State’s financial watchdog slams ‘reactive’ budget with no long-term planWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday announced that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump , an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. The move spares the lives of people convicted in killings , including the slayings of police and military officers, people on federal land and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals, as well as the killings of guards or prisoners in federal facilities. It means just three federal inmates continue to face execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of life Synagogue in 2018 , the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history. “I’ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system,” Biden said in a statement . “Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.” Reaction to the president's end-of-year act of clemency was strong, particularly among those who were victimized by Roof. Michael Graham, whose sister Cynthia Hurd was killed by Roof, wants him to die for his crimes and was thankful Biden kept him on death row. He said Roof’s lack of remorse and simmering white nationalism in the U.S. means he is the kind of dangerous and evil person the death penalty is intended for. “This was a crime against a race of people who were doing something all Americans do on a Wednesday night – go to Bible study,” Graham said. “It didn’t matter who was there, only that they were Black.” Felicia Sanders, who shielded her granddaughter while watching Roof kill her son Tywanza and her aunt Susie Jackson sent her lawyer, Andy Savage, a text message that called Biden's decision to not spare Roof's life a wonderful Christmas gift. The Biden administration in 2021 announced a moratorium on federal capital punishment to study the protocols used, which suspended executions during Biden's term. But Biden actually had promised to go further on the issue in the past, pledging to end federal executions without the caveats for terrorism and hate-motivated, mass killings. While running for president in 2020, Biden's campaign website said he would “work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level , and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example.” Similar language didn't appear on Biden's reelection website before he left the presidential race in July. “Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden's statement said. “But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vice president, and now president, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.” He took a political jab at Trump, saying, “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.” Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has spoken frequently of expanding executions. In a speech announcing his 2024 campaign , Trump called for those “caught selling drugs to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts.” He later promised to execute drug and human smugglers and even praised China's harsher treatment of drug peddlers. During his first term as president, Trump also advocated for the death penalty for drug dealers . There were 13 federal executions during Trump's first term, more than under any president in modern history, and some may have happened fast enough to have contributed to the spread of the coronavirus at the federal death row facility in Indiana. Those were the first federal executions since 2003. The final three occurred after Election Day in November 2020 but before Trump left office the following January, the first time federal prisoners were put to death by a lame-duck president since Grover Cleveland in 1889. Biden faced recent pressure from advocacy groups urging him to act to make it more difficult for Trump to increase the use of capital punishment for federal inmates. The president's announcement also comes less than two weeks after he commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, and of 39 others convicted of nonviolent crimes, the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The announcement also followed the post-election pardon that Biden granted his son Hunter on federal gun and tax charges after long saying he would not issue one, sparking an uproar in Washington. The pardon also raised questions about whether he would issue sweeping preemptive pardons for administration officials and other allies who the White House worries could be unjustly targeted by Trump’s second administration. Speculation that Biden could commute federal death sentences intensified last week after the White House announced he plans to visit Italy on the final foreign trip of his presidency next month. Biden, a practicing Catholic, will meet with Pope Francis, who recently called for prayers for U.S. death row inmates in hopes their sentences will be commuted. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has long called for an end to the death penalty, said Biden's decision is a “significant step in advancing the cause of human dignity in our nation” and moves the country “a step closer to building a culture of life.” Martin Luther King III, who publicly urged Biden to change the death sentences, said in a statement shared by the White House that the president "has done what no president before him was willing to do: take meaningful and lasting action not just to acknowledge the death penalty’s racist roots but also to remedy its persistent unfairness.” Madeline Cohen, an attorney for Norris Holder, who faced death for the 1997 fatal shooting of a guard during a bank robbery in St. Louis, said his case “reflects many of the system's flaws” and thanked Biden for converting his sentence to life in prison. Holder, who is Black, was sentenced by an all-white jury. “Norris’ case exemplifies the racial bias and arbitrariness that led the President to commute federal death sentences,” Cohen said. Donnie Oliverio, a retired Ohio police officer whose partner was killed by one of the men whose death sentence was converted, said the execution of "the person who killed my police partner and best friend would have brought me no peace." “The president has done what is right here,” Oliverio said in a statement also issued by the White House, “and what is consistent with the faith he and I share.” Weissert reported from West Palm Beach, Florida. Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and Jim Salter in O'Fallon, Missouri, contributed to this report.
