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Although Ilya Yashin, one of Vladimir Putin’s most prominent political opponents, said he was warned he would be jailed if he remained in Russia, he decided to stay and “pay a high price” for his beliefs rather than flee the country.
In a handwritten letter to The Globe and Mail from his Moscow prison, where he is being kept in a cell with three other inmates, Yashin – a key figure in more than a decade of protests against Mr. Putin’s rule – said he believes his anti-war voice is “louder and more convincing” from behind bars than it would have been from exile.
Meanwhile, Kyiv residents spent Sunday defiantly celebrating the anniversary of their city’s founding, despite a largely sleepless night listening to the sounds of the largest Russian drone attack of this 15-month-old war.
The Russian attack – which involved 54 explosive drones, more than 40 of which were launched at the Ukrainian capital – began in the early hours of Kyiv Day, which marks the city’s founding in the year 482. More air raid sirens were heard shortly after Sunday turned to Monday local time, and explosions followed a few hours later.
Russian opposition activist and former municipal deputy of the Krasnoselsky district Ilya Yashin is seen on a TV screen, as he appears in a videolink provided by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service in a courtroom of the Moscow City Court during a hearing on his appeal of his prison sentence, in Moscow, April 19, 2023.Alexander Zemlianichenko/The Associated Press
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Isolation cells in federal women’s jails used almost entirely for Indigenous prisoners
Indigenous prisoners make up the near entirety of those locked in isolation cells in federal women’s jails, according to statistics collated by a government-appointed panel that shows Indigenous people are seriously disadvantaged by a prisoner segregation regimen introduced in 2019.
The government brought in Structured Intervention Units (SIUs) after courts in B.C. and Ontario ruled that a previous seclusion method, called administrative segregation, was unconstitutional, in part for its disproportionately harmful effects on Indigenous prisoners and the mentally ill. The panel’s most recent statistical update, posted on the Public Safety Canada website last week, indicates that those harms persist.
A solitary confinement cell is shown in a handout photo from the Office of the Correctional Investigator.The Canadian Press
Erdogan wins presidential election in a Turkey remade in his vision
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared his sixth election victory on Sunday. The move extends his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade as the country reels from high inflation and the aftermath of an earthquake that levelled entire cities.
The second-round result in a tightly contested campaign – officially tallied at 52.1 per cent to 47.9 per cent – came against the most organized opposition Turkey has seen in decades and amid an economy devastated by Mr. Erdogan’s policies. And it has left many Turks wondering if Mr. Erdogan is now poised to be president for life.
Turkish President and People's Alliance's presidential candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures to supporters at the presidential palace, in Ankara, Turkey, May 28, 2023.Ali Unal/The Associated Press
Sierra Leone’s 400-year-old ‘Cotton Tree,’ was treasured national symbol with a Canadian connection
Sierra Leone is mourning the toppling of a 400-year-old cotton tree, which symbolized the country’s founding by former slaves – and has a close connection to Canada. The giant 70-metre Cotton Tree in the capital, Freetown, was toppled during a recent storm, triggering an outpouring of grief from across the country.
The tree was central to the founding of the country by escaped slaves who were living in Nova Scotia. About 1,200 freed African American slaves, later known as the Nova Scotians, travelled to Sierra Leone by ship from Halifax in 1792 and cleared all the trees except a large cotton tree, where they gathered and prayed. Since then, the tree has been the symbol of the city. For days since the tree was toppled, people have been trekking to the location to pay their respects.
People look at the fallen Cotton Tree in downtown Freetown, Sierra Leone, May 25, 2023.TJ Blade/The Associated Press
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Also on our radar
Trump, DeSantis battle for Republican nomination turns race into political trench warfare: The pins have been pulled, the two sides are engaged in explosive exchanges, and the political landscape of the Republican Party – as recently as two decades ago resembling nothing so much as the manicured green of the 13th hole at the Augusta National Golf Club, home of the fabled Masters Tournament – has been transformed into a battlefield.
