Around The World: Fahmy’s pending freedom and Ukraine attacks top Canadian foreign coverage
The pending release of imprisoned Canadian-Egyptian Al-Jazeera correspondent Mohamed Fahmy and fighting between Ukrainian and separatist forces topped Canadian international coverage Tuesday.
By Alex Karageorgos, for the International Reporting Bureau at Humber College
Canadian international coverage was split between journalist Mohamed Fahmy’s deportation status and fighting in the Eastern Ukraine on Tuesday.
The Globe and Mail started its international coverage with an article co-written by reporters Tom Stevenson in Cairo and Gloria Galloway in Ottawa headlined “Fahmy’s deportation from Egypt may be entering final stages.” The story quoted a senior Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman on the evolving status of the Canadian-Egyptian Al-Jazeera journalist.
The National Post began its international coverage with a front-page tease that threw to page A7 headlined “Military Aid.” The report, on the possibility of the U.S. supplying weapons to Ukraine to fight separatists, was co-written by Tom Parfitt in Moscow and Raf Sanchez in Washington. It ran with a photo from Getty Images of a Ukrainian serviceman waving a flag.[[{“fid”:”3607″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:””},”type”:”media”,”link_text”:null,”attributes”:{“style”:”width: 399px; height: 179px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; float: right;”,”class”:”media-element file-default”}}]]
The Post also featured an article on the same page by Rory Mulholland in Paris. It ran under the headline “Former IMF chief’s pimping trial starts.” Dominique Strauss-Kahn is accused of being involved in a prostitution ring that reached from France to New York.
The Toronto Star’s world coverage opened on page A2 with an article from the paper’s wire services titled “Fahmy relinquishes Egyptian citizenship for freedom.” Fahmy’s fiancée said Egyptian authorities made freedom for the Canadian journalist conditional on giving up his passport.
The Star continued with a New York Times article written by Dan Bilefsky on the trial of Strauss-Kahn. It ran with the headline “Pimping trial begins for ex-IMF chief” and a photo from Getty Images that showed Strauss-Kahn on the passenger side of a car.
The Star rounded out its international coverage with an article from its global economics reporter, Tanya Talaga, headlined “The deadly toll of Greek austerity.” The report ran on page A10 with a photo from AP showing Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. The article delved into the 36 per cent rise in Greece’s suicide rates in the wake of economic downturn.
The CBC’s online world coverage started with a photo from Getty Images of a man looking at his scorched house. It ran beneath the headline “Eastern Ukraine artillery fire leaves 8 civilians dead.” The account detailed shelling in the separatist territory of Donetsk that also left 22 wounded.
On the pending release of the Canadian journalist in Egypt, the CBC ran a Reuters report headlined “Mohamed Fahmy, journalist detained in Egypt, could be released within hours.” It was accompanied by an AP image of the Al-Jazeera journalist.
CTV’s online international coverage kicked off with an AP article from Peter Leonard titled “Escalation in Ukraine fighting raises death toll to 5,358: UN,” which featured an AP photo of the devastated Donetsk International Airport. Leonard’s article was built around new numbers released by the United Nations on the official death toll from fighting in the Eastern Ukraine.
Moving to the Middle East, CTV ran an AP report headlined “Two bombs defused at Cairo International Airport.” The story included a photo from AP of two men walking past the Fatimid Cairo ancient gates.
