RUSSIA - Effective immediately, Visa will work with its clients and partners within Russia to cease all Visa transactions over the coming days. Once complete, all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country and any Visa cards issued by financial institutions outside of Russia will no longer work within the Russian Federation. “We are compelled to act following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events that we have witnessed,” said Al Kelly, chairman and chief executive officer of Visa Inc. “We regret the impact this will have on our valued colleagues, and on the clients, partners, merchants and cardholders we serve in Russia. This war and the ongoing threat to peace and stability demand we respond in line with our values.”

LVIV, UKRAINE - Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that Ukrainian statehood is in jeopardy and likened the West’s sanctions on Russia to “declaring war,” while a promised cease-fire in the besieged port city of Mariupol collapsed amid scenes of terror. With the Kremlin’s rhetoric growing fiercer and a reprieve from fighting dissolving, Russian troops continued to shell encircled cities and the number of Ukrainians forced from their country grew to 1.4 million. The government has ordered men between the ages of 18 and 60 to stay and be available to fight. Some, like Volodymyr Onysko, have volunteered.

BELARUS - Russian troops and military hardware have been trickling into Belarus since January 17, for what were called joint military drills. By February, NATO officials estimated that Russian forces in the country numbered as high as 30,000. Now some officials are warning that the troops may never leave. Before the invasion, Putin claimed Russian forces in Belarus were there for coordinated military drills, and then maintained his troops in Ukraine were there for a “special military exercise.” The reality, experts tell Fortune, is that Putin is occupying more and more areas of Eastern Europe. The Russian soldiers in Belarus, escalating tensions with the West, and an unspoken mandate that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko fall in line with everything Putin says, is eroding the country’s sovereignty, experts say. “This military buildup and increase in military cooperation between Belarus and Russia just shows that Putin has overtaken Belarus,” Alla Leukavets, who researches domestic and foreign policy of Belarus at the Wilson Center, told Fortune. “He has done this soft mode of occupation of Belarus, without firing a single shot.”

CHINA - China is raising its defense spending in 2022 by 7.1% to $229 billion, up from a 6.8% increase the year before. Saturday’s announcement marks a continuation of the robust spending that has given China an increasingly powerful military that is challenging the US armed forces’ dominance in the Indo-Pacific region. China has the world’s second-largest defense budget after the US, allowing it to maintain the largest standing military, with 3 million personnel and an arsenal of advanced weaponry, including two aircraft carriers with more on the way, stealth fighters, an advanced missile force and nuclear-powered submarines. China has maintained the drive to expand and modernize its armed forces despite high levels of government debt and a slowing economy, partly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked conjecture that China might be more disposed to use force against Taiwan if it sensed a lack of resolution on the part of the US and its allies.

EUROPE - For decades, Russian money, energy and military strength held Europe in thrall. But as the rockets of Russian President Vladimir Putin rain down on Ukrainian cities, a clarion call is echoing through the halls of power, boardrooms and cultural spheres of a continent: No more.

EUROPE - I have heard a respected MP calling for the deportation of all Russians from this country – all of them. I have heard crazy people calling for a 'no-fly zone' in Ukraine. If they got their way it would mean a terrible and immediate European war. I suspect they do not even know what they are calling for. Can you all please call off this carnival of hypocrisy?

RUSSIA - Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could yet become the biggest military action in Europe since 1945. It also marks a new era of high-risk economic warfare that could further splinter the world economy. An energy-and-commodity price shock is now ripping through the world economy as supplies from Russia are disrupted. Europe is assessing how to lower its dependence on Russian energy. Meanwhile the measures the West has imposed on Russia are so potent that they have triggered chaos in its $1.6 trillion economy and prompted the president, Vladimir Putin, to issue nuclear threats. The instant immiseration of a big economy is unprecedented and will cause alarm around the world, not least in China, which will recalculate the costs of a war over Taiwan. The West’s priority must be to win the economic confrontation with Russia. Then it must create a doctrine to govern these weapons in order to prevent a broader shift towards autarky*.

*Autarky, an economic system of self-sufficiency and limited trade. A country is said to be in a complete state of autarky if it has a closed economy, which means that it does not engage in international trade with any other country.

