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Eric Trump shares Donald's 'Amazon shopping list'... and Justin Trudeau won't like it Sign up for the latest with DailyMail.com's U.S. politics newsletter By SARAH EWALL-WICE, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 17:58 GMT, 24 December 2024 | Updated: 18:09 GMT, 24 December 2024 e-mail View comments Eric Trump trolled neighboring Canada as well as Greenland and Panama with a recent social media post about his father's Amazon shopping cart, but some do not see it as a laughing matter. President-elect Donald Trump has been making declarations about U.S. expansion ahead of his return to the White House next year including turning his focus on both counties and the territory. In a post on X, Trump's middle son shared an image that appeared to be an image that looked like an Amazon shopping cart. In the online cart were Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal. The image next to it he shared was the 78-year-old smiling down at the shopping cart on on his phone. The younger Trump captioned his post 'We are so back!!!' But while the president-elect may be trolling other foreign leaders at times with his talk of expanding the U.S., some of his recent declarations appear to be serious including threats aimed at Greenland and Panama. Eric Trump shares post of what looks like an Amazon cart with Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal in it as his father the president-elect declares he wants to expand U.S. control Trump first turned his ire on Canada and Mexico last month when he accused the neighboring countries of unfair trade with the U.S. and threatened they need to do more to address the border. At the time he threatened both countries with 25 percent tariffs on all imports into the U.S. when he returns to office if they don't take action. It's a move that economists warned would raise costs on American consumers and could be economically devastating to all three countries. In response, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida to meet with the president-elect in person where Trump suggested according to reports that Canada could become a U.S. state. Since then, the 78-year-old has been trolling Trudeau with social media posts including one of him looking into Canada. He has also referred to the Canadian leader as 'governor' and called for Canada to be the 51st state. Just days ago, he repeated a suggestion in a Truth Social post, even referring to it mockingly as the 'Great State of Canada.' Canadian Prime Minister Justice Trudeau in West Palm Beach, FL on November 29 to meet with Trump after the president-elect threatened tariffs. Since then, Trump has referred to Trudeau as 'governor' and Canada as a 'state' But Trump has gone further with his talk of expansion in just the past few days. The president-elect has also set his sights on the Panama Canal and Greenland with a series of social media posts that do not poke fun but make direct demands for U.S. control. In a post announcing his pick for U.S. ambassador to Denmark, Trump reignited his interest in buying Greenland. 'For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,' he wrote on Truth Social. Trump, 78, made the stark declaration Sunday night in announcement about his nominee for U.S. ambassador to Denmark that the U.S. feels 'ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity' Trump first expressed interest in buying Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, during his first term. While the president-elect has repeatedly floated the idea, he has not gone into any detail on how the U.S. would go about making the purchase with the people there or paying for it. The Prime Minister of Greenland Mute Egede responded to Trump's post stating that the territory is 'not for sale.' At the same time, Trump has threatened the country of Panama in recent weeks with the demand that the U.S. take control of the Panama Canal . Over the weekend, the president-elect wrote the canal in Central America which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans is 'considered a VITAL National Asset for the United States, due to its critical role to America's Economy and National Security.' He vowed the U.S. would never let it fall into the wrong hands and wrote 'we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us.' Trump reiterated his demands over the canal an criticism of fees to use it to a group of supporters on Sunday during a speech in Phoenix, Arizona. But Panama's president José Raúl Mulino rejected Trump declaring 'every square meter of the Panama Canal belongs to Panama.' In a message released by Panama's President Mulino (pictured December 19, 2024) on Sunday afternoon, the nation's leader said that Panama's independence was non-negotiable and that China had no influence on the canal's administration Mulino said in his statement, which was released on X: 'Every square meter of the Panama Canal and the surrounding area belongs to Panama and will continue belonging (to Panama)' He added that the sovereignty and independence of the country is 'not negotiable.' The Panama Canal was built by the U.S. in the early 1900s, but it turned control over to Panama in 1999 under a treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter back in 1977. Trump responded to Panama's president writing 'We'll see about that!' He and allies have not indicated how the U.S. would seize control without cooperation. 