Russia to host leaders of China and Brazil for the 80th anniversary of its World War II victory

Read the transcription of Carney and Trump’s White House meeting.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump gave a press conference prior to a highly anticipated meeting at the White House on Tuesday.

Here’s a transcription of what the leaders said about the U.S. and Canada:

Donald Trump: Thank you very much everybody. It’s a great honour to have Prime Minister Mark Carney with us.

As you know, just a few days ago, he won a very big election in Canada, and I think I was probably the greatest thing that happened to him, but I can’t take a vote. His party was losing by a lot, and he ended up winning. So, I really want to congratulate him. It was probably one of the greatest comebacks in the history of politics, maybe even greater than mine.

But I want to just congratulate you. That was a great election, actually. We were watching it with interest, and I think Canada chose a very talented person, a very good person, as we spoke before the election quite a few times. And it’s an honour to have you at the White House and the Oval Office.

You see the new and improved Oval Office as it becomes more and more beautiful with love. Handle it with great love and 24 karat gold, that always helps too. But it’s been a lot of fun going over some of the beautiful pictures that were stored in the vaults that were for many, many years -- in some cases over 100 years -- it was stored in vaults of the great presidents, who are all most great presidents, all having a reason for being up every one of them. So, it’s very interesting.

But I just want to congratulate you, and you ran a really great race. I watched the debate. I thought you were excellent. And I think we have a lot of things in common. We have some tough, tough points to go over, and that’ll be fine. We’re going to also be discussing Ukraine-Russia, the war, because Mark wants it ended as quickly as I do. I think it has to end.

We had some very good news last night. The Houthis have announced that they are not, or they’ve announced to us, at least, that they don’t want to fight anymore. They just don’t want to fight. And we will honour that, and we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated, but more importantly, we will take their word. They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that’s what the purpose of what we were doing. So that’s just news, we just found out about that. So, I think it’s very, very positive. They were not going to have a lot of ships going, as you know, sailing beautifully down the various seas. It wasn’t just a canal, it was a lot of other places. And I will accept their word, and we are going to stop the bombing of the Houthis, effective immediately.

And Marco, you’ll let everybody know that. Do you have something to say about that, by the way? It’s a pretty big announcement.

Marco Rubio: This was always a freedom of navigation issue. These band of individuals with advanced weaponry that were threatening global shipping, and the job was to get that to stop, and if it’s going to stop and then we can stop. And so, I think it’s an important development.

Donald Trump: And we’ll have, maybe, before the Middle East and Saudi Arabia, we’re going to UAE and Qatar, and that’ll be, I guess, Monday night, some of you are coming with us.

I think before then, we’re going to have a very, very big announcement to make, like, as big as it gets, and I won’t tell you on what, and it’s very positive. I’d also I tell you if it was negative or positive, I can’t keep that up. It is really, really positive. And that announcement will be made either Thursday or Friday or Monday before we leave, but it’ll be one of the most important announcements that have been made in many years about a certain subject, very important subject. So, you’ll all be here.

Mark, would you like to say a few words?

Mark Carney: Thank you, Mr. President, I’m on the edge of my seat, actually. But thank you for your hospitality and above all, for your leadership. You’re a transformational president, focused on the economy, with a relentless focus on the American worker, securing your borders, ending the scourge of fentanyl and other opioids, and in securing the world.

And I’ve been elected with my colleagues here, with the help of my colleagues here, I’m going to spread the credit, to transform Canada with a similar focus on the economy, securing our borders, again, on fentanyl, much greater focus on defence and security, securing the Arctic and developing the Arctic. And, you know, the history of Canada and the U.S. is we’re stronger when we work together. And there’s many opportunities to work together. And I look forward to, you know, addressing some of those issues that we have, but also finding those areas of mutual cooperation.

Donald Trump: Very nice. Thank you very much. Very nice statement.

Reporter: Is USMCA dead?

