Russian Ambassador Shot And Killed In Turkish Capital Of Ankara

ANKARA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot in the back and killed as he gave a speech at an Ankara art gallery on Monday by an off-duty police officer who shouted “Don’t forget Aleppo” and “Allahu Akbar” as he opened fire.

President Tayyip Erdogan, in a video message to the nation, cast the attack as an attempt to undermine NATO-member Turkey’s relations with Russia - ties long tested by the war in Syria. He said he had agreed in a telephone call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to step up cooperation in fighting terrorism.

Vivian Bercovici, Toronto Lawyer, Named Canada's New Ambassador To Israel

OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says he doesn't want to "pile on" Israel for its recent decision to build new settlements in Palestinian territory.

Baird sidestepped the controversy as he introduced Canada's new ambassador to the Jewish state: Vivian Bercovici, a Toronto lawyer who has praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and taken a hard line against Hamas and the Palestinian leadership.

Stephen Harper government should stop muzzling Canada’s ambassadors

The Harper government is regularly criticized for its unwillingness to allow civil servants to speak openly about Canadian policy in their areas of expertise.

To its credit, Ottawa has provided a rationale for its actions that is not unreasonable. The country should speak with one voice, argues the prime minister, and that voice should come from the elected leadership (and their personal communications officials).

Jordan appointment another ‘slap to the pinstripes’

The news last week that the current chief of the Prime Minister’s security detachment, RCMP Supt. Bruno Saccomani, is to be named Canadian ambassador to Jordan and Iraq has caused buzz, not to say incredulity, around the media and the Canadian foreign affairs commentariat.

Mainly, people have either questioned his credentials or defended them, in either case because he is not a career diplomat. One commentator noted that “This is getting into what I would call the Upstairs, Downstairs category.” To rephrase that less elegantly, ennobling the captain of the guard is the sort of historical trope we tend to associate with good old-fashioned personal direct rule.

Prove China spy allegations or 'shut up,' ambassador says

Beijing's representative in Ottawa says Chinese firms are not involved in foreign espionage and he challenges anyone who says otherwise to produce evidence or keep quiet, in a rare interview airing Saturday on CBC Radio's The House.

Zhang Junsai, China's ambassador to Canada, tells host Evan Solomon, "I can assure you that our companies working in other countries are strictly doing business according to the local laws."

There’s no such thing as a free bridge

The Canadian government and the state of Michigan signed a deal this June to build a new $2-billion bridge between Detroit and Windsor. Including highway upgrades and customs plazas, the estimated cost is $4-billion. The government of Canada will absorb the entire cost.

Backers of the New International Trade Crossing (NITC), as the project is called, believe that there is a need for increased capacity at the Windsor-Detroit border. As much as 25% of trade between Canada and the United States crosses the existing Ambassador Bridge between the two cities, and NITC backers project that traffic will double by 2034.

Gordon Campbell's Hospitality Tab Tops Other Diplomats

Wining and dining at Canada’s embassies abroad escaped the axe as the federal government grappled with across-the-board cuts in this year’s budget.

Former British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell is racking up the biggest hospitality tab so far this year.

Harper's ambassador to China set to leave post

Canada’s Ambassador to China is set to leave his post, ending a transformative era in bilateral relations with the Asian economic superpower and tasking the Harper government with a major challenge to appoint a successor able to build on those strong diplomatic gains.

David Mulroney will leave the Canadian embassy in Beijing before the end of the summer, according to several sources familiar with the matter.

Mr. Mulroney’s exit comes at a critical juncture in Sino-Canadian relations, and the government’s choice of his replacement will be heavily scrutinized in both Ottawa and Beijing. As China’s political and economic importance has increased, international relations experts and academics have suggested that the job be a political appointment similar to that of Canada’s ambassador to the United States, rather than one drawn from the diplomatic ranks.