- The new tariffs threatened by the Trump regime do not hit all goods, and hence all provinces, equally. BC is expected to get the worst of it due to tariffs on wood and paper; meanwhile oil and potash aren't affected, meaning Alberta and Saskatchewan get off easy. This may be because US need for those goods is high, and/or maybe because they want to make things easier for the governments of those provinces due to their friendliness to the regime. At the Council of the Federation in Charlottetown, some premiers are suggesting that Canada should respond by blocking or taxing exports of those products, but that's a non-starter with Danielle Smith and Scott Moe. I don't think there's any reason, in principle, that the feds couldn't impose such restrictions anyway, but it might be politically difficult.
- Donald Trump is threatening to target Iran's bridges and power plants if that country attacks any more ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, meanwhile, has been hitting Amazon data centres in Bahrain and the UAE.
- The US has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia that will allow that country to develop nuclear power capability, potentially including uranium enrichment (the exact details of the agreement haven't been made public.
- Prosecutors in the UK are going ahead with criminal contempt charges against a lawyer who represented pro-Palestinian protesters in court. Rajiv Menon is accused of "misleading the jury" and ignoring instructions from the judge by advising them of their right to "give their verdict according to their convictions". This led to the acquittal of several protestors, though they were later convicted in a retrial.
- The planning commission for the Bay Area city of Hayward approved a gigantic data centre without input from city council. This was entirely legal, as data centres aren't specifically named in the city's code and are thus treated as generic office buildings, which do not require approval from council. The city has now belatedly created a new land use category specifically for data centres, requiring more oversight than offices. Makes sense; if nothing else other cities could learn from their experience and take measures before it becomes a problem.
- The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts has just approved major reforms to land-use restrictions, in order to allow more housing to be built. It's naturally provoking a backlash from the NIMBY crowd, of course, but the city is undaunted so far. Meanwhile, across the border, the other Cambridge is rejecting a recommendation from its own staff to allow the construction of a 16 storey mixed-use building in the Preston area of the city (the original plans called for 40 storeys). It would make perfect sense to build there; as some people in this Reddit thread point out, this is right next to where the planned extension of the LRT would go - but then Cambridge's mayor isn't keen on the LRT either.
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