Donald Trump: No, it was actually very effective, and it’s still very effective, but people have to follow it. So, you know, that’s been a problem. People haven’t followed it, but it was a transitional step a little bit. And as you know, it terminates fairly shortly. It gets renegotiated very shortly. But I thought it was a very positive step from NAFTA. NAFTA was the worst trade deal in the history of our country, probably in the history of the world, and this was a transitional deal, and we’ll see what happens. You know, we’re going to be starting to possibly renegotiate that if it’s even necessary. I don’t know that it’s necessary anymore, but it served a very good purpose. And the biggest purpose it served is we got rid of NAFTA. NAFTA was a very unfair deal for the United States, very, very terrible deal. It should have never been made. It was made many years ago, but it should have never been made.

Reporter: Would you like to see your first trade deal being with Canada?

Donald Trump: I would love that. Look, I have a lot of respect for this man, and I watched him come up, in a sense, through the ranks when he wasn’t given much of a chance. And he did.

He ran a really great campaign. He did a really great debate. I think that debate was very helpful. I was going to raise my hand. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, I shouldn’t say that, that might hurt you.

But no, he ran a really great election, I thought. And yeah, something could happen. Something could happen.

Reporter: What’s the top concession you want out of Canada?

Donald Trump: Concession?

Reporter: Yes

Donald Trump: Friendship.

Reporter: That’s not a concession:

Donald Trump: Oh, just, I just, we’re going to be friends with Canada. Regardless of anything. We’re going to be friends with Canada. Canada is a very special place to me. I know so many people that live in Canada. My parents had relatives that lived in Canada, my mother in particular. And no, I love Canada I have a lot of respect for the Canadians. Wayne Gretzky, I mean, how good, the great one. You happen to have a very, very good hockey player right here on the Capitals who is a big, tough cookie, who just broke the record, and he’s a great guy. And you know, we had the team here, and I got to know a lot of the players. But no, Canada is a very special place.

Reporter: Mr. president, and Mr. prime minister I’d like your response too. Mr. president, you have said that Canada should become the fifty first state.

Donald Trump: No, no. Well, I still believe that. But, you know, takes two to tango, right?

But no, I do. I mean, I believe it would be a massive tax cut for the Canadian citizens. You get free military, you get tremendous medical cares and other things. There would be a lot of advantages, but it would be a massive tax cut.

And it’s also a beautiful, you know, as a real estate developer, you know, I’m a real estate developer at heart. When you get rid of that artificially drawn line, somebody drew that line many years ago with, like, a ruler, just a straight line right across the top of the country.

When you look at that beautiful formation, when it’s together, I’m a very artistic person, but when I looked at that, you know, I said, ‘That’s the way it was meant to be.’

But, you know, I just, I do feel it’s much better for Canada, but we’re not going to be discussing that unless somebody wants to discuss it.

I think that there are tremendous benefits to the Canadian citizens, tremendously lower taxes, free military, which honestly, we give you essentially anyway, because we’re protecting Canada. But I think, you know, it would really be a wonderful marriage, because it’s two places that get along very well. They like each other a lot.

Mark Carney: Well, if I may, as you know, from real estate, there are some places that are never for sale.

Donald Trump: That’s true.

Mark Carney: We’re sitting in one right now, you know, Buckingham Palace you visited as well, and having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign last several months, it’s not for sale. It won’t be for sale, ever.

But the opportunity is in partnership and what we can build together. And we have done that in the past, and part of that, as the president just said, is with respect to our own security. And my government is committed for a step change in our investment in Canadian security and our partnership. And I’ll say this as well, that the president has revitalized international security, revitalized NATO, and us playing our full weight in NATO.

Donald Trump: I will say, Canada is stepping up the military participation because Mark knew, you know, they were low, and now they’re stepping it up, and that’s a very important thing.

But never say never. Never say never.

Reporter: What would it take to get the tariffs off of Canada?

Donald Trump: Well, we’ll be talking about different things. You know, we want to protect our automobile business, and so does Mark.

But we want to protect, we want to make the automobiles, and we want to, you know, we have a tremendous abundance of energy, more than any country. We have, just in Alaska alone, ANWR has been reopened now, ANWR was probably the largest find anywhere in the world. They say it’s larger than Saudi Arabia, I don’t know, but it’s a lot.

