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U.S. sending Israel more than 20,000 assault rifles that Biden had delayed: sources

The Trump administration moved forward with the sale of more than 20,000 U.S.-made assault rifles to Israel last month, according to a document seen by Reuters and a source familiar with the matter — a sale the administration of former president Joe Biden delayed over concerns they could be used by extremist Israeli settlers.

The State Department sent a notification to Congress on March 6 of the $24-million US sale of the Colt Carbine 5.56 mm calibre fully automatic rifles, saying the end user would be the Israeli National Police, according to the document.

The rifle sale is a small transaction next to the billions of dollars’ worth of weapons that Washington supplies to Israel. But it drew attention when the Biden administration delayed the sale over concerns that the weapons could end up in the hands of Israeli settlers, some of whom have attacked Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The Biden administration had imposed sanctions on individuals and entities accused of committing violence in the West Bank, which has seen a rise in settler attacks on Palestinians.

On his first day in office on Jan. 20, Trump issued an executive order rescinding the sanctions on the settlers. Since then, his administration has approved the sale of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Israel.

Israeli soldiers stand guard.
Israeli soldiers stand guard as they deny access to Palestinian farmers to harvest olives in Burqa, near Ramallah, on Oct. 20, 2024. (Mohammed Torokman/Reuters)

The March 6 congressional notification said the U.S. government had taken into account “political, military, economic, human rights, and arms control considerations.”

The State Department did not provide comment when asked whether the administration sought assurances from Israel on the use of the weapons.

Netanyahu and Trump’s close ties

Since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Israel has occupied the West Bank, which Palestinians want as the core of an independent state, and has built settlements that most countries deem illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.

Settler violence had been on the rise prior to the eruption of the Gaza war, and has worsened since the conflict began over a year ago.

Trump has forged close ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pledging to back Israel in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. His administration has in some cases pushed ahead with Israel arms sales despite requests from Democratic U.S. lawmakers that the sales be paused until they received more information.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected a bid to block $8.8 billion in arms sales to Israel over human rights concerns, voting 82-15 and 83-15 to reject two resolutions of disapproval over sales of massive bombs and other offensive military equipment.

The resolutions were offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

The rifle sale had been put on hold after Democratic lawmakers objected and sought information on how Israel planned to use them. The congressional committees eventually cleared the sale, but the Biden administration kept the hold in place.

The latest episode in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began with a Hamas-led attack on Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, with gunmen killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has so far killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities say.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right member of Netanyahu’s government, oversees the Israeli police force. The Times of Israel newspaper reported in November 2023 that his ministry put “a heavy emphasis on arming civilian security squads” in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks.

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Alberta’s oilsands to hit record production high in 2025

Another year, another record for Alberta’s oil industry.

Oilsands production is on pace to reach an all-time high this year as production in northern Alberta is expected to grow by five per cent in 2025 compared to last year.

The latest forecast released Wednesday by S&P Global Commodity Insights anticipates average annual production of 3.5 million barrels per day this year. By 2030, production could reach 3.9 million barrels per day.

The increase in output from the oilsands is not driven by any large new projects, but instead by smaller expansions and improvements to existing operations.

“The increased trajectory for Canadian oilsands production growth amidst a period of oil price volatility reflects producers’ continued emphasis on optimization — and the favourable economics that underpin such operations,” said Kevin Birn, chief Canadian oil analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights, in a statement.

“This large resource base provides ample room for producers to find debottlenecking opportunities, decrease downtime and increase throughput,” Birn said.

Keith Stewart, a senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada, noted that greenhouse gas emissions from Alberta’s oilsands have also been rising, year after year.

“We can’t lose sight of the fact that greenhouse gas emissions from the oilsands are also hitting record levels because the consequences are all around us in the climate change-fuelled wildfires, heat waves and extreme weather that are disrupting lives and the economy,” he said.

“This is why the federal government needs to implement its long-promised cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector.” 


North American oil prices have been especially volatile so far this year, reaching highs of nearly $75 US per barrel twice, while also falling below $60 on several occasions. Oil markets have reacted to many geopolitical events including tariffs and conflict in the Middle East.

