Good morning,
These are the top stories:
Iran’s missile attacks in Iraq and the reaction so far
More than a dozen ballistic missiles were fired from inside Iran at two U.S. bases in Iraq early this morning, attacks Tehran said were revenge for the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani. There were no reports of casualties.
The locations of the two bases struck by Iranian missiles.The Globe and Mail
Iran warned it would carry out further attacks on the Israeli city of Haifa and Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, if the U.S. hits back.
U.S. President Donald Trump sounded a cautious tone Tuesday evening, tweeting “All is well!” and promising a statement today.
Iran’s foreign minister said his country had “concluded proportionate measures in self-defense” and suggested there would be no further attacks if Washington doesn’t retaliate.
Canada’s troops: All Canadian troops in Iraq are safe and accounted for, Canada’s top soldier said. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has met with senior military leadership to monitor the situation, which follows the announcement that some of the 500 Canadian troops in Iraq would be moved to Kuwait.
Iran’s new military boss: Esmail Ghaani, Soleimani’s long-time deputy, has been tapped to lead a vast network of Iranian forces and militias. While he lacks Soleimani’s charisma and connections, his rhetoric is just as fiery. Don’t expect Iran’s military policies to shift much, correspondent Eric Reguly writes.
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A Ukrainian Boeing 737 plane crashed in Iran, killing 63 Canadians and
Sixty-three Canadians were among 176 people killed when a Ukraine International Airlines jet crashed near Tehran’s airport shortly after takeoff.
The cause of the crash in not yet known, but it was not immediately seen as linked to overnight missile attacls at U.S. military bases in neighbouring Iraq.
Debris is seen from a Ukrainian plane as authorities work at the scene in Shahedshahr, southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020.Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press
The head of Tehran’s civil aviation organization was quoted on Wednesday as saying Iran will not give the black box of the crashed airliner to planemaker Boeing. Ali Abedzadeh also said it was not clear which country Iran would send the box to so that its data could be analyzed, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
The plane was a Boeing 737-800, part of the same aircraft family as the 737 Max plane that has been grounded worldwide since March following two deadly crashes.
Indigenous leaders are vowing to defy the Coastal GasLink injunction
Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs want the RCMP to withdraw from the unceded northeastern B.C. territory and are calling on the B.C. government to order a halt to pipeline construction.
“There is no access to Wet’suwet’en territory without our consent,” said John Ridsdale, chief of the Wet’suwet’en’s Rafters on Beaver House.
John Ridsdale, who also goes by the hereditary name Na’Moks. (Amy Smart/The Canadian Press)Amy Smart/The Canadian Press
The vocal opposition could set the stage for another confrontation roughly a year after a blockade led to arrests of protesters and international media coverage.
RCMP say they’re “committed to ensuring the safety and security of all individuals involved and will take the actions necessary, using a carefully measured and scalable approach, should there be any criminal activities that pose a threat to individuals or property.”
But Ridsdale questioned the RCMP’s plans, saying the decision to block a logging road was done “for our safety.”
Jean Charest has been advising Huawei on 5G and Meng Wanzhou’s case
The former Quebec premier – who is contemplating a run for Conservative Party leadership – is part of a team at a law firm retained by Huawei to offer strategic advice, a source tells The Globe.
The consulting work includes offering intelligence and policy advice on understanding the extradition process facing Meng. Her hearing is set to begin on Jan. 20.
Charest is also advising Huawei about 5G as the federal government weighs whether to bar the Chinese company from providing equipment for the next-generation technology. Those duties appear to be at odds with Conservative policies; the party has urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ban Huawei from selling its 5G gear in Canada.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Carlos Ghosn’s lawyers blast Nissan: The Japanese car maker’s investigation was a “predetermined” effort to take Ghosn down to prevent a merger of Nissan with France’s Renault, his lawyers allege. Now in Beirut, Ghosn is set to hold a live news conference today, his first since being arrested in November of 2018.
Canada’s banks temper growth plans: Amid concerns from investors, Bank of Nova Scotia has abruptly announced it is adding new, more pessimistic assumptions to its prediction models on credit. The move is a response to questions around how prepared banks are to absorb loan losses when the next economic downturn hits.
Canadian Peter Dalglish has appeal hearing delayed: The philanthropist, who was sentenced to nine years in jail in Nepal for sexually assaulting two children, will have to wait to have his appeal heard. Dalglish’s lawyers allege that the boys, aged 11 and 14, were “enticed to lie and damage the reputation of an innocent man.”
MORNING MARKETS
Investors pause equity selling as markets await next move in Middle East conflict: European shares fell on Wednesday and U.S. equity futures pointed to weakness on Wall Street after Iran’s attack on U.S.-led forces in Iraq, but earlier sharp market moves were starting to fade as fears abated that the raid would lead to an immediate military escalation. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.05 per cent around 6:15 a.m. Germany’s Dax shed 0.19 per cent and France’s CAC 40 slid 0.08 per cent. In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei ended down 1.57 per cent. The Canadian dollar was trading below 77 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Ottawa’s proposed firearm ban is an American solution to a Canadian problem
Robyn Urback: “the gun violence problem that afflicts Canada daily is not one of mass shootings, and we’d be remiss to believe a ban on certain semi-automatic weapons – including the AR-15 – will meaningfully temper the spate of gun violence afflicting Canadian cities and towns.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)The Globe and Mail
MOMENT IN TIME
Stephen Hawking is born
Hawking addresses a public meeting in Cape Town in 2008. (Mike Hutchings/Reuters)MIKE HUTCHINGS/Reuters
Jan. 8, 1942: Like Einstein, Stephen Hawking started out as a poor student. At his first year at Oxford, he found the physics syllabus “ridiculously easy.” He would get his PhD with a career goal of unifying the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. He said it would be “the ultimate triumph of human reason, for then we should know the mind of God.” His bestselling book, A Brief History of Time, sold 10 million copies; despite its attempt to bring cosmology to the masses, it was dubbed “the most popular book never read.” His greatest accomplishment could be that he did all this after being diagnosed at 21 with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and given only two years to live. He survived another 55 years. Despite being confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak, he became a pop-culture icon with his computer-generated voice and appearances on The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory. To show the potential of people with disabilities, he took a zero-gravity flight to experience weightlessness, and, in one of his last interviews, said, “we must all do what we can in whatever situation we are in. Never give up.” – Graeme Harris
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Arik Ligeti