TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

Land of Whispering Pines 🌲

Good morning! I pray that you be well, at peace, provided for, & blessed 🙏🌅

It's primarily cloudy🌫 out there, but the temp is where it should be for this time of year; even with the overcast, expected high of 70°F, it was still nice to be able to sit out in my green space with just a light jacket on, sipping my coffee. It was so quiet at this time of morning that it reminded me of the homestead where I grew up. The sound of the great whispering pines,🌲 the early sunrise, 🌄 , and the birds 🦜 just coming out of their roost. 🌳

This morning was just me, the trees, the birds, and a couple of squirrels at play in the trees, so silent I could hear the creek hidden in the foliage 🌿🌱🍃 that is now in full leaf. Everything is so beautiful, with its different pastels of healthy green, and some trees still holding cherry blossoms. This place is as grown as it's going to get; the building is built on the side of parkland in a residential area. North of us is Lake Ontario. Can't go farther than that unless you have a rowboat 🛶 and row across Lake Ontario 🏖 to Toronto. 🏙

BY THE WAY: Beginning Friday around lunchtime, we are going to Toronto to spend four days visiting Toronto's PATH, a vast network of pedestrian walkways, tunnels, and shopping concourses beneath downtown Toronto.

NOTICE:

My news reports may be intermittently short on most of those four days. Beginning Friday, May 16 until... I should be back on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, full-time. That is about all I have to report for the moment here from the Newsroom this morning. Thank you for reading the News.

TODAYS DISCUSSION:

A Mental Holiday

Everyone needs to take some time off to rest mentally as well as physically. It is impossible to remain composed physically if you are fidgeting in anticipation of worry, and other mental blocks like concerns, anger, confusion, mental anguish, or aggravations, some call the aggravations pet peeves.

A Pet Peeve is like bang my knee, smack my elbow, and bust my shoulder in the doorway, bang my nose on the cupboard door getting a cup for my coffee, but ain't we a little putzy today, eh! Oh me, oh my, I can't bend down or go around corners like I used to and I don't do 90 ° angles too well anymore either, I get dizzy as a rat in a round shithouse if I do.

My Mental Holidays.

I take a mental holiday whenever I have quiet time. Either when I'm alone and Paula is out gathering some provisions for the refrigerator or at an appointment, that is when I do most of my wool gathering. The wool gathering is taking me to places I don't really get to go to as deeply when I'm busy with the present world. Thoughts, theories, analysing, researching, contemplating, and even getting into the sci-fi side and going past the limits of quantum mechanics, the physical and energetic world, for "a what-if world".

No one ever said you had to stick to the rigid known rules of physics. What about the imagination? The imagination took Einstein to the micro, the subatomic level. "Imagination."👩‍🔬

So if you get sick of the lunacy in this world, take some time off, and go into the land of the imagination, preferably with another like-minded person, to play toss the ball⚾️ back and forth.

As for the insanity:

"WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

😖😫😭😱😵‍💫🫨🙄😵‍💫🙃😲

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqQdbevaB-Q

BREAKING NEWS:

Trump’s Middle East trip: President to speak at Saudi investment forum after crown prince meeting

What you need to know:

• Trump in Saudi Arabia: The Trump administration signed several new agreements with Saudi Arabia’s government Tuesday, including on military cooperation, as President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seek to highlight close ties between the two countries. Trump is expected to speak at a US-Saudi investment forum soon, where Elon Musk is also listed as a speaker.

• High-stakes Middle East visit:

• Weapons sale: T

46 min ago:

Trump signs several agreements with Saudis, including on military cooperation

The Trump administration entered into several new agreements with the government of Saudi Arabia Tuesday as President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seek to highlight close ties between the two countries.

At a formal signing ceremony in a gilded ballroom at Riyadh’s Royal Court, the two leaders signed memoranda of understanding, letters of intent, and other executive agreements spanning different government agencies.

Multiple focused on the two countries’ military cooperation, including the “modernization and development of the capabilities of the Saudi armed forces through future defense capabilities,” enhanced cooperation on “ammunition training, support services, maintenance system upgrades, spare parts and education for land and air systems of the National Guard,” and the “development of the health capabilities of the Saudi armed forces.”

