Putin speech stokes Cold War fears in run-up to presidential election

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TODAY:

• Vladimir Putin unveils new high-tech weapons in state-of-the-nation speech ahead of Russian presidential election, saying the world has "failed to contain Russia"
• American conversation about gun control moves into unexpected territory, with stores starting to restrict gun sales and the President talking about a firearms bill
• Theresa May's efforts to secure an amicable divorce from Europe seem to be coming apart

New Cold War gets hot

Vladimir Putin knows how to get people's attention.

Today, the Russian President has transfixed the globe with a bellicose speech on his country's nuclear future, and a claim that his country has developed new weapons of mass destruction that can't be intercepted.

"I want to tell all those who have fuelled the arms race over the last 15 years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced unlawful sanctions aimed to contain our country's development: all what you wanted to impede with your policies have already happened," Putin said in a televised state-of-the-nation address from Moscow.

"You have failed to contain Russia."

Using flashy graphics, Putin unveiled several Russian technological breakthroughs, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile with unlimited range that is fast and manoeuvrable enough to avoid countermeasures.

He also showcased an "intercontinental" underwater drone capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. The drone was illustrated with a computer animation showing its launch from a submarine and a stealth voyage over the seabed to an aircraft carrier target.

The jingoistic speech, which comes less than three weeks before the presidential election, was clearly designed to appeal to voters' national pride.

"Russia still has the greatest nuclear potential in the world, but nobody listened to us," Putin said. "Listen now."

The President even mused about holding a nationwide contest to name the new weapons, and boasted of a coming hypersonic missile that will fly at 20 times the speed of sound "like a meteorite."

The boasting was accompanied by an implicit threat to the United States and other Western powers — that Russia isn't concerned about heating up the Cold War and touching off a new arms race.

Putin's tough talk follows last month's disclosure that the United States in working on new, low-yield warheads for its nuclear arsenal. These are smaller bombs that could be unleashed "strategically," potentially decreasing the threshold for using the world's most destructive weapons.

However, the roots of Putin's nuclear push go back much further, to his anger over George W. Bush's 2001 decision to pull out of a 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty that restricted both U.S. and Russian efforts to develop new weapons.

There are currently 15,000 nuclear bombs and warheads across the globe. The U.S. and Russia possess 90 per cent of them, roughly 7,000 each. France, in distant third place, has 300.

But America remains the world's biggest military spender, devoting almost 10 times as much to defense as Russia.

In today's remarks, Putin said that the new, first-strike-style weapons are purely defensive.

"We've never had an intention of attacking anybody," he said. "Russia will only retaliate if it is attacked."

Some cold comfort in the renewed cold war.

Young gun control

The American conversation about gun control has moved into some unexpected territory.

U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday signalled his sudden desire for a big, "beautiful" firearms bill that would expand background checks, seize weapons from the mentally unfit, further fortify schools, and restrict young people from owning certain guns.

The live-on-camera blue skying earned Trump a sharp rebuke from one of his staunchest supporters, the National Rifle Association, which called it "good TV" but "bad policy."

Meanwhile, the business community continues to push the debate with dollars-and-cents decisions.

This morning, the Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op chain bowed to consumer pressure and announced that it will stop selling brands owned by Vista Outdoor — a U.S. company that makes guns and ammunition, along with things like Bollé sunglasses and Bushnell binoculars.

The move comes one day after U.S. retailer Dick's Sporting Goods said it would stop selling assault rifles, and halt gun and ammo sales to anyone under the age of 21.

Last night, Walmart, which removed semi-automatic long guns from its shelves and web pages in 2015, said it will follow suit and raise its buying age.

The do-it-yourself gun restrictions come in the wake of the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in which a 19-year-old gunman used an AR-15 to murder 17 students and staff.

But America's recent history suggests that its firearms problem extends well beyond young people:  

• Las Vegas, Nev., on Oct. 1, 2017: 58 killed and more than 500 wounded by a 64-year-old suspect.
• Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2017: 20 killed and 26 injured by a 26-year-old.
• Orlando, Fla., on June 12, 2016: 49 killed and 58 injured by a 29-year old.
• San Bernardino, Calif., on Dec. 2, 2015: 14 killed and 22 injured by a 28-year-old man and his 29-year-old wife.
• Blacksburg, Va., on April 16, 2007: 32 killed by a 32-year-old gunman.

In fact, only five of America's 34 deadliest mass shootings were committed by people under the age of 21, most notably the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary massacre, by a 20-year-old, and the 1999 Columbine High massacre in which a 17- and an 18-year-old murdered 12 classmates.

And here's an even more sobering reality check.

More than 360 gun access related bills have been introduced in the U.S. Congress since Sandy Hook — 259 of them trying to restrict firearms access and 102 designed to make the existing regulations even laxer.

And as this analysis by Axios shows, only one of them actually became law. It's a 2015 Act that allows federal law enforcement officials to keep carrying their guns during temporary layoffs triggered by a government shutdown.

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Brexit brinkmanship

Theresa May's efforts to secure an amicable divorce from Europe seem to be coming apart.

Yesterday Brussels unveiled its 118-page draft of the fallback plan for Brexit, stuffed with unpalatable conditions.

One in particular — that Northern Ireland be considered the "customs territory" of the European Union, effectively uniting the Emerald Isle and placing a hard border between parts of the U.K. — seems to be a complete non-starter.  

May flatly rejected the proposals, telling the House of Commons that "no U.K. prime minister could ever agree" to such a deal, and that it threatened to undermine her country's "constitutional integrity."

Some speculate that the timing of the EU draft — May is scheduled to deliver a major speech on Brexit tomorrow — was an attempt to force her to address the many issues still outstanding in the divorce.

But it could end up putting the British prime minister in a situation where she no longer has any room to compromise.

Her minority government stands only via the support of 10 Democratic Unionist Party MPs from Northern Ireland who despise anything that smacks of reunification.

And to continue her leadership of the Conservatives, she must also satisfy her own hardliners who are demanding a future trade deal with Europe, but not the big exit bill presented in yesterday's draft.

Today, one of May's predecessors weighed in with his assessment — that May is in a hopeless bind.

Tony Blair warned that May is risking peace in Northern Ireland "on the altar of Brexit."

"The problem that she has is that there is no way round the dilemma: what she thinks is that it is possible to get the Europeans to give us access to Europe's markets without the same obligations that the rest of Europe has in the single market. That is not possible," he told the BBC.

"It is not a question of a tough negotiation or a weak negotiation. It is literally is not going to happen."

Sometimes it's cheaper to stay married.

Quote of the moment

"Following this tour, Hedley will be taking an indefinite hiatus to work on our personal relationships and who we are as individuals."

- Canadians pop rockers Hedley, announcing their retirement via Twitter. The group is facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.

What The National is reading

• Montreal woman guilty of infanticide ordered to undergo regular pregnancy tests (CBC)
• Australian amnesty nets 57,000 firearms and a rocket launcher (South China Morning Post)
• France's Marine Le Pen charged over gruesome ISIS tweet (CBC)
• Hydro-Québec can't keep up with cryptocurrency power demand (Montreal Gazette)
• No hospital beds at home, sick Ontario man stuck in Mexico (CBC)
• Top Slovakian officials step down following journalist's murder (Politico.EU)
• Women in Mexico are marrying trees to help save them (Fox News)
• The mystery of why an 18-year-old lioness has suddenly grown a mane (Washington Post)

Today in history

March 1, 1944: War brides land in Canada

Canada welcomes "a happy cargo" — 18,000 war brides and kids that "Johnny Canuck" has sent home from the U.K. The wives have learned all about Canada and what lies ahead, says this vintage Canadian Army newsreel, via pamphlets and classes made available in Jolly Old.

War brides land in Canada

81 years ago

Duration 0:43

A Canadian Army Newsreel welcomes Canada's newest citizens.

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