Section: National Newswatch (Canada)
Russia stages massive WW2 parade despite Western boycott
Russia is staging its biggest military parade, marking 70 years of victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two. Thousands of troops are marching on Red Square in Moscow, and new armour being displayed for the first time. More than 20 heads of states are in Moscow, but many world leaders are boycotting the event because of Russia’s role in...
Harper government curious about what went on at Chretien-Putin meeting
The Harper government wants to know what former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien said in his meeting Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. And Defence Minister Jason Kenney said he hopes Chretien delivered the same message the Conservatives always send these days to the Russian leader — get out of Ukraine. The reports by...
Ukraine minister says Russian concern a joke, praises Canada’s military trainers
OTTAWA – Ukraine’s visiting foreign minister says it’s a joke that Russia is characterizing Canadian military trainers in his country as “deplorable.”Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin says the Canadian Forces trainers will bring his country’s military forces and national guard up to a higher standard so...
Canada announces another $14M in aid to Ukraine
Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson said Canada stands with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s “aggressive militarism and expansionism,” as he announced another $14 million in aid to the former Soviet state. Nicholson met with Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin for several hours Thursday, to discuss the situation in Ukraine....
Harper’s hockey bet among most popular world leader tweets in 2014: study
OTTAWA – Plenty of diplomatic deals get done on the margins of global get-togethers, but one conducted on Twitter in 2014 made Prime Minister Stephen Harper a digital star among his fellow world leaders.Harper’s trash-talking tweet to U.S. President Barack Obama about the men’s and women’s hockey finals at the Sochi...
Russia unveils new Armata tank for WW2 victory parade
Russia has unveiled a new-generation battle tank called Armata T-14 ahead of World War Two Victory Day celebrations on 9 May. It is among several new weapons systems featuring in a vast parade on 9 May. It is 70 years since the Soviet and Allied armies defeated Nazi Germany in 1945. The Russian defence ministry has posted photos of the new...
Parliament’s omission of Srebrenica from genocide motion raises Bosnian eyebrows
Bosnian Muslims say they’re surprised that the House of Commons did not include the 1995 Srebrenica massacre last week during its acknowledgment of 20th-century genocides. Parliament unanimously passed the motion designating April as Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month. It cited four atrocities: the Holocaust, the 1915...
EU-Ukraine summit to deepen ties as shelling worsens
EU leaders will meet Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko shortly to discuss trade and peace efforts as heavy shelling intensifies in the east. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk will be at the Kiev talks. Ukraine wants EU peacekeepers to help enforce a ceasefire agreed with pro-Russian...
Rebuilding Canada’s international capacity: Diplomatic reform in the age of globalization
The world is an ever more complicated place and diplomacy, the world’s second oldest profession, matters more than ever before. But it is a different form of diplomacy – embracing the tools of technology and recognizing that globalization has both flattened the old hierarchies and added new complexities. For Canada, diplomacy is more than a...
Harper government back in the middle of historic Turk-Armenian dispute
OTTAWA – Canada once again finds itself in the middle of international and diaspora politics, this time revolving around a pair of First World War 100th anniversary commemorations in Armenia and Turkey on the weekend.The Harper government is sending Immigration Minister Chris Alexander to Armenia to attend the commemoration of the 1915...
