Some hope on Ukraine crisis

The tension over a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine appeared to ease a bit on Monday as Moscow signaled that negotiations should continue.

The New York Times is reporting that some concessions by Ukraine might head off a shooting war.

“I believe that our possibilities are far from exhausted,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and urged continuing talks with the United States and other Western allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cast doubt on the chances of his nation of fulfilling the goal of becoming a member of NATO, the alliance created in 1949 to curb expansion of Soviet Russia. Maybe, he said, it was “like a dream.”

Keeping Ukraine out of NATO has been a goal of Putin’s government. If Ukraine backed away from that possibility it might de-escalate the threat posed by an estimated 130,000 troops on the borders between the two nations.

Canada moves to break blockades

Invoking a national law that gives authority to battle disorder, the Canadian government is moving to break up the trucker’s blockades which have snarled streets in that country and impeded trade with the United States.

According to the Associated Press, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will use the Emergencies Act to dispel the protests over COVID-19 restrictions and other grievances.

While the military will not be used, the government has warned it will tow away vehicles, freeze the personal and corporate bank accounts on defiant truckers and suspend their insurance.

Sports: U.S Olympians climb the ladder

The United States team has moved into third place in gold medals won so far in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

America has seven golds, trailing Norway with nine and Germany with eight. The leader in overall medals is Norway with 21, followed by the Russian Olympic Committee team with 18 and the U.S with 16.

Germany and Austria follow with 15 each.

Weather: Rain? We’re not kidding

After a quite warm weekend, the West Orange County area is facing some rain and a daytime high plunging into the low 60s. The forecast for Tuesday is 60 degrees (42 overnight) with a 44 percent change of rain and winds up to 15 miles an hour. Things should return to “normal” on Wednesday with a high of 69 (44) under sunny skies. Thursday should be warmer with a high of 76 (45).

Business: Apple’s update of employee wages

If you’re an owner of an Apple product, you know you get these “update” notices fairly often, telling users they have to accept the changes or risk not keeping up with changes in the electronic universe.

On Monday, Bloomberg.com reported that Apple was going to update its employee’s wages as a way of coping with the labor shortage. According to the report, retail sales staff would get increases in their hourly workers of 2 to 10 percent.

Recipients would include salespeople, technical support staff (such as Genius Bar workers) and some “senior hourly workers.”