But we have tremendous amounts of energy. Other countries don’t. We’re both lucky in that way. They have energy. We have energy. We have more than we could ever use, and more than we could ever sell, actually, and you have the same thing. So, we’re two countries that are very lucky. If you look at China, they don’t have that. You know, it’s a big disadvantage. Other countries, most countries don’t have, you know, most countries don’t have that. So, Canada and us, we have a lot of a lot of advantages all over the place.

Reporter: When you consider what Mr. Carney just said, that Canada is not for sale, does this make the discussion a little more difficult to start on?

Donald Trump: No, not at all. Time. Time will tell. It’s only time. But I say, never say never.

I’ve had many, many things that were not doable, and they ended up being doable and only doable in a very friendly way. But if it’s to everybody’s benefit, you know, Canada loves us, and we love Canada, that’s, I think, the number one thing that’s important. But we’ll see, I mean over time, we’ll see what happens.

Reporter: Clarifying something you said on the USMCA, is the United States prepared to walk away from that pact?

Donald Trump: What pact?

Reporter: USMCA.

Donald Trump: No, no. It’s fine. It’s there. It’s good. We use it for certain things. It’s there. The USMCA is a good deal for everybody.

I won’t say this about Mark, but I didn’t like his predecessor. I didn’t like a person that worked, she was terrible, actually. She was a terrible person, and she really hurt that deal very badly, because she tried to take advantage of the deal, and she didn’t get away with it, you know who I’m talking about.

But so, you know, we had a bad relationship having to do with the fact that we disagreed with the way they viewed the deal, and we ended it, you know, we ended that relationship pretty much. The USMCA is great for all countries. It’s good for all countries. We do have a negotiation coming up over the next year or so to adjust it or terminate it.

Mark Carney: I’ll say a word on USMCS, if I may, Mr. president. It is a basis for a broader negotiation. Some things about it are going to have to change. And part of the way you’ve conducted these tariffs has taken advantage of existing aspects of USMCA, so it’s going to have to change. There’s other elements that have come and that’s part of what we’re going to discuss.

Reporter: During the campaign, Prime Minister Carney talked about the American [?], how do you react when Canada decided not to shop in the American store as much as before, and decided to partner with other countries?

Donald Trump: Well, we don’t do much business with Canada from our standpoint. They do a lot of business with us. We’re at like 4 per cent and usually those things don’t last very long.

You know, we have great things, great product. The kind of product we sell, nobody else can sell, including military.

Look, we make the best military equipment in the world. And Canada buys our military equipment, which we appreciate. But we make the best military equipment in the world, by far, the missiles, the submarines, everything. Everything we have is really top notch.

I rebuilt our military during our last term. Stupidly, we gave some away to Afghanistan, which shouldn’t have happened, but that was, I think it was the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country. It was just very incompetent people.

But if you look, the man that’s now the head of our Joint Chiefs, he led the attack on ISIS for me, that’s why he’s the head of the Joint Chiefs, and “Razin” Caine, he was unbelievable. And as you know, we defeated ISIS in three weeks. It was supposed to take five years. We did it in three weeks, and he ran the campaign. I said, I like him, but I knew him before. I went to Iraq, and we agreed to a plan, and that was the plan. And as you know, we did it in record time. So, we have the best equipment in the world. We have the best a lot of things, but Canada does a lot more business with us than we do with Canada.

Reporter: What changes would you like to see to the USMCA? Or what changes would you make?

Donald Trump: We’re going to work on some subtle changes, maybe? I don’t even know if we’re going to be dealing with USMCA. We’re dealing more with concepts right now. Look, right now, we’re doing trade. We have trade. They’re paying a tariff on cars and steel and aluminum, and I think we have a baseline of 10 per cent or something like that for the tariffs. But we’re getting along very well. Right now, going no further, but we have an agreement, we did something with even parts. You want to discuss that, Howard? With respect to Canada, which helps Canada out.

Howard Lutnick: Sure, we’ve made arrangements with the car companies that 15 per cent of their USMCA parts are included, and then 15 per cent of foreign parts from the manufactured subject to retail price are not tariffed to help domestic manufacturing really thrive.