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, /PRNewswire/ -- Citius Oncology, Inc. ("Citius Oncology" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: CTOR), a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel targeted oncology therapies, today reported business and financial results for the fiscal full year ended . "Reflecting on 2024, Citius Oncology has achieved pivotal milestones that underscore our commitment to advancing cancer therapeutics," stated , Chairman and CEO of Citius Oncology. "The FDA's approval of LYMPHIR for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma marks a significant advancement in providing new options for patients battling this challenging disease. It is the only targeted systemic therapy approved for CTCL patients since 2018 and the only therapy with a mechanism of action that targets the IL-2 receptor. Additionally, the successful merger forming Citius Oncology, now trading on Nasdaq under the ticker CTOR, strengthens our position in the oncology sector. We expect it to facilitate greater access to capital to fund LYMPHIR's launch and the Company's future growth. With a Phase I investigator-initiated clinical trial combining LYMPHIR with pembrolizumab demonstrating promising preliminary results, indicating potential for enhanced treatment efficacy in recurrent solid tumors, and preliminary results expected from a second investigator trial with CAR-T therapies in 2025, we remain excited about the potential of LYMPHIR as a combination immunotherapy." "These accomplishments reflect the dedication of our team and the trust of our investors. As we look ahead, we remain steadfast in our mission to develop innovative therapies that improve the lives of cancer patients worldwide," added Mazur. R&D expenses were for the full year ended , compared to for the full year ended . The increase reflects development activities completed for the resubmission of the Biologics License Application of LYMPHIR in , which were associated with the complete response letter remediation. G&A expenses were for the full year ended , compared to for the full year ended . The increase was primarily due to costs associated with pre-commercial and commercial launch activities of LYMPHIR including market research, marketing, distribution and drug product reimbursement from health plans and payers. For the full year ended , stock-based compensation expense was as compared to for the prior year. The primary reason for the increase was due to the amounts being realized over 12 months in the year ended , as compared to three months post-plan adoption in the year ended . Net loss was , or per share for the year ended , compared to a net loss of , or per share for the year ended . The increase in net loss was primarily due to the increase in our operating expenses. Citius Oncology specialty is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel targeted oncology therapies. In , its primary asset, LYMPHIR, was approved by the FDA for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory CTCL who had had at least one prior systemic therapy. Management estimates the initial market for LYMPHIR currently exceeds , is growing, and is underserved by existing therapies. Robust intellectual property protections that span orphan drug designation, complex technology, trade secrets and pending patents for immuno-oncology use as a combination therapy with checkpoint inhibitors would further support Citius Oncology's competitive positioning. Citius Oncology is a publicly traded subsidiary of Citius Pharmaceuticals. For more information, please visit This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such statements are made based on our expectations and beliefs concerning future events impacting Citius Oncology. You can identify these statements by the fact that they use words such as "will," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "plan," "should," and "may" and other words and terms of similar meaning or use of future dates. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could negatively affect our business, operating results, financial condition and stock price. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated, and, unless noted otherwise, that apply to Citius Oncology are: our ability to raise additional money to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months as a going concern; our ability to commercialize LYMPHIR and any of our other product candidates that may be approved by the FDA; the estimated markets for our product candidates and the acceptance thereof by any market; the ability of our product candidates to impact the quality of life of our target patient populations; our dependence on third-party suppliers; our ability to procure cGMP commercial-scale supply; risks related to research using our assets but conducted by third parties; our ability to obtain, perform under and maintain financing and strategic agreements and relationships; uncertainties relating to preclinical and clinical testing; market and other conditions; risks related to our growth strategy; patent and intellectual property matters; our ability to identify, acquire, close and integrate product candidates and companies successfully and on a timely basis; government regulation; competition; as well as other risks described in our Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings. These risks have been and may be further impacted by any future public health risks. Accordingly, these forward-looking statements do not constitute guarantees of future performance, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Risks regarding our business are described in detail in our SEC filings which are available on the SEC's website at , including in Citius Oncology's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended , filed with the SEC on , as updated by our subsequent filings with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and we expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. 