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Ukraine lawyers insist that UN’s top court has jurisdiction to hear Kyiv’s case against Russia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:19 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Ukraine insisted Tuesday that the United Nations’ highest court has jurisdiction to hear a case alleging that Moscow abused the genocide convention to justify launching its devastating invasion last year.Kyiv wants judges at the International Court of Justice to order Russia to halt its attacks and pay reparations. But it appears unlikely Moscow would comply. Russia has flouted a binding interim order issued by the court in March last year to end its invasion.“Russia’s defiance is also an attack on this court’s authority. Every missile that Russia fires at our cities, it fires in defiance of this court,” the leader of Ukraine’s legal team, Anton Korynevych, told the 16-judge panel.Kyiv filed the case shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. It argues that the attack was based on false claims of acts of genocide in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of eastern Ukraine.“Russia is waging war against my country in the name of this terrible lie that Ukraine ...

London police force says it will take years to root out bad cops

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:19 GMT

LONDON (AP) — London’s police force says that over 1,000 officers are currently suspended or on restricted duties as the department steps up efforts to root out bad cops following a scathing report that found it was institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynistic.Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said it will take years for the Metropolitan Police Service to get rid of officers who have breached standards or weren’t properly vetted before they were hired, with about 60 officers facing disciplinary hearings each month.“This is going to take one, two or more years to root out those who are corrupt,” Cundy said in a statement released on Tuesday.The figures were released a year after Commissioner Mark Rowley took over leadership of the Met, pledging to reform a force that had been rocked by a series of scandals, including the arrest of a serving officer for the kidnap and murder of a young woman.In March, the police force apologized after an independent review found that t...

India expels Canadian diplomat after Canada links Indian agents to Sikh leader death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:19 GMT

India struck back at Canada early Tuesday after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau linked agents of India’s government to the shooting death of a Sikh leader near Vancouver.A statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs says an unnamed senior Canadian diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days.Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said earlier on Monday that Canada was expelling India’s Pavan Kumar Rai, whom her department lists in its public registry as a diplomatic agent who heads up an Indian intelligence agency based in Ottawa.Trudeau told the House of Commons on Monday that there is credibility to the allegations that Indian government agents played a role in the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.“Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen,” he said.“Any involve...

What to know about the Sikh movement at the center of the tensions between India and Canada

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:19 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Tensions between Canada and India have reached new heights with dueling diplomatic expulsions and an allegation of Indian government involvement in the killing of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil. The row centers around the Sikh independence, or Khalistan, movement. India has repeatedly accused Canada of supporting the movement, which is banned in India but has support among the Sikh diaspora. On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Parliament described what he called credible allegations that India was connected to the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. The Indian government denied any hand in Nijjar’s killing while also saying Canada was trying to shift the focus from Khalistan activists there.Here are some details about the issue:WHAT IS THE KHALISTAN MOVEMENT?The Sikh independence movement began as an armed insurgency in the late 1980s among Sikhs demanding a separate homeland. It was centered in northern Punjab state, where Sikhs are th...

In the news today: Trudeau heading to UN as tensions with India escalate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:19 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Trudeau heads to UN amid fresh foreign tensionPrime Minister Justin Trudeau is headed to the UN General Assembly with the planet at a climate crossroads — and Canada facing an ever more fraught relationship with the world’s fastest-growing economy. The day before departing for New York, Trudeau rocked the House of Commons with “credible allegations” linking agents of India’s government to the deadly shooting this past June of a Sikh leader in Surrey, B.C. It’s a striking contextual backdrop for the week ahead at the United Nations, a place where aspirational visions of a prosperous and peaceful future often have to do battle with stark political realities. India expels Canadian diplomat after accusations in Sikh leader deathIndia struck back at Canada early Tuesday after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau linked agents of India’s ...

Feist, Daniel Caesar among artists up for Polaris prize

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:19 GMT

TORONTO — Ten Canadian musicians and bands will compete for the Polaris Music Prize tonight.The $50,000 award for the year’s best Canadian album will be handed out during a concert event held at Toronto’s Massey Hall.Among the contenders is Calgary-raised pop singer-songwriter Leslie Feist, Toronto R&B singer Daniel Caesar and Oji-Cree alternative soul artist Aysanabee.Other nominees include Haitian-Canadian artist Gayance, Winnipeg’s Begonia and Nigerian-Canadian Debby Friday.Rounding out the list is British Columbia native Dan Mangan, Toronto rock band the Sadies, B.C. hip hop duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids and Prince Edward Island indie pop band Alvvays.The Polaris prize names the best Canadian album of the previous year — irrespective of genre or sales — as chosen by a group of journalists, broadcasters and music bloggers.Last year, the Polaris went to Congolese-Canadian Pierre Kwenders for his third album “Jose Louis and the Paradox Of Love.”This rep...

Long-secret Canadian intelligence sealed Avro Arrow’s cancellation, new paper says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:19 GMT

OTTAWA — The Diefenbaker government’s 1959 decision to scrap the fabled Avro Arrow was significantly influenced by Canadian intelligence that pointed to a diminishing need for the costly aircraft in the evolving Cold War, says a new research paper based on previously secret information.The intelligence highlighted the Soviet Union’s shift away from manned bombers to long-range ballistic missiles, suggesting interceptors like the Arrow would increasingly play a smaller role in the defence of North America.The paper makes the case that these strategic intelligence assessments — long the “missing dimension” in the debate over the Arrow’s demise — now allow for a fuller understanding of an important episode in Canadian history.“Arrows, Bears and Secrets: The Role of Intelligence in Decisions on the CF-105 Program,” was published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed academic journal Canadian Military History.The paper’s author, researcher Alan Barn...

Court expected to hear city’s perspective of ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers’ trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:19 GMT

OTTAWA — The criminal trial of two “Freedom Convoy” organizers is expected to hear the city’s perspective on the controversial protest as Ottawa’s emergency manager takes the stand. Kim Ayotte oversaw the city’s bylaw enforcement, fire and paramedic services during last year’s demonstration, as well as the department that oversees special events.  Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are on trial to determine whether they committed mischief or counselled others to commit mischief, intimidation and other offences over the course of the protest. Protesters blocked city streets and residential neighbourhoods around Parliament Hill in a protest against COVID-19 public-health restrictions, and refused to leave for three weeks. Ayotte provided daily situation updates to then-Ottawa mayor Jim Watson and the rest of city council during the demonstration.Ottawa declared a state of emergency after the second weekend of the protest in what the mayor at the time call...

Liberal foreign aid looks to bolster feminism, cut red tape for charities: Hussen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:19 GMT

OTTAWA — International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen says he’s focused on speeding up aid funding while cementing the Trudeau government’s feminist approach to development abroad.In his first interview about taking on the role since he was sworn in July 26, Hussen said his mandate letter calls for a continued focus on Canada’s feminist international assistance policy, and to prioritize clearing bureaucratic hurdles that prevent that policy from fulling taking shape.“We know that when women and girls are included in society, those societies do better, that poverty comes down, gender-based violence comes down (and) economic development takes off,” he said.Hussen previously helmed the government’s housing and immigration portfolios. His new job focuses on managing a $6.5-billion budget for development aid such as building schools, as well as helping send out humanitarian funding in response to crises such as major earthquakes.The goal is to try c...

Climate, development, India top of mind as Trudeau travels to UN General Assembly

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:19 GMT

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is headed to the UN General Assembly with the planet at a climate crossroads — and Canada facing an ever more fraught relationship with the world’s fastest-growing economy. The day before departing for New York, Trudeau rocked the House of Commons with “credible allegations” linking agents of India’s government to the deadly shooting this past June of a Sikh leader in Surrey, B.C. It’s a striking contextual backdrop for the week ahead at the United Nations, a place where aspirational visions of a prosperous and peaceful future often have to do battle with stark political realities. This year’s theme for what the international diplomatic corps calls “high-level week” at the UN is “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity” — two commodities that seem hard to come by these days. “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian so...