Author: Warren Gerard Bishop

The Russian Orthodox church on the outskirts of Alaska’s biggest city is packed with treasures for the Christian faithful: religious icons gifted by Romanov czars, panels of oil paintings and jewel-studded incense burners. But outside the hand-hewn log sanctuary, dozens of miniature Alaska Native spirit houses sit by aging gravesites alongside Orthodox crosses poking from the cemetery grounds. The narrow church with white-framed windows near Anchorage is a vestige of Russia’s nearly 150-year attempt to colonize Alaska and the Indigenous people who lived here. But over time, St. Nicholas Church became an important touchstone for Alaska Natives as well. The…

A couple killed in a bear attack at Canada’s Banff National Park have been identified by family as long-term partners who loved the outdoors. Doug Inglis and Jenny Gusse, both 62, were killed by a grizzly bear on Friday while out backcountry camping. Officials said the bear that attacked them was an older female that had a low body fat for this time of year. Two cans of bear spray were found at the scene, they added, and the couple’s food was hung appropriately. The couple was identified by their nephew, Colin Inglis, who told the CBC that the two were on…

Ukraine received from the United States industrial-grade 3D printers capable of printing spare parts for equipment on the battlefield. This was announced by Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Maintenance William LaPlante According to the Pentagon, Ukrainian military personnel completed training in using these printers last week.“We finally delivered these industrial 3D printers to Ukraine last month, and their training on how to use the printer was completed last week,” LaPlante said during a speech at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).According to him, “we are talking about a printer the size of a truck” and the appearance of these…

The Federal Court has ordered the Canadian Human Rights Commission to re-examine a discrimination complaint against the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which was filed by a former informant and child soldier who says the spy agency cost him a security job on Parliament Hill. Kagusthan Ariaratnam had applied to work for the Parliamentary Protective Service in 2016, but was rejected on security grounds following a meeting between House of Commons and CSIS officials, during which the spy agency disclosed two classified documents that discussed Ariaratnam’s mental health, court records show. Ariaratnam had contact with CSIS in the 2000s about the Liberation Tigers…

On the night of August 30, Russian troops attacked Ukraine with cruise missiles and Shahed kamikaze drones. The air defense forces managed to shoot down 43 out of 44 air targets. Reportedly, a total of 44 enemy air targets were recorded. In particular, 28 air-launched missiles of the X-101/X-555/X-55 type were fired from 11 Tu-95ms strategic aircraft from the Caspian Sea and the Engels region. Also 16 attack UAVs of the “Shahed-136/131” type in the southern and northern directions (Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Kursk). Air defense forces and means destroyed all 28 cruise missiles and 15 attack drones in the Kyiv, Cherkassy, ​​Odessa and…

Canada is considering a first-ever cap on international students as it tries to solve its housing affordability crisis. Could the measure make a difference? This week, Canadian Housing Minister Sean Fraser floated the idea of capping how many students Canada lets in from abroad as a way to help tackle the country’s inflated housing costs. He said it was “one of the options that we ought to consider”. His remarks come as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces growing criticism for failing to solve the housing crisis. The reaction to Mr Fraser’s remarks was swift, with the idea criticised by universities,…

You’re invited to help support a youth ministry in Alaska, which is run by a Punxsutawney native and his wife. Marc and Angela Lantz are currently in the Punxsutawney area, and have brought a little bit of Alaska back with them, as they will be serving sake salmon at their fundraiser. “We’re celebrating five years of ministry in Alaska working with youth and young adults from rural Alaskan communities, many of which are only reached by airplane,” Lantz said. A fundraising dinner featuring wild Alaskan seafood to support the ministry in Alaska, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at First…

An audit to address gaps in pay equity, a reworked recruitment strategy and ensuring Indigenous representation in event bids are among the deliverables in a diversity and inclusion report released by Hockey Canada. The organization says the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Path Forward report summarizes its efforts to change hockey’s ecosystem. Hockey Canada was called out for a lack of diversity in its nomination process for its board of directors last year as one of the findings of an independent governance probe. The probe was commissioned in response to intense criticism of Hockey Canada’s handling of sexual assault allegations involving…

Pascale St-Onge has lived several lives. A decade ago, the Liberal MP and now former sports minister, dyed her hair black and became a self-taught bass player for Mad June, an all-lesbian alternative rock band from Montreal described as a mix between Imagine Dragons, The Ramones and Arcade Fire. She also acted as the band’s manager. She went on to serve as president of Quebec’s largest union for the media and cultural sectors, pushing Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to halt the media industry’s rapid decline and deliver what would eventually become the contentious Online News Act, formerly known as C-18. And when…

Even in a one-party, communist state, ordinary people can exert power. It wasn’t the Communist Party that lifted the Vietnamese out of poverty; the people did it themselves. The country’s free-market revolution was the result of bottom-up pressure from the masses who broke the command-economy so much that the communist government had to accept a private sphere of business. Their pilfering from state-run companies and trading on the black market, and their ability to own more and more surplus produce after the state took its share, meant the government simply couldn’t handle the collectivized economy that had left Vietnam one…