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These are the top stories:
Donald Trump’s impeachment trial: What you need to know
The U.S. Senate will convene at 1 p.m. ET for the start of the third-ever presidential impeachment trial.
The process: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will today lay out proposed rules that would see House Democrats and Trump’s lawyers each get 24 hours over two days to make their opening arguments (that likely won’t begin before Wednesday). Senators will then submit questions through the Supreme Court’s chief justice, who is presiding over the trial. Then the sides will argue for or against calling witnesses.
Witnesses: Democrats want to hear from former national security adviser John Bolton and businessman Lev Parnas, who was hired by Trump associate Rudy Giuliani. But the Republican Senate majority could reject those testimony efforts.
What’s he accused of? Democrats charge that it was unconstitutional for the President to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election and that he compromised national security by withholding military aid to Ukraine. They also allege obstruction of justice in the impeachment process.
Trump’s legal team: The defence will be led by White House counsel Pat Cipollone and personal lawyer Jay Sekulow. Ken Starr, who investigated Bill Clinton, will also assist, as will law professor Alan Dershowitz, a staunch defender of Trump on cable TV.
The defence: They will argue that Trump was within his rights to request Ukraine investigate Joe Biden and that military aid wasn’t tied to that request. They’ll also contend that not co-operating with Congress was a legitimate use of executive privilege.
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Canada’s hospitals and airports are on alert for SARS-like virus from China
Enhanced infection-control measures are being put in place amid concerns about the international spread of coronavirus, which China says can be transmitted between humans. Four people have been killed so far and more than 200 have fallen ill, including a handful outside of China.
B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer said she has “no doubt” there will be cases in Canada. But Bonnie Henry noted that officials are better prepared to deal with this virus than they were with the SARS outbreak in 2003, when 44 people in Canada died.
In this column, André Picard argues that no country has learned more from SARS missteps than Canada.
On Tuesday, Chinese state media said the number of deaths has risen to six and confirmed cases to 291. The World Health Organization is holding an emergency meeting tomorrow to assess the risk and determine whether it constitutes a public-health emergency.
‘Fraud is a facade’: Meng Wanzhou’s lawyers have laid out their defence
Meng leaves her Vancouver house on the first day of extradition proceedings. (Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images
The first phase of the Huawei executive’s extradition hearing began in Vancouver with her legal team arguing the allegations she faces in the U.S. would not be a crime in Canada.
“Would we be here in the absence of U.S. sanctions law?” lead counsel Richard Peck asked. “The response is no.”
The U.S. has said the sanctions provide the context for what it considers fraudulent actions in allegedly misrepresenting Huawei’s Iranian dealings to U.S.-based banks. But Peck argued that “sanctions drive this case” – and that it should therefore be dismissed because Canada ended its Iran sanctions in 2016.
For all the latest news on the Meng proceedings, go here.
The Globe’s tech podcast I’ll Go First is back for a second season. The latest episode features Alyssa Atkins, who started a company that provides people with accessible and reliable at-home fertility testing. In just a few months, her startup was backed by a serious amount of venture capital.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Prince Harry has arrived in Canada: Harry has reportedly arrived on Vancouver Island just days after reaching an arrangement with Queen Elizabeth and senior royals that will see him and his wife Meghan leave behind their royal roles to seek an independent future.
Ottawa again rejects Iran’s dual-nationals position: The federal government “will insist at every venue, all of the time and every time, that a Canadian is a Canadian,” Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne said. His comments followed an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson saying Flight 752 victims with dual nationalities were Iranian citizens.
Ontario education unions warn of further job action: The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario says it’s “prepared to do whatever it takes” if the Ford government doesn’t change its position in contract talks. Rotating strikes continue today in several school boards, including in Toronto.
Alberta tying postsecondary funding to performance: The Kenney government wants 40 per cent of a school’s provincial cash to be linked to meeting targets such as postgraduation employment rates and wages. The province plans to cut postsecondary spending by 32 per cent over three years.
CEOs say climate not a top risk: Executives in 83 countries ranked climate change and environmental issues as the 11th biggest threat to their companies’ growth prospects. Only 24 per cent told PricewaterhouseCoopers they are “extremely concerned” about climate-related issues.
MORNING MARKETS
China virus sends shiver through markets as risks mount: Global shares took a beating on Tuesday, wiping out all gains made at the start of the week as mounting concerns about a new strain of coronavirus in China sent a ripple of risk aversion through markets. Around 6:15 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 1.14 per cent. Germany’s DAX fell 0.44 per cent. France’s CAC 40 lost 1.07 per cent. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.81 per cent. Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.91 per cent. The Canadian dollar was trading at 76.54 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Blame Harry? Blame Meghan? No, blame the British press
Cynthia Reyes: “Britain’s tabloid newspapers, in print and online, are owned by rich white men whose newspapers reflect their far-right political views. They’ve not taken kindly to Meghan. From the day the story broke about her relationship with Britain’s favourite prince, Meghan became a target. Her race, her feminism, her American-ness, her divorcee status and her humble roots – all have been used against her.” Reyes is a former journalist who worked for the CBC.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Harry and Meghan’s royal split reflects society’s shift to self-preservation over family ties
Experts say that the royal break is the latest example to underscore how more people are setting boundaries with their family and maintaining space from damaging relatives in a bid for self-preservation.
“Parent-adult child relationships mirror today’s voluntary and romantic relationships, where you build on platforms of happiness, personal growth and fulfilment – not obligation, duty or responsibility,” says Joshua Coleman, a psychologist who specializes in family conflict and estrangement.
For parents who hope to repair broken relationships, Coleman says patience, humility and taking responsibility for hurtful actions or blind spots are important steps.
MOMENT IN TIME
Women’s protest against Donald Trump, the day after his inauguration
(Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)RUTH FREMSON/The New York Times
Jan 21, 2017: “This is the upside of the downside,” Gloria Steinem told the huge crowd gathered at the Women’s March on Washington to protest against the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, who had celebrated his inauguration the previous day. Hundreds of thousands of protesters arrived by plane and bus that day from around the country, many of them wearing the knitted pink pussyhats that mocked the President’s desire to grab things that did not belong to him. Millions more joined marches in Canada and around the world. They were united in support of a progressive feminist vision of racial and social justice, and protection for the rights of workers and migrants. In Washington, Alicia Keys recited Maya Angelou’s poem Still I Rise, and six-year-old Sophie Cruz stole the audience’s hearts when she said, “Let us fight with love, faith and courage, so that our families will not be destroyed.” The size of the crowd in Washington surprised organizers, and a kind of benign chaos reigned. But the protest, which had grappled with a failure at the outset to be diverse and inclusive, eventually united the opposition to Trump’s vision of “American carnage” and led to annual women’s marches around the world. – Elizabeth Renzetti
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