Mark, Albania's last 'restaurant bear,' arrives at sanctuary after over 20 years of captivity

Story by Zoe Sottile • Sunday

After over twenty years in captivity, Mark, the last of Albania’s “restaurant bears,” has safely arrived at his new home, an animal sanctuary in Austria, according to the animal rescue group Four Paws International.

So-called “restaurant bears” have historically been kept in tiny cages near restaurants or hotels, where they served as an attraction for tourists, according to Four Paws. In 2016, the nonprofit launched the “Saddest Bears” campaign in an effort to relocate the more than 30 bears being used as entertainment in the country.

Mark, a 24-year old brown bear, is the last known “restaurant bear” in Albania, according to a news release from Four Paws, although there are other bears in captivity in poor circumstances in the country. He was rescued on December 7 and arrived at his new home, “BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach” in Austria on Friday.



Mark, Albania's last 'restaurant bear,' arrives at sanctuary after over 20 years of captivity© Provided by CNNAnimal welfare activists move Mark from his cage in Tirana, Albania, on Dec. 7, 2022. - Gent Shkullaku/AFP/Getty Images

When Four Paws first encountered Mark, the animal was suffering from severe health problems. He was overweight, had broken teeth and displayed “abnormal” behaviors like pacing due to the lack of stimulation in his cramped cage, Four Paws said in a previous news release.

The bear embarked on a 44-hour journey to his new home, according to the organization. He traveled through North Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary before finally reaching the sanctuary.

But he was “calm and relaxed” during the trek, according to Four Paws.

“We made regular stops for our accompanying vet to check on him and fed him with fruits and vegetables,” Magdalena Scherk-Trettin, who coordinates Four Paws’ wild animal rescue and advocacy projects, said in the release. “After receiving an inappropriate diet of restaurant leftovers and mainly bread for two decades, he was a little reluctant about the vegetables, but munched happily on the grapes we gave him.”

Mark was slow to explore his snowy new habitat, according to Four Paws. He hadn’t stepped outside a cage in over twenty years. He’ll stay in a smaller outdoor enclosure for the time being until he adjusts to his new environment and moves to a larger enclosure.

The sanctuary in Arbesbach has operated since 1988, according to its website. Mark will join three other rescued grizzly bears who live on 14,000 square meters of “natural surroundings.”

“With Mark’s rescue we ended the cruel practice of keeping him next to a restaurant to attract and entertain visitors,” Four Paws’ president Josef Pfabigan said in the release. “We are now one step closer to a world where people treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding.”

 

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CANADA QUEBEC COLONY

Haitians rally for interim government, but split on military intervention: experts

OTTAWA — Though citizen and business groups in Haiti are split on the idea of a military intervention amid humanitarian and political crises, experts warned Canadian members of Parliament Friday that the country is in dire need.

Haitians rally for interim government, but split on military intervention: experts© Provided by The Canadian Press

As a senior Canadian envoy is deployed to Haiti to discuss possible solutions, human-rights researcher Gédéon Jean painted a stark picture for MPs, saying in French: "Haiti is on the edge of the precipice."

Jean was among witnesses who told the House of Commons subcommittee on international human rights that there must be a widely accepted plan for a transitional government in Haiti amid a debate over foreign help.

Haiti has not held elections since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Ariel Henry stepped in as president after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Instability in the country has allowed violent gangs to take control of critical infrastructure, leading to power and water outages, massacres and a cholera outbreak.

In response, Ottawa has sanctioned a dozen high-ranking Haitian politicians and business leaders, accusing them of financing the gangs. And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, to the country to seek a path to consensus.

"When we put this pressure on the political and economic elite, we can eventually allow for a political dialogue, and that's why Bob Rae, right now as we speak, is in Haiti," Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told reporters in French on Thursday.

"Our goal is to find solutions by and for Haitians."

Henry's unpopular government has asked for a foreign military intervention to create a humanitarian corridor, a move endorsed by the United Nations Secretary-General. United States officials namechecked Canada as a possible lead for such a mission earlier this year.

But some Haitians have pushed back on the idea, arguing that it would only lead to more chaos.

Monique Clesca, an activist with an opposition group that wants to form a two-year provisional government, argued that the president's request for a foreign intervention shouldn't be taken seriously.

"It is a crime of high treason, and this request demonstrates the failure of Henri's government and of the international diplomacy that installed it and continues to support it, despite its illegitimacy and disastrous governance," she said in French.

She argued that there is a gradual consensus building among politicians, religious groups and civil society for a security solution carried out by the Haitian National Police. But the country also needs humanitarian help and solutions to discourage youth from joining gangs.

"The issue goes beyond establishing a semblance of security, and it's not a cleanup that will solve the gang problems or the humanitarian needs," Clesca said.

Other witnesses told MPs that gangs recruit orphaned children, leading Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld to ask whether a military intervention could put "Canadian soldiers face-to-face with armed gangs, potentially in a shooting battle with what are essentially child soldiers."

Yet the International Crisis Group says its conflict-prevention experts believe that a military intervention is the only way to establish humanitarian corridors to combat cholera and stop sexual violence.

Next would be a transitional government to re-establish essential services and hold fair elections, perhaps with an external country as a mediator if Haitians request it.

"The situation there is increasingly dramatic, and inaction may not necessarily be the best course of action," the group's regional director, Renata Segura, said.

"It is crucial that Haitians come together in a national dialogue of sorts to determine if they wanted the arrival of these troops, and if so, what exactly their mandate would be."

Segura said locals are afraid to voice support for an intervention, as they don't want it to be conflated with support for the current government.

Jean, head of the Centre d'analyse et de recherche en droits de l’homme, argued that the international community must intervene under the United Nations' "responsibility to protect" doctrine.