Donald Trump: So, it gave them a chance to be able to build their car parts, factories. A lot of these companies already have factories, and What they have to do is just fill them out, but they’re able to build them in the United States, so we gave them a pretty substantial period of time.

Reporter: Is there anything the prime minister could say to you today to change your mind on tariffing Canada?

Donald Trump: Tariffing cars?

Reporter: Tariffing Canada. Is there anything he can say to you in the course of your meetings with him today that could get you to lift tariffs on Canada?

Donald Trump: No.

Reporter: Why not?

Donald Trump: It’s just the way it is.

Reporter: On the 51st state, if Canadians don’t want it, would you respect that?

Donald Trump: Sure, I would. But this is not necessarily a one-day deal. This is over a period of time they have to make that decision.

Mark Carney: If I may. Well, respectfully, Canadians’ view on this is not going to change on the 51st state. Secondly, we are the largest client of the United States in the totality of all the goods. So, we are the largest client the United States. We have a tremendous auto sector between the two of us, and the changes that have been made have been helpful. You know, 50 per cent of a car that comes from Canada is American. That’s not like anywhere else in the world. And to your question about, is there one thing? No, this is a bigger discussion. There are much bigger forces involved and this will take some time and some discussions, and that’s why we’re here, to have those discussions, and that is represented by who’s sitting around the table.

Donald Trump: See the conflict is, and this is very friendly, this is not going to be like, we had another little blow up with somebody else. That was a much different… this is a very friendly conversation.

But we want to make our own cars. We don’t really want cars from Canada, and we put tariffs on cars from Canada, and at a certain point it won’t make economic sense for Canada to build those cars.

And we don’t want steel from Canada, because we’re making our own steel away massive steel plants being built right now as we speak. We really don’t want Canadian steel, and we don’t want Canadian aluminum and various other things, because we want to be able to do it ourselves.

And because of, you know, past thinking of people, we have a tremendous deficit with Canada. In other words, they have a surplus with us, and there’s no reason for us to be subsidizing Canada. Canada is a place that will have to be able to take care of itself economically. I assume they can.

I will tell you that Trudeau, when I spoke to him, I used to call him Governor Trudeau. I think that probably didn’t help his election, but when I spoke to him, I said, so why are we taking your cars? We want to make them ourselves.

I mean, I said, and if the price of your cars went up, or if we put a tariff on your cars of 25 per cent, what would that mean to you? He said that would mean the end of Canada. He actually said that to me, and I said, that’s a strange answer, but I understand his answer.

But no, I mean, it’s hard to justify subsidizing Canada to the tune of maybe $200 billion a year. We protect Canada militarily, and we always will. We’re going to, you know, that’s not a money thing, but we always will. But, you know, it’s not fair. But why are we subsidizing Canada $200 billion a year, or whatever the number might be, it’s a very substantial number. And it’s hard for the American taxpayer to say, “gee whiz, we love doing that.”

Thank you very much.

#India says it attacked nine sites in Pakistan, Pakistani Kashmir. ISLAMABAD —India fired missiles into Pakistani-controlled territory in several locations early Wednesday, killing at least eight people including a child, Pakistani authorities said. India said it was striking infrastructure used by militants.

Tensions have soared between the nuclear-armed neighbors since last month’s massacre of tourists in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. India has blamed Pakistan for backing the militant attack, which Islamabad has denied.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Wednesday’s airstrikes and said the “deceitful enemy has carried out cowardly attacks at five locations in Pakistan” and that his country would retaliate.

“Pakistan has every right to give a robust response to this act of war imposed by India, and a strong response is indeed being given,” Sharif said.

He said his country and its armed forces “know very well how to deal with the enemy.”

Sharif has convened a meeting of the National Security Committee for Wednesday morning.

The missiles struck locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province. One hit a mosque in the city of Bahawalpur in Punjab, where a child was killed and a woman and man were injured.

State-run Pakistan Television, quoting security officials, said the country’s air force shot down three Indian jets in retaliation but provided no additional detail. There was no immediate comment from India about Pakistan’s claim.

Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Indian forces had launched the strikes while staying in Indian airspace. Other locations hit were near Muridke in Punjab and Kotli in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

It said the attack reportedly resulted in civilian casualties and posed a significant threat to commercial air traffic. “This reckless escalation has brought the two nuclear-armed states closer to a major conflict,” the statement said.

India’s Defense Ministry said at least nine sites were targeted “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned.”

“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistan military facilities have been targeted,” the statement said, adding that “India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution.”

“We are living up to the commitment that those responsible for this attack will be held accountable,” the statement said.

Stephane Dujarric, the United Nations spokesperson, said in a statement late Tuesday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border” and called for maximum military restraint from both countries.

“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” the statement read.

In Muzaffarabad, the main city of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, resident Abdul Sammad, said he heard several explosions and that some people were wounded in the attack. People were seen running in panic and authorities immediately cut the power, leading to a blackout.

The blasts ripped through walls. Locals inspected the damage to their homes in the aftermath of the missile attacks, rubble and other debris crunching underfoot.

People took refuge on the streets and in open areas, fearful of what might happen. “We were afraid the next missile might hit our house,” said Mohammad Ashraf.

Waqar Noor, the region’s interior minister, said authorities have declared an emergency in the region’s hospitals.

Pakistan shut schools in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Punjab province after the missile strikes. It had already had closed religious seminaries in Kashmir in anticipation of an attack by India.

Along the Line of Control, which divides the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan, there were heavy exchanges of fire between both armies.

Saaliq reported from New Delhi. Associated Press writers Ishfaq Hussian in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, Babar Dogar in Lahore, Pakistan, and Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan, contributed to this story.

#Ukraine drone attacks briefly shut down Moscow’s international airports
(In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, a Ukrainian soldier passes by an armoured Hummer vehicle equipped with an anti-drone net on the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Monday, May 5, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP) ).


All four international airports around Moscow temporarily suspended flights Tuesday as Russian forces intercepted more than 100 Ukrainian drones fired at almost a dozen Russian regions, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said.

Nine other regional Russian airports also temporarily stopped operating as drones struck areas along the border with Ukraine and deeper inside Russia, according to Russia’s civil aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, and the Defense Ministry. It was the second straight night that the Moscow region reportedly was targeted.

The drone assault threatened a planned unilateral 72-hour ceasefire in the more than three-year war announced by President Vladimir Putin to coincide with celebrations in Moscow marking Victory Day in World War II.

The day celebrating Moscow’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 is Russia’s biggest secular holiday. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and others will gather in the Russian capital on Thursday for the 80th anniversary and watch a parade featuring thousands of troops accompanied by tanks and missiles.

Security is expected to be tight. Russian officials have warned that internet access could be restricted in Moscow during the celebrations and have told residents not to set off fireworks.

Putin last week declared the brief unilateral truce “on humanitarian grounds” from May 8. Ukraine has demanded a longer ceasefire.

Russia has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting by insisting on far-reaching conditions. Ukraine has accepted that proposal, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the brief truce “doesn’t sound like much, but it’s … a lot if you knew where we started from.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that ceasefire orders had been issued to Russian troops but soldiers would retaliate if fired upon.

Ukraine has used increasingly sophisticated, domestically produced drones to compensate for having a smaller army than Russia along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, and to take the war onto Russian soil with long-range strikes.

Russia has used Shahed drones as well as 3,000-pound (1,300-kilogram) glide bombs, artillery and cruise and ballistic missiles against Ukraine.

Two people were injured in Russia’s Kursk region, according to local Gov. Alexander Khinshtein, and some damage was reported in the Voronezh region.

The Russian reports couldn’t be independently verified.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 136 strike and decoy drones overnight.

Russian forces fired at least 20 Shahed drones at Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city near the border with Russia, injuring four people, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram.

The drones started a fire at the biggest market in Kharkiv, Barabashovo, destroying and damaging around 100 market stalls, he said.

Seven civilians were injured elsewhere in the Kharkiv region by Russian glide bombs and drones, Syniehubov said.

In Kramatorsk, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russian Shahed drones killed one person and injured two others, Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko wrote on Facebook. The drones targeted residential and industrial areas of the city, he said.

In the Odesa region, Russian drones struck residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, killing one person, regional head Oleh Kiper wrote on Telegram.

How potential U.S. film tariffs could impact Canada’s film industry.

Potential tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump could affect the Canadian film industry.

Trump announced Sunday that he plans to impose 100 per cent tariffs on all films produced outside the U.S.

“I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump claimed on Truth Social that the movie industry in the U.S. is dying, and with other countries offering incentives to draw filmmakers and studios to their own country, “this is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat.”

With details unclear on how or when these tariffs would be imposed, the Canadian Media Producers Association said Monday in a press release the incoming tariffs could cause “significant disruption and economic hardship to the media production sectors on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.”

Particularly, Toronto and Vancouver, two major filming hubs commonly known within the industry as “Hollywood North,” could be the cities most likely to be impacted by the proposed film tariffs.
‘Devastating to the film industry’

Toronto’s film industry employs approximately 30,000 people. According to the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television, and Radio Artists (ACTRA), Ontario had more than 400 productions in 2023, which created 25,000 jobs and created $1.8 billion in economic activity.

“Hairspray,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Good Will Hunting,” “Chicago,” “X-Men 4,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2” and “Suicide Squad” are just some of many movies filmed in Toronto.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told CP24 Monday that the tariff announcement surprised her.

“I can’t imagine what it means, what would happen to this industry” Chow said. “We also do a lot of editing work for, again, whether it’s Netflix or Primal or Disney or PBS … I can’t imagine what it means.”

Chow says she hopes something gets sorted out, adding that tariffs could devastate the film industry in both Canada and the U.S.

Trump’s movie tariff would be ‘devastating’ for Toronto’s film industry: Chow

In January, ProdPro, a platform that tracks film and television production trends, released a report that ranks Toronto as the number one preferred location shoot by film executives.

More so, Toronto was named was number one on the annual “best places to live and work as a moviemaker” by MovieMaker Magazine in 2024, which accounts for film commissions, talks with moviemakers, and research into financial incentives, cost of living, and overall happiness and in-person visits.

Toronto is the best place to live and work as a moviemaker this year: report

“What we do provide is a film office to facilitate the making of these beautiful films right here in our incredibly diverse, world-classed city,” Chow said. “It would just make life a lot easier for the companies to be able to find the right people in the right place to do the kind of films they want.”

ACTRA Toronto released a statement Monday that the group is concerned what impacts these tariffs could have on the industry and its members.

“The stated goal is to drive production back to American soil – but the international film community is raising red flags about what this could mean for the global industry, including right here in Canada,” the statement reads.

While tariffs have not come into effect, the statement says the alliance will continue to advocate for its members for “policies that support fair, collaborative production.

Martin Gass, founder and president of the movie studio Prospero Pictures, called the proposed film tariffs “nonsensical.”

“This whole tariff situation is that it will have a chilling effect,” Gass told CTV News Channel Monday. “It’s had a chilling effect on production of automobiles, it’s had a chilling effect on all investment. People don’t know what the law is going to be from one day to the next. What element of the cost of production are you putting a tariff on? How do you calculate this tariff?”
‘We’re going to stand strong‘: B.C. Premier

Vancouver placed in the top five spots on both ProdPro’s January report and MovieMaker Magazine’s 2024, which employs 26,000 people in the film industry and generated $2.7 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022, according to Creative BC.

B.C. Premier David Eby echoed Chow’s confusion and concern on the proposed film tariffs a press conference Monday.

“The implementation challenges of this are profound and hard to understand exactly how this would work,” Eby said. “There’s no question that the president is threatening people who work in industries across British Columbia and across Canada.”

Eby says that despite what happens, the province will support the B.C. industry, praising the provinces’ success in attracting major talent and film and television shows to shoot in B.C.

According to Eby, popular television series’ “The Last of Us” and “Shogun” will both be shooting another season in B.C.

