www.theasianstar.com Vol 21 - Issue 4
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Continued on page 8
Canada to sanction 58 Russian individuals, entities and cut export permits amid Ukraine attack
Is inflation really this bad, or are greedy companies profiting off the pandemic?
Canada approves Medicago’s plant-based COVID-19 vaccine Health Canada authorized a new COVID-19 vaccine Thursday that it touted as the first greenlit shot to be developed by a Canadian company and the first to be made with plant-based technology. Known as Covifenz, the vaccine was developed by Medicago, a biotechnology company based in Quebec City that uses a plant host to make virus-
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You’ve been paying more for stuff for a year now. From used cars to rent to the price of groceries, inflation set record after record throughout 2021 and came to be widely acknowledged as the worst in 40 years. There are very real reasons behind why inflation is high, including unusually strong consumer demand at a time when businesses are navigating worker shortages and continuing supply-chain issues. But one nagging question hasn’t been answered
yet: Are you getting screwed by companies using inflation as an excuse to raise prices on you? Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Biden administration, consumer advocates, and even some economists think so. “The nation is dealing with inflation at its highest level in decades, much of it driven by corporate greed and anticompetitive behavior, and the federal government must use every tool available to prevent price gouging and reduce prices
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada’s second tranche of sanctions against Russia for their attack on Ukraine, which includes financial penalties against 58 individuals and entities and the halting of all export permits. Trudeau said he spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky Thursday morning,
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Russia bombing Ukraine, while Putin chilling with Pak Prime Minister Imran Khan An extravagant ceremony awaited Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan as he stepped onto a red carpet on Moscow airstrip. Trumpet players from Russia’s Guard of Honor welcomed him with Pakistan’s national anthem on the evening of Feb. 23. “What a time I’ve come here. So much excitement,” Khan said to a diplomat as he was escorted off the airstrip. His words were caught on a video posted by his office on Twitter. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is welcomed with an official ceremony in Moscow, Russia on February 23, 2022. The arrival marks the beginning of a bizarrely
and that during a G7 meeting agreed that Russia’s actions will not go unpunished. “We condemn unequivocally this attack on Ukraine, this invasion of Ukraine, but also the violation of the UN Charter, the principles, the rule of law internationally, and we will respond forcefully to make sure that Russia fails,” he said.
timed two-day visit where Khan is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Russia’s armed forces are bombing Ukraine and Russia is becoming a pariah to the Western world. Just hours after Khan’s arrival, in the early morning of Feb. 24, explosions and gunfire were heard near Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. Russian forces reportedly fired missiles in several cities in Ukraine with military deployments to the country’s southern coast. Shortly before, in a televised address on Russian state TV, Putin announced the beginning of a Russian military operation in eastern Ukraine.
Chinese govt agency that works with Canadians involved in espionage, Federal Court affirms The outfit has worked with a top Canadian scientist, a member of the Ontario legislature and children in the Toronto area. Its name sounds more bureaucratic than menacing. But the Chinese government’s Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO) is involved in espionage that harms Canada’s interests, a Federal Court judge has affirmed in what appears to be a precedent-setting new ruling. Beijing critics say the judgement — upholding an immigration officer’s decision on the issue as “reasonable” represents a rare official rebuke of the office, now a bureau of a larger Communist Party department.Despite its apparently longstanding efforts to influence and monitor Chinese Canadians, the agency has rarely been publicly called-out by authorities here, says Charles Burton, a former diplomat in Beijing and senior fellow with the MacdonaldLaurier Institute. “I’m thrilled about the ruling,” he said.
MANMOHAN SEKHON M.Sc., M.Phill Life and Health insurance Advisor
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