He argued that his country is approaching a "proto-state" akin to the so-called Islamic State group's takeover of parts of Syria and Iraq. He said in French that Haiti's justice system has collapsed into mayhem, and one of its main prisons "resembles Nazi concentration camps, and those of other similar regimes."

Another representative of the International Crisis Group, Diego Da Rin, said that a series of clashes in Port-au-Prince over the past year have seen rival gangs filming the sexual assaults of women in newly won territory in an effort to assert control and stoke fears.

A national director for Partners In Health Canada, a charity that operates hospitals and clinics in Haiti, told the committee that Canada can help in the short term, regardless of whether a military intervention takes place.

"Canada can help right now," said Mark Brender.

Haiti needs fuel and storage capacity, he said, and Canada could build supply warehouses for essentials and medical supplies outside of the areas cut off by gang wars.

In the medium term, he said Canada could also invest in solar panels so that Haiti isn't brought to its knees by blockades around its main fuel terminal. These have left hospitals operating on generators staff at the group's hospitals trekking six hours through the mountains to the Dominican Republic to get fuel, he said.

This week, some of the most important business groups in Haiti signed an open letter pledging to weed out corruption and help the country rebuild, if political actors take up the mantle of "patriotic realism" and allow for foreign help.

The French-language letter asks political leaders to "sign a political agreement establishing a government of national unity that strives to include as many stakeholders as possible, with a clear roadmap leading to the holding of honest, transparent, and fair elections within a reasonable timeframe."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2022.

Bob Rae heads to Haiti in attempt at political consensus, amid possible intervention

OTTAWA — Canada is trying to dislodge a political impasse in Haiti by sending one of its top diplomats to Port-au-Prince.


Bob Rae heads to Haiti in attempt at political consensus, amid possible intervention© Provided by The Canadian Press

Bob Rae, Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, started an in-person push for negotiations Wednesday.

Haiti is facing a series of crises as armed gangs block access to fuel and essentials, leading to water and power outages that are worsening a cholera outbreak.

The Haitian government has asked for a foreign military to intervene and push out the gangs, but opponents argue that might only prolong an unpopular government in a country that has not had elections since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said Canada might be part of an intervention, but only if there is a consensus across Haiti's fractured political scene.

Rae's three-day visit will include talks with politicians, grassroots groups and United Nations officials on how Canada could play a role in what the Liberals say would be "Haitian-led solutions."

Defence Minister Anita Anand gave no sense of what that might look like.

"We are making sure to be prudent in this situation," she told reporters Wednesday.

"We are studying those contributions, potential contributions, and we will have more to say on that in short order."

This fall, Canada has sanctioned 11 prominent Haitians over alleged ties to gangs, sent military vehicles to the country, and had Trudeau's former national security adviser conduct an assessment mission.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2022.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

A trash heap 62 meters high shows the scale of India's climate challenge

Story by Vedika Sud • Sunday. Dec. 11,2022

At the Bhalswa landfill in northwest Delhi, a steady flow of jeeps zigzag up the trash heap to dump more garbage on a pile now over 62 meters (203 feet) high.

She lives near a landfill. Now she has to bathe in salt water

View on Watch

Duration 4:21

Fires caused by heat and methane gas sporadically break out – the Delhi Fire Service Department has responded to 14 fires so far this year – and some deep beneath the pile can smolder for weeks or months, while men, women and children work nearby, sifting through the rubbish to find items to sell.

Some of the 200,000 residents who live in Bhalswa say the area is uninhabitable, but they can’t afford to move and have no choice but to breathe the toxic air and bathe in its contaminated water.

Bhalswa is not Delhi’s largest landfill. It’s about three meters lower than the biggest, Ghazipur, and both contribute to the country’s total output of methane gas.

Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, but a more potent contributor to the climate crisis because methane traps more heat. India creates more methane from landfill sites than any other country, according to GHGSat, which monitors methane via satellites.

And India comes second only to China for total methane emissions, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Global Methane Tracker.


A trash heap 62 meters high shows the scale of India's climate challenge© Provided by CNNRagpickers at the Bhalswa landfill site on April 28, 2022, in New Delhi, India

. - Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times/Getty Images

As part of his “Clean India” initiative, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said efforts are being made to remove these mountains of garbage and convert them into green zones. That goal, if achieved, could relieve some of the suffering of those residents living in the shadows of these dump sites – and help the world lower its greenhouse gas emissions.

India wants to lower its methane output, but it hasn’t joined the 130 countries who have signed up to the Global Methane Pledge, a pact to collectively cut global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. Scientists estimate the reduction could cut global temperature rise by 0.2% – and help the world reach its target of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius.

India says it won’t join because most of its methane emissions come from farming – some 74% from farm animals and paddy fields versus less than 15% from landfill.

In a statement last year, Minister of State for Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change Ashwini Choubey said pledging to reduce India’s total methane output could threaten the livelihood of farmers and affect India’s trade and economic prospects.

But it’s also facing challenges in reducing methane from its steaming mounds of trash.



A young boy in the narrow lanes of slums in Bhalswa Dairy Village

. - Rishabh Pratap/CNN

‘Here we are, with no relief’

When Narayan Choudhary, 72, moved to Bhalswa in 1982, he said it was a “beautiful place,” but that all changed 12 years later when the first rubbish began arriving at the local landfill.

In the years since, the Bhalswa dump has grown nearly as tall as the historic Taj Mahal, becoming a landmark in its own right and an eyesore that towers over surrounding homes, affecting the health of people who live there.

Choudhary suffers from chronic asthma. He said he nearly died when a large fire broke out at Bhalswa in April that burned for days. “I was in terrible shape. My face and nose were swollen. I was on my death bed,” he said.

“Two years ago we protested … a lot of residents from this area protested (to get rid of the waste),” Choudhary said. “But the municipality didn’t cooperate with us. They assured us that things will get better in two years but here we are, with no relief.”

