Canada vows 'full speed ahead' on ratifying trade pact after U.S. lifts metals tariffs

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will move quickly to ratify the new North American trade pact, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Saturday, a day after the United States agreed to lift tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. U.S. President Donald Trump had imposed the global “Section 232” tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum in March 2018 on both Canada and Mexico on national security grounds, invoking a 1962 Cold War-era trade law.

The metals tariffs were a major irritant for Canada and Mexico and had caused them to halt progress toward ratification of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the trilateral trade deal signed last year which will replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). “We were very clear that as long as the 232 tariffs were there it would be very, very hard for us to ratify the new NAFTA, and that is why we did not table the legislation,” Freeland said in an interview broadcast by CBC radio. “Now that that big obstacle is lifted, full steam ahead,” she said, without saying when the agreement would be presented to parliament, which closes down in June ahead of an October national election. “I hope all members of the house will support this agreement,” she added.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Friday he would meet with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa on May 30 to discuss “advancing” ratification. While several U.S. Democrats applauded removal of the tariffs, some on Friday said USMCA was not yet ready for their support. Freeland said Canada was in the process of reaching out to American Democrats. “We have been meeting with many leading Democrats to talk to them about the new NAFTA,” Freeland said. “We have a good, strong conversation happening.” Despite the breakthrough on tariffs and the USMCA agreement last year, Freeland said Canada was still worried about U.S. protectionism. “I am still concerned about U.S. protectionism and I think it would be naive for anyone to think that there is any kind of permanent safety or security. The reality is that this U.S. administration is openly, explicitly, and proudly protectionist,” Freeland said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-canada-freeland/canada-vows-full-speed-ahead-on-ratifying-trade-pact-after-u-s-lifts-metals-tariffs-idUSKCN1SO0EF?il=0

Australia's conservative government on course for 'miracle' election victory

MELBOURNE/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia’s Liberal-led conservative government was headed for a remarkable victory at the national election early on Sunday after uncovering a narrow path to victory that twisted through urban fringes and rural townships. The results upended pre-election polls which predicted a Labor victory, though it is unclear whether the Scott Morrison-led coalition can govern with an outright majority or will need to negotiate support from independents. The final result may not be known for some time.

“I have always believed in miracles,” Morrison told cheering supporters at Sydney’s Wentworth Hotel, where the government holds its official election night function. “Tonight is not about me or it’s not about even the Liberal party. Tonight is about every single Australian who depends on their government to put them first.”

The conservative government has won or is leading in 72 seats in its quest for a 76-seat majority, according to the Australian Electoral Commission. Several seats are still too close to call and the final result is complicated by a large number of early votes that have delayed counting. Morrison’s coalition defied expectations by holding onto a string of outer suburban seats in areas where demographics closest resemble America’s Rust Belt, blocking Labor’s path to victory. This included a devastating result in the coal-rich state of Queensland, which backed the Pentecostal church-going prime minister by defying expectations and delivering several marginal seats to his government.

Labor leader Bill Shorten said late on Saturday he could not win enough seats to form a government. Speaking to supporters in Melbourne he said he would step down as party leader.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-election/australias-conservative-government-moves-into-election-winning-position-idUSKCN1SN2LW?il=0

>>6528310

I would be interesting to know which ones. Any deal they try to craft could only end up with some criminal nefarious deeds.

Austrian far-right leader quits over video sting that threatens coalition

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria’s vice chancellor and longtime far-right leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, said on Saturday he was stepping down over “catastrophic” video footage of him that threatened to bring down the right-wing coalition government. Freedom Party (FPO) leader Strache was shown in the footage of as-yet unknown origin meeting a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch in 2017, shortly before the election that brought him to power. In the footage published by German media on Friday evening, a week before European Parliament elections, he appears to offer to funnel contracts towards a company in exchange for political and financial support.

“It was dumb, it was irresponsible and it was a mistake,” Strache told a news conference, fighting back tears as he asked his wife and others to forgive him. He maintained, however, that he had done nothing illegal and that it was a “targeted political assassination”. “In the cold light of day, my remarks were catastrophic and exceedingly embarrassing,” he said about the video, in which he also referred to party financing rules and how to work around them, but also insisted on having to act legally.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is expected to make a statement later on Saturday as speculation swirled about whether the damage would be limited to Strache or if Kurz would call a snap election only 18 months after the coalition between his conservatives and the FPO was formed. Kurz has repeatedly distanced himself from the FPO over lesser scandals, mostly ones involving party officials and anti-Semitism or racism, to protect his popularity. It was unclear how far the damage from the tape would spread.

