Section: National Newswatch (Canada)
Five stories in the news today, April 7
Five stories in the news today, April 7, from The Canadian Press:LONG WAIT IS OVER, TRIAL OF MIKE DUFFY STARTS TODAYThe Senate expense scandal lands squarely back under the spotlight today as the long-awaited trial of suspended Conservative senator Mike Duffy gets underway in an Ottawa courtroom. The trial, currently scheduled to last more than...
Controversial comments cost Ukraine pianist gig with Toronto symphony
TORONTO – Ukrainian-born pianist Valentina Lisitsa will not perform with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra this week because of what the TSO calls “provocative comments.”In a statement purportedly written by the pianist and posted on Facebook Monday, Lisitsa wrote about the people of Ukraine “raising in fury against their...
Government confirms undisclosed number of Canadians evacuated from Yemen
OTTAWA – The federal government is confirming that an undisclosed number of Canadians have been taken out of Yemen, amid Russian state media reports that the Kremlin had helped them leave.Foreign Affairs spokesman John Babcock said in an email on Saturday they are aware that Canadians departed from Yemen safely.Russian news agency TASS...
Russian trawler sinks off Kamchatka with 54 dead
A Russian trawler has sunk off the Kamchatka peninsula, with 54 sailors so far confirmed dead. Sixty-three people have been rescued, many suffering from hypothermia, according to officials in Russia’s Far East, but 15 are reported missing. The Dalniy Vostok freezer trawler had 132 people on board when it sank. Seventy-eight of those on...
Cost of Iraq and NATO reassurance missions ‘classified’ in coming budget: DND
OTTAWA – Parliament may have approved a year-long extension to the country’s combat mission in Iraq and Syria, but the Harper government is once again refusing to say how much it will cost taxpayers.Nor will it reveal the estimated pricetag for upcoming involvement in NATO’s reassurance operations in eastern Europe.Late Tuesday,...
Lawyer for man accused of child pornography says films of naked boys weren’t sexual
TORONTO – The movies produced and sold by an Ontario man accused in a sweeping child pornography investigation weren’t sexual in nature but simply showed “naked boys doing silly things,” his lawyer argued Monday.Brian Way’s lawyer told a Toronto court his client was selling films that depict the nudist lifestyle by...
‘Putin is behaving like a terrorist’: Cabinet minister’s speech on Ukraine sparks social media battle with Russia
Conservative cabinet minister Chris Alexander says the situation in Ukraine is the biggest security issue facing the world today, even as his government debates expanding its military actions in the Middle East. Alexander’s comments, made to Ukrainian Canadians during a speech in Toronto Feb. 22, are being shared on the internet as the...
All parties signal support for Magnitsky law to sanction Russian officials
Canada is moving toward becoming the second country to adopt a so-called Magnitsky law to impose sanctions on Russian officials, as all political parties in the Commons have signalled their support. It’s a step that would spark the ire of Russia – but since Canada is already sanctioning that country over its actions in Ukraine, it appears...
The low, dishonest decade redux
In his famous poem titled September 1, 1939, British poet W.H. Auden described the 1930s as “a low, dishonest decade.” There are eerie similarities between the third decade of the 20th Century and the second decade of the 21st Century. The third decade of the 20th Century gave the world Nazism and fascism and the Second World War. The second...
Harper meets NATO chief to talk about war against ISIL, crisis in Ukraine
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg met today to discuss the war in Iraq and the crisis in Ukraine. The meeting just comes days ahead of the planned introduction of a motion to extend and expand Canada’s combat mission against extremists in Iraq — and possibly Syria. Stoltenberg, a former prime minister...