The dump site exhausted its capacity in 2002, according to a 2020 report on India’s landfills from the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), a nonprofit research agency in New Delhi, but without government standardization in recycling systems and greater industry efforts to reduce plastic consumption and production, tonnes of garbage continue to arrive at the site daily.



A trash heap 62 meters high shows the scale of India's climate challenge© Provided by CNNNarrow lanes of the slum in Bhalswa Dairy Village. - Rishabh Pratap/CNN

Bhalswa isn’t the only dump causing distress to residents nearby – it is one of three landfills in Delhi, overflowing with decaying waste and emitting toxic gases into the air.

Across the country, there are more than 3,100 landfills. Ghazipur is the biggest in Delhi, standing at 65 meters (213 feet), and like Bhalswa, it surpassed its waste capacity in 2002 and currently produces huge amounts of methane.

According to GHGSat, on a single day in March, more than two metric tons of methane gas leaked from the site every hour.

“If sustained for a year, the methane leak from this landfill would have the same climate impact as annual emissions from 350,000 US cars,” said GHGSat CEO Stephane Germain.

Dangerous toxins in groundwater

Methane emissions aren’t the only hazard that stem from landfills like Bhalswa and Ghazipur. Over decades, dangerous toxins have seeped into the ground, polluting the water supply for thousands of residents living nearby.

In May, CNN commissioned two accredited labs to test the ground water around the Bhalswa landfill. And according to the results, ground water within at least a 500-meter (1,600-foot) radius around the waste site is contaminated.


A ground water sample from the Bhalswa landfill in northwest Delhi. 

- Vedika Sud/CNN

In the first lab report, levels of ammonia and sulphate were significantly higher than acceptable limits mandated by the Indian government.

Results from the second lab report showed levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) – the amount of inorganic salts and organic matter dissolved in the water – detected in one of the samples was almost 19 times the acceptable limit, making it unsafe for human drinking.

The Bureau of Indian Standards sets the acceptable limit of TDS at 500 milligrams/liter, a figure roughly seen as “good” by the World Health Organization (WHO). Anything over 900 mg/l is considered “poor” by the WHO, and over 1,200 mg/l is “unacceptable.”

According to Richa Singh from the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), the TDS of water taken near the Bhalswa site was between 3,000 and 4,000 mg/l. “This water is not only unfit for drinking but also unfit for skin contact,” she said. “So it can’t be used for purposes like bathing or cleaning of the utensils or cleaning of the clothes.”

Dr. Nitesh Rohatgi, the senior director of medical oncology at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, urged the government to study the health of the local population and compare it to other areas of the city, “so that in 15 to 20 years’ time, we are not looking back and regretting that we had a higher cancer incidence, higher health hazards, higher health issues and we didn’t look back and correct them in time.”

Most people in Bhalswa rely on bottled water for drinking, but they use local water for other purposes – many say they have no choice.

“The water we get is contaminated, but we have to helplessly store it and use it for washing utensils, bathing and at times drinking too,” said resident Sonia Bibi, whose legs are covered in a thick, red rash.

Jwala Prashad, 87, who lives in a small hut in an alleyway near the landfill, said the pile of putrid trash had made his life “a living hell.”

“The water we use is pale red in color. My skin burns after bathing,” he said, as he tried to soothe red gashes on his face and neck.

“But I can’t afford to ever leave this place,” he added.

Jwala Prashad, 87, at the handpump in front of his house in Bhalswa Dairy Village. 

 Rishabh Pratap/CNN
Waste target in doubt

More than 2,300 tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste arrive at Delhi’s largest dump in Ghazipur every day, according to a report released in July by a joint committee formed to find a way to reduce the number of fires at the site.

That’s the bulk of the waste from the surrounding area – only 300 tonnes is processed and disposed of by other means, the report said. And less than 7% of legacy waste had been bio-mined, which involves excavating, treating and potentially reusing old rubbish.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi deploys drones every three months to monitor the size of the trash heap and is experimenting with ways to extract methane from the trash mountain, the report said.

But too much rubbish is arriving every day to keep up. The committee said bio-mining had been “slow and tardy” and it was “highly unlikely” the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (which has now merged with North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations) would achieve its target of “flattening the garbage mountain” by 2024.

“No effective plans to reduce the height of the garbage mountain have been made,” the report said. Furthermore, “it should have proposed a long time ago that future dumping of garbage in them would pollute the groundwater systems,” the report added.

CNN sent a series of questions along with the data from the water testing questionnaire to India’s Environment and Health Ministries. There has been no response from the ministries.

In a 2019 report, the Indian government recommended ways to improve the country’s solid waste management, including formalizing the recycling sector and installing more compost plants in the country.

While some improvements have been made, such as better door-to-door garbage collection and processing of waste, Delhi’s landfills continue to accumulate waste.

In October, the National Green Tribunal fined the state government more than $100 million for failing to dispose of more than 30 million metric tonnes of waste across its three landfill sites.

“The problem is Delhi doesn’t have a concrete solid waste action plan in place,” said Singh from the CSE. “So we are talking here about dump site remediation and the treatment of legacy waste, but imagine the fresh waste which is generated on a regular basis. All of that is getting dumped everyday into these landfills.”

“(So) let’s say you are treating 1,000 tons of legacy (waste) and then you are dumping 2,000 tons of fresh waste every day it will become a vicious cycle. It will be a never ending process,” Singh said.

“Management of legacy waste, of course, is mandated by the government and is very, very important. But you just can’t start the process without having an alternative facility of fresh waste. So that’s the biggest challenge.”

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Louise Arbour accuses military of foot-dragging, blasts progress on misconduct reform


OTTAWA — Retired Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour accused military leaders of dragging their feet when it comes fighting sexual misconduct in the ranks on Tuesday, even as Defence Minister Anita Anand staked her reputation on their success or failure.