“This is the tip of the iceberg,” Thomas Drozda, from the opposition Social Democrats, told national broadcaster ORF. “I expect the chancellor, who evidently has known about this video for 48 hours, and that his coalition partner is drowning in a swamp of corruption, to speak and explain his position. He has been hiding for 48 hours … he owes the country an explanation.” Kurz has not given a time for his statement.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-politics-freedom-party/austrian-far-right-leader-quits-over-video-sting-as-coalition-teeters-idUSKCN1SN2RA?il=0

Pope pays tribute journalists killed; says press freedom vital

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis paid tribute on Saturday to journalists killed while doing their jobs, saying media freedom is a key indicator of a country’s health. In an address to the Foreign Press Association in Italy, he urged journalists to shun fake news and continue reporting on the plight of people who no longer make headlines but are still suffering, specifically mentioning the Rohingya and Yazidi.

“I listened in pain to the statistics about your colleagues killed while carrying out their work with courage and dedication in so many countries to report on what is happening in wars and other dramatic situations in which so many of our brothers and sisters in the world live,” he said.

Francis had just heard the association’s president, Patricia Thomas of Associated Press Television, talk about journalists killed, imprisoned, wounded or threatened in their line of work. She mentioned Lyra Mckee, who was shot dead while covering a riot in Northern Ireland, Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who died in a car bomb in 2017, and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year.

“Freedom of the press and of expression is an important indicator of the state of a country’s health,” the pope said. “Let’s not forget that one of the first things dictatorships do is remove freedom of the press or mask it, not leaving it free.” Francis did not mention any countries in his address to about 400 members of the foreign media and their families. “We need journalists who are on the side of victims, on the side of those who are persecuted, on the side of who is excluded, cast aside, discriminated against,” he said. Francis urged the media to not lose interest in tragedies even when they no longer make headlines. “Who is taking about the Rohingya today? Who is taking about the Yazidi today? They have been forgotten and they continue to suffer,” he said.

Nearly one million Rohingya Muslims from mostly Buddhist Myanmar have fled to Bangladesh, most following a Myanmar military-led crackdown in 2017 that U.N. investigators have said was conducted with “genocidal intent”. Myanmar has denied almost all allegations of atrocities. Two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar after they were convicted of breaking the Official Secrets Act walked free from prison earlier this month after more than 500 days behind bars. Reuters has said the two men did not commit any crime and had called for their release. They were released under a presidential amnesty for 6,520 prisoners. Islamic State militants in Iraq shot, beheaded, burned alive or kidnapped more than 9,000 members of the minority Yazidi religion, in what the United Nations has called a genocidal campaign against them.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-journalists/pope-pays-tribute-journalists-killed-says-press-freedom-vital-idUSKCN1SO0DZ?il=0

>>6528336

Australian PM Morrison celebrates unexpected election victory

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his government had delivered a miracle result in Saturday’s election where it unexpectedly looks set to retain office, saying the victory was for the “quiet Australians” who supported him. “I have always believed in miracles!” Morrison told an exuberant room of Liberal Party supporters around midnight.

The coalition government is in position to remain in power with more than half the votes counted on Saturday, though it is unclear whether it can govern with an outright majority and final results may not be known this weekend. The results stand in stark contrast to pre-election polls, which had predicted center-left Labor would win.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-election-morrison/australian-pm-morrison-celebrates-unexpected-election-victory-idUSKCN1SO0DN?il=0

Congrats Aussie Anons, this is your moment to shine!

>>6528491

This election seems to mirror 2016 election in the US.. if you read the articles this was not supposed to happen. You can clearly see the parallels here. I believe their swamps are about to be drained as well.

>>6528493

Mirror image I believe of what is happening in the US.

>>6528604

From day 1 of this news, I have wondered if he was taken into protective custody. Nothing about this story made sense.

>>6528700

I agree 100%. They fear exposure, They fear loosing status, They fear the wrath of the people who would want nothing more than see them have the same punishments that have been imposed on (((them))). Gitmo calls out to (((them))).