Category Archives: Canada

Huawei indictments: sanctions busting, industrial espionage and a stolen robot

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Indictments packed with emails and transactions allegedly showing how technology giant carried out criminal conspiracies

The twin criminal indictments against Huawei unveiled by US authorities on Monday are packed with emails and financial transactions allegedly showing how the Chinese technology giant carried out criminal conspiracies.

But the finer points of the 23 charges are less important than the overall shot they deliver across China’s bows. The US considers Huawei to be an arm of the Chinese state – and their devices to be potential spying equipment for Beijing.

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Toronto serial killer pleads guilty to eight counts of murder

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Bruce McArthur was charged with killing eight men, after police found remains in large planters at a property where he worked

A former landscaper accused of sexually assaulting, killing and dismembering men he met in Toronto’s Gay Village district over seven years has pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder.

Bruce McArthur, wearing a black sweater, stood up and said “guilty” eight times as the charges were read on Tuesday. Sentencing will start on 4 February.

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Quebec mosque attack: two years on, will security trump openness?

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The planned transformation of Quebec’s Grand Mosque is haunted by the deadly attack on the Islamic centre in 2017

Until 29 January 2017, random motorists on the busy Chemin Sainte-Foy would sometimes pull over to the Quebec City Grand Mosque to withdraw some money.

Converted from a Desjardins Bank, it still looks like one, with its rows of rectangular glass panes and a barricaded drive-through. Its only crescent and minaret are in graphic form on a small plastic sign, blocked from the road by trees.

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Justin Trudeau fires ambassador to China after remarks on Huawei case

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John McCallum had said Meng Wanzhou could make a strong argument against being sent to the US

In an unprecedented move, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday said he had fired his ambassador to China, who had prompted a political furor with comments about Huawei’s high-profile extradition case.

Related: 'I misspoke': Canada ambassador to China regrets saying Huawei chief had 'strong case'

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Canada: mother and uncle accused of ‘honor killing’ extradited to India

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Uncle and mother, both Canadian citizens of Indian origin, accused by Indian authorities of killing daughter in 2000

Canada has extradited the mother and uncle of a woman killed 19 years ago to face justice in India for their alleged roles in her honor killing.

The body of Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu was found with her throat slit in June 2000 in Punjab state. She was 25 at the time of her death.

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Trump’s remarks could stymie US extradition of Huawei CFO from Canada

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Canada’s ambassador to China said Meng Wanzhou had ‘good arguments on her side’, in part because of Trump’s remarks

US efforts to extradite a Chinese telecoms executive from Canada may have been stymied by remarks on the case made by Donald trump, according to Canada’s top diplomat in Beijing.

Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was detained at the request of the US on 1 December in Vancouver, over alleged violations of US sanctions on Iran. She is currently under house arrest and the US justice department has until 30 January to file a formal extradition request.

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Former China envoys call on Xi Jinping to release two detained Canadians

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Open letter says the arrests mean diplomats are more cautious about work in China

More than 140 former diplomats and leading China experts have called on Xi Jinping to release two Canadian citizens detained last month as a diplomatic stand-off between Ottawa and Beijing escalates.

In an open letter Chinese president, former envoys to China from Canada, the UK, the US, Australia, Germany, Sweden and Mexico described how the arrests of Michael Kovrig, a Canadian diplomat on leave, and Michael Spavor, a businessman, have sent a chill through the diplomatic community.

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Vintage ski posters – in pictures

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A collection of vintage ski and winter sports posters up to a century old – some worth thousands of dollars – is about to be auctioned in New York. The resorts advertised range from Europe’s Alpine jewels to the mountains of Canada, and all offer fun in the outdoors

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‘An egregious offence’: Canada battles Norway for tallest moose statue

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After Norway’s Storelgen stole Mac the Moose’s place as world’s tallest, a Canadian city hopes to ‘stick it to Oslo’ by increasing their statue’s size

For three decades, the Canadian city of Moose Jaw took pride in its status as the home of the world’s largest moose statue.

Standing at a majestic 10 meters tall, Mac the Moose has weathered brutal winters, graffiti and even the inglorious loss of his jaw. His recognition was so great that in 2013, he was named the city’s most popular celebrity.

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France in shock at gang-rape trial of police from famous BRI unit

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Court hears how Canadian woman was allegedly raped by terrorism officers at 36 Quai des Orfèves

Emily Spanton grew up with police officers – her father had been a high-ranking officer in the Toronto force – so when two French officers she met while drinking in a Paris bar invited her to see their famous headquarters, she agreed.

Spanton was, she says, drunk and shaky on her feet. “I knew I wasn’t in a state to find my hotel. And I thought that going to a police station would sober me up as there would be plenty of lights and people,” the Canadian said.