Louise Arbour accuses military of foot-dragging, blasts progress on misconduct reform© Provided by The Canadian Press

Arbour delivered her scathing indictment to the House of Commons defence committee six months after issuing dozens of recommendations to improve the military’s handling of inappropriate and criminal sexual behaviour.

Her testimony coincided with an update from Defence Minister Anita Anand on the progress on those recommendations, all of which have now been accepted.

While Arbour acknowledged some positive steps, such as the appointment of an external monitor to keep tabs on the military’s progress, she was exceedingly critical on many other fronts.

Chief among them was what she saw as resistance to one of her key recommendations: That the Canadian Armed Forces be permanently stripped of its jurisdiction over the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault and other related crimes.

“It’s very obvious to me that those involved in that process are dragging their feet on the military side,” said Arbour, who previously served as the United Nations high commissioner for human rights.

In her own update presented before Arbour’s committee appearance, Anand said the government is consulting with provinces and territories about transferring responsibility for sexual crimes from military police and prosecutors to civilian counterparts.

Military officials have also revealed there were difficulties transferring those cases. Anand issued an interim order to do so in November 2021, but civilian police declined to accept 40 out of 97 cases referred to them by military police over the past year.

This comes as some provinces and municipal police forces have complained about the need for more funding and other resources to absorb the military’s cases into their own systems.

However, Arbour suggested such requests for money amounted to “posturing,” given the number of alleged sex crimes involving military personnel each year represents a tiny fraction of the total in the civilian system.

During her appearance before the defence committee, Anand emphasized the importance of acting on the recommendation but rebuffed calls for immediate change, saying several challenges need to be addressed.

Those include how to handle cases outside Canada and the capacity of civilian police and courts to take on more files.

Anand also repeatedly referred to the amount of time needed to change the law to officially remove the military’s jurisdiction over sex offences, but refused to say when legislation would be presented to Parliament for approval.

“My officials will come and present options,” she told the committee. “It would be imprudent of me to simply provide a date to this committee and to Canadians.”

While acknowledging that amending legislation would take time, Arbour noted civilian police already have jurisdiction over such cases if the military decides not to take them.

“Therefore, all that needs to happen today is that the military system stops, and the civilian side takes on investigations of sexual assault and other forms of sexual offences committed by CAF members, on CAF bases or anywhere,” she said.

“So that requires no change whatsoever. Just this: The military side stops, and the civilian side takes it on.”

Anand later pushed back against suggestions that the government and military would repeat past failures by pretending to agree with Arbour’s recommendations only to let them gather dust on a shelf.

“The way that we ensure cultural change occurs in the military is by trying every single day to get it right,” she said. “And the gist of my tenure as minister of national defence is to ensure that that occurs.”

Arbour also took issue with the military’s failure to remove “the duty to report,” which requires that troops report inappropriate or criminal behaviour even if the victim doesn’t agree. That had been flagged as a major issue by victims’ groups.

The former judge also blasted the Armed Forces for not having launched a promised review on the costs and benefits of Canada’s two military colleges — and accused them of having already decided that closing the institutions isn’t on the table.

“We’re now seven months after the production of my report … and we’re still at a stage of examining parameters and terms of reference,” she said.

“All of that against the backdrop of a suggestion that the military colleges as they exist are ‘superior institutions.’ It doesn't suggest the kind of open mind with which I think this kind of exercise should be undertaken.”

Anand in her own testimony said the review will be focused on the quality of education, socialization and military training at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont., and its French counterpart in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. — not whether they are required.

“These colleges attract some of the best that Canadian society has to offer,” she said. “But let's be clear: The culture at our military colleges must change significantly, and we will ensure that this occurs.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2022.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

Canadians appeal for expansion of closed Afghan refugee sponsorship program

Story by Neetu Garcha • Friday, Dec. 9,2022


When the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan in August of 2021, Canadians wanted to help those fleeing for their lives and thousands of those Canadians remain at the ready to support those asylum seekers.


Children at a safe house for Afghans awaiting evacuation to Canada.© Stewart Bell/Global News

"We as a committee have all the resources to be able to support this family," said Shannon Hawke with First St. Andrew's United Church Refugee Sponsorship Committee in London, Ont.

Read more:

Afghan refugee and student at Western University in need of funds to bring family to Canada

But there's a major obstacle for private sponsorship groups to overcome before they can apply to bring over the eligible families – who often have relatives already in Canada.

In order to be privately sponsored, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada requires most Afghans who've fled to other countries like Pakistan and Iran, to have official refugee recognition from that foreign state or from the United Nation High Commission for Refugees.

Though they meet the definition of a refugee, official status is something very few Afghans are able to obtain, in part because that status involves protections from states that are often unwilling to provide them.

"The family we've been trying to sponsor has not been able to get refugee status. We've been working with them for over a year," Hawke said.

Video: Saskatoon organization aiming to reunite Afghan refugees

Hawke says her private sponsorship group has been fundraising for the requirement of nearly $90,000 for a family of six currently in hiding in Pakistan where they face possible deportation back to Afghanistan.

That's why so many groups like hers across the country jumped at a temporary federal program that launched less than two months ago, waiving the need for that official refugee status, as long as the refugees meet the Canadian government's criteria to be privately sponsored.

"This program was really the thing we were excited about because it was going to allow us to finally get them here. We were scrambling over the last six weeks to get our application together. The application process is really onerous," Hawke said.

But in those six weeks after it launched, the program reached its cap of 3,000 refugees leaving many sponsors, like Stephen Watt, frustrated and wondering why an arbitrary limit exists when the need is so high. Watt, who co-founded a non-profit dedicated to supporting refugees called Northern Lights Canada, wrote a letter to the federal minister responsible and is waiting to hear back.

"It's a crushing blow to many people across the country who are still preparing these applications because it's their only hope to get people out," Watt said, adding, "There was no cap on Syrians when they could be sponsored without status or the Iraqi's in 2016 so I don't understand this cap."

"We know it started to fill up 20 or 30 minutes after it opened – there were messages that the inbox filled up so there is a very high demand," Iris Challoner, MOSAIC's refugee sponsorship program manager, told Global News.

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Afghan MP appeals to Canada to do more to help refugees: ‘Commitment is not done’

Challoner said she's pleased the government opened this temporary program and hopes there will be more refugees without official refugee recognition status who are accepted, highlighting Afghans are one of the largest refugee populations in the world.

For Farkhonda Rajabe, MOSAIC's Afghan Response Initiative coordinator, the plea is personal. Rajabe is from Afghanistan herself and came to Canada in 2017 as a refugee, having been targeted for her work as a prominent women's rights activist. Rajabe says the situation remains dire for Afghans, especially religious minorities, women, LGBTQ2 community members and girls, with frequent bombings targeting the most vulnerable.

"There was recently an attack with more than 100 Hazara girls killed and they were all 18 or younger and they were there to do a mock university entrance test," Rajabe said, adding, "Even those who made it to Pakistan, Iran and Turkey are living in fear of deportation because they can't get refugee status determination."

The hopeful-sponsorship groups are calling on Ottawa to remove the cap on the temporary program, but Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser told Global News that's not in the plan.

"We don't currently have plans to extend it to further numbers because it would eat away at the allocations committed to other people who are trying to sponsor as well," Fraser said.

First, St. Andrew's United Church Refugee Sponsorship Committee is urging other groups across the country to get in contact with them by email ( fsarefugeecommittee@gmail.com) as they continue appealing to the feds to accept applications under this temporary program for Afghans, for a full year without a cap.

"Funds are being raised by family and friends and other caring volunteers, it's not coming out of government's pocket, so I don't know why they would handicap it with a limit like this," Watt said.

Watt highlights how a similar program exempting the need for refugee status determination for those fleeing Syria and Iraq to be privately sponsored in 2015 and 2016 was not capped the way this temporary program for Afghans has been.

Video: Lethbridge Family Services resettling 44 Afghan refugees

"This program ran without limits from Sept. 19, 2015, and throughout 2016, and resulted in about 19,000 Syrians coming to Canada during that amnesty period. In 2017, that program was finally capped, with only the first 1,000 applications for those without refugee status determination being accepted," Watt said in an email.

Tens of thousands of people fled Afghanistan in the summer of 2021 after a 20-year war. Many who couldn't get out then have been desperately trying to find routes to new lives and thousands are stuck in neighbouring countries, without officially being declared refugees at risk of being deported.

Canada has welcomed more than 25,000 Afghans since August of 2021 and quietly launched the temporary program to help those without documents on Oct. 17.

Letter to Sean Fraser - Afg... by Global News

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Canadian-born Paul Whelan has been imprisoned in Russia for four years as a spy for U.S.

Story by National Post Staff • Sunday

Canadian-born Paul Whelan, who has been serving a 16-year jail sentence in Russia since 2020, received attention after the country released WNBA player Brittney Griner in a prisoner swap for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout .


\Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan stands inside a defendants' cage during his verdict hearing in Moscow, Russia June 15, 2020.© Provided by National Post

The attention paid to Griner’s case has raised questions about whether her celebrity and the public pressure it generated pushed the Biden administration to make a deal where it hasn’t in other cases.

“Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s,” Biden told reporters at the White House on Thursday.

Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive, had regularly travelled to Russia until he was arrested in December 2018 in Moscow and convicted of what the U.S. government says are baseless espionage charges.
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'Weak link' Canada urgently needs new law to face modern security threats: spy agency

His lawyer said Whelan was handed a flash drive that had classified information on it that he didn’t know about.

“Russia says it caught James Bond on a spy mission. In reality, they abducted Mr. Bean on holiday,” Whelan told the court on October 2019 before his sentencing.

He’s a citizen of four countries: the U.S., U.K., Irish Republic and Canada. Whelan was born in Ottawa to parents of Irish origin and moved to Michigan with his family as a child.

Whelan joined the Marine reserves in 1994 while working as a police officer. Whelan served his first two tours in Iraq in 2004 and 2006.

He was a staff sergeant in the marines until 2008, when he was dishonourably discharged. He was court marshalled on larceny charges for trying to steal $10,000, according to Reuters.

While serving in the marines, Whelan used his two-week leave to make a trip to Russia, visiting Moscow and St. Petersburg.

At the time of his arrest, he was working as the director of global security for BorgWarner, a U.S.-based auto parts supplier. The company doesn’t have facilities in Russia. Whelan’s family has said he was visiting Russia to attend the wedding of a fellow U.S. service member and a Russian woman.

He was acting as a tour guide for the wedding party, his twin brother David Whelan said.

Whelan was arrested in his room in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel on Dec. 28 by Russian state security authorities who claimed he was caught receiving a digital storage device containing a list of intelligence operators.

The timing of his arrest, which came a few weeks after Maria Butina, an alleged Russian spy, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in the United States.

David has described the allegation as a fabrication to BBC .

“I can’t imagine how someone with a law enforcement background who is also a former U.S. Marine, and who is now working in corporate security and is also aware of the risks of travel, would have broken any law let alone the law related to espionage,” he said.

Additional reporting from AP, The Washington Post

This Iranian Canadian's cousin was arrested suddenly in Iran. He wants you to know her name to protect her

Story by Yvette Brend • Friday

On Monday, a group of eight security police showed up at Semiramis Babaei's home in Tehran with a blank warrant, then used her brother's phone to send a text urging her to return home, according to her family in Canada.

No one has heard from the award-winning author and playwright since.

