Past issues Subscribe

May 9 2025

The Roundup: Greatest threat. Cellphone prices. Pope Leo.

FRI MAY 9 2024
David Akin's Roundup
Greatest threat. Cellphone prices. Pope Leo.
Canada
Bank of Canada says trade war ‘poses greatest threat to Canadian economy’
In its annual Financial Stability Report, the central bank said the financial system was resilient. But the impacts of tariffs slapped by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canada and Ottawa’s subsequent counter-tariffs could hurt financial stability, especially if it continues for a long period of time. [Global]

The Liberal election platform said a Carney government would send "more Canadian diplomats and officials abroad" to expand trade and "restore Canadian leadership." [Global]

This represents a slight reversal of a multiyear trend that has seen Canadians paying less for their plans. [Globe and Mail] (🎁 link)
Amanda's excactly right. 👆 Click through to watch the video posted on The White House's social accounts. No way on earth the Trump WH does this if Trudeau was PM. - DA
Can u spare $5 a month for this newsletter? Click now!
The Provinces

Under changes announced Thursday, large biomass, biogas and clean fuel projects have been changed to Class 1 from Class 2, meaning they can be approved within 50 days. The more rigorous Class 2 assessment, which can take more than two years, is now reserved for projects such as pulp mills, cement plants, incinerators and large energy plants.
Once complete, this SMR will be the first of its kind in the G7, producing enough reliable, affordable and clean electricity to power the equivalent of 300,000 homes, supporting thousands of good-paying jobs across the province and helping secure Ontario’s energy supply for decades to come. [Government of Ontario]

Some Fox News pundits suggested Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's recent remarks on separation and tensions with Ottawa could play into the larger Canada-U.S. negotiations. [Global]
Smith says she doesn't support separating her province from Canada, but says Albertans have genuine grievances with the federal government, and she wants concessions from Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney. [CP]
Nathan Cooper announced this week that he is to resign his seat in the assembly to become Alberta's representative to the United States in Washington. The United Conservative Party MLA had been Alberta's legislature Speaker — the non-voting and non-partisan debate referee — since 2019. [CP]
Aurora
Elsewhere
Pope Leo XIV, elevated by Francis, is first American to lead Catholic Church
Naming himself Pope Leo XIV, a title that nods to the social teachings of the church, the man born Robert Prevost began what could be a long, new chapter in a divided faith. From the balcony, Leo acknowledged the late Francis, a patron who had elevated him, from a priest who spent two decades as a missionary in Peru to one of the powerful positions in the Vatican, where he oversaw the promotion of the church’s hierarchy. [WaPo] (🎁 link)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz turns to foreign policy
Friedrich Merz now heads the German government. He has vowed to make foreign policy a top priority, visiting France and Poland on his first day in office. Good primer on the current state of Germany's place in the world. [DW]
With a snap presidential election set for June 3, South Korean voters have a crucial choice to make amid an unpredictable geopolitical environment, a flagging economy, deep political polarization, and the return of U.S. President Donald Trump. Senior Research Assistant Hanna Foreman met with Andrew Yeo, senior fellow and SK-Korea Foundation chair in Korea studies, and Evans J.R. Revere, nonresident senior fellow, to review the situation in Seoul. [Brookings]

President Donald Trump is making plans for the United States to begin referring to the Persian Gulf as the Gulf of Arabia or the Arabian Gulf. [CNN]
A note to readers
This newsletter is curated by me,  David Akin, the chief political correspondent at Global News, but I put it together every day independently of my employer. And there are costs associated with using this platform to deliver more than 60,000 e-mails a month.

You can help keep this newsletter going with a monthly pledge -- Just $5 would do it -- via Patreon or, if you want to make a one-time donation, send an e-transfer to jda@davidakin.com.

A reminder that:  The headlines, excerpts, and photos here are generated by the publishers of the clipping. The publisher is at the bottom left of the clipping. If I've got a comment, you''ll see that in italics. But if I've generated the headline and the excerpt, you'll see me taking attribution by finishing with -DA in bold. The stamp stuff at the bottom are scans from my collection and, if there’s a stamp blurb, I’ve written that bit.  -DA
Media
[Study] found:

  • A significant decrease in horse-race framing in political stories in 2022 compared to 2018 and 2020. 
  • A large increase in transparency elements — which include reporter bios, sidebars that explain the reporting process, links to evidence, and mission statements about political coverage.   
  • A large increase in engagement reporting ...  such as reader call outs, community advisory boards, and integrating reader feedback
  • A significant increase in solutions-oriented coverage  [Nieman Journalism Lab]

... we compare audience responses with the responses collected from US journalists by the Worlds of Journalism Study, revealing significant gaps in how the two groups perceived journalistic autonomy: journalists perceived procedural factors as more influential than audiences did, while audiences were far more concerned than journalists about economic and political influences, and perceived personal networks and organizational considerations as carrying greater influence than journalists. [International Journal of Press/Politics]
Science and Tech
Amazon's newest fulfillment robot has a sense of touch
Vulcan uses force feedback sensors to monitor how much it's pushing or holding on to an object and, ideally, not damage it. “In the past, when industrial robots have unexpected contact, they either emergency stop or smash through that contact. They often don’t even know they have hit something because they cannot sense it.” Aaron Parness, Amazon director, applied science, stated in the release. "Vulcan represents a fundamental leap forward in robotics. It's not just seeing the world, it's feeling it, enabling capabilities that were impossible for Amazon robots until now." [Endgadget]
Issued this day ...
… in 2007: Sc 2218a se-tenant strip of 4. Royal Architectural Institute. Design: Ivan Novotny.
From top to bottom, the four stamp-set features The University of Lethbridge - architect Arthur Erickson; St Mary’s Church in Red Deer - architect Douglas Cardinal; the Ontario Science Centre - architect Raymond Moriyama; and the National Gallery of of Canada - architect Moshe Safdie. The set was issued to mark the centennial of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

Previous Issues

Load More