The Islamic State has regrouped in Somalia — and has global ambitions

BALIDHIDIN, Somalia — The dead Islamic State fighter was sprawled out on the ridge, bloodstains darkening in the sun, as a line of heavily armed Somali soldiers snaked down the mountainside to a fortified cave — their camouflage uniforms marking a new front line in the fight against the global terrorist group.

The Somali branch has become the Islamic State’s new operational and financial hub, according to U.S. Africa Command (Africom), and local officials estimate there are as many as 1,000 militants under its command. Large numbers of foreign fighters have flowed into Somalia, establishing a formidable force that now threatens Western targets. The group, known as al-Karrar, has also become a key source of funding for other Islamic State affiliates around the world, which have killed thousands of people, including U.S. soldiers, according to U.N. investigators.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", Islam, Islam and violence

Nations Denounce Trump Tariff on Metals and Warn of Retaliation

Nations targeted by President Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum decried the measures as unfair Tuesday and threatened to retaliate in a growing trade dispute that threatens to further roil economic markets and strain the United States’ relations with major allies.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, the United States’ biggest supplier of both metals, described Mr. Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports as “unjustified” and “unacceptable.”

Mr. Trudeau said he hoped to avert the imposition of the tariffs — which will not go into effect until March 12 — by highlighting their “negative impacts on Americans and Canadians.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, USA

Bizarre twist in Chinese spy balloon saga as its contents are finally revealed

A bizarre twist in the Chinese spy balloon saga has finally revealed the contents of the mystery floating surveillance device.

Investigators discovered the balloon – which was found hovering over the US before it was eventually shot down over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, 2023 – was secretly equipped with US-made technology.

It was full of the very same technology that may have helped Beijing spy on unsuspecting Americans, two sources with direct knowledge of the classified investigation told Newsweek exclusively.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"China - Communist Slave State", USA

Leger poll: Carney as leader would have Liberals tied with Conservatives

 

OTTAWA – A new poll suggests that if Mark Carney wins the Liberal leadership race, he would erase the massive lead the Conservatives have enjoyed for the past year and a half.

A Leger survey suggests a Carney-led party would boost Liberal support by six points to 37 per cent, putting them in a dead heat with the Tories.

It’s an online poll.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada's Corrupt Liberal Government

Former Mountie Kevin Brosseau appointed as Canada’s fentanyl czar

The federal government appointed former Mountie Kevin Brosseau as Canada’s new “fentanyl czar” on Tuesday — a role created in part to soothe U.S. President Donald Trump’s concerns about the northern border and pause a developing trade war.

As the government’s point-person on the file, Brosseau is being asked to work closely with U.S. counterparts and law enforcement agencies to “accelerate Canada’s ongoing work to detect, disrupt and dismantle the fentanyl trade,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

“The scourge of fentanyl must be wiped from the face of the Earth, its production must be shut down and its profiteers must be punished,” said the statement.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada

Fentanyl Funding For Trudeau’s Liberals?

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada's Corrupt Liberal Government

John Ivison: Trudeau won’t deter Trump, but Doug Ford just might

Justin Trudeau met with U.S. Vice-President JD Vance on the sidelines of an international summit in Paris and raised his concerns about the 25-per-cent tariffs on steel and aluminium announced by the Trump administration this week.

So that should do it. Perhaps Vance will report back that Trudeau is a bit miffed and the chastened Trump will cancel the tariffs.

More likely, Vance will share a good laugh with the president at the prime minister’s expense.

Then again maybe not …

h/t XC & Mauser

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, USA

CBC In Shock: Trump signs order to buy plastic straws, eliminate paper straws

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order aimed at encouraging the U.S. government and consumers to buy plastic drinking straws, pushing back efforts by his predecessor to phase out single-use plastics and tackle waste.

“We’re going back to plastic straws,” Trump told reporters at the White House as he signed the order, saying that paper straws “don’t work.”

“I don’t think plastic is going to affect a shark very much, as they’re munching their way through the ocean,” Trump said.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCanada, Trump Derangement Syndrome, USA

A ‘Trump tornado’ is about to hit Europe

There is a wind of change blowing through the West. It emanates from Washington DC, where President Donald Trump continues to dash off executive orders; more than fifty by the end of last week, the highest number in a president’s first 100 days in four decades.

The liberal mainstream media is rattled. The New York Times magazine ran a piece at the weekend in which it described Trump as “the leading light of a spate of illiberal leaders and parties flourishing in democracies around the world.” The paper namechecked some of them: Poland, Holland, India, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Hungary and Russia.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inEurope, President Trump