“We’re proud of the work that we do here, everything from the amazing Hallmark movies right up to the big budget productions,” Eby said. “It’s an important sector for our province and we’re going to stand strong for (film industry workers).”
‘Industry hasn’t been okay since the pandemic’

Although the proposed film tariffs could impact the Canadian film industry, Canadian Screen award-winning actress and filmmaker Aisha Evelyna says the “industry hasn’t been okay since the pandemic.”

“We did see a boom in 2022 when it comes to productions happening here,” Evelyna told CTV News Channel Monday. “However, after the writer’s strike, there’s only more uncertainty.”

Evelyna says while the proposed tariffs are “destabilizing,” she says she hopes the industry could see this as an opportunity.

“Is it possible this is an opportunity for the industry to be more self-sustainable in Canada, more self-generative?” she asked. “We have to champion us. We have the world here. We have languages. We have people. We have the ability to create really great work and find other markets.”

“This is not the first time that the arts have come under attack,” she continued. “Unfortunately, I don’t think it’ll be the last. Maybe this is just the time for us to double down and bet on Canadians and what we can do.”

A #militarized conspiracy theorist group believes radars are ‘weather weapons’ and is trying to destroy them.

U.S. National Weather Service offices around the country are on guard after recent threats to agency infrastructure — specifically Doppler weather radars — from a violent militia-style group, emails from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s security office show.

The group Veterans on Patrol, which the Southern Poverty Law Center defines as an anti-government militia organization, views the NWS’ network of Doppler radars as “weather weapons,” according to an internal #NOAA email sent Monday and seen by CNN.

A previous email informing the NWS workforce of general, non-specific threats was sent May 1. Monday’s email was more action-oriented, with the NOAA security office noting they are aware of “several encounters,” physically or virtually, with Veterans on Patrol.

“This group is advocating for anyone and everyone to join them in conducting penetration drills on NEXRAD sites to identify weaknesses which can be used to ultimately destroy the sites,” the email stated, using an acronym for the weather radar network.

“The group referred to the NEXRAD system towers as ‘weather weapons,’ and claimed there were no laws preventing American citizens from destroying the ‘weapons,’” the email states.

It’s unclear what the group believes the radars are doing. The NEXRAD, or “next generation radar,” network has been in place since the 1990s and detects precipitation in the atmosphere. It can also help pinpoint tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, prompting timely, life-saving warnings. The system is also used by the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Air Force.

Among other actions, NOAA’s security office advises that the NWS implement a buddy system when working at remote sites and be alert for suspicious activity.

“Do not engage with anyone suspicious; instead, notify local law enforcement,” Monday’s email states.

The NOAA emails indicate the FBI and other law enforcement authorities are aware of the militia-style group’s activities and are tracking them, and have issued bulletins about the NEXRAD threat. CNN could not independently confirm the FBI’s involvement.

The security threat comes at a time of turmoil for the NWS, with many offices short-staffed due to hundreds of Trump administration layoffs and early retirements.

“Nobody likes federal employees being demeaned by the administration, but when it escalates to violence or threats of it, it starts to become really demoralizing,” said one NWS employee who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

“We obviously deal with some fringe folks every now and then (chemtrails mostly), but specific threats to target facilities is pretty rare,” the NWS staff member said. “Given the general temperature of the country right now, this is stuff is especially concerning.”

Now would be a particularly inauspicious time for NWS radars to fail, whether due to mechanical issues or deliberate acts, since the agency has more than 90 vacancies for the technicians that normally repair them. That number is unlikely to change soon, since a hiring freeze is in place at the agency.

U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth to slash senior-most ranks of #military

"While in #Gabon for the inauguration of President Brice Oligui Nguema, I was also pleased to meet with the heads of state of #Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, and the prime minister of Egypt." U.S. Senior Advisor for #Africa

Who is George Simion, a nationalist who topped polls in Romania’s presidential redo?

George Simion, a nationalist and vocal supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, won Romania’s first-round presidential election redo by a landslide after capitalizing on widespread anti-establishment sentiment.

The 38-year-old leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, will face a pro-western reformist in a May 18 runoff that could reshape the European Union and NATO member country’s geopolitical direction.

Romania’s political landscape was upended last year when a top court voided the previous election in which the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped first round. The decision followed allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied.

