Author: Stephanie Gauthier

At the invitation of Prime Minister Mark Carney, King Charles opened the 45th session of the Canadian Parliament and delivered the Speech from the Throne, becoming the first monarch to do so since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1977.

King Charles, speaking during a symbolic visit to show support for Canada at a time it has faced US annexation threats, expressed his love for Canada and said the country would remain 'strong and free' reut.rs/3SSxGAn

— Reuters (@reuters.com) 2025-05-27T15:28:10.081Z

This visit took place in a singular climate, marked by the tensions provoked by US President Donald Trump, who recently expressed his wish to integrate Canada as the 51st state of the United States.

King Charles opened his speech with personal remarks, expressing his deep attachment to Canada and hailing Canada’s unique, globally recognized identity, underlining the national pride, unity and prospects that drive the country.

King Charles recalled that this was his 20th visit to Canada, saying that with each visit, a little more of the country entered his heart.

He also acknowledged the unceded territories of the First Nations, stressing the importance of respect and reconciliation, an explicit recognition unprecedented in an official speech by the monarchy in Canada.

King Charles then reminded the audience that Canada, like the rest of the world, was facing a new reality marked by profound upheaval.

Echoing the words of Prime Minister Mark Carney, he emphasized that the country is undergoing a transformation unprecedented since the Second World War, a pivotal period that is enabling Canadians to reinvent themselves, nurture great ambitions and take bold action as a free nation, while forging new global alliances based on our distinctive values.

While the President of the United States tries by all means to get involved in the conflict by proposing peace initiatives, which many consider to be very favorable to Moscow, Vladimir Putin launches the most intense bombardments since 2022, targeting the Ukrainian capital in particular.

President Donald Trump said he doesn’t know “what the hell happened” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and that he is “not happy with what Putin is doing” after Moscow launched its largest aerial attack of its three-year war on Ukraine overnight.

— CNN (@cnn.com) 2025-05-25T23:55:27.015Z

This new outbreak of violence quickly prompted Donald Trump to react on Truth Social. He said he no longer recognized the Russian president, even though Russia was conducting a prisoner exchange with Kiev at the time of the strikes.

This is the second time Donald Trump has directly attacked Vladimir Putin in posts on Truth Social.

The first dates back to a time when peace negotiations were beginning, when Trump begged the Russian president to stop the forwards, writing “Vladimir, STOP!”. These words went around the world, provoking both mockery and discomfort among many observers.

But this time, Trump goes even further in this new post, once again reacting to Putin’s actions, whom he bluntly accuses of having lost his mind: “He’s gone completely CRAZY!”.

The US President claims to have always enjoyed a good relationship with Vladimir Putin, but declares on Truth Social that “something has happened to him”.

According to CNN, a few hours before his post on Truth Social, Donald Trump, visibly taken aback by Putin’s actions, had told reporters, “I don’t know what happened to Putin.”

This reaction comes at a time when many observers have claimed, since the start of the conflict, that the Russian president never really intended to make peace with Ukraine. Trump concludes by warning that if Putin persists in his desire to take control of the whole country, it will “lead to the downfall of Russia”, in his own words.

Donald Trump once again threatens Europe with 50% tariffs starting in June.

BREAKING: President Trump threatens the E.U. with a sweeping 50% tariff, saying that trade talks with the region are "going nowhere."

— NBC News (@nbcnews.com) 2025-05-23T12:19:04Z

In his view, trade negotiations with European countries are going nowhere, and he once again accuses the European Union of having been created primarily to take commercial advantage of the United States.

Trump spoke out on the subject in a tirade published on Truth Social, letting his frustration shine through: “Our discussions with them are going nowhere!”.

On Truth Social, Trump asserts that the European Union imposes, in his opinion, excessive trade barriers, value-added taxes, sanctions targeting American companies as well as various currency manipulations.

In his view, these practices have contributed to a trade deficit with the United States of over $250 billion a year, a level he deems unacceptable.

Since Donald Trump unleashed the global trade war on his arrival in the White House, the European Union seems so far to be successfully standing up to him. This apparent resistance seems to be stoking the president’s anger.

Trump concludes his fiery statement by calling for a 50% tariff on imports from the European Union from June 1. He stressed, however, that this measure would not apply to products manufactured or assembled on American soil.

Since the global upheaval caused by Donald Trump’s arrival as President of the United States, in particular his withdrawal of support for Ukraine in the face of Russian invasion, Emmanuel Macron has been arguing for a strengthening of Europe’s strategic autonomy.

