China vs Canada: Canadian citizen sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling

A Chinese court on Monday sentenced a Canadian man to death for drug smuggling after prosecutors said an original 15-year sentence announced in November was too lenient.

“Dalian Intermediate People’s Court in the northeast province of Liaoning retried Robert Lloyd Schellenberg and handed down the death penalty,’’ the court said in a brief statement on its website. 

The case is likely again to test relations between Beijing and Ottawa, which has been tensed since Canada’s arrest of a Chinese executive at the request of the U.S. in December. The arrest was followed by China’s detention of two Canadian citizens on suspicion of endangering state security. This may be connected to Canada arresting a top official of Huawei corporation on the crime of espionage. A form of powerplay and politics which should not bring any danger to life, but here it is.

Brewing War of Words Between Canada and Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia and Canada are currently locked in a diplomatic spat over human rights, with both countries refusing to back down despite a breakdown in future trade deals, suspended passenger flights and a flurry of other sanctions.

The war of words between the two countries stems back to a series of tweets from Canada's Foreign Ministry last week, when Ottawa expressed concern over arrested civil society activists in Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh called the move a violation of its sovereignty and sought to impose a string of diplomatic sanctions against the North American country. In a tweet posted Friday, Canadian officials urged Riyadh to "immediately release" women's rights activists Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah. Both campaigners were arrested in Saudi Arabia in late July, according to Human Rights Watch.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry took exception to Canada's online plea, calling it a "grave and unacceptable violation of the kingdom's laws and procedures."

National NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh Engaged

New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh pulled back the curtain on his closely guarded private life, letting Canadians know Tuesday night that he is engaged.

Singh, 38, proposed to girlfriend Gurkiran Kaur, 27, at a private party Tuesday night just blocks away from the Ontario legislature in Toronto where he served as a provincial legislator for six years.

Singh surprised Kaur, an entrepreneur and fashion designer, with the proposal in front of several dozen friends and family members at a vegetarian restaurant where they had their first date.

Singh was elected federal NDP leader last fall and had been guarded about his personal life, but social media posts in December made headlines after it was reported he and Kaur were engaged.

The couple shot down the rumours, saying it was instead a "rokha'' — a traditional Punjabi ceremony held ahead of a wedding and usually attended by close family.

President Elect Donald Trump Will Get Us Killed - Says Michael Moore

Michael Moore published a scathing essay to his Facebook page on Tuesday night, slamming President-elect Donald Trump for not regularly attending national security briefings.

Titled "Donald Trump Is Gonna Get Us Killed," the piece builds upon what Moore told Seth Meyers in an interview earlier this month.

"A week has gone by since Donald Trump admitted he's only been to 'two or three' of his daily presidential national security briefings. There have been 36 of them since the day he secured enough electoral college votes to be appointed president next Monday when the Electoral College meets," Moore began. "Most would agree the No. 1 job of the leader of any country is to keep its people safe. There is no more important meeting every day for the President than the one where he learns what the day's potential threats are to the country. That Trump would find it too cumbersome or too annoying to have to sit through 20 minutes of listening to his top intelligence people tell him who's trying to kill us today, simply boggles the mind."

Citing what Moore called Trump's "childish tweets" about Saturday Night Live, the Oscar-winning filmmaker expressed doubt Trump "doesn't have time" to hear about threats to the nation.

"So, my fellow Americans, when the next terrorist attack happens -- and it will happen, we all know that -- and after the tragedy is over, amidst the death and destruction that might have been prevented, you will see Donald Trump acting quickly to blame everyone but himself.

Russian President Putin Orders International Students To Return Home

Vladmir Putin, Russia's president and 2016 most powerful man in the world according to Forbes has ordered the children and relatives of all it's officials to return home amidst rising tensions between Russia and the West and the possibility of an all out World War sooner rather than later according to Kremlin sources and Daily Star UK.

 Putin's call for Russians to come home comes after Russia recently held defence drills for 40 million citizens, Puttin also cancelled a state visit to France after France President Hollande accused him of committing war crimes in Syria, and now he thinks that America might rally it's 'friends' against his country so he wants to be more than ready for that.

This order also comes after Russia shipped nuclear-capable ballistic missiles (Iskander-M missle system) into it's central European border between Poland and Lithuania.

Conservative Theresa May officially sworn in as UK's second female Prime Minster by the Queen

Theresa May has been officially sworn in as Britain's new Prime Minister this evening after meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace. She becomes Britain's second female premier, following in the footsteps of fellow Tory, Margaret Thatcher. As is traditional for new Prime Ministers, she was also clapped in to Downing Street by staff and aides. More photos after the cut...

Speaking outside Number 10 after being officially appointed, the new Prime Minister, 59, promised to build a better Britain that works for more than the "privileged few" as she arrived at her new Downing Street home.

"The Government I lead will be driven not by the interests of the privileged few but by yours. We will do everything we can to give you more control over your lives." she said.

