The Decibel

Russia is gaining ground in its invasion of Ukraine. On day 7 of the war, Russia occupied Kherson, a key city in the southern part of Ukraine. Russia started targeting densely populated areas like Kyiv and Kharkiv with heavy shelling, destroying buildings and killing civilians. On March 2, Ukraine’s emergency service said the Russian invasion has killed more than 2,000 civilians in the country. Se...

Maria Avdeeva is the research director of the European Expert Association , which analyzes Russian disinformation. With the sound of Russia’s attack in the background, Maria explains what’s happening in her hometown of Kharkiv, and why the decision to stay is her way of fighting the “Information War,” where disinformation is weaponized to change how the world understands the horrors unfolding in U...

As fighting rages on in Ukraine, hundreds of thousands are seeking refuge in a number of neighbouring countries. On Feb. 28, the head of a UN agency said that more than 500,000 people have fled since the start of the Russian invasion. Cars have lined up for more than 10 kilometres at certain checkpoints, while others have had no choice but to walk – sometimes, for 50 km – to escape. Moldova is one...

Last week, Frito-Lay, which makes Lays potato chips, but also others like Miss Vickies and Doritos, stopped sending their chips to any of the stores owned by Loblaw. And since Loblaw is the biggest grocer in Canada, that’s a lot of stores: there’s Loblaws, of course, and No Frills, Valu-Mart, Provigo if you’re in Quebec – even Shoppers Drug Mart. Today, the Globe’s retailing reporter, Susan Krashi...

From the late 19th century up until the 1960s, travelling by sleeping car train was the height of luxury. Porters tended to a passenger’s every need. They were almost exclusively Black men who worked long hours for low pay and often faced racial discrimination. But these men fought for better treatment and after years of organizing, signed a collective agreement with Canadian Pacific Railway in 19...

  It’s been almost two years since the mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia, that killed 22 people. An inquiry into the tragedy that will make recommendations on how to prevent it from happening again began its public phase on Tuesday. “Nova Scotia has not been able to fully come to terms with this massacre,” Atlantic Canada reporter Greg Mercer says. He’ll explain the criticism families and p...

After a fiery speech on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent Russian troops across the border into Ukraine’s breakaway regions that make up the Donbas region. Western nations are reacting by imposing sanctions on Russia, with Germany going so far as to stop the certification of the NordStream 2 natural gas pipeline that Putin had hoped would deliver fuel to Europe, bypassing Ukraine. So i...

When Renford Farrier was given a life sentence for killing a man, he believed he’d be out on parole after 10 years. Thirty years later, he’s still in prison and believes racism is partly to blame. A Globe analysis found that Indigenous, Black and other racialized men are less likely than their white counterparts to be paroled within the first year they’re eligible. Investigative reporter Tom Cardo...

British Columbia’s health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, announced on Feb. 15 that the province would be easing COVID-19 restrictions. This includes removing capacity limits at gyms, restaurants and nightclubs – even dancing is back. But the province isn’t getting rid of their vaccine passport and that has set B.C. apart from places like Quebec , Ontario , Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba – province...

A big part of the federal government’s plan to end the convoy protests and blockades includes targeting the flow of money to them. Banks were granted expanded powers and liability protection as part of the Emergencies Act announcement on February 14. But how comfortable are Canadian financial institutions with policing their own customers and freely sharing information with law enforcement? Bankin...

Canada’s women’s hockey team is going for gold at the Beijing Olympics. They’ll face off against their rivals: Team USA. It’s the sixth time these teams have met in an Olympic final. While these two teams have dominated since women’s hockey was introduced to the Olympics in 1998, other countries have struggled to keep up. Globe sports reporter, Rachel Brady , is in Beijing covering the Olympics. S...

Three weeks into the convoy protests, political leaders on all levels of government are looking at what levers they can pull. On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act . Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is keeping the province in a state of emergency . And Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is attempting to negotiate with the truckers who remain in residential neighbourhoods in...

