In the News

The list of Chinese products on which the U.S. plans to impose new 10 per cent tariffs Sept. 1 is being pared in response to pressure from domestic retailers. The tariff on cellular telephones, laptop computers and other goods is delayed to Dec. 15 to accommodate an expected surge of imports of Christmas-sensitive goods.

A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that federal regulators bent the rules by trying to exempt 5G cellular sites from assessments of their effects on the environment and historical sites. Among other things, the court says the Federal Communications Commission failed to justify its position that smaller installations posed little to no risk.

Well before his first mandate would have expired, Premier Brian Pallister is going for a second term by kick-starting a 29-day campaign toward a Sept. 10 general election. In the last vote, in April 2016, his Progressive Conservatives unseated the incumbent New Democratic Party government.

The leaders of Canada’s five main political parties have been invited to participate in two nationally-televised debates in the runup to the Oct. 21 general election. The Liberals, Conservatives, New Democrats, Bloc Quebecois and Greens qualified for the Oct. 7 and 10 debates because they met several criteria, including having held at least one seat in the current Parliament, which excluded the fledgling People’s Party of Canada.

Nine people have now been sentenced for their role in the single largest immigration scam in British Columbia, helping more than 1,600 immigrants become Canadian citizens or permanent residents through passport fraud and other misrepresentation offences.

Alejandro Giammattei, a conservative and former director of Guatemala’s prison system, has been elected to a four-year term as president. He captured 59 per cent of the vote compared with 41 per cent which went to centre-left candidate Sandra Torres. Giammattei has said he wants to amend his country’s immigration arrangement with the U.S.

China’s central bank transferred $1 billion to Turkey in June. Beijing’s biggest support package ever for President Erdogan, it was delivered at a critical time (in an election month) and shows that Turkey is making headway in its efforts to diversify sources of foreign investment amid unprecedented tensions with the West.

A Helsinki-based startup company, Iceye, is using suitcase-size radar satellites to return images of objects smaller than a metre in size. That level of detail has until now has required satellites weighing a tonne or more and costing more than €100 million or some 50 times Iceye’s cost.

All flights were cancelled at Hong Kong International Airport, one of the busiest hubs in the world, as thousands of demonstrators descended on the facility. However, the crowd evidently has begun to dwindle amid complaints about an aggressive police response.

The U.S. National Security Agency, headquartered at Fort Meade, Md., has been hiring highschool students to work “somewhere in cyber,” as one puts it. Others are equally vague, saying only that they work in language translation as well as cybersecurity.

Months of dialogue between U.S. diplomats and Taliban representatives apparently have yielded a framework peace accord expected to be announced shortly. That deal could pave the way for direct talks between elected Afghan leaders and the insurgency.

Even as China’s economic engine cools down, it continues to undergo one of the fastest growth rates in the world. A new report from the McKinsey Global Institute takes an in-depth look at the situation, noting China’s engagement in fields such as digital and technology, trade and the environment.

Commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf have reported interference with their Global Positioning System receivers and the U.S. Department of Transportation believes Iran is at fault. Its maritime administration is warning about a range of issues, including communications from unknown entities purporting to be naval escorts.

The federal government is marking Aug. 9 as National Peacekeepers’ Day in honour of the more than 125,000 Canadian Armed Forces, police and civilians who have served on multinational missions around the world since 1956.

Ongoing and frequently violent protests in Hong Kong have prompted the Canadian government to enhance its travel advisory for the former British colony. Travellers now are being advised to exercise “a high degree of caution” as crowds protest proposed legislation, now suspended, which would permit offenders to be extradited to China for trial.

The number of mid-air conflicts between remotely-piloted and conventional aircraft in the first half of 2019 was higher than the same period last year. Transport Canada reports that despite new regulations and stiffer penalties, there had been 33 incidents reported mainly by commercial aircrews to June 30 compared with 24 in the first half of 2018 and 25 a year earlier.

U.S.-based Chase Bank is forgiving all outstanding debt owed by users of its two Canadian credit cards: the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa and the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa. The bank retired both cards last year but recently sent letters to all customers informing them about wiping all cardholders' debt so the company can complete its exit from the Canadian credit card market.

