World
2023: Canada Gets Muted Allied Support After Alleging India May Have Been Involved In Killing Of Canadian
TORONTO, Ontario, Canada — When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood up in Parliament and suggested that India was involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen, the international response was quiet.
India appears to be too powerful to be alienated.
None of Canada’s most key allies — the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, which are all intimately woven together in the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing agreement — reiterated Trudeau’s charges.
They’ve expressed their concern. They have demanded thorough investigations. However, none condemned India for its suspected role in assassinating a Sikh separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on Canadian soil in June.
Why?
There is China, and the objective among allies is to strengthen ties with India as a counterweight to Beijing’s expanding influence and aggression.
But it goes beyond that. Many observers estimate that by 2030, modern India’s economy will have surpassed Japan and Germany to become the world’s third-largest. With over 1.4 billion people and one of the world’s largest militaries, it has emerged as a key player in international affairs.
This makes it difficult for Canada’s key allies, some of India’s main partners, to speak out loudly.
“I think Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom did about what was expected,” said Janice Stein, a political scientist at Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs.
According to Sushant Singh, a senior scholar at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, “as long as the West needs India to counter China, it is likely to look away.”
On Monday, Trudeau claimed there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in killing 45-year-old Nijjar outside Vancouver by masked gunmen, whom India had wanted for years. In addition, Canada expelled an Indian diplomat.
A day later, after India escalated the conflict by dismissing a top Canadian envoy, Trudeau softened his approach, telling reporters that Canada was “not looking to provoke or escalate.”
“PM tempers criticism as allies decline to condemn India over slain Sikh leader,” read the main page of Canada’s The Globe and Mail newspaper on Wednesday.
The claims made by the government are especially troubling for the United Kingdom, which is negotiating a free trade agreement with India.
“These are grave allegations.” “It is appropriate for Canadian authorities to investigate them,” said Max Blain, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spokesman.
However, he stated unequivocally that the death will not be discussed during the trade talks, stating that “these are negotiations about a trade deal, and we are not looking to conflate with other issues.”
According to Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, Trudeau discussed the assassination with Sunak and US Vice President Joe Biden in recent weeks.
If the allies’ reactions were subdued, Joly’s office and the White House refuted news reports that Canada had lobbied the US and other major allies to denounce the assassination in the days before Trudeau made his claims.
According to White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, any rumors that the United States had rejected Canada were “just flatly false.”
“We were deeply concerned by Prime Minister Trudeau’s allegations and remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners,” Kirby added. “They’re investigating, and that should continue unabated.”
However, he noted that the US-India partnership “remains vitally important, not only for the South Asia region but, of course, for the Indo Pacific.”
Nonetheless, the Biden administration provides more spiritual support than real backing. It may want to keep matters bilateral between Ottawa and New Delhi.
“It’s embarrassing” for Washington, according to historian and University of Toronto professor Robert Bothwell. However, “the United States has larger interests.”
If Trudeau’s allegations are true, it demonstrates that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is not “restrained by an innate sense of the rule of law or a commitment to democracy.”
“This is the same kind of thing that Putin does,” he said, alluding to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adversaries who have been slain in Russia and abroad, including in the United Kingdom.
Najjar, born in India and had worked as a plumber in Canada for many years, was assassinated in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb. He was wanted by Indian police, who had long suspected him of having ties to separatist terrorists aiming to establish an independent Sikh republic within India. While advocating for a Sikh nation, Nijjar continually denied any links to terrorism.
Canada has failed to present proof of India’s involvement in the murder. However, a US official said Tuesday that the White House interpreted Trudeau’s willingness to come out as an indication of the Canadian leader’s confidence in what had been discovered. The official, who was not authorized to publicly comment, spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Canada is one of the few countries unapologetically supporting human rights and the international rule of law. It also has no qualms about confronting major powers.
China-Canada ties, for example, took a hit in 2018 after China imprisoned former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor. These arrests happened shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder and the company’s top financial officer. The arrest was done at the request of US officials, who accused Meng of fraud.
Even after a prisoner swap in which China released the Canadians in exchange for Meng in 2021, relations have not improved.
In addition, after Canada’s foreign ministry tweeted support for a jailed Saudi activist, the Saudi government removed Canada’s ambassador to the kingdom and withdrew its envoy. It took five years for Canada and Saudi Arabia to reestablish full diplomatic relations in May of this year.
Trudeau also clashed with former US President Donald Trump, who pledged to make Canada pay after Trudeau declared that he would not be bullied in trade talks with the US. Trump retaliated by criticizing Trudeau, calling him “meek and mild,” which surprised Canadians.
The stakes have risen, and it’s uncertain — at least publicly — who Canada can rely on for unwavering support.
“Is Canada alone?” Bothwell wondered. “That is obviously a concern because Canada has always relied on the protection of the British and then the Americans.”
SOURCE – (AP)
A zoo in China has been accused of attempting to trick visitors over dog pandas by dyeing two dogs black and white to resemble panda bears. Videos circulating on Chinese social media show the two “panda dogs” at an exhibit at Taizhou Zoo, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, which opened on May 1.
Though the dog pandas are designed to resemble pandas, which are unique to China and an iconic symbol of the country, their swinging tails reveal their identity.
