Section: National Newswatch (Canada)
Venice Biennale invites heavy thinking on political issues
VENICE, Italy — Fake news. Migration. Poverty. Global warming. Armed conflict. Political issues that excite newsprint, the airwaves and social media are getting a very open airing at the 58th Venice Biennale contemporary art fair, like so much laundry hung out to dry in the lagoon breeze. American curator Ralph Rugoff, director of London’s...
Scheer rolls out an ambitious defence agenda, but critics ask: Where’s the money?
A little joke used to make its way around the Harper Conservative government every time National Defence presented Andrew Scheer’s former boss with the bills for new equipment — about how Stephen Harper would emit an audible ‘gulp’ of alarm when they crossed his desk. Scheer, in the first of a series of election-framing speeches for...
Voters everywhere are in no mood for the same-old
What does a byelection in Nanaimo-Ladysmith have in common with a Ukrainian comedian? More than you might think. Or nothing. Bear with me for a few minutes. The byelection tomorrow will be another window for something “different” to happen. And when I say “different,” I mean something other than the typical outcome. If you’ve been paying...
Canadian military unfazed by ‘fishy’ beluga whale suspected of spying for Russia
OTTAWA — Norway may be wondering about the porpoise of a beluga whale found in its waters sporting a Russian harness, but Canadian defence officials say they are dolphinately not worried about militarized cetaceans being used here. The beluga in question was discovered by Norwegian fishermen last week wearing a harness bearing the words...
Unscripted: The Serious Stakes for Ukraine’s New Leader
By the time Ukraine’s voters cast their ballots in the second round of presidential elections on April 21st, it was all but certain what the outcome would be — change was in the air. Indeed, when the ballots were counted, 73 per cent of voters had voted for a new president. “Chocolate King” oligarch Petro Poroshenko – president since 2014 –...
Axworthy urges renewed Canada-Ukraine ties despite concerns about new president
OTTAWA — Former Canadian foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy is urging Canada to renew its relationship with Ukraine while expressing some reservations about the country’s new president. Axworthy recently returned from leading a team of 160 Canadians who helped monitor the election that saw comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy elected president earlier...
New Ukrainian leader’s campaign took page from sitcom script
MOSCOW — The president-elect of Ukraine does not have a political record that foreign governments and companies can search for clues. For now, a 51-episode TV sitcom might offer the clearest view of what kind of leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be. Zelenskiy, a career comedian, foretold his future when he took the starring role in “Servant...
Ukraine’s Poroshenko concedes defeat to comedian rival Zelenskiy in presidential vote
A comedian whose only political experience consists of playing a president on TV appeared poised to reprise the role in real life when an exit poll showed him winning Ukraine’s presidential runoff Sunday in a landslide. Results from the exit poll after voting stations closed showed Volodymyr Zelenskiy receiving an extraordinary 73.2 per...
Ukraine election: Comedian Zelensky ‘wins presidency by landslide’
Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelensky has won a run-off election to become the country’s next president by a landslide, exit polls suggest. …read more Source: National...
Potential victory by Ukraine’s ‘Donald Trump’ prompts uncertainty
The very real prospect of a comedian being elected Ukraine’s next president on Sunday is nothing to laugh at for many Ukrainians who dream of seeing lost territories restored and their country unified again. They fear political neophyte Volodymyr Zelensky — who’s only political experience is playing Ukraine’s president in a TV...
