Section: Macleans (Canada)
An Islamic State paradise
REUTERS/Social media via Reuters TV Islamic State’s most horrific video to date, the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians, was shocking not only for its unsettling content but for its novel setting. It was not shot in the deserts of Iraq or Syria but on a beach in Libya, far from where the U.S. and its allies have been bombing the group. The...
Russia, Ukraine hold emergency gas talks in Brussels
BRUSSELS — Russia and Ukraine’s energy ministers are holding emergency talks after the Russian gas supplier said it would cut off deliveries to the war-torn country as soon as Tuesday if it does not get new payments. The European Union, which is mediating the talks in Brussels hoping to keep gas flowing despite the dispute, imports around...
Three stories in Canada we’re watching
NICHOLSON GOES TO PARIS Canada’s new foreign affairs minister is in France today for his first overseas trip since taking over from John Baird last month. Rob Nicholson is going to have talks with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius – the two men are expected to discus the fight against Islamic State militants and the ongoing tension in...
UN rights office says death toll in eastern Ukraine passes 6,000
BERLIN – The U.N. human rights office says more than 6,000 people have died in eastern Ukraine since the start of the conflict almost a year ago. The Geneva-based body says hundreds of civilians and military personnel were killed in recent weeks alone after an upswing in fighting particularly near Donetsk airport and in the Debaltseve area. U.N....
Nicholson supports Nemtsov marchers, goes to France to talk Ukraine
(Dmitry Lovetsky/AP Photo) OTTAWA – Canada’s new foreign affairs minister says he stands with the tens of thousands of Russians marching in Moscow streets to protest the killing of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov. Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson tells The Canadian Press he doesn’t know who is to blame for Friday’s...
20,000 mourners march in Moscow for Boris Nemtsov
Thousands in Moscow turned out to march in memory of opposition politician Boris Nemstov. (AP photo) MOSCOW— Carrying flowers, portraits and signs that said “I am not afraid,” more than 20,000 people somberly marched Sunday in Moscow to mourn opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, whose slaying on the streets of the capital has shaken...
Western leaders condemn killing of Russia’s Nemtsov, call for investigation
BERLIN – Western leaders are condemning the assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and pressing the Kremlin to ensure that the killing is thoroughly investigated. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement Friday night that he was “shocked and saddened” to learn Nemtsov had been gunned down in Moscow by assailants who...
Canadian proposal to train Ukrainian military police on hold amid fighting
OTTAWA – A proposal that would see a handful of Canadian military police officers train their Ukrainian counterparts is on hold because of the fighting in the east of that embattled country. The idea was floated late last year by former defence minister Rob Nicholson as the Harper government agreed to expand military co-operation with President...
Prominent Russian opposition figure shot and killed in Moscow
MOSCOW – Boris Nemtsov, a charismatic former deputy prime minister turned Russian opposition leader, was shot and killed in Moscow Saturday, officials said. He was 55. Nemtsov’s death comes just a day before a planned protest against President Vladimir Putin’s rule. The Kremlin said that Putin will personally oversee the...
This February belonged to Greece and Germany
Nobody went to the Acropolis, we didn’t go island-hopping, it was very, very cold, and nobody ate moussaka (unless, of course, you did!) Instead, when we talked about Greece this month (as we did, ad nauseum), we talked debt-to-GDP ratio, youth unemployment, tax reform, nail-biting negotiations, Germany, the euro, and the fashion choices of...
