Trump threat to blow up trade deal puts Canada’s auto town on the spot
(Washington Post) Windsor, Ontario—Sales are down nearly 70 percent at Jahn Engineering, a tool and die shop that serves automakers here and in the United States. Dozens of workers have been let go following decisions made in the White House. Worse may lie ahead. The Canadian auto industry has been rocked by President Donald Trump’s abandonment of subsidies for electric vehicles and embrace of tariffs. Major automakers have abandoned planned vehicles and delayed the start of new ones, battering Jahn Engineering and scores of outfits like it in Canada’s automotive heartland. “This is definitely the worst I’ve seen it in 42 years,” said Louis Jahn, the company’s president. “We’re just trying to stay alive.” Trump’s hostility to his northern neighbor is not helping. In recent weeks, the president threatened to block the opening of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor and Detroit. After Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed to allow the importation of 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles, Trump suggested he would retaliate with 100 percent tariffs on Canadian goods. “US tariffs and the unpredictability of future trade arrangements are disrupting the Canadian economy,” the nation’s central bank, the Bank of Canada, concluded in a January report.
Americans are now a target in Trump’s immigration crackdown.
(WSJ) In social-media posts, the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. officials have labeled protesters and observers as terrorists and attackers after they were taken into custody by federal agents. Of the 279 people accused by officials on X of attacking federal officers in the past year, 181 were U.S. citizens, a WSJ investigation found. Close to half were never charged with assault. None have been convicted at trial. Yet personal information posted by the government has put a bull’s-eye on them. A spokesperson said DHS is “taking appropriate and constitutional measures” to uphold the rule of law and protect officers from “dangerous rioters.”
Trump says he won’t sign any bills into law until the SAVE America Act passes
(NPR) Trump yesterday threatened to withhold his signature on all bills until Congress passes the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The proposed law would change voter registration and voting in the U.S., requiring eligible voters to prove their citizenship with documents such as a valid U.S. passport or birth certificate and a valid photo ID. It is already illegal for non-U.S. citizens to vote in federal elections.
DHS shutdown starts to bite
(Politico) The shuttering of DHS, now in its third week, has mostly flown under the radar. But that may be changing, starting with the nation’s airports: Absences from unpaid TSA workers led to ballooning spring-break security lines in Houston, New Orleans and elsewhere yesterday. Houston’s Hobby Airport advised travelers to show up four to five hours before their flights.
Oil Prices Spike Over $110 a Barrel, Highest Since Pandemic
(NYT) Oil prices surged on Monday well above $110 a barrel, in a sign of growing concern that the war in the Middle East will continue to take a toll on energy supplies. It was the first time in almost four years that the global oil benchmark, known as Brent, cost more than $100 a barrel. Oil is now about 50 percent more expensive than it was before the United States and Israel began attacking Iran on Feb. 28. President Trump, who campaigned partly on lowering the cost of energy, said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday described the higher oil prices as “short term” and said they were “a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace.”
Trump calls Mexico the “epicenter” of cartel violence at Shield of the Americas summit in Florida
(Drop Site News) Trump said the “epicenter” of cartel violence is in Mexico, and continued to hint at a U.S. intervention. “The Mexican cartels are fueling and orchestrating much of the bloodshed and chaos in this hemisphere, and the United States government will do whatever is necessary to defend our national security.” Under discussion is a hemispheric “agreement” to use “lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks once and for all.” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum brushed off Trump’s remarks.
Police in Norway investigate an explosion outside the US Embassy in Oslo
(AP) Police in Norway were investigating an explosion early Sunday outside the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, the capital of the Scandinavian country, officials said. No injuries were reported. Police received reports of a “loud bang” or explosion around 1 a.m., Oslo police said in a news release. The explosion was caused by some sort of incendiary device, according to Frode Larsen, leader of the Oslo police joint unit for investigation and intelligence. Investigators believe the embassy was the target and are searching for the perpetrators and their motive.
Europe now world’s biggest arms importer, think tank says
(Reuters) Europe became the world’s biggest arms importer over the last five years as governments reacted to Russia’s threat and waning confidence in U.S. security commitments, data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute showed on Monday. European countries more than trebled their arms imports in 2021-25 versus 2016-2020 to supply Ukraine in its defence against Russian invasion and to rebuild their own militaries after decades of under-investment. Europe accounted for 33% of global arms imports, up from 12% in the previous five-year period, the report showed.
Ukraine Sent Drone Experts to Protect U.S. Bases in Jordan, Zelensky Says
(NYT) As the war in Iran spirals beyond its borders, Ukraine has sent interceptor drones and a team of drone experts to protect U.S. military bases in Jordan, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with The New York Times. The United States made the request for help on Thursday, and the Ukrainian team left the next day, Mr. Zelensky said. It was expected to arrive in the Middle East soon. The U.S.-Israeli war in Iran risks redirecting world attention away from the war in Ukraine. But it has also given Kyiv an opportunity to use its hard-won expertise and advanced technology on a new front. The country has eagerly offered to help U.S. forces and their Middle Eastern allies defend against the sorts of Iranian-designed attack drones that Russia has been using in Ukraine for years.
