Defense Official's Data Blunder Forced U.K. to Secretly Relocate Thousands of Afghans
The government went to great lengths to keep the mistake and its ramifications secret, including acquiring a rare court injunction banning all reporting on the matter back in 2023, after it argued that disclosing the existence of the list would alert the Taliban. On Tuesday reporting restrictions were lifted by a judge after a government review concluded that the risk to the Afghans named was now less acute.
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Trump and the Epstein files: How the story has unfolded so far
The Trump administration has been struggling for nearly two weeks to contain the fallout of the Justice Department's announcement that no more Epstein evidence in the government's possession would be released to the public despite promises of transparency from Attorney General Pam Bondi. (Produced by Luke Garratt)
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Understanding Canada's moves to block cheap steel imports
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Wednesday that the government was tightening rules around steel imports. The move is an effort to protect Canada's domestic industry from dumping as the global trade of the metal undergoes major shifts because of government actions out of the United States and China. Here's a look at some of the key questions. What is dumping? Dumping refers to foreign firms selling goods at artificially low prices, or prices that don't accurately reflect their cost of production. It can also mean a company selling goods for less in foreign markets than comparable goods are selling for in their home market. Companies tend to dump goods either by selling below cost to gain market share, or because an excess of production in their home countries has them looking for markets to offload the goods and recover some costs. Government subsidies can be a significant contributor to firms selling at artificial prices because they distort price structures. Subsidies can include simply giving money to companies to help them grow, more indirect aids like preferential access to land, as well as government loans and loan guarantees and tax breaks. The Canadian government uses all of these levers to help grow domestic industries, but governments can only go so far within international trade rules. Subsidies that artificially reduce costs so manufacturers can flood foreign markets at unfairly low prices crosses that line. How big of a problem is steel dumping for Canada? While dumping cases are determined on specific products, the overall scale of steel imports has swelled over the past decade. Offshore imports have climbed from 19 per cent of the Canadian market in 2014 to 39 per cent in 2022, according to the Canadian Steel Producers Association. The steel industry also dominates anti-dumping inquiries at the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, the body tasked with determining whether imported goods are being sold at artificially low prices. The Canadian steel industry has challenged dozens of product categories from cold- to hot-rolled steel, various wires, piping and rods, even including stainless steel sinks. The tribunal has largely ruled in favour of applications that dumping has occurred and is harming Canadian industry. And while there are problems now, the bigger concern is how much more product, especially from China, might get diverted to the Canadian market as the U.S. moves to close off imports. It's also expected to be a growing problem in the future as China's domestic demand slows. China already has 50 million tonnes of overcapacity in steel production across its 360 mills, according to Wood Mackenzie, but it said that overcapacity could swell to 250 million tonnes over the next decade. Canada's total production, meanwhile, was 12.1 million tonnes in 2023. How long has it been a problem? A long time. Canada introduced the first anti-dumping provisions in the world in 1904, which singled out a 'special duty on under-valued goods,' according to international trade expert Dan Ciuriak in a report. What was unique about the measure was that it was a flexible tariff, meant to make up the difference between the selling price and the fair market value. The problem has continued and grown as global trade has increased, leading to growing calls to do more about it. For steel, concerns grew as China's exports surged to 110 million tonnes in 2015 before starting to retreat, only for it to surpass that total in 2024 with 115 million tonnes in exports, according to the International Trade Administration. Back in 2020, United Steelworkers union national director for Canada Ken Neumann said the problem of illegal steel dumping needs to stop. 'Our union will continue to aggressively defend the jobs of steelworkers across Canada who for too long have been harmed by steel imports dumped into our country and sold at unprofitable, below-market prices.' What do the latest tariffs aim to achieve? Canada already imposed 25 per cent tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from China last year, with the move coming into place in October. But the steel industry and others have maintained that other countries are taking steel produced in China, processing it further and then trying to export it as originating from the there. The latest measures are meant to help protect against that work-around. That's why the government imposed the 25 per cent tariff on steel products that were "melted and poured" in China. The move is the culmination of years of efforts to increase transparency in steel imports, including a requirement that went into effect only last November for importers to declare the country the metal is melted and poured. Catherine Cobden, CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said the measures will go some ways to tackle China's actions as an "egregious" overcapacity practitioner. "Canada is taking direct aim at global steel overcapacities, and frankly, it's a strong position, and I think will be applauded around the world. This is something that even the United States hasn't yet done." This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025. Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Judge dismisses suit seeking to block ID of FBI agents who investigated Jan. 6 cases
A federal judge on Thursday agreed to a request by the Trump administration to dismiss a suit that sought to block the release of the names of thousands of FBI agents who worked on Jan. 6 cases. U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee, expressed sympathy for agents who went to court seeking limitations on the Trump administration after the Justice Department demanded a list of all who had done investigative work on the cases of rioters. 'Plaintiffs filed these cases in a whirlwind of chaos and fear,' Cobb wrote, adding that 'some former January 6 defendants, now pardoned and at large, called for FBI agents to be doxed (or worse).' 'Since then, the dust has settled some—and this case has evolved,' Cobb continued. FBI agents have been in court since February, filing the case shortly after eight top career FBI officials were fired, and principal Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, now nominated for a lifetime appointment to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, demanded the list. But Cobb determined that the Justice Department does not appear poised to act on agents' fears that a list would be used not only to fire agents but release their identities as an act of retribution. 'The Court ordered expedited jurisdictional discovery to cut through the chaos and allow Plaintiffs to shore up their standing allegations,' Cobb wrote. 'That discovery revealed no evidence that Defendants are on the verge of disclosing Plaintiffs' identities, nor have Plaintiffs plausibly alleged that such a disclosure is imminent. The Court must therefore dismiss Plaintiffs' disclosure-related claims.' Attorneys for the FBI Agents Association said they were prepared to return to court if the government did not fulfill its pledge. 'We are proud to defend the FBI employees who bravely investigated the January 6th attacks. The Court acknowledged that the disclosure of agents' names would endanger them and accepted the Government's claims that it would not do so. We stand ready to return to Court immediately if the Government does not live up to its obligations,' attorneys Margaret Donovan and Chris Mattei said in a statement. Bove has not denied the list will be used to review the work of the thousands of agents who played a role in the cases of Jan. 6, 2021, rioters and did not foreclose the possibility that some could be fired. Agents were also asked to fill out a questionnaire about their role in the sprawling investigation. 'No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties,' Bove wrote shortly after requesting the list.
