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Trudeau invites Mexican president to event supporting Ukraine

Trudeau invites Mexican president to event supporting Ukraine

MEXICO CITY —
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday invited Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to take part in an event supporting Ukrainian victims of the conflict with Russia, amid criticism that Mexico has been too accommodating to Moscow.

During a phone call, Trudeau asked Lopez Obrador to participate in the “Stand Up for Ukraine” campaign event on Saturday to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced people, the Canadian government said.

Trudeau is co-convening the event with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

Lopez Obrador has tried to remain neutral in the conflict and has declined to impose sanctions against Russia. While his government backed a United Nations vote urging Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine, it has also criticized Europe for sending arms to other countries – as it has for Ukraine.

Last month, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico expressed concern at a public display of solidarity between the Russian ambassador to Mexico and a group of Mexican lawmakers at the inauguration of a Mexico-Russia friendship committee.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Mexico, Oksana Dramaretska, on Sunday posted images of corpses on streets of Ukraine and tweeted at Lopez Obrador: “Do you really want to continue friendly relations with those in the Kremlin who are committing genocide after this?”

Lopez Obrador has not commented publicly on the tweet.

Dramaretska posted the tweet after the bodies of civilians shot at close range were discovered in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.

Ukraine has called the killings Russian war crimes. Russia denied targeting civilians and described evidence presented as a “monstrous forgery” staged by the West to discredit it.

Canada’s government said Lopez Obrador and Trudeau also discussed their concerns about the humanitarian impact of the conflict and global challenges stemming from it, including those related to energy and food security.

(Reporting by Dave Graham Additional reporting by David Ljunggren Editing by Leslie Adler)

 

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Arena resuscitation: Coun. Sharp to head up committee overseeing work on Calgary Event Centre – Calgary | Globalnews.ca

Arena resuscitation: Coun. Sharp to head up committee overseeing work on Calgary Event Centre - Calgary | Globalnews.ca

Calgary’s new event centre committee held its inaugural meeting Monday to chart a course for the work it’s been tasked with over the coming months.

The meeting, held mostly behind closed doors, saw Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp appointed as committee chair and a meeting schedule approved.

Sharp, Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott and Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean were the representatives from city council chosen after the committee’s formation was unanimously approved after a lengthy closed door council meeting last month.

Read more:

Calgary city council strikes committee to oversee work on event centre project

Brad Parry, president of Calgary Economic Development, and Deborah Yedlin, president of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, were also selected to sit on committee as citizen members and Yedlin was elected to serve as vice-chair on Monday.

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“The goal is to have an event centre,” Sharp told reporters following the meeting. “It’s not if, it’s when, and this committee is really to make sure it oversees the work of administration and that we get the job done.”

The committee is scheduled to meet once every month through to October, but how much information about what happens in those meetings to be shared with Calgarians remains unclear.


Click to play video: 'Calgary Flames organization pulls out of new arena deal with city due to rising costs'







Calgary Flames organization pulls out of new arena deal with city due to rising costs


Calgary Flames organization pulls out of new arena deal with city due to rising costs – Dec 22, 2021

Sharp said their goal is to be transparent with citizens on the progress of the work that’s underway.

“We need to make sure that there is transparency with this,” Sharp said. “Not to say that there wasn’t before, but this is a different time with this project.

“We need to make sure that we’re keeping that trust and confidence with our partners, the citizens and the rest of the business community, and transparency is key to that.”

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According to Sharp, the committee will not be “negotiating any sort of deals,” but rather overseeing administration and the work of the third party organization, which will be undertaking that work.

The committee was created after the collapse of the original project with the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) prior to construction.

Read more:

City council seeks 3rd party to ‘start fresh,’ find partners for Calgary Event Centre

The committee is also being tasked with building on the work already undertaken by the event centre assessment committee. That committee, chaired by then-Ward 6 councillor Jeff Davison, was formed in 2018 by the previous city council to develop a partnership framework, financial strategy and determine a location to build a new event centre.​

“We’re committed to ensuring that we get this right for the city,” Walcott said. “That’s really at the core of our mandate here: that we provide something that is of high value to the city and that’s something that all of us share in common.”

