August, 2024
Brazil shutters X amid judge’s feud with Elon Musk
Brazil started blocking Elon Musk’s social media platform X early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through its mobile app after the company refused to comply with a judge’s order. X missed a deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to name a legal representative in Brazil, triggering the suspension. It marks an escalation in the months-long feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. To block X, Brazil’s telecommunications regulator, Anatel, told internet service providers to suspend users’Read more
Harris’s first campaign interview a spring cleaning for her political resumé
Kamala Harris’s first sit-down interview as a presidential candidate won’t be the sort of television moment history remembers for better, or for worse. History rarely recalls a closet decluttering. Thursday’s exchange with CNN included her tossing out old bits of her political resumé that risk hampering her current run, as she faced her first questions about past positions and why they shifted. Does she still support a ban on oil fracking? Nope – not anymore. When asked what changed, it wasn’t quite clear. Decriminalize illegal border-crossings? Against that too now. WhatRead more
2024 U.S. election: Will faster ballot counting prevent a 2020-style meltdown?
A young state senator in Michigan foresaw trouble before the last U.S. presidential election, warning of looming chaos in the counting of votes. In fairness, this hardly required clairvoyance: the potential for problems was apparent, even months before the 2020 vote, with analysts, including CBC News, predicting near-certain bedlam. It would take days to properly count Democrats’ votes because they tended to vote more often by mail, especially during the pandemic, and those mailed ballots would take longer to process; and Donald Trump would exploit that delay to delegitimize the election.Read more
Alaska governor declares disaster after Ketchikan landslide kills 1, hospitalizes 3 others
One person was killed by a landslide that prompted a mandatory evacuation in the Alaska city of Ketchikan, authorities said. Three people were also transported to the Ketchikan Medical Center following the landslide, which struck around 4 p.m. local time Sunday and damaged homes and infrastructure, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and City of Ketchikan said in a joint statement Sunday. All other individuals have been accounted for, the statement said. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy declared a disaster for Ketchikan, while Borough Mayor Rodney Dial and city Mayor Dave Kiffer issued aRead more
Trump and Vance take aim at Biden’s climate legislation. Some Republicans would rather they didn’t
In nearly every speech, J.D. Vance, the Republican hopeful for U.S. vice-president, drums home that Americans are being duped by the Democrats’ fixation on the low-carbon economy and their wild spending on what Vance calls “green scams.” “We need a leader … who rejects Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s green new scam and fights to bring back our great American factories,” he belted out at his nomination speech at the Republican National Convention in July, drawing exuberant cheers. Vance calls Democrats’ environmental focus “crazy.” “Kamala Harris cares more about climateRead more
Rail decision could give bargaining companies advantage in other industries, union leader says
A decision obliging more than 9,000 Canadian rail workers to stay on the job is a win for the railways and could impact bargaining in other federally regulated sectors like aviation, the head of a Canadian rail workers’ union told Reuters. Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, also said the union would work with other labour groups as it mounts a legal challenge to a Saturday decision that halted work stoppages at the country’s two largest railways and imposed arbitration. While the Teamsters will obey the orderRead more
As Trudeau cabinet meets, Liberal MPs look for signs of change following byelection loss
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with his ministers in Halifax on Sunday for the annual cabinet retreat, a gathering that comes after a year of dire polling for the government and disquiet among some Liberal MPs. Some of those MPs are now calling for big changes — and for the prime minister to publicly show signs of contrition. Cabinet is meeting for three days and is expected to tackle pocketbook issues and seek to strengthen Canada’s relationship with the United States ahead of the House of Commons’ return in September. “The number one thing I think we needRead more
In Kursk, Ukraine soldiers find disillusioned Russians and inexperienced troops
When Ukrainian troops started massing in the Sumy region in the country’s northeast during the early weeks of the summer, it was clear some kind of operation was in the works, a Ukrainian soldier recently told CBC News. But he didn’t realize his country was on the brink of a large, secretive and carefully planned incursion into Russia. “We didn’t know, but we were feeling something special about the situation,” said the soldier, who wanted only to be identified as Wolverine, in an exclusive interview with CBC. Over the past two weeks, Ukraine says itsRead more
Air Canada pilots vote overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. It could start next month
Air Canada pilots have voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike mandate, putting them in a position to walk off the job as early as Sept. 17. The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents more than 5,400 aviators at the country’s largest carrier, said the vote passed with 98 per cent support on Thursday. The employees have been negotiating with Air Canada since June 2023, with ongoing talks in Toronto hotels overseen by a federal conciliator. That process is slated to wrap up this Monday, followed by a 21-day cooling-off periodRead more
Former Trump staffers get prime-time speaking spots – at Democrats’ convention
American politics is awash right now in talk of surprise political endorsements. One in particular: reports suggest Robert F. Kennedy may abandon his presidential bid later this week and endorse Donald Trump. Pundits are buzzing about whether the move might, or might not, give Trump a boost in a U.S. race expected to be a photo finish. Amid that breaking news, a slower-rolling wave of endorsements has built up for months and finally crested at the Democratic convention. It involves the slew of officials who worked for Trump now refusingRead more