As Fukushima memories fade, Japan embraces a nuclear-powered future
(Reuters) Takuma Hashimoto was three years old when a massive earthquake and tsunami struck on March 11, 2011, triggering nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant just an hour’s drive from his home. As the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl unfolded, his terrified family was trapped, unable to flee like their neighbours because they couldn’t find gas for their car. Now 18, Hashimoto wants to become part of Japan’s next generation of nuclear talent. “I don’t think nuclear power should be treated as something that’s automatically dangerous,” said the engineering student at a technical college in Iwaki, where a monitoring station still keeps check on local radiation levels. Ahead of the 15th anniversary of the disaster, Japan is pivoting back to a power source it had all but shunned.
Iran war update
(Compiled) The Iranian clerical establishment signaled its desire for continuity by naming a son of the country’s slain supreme leader as his father’s successor on Monday. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was appointed by a committee of senior Shiite clerics, according to a statement published on state media early Monday.
A senior Israeli defense official told NPR’s Daniel Estrin this weekend that Israel aims to dismantle Iran’s military forces within three weeks. Estrin says the official told him the plan is to target Iran’s army, navy and military industries to the point that the regime has no fighting force left. Over the weekend, Israel targeted Iran’s oil facilities.
A report by the National Intelligence Council completed before the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran assessed that even a large-scale military assault on the country would be unlikely to topple its theocratic government, according to U.S. officials briefed on the work.
Bahrain’s Ministry of Health said that 32 people were injured, including four seriously, in an Iranian drone strike in the Sitra area early Monday. Sitra, an island near Bahrain’s capital, Manama, is home to part of the refinery complex of Bapco Energies, the state-owned energy company.
Saudi Arabia released a statement early Monday condemning Iranian attacks against itself and other countries in the Gulf region. The statement said attacks on civilian targets, airports and oil facilities were a violation of international law. American employees of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia have been told to leave the country under mandatory departure orders issued by the State Department, according to current and former U.S. officials.
U.S. Tomahawk Hit Naval Base Beside Iranian School, Video Shows
(NYT) A newly released video adds to the evidence that an American missile likely hit an Iranian elementary school where 175 people, many of them children, were reported killed. The video, uploaded on Sunday by Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency and verified by The New York Times, shows a Tomahawk cruise missile striking a naval base beside the school in the town of Minab on Feb. 28. The U.S. military is the only force involved in the conflict that uses Tomahawk missiles. A body of evidence assembled by The Times—including satellite imagery, social media posts and other verified videos—indicates that the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building was severely damaged by a precision strike that occurred at the same time as attacks on the naval base. Asked by a reporter from The Times on Saturday if the United States had bombed the school, President Trump said: “No. In my opinion and based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran.” He said, “They’re very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions.”
Iran war sends shockwaves through African fuel market and economies
(AP/compiled) Surging oil prices triggered by the war with Iran are rippling across African economies, threatening higher fuel costs, rising inflation and renewed pressure on currencies across the continent. Africa imports most of the petroleum products it consumes, leaving many economies highly vulnerable to supply disruptions tied to tensions in the Middle East. When global oil supplies tighten, prices rise while African currencies often weaken as investors move funds into safe-haven assets such as the U.S. dollar. That combination amplifies the impact of price spikes. Missiles fly over Iran: People get poorer in Africa. The cost of groceries in Dallas mounts.
From blacksmithing to needlepoint, young people are embracing ‘grandma hobbies’
(AP) By age 23, Emma MacTaggart was already noticing how rare her free time was—and how it was seldom screen-free. She was working long hours in investment banking and once she was finally able to log off after work, she would turn to her phone. Along with her roommates, she decided to hunt for a hobby that would replace that habit. They became “hooked” on needlepoint, she said, a practice she had briefly learned from relatives as a child, but one that she hadn’t picked up in years. MacTaggart is part of a throng of young people who are turning to analog hobbies and activities as a means of escaping technology and reconnecting with childlike creativity and exploration. Somewhat ironically, this analog movement has been galvanized by its trendiness on social media. Some of these hobbies—knitting, gardening and, of course, needlepoint—have been ascribed the term “grandma hobbies” online, referring to the older demographic that’s often been associated with them. But many other offline, tactile hobbies, like pottery, origami and even blacksmithing, have gained traction online with Gen-Z and millennials recently.-
TFI Daily News https://news.tfionline.com/post/810687699755433984/tuesday-march-10-2026
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