New leadership emerges in Canada
Canada’s Liberal Party, which controls the government, has selected Mark Carney to be its leader, replacing current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau will remain in office as prime minister, with Carney expected to be the Liberal Party’s candidate to replace him when elections are held this fall. Carney is expected to face tough opposition from the country’s Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. Both major political parties in Canada have been highly critical of Donald Trump for his tariffs and his desire to have the U.S. take over Canada.
Trump won’t rule out U.S. recession
During an interview on a Fox News business program yesterday, Donald Trump refused to rule out the possibility of the U.S. plunging into a recession this year. Trump raised the possibility of an economic downturn by saying that the economy may enter a period of transition. The stock market has reacted to Trump’s imposition of tariffs and then temporary suspension of the tariffs he imposed with dramatic downturns on several recent days. Trump said what he’s doing is designed make sure that what he described as globalists treat the U.S. fairly.
Shutdown of USAID continues
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this morning that the Trump Administration continues to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development even as court cases over the shutdown continue to be played out. Rubio said that the Trump Administration is canceling 83% of the programs USAID has been running and that the remaining programs would be taken over by the State Department. Rubio said that 5,200 USAID contracts have been cancelled, but he did not provide details about what they are and whether they were for USAID programs that have fed starving children and prevented the spread of diseases such as Ebola.
Jets scrambled to intercept aircraft in restricted area
Air Force F-15 fighter jets were scrambled twice over the weekend when civilian aircraft flew into restricted airspace around Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Flares were fired to attract the attention of the civilian pilots and the civilian aircraft were escorted out of the restricted area. Airspace in a 30 nautical mile radius of where the president is located is closed to aircraft as a security measure. The North American Aerospace Defense Command is expressing concern that since Trump took office there have been at least 20 incidents where fighter jets had to intercept aircraft and escort them out airspace that was restricted to protect Trump.
Former head of Social Security issues a warning
The former head of the Social Security Administration says that what Donald Trump and Elon Musk are doing to Social Security is likely to lead to a collapse of the system. Martin O’Malley says that among the Social Security workers who have been fired by Trump and Musk are experienced people who have been keeping the agency’s aging computer systems running. O’Malley points out that many of the computer systems use the programming language CLOBOL that is no longer popular. He says that the firings of Social Security staff interferes with proper maintenance and troubleshooting of the computers and a computer meltdown that would result in Social Security benefits not being paid is likely.
Israel cuts off electricity for Gaza
Israel has cut off electricity for Gaza, following Israel’s latest shutdown of the flow of humanitarian aid. Israel’s Energy Minister Eli Cohen said that Israel will use all of the tools it has to try to force Hamas to release the reaming hostages. The loss of electricity meant the shutdown of a plant that turns seawater into drinking water. Hamas has said it wants to begin negotiations for Phase Two of the ceasefire that would supposedly involve total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The expiration date for Phase One of the ceasefire has passed and Phase One was temporarily extended.
