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Copenhagen already a success

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Globe and Mail - By Bruce Anderson - Nov. 10 (Opinion) - There is a huge dysfunction between the way the average voter comes at these issues and the way policy spokespeople in the corporate, environmental NGO and government worlds often do. And at no time is this more visible than when mega climate/carbon events like Copenhagen come around. Most people are worried that the planet is under a lot of pressure, and many believe the climate is changing as a result. Considerably fewer have examined the science behind climate change, and fewer still the complex formulae that are at the heart of greenhouse-gas reduction targets.

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Modified corn seeds sow doubts

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Globe and Mail - By Martin Mittelstaedt - Aug. 04 (News Report) - With so much crammed into one seed, the modified corn will be able to confer multiple benefits, such as resistance to corn borers and rootworms, two caterpillar-like pests that infest the valuable grain crop, as well as withstanding applications of glyphosate, a weed killer better known by its commercial name, Roundup. But a controversy has arisen over the new seeds, which were approved for use last month by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Health Canada hasn't assessed their safety.

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In Pakistan, seeds of insurgency originate at home

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Globe and Mail - By Stephanie Nolen - Jul. 07 (Opinion) - Government ineptitude, weak civilian institutions and widespread corruption

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Bush's legacy cuts at the Can-Am core

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Globe and Mail - By Lawrence Martin - Jan. 12 (Comment) - George W. Bush is already ranked by historians, pundits, scholars, scuba divers and bellhops as an appalling president. His any remaining narcissism has surely been obliterated, so no need to pile on. But in the continental context, there's his impact on Canada. How does he measure up in bilateral terms against other presidents? The news isn't good. Mr. Bush may well go down as the worst president Canada ever knew. His chief bilateral legacy is something that cuts at the core of the relationship: his introduction of barriers at the border. Europe and Asia have been breaking down boundaries. But North America - as Michael Kergin, a former Canadian envoy to Washington, has pointed out - is "moving in a direction opposite to that of the rest of the world."

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'It's very complicated'

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Globe and Mail - By Paul Waldie - Oct. 07 (News Report) - Mr. kashkari has just been handed one of the biggest jobs on the planet- managing the u.s. government's $700billion (u.s.) financial rescue package.

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A vice-presidential 'Hail Mary'

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Globe and Mail - Aug. 30 (News Report) - "I'm stunned. ... This choice suggests McCain thinks he has an uphill climb to win this election," said Joel Goldstein, a St. Louis University law professor and vice-presidential scholar. "It's the Hail Mary." Prof. Goldstein said vice-presidential running mates are typically chosen for two key attributes - their fitness to assume the presidency and their lack of significant flaws. Ms. Palin, he said, is a big question mark because she's so new and untested. "This is like something out of a novel," Karl Rove, former top political adviser to President George W. Bush, told Fox News.

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Stagflation has bond market in quandary

Mon, 26 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Globe and Mail - May. 26 (News Report) - Investors in U.S. Treasuries are in a quandary, with inflation pressures on the rise at the same time as the economy is just crawling along. In a word, the problem is "stagflation." ... The yield on five-year U.S. Treasuries climbed 11 basis points during the first four days of the week as energy prices climbed ever higher, before dropping back eight points on Friday to end the week with a yield of 3.14 per cent. (A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.)

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Egypt walks a dangerous tightrope over Gaza

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Globe and Mail - By Mark Mackinnonand Orly Halpern - Feb. 09 (News Report) - "[Egypt] cannot kill Palestinians every day to defend Israel," said Zvi Mazel, a former Israeli ambassador to Egypt. "If it does, it will be condemned by the Arab countries and by its own population." But if Egypt doesn't take action to close the border, he said, Israel could itself intervene and deploy its military in the south of the Gaza Strip.