The previous deal with CSEC came to a close near the end of December 2021 with the corporation citing rising costs as a key issue to not move forward.


Click to play video: 'Calgary city council creates committee to oversee work on event centre project'







Calgary city council creates committee to oversee work on event centre project


Calgary city council creates committee to oversee work on event centre project – Mar 8, 2022

In January, city council voted unanimously voted to find a third party to begin talks again with CSEC. Though the third party has yet to be announced, its job will be to gauge CSEC’s interest to come back to the drawing board, along with seeking other parties who may want to be involved with the project.

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A report released in summer 2021 pegged the project at $608.5 million, which forced both Flames ownership and the city back to the table to make adjustments to the agreement.

The costs jumped again after the Calgary Planning Commission added several climate resiliency and infrastructure conditions as a normal part of the approval process for the building’s development permit, which totaled around $16 million.

The City of Calgary offered up $6.4 million to assist with the added costs, but Flames ownership notified Mayor Jyoti Gondek just before Christmas that the organization was pulling out of the agreement.

Construction was slated to begin on the project in early 2022.

–with files from Jessika Guse, Global News

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Obama to make first public White House appearance since 2017 at health care event – National | Globalnews.ca

Obama to make first public White House appearance since 2017 at health care event - National | Globalnews.ca

Former President Barack Obama will be returning to the White House on Tuesday for his first public event there since he left office in 2017.

A White House official said Sunday that Obama will be joining President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to “deliver remarks celebrating the success of the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid in extending affordable health insurance to millions of Americans.”

The event is part of Biden’s effort to turn his focus to pocketbook issues that directly affect American households. While job growth has been steady since he took office, inflation is at its worst level in a generation.

The White House said Biden “will take additional action to further strengthen the ACA and save families hundreds of dollars a month on their health care.”

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Health Secretary Xavier Becerra and other members of Biden’s Cabinet will attend Tuesday’s event.

Obama’s visit to the White House was first reported by NBC News.

© 2022 The Canadian Press

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Government tells arts bodies to suspend cultural events funded by Russian state

Government tells arts bodies to suspend cultural events funded by Russian state

OTTAWA —
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has asked arts bodies that get federal funding to suspend all cultural activities involving Russians linked to Vladimir Putin’s regime in protest of his invasion of Ukraine.

Canadian Heritage has written to organizations receiving the department’s funding, asking them to cancel tours and co-productions bankrolled by Russian or Belarusian state organizations.

The demand, issued last month, could lead to cancellation of exhibitions of art loaned from Russian galleries, as well as concerts, festivals, and theatre and ballet productions featuring Russian artists.

It warned that Canadian cultural organizations found to have ties with the Russian or Belarusian states will also no longer get government funding.

But the letter makes it clear that ordinary Russians with no ties to Putin’s regime or to the Belarusian state will not be affected.

The Heritage Department said it had launched a review to identify activities involving Russia and Belarus.

“We urge you to do the same, and to suspend all activity involving the participation of Russian or Belarusian state organizations or their official representatives,” the letter said. “This includes program partnerships, direct and indirect financing of tours, co-productions, participation in festivals or other events involving the Russian or Belarusian governments.”

Rodriguez faced questions Thursday about whether the instruction was so broad it could lead to Russian artists being penalized more generally, while probing all links to the Russian state, including officials, could prove difficult.

Laura Scaffidi, press secretary to Rodriguez, said the scope of the instruction would not capture work by ordinary Russians and Belarusians, or Canadians with Russian and Belarusian heritage.

“Russian culture has given the world so much rich music, literature and other art. We celebrate that,” she said. “This is not about unfairly targeting law-abiding and peace-loving citizens and permanent residents.”

A number of arts organizations have cancelled events involving Russian performers since the invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this month, the Canada Council for the Arts announced in a blog post that it was cutting ties with Russian and Belarusian artists.

