TRUCE?
📣 WHAT: In a significant easing tensions, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the end of military drills in Crimea and the withdrawal of some troops back to Ukraine.
👉🏽 Russia released a video claiming it shows withdrawal of troops and tanks from the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed from Ukraine by rebel groups in 2014, backed by Russia.
🕊 Today’s announcement comes a day after Russia announced that it was pulling back some of its troops from the Ukraine border and offered to continue solving the crisis diplomatically.
❗BUT: The West is not buying it, even as it continues mediating between Russia and Ukraine.
👉🏽 NATO’s Secretary General has said they have seen no signs of withdrawal at the borders.
🇺🇸 US President Joe Biden also expressed skepticism saying: “An invasion remains distinctly possible. Our analysts indicate that [1.5 lakh troops of the Russian Army] remain very much in a threatening position.”
🚨 A THREAT: “Invading Ukraine will prove to be a self-inflicted wound. The US and our Allies and partners will respond decisively…World War II was a war of necessity. But if Russia attacks Ukraine, it would be a war of choice, or a war without cause or reason.”—Biden
LEAKED
👉 WHAT: Hackers from the collective 'Anonymous' leaked data of 92,000+ donors to the Freedom Convoy protests on GiveSendGo crowdfunding platform.
❗️A KEY FINDING: $3.62 million (56% of donations) came from US-based donors. $4.3 million (29% of donations) came from Canadian donors.
🚨 FYI: A dozen donors had .gov email IDs from within the US Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, NASA, Federal Bureau of Prisons and a state transit corporation. One donor was from within the Canadian government as well.
👉 WHAT NOW: GiveSendGo was hacked on Feb 14 and restored after over 24 hours. The Freedom Convoy protest fundraiser is also back on, having collected over $9.4 million dollars till now.
NEW VIDEO: UKRAINE/RUSSIA + CANADA CHAOS, EXPLAINED
🍿 Watch our latest deep-dive into the two international questions dominating the headlines and geopolitical corridors right now.
1️⃣ Is Russia showing willingness to withdraw troops from the Ukraine border and solve for peace? Or will there be 'war' as more than one leader puts it?
2️⃣ Will Canadian PM Justin Trudeau be able to wrestle back control from the Freedom Convoy protests which has, in some ways, caught the government off-guard and sullied Canada's reputation of being above right-wing politics unlike its neighbours to the south?
BETWEEN THE LINES
👉🏽 CONTEXT: Degree and Pre-University colleges in Karnataka reopened today after being shut for a week as the demonstrations over dress code turned violent.
❌ TODAY: Several colleges turned away students wearing hijabs and burqas, or asked them to take it off before entering.
📚 In some cases students protested, in others they acquiesced and took their headscarves off. In some, they chose to go home and wait for the court’s final verdict, missing classes and tests.
📜 The colleges cited the Karnataka HC’s interim order while it hears the case—no religious symbols allowed on campuses till the final hearing.
❗️THE CAVEAT: In its detailed interim order, the court clarified that the order only applies to campuses that have a prescribed dress code which says hijabs can’t be worn.
👉🏽 BUT, on the ground, the order is being more widely interpreted, even in colleges that earlier allowed the hijab.
🏫 FOR INSTANCE: At Vijayapura, the Government Pre-University College barred the entry of hijab-wearing students, although students wore it before without objection.
👉🏽 FYI: There have been some reports of schools (which reopened last week) also asking students and teachers wearing a hijab to remove them before entering, or go back home.
THE MAN WHO MADE MILLIONS DANCE
🥀 After national icon Lata Mangeshkar's demise last week, pop-culture icon, music composer, singer and bundle of energy and warmth, Bappi Lahiri has passed away at 69. We don't know if heaven exists, but if it does, there's a disco party up there tonight.
#NEWSWORTHY SNIPPETS
The Delhi High Court refused to interfere with the Centre's order suspending the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of human rights organisation Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. It held that the suspension was in consonance with the objective of the law.
Punjabi actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu, accused of being the key conspirator of the Red Fort violence on Republic Day last year, died on Feb 15 after his car hit a truck on Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway in Haryana's Sonipat district.
The Hyderabad Police has registered an FIR against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi under IPC sections for intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace and for making any statement conducive to public mischief.
On February 11, at an election rally in Uttarakhand, Sarma rebuked Gandhi for seeking proof of India’s surgical strikes on Pakistan in February 2019. “Did we [BJP] ever ask you for proof of whether you are Rajiv Gandhi’s son or not,” he had said.
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