03 World

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Alberta wants separation from Canada amid Donald Trump’s repeated calls for making Canada its 51st state.

Thousands of Albertans have been holding rallies, signing petitions to vote for separation from Canada as the Liberals make their fourth consecutive win in the country that US president Donald Trump wants to convert into the 51st state of the US.Alberta has a long-standing complaint that Ottawa treated them unfairly despite reaping huge economic benefit from its oil and gas resources While the call for a separation from Canada is not new, it has got a push in the wake of the recent election result.

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Virginia Giuffre, who accused Britain’s Prince Andrew and other influential men of sexually exploiting her as a teenager trafficked by financier Jeffrey Epstein, has died. She was 41.

Giuffre died by suicide Friday at her farm in Western Australia, her publicist confirmed.

“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors,” her family said in a statement. “Despite all the adversity she faced in her life, she shone so bright. She will be missed beyond measure.”

Her publicist Dini von Mueffling described Giuffre as “deeply loving, wise and funny.”

“She adored her children and many animals. She was always more concerned with me than with herself,” von Mueffling wrote in a statement. “I will miss her beyond words. It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her.”

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened sanctions on anyone who buys Iranian oil, a warning that came after planned talks over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program were postponed.

Trump wrote on social media, “All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW!” He said any country or person who buys those products from Iran will not be able to do business with the United States “in any way, shape, or form.”

It was unclear how Trump would implement such a ban as he threatened to levy secondary sanctions on nations that import Iranian oil. But his statement risked further escalating tensions with China — Iran’s leading customer — at a time when the relationship is severely strained over the U.S. president’s tariffs.

Based on tanker tracking data, the U.S. Energy Information Administration concluded in a report published last October that “China took nearly 90% of Iran’s crude oil and condensate exports in 2023.” Trump has separately placed 145% tariffs on China as a way to raise federal revenues and rebalance global trade.

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As a number of rulings have come in this afternoon with federal judges blocking several aspects of Trump’s agenda that he’s tried to enact via vehicles such as executive orders, here’s a brief roundup of those developments.

A judge blocked Donald Trump’s efforts to add a proof of citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form, a change that voting rights advocates warned would have disenfranchised millions of voters. The president sought to unilaterally add the requirement in a 25 March executive orders. The Democratic party, as well as a slew of civil rights groups, challenged that order, arguing the president does not have the power to set the rules for federal elections. US district judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly agreed with that argument. She also blocked a portion of the executive order that required federal agencies to assess the citizenship of individuals applying to vote at a public assistance agency before they offered them a chance to vote. The order would have made it significantly harder to register to vote, even for eligible voters.

Meanwhile, a federal judge said the Trump administration’s attempt to make federal funding to schools conditional on them eliminating any DEI policies erodes the “foundational principles” that separates the United States from totalitarian regimes. US district judge Landya McCafferty partially blocked the Department of Education from enforcing a memo issued earlier this year that directed any institution that receives federal funding to end discrimination on the basis of race or face funding cuts.

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Israel approved plans on Monday to capture the entire Gaza Strip and remain in the territory for an unspecified amount of time, two Israeli officials said, in a move that if implemented would vastly expand Israel’s operations in the Palestinian territory and likely bring fierce international opposition.

Israel’s cabinet ministers approved the plan in an early morning vote, hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers. The new plan, which the officials said was meant to help Israel achieve its war aims of defeating Hamas and freeing hostages held in Gaza, also would push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, likely exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.

Since a ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hamas collapsed in mid-March, Israel has unleashed fierce strikes on the territory that have killed hundreds. It has captured swathes of territory and now controls roughly 50 per cent of Gaza.

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The influential mayor of Tübingen, Boris Palmer, is harshly criticizing the Office of the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the powerful German domestic spy agency, after it labeled the Alternative for Germany (AfD) a confirmed “right-wing extremist” party. The former Green Party politician, who won Tübingen despite switching to run as an independent, said the secret, 1,000-page report used to justify the AfD’s designation basically just listed public incidents already known to the media.

