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Canadian singer and activist Denise Ho among group arrested in Hong Kong: report

Published

2 years ago

May 11, 2022

HONG KONG — Canadian singer and activist Denise Ho is one of at least four people who have been arrested in Hong Kong on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces to endanger China’s national security, reports said Wednesday.

U.K.-based human rights group Hong Kong Watch said Ho was detained by Hong Kong’s National Security Police, along with Cardinal Joseph Zen, lawyer Margaret Ng and scholar Hui Po-keung.

The rights group says the arrests are apparently related to their roles as trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which provided legal aid to people who took part in 2019 pro-democracy protests that were quashed by security forces.

Scores of pro-democracy activists have been arrested under a sweeping National Security Law imposed on the city by Beijing in 2020. Ho was previously arrested and briefly detained in December.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, who had voiced her concern following Ho’s first arrest, reiterated that sentiment on Wednesday.

“The news of multiple arrests in Hong Kong of former trustees of a legal defence fund, including Denise Ho, is deeply troubling,” she wrote on Twitter.

“The ongoing targeting of civil society groups erodes the rights and freedoms of (Hong Kong) residents guaranteed under (Hong Kong’s) basic law,” Joly added, using pictograms of Hong Kong’s flag in place of words.

A spokeswoman for the group Alliance Canada Hong Kong says the arrests are a sign of worsening repression in Hong Kong. “It’s not exactly surprising that it happened, but it’s still shocking,” Ai-Men Lau said. “Especially arresting a 90-year-old cardinal for his peaceful activities,” she added in reference to Zen.

Lau said Ho was born in Hong Kong but grew up in Brossard, Que., on Montreal’s South Shore. Ho has previously cited her time in Canada as a source of inspiration for her activism, Lau said.

Since returning to Hong Kong, Ho has become a “significant figure” in the pro-democracy community, and she helped run the 612 Fund, said Lau, who urged the Canadian government to ensure Ho receives proper consular support.

Global Affairs Canada said in a statement Wednesday the department was providing consular services to Ho.

Ho’s manager, Jelly Cheng, confirmed Ho’s arrest on Wednesday but said she had no other information.

The arrests follow the selection on Sunday of Hong Kong’s new leader, John Lee, a hardline former security chief who ran unopposed in a process controlled by Beijing.

The European Union and foreign ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized countries — including Canada — condemned the election as fundamentally undemocratic and a betrayal of the “one country, two systems” principle under which Hong Kong was supposed to retain its own political, legal and economic system for 50 years after the end of British colonial rule.

Lau, however, urged the Canadian government to go even further in supporting democracy in Hong Kong.

While the statement was a good step, “we haven’t seen that followed up with concrete actions: for example, sanctions against Hong Kong officials responsible for the political crackdowns,” she said.

She said she also believes Canada should further expand humanitarian programs for those impacted or those seeking to flee Hong Kong due to political persecution.

Hong Kong’s government and police had no immediate comment on the reported arrests.

Zen, the retired archbishop of Hong Kong, is a fierce critic of China and has been blistering in his condemnation of the Vatican’s 2018 agreement with Beijing over bishop nominations, which he has said was a sellout of underground Christians in China.

The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said the Holy See “learned with concern the news of the arrest of Cardinal Zen and is following the evolution of the situation with extreme attention.”

Hui was arrested at Hong Kong’s international airport as he sought to leave the city, Hong Kong Watch said.

“Today’s arrests signal beyond a doubt that Beijing intends to intensify its crackdown on basic rights and freedoms in Hong Kong,” said the group’s chief executive, Benedict Rogers.

“We urge the international community to shine a light on this brutal crackdown and call for the immediate release of these activists,” Rogers said.

The White House also called on China and Hong Kong authorities to cease targeting Hong Kong advocates and immediately release Zen and others who were “unjustly detained and charged,” deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.

Several leading Hong Kong activists have fled to Taiwan, Britain or elsewhere, while thousands of other Hong Kongers have chosen to leave the city, raising concerns about the economic future of the Asian financial centre of 7.4 million.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2022.

— by Morgan Lowrie in Montreal; with files from The Associated Press.

The Canadian Press

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Our Obsession with Convenience is Harming Us and Our Planet

Published

1 hour ago

September 20, 2024

Nick Kossovan

“Comfort is the worst addiction.” – Marcus Aurelius

The stickiness of the Internet and social media is largely due to our obsession with convenience. (read: instant gratification) The digital world offers an unimaginably massive and convoluted buffet of conveniences. 24/7/365 access to news and information, instant messaging, unlimited entertainment, and online shopping is accessible through your hand-held device, which is not much bigger than a credit card. In all its forms, the Internet capitalizes on the relationship between convenience and increased consumption.

