Canadian political pundits and right-of-center media were quick to blast what they called “onerous” house arrest conditions placed on Freedom Convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, who were sentenced yesterday by an Ontario judge after earlier being found guilty of mischief.
Rebel News head Ezra Levant, who has been covering the trial extensively, gave his assessment of the verdict, saying there was “good” and “bad” news.
“Good news: no additional jail time for Tamara Lich or Chris Barber,” he wrote on X.
“Bad news: onerous house arrest provisions. The real punishment was the longest mischief trial in Canadian history. Total political vendetta by Doug Ford’s prosecutors.”
On October 7, Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey sentenced Lich and Chris Barber to 18 months’ house arrest after being convicted earlier in the year convicted of “mischief.”
As reported by LifeSiteNews, the Canadian government was hoping to put Lich in jail for no less than seven years and Barber for eight years for their roles in the 2022 protests against COVID mandates.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is again facing calls to stand up for farmers after new figures shows exports from the province to China have drastically fallen.
The Statistics Canada data released this week comes amid a trade dispute where Beijing has slapped tariffs on Canadian canola products, widely seen in response to Canada’s 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles.
The data shows Saskatchewan exported $96 million in goods to China in August, a 76 per cent drop when compared with the same month last year.
About 60 per cent of the province’s exports to China are farming and food products, and the data shows they’ve been declining since June.
Opposition NDP trade critic Aleana Young says the drop could hit the province’s economy and job market.
She says Moe needs to take a stronger position by advocating to have the electric vehicle tariffs removed.
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu. on Thursday, endorsed US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, following the US president’s announcement of a ceasefire agreement and hostage release arrangement between Israel and Hamas.”Give @realDonaldTrump the Nobel Peace Prize — he deserves it!” was posted as a message on the official X platform from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, just a day before the winner is set to be announced by the Nobel committee.The Israeli PM’s office also shared an AI image of Trump celebrating while wearing the Nobel Peace Prize medal, standing alongside a cheering Netanyahu and other supporters.Neanyahu formally sent the letter for Trump’s nomination in July, citing his role in “forging peace in one region after another.”
Presenting a letter to Trump during talks at the White House, Netanyahu had said (at the time), “I want to present to you, Mr President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize Committee. It’s nominating you for the Peace Prize, which is well deserved, and you should get it.”Meanwhile, while actively campaigning for the honour in the past, Trump seemed to downplay the hopes in the most recent statement. When asked about his chances of winning the prize, Trump told reporters, “I have no idea… Marco would tell you we settled seven wars. We’re close to settling an eighth. I think we’ll end up settling the Russia situation… I don’t think anybody in history has settled that many. But perhaps they’ll find a reason not to give it to me.”
For two years now, the suffering of the 251 hostages snatched by Hamas terrorists during the October 7th massacre in Israel has been a stain on the conscience of the civilised world. Now the first phase of President Donald Trump’s peace deal promises the speedy release of the 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza – up to 20 of whom could still be alive.
Their release will be a joyful day for former British hostage Emily Damari, whose family I tried my best to support whilst she was in captivity. If his confident prediction that they will all be released “very soon” is fulfilled, then President Trump will deserve huge congratulations and heartfelt thanks — not only from the hostages’ desperate families — but from everybody who wants to see an end to terrorism and war in the Middle East.
If this happens, President Trump will surely also deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. He has proved again that he is an instinctive peacemaker, not a warmonger like too many of his predecessors in the White House.
Before Trump US policy was dominated by neo-cons, from both the Democratic and Republican parties, who seemed all for foreign wars and launched disastrous military campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
Russia seriously damaged one of Ukraine’s thermal power plants in an overnight attack, authorities said on Wednesday, as Moscow continues to pursue its annual campaign to cut Ukrainians off from heat, light and running water as winter approaches.
Two workers were injured in the attack, according to Ukraine’s biggest electricity operator, DTEK. The company provided no further information, such as the location of the plant that was hit.
Ukrainian authorities generally release few details about routine Russian strikes on its power grid in order not to give away intelligence to the enemy.
Russia also struck energy infrastructure in the northern Chernihiv, southern Kherson and southeastern Dnipropetrovsk regions, authorities said.
Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted or jammed 154 out of 183 Russian strike and decoy drones fired at the country.
The energy sector has been a key battleground since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.
Jerusalem — Indirect peace talks between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the war in Gaza and freeing the remaining Israeli hostages resumed Wednesday in Egypt. President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were expected to arrive in Egypt on Wednesday to join the conversations, a source familiar with the matter told CBS News.
The war was sparked by the Hamas-led, Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken as hostages. Israeli officials believe 48 of those people remain captive, though only 20 are believed to still be alive.
Since that day, the Gaza Strip’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health says Israel’s retaliatory war has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians. Israel disputes that figure but provides no estimate of its own, and the United Nations considers the health ministry’s count the most reliable information available, as Israel has barred foreign journalists from operating independently in Gaza.
Ricardo Pires, a spokesman for the United Nations children’s charity UNICEF, said this week that what he calls Israel’s “disproportionate response” in Gaza has killed or maimed at least 61,000 children since the war started.
Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir risked derailing hopes of peace in the Middle East by declaring he wants to see Hamas ”destroyed”. Speaking in Jerusalem he said: “I only pray that our Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) will allow a complete victory in Gaza…to destroy Hamas. With God’s help we will return the hostages, and we will win a complete victory.”
His inflammatory statement came as Israel and Hamas negotiators exchanged lists of the prisoners and hostages who would be released under the terms of any peace deal. Negotiations currently taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, are focussed on the “mechanisms for implementing the end of the war, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, and the exchange of prisoners”. The release of 48 Hamas-held hostages – 20 of whom are thought to be dead – and 1,950 Palestinian prisoners are critical parts of US President Donald Trump‘s 20-point pathway to peace plan. Under the blueprint, Hamas must free all Israeli hostages, dead and alive, before Israel frees 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazans detained since the 2023 attacks, including all women and children.
President Trump wanted an agreement reached by the end of the week, but the implementation of the first phase of his roadmap has not yet been agreed.
… “In September, no one takes to our streets to celebrate 9/11. Germans don’t celebrate the Holocaust. The Japanese don’t celebrate Pearl Harbour. Americans don’t celebrate Hiroshima or Nagasaki.” (X)
After what we’ve seen these past two years, perhaps it’s not a huge surprise. But decent Americans ought to be deeply disturbed … and worries.
New York Post: Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters converged in Manhattan Tuesday, screaming the antisemitic slogan “From the river to the sea” and wielding vile signs on the second anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack. The keffiyeh-wearing demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and also bellowed chants of “It is right to resist, Israel does not exist” in protest of the Jewish state on Tuesday. Many carried signs that read “Long Live the Intifada,” “As the UN is meeting, Gaza is bleeding” and “From New York to Palestine, Starving People is a Crime.” Others banged protest drums and called for the Intifada while holding a massive banner that read “Glory to our Martyrs.” A man carried a banner that appeared to have a jihadist flag adorned with a machine gun
US President Donald Trump has called for the imprisonment of Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers. The remarks, posted on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, come amid ongoing political tensions over immigration enforcement and the deployment of federal troops in Democratic-led cities.“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump wrote, referring to US immigration and customs enforcement personnel operating in the city.
Trump’s comments follow a recent executive order by Johnson that designates city property as an “ICE Free Zone,” restricting federal immigration agents from using municipal facilities. The move was seen as a direct pushback against federal immigration operations within the city.Trump’s statement adds to a broader dispute over the use of the national guard in Democrat-led states. Hundreds of Texas national guard soldiers have reportedly assembled at a military facility near Chicago, despite vocal opposition from state leadership, including Johnson and Pritzker.The administration has not accused either Johnson or Pritzker of any wrongdoing legally. Both leaders have opposed Trump’s immigration policies and criticized what they see as the federal government’s overreach. Pritzker has previously accused Trump of trying to provoke unrest as a means to justify military deployments.
Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nounou said on Wednesday that negotiators from his group and Israel have exchanged lists of prisoners and hostages who would be released should a deal be reached during the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks in Egypt.
According to Reuters, al-Nounou also said Hamas expressed optimism about reaching a deal, stating that the group has demonstrated the necessary positivity.
Trump hails election of ‘highly respected’ first female prime minister of Japan– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
President Donald Trump celebrated the election of the right-wing Sanae Takaichi as the likely next prime minister of Japan.
Takaichi is set to become the first female prime minister of Japan after she won the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled Japan almost uninterrupted since 1955. Feminists on the left aren’t celebrating, however, as Takaichi has distinguished herself as a hard-line conservative.
