News
Copy by Patrick Lewis
Tariff Talk- Canada has revealed another batch of tariffs on U.S. imports as the ninth day of a North American trade war marches on.
The new tariffs of 25 per cent will affect a total of $29.8 billion in U.S. goods, starting just after midnight tonight and joining the initial $30 billion in tariffs levied against the United States last week.
Of that $29.8 billion, $12.6 billion will affect American steel products, $3 billion will affect aluminum and $14.2 billion will impact other items including tools, computer and server technology, water heaters, sports equipment and cast-iron products. In addition, the existing $30 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods such as food and drink, furniture and appliances, clothing, home wares and some automotive products remain in effect.
New PM – Prime minister-designate Mark Carney is aiming for a much leaner cabinet as he prepares to get sworn in on Friday at Rideau Hall.
Sources with knowledge of plans of Carney’s team say he and some 15 to 20 cabinet members will be sworn in.
The sources say many ministers will be switching jobs or losing them entirely. Carney’s team has been contacting them over the last 48 hours, informing them of the changes.
But key players on the Canada-U.S. relations file, including Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne, aren’t expected to be dropped from cabinet.
Russia’s War – Russia claimed today that its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of the biggest town in Russia’s Kursk border region, as a senior Kremlin official said that a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire in the three-year war on Ukraine would help Kyiv by giving its military a break.
The Russian Defense Ministry’s claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, hours after President Vladimir Putin visited his commanders in Kursk and wore military fatigues, could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment on the claim.
The renewed Russian military push and Putin’s high-profile visit to his troops came as U.S. President Trump presses for a diplomatic end to the war. The U.S. on Tuesday lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv after senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials made progress on how to stop the fighting during talks held in Saudi Arabia.
Mega Church Pastor Charged – A former pastor of a Texas megachurch who resigned after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her in the 1980s has been indicted in Oklahoma on child sexual abuse charges, that according to the state’s attorney general’s office.
63 year old Robert Preston Morris has been charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.
The alleged abuse started in 1982 when the victim, referred to in the indictment as C.C., was 12 years old and Morris was a traveling evangelist staying in Hominy, Oklahoma, with her family. The abuse allegedly continued for four years.
PokeMan Gone – Niantic Labs is selling its video-game division to Saudi Arabia-owned Scopely for $3.5 billion US, as the American augmented reality firm shifts focus to geospatial technology after failing to recreate the success of its 2016 smash hit Pokemon Go.
The deal, announced yesterday, also advances Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to become the “ultimate global hub” for gaming.
The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, via Savvy Games, bought Scopely for $4.9 billion US in 2023 as part of a broader push by the country to diversify beyond fossil fuels.
Sports
The Wellington Dukes are looking for a comeback after a 6-0 routing by the Stouffville Spirit on Sunday. The Dukes are down 2-0 in the series as they head back to Stouffville tonight… face off is at 7:30
In the PGA Jordan Spieth has taken an early lead at 3 under par at the Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass while Corey Conners is 1 under early in his round.
Aaron Rodgers’ much-hyped but overwhelmingly disappointing two-year tenure with the New York Jets is officially over.
The team released the four-time MVP, as expected, and the 41-year-old quarterback can now join another team as a free agent for the first time in his career — if he stills intends to play a 21st NFL season.