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Mere pawns in a tragic game

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Globe and Mail - By Stephanie Nolen - Jan. 23 (News Report) - Life in the cow stall, which has a cold cement floor infested with insects and split rail fence for walls, is horrible. But Ms. Nejri said she felt safe there. "The police came here yesterday and said we could go home, it was safe, but we don't believe them," she said. "At night we hear screams from Kibera," which is just down the hill below the fairgrounds, she added. All around her, women nodded assent and chorused, "It's not safe!"

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Shock, awe - and economics

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Globe and Mail - By Barrie Mckenna - Jan. 19 (News Report) - The housing meltdown, soaring fuel costs and Wall Street's messy retreat have pushed the economy decisively past Iraq as the most pressing issue on the minds of U.S. voters.

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Unlock the voices of the Arab street

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Globe and Mail - By Mona Eltahawy - Jan. 14 (Comment) - Why are bloggers so feared by authoritarian regimes in the Arab world? Because they are young and blogging is, at last, a way to express themselves in a world where they are ignored. The majority of the Arab world is under the age of 30 and this majority has few venues in which to express their views -- political or otherwise.

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The West's 'fix' was never in

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Globe and Mail - By Marcus Gee - Dec. 29 (News Analysis) - The sad truth is that in two terms as prime minister and a quarter century in the political game, Ms. Bhutto made very little difference to the feudal, often poisonous nature of Pakistani politics. In fact, in many ways she embodied it.

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Refugees in their own homeland

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Globe and Mail - By Mark Mackinnon - Dec. 26 (News Report) - Laundry festoons the bleachers where the fans once sat, and open sewage flows through shallow ditches dug in the dirt outside. The parking lot is filled with simple cinderblock houses, some with electricity and satellite dishes, that attest to how long some families have called the stadium and its environs home.

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Where have all the Swazis gone?

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Globe and Mail - By Stephanie Nolen - Dec. 22 (Special Report) - A culture that condones, even encourages, promiscuity and polygamy in men, while denying women the right to refuse to have sex or insist on the use of condoms; a limited economy that relies on sending workers away from home for long stretches to work in highly infected South Africa; and a government, led by a playboy king with an ever-expanding stable of wives, that has denied the scale of the problem, and, while people were dying, poured funds into luxury-car purchases and highway expansions.

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Exclusive: Putin threatens to target Europe with missiles

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 19:30:00 -0700

Globe and Mail - By Doug Saunders - Jun. 02 (News Report) - In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to target Europe with missiles, including potentially nuclear weapons, in a dramatic escalation of his Cold War-style showdown with the United States.

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FIFA should have overruled hijab ban

