 Here’s what you need to know to get the day started: | | | Canadian sanctions against Iranian company don't cover board member with business interest in B.C. | | |  | Mohammad Bagher Nahvi is a shareholder and deputy chair of a sanctioned Iranian company and also director of a company in B.C. (Telegram) | | | An Iranian businessman who owns shares and sits on the board of a private Tehran-based company that has been sanctioned by Canada for co-ordinating the transport of weapons to Russia has a registered company in British Columbia, The Fifth Estate has learned.
In the latest corporate records filed in Iran's official journal, Mohammad Bagher Nahvi is listed as deputy chair of Safiran Airport Services.
The cargo and commercial airline is one of five entities sanctioned by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) last November for what the federal government says is their role in the Iranian regime's "gross and systematic human rights violations and actions that continue to threaten international peace and security."
GAC alleges that Safiran "co-ordinated Russian military flights between Iran and Russia, through which the Iranian regime transferred lethal Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia."
The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned Safiran Airport Services in September 2022 for co-ordinating "Russian military flights between Iran and Russia, including those associated with transporting Iranian UAVs, personnel and related equipment from Iran to Russia."
Nahvi is also listed on the boards of other Iranian companies that appear to be part of the same Safiran group, including Safiran Freight and Cargo Services, which continues to advertise shipping services to Canada online. According to Iranian corporate governance rules, only shareholders of private companies can be members of the board, although they are not required to disclose the number of shares they own.
The Canadian sanctions on Safiran Airport Services do not extend beyond the corporate entity to company officers and directors or their families.
Critics say listing only the company limits the effectiveness of the sanctions.
"From a financial warfare point of view, it makes sense that when you go after an entity, you go after the executives, you go after the board and you go after the family of members of the executive and the board," said Saeed Ghasseminejad, an Iran sanctions expert at the Washington, D.C.-based think-tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
In Canada, Nahvi is listed as one of three directors of Solabest Development Inc., an active company registered in British Columbia. In corporate registry documents, Nahvi lists a condo unit in Vancouver as his address.
Nahvi did not respond to multiple emails, calls and messages requesting an interview for this story. | | | | | Rest stop | | |  | (Ariel Schalit/The Associated Press) | | | | Migrating cranes flock as fog covers the Hula Lake conservation area, north of the Sea of Galilee, in northern Israel on Thursday. More than half a billion birds of some 400 different species pass through the Jordan Valley to Africa and go back to Europe during the year. | | | | | | | | | In brief | | | The Green Party posted sensitive and personal information belonging to its members and supporters online, violating the party's own internal rules. Tens of thousands of names, phone numbers, addresses and other sensitive items of information were left available online, accessible through the party's website. It's not clear how long the information was available online. CBC was made aware of potential concerns about Green Party data on Tuesday. Access to the Google Drive document that contains the information closed down on Thursday after CBC contacted the party. One privacy expert said posting the personal information online qualifies as a breach of trust. "I'm sorry, I just find that so appalling that the Green Party would post this information, make it publicly available," said Ann Cavoukian, the head of Toronto Metropolitan University's Privacy by Design Centre of Excellence and a former Ontario information and privacy commissioner. It's not clear how long the data was available online. The folders and files were date-stamped July 2022. Read more here.
Canada will supply Ukraine with four Leopard 2 A4 main battle tanks and Canadian Armed Forces trainers to teach Ukrainian soldiers how to operate the vehicles, Defence Minister Anita Anand announced Thursday. "These heavily armoured and highly protective vehicles provide soldiers with a tactical advantage on the battlefield thanks to their excellent mobility, their firepower and their survivability," Anand said. "These tanks will allow Ukraine to liberate even more of its territory and defend its people from Russia's brutal invasion. These four tanks are combat-ready and will be deployed over the coming weeks." When asked why Canada was providing only four tanks — and if more tanks could be provided later — Anand said Canada would only donate vehicles it can support in the field with spare parts and training. She also said Canada needs to ensure the CAF has what it needs to function. Read more on this story here.
