The incoming Republican administration of Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all products from Canada and Mexico on the first day of his presidency — Jan. 20, 2025. Canada says it will continue to work with the United States on trade issues while Mexico has hinted at retaliation . The tariffs would be devastating to both the Canadian and Mexican economies, which depend heavily on trade with the U.S. for their economic well-being. The two targeted governments would in fact be forced to respond with retaliatory tariffs targeting American goods, creating economic carnage in all three countries. Would these tariffs be legal? “Are these tariffs legal?” is a natural question to ask. Simply put, no. In a typically hyperbolic, randomly capitalized post on his Truth Social platform, Trump writes that he will impose “a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) replacement that Canada, Mexico and the United States negotiated — under American duress six years ago — contains a clause stipulating that the deal doesn’t stop any of the three countries “from applying measures that it considers necessary for ... the protection of its own essential security interests.” But any attempt to invoke that clause would be so obviously a pretext that it’s laughable. As economist Paul Krugman notes , the U.S. Department of Commerce’s rules don’t allow for the clause to be used to coerce other countries into action; the tariffs have to be linked to an effect on a particular industry. So, no. The tariffs would not be legal. But the question itself is completely beside the point. It assumes that the North American relationship continues to be rooted in the rule of law and democratic norms that have underwritten North American politics for more than 80 years. Five years ago, the question would have made sense. Now, it’s the wrong question to ask. Shattered relationship In his first term, Trump repeatedly threatened tariffs (including the absurd assertion that Canadian aluminum imports represented a national security threat ) to browbeat Canada and Mexico on trade and immigration. Back then, we could still imagine that Trumpism was an aberration. Canada acted appropriately for the time. Threatened with tariffs, Canadian officials responded in kind . Read more: Trump tariffs: What the president-elect's rhetoric tells us about how Canada could be affected — again From this perspective, the lesson today for Canada seems clear: don’t panic, don’t be afraid to target vulnerable and politically important American industries and figure out what will make Trump happy. This approach might work in the short run. But it only makes sense in a specific context. In 2016, it was possible to hope that Trumpism would be fleeting, Democrats would return to power and equilibrium would be restored. The world can no longer make that assumption. Trumpism has been institutionalized in the Republican Party. Even if — and that’s assuming free and fair elections — the Democrats regain the White House in 2028, the two-party system in the U.S. means the Republicans will eventually regain power. Chronic, systemic instability in the U.S. is now the best the rest of the world can hope for. But it’s next to impossible to make solid plans on instability. Canada, for its part, can no longer rely on the rules and norms that have underpinned Canada-U.S. relations since the Second World War. Abandoning the rule of law As I’ve written previously , the United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal’s renegotiation clause, embraced by both Democrats and Republicans , deprives Canada and Mexico of the protection from coercion that trade agreements usually provide smaller countries. Such protection traditionally means the larger country cannot use access to its market (which Canada and Mexico depend upon) to force smaller countries to adopt their preferred policies. But the renegotiation clause of the current agreement keeps coercion on the table, moving North America away from a treaty-based rule-of-law approach to economic relations toward one focused more on raw power. Read more: Facing trade renegotiations, Canada can no longer count on free trade to protect it from U.S. power Trump’s bombastic threats turbo-charge the problem of institutionalized coercion. The trade deal may still be renegotiated as scheduled in 2026, but a treaty violated at will by one party is no treaty at all. Trump’s willingness to hold the Canadian and Mexican economies hostage for a deal on drug trafficking and migration also shatters another foundational norm. In a relationship as complex as Canada’s with the United States, there will always be problems. But these haven’t previously paralyzed the relationship because of a tacit commitment between both countries not to link unconnected issues, ensuring one party can’t strong-arm or blackmail the other. That norm provided Canada with significant protection