NewsReporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the world’s democracies to press the Chinese authorities to release Gui Minhai, a Chinese-born Swedish book publisher who was sentenced to ten years in prison yesterday in the eastern city of Ningbo on a charge of “illegally providing intelligence” to foreign countries. (Full Story)

Expand Iranian protesters gather around a burning car during a demonstration against an increase in gasoline prices in the capital Tehran, on November 16, 2019.  © AFP/Getty Images (Beirut) – Iranian authorities have failed to hold security forces accountable for excessive and unlawful use of lethal force in confronting large-scale protests that began on November 15, 2019, Human Rights Watch said today. Members of the United Nations Human Rights Council should take urgent action to address the brutal crackdown. Over three months later, the government has failed to announce the total number… (Full Story)

By Amos Yadlin

The timing of President Donald Trump’s invitation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to Chairman of the Blue and White alliance and Knesset opposition leader Benny Gantz to meet with him in Washington as part of the launch of the “deal of the century” was driven by the current political circumstances in both Israel and the United States. Beyond the political considerations, however, at issue is a key item on Israel’s national security agenda: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For this reason, it is important to analyze the plan’s potential significance, assess its implications for the political process, and weigh its prospects for advancing a resolution to the conflict. (Full Story)

By Doron Ella and Shira Efron

On January 15, 2020, the United States and China signed an interim agreement as a first phase toward a comprehensive deal that will end the trade war between the two countries. However, the actual achievement is questionable, since the key components of the agreement focus on at least partial elimination of the tariffs imposed during the trade war, while the American demand that China reduce its subsidies to state-owned Chinese enterprises – which give Chinese companies advantages over other companies – was left out of the agreement. (Full Story)

Canada has one of the most flourishing economies in the World. The nation is the 10^th largest economy with $1.7 trillion in GDP. Canada is a member of the G7; therefore, Canada has some influence on the World stage. Canada is considered as a middle power with powerful close allies like: the United State, the United Kingdom, and France. As a result, the roles and responsibilities of the Prime Minister of Canada are substantial. Canada is a multicultural nation with two official languages and the nation is the second largest country in the World. One of the most important political groups has been the Conservative movement that formed several governments on the national level and in many provinces. Nowadays, the Conservative Party is looking for the right leader to win a general election and to form a national government. Jean Charest might be one of the contenders of the 2020 Conservative leadership contest. The former Premier of Quebec is seen by many as the right person to lead the nation. They think he could defeat Trudeau`s Liberals and he could form a government that responds to the needs of Canadians. Jean Charest is fluent in English and French; he has been a head of a provincial government for 9 years between 2003 and 2012. Nevertheless, he led a government with very low approval ratings and his provincial government triggered the largest student strikes in Canadian history. Nevertheless, he is a master in the art of winning elections; he is an outstanding performer in TV debates and he won most of his elections. Therefore, he could be the right candidate to get a Conservative government in power. Jean Charest has more experience in election campaigns and TV debates than Prime Minister Trudeau. In sum, Charest is a great political manager and an expert in winning elections. (Full Story)

Every year for several weeks before November 11, a field of scarlet poppies appears on coat lapels across Canada. This wearing of the poppy has a complex history ... (Full Story)

New York - Southern (Inner) Mongolian poet Mr. Zhao Baahuu, who goes by the pennames Soliyoot Shulegchin (“Crazy Poet” in Mongolian) and Cao Yuan Nu Huo ( “Fury of Grassland” in Chinese), was detained and placed under house arrest after publishing poems online criticizing China’s ethnic policies toward Southern Mongolians, Tibetans and Uyghurs over the past 70 years.  (Full Story)

As Egypt formulates and implements its economic reform program, “the Chinese development model” is mentioned with increasing frequency in official Egyptian discourse as a supreme positive example. The Chinese model is identified in Egypt with modernization, scientific advances, foreign investments, integration into the global economy, and mega-projects that stand to yield high economic growth rates and enable a response to the challenges of a rapidly growing population and dire poverty. (Full Story)

There are nominated candidates of all races and religions in our Party. the PPC. With names like Salim Mansour, Rocky Dong, Jigna Jani, Tahir Gora, Jude Guerrier, Jing Lan Yang, Salomon Rayek, and many, many others. (Full Story)

Valentine’s Day rituals often begin in the classroom, where the holiday serves both as an enjoyable arts and crafts activity and as a pedagogical tool, teaching children about structuring love and friendship into a concrete, prescribed form. The ritualization of love continues throughout our lives, not only on Valentine’s Day, but through weddings, anniversaries, and Mother’s and Father’s Day. (Full Story)

Montreal Jews rely on non-Jewish academics, writers and filmmakers to present and even explain, in French, Jewish realities to the Quebecois public and within Francophone academia. The considerable number of publications on Jewish themes, both in fiction and non-fiction, written in French by non-Jews is certainly unequaled in the Francophone world and most likely in the West, contends writer Victor Teboul. But do these works encourage or dissuade critical assessment of Quebec and of Quebec–Jewish relations, asks Tolerance.ca’s editor, whose most recent book also questions Quebecois identity. (Full Story)

Despite his dedicated work on behalf of Jewish refugees in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s, James G. McDonald (1886-1964) is little known today. Come discover this highly unusual and outspoken maverick through Shuli Eshel’s inspiring documentary, “A Voice among the Silent,” followed by comments and discussion led by Neil Caplan. (Full Story)

The Canadian government's recent announcement that it will be providing more than CDN $600 million (USD $455 million) over the next five years to bail out the country's financially strapped media outlets -- as part of the fall fiscal update about the federal budget ahead of the 2019 federal election -- is not as innocent as it may seem. (Full Story)

By David Barzilay

The intriguing tale of the location and fate of a Jewish baby placed in the Municipal Foundling Home of Thessaloniki during WWII.

It is March 4th 2016 an email pops onto my screen from some unknown group of researchers based in Thessaloniki, Greece. They introduce themselves: “ We are a group of researchers in Thessaloniki working on a common academic project related to the Shoah. Aliki Arouh, genealogist and researcher archivist of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki, , Aigli Brouskou, an anthropologist, researcher of the Municipal Foundling Home of Thessaloniki ‘Agios Stylianos’ and Areti Makri, archivist at the State Archives in Thessaloniki and a researcher”. (Full Story)

To many observers, the Jewish community in Quebec is highly integrated into Quebec society, yet to others it appears insular. How can this apparent contradiction be explained? How do religious groups, including Jews, deal with the trend towards secularization in Quebec? We raised these questions and others with Dr. Morton Weinfeld. Professor of Sociology at McGill University in Montréal, Dr Weinfeld holds the Chair in Canadian Ethnic Studies. He is the author of Like Everyone Else, but Different: The Paradoxical Success of Canadian Jews (McClelland & Stewart, 2001), a study of the Jewish community in Canada. Dr. Weinfeld is also a recognized authority on Quebec’s Jewish community. (Full Story)

On Thursday, April 19, 2018 at 7:00 pm at the Gelber Centre, veteran British journalist Ian Black will be speaking on “Israelis and Palestinians: Contested Past, Uncertain Future.” (Full Story)