City in brief
Montreal’s Venezuelan community protested the presidency of Nicolas Maduro and showed support for Interim President Juan Guaidó on Saturday, according to CTV. With support from the Nicaraguan community, protestors denounced Maduro’s human rights violations.
A Montreal woman in her 70s was found dead in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, marking the second homicide of 2019, according to The Montreal Gazette. Police found the woman wounded early on Friday by what seemed to be a sharp object. A 74-year-old man found at the scene has been arrested.
Despite the low temperatures, parents have been camping outside Royal Vale School and Edinburgh Elementary ahead of the official registration to enrol their children, according to CBC. The English Montreal School Board is aware overcrowding in these schools is a problem, and parents said this is not the first time they’ve lined up.
A giant bear was drawn in the snow on the Lachine Canal last Tuesday and had Montrealers questioning how the belly button was drawn, as reported by CBC. It turns out, the bear creators threw five snowballs to create the belly button without leaving footprints between the outline of the bear and its navel.
Nation in brief
Canada’s Auditor General, Michael Ferguson, died of cancer on Saturday at 60 years old, according to Global News. He had been working as the federal auditor for the last seven years.
Almost 12,000 Eritrean refugees were quietly welcomed to Canada in December, according to The Star. Their applications had been pending for four years, after fleeing Eritrea’s oppressive military regime and finding refuge in Sudan, where they were once again exposed to violence.
RCMP divers recovered the remains of two men who vanished after their float plane crashed on a Saskatchewan lake 60 years ago, according to The Globe and Mail. They found the wreckage last summer, however weather conditions made a dive too dangerous until last week.
A two-year-old boy and a five-year-old boy were taken to a Manitoba hospital on Saturday after eating a cannabis chocolate bar, according to CTV. Police said that Child and Family Services were contacted and no charges are expected. Edible cannabis products are still illegal in Canada.
World in brief
The United States officially filed charges against Chinese telecom giant Huawei on Jan. 29, according to the BBC. The U.S. alleges the company stole technology from an American rival and defied sanctions to conduct business in Iran, among other things. The United States previously took action against Huawei by having CEO Meng Wanzhou arrested in Vancouver in December.
The world’s largest free-trade zone was created when an agreement between the European Union (EU) and Japan came into effect on Feb. 1, according to Deutsche Welle. Once the deal is fully implemented, 97 per cent of EU goods sold in Japan, and 99 per cent of Japanese goods sold in the EU, will be duty-free.
Teachers across France demonstrated on Saturday for better wages and improved working conditions, according to France 24. More than 67,000 people have joined the “Stylos Rouges” (Red Pens) protest movement, which opposes economic hardships that have hit the country’s teachers.
Mariah Carey performed in Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Economic City, defying women’s rights activists who urged the American R&B singer to cancel, according to CNN. Eleven women’s rights activists have been imprisoned in the kingdom since May, with many of them allegedly being tortured and sexually abused.
Graphic by @spooky_soda
