Mulroney pays tribute to Gorbachev, review of group funding : In the news August 31, 2022

Mulroney said in an interview that while US President Ronald Reagan is widely credited with ending the Cold War without firing a shot, “it takes two to tango”, and Gorbachev was an indispensable leader on the other side. .

“President Gorbachev will go down in history as an iconic leader and one who has done a lot for humanity,” he said.

The former prime minister says he first met Gorbachev in March 1985 and found him a breath of fresh air compared to the “stuffy, dull, unvisionary” Soviet leaders he was used to.

“He was quite charming and direct, alert, and you could tell then that he wanted to do business,” Mulroney said.

He remembers meeting Reagan a few days later in Quebec and telling the president that he expected Gorbachev to be an excellent interlocutor.

Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for his role in ending the Cold War and easing nuclear tensions, but he faced ridicule at home when the Soviet Union collapsed. The country had crumbled at his hands.

His power undermined by an attempted coup against him in August 1991, Gorbachev spent his final months in power watching republic after republic declare independence until he resigned on December 25, 1991, and the Union Soviet was written into oblivion a day later.

At the end of his reign, he was powerless to stop the whirlwind he had sown. Yet Gorbachev perhaps had a greater impact on the second half of the 20th century than any other political figure.

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Also this…

The federal government is conducting a “comprehensive review” of funding for an anti-racism group whose lead consultant sent out a series of tweets about “Jewish white supremacists,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.

The government has halted all funding for the Community Media Advocacy Center and is putting procedures in place “to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” he told a news conference.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that federal dollars have gone to this organization which has demonstrated xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism.

Last week, Diversity Minister Ahmed Hussen, who was also at the press conference, cut $133,000 in government funding from the Community Media Advocacy Center and suspended an anti-racism project he was overseeing after tweets “ reprehensible and despicable” published by its principal consultant, Laith Marouf, came to light.

Opposition MPs are calling for a full audit of the funding provided to the CMAC by government departments and through federal programs, including for its participation in proceedings conducted by Canada’s federal broadcast regulator.

The CMAC describes itself on its website as a non-profit organization supporting “self-determination for Indigenous, racialized, and disabled peoples in media through research, relationship building, advocacy, and learning.”

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What we’re watching in the US…

Young people follow the news, but are not too happy with what they see.

Roughly speaking, this is the conclusion of a study published on Wednesday showing that 79% of young Americans say they receive information daily. The survey of young people aged 16-40 _ the oldest of whom are known as millennials and the youngest of Gen Z _ was conducted by Media Insight Project, a collaboration between The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the American Press Institute.

The report digs holes in the idea that young people are not interested in news, a perception largely driven by statistics showing an older audience for television news and newspapers.

“They’re more engaged in more areas than people realize,” said Michael Bolden, CEO and executive director of the American Press Institute.

It is estimated that 71% of this age group receives daily news from social media. The social media diet is increasingly diverse; Facebook no longer dominates as before. About a third or more receive information every day on YouTube and Instagram, and about a quarter or more on TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter. Today, 40% say they receive information daily from Facebook, compared to 57% of millennials who said this in a 2015 Media Insight Project survey.

Yet 45% also said they get information every day from traditional sources, such as TV or radio stations, newspapers and news websites.

The survey found that around a quarter of young people say they regularly pay for at least one information product, such as print or digital magazines or newspapers, and a similar percentage have donated to at least one nonprofit news organization. lucrative.

Only 32% say they enjoy following the news. That’s a sharp drop from seven years ago, when 53% of millennials said that. Fewer and fewer young people say they like talking about the news with their family and friends.

Other results, such as people saying they feel worse the more time they spend online or setting time limits on their consumption, indicate news fatigue, said journalism professor Tom Rosenstiel at the University of Maryland.

“I wasn’t surprised by that,” Bolden said. “It’s been a tough news cycle, especially the past three years.”

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What we watch in the rest of the world…

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday his ruling party would sever ties with the Unification Church following a growing scandal sparked by the assassination of former leader Shinzo Abe last month, and apologized for causing the loss of public confidence in politics.

Comfortable and widespread ties between members of Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, many of whom belong to Abe’s faction, and the South Korean-born church have surfaced since Abe was shot while he was giving a campaign speech in July.

The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagani, who was arrested at the scene, reportedly told police he killed Abe because of his apparent connection to the church. In a letter seen by The Associated Press and social media posts believed to be his, Yamagani said he believed his mother’s large donations to the church had ruined his life.

Some Japanese expressed understanding, even sympathy, as details about the man’s life emerged, creating profound implications for the political party that has ruled Japan virtually continuously since World War II.

The Unification Church, which was founded in South Korea in 1954 and came to Japan a decade later, has forged close ties with a host of conservative lawmakers over their shared interests in opposing communism. Abe’s grandfather and former prime minister, Nobusuke Kishi, was a key figure who helped the church’s political unity in Tokyo.

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On this day in 1994…

Thousands of Russian soldiers from the once mighty Soviet Empire have completed their historic withdrawal from Eastern Europe, symbolizing the end of World War II and the Cold War.

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In entertainment…

Arcade Fire is taken off the air from some Canadian radio stations amid allegations of sexual misconduct against singer Win Butler.

A CBC representative said the broadcaster will “suspend” the Montreal rock band’s airing on its CBC Music FM radio station and on Sirius XM CBC Radio 3, “until we learn more about the situation.” .

Meanwhile, Ian March, program director at Toronto’s Indie88, confirmed the indie rock station made “a quick decision over the weekend to pull the band’s music”.

He says that Indie88 “has not yet had an in-depth internal conversation about the permanence of this decision”.

Representatives for Bell Media, Corus Entertainment and Rogers Communications _ three of Canada’s major broadcasters whose stations carry Arcade Fire _ did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On Saturday, music publication Pitchfork published an article containing allegations of inappropriate sexual interactions against four people by the 42-year-old musician. The Canadian Press could not independently verify the accounts described in the report.

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Have you seen this?

Coalition Avenir Québec leader Francois Legault found himself on the defensive on Tuesday, forced to justify his government’s tough COVID-19 rules during a visit to a riding contested by the upstart Conservative Party of Quebec. Quebec.

La Beauce-Sud, south of Quebec and on the border with the United States, is located in a part of the province known for its conservative politics, its entrepreneurial spirit _ and its particular disregard for Legault’s restrictions in the event of pandemic. The Conservatives did not play a role in the 2018 election, but under Leader Eric Duhaime they have risen sharply in the polls since he began attacking the CAQ over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. .

Legault told reporters on the third day of the election campaign that he had imposed strict COVID-19 rules _ including a months-long curfew _ to save lives, adding that most Quebecers appreciate how how difficult it was to make decisions during this time.

“I took the actions that I felt best represented the common good,” he said. “It’s not easy to make this kind of decision _ I didn’t do it for fun; I did it to save lives.

He said Quebecers were “extremely united” in the fight against COVID-19 and were showing high rates of compliance — including having one of the highest first-dose vaccination rates in the world.

Legault has repeatedly declined to specifically name his conservative counterpart; instead, the CAQ leader accused some party leaders of wanting to bring anti-government discontent to the Legislative Assembly.

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This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 31, 2022.

The Canadian Press