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These are the top stories:
Two Reuters reporters have been freed from prison in Myanmar
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have walked free after receiving a presidential pardon, putting an end to an ordeal that started in December of 2017, when the pair were arrested for their reporting on the killing of Rohingya Muslims.
“I’m really happy and excited to see my family and my colleagues. I can’t wait to go to my newsroom,” Wa Lone said after walking through the prison gates.
The two journalists were sentenced to seven years in jail this past September after being convicted of breaking the Official Secrets Act. In April, Myanmar’s Supreme Court rejected the journalists’ final appeal.
The case drew outcry from diplomats and human-rights advocates around the world. Reuters has said the two men didn’t commit any crime and long called for their release.
The 2019 edition of the World Press Freedom Index recorded a record-breaking decline in the number of countries registered as “safe” for journalists. This past weekend, The Globe ran a series of opinion pieces examining the issue.
Our editor-in-chief David Walmsley wrote: “The loss of press freedom, in all its guises, hurts us all.”
Columnist Doug Saunders said: “you ought to be concerned about what is being done to journalists, more than ever, by people in power, and by the violent figures who hear their messages.”
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Parents of children wrongly flagged by Canada’s no-fly list are urging the Senate to act
Members of the No-Fly List Kids advocacy group are warning that their work could be undone if the Liberal government’s Bill C-59 isn’t passed before Parliament shuts down at the end of June, with the federal election set for the fall.
Advocates estimate as many as 100,000 law-abiding Canadians continue to be falsely identified because Canada’s no-fly list doesn’t include dates of birth, sex or other details to ensure two people with the same name aren’t mistaken for one another.
The Liberals have committed to creating a redress system to allow for people to apply for a unique identification number that could be used to clear their name when purchasing an airline ticket.
One million plant and animal species are facing extinction, many within a matter of decades
The Globe and Mail
But it’s not too late to reverse the dire trend if urgent action is taken, according to a new United Nations report by 145 authors from 50 countries. Among the key assessments:
- Land use remains the main driver of the biodiversity loss, but climate change is on track to become the dominant factor later this century.
- There needs to be a “transformative change” to how humans draw food, water, energy and resources from the planet.
- Losing genetic diversity could lead to reduced food security and the loss of pharmaceuticals developed from rare biological products.
Add fighter jets to the list of disputes between Canada and the U.S.
The U.S. military is threatening to pull the F-35 fighter jet out of the competition to replace Canada’s aging fleet.
Ottawa is expected to finally launch the competition for bids – expected to be in the $26-billion range – by the end of the month after years of delays under both the previous Conservative and current Liberal governments.
But now the controversial program is facing another wrinkle: The U.S. government is refusing to bid as long as Ottawa continues to insist on receiving guaranteed industrial benefits – mandatory investments in the Canadian economy – if it were to purchase F-35s.
Stephen Poloz’s message to banks and lenders: offer longer-term mortgages.
Borrowers are often steered toward five-year, fixed-rate mortgages when longer periods might help them get the home they want, the Bank of Canada Governor said. (for subscribers)
Ten- or 20-year terms are common in the U.S. and other parts of the world. In Canada, the interest rate on a 10-year mortgage could be as much as a full percentage-point higher than a five-year term. Many in the industry say Ottawa would need to create incentives before borrowers and lenders move to longer-term mortgages.
Poloz also rejected calls for Ottawa to ease new mortgage stress-test rules, saying they have “worked to help keep houses from becoming even less affordable.”
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Green Party’s Paul Manly wins Nanaimo-Ladysmith by-election: Voters in Nanaimo, B.C., elected the Green Party’s Paul Manly as their new member of Parliament, barely six months before October’s federal election. With about 93 per cent of the ballots counted in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith by-election, Manly has taken about 38 per cent of the vote. John Hirst, the Conservative candidate, is a distant second with 25 per cent of the vote. Manly will become the second Green Party member in Parliament, joining Leader Elizabeth May.