from its much-larger neighbour. This norm, as well as formal trade rules, gave Canada a degree of autonomy in dealing with the U.S. Despite perennial problems like softwood lumber, it allowed the U.S. and Canada to come to reasonable arrangements supported by a commitment to domestic laws and international treaties. Few good options As the region’s dominant power, the U.S. can remake the broader North American relationship as it sees fit. This is the third American remaking of the continent in 40 years. The first was its embrace of a globalization-focused free-trade model in the late 1990s, resulting in NAFTA. Then, post-9/11, it unilaterally decided that border security, rather than continental economic integration , was its top priority. Post-2001, many pundits and analysts, fearful of what this new American focus on security would mean for Canada, claimed that Canada had no choice but to integrate more deeply with the U.S. in case the Americans, in the words of Canadian military historian Jack Granatstein , became “unhappy with us” and “bring our economy to a crashing halt.” In the end, these fears were overstated. The U.S. did not crash Canada’s economy once the Liberal government of the day opted against following it into Iraq or joining its Ballistic Missile Defence system, two of Granatstein’s imagined red lines. As I explored in my dissertation on the subject — eventually reworked in my book, Copyfight: The Global Politics of Digital Copyright Reform — Canada was protected by NAFTA and by shared norms regarding the non-linkage of unrelated issues, as well as the shared respect for the rule of law. Asset becomes a vulnerability Those arguing in favour of appeasement — that Canada must do whatever the U.S. wants to avoid retaliation — should not delude themselves that Canada would be integrating more deeply with a fellow democratic country, protected by shared norms and the rule of law. To integrate further with a country that has rejected the rule of law would be to surrender Canadian sovereignty. Deep integration with the U.S., once our greatest asset, is now Canada’s greatest vulnerability. Canada-U.S. relations experts know this relationship is fundamental to Canada’s prosperity and survival. Canada will find a way to manage this relationship because it has to. But it must do so within a context in which the question “is it legal?” no longer makes sense. Instead, the question confronting Canada is: “How can a liberal-democratic nation survive next to a much more powerful country with no respect for the rule of law?” The difference between these two questions is the distance between democracy and authoritarianism. It is here that Canada now finds itself.First Singaporean golfer at Masters hopes ‘not be in awe’ of heroes
After 36 years reporting the news, 12 of them as ABC foreign correspondent in London and Washington, DC, Lisa Millar never would have dreamt a show about farm dogs would become a career highlight. But for the “little kid from country Queensland who dreamt of becoming a journalist”, Muster Dogs is a joyous homecoming. After narrating two seasons of the reality contest, which crowns the best of five dogs-in-training around Australia, Millar takes an on-screen role in the four-part follow-up, Muster Dogs: Where Are They Now? Lisa Millar with Zoe and her dog Buddy on Muster Dogs: Where are They Now? “Being in regional Australia feels familiar to me ... When I go out on a Back Roads trip or Muster Dogs , and you can see the stars, you hear the roosters in the morning, I love it,” says Millar, from Bali, where she is “fixing the work-life balance” after exiting ABC News Breakfast in August. It’s the first time she has visited Indonesia without reporting on “terrorist attacks or Australians doing the wrong thing”. Grateful that she accepted what she initially thought was an unusual offer to narrate Muster Dogs in 2022, Millar is blown away by its success. By the second season, which aired in January, more than 1 million Australians were tuning in. Overseas audiences have – pun warning – lapped it up, with fan mail streaming in from the US and the UK. Israeli viewer Shai Lieberman was so inspired he contacted trainer Frank Finger, who owns season one winner Princess Annie the kelpie. Lieberman appears in the special, learning the trade at Finger’s Clermont property in Queensland, with the aim of operating a therapy farm back home. “None of us expected Muster Dogs to take off as much as it has,” says Millar. “We must all desire a bit of kindness. We need people not backstabbing each other. It’s something kids can watch with their families. Whether you’re in the city or the country, people love dogs, and also, their dogs love dogs. The number of videos that I got from people wanting to share their dogs getting excited when it was Muster Dogs time and barking at the television. That happened on the first night it went to air.” Millar travels