“Unless Der Spiegel is simply poorly informed, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has compiled primarily what is publicly known,” wrote Palmer.

operations in years– www.cbsnews.com
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London — British counterterrorism police officers arrested four Iranian men over an alleged plot to attack an unspecified target, and three others over an undefined national security threat, London’s Metropolitan Police said Sunday. The government called the operations the biggest “counter-state threat and counterterrorism” in years.

The Met, as London’s police force is often known, said five men between the ages of 29 and 46 were detained Saturday in various parts of England under the Terrorism Act on suspicion of preparing “a terrorist act.”

Four are Iranian citizens and the nationality of the fifth was still being established. Police said the attack plot was targeting a single location that was not being named “for operational reasons.” They said people at the premises in question were being given “advice and support.”

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Donald Trump says he doesn’t think he will send military to take over Canada.

President Donald Trump again spoke about making Canada the 51st state of the United States as he gave an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press but he said it would not come to the point where he has to use military to take over Canada, but the same can’t be said about Greenland.
Trump said he would talk to Mark Carney about the issue once he comes to the White House. “You know why? We subsidize Canada to the tune of $200 billion a year. We don’t need their cars. In fact, we don’t want their cars. We don’t need their energy. We don’t even want their energy. We have more than they do. We don’t want their lumber. We have great lumber. All I have to do is free it up from the environmental lunatics. We don’t need anything that they have. We’re giving them — I asked, I asked Mr Trudeau — who I call Governor Trudeau, not Prime Minister, Governor — I said, “Governor Trudeau, could I ask you one question? Why are we giving you $200 billion? Why are we subsidizing Canada?” If Canada was a state it wouldn’t cost us. It would be great.”

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.

A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.

“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”

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The Israeli military has called up tens of thousands of reservists to “intensify and expand” its operations in Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was “increasing the pressure” with the aim of returning hostages held in Gaza and defeating Hamas militants.

Under the plan, the military said it would operate in new areas and “destroy all infrastructure” above and below ground.

The Israeli security cabinet was expected to vote on the military expansion on Sunday, local media reported.

No Israeli hostages have been released since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March after the collapse of a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. Israel and Hamas blamed each other for the end of the truce.

Anthony Albanese, Australia’s current far-left Prime Minister, rode a wave of anti-Trump sentiment to victory against the conservatives, winning 81 of 150 seats. Meanwhile the conservative Liberal Party leader, Peter Dutton, lost his own seat.

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Australia’s Anthony Albanese claimed a second term as prime minister on Saturday in a dramatic comeback against once-resurgent conservatives that was powered by voters’ concerns about the influence of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Australian Electoral Commission website projected Labor would win 81 of 150 seats in the House of Representatives, increasing its majority in Parliament, with 68 per cent of the vote counted.

Peter Dutton, leader of the conservative Liberal party, conceded defeat and the loss of his own seat — echoing the fate of Canada’s Conservative Party and its leader, Pierre Poilievre, whose election losses days earlier were also attributed to a Trump backlash.

Supporters at Labor’s election celebration in Sydney cheered and hugged each other as Albanese claimed victory and said his party would form a majority government. “Our government will choose the Australian way, because we are proud of who we are and all that we have built together in this country,” he told supporters.

“We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else. We do not seek our inspiration from overseas. We find it right here in our values and in our people.”

Albanese would be the first Australian prime minister to win a consecutive term in two decades. He said Australians had voted for fairness and “the strength to show courage in adversity and kindness to those in need.”

Canada’s recently elected prime minister, Mark Carney, congratulated Albanese on social media, saying that “in an increasingly divided world,” Canada and Australia are close partners and “the most reliable of friends.”

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A member of Canada‘s Parliament announced he would abandon his seat to ensure that Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre can run in a special election and return to the House of Commons.

Conservative MP Damien Kurek indicated on Friday that he would only be “temporarily” abandoning the seat of Battle River-Crowfoot in Alberta, which he handily secured reelection to on Monday with 82% of the vote.

“Although it will be hard to temporarily step away from this role, in this region I love and have always called home, the mandate given to me is one that clearly states that change is needed,” Kurek said.

“Offering this seat to our party leader is an important step in that process,” he added.

Poilievre praised Kurek for the “selfless” move and vowed to “earn the trust of the good people of Battle River-Crowfoot.”