The French president has held talks with allies such as Germany and Poland as Europe responds to signs that the US plans to scale back its military presence on the continent. www.ft.com/content/9623…

— Financial Times (@financialtimes.com) 2025-05-14T03:23:54.497Z

With this in mind, the French president has declared himself open to the idea of sharing France’s nuclear umbrella with all European countries, in order to build a common deterrent against hostile threats.

In an interview with TF1, Emmanuel Macron said he would personally lead the development of such a plan in the coming weeks and months.

Although the United States already has nuclear weapons deployed in Europe, notably in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Turkey, Emmanuel Macron insists on the need for Europe to regain control of its own defense, in an international context where traditional alliances seem to be changing rapidly.

Macron makes it clear, however, that this project will not jeopardize France’s defense capabilities, which must remain fully intact, and stresses that the French will not pay for the security of other European countries.

France’s nuclear defense system, which is estimated to have around 300 warheads, is entirely independent of the USA, unlike that of the UK.

It could therefore provide fully autonomous protection for Europe, while remaining under the exclusive control of France, wherever it is deployed.

Tensions escalate in West Bank after Israeli army targets visiting foreign delegation, citing “warning shots”.

Israeli troops fire ‘warning shots’ at 25 diplomats visiting occupied West Bank

— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 2025-05-21T17:02:36Z

Israel claims that the delegation had left the originally planned itinerary, justifying the military intervention.

The incident took place during an official mission to assess the humanitarian situation in the city of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It involved several ambassadors and diplomats from countries such as Canada, the UK, France, Turkey, Ireland and Italy.

The Israeli army expressed its regret for “the inconvenience caused”, when ambassadors and diplomats should have taken cover under fire.

According to The Guardian, it has also clarified that those involved in the incident will receive the findings of its internal investigation into the incident.

The scene was captured on video: diplomats can be seen running for cover in a nearby street, as brief bursts of gunfire ring out repeatedly. A voice in the recording claims that Israeli soldiers are firing in the direction of the delegation.

A number of foreign officials demanded explanations for this unacceptable incident. European leaders, notably in France, summoned Israeli ambassadors to their capitals to seek clarification on the circumstances of the event.

President Donald Trump welcomed his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, to the White House for a visit meant to ease tensions between the two countries.

Trump ambushes South African president with video and false claims of anti-white racism

— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 2025-05-21T23:38:34Z

However, Trump may have been setting a trap, which many observers compared to the one he had brutally set for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a few months earlier.

It didn’t take long for Donald Trump to go on the offensive during his meeting with the South African president. During the meeting in the Oval Office, the lights were turned off to show a video in which a member of a South African opposition party sang a song calling for the death of Afrikaners, the term used to describe South Africa’s white farmers. The footage also included unverified images purporting to show a mass grave where white farmers were buried.

Ramaphosa vigorously refuted these accusations, pointing out that the chants and words broadcast in the video in no way represent the government’s position, and reminding us that criminal acts affect all South African communities, without distinction.

The South African president then asserted that he had never seen the images of the mass grave in question, and asked his American counterpart for details of their origin, in particular the exact location where they were allegedly filmed, so that he could verify their authenticity. Donald Trump dismissed the question as unimportant.

It should be remembered that Donald Trump has been targeted for several years by the lobbying efforts of AfriForum, a South African organization representing the interests of the Afrikaner minority.

Although this group refrains from explicitly using the term “white genocide”, its campaigns highlight accounts of persecution targeting white farmers. In fact, it was a video produced by AfriForum that Trump chose to broadcast in front of the South African president during their meeting.

This far-right rhetoric was also echoed by former Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who was instrumental in spreading the “white farmer genocide” theory in the US.

Elon Musk, too, has played a role in this amplification. A native of South Africa and now an influential advisor to Donald Trump, Musk has taken up these “white genocide” allegations, notably through his artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, which has been roundly criticized for propagating unfounded claims of allegedly targeted violence against whites in South Africa.

The North Korean leader was attending the official launch of a new warship when, in a matter of moments, the ceremony turned into a fiasco.

North Korea’s efforts to modernize its navy — and its military pride — have been damaged after its newest warship partially capsized during a launch ceremony on Wednesday, with leader Kim Jong Un calling the “catastrophic failure” a “criminal act.” www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0…

— Michelle Ye Hee Lee (@myhlee.bsky.social) 2025-05-22T13:10:07.132Z

The ship, christened Choe Hyon, suddenly tipped over on its side as it was being launched from the quay, during a side launch.