The Vancouver Recital Society and the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal have announced they are cancelling planned concerts with Alexander Malofeev, a young Russian pianist.

In the U.K., the Royal Opera House cancelled a tour of Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet following the attack on Ukraine.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2022.

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Richard Berthelsen: Why we should expect to see major occasions without the Queen

Richard Berthelsen: Why we should expect to see major occasions without the Queen

The annual Commonwealth Day interfaith service at Westminster Abby is a fixture in the royal calendar. This year marked return of an in-person large gathering and in the Platinum Jubilee year, all eyes were looking to see the Queen in public. Unfortunately, it was not to be as on Friday, the Palace announced that the Queen would not attend personally, and that Prince Charles would represent her.

2022 marks a major year for the Commonwealth with the upcoming Heads of Government meeting in Rwanda in June as well as the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in late July. In addition, as Head of the Commonwealth, the Queen is marking her Platinum Jubilee.

While the Palace announced this morning, to no one’s surprise, that Prince Charles would also represent the Queen at the meeting in Rwanda, it now appears likely that these Commonwealth family affairs may take place without the Head of Commonwealth herself, given her increasingly delicate health.

In this Jubilee year, many in the Commonwealth had hoped to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II in person, but this may no longer be possible. Given that the Commonwealth has largely held together with the Queen’s own leadership and that this has been one of the major achievements in her reign, it is regrettable. While the Commonwealth confirmed in 2018 that Prince Charles would be the next head of the Commonwealth, they may not have expected that he would be performing that role before the end of the Queen’s reign.

The upcoming memorial service for the late Prince Philip, on March 29, will also be held at Westminster Abbey and it appears this could also risk the Queen’s absence, as the same mobility issues may also prevent her attendance. While it was thought that changes to the entrance she used to be closer to her seat in deference to the Queen’s age and mobility would make her participation possible, it may still be a step or two too far for the 95-year-old monarch.

It now seems likely that there will be significant modifications to the Queen’s participation in several Jubilee events in June, particularly Trooping the Colour, as well as the service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral. Long gone are the days of the Queen on horseback in public — now the use of carriages may be at risk and climbing the many steps up the West Front of Saint Paul’s cathedral will have to be avoided. More accessible ways will have to be found if the Queen is to participate in these ceremonies.

It is unreasonable to expect that the Queen would be able to participate in public ceremonies as she has through most of her reign, or even as she has in the years prior to the pandemic. The past two years of COVID-19 isolation have impacted the Queen’s health and mobility.

Having had COVID-19 herself in February may well have taken her toll but she appears to be back to her usual self. Having reduced her schedule in isolation, it appears that it has been difficult for her to restart at the pace she had been keeping in recent years.

Having tried to do too much in October has led to a significant curtailment in engagements since in addition to a hospitalization for as yet unspecified tests later that month. Aside from a brief appearance in February inside Sandringham House, the Queen has not appeared in public since October 14 when she opened the Welsh Parliament, apart from duties at Windsor Castle in brief meetings or video ceremonies.

Throughout the past 70 years, the Queen’s appearance at major annual events, like Remembrance Sunday, Commonwealth gatherings, Trooping the Colour, Royal Ascot, Investitures, and the State Opening of parliament have been reassuring mileposts as the years passed by. In troubled and challenging times, the steady and constant presence and visibility of the monarch has been a reliable feature of public life – while everything else changed and is in turmoil.

The past few years have widened the gap between the Queen and her public role, while at the same time the pandemic has enabled the public to see Her Majesty in new ways in virtual space. But for Elizabeth the Second, this has been a dramatic change in the routine of her life, as well as the way in which she has wanted to be seen – to be believed.