Valentine’s Day and red roses go hand-in-hand, and for those of us heading to local shops across Canada to pick up a bouquet, you might be surprised to learn those flowers most likely came from Colombia. The country is the second-largest flower exporter in the world, and they ship about 650-million stems overseas just for Valentine’s Day. Yader Guzman is a freelance photographer based in Bogota wh...

Life for Zexi Li has been a bit of a roller coaster these last few weeks. The Ottawa resident lives just a few blocks away from Parliament Hill, which meant that after the trucker convoy rolled into town the soundtrack to her life was horns. Protesters had been blaring their truck horns from 7 a.m. to as late as 1:30 a.m., until lawyer Paul Champ approached Zexi and a civil suit led to an injuncti...

The occupation of streets in downtown Ottawa and blockades at two border crossings to the US, including our busiest in Windsor, Ont. continues. Reporter Colin Freeze tells us more about who the leaders are of the Freedom Convoy, including those fundraising millions of dollars to support it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use o...

Canadians fell in love with the Olympic sport of ice dancing after Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won gold at both the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2018 Olympics in South Korea. But they’ve since retired and reigning world bronze medallists, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, are hoping to capture the hearts of fans and place on the podium. Timothy Moore , a videographer for The Globe, spoke wi...

On Monday afternoon, a judge granted a temporary injunction to stop the incessant honking in downtown Ottawa by protestors dubbed the “Freedom Convoy.” The injunction is part of a proposed multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit started by a 21-year old resident of the city. The question is: will it work? It’s been more than 10 days now since trucks and protestors took over the capital’s downtown...

It has taken billions of dollars and more than two decades to build, but the successor to the Hubble Telescope is in space and waking up. Thanks to its ability to observe infrared light, the James Webb Space Telescope is able to see way beyond Hubble’s range and further back in time. Science reporter Ivan Semeniuk explains how this new telescope works, what scientists hope to learn from it and why...

The 2022 Winter Olympics are on in Beijing. It’s the first city in the world to host both a winter and summer Games (the latter of which happened back in 2008). These Games are shaping up to be much different. COVID-19 restrictions and a diplomatic boycott by a number of countries put a bit of a damper on the hype. Asia correspondent James Griffiths is in Beijing. He tells us what it’s like inside...

The vote was 73 to 45. And with that, Erin O’Toole’s leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada is over . This dismissal comes after months of internal strife as MPs questioned the direction of the party under Mr. O’Toole. Conservatives now have to launch a leadership race to decide the direction of their party, without tearing it apart. Political columnist and writer-at-large John Ibbitson ar...

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is on a whirlwind trip to Ukraine as his political fate is being fought in the country’s Parliament and in its press. A report, by senior civil servant Sue Gray, highlighted excessive alcohol consumption by staff and said that some of the gatherings at 10 Downing Street represented a failure in leadership during a time when the rest of the country was under strict...

Over the weekend, Ottawa’s Parliament Hill and downtown area saw thousands of protestors arrive as part of the “ Freedom Convoy ,” originally sparked by a new vaccine mandate that would impose the same restrictions on unvaccinated truckers as other travellers across the border. A smaller number remained in the capital city on Monday, blocking roads and blaring truck horns. Parliamentary reporter M...

The arts industry has been decimated by COVID-19 lockdowns. Performance arts like theatre, ballet and live music have been particularly hard hit. According to the Canadian Association for Performing Arts, one in four workers in the sector lost their job in 2020. Then, there’s the audience. For those who love going to see plays, listening to a favourite band live or experiencing any form of art in...

There’s a new treatment for COVID-19 in Canada. If taken at the right time during the infection, it can help keep people who have caught the virus out of the hospital. But there are some caveats. In fact, there are a lot. Carly Weeks is one of The Globe’s health reporters and she explains how the new pill from Pfizer works, who can take it and why it’s already in short supply. Hosted by Simplecast...

In a surprising twist, at least in Bank of Canada news, the central bank decided on Wednesday to keep its key interest rate at a record low of 0.25 per cent. It was widely expected that the bank would announce a rate hike in order to cool Canada’s soaring inflation. The Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, did say interest rate hikes are coming in the near future – and that means borrowin...