Zoo administrators claimed Chinese state media that they were Chow Chows, a fluffy dog breed native to northern China, painted black and white to resemble gigantic pandas, and that they had explicitly sold them as “panda dogs” without making any misleading claims.
The dogs are still at the zoo, officials told NBC News by phone on Friday, and the number of people visiting them is “at a normal level.”
Despite the fact that the zoo does not have real pandas, state media and others have attacked it for misleading visitors and mistreating the dogs.
“It is not funny at all to dye Chow Chow dogs to attract tourists,” one Weibo user said. “Their fragile skin and naturally thick coats make them susceptible to skin diseases.”
Zoo administrators defended the exhibit, claiming that the dogs were unharmed.
“Normal people dye their hair,” a spokesman told NBC News. “Dogs can also dye their hair. It is the same as hair.
In 2019, a dog cafe in the southern province of Sichuan prompted animal rights issues with its six Chow Chows that had also been dyed to resemble bears.
In 2020, in the same province, a “panda” walked by a woman in a viral video was discovered to be a dyed Chow Chow.
Other Chinese zoos have also been accused of keeping phony animals, usually dogs disguised as wolves or African cats.
After a video showing one of its Malayan sun bears standing like a person went viral in July, a zoo in the eastern province of Zhejiang denied that the bears were humanoid.
Experts refuted the story, and the zoo stated that a person wearing a fur suit would not be able to tolerate such hot summer conditions.
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CAPE Florida’s Cape Coral — This weekend, a very powerful solar storm approaching Earth may cause communications outages and cause the northern lights to appear in the United States.
For the first time in almost 20 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare geomagnetic storm watch. The entire weekend is under scrutiny, beginning on Friday.
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According to NOAA, the sun started to create powerful solar flares on Wednesday, which led to five plasma explosions that might have disrupted Earth’s power infrastructures and satellites in orbit. A coronal mass ejection, or eruption, can produce billions of tons of solar plasma.
The flares appear to be connected to a sunspot that is 16 times the diameter of Earth, which is why NOAA is classifying this as an uncommon occurrence. In 2003, a strong geomagnetic storm destroyed power transformers in South Africa and knocked out power in Sweden.
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According to NOAA, the most recent storm may cause northern lights as far south as Alabama and Northern California in the United States.
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Though the lights are usually observed in green, pink, and violet hues, they can occasionally be seen in other colors as well. Countless people travel to locations like Alaska, Canada, and Scandinavia every year to see this amazing show in person since it is such a stunning sight.
SOURCE – (AP)
World
The Taliban Warn Journalists And Experts Against Cooperating With Afghanistan International TV
Afghanistan’s KABUL —On Thursday, the Taliban warned academics and journalists not to collaborate with Afghanistan International TV, claiming that doing so would be illegal. They have never before advised people not to work with a certain channel.
VOR News Image
The Taliban Warn Journalists And Experts Against Cooperating With Afghanistan International TV
A representative for the Ministry of Information and Culture, which is under the control of the Taliban, claimed that the station was going beyond the law and moral and professional standards.
Ministry spokesman Habib Ghofran stated that the Media Violations Commission requested that all journalists and experts in Afghanistan stop working with the station.
“It was decided at the commission meeting yesterday (Wednesday) that it is not permitted to participate in discussions or facilitate the broadcast of this media outlet in public places,” Ghofran continued.
Zia ul Haq Haqmal, the deputy minister of broadcasting, claimed cooperating with the station would be criminal activity.
He listed ten reasons—the purported information manipulation, falsification, and opposition to the government—why one should not collaborate with Afghanistan International TV.
According to Haqmal, it is the responsibility of the court to punish someone who refuses to comply for any of the ten reasons listed above.
VOR News Image
The Taliban Warn Journalists And Experts Against Cooperating With Afghanistan International TV
Harun Najafizada, the director of Afghanistan International TV, stated that the channel had no employees or independent contractors in the nation, so the commission’s ruling would not impact it.
Najafizada stated, “We rely on the reporting of Afghan citizens and don’t have anyone on the ground.” That is a greater challenge, but our verification is rigorous. It puts pressure on us to compromise our professional standards and poses a threat to other media outlets and free media. It is not going to succeed.
Afghanistan performs appallingly in terms of journalistic freedom. In Reporters Without Borders’ most recent index, the nation was ranked 178 out of 180. Last year, it was rated 152.
According to the group, three radio journalists were detained in April for playing music during shows and answering calls from female listeners. Local authorities could not confirm the arrests.
The Taliban suspended two TV stations earlier this month for failing to “consider national and Islamic values.”
The director of Barya TV, one of the stations shut down, refuted the Taliban’s claims. The radio station remains down.
According to Latif Sadiq, the station was not notified of the suspension. On Thursday, Sadiq declared, “The reports that they repeatedly warned (Barya) are absolute lies.” “They said the case will go to court and decided on their own that (Barya) television is off, broadcasting is off.”
AP – VOR News Image
The Taliban Warn Journalists And Experts Against Cooperating With Afghanistan International TV
Following the Taliban takeover in 2021, several journalists lost their employment as media institutions closed due to financial difficulties or employee departure. Travel limitations and prohibitions on work present extra challenges for women journalists.
The majority of radio, television, and newspapers were outlawed by the Taliban in the late 1990s when they were in power.
SOURCE – (AP)
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