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China expresses ‘strong dissatisfaction’ with Trudeau as countries spar

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Prime minister should ‘respect the rule of law’, a spokeswoman said after Trudeau criticised a Canadian man’s death sentence

China has expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with Justin Trudeau after he criticised the death sentence passed on a Canadian man convicted of drug trafficking, as the two countries continued to spar over detained citizens.

The Canadian prime minister should “respect the rule of law, respect China’s judicial sovereignty, correct mistakes and stop making irresponsible remarks”, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday.

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Saudi woman who fled family pledges to fight for women escaping persecution

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Rahaf Mohammed said she will work in support of ‘the same freedom’ she experienced after arriving in Canada

Rahaf Mohammed, the Saudi teen who shot into the headlines after barricading herself into a Thai hotel room, has pledged to fight for women fleeing persecution after she successfully escaped abuse and the fear of death in her home country.

“Today and for years to come, I will work in support of freedom for women around the world – the same freedom I experienced on the first day I arrived in Canada,” she told reporters at a press conference in Toronto.

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Saudi teen granted asylum in Canada hopes to ‘encourage other women to be brave’ – video

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Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, the young  woman who hit global headlines after barricading herself in a Thai hotel room to flee abuse, has said she hopes to be an  'agent for change' in Saudi Arabia, a country where women are denied basic freedoms and are not allowed to work, marry and travel without the permission of a male guardian

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‘Hostage’ diplomacy: Canadian’s death sentence in China sets worrying tone, experts say

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Concerns Beijing using case to exert pressure on Ottawa after Canada’s detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou

China’s sentencing of a Canadian to death for drug trafficking threatens to escalate tensions between the two countries and set a dangerous precedent, according to experts.

On Monday, the Dalian Intermediate People’s Court in the northeastern province of Liaoning increased Robert Schellenberg’s sentence from 15 years in prison to the death penalty, concluding the Canadian had played “a key role” in a failed attempt to smuggle 222kg (almost 500lbs) of methamphetamine from China to Australia in 2014.

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Rahaf al-Qunun: ‘I hope my story encourages other women to be brave and free’

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Saudi woman begins new life in Canada after her family disowns her

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, the Saudi woman who captured the world’s attention by barricading herself in a Thai hotel room after fleeing abuse in her own country, has said she hopes to inspire other Saudi women to be “brave and free”.

Speaking in her first interview after being given asylum in Canada, and landing in Toronto on Saturday, Qunun, told the ABC Australia her case might be the “agent for change” in Saudi Arabia, a country where women are denied basic freedoms and are not allowed to work, marry and travel without the permission of a male guardian.

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Justin Trudeau lookalike found in Afghan talent show

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Wedding singer Abdul Salam Maftoon was called the Canadian prime minister’s ‘lost twin’ after appearing on Afghan Star

An Afghan talent show contestant’s striking resemblance to Justin Trudeau has turned him into an unlikely celebrity in the war-torn country.

Abdul Salam Maftoon, a wedding singer from a village in the remote and impoverished northeastern province of Badakhshan, had never even heard of his more famous doppelganger until a judge on the popular television music contest Afghan Star pointed out the uncanny likeness.

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Canada revises travel advice for China in wake of citizen’s death sentence

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‘High degree of caution’ recommended after Canadian’s 15-year jail sentence raised to execution, in deepening diplomatic rift

Canada has issued a travel warning to its citizens going to China, in the wake of a Canadian man being sentenced to death over drugs charges.

On Monday a Chinese court upped Robert Lloyd Schellenberg’s sentence from 15 years in prison to execution after he appealed against the court’s December verdict.

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Out of dough? Canada air traffic controllers buy pizzas for unpaid US colleagues

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Ten thousand US staff have not received paychecks since late December because of government shutdown

Canadian air traffic controllers have bought hundreds of pizzas for their American counterparts over the past few days in what has become an industry-wide show of support during the US government’s partial shutdown.

Peter Duffey, the head of the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association, said the initiative began on Thursday when employees at Edmonton’s control centre took up a collection to buy pies for controllers in Anchorage, Alaska.

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Rahaf al-Qunun lands in Toronto after long journey to safety

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Saudi teen was granted asylum by Canada after flying to Thailand to escape her family

The Saudi woman who barricaded herself in a Thai hotel room in a desperate attempt to flee abuse landed in Canada on Saturday, capping a tumultuous and uncertain journey towards safety.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun arrived in Toronto, the country’s largest city. As she entered the airport’s arrivals area, she was accompanied by Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, Chrystia Freeland, who has been a vocal critic of Saudi Arabia’s jailing of female dissidents.

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Australia too slow in considering Saudi teen’s asylum bid, rights group says

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Human Rights Watch says government should have acted with more urgency to help Rahaf al-Qunun

Human Rights Watch Australia has criticised the government’s handling of a Saudi teenager’s bid for asylum, after the 18-year-old was granted safe haven in Canada.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun fled from Kuwait to Thailand, saying she had been abused by her family and feared for her life if deported back home.

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