Will Angela Rayner ban criticism of Islam?

Less than 24 hours after a man in Manchester was convicted of a hate crime for burning the Koran, news has emerged of the UK government’s plans for further restrictions on what can be said about Islam.

As the Telegraph reports, UK deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, in her role as communities secretary, is setting up a council to advise her on drawing up an official government definition of ‘Islamophobia’. Although it is presented in the language of tackling prejudice, discrimination and abuse faced by British Muslims, we can be certain that the government will attempt to ringfence criticism of Islam itself – and perhaps even of Islamic fundamentalism and extremism.

She is a lunatic.

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Quebec continues to reject Energy East pipeline from Alberta despite tariff threat

That was fast.

The show of solidarity between Canada’s premiers to reduce barriers to interprovincial trade in the face US president Donald Trump’s tariff threats lasted less than eight hours.

Speaking to reporters following The Donald’s gesture to delay what amount to crippling economic sanctions on Canada’s export industries, Quebec Premier François Legault said his province was willing to do anything to prevent the imposition of tariffs in the future.

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Trump must be careful – Canada has a devastating ace up its sleeve

Donald Trump is well-advised to pause his unprovoked act of aggression against Canada.

The once “friendly giant of the North” has the means to inflict a serious energy and industrial crisis on America if pushed too far. Ottawa has conspicuously refused to rule this out.

Canada is the world’s fourth biggest producer of crude oil, exporting some 4m barrels a day to the US. It is the fifth biggest producer of natural gas.

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Conrad Black: Though Postponed, Tariff Threat Presents a Range of Opportunities for Canada

The imposition of 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports—now suspended for a month—by President Trump was an outrage, but it is also an opportunity.

It is offensive because the president says the tariffs are a result of inadequate efforts on the part of Canada and Mexico to prevent the entry of undesirables and dangerous narcotics into the United States. As I’ve written elsewhere, Canada is not East Germany and does not construct a wall to keep people in the country. It is well-settled international law and usage that sovereign countries maintain their own borders. Mr. Trump’s complaint is not with us but with his predecessor, who wilfully allowed 10–12 million or even more illegal migrants to cross the southern border, a significant number of them dangerous criminals bringing with them horrifying quantities of fentanyl and other lethal drugs.

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Military not being deployed to border, but Canada will send drones

OTTAWA — The Canadian Armed Forces will not be sent to the Canada-U.S. border, but it will sending more drones to the RCMP and assist with logistics, according to National Defence Minister Bill Blair’s office.

Calls to send the military to the border rang out Monday from Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who requested Prime Minister Justin Trudeau do so as the clock ticked down to the U.S. imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports and 10 per cent on energy resources.

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Trump proposes U.S. control of Gaza, permanent displacement of residents

President Donald Trump on Tuesday proposed that the United States take a “long-term ownership position” over Gaza, moving its residents to a “good, fresh, beautiful piece of land” in another country and rebuilding the war-torn territory under U.S. control, offering a vision of mass displacement likely to inflame sentiments in the Arab world as he welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.

Trump’s proposal was likely to provoke a furious reaction from many Palestinians as well as their Arab allies in the region, since it suggested permanently removing Gaza’s 2.2 million residents from Palestinian territory and settling them outside of their land. It would also pull the United States even more deeply into the conflict by taking over territory that belongs to Palestinians.

The idea was a first indicator of Trump’s swaggering approach to the region, as he waded into a generations-old conflict with the assurance that he could resolve what years of efforts by U.S. diplomats have failed to accomplish. His proposal appeared to give little consideration to what Palestinians have said they want

BBC Live Feed – Trump suggests US could ‘take over’ and redevelop Gaza as he hosts Netanyahu

No one had this on their Bingo Card.

H/T XC

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It’s Time to End DEI in Immigration

Today’s system prioritizes diversity and inclusion over merit and skill.

President Donald Trump has moved decisively to eradicate “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” initiatives in the federal government and private sector. His actions are a great step forward, but one area of federal policy has been spared his efforts so far—U.S. immigration policy remains infused with DEI principles. Trump has a historic opportunity to fix this problem and put America first.

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Jack Mintz: Trump sets the stage for the next Canadian election

This week we witnessed the fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” strategy. It was a fiasco for markets with tariffs threatened against two allies — Canada and Mexico at 25 per cent (10 per cent for Canadian energy) — and levied against one foe, China, at 10 per cent.

Trump is already basking in another “victory” while many will say he balked because of the disruption. Canada and Mexico agreed to toughen border security and curb fentanyl smuggling across the border, which was the focus of the executive order issued last Saturday.

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Witkoff Meets PLO Leader Who Vowed to Spend ‘Last Penny’ Financing Terror

Fresh from his success of implementing the Biden plan and saving Hamas, Steven Witkoff, acting as President Donald Trump’s Middle East Envoy, went to Saudi Arabia, homeland of the 9/11 hijackers, and met with Hussein Al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee and head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) General Authority of Civil Affairs, who is apparently the leading candidate to replace PLO chief and PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

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Trump and Netanyahu meet

Off topic President Trump announces plan to obliterate Iran in the event of his assassination.

h/t XC

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U.S. authorities charge Canadian teen math whiz in alleged US$65-million cryptocurrency scheme

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged a 22-year-old Canadian math whiz in connection with what it calls “cryptocurrency hacking schemes” that allegedly netted him US$65-million in digital tokens.

Andean Medjedovic, who at 19 had already completed a master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Waterloo, is accused of exploiting vulnerabilities in decentralized financial platforms and then laundering the proceeds of those schemes, according to the indictment unsealed on Monday.

Mr. Medjedovic went into hiding in 2021, according to Ontario court documents.

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