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 04:58:39 -0800

Globe and Mail - By Andy Blatchford - Mar. 04 (News Report) - The mother of an 11-year-old girl is unhappy with the way the rules division of international soccer's governing body handled the issue of Muslim girls wearing traditional headgear during organized matches. The International Football Association Board was asked to consider the case of Asmahan Mansour, an Ottawa-area soccer player recently ejected from an indoor game in Quebec for wearing a hijab. The referee of the game in Laval, north of Montreal, said the scarf was a safety concern. IFAB officials concluded Saturday in Manchester, England that existing rules for on-field equipment are adequate. Related to this article Asmahan Mansour sits in her Ottawa home listening as her mother Maria (off camera) is interviewed on the phone by a French-language newspaper in this Feb. 26 file photo. (Bill Grimshaw for The Globe and Mail) Articles No head scarves in soccer: FIFA FIFA to discuss Quebec hijab case Sheema Khan on the hijab and soccer Don't kick up a fuss on hijabs Charest backs soccer referee in hijab flap Latest Comments Forget rules are rules. It doesn't make Canada a better place... Chelsea's Petr Cech, arguably the best goalkeeper on the planet... David Bannister from Grand Bend expressed elegantly what I would... If a rule is a rule as so many of you post, why don't you drive... 49 reader comments - Comments closed "If you play football, there's a set of laws and rules, and law 4 outlines the basic equipment," said Brian Barwick, chief executive of the English Football Association, which is one of the board's members. "It's absolutely right to be sensitive to people's thoughts and philosophies, but equally there has to be a set of laws that are adhered to, and we favour law 4 being adhered to." Law 4 states that players "must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player (including any kind of jewellery)." IFAB is the branch of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) - soccer's world governing body - in charge of rules. Maria Mansour, the girl's mother, said the ejection "humiliated" her daughter. She hoped the IFAB would be sensitive to the issue. "As far as the decision, it is disappointing because... IFAB should clarify and be more sensitive to these cases," Maria Mansour said Saturday by telephone from Ottawa. "I truly think they should have (overridden) what Quebec's rule is. (Asmahan) is still hoping that Quebec will remove that rule someday so she will be able to play (in Quebec). "There's nothing that has been accomplished." The Nepean Hotspurs under-12 team pulled out of the Canadian indoor championship last Sunday when a Muslim referee ruled Asmahan could not wear a hijab during a game. She has worn a the headscarf during games played in Ontario, where they are permitted by the provincial association. Quebec's Soccer Federation said the traditional scarf violated a no-headgear rule set by the sport's governing body for safety reasons. Valmie Ouellet, co-ordinator of regional technical services for the QSF, later said the referee was simply enforcing rules set by FIFA. Ouellet declined to comment about IFAB's decision on Saturday. Meanwhile, the director of the Canadian Arab Federation - who is also a Level 2 referee for the Ontario Soccer Association - maintains that traditional headgear such as hijabs, turbans and yarmulkes are worn by soccer players in Canada and around the world. Mohamed El Rashidy believes this is strictly an issue in Quebec. "To me, this ruling does not change anything because nothing needs to change," El Rashidy said by phone from his home in Mississauga, Ont. "The hijab, when worn safely, has already been allowed in the past and will continue to be allowed in the future under FIFA rules." El Rashidy said female Muslim soccer players make up a large percentage of athletes at the world's elite levels and they wear hijabs on the field. Asmahan's coach Louis Maneiro doesn't buy the argument that the hijab poses a threat to safety. As a soccer coach for more than 25 years, he says he's never seen an injury related to the hijab. Some have questioned how a tucked-in hijab could be seen as dangerous when many girls run around with loose ponytails. "It's very hard to understand or imagine or foresee that a piece of material would be a safety factor," he told the Ottawa Sun. "That's the frustrating part of it." He hopes the Canadian Soccer Association will be "the strong voice" on the issue and seek amendments to the FIFA rule. "They're kids and they just want to play soccer and certainly want Asmahan to be part of the team," Maneiro said. "They're sticking together on the issue and if it means only playing soccer in this province, then so be it." Mansour said Asmahan was back on the field Saturday in the Ottawa area. "She had a great game today and scored two awesome goals," she said. "For now, she's happy to play in Ontario." Print E-mail Comments (49) Share this article

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Oil refiners hit by 'the perfect storm'

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 09:13:55 -0800

Globe and Mail - By Anthony Reinhart, Norval Scott - Mar. 03 (News Report) - Canada may boast of oil reserves second only to Saudi Arabia, but a "perfect storm" of refining problems has forced gas stations to close this week in both Quebec and Ontario and showed how precarious the day-to-day supply really is. Shortages pushed prices up and sparked calls from some federal politicians for greater regulation. The trucking industry pushed for permission to work longer hours and use a restricted form of high-sulphur diesel to keep deliveries moving.

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Can't prove he's gay, teen is denied asylum

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 06:52:02 -0800

Globe and Mail - By Marina Jiménez - Feb. 07 (News Report) - Alvaro Antonio Orozco, a gay teen runaway from Nicaragua, was denied asylum in Canada because the Immigration and Refugee Board didn't believe he was a homosexual. Mr. Orozco, now 21, is slated for removal next Tuesday to a country where sodomy is illegal and to a family that he says beat him and taunted him for his sexual orientation ever since he was a young boy.

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