First domino in national redistricting fight likely to fall with Texas GOP poised for vote on maps
The vote follows prodding by President Donald Trump, eager to stave off a midterm defeat that would deprive his party of control of the House of Representatives, and weeks of delays after dozens of Texas Democratic state lawmakers fled the state in protest. Some Democrats returned Monday, only to be assigned round-the-clock police escorts to ensure their attendance at Wednesday's session. Those who refused to be monitored were confined to the House floor, where they protested on a livestream Tuesday night.
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Toronto Sun
4 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
Employee protests lead to 18 arrests as Microsoft reviews work with Israel's military
Published Aug 20, 2025 • 3 minute read FILE - A Microsoft sign and logo are pictured at the company's headquarters, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. Photo by Jason Redmond / AP Police officers arrested 18 people at worker-led protests at Microsoft headquarters Wednesday as the tech company promises an 'urgent' review of the Israeli military's use of its technology during the ongoing war in Gaza. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Two consecutive days of protest at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash., called for the tech giant to immediately cut its business ties with Israel. But unlike Tuesday, when about 35 protesters occupying a plaza between office buildings left after Microsoft asked them to leave, the protesters on Wednesday 'resisted and became aggressive' after the company told police they were trespassing, according to the Redmond Police Department. The protesters also splattered red paint resembling the colour of blood over a landmark sign that bears the company logo and spells Microsoft in big grey letters. 'We said, 'Please leave or you will be arrested,' and they chose not to leave so they were detained,' said police spokesperson Jill Green. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Microsoft late last week said it was tapping a law firm to investigate allegations reported by British newspaper The Guardian that the Israeli Defence Forces used Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform to store phone call data obtained through the mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. 'Microsoft's standard terms of service prohibit this type of usage,' the company said in a statement posted Friday, adding that the report raises 'precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review.' In February, The Associated Press revealed previously unreported details about the tech giant's close partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defence, with military use of commercial artificial intelligence products skyrocketing by nearly 200 times after the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The AP reported that the Israeli military uses Azure to transcribe, translate and process intelligence gathered through mass surveillance, which can then be cross-checked with Israel's in-house AI-enabled targeting systems. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Following The AP's report, Microsoft acknowledged the military applications but said a review it commissioned found no evidence that its Azure platform and artificial intelligence technologies were used to target or harm people in Gaza. Microsoft did not share a copy of that review or say who conducted it. Microsoft said it will share the latest review's findings after it's completed by law firm Covington & Burling. The promise of a second review was insufficient for the employee-led No Azure for Apartheid group, which for months has protested Microsoft's supplying the Israeli military with technology used for its war against Hamas in Gaza. The group said Wednesday the technology is 'being used to surveil, starve and kill Palestinians.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Microsoft in May fired an employee who interrupted a speech by CEO Satya Nadella to protest the contracts, and in April, fired two others who interrupted the company's 50th anniversary celebration. On Tuesday, the protesters posted online a call for what they called a 'worker intifada,' using language evoking the Palestinian uprisings against Israeli military occupation that began in 1987. On Wednesday, the police department said it took 18 people into custody 'for multiple charges, including trespassing, malicious mischief, resisting arrest, and obstruction.' It wasn't clear how many were Microsoft employees. No injuries were reported. Microsoft said in a statement after the arrests that it 'will continue to do the hard work needed to uphold its human rights standards in the Middle East, while supporting and taking clear steps to address unlawful actions that damage property, disrupt business or that threaten and harm others.' Read More Columnists Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto & GTA World Editorials
Toronto Sun
4 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
Islamic State extremists exploit instability in Africa and Syria, UN experts say