Advertisers and marketers lost no time capitalizing on the golden opportunity the Internet’s convenience provides to intensify our wasteful 1st world consumerism. Consequently, our world is increasingly dominated by tech companies and apps, enabling us to order takeout, have anything delivered to our doorsteps, and swipe left, hoping to find our soulmate.

As we become more addicted to the convenience of shopping from the comfort of our homes, we’re inadvertently harming ourselves psychologically and environmentally. The Sears Catalogue, founded in 1887, was the Amazon that never grew. 137 years ago, our forefathers could’ve gotten everything by mail. This would’ve made sense since cars weren’t around to make shopping and transporting purchases easy.

So why wasn’t the convenience of shopping from a mail-order catalogue widely adopted?

I don’t know. Was it the 6 to 8 weeks it took to receive your order?

Lately, there’s a lot of talk about loneliness and isolation. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released in April 2023 a report titled Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, which found that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, about half of U.S. adults reported experiencing measurable levels of loneliness.

Would it be a stretch to assume the rise in loneliness is a consequence of our taking advantage of the Internet’s many stay-at-home conveniences? Not so long ago, malls—marketplaces and shopping districts before them—were community-like hubs, akin to town squares, where you met your friends, ran into neighbours, and even made new acquaintances. You saw people, you connected.

Malls don’t only offer a plethora of retail outlets; they also provide social experiences, an experience many people are abandoning, instead opting to shop in the most environmentally damaging way humanly possible: shopping online. Rather than going to the store to try a jacket on to see how it fits and looks, many people now order five jackets online and return four.

Ordering online has a significant negative environmental impact. That ‘must-have’ avocado slicer you bought online will arrive in a box the size of a doghouse, packed with enough bubble wrap to protect a mini fridge.

Those over 50 can remember when shopping wasn’t a daily, let alone a 24/7/365 activity. People used to write something called a shopping list. Then, they went to the store or mall and gathered all the items on their list at once. Then, they took their purchases home, put everything in its place, and felt the satisfaction of a job well done. On the other hand, when you order online, robots and humans, who are treated like robots, pack your Tim Hortons Original Coffee blend, Single Serve Keurig K-Cup Pods, in an oversized box and deliver it to your home along with three other giant boxes, each containing one item, which likely could have been purchased locally. Then we appease ourselves—claim we’re concerned about the environment—by stuffing all that packaging into blue bins like they’re a portal to plastic heaven. According to the Government of Canada website (www.Canada.ca), only 9% of Canada’s plastic waste is recycled; the rest ends up in landfills, waste-to-energy facilities or the environment, such as the ocean.

Shopping online for stuff you likely don’t need, knowing its negative impact on the environment, while crying about the environment is sheer hypocrisy. Every time you click buy it now, a tree gets its wings.

No one wants to think about the child labour in Bangladesh who made the Nike hoodie they ordered off Amazon, the ship, air, rail and truck that transported it, or the landfill the hotdog toaster they bought on impulse—prompted by an ad you saw on Facebook—will eventually end up. We just want that t-shirt that says “Mindful.”

Online shopping is wreaking havoc on our planet’s environment. The kicker is we’ve sold ourselves the false narrative that online shopping is eco-friendly. Making a list, getting off the couch, and getting it is much better for our environment and has the added benefit of meeting people and maybe even finding your soul mate.

Thanks to the Internet, you can go days or weeks without speaking to anyone. Time spent online is time spent being sedentary and not having real-life interactions. Online shopping reduces our social and community interactions, leading to loneliness. I’m sure you’ve noticed, as I have, that social skills, especially amongst the Millennials, Generation Z, and the current Generation Alpha, are deteriorating. You can’t experience all life has to offer sitting on a couch—I know there are exceptions.

Another reason to avoid shopping online is privacy. Going to a store is buying and leaving without creating a trail of cookies and tracking/analyzing.

______________________________________________________________

Nick Kossovan, a self-described connoisseur of human psychology, writes about what’s

on his mind from Toronto. You can follow Nick on Twitter and Instagram @NKossovan.

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A’ja Wilson set records. So did Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. WNBA stats in 2024 were eye-popping

Published

2 hours ago

September 20, 2024

Anne Joseph

A’ja Wilson had a season like none other in WNBA history. Caitlin Clark set records and made the Indiana Fever the biggest draw in the women’s game. Angel Reese rebounded like nobody the league has ever seen.

The WNBA regular season is over. And the stat sheets were filled like never before.

Lots of records — most points, most rebounds, most assists, even most people at a game — fell during the WNBA’s 28th regular season. Wilson, Clark and Reese were in the middle of many of those moments.

Here’s a look at some big numbers from the season:

A’ja Wilson: Will it be u’nanimous?

