Author: Jeremiah Bradley

For years, Brussels scolded Washington for how its national security agencies played fast and loose with Europeans’ personal data. Now, the United States is giving the European Union a taste of its own medicine. As part of final negotiations surrounding the so-called EU-U.S. Transatlantic Data Agreement — a long-awaited pact that would allow companies to move data between both regions almost unfettered — the U.S. Department of Justice has been asking increasingly uncomfortable questions about EU member countries’ surveillance practices, according to five EU and U.S. officials and former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing…

More than 1,000 Casino de Montréal employees have issued a five-day strike mandate to be used “at the appropriate time” — and the busy Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend could well be it. In a Saturday press release, the CSN-affiliated union representing casino workers announced its members had voted 91 per cent in favour of a five-day strike, noting that the mandate was given “in the run-up to the Montreal Grand Prix.” The Formula 1 Gilles-Villeneuve race on Île Notre-Dame, where the casino is also located, is one of the most popular tourist events in Montreal during the summer season.…

China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang’s visit to the Philippines from  21–23 April 2023 comes at a critical time when the relationship between Manila and Beijing continues to face several notable challenges. China is concerned about the strengthening alliance between the Philippines and the United States (US) and the implications of the latter’s increasing military presence in the Southeast Asian region for the security of Taiwan. The Chinese foreign minister’s trip to the Southeast Asian country just over a week after the start of the annual BALIKATAN exercise between the Philippine and American militaries also indicates Beijing’s desire to manage and potentially diffuse…

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu hit out at the US and multilateral groupings like Quad, which India is part of, while putting his weight behind China at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting here Friday. Shoigu said that “in order to contain China, a front is forming”. He alleged that the tension around the “so-called” Taiwan problem is purposely escalated, and that territorial disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea are being heated. “In our understanding, one of the major achievements in the Asia-Pacific region is bloc-free and equal interaction. And it must be preserved,”…

The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is preparing to place First Republic under receivership, Reuters reported on Friday, as the worst banking crisis since 2008 continued to hammer mid-sized US banks. The California-based bank looks set to be the third such financial institution to collapse this year, following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature in March. On Friday trading in First Republic was briefly halted after its share plunged close to 50%, the second such fall in a week. The bank revealed on Monday that it had lost $100bn in deposits during last month’s banking crisis. Although the withdrawals have abated…

Part of a continuing weekly series on Alaska history by local historian David Reamer. Have a question about Anchorage or Alaska history or an idea for a future article? Go to the form at the bottom of this story. Many jobs across Alaska history have been backbreakingly difficult or inherently risky. Many professions in Alaska have been lonely pursuits, but none were as lonely as lighthouse keepers. Even the most isolated trapper or prospector was free to head toward the nearest town for company. Lighthouse keepers maintained their post day after day after day, staring at storm after storm. And no lighthouse…

The abrupt resignation of a Canadian lawmaker over allegations he secretly met with a Chinese diplomat has escalated a row over allegations that Beijing meddled in Canadian elections – and highlighted the complex and often fraught relationship between the two countries. Han Dong, a member of the governing Liberal party, was reported to have met with Han Tao, China’s consul general in February 2021, to suggest that Chinese authorities delay freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who were detained in China at the time. Dong confirmed the meeting but strongly denied the allegations about the conversation. On Wednesday evening, he…

Justice Paul Rouleau has released his long-awaited report on the government’s use of the Emergencies Act to quell the anti-vaccine mandate convoy protests in Ottawa and in the border communities of Windsor, Ont. and Coutts, Alta. The five-volume, 2,000-page report is a deep dive into the demonstrations that gripped some parts of the country for more than a month in the winter of 2022. After six weeks of public testimony, and with unprecedented access to cabinet documents, Rouleau detailed everything from the genesis of the convoy movement to the disruptive and sometimes dangerous nature of the demonstrations. He described an extraordinary police…

By SUSAN JONES Pitt’s School of Law is joining several other schools, including Penn State and the University of Pennsylvania, in dropping out of the U.S. News and World Report’s law school rankings. “The U.S. News ranking system is systematically flawed and harmful to both legal education and the legal profession,” said Haider Ala Hamoudi, who was named interim dean of the law school this month after Amy Wildermuth stepped down. “Some aspects of the U.S. News rankings are inconsistent with Pitt Law’s mission and values, including our longstanding commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging,” Hamoudi said in a…

A top Republican in the U.S. Congress on Sunday said the odds of conflict with China over Taiwan “are very high,” after a U.S. general caused consternation with a memo that warned that the United States would fight China in the next two years. In a memo dated Feb. 1 but released on Friday, General Mike Minihan, who heads the Air Mobility Command, wrote to the leadership of its roughly 110,000 members, saying, “My gut tells me we will fight in 2025.” “I hope he is wrong. … I think he is right though,” Mike McCaul, the new chairman of…