The Monday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories
Highlights from the news file for Monday, April 10
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TRUDEAU CALLS OUT RUSSIA, IRAN AND ASSAD REGIME: Bashar Assad’s days as president of Syria are numbered, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested Monday as the spectre of escalating conflict in the Middle East loomed large amid the lingering ghosts of two world wars. The way forward in Syria can’t include Assad, whose recent chemical attack against his own people were abetted by those countries — Russia and Iran — that have allowed him to remain in power, Trudeau told a news conference. “There is no question that anyone who is guilty of the types of war crimes against innocents, against children, that Assad and his regime are needs to be held to account,” he said during a visit to Juno Beach to commemorate Canada’s Second World War dead. Trudeau was, however, non-committal when it came to the question of how to remove Assad from power, and whether Russia should be punished for supporting him. Canada remains open to imposing new sanctions against Russia in concert with its allies, Trudeau said, but Russia must also be part of the solution for bringing peace to Syria.
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