Updated 9:54 AM EDT, Tue May 13, 2025

-CNN-

Tariffs have already made mattresses, strollers, and power tools more expensive.

Photo:

A US flag is seen above mattresses at Charlie Wilson's appliance and TV store in Clarksville, Indiana.

President Donald Trump's unpredictable trade policies and public threats against companies have made it nearly impossible to set prices.

The Trump administration temporarily reduced tariffs on China over the weekend, but import taxes have already made baby gear, power drills, mattresses, and other everyday products more expensive for Americans. Companies have been raising prices to survive cost increases from both 10% universal tariffs on every product entering the United States and higher levies on Chinese goods, at 30%, even after an agreement between Washington and Beijing.

The Federal Reserve said last week that tariffs have led to a 0.3% increase in prices this year.

Published 7:00 AM EDT, Tue May 13, 2025 - CNN -

CANADIAN NEWS:

Updated4 minutes ago:

Carney's cabinet, to be sworn in shortly, has 24 new faces

Core and secondary group of ministers will likely focus on fighting U.S. tariffs

LIVE:

11 minutes ago

Who's in and who's out in Carney's cabinet:

Analysis: How Carney tried to turn the page with 1st shuffle

The Latest:

• New cabinet will be Prime Minister Mark Carney's second — but his first since being elected. It is expected to be small and focused, according to an official with the Prime Minister's Office.
• The 24 new names include Shafqat Ali, Jill McKnight, Tim Hodgson, Eleanor Olszewski, Mandy Gull-Masty, Joël Lightbound, Gregor Robertson, Evan Solomon, Wayne Long, and Nathalie Provost.
• Thirteen are newly elected MPs. There are 10 secretaries of state, nine of whom are new faces.
• Carney's first cabinet was composed of 24 ministers — 11 women and 13 men, including himself. Trudeau's last cabinet had 39 when sworn in.
• There will be a core group of senior ministers and a secondary group of more junior ministers, with smaller groups of staff and no new ministry created for them.
• The swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall is expected to begin soon.

Updated May, 13, 2025, 8 minutes ago: - CBC -

Separatists release potential Alberta referendum question, expect Danielle Smith to join cause

Alberta Prosperity Project says premier should hold referendum in 2025, with UCP base heavily pro-secession

Jeffrey Rath, lawyer for the separatist Alberta Prosperity Project, released his group's proposed question for a potential referendum on Alberta separation at a Monday news conference.

An Alberta separatist group released on Monday a referendum question on independence from Canada that it will petition to get in front of provincial voters, but only once it has garnered support from 600,000 Albertans.

That's more than triple the number of signatures the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) would need under a new United Conservative Party government bill that makes it much easier to force a referendum on the ballot.

The group also said it would push Premier Danielle Smith to allow a separation referendum later in 2025, instead of next year as she's suggested. They said a critical mass of separatist UCP members can persuade the premier to fast-track the referendum — and to join their cause as well.

The pitch:

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she'll hold a separation referendum in 2026 if enough petitioners demand one. The group that will lead the petition drive wants the vote this year instead.

• Analysis Will Danielle Smith steer Alberta away from separation, or will this train keep gathering steam?*
• Alberta separation would send Canada into uncharted territory, say legal experts*

Posted: May 12, 2025 2:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 12

- CBC -

I am getting quite annoyed with these cowboy hat wearing shitbagers<- conservatives, republicans, they're both the same breed of butt suffing bacteria stiff shirted cocroaches.

NATURE'S SOUNDS AND MUSIC:

💫✨ ~ Sit for a while, relax, and allow the release All Bad Energy From Your Body~ 💫✨

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8nuQxEqbdw

 

TREE HOUSE NEWS🏡

Land of Whispering Pines🌲

Good morning! I pray that you be well, at peace, provided for, & blessed🙏🌅

I do not have a lot to report from the Newsroom this morning. I was out in my green space with my coffee this morning, with my light jacket, it was rather pleasant to watch the sun come over the trees, and listen to the birds.🌄🦜 Have as prosperous a day as is possible, and thank you for reading the news. 📰

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

GOOD TIMES

WHEN WERE THERE TRULY GOOD TIMES?