Japanese LDP President Sanae Takaichi and President Donald Trump. (AP)
“Japan has just elected its first female Prime Minister, a highly respected person of great wisdom and strength. This is tremendous news for the incredible people of Japan. Congratulations to all!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, signing his name at the end.
Trump’s congratulations are likely more than a simple nicety. Takaichi’s right-wing views are in line with those of her U.S. counterpart. She also boasts one of Trump’s best friends on the international stage as her mentor, the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Takaichi is also known for her hard-line views on China, a key priority that plays into Trump’s vision for the Indo-Pacific region. She’s also expressed her opposition to immigration to Japan, one of Trump’s central issues.
Trump declares war on Mexico’s cartels as unlawful combatants– www.theblaze.com Source Link Excerpt:
President Donald Trump has finally named the enemy: Mexican drug cartels. Declaring them unlawful combatants and recognizing a “non-international armed conflict” marks one of the most consequential national security shifts in modern history.
For decades, Washington treated cartel violence as a crime — a problem for prosecutors, not generals. Indictments were filed, assets seized, and sanctions imposed. But the cartels fought a different kind of war, one that combined terror, intelligence, and territorial control. Calling it “crime” guaranteed defeat.
We refused to define the cartels as belligerents — and fought the wrong fight.
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, Mexico ranks among the world’s most violent conflict zones — behind only Palestine, Myanmar, and Syria. It is also the second-most dangerous country for civilians. Those numbers are not from a failed state overseas. They come from our southern border, where cartel wars spill into American communities daily.
Starmer says UK will ‘never surrender’ flag to far-right protesters – Al Jazeera Source Link Excerpt:
Britain will “never surrender” to far-right protesters who use the national flag as cover for violence and intimidation, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer says after violent scenes at one of the country’s largest far-right demonstrations in decades.
More than 110,000 people marched through central London on Saturday in a protest against immigration led by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. Some attending the Unite the Kingdom rally clashed with police. Twenty-six officers were injured, and at least 24 people were arrested, according to the Metropolitan Police.
Ukraine says it has struck oil terminal in Crimea and key Russian explosives factory | World News– news.sky.com Source Link Excerpt:
Ukraine’s military says it has struck one of Russia’s main explosives factory as well as an oil terminal in Russian-occupied Crimea.
“Numerous explosions” were reported after the strike at the Y M Sverdlov plant in Dzerzhinsk, which makes explosives for ammunition for Russia’s armed forces, the Ukrainian general staff said in a statement.
The attacks were carried out as part of a strategy to reduce Russia‘s “offensive potential, as well as its missile and bomb capabilities”, the general staff said.
It added that the plant was one of Moscow’s largest producers of explosives, which are used in a wide variety of ammunition for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces, including aviation and artillery shells, fighter jet bombs, anti-tank guided missiles and warheads for air defence missile systems.
Regional governor Gleb Nikitin said air defence forces had repelled an overnight attack by 20 drones near Dzerzhinsk. He said one person was injured by falling debris.
Mr Nikitin said there was fire damage to residential homes but “no damage was caused to industrial facilities”.
‘Swarms of Killer Robots’: Why AI is Terrifying the American Military – Politico Source Link Excerpt:
Artificial intelligence technology is poised to transform national security. In the United States, experts and policymakers are already experimenting with large language models that can aid in strategic decision-making in conflicts and autonomous weapons systems (or, as they are more commonly called, “killer robots”) that can make real-time decisions about what to target and whether to use lethal force.
But these new technologies also pose enormous risks. The Pentagon is filled with some of the country’s most sensitive information. Putting that information in the hands of AI tools makes it more vulnerable, both to foreign hackers and to malicious inside actors who want to leak information, as AI can comb through and summarize massive amounts of information better than any human. A misaligned AI agent can also quickly lead to decision-making that unnecessarily escalates conflict.
“These are really powerful tools. There are a lot of questions, I think, about the security of the models themselves,” Mieke Eoyang, the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for cyber policy during the Joe Biden administration, told POLITICO Magazine in a wide-ranging interview about these concerns.
Opposition Politician Shlosberg Released From House Arrest Pending ‘Discreditation’ Trial– www.themoscowtimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
A court in the northwestern Pskov region released opposition politician Lev Shlosberg from house arrest pending trial for his criticism of the invasion of Ukraine, the Yabloko party’s press service said Tuesday.