The trauma of Holocaust survivors has been widely studied and documented, but the impact their experiences have had on their children hasn't received as much attention. In recent years, as more people have started talking and writing about it, organizations have sprung up to help secondary victims share their stories. The world marks Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan 27. Several children of Holocaust survivors spoke to CBC News about the impact their parents' experiences have had on their own lives. Marilyn Sinclair's father, Ernie Weiss, had nightmares that left him screaming in his sleep every night. "I would always ask my father, 'What is it? What did you dream about last night? What was your nightmare?' And he'd always say, 'Oh, I don't ever remember my dreams. I'm sorry I woke you,'" she said. It was only many years later that Weiss told her his nightmares were set in Auschwitz when he was a prisoner there during the Second World War. He described how he was forced to watch Jews being pushed into a pit to be murdered. The revelation scarred Sinclair, who said she herself has nightmares of being apprehended by Nazis. Read more of the stories from the children of Holocaust survivors.
Brandon Mitchell of Miramichi, N.B., has escaped death more than once working as a medic to help Ukrainians on the front line of the Russian invasion. It was last August and Russian troops were closing in on the nearby Donbas town of Soledar, which at the time was still under Ukrainian control. Artillery strikes were intensifying and families wanted to leave in a hurry. But as Mitchell and his partner raced through what had, in effect, become a Russian artillery alley, a shell whizzed through the air and hit just a few metres in front of his speeding car. Swerving to avoid the crater without stopping, he finished his mission and brought everyone in the house to safety. "We got seven people out that night, including a baby," recalled Mitchell. Read why he says he's working in a war he calls his own.
The Vancouver-based clothing chain Aritzia has recently exploded in popularity in the United States, with Bloomberg News recently crowning it the country's "hottest fashion chain." In the last two years, Aritzia's U.S. customers have tripled, executives told investors last fall, and today about half its business comes from the U.S. The brand has big plans to build on that success in the years ahead, according to those executives, and expects that its U.S. stores will outnumber its Canadian ones by the end of the 2027 fiscal year. "It's surprising to see a new fashion brand coming out of Canada, but it seems to be really working," said Tim Calkins, a clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Ill., who likened Aritzia's American invasion to Lululemon's in the mid-2000s. As Aritzia expands its footprint in the U.S., can the brand live up to the hype? Read more on the company's plans here.
Now here's some good news to start your Friday: Winnipeg's Children's Hospital got a funding boost of more than $17,000 on Wednesday, thanks to the fundraising efforts of a 12-year-old champion for kids who need medical attention. Keira Davlut was the 2022 "champion child" for the Children's Hospital, acting as an ambassador for other children being treated by the hospital and helping to raise money for programming at the care centre. "I have put a lot of work into helping and being able to be a part of the champion family. I'm very honoured. It's been a privilege," Keira told CBC following a news conference at the Children's Hospital on Wednesday morning, during which she presented a cheque for just over $17,117. For Keira, her time as the hospital's champion child was an opportunity to help a place that has been instrumental in her childhood. Read her story here. | | |  | Decoding Everything Everywhere All At Once | Today on Front Burner, why Oscar favourite Everything Everywhere All At Once, with its sci-fi take on the Chinese American immigrant experience, is resonating with moviegoers.
Listen to today's episode | | | Today in history: January 27 | | | 1926: Scottish inventor John Logie Baird demonstrates the first working television in London.
1931: Author-critic Mordecai Richler is born in Montreal. His breakthrough came with 1959's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Richler won Governor General's Awards for Cocksure in 1968 and St. Urbain's Horseman in 1971. His later works included acclaimed children's novels starting with Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang, and his final novel, Barney's Version.
1980: Six Americans who escaped the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and found shelter with help from Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor are flown out of Iran using false identities. La Presse broke the story two days later.
1987: Col. Sheila Hellstrom becomes the first woman in Canada’s regular armed forces to achieve the rank of brigadier-general. | | | (With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters) | | | | |  | CBC NEWS APP | The most convenient way to get your news
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