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Dominic Cummings says Sunak sought ‘secret deal’ for election help

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:22 GMT

LONDON — Dominic Cummings — adviser-turned-nemesis of Boris Johnson — claimed Saturday he held talks with Rishi Sunak about a “secret deal” to help the prime minister win the next election. The bombshell revelation is likely to anger Tory MPs who see the mastermind of the Vote Leave campaign for Brexit as a divisive figure, who ferociously turned on Johnson after leaving Downing Street. In a post on his Substack blog, Cummings said he had two conversations with Sunak — the first in 2022 just after Sunak became prime minister, and then again this past July. “He wanted a secret deal in which I delivered the election and he promised to take government seriously after the election,” Cummings told the Sunday Times of the meetings. Downing Street did not deny that Sunak met with Cummings, but stressed that no offer was made. “It was a broad discussion about politics and campaigning; no job was offered,” a Downing Street official said.Cummings said the price of his suppor...

Year in review: A look at news events in December 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:22 GMT

A look at news events in December 2023:1 – Israel’s war with Hamas resumes in full force with the renewed hostilities highlighting concerns for about 140 hostages still held captive by Hamas and other militants. More than 100 were freed during a seven-day truce. 2 – The Canadian Security Intelligence Service launches a workplace assessment of its B.C. office. It come after whistleblowers accused a senior officer of sexual assault and harassment in an investigation by The Canadian Press. CSIS Director David Vigneault says the officer in question had been removed from the workplace. 2 – Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie is declared the new leader of the Ontario Liberals after three rounds of voting. 3 – Myles Goodwyn, the award-winning Canadian singer and songwriter who shot to stardom as the former lead singer of April Wine, dies at 75 in Halifax. 4 – “Rizz” beats out “Swiftie” as the Oxford University Press word of the year. The Gen Z term is thought to ...

Year in review: A look at news events in November 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:22 GMT

A look at news events in November 2023:1 – The Ottawa Senators fire general manager Pierre Dorion. The team announces that hockey operations president Steve Staios will take over the job on an interim basis.2 – Montreal-based broadcaster TVA Group says it is laying off nearly one-third of its workforce as the company contends with declining audiences and ad revenues. It says the shift involves overhauling its news division and ending its in-house entertainment content production.2 – Clare’s Law is now in effect in Newfoundland and Labrador. The law allows people at risk of intimate partner violence to get information about their partner’s history and lets police proactively disclose information to someone they feel is at risk.2 – The Texas Rangers win their first World Series in the franchise’s 63-season history. Texas beats fellow wild-card entry the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 to take the championship in five games. 3 – Canada’s t...

China calls Taiwan presidential frontrunner ‘destroyer of peace’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:22 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China has slammed Taiwan presidential front-runner William Lai as a “destroyer of peace” following a televised debate on Saturday in which he defended Taiwan’s right to rule itself as a democracy.Chen Binhua, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said Lai’s discourse at the debate was “full of confrontational thinking.” He said Lai, who currently serves as Taiwan’s vice president with the governing Democratic People’s Party, is “the instigator of a potential dangerous war in the Taiwan Strait.”Taiwan split from China amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing continues to regard the island of 23 million with its high-tech economy as Chinese territory and has been ramping up its threat to achieve that by military force if necessary.Lai on Saturday said he was open to holding talks with Beijing “as long as there is equality and dignity on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.” He said Taiwan is not subordinate to China. While Lai doesn’t describe himself as seeking in...

Year in review: A look at news events in October 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:22 GMT

A look at news events in October 20231 – Two people die after a bear attack in Alberta’s Banff National Park. Parks Canada staff kill the grizzly bear for public safety.  1 – It goes down to the wire, but the U.S. government avoids a shutdown after Congress rushes to approve a bipartisan deal, keeping federal agencies open until Nov. 17. The deal is reached after Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy abruptly abandons demands for steep spending cuts, and relies on Democrats to pass the bill.1 – George Reed, one of the greatest running backs in CFL history, dies. The Saskatchewan Roughriders, the team Reed spent his 13-year pro career with, confirms his death. Reed dies the day before his 84th birthday. 1 – Members of several Quebec public-sector unions continue to vote in favour of strike mandates by large margins. The four unions, which represent around 420,000 education, health care and social service workers, say more than 90 per cent of members who have participated in v...