Full list of Canada's New PM Justin Trudeau's Cabinet

The full list of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's new 31-member cabinet(including 15 women), in order of precedence, being sworn in today at Rideau Hall in Ottawa (with their province in parenthesis):

Justin Trudeau (Quebec) - Prime Minister, Intergovernmental Affairs and Youth.
Ralph Goodale (Saskatchewan) - Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
Lawrence MacAulay (P.E.I.) - Agriculture and Agri-Food.
Stéphane Dion (Quebec) - Foreign Affairs.
John McCallum (Ontario) - Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.
Carolyn Bennett (Ontario) - Indigenous and Northern Affairs.

I Am Running For President

source: national journal

Governance in the 21st century has become a playground for who has the ball rolling. There was a time in the world where we were all ruled by a sect. The selected few had to come from a given family name and history. It has nothing to do about the “best hand of rule” but the willful sovereignty of the sect. As the human race evolved through civilization and modernization, the Greek first demonstrated representative democracy in the 6th century as a political system of government. 

Centuries past by, new world leaders have emerged from Egypt to Italy to England to Germany and now United States of America. Apparently as the lion of the western world, America has been characterized as the main proponent of democracy in the rule of nations. Concurrently we have a political system that is always ready to provoke change and challenge the norm. What could not have been possible in ages past is fast becoming living realities.

Read full on ablethoughts

Liberals Bid to make O Canada lyrics gender neutral opposed by Conservatives

Liberal MP Mauril Belanger wants to make the English lyrics of Canada's national anthem gender neutral by replacing the reference to "all our sons" with "all of us." (Holly Caruk/CBC)

CBC
A Liberal backbencher's bid to make O Canada more gender neutral by replacing the reference to "all thy sons" with "all of us" in the English lyrics seems set for defeat after several Conservative MPs — including the parliamentary secretary to the citizenship and immigration minister — spoke out against it during the opening round of debate on Monday morning.

In an impassioned address to a sparsely populated House of Commons, Ottawa Vanier Liberal MP Mauril Belanger argued that the change was not just necessary, but overdue.

"There are many reasons we would want to sing "in all of us command,'" he noted.

Wow! Convicted Sexual Predator Gets Re-Elected From Jail!

It’s not every day that a politician with a county jail-issued ankle monitor accused of having sex with his 17-year-old secretary campaigns for re-election, and wins. But that’s exactly what happened Tuesday in the Richmond, Va., suburb of Henrico County, where Joseph Morrissey snagged 42 percent of the vote to win re-election to the state’s House of Delegates, all while serving out a six-month jail sentence, the Richmond-Times Dispatch reported. And he did it while running as an independent.

Jodie Emery wife of Canada's self-styled prince of marijuana given Liberals red light

 

The Canadian Press 

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau's much talked about support for legalizing marijuana has not helped the wife of a high-profile pot crusader get a shot at running for the party in the next election.

Jodie Emery's attempt to seek the nomination in the riding of Vancouver East has gone up in smoke.

Liberal spokesman Olivier Duchesneau has confirmed that the party's so-called green light candidate review committee rejected her bid.

Jodie's husband Marc Emery was extradited to the U.S. in 2010, where he pleaded guilty to selling marijuana seeds to American customers and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Erin O'Toole appointed to Veterans Affairs, but Fantino stays in cabinet

Canada's Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa December 9, 2014. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press 

On the night of last year's infamous televised showdown between Julian Fantino and angry veterans, one of those sent in ahead of time to smooth the way was Erin O'Toole, the man who on Monday took over the troubled portfolio.

Prior to the confrontation, O'Toole, two other Conservative MPs and Fantino's chief of staff met with the group of ex-soldiers, but failed to ease the concerns of the veterans, who were upset over planned office closures.

As recounted by some who were in the room, the encounter is instructive for the veterans community, which is wondering whether O'Toole's fresh face will actually mean a fresh approach in a department that has become a political liability for the Conservatives in the run-up to this year's election.

George Weah former world soccer star wins seat in Liberia Senate

/Reuters - George Weah, a former soccer star and the running mate of presidential candidate Winston Tubman of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC

REUTERS
Former world soccer player of the year George Weah has won a seat in Liberia's Senate to represent the capital, defeating the son of the president and boosting his political fortunes ahead of a presidential election in 2017.

Weah won the Montserrado County seat that includes the capital Monrovia with 78 percent of the vote, defeating Robert Sirleaf, the son of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia's National Elections Commission said late on Saturday.

Weah, leader of the country's largest opposition party, the Congress for Democratic Change, lost the 2005 presidential election to Sirleaf and lost again in 2011 when he was a vice presidential candidate. He is expected to stand again in 2017.

The Liberals lead in year-end polls

Three new polls show the Liberals under Justin Trudeau, right, still leading the Conservatives and Stephen Harper, left, and Tom Mulcair's NDP - but the polls don't agree on the strength of that lead. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press photos)

Éric Grenier, CBC News
A flurry of federal polls over the last few days has painted a picture of Canada's political landscape as the year comes to an end. However, what that picture shows is up for interpretation.

Three polls, all conducted in early December, have been published in the last week. The first, by Léger and published by Le Devoir, a Montreal French-language daily, on Saturday pegged the Liberal support at 38 per cent of decided voters, followed by the Conservatives at 32 per cent and the New Democrats at 19 per cent.

