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Edmonton Journal
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Eight seconds that changed the lives of 12 Israeli families forever
Article content The soccer pitch, still very much in use by schoolchildren, has become a regular draw for international media visits and other fact-finding tours. The National Post was part of a group of Canadian journalists touring Israel under the sponsorship of the Exigent Foundation, one of three groups visiting at the time. This is the Golan Heights, part of Syria until Israel seized the region in the 1967 War. The Druze, part of a breakaway sect of Islam, are largely intensely loyal to Israel. Layth Absuleh, who lost his son and three other family members that day, stood by a billboard with heartbreaking photos of the 12 children killed, describing each of them as good students, strong athletes, loving family members. He spoke of individual tragedy too: One boy was directly hit and essentially vaporized, so they thought he was missing until they found his jawbone, and only his jawbone, 17 hours later. A first responder found his daughter dead, and covered her with a blanket before going on to treat the children still living.
New Indian Express
30-04-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
It's not quite enough a victory for Liberals in Canada, yet it's a 'game changer'
The ex-banker Mark Carney has won the Canadian polls, edging out his Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre. The Liberals can celebrate. The latest news emerging out of Ottawa on Tuesday noon, suggests that Liberals picked up an extra seat in Quebec, and thereby managed to increase their number of seats, but not quite enough to get to their coveted majority. The National Post said that Liberals were on course to win a projected 169 seats — three seats short of a majority. Carney began his victory speech with the questions, "Who's ready? Who's ready — who's ready — to stand up for Canada with me? And who's ready — who's ready — to build Canada strong?" He struck some right notes, talking about humility, which he said "underscores the importance of governing as a team in cabinet and in caucus and working constructively with all parties across Parliament, of working in partnership with the provinces and the territories and with Indigenous peoples..." Although he spoke about the "American betrayal," he has already had a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump, the elephant in the room. Carney also said, "We will strengthen our relations with reliable partners in Europe, Asia and elsewhere. " "It's time to build new trade and energy corridors, working in partnership with the provinces, territories and Indigenous peoples. It's time. It's time to build hundreds of thousands of not just good jobs, but good careers in the skilled trades," he added. Now, Carney has his hands full, to make as he has promised, "Canada strong, Canada, free, Canada, forever. ." The first thing he has to look into is transforming the economy. Then comes foreign policy. He will be meeting US President Donald Trump "in the near future." To nobody's surprise, as mentioned earlier, both leaders spoke on the phone on Tuesday. A rather good beginning, so to say. Writing about Carney's victory, the noted that Canada's 2025 federal election will be remembered as a "game-changer." To understand the nuances, one need to read it along with The Guardian piece by Leyland Cecco who rightly attributed Carney's victory to Trump and circumstance. He recalled that half a year ago the Liberal was in crisis before political reality forced Justin Trudeau to step down. While Labour struggled with internal issues, Donald Trump began to suggest – seemingly in earnest – that the US should annex Canada and making it the 51st state, a mission he said could be accomplished with economic coercion. 'The thing to remember is that Carney candidacy, absent this crisis, would have felt different,' Cecco quoted Peter Donolo, a political strategist and director of communications for prime minister Jean Chrétien. 'His mistakes would have been more, would have been enlarged. He would have come under more criticism and scrutiny." However, Tonda MacCharles writing in , saw the outcome this way: "In fact, Canadian voters delivered a rebuke to all parties — denying the Liberals a majority; denying the Conservative leader his own seat, never mind the chance to form a government as his strategists had believed was possible; reducing the Quebec separatist party to a much smaller Bloc; depriving the NDP of official party status; and stripping the Greens down to a lone seat in Parliament." "Mark Carney, whom British readers will remember from his stint running the Bank of England, is the model of a modern central banker: competent, conventional and colourless, more likely to be popular at Davos than in retail politics, writes Archie Bland and Leyland Cecco from Ottawa for While the conventional wisdom for years has been that such figures are no longer viable political leaders, the specific circumstances in Canada this year have turned that analysis on its head. As he said himself in March: 'I'm most useful in a crisis. I'm not that good in peacetime,' the duo wrote. They also noted that Carney has promised to negotiate a new trade deal with the US, and has said he hopes to meet Trump in person soon – but that Canada has the leverage to wait until the time is right to do so. In the meantime, he wants to focus on lowering internal trade barriers and bolstering major investment projects, such as housing construction, to spur the economy.
