In the News

President Donald Trump’s threat to deploy active duty military personnel to crack down on public protests has been openly challenged by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. The former infantry officer said 3 June that invocation of the Insurrection Act must be “a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire situations.”

President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency after 20,000 tonnes of diesel oil leaked into a river near the Siberian city of Norilsk. “Why did government agencies only find out about this two days after the fact?” he asked 3 June. “Are we going to learn about emergency situations from social media?”

Four former federal cabinet ministers are among 58 diplomats and politicians who have added their names to a letter calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to display stronger resistance to a proposed Israeli annexation of a large part of the occupied West Bank. They argue that “territorial conquest and annexation are notorious for contributing to fateful results: war, political instability, economic ruin, systematic discrimination and human suffering.”

A Russian military collective designated “Sandworm” is said to be responsible for continued email server hacks which enable the collective to modify data and create new accounts, the U.S. National Security Agency says. The accusation is set out in an NSA bulletin highlighting the dangers of failing to regularly update systems.

A series of often violent protests in several major cities following the death of another black man in police custody in Minneapolis prompted President Donald Trump to insist 1 June that state governors call out their National Guard units to resolve the situations. “If a city or state refuses . . . I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”

The U.S. has joined a panel established by Canada and France two years ago to draft ethical guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence. The White House had previously eschewed membership on grounds that a regulatory focus would constrain innovation, but its chief technology officer, Michael Kratsios, now says it is important to established shared principles as a counter to China’s record of “twisting technology” to undermine civil liberties.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau says Canada and four other countries are “pressing” Iran to release the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, shot down by Iranian missiles minutes 08 January shortly after takeoff fom Tehran airport. They had been promised by 25 March, which essentially coincided with a COVID-19 eruption in Iran.

The 46th G7 Economic Summit, scheduled as a videoconference 10-12 June, has been abruptly postponed until at least September by President Donald Trump. “I don’t feel that . . . it properly represents what's going on in the world,” he said 30 May. “It's a very outdated group.” The G7, which Canada joined in 1976, also includes Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan but Trump said Australia, India, South Korea and Russia should be added to the roster.

Seeking other leaders’ support for Canada’s latest bid for a temporary seat on the UN Security Council, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau co-hosted an international call 28 May for global cooperation on mitigating the social and economic impacts of COVID-19. Canada’s campaign for a seat also sought by Ireland and Norway is predicated on what Trudeau said is its “long tradition of convening, of gathering people together, to deal with larger issues.”

A series of often violent protests in Minneapolis over the death of an unarmed black man arrested by police has prompted President Donald Trump to warn that if the city government cannot the situation, there could be forceful federal intervention. “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” he threatened on Twitter.

Daniel Livermore, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, says Canada should act unilaterally to stop the extradition of Huawei executive Meng Wenzhou if the U.S. cannot be persuaded to withdraw its request. It could be the key, he suggests, to China’s release of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who have been detailed in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Meng at Washington’s request in December 2018.

China's rubber-stamp legislature has voted in favour of a new security law designed to criminalize anything the Communist Party construes as undermining Beijing's authority in Hong Kong. The bill, which sparked a new round of protests and arrests in the former British colony 27 May, also could see China installing its own security agencies for the first time.

The U.S. Congress has been advised by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Hong Kong is no longer considered autonomous from China. “Hong Kong and its dynamic, enterprising and free people have flourished for decades as a bastion of liberty, and this decision gives me no pleasure,” he said in a statement 27 May. “Sound policy-making requires a recognition of reality. While the United States once hoped that free and prosperous Hong Kong would provide a model for authoritarian China, it is now clear that China is modelling Hong Kong after itself.”

Canadian Armed Forces personnel deployed to help civil authorities with long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 crisis have confirmed conditions in facilities which critics say have been known for some time. A CAF report states that personnel found that equipment was used on both infected and non-infected patients without being disinfected, and that a disregard for basic cleanliness had resulted in insect infestation and rotten food.

Frontline medical staff wrestling with the COVID-19 pandemic say more than a third of Canadians have been unable to receive treatment for other problems, including scheduled surgeries, because of government-imposed lockdowns. This, among other findings, are outlined in the results of a new Angus Reid poll published 27 May.

President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the multinational Open Skies Treaty could a pose a strategic challenge for Canada, according to Rob Huebert, who teaches political science at the University of Calgary. He says Canada can either stick to its long-standing policy of supporting such agreements or risk looking “like a toady” by following Trump’s lead.

The first of five Iranian tankers loaded with gasoline arrived safely in Venezuela over the weekend with the others expected this week. The U.S. had signalled its displeasure and both countries breaching sanctions but there were no signs of interference with the initial traffic.