Shlosberg, a senior Yabloko member who has remained in Russia despite his opposition to the war, faces up to five years in prison if found guilty of repeatedly “discrediting” the military. The 62-year-old politician was already fined twice on administrative charges for the same offense.
The Pskov City Court ruled to impose a ban on certain activities instead of continuing Shlosberg’s house arrest, which he has been under since June. Yabloko said Shlosberg was barred from using the internet, a phone and communicating with anyone outside his household for four months.
Local media reported that the Pskov court system’s Telegram channel preemptively published — and then deleted — a post wrongly claiming that the court had extended Shlosberg’s house arrest by another two months.
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Myanmar activists to sue Norway’s Telenor for handing data to military | Privacy News– www.aljazeera.com Source Link Excerpt:
Claimants say government used data to track and target activists in the wake of 2021 coup.
A group of civil society organisations in Myanmar plans to take legal action against Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor, accusing it of passing customer data to the country’s military government for use in repression.
The activists sent Telenor a notice of intent to sue on Monday, according to a statement from the Netherlands-based nonprofit Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO), which is backing the case. The case states that the data shared by the telecoms giant was used by the military following its 2021 coup to trace and target civilians.
The claimants allege that Telenor, majority-owned by the Norwegian government, disclosed data from millions of customers to the military authorities, which, after toppling the country’s elected government, embarked on a campaign of violence and repression.
German government advisory body proposes raising retirement age to 73 by 2060– rmx.news Source Link Excerpt:
Germany’s pension system should gradually raise the retirement age to 73 by 2060, according to a report by the Economics Ministry’s new scientific advisory board.
The panel of economists warns that without significant reform, the system will become unsustainable as productivity stagnates and the population continues to age.
The report, presented on Monday and cited by Bild, concludes that demographic realities and low economic growth leave no alternative but to extend working lives. It was prepared by economists Justus Haucap of the University of Düsseldorf, Stefan Kolev of the Ludwig Erhard Forum, Volker Wieland of the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability in Frankfurt, and Veronica Grimm of Nuremberg University of Technology. All four are known for advocating free-market solutions and limited government intervention.
“The time for reforms is becoming increasingly urgent,” the authors wrote. “Economic output has been stagnating for years, while comparable economies are growing significantly more dynamically.” The report attributes this to weak productivity growth and demographic decline, arguing that Germany must adjust its retirement policies to reflect rising life expectancy.
Far-right National Rally snubs French PM’s bid to salvage cabinet amid political turmoil – Europe live | France– www.theguardian.com Source Link Excerpt:
Reuters is reporting that the National Rally, France’s far-right party, has declined outgoing prime minister Sébastien Lecornu’s invitation to take part in talks to solve the political crisis.
Leaders Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen will not join.
A Wargame to Take Taiwan, from China’s Perspective– warontherocks.com Source Link Excerpt:
In August 2025, 25 international experts gathered at Syracuse University to do something unusual: plan China’s invasion of Taiwan. For two days, academics, policy analysts, and current and former U.S. officials abandoned their typical defensive postures and attempted to inhabit Beijing’s offensive strategic mindset in a wargame. They debated not how America should respond to Chinese aggression, but how China might overcome the obstacles that have so far kept it from attacking the island nation.
This role reversal yielded an uncomfortable insight. The invasion scenarios that dominate U.S. military planning — involving massive amphibious assaults on Taiwan and preemptive strikes on American bases — may fundamentally misread Beijing’s calculus. As the wargame revealed, analysts seeking to understand China’s intentions should pay greater attention to plausible alternative military pathways to reunification that involve far less force and far more political calculation.
Ukraine is working to influence Hungary’s elections, warns Hungarian foreign minister– rmx.news Source Link Excerpt:
Ukraine is interested in influencing Hungarian national elections in April, said Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó in a new video posted to his Facebook page.
He points to work done by Ukrainians in creating an app for the rival Tisza Party, which is the main opposition facing Orbán during April national elections.
“It is clear what Ukraine’s interest is in the Hungarian parliamentary election, and it is clear who and through what they want to act in line with this interest,” said Szijjártó.
He added that “if anyone had any doubts about whether the Ukrainians would interfere in next year’s Hungarian parliamentary election, they could be sure that the Ukrainians are strongly interested in influencing the outcome of the Hungarian parliamentary election.”
