Chinese surveillance equipment company appeals Ottawa's shutdown order
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Edmonton Journal
12 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon strikes tentative deal to buy Portland Trail Blazers
Article content A group led by Carolina Hurricanes owner Don Dundon has reached a tentative agreement with Paul Allen's estate to buy the Trail Blazers and keep the team in Portland. Article content Dundon confirmed the agreement in a text exchange with The Associated Press on Wednesday. His group includes Portland-based Sheel Tyle, the co-founder of investment firm Collective Global, and Marc Zahr, co-president of Blue Owl Capital. Article content Article content CNBC earlier this year valued the Trail Blazers at $3.65 billion. In March, the Boston Celtics sold for $6.1 billion. Article content Dundon, 53, bought a stake in the Hurricanes in 2017 and became the majority owner in 2018. He is chairman and managing partner of the Dallas-based firm Dundon Capital Partners. Article content Allen's estate announced in May that it had begun the process of selling the Trail Blazers. The billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, who died in 2018 at age 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, originally bought the Blazers in 1988 for $70 million. Article content Allen also owned the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and was a co-owner of Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders. Article content Article content Since his death, Allen's sister, Jody Allen, has served as chair of both the Blazers and Seahawks and is a trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust. Paul Allen stipulated in his will the eventual sale of his teams, with the proceeds given to philanthropic endeavors. Article content Representatives for the estate did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking comment on the agreement. Article content The estate has not announced plans for the sale of the Seahawks or the 25% stake in the Sounders. Article content Jody Allen reportedly rebuffed an offer from Nike co-founder Phil Knight to buy the Trail Blazers for more than $2 billion in 2022. At that time, there were no ongoing discussions about the sale of the teams, she said in a rare statement. Article content The Trail Blazers joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1970 and won their lone NBA championship in 1977.
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
Amid Jays mania, future of president Shapiro murky
Toronto Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro says he has had conversations with Rogers, but went no further than that. Jon Blacker/The Associated Press Having watched his presidential sporting peers shown the door and having built a relationship with two of the highest-profiled executives in the field, Mark Shapiro is fully aware of the nature of the business. 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 In a way, he's the last man standing when looking at Toronto's three major sporting entities. The Blue Jays, given the very nature of baseball and its summer calendar, are the lone team remaining until fall arrives when both hockey and hoops will begin anew. The Jays have been the talk of the town and of the country. The buzz hasn't been this high since the days of Jose Bautista. Despite the Jays' success and the team's expected inclusion in the post-season, the fact remains Shapiro's contract does expire this season. He oversaw the renovation and re-imagination of Rogers Centre where fans have flocked back to the ballpark to a venue that has earned rave reviews. As they prepared to play host to the Chicago Cubs for a three-game series, Shapiro gathered with the media in the hours leading up to Tuesday's first pitch. 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. While the session couldn't be described as a total love-fest, at least for many of the media in attendance, it was hard not to notice the sense of accomplishment resonating from Shapiro. Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins have been raked over the coals for years among fans and media alike. One can excuse either for basking in the glow of success, while at the same time completely aware how times can easily change, how a team's fortunes can be random and fickle. 'I have a distinct appreciation for the city of Toronto and the opportunity to lead a team that represents an entire country, which was at the root of the decision 10 years ago to come here,'' said Shapiro. 'I also have a distinct appreciation for the level of empowerment that I have in this role that is pretty unique throughout baseball, someone to lead both the business side and the baseball side and help represent Rogers ownership at the league level as well. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'And when I think about alternatives, I've never been a grass is greener guy, 24 years in one place in Cleveland and 10 years here now. The appreciation for what I have and the people I get to work with every day and the city I work in and the country I live in, those things are the drivers for me to remain here.' Fair enough. At the same time, there is the business side to sports. Brendan Shanahan's contract expired following the Leafs' second-round loss to the Panthers in the NHL playoffs. Masai Ujiri's deal had one year remaining, but the Raptors' head honcho and ownership agreed to a mutual parting of the ways. Of the city's Big 3 teams, only Ujiri was able to lead a team to a title when the Raptors won the NBA championship in 2019. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Jays have not been as positioned to at least make a deep run since the days of Joey Bats and for that Shapiro and his one-time besieged GM who has yet to be properly commended for his work must be given their flowers. Those flowers can easily wilt. Shapiro admitted he has had conversations with Rogers, but that's all he was willing to offer. 'I don't think it's appropriate for me to comment other than what I just said,'' he added. 'I want to remain here and I can also say that both Edward (Rogers, executive chair of Rogers Communications) and Tony (Staffieri, president and CEO of Rogers Communications) have been reciprocal in that desire. 