In 2017, when Prince Philip reached the age of 96, he announced his retirement and withdrawal from public life, except for family occasions. He honoured this statement quite strictly, and to the surprise of many, spent his remaining time quietly in a smaller home on the Sandringham estate reading and being outdoor in the country. As the Queen herself faces her 96th birthday in April, it is increasingly clear that she may follow her husband’s example. It is not hard to imagine that after the Platinum Jubilee in June, she may almost completely withdraw from public or ceremonial events, although unlike Prince Philip she will continue to perform her constitutional duties. Her late husband may have led the way in this approach.

The Palace has been careful to demonstrate that the Queen is fully engaged with her prime ministers, with diplomats, and continuing to review and sign the paperwork in her famous red boxes, as we saw on clips released on Accession Day. It is increasingly clear that the Queen has maintained her usual enthusiasm for these duties but is now not physically capable of even less arduous travel and walking at significant public events and in historic venues.

It was striking that in her Commonwealth Day message, the Queen started by stating “In this year of my Platinum Jubilee, it has given me pleasure to renew the promise I made in 1947, that my life will always be devoted in service.” The same sentiments were expressed on February 6 (Accession Day) and during her previous Jubilees and other occasions. The Queen is consistent and makes the point that she sees her role as a job for life, come what may.

While world leaders come and go, and increasingly even other kings and queens and a pope has abdicated to take retirement. Elizabeth the Second does not view her role this way and intends to honour her youthful commitment. While so much has changed in the past 70 years, the Queen remains a constant and we feel disappointment when she is not there, even as she places her eldest child, Prince Charles in the spotlight.

While the form of the Queen’s participation is changing the twilight years of her reign, her commitment to the Crown and to the Commonwealth does not — and we must believe her when she says that she will continue until the end.

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Calgary city council strikes committee to oversee work on event centre project – Calgary | Globalnews.ca

Calgary city council strikes committee to oversee work on event centre project - Calgary | Globalnews.ca

Calgary’s city council has struck a committee tasked with overseeing progress on an event centre project just months after an agreement with Calgary Flames ownership collapsed prior to construction.

The creation of the committee comes after council spent hours behind closed doors on Tuesday morning.

In a unanimous vote, council agreed to appoint Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp, and her colleagues Dan McLean and Courtney Walcott to the committee. Councillors also agreed to appoint Deborah Yedlin from the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and Brad Parry from Calgary Economic Development as public members.

“I think it’s not if an event centre gets built, but when an event centre gets built,” Sharp told reporters. “The one thing I can guarantee with this committee is speed.”

Sharp said she’s hoping the committee holds its first meeting sometime in the next month.

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Read more:

Calgary city council united in commitment to new event centre after lengthy meeting

It comes after a unanimous vote by city council in January to find a third party to engage with Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) to gauge their interest in re-entering discussions to build an event centre, as well as seek third parties interested in partnering on the project.

According to the committee’s terms of reference, it will be tasked with reviewing information provided by city administration and the undisclosed third party regarding development of an event centre within a culture and entertainment district.


Click to play video: 'City council seeks 3rd party to ‘start fresh,’ find partners for Calgary Event Centre'







City council seeks 3rd party to ‘start fresh,’ find partners for Calgary Event Centre


City council seeks 3rd party to ‘start fresh,’ find partners for Calgary Event Centre – Jan 13, 2022

The committee is also being tasked with building on work already undertaken by the Event Centre Assessment Committee. That committee, chaired by then-Ward 6 Coun. Jeff Davison, was formed in 2018 by the previous city council to develop a partnership framework, financial strategy and determine a location to build a new event centre.

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“The mandate is to build on the foundation that was created on the previous file and also to move forward in any way necessary,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said.

Read more:

Calgary arena deal officially comes to an end after Dec. 31 deadline

The agreement between the City of Calgary and CSEC to replace the aging Saddledome officially came to an end on Dec. 31, 2021 with just weeks to go until construction work was scheduled to begin.

CSEC said at the time that there was no viable path to complete the project due to rising costs, as well as concerns with the infrastructure and climate costs attached to the development permit by the Calgary Planning Commission.

At the time, CSEC said the Flames plan to stay and play at the Saddledome “for many years to come.”


