Political Press

Political news and analysis for Canadians

Page 17 of 31

Trump’s handling of the war on Iran has made the World more dangerous

August 28, 2026 /

The notably reduced U.S. military presence in the Pacific and in Europe — and Trump’s conciliatory approach to traditional foes such as Russia and North Korea — has threatened the Pentagon’s influence around the world, according to five former defence officials and a person familiar with Defence Department planning, reports Politico.

“The obvious question that nobody seems to want to overly press the administration on right now is: Do we still have a credible deterrent?” said one of the officials. “Given where the resources are at, there’s a pretty big gap.”

The Pentagon’s inability to subdue Tehran, coupled with drastically reduced stockpiles of missile interceptors and other key munitions, has fuelled an increasing consensus that the U.S. military is losing the clout it once held with allies.

“There’s just a real hollowing out of confidence,” said a second former defence official, who, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive military issues.

Russian citizens are rushing to move money abroad

August 28, 2026 /

Russians have sharply increased transfers to foreign brokerage accounts, seeking to move part of their capital out of the country before doing so becomes more difficult. According to intelligence data, from December 2024 through June 2026, Russian households transferred nearly 600 billion rubles to nonresident brokers, RBC-Ukraine reports.

This amount exceeds the total volume of similar transfers over the previous seven years combined.

Referendum on Saturday in Iceland will test the appetite to join the European Union

August 28, 2026 /

The main arguments to consider are no longer purely economical, according to Erlingur Erlingsson, senior visiting fellow with the Institute of International Affairs of the University of Iceland.

“We have warfare in the east, friction in Europe and political instability in many parts of the world and then the development of US foreign policy. This may not be the main argument for joining the EU in my mind but surely something to be considered,” he argued, citing increased security guarantees and better protection against US tariffs as further benefits of membership, reports Bloomberg.

This Bloomberg article is archived.

Canadian economy grows 3.3% in Q2, fastest since 2023

August 28, 2026 /

Growth in Canada’s real gross domestic product accelerated to 3.3% in the second quarter, confirming a strong economic rebound after a yearlong slump brought on by US tariffs and a slowdown in immigration, Bloomberg reports.

The expansion between April and June was driven by increases in exports, household spending, and business investment, Statistics Canada reported on Friday.

It’s the fastest pace of growth since early 2023, suggesting businesses had begun to adapt to US tariffs, a process the Bank of Canada said it was seeing.

Bloomberg article is also archived.

Interprovincial trade barriers falling but challenges remain

August 28, 2026 /

Internal Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in a statement that while progress has already been made, there’s much more to do as the United States fundamentally changes its approach to trade, Ian Bickis at The Canadian Press reports.

Priorities at the meeting included working toward an agreement on a freer flow of services across the country by the end of the year, harmonizing the approval process for prefabricated homes and new building materials, and making it easier to trade food in Canada.

The renewed push on removing provincial barriers is welcome, said Corinne Pohlmann, executive vice-president of advocacy at the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses.

“It had felt in the last six months that they took their foot off the pedal a little bit,” she said.

65% of South Koreans now want their own Nuclear weapons

August 28, 2026 /

Nearly two-thirds of South Koreans want the country to have its own nuclear weapons, a poll showed, underscoring concerns about the reliability of US security guarantees after Trump unilaterally curtailed joint military exercises with Seoul, Bloomberg reports.

According to a Gallup Korea poll released Friday, 65% of respondents support South Korea having its own nuclear weapons, while 30% oppose to the idea. The poll was conducted Aug. 25-27 among 1,001 respondents across the country and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, Gallup Korea said.

Continue reading

U.S. attempting to get NATO to “pledge their allegiance to the king”

August 28, 2026 /

The rare visit by a senior U.S. official marks another step in the U.S. campaign to make Europe and Canada spend more on their own defence. Washington also wants to probe their loyalty after several NATO countries curbed access to their airspace and to American bases linked to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, reports Victor Jack in Politico.

Overall, the review “will encourage, enable, and impel a transition to a more durable and powerful European-led conventional defence of the continent,” Colby told NATO’s 32 ambassadors, according to his published remarks.

Continue reading

Is the US about to lose the multi-billion dollar F-35 contract with Canada ?

August 28, 2026 /

DW News: As the U.S. trade war on Canada rages on, calls are growing for Canada to abandon a deal to buy 88 US-made F-35 stealth-fighters.

The F-35 deal took years to agree, and is worth tens of billions of dollars. But what’s at stake here is much more than just money. Canada needs to replace its aging CF-18 fleet while strengthening its defense of the Arctic and its role in NORAD. The Royal Canadian Air Force argues that the F-35 is the best aircraft for confronting advanced threats from Russia and China. But Sweden’s cheaper Saab Gripen has emerged as a potential alternative.

Canada hires 64 scholars away from Harvard, Yale, MIT, and other prestigious universities

August 27, 2026 /

Twenty-one universities in Canada announced on Thursday the hiring of dozens of researchers to join their top academic ranks, poaching the majority of the recruits from the United States, reports the NY Times.

Of the incoming 64 researchers, 48 will leave American campuses including Harvard, Yale and M.I.T., and the remainder are from Europe, Asia and Australia.

Turmoil in American academia, precipitated by a crackdown on prestigious universities by the Trump administration and attacks on scientific research groups, has allowed Canada a rare opportunity to lure some of those schools’ top minds north.

NYT article is also archived.

« Older posts Newer posts »

Slava Ukraini!

Made in Canada

PoliticalPress.ca offers up an aggregation of news, insights, and analysis focusing on Canadian politics and world events. It gets straight to the point, it’s relevant, frequently updated, multi-sourced, and all in one place.

© 2026 Political Press

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