After more than a decade of involvement, Canada’s special forces are dropping out of a U.S.-sponsored military exercise in Africa, with Ottawa saying it needs to reconsider where to deploy its resources.
The decision to stop participating in the annual Flintlock exercise, a key Pentagon priority in Africa, could be a sign that the Department of National Defence is stretched thin, with a growing list of commitments in Europe, Asia and the Arctic, defence analyst David Perry said.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Mogadishu) has for some time now been the poster child not only for the legion of ungrateful, America-hating migrants, but for members of the House of Representatives who have become multimillionaires on a $174,000 annual salary.
A Peel police presentation last week to school administrators about youth gangs — which included a music video containing the N-word — prompted an apology Friday from the force for “any harm” caused to those in attendance.
Meanwhile the school board, which initially apologized in a memo to staff the next day, appeared to soften its earlier account, saying Friday that after a review, the memo “does not fully reflect the context or intent of the session.”
The April 9 presentation by Peel Regional Police was delivered to administrators and superintendents at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board as part of a session on student safety, including gang awareness and how to identify and respond to risks facing students.
If there is one thing we have learnt during the past 72 hours, it is how hard it will be to disentangle all the threads that have been drawn together in the Gulf.
It would be a big enough challenge for a seasoned diplomat with years to negotiate. Instead, it falls to a US president notoriously averse to detail and an array of Iranian leaders struggling among themselves for dominance, all underscored by the ticking time bomb of a global economic shock.
NEW: President Trump weighs in on Iran's latest actions in the Strait of Hormuz: "They can't blackmail us." pic.twitter.com/g7MbGtMsOe
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 18, 2026
Senior executives from Lockheed Martin will be in Quebec on Tuesday to confirm that they plan to service Canada’s F-35 aircraft at the L3Harris facilities in Mirabel, which are currently used to maintain Canada’s CF-18 fleet.
The announcement will be their first major outing on Canadian soil since Prime Minister Mark Carney announced last year that he was reviewing the government’s plans to purchase 88 F-35s.
It’s not a done deal but the situation in Iran appears to be heading for an off-ramp just as the situation in Cuba might be gearing up. Here’s what we know at the moment. First, U.S. officials quietly visited Cuba last Friday to directly make the case for reform.
NOW – Trump says very soon the "great strength" of the American military will create "a new dawn for Cuba." pic.twitter.com/EW3kjmaoqC
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) April 17, 2026
This is what communism does. This is Cuba:pic.twitter.com/fDeIEIwzA6
— Kevin Sorbo (@ksorbs) March 21, 2026
It isn’t possible to hate this evil man too much.[/caption]There is no great mystery behind why some nations are wealthy and others are not. The policy mix varies very little and is well understood. Countries with lower, neutral tax systems, minimal regulations, the rule of law and openness to international trade and foreign investment are wealthier than countries with higher taxes, more complicated regulations, and which are closed off to the world. Economies are the sum of the countless decisions made by people on what to buy or sell, where to invest, or where to work.
A judge in Los Angeles has ruled that a civil lawsuit accusing Alec Baldwin of acting negligently in the deadly 2021 shooting on the set of his western film Rust can proceed to trial.
According to Variety, the superior court judge Maurice Leiter issued a summary judgment on Friday allowing the case to move forward. Leiter’s ruling – obtained by the outlet – said that “a reasonable jury could find that Mr Baldwin recklessly disregarded the probability that pointing a gun in the direction of someone, with the finger on the trigger, would cause emotional distress”.
h/t Hermes
Howard Lutnick, the U.S. secretary of commerce, said on Friday that President Trump was committed to reining back the North American trade deal and blasted Canada for its trade negotiating strategy, adding, “they suck.”
Mr. Lutnick, who was speaking at a conference organized by the media outlet Semafor, was particularly critical of Canada’s effort to push back against the Trump administration. He dismissed a former Canadian trade official’s suggestion that Canada could benefit from negotiating more slowly because political pressure on the Trump administration was increasing, as “the worst strategy I ever heard.”
A spokesman for the Department of Commerce said that Mr. Lutnick was describing America’s unfair trade imbalance with Canada and how Canada “sucks off” America’s $30 trillion economy.
Howard Lutnick says USMCA is OVER.
Mark Carney’s BEST deal with the U.S. is about to expire.
You voted for this Canada 🇨🇦 elbows Up pic.twitter.com/rhvr8VFsxW
— Marc Nixon (@MarcNixon24) April 17, 2026
Expect this to go over well …
Who's afraid of Mexican drug cartels when you have the Dairy Mafia to worry about https://t.co/5rtVbLh5aP
— Blazingcatfur (@fancypants_s) April 17, 2026
Much has been written about the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. The majority of commentary has been critical. But let us set aside emotion, political sympathy, and ideology — and examine the facts with a cold, strategic eye. Because what we are witnessing is not simply a military confrontation with Iran. We are watching the opening moves of a new Great Game in the Middle East — and its primary target is Beijing.
Where did this idea come from, of Canada joining the European Union? I know the Prime Minister likes to say that Canada is “the most European of the non-European countries,” whatever that means. (More European than, say, Argentina? Uruguay? New Zealand?)
And sure, we’ve all joked about it, at least once, in the heat of Donald Trump’s latest outrage (“that’s it, we’re joining Europe!”). But we are now well past a joke. Finland’s President, Alexander Stubb, is the latest world leader to appear to entertain the prospect, pronouncing it “a marriage made in heaven” that could be negotiated “faster than Finland joining NATO.”
The homelessness charity Centrepoint has said it will cut ties with its celebrity ambassador Sharon Osbourne after she expressed support for a far-right rally being organised by Tommy Robinson.
The charity, of which the Prince of Wales is patron, has been moved to distance itself from comments made by Osbourne. The TV personality indicated this week that she would be attending an event organised in London by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
On an Instagram post about the “unite the kingdom” rally, Osbourne’s official account left a comment saying: “See you at the march.”
In response, Centrepoint, which had recently engaged Osbourne as an ambassador for a campaign, said: “This sort of event does not align with our values.”
Not sure I care much for a charity that places illegal alien invaders on an equal footing as native sons and daughters.
Liberal woman is UPSET with Sharon Osbourne for wanting to attend the Tommy Robinson UTK rally…
“Glad your husband ( Ozzy ) cheated on you and he’s Dead”
These liberals are nasty people pic.twitter.com/yS7c9aCOIj
— WeGotitBack 🏴🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@NotFarLeftAtAll) April 17, 2026
I was in Vienna last month and stumbling back to my hotel late one evening I came across something that surprised and impressed me.
It was a street cleaning machine, scouring away grime and scooping up every trace of the litter that had accumulated during the busy day. The crew was out again the next night, and the night after that. Not surprisingly, the streets were spotless.
Every morning, Darya looks forward to visiting her favourite café on the way to work. From her home on Yusufabad Street, an upper-middle class neighbourhood where Tehran’s old villas meet the new apartment blocks, she descends 200 zigzagging tiled steps.
From there, she catches a bus that runs down a dedicated narrow lane on Valiasr — the longest street in the Middle East — connecting the affluent north to working-class Tehran.
When federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre appeared on the popular right-wing American podcaster Joe Rogan’s show last month, many in his party were ecstatic with the result.
Mr. Poilievre resisted his worst instincts, passing on invitations to dump on Prime Minister Mark Carney, fuel separatist sentiment in Alberta or indulge in the conspiracy theories being propagated by Mr. Rogan.
Poilievre is doing well despite fixed polls and remains popular among the young.
The media can’t protect Carney forever eventually enough people will connect Canada’s decline directly to the Liberal Party.