Click to play video: 'Calgary city council discusses how event centre deal fell through'







Calgary city council discusses how event centre deal fell through


Calgary city council discusses how event centre deal fell through – Jan 12, 2022

Gondek said she feels council is “in really good shape” and united in its commitment to build an event centre and entertainment and culture district in the Victoria Park area.

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“Not only in January did we come together unanimously as a council to say we need to move forward on seeing what an event centre looks like in an arts and culture district, entertainment district, if you will,” Gondek said. “Now, unanimously, we have appointed members to the committee that will oversee the work of administration and the third party.”

Read more:

Gondek says City of Calgary is committed to building event centre

Walcott told reporters he sees his role on the committee in two parts: ensure the project is an anchor in the redevelopment in East Victoria Park and ensure public money is being used responsibly.

“The people that are going to be sitting within this space have to guarantee that whatever is being provided to the public and the bill that is being footed to pay for it, is something that everybody can see value in,” Walcott said.

–More to come

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Calgary city council to get briefing Tuesday on event centre project – Calgary | Globalnews.ca

Calgary city council to get briefing Tuesday on event centre project - Calgary | Globalnews.ca

Three months after the deal to build a replacement for the aging Saddledome fell through, Calgary city councillors are scheduled to be briefed on the event centre project at their meeting on Tuesday.

The briefing is set to be confidential, and it remains unclear what details, if any, will be made public.

It comes after a unanimous vote by council back in January to engage with a third party to determine if the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. would be interested in re-entering discussions on building an event centre, or if there are other parties interested in partnering with the City of Calgary to complete the project.

“This time we’re looking at the entertainment district as a whole, which includes the event centre,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said after the meeting in January. “It may be possible that we need to enter into a partnership that includes more than two parties.

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“We’re also looking into everything else that goes into an entertainment district, so we’re being very holistic in how we’re moving forward.”

Read more:

Calgary city council united in commitment to new event centre after lengthy meeting

According to city officials, between $23 million to $24 million had been spent to date on the event centre project. CSEC and the city are expected to split those costs, as well as the remaining wind-down costs, as part of their agreement.

Event centre timeline

The original deal between the City of Calgary and CSEC to build the event centre was signed in July 2019.

As part of the agreement, both sides were to cover the half cost of the then $550-million building. The city agreed to provide the land and retain ownership of the building, as well as pay $22.4 million to demolish the Saddledome and for reclamation work on the land.

It was a “monumental move forward,” according to Jeff Davison, who served on the event centre assessment committee at the time.

“The new Calgary event centre wasn’t just about a building for hockey games,” Davison told Global News on Monday. “It was, ultimately, a catalytic move to develop up to $3 billion worth of real estate, to think about how we achieve economic recovery and how do we achieve downtown recovery.”

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Davison said there was a lot of work in that first year, including examining similar builds and entertainment districts in other cities, and engaging with Calgarians.

But in the spring of 2021, the project was paused after it was revealed costs had escalated to $608 million.

Read more:

City council approves changes to Calgary Events Centre deal, project to move forward in 2022

CSEC and the city re-entered negotiations to adjust the agreement, which saw both parties increase their share by $12.5 million through a clause in the previous agreement.

As part of the redeveloped deal, the city’s share of the costs went up to $287.5 million and Calgary Municipal Land Corp. was replaced by CSEC as development manager. CSEC also committed to covering the risk of all cost overruns moving forward, and was set to contribute $321 million to build the project.

“I think the best thing about that agreement was we got our partner to carry all the cost overruns,” Davison said.

“When we think about achieving that whole (entertainment district), achieving all of those benefits and getting our money out of the deal; you couldn’t have asked for a better setup.”

The development permit was brought to the Calgary Planning Commission in Nov. 2021.

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As part of a list of 70 conditions attached to the approval of the development permit, the commission recommended sidewalk improvements and climate mitigation on the roof. City officials said at the time that conditions are typically attached to development permits as part of their approval.