the length and breadth of the country to check in with the series’ stars, including season two winner, Buddy the border collie, trained by Zoe Miller on a Northern Territory cattle station. Season two contestant Lily with her dog Snow and some new pups. “Of course, people want to know, did the dogs end up working well?” says Millar. “Is Lucifer still a bad boy? What happened to Lucky, the deaf dog? Have the dogs had pups? We’ve also spent time with the trainers to reveal a bit more about what it meant for them to be thrust into the spotlight. “I think the reason Muster Dogs worked is that it’s so authentic. They’re not signing up to boost their Instagram followers. They have some funny stories about how they’ll be in the middle of nowhere and people will stop to get selfies with the dogs.” Living in an apartment in Melbourne, and juggling a hectic filming schedule, Millar doesn’t own a dog. She grew up with a family dog, but not a working one. Back then, she was more interested in honing her interviewing skills on her father, the late National Party MP Clarrie Millar. She treasures a cassette of one such “grilling”, recorded when she was 10 years old. “I’d asked him about the Olympics and politics and boycotts, and he was doing such a lovely job of answering me seriously and trying to help me learn, and I’m cutting him off, like, ‘Well, thanks very much Clarrie!’” Miller will soon head off to shoot another episode of Back Roads , a program she treasured watching with her late mother after returning from overseas postings. With that, season three of Muster Dogs under way, and its second companion book out on December 4, Millar is content doing, “the best job at the ABC”. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and it’s a wonderful feeling.” Muster Dogs: Where Are They Now? premieres on Sunday, December 1, at 7.30pm on the ABC. Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday .'Weighs 1.7 million pounds with 2,200 tonnes of force': Massive stamping press arrives in Port StanleyRevolve Announces Grant of Deferred Share Units and Incentive Stock OptionsThe future is coming, and it’s coming to scrub your floors. Rather than the robotic overlords that sci-fi movies have conditioned us to expect, these automatons will go out of their way to avoid you — and they’ll leave a sparkling surface behind as they do so. “The customers that come in seem to either be fascinated by it, scared by it, or they don’t care about it at all,” said Keith MacMurray, chief of technology at DeSantis Solutions on Mead Avenue, standing alongside two robotic floor cleaners in the store’s showroom on Friday. “I’d say most are fascinated.” The autonomous cleaners inspire another peculiarly human type of interest. “You know how you watch a race waiting for someone to wreck? I feel like that’s what people are doing,” MacMurray said of the steady gazes that sometimes fix on the robots. “They’re just waiting for it to bump into something, but it doesn’t.” With a few taps on the control screen, MacMurray demonstrated what he was talking about. The CenoBots SP50, an AI-enabled autonomous floor sweeper, powered on, located a trail of leaves and dirt MacMurray had spread on the floor, and made short work of the debris, avoiding an unpredictable journalist in the process. Next up, the CenoBots L50, an AI-powered scrubber-dryer, began washing the floor, making its way around recently moved pallets of supplies before disappearing behind display cabinets, like a steadily humming mini-fridge on walkabout at speeds of up to 4 mph. Unlike some automatic cleaners designed for the home, they don’t generate maps of the space to be cleaned by bumping into walls, furniture and other edges. Instead, they are guided by 3D lidar — short for light detection and ranging — that allows them to map floors and higher areas where protrusions might affect their movement. The robot floor cleaners are significantly more capable and more economical than they were just a few years ago, according to Shannon DeSantis, the company’s CEO. They can recognize what they should sweep or scrub and what they shouldn’t, when they might need help with something and whether they’ve done a good job or need to take another pass. “Over time, it figures out the fastest way to clean the square footage and then runs that same pattern every time it cleans,” adapting when items have been rearranged, she said. “It’s almost kind of spooky.” Most useful for institutional settings like warehouses, hospitals or schools, an auto-scrubber that might have cost around $75,000 a few years is likely to run $40,000 today, DeSantis said — still a significant amount, but the cleaners can typically pay for themselves in cost savings in about 16 months. So far, a couple of units have been sold and she is working on proposals to sell more to area school districts. The top concern DeSantis encounters regarding the robots is not that they are coming for us, like the self-aware machines that populate the “Terminator” movie franchise, but that they are coming for our jobs — and not just any jobs, but the well-paying union jobs such as those held by the custodians in local school districts. Story continues below video In an age when artificial intelligence can not only assist floor cleaners but generate content on virtually any subject almost instantaneously, it’s a concern that’s becoming more and more familiar to many workers. That’s not the case in the custodial field, according to DeSantis. “The intention of the robots is not to eliminate employees,” she said. “The intention is to do the tasks that can very easily be done that usually are a time-suck for employees.” While machines handle the necessary but low-skill demands of cleaning floors, people have more time to focus on disinfecting high-touch areas. Robots cleaning hallway floors in schools, for example, would free human custodians to focus on classrooms, desks and other spots. “Nobody is trying to take your job,” DeSantis said. “These are just tools that help to supplement our workforce.” The CenoBots available at DeSantis lack the anthropomorphic cuteness of Star Wars’ R2-D2 or BB-8, but they still inspire a bit of personal feeling: The screens of the two display models reveal that they are named for DeSantis’ two sons. The cost savings generated by robot labor available around the clock, all year long, would result from less money spent on labor, but that doesn’t necessarily mean fewer employees, according to Gary DeSantis, Shannon’s father. “In our business, it looks like these are the way of the future because employers can’t get folks to do the kind of work these robots do,” Gary said in a phone interview. In addition to being punctual and dependable, the robot cleaners are also polite and communicative: They text their controllers when they need access to an elevator to clean another floor, when they need a maintenance check or if for some reason they get stuck. In a sign of the rapidly evolving nature of the field, however, the latest elevators have features that allow the robot cleaners to call elevator cars on their own, MacMurray noted. Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at mcrowley@meadvilletribune.com .
Durant 6-16 0-0 12, Gitchenko 3-8 4-8 10, Kameric 0-3 0-0 0, Molder 3-7 0-2 7, Watkins 5-6 0-2 10, Johnson 0-1 0-2 0, Rice 2-4 0-0 5, Subirats 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 19-47 4-14 44 Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Two New Hampshire fathers who were barred from school district events for wearing pink wristbands marked “XX” to represent female chromosomes insisted at a federal court hearing Thursday that they didn't set out to harass or otherwise target a transgender soccer player at the game they attended. But a judge hearing the case suggested the message the parents sent may matter more than their intentions. Kyle Fellers and Anthony Foote sued the Bow school district after being banned from school grounds for wearing the wristbands at their daughters' soccer game in September. The no-trespass orders have since expired, but a judge is deciding whether the plaintiffs should be allowed to wear the wristbands and carry signs at upcoming school events, including basketball games, swim meets and a music concert, while the case proceeds. Testifying at Thursday's hearing, both men said that they did not view the wristbands as a protest against Parker Tirrell, a transgender girl on the opposing team, but rather as a show of support for their daughters and their teammates. U.S. District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe questioned whether there is a meaningful distinction and whether their intentions matter. “Sometimes the message you think you’re sending might not be the message that is being sent,” he said. McAuliffe asked Foote whether it occurred to him that a transgender person might interpret the pink XX wristbands as an attempt to invalidate their existence. “If he’s a trans female, pink might be a color he likes,” Foote said. McAuliffe also noted that while both plaintiffs said they had no problem with transgender people outside the issue of sports, they repeatedly referred to the athlete in question as a boy. “You seem to go out of your way to suggest there’s no such thing as a trans girl,” McAuliffe said. Foote disagreed, saying it was “like learning a new language” to refer to transgender people. In a separate courtroom earlier Thursday, another judge held a hearing on a lawsuit brought by Parker Tirrell and another student challenging the state law that bans transgender athletes in grades 5 to 12 from teams that align with their gender identity. It requires schools to designate all teams as either girls, boys or coed, with eligibility determined based on students’ birth certificates “or other evidence.” U.S. District Court Chief Judge