The foreign minister is referencing a data leak that showed that individuals connected to Ukraine were behind the creation of an app for the Tisza party. The leak affected approximately 18,000 users of the party’s mobile app. Among the data leaked was that of one of its admins, a Ukrainian developer, Myroslav Tokar, who works for app development company PettersonApps.
Macron should call early presidential vote, says his first PM Édouard Philippe– www.bbc.com Source Link Excerpt:
Emmanuel Macron should name a prime minister to push through a budget and then call early presidential elections to solve France’s political crisis, his first prime minister has said.
Édouard Philippe’s comments come after France’s third prime minister in a year, Sébastien Lecornu, resigned on Monday after his bid to form a government fell apart.
Macron has asked him to make a last-ditch plan for stability by the end of Wednesday – but support for the French president appears to be waning even among his allies.
Philippe, who was prime minister from 2017-20 and now leads the centrist Horizons party, said he was “not in favour of his immediate and abrupt resignation”, but that it was up to the president to live up to his mandate.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Attal – who leads Macron’s Renaissance party and was prime minister for six months in 2024 – went on national TV on Monday night to say he “no longer understands the decisions made by the president of the republic”.
Russia mocks Donald Trump’s America – ‘Civil war is coming in US’ | World | News– www.express.co.uk Source Link Excerpt:
A Russian lawmaker has claimed civil war is brewing in America, as he called Donald Trump “dumb”. Andrey Lugovoy, an MP in the State Duma, the lower chamber of Russia’s parliament, claimed Moscow should take advantage of Republican–Democrat “divisions” and cause a “shutdown”.
In a staggering appearance on Russian state TV, he claimed differences between the two US political parties are “entering a phase of being impossible to resolve” and the Kremlin should “interfere”. He said he doesn’t treat claims that a “civil war in America is coming” as a “conspiracy theory”. In reference to the Republicans and Democrats, he said: “They’re currently using political repressions against each other in the most proactive way.
“Secondly, they will never agree about migration, we’ve heard it from their statements.
“Of course, we should take advantage of this unsolvable problem.”
He went on to accuse the US of “meddling” in Russian affairs and said Moscow should be “more politically aggressive”.
WTO downgrades global trade growth forecast to 0.5% for next year– www.channelnewsasia.com Source Link Excerpt:
GENEVA: The World Trade Organization sharply lowered its 2026 forecast for global merchandise trade volume growth to 0.5 per cent on Tuesday (Oct 7), citing expected delayed impacts from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
It marks a significant revision down from its previous estimate in August of 1.8 per cent growth.
“The outlook for next year is bleaker … I am very concerned,” Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told reporters in Geneva.
However, she said the world trading system is showing resilience, with the rules-based multilateral system providing some stability amid trade turmoil.
For 2025, the WTO upgraded its forecast for global trade volume growth to 2.4 per cent, from 0.9 per cent previously, driven primarily by the front-loading of imports into the United States ahead of tariff hikes and growth in the trade of AI-related goods. It is still below the 2.8 per cent growth seen in 2024.
Trump’s tariff decisions since he took office in January have shocked financial markets and sent a wave of uncertainty through the global economy.
On Aug 7, Trump imposed higher tariffs on imports from dozens of countries, leaving major trade partners like Switzerland, Brazil and India scrambling for a better deal, while the EU struck a deal that set duties at 15 per cent on most EU goods imported into the United States.
Greta Thunberg among 171 flotilla activists deported from Israel after failed bid to reach Gaza– www.euronews.com Source Link Excerpt:
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau are amongst 171 flotilla activists deported by Israel to Greece and Slovakia on Monday after a failed bid to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza last week.
The flotilla’s goal had been to break Israel’s long-standing blockade of the Strip and to bring crucial aid into the war-ravaged enclave.
“The deportees are citizens of Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the UK, Serbia, and the United States,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote on X, attaching photograhs of the released activists in white T-shirts and grey sweatpants.
Several activists were already released over the weekend by Israel to Turkey, Spain and Italy. They spoke to reporters about the harsh conditions Thunberg and other prisoners were subjected to. Earlier, Swiss and Spanish activists said they were subject to inhumane conditions.
“We were detained in a maximum security prison where there was no rule of law, they didn’t respect any of our rights,” former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau claimed.