Her cousin, who lives in Vancouver, learned the news when he awoke at 4:30 a.m. PT and checked Instagram. He saw a message from family in Iran about the arrest.

"I was horrified," said Amir Bajehkian, 38, who lives near False Creek in Olympic Village.

He's one of many Iranian Canadians who live with a sickening fear for family members back in Iran, as they watch ongoing uprisings end in violence and mass arrests — and now, at least one execution.

Bajehkian wants the world to know his cousin's name to keep a spotlight on her situation. He believes that will help protect her.
'Change-makers' a target

Iran has been rocked by a nationwide uprising against the Islamic regime, touched off by the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini while in the custody of Iran's notorious morality police on Sept. 16, 2022.

There have been multiple reports of demonstrators disappearing after they are tracked and arrested by security forces.

Bajehkian says family who saw the arrest warrant say it did not state his cousin's name, and that the charges she may face were unclear.

"I feel powerless in this situation," Bajehkian said.

He says he's been fearful for family back in Iran, especially his flame-haired cousin, whose plays and writings are rebellious. He says Babaei produced award-winning theatre and translated Western classics into Farsi.

"She was this very sassy, funny character," he said.


People hold up a photo of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini as they participate in a protest against Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi outside of the United Nations on Sept. 21 in New York City.© Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

"They are going after those who are change-makers — lights in the darkness," said Bajehkian.


Security forces have cracked down — killing hundreds and injuring thousands, according to Amnesty International.

On Dec. 3, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi hailed Iran's Islamic Republic for protecting rights and freedoms, defending the ruling system as justified in cracking down on anti-government protests, which have cost more than 300 lives, according to Reuters.

But international human rights groups say that death estimate is low, and that Canada needs to push back.

The Canadian government imposed new sanctions on Friday, one day after the execution of protester Mohsen Shekari.

Shekari, 23, was accused of blocking a street on Sept. 25 and wounding a member of the pro-regime Basij militia in early protests triggered by Amini's death.

Iranian Canadian human rights advocate Nazanin Afshin-Jam condemns the execution calling Shekari's trial a "sham."

She says Iran hanged him after he was found guilty of "waging war against God."

Related video: Gravitas: Iran Supreme leader's family slams crackdown (WION)

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"The moment his mother found out there is video of her on the street wailing at the top of her lungs. It is absolutely heartbreaking," said Afshin-Jam, who founded the volunteer organization Stop Child Executions, from an interview in Nova Scotia.

"This is completely a political execution in order to send a message to peaceful protesters to halt their uprising," she said.

"If the international community doesn't act with a strong response, it gives licence to carry out further executions. At least 10 others are at imminent risk of execution, including a physician and his wife who were aiding a wounded protester."

Numbers are unclear

Arrest and death counts related to the Iranian uprising remain highly contentious.

Amnesty International UK says a leaked audio file obtained by BBC Persian estimated there have been around 15,000 arrests with many "subjected to enforced disappearance, incommunicado detention, torture and other ill treatment, and unfair trials."



Naz Gharai, from Tehran, is covered in red paint as protesters call on the United Nations to take action against the treatment of women in Iran during a demonstration near UN headquarters in New York City on Nov. 19.© Yuki Iwamura/AFP/Getty Images

Oslo-based non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights says the country's security forces have killed at least 458 protesters, including 63 children.

On Dec. 9, Amnesty International reported it had confirmed the deaths of at least 44 children killed by Iran's security forces since September.The deaths were attributed to shots, metal pellets, beatings — and in one case, a girl was struck in the head by a tear gas canister.

Amnesty International confirms 21 at risk of death penalty

A list of 21 Iranians at risk of execution has been confirmed by Amnesty International.

The list included six men charged with "enmity against God" or "corruption on Earth," of which five were already sentenced and referred to the Revolutionary Court in Tehran for a group trial.

They include Mohammad Ghobadlou, Saman Seydi (Yasin), Saeed Shirazi, Mohammad Boroughani, Abolfazl Mehri Hossein Hajilou, and Mohsen Rezazadeh Gharagholou.

Three others — Sahand Nourmohammad-Zadeh, Mahan Sedarat Madani and Manouchehr Mehman-Navaz — face separate trials. According to Amnesty eight of these cases involve "no accusations of intentional killing," and stem from alleged vandalism, arson, property destruction or disturbing public order."

Eleven more people — including married couple Farzaneh Ghare-Hasanlou and Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou — are accused of "corruption on earth" before a Revolutionary Court in Karaj, Alborz province, according to Amnesty.

And 26-year-old Parham Parvari, who was also charged with "enmity against God" after being arrested as he was returning home from work during protests in the capital Tehran.

Afshin-Jam believes the estimates of how many have died or are at risk of the death penalty are low.

She says 28 people are facing charges that could carry the death penalty, including two children and Iranian rapper Saman (Yesin) Seyedi, 24.

She says the Center for Human Rights in Iran is reporting 475 people have been killed and 18,000 arrested since September.

She is urging world nations to cut ties with Iran and freeze the assets of regime officials and their families including 83-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi.

"This is a red line that must not be crossed," she said.

Iranian Canadians with family at risk

For Amir Bajehkian, naming and publicizing as many people at risk as possible holds power.

"It is very important because what the regime wants is for people to forget about who's behind the walls of prisons. You have to talk about it," he said.

But he knows there's fear in the Iranian community.

Bajehkian has been advocating for human rights in Iran on Canadian streets organizing rallies and protests since 2009 knowing it would put him at risk. He hasn't returned to Iran in 17 years.

After vanished, the Iranian Playwrights' Association issued a statement condemning her arrest, demanding her release and denouncing "all forms of intimidation, violence, and restriction on freedom of speech in the society."

Bajehkian wants his cousin released from Evin prison in Tehran, where he believes she is being held.

He knows that's where Iran's regime often holds political prisoners and where Iranian Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi was tortured and killed back in 2003.