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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Sunday that the sudden collapse of the Syrian government under Bashar Assad is a “fundamental act of justice” after decades of repression, but it was “a moment of risk and uncertainty” for the Middle East. Biden spoke at the White House hours after after rebel groups completed a takeover of the country following more than a dozen years of violent civil war and decades of leadership by Assad and his family. Biden said the United States was monitoring reports of the whereabouts of Assad, with Russian state media saying he had fled to Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally. The outgoing Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump were working to make sense of new threats and opportunities across the Middle East. Biden credited action by the U.S. and its allies for weakening Syria’s backers — Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. He said that “for the first time,” they could no longer defend Assad’s grip on power. “Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East,” Biden said, after a meeting with his national security team. Trump said Sunday that Assad had fled because close ally Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, “was not interested in protecting him any longer.” Those comments on Trump’s social media platform came a day after he used another post to decry the possibility of the U.S. intervening militarily in Syria to aid the rebels, declaring, “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT.” The Biden administration said it had no intention of intervening. The U.S has about 900 troops in Syria, including forces working with Kurdish allies in the opposition-held northeast to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State group. Biden said he intended for those troops to remain, adding that U.S. forces on Sunday conducted “precision air strikes” on IS camps and operations in Syria. U.S. Central Command said the operation hit more than 75 targets. “We’re clear-eyed about the fact that ISIS will try and take advantage of any vacuum to reestablish its credibility, and create a safe haven,” Biden said, using a different acronym for the group. “We will not let that happen.” The Syrian opposition that brought down Assad is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the U.S. says is a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaida, although the group says it has since broken ties with al-Qaida. “We will remain vigilant,” Biden said. “Make no mistake, some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human rights abuses.” He added that the groups are “saying the right things now.” “But as they take on greater responsibility, we will assess not just their words but their actions,” Biden said. A senior Biden administration official, when asked about contact with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leaders after Assad’s departure, said Washington was in contact with Syrian groups of all kinds. The official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity, also said the U.S. has focused over the past several days on chemical weapons that had been controlled by the Assad government, aiming to ensure that they were secured. Still, Assad’s fall adds to an already-tense situation throughout much of the region on many fronts — including Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza and its fragile ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Like Biden, Trump — who takes office in five-plus weeks — made a connection between the upheaval in Syria and Russia’s war in Ukraine, noting that Assad’s allies in Moscow, as well as in Iran, the main sponsor of Hamas and Hezbollah, “are in a weakened state right now.” Vice President-elect JD Vance, a veteran of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, wrote on social media Sunday to express skepticism about the insurgents. “Many of ‘the rebels’ are a literal offshoot of ISIS. One can hope they’ve moderated. Time will tell,” he said. Trump has suggested that Assad’s ouster can advance the prospects for an end to fighting in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022. The president-elect wrote that Putin’s government “lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine,” and the Republican called for an immediate ceasefire, a day after meeting in Paris with the French and Ukrainian leaders. Daniel B. Shapiro, a deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, said the American military presence will continue in eastern Syria but was “solely to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS and has nothing to do with other aspects of this conflict.” “We call on all parties in Syria to protect civilians, particularly those from Syria’s minority communities, to respect international military norms and to work to achieve a resolution to include the political settlement,” Shapiro said. “Multiple actors in this conflict have a terrible track record to include Assad’s horrific crimes, Russia’s indiscriminate aerial bomb bombardment, Iranian-backed militia involvement and the atrocities of ISIS,” he added. Shapiro, however, was careful not to directly say Assad had been deposed by the insurgents. “If (that is) confirmed, no one should shed any tears over the Assad regime,” he said. As they pushed toward the Syrian capital of Damascus, the opposition freed political detainees from government prisons. The family of missing U.S. journalist Austin Tice renewed calls to find him. “To everyone in Syria that hears this, please remind people that we’re waiting for Austin,” Tice’s mother, Debra, said in comments that hostage advocacy groups spread on social media. “We know that when he comes out, he’s going to be fairly dazed & he’s going to need lots of care & direction. Direct him to his family please!” Tice disappeared in 2012 outside Damascus, amid intensification of what became a civil war stretching more than a decade. “We’ve remained committed to returning him to his family,” Biden said at the White House. “We believe he’s alive, we think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence to that yet. And Assad should be held accountable.” The president added: “We have to identify where he is.” The U.S. has no new evidence that Tice is alive but continues to operate under the assumption that he is, according to a U.S. official. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, added that the U.S. will continue to work to identify Tice’s whereabouts and to try to bring him home.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government has fallen after a stunning territorial advance by opposition groups over the past few days. On Sunday morning, state television announced the “triumph of the great Syrian revolution and the fall of the criminal Assad regime.” Assad decided to step down and left the country, Russia’s foreign ministry later said in a statement. The toppling of the longtime ruler is sending shock waves through the Middle East and will be a major blow to Russia and Iran, his main foreign backers. Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, which has led the push to oust Assad and his government, entered Damascus on Saturday evening and captured the key city of Homs — about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the capital — around the same time. Other areas of the country, including in the north near the Turkish border and in the south, have been captured by different groups. Videos and broadcast footage showed Syrians in Damascus and elsewhere celebrating the downfall of the widely despised regime. There were also signs of jubilation in Turkey, which hosts millions of Syrian refugees. HTS’s leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, called on all of the Syrian government’s forces in the capital to stand down. Al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani, said Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali will remain in his role until there’s an official handover. Al-Jalali, speaking to Al Arabiya television, said he didn’t know where Assad was. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the conflict, said he took a flight from Damascus and left the country. U.S. officials currently believe Assad is in Moscow, according to a person familiar with the matter. The 59-year-old, who took over from his father Hafez in 2000, made a last-ditch attempt to remain in power, including indirect diplomatic overtures to the U.S. and President-elect Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. In a sign of how weak his military position was, he ordered his army to fall back on Damascus, essentially ceding much of the country, including Homs, to the insurgents. Syria was reclassified as a low-income country by the World Bank in 2018, with its gross domestic product collapsing by more than half between 2010 and 2020. Its exports chiefly comprise products such as olive oil, nuts and phosphates, according to the CIA World Factbook. It also produces and traffics narcotics, the U.S. State Department says. Trump took to social media to say that the U.S. should “have nothing to do with” the developments in Syria. “This is not our fight,” he said. “Let it play out. Do not get involved!” President Joe Biden’s administration, in power until next month, showed little inclination to intervene and has said the U.S. has nothing to do with HTS’s rebellion. The U.S. and Israel, which borders Syria, are watching warily. Assad was no ally of theirs, and Washington has severely sanctioned the Syrian government. But HTS is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and other Western countries. On Sunday morning, Israel said it had deployed forces in a buffer zone near Syria to protect communities in the Golan Heights. The Israeli military added it’s not involved with what’s happening in Syria. “It should be remembered that these rebels aren’t lovers of Zion,” Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, told Israel’s Channel 14. “It’s true that everyone is today welcoming the weakening of Iran — something that is certainly very significant from a regional perspective. But there is also concern that parties aligned with terrorist organizations” will use Assad’s weapons against Israel. HTS, a Sunni group, broke away from al-Qaeda in 2016 and has tried to portray itself since then as more moderate. Al-Sharaa, in an interview with CNN on Dec. 5, said non-Muslims and other minorities would be safe in Syrian areas overseen by HTS. The leader, in his early 40s, attributed the success of opposition forces to greater discipline and unity. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in a statement warned “the country must not now fall into the hands of other radicals — whatever guise.” France called on its partners “to do their utmost to help the Syrians find the path to reconciliation and reconstruction through an inclusive political solution.” Syria’s political situation is likely to remain fluid as various groups try to bolster their positions, according to risk consulting firm RANE. “The collapse will likely trigger a contested political process among competing rebel factions to create a provisional government,” said Freddy Khoueiry, RANE’s global security analyst. “This will likely be a slow process prone to violence as foreign actors try to shape the postwar balance of power, making an unstable and fragmented Syria the most likely outcome in the near term.” Assad lost large swaths of the northwest of the country in late November as opposition fighters made a sudden advance out of Idlib province. They first captured Aleppo, one of the biggest cities in Syria, and then advanced on Hama. The rapid collapse of Syria’s government has taken Russia, Iran and the U.S. by surprise. In 2015, Russia and Iran came to Assad’s aid and helped turn the tide in Syria’s war — which began four years earlier — in his favor. This time both Tehran and Moscow, which has a naval base at the Syrian port of Tartus, have been stretched by conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. Iran tried to drum up support for Assad among Arab states. It also said it would send Iranian troops to Syria if he requested it, but was ultimately unwilling or unable to. Moreover, Tehran’s most powerful proxy militia group, Lebanon-based Hezbollah, has been hugely degraded since September by war with Israel. Its fighters were crucial to helping Assad stay in power from early in the civil war. The Syrian conflict has left between 300,000 to 500,000 people dead and displaced more than 10 million, with many of them fleeing abroad, according to United Nations agencies and Syrian organizations. (With assistance from Peter Martin, Dan Williams and Selcan Hacaoglu.) ©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Trailblazing model Dayle Haddon dies from suspected carbon monoxide poisoningThe withdrawal of the ‘no-detention’ policy for Classes 5 and 8, paving the way for schools to fail students who are unable to clear year-end exams, has been opposed by many educationists in the State. They expressed concern that this move by the Union government will particularly affect children from deprived classes such as Dalits, tribal people and those from backward classes and rural areas. They feared it would lead to more dropouts and children getting into labour market. On the other hand, some private school managements and students’ groups have welcomed the government’s decision. What the changed rules say The Ministry of Education, in its gazette notification dated on December 16, titled ‘Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Rules, 2024’, states that if a child fails to fulfil promotion criteria in Classes 5 or 8 in the regular examination, they can be held back. It also emphasised the need for remedial measures for such students to close learning gaps. They will get an opportunity for re-examination within two months from the date of declaration of results. If the child fails to clear the re-exam, they should be held back. Though the Ministry had amended the Act to this effect in 2019, they had not framed the rules and implemented them till this academic year. Speaking to The Hindu, Niranjanaradhya V.P., development educationist, said that as a result of the continuous struggle for almost 100 years for free and compulsory education, in 2009, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had brought in the RTE Act, 2009, and implemented it from 2010. Section-16 of the Act prohibited holding back or expulsion of a child from school till the attainment of elementary education. The changes in the act brought out now, he said, were a “deliberate attempt to dilute and distort the historic Act.” He urged that the State government reject the detention proposal. “The Chief Minister should take the lead in this,” he said. “Repeating a class does not give the child any special resources to deal with the same syllabus requirements for yet another year. Parents and friends of such children also tend to view them as failures,” he added. He emphasised that the ‘no detention’ provision in the RTE Act does not imply abandoning procedures that assess children’s learning, but putting in place a continuous and comprehensive evaluation procedure. Lokesh Talikatte, president of Karnataka Private Educational Institutions Association (KRUPA), said that the move of the Centre was “anti-student.” He said this might lead to school dropouts. Welcomed by some On the other hand, private school managements, such as those affiliated to Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka (KAMS) and students’ organisations like All India Democratic Students Organization (AIDSO) have welcomed the move. “SSLC students in many government schools cannot read and write English or solve simple mathematics problems since there is a ‘no detention’ policy. Therefore, we welcome the Union government’s move to scrap the policy as it will help to improve the quality of education. So, the State government should immediately implement the new rules,” urged Shashi Kumar, general secretary of KAMS. The AIDSO State committee in a statement called the change in rules “a partial victory to the movement against no-detention policy” and said that parents, teachers as well as several educationists were for a change in the policy. Policy matter Speaking to The Hindu, Ritesh Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy, said that it was a policy matter and a decision would be taken on the matter after discussions with the Minister concerned and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Published - December 24, 2024 11:43 pm IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Karnataka / Bangalore / students / school / test/examination / poverty / discrimination / minority group / dalits / tribals / social issue / right to education / education
Jonathan Levin: In American debt we trust — But for how long?None