Biden, Republicans reach a debt-ceiling deal: U.S. President Joe Biden finalized an agreement with Republican Party negotiators to raise the country’s debt ceiling on Sunday, a major breakthrough after months of political brinkmanship that has threatened to push the United States into default and upend global financial markets.
Potential Viterra merger with U.S. rival threatens Prairie head-office jobs: The owners of Canada’s largest grain transport business, Viterra Ltd., plan to promise enhanced service for farmers and job security to win customer and government support for a potential merger with U.S. rival Bunge Ltd.
Election day looms in Alberta after heated campaign between Danielle Smith, Rachel Notley: Tens of thousands of eligible voters are expected to cast their ballot on Monday, after a surge in advance voting that has put the province on course for a record voter turnout. A total 758,550 ballots were cast over five days, from May 23 to May 27, exceeding early voter counts in the past election.
Ottawa picks three managers for $400-million social finance fund: Ottawa has chosen three investment groups to manage a new $400-million fund aimed at expanding the country’s social finance market and attracting more private-sector capital to invest alongside.
Morning markets
Stocks gain on U.S. debt deal: World shares were mostly higher Monday after President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a final agreement on a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, though the measure still requires approval by Congress. Just before 5:30 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX was up 0.15 per cent while France’s CAC 40 gained 0.09 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished up 1.03 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.04 per cent. Markets in the U.S. and U.K. are closed on Monday. The Canadian dollar was firmer at 73.55 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Ottawa’s token gesture for lowering credit-card fees favours Bay Street over Main Street
“There can be no doubt that the billions siphoned out of the pockets of businesses in Canada has an impact on prices. The government has also been trumpeting its much publicized $2.5-billion of tax money for a temporary “grocery rebate.” But an equivalent reduction in interchange fees, with no tax dollars being needed, would provide more relief to consumers and on a permanent basis.” – Gary Sands
U.S. and EU are moving fast on competition and antitrust – where’s Canada?
“The reality is that re-energizing competition in Canada is a broader challenge than updating our competition laws to better reflect a digital, services-driven economy and to better align with like-minded countries, as important and urgent as these actions are.” – Kevin Lynch and Paul Deegan
Today’s editorial cartoon
Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
Four thoughtfully designed residences to inspire your home in retirement
For half a century, most Canadian households followed a familiar convention: The nuclear family occupied a house with a yard and perhaps a picket fence. But the suburban dream always had gaps, and in a time of economic and demographic change it’s clear that many Canadians will be living in different ways.
Home prices and rents are punishingly high, forcing younger adults to rethink where and how they will live. Many Canadians are aging, and their needs are changing. As of 2017, 22 per cent of Canadian adults – and 38 per cent of seniors – had one or more disabilities.
What kind of models will define the way we live next? Alex Bozikovic reports on four spaces that are flexible homes, which provide access to nature, light and air, and are places where we can find community.
Moment in time
A complicated reconciliation
Elder Barbara Hill drums before the release of the RCMP Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: 2015 Update to the National Operational Overview Report, as Deputy Commissioner Janice Armstrong stands behind, in Ottawa on June 19, 2015.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
For more than 100 years, photographers and photo editors working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of news photography. Every Monday, The Globe features one of these images. This month, we’re looking at the RCMP, on the occasion of its 150th anniversary.
The Mounties have had a long and often troubling relationship with Indigenous communities. In their earliest years, the Mounties, on behalf of the Canadian government, persuaded Indigenous communities to sign treaties that were not to their advantage. Between 1920 and 1996, the RCMP acted as truant officers to enforce attendance at residential schools. Earlier this century, the federal police force was criticized for its failure to act in cases of murdered and missing Indigenous women and children. But the Mounties have made attempts at reconciliation. In 2004 and 2014, the RCMP apologized for its role in the residential school system. In the 2015 photo above, elder Barbara Hill drums in Ottawa (with RCMP deputy commissioner Janice Armstrong) as the RCMP released an update on its report, Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overview. And in 2018, the RCMP officially apologized to the families of the women at the national MMIW inquiry. Philip King.
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