Infowars: Chinese AI memes and US media barbs
Contributors:
Andy Mok – Senior Research Fellow, Center for China and Globalisation
Jude Russo – Managing Editor, The American Conservative
Isaac Stone Fish – CEO, Strategy Risks
Yun Sun – Director of China Program, Stimson Center
On April 15, the civil war in Sudan hit the two-year mark. The Sudanese media landscape has been devastated. According to Reporters Without Borders, since the war began, nearly 450 journalists have fled the country. Meenakshi Ravi has more.
Donald Trump's public musings about how Canada should become the United States' 51st state, has Canadians rallying around their flag. The Listening Post's Ryan Kohls discusses the Trump effect and the unprecedented impact it is having on Canadian nationalism and politics.
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Rachel Gilmore – Host, Bubble Pop
Jonathan Kay – Editor, Quillette
David Moscrop – Author and Journalist
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Qatar Tribune
7 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Canada's annual inflation rate eases to 1.7 percent
Agencies Canada's annual inflation rate eased to 1.7 percent in July from 1.9 percent in the prior month as lower year-on-year gasoline prices kept the consumer price index low, but core measures of inflation stayed sticky, data showed on Tuesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast the annual inflation rate at 1.8 percent and the monthly inflation rate at 0.3 percent. The CPI increased by 0.3 percent in July from 0.1 percent in June on a monthly basis, Statistics Canada said. Gasoline prices dropped by 16.1 percent on a yearly basis in July, following a 13.4 percent decline in June. On a monthly basis the price of fuel dropped as geopolitical tensions eased and crude oil producing nations increased output. The elimination of carbon levy on purchase of petrol has helped bring down the cost of the fuel on a yearly basis and is expected to maintain a downward pressure on the CPI basket for another eight months. This has helped the overall consumer price index to clock a rate below the mid-point of the Bank of Canada's 1 percent to 3 percent target range, even as there are signs of rising prices of food. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 2.5 percent in July, Statscan said. The main drivers of the increase in costs were rise in food prices and shelter costs, StatsCan said. Food prices, which contributes close to 17 percent to the overall CPI basket, rose by 3.3 percent in July from 2.9 percent in June. Shelter costs, the biggest component of the CPI basket, rose 3 percent in July from 2.9 percent in June, marking the first increase since February last year. This was driven by a smaller decline in cost of natural gas and rise in rents by 5.1 percent. Core measures of inflation, which are closely tracked by the Bank of Canada have remained resilient and hovered around the top of the bank's preferred range of CPI. One of the core measures the CPI-median - or the centermost component of the CPI basket when arranged in an order of increasing prices - was at 3.1 percent in July, from 3 percent in June. The CPI-trim, which excludes the most extreme price changes, was unchanged at 3 percent. The share of the CPI basket which is above 3 percent continues to be elevated at over 37 percent, data showed. Money markets are betting the odds of a rate cut on Sept. 17 at 32 percent after the bank has stayed put at 2.75 percent for its last three rate decision meetings. The Canadian dollar weakened and was trading down 0.11 percent after the inflation data to 1.3817 to the US dollar, or 72.37 US cents. Two-year government bond yields were down 0.3 basis points to 2.735 percent.
Qatar Tribune
7 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Air Canada reaches deal with flight attendant union to end strike
Agencies Air Canada's unionized flight attendants reached a deal on Tuesday to end the first strike by the cabin crew of the country's largest carrier in 40 years, which had upended travel plans for hundreds of thousands of passengers. The union first announced the agreement early Tuesday after talks with Air Canada resumed talks late Monday for the first time since the strike began over the weekend and at the peak of the summer travel season. The strike that lasted nearly four days had led the airline to withdraw its third quarter and full-year earnings guidance. Air Canada said it would gradually resume operations as of Tuesday evening and a full restoration may require a week or more, while the union said it has completed mediation with the airline and its low-cost affiliate Air Canada Rouge. 'The strike has ended. We have a tentative agreement we will bring forward to you,' the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said in a Facebook post, as the strike entered its fourth day. Air Canada said some flights will be canceled over the next seven to 10 days until the schedule is stabilized and that customers with canceled flights can choose between a refund, travel credit or rebooking on another airline. The carrier had earlier offered a 38% increase in total compensation for flight attendants over four years, with a 25% raise in the first year, which the union deemed insufficient. The flight attendants walked off the job on Saturday after contract talks with the carrier failed. They had sought pay for tasks such as boarding passengers. While details of the negotiations were not immediately released, the union said the unpaid work was over. The CUPE, which represents Air Canada's 10,400 flight attendants, wanted to make gains on unpaid work that go beyond recent advances secured by their counterparts at U.S. carriers like American Airlines. In a rare act of defiance, the union remained on strike even after the Canada Industrial Relations Board declared its action unlawful. Their refusal to follow a federal labor board order for the flight attendants to return to work had created a three-way standoff between the company, workers and the government. Labor leaders objected to the Canadian government's repeated use of a law that cuts off workers' right to strike and forces them into arbitration, a step the government took in recent years with workers at ports, railways and elsewhere. Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu had urged both sides to consider government mediation and raised pressure on Air Canada on Monday, promising to investigate allegations of unpaid work in the airline sector. Over the past two years, unions in aerospace, construction, airline and rail sectors have pushed employers for higher pay, improved conditions and better benefits amid a tight labor market. Air Canada's flight attendants have for months argued new contracts should include pay for work done on the ground, such as boarding passengers. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day and is part of the global Star Alliance of airlines. The airline estimated Monday that 500,000 customers would be affected by flight cancellations. The carrier and its low-cost affiliate Air Canada Rouge normally carry about 130,000 customers a day. The airline is also the foreign carrier with the largest number of flights to the analytics firm Cirium said that as of Monday afternoon, Air Canada had called off at least 1,219 domestic flights and 1,339 international flights since last Thursday, when the carrier began gradually suspending its operations ahead of the strike and lockout. Chief executive Michael Rousseau said restarting a major carrier is a complex undertaking. 'Full restoration may require a week or more, so we ask for our customers' patience and understanding over the coming days,' Rousseau said in a statement. While many customers had expressed support for the flight attendants, frustration with flight cancellations was growing. Retiree Klaus Hickman missed a flight to Toronto earlier in the week.