So he's shouting his cousin's name.

"Silence is not the answer," he said.

"Definitely what's brought us to this moment was four decades of the world looking the other way."

INDO PACIFIC BONAPARTIST REGIMES
Canada's push for Southeast Asia ties raises human-rights questions

OTTAWA — Canada's plan to deepen ties with Southeast Asian countries raises questions about how it will address human-rights concerns in the region, critics say.


Canada's push for Southeast Asia ties raises human-rights questions© Provided by The Canadian Press

Last month, Ottawa unveiled its Indo-Pacific strategy, which calls for a greater presence in the region through diplomatic, military and trade ties. The strategy seeks to counteract China for undermining human rights as well as global trade rules.

Ottawa is negotiating trade deals with Indonesia, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and plans to undertake military training and interoperability with countries such as Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.

But Canada's silence on human rights issues in countries it plans to partner with has advocates concerned.

"Human rights are human rights, and you can't be a hypocrite when it comes to dealing with governments who are human-rights abusers," said Fareed Khan, the founder of Canadians United Against Hate.

"We can't be silent. We tried that with China ... and look where we are today."

This past week, Indonesia's parliament unanimously voted to make sex outside of marriage punishable by a year in jail, and to outlaw insulting the president and state institutions.

When asked about that legislation on Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly spoke generally about human rights.

She said Ottawa is trying to find friends in the region and nudge them toward Canadian values.

"Human rights is always part of our foreign policy, has always been and will continue to be. So we'll always raise these issues," she said.

"The tectonic plates of the world’s power structure are moving, and so in that context, we also need to make sure that we work with a broad coalition of states to defend the very principles of the UN Charter."

The 1945 document she referenced highlights human rights and peacefully settling disputes.

The NDP argues those principles are being undermined by the federal Liberal government's emphasis on trade negotiations since it took office in 2015.

"We've seen this constant move toward prioritizing trade over human rights, over development, over diplomatic relationships," NDP foreign-affairs critic Heather McPherson told reporters Thursday.

"Canada has the power to be an honest broker, a middle power and a convener. We must use that influence to make the world a safer, better place for all people."

Lately, the New Democrats have criticized Ottawa's deepening ties with India, amid growing concerns about its treatment of minorities.

In March, Human Rights Watch called out Narendra Modi's government for a "serious regression in human rights and constitutional protections."

When asked earlier this month about those concerns, Trade Minister Mary Ng noted that Canada has been including parameters around human rights in the trade deals it's been signing and negotiating, such as prohibiting the products of forced labour.

"All of our work in trade is underscored by the values that are important to Canadians," she said on Dec. 2.

"India, as the world’s largest democracy shares the values of a rules-based system. And so our work and our relationship with India is one that is underpinned by those shared values."

Mark Warner, an international trade expert, said it's unclear if Canada's push for human-rights pledges in trade deals means that countries will actually live up to them.

"In order to pivot away from China, we're doing a lot of deals with other autocratic states," Warner said.

"Everybody is in a mess with this autocracy business."

The Indo-Pacific strategy also calls for "targeted initiatives" for Canadian and foreign groups "to pursue human-rights and gender-equality projects" in the region, and support multilateral institutions that advance those values.

The plan has a specific focus on peacebuilding in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, including accountability for human-rights abuses against the Rohingya and among Sri Lanka's ethnic groups.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has documented the Philippine military's compliance in a bloody drug war led by former president Rodrigo Duterte, as well as in social-media campaigns that included threats against his opponents.

The Philippines is among the countries with which Canada plans to pursue military interoperability.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2022.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

Liberal Jewish groups push back on McCarthy plan to remove Omar from committee

Story by Mychael Schnell • 10h ago

A coalition of liberal Jewish groups is pushing back on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) pledge to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the Foreign Affairs Committee, arguing that the vow was made upon “false accusations that she is antisemitic or anti-Israel.”



The joint statement comes after McCarthy doubled down on his pledge to boot Omar from Foreign Affairs if he becomes Speaker in the newly GOP-majority House next month.

“As Jewish American organizations, we oppose Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s pledge to strip Representative Ilhan Omar of her House Foreign Affairs Committee seat based on false accusations that she is antisemitic or anti-Israel,” the organizations wrote in a statement on Monday.

“We may not agree with some of Congresswoman Omar’s opinions, but we categorically reject the suggestion that any of her policy positions or statements merit disqualification from her role on the committee,” they added.

J Street, Ameinu, Americans for Peace Now, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Habonim Dror North America, New Israel Fund, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and T’ruah all signed the statement.

McCarthy in January said that he would strip Omar of her Foreign Affairs panel assignment should House Republicans win control of the House, which they did last month. He also vowed to remove Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff (Calif.) and Eric Swalwell (Calif.) from the House Intelligence Committee.

Following the conference’s victory in November, he reiterated the pledge.

“I will keep that promise,” McCarthy told Fox News in an interview when asked if he would remove Omar, Schiff and Swalwell from their panels.

“Congresswoman Omar, her antisemitic comments that have gone forward — we’re not going to allow her to be on Foreign Affairs,” he said of the Minnesota Democrat.

Omar came under criticism last year after she appeared to compare the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban when discussing war crimes. The remarks led Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her leadership team to issue a rare joint statement in objection.

Omar said her remarks were focused on International Criminal Court probes, contending that they were “not a moral comparison between Hamas and the Taliban and the U.S. and Israel.”

And in 2019, the progressive Democrat who is one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, tweeted that U.S. politicians’ support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins,” which some said was invoking the antisemitic trope of Jewish people utilizing money for influence. She later issued a statement apologizing.

The coalition of liberal Jewish groups said McCarthy’s pledge to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee “seems especially exploitative in light of the rampant promotion of antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories by him and his top deputies amid a surge in dangerous right-wing antisemitism.”