Landya McCafferty ruled earlier this year that the teens can try out for and play on girls school sports teams. The order only applies to those two individuals for now as they seek to overturn the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act on behalf of all transgender girl students in New Hampshire. Lawyers for the teens said in court Thursday they hoped the matter could go to trial and be resolved before the start of the next school year in September. They said the teens’ school districts and others in the state have asked for guidance regarding the statute. Lawyers for the state said they needed more time to prepare. Judge Talesha Saint-Marc suggested the timing of the trial was ambitious and asked that both sides talk further about scheduling. Gov. Chris Sununu, who signed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act into law in July, has said it “ensures fairness and safety in women’s sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance in athletic competitions.” About half of states have adopted similar measures. In the Bow case, school district officials have said they acted appropriately in sanctioning the parents for conduct they knew violated school policy at athletic events. They'll explain their evidence on Friday. On Thursday, the plaintiff's lawyer, Endel Kolde, accused the district of “breathtaking” overreach by asserting that the wristbands target transgender students in general, regardless of whether such students were present at the events. “This is viewpoint discrimination, and it’s very clear they’re proud of it,” Kolde said. Kolde initially conceded that a school district can limit speech “to some degree” to protect children from harassment, but he stopped short of agreeing with the judge’s claim that yelling “transgender students out” at a particular player would be subject to such regulation. “It might be,” he said. “I’m trying to get you to concede the obvious,” McAuliffe said. “It’s less than obvious to me,” Kolde said. Feller, the first witness in the case involving the wristbands, said he purchased them thinking his daughter and her teammates would wear them, but ended up wearing one himself after they declined. After being told to leave the game, he stood in the parking lot with a sign that said “Protect women’s sports for female athletes.” “I wanted to support women’s sports and I believed what was going on was a travesty,” he said.The incredible new art centre 50 years in the making
Claire Danahy will play in the biggest field hockey game of her life Friday (3 p.m.) in Ann Arbor, Mich. And the Chelmsford native is a major reason UMass will face second-seeded Northwestern in a NCAA Tournament semifinal. The former Chelmsford High star and UMass defeated UConn, 2-1, and then Harvard, 1-0, on a goal by Danahy. She pocketed the game-winning goal from just inside the shooting circle to make it 1-0 with 2:42 left in the third. The graduate student leads the Minutemen with 29 points on the strength of eight goals and 13 assists. The team’s second highest scorer has 22 points. In 91 career games and 84 starts, Danahy has compiled 20-18-58 totals. Danahy was named one of the UMass Student-Athletes of the Week. She has started all 22 games this season and figures to play a critical role against Northwestern. The UMass roster features players from eight countries. Also on the team is another former Chelmsford High standout, sophomore Remore Serra. This will be the fifth semifinal appearance by UMass, but the program’s first since 1992. Interim Boston Bruins head coach Joe Sacco got his coaching start in Lowell. Two years removed from a 738-game National Hockey League playing career, Sacco was named an assistant coach with the Lowell Lock Monsters prior to the 2005-06 season. He served under head coach Tom Rowe and coached such players as Chelmsford native Keith Aucoin and Johnny Boychuk, who went on to star with the Bruins. It was unusual for someone without coaching experience to start at the American Hockey League level, but by all accounts Sacco was a quick learner. Shirley resident Arthur Bernardino continues to find the back of the net for the New England Revolution Academy. Last Saturday, Revolution Academy teams went a combined 4-0-1 at Oakwood SC. The U-14s earned a 6-0 victory on the road led by Bernardino, who tallied two goals. The Fitchburg State men’s basketball team dropped a tough 59-58 decision to the Beacons of UMass Boston in non-conference action in Fitchburg. The Beacons grabbed a 10-5 edge on a layup from junior Xavier McKenzie (Lowell) before the Falcons trimmed the deficit to 10-9. UMass Boston received a game-high 20 points, four rebounds, three steals and one block from McKenzie. WWE NXT TV is coming to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale at lowellauditorium.com or by calling 1-800-657-8774. The card is subject to change, but potentially making the trip to Lowell