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A computer network disruption has hobbled services at Canada’s foreign affairs ministry for days, and one security expert says it is likely the result of a cyberattack.
Networks at the Department of Global Affairs had not been fully restored to normal as of yesterday, two government sources told The Globe and Mail.
Canada’s cyberspy agency last week warned of Moscow-backed cyberattacks on Canadian critical infrastructure as Western countries prepare economic sanctions in the growing expectation that Russia will invade Ukraine. Tensions have been rising between Russia and Western allies such as Canada over the future of Ukraine.
- NATO sends reinforcements, U.S. puts troops on alert as Ukraine tensions rise
- A former Afghan translator for the Canadian military stuck in Kyiv fears being caught in a war zone – again
- Opinion: When it comes to Ukraine’s national security, Vladimir Putin has already won
- Eric Reguly: Russia and Europe risk mutually assured destruction in a natural gas war
A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022.The Associated Press
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On Nova Scotia’s St. FX campus, the lure of the rings sparks a COVID-19 outbreak and polarizes a town
At St. Francis Xavier University, an undergraduate school on a hill above Antigonish, N.S., the X-Ring ceremony has long been a symbolic rite of passage. Every year on Dec. 3, fourth-year students are given a square-faced gold ring with a distinctive black X, in a tradition many feel grants them membership into a coveted club of alumni that outsiders say has an almost cult-like loyalty.
As the population of Antigonish swelled by several thousand parents, students and alumni crowding onto campus, this December’s X-Ring celebrations also brought something else – COVID-19, at a time when Nova Scotia had yet to experience the fury of Omicron. Within days, an outbreak would cripple the community, emptying campus, shutting down businesses and forcing layoffs, while unleashing a wave of infections that exploded across Nova Scotia and the rest of the region.
- André Picard: ‘I’m done with COVID’ is easier said than done
- Do not assume COVID-19 pandemic reaching ‘end game’, warns WHO
- Britain to drop COVID-19 testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers
- COVID-19 led to more than half-a-year drop in life expectancy in 2020, StatCan says
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Trucker convoy raises millions in funds: A group of truckers has garnered millions in fundraising dollars from droves of supporters as it drives across the country to protest vaccine mandates, despite the vast majority of big-riggers having been jabbed.
Florida man in court over alleged human smuggling: A 47-year-old Florida man made his first court appearance yesterday in relation to an alleged human smuggling operation at the Manitoba-Minnesota border, while on the other side of the world a community in India is reacting to the deaths of four people who perished while attempting the same passage in treacherous winter conditions last week.
Canada’s funeral industry sees revenue fall during pandemic: Many funeral homes have seen sharp drops in revenue during the pandemic as restrictions on gatherings have forced Canadians to hold simpler memorial ceremonies for loved ones, a trend that has exacerbated longer-term financial challenges for the industry.
Erin O’Toole gives a pass to Batters support: Erin O’Toole says he has no problem with Tory MPs from Saskatchewan confirming Senator Denise Batters as a member of their provincial Conservative caucus, even though O’Toole previously removed Batters from the national caucus after she publicly challenged his leadership of the party.
MORNING MARKETS
European markets advance: European stocks opened higher on Tuesday, after a downbeat Asian session, with world stocks set for their biggest monthly drop since the pandemic hit markets in March 2020. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 1.11 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 rose 1.12 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished down 1.66 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.67 per cent. New York futures were weaker. The Canadian dollar was trading at 79.14 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
John Ibbitson: “For almost two years, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by spending money at levels never seen in peacetime, to protect workers, businesses and the health care system. That spending was necessary. But this year the bill comes due. And it won’t be pretty.”
Andrew Willis: “If Ontario Premier Doug Ford and other politicians want to preserve, or enhance, provincial gambling revenue and ensure online gamblers play on platforms that are responsibly regulated, they need to roll out rules. And in the brave new world of iGaming, it would be a mistake to give control of online gambling and sports betting to a handful of casino owners. The house doesn’t get to win this game.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
Brian GableBrian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Across this country’s varied climates, the best rooms create a welcoming warmth no matter the season
For the 2022 edition of Designing Canada, which highlights the country’s best architecture, interiors and housewares, we searched out designers who excel at conjuring up comfort and closeness in new and novel ways.
MOMENT IN TIME: JANUARY 25, 1759
A portrait of Scottish national poet Robert Burns, hangs in his house in Dumfries, January 19, 2012.Mohammed Abbas/Reuters
Scottish poet Robert Burns is born
He grew up in poverty on a farm in western Scotland and began writing poetry at age 15 to win over a young girl working on the same land. Robert Burns would go on to become a national treasure and renowned around the world for works such as Auld Lang Syne and A Red, Red Rose. His funny, poignant poems celebrated his working-class roots and often poked fun at established figures. Many of his lines still resonate today, such as “the best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men.” Burns had trouble with money, women and drink, and he held conflicting views about slavery. But his poems inspired John Keats, William Wordsworth and Walt Whitman, and his songs about egalitarianism were sung by revolutionaries in China and Russia and embraced by Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. Five years after his death in 1796, a group of friends held a raucous supper in his honour. The tradition caught on and, for more than 200 years, Jan. 25 has been celebrated as Burns Night with traditional Scottish food, the ritual reading of Address to a Haggis and, naturally, Scotch whisky. Paul Waldie
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