Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
A bipartisan Congressional panel blasted U.S.-based corporate sponsors of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on Tuesday, including Coca-Cola, Visa Inc. and Airbnb, accusing them of putting profits ahead of accusations of genocide in China.
Republican Congressman Chris Smith told the Congressional-Executive Commission on China hearing that the sponsors needed to reconcile their "ostensible commitment to human rights" with subsidizing an Olympics where the host country is "actively committing human rights abuses."
Smith asked each of the executives at the hearing - from Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Intel, Visa Inc and Procter & Gamble - whether the games should be relocated or postponed due to concerns over human rights violations. All of them declined to opine, or said they had no responsibility over site selection.
"We do not make decisions on these host locations. We support and follow the athletes wherever they compete," Coca-Cola's global vice president for human rights Paul Lalli said.
When asked about the U.S. government determination that China was committing a genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslims minority groups, only Steve Rodgers, executive vice president and general counsel for Intel, said he believed it.
"I've read the State Department report. I've studied it, and I believe its conclusions," Rodgers said, drawing praise from Republican Senator Tom Cotton for his "straight answer."
Other executives said they respected the U.S. government's conclusions, but would not weigh in on the matter.
The executives represent the five U.S. companies that have sponsorship commitments running through the Beijing Games under the official Olympic Partner (TOP) Program.
Rights groups, researchers, former residents and some Western lawmakers and officials say Chinese authorities have facilitated forced labour by detaining around a million Uyghurs and other primarily Muslim minorities in camps since 2016.
President Joe Biden's administration agreed with a determination by the former Trump administration that the detention camps and other abuses amounted to genocide.
China denies wrongdoing, saying it has set up vocational training centers to combat extremism. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
"Obviously, every one of you, with the exception on occasion of Mr. Rodgers, was sent here with orders not to say anything that could offend the Chinese Communist Party," Cotton said, calling testimony at the hearing "pathetic and disgraceful."
Democratic Representative Tom Malinowski rebuked Airbnb's head of Olympics and Paralympics partnership David Holyoke for not being more outspoken about criticism toward the Chinese government that it has prevented Uyghurs and Tibetans from obtaining passports and identification cards that would allow them to travel freely and register at hotels.
"In China we are required to follow local laws and regulations," Holyoke said, adding that "human rights are core to our values."
"You're just completely absolving yourself of responsibility for being complicit in abject discrimination," Malinowski said.
Asked repeatedly by Malinowski if Coca-Cola would specifically condemn any Chinese government abuses against Uyghurs, Lalli said without mentioning China: "We respect all human rights."
Malinowski noted that Coca-Cola was willing to wade into U.S. politics and condemn voting rights restrictions in its home state of Georgia, but would not criticize China's government.
"You are afraid of them in a way that you are not afraid of critics in the United States. I think that's shameful," Malinowski told Lalli, adding that it was "absolutely clear" that the company refused to criticize Beijing for fear it would harm its profits in China.
(Reporting by Michael Martina; editing by Richard Pullin)
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
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King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
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With the solar eclipse just a week away, it’s time to think about how to safely view the celestial show.