freedom Convoy trucker protest. Earlier a platoon of horses in Ottawa trampled an old lady at the protest, while the Canadian government has been seizing and freezing bank accounts from the protestors without court orders. Earlier, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suspended debate in Parliament and continued to have the Emergency Act in place. Trudeau continues to face significant opposition in Parliament as he battles to maintain his emergency powers in a political crackdown on Freedom Convoy protesters. Legislation upholding Trudeau’s declaration under the Emergencies Act was presented in Parliament, where Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs voiced fierce opposition over citizens’ lawful rights to protests and civil liberties being trampled.
3. Violence in eastern Ukraine has spiked in recent days. Parts of Eastern Ukraine are more affiliated race-wise with Russia. The recent shelling and bombing spike could set off a full-scale war in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron and Russia President Vladimir Putin agreed on the need to find a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis. Russian gas feeds 40% of the European market.
4. MIXED SIGNALS. U.K. banking giant NatWest Group, formerly the Royal Bank of Scotland, disclosed they will stop doing business with a group of coal companies and end lending to certain oil and gas majors. The bank is doing this with these fossil fuel companies because the bank feels they do not have credible plans to decarbonize. NOTE: Oil and gas companies make money by selling fossil fuels for consumption.