U.S. President Donald Trump won’t be handing over his tax returns to the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rejected the request, setting the stage for a legal battle that could see Democrats subpoena the IRS for the returns or file a lawsuit.
Latvia is offering to help Canada prevent election interference. Artis Pabriks, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Baltic state that is regularly targeted by Russian disinformation campaigns, said: “It’s not a question of turning votes to the right or left. They simply want to sow doubts.”
MORNING MARKETS
Stocks mixed
Global markets steadied somewhat on Tuesday after being rattled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest threat to ramp up trade tariffs on China, though Turkey’s lira was back in trouble as concerns about its politics erupted again. Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 1.5 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.5 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.7 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and the Paris CAC 40 were down by between 0.5 and 0.9 per cent by about 6:30 a.m. ET. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar was below 74.5 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Don’t let China undermine freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong
Globe editorial: “At issue is a proposed new law that would allow Hong Kong citizens to be extradited, on minimal evidence, to face charges in China. That would put every one of the territory’s 7.4-million people at risk, including at least 300,000 Canadian citizens. It would jeopardize anyone doing business in or travelling to China. That would be bad for Hong Kong’s economy, but far worse for human rights and the rule of law.”
In our digital sexual interactions, consent and privacy must remain paramount
Suzie Dunn: “In a unanimous decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal last week, R v Trinchi, the court affirmed taking screenshots of a consensual sexual video chat is a crime, if the person being recorded is unaware the screenshots are being taken. Justice Russell Juriansz’s decision is an important one in a time when romantic and sexual relationships are increasingly experienced in digital spaces via apps, text and video chat.” Suzie Dunn is a part-time professor and PhD student at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law.
Tampons and pads are a necessity, period
André Picard: “Federal law requires that employers provide the following hygiene products to workers at no cost: toilet paper, warm water, soap and a way to dry their hands. So why don’t employers also have to supply tampons and pads, basic hygiene products used routinely by roughly half the population? In a notice published Friday in the Canada Gazette, the federal government signalled its intention to correct that oversight.” (for subscribers)
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(David Parkins/The Globe and Mail)David Parkins/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
A look at two new series via Netflix and HBO, from TV critic John Doyle
“Dead to Me is a deadpan, difficult-to-define black comedy with a touch of sinister mystery thrown in,” Doyle writes. What’s admirable about the series, starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, “is how it touches on sorrow and gloom.”
HBO miniseries Chernobyl, Doyle notes, is “tough to consume because it’s not just about the notorious nuclear disaster. It’s about the relentless campaign by those in power to deny mistakes, deny the existence of chaos and harm, and spread misinformation.”
MOMENT IN TIME
Pierre Trudeau pirouettes behind the Queen
(Doug Ball/The Canadian Press)Doug Ball/The Canadian Press
May 7, 1977: Pierre Trudeau had uttered “fuddle-duddle” in the House of Commons, invoked the War Measures Act (“Just watch me”) and wore a rose in his lapel, but it was a pirouette behind the Queen’s back that drew worldwide attention on this day in 1977. The Canadian Prime Minister was in London attending a reception at Buckingham Palace where Doug Ball, shooting for The Canadian Press, had the lone accreditation for Canadian photographers. Ball had trained his camera on Trudeau when he noticed the PM looked at his feet, twirled, shrugged, then left for dinner. But Ball caught the moment, which, even out of focus, captured Trudeau’s insouciance, temerity and alleged lack of respect for the monarchy. Some Canadians – and the world’s press – were shocked at the gesture, made while the oblivious Queen walked ahead. Years later, former Trudeau aide James Coutts said the pirouette was not spontaneous, that Trudeau had planned it and rehearsed it. Trudeau had wanted to show his displeasure with royal protocol that separated heads of state from heads of government. However mocking the photo may seem, Trudeau and the Queen enjoyed a warm and respectful friendship. The photo won a National Newspaper Award for news photography. – Philip King
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