Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
The Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony is a gratuitously enjoyable affair, with bulging muscles and beaming athletes proudly walking the Parade of Nations -- and into our hearts.
The made-for-TV spectacle is an entry way for some viewers to learn more about countries and athletes that they are less familiar with.
But in trying to bridge that knowledge gap, one South Korean broadcaster failed spectacularly, drawing from a bank of offensive stereotypes to depict several countries.
When Haiti's athletes walked onto the stadium, a caption posted on screen by South Korea's MBC network read: "The political situation is fogged by the assassination of the president."
When Syrian athletes entered, MBC aired a caption that said: "Rich underground resources; a civil war that has been going on for 10 years."
Another MBC caption described the Marshall Islands as "once a nuclear test site for the U.S." And when Ukraine's athletes entered the parade, MBC showed an image of the Chernobyl disaster -- the world's worst nuclear accident.
When Italy walked on, the broadcaster pulled up an image of a pizza. For Norway, a salmon fillet was shown. An image of Dracula was used for Team Romania. And for Team El Salvador, a country where Bitcoin is legal tender, a picture representing the cryptocurrency was shown.
The broadcaster's gaffe led to a deluge of online criticism, with one South Korean Twitter user writing: "MBC wow, how would it be if South Korea was introduced as the country of Sewol ferry disaster?"
On Saturday, MBC issued a formal apology to the "countries concerned and our viewers."
"The images and captions are intended to make it easier for the viewers to understand the entering countries quickly during the opening ceremony," the statement said.
"However we admit that there was a lack of consideration for the countries concerned and inspection was not thorough enough. It is an inexcusable mistake."
The broadcaster also promised a full review of its editorial process, vowing no more Olympic blunders.
MBC is not the only broadcaster coming under fire for its coverage of the Games so far.
China's Consulate General in New York has criticized the American network NBC for using "an incomplete map of China" when broadcasting the Chinese delegation's entry at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony.
In a statement released on social media Saturday, the consulate's spokesperson said the map "created a very bad influence and harmed the dignity and emotion of the Chinese people" and urged NBC to "to recognize the serious nature of this problem."
"The Consulate General in New York would like to point out that the map is an expression of national territory, which symbolizes national sovereignty and territorial integrity," the statement said, adding: "Attempts to use the Olympic Games to play political "tricks" and self-promotion to achieve ulterior motives will never succeed."
NBC's map of China did not include Taiwan or the South China Sea. The broadcaster told CNN that they do not wish to comment on the matter at this time.
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.