There were red faces in Ottawa on January 18, when a Canadian Foreign Affairs document became public, listing the U.S. and Israel among countries using torture.  Amnesty International (AI) obtained the report as disclosure in connection with its suit challenging Canada's transferring Afghan prisoners to Afghan authorities.

The Iranian Supreme Court has now ordered a reopening of the case of Zahra Kazemi.  In July, 2003, Kazemi, a photojournalist with dual Canadian and Iranian citizenship, was arrested in Teheran while taking pictures of a student demonstration outside Evin Prison.

The push is on to translate important Western and other non-Arab works into Arabic.  Egyptian Karim Nagy initiated a non-profit agency, Kalima, to undertake this work, and the Abu Dhabi government's Authority for Culture and Heritage is supplying the bulk of the funding.  Publishers are on board, with Beirut being a prime location.

A poll of 1000 Canadians carried out by the firm Strategic Counsel from December 6 to 9 found that Canadians prefer a somewhat arms-length relationship with the United States.  When asked what they saw as the major factor influencing Canadian foreign policy, the largest percentage, 25%, said that it is the relationship with the United States, but when asked what should be, only 5% cited that relationship.

During his current visit to the Middle East, Canada's Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier was asked about Israel's expansion of construction at Har Homa, in the West Bank near Jerusalem.  While he said that expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank is "contrary to the peace process," he pointedly refused to comment on Har Homa.  Israel claims that its expansion there is justified because it considers it a suburb of Jerusalem.

Canadian MP Wajid Khan finds himself without a party.  As a Liberal, he raised eyebrows when he took an assignment from Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to report back on visits to the Middle East.  He then crossed the floor to join the Conservatives, and his report on the Middle East, which he and Harper had promised to make public, now became confidential advice to the Prime Minister.