'These jobs in professional sports I've spent my entire adult life working in it and the reality exists having talked with Shanny after that (exodus) happened and having a distinct appreciation for Masai there's an understanding that comes with it. Sometimes it's your own doing, sometimes it's situational, the nature of sports and outcomes and randomness that happens. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I feel grateful every single day I get to pull into Rogers Centre, pull into Dunedin (home of the Jays' spring training) and work in this role with the people I respect and care about so much. Gratitude is more what I focus on and there's always the understanding that it comes to an end at some point.' The precise end date remains up in the air. Does Shapiro stay beyond this season or does Rogers ownership, which has complete control of MLSE, tweak how the Blue Jays are managed at the top. As president and CEO of the ball club, there's not much to quibble with what Shapiro has done or what Atkins has done. Entering Tuesday's play, the 69-50 Jays had the best winning percentage in the American League. In the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette era, the club has yet to win a playoff game. Vlad Jr.'s 14-year, US $500-million deal kicks in, while Bichette is a pending free agent. Shapiro was asked about Bichette, but said now is not the right time to discuss it. Whether Shapiro's time will soon expire in Toronto is up in the air. fzicarelli@ Toronto Blue Jays Opinion Toronto & GTA Toronto Blue Jays Toronto Blue Jays
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Ukraine: Trump deadlines for Russia fly by
Opinion 'I love deadlines,' said Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. 'I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.' U.S. President Donald Trump sets deadlines for more complicated reasons that purport to be tactical, but he too is addicted to the whooshing sound they make when he breaks them. His latest display of disdain for the deadlines he sets himself began in mid-July, when he gave Russia a 50-day deadline to agree to a ceasefire in its war against Ukraine. A week later, in an apparent fit of temper over Russian President Vladimir Putin's relentless nightly attacks on Ukrainian cities, Trump moved the deadline up by a month, to Aug. 8. Evgeniy Maloletka / The Associated Press Ukrainian servicemen of the 148th artillery brigade fire from a M777 howitzer towards Russian positions at the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Aug. 7. Russia's penalty for missing that deadline was allegedly going to be American 'secondary tariffs,' against other countries that continue to buy Russian oil, notably China, India and Turkey. 'I used trade for a lot of things, but it's great for settling wars,' Trump boasted — only to discover, not for the first time, that his intended targets were able to push back. Trump declared, again before the actual deadline rolled around, that India's new tariff would be 50 per cent, not 25 per cent, if it didn't stop buying heavily discounted Russian oil. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately declared that he was ready to 'pay a huge price' rather than let the U.S. dictate India's trade policies — and Trump didn't even try it on with China or Turkey. So with no leverage in Moscow, his deadline for a Russian ceasefire passed unmentioned. Instead, he sent his favourite emissary, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, to make a new offer: a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin in which the two men would make a deal without the Ukrainians, the European NATO countries, or anybody else present. Putin jumped at the chance, as it will be his first face-to-face meeting with a U.S. president since 2021. (He was being boycotted because of his invasion of Ukraine, but this is presumably one of Russia's rewards for agreeing to a 'summit.') However, what Trump hopes to get out of it is less obvious. Although Trump is very much in thrall to Putin, who he mistakenly believes to be his personal friend, he knows a full Russian conquest of Ukraine would not look good on his record. His real goal is to win the Nobel Peace Prize in order to end the shame of having seen a Black American (Barack Obama) get one first. For that, he needs a longer-lasting 'peace.' This need not be a permanent peace settlement that includes an independent Ukraine. Trump really believes in 'America First,' and Ukraine's long-term fate is of no interest to him. But he must persuade Putin to accept only a partial victory now (and maybe final conquest later) in order to portray himself to the Norwegian Nobel Committee as a plausible 'peacemaker.' This explanation sounds so stupid and ridiculous that people have difficulty in taking it seriously, but it does explain why Trump has tried so hard to bully first one side (Ukraine), then the other side (Russia), and now back to Ukraine, into signing that kind of nothing-settled ceasefire. If you still question that analysis, consider the fact that Trump regularly indulges in extended public rants about the sheer injustice of Obama getting a Nobel Peace Prize and leaving him still without one. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. However, there will probably not be a complete sellout of Ukraine in Alaska, for two reasons. The first is that Putin, rightly or wrongly, is convinced that he is now winning the war by sheer weight of numbers, and that it is only a matter of time until Ukraine collapses. In that case, why would he now trim his maximal aspirations for the sake of a ceasefire? Those aspirations include Russian sovereignty over Crimea and the four southeastern regions of Ukraine (including the yet unconquered parts), and permanent neutrality and a much-reduced army for Ukraine. In the long run, Putin aspires to 'reunite' all of Ukraine with Russia under one pretext or another, but a decisive military victory might make it possible now. The other reason to assume that the Alaskan summit is unlikely to end the war is the fact that if Trump does completely sell out Ukraine, the Ukrainians will go on fighting anyway. They would be fighting at a worse disadvantage and facing a bigger likelihood of eventual conquest, but they know that wars can have unpredictable outcomes until the next-to-last moment. And whatever happens, Trump will go on setting deadlines and then missing them. Just like he did in the real estate business. Gwynne Dyer's new book is Intervention Earth: Life-Saving Ideas from the World's Climate Engineers.