Martin Lewis's warning to parents as he says they could be missing out on £2k a yearGazing through a camera lens beats staring down an empty bottle. That’s one fine insight you’ll receive from talking with Garry Waldram. The retired Rutherglen resident is well-known around Bonfield and throughout the region for his awesome nature photography, particularly when he turns his lens to our feathered friends. What most don’t know is how photography helped Waldram put away the booze, which was a big problem for him. “Alcohol was my way of coping,” Waldram said, “It got to the point where I had to seek help, and it was at that point that I decided that photography was what I wanted to do to help myself.” Born and raised in Hamilton, Waldram came of working age in the 80s, “And the recession was going so Stelco and Dofasco weren’t hiring.” He did a couple of years at McMaster before turning to the mills for work, but that wasn’t a fit, either. “That’s why I joined the military,” Waldram said. He served in the Navy from 1982 to 2006. After duty in the regular force, he did several more years as a full-time reservist with two years in Halifax and three years in North Bay at the National Recruiting Contact Centre (before it closed) between 2012 and 2015. That last stop is why Waldram remains in the area today. Waldren put in two tours to Afghanistan, one to Kandahar and the other to Kabul, where he worked at home leave travel assistance – booking travel home for soldiers to see their families. He also went back to Afghanistan for a time to work alongside the military with a civilian organization. He spent almost 13 years “attached to ships,” during his time in the Navy, mostly deployed on NATO exercises oversees. The list of places those ships brought him to is too long to list – Spain, France, Germany, Scotland – the list is long, and the sights were vast. To paraphrase the old song, he’s been everywhere. But some of those stops and travels stuck with Waldram in a bad way. “It did affect me, and I was going through some issues with mental health and PTSD.” In the early phases of these illnesses, Waldram figured he was in a depression, but after working with psychologists and psychotherapists with Veterans Affairs, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as well. He’s been working the Veterans Affairs’ rehabilitation program, and “It’s really been helpful to me. I haven’t had a drink in over three and half years.” Waldram is very open about his past, as he knows others may have similar stories. And his tale of overcoming the bottle might inspire others to conquer the same battle. “I mean if I can help somebody, I have no problem telling my story.” “I don’t feel like I’m addicted to photography,” Waldram joked, “although I do spend an awful lot of time doing it, but I don’t think it’s detrimental to my health.” Indeed, almost daily Waldram grabs his gear and heads out into the wilds of Rutherglen, or wherever the birds might be. He prefers photographing nature, with birds being his favourite subjects. It’s not unusual to find him in kayak, loaded with long lenses and Nikon cameras, waiting for the perfect shot of a mallard or merganser. Nature has always cast a spell for him, and when he was younger, he was an ace athlete, part of the Hamilton Water Polo Club, which also led him to McMaster, as it had the top water polo team in the country then. So being out in the bush and on the ponds and lakes suits Waldram just fine in his older years, camera in hand, waiting for the ideal light for the perfect shot – “And wildlife doesn’t always give you the opportunity,” for the perfect shot, he added. Waldram keeps tabs on migration patterns, and often has his nose in a field guide, but one very useful tool in his arsenal is a phone app called Merlin. He raved, “It’s an amazing app because you can put it on audio ID, and it will identify birds by their songs or calls.” He’s also joined the Nipissing Naturalist Club to get out with other members of the Bird Wing Group and share insights into bird watching and photography. Each month they have a “bird bash” and hit the woods with binoculars and cameras in hand. As for the birds, owls are the trickiest to capture in a photo, Waldram noted. He’s travelled to the Ottawa area to get a good shot of a snowy owl. The Northern Saw-whet owl is the most common owl in Canada, Waldram added, but if you can capture it on film, you should also buy a lottery ticket, because the elusive species has yet to be crossed off Waldram’s list. It’s not unusual for Waldram to travel the region for photos, and last winter, he even packed his cameras and went to Costa Rica for a bird tour. Apparently, these tours are quite popular, with plenty of destinations to choose from. He plans to return this coming March, and capture some of the 900 bird species that call Costa Rica home. Waldram posts photos to his social media page and they are always well-received by the community. It’s been an interesting journey, as before he stopped drinking, he didn’t even think about photography, and over a short period of time, he’s taken wholeheartedly to the hobby. As for posting his photos, “The comments I get from the people are wonderful, because you know there’s so much negativity in the media today, and people on social media are always complaining.” “I just think it’s amazing that I can put my photos out there and make people happy.” To see more of Waldram’s photos, learn more about his work, or pick up print, visit his site Big Bear Adventure Photography at www.bigbearadventurephotography.ca . He’s also working towards taking out small groups on photography tours, so stay tuned for that. David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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