The Trans Mountain expansion pipeline began operating last year, which has increased Canada’s ability to export more oil.

S&P’s forecast still expects oilsands production to plateau later this decade.

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U.S. science funding uncertainty reshapes grad school choices for Canadians

After graduating with a bachelor degree in mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Kareem Alfarra had hopes of continuing his studies in the United States.

The American schools he looked at were better funded and had more opportunities than those in Canada, he said, and he’d already connected with some professors he’d like to work with. 

Alfarra, 22, applied to nine American universities, hoping for options, but he ended up being waitlisted and rejected for all of them. Most of them told him informally that budget uncertainties in the U.S. were making it difficult for them to accept graduate students, he said. 

A man in a blue suit stands in front of a tree, with a building and groups of people in the background.
Kareem Alfarra, 22 year old mathematics student, accepted an offer at the University of Toronto after budget uncertainties turned him away from American schools. (Submitted by Kareem Alfarra)

He says one school even told him that in any normal year, he would have been accepted. 

“I was on top of the wait list … and I would have loved to go,” he told CBC. Rather than waiting to hear, Alfarra decided to accept an offer at the University of Toronto, citing the funding uncertainty and political instability of the U.S. 

“I was very angry with the situation knowing that perhaps a year earlier or a few years later I would’ve gotten in.”

While that’s just one student’s story, universities on both sides of the border say that uncertainty brought on by the Trump administration is reducing options and upending research opportunities for graduate students — including Canadians.

‘Closing off career pathways’

More than 10,000 Canadians went to graduate school in the U.S. last year, according to data from the Institute for International Education, with 40 per cent pursuing science and health degrees.

But there are two key federal sources that U.S. universities rely on to fund their labs and take in graduate students — the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) — that have been frozen or cut by the Trump administration. 

It’s been a back and forth battle, with cases before the courts, and it’s unclear where things will land. But the uncertainty is enough for some universities to reduce their admissions, inevitably trickling down to Canadian applicants.

WATCH | How Trump’s freeze on health research funding might hurt Canadian science:

Canadian scientists worry after Trump pauses federal health spending

5 months ago

Duration 2:01

Canadian scientists are concerned after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration paused federal health spending, which includes funding for research at labs in Canada.

In a statement to the CBC, the American Association of Universities described the stakes. 

“Federal research funding cuts are actively closing off career pathways for all prospective doctoral students from across the world, including those from the United States and Canada,” said Emily Miller, vice president for research and institutional policy at the association. 

“Universities make a significant financial commitment when they offer admission to an aspiring scientist or researcher — a commitment that is critical to student success and one they cannot meet without federal research support.”

A ‘turbulent’ landscape

For 23 year old Canadian Jaeden Bardati, research funding was a big component in his decision to pursue his PhD in astrophysics at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif., two years ago.

“Which is kind of ironic now,” he said.

Canada spent about 1.7 percent of its GDP on research and development in 2022; in the U.S., that figure was nearly 3.6 per cent in the same year. 

Bardati would ultimately like to be where the top researchers in his field are, which historically had been the U.S., he says, but that may change.

A man with glasses in front of a mountain covered in colourful trees.
Jaeden Bardati, a 23-year-old Canadian student pursuing his PhD at Caltech, says the environment has been ‘turbulent’ ever since the Trump administration has been pushing for funding cuts at major science funding agencies in the U.S. (Submitted by Jaeden Bardati)

Budget uncertainty makes some researchers worried whether they can maintain their labs or pay the students that work in them. Bardati says some of his classmates have been encouraged to graduate early or to fund themselves to be able to stay.

“The landscape is very turbulent … the word that’s been used around here is turbulent,” said Bardati, which makes it difficult for students and researchers to plan for the future.

“They’re essentially trying to find a new home at the moment. And they’re thinking, ‘should I go to Europe or should I go to Canada?'” 

U.S. students applying north

Katie Marshall, associate professor in comparative physiology at the University in British Columbia, is already starting to see the effects of this shift. 