Wilson did things this season that have never been done in the WNBA. (And never been officially done in the NBA, either.)

Most points in a season, most rebounds in a season and most blocked shots in a season. That’s never happened by one player in one year, until now. The Las Vegas star set WNBA records with 1,021 points and 451 rebounds, plus led the league in blocks with 98.

Another record for Wilson: points per game with 26.9, breaking Diana Taurasi’s mark of 25.3 that stood since 2006. WNBA teams didn’t always play 40-game seasons, so 1,000 points wasn’t even a remote possibility in the days of shorter schedules. The scoring-average record takes away any debate from where Wilson’s 2024 season should rank.

It seems certain that she’s going to be MVP for a record-tying third time. The only real question is whether she gets all the votes. “U’nanimous,” Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo said on social media last week, and it didn’t need any explaining.

Caitlin Clark: Rookie numbers stand alone

Clark broke the WNBA single-game record for assists with 19, broke the season record for assists with 337 and finished her rookie Indiana season with a resume of averages beyond compare.

Others have scored more, rebounded more and one player — Courtney Vandersloot — has averaged more assists in a season. But nobody in WNBA history ever averaged as much in all three categories as Clark this season: 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game.

There have been only four other instances of a player averaging 15-5-5 in the WNBA. Clark is the first in the 19-5-8 club.

Clark also had 12 games of at least 10 points and 10 assists, another single-season record. Only eight players in WNBA history have more such games in their entire careers.

Clark also had two triple-doubles in her rookie season. No other rookie in WNBA history has ever had one. And her 122 3-pointers — the second-most by anyone in any WNBA season — was another rookie record.

Angel Reese: A rebounding machine

Reese would have set the WNBA record for rebounds in a season had she not missed Chicago’s final six games, citing a wrist injury. (She had the record briefly with 446, before Wilson caught her toward the end of the regular season.)

The rebounds-per-game record is hers though: 13.1, which is 10% higher than the previous mark of 11.9 set by Sylvia Fowles in 2018.

Reese’s 26 double-doubles were another rookie record; Tina Charles had 22 (in a 34-game season) in 2010. There were six instances in the WNBA this season of someone grabbing 18 or more rebounds; Reese had five of them.

Another big number: Ticket sales

Last season, 227,979 tickets were sold for Indiana Fever games. This season, the number was 643,343.

That’s a 182% jump. That’s Caitlinmania.

WNBA attendance soared to a level not seen since the late 1990s this season, with around 9,800 tickets distributed on average for each game. That’s up nearly 44% from last season, and the huge increase in Fever tickets accounts for the overwhelming majority of that leaguewide growth.

The Fever destroyed the previous WNBA record for average attendance; 16,084 tickets, on average, were sold for Indiana games (both home and away) this season, way ahead of the previous mark of 13,398 set by the 1998 New York Liberty.

And Thursday, as the season closed, Clark was involved in another record: 20,711 attended Indiana’s game at the Washington Mystics, a WNBA all-time regular season mark.

Where she went, fans followed: There were 37 games this season that drew crowds of 16,000 or more, and 32 of them were Indiana games.

Notables: A few stats that stood out

— Atlanta’s Tina Charles became the WNBA’s all-time leader in rebounds (4,014) and double-doubles (194), getting those marks with a 10-point, 10-rebound effort Thursday as the regular season ended. She passed Sylvia Fowles on both of those lists.

— Dallas’ Arike Ogunbowale was already the league’s record-holder for minutes in a season (1,493 in 2023), and this year she broke the record for minutes per game that Katie Smith held since 2001. Ogunbowale — who also tied the WNBA single-game record for 3-pointers with nine against Indiana on Sept. 1 — averaged 38.58 minutes; Smith’s record was 38.56. If Ogunbowale played one fewer minute this season, Smith would still hold the mark.

— Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier had eight steals in a game against Los Angeles on June 14. The last time a WNBA player had more steals in a game? July 10, 2003, when Ticha Penichiero had a league-record 10 for Sacramento.

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Four people found dead in Temiskaming Shores, Ont., house fire: OPP

Published

2 hours ago

September 20, 2024

Anne Joseph

TEMISKAMING SHORES, Ont. – Ontario Provincial Police say four people are dead after a house fire in Temiskaming Shores.

Police say all four were found dead inside the home on Paget Street, in the community of New Liskeard.

OPP say officers and firefighters in the northern Ontario community near the Quebec border responded to the fire around 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

Police did not identify the victims or their relationship to one another.

OPP say they are investigating alongside the fire marshal and the coroner.

In a written statement, Const. Siobhan Christo said, “due to the ongoing investigation and out of respect for the family, no other information will be provided at this time.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2024.

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