The statement cites a now-deleted tweet McCarthy posted that called on Republicans to stop Jewish billionaires, including George Soros, from “buying” the 2018 election, and points to House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik’s (N.Y.) alleged promotion of the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory. She has been accused of echoing tenets of the theory in Facebook ads last year.

The statement comes as McCarthy is struggling to shore up support to secure the Speaker’s gavel next month. He won the Republican nomination for the top spot last month, but GOP opposition in the thin majority is threatening his chances of winning the floor vote in January.

Reached for comment on the letter, a spokesman for McCarthy referred The Hill to Rabbi Yaakov Menken, the managing director of the Coalition for Jewish Values.

“It is dismaying that left-wing Jewish groups are so at odds with the consensus of America’s traditional rabbis, learned in how we have understood the hatred facing us for millennia,” Menken said in a statement.

He linked to a letter a group of rabbis sent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in June 2021 asking that Omar be removed from Foreign Affairs after the incident last year.

“We were disappointed that the current House leadership did not respond when hundreds of rabbis joined our call for Rep. Omar to be removed from the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee last year, in a letter that detailed her antisemitic animus,” Menken added.

—Updated at 4:52 p.m.

Health-care funding deadlocked as Trudeau says provinces won't get more money without reforms

OTTAWA — The federal and provincial governments appear deadlocked in their negotiations on the future of health care in Canada, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest comments suggest he will not be the one to blink first.


For now, the federal and provincial governments appear to believe that the ball is in the other’s court when it comes to health care funding.© Provided by National Post

In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press on Monday, Trudeau said he’s not willing to kick health-care reform down the road any further, even as provincial premiers clamour for more federal funds to bolster their ailing health systems.

“It wouldn’t be the right thing to do to just throw more money at the problem and sit back and watch the problem not get fixed because we didn’t use this moment to say, ‘No, no, no, it’s time to improve the system,”’ Trudeau said.

The stalemate is happening while children’s hospitals across the country are inundated with kids suffering from respiratory diseases. In some cases, hospitals have been overwhelmed by the calamitous combination of record numbers of sick patients and critically low numbers of staff to treat them.

The problem goes back to more than a year ago, when provinces first demanded a sit-down with the prime minister to talk about long-term and sustainable funding increases after pandemic strain left them with large backlogs and a burnt-out workforce.

They want to see Ottawa cover 35 per cent of health-care costs across the country, up from the current 22 per cent, by increasing the Canada Health Transfer.

Trudeau told them those discussions should wait until after the pandemic but dedicated $2 billion in one-time funding to tide them over during the Omicron wave.

Now the prime minister says the system needs reform, and he’s not going to give up the money unless the provinces commit to change.

“Canadians are right to look at all orders of government and say, ‘This is terrible. You guys really need to solve this,”’ Trudeau said.

Trudeau vows 'significantly more' health care money but provinces left waiting for details

Reform is already underway in most provinces, but the federal government does not seem willing to join them at the table yet, British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix said in an interview Tuesday.

His province has embarked on primary-care reform, made spaces for more nurses and signed new collective agreements with health workers, all while coping with an extraordinary increase in demand for services, he said. And Trudeau praised many of the recent changes B.C. has undertaken.

“I would think that the federal government would want to be part of that and to contribute its share, and that’s what we’re asking,” Dix said.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos made an overture to the provinces last month, offering an increase to the federal health transfer in exchange for improved data sharing across the country.

But the meeting ended without progress. Dix said Duclos came to the table with no specifics, and conversations about the health transfer have continued to be elusive with the Liberals.

“It’s always a new moving excuse, a new line in the sand that drifts away after the tide comes in,” he said.

Imposing performance measures on the provinces that affect their access to the Canada Health Transfer is more or less unheard of, said Haizhen Mou, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan who studies health policy.

It’s understandable that provincial leaders don’t want to change that precedent, she said in an interview Tuesday.

“I don’t think the federal government has the right to impose such performance indicators on the broad kind of health transfer,” she said, but added that she understands why the Liberals don’t want to continue to put money toward a system that’s not working.

A more politically palatable situation might be to offer targeted funds for specific priorities and sign individual agreements with each province, she said, rather than treating them all the same way.

That’s what the Paul Martin government did in 2005 to address wait times, and what Trudeau did in 2016 to fund mental-health and home-care services in the face of similar circumstances.

In 2016, the provinces were united as they pushed for an unconditional increase to the health transfer, “but in the end they broke apart, the alliance broke,” Mou said.

That year, the government first signed a bilateral agreement with New Brunswick and other provinces then followed suit individually. Mou said she thinks it’s only a matter of time before that happens again.

“I’m not sure how long they can hold out, because the revenue, the power of the fiscal capacity, is still in the federal government’s hands,” she said.

Health-care advocates, including nurses and doctors’ associations, have echoed Trudeau’s call for a plan to transform Canada’s broken system and to do it quickly.

“Patient care is suffering while health-care working conditions for nurses and other health workers deteriorate,” said Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions president Linda Silas, after talks between health ministers ended last month.

“It is absolutely critical that we put aside politicking and get down to productive discussions around concrete solutions to the health-care staffing crisis.”

Dix said that can’t happen until the prime minister is willing to come to the table for an open discussion. He said Trudeau has not committed to that.

Trudeau tends to speak to premiers often about health care on a one-on-one basis, and his ministers are working bilaterally with their provincial and territorial counterparts, too.

Asked Monday how he plans to kick-start the negotiations if he won’t sit down with premiers as a group, Trudeau seemed to suggest that it’s up to provincial and territorial leaders to take the next step.

“We’re absolutely willing to invest much more in health care, but there has to be clear commitments and results that are going to change things for Canadians,” he said.

For now, each side appears to believe that the ball is in the other’s court.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2022.