will be several NXT stars, including Trick Williams, Roxanne Perez, Tony D’Angelo, Fallon Henley, Ethan Page and Kelani Jordan. Tickets start at $42. Five Saint Michael’s College women’s soccer players recently qualified for College Sports Communicators NCAA Division II Academic All-District honors, including junior Faith Kosiba (Dunstable/Groton-Dunstable Regional). Kosiba started 17 of her 18 games this fall, contributing five goals and three assists. A double major in health science and education studies, Kosiba holds a 3.83 GPA. Twenty-three members of No. 10/11 nationally ranked Endicott received Conference of New England postseason honors, including defensive lineman Michael Canney, a Dracut resident named to the first team. Selected to the second team was wide receiver Shane Aylward of Tewksbury. Elsewhere, seven Plymouth State University players earned Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason recognition, including quarterback Braden Lynn of Littleton, who was named to the second team.“Wicked” doesn’t need a movie adaptation to be relevant — it’s already a cultural phenomenon, even before the behemoth two-part film adaptation hits theaters. The beloved Tony-winning Broadway musical is adapted from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” a revisionist history of Frank L. Baum’s 1900 fantasy novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and that book’s iconic 1939 film adaptation “The Wizard of Oz.” While Dorothy’s tornado-twirl into Technicolor is burned into our collective consciousness, so too is the massive note sung at the end of Act 1 by the witch at the center of “Wicked,” Elphaba, in the show’s signature song, “Defying Gravity.” The battle cry that emerges from Elphaba (played here by Cynthia Erivo) is breathtaking. It’s just the preceding rising action that feels a bit underwhelming. “Wicked” seeks to understand the Wicked Witch of the West, and the movie, which is written by Dana Fox and Winnie Holzman (who wrote the musical book), starts off when a denizen of Munchkinland dares to ask Glinda the Good Witch (Ariana Grande), in her big, pink bubble, “Is it true you were friends with her?” inspiring a flashback to their days at Shiz University, where the pair first encountered each other. Elphaba, rejected by her father since birth due to the color of her green skin, finds herself enrolled at Shiz when she follows her sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) to school and accidentally unleashes some rough, untrained powers, catching the eye of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). She’s forced to bunk up with pretty, popular, pink-obsessed Galinda (the first iteration of the Good Witch’s name), and though they are at first at odds, Galinda can’t resist a makeover, or the intriguing powers of her new pal. It’s essentially a high school musical, with more magic, but not enough movie magic. The script has got to get Elphaba and Galinda to Oz to meet the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and hone Elphaba’s motivation for eventually defying the wizard (and gravity), which is wrapped up in a rushed subplot about talking animals being shunted out of a previously integrated society. Elphaba wants to help the animals because she feels connected with their plight as someone who is also physically different, but that desire doesn’t go beyond surface motivations. What makes Elphaba tick is clear — it’s just not always convincing. Grande is delightful as Galinda, but her character turns are also quite flat, and the world-building of this school could have been so much sharper and funnier. Bowen Yang does heroic work with a few ad libs and reactions as Galinda’s pal Pfannee, and Jonathan Bailey is terrific as the dashing prince Fiyero, but the setting doesn’t feel well-rounded on the screen. The camera is liberated (via CGI) in the song and dance numbers, but everything else is filmed in a boring fashion, the background melting into a dim, unfocused blur behind the actors. “Wicked” will delight fans of the stage production as a faithful adaptation that is at once playful but reverent to the iconic “Defying Gravity” and the story of understanding and togetherness despite social power structures that depend on fear and divisiveness. The weight of expectations is heavy to bear, and they bog down this movie. The film may struggle to take flight, but when it does, it is undeniably moving, with a message of freedom and defiance that resonates now more than ever. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
AP Trending SummaryBrief at 5:24 p.m. EST
From twinkling lights to festive sites, happy holidays await you in CharlestonHamilton and High Point knock off Hampton 76-73
Das Technology Innovation Institute in Abu Dhabi eröffnet Open-Source-AI Summit mit kritischen Diskussionen über die Zukunft der KIRataj has 16 in Oregon State's 74-65 victory against Charleston