Will west send tanks to Ukraine?

Ukraine's president Zelensky will speak via video link to a meeting in Germany of defense ministers from about 50 countries, including every Nato member state, to convince them to increase their military aid to Ukraine. In the last couple of days, the US has announced another two and one half billion dollars worth of aid, including 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers, an additional 59 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles and Avenger air defense systems. This morning, a group of 11 NATO countries, including Britain and the Baltics, pledged a raft of new military aid for Ukraine, including tens more stinger air defense systems, 60 anti-aircraft guns and more training for Ukrainian soldiers. However, while the West has given Ukraine hundreds of armored vehicles, the big question now is whether Europe will send leopard 2 tanks, a German made tank that is used widely across Europe. Certain European countries, including Poland, have already expressed their intention to send these to Ukraine. But Germany has an export veto on the tanks and Berlin has so far proved reluctant for fear of provoking Russia. There have been reports that Schultz has told Biden that he'll only allow the export of leopard 2 tanks if the US also sends Abrams tanks, which weren't included in the latest batch of American aid.

Nonetheless, while Schultz is currently dragging his feet, history suggests Berlin will eventually give the green light and this morning could be great news for Ukraine. At the moment, the war in Ukraine is stuck in a sort of stalemate. The media is zoomed in on places like Bakhmut and Solider, where both sides have lost thousands of men, But neither side has been able to make a strategically significant advance for months now. Even bakhmut, which could fall to the Russians sometime relatively soon, doesn't have much strategic value. It's a small town with a pre-war population of about 70,000 people, and it suffered too much damage to act as an effective logistical hub for further Russian advances towards other Ukrainian holdouts in Donbas, like Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. While tanks won't make an immediate difference. Escalating Western aid could give the Ukrainians enough to break the current deadlock. Assuming Putin doesn't escalate and the Ukrainians can hold out until the new aid arrives.

USA Absent from Davos

This week, elites from the world of politics and business have met in Davos to discuss political divisions in the world. This meeting, hosted by the World Economic Forum, occurs annually and often sees world leaders attend. Donald Trump, for example, attended twice during his tenure as president of the United States. This year, though, it appears that the Americans have chosen to forgo attendance with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken all no shows. In fact, nobody from the White House went at all. The highest ranking Americans to attend were three Cabinet secretaries, none of whom gave keynote speeches. In fact, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen traveled to Zurich this week, which is just 2 hours on the train from Davos to meet with Chinese Vice President Lu Hi. He. She did not stop at Davos. Perhaps Davos is just not viewed as important by the new occupant of the White House.

King Charles's Charity

We move to the UK now, where King Charles has requested that profits from a £1 billion a year crown estate wind farm deal be used for the public good rather than as extra funding for the British monarchy. Six new offshore wind energy lease agreements have generated a significant windfall for the Crown estate, which would normally lead to an increase in official funding for the Royals. The Crown estate is the monarch's public estate, made up of an ancient portfolio of land and property, including the new wind farms. It's run independently as a commercial business. The profits get sent to the UK Treasury, but the level of profit is used to calculate the amount of money given by the government to the royal family known as the sovereign grant for their official work. As such, a boost in profits usually means a larger sovereign grant for the royals. But amid a cost of living crisis, the king doesn't want to be seen to benefit from this financial windfall and has requested that the profits be directed for wider public good.

China Lifts ban on Marvel

Marvel fans in China will be thrilled today as it's been announced that the new titles in the series will be screened in the country. China has introduced a de facto ban on the films in 2019, which last Marvel won hundreds of millions in lost ticket sales. While it's not known exactly why the ban was introduced. It has been speculated that it was potentially because of LGBTQ+ characters and symbols in the film US symbols of patriotism, or simply because of the increasing tensions between the US and China. Politically, while we don't know why Marvel films were as a whole banned since 2019, we do have reports of why some specific films were banned. Spider-man No Way Home was supposedly banned because the Statue of Liberty scene was too patriotic. Doctor Strange, in the Multiverse of Madness, was reportedly denied because of a character with lesbian mothers. Nonetheless, it's been reported that Black Panther and Ant-Man will both be screened in the country, ending the de facto ban.