Russian court jails Navalny ally in absentia for 18 years as dissident crackdown continues
Leonid Volkov, a close associate of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was sentenced in absentia to 18 years in prison after being found guilty on criminal charges.
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Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
A concert in Italy by Russian conductor Gergiev is canceled after protests
ROME (AP) — A concert by Russian conductor Valery Gergiev has been canceled, organizers in Italy announced Monday, following protests against giving the stage to the conductor who has been largely barred from European venues for failing to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Gergiev had been invited to conduct during a summer festival at the Royal Palace of Caserta near Naples next Sunday. The regional governor, Vincenzo de Luca, had defended the invitation, saying that 'the logic of preclusion … does not help peace.'' The invitation had been widely criticized by human rights activists, Russian opposition figures and European parliamentarians. Gergiev, who is head of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Russian state theaters, is considered close to President Vladimir Putin. Milan's La Scala was the first theater in the West to cut off relations with Gergiev, who was engaged at the theater when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, after he failed to respond to Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala's appeal to speak out against the war.
Toronto Sun
4 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Russia launches a major aerial attack on Kyiv hours before high-level talks on support for Ukraine
Published Jul 21, 2025 • 4 minute read Firefighters work in a destroyed apartment building after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 21, 2025. Photo by Efrem Lukatsky / AP Photo Russia unleashed one of its largest aerial assaults on Ukraine in recent months, only hours before the U.K. and Germany are to chair a meeting to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump's plans for NATO allies to provide Ukraine with weapons. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The attack killed two people and wounded 15, including a 12-year-old, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. In Kyiv's Shevchenkivskyi district, a drone struck the entrance to a subway station where people had taken cover. Videos posted on social media showed the station platform engulfed by smoke, with dozens of people inside. Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said the station had to be ventilated in what he called an 'enhanced mode.' The heaviest strikes hit Kyiv's Darnytskyi district, where a kindergarten, supermarket and warehouse facilities caught fire. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Kyiv on Monday and visited some of the damage. The hourslong drone and missile assault on Kyiv overnight into Monday underscored the urgency of Ukraine's need for further Western military aid, especially in air defense, a week after Trump said deliveries would arrive in Ukraine within days. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The virtual meeting will be led by British Defence Secretary John Healey and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius. Healey said U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and NATO leader Mark Rutte, as well as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, will attend the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. Moscow has intensified its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities, and analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate as Russian drone production expands. In an shift of tone toward Russia, Trump last week gave Moscow a 50-day deadline to agree to a ceasefire or face tougher sanctions. At Monday's meeting, Healey was expected to urge Ukraine's Western partners to launch a coincidental '50-day drive' to get Kyiv the weapons it needs to fight Russia's bigger army and force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, the U.K. government said in a statement. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Trump's arms plan, announced a week ago, involves European nations sending American weapons to Ukraine via NATO — either from existing stockpiles or buying and donating new ones. The U.S. president indicated discussions were partly focused on advanced Patriot air defence systems and said a week ago that deliveries would begin 'within days.' But last week various senior officials suggested no transfers had yet taken place. NATO's Grynkewich told The Associated Press on Thursday that 'preparations are underway' for weapons transfers to Ukraine while U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said he couldn't give a time frame. Ukraine wants American-made Patriot missile systems Germany has said it offered to finance two new Patriot systems for Ukraine and raised the possibility of supplying systems it already owns and having them replaced by the U.S. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But delivery could take time, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested, because 'they have to be transported, they have to be set up; that is not a question of hours, it is a question of days, perhaps weeks.' Other Patriot systems could come thanks to Switzerland, whose defence ministry said Thursday it was informed by the U.S. Defense Department that it will 'reprioritize the delivery' of five previously ordered systems to support Ukraine. While Ukraine waits for Patriots, a senior NATO official said the alliance is still coordinating the delivery of other military aid — such as ammunition and artillery rounds — which includes aid from the U.S. that was briefly paused. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Zelenskyy said Saturday that his officials have proposed a new round of peace talks this week. Russian state media on Sunday reported that no date has yet been set for the negotiations, but said that Istanbul would likely remain the host city. The Kremlin spokesman said Sunday that Russia is open to peace with Ukraine, but achieving its goals remains a priority. Ukraine also fires drones at Moscow The overnight Russian barrage of Kyiv began shortly after midnight and continued until around 6 a.m. Residents of the capital were kept awake by machine-gun fire, buzzing drone engines and multiple loud explosions. It was the first major attack on Kyiv since Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, arrived in the city last Monday. Russia halted strikes on Kyiv during his visit. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Russia's Ministry of Defence said its attack used drones and Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. It said that the barrage successfully targeted airfield infrastructure and Ukraine's military-industrial complex. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 426 Shahed and decoy drones overnight Monday, as well as 24 missiles of various types. It said 200 drones were intercepted with 203 more jammed or lost from radars. Four Ukrainian planes 'unintentionally penetrated' Romanian airspace for several minutes but did not pose a threat to national security or civilian lives, Romania's Ministry of National Defence said. It said the brief incursion occurred as Ukraine took measures to move military aircraft away from airfields in western Ukraine amid the Russian bombardment. Ukraine, meanwhile, continued to deploy its domestically produced long-range drones. Russia's Ministry of Defence said that its forces shot down 74 Ukrainian drones overnight, with almost a third of them destroyed close to the Russian capital. Twenty-three drones were shot down in the Moscow region, the ministry said, 15 of which were intercepted over the city itself. — Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Stephen McGrath in Bucharest, Romania contributed to this report. Toronto & GTA Canada Toronto & GTA Football Editorial Cartoons
Calgary Herald
4 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
The pandemic drove up inflation. How come, years later, we're still paying more?
Article content A new report from the C.D. Howe Institute concluded that the Trudeau government's spending splurges played a major role in fuelling inflation during the pandemic. The report pointed the finger at Ottawa's unfunded spending spree — more than the Bank of Canada's monetary policies — that acted as 'helicopter drops' of money for the private sector. Article content In 2020, about 20.7 million Canadians out of an adult population of 30.3 million received income from one of the federal pandemic-related programs, according to a 2022 report. During that year alone, the programs are estimated to have cost $270 billion — about 12.5 per cent of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) — and cumulatively have cost about $360 billion to date. Article content While the programs broadly succeeded in providing relief to individuals and businesses and creating a cushion for the economy during a crisis, the C.D. Howe Institute noted that injecting that much extra money into an economy while unemployment is low results in inflation. Article content Article content David Andolfatto, chair of the department of economics at the University of Miami and an international fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute, said inflation should be expected when governments add that much extra demand to the economy. 'Of course prices went up,' he said. 'There's no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody will have to pay.' Article content And not only do consumers pay higher prices but they must then pay again with the higher interest rates the central bank then implemented to try bringing those prices back down. In 2020, interest rates were down to 0.25 per cent as the Bank of Canada aimed to cushion the blow from the pandemic; by 2023, the rate had risen 20-fold, to five per cent. Article content Jean-Francois Perrault, chief economist at the Bank of Nova Scotia, estimated in a November 2023 report that government spending and pandemic-era transfers to Canadians were responsible for about 42 per cent (200 of the 475 basis points) of the increase in the Bank of Canada's prime interest rate during that period. About one-third of those interest rate hikes can be traced back to provincial governments, he calculated. Article content Article content Since the start of 2023, inflation has remained at less than four per cent, just over the Bank of Canada's preferred band of between one and three per cent, but a big decrease from the peak of pandemic-era inflation. Article content And, at least for now, it's largely under control. Statistics Canada reported last week that Canada's inflation rate accelerated to 1.9 per cent in June, up from 1.7 per cent the previous month. Article content Why have some prices kept rising since the pandemic? Article content When the pandemic subsided, it removed a number of shocks and disruptions to markets. But not all of them. Article content The Russian invasion of Ukraine, for example, still hasn't been resolved. Many of the people who started working from home during the pandemic still do so, either part-time or full-time, which puts a little more money in most of their pockets. The glut of baby boomers is also at the stage of life where many are retiring, having saved up their money, and now want to spend it.