She’s received five applications from U.S. students to come work in her lab. “Usually, I wouldn’t start seeing these kinds of applications until the fall,” she said. “It’s definitely unusual.”

A woman smiling at the camera holding a bug, with people looking at a bug exhibit in the background.
Katie Marshall, associate professor of comparative physiology at the University of British Columbia, seen here with a Japanese stick insect, says U.S. budget cuts in science affect Canadian researchers too, as researchers often collaborate across the border. (Emily Black)

Marshall also noted that the funding cuts in the U.S. are affecting research in Canada, because cross-border collaboration means Canadian researchers have gotten funding from U.S. agencies.

“With less money, there’s just fewer spots [for graduate students].” 

“When I look at who I’m going to accept, I’m looking at their research experience, ” said Marshall. “If I’ve got a great American student, it’s really hard for me to say no.”

While Canada can’t fill the gap left by the US, it is a good time to invest in Canadian research to create more opportunities, said Marshall, noting that there has been some recent increases already

“Increasing those investments could do a lot … for our young people, because this is an important source of jobs and training for them.”

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Israeli troops expand ‘security zone’ in northern Gaza, take control of more territory

Israeli troops moved into an area of northern Gaza, taking control of more territory around the edge of the enclave, the military said on Friday, days after the government announced plans to seize large areas with an operation in the south.

Soldiers carrying out the operation in Shuja’iyya, a suburb east of Gaza City in the north, were letting civilians out via organized routes, as troops moved in to expand the area defined by Israel as a “security zone” in Gaza, a statement said.

Images circulating on social media showed an Israeli tank on Al Muntar hill in Shuja’iyya in a position that gave it clear sight over Gaza City and beyond to the shoreline. Shelling on the eastern side of Gaza was non-stop, a local health official said in a text message.

As the Israeli forces moved in, hundreds of residents had already left a day earlier, carrying belongings or loading them on to vans or donkey carts, after the military issued the latest in a series of evacuation warnings that now cover around a third of the Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations.

Israel resumed its operation in Gaza with a heavy series of air strikes on March 18 and sent troops back in after a two-month pause, during which 38 hostages were returned in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Efforts at restarting negotiations, brokered by Egypt and Qatar, have stalled. “There are currently no contacts,” a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort told Reuters.

A boy walks on top of rubble with wood in hand.
A young boy walks along rubble Friday at the site of an Israeli airstrike on the Dar Al-Arqam school a day earlier. (Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)

Over the past two weeks, more than 280,000 people have been displaced in Gaza, according to the United Nations Humanitarian Agency OCHA, adding to the misery of families that have already been displaced multiple times over the past 18 months.

“I swear to God that I am staying in the street, there is no shelter here,” said 40-year-old Hemam Al-Rifi, who said members of his family were killed when the Gaza City school complex they were sheltering in was hit by a deadly strike on Thursday.

“My house was destroyed at first, and I stayed in a tent in a school, not a classroom, and now I don’t know where to go.”

In Gaza City, local people said Israeli strikes had hit a water desalination plant located east of the Tuffah neighbourhood, that was vital to providing clean drinking water. Aid supplies have been cut off for weeks.

65% of Gaza under ‘no-go’ areas, active displacement orders

On the southern edge of Gaza, Israeli troops have been consolidating around the ruins of the city of Rafah, and OCHA says 65 per cent of the enclave is now within “no-go” areas, under active displacement orders or both.

Israel has not fully explained its long-term aim for the areas it is now seizing as a security zone, extending an existing buffer area along the edge of the enclave hundreds of metres into the Gaza Strip.

Gaza residents say they believe the aim is to permanently depopulate swaths of land, including some of Gaza’s last farmland and water infrastructure.

Officials say the operations are in line with plans of U.S. President Donald Trump, who said in February he wanted to move the Gaza population into neighbouring countries and turn the enclave into a waterfront resort under U.S. control.

Israel says it would encourage Palestinians who wish to leave voluntarily.

On Friday, Gaza health authorities said at least 35 Palestinians were killed, most in southern areas of Gaza. Among the dead were 19 members of one family killed when a strike demolished the three-storey building where they were staying.