Year in review: A look at events in September 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:22 GMT

A look at news events in September 2023:1 – Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett dies at the age of 76. His song ”Margaritaville” was released in 1977 and spent 22 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.4 – Steve Harwell, the longtime frontman of the Grammy-nominated pop rock band Smash Mouth, dies of acute liver failure at the age of 56.4 – Ontario’s Housing Minister Steve Clark resigns from his role days after a damning report from the integrity commissioner found he violated ethics rules when the province opened up parts of the protected Greenbelt for development. 4 – Alberta Health Services declares an E. coli outbreak for six locations of a Calgary daycare and five additional sites.5 – Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson calls an election for Oct. 3. The vote was already scheduled for that date, but she officially launches the 28-day campaign.5 – Tim Hortons starts selling a new line of clothing with a retro feel. The fast-food chain launches a...

Year in review: A look at news events in August 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:22 GMT

A look at news events in August 2023:01 – The last surviving miner from the October 1958 Springhill, Nova Scotia coal mine disaster dies. Harold Brine was 91. Only 19 of the 174 men working in the mine were rescued after a seismic shock wave trapped them near the bottom of North America’s deepest coal mine. Brine was just 26 at the time.02 – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau announce they have decided to separate after 18 years of marriage. They announce the decision on Instagram, saying it follows what they describe as many meaningful and difficult conversations. 03 – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appoints educator and community advocate Edith Dumont as Ontario’s first francophone lieutenant-governor. She will replace Elizabeth Dowdeswell. 05 – British Columbia’s port workers vote in favour of a contract offer, ending weeks of turbulent job action that stopped billions of dollars’ worth of shipped item...

Year in review: A look at news events in July 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:22 GMT

A look at news events in July 2023:1 – Scores of forest fires burn in Ontario and Quebec, and the smoke drifts hundreds of kilometres into the southern reaches of the provinces and into the central and northeastern U.S. Environment Canada issues smog warnings for northern and western Quebec, and parts of eastern and southern Ontario.  1 – Port workers across British Columbia go on strike. Negotiations supported by federal mediators fail to come up with a deal throughout the night to keep more than 7,000 employees on the job. The union says contracting out, port automation and cost of living are key issues in the dispute.4 – Roughly half of all Air Canada trips are delayed or cancelled over the Canada Day long weekend. The issues affect nearly 2,000 flights, including with Air Canada Rouge and regional partner Jazz Aviation. Photos of snaking lines and bulging terminals at airports in Toronto and Montreal pop up on social media, as passengers vent their frustration over late takeoffs...

Year in review: A look at news events in June 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:22 GMT

A look at news events in June 2023.01 –  Civil servants in Quebec are now required to speak and write exclusively in French while on the job except in certain cases, such as access to health care and social services in English, or situations where health, public safety or principles of natural justice require the use of languages other than French.02 – A shortage of lifeguards prompts Ontario to lower the minimum age requirement to 15 years old, from 16. The province says the change aligns with updated requirements from the Lifesaving Society’s certification course.06 – Nova Scotia officials say about 100,000 people had personal information stolen as a result of a privacy breach. The province’s minister of cybersecurity says social insurance numbers, addresses and banking information of current employees of the public service were taken.07 – The Bank of Canada hikes its trendsetting rate a quarter of a percentage point as it tries to get ahead of ...

Year in review: A look at news events in May 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:22 GMT

A look at news events in May 2023:1 – Legendary Canadian folk singer and songwriter Gordon Lightfoot dies of natural causes at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital at the age of 84. 1 – The largest public servant strike in Canadian history ends for most of the more than 120,000 federal public servants who spent 12 days on picket lines. The Public Service Alliance of Canada reaches a tentative contract agreement with the government. About 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency employees remain on strike as negotiations over a separate collective agreement continued.  2 – For the first time in 15 years, TV and movie writers launch an industry-wide strike. The Writers Guild of America says its 11,500 unionized screenwriters headed to the picket lines after negotiations between studios and the writers failed to reach a new contract before the current deal expired at midnight.2 –The House of Commons unanimously backs a motion to declare the deaths and disappearances of Indigenous women and girls a ...