Two polls published on Monday — an EKOS Research survey published by iPolitics and a Forum Research poll published by the Toronto Star — also each gave the Liberals a lead, but of wildly differing magnitudes.

New Democrats MP quits federal politics to run for Ontario Liberals

Former Liberal hopeful Andrew Olivier, left, said Monday that Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne told him she wants a different Liberal flag-bearer in the byelection to fill Joe Cimino’s vacant seat in Sudbbury. Torstar News Service

The Canadian Press
New Democrats reacted with anger Tuesday after one of their MPs announced he was leaving the party to run for the Ontario Liberals in a yet-to-be called provincial byelection.

“I am proud to announce that I will be running as the Ontario Liberal party candidate in the upcoming byelection in my community of Sudbury,” Glenn Thibeault said in a statement.

Thibeault’s decision, which comes less than a year before the next federal election, is seen as a blow to NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and his provincial counterpart, Andrea Horwath, whose newest member of the provincial legislature quit after five months on the job, prompting the need for a byelection.

It also came one day after the Liberal candidate in the June 12 Ontario election, Andrew Olivier, said he was offered a government appointment or job to stop pursuing the nomination for the Sudbury byelection.

Thousands protest election results in Poland

Thousands of supporters of the main opposition party, the conservative Law and Justice, gather at the Three Crosses square in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. Alik Keplicz/AP 

Vanessa GeraThe Associated Press
Thousands of supporters of a conservative opposition party in Poland marched on Saturday to protest the results of recent local elections, which party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski says were falsified.

The November elections were marred by problems, with a computer glitch delaying results and many ballots declared invalid because voters apparently were confused and marked them incorrectly.

However, there is no indication they were falsified. Kaczynski’s critics accuse him of making false claims about the election outcome to motivate his base ahead of national elections next year.

His supporters marched in Warsaw under the slogan “in the support of democracy,” chanting “repeat the elections.”

Rob Ford promises comeback if health rebounds

Toronto's outgoing Mayor Rob Ford (centre) stands next to his brother Doug Ford (right) outside his office as he scrums with the media before signing bobble heads in Toronto on Friday November 21, 2014. Rob Ford says he's due for a fifth round of chemotherapy next week but that if he beats cancer he'll take another run for mayor of Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

The Canadian Press
Rob Ford says he’s due for a fifth round of chemotherapy next week but that if he beats cancer he’ll take another run for mayor of Toronto.

Ford, now a city councillor, told local TV station CP24 that his health is up and down but that he’s “not going to stop fighting.”

The ailing Ford says he is returning to hospital Monday for five straight days of treatment with results due in 2015, adding that chemo leaves him laid out in bed for a week after.

Asked about a comeback mayoral campaign in the 2018 election, Ford says “if my health holds up my name will be on the ballot.”

The controversial ex-mayor ditched his re-election campaign after doctors in September found a cancerous mass in Ford’s abdomen, but he ran for council and took back his old seat.

Sex scandal rocks Britain Independence Party

A sex scandal has rocked United Kingdom Independence Party with star candidate Natasha Bolter pulling out of race for nomination after making sexual harassment allegations against the party’s general secretary.

According to NBC News, Natasha Bolter, a former Labour supporter and rising star in Ukip, has withdrawn from the electoral race in South Basildon after claiming Ukip general secretary Roger Bird made unwanted advances towards her.

Ukip on Monday night announced that it has suspended its general secretary Roger Bird “following allegations of impropriety”.

Ukip said “Shortly after a claim came to light about the conduct of Mr. Bird with regard to candidate selection, the UK Independence Party took action swiftly and decisively, including steps involving external Human Resources consultants, as well as following due process and the Party’s Constitution to the letter.”

Ontario | Mother, daughter could go head-to-head in 2015 election

Catherine Sloan has a shot at the Conservative nomination in St. Thomas, Ont. on Dec. 6, 2014. (Twitter)

Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press
For voters in the area around St. Thomas, Ont., who might be weary of mean, nasty, personal campaigns that are short on substance, next year's federal election might just hold a pleasant surprise.

Municipal politician Lori Baldwin-Sands has been acclaimed as the Liberal candidate in Elgin-Middlesex-London. Her daughter, financial-sector worker Catherine Sloan, has a shot at the Conservative nomination coming up on Dec. 6.

Little chance here of the campaigns going negative. Mother and daughter say they are committed to fighting it out on the issues.

"People can learn from us, mother and daughter, that we are both strong, independent, we have our own voice, and we really focus on the issues themselves," said Baldwin-Sands.

President Mahinda of Sri Lanka seeks unprecedented third term

President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka signed an official proclamation on Thursday confirming that he will seek re-election for an unprecedented third term two years ahead of schedule, New York Times reports.

The proclamation came after Rajapaksa’s governing Sri Lanka Freedom Party unanimously endorsed such a move Wednesday night, said Media and Information Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s government removed a two-term limit on the country’s powerful presidency in 2010 through a constitutional amendment. Last week, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court dismissed legal concerns about Rajapaksa’s eligibility to seek a third term. Rajapaksa removed the previous chief justice from office in January 2013 in a move that was widely seen as solidifying his control over the court.