A tank is seen from the Israel-Gaza border.
An Israeli tank stands in position inside Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border on March 25. (Amir Cohen/Reuters)

The Israeli military said its forces killed Mohammed Awad, a senior commander in the militant group Palestinian Mujahideen, who it said was involved in the abduction of hostages including the Bibas family during the attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, and was most likely involved in their killing.

Israel accuses Hamas of hiding fighters in civilian buildings and says it takes precaution to limit casualties, but hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since the operation resumed, according to local health authorities. More than 250 of the dead were armed militants, the Israeli military says, though it has not provided evidence.

Israel resumes strikes on Lebanon, Syria

Ministers have said the operation will continue until 59 hostages still held in Gaza are returned. Hamas says it will free them only under a deal that brings a permanent end to the war. 

On Friday, a spokesperson for the group’s armed wing said half of the hostages were being held in areas where people had been told to evacuate.

“If the enemy is concerned about the lives of these hostages, it must immediately negotiate their evacuation or release,” Hamas spokesperson Abo Ubaida said in a message on Telegram.

As a ceasefire agreement that halted fighting in January has collapsed, the risk of a wider return to war has increased, with Israel striking targets in both Lebanon and Syria over recent days. On Friday, it said an airstrike in the Lebanese city of Sidon killed a senior Hamas operative.

Israeli troops have also been engaged in an extended operation in the occupied West Bank, where two Palestinians were killed on Friday.

The war began with the Hamas-led attack on Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, whcih killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel has reduced much of Gaza to ruins and killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health authorities.

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Inflation unchanged at 1.7% in May as rental price growth slowed

The annual pace of inflation held steady at 1.7 per cent in May as cooling shelter costs helped tame price pressures, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday.

Shelter costs rose three per cent in May, the agency said, marking a slowdown from 3.4 per cent in April.

Statistics Canada singled out Ontario as the major source of rent relief in the country. Slowing population growth and a jump in new supply helped dampen rent hikes in May.

“We know that population in Canada did not increase in the first quarter and immigration policies are a lot stricter now. That has led housing demand to go down, which in turn decreased rent prices, as well housing prices,” said Tu Nguyen, an economist at RSM Canada.

Mortgage interest costs, meanwhile, decelerated for the 21st consecutive month amid lower interest rates from the Bank of Canada.

Economists had broadly expected inflation would remain unchanged heading into Tuesday. And according to Nguyen, retaliatory tariffs haven’t fed as much into price growth as some were expecting.

“A lot of important exports were able to access the market tax-free, thanks to CUSMA,” said Nguyen, referencing the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement. 

“A lot of goods became CUSMA-compliant, making them eligible to be imported or exported without getting tariffed, basically. I think that’s why we haven’t seen a material increase in prices — and that’s generally good news for Canadians.”

Core measures ticked down slightly

The removal of the consumer carbon price continues to drive down gasoline costs annually, Statistics Canada said, but a smaller monthly decline in prices at the pump from this time last year limited the drop.

The cost of food from the grocery store rose 3.3 per cent annually in May, half a percentage point lower than the hike seen in April.

Lower prices on travel tours and air transportation also dampened inflation last month.

The agency says the cost of a new vehicle accelerated in May, rising 4.9 per cent annually, thanks in large part to more expensive electric vehicles.

Inflation excluding tax changes — stripping out influences from the carbon price removal — was also steady at 2.3 per cent last month.

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said last week that the central bank would be paying closer attention to this figure as it tries to look past temporary impacts to see what’s really happening to inflation amid tariffs.

The central bank’s closely watched core inflation metrics ticked down a tenth of a percentage point to three per cent in May.

“The latest inflation results are broadly similar to April’s outing — a deceptively calm headline number with core hovering too far above the two per cent target for comfort,” wrote Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO.

“The [Bank of Canada] will likely need to see much more improvement before it’s convinced that underlying inflation is headed back to two per cent.”

The Bank of Canada’s next interest rate decision is set for July 30.

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