GERMANY - Following the Russian attack on Ukraine, Germany has decided to dramatically beef up its defense budget and give the Bundeswehr an extra €100 billion. What will it use the money for? US troops have deployed 12 of the aircraft [F-35 stealth fighters] to monitor NATO airspace over Eastern Europe in the face of Russian aggression. These stealth aircraft are considered the most advanced multi-role fighter jets in the world. The Bundeswehr would like to purchase some to replace 45 outdated Tornado aircraft from the 1970s, which can carry American nuclear bombs stockpiled in Germany.

UKRAINE - With online posts in Hebrew and appeals to Jews to "cry out" in response to Russia's invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invoked his faith to rally support for his embattled country. The 44-year-old comedian-turned-president told the Times of Israel in 2020 that he had an "ordinary... Jewish upbringing", explaining "most Jewish families in the Soviet Union were not religious." He has also described religion as a personal matter and even swore his presidential oath on the Bible. But since Russia's invasion began on February 24, Zelensky has made explicit reference to Judaism in stirring social media posts seeking to rally support for Ukraine.

AUSTRALIA - As Australian banks continue to focus on digital transactions for customers, ATMs and bank branches are disappearing across the country, according to new data. The analysis revealed close to 460 bank branches have shut down across the nation in recent years, and dating back to 2020, approximately 3,800 previously active ATMs have been removed. NSW alone now has 140 fewer in-store banks, and almost 300 suburbs don't have a singular ATM to withdraw cash. It is a similar story in Victoria, where 120 branches have permanently closed their doors to customers. 'Closures have a devastating impact on local communities,' Finance Sector Union national secretary Julia Angrisano said. Another key factor for the branch closures and reduced ATM's is the fact that banks are bringing in a small fortune from daily digital transactions. As Australia accelerates towards a cashless society, fees from either the customer or vender for online banking have become common place.

USA - For the first time since it was filled more than 50 years ago, Lake Powell, the second-largest reservoir in the country, is projected to dip past a critical threshold, threatening water supplies and putting a key source of hydropower generation at heightened risk of being forced offline, as climate change-fueled drought continues to grip the Western US. The US Bureau of Reclamation told CNN it is currently anticipating water levels in Lake Powell to reach a significant elevation of 3,525 feet above sea level sometime between March 10 and 16. Lake Powell's plunging water level threatens Glen Canyon Dam's capacity to produce hydropower, much like Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. Glen Canyon Dam provides power for many states including Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Nebraska.

USA - Think about the madness of this… Joe Biden is running around trying to look tough, hitting Russia with sanctions over Vladimir Putin’s obscene invasion of Ukraine. But at the same time, we pay Russia in the vicinity of $70 million per day for oil imports. In other words, during these seven days of Putin’s criminal war against Ukraine, we’ve sent this same Putin during those same seven days close to a half-billion dollars! What is going on? On the one hand, Biden claims to be crippling Vlad with sanctions, while on the other hand, we’re slipping him $70 million PER DAY! This is nuts. But it’s true…

GERMANY - The Russian invasion of Ukraine has unleashed horror and fear of a third world war in broad sections of the German population. Those in ruling circles are reacting completely differently: behind their loud moral indignation and denunciation of President Putin lies a barely suppressed euphoria. At last — so the tenor of countless politicians’ speeches and media commentaries goes — at last, we are allowed to rearm and wage war again. For 75 years we had to moderate our language, apologise for the crimes of the Nazis, and back down to pacifist public opinion. That is now over!

CHINA - Chinese officials have rebuked Japan over former prime minister Shinzo Abe’s call to ease the country’s non-nuclear principles and consider hosting strategic US weapons to boost security amid rising geopolitical tensions. “Japanese politicians have frequently spread fallacies related to Taiwan and even blatantly made false remarks that violate the nation’s three non-nuclear principles,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Tuesday.

UKRAINE - One of my best friends since Grammar school is Ukrainian. His parents came to the US legally from Ukraine 35+ years ago. He was born in the US. When he got married and purchased his own home his parents moved back to Ukraine. I met him out earlier tonight. Wasn’t to talk about Ukraine or politics. Just old friends catching up. First thing I said is “Are your parents OK”. He said they’re fine and laughed. Told me to stop watching CNN, most Ukrainians are dancing in the streets hoping Russia cleans up our corrupt government. And I believe him 100%. Almost everything we see from Ukraine is MSM using fake news, fake footage using 6-year-old video, fake “ghost of Ukraine” stories. It’s wag the dog…