908-967-6677 x113 STiR-communications -- Financial Tables Follow –
Ghana has introduced a new citizen-driven digital platform aimed at bolstering transparency in the electoral process. The iCollate app allows voters to actively participate in the collation of polling station results, providing a tool for real-time updates and evidence submission. Developed by Ghanaian ICT firm Wigal Vision Ltd, iCollate empowers citizens to upload election results, submit photos and videos, and access nationwide updates directly from polling stations. The app is available for download on both the Google Play Store and Apple Store, with additional access through the website iCollate.app and a shortcode ( 800 2024#) for feature phone users. “This app represents a collective effort by Ghanaians to safeguard our democracy and ensure transparency. iCollate lets citizens take an active role in ensuring elections are free, fair, and accountable,” said the project lead for iCollate. While the platform is not an official results declaration tool and does not aim to override the Electoral Commission’s authority, it serves as a citizen-led effort to improve the accuracy and integrity of election result collation. iCollate provides a vital opportunity for the public to verify results at the grassroots level and contribute to the integrity of the process. The introduction of iCollate highlights the growing role of technology in strengthening democratic processes, offering a more inclusive way for Ghanaians to participate in monitoring their elections. Call to Action for the Media The media is encouraged to leverage iCollate as a resource for real-time updates during the election period. By using data and visual evidence submitted by citizens, journalists can enhance their election coverage. The media is also urged to promote the app to the public, helping to maximize its impact and support transparency in the electoral process.Sophomore wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr., one of the top skill-position targets in the transfer portal, is headed to Auburn to catch passes from Jackson Arnold. Singleton had a team-high 56 catches for 754 yards and three touchdowns with Georgia Tech in 2024 after posting 48 receptions for 714 yards and six touchdowns as a true freshman in 2023. Auburn announced Singleton's signing Monday on social media. Arnold opted to transfer out of Oklahoma and picked Auburn, which has been extremely active since finishing the season 5-7. Along with Singleton and Arnold, the Tigers landed Wake Forest wide receiver Horatio Fields and Maryland tight end Preston Howard. Texas, LSU, Miami and Ole Miss all pushed to land Singleton. A product of Alexander High School in Douglasville (Ga.), Singleton was rated a three-star recruit in 2023 and had offers from Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Troy but not Georgia. Players who enter the transfer portal are permitted to return to their original school. Georgia Tech (7-5) was selected for the Birmingham Bowl and plays Vanderbilt (6-6) on Friday. --Field Level MediaTrump Cabinet picks, appointees targeted by bomb threats and swatting attacks
Egypt Allocates EGP 10Bn For Digital Infrastructure In Public UniversitiesWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday announced that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump , an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. The move spares the lives of people convicted in killings , including the slayings of police and military officers, people on federal land and those involved in deadly bank robberies or drug deals, as well as the killings of guards or prisoners in federal facilities. It means just three federal inmates continue to face execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of life Synagogue in 2018 , the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history. “I’ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system,” Biden said in a statement . “Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.” Reaction was strong, both for and against. A Trump spokesperson called the decision “abhorrent.” “These are among the worst killers in the world and this abhorrent decision by Joe Biden is a slap in the face to the victims, their families, and their loved ones." said Trump spokesman Steven Cheung. "President Trump stands for the rule of law, which will return when he is back in the White House after he was elected with a massive mandate from the American people.” Some of Roof's victims supported Biden's