Government Minister Blames Tom And Jerry For The Rise of ISIS

The head of Egypt's Information Service, Ambassador Salah Abdel Sadek has placed the blame for the rise of ISIS squarely at the paws of a well-known cat and mouse. It is said that a bad workman blames his tools but how about one who blames cartoon characters?

Speaking at Cairo University, he said that the characters encourage extremism and teach children that you can blow people up. He opined that the cartoon as well as video games and 'violent' movies helped to spark violence and extremism across the Arab world.

Speaking to the academic audience, he said that Tom and Jerry contributed to the notion that violence was a 'natural' part of life.

Foreign Minister John Baird meets with Israel's PM today

 Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, center left, shakes hands with his Canadian counterpart John Baird during their meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. 

The Canadian Press 

Foreign Minister John Baird meets with Israel's prime minister today as he continues a trip through the Middle East.

Baird is expected to talk to Benjamin Netanyahu about about regional security issues, the Middle East peace process and trade.

Baird received a less than warm greeting on Sunday when he went to meet with Palestinian officials.

Demonstrators unhappy with Canada's staunch pro-Israel stance pelted Baird's motorcade with eggs and shoes but none struck the foreign minister.

Palestinians hurl eggs at convoy of Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

Palestinian protesters hurl eggs at the vehicle of Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird as he leaves following his meeting with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki, in front of the Palestinian foreign ministry in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. Dozens of Palestinian protesters have hurled eggs and shoes at the convoy of the visiting Canadian foreign minister. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

The Associated Press
Dozens of Palestinian protesters in Ramallah hurled eggs and shoes at the convoy of Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

Baird travelled to the West Bank city today to meet with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki.

The protesters held signs reading: “Baird you are not welcome in Palestine.”

Activists from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party had earlier called for a boycott of the minister because of the Canadian government’s perceived pro-Israel stance.

Baird is in the region for four days of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials.

Foreign affairs minister denounces lashing of Saudi blogger

Ensaf Haidar, left, wife of blogger Raif Badawi, takes part in a rally for his freedom, Tuesday, January 13, 2015 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

 Mike Blanchfield The Canadian Press
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has publicly denounced the flogging of a Saudi blogger, calling for clemency in the case.

In a statement, the minister responded for the first time to the sentence handed down last May to blogger Raif Badawi, who received 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes after he criticized Saudi Arabia’s clerics on a liberal blog he founded.

The first 50 of those lashes were delivered last Friday; Badawi is expected to receive 50 more every week for the next 19 weeks.

“Canada is deeply concerned by the public flogging of Raif Badawi. This punishment is a violation of human dignity and freedom of expression, and we call for clemency in this case,” Baird said in a statement released early Wednesday evening.

Montreal police arrested for alleged death threats against cabinet minister

Quebec Municipal Affairs Minister Pierre Moreau speaks during question period, at the legislature in Quebec City, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014. (Jacques Boissinot / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Montreal police say one of their own is being detained after alleged death threats against several people, including two minors and Municipal Affairs Minister Pierre Moreau.

The 45-year-old detective-sergeant was arrested in nearby Terrebonne on Monday after an alleged victim filed a complaint with the local police force.

Montreal police spokesman Jean-Pierre Brabant confirmed today the officer is an employee of the force.

Terrebonne police Capt. Sylvain Theoret says authorities met one of the alleged victims on Monday and then questioned three others, including two minors.

He says the charges against the suspect include criminal harassment, uttering death threats and mischief and are related to events that allegedly occurred over a nine-year period between 2005 and last Monday.

Moreau was the driving force behind recently adopted pension-reform legislation that raised the ire of municipal employees and sparked widespread protest.

President Robert Mugabe sacks deputy eight government ministers

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has fired his deputy Joice Mujuru along with eight ministers aligned to her, days after she lost her post in the ruling party, officials said.

Mugabe sacked Mujuru, 59, on Tuesday after weeks of accusations that she had led a “treacherous cabal” to try to unseat Mugabe, Al Jazeera reports.

The sacked officials received their dismissal letters on Monday night, reported the Reuters news agency.

Al Jazeera Haru Mutasa, reporting from the capital Harare, said Mugabe “says he has evidence that Mujuru met with US officials, and in this meeting they plotted a plan to try and remove” him from office.

“Supporters of ZANU-PF are concerned that there could be a split (in the party). They know that Mujuru has been a member of the party for many years – even before independence from British rule in 1980,” said our correspondent.

PPP initiatives cost Ontario taxpayers extra $8-billion

“If the public sector could manage projects successfully, on time and on budget, there is taxpayer money to be saved,” Auditor-General Bonnie Lysyk said Tuesday at Queen’s Park.

ADRIAN MORROW

The Globe and Mail
Public-private partnerships have cost Ontario taxpayers nearly $8-billion more on infrastructure over the past nine years than if the government had successfully built the projects itself.

The revelation, from Auditor-General Bonnie Lysyk, comes as Premier Kathleen Wynne stakes the province’s future on a vast construction program that will see dozens of new schools, bridges and subways built over the next decade. And it suggests Ms. Wynne can build that infrastructure more cheaply as she wrestles down a $12.5-billion deficit.

“If the public sector could manage projects successfully, on time and on budget, there is taxpayer money to be saved,” Ms. Lysyk said Tuesday at Queen’s Park.

Her audit looked at 74 projects – including several hospitals and the Eglinton light rail line – that were built using private partnerships, called Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP), by Crown corporation Infrastructure Ontario since 2005.

Canadian foreign minister rules out ISIS airstrike

Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird takes part in a press conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, September 30, 2014. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

 Adam Schreck
The Associated PressCanada has no plans to follow its neighbour the United States in expanding airstrikes against the Islamic State group into Syria, the country’s top diplomat said Saturday during a visit to the Middle East.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Foreign Minister John Baird said Canada has a responsibility to contribute to the U.S.-led bombing campaign in part because the Islamic State group has attracted Canadian fighters to its ranks. But he insisted that support would be confined to Iraq for now.

“At this time we’re focusing on our current mission. … We’ll stick with Iraq,” he said at a security conference in the Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain.

Canadian warplanes launched their first airstrikes against militants early last month with attacks on targets near the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

Kenya Police Chief resigns over Christians killings, interior minister fired

Following the killing of 36 people by terror group Al-Shabab this morning in a quarry in Mandera, North of Kenya, Kenya's National Police chief, David Kimaiyo has resigned.

After receiving the police chief's resignation letter, Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta announced the dismissal of Kenya's Interior Minister with immediate effect. (Pic from the scene above)

According to AP, President Uhuru Kenyatta has named an opposition politician and retired army general, Joseph Nkaissery, as new Interior Minister, in charge of security.

Al Shabab terror group this morning invaded a quarry in Mandera, north of Kenya, separating the Christians from the Muslims and shot dead the ones who couldn't recite the Qur'an. 

Two weeks ago, the terror group attacked a bus and killed 28 Christians