Al Jazeera
13 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Air Canada to resume operations after cabin crew strike ends
Air Canada, the country's largest carrier, is set to resume service after reaching an agreement with its unionised flight attendants. The deal, reached early on Tuesday morning, ends the first strike by the airline's cabin crew in nearly 40 years. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) issued a statement explaining that its mediation with the airline and its low-cost affiliate Air Canada Rouge had arrived at a successful conclusion. 'Unpaid work is over. We have reclaimed our voice and our power,' the union wrote. 'When our rights were taken away, we stood strong, we fought back — and we secured a tentative agreement that our members can vote on.' The walkout began on Saturday and lasted nearly four days, leading to disruptions in travel for the nearly 130,000 travellers each day who take Air Canada. The strike also forced the company to withdraw its third-quarter and full-year earnings guidance. In early trading on Tuesday morning, in the wake of the news that the strike had ended, shares of Air Canada rose four percent. But they had lost approximately 14 percent of their value so far this year. The carrier said it would gradually resume operations, with flights taking off once again by Tuesday evening. Air Canada warned, however, that a full restoration of its services may require a week or more. Some flights will remain cancelled over the next seven to 10 days while the flight schedules are stabilised. Customers with cancelled flights can choose between a refund, travel credit or rebooking on another airline. What was the dispute about? CUPE represents nearly 10,400 flight attendants employed by Air Canada, and the union had been negotiating for months with the airline to address issues including 'unpaid work, work rules, and poverty-level wages'. The union pointed out that wages had not kept pace with the cost of inflation and that cabin crew members were not offered 'ground pay': compensation for all the work done before a flight's doors close and after a flight lands. That includes no pay for getting passengers boarded, assisting travellers with baggage and seating, and conducting safety checks. CUPE noted last week that 99.7 percent of its members voted in favour of the strike. In announcing the end of the walkout, CUPE explained that negotiations had stretched from 7pm local time (23:00 GMT) on Monday to 4:23am (08:23 GMT) the next day. 'We are required to advise our membership that we must fully cooperate with resumption of operations,' the union wrote in an announcement on Facebook. A tense showdown Until the deal was announced, it was not clear whether the impasse would be quickly resolved. On Monday, Mark Hancock, CUPE's national president, said there was 'no limit' to his commitment to the fight. 'We're going to stay strong. We're going to stay committed to making sure those workers can do the job that they love doing and actually be able to afford a roof over their heads,' Hancock said. 'And if it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it.' In a rare act of defiance, the union remained on strike even after the Canada Industrial Relations Board, a federal labour board, declared its action unlawful. On Monday, the board called for the flight attendants to return to work and for the union to submit to arbitration. But with the flight attendants refusing, a three-way standoff developed between the workers, the company and the government. The union had asked the government not to intervene, in case it gave the airline the upper hand in negotiations. In an apparent effort to address that argument, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu also promised on Monday to place pressure on Air Canada by investigating allegations of unpaid work in the airline sector. 'I've also heard the allegations of unpaid work. It's unacceptable. Nobody should work for free in this country. In fact, we expect to get paid for the work we perform,' Hajdu said in a video on social media. 'That's why I've ordered a probe into the allegation of unpaid work in the airline sector. We will start this probe immediately.' In recent years, unions in the aerospace, construction, airline and rail sectors have renewed their efforts to push employers for higher pay, improved conditions and better benefits amid a tight labour market. Travellers express frustration While Air Canada works towards resuming full service, travellers have expressed frustration with the ongoing flight cancellations. As of Monday, the analytics firm Cirium estimated that nearly 1,219 domestic flights in Canada and 1,339 international flights had been suspended since Thursday as a result of the strike. Retiree Klaus Hickman was among those who missed a flight to Toronto earlier in the week. While he rebooked on another airline, he was concerned about returning to Calgary on time for a connecting flight to Germany. Hickman sympathises with workers demanding better pay but is worried about his own health and travel challenges. 'They want to get more money to survive. And so it is with everybody else,' he said. Canada's largest air hub, Pearson International Airport in Toronto, said it would call up extra employees to help as Air Canada restarts its services this week.