The federal ethics commissioner has opened an inquiry into the conduct of B.C. Liberal MP Joe Peschisolido, whose former law firm is linked to a secretive 'bare trust'  real estate deal that helped an alleged Chinese “drug boss” hide his ownership stake in a $7.8 million condo development.

Two persons have been arrested after a data breach at Revenu Quebec resulted in the release of the personnel files of 23,000 of the agency’s current and former employees. The agency says an internal investigation showed the data was not used for malicious purposes or sold to third parties.

Visits or calls from the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service or law enforement agencies, often to Muslim students, are said to be increasingly common at universities across the country. A University of Toronto law professor and a criminal lawyer said it's an issue few students apparently are willing to discuss because of the stigma.

The United States’ main Asia-Pacific allies are being warned by China that they risk countermeasures if they accept deployment of intermediate-range U.S. missiles,. Singling out Australia, Japan and South Korea, the foreign ministry says any deployments would “not serve the national seurity interests of these countries.”

Dwayne Charette has been appointed President of Airbus Helicopters Canada, replacing Romain Trapp, who has been promoted to President of Airbus Helicopters Inc.

The United States administration has designated China as a currency manipulator after its central bank devalued the Yuan as the two countries' rrade dispute escalates. The announcement followed on the heels of President Donald Trump’s accusation on social media that China use currency exchange to steal U.S. business and undermine commodity prices.

As Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests continue to escalate in the former British colony,the commander of its People’s Liberation Army garrison says violence should not be tolerated. Meanwhile, a spokesman for China's Hong Kong and Macau Office said the local government and police were capable"of handling the protests.

Large-scale cyber attacks by North Korea evidently generated as much as $2 billion dollars which may be used to underwrite its weapons programs, according to a report presented to the United Nations North Korean sanctions committee. Among other things, the report cites forced transfers of funds from financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges.

Mass shootings in Texas and Ohio over the weekend prompted President Donald Trump to state that “hate has no place” in the U.S., but there are accusations that his own remarks over the years have been a factor. “Perhaps more has to be done,” he said after an attack in El Paso left 20 dead and another in Dayton claimed 11 lives.

China’s central bank has permitted its Yuan to fall below the politically-sensitive level of seven to the U.S. dollar for the first time in 11 years, a possible precursor to a further escalation in the countries’ trade war. It came only a few days after President Donald Trump slapped more tariffs on imports from China.

A Jordanian man who has been declared a danger to Canada’s security for spreading ISIS propaganda on the internet is being released from custody to live in rural B.C. while the government tries to deport him. Immigration and Refugee Board Member Geoff Rempel ordered the release of Othman Hamdan on Friday afternoon, rejecting Canada Border Service Agency’s concerns that he is a risk to national security.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland finally managed to meet with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, to discuss tensions following Canada’s arrest of a Huawei executive on a U.S. warrant last December and China’s subsequent detention of two Canadians. They met Aug. 2 on the sidelines of the Association of South East Asian Nations summit in Bangkok.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May suggested that “if” engineering firm SNC is found guilty on corruption and fraud charges, they should be forced to perform “community service” by repairing water infrastructure on native reserves. This solution “would keep the workers working. The shareholders of SNC-Lavalin wouldn’t like it, but maybe they should have paid more attention.”

Three of Canada's largest producers of bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands have kicked off a national bid for public support in the run-up to the Oct. 21 federal general election. In full-page ads in some 30 daily newspapers, they urge voters to press “leaders of all political stripes” to support the energy sector.

A $45-billion increase in the U.S. military budget, to $2.7 trillion over the next two years, has been approved by the Republican-controlled Senate. However, the vote of 67-28 divided the Republican majority with 30 voting “yes” and 23 voting “no”. The budget breakdown is $738 billion in 2020 and $740 billion in 2021 compared with $716 billion this year.

After a meeting Aug. 1 in Thailand with China’s top diplomat, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke out against Chinese "coercion" of Southeast Asian neighbors in disputes over the South China Sea and its dam-building on the Mekong River. However, Pompeo said both countries want to improve ties.

The German government, which has resisted the use of military assets to protect commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf, evidently is worried that Britain may be drifting closer to an American-led response to Iranian activities, an approach previously rebuffed by France as well as Britain.