In the News

Billboards promoting the People's Party of Canada's stance on federal immigration policy are being taken down by Pattison Outdoor Advertising in response to widespread public criticism about a suggested ban on “mass immigration.” Critics said the advertising violated Pattison’s own code of conduct.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada will not agree to Russia joining the G7 group until it gets out of Ukraine. President Donald Trump has mooted the idea but Freeland made Canada’s position clear during a visit to Ottawa by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

South Korea has given notice that it intends to quit an intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan, a move rooted in historical animosity and an ongoing trade war. The decision is seen as a setback for the U.S. military presence in South Korea. 

Military veterans, especially those who had been deployed overseas, are at greater risk of mental health problems, according to Rand Corp. research. The California-based think-tank warns of long-lasting consequences if the problems are not addressed.

Widespread forest fires in Brazil’s Amazon basin is an international crisis which should be an issue at the G-7 Summit in France, say French President Emmanual Macron and German Chancellor Angela. Brazilian President Jair counters that the other leaders’ stance evokes a “colonial mindset.”

A floating Russian nuclear power station is transiting the Arctic in what the Rosenergoatom agency says is a bid to improve electricity supplies in remote areas. Greenpeace says the project is a high-risk threat in a harsh environment.

A Canadian woman with scoliosis, a spinal deformity which can cause pain and fatigue, has been blocked from entering the U.S. after border officers found cannabidiol oil in her backpack. The woman, who uses the non-psychoactive cannabis constituent as an analgesic, is now awaiting the results of a re-entry application.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has challenged British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to come up with a new plan for taking the U.K. out of the European union, a plan which would alternatives to the Irish border issue. “Possibly, you might find the solution in 30 days, why not?” Merkel said. “Then we would be a step forward."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo evidently is trying to quell a public fuss over President Donald Trump’s postponement of an official visit to Denmark after its prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, dismissed as “absurd” the President’s mooted purchase of Greenland. Trump responded by calling her “nasty.” In a phone call with Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod, Pompeo “expressed appreciation for Denmark’s cooperation” as an ally, and the Danish politician characterized their chat as “frank, friendly and constructive.”

Two years ago, the Communist Party of China set 2030 as the deadline for catching up with the U.S. in the artificial intelligence field by 2030. Next year marks a milestone for making significant gains in fundamental research and becoming a favoured destination for new talent, potentially at the expense of the U.S.

Iran says the U.S. should not to try to seize an Iranian tanker which recently was released by the Gibraltar government. Tehran says any further action would have “heavy consequences."

More than a year of partisan bickering in Italy has led to the collapse of its national government. Critics have accused the populist coalition administration of isolating and weakening Italy as it tries to reorient its place within Europe.

Commenting on calls by some Democrats for sanctions against Israel for its continued occupation and development of West Bank territories, President Donald Trump says Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats display “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are to meet in Berlin to discuss Irish border options when Britain withdraws from the European Union. Johnson says any deal to avoid re-establishing a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland would be “anti-democratic” but the EU so far has rejected change to the so-called Brexit "backstop."

A trade and investment officer at the British consulate in Hong Kong is being detained in neighbouring Shenzhen, the Chinese foreign ministry confirms. Simon Cheng was detained during a regular cross-border visit for allegedly violating a law which covers offences not considered criminal.

China says Canada should “stop meddling” in Hong Kong affairs, namely a recent spate of sometimes violent protests by residents of the former British colony. In a note posted to its embassy’s website, China was reacting to a statement by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and her European Union counterpart, Federica Mogherini, that “the right of peaceful assembly ... must continue to be upheld.”

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are being criticized by the first two Muslim congresswomen after Israel, at the behest of the U.S. administration, refused travel permission for one. It subsequently lifted its ban on one but she declined the the opportunity because Israel attached too many conditions.

So-called “red flag” laws which would permit families to petition courts for restrictions on individuals’ right to possess firearms evidently has the support of 70 per cent of Republican-leaning adults as well as a majority of gun-owners, according to a new U.S. poll. It also indicates that the idea has the support of 80 per cent of Democrats.