decision to leave him on death row. Michael Graham, whose sister Cynthia Hurd was killed by Roof, wants him to die for his crimes. He said Roof's lack of remorse and simmering white nationalism in the U.S. means he is the kind of dangerous and evil person the death penalty is intended for. “This was a crime against a race of people who were doing something all Americans do on a Wednesday night – go to Bible study,” Graham said. “It didn’t matter who was there, only that they were Black.” Felicia Sanders, who shielded her granddaughter while watching Roof kill her son Tywanza and her aunt Susie Jackson sent her lawyer, Andy Savage, a text message that called Biden's decision to not spare Roof's life a wonderful Christmas gift. The Biden administration in 2021 announced a moratorium on federal capital punishment to study the protocols used, which suspended executions during Biden's term. But Biden actually had promised to go further on the issue in the past, pledging to end federal executions without the caveats for terrorism and hate-motivated, mass killings. While running for president in 2020, Biden's campaign website said he would “work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level , and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example.” Similar language didn't appear on Biden's reelection website before he left the presidential race in July. “Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden's statement said. “But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vice president, and now president, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.” He took a political jab at Trump, saying, “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.” Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has spoken frequently of expanding executions. In a speech announcing his 2024 campaign , Trump called for those “caught selling drugs to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts.” He later promised to execute drug and human smugglers and even praised China's harsher treatment of drug peddlers. During his first term as president, Trump also advocated for the death penalty for drug dealers . There were 13 federal executions during Trump's first term, more than under any president in modern history, and some may have happened fast enough to have contributed to the spread of the coronavirus at the federal death row facility in Indiana. Those were the first federal executions since 2003. The final three occurred after Election Day in November 2020 but before Trump left office the following January, the first time federal prisoners were put to death by a lame-duck president since Grover Cleveland in 1889. Biden faced recent pressure from advocacy groups urging him to act to make it more difficult for Trump to increase the use of capital punishment for federal inmates. The president's announcement also comes less than two weeks after he commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, and of 39 others convicted of nonviolent crimes, the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The announcement also followed the post-election pardon that Biden granted his son Hunter on federal gun and tax charges after long saying he would not issue one, sparking an uproar in Washington. The pardon also raised questions about whether he would issue sweeping preemptive pardons for administration officials and other allies who the White House worries could be unjustly targeted by Trump’s second administration. Speculation that Biden could commute federal death sentences intensified last week after the White House announced he plans to visit Italy on the final foreign trip of his presidency next month. Biden, a practicing Catholic, will meet with Pope Francis, who recently called for prayers for U.S. death row inmates in hopes their sentences will be commuted. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has long called for an end to the death penalty, said Biden's decision is a “significant step in advancing the cause of human dignity in our nation” and moves the country “a step closer to building a culture of life.” Martin Luther King III, who publicly urged Biden to change the death sentences, said in a statement shared by the White House that the president "has done what no president before him was willing to do: take meaningful and lasting action not just to acknowledge the death penalty’s racist roots but also to remedy its persistent unfairness.” Madeline Cohen, an attorney for Norris Holder, who faced death for the 1997 fatal shooting of a guard during a bank robbery in St. Louis, said his case “exemplifies the racial bias and arbitrariness that led the President to commute federal death sentences,” Cohen said. Holder, who is Black, was sentenced by an all-white jury. Donnie Oliverio, a retired Ohio police officer whose partner was killed by inmate whose death sentence was converted, said the execution of "the person who killed my police partner and best friend would have brought me no peace." “The president has done what is right here,” Oliverio said in a statement from the White House. Weissert reported from West Palm Beach, Florida. Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, and Jim Salter in O'Fallon, Missouri, contributed to this report.
