Trump isn’t yet U.S. president, but his plans for the war in Ukraine loom large over G20
The G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, which begins on Monday, is already impacted by ever-evolving geopolitical events, regardless of host Brazil’s official theme of fighting hunger, poverty and inequality.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Brazil on the heels of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Lima, Peru’s capital, where he conceded that many conversations with other nations were about preparing for a Donald Trump presidency and about what can be accomplished before he takes over the White House.
“I think there probably are elements of … accelerating certain things in the coming months for some,” Trudeau said at his closing news conference at the APEC summit.
The G20 will likely be no different, especially in light of multiple media reports that U.S. President Joe Biden has decided to lift restrictions on Ukraine so that it can now use weapons provided by the United States to strike deep into Russian territory. Multiple news reports say Ukraine plans to make use of this policy reversal and conduct its first long-range attacks sooner rather than later.
“While issues of defence security don’t necessarily figure prominently into the agendas … they can’t help but be connected, one way or another,” retired Canadian lieutenant-general Guy Thibault, chair of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute and former vice-chief of the defence staff, said in an interview with CBC News.
“Given what we’re seeing and the the concerns in terms of international insecurity that’s caused by conflict, [whether] it be the Middle East, whether Ukraine, whether it be … [what] we’re seeing in the Indo-Pacific, inevitably these will be discussed,” he said.
There is no guarantee Trump will not reverse Biden’s decision in two months when he takes office, considering the president-elect’s lukewarm support for Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022.
“Let’s … be very blunt. All the allies in the world would not be able to replace a complete withdrawal from supporting Ukraine by the United States,” Trudeau said.
That is the same challenge for any agreements made in Rio over the next two days. No one knows what will happen to those decisions on Jan. 20, when Trump is sworn in.
But even reaching consensus without Trump at the leaders’ table will be a challenge. The G20 — the largest 20 economies in the world — is a diverse group of friends, rivals and even enemies.
‘Escalation of tensions’
Canada’s relationship with China is strained — and not likely to improve any time soon with Trump coming to power in the U.S.
“The trade wars with China will be back,” said Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.
“There will be escalation of tensions on issues around Taiwan … there will be a lot more volatility and unpredictability in the relationship. And Canada will need to watch that very closely because again, we can find ourselves caught in the middle.”
The federal government announced Wednesday it’s ordering TikTok to close its operations in Canada, but Canadians can still download and use the app. On Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said the federal government was ‘preoccupied by the activities of the corporate entity of TikTok Canada.’
Canada’s relationship with India is downright frosty. And then there’s how the Canadian government feels toward Russia.
“The level of trust that I have for Vladimir Putin is probably at an all-time low right now,” Trudeau said.
The Russian president will again not attend the G20 this year — relieving the host country of the awkward prospect of acting on an international warrant for Putin’s arrest. In his stead, Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov will represent Russia.
Trudeau has a number of one-on-one meetings scheduled with other leaders, including Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. The impending renegotiation of the free-trade agreement between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico will likely be top of mind, particularly after Trudeau did not rule out cutting Mexico out of talks if it doesn’t align its tariffs on China with those of Canada and the U.S.
Trudeau will also sit down with Biden on Monday, a meeting that could be reminiscent of the farewell-like chat the prime minister had with Barack Obama at the G20 in 2016, before Trump became president the first time.
Published at Mon, 18 Nov 2024 09:00:00 +0000
Beyoncé and NFL represent ‘growth vehicle’ for Netflix after Paul-Tyson fight’s technical struggles
Move over, Santa Claus: Beyoncé will be making an appearance in homes this Christmas as part of Netflix’s latest foray into the world of live sports.
The streaming giant announced that Queen Bey would perform during halftime of an NFL Christmas Day matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans in her hometown of Houston.
The announcement comes two days after Netflix’s livestream of a boxing event featuring a headline bout between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, which was riddled with technical difficulties.
Experts say as streaming companies continue to delve into the world of live sporting events, figuring out a way to successfully broadcast them will be key to growing their subscriber base.
Technical struggles a ‘lack of foresight’
According to the website Downdetector, nearly 85,000 viewers logged problems with outages or streaming leading up to the main fight. Many users took to social media to vent their frustrations.
Netflix having nothing but technical issues tonight. Mics not working, hosts can’t hear each other, and now the stream is stuck buffering
—@1HouseOfOBrien
The struggles were likely due to a “lack of foresight” on Netflix’s part, according to Michael Naraine, an associate professor of sport management at Brock University.
Naraine said that Netflix knows the number of users who will tune in to the release of a show like Stranger Things, through user behaviour and data collection, and can prepare accordingly. But since Netflix’s engagement with live events is relatively recent, the company “didn’t necessarily anticipate that 60 million people were going to watch.”
“It’s possible that they were also naive to think that their current existing platform could have held 60 million people from all over the world watching at one singular point in time,” he added.
Naraine said that because of the “lack of foresight or the naiveté … you end up in a situation where people are having buffering issues.”
Despite the struggles, Netflix reported that 60 million households tuned in to watch the Paul-Tyson fight, with a peak of 65 million concurrent streams.
It’s an important takeaway for Netflix, a company that continues to dabble in the world of live sports.
If they don’t get “their act together … this could be a problem because sports is the growth vehicle for Netflix going forward and, quite frankly, for all streaming platforms going forward,” said Naraine.
Netflix didn’t respond to CBC News’s request for comment before the publication of this piece.
Live sports represent a way to ‘grow in the future’
Earlier this year, Netflix announced a deal worth more than $6.7 billion ($5 billion US) that would make it the exclusive home of World Wrestling Entertainment’s Raw from January 2025 onward.
Amazon Prime Video’s new National Hockey League broadcast Prime Monday Night Hockey — the league’s first exclusive national broadcast package with a digital-only streaming service in Canada — premiered last month.
Amazon Prime Video is also working with the NHL in other ways.
Last month, the platform premiered FACEOFF: Inside the NHL, a docuseries that follows some of the league’s biggest stars at different stages of their careers.
“Behind-the-scenes stuff I think is very smart and popular,” said David Hardisty, an associate professor of marketing and behavioural science at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.
“There’s a lot of people that are hardcore fans and just want more,” he added during a recent interview with CBC News.
Amazon has also made its presence known on the gridiron. The platform is entering its third season as the streaming home for NFL games on Thursday nights.
Last season, Thursday Night Football averaged 11.86 million viewers, a year-over-year increase of 24 per cent, according to Sports Media Watch.
Even regional sports networks are entering the world of subscription streaming.
“The name of the game is always growth and where Netflix and other platforms are going to be able to grow in the future is through live sport,” said Naraine.
In addition to the Ravens-Texans game, Netflix will also stream a match between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day.
That means Beyoncé may not be the only global superstar gracing screens. Taylor Swift, who is dating Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, has attended several of his games so far this year, and will be done with her Eras tour by Christmas.
Millions of Swifties potentially tuning in represent extra incentive for Netflix to get it right, Naraine said.
“If the instability of the feed happens when Patrick Mahomes on Christmas Day throws a ball into the end zone and we don’t know if Travis Kelce catches it or not, that’s going to be one of the death knells for Netflix’s growth pathway going forward.”
Published at Mon, 18 Nov 2024 21:02:03 +0000