Canada will permit Venezuelans stranded in Canada without valid passports or other travel documents to remain in Canada for up to five years. Citizenship and Immigration Canada says Venezuela’s administrative meltdown in recent months has made it difficult for its consulates to renew expired documents while other Venezuelan expatriates with permanent resident status are finding their citizenship applications interrupted.

A new ground-based cruise missile with a 500-kilometre range, has been tested by he U.S. only a few weeks after the Trump administration withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear forces Treaty fter alleging that Russia had violated the pact. The Pentagon says test data would “inform” it about development of its intermediate-range capabilities.

The body that sets standards for Bluetooth communication technology says a critical flaw in the wireless technology enables hackers to interfere with device-pairing procedures.

Britain has revoked the citizenship of Jack Letts, a British-Canadian national born in Oxford. Nicknamed “Jihadi Jack” because of his alleged involvement with militants in Syria and who has been held by Kurdish authorities for two years. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says “Canada is disappointed that the United Kingdom has taken this unilateral action to offload their responsibilities.”

As the UN Security Council prepared for a meeting on Kashmir in the aftermath of India’s decision to strip its half of the divided territory of its autonomy, thousands of protestors surrounded the Indian High Commission in London Aug. 15 to support the notion of a “free Kashmir.” Demonstrators waiving Pakistani and Kashmiri flags were confronted with counter-protestors but kept apart by authorities.

Results of a new poll commissioned by Fox News indicated that 67 percent of Americans support a ban on private ownership of assault rifles. Some 86 per cent of Democrat respondents supported a ban, as did 46 per cent of Republicans.

A week after a Russian test of a “nuclear-fuelled” rocket ended in an explosion, the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority says small amounts of radioactive iodine were detected at an air-sampling station. However, the levels were described a not harmful.

Australia is being blamed for undercutting its Pacific island neighbours by rejecting their calls for a ban on coal mining, a major Australian export. At a regional summit in Tuvalu, regional leaders called for strong climate change action.

The Danish government of Greenland has told the U.S. that the mostly ice-capped territory, which is host to a major U.S. military base, is not for sale. The CNN network says the notion apparently was resurrected by President Donald Trump.

Despite a last-minute appeal by the U.S., Gibraltar has released an Iranian oil tanker which was seized by Royal Marines July 4. In deciding to let the vessel go, the British territory was assured by Iran that its cargo would not be discharged in Syria.

Researchers working with vpnMentor, a biometric security company, say they have gained access to more than a million fingerprints and other sensitive held at BioStar 2, an identity and access control platform developed by South Korea-based Suprema Inc. The platform is used by law enforcement and other agencies to control access to ostensibly secure facilities.

Former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan has concluded in a report that there is no need to split the cabinet roles of Attorney General and Justice Minister, which traditionally been handled as a single portfolio. She disagreed with suggestions that the structural change was not necessary to protect prosecutorial independence and promote public confidence in the criminal justice system.

Intimate partner homicide is one of the leading causes of death for women in the country, with nearly half of all murdered women killed by a partner. Repeat offenders are less likely to kill if they are regularly monitored by law enforcement – that's where the GPS tracker comes in.

Some public opinion polls suggest that many Canadians want immigration capped but Ahmed Hussen, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship counters that most Canadians also support bringing in skilled workers to fill labour gaps. He made the comments in welcoming an OECD report which calls Canada’s economic immigration system a global benchmark.

David Vigneault, Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, has been advised in a briefing package, obtained through an Access to Information request, that the agency faces a serious personnel retention and recruitment challenge. The challenge is highlighted as CSIS and other intelligence assets prepare to thwart any interference with the upcoming federal election.

When photographs of every California state legislator was run through a facial-recognition program which matches facial images to a database of 25,000 criminals, 26 evidently were flagged as criminals. The American Civil Liberties Union of California ran the test as it presses for legislation to ban the technology in police body cameras.