Author: ALJAZEERA

Budget proposes higher capital gains taxes and billions in spending on education, housing, jobs and mental health.Canada will ask the wealthy to pay higher taxes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government seeks to shore up flagging support among young voters ahead of an election expected next year. Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland said in the annual budget announcement on Tuesday that the wealthiest Canadians should pay more, while billions of dollars would be invested in education, housing, jobs and mental health services. The budget proposes 53 billion Canadian dollars ($38bn) in new spending over five years, much of it directed…

Children are among those killed in attack on Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp as Israeli warplanes strike home in Rafah. Source link

Saint-Urbain-Premier, Quebec, Canada – In clear safety glasses and heavy beige overalls, Jean-Francois Touchette is in his element. All around him are pipes, tubes, temperature gauges and various humming instruments: all the machinery needed to turn tree sap into maple syrup. Touchette’s syrup operation is a small one, run out of a modest, two-storey wooden building at the end of a long dirt driveway in rural Quebec. But as winter turns to spring, Touchette — like thousands of other maple growers in the Canadian province — faces pressure to collect, boil and bottle his harvest. “It’s a small factory. I’m…

The conflict is taking a heavy toll on civilians with millions forced from their homes and on the verge of famine.Sudan is facing a humanitarian crisis as its civil war drags on. The United Nations says 25 million people – half the population – need urgent assistance. About 30,000 people are dead and millions more have been forced from their homes. Diplomacy has stalled, and aid groups face major challenges getting to those in need. So is there a path to ending the war? And can anything be done to ease the suffering of Sudan’s people? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Hala Alkarib…

Sugnu, India – Ratan Kumar Singh, a 58-year-old high school teacher, never imagined he would be happy to see armed fighters, or “revolutionaries” as he called them. But on May 28 last year, Singh welcomed them to his town of Sugnu in Manipur, a state in India’s northeast corner bordering Myanmar. For nearly three weeks, the small town had managed to dodge the ethnic violence between the Meitei community and the Kuki-Zo tribespeople that had engulfed the rest of the state since May 3. But that day, four people were killed in the area and 12 injured as bullets found…

Russian president makes comments as Israel weighs its response to Iranian missile and drone attack.Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for restraint as Israel weighs its response to Iran’s unprecedented weekend drone and missile attack. Putin made the remarks in a phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday. The leaders discussed what the Kremlin called “retaliatory measures taken by Iran” after an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on April 1. Putin urged all sides to refrain from action that would trigger a new confrontation that would have catastrophic consequences for the Middle…

On the plate in front of me, raw mango slices have been carefully arranged into the petals of a flower. My friend, Alka Dogra, urges me to eat them right away. One bite, and immediately, my tastebuds are alight with hot, piquant salt that pairs beautifully with the sourness of the fruit. “This has the hari mirch pisyun loon (green chilli salt) from Uttarakhand you so wanted to taste,” she shares. But I hardly listen, already transported back in time. It’s lunchtime in sixth grade and we’re eating our way through our lunches. A girl named Mahima brings out a…

From blocking bridges to economic boycotts, direct action for Gaza is increasingly common. But can it succeed?Direct action – the use of economic or physical power to achieve specific goals – has come to define the tactics of a new generation of advocates for the Palestinian cause. As people become more frustrated with their government’s failure to confront Israel’s assault on Gaza, direct action is becoming increasingly common. This episode looks at the people behind direct action and why it is their preferred mode of protest. Presenter: Myriam Francois Guests:Medea Benjamin – Codepink co-founderLowkey – Hip-hop artist and activistAshish Prashar…

Statistics agency says economy has made ‘good start’ to the year under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping.China’s economy grew faster than expected in the first three months of the year, a boost for policymakers grappling with a property-sector crisis, weak consumer demand and mounting government debt. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.3 percent in the first quarter, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Tuesday, comfortably above forecasts and up from a 5.2 percent expansion in the previous quarter. By sector, industrial production and agriculture grew by 6.1 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively,…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ruled over the country for nearly two and a half decades, undefeated. In that time, elections have largely followed a similar trajectory, each strengthening his popularity and position of authority. But a few years ago, warning signs emerged. In the 2019 local elections, Erdogan’s AK Party lost the mayoral race in four of Turkey’s largest cities, including the biggest city, Istanbul – where Erdogan made his name as mayor in the 1990s. Then, in the most recent local elections at the end of March, the results were even worse, with the opposition Republican People’s…