Calgary Herald
26-04-2025
- General
- Calgary Herald
Why Pope Francis's signet ring must be destroyed with a silver hammer
Pope Francis was to be buried at the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome on Saturday following a funeral mass in St. Peter's Square. The ceremony began at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET). Among the oldest traditions that mark the funeral preparations for Pope Francis is the destruction of his signet ring, the Ring of the Fisherman, one of the most storied pieces of papal regalia. Kissing the pope's ring as a sign of respect is such a famous gesture that is has become a general expression for deference to authority, and the practice occasionally bothered Francis so much on grounds of hygiene and infection control that he would sometimes withdraw his right hand when people went to kiss it as they met him. Each pope gets his own new ring made at his investiture, which is then destroyed at the end of his papacy, which usually but not always coincides with his death. The National Post runs through the history and significance of this ring that is known in Latin as the 'Anulus piscatoris.' Article content Article content Why does the pope have a ring? Article content Article content Originally, in about the 6th century, the ring was intended as a unique seal for private correspondence and other papal writings that were less formal than a 'papal bull,' the grand official pronouncements that are so called because they are authenticated with a lead seal called a 'bulla.' That practice is no longer in use, but the ring tradition remains. Article content This practice of destroying the ring ensured there could be no faked letters that might conveniently emerge during the period when there is no pope. The tradition is carried out after confirmation of a pope's death by the 'camerlengo,' a cardinal who manages Vatican affairs, who destroys the ring with a ceremonial silver hammer. When Benedict XVI resigned the papacy in 2013, his elaborate gold ring was not destroyed but rather defaced by cutting a cross into the gold. Francis's ring is a simpler piece than Benedict's, and was repurposed from a gold-plated silver ring already owned by the Vatican, with an image of Saint Peter holding the keys to heaven. When Francis appeared in public, however, he more commonly wore an even simpler silver ring with just a cross on it. Article content Article content Article content Where do popes buy their jewellery? Article content Article content These are almost always custom pieces, although Francis's ring was not newly made for him. It had previously been owned by Archbishop Pasquale Macchi, the private secretary of Pope Paul VI, a key force behind the mid-20th century reforms of the Second Vatican Council. It was made by the late Enrico Manfrini, an Italian goldsmith and sculptor who is known for major works including a door to the Cathedral of Siena and statues of several popes. Article content The Piscatory Ring, or the Ring of the Fisherman, is a direct nod to Peter, the first Bishop of Rome, the seat held by popes. Peter was a fisherman in Galilee when he first followed Jesus, so the image on the papal ring is often of Peter in a boat. But it also refers to the significance of fish in Christian symbolism. For example, early Christians were persecuted in the Roman Empire, and Peter himself is reputed to have been crucified by the Emperor Nero, and buried on what is now the site of Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. In that climate of fear, the sign of the fish became a secret symbol of Christianity in reference to Peter and the apostles, whom Jesus had encouraged to be 'fishers of people,' and also for the Greek spelling of the word fish, 'ichthys,' which can be seen as an acronym for the Greek expression 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.' The symbol carried on into medieval literature. In some renderings of King Arthurian legend, for example, the wounded Fisher King is the mysterious keeper of the Holy Grail. Article content Article content
National Post
26-04-2025
- General
- National Post
Why Pope Francis's signet ring must be destroyed with a silver hammer