Read more:

Coverage of costs: Flames, city explain cause of Calgary arena deal collapse

One month later, Gondek announced via Twitter that CSEC majority shareholder Murray Edwards informed her that there was no viable path to complete the project due to rising costs, and Flames ownership would be pulling out of the deal.

CSEC said at the time that both sides were in “mutual alignment” when it comes to wanting to build an event centre, but Flames ownership had concerns with the infrastructure and climate costs attached to the development permit, “that were introduced by the city following our July agreement.”

City officials said the city offered to cover $6.4 million for roadway reconstruction as part of right-of-way costs totalling $12.1 million. The climate resiliency items were set to cost $3.9 million, and officials said the city offered to find grant funding to cover those costs.

“I think that it’s pretty common that large infrastructure projects of a sports nature — or non-sports nature — usually come in substantially overbudget,” said Concordia University economics professor Moshe Lander. “I think the shocking factor is that when we start talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, an extra $100 million among friends is a huge number.

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“But in the grand scheme of things, 20 per cent over costs wasn’t that big a deal.”

As part of the deal, because both the city and Flames ownership didn’t agree to move forward to construction by Dec. 31, 2021, the event centre agreement ended.

“It was a shame to see the whole thing fall apart,” Davison said.

Read more:

City council seeks 3rd party to ‘start fresh,’ find partners for Calgary Event Centre

Ryan Pike, the managing editor of the Flames Nation website, said he doesn’t expect the Flames to relocate given the financial success of the team in Calgary. However, he said fans were anxious when the deal collapsed.

“I think there’s a bit of fan consternation or anxiety because until you have a building and a long-term lease, there’s always a little bit of fan anxiety,” Pike said.

“A lot of fans, I think their mindset is, ‘Oh, goodness, did we deal with this already? Why are we dealing with this again?’ I think that’s where a lot of the the frustration boiled over.”

At the time, CSEC said the Flames plan to stay and play at the Saddledome “for many years to come.”

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Ohio State offers resources and events amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Ohio State offers resources and events amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Tensions between Russia and other nations have been growing for decades, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and expansion of North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Credit: Maxim Guchek/BelTA/TASS/ABACAPRESS.COM via TNS

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, Ohio State has a number of resources to help those impacted, and will host events with information about the war.

Christopher Gelpi, director and chair of peace studies and conflict resolution at the Mershon Center, said learning about the war is an important part of being a good citizen, because everyone has a responsibility to understand how governments, both in the U.S. and overseas, react in times of struggle.

“I see our role in a crisis like this is to bring people together and share the knowledge that our faculty fellows have in a way that is accessible to as wide an audience as possible,” Gelpi said.

An estimated 42,908 people of Ukrainian descent live in Ohio, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey.

Ohio State’s “Education for Citizenship” motto emphasizes the university’s commitment to informing citizens, according to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion website. The Office of International Affairs has a list of resources to inform students about the university’s events covering the crisis in Ukraine.

University spokesperson Chris Booker said in an email the Office of International Affairs offers support resources, including counseling and personal well-being services, immigration assistance for international students and information about cyber security.

“Ohio State developed this list of academic and support resources to assist those impacted by the conflict in Ukraine and foster discussion and education across campus,” Booker said.

The Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies has compiled various academic resources, including books, articles, events and films, that help to better understand the crisis in Ukraine, according to the center’s website. The office will also hold a virtual roundtable Wednesday from 11 a.m. to noon, featuring Polish experts sharing their perspective on the war.

WOSU Public Media and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs will hold an event Thursday at noon called “Dialogue Special Edition: The Russia/Ukraine Crisis,” featuring a variety of speakers and discussions on the possible routes to peace in Europe.

The Mershon Center will host a virtual event March 24 from 3:30-5 p.m., featuring a discussion from Timothy Frye, a professor of post-Soviet foreign policy at Columbia University, about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s role in Russian and international politics, according to the Mershon Center website. Another virtual event hosting 11 speakers who will speak on U.S. and NATO relations with Russia will be held April 8 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.