Australia’s petrol stations run dry as energy crisis turns existential

Australia’s petrol stations run dry as energy crisis turns existential

In the film Mad Max, an oil shortage leaves Australian society teetering on the brink of total collapse.

In real-life, things aren’t quite that dystopian yet Down Under. But with barely a month of stockpiled diesel left and hundreds of forecourts running dry, the anxiety is palpable.

Australia has one of the highest per-capita rates of diesel consumption in the world but it relies almost entirely on imports to meet that demand. There are two domestic refineries producing petrol but up to 90pc of that is imported, too.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"US Israel Iran War", Australia

Tasha Kheiriddin: Why Liberal Terrebonne win could push more Conservative MPs to flee

Tasha Kheiriddin: Why Liberal Terrebonne win could push more Conservative MPs to flee

Lots of ink has already been spilled on the impact of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s historic majority: the implications for the Liberal agenda, for House of Commons committees, and for the country. But one byelection matters more than the others: the riding of Terrebonne, which saw Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste score a victory in traditional Bloc Québécois territory with a 731-vote margin, and which could reshape politics in both Quebec and Ottawa.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Canadian Politics"

First victory for the battle brigade run by robots alone

First victory for the battle brigade run by robots alone

Ukraine has been able to retake territory seized by Russia in an operation using only robots and drones for the first time during the war, President Zelensky has said.

Russian soldiers surrendered when confronted by the army of unmanned vehicles and there were no losses on the Ukrainian side, Zelensky said in an address to the workers of Ukraine’s defence-industrial complex on Monday.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia"

CHARLEBOIS: Cheap imports won’t fix Canada’s beef problem

CHARLEBOIS: Cheap imports won’t fix Canada’s beef problem

The Canadian Cattle Association has launched a petition urging Ottawa to restrict beef imports as trade negotiations with Mercosur — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay — move forward. These countries are among the world’s lowest-cost beef producers, and a deal could increase the volume of cheaper beef entering Canada.

The concern from producers is understandable. Canadian ranchers are operating in a high-cost environment, facing rising input costs, regulatory pressures, and a tight cattle supply. But the reaction also reveals a deeper issue: Canada’s beef affordability problem is not primarily about imports — it is about structural constraints at home.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Food Insecurity"

Mediators move closer to extending US-Iran ceasefire, officials tell AP

Mediators move closer to extending US-Iran ceasefire, officials tell AP

CAIRO (AP) — Mediators moved closer Wednesday to extending the ceasefire between the United States and Iran and restarting negotiations to salvage the fragile truce before it expires next week. A senior Iranian military official threatened to halt trade in the region if the U.S. does not lift its naval blockade, underscoring tensions that are overshadowing the diplomacy.

The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and renewed Iranian threats have imperiled the week-old agreement, but regional officials said Wednesday they were making progress, telling The Associated Press that the United States and Iran had given an “in principle agreement” to extend it to allow for more diplomacy.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"US Israel Iran War"

Mark Carney’s majority is still full of risk

Mark Carney’s majority is still full of risk

On the surface, the results of last night’s Canadian by-elections would be significant enough. The Liberals, under Prime Minister Mark Carney, achieved majority status by winning two safe downtown Toronto seats, also eking out a win against the Bloc Québécois in suburban Montreal. But the truth is that Carney won his majority even before Monday, after an extraordinary string of floor-crossings in which five opposition MPs defected to the Liberals, with more rumored on the way. It has decisively put an end to the precarious minority status which emerged from last year’s general election.

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

France: Afghan Facing Trial for Raping Goats and Sheep

France: Afghan Facing Trial for Raping Goats and Sheep

A 19-year-old Afghan is set to stand trial in France after being accused of repeatedly abusing goats and sheep near Marseille.

The suspect was arrested on the night of April 10th by the anti-crime brigade (BAC) in the municipality of Les Pennes-Mirabeau, following a series of incidents reported by livestock owners. Since early 2026, farmers had reported finding various injured animals, all showing signs of sexual abuse. Some animals were found with their legs bound.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West, WTF?

LILLEY: Poilievre’s pain not over as Carney Liberals pursue more Conservative MPs

LILLEY: Poilievre’s pain not over as Carney Liberals pursue more Conservative MPs

As Mark Carney and his Liberal government celebrate officially achieving majority status in the House of Commons, the Conservatives are nursing the political equivalent of a hangover.

Carney’s Liberals have their majority of 174 seats in large part because four Conservative MPs defected from Pierre Poilievre’s party to Carney’s.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Canadian Politics"

WHISSELL: Forget the EU — Carney’s real threat to Canada is coming from within

WHISSELL: Forget the EU — Carney’s real threat to Canada is coming from within

In trying to address his inability to strike a trade deal with the US, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s alternative to gain access to the European Union (EU) market is something I wanted to argue poses a threat to Canada’s sovereignty. That’s how I feel, particularly about Canada joining the EU as a member state.

But, while I found that Carney’s solution to perceived overreliance on the US does indeed contain a serious threat to Canada, it’s not from the EU.

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

Globe wants masked Death Cultists to teach your children

Globe wants masked Death Cultists to teach your children

The two teachers

Nadia Naqvi, the oldest and fiercest in a family of five children, was born in 1981 in Montreal. Her father, who emigrated from Pakistan in the 1970s, instilled in his children that he was the immigrant in the family.

You are just Canadian, he would tell them, and if anybody asks, you’re Canadian-Pakistani. Always put the Canadian in front, he’d say. But growing up in Montreal’s suburban West Island, Ms. Naqvi never felt fully Canadian. She was bullied more times than she could count, called a “Paki” and “smelly.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", Canada, Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West

Sayyid Qutb: the godfather of Islamism

Sayyid Qutb: the godfather of Islamism

As historian Faisal Devji has recently shown, the meaning of the term Islam began to change during the 19th century. In the colonial context of South Asia and the Middle East, the likes of ‘pan-Islamic’, anti-colonial activist Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838-1897) began to turn it into something rather more modern, in opposition to European imperialism and the West more broadly.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Islamophobia", Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West, Muslim Brotherhood

Poilievre May Be Struggling Right Now, but the Kids Still Like Him

Poilievre May Be Struggling Right Now, but the Kids Still Like Him

It’s already political legend. In 2025, Justin Trudeau stepped down as prime minister just as Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives were cruising toward a massive majority government. Within weeks of Mark Carney taking the helm of the Liberals, the political landscape was transformed. By April, the Liberals had secured another mandate—a turnaround with virtually no precedent in Canada in terms of scale and timing, and one that few observers would have predicted at the start of the year. Yours truly included.

Don’t often link to the Walrus but here it is.

h/t Ogie

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Canadian Politics", Conservative Party