Douglas Ross, who has been the junior minister for Scotland in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has resigned over a COVID-19 controversy. A senior member of the PM’s staff has defended his decision to ignore the government’s own advice on self-isolation, an attitude Ross says was “not shared by the vast majority of people.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the need to trace contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases is “strongly” recommended as part of a national containment effort and it has more than 5,000 personnel trained for the task. “After we've confirmed and isolated new cases, we have to get in touch with everyone who may have been exposed to the virus and make sure they take measures to quarantine and monitor themselves for symptoms or get tested,” he said.

The Venezuelan military says it is preparing to protect five tankers expected to deliver Iranian gasoline despite U.S. sanctions on both countries. The minister of defence, Gen Vladimir Padrino López, says the tankers will be “welcomed” into Venezuela’s 370-kilometre offshore economic management zone.

The trial of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges began with a brief court appearance 25 May but was adjourned to 19 July, giving his legal team more time to prepare the 70-year-old politician’s defence. The first Israeli leader to face trial while in office, he has denied accusations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

Zhang Yesui, a spokesman for the National People’s Congress Foreign Affairs Committee, says China will firmly defend its interests “if the U.S. insists on a Cold War thinking, and carries out strategies to contain China.” Meeting with reporters in Beijing ahead of the upcoming parliamentary session, he said his country “never flinches when trouble comes its way.”

There has been a significant jump in the number of Canadian Armed Forces personnel who have tested positive for COVID-19 while working in long-term care facilities in Ontario and Quebec. As of 21 May, 28 service members have tested positive compared with only five the previous week.

Indications that China is about to impose a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong are alarming residents of the former British colony. Officials have said that the new law would criminalize “foreign interference” and curb political dissent of the kind that erupted in violence last year.

The U.S. administration has been pressing the United Nations and France for the leading role in the French-led UN peacekeeping mission in Mali. President Donald Trump’s administration has questioned the value and utility of the peacekeeping effort for more than three years and its push for leadership is seen as a prelude to a gradual reduction.

John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican nominated by President Donald Trump as Director National Security, has been confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. He had been put forward last year but withdrew when some members of his own party questioned his suitability. Most Democrats oppose Ratcliffe, making him the first DNI not to have broad bipartisan support.

In its annual report to Parliament 20 May, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service says that some foreign investment carries with it security risks, but the agency is not specific about which foreign interests are a concern. “Economic espionage activities in Canada continue to increase in breadth, depth and potential economic impact,” it says. “As difficult as it is to measure, this damage to our collective prosperity is very real.”

In stark contrast to U.S. President Donald Trump, who refuses to wear a mask against COVID-19, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has decided to wear one when he can’t maintain social-distancing in public. Calling it a “personal choice” in line with experts’ advice, he says keeping socially distant, staying home when sick, and washing hands remain “the best thing” for Canadians to keep doing to curb the virus’ spread.

A 17-year-old Toronto male is the first Canadian to be charged with a terrorism offence after a 2018 murder evidently resulting from his involvement in the online “incel” community of individuals who deem themselves “involuntarily celibate” because they are unable to have romantic or sexual partners. “Terrorism comes in many forms and it's important to note that it is not restricted to any particular group, religion or ideology," the RCMP explained.

The fact that the U.S. has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the world, 92,000 at last count, has been portrayed by President Donald Trump as some kind of “badge of honour.” “You know when you say that we lead in cases, tthat's because we have more testing than anybody else,” he told reporters. “When when we have a lot of cases, I don't look at that as a bad thing; I look at that as, in a certain respect, as being a good thing because it means our testing is much better. So I view it as a badge of honor” and a tribute to “all of the work that a lot of professionals have done."

The X-37B space plane developed by Boeing for the U.S. Air Force was launched on its sixth mission 17 May. Its mostly military missions are generally classified, but the USAF has disclosed that its experiments this time includes microwave delivery of solar power to the Earth’s surface and a test of how seeds used for food products are affected by radiation and the zero-gravity environment.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization since 2017, has promised an independent evaluation of the global COVID-19 response “at the earliest appropriate moment” with a view to future pandemics. “We all have lessons to learn,” he said. “Every country and every organization must examine its response and learn from its experience.”

Albert Premier Jason Kenney’s warning last week that China faced a “great reckoning” for its handling of the COVID-19 crisis has drawn a sharp rebuttal from the Chinese consulate in Calgary. Accusing Kenney of “slander and stigma”, the consulate says that “a large body of facts and data suggest that China did not play down, obfuscate or cover up the dangers posed by the novel coronavirus when it emerged.”

The 10 most commonly exploited security vulnerabilities have been listed by the U.S. intelligence community, including some which date to 2016. The newest vulnerabilities target remote workers using virtual private networks and cloud collaboration. “Foreign cyber actors continue to exploit publicly known—and often dated—software vulnerabilities,” the agencies say.