Royal wedding rumours have started blooming at the end of 2024 after a non-royal made a surprise debut at the Firm's annual Sandringham walkabout. Most working members of the Royal Family were seen filtering amongst a doting public on Wednesday, including the young Wales children, who emerged as the stars of the show as they were gifted presents by onlookers. One notable figure seen walking with them made waves for an entirely different reason. King Charles III - who decides which royals can participate in the major event - permitted one non-royal to join the bunch this year who hasn't previously graced the Sandringham crowd. Samuel Chatto, the 28-year-old grandson of Princess Margaret , ignited speculation of an upcoming royal wedding after he was seen with his girlfriend, Eleanor Ekserdjian. Ms Ekserdjian, also 28, was spotted walking alongside Chatto, who is 29th in line to the throne, with both walking behind his parents Lady Sarah and Daniel Chatto. The artist follows in the footsteps of Meghan Markle , the first non-spouse partner of a royal permitted to walk with the family on Christmas Day. Her inclusion sparked almost immediate speculation, with one keen royal observer writing on social media: "This is a clear sign that there will be a royal wedding in the new year." News of their relationship first became public in 2021, when the London-based painter told the Daily Mail: "We are a couple." Non-married royal partners have typically not been allowed to join the others in Sandringham, with other major members not appearing in the troupe until they received their official royal titles. Kate, now the Princess of Wales , didn't debut at the Royal Family's country lodgings until she was officially the Duchess of Cambridge following her wedding to Prince William in 2011. And Sophie Rhys-Jones, now the Duchess of Edinburgh, didn't make the same trip until after her 1999 wedding to Prince Edward, after which she became the Countess of Wessex. Ms Ekserdjian has a flair for the artistic, and works as an abstract painter, film artist, and curator who previously completed major residences with Hauser & Wirth in Braemar, Scotland , and the Sokyo Gallery in Kyoto, Japan. She has previously featured her boyfriend in artistic pieces, which her website states typically involve "projecting the moving image onto paper or canvas and drawing from and over it" while making her physical and emotional responses evident "through rapid mark-making". The description adds: "These paintings and drawings become lyrical landscapes which explore her evolving emotional response to the film."Trump picks Warren Stephens as ambassador to UK
Senator-elect Andrés Ojeda became the Uruguayan Colorado Party's new secretary-general in lieu of former two-time President Julio María Sanguinetti (1985-1990; 1995-2000), now aged 87. The 40-year-old Ojeda had jumped into the limelight when he ran for the presidency on Oct. 27 this year on behalf of the Colorado Party this year, clinching third place. The PC's National Executive Committee (NEC) preferred his Unir para Crevcer (Unite to Grow) list Monday over Pedro Bordaberry's Vamos Uruguay. To balance things out, Vamos Uruguay's Ariel Amen was appointed Pro-Secretary-General. The Colorado Party is here to talk, to listen when the government considers it pertinent, said Ojeda regarding the future Broad Front (Frente Amplio - FA) administration of President-elect Yamandú Orsi to be inaugurated on March 1, 2025. I feel that this has just begun for us, that this was a kick start for the party. This political party today can legitimately and truly dream, through the republican coalition, of becoming and returning to be the government of the Republic from which it should never have left, Ojeda also pointed out. I am here, I am staying here, I am not going anywhere, I am going to move forward, I am going to be here for 30 years from the place where I have to be, have no doubt, he went on. For me, the most powerful lesson I have left is that we generated a great current of opinion and that it was hard for us to have enough territory to take it to the ballot box, he added. The work is that the Parliament does not eat the party and that the party can mark a leadership that reaches all its areas, that is why all the sectors are represented here, he explained. The position of PC Secretary-General had been vacant since Sanguinetti's resignation in February this year. However, the former head of state kept a high profile in Uruguayan politics and as a member of the ruling Multicolor coalition of President Luis Lacalle Pou. On paper, PC Pro-Secretary-General until Monday was Gustavo Yiyo Osta.None