Published Aug 20, 2025 • 2 minute read FILE - In this file photo released on May 4, 2015, by a militant website, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, Islamic State militants drive in a convoy through Tel Abyad, northeast Syria. Photo by Uncredited / AP UNITED NATIONS — Islamic State extremists are exploiting instability in Africa and Syria and remain a significant threat in Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe, UN counterterrorism experts said Wednesday. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The militant group is now using advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, and social media, which poses a new challenge, the experts told a UN Security Council meeting. The Islamic State group declared a self-styled caliphate in a large swath of Syria and Iraq that it seized in 2014. It was declared defeated in Iraq in 2017 following a three-year battle that left tens of thousands of people dead and cities in ruins, but its sleeper cells remain in both countries and it has affiliates and supporters in many other countries. The UN has seen a resurgence of activity by the Islamic State in the Sahel — in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — and in West Africa the group has emerged 'as a prolific producer of terrorist propaganda and attracted foreign terrorist fighters, primarily from within the region,' said Vladimir Voronkov, who heads the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He said arrests in Libya have revealed logistics and financing networks with connections to IS in the Sahel. In Somalia, Voronkov said, a large-scale IS attack was countered by Somali security forces and some 200 IS fighters were killed and over 150 arrested. But he said despite the losses IS still benefits from regional support networks and remains a threat. In north-central Africa's Lake Chad Basin region, the Islamic State is 'increasingly receiving foreign material and human support to conduct its operations, including money, drones and expertise on improvised explosive devices,' said Natalia Gherman, who heads the executive directorate of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee. 'Its ability to adapt and exploit instability continues to pose significant challenges, particularly in parts of Africa,' she said. 'The continent bears over half the world's fatalities from terrorist attacks.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In the Middle East, Voronkov said IS is active in Iraq and Syria, where it is trying to restore its operations in the northwest Badia desert region and renew effort to destabilize local authorities. He said the militants are exploiting security gaps, conducting covert operations and inciting sectarian tensions in Syria. In Afghanistan, the Islamic State group's Khorasan affiliate 'continues to represent one of the most serious threats to Central Asia and beyond,' Voronkov said, citing its targeting of civilians, minority groups and foreign nationals. Gherman added that IS-Khorasan is using 'propaganda tactics and online campaigns' to try to recruit and fundraise in Central Asia and Europe. She called for innovative responses to the Islamic State group's use of artificial intelligence and social media for recruitment, fundraising and propaganda. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Although AI is being harnessed to amplify the group's reach and impact, it also holds significant potential for states to enhance the detection, prevention and disruption of terrorist activities,' Gherman said. Elisa De Anda Madrazo, president of the Financial Action Task Force, which researches how terrorism is financed, said a major change is that 'digital platforms such as social media, messaging apps and crowdfunding systems are increasingly being abused for terrorist financing.' Read More Columnists Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto & GTA World Editorials
Winnipeg Free Press
4 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
New Zealand will spend $1.6B on military aircraft in a plan to double the defense budget
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand 's government announced new military spending Thursday of 2.7 billion New Zealand dollars ($1.6 billion) to replace aging aircraft, with senior officials who unveiled the package citing rapidly growing global tensions and a deteriorating security environment. The purchase of military planes and helicopters was the first procurement announced in a government plan, disclosed April, to double defense spending from 1% to 2% of GDP in the next decade. New Zealand's military spending has trailed that of its larger partners in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing group of countries — which includes the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia — and the bolstered budget reflects a shift in how the remote island nation is responding to strategic competition between major powers in the Pacific Ocean. The procurement includes five MH-60R Seahawk helicopters to replace the existing maritime fleet and two Airbus A321XLR aircraft, allowing the retirement of Boeing 757s that are more than 30 years old and were already secondhand when purchased. The helicopters accounted for more than NZ $2 billion of the spending, officials said. Defense Minister Judith Collins said her government would 'move at pace' to procure the helicopters directly through the United States' foreign military sales program instead of going to a wider tender. Cabinet ministers were expected to consider the final business case in 2026, she told reporters in Wellington on Thursday. It would take 'a few years' to acquire the helicopters, Collins added, because buying new meant New Zealand would need to 'wait in line.' She denied the choice to buy from the United States was an attempt to rectify the trade imbalance that has seen New Zealand goods targeted for an adjusted 15% levy when arriving in the U.S. under the Trump administration's global tariffs plan. The aging Boeing aircraft have frequently broken down while transporting New Zealand prime ministers abroad in recent years and now can only be flown short distances. The episodes are among an awkward string of incidents that have highlighted the rundown state of the country's military hardware and persistent difficulties in maintaining it due to recruitment shortfalls.