Pope Francis was to be buried at the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome on Saturday following a funeral mass in St. Peter's Square. The ceremony began at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET). Among the oldest traditions that mark the funeral preparations for Pope Francis is the destruction of his signet ring, the Ring of the Fisherman, one of the most storied pieces of papal regalia. Kissing the pope's ring as a sign of respect is such a famous gesture that is has become a general expression for deference to authority, and the practice occasionally bothered Francis so much on grounds of hygiene and infection control that he would sometimes withdraw his right hand when people went to kiss it as they met him. Each pope gets his own new ring made at his investiture, which is then destroyed at the end of his papacy, which usually but not always coincides with his death. The National Post runs through the history and significance of this ring that is known in Latin as the 'Anulus piscatoris.' Article content Article content Why does the pope have a ring? Article content Article content Originally, in about the 6th century, the ring was intended as a unique seal for private correspondence and other papal writings that were less formal than a 'papal bull,' the grand official pronouncements that are so called because they are authenticated with a lead seal called a 'bulla.' That practice is no longer in use, but the ring tradition remains. Article content This practice of destroying the ring ensured there could be no faked letters that might conveniently emerge during the period when there is no pope. The tradition is carried out after confirmation of a pope's death by the 'camerlengo,' a cardinal who manages Vatican affairs, who destroys the ring with a ceremonial silver hammer. When Benedict XVI resigned the papacy in 2013, his elaborate gold ring was not destroyed but rather defaced by cutting a cross into the gold. Francis's ring is a simpler piece than Benedict's, and was repurposed from a gold-plated silver ring already owned by the Vatican, with an image of Saint Peter holding the keys to heaven. When Francis appeared in public, however, he more commonly wore an even simpler silver ring with just a cross on it. Article content Article content Article content Article content These are almost always custom pieces, although Francis's ring was not newly made for him. It had previously been owned by Archbishop Pasquale Macchi, the private secretary of Pope Paul VI, a key force behind the mid-20th century reforms of the Second Vatican Council. It was made by the late Enrico Manfrini, an Italian goldsmith and sculptor who is known for major works including a door to the Cathedral of Siena and statues of several popes. Article content The Piscatory Ring, or the Ring of the Fisherman, is a direct nod to Peter, the first Bishop of Rome, the seat held by popes. Peter was a fisherman in Galilee when he first followed Jesus, so the image on the papal ring is often of Peter in a boat. But it also refers to the significance of fish in Christian symbolism. For example, early Christians were persecuted in the Roman Empire, and Peter himself is reputed to have been crucified by the Emperor Nero, and buried on what is now the site of Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. In that climate of fear, the sign of the fish became a secret symbol of Christianity in reference to Peter and the apostles, whom Jesus had encouraged to be 'fishers of people,' and also for the Greek spelling of the word fish, 'ichthys,' which can be seen as an acronym for the Greek expression 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.' The symbol carried on into medieval literature. In some renderings of King Arthurian legend, for example, the wounded Fisher King is the mysterious keeper of the Holy Grail. Article content Article content
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'I've just started as prime minister': Mark Carney on defensive in French leaders' debate
The leaders of Canada's major federal parties face off tonight in the first nationally televised debate of the 2025 election campaign. The French-language debate, a key opportunity to win over francophone voters, will air Wednesday at 6 p.m. Don't speak French? No problem. The National Post is livestreaming an English-dubbed version of the debate, below, alongside live discussion and analysis from our Ottawa bureau. Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet will take the stage in Montreal for what could be their final chance to win over undecided voters before Canadians cast their ballots on April 28. With polls showing a tight race between the Liberals and Conservatives, the NDP and the Bloc will be battling to put their parties back on the national agenda and we'll be following every moment live, right here. Review the live coverage from National Post reporters Catherine Lévesque, Antoine Trépanier, Christopher Nardi, and Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson in our live blog, above, starting at 6 p.m. tonight. Can't see the blog? .
