Admins
Ontario set to begin construction of Canada’s 1st mini nuclear power plant
Premier Doug Ford’s government has given Ontario Power Generation the green light to start construction on Canada’s first small modular reactor, a new nuclear energy technology to be built next door to the Darlington power plant. The small modular reactor (SMR) would provide 300 megawatts of power, enough electricity to supply about 300,000 homes, according to briefing documents from Ontario’s Ministry of Energy and Mines. It would be the first of four such reactors that OPG aims to build on the site, at a total project cost of $20.9 billion,Read more
Trump keeps 10% tariffs on U.K., cuts taxes on British autos, steel and aluminum in trade deal
U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on Thursday to cut tariffs on U.K. autos, steel and aluminum in a planned trade deal but played down the possibility of other nations getting similarly favourable terms on his import taxes, which are roiling the global economy. Under the framework agreement, the U.K. is to buy more U.S. beef and ethanol and streamline its customs process for goods from the United States. But Trump’s baseline 10 per cent tariffs against British goods are to stay in place, and the Republican president suggested that even higherRead more
Bill Gates set to give away $200B US by 2045, says Musk is ‘killing’ world’s poorest children
Bill Gates pledged on Thursday to give away $200 billion US via his charitable foundation by 2045 and lashed out at Elon Musk, accusing the world’s richest man of “killing the world’s poorest children” through huge cuts to the U.S. foreign aid budget. The 69-year-old billionaire co-founder of Microsoft said he was speeding up his plans to divest almost all of his fortune and would close the foundation on Dec. 31, 2045, years earlier than previously planned. Gates said he believed the money would help achieve several of his goals, such as eradicating diseases like polio and malaria, ending preventable deaths among women and children, and reducing global poverty.Read more
Trump calls 1st American Pope a ‘great honour’ as world leaders welcome Leo XIV
Current and former world leaders were quick to congratulate Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, after his fellow cardinals chose him to succeed the late Pope Francis. “What excitement, and what a great honour for our country,” U.S. President Donald Trump said in a post on social media, referencing the fact that the newly elected Pope was born in the United States. All four of the U.S.’s living past presidents offered congratulations to the 69-year-old, Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost, now known as Leo XIV — himself the first-ever, U.S.-born pope. Former U.S. presidentRead more
How will Carney contend with a minority — and what kind of Parliament do MPs want?
In his first news conference since Monday’s election, Prime Minister Mark Carney did not shy away from some of the rhetoric and ambition that carried him through the campaign. Canada would be embarking, he said, “on the biggest transformation of our economy since the end of the Second World War.” This country’s “old relationship” with the United States was “over.” The government would address the failures of the housing market by “unleashing the power of public-private co-operation at a scale not seen in generations.” “Now is the time for ambition,Read more
Northern Quebec Cree voters left behind despite promise of access
Elections Canada promises that anyone, anywhere, could vote during advance polls. However, voters in Northern Quebec Cree communities found that polling stations were closed. It’s the latest in a list of stories from community members in northern Quebec who say they had trouble voting or couldn’t do so at all. On election day, some Nunavik communities had polling stations that closed early or didn’t open at all. Guy Beaulieu, a resident of Whapmagoostui, arrived at the local sports complex with his spouse on April 19 expecting to vote, but discovered thatRead more
NASA faces cuts to rocket program and lunar space station in Trump’s 2026 budget
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking to axe key parts of NASA’s moon program in favour of commercial alternatives and his Mars-focused agenda, targeting an array of established projects in a proposed $6-billion US cut to the space agency’s overall budget for next year. The “skinny” — or outline — version of Trump’s proposed 2026 budget, released on Friday, would cancel NASA’s over-budget Space Launch System (SLS), a gigantic rocket built by Boeing and Northrop Grumman, and its Lockheed Martin-built Orion crew capsule after its third mission in 2027 under theRead more
Prince Harry ‘gutted’ to lose U.K. security decision, confirms no communication with King Charles
Prince Harry told the BBC it was “impossible for me to take my family back to the U.K. safely” after he lost his legal challenge to the British government on Friday changing his security arrangements after he stepped down from royal duties. King Charles’s younger son, the Duke of Sussex unsuccessfully sought to overturn a decision by the Home Office — the ministry responsible for policing — which decided in 2020 he would not automatically receive the highest level of personal police protection in Britain. The prince told the BBCRead more
Trump signs executive order to speed up deepsea mining permits
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at boosting the deepsea mining industry, marking his latest attempt to boost U.S. access to nickel, copper and other critical minerals used widely across the economy. The order, which Trump signed in private, seeks to jumpstart the mining of both U.S. and international waters as part of a push to offset China’s sweeping control of the critical minerals industry. Reuters first reported last month that the order was under deliberation. Parts of the Pacific Ocean and elsewhere are estimatedRead more
See the Ukraine war ceasefire proposals put forth by the Trump administration
Reuters has seen the text of a set of proposals to end Russia’s war in Ukraine that were presented to European officials by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff at talks in Paris on April 17. Witkoff was in Moscow on Friday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, just over a day after U.S. President Donald Trump publicly implored Putin to stop bombing Ukraine after several civilians were killed in Kyiv airstrikes. But at other points early in his second term as president, Trump has directed his ire at Ukrainian President VolodomyrRead more