The incident reportedly provoked the fury of North Korea’s leader, who quickly branded it an act of sabotage, calling the scene a “criminal act”, according to The Guardian.

According to the official KCNA news agency, sections of the 5,000-ton warship’s bottom broke off, an incident it claims led to the collapse of the North Korean state’s dignity and self-esteem.

Humiliated, Kim Jong-un denounced the incident as an act of total negligence and inexcusable irresponsibility, saying it was simply intolerable.

For their part, North Korea’s state media attributed the failure of the lateral launch, a first in North Korea, to command inexperience and a serious operational error.

North Korea had planned for the warship to enter service early next year, but following this fiasco, its future now remains uncertain.

Walmart, the retail giant known for its slogan “Save money. Live better” and its promise to offer low-cost products to improve its customers’ lives, has just announced a notable turnaround.

Walmart announces plans to start raising prices on some items later this month due to higher tariffs

— CNN (@cnn.com) 2025-05-15T11:41:25.280Z

By the end of the month, Walmart plans to impose major price hikes, citing tariffs that have simply become “too high”, a direct consequence of the trade war launched by Donald Trump since his arrival in the White House.

According to CNN, the company’s CEO Doug McMillon said Walmart simply couldn’t absorb all the pressure, given the reality of tight margins in the retail sector.

According to the company’s CEO, the numerous tariffs imposed worldwide, including in China, Costa Rica and even Peru, are driving up costs in several product categories, particularly electronics, toys and many foods.

Walmart’s CEO thus announced that by the end of May, consumers would see significant price increases in its stores, adding that the situation would worsen next month, when we would “certainly see a lot more in June”.

While the company had welcomed the Trump administration’s decision to temporarily ease the trade war with China by reducing tariffs from 145% to 30% as part of a 90-day truce agreed in May, Walmart believes that current levels nevertheless remain “too high”.

By comparison, under the Biden administration, tariffs had remained relatively stable at around 20%, with only a few targeted increases on strategic products such as electric vehicles and semiconductors.

Costco stores in the U.S. recently decided to limit the number of gold bars that can be purchased per customer, in response to massive demand that emptied stocks within minutes.

Where Costco shoppers could originally purchase two one-ounce gold bars per transaction, they can now buy just one at a time.

— Business Insider (@businessinsider.com) 2025-05-12T17:04:51.263Z

This gold rush comes amidst a climate of financial market instability and global trade tensions triggered by Donald Trump, driving many Americans to turn to gold en masse as a safe haven.

As a result, stocks were quickly depleted and many customers left empty-handed.

In order to manage a demand that has become difficult to control, the wholesale retailer has seen a marked increase in gold bullion purchases in recent weeks.

Costco began selling gold bullion in 2023, an initiative that met with dazzling success, with over 75% of inventory sold out in the first week on the market.

Since their launch, these sales are said to be earning the company between $100 and $200 million a month, according to Wells Fargo.

In response to recent events, Costco has announced that a maximum of two gold bars per transaction will now be imposed on its customers within a 24-hour period.

Nearly $150 million was reportedly spent by participants in a contest where entrants had to buy meme coins featuring Trump for a chance to win dinner with him.

Buyers of $TRUMP meme spent US$148 million to win dinner with U.S. President Trump

— CTV News (Unofficial) (@ctvnews-rss.bsky.social) 2025-05-12T19:10:50.839300+00:00

However, not all participants were offered this chance: only the 220 highest contributors to the contest were awarded a place at a gala event scheduled for May in Washington D.C., which Donald Trump is due to attend.

And among these 220 largest donors, the top 25 will be treated to dinner at an “ultra-exclusive VIP reception” in the presence of the President, as well as a “special VIP tour”.

It’s worth noting that the $TRUMP corner meme was launched on January 17, 2025, just three days before Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.

The launch quickly came under heavy criticism, not least because of its timing, but above all because of the possible ethical implications it raises.

$TRUMP meme currencies soared to $75 a few hours after Trump’s announcement on his inauguration weekend, before dropping to less than $8.

The $TRUMP is currently trading around $14, but since its launch in January, nearly 600,000 wallets have accumulated losses totaling $3.9 billion, according to Inca data reported by CTV News.