Leadership in the Safety & Security sectors
Antony Rota, the Ontario Liberal MP who has served as Speaker of the House of Commons since 2019, announced today that he is resigning. All parties had sought his resignation after he had lauded a constituent during Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Parliament last week. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, had served in a Nazi division during the Second World War and while Rota apologized, that wasn’t enough. [node:read-more:link]
Polish Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek said today that he has “taken steps” to having a 98-year-old Ukrainian-Canadian extradited for trial. Yaroslav Hunka, a member of a Nazi division during the Second World War, came into the spotlight last week when he was recognized as a “hero” by House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota, his Ontario MP. [node:read-more:link]
Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton announced today that he is resigning to accept a job in the private sector. The third member of Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet to quit this month, McNaughton said his departure is unrelated to property development scandal which resulted in the resignations of the Housing and Public & Business Service ministers. [node:read-more:link]
The opposition-controlled South Korean parliament has passed an unprecedented but non-binding motion for the country’s president to fire Prime Minister Han Duck-soo for having “consistently demonstrated incompetence, inaction and irresponsibility.” [node:read-more:link]
Five U.S.-Iranian citizens imprisoned by Iran for years and generally seen as hostages were freed today in return for the release of $6 billion in Iranian funds held in South Korea at the request of the U.S. Their chartered flight from Tehran was met by U.S. officials in Qatar before they continued on to Washington. [node:read-more:link]
New defence and foreign affairs ministers were appointed today by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a cabinet shuffle. Minoru Kihara, who has been serving on the national security committee, has replaced Yasukazu Hamada in the defence portfolio while Yoko Kamikawa was moved from the justice portfolio to replace Yoshimasa Yahashi at foreign affairs. [node:read-more:link]
Raouf Farrah, a Canadian who studies North African and Sahel migration and criminal economies for the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, has been sentenced to two years in prison after a one-day trial in Algeria. He is alleged to have published secret information while being paid to commit offences against public order, but the Geneva-based GIATOC says the charges are without merit. [node:read-more:link]
Suspected of fraud and money laundering, Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, is in custody for two months pending further investigation. The Ukranian-born Israeli-Cypriot billionaire, a former governor of Dnipro, is alleged to have transferred funds abroad over seven years through banks he controlled. [node:read-more:link]
As part of the government’s plan to make Canada’s Indo-Pacific trade less dependent on China, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has left on a six-day mission which includes visits to Indonesia, Singapore and India. His first stop is Jakarta today for talks with PM Joko Widodo and a meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. [node:read-more:link]
In a cabinet shuffle today by Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, which leaves it unchanged at 18 members, Paul Merriman, the former health minister, has been moved to the Corrections, Policing & Public Safety portfolio. He replaces Christine Tell who has been shuffled to Environment. [node:read-more:link]
Less than seven months after his appointment, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has been replaced by veteran Communist Party foreign affairs chief Wang Yi. The 57-year-old Qin had vanished from public view a month ago and the decision to replace him, signed by the man who appointed him, Leader Xi Jinping, was not explained. [node:read-more:link]
Two days ahead of an expected federal cabinet shuffle, four ministers confirmed July 24 that they would be stepping down. They include Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, Public Services & Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek and Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett, all from Toronto ridings, and Fisheries & Oceans Minister Joyce Murray of Vancouver, who also is responsible for the Canadian Coast Guard. [node:read-more:link]
Russian President Vladimir Putin, the target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, will “by mutual agreement” not attend an economic summit in South Africa in August. A spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose government could be required to arrest Putin, said today that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would represent Russia. [node:read-more:link]
As expected, former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s tenure as NATO Secretary General has been extended for a year, until October 2024. Confirmed July 4, it is the fourth extension since he was appointed in 2014 and is taken as a sign that the 31-state alliance wants an experience hand at the helm during a time of growing international tensions. [node:read-more:link]
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, unseated in last year’s national election, is being blocked from holding public office for eight years. A majority of electoral court judges ruled today that he had violated election laws by telling foreign envoys to expect a rigged vote. [node:read-more:link]