“For 35 years, the Romanian people lived the lie that we are a democratic country,” Simion, who came fourth in last year’s race and later backed Georgescu, told The Associated Press last week. “And now the people are awakening.”
Who is George Simion?

Born in 1986 in Romania’s eastern city of Focsani, Simion took a bachelor’s degree in business and administration in Bucharest, and later a master’s degree at a university in the northeastern city of Iasi researching communist-era crimes. He also became involved in soccer ultra groups.

He took part in civic activism, including joining a protest movement against a controversial gold mining project by a Canadian company in a mountainous western region of Romania that contains some of Europe’s largest gold deposits. He also campaigned for reunification with neighboring Moldova.

In 2019, Simion founded the AUR party, which rose to prominence in a 2020 parliamentary election by proclaiming to stand for “family, nation, faith, and freedom,” and has since doubled its support to become Romania’s second largest party in the legislature.

He supports Trump, and he told AP last week that the AUR party is “perfectly aligned with the MAGA movement.”

The party opposes same-sex marriage and has close ties to the Romanian Orthodox Church.
What does the MAGA-style populist stand for?

Simion’s political platform has been built on a fiercely anti-establishment agenda and populist rhetoric. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his party staged multiple protests against vaccination and lockdowns, capitalizing on a widespread distrust of the authorities.

He labelled the canceled election last year a “coup d’etat,” and adopted stronger populist rhetoric and religious messaging to tap into Georgescu’s electorate. He has branded Romania’s current political system as a “hybrid regime” that failed to deliver democracy after the 1989 revolution toppled communism.

“They voted for the change, and they were not allowed to make this change,” he told the AP. “This is why I’m running again as a duty towards democracy, towards the constitutional order, to restore the rule of law, to restore the will of the Romanian people.”

A Simion presidency would pose unique foreign policy conundrums. He is banned from entering two neighboring countries, Moldova and Ukraine, over security concerns. “It is in their interest to have good relations with us,” he said.

In March, Simion also sparked controversy after remarking during a protest that those responsible for barring Georgescu’s second bid for presidency should be “skinned in a public square,” prompting prosecutors to launch a criminal probe for inciting violence. He denied the accusation saying it was a political metaphor.
What are his stances on the EU and NATO?

Observers have long viewed him of being pro-Russian and warn that his presidency would undermine both Brussels and NATO as the war rages on in Ukraine. He refuted the accusations as a “smear campaign” by leftists and said Russia has been the “main threat” to Romania in the last 200 years and remains so today.

“This is why we need a strong #NATO and we need troops on the ground in Romania, in Poland and in the Baltic states,” he said, although he was against sending further military aid to Ukraine.

“The danger is not who will be the next president of Romania but … those who want to create a distance and to form two different opposing geopolitical blocs" between the European Union and the U.S., he said.

On the EU, Simion said, “We want more power to the 27 states, not toward the European institutions,” and that he is “totally aligned” with the position of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was the only EU head of government to attend Trump’s inauguration in January.
What do his critics say?

Siegfried Muresan, a Romanian member of the European Parliament, said Monday that a Simion presidency would be “bad news” for Romania and Europe, and accused the AUR leader of having ”disdain for democratic processes.”

“George Simion is not a conservative politician. He is an anti-European extremist. His election would endanger Romania, threaten European stability, and serve as a strategic victory for Russia,” he said. “He offers no viable solutions to Romania’s challenges.”

For Claudiu Tufis, an associate professor of political science at the University of Bucharest, accusations that Simion is extremist or pro-Russian are overblown. He says a Simion presidency could look similar to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has long been a thorn in the side of Brussels.

“My main criticism has to do first with his values. He’s a strong opponent of any sort of what people are considering to be identity politics, so he’s going to push back very hard on LGBT issues and gender issues,” Tufis told AP.

He added that Simion lacks a strong team to deal with major crises. “When it comes to dealing with geopolitical crisis, they are completely unauthorly unprepared,” he said.

Article written by Stephen Mcgrath, The Associated Press

Former U.S. Vice President Pence defends Constitution after getting Profile in Courage Award