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The internet is rife with fake reviews. Will AI make it worse?OTTAWA — Two senior members of the federal cabinet were in Florida Friday pushing Canada's new $1.3 billion border plan with members of Donald Trump's transition team, a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself appeared to finally push back at the president-elect over his social media posts about turning Canada into the 51st state. Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affair Minister Melanie Joly shared few details of their meetings in Palm Beach, simply saying in a statement the U.S. officials they met with took notes and agreed to relay messages to Trump. "Minister LeBlanc and Minister Joly had a positive, productive meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Howard Lutnick and Doug Burgum, as a followup to the dinner between the prime minister and President Trump last month," wrote Jean-Sébastien Comeau, a spokesman for LeBlanc. Lutnick is Trump's nominee for commerce secretary, and Burgum is the former governor of North Dakota and current nominee for secretary of the interior. When announcing Lutnick as his commerce pick Trump said the chief executive of the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald would be in charge of the Trump "tariff and trade agenda." "Both Ministers outlined the measures in Canada’s Border Plan and reiterated the shared commitment to strengthen border security as well as combat the harm caused by fentanyl to save Canadian and American lives." He added the ministers agreed to continue the discussions in the coming weeks. Joly is also expected to meet in Florida with senator Lindsay Graham Friday evening. This trip comes less than four weeks before Trump is sworn in again as president. He has threatened to impose a new 25 per cent import tariff on Canada and Mexico the same day over concerns about a trade imbalance, as well as illegal drugs and migration issues at the borders. The broad strokes of Canada's new border plan were made public Dec. 17, including a new aerial intelligence task force to provide round-the-clock surveillance of the border, and improved efforts using technology and canine teams to seek out drugs in shipments leaving Canada. Comeau said earlier Friday morning the ministers would also emphasize the negative impacts of Trump's threatened tariffs on both Canada and the U.S. Comeau said the ministers were to build on the discussions that took place last month when Trudeau and LeBlanc met Trump at Mar-a-Lago just days after Trump first made his tariff threat. It was at that dinner on Nov. 29 when Trump first raised the notion of Canada becoming the 51st state, a comment LeBlanc has repeatedly since insisted was just a joke. But Trump has continued the quip repeatedly in various social media posts, including in his Christmas Day message when he said Canadians would pay lower taxes and have better military protection if they became Americans. He has taken to calling Trudeau "governor" instead of prime minister. It isn't clear if LeBlanc raised the issue with Trump's team in Palm Beach Friday. Trudeau had not directly responded to any of the jabs, but on Thursday posted a link to a six-minute long video on YouTube from 2010 in which American journalist Tom Brokaw "explains Canada to Americans." "Some information about Canada for Americans" was all he wrote in the post. The video, which originally aired during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, explains similarities between the two countries, including their founding based on immigration, their trading relationship and the actions of the Canadian Army in World War 2 and other modern conflicts. "In the long history of sovereign neighbours there has never been a relationship as close, productive and peaceful as the U.S. and Canada," Brokaw says in the video. Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who is at the centre of some of Trudeau's recent domestic political troubles, also called out Trump's antics on X Thursday, calling it "casual disrespect" and "carrying the 'joke' too far." "Time to call it out, stand up for Canada, and build a true North American partnership," said Carney, who Trudeau was courting to join his cabinet before Chrystia Freeland resigned as finance minister last week. Freeland's sudden departure, three days after Trudeau informed her he would be firing her as finance minister in favour of Carney, left Trudeau's leadership even more bruised than it already was. Despite the expectation Carney would assume the role, he did not and has not made any statements about it. LeBlanc was sworn in as finance minister instead the same day Freeland quit. More than two dozen Liberal MPs have publicly called on Trudeau to resign as leader, and Trudeau is said to be taking the holidays to think about his next steps. He is currently vacationing in British Columbia. He did not make a public statement about the meeting as of publication. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2024. Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian PressMexico: Trump tariffs will make pickups $3,000 more expensive