Tory’s Baber renews pitch and airport testing is back: In the news July 20, 2022

In The News is a roundup of articles from The Canadian Press designed to start your day. Here’s what’s on our editors’ radar for the morning of Wednesday, July 20, 2022…

What we’re watching in Canada…

Federal Conservative leadership candidate Roman Baber is asking party members to give him a second look — not just consider him their second choice.

The former Ontario lawmaker released a policy brief on Wednesday outlining promises he has made around topics such as democracy and natural resources.

Baber, who was fired from Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s caucus for opposing COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2021, has expanded his fight against those health measures and vaccine mandates and now points to promises such as the cancellation of agricultural supply management and federal equalization payments to the provinces as « material differences » between himself and the two candidates he might find trailing on the ballot vote.

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Also this…

As Ottawa relaunches its mandatory COVID-19 screening program at airports, infectious disease experts are wondering how useful it is to randomly test travelers arriving in Canada.

The government paused random testing at airports in June but relaunched the program on Tuesday at four major airports: Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal.

Chief Public Health Officer Dr Theresa Tam has called the tests an ‘early warning system’ for new variants, but infectious disease physician Dr Zain Chagla says there are more effective ways to do this, such as testing sewage at the airport.

Earlier tests faced long delays at customs.

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Also this…

Statistics Canada will release its latest reading on inflation this morning and it is expected to climb even higher.

Economists expect the consumer price index for June to have climbed at least 8% as food and energy prices soared and the economy continued to reopen.

In May, the inflation rate hit a 39-year high of 7.7%.

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What we’re watching in the US…

A far-right Maryland lawmaker backed by former US President Donald Trump has won the Republican primary for governor of Maryland. Dan Cox beat a moderate rival backed by incumbent Governor Larry Hogan.

Cox will face the winner of the Democratic primary in the general election in November. An Oprah Winfrey-backed bestselling author, Wes Moore, had an early lead Tuesday night, with the focus starting to turn to mail-in ballots that won’t be counted until later in the week.

While a win for Trump, Cox’s win over former Hogan cabinet member Kelly Schulz could be a blow to Republicans’ chances of retaining the seat in November.

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What we’re looking at in the rest of the world…

Sri Lankan lawmakers have chosen six-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as president to succeed the ousted leader who fled the country in a vote that risks reigniting political unrest in the troubled South Asian island nation.

Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe as prime minister in May, hoping to bring stability to a country mired in its worst economic crisis in memory.

Wickremesinghe became interim president after Rajapaksa fled the country last week and resigned via email.

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On this day in 1944…

An attempted bombing to assassinate Adolf Hitler, known as Operation Valkyrie, failed as the last remnants of the German opposition sought to overthrow the Nazis..

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In entertainment…

The small old group from Texas returns to the fray with a new album, recorded in an old room.

ZZ Top’s new live album « Raw » was recorded at Gruene Hall, which calls itself « the oldest dance hall in Texas », as part of the hugely popular and critically acclaimed 2019 Netflix documentary « That Little Old Man of Texas ». »

The performance was made in the pre-pandemic era, 2019 to be exact, and features the band’s original lineup, Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard and the now deceased Dusty Hill. The band says the album is dedicated « in true memory of Dusty Hill ».

The album is released on July 22, 2022.

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In sports…

Giancarlo Stanton and Byron Buxton homered in a row in the fourth inning to rally the American League against the National League 3-2 in the All-Star Game.

Toronto Blue Jays ace Alek Manoah dominated on the mound, pitching a scoreless second inning for the AL team in Los Angeles. He provided plenty of entertainment by striking out three batters and hitting one.

It was the ninth consecutive victory for the American League in a game also featuring Blue Jays Alejandro Kirk, Santiago Espinal, Vladimir Guerrero Junior and Jordan Romano.

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Have you seen this?

Retired General Rick Hillier says he fears Canada’s decision to return Nord Stream 1 pipeline turbines to Germany will weaken global sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

Hillier, who heads a new advisory council of retired military commanders formed by Ukraine’s World Congress, fears the decision will prove to be the first rift in this united economic front. However, retired US generals David Petraeus and Welsey Clark are less critical, calling the decision a tough one that was in the best interests of everyone involved.

The federal government agreed earlier this month to grant a temporary exemption from sanctions to return six repaired turbines to Montreal for use in the Russian state-owned pipeline.

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This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 20, 2022

The Canadian Press