Pakistan attacks in Iran: Pakistan has attacked targets in Iran where it says operatives seeking to overthrow Pakistan’s government have been based. Pakistan’s attacks follow attacks launched against Pakistan from Iran yesterday. Pakistan’s Prime Minister abruptly left the World Economic Forum in Davos and returned to his homeland as did Pakistan’s Foreign Minister who was on a trip to Uganda.
Covid information: The House Subcommittee on Health has received documents revealing that information detailing the genetic makeup of the Covid-19 virus was given to a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health by the Chinese two weeks before the Chinese government publicly acknowledged knowing anything about Covid. The existence of the documents undercuts Chinese government claims that they had not immediately identified what was making people sick in the initial outbreak in Wuhan in January of 2020.
Panama Canal: Panama has announced it is reducing the number of ships that will be allowed through the Panama Canal as a result of the continuing drought that has reduced the amount of water that can be used in the canal. The Panamanian government will limit the number of ships using the canal to 24 a day, down from the normal number of 38. It is expected that revenues from fees charged to ship operators who use the canal will be cut by up to $700 million in 2024. In 2021, the canal produced $3 billion in fees.
Trump admonished: Judge Lewis Kaplan in New York threatened to expel Donald Trump from the courtroom after Trump refused to stop making comments that the jury could hear while E. Jean Carroll was testifying yesterday in her $10 million defamation lawsuit against Trump. After being admonished by Judge Kaplan, Trump could be heard muttering snide remarks about the judge. Trump also told Kaplan out loud that he’d love for the judge to expel him. Observers suggested that Trump wanted to be thrown out so he could claim to his followers that the court system is rigged against him.
Government shutdown: Far-right Republicans in the House are threatening to work to block stopgap legislation that would prevent a government shutdown from beginning over the weekend. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson agreed on a plan that would keep parts of the government operating until March 1 and the rest until March 8. They would use the time to work out a full government spending bill that includes new funding for Israel, Ukraine and the U.S. border.
KeyBank financials: KeyCorp which operates KeyBank today announced net income from continuing operations of $30 million for its fourth quarter of 2023 compared with $356 million for the fourth quarter of 2022. It had 2023 total revenue of $6.4 billion compared with $7.2 billion in 2022. Net income in 2023 was $967 million, compared with $1.7 billion in 2022.
