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Monday, April 5, 2021

Russia in the Arctic—A Critical Examination

Russia’s Arctic ambitions have attracted increasing attention in the West over the past decade as climate change opens up new opportunities in the region for navigation and exploration of its riches. For its part, Moscow casts a wary eye on what it sees as a challenge from the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to its position and ambitions there. The Kremlin’s rhetoric about Western encroachment has become more strident, in sync with its enhanced military posture and ambitious economic and infrastructure projects.

Russian interest in the Arctic has deep historic roots that extend all the way to the sixteenth century and the conquest of Siberia driven by the never-ending quest for more resources and secure trading routes. Modern-day Russian posture in the Arctic is integral to its overall confrontation with the West, in which Europe is the principal theater.

The saber-rattling in the Arctic and threatening rhetoric are driven by several factors: preparations for the unlikely, but potentially catastrophic contingency of war in Europe, the need to secure its second-strike nuclear capabilities (the bulk of which is based around the Kola Peninsula), and the quest for resources to pay for the proverbial guns and butter as the competition with the West shows no sign of abating. Great-power ambitions and the interests of powerful bureaucratic elites and business interests also play a role.

The pastor of a church in Calgary uploaded a video of his encounter with police and other officials from the city there to ensure that the church was following COVID-19 guidelines, and the interaction went viral.

CTV News reported that Pastor Artur Pawlowski—the head of Calgary’s Street Church—was holding a service on Saturday at the Fortress (Cave) of Adullam until these officials entered the building.

Pawlowski—who filmed the encounter—addresses the officials in a stairwell outside the sanctuary.

"Get out of this property immediately," he says. "I don’t want to hear anything…out immediately."

Most of the officials don’t engage Pawlowski, but an unidentified woman seems to try and explain their presence. Pawlowski was not having it.

"Out!" he yelled. "Out of this property…immediately until you come back with a warrant." The officials and officers slowly exit the building, and Pawlowski followed them outside

Child among three dead in NSW South Coast car crash

A young child is among three people dead after a car crashed and hit a tree on the NSWSouth Coast early this morning.

At 4.30am, emergency services were called to the Princes Highway, Lake Tabourie, near Ulladulla, after reports that a crash had taken place.

The driver, a woman, and two of her passengers – a man and a young child – died at the scene.

Police have yet to identify the bodies.

The fourth person inside the car, a male passenger, was airlifted to hospital in a serious condition.

Police have established a crime scene which is continuing to be investigated to determine the cause of the crash.

Teenager stabbed in the buttocks during Sydney brawl

Police are hunting a man who allegedly stabbed a teenager in a brawl near Sydney's CBD overnight.

The fight broke out around midnight as police say a large group of people left a party boat that docked opposite the Star Casino on Pirrama Road, Pyrmont.

The 18-year-old victim was treated for three stab wounds to his buttocks before being taken to St Vincent's Hospital for surgery.

A crime scene was set up and police have appealed for the public to help identify a man who may be able to help with their investigations.

He is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance and aged in his mid-20s.

Eight injured as boat explodes on Hawkesbury River at Brooklyn

Eight people have suffered injuries, including four in a critical condition, after a boat exploded on the Hawkesbury River in Sydney's north on Sunday afternoon.

The vessel erupted in flames at a marina off Dangar Road at Brooklyn just after 5pm.

NSW Ambulance said 12 crews were dispatched to the scene along with a specialist medical team, a Toll Ambulance Rescue Helicopter and a Westpac Ambulance Rescue Helicopter.

Four patients were taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition, two to Westmead Hospital in a serious condition, and two didn't require transportation.

'Troublemaker for the next surge': Top doctor warns of new COVID-19 virus killing the young in their thousands

As COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out around the world, a top doctor is warning of a new virus strain that is killing the young in their thousands.

Brazil is swamped by new virus cases, with a warning to Australia that this variant is far more dangerous than anything seen before.

The new variant has overwhelmed the country to the point gravediggers are exhuming old tombs to make space for the more than 300,000 dead.

"The entire country has no ICU beds left. The deaths are soaring exponentially … like through the roof," Dr Eric Liang Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist from Harvard, told 9News.

Dr Feigl-Ding was one of the first epidemiologists to raise the alarm that COVID-19 was heading towards a pandemic in January 2020.

Piney Point Live Updates: Full breach could send 'as much as a 20-foot wall of water' surging out

At the press conference with Gov. Ron DeSantis, Manatee County Acting Administrator Scott Hopes said that if there is a full breach of the walls at the damaged Piney Point reservoir, models show that "as high as a 20-foot wall of water" could surge into the area.

"So if you are in an evacuation area and you have not heeded that, you need to think twice and follow the orders," Hopes said.

When asked about the Manatee County Jail near Piney Point being affected by potential flooding, Hopes said that current models show only 1-5 feet of water that could affect the jail.

Gov. Ron DeSantis diverts COVID-19 vaccine from Manatee and other counties to FEMA sites

11,000 doses will instead go to FEMA sites, which will remain open through May

The state of Florida has diverted 11,000 doses of the COVID vaccine slated for Manatee County to federal vaccination sites.

The move comes just days before the county is due to ramp up vaccinations to include any adult who wants it.

Along with Manatee, the state stopped this week’s shipment of COVID-19 vaccine shots to nearly four dozen county and local sites, Department of Health records show – the same week Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he would extend the life of four federal vaccination sites.

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