The dewy-eyed trio of former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush alongside singer Bono all mourned the passing of USAID on Monday, with the U2 frontman embracing his inner Robert Frost and reciting a sad poem he wrote to lament the occasion.
HUNTER: Drug cartel civil war has deadly implications for Canada
Four decapitated corpses hanging from a bridge are the latest symbol of a civil war tearing apart the violent global drug powerhouse, the Sinaloa Cartel.
And the bloodshed has dire implications for Canada, where the cartel has been allowed to fester and grow in a twisted branch plant endeavour to fuel the world with fentanyl.
20 bodies found in Mexico after horrific cartel violence — including 4 headless corpses hanging from bridge
Jury deliberating at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ sex trafficking trial asks to review Cassie’s testimony
NEW YORK (AP) — The jury deliberating at Sean “Diddy” Combs ‘ sex trafficking trial asked Tuesday to review critical testimony from one of the prosecution’s most important witnesses: the hip-hop mogul’s former longtime girlfriend Cassie.
Jurors requested the testimony about 75 minutes into their second day of weighing charges that Combs used his fame, wealth and violence to force two girlfriends into drug-fueled sex marathons with male sex workers known as “freak-offs” or “hotel nights.”
The panel of eight men and four women asked for Cassie’s account of Combs beating, kicking and dragging her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 — an assault captured on now-infamous security camera footage.
Ottawa avoided a trade setback. But Trump could come for supply management next
Dreams do come true. U.S. President Donald Trump wished for Canada’s tax on U.S. tech companies to disappear on Friday, and by Sunday, it had.
Mostly, there was a sense of surprise that the federal government would play such a valuable card this soon. The digital services tax (DST), which Ottawa was supposed to start collecting on Monday, was unpopular with the U.S. government and the tech giants it targeted — Meta and Amazon, for example — and, conveniently, was not especially liked by business groups at home.
… “If the current government looks like it’s going to introduce a bill threatening supply management, this could create a lot of political headaches.”
Bill C-202 was sponsored by Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet as a nod to the party’s base in Quebec, where the dairy farming industry is heavily concentrated. The Conservatives are also looking to expand in the province while maintaining their rural base in Ontario.
“This is where the issue becomes existential for the political fortunes of Carney’s Liberal government,” said Hampson.
Amazon Is on the Cusp of Using More Robots Than Humans in Its Warehouses
The e-commerce giant now counts more than one million of the machines at its facilities
The automation of Amazon.com facilities is approaching a new milestone: There will soon be as many robots as humans.
The e-commerce giant, which has spent years automating tasks previously done by humans in its facilities, has deployed more than one million robots in those workplaces, Amazon said. That is the most it has ever had and near the count of human workers at the facilities.
Company warehouses buzz with metallic arms plucking items from shelves and wheeled droids that motor around the floors ferrying the goods for packaging. In other corners, automated systems help sort the items, which other robots assist in packaging for shipment.
‘Every year is worse’: Housing crisis reaches boiling point ahead of Quebec’s moving day
As Montreal prepares for its traditional moving day, the housing crunch reached alarming new heights — with hundreds of households still searching for a roof over their heads and advocates calling for urgent action.
“We see a lot of people who are low income and very vulnerable tenants struggling to figure out how to pay rents,” said Gary Saxe, executive director of Project Genesis, a housing rights organization based in Côte-des-Neiges. “And every year is getting worse as rents go higher and higher.”
Saxe said rents have gone up “astronomically” over the last few years — and it’s not just a problem on July 1, but all year round.
Trump taunts ‘total nut job’ Zohran Mamdani: ‘Going to have a lot of fun with him’
President Trump teased plans to “have a lot of fun” with “nut job” socialist Zohran Mamdani if he becomes mayor of the Big Apple — and called New Yorkers “crazy” for voting for him.
“I think we’re gonna have a lot of fun with him,” Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn Tuesday, “because he has to go right through this building to get his money. Don’t worry, he’s not gonna run away with anything.”
President Trump shreds communist Zohran Mamdani:
“Frankly, I have heard he is a total nut job" pic.twitter.com/ZHMG6Vk3ta
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) July 1, 2025
Canadian Real Estate Most Affordable In Years, Still Near 90s Bubble Peak: RBC
Canadian real estate is the most affordable it’s been in three years—but that isn’t saying much. RBC data shows ownership costs have eased, though it forecasts improvements stalling soon and affordability worsening next year. Even with affordability at its best, it would only be a slight improvement over the peak of the 1990s real estate bubble—the last one to fully burst.
Senate Republicans pass Trump’s sweeping policy bill, clearing major hurdle
Senate Republicans on Tuesday passed a major tax and spending bill demanded by Donald Trump, ending weeks of negotiations over the comprehensive legislation and putting it another step closer to enactment.
But it remains unclear if changes made by the chamber will be accepted by the House of Representatives, which approved an initial draft of the legislation last month by a single vote. While Republicans control both house of Congress, factionalism in the lower chamber is particularly intense, with rightwing fiscal hardliners demanding deep spending cuts, moderates wary of dismantling safety net programs and Republicans from Democratic-led states expected to make a stand on a contentious tax provision. Any one of these groups could potentially derail the bill’s passage through a chamber where the GOP can lose no more than three votes.
Would you die for Canada? Polling suggests Canadians are more willing to fight for their country
We asked, first, “What actions would you take, if any, to fight to defend Canada against a military attack and invasion or occupation by a hostile foreign power?” More than 72 per cent of respondents said they’d take at least some action given a list of alternatives, with about 26 per cent willing to volunteer for civil defence and 13 per cent willing to volunteer for military service.
Pixar’s ‘Elio’ Was Originally ‘Queer-Coded’
Let’s just state the obvious: Hollywood still hasn’t learned a thing. After years of box-office flops and massive public backlash, the geniuses at Pixar and Disney are still convinced that what American families really want is another kids’ movie packed with lectures about “inclusivity” and “queer” identity. Newsflash: They don’t.
Trump celebrates Canada Day
Today is Canada Day, which for 115 years was known as Dominion Day and soon will be known as Statehood Day. The American flag will have 50 stars surrounding a white maple leaf. It will be lovely—one Big Beautiful State.
On Friday, Donald Trump tweeted on Truth Social, “We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with, including the fact that they have charged our Farmers as much as 400% Tariffs, for years, on Dairy Products, has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country.
Jimmy Swaggart, televangelist felled by sex scandal, dies at 90
Jimmy Swaggart, an itinerant Louisiana preacher who became one of the most popular and polarizing Christian televangelists of his generation before a sex scandal — etched in public memory by his tear-streaked televised confession — consigned him to relative obscurity, died July 1. He was 90.
His death was announced in a statement by Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, which did not share additional details. His son Donnie Swaggart, a fellow pastor, said on June 15 that his father went into cardiac arrest and was hospitalized in Baton Rouge.
Mr. Swaggart was one of a handful of televangelists who rose to global prominence in the second half of the 20th century, among them Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, and Jerry Falwell.
There’s no one way to be a Canadian: Commie Culture Minister Steven Guilbeault
OTTAWA — Steven Guilbeault, federal minister of identity and culture, came to his new job just as the whole country was looking at itself in the mirror.
Guilbeault took on the new ministry — which replaces the old heritage ministry and takes up responsibility for Parks Canada — as U.S. President Donald Trump was ramping up a ruinous trade war and talking about annexing his country’s neighbour to the north.
Perhaps the very last person I want to hear from on Canada Day.
‘Saving the planet’ written into King’s job description
King Charles III is officially in charge of saving the planet: his role has been redefined to include leading on “environmental sustainability”.
The monarch’s job as “Head of Nation”, which he undertakes alongside that of “Head of State”, will now include four key themes, confirmed by Buckingham Palace in an annual report.
The King and his household will work on the topics “national unity”, “community impact”, “environmental sustainability” and “cultural heritage”.