Section: National Newswatch (Canada)
Crimea leader says it will never again be part of Ukraine
Crimea’s prime minister has told the BBC the peninsula has returned to its historical Russian homeland and will never again be part of Ukraine. Sergei Aksyonov said the annexation of the peninsula by Russia one year ago had been a “democratic act”. In a pre-recorded interview which aired on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he...
Russia Was Ready for Crimea Nuclear Standoff, Putin Says
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to put his country’s nuclear forces on alert when he annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula last year in case of intervention by the U.S. and its allies. “We were ready to do that,” Putin said when asked in a documentary film about Russia’s takeover of Crimea aired Sunday on state...
NATO disputes Conservative claim that Russians confronted Canadian warship
The Conservative government has ratcheted up its war of words over Ukraine, with the parliamentary defence secretary claiming Russian warships confronted a Canadian frigate in the Black Sea. But NATO officials say no such thing happened. James Bezan, parliamentary secretary to Minister of National Defence Jason Kenney, told the House of Commons...
Analysts say difficult to tell if Canada’s sanctions on Russia having impact
Canada has spent the last year aggressively imposing sanctions on Russian and Ukrainian players with ties to the simmering conflict in eastern Ukraine, but experts say there’s no evidence that the penalties are having any political impact on the Putin government. …read more Source: National...
Ukraine crisis: Poroshenko confirms rebel weapons moved
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says pro-Russian rebels in the east have withdrawn a “significant” amount of heavy weapons. Speaking on TV, Mr Poroshenko said his government forces had also pulled back “the lion’s share” of their rocket and heavy artillery systems. Under a ceasefire reached in February both sides were due to pull back...
Trudeau says Harper government deliberately stoking prejudice against Muslims
OTTAWA – Justin Trudeau is accusing the Harper government of deliberately stoking fear and prejudice against Muslim Canadians.The Liberal leader says Conservatives are employing the same kind of rhetoric that led to some of Canada’s most shameful displays of xenophobia: the internment of Ukrainian, Japanese and Italian Canadians...
Conservative ‘principled foreign policy’ amounts to little more than vote-seeking
Voters should treat most of what politicians say about themselves with the same kind of skepticism normally reserved for recorded telephone calls promising a free cruise. Consider the Conservative argument that, unlike the Liberals they replaced, they have a “principled foreign policy.” As Prime Minister Stephen Harper put it, under his...
Russia-Canada war of words turns hostile amid Nazi accusations
A 93-year-old Quebec beekeeper accused of being a Nazi war criminal has become the latest salvo in an increasingly hostile war of words between the Canadian and Russian governments. The two countries have been slinging insults and accusations at each other on Twitter and other social media since Russia annexed Crimea and began providing military...
Halifax-based warship arrives in the Black Sea for NATO exercises
HALIFAX – A Halifax-based warship has arrived in the Black Sea to take part in NATO training exercises.The Defence Department says HMCS Fredericton and five other allied warships will participate in a month-long operation to improve maritime security in central and eastern Europe.The department says the exercises are directly related to...
Ukraine gas blast ‘kills 30′ at Zasyadko coal mine
A suspected gas blast at a coal mine in a rebel-held region of east Ukraine has killed at least 30 people and left some 40 missing, officials said. However, several rebel officials said later that they could not confirm the death toll at the Zasyadko mine in Donetsk. At least 14 miners were also injured at Zasyadko, which saw Ukraine’s...