- Google Search -

Childhood Innocence and Wonderment

Why can't we retain the gift of our childhood into our adulthood? That childish innocence, of wonderment and curiosity, adventurer, and explorer within all of us. That gift, or that instinct within us all, may be the only straw to world peace.

In My Opinion:

The good times were when people were happy and grateful for what they had and made due with what they had. We had no TVs, cellphones, and didn't even have school buses; we walked the mile to school and played imaginary games along the way. We did have the two-way radio and a dial-up telephone. We had one of those rather large stand-up tube radios, an antique my dad put together, which ran on a car battery, and a gramophone (record player).

I had my Radio Flyer wagon, my doll Bobbie McGee, the bush or the lake, in a row boat, or on the backroads with my CCM bicycle, in the land of imagination.

We had movies at the local theater every two weeks or so, and many of those movies, as well as magazines, comic books, and many other books of interest, were food for the imagination. A bicycle became a car, or an airplane, especially when coasting down that steep hill on a boardwalk. Walking on the trail behind the house became a safari in the jungle.

Stuff like that. Now I'm getting a little too old and slow to do that stuff for real, so I wrote and drew pictures about what I was imagining, on almost any topic of interest, you know, the kind that took me beyond the written words on the pages I was reading or writing.

The path that went up the hill behind the house became an adventure in the jungle. I even dressed for the part and stuff like that. Even up into my adolescence and adulthood, I used to play dress up, especially on boring rainy days. I spent a lot of my time exercising and expressing my imagination at the kitchen table, either drawing or writing something, or both, or "McGivering" something in the toolroom in the basement.

I feel sad for those who never had a chance to be a kid, chase butterflies, pick pretty colorful flowers, and follow their imagination and dreams. No matter the stumbling blocks of life, if I fall, I just pick myself up, dust myself off, put a band-aid on my scraped knee, and proceed walking around the obstacle.

From the time we are born and open our eyes, we begin to take in information in our conscious and subconscious minds. Like knowing the difference between what was negative and something positive, even if we haven't yet differentiated what was negative or positive, black and white, it is quite surprising to find there are only shades of grey. But we certainly felt something was off plumb when it was negative. We recoiled from it like it was a venomous snake.

Suppose people could go back (or feel back to how they reacted to that specific experience back then), if we would and could allow ourselves to feel back to how we felt about such a negative proposition in the past, or how positive an experience it was. It's usually the good memories that take priority in the remember me times, so it is for me, anyway.

If we could go back to those experiences, it would likely modify the proposition at hand to accommodate all parties involved. A True Democracy with Honesty and Empathy for its people, there would be much less strife in the world. People's lives would be more synchronized and harmonised, we would know without doubt that people are more important than money.

- Google Search -

Democracy functions best when infused with honesty and empathy, fostering trust and understanding among citizens. Honesty ensures fair decision-making, while empathy promotes consideration for all perspectives, leading to more inclusive and legitimate democratic outcomes.

From the time we are born and open our eyes, we begin to take in information. What was negative, even if we didn't recognise it as a negative, was that we certainly did feel something was off plumb, enough so that we recoiled from it like it was a venomous snake.

Too Much Empathy; The man says: BONEHEAD!💀 You know who you are, for a smart guy who claims to be a genius and built a starship that never made it off the ground and put a torch to his own car company. I say good old KARMA is working like a charm

BREAKING NEWS:

Dow set to soar 1,000 points after Trump team dramatically lowers tariffs with China

US stock futures surged after President Donald Trump's top trade officials brokered a surprisingly dramatic de-escalation in trade tensions with China over the weekend, dropping tariffs to much lower levels, which some economists say could stave off a US recession.

Dow futures rose 1,000 points, or 2.4%. S&P 500 futures were 3.1% higher, and Nasdaq futures gained 4%.

US stocks were set to erase all their losses since Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" trade announcement, which placed a 10% tariff on practically all goods coming into the United States and set significantly higher tariffs on dozens of countries. Trump paused most of those tariffs just days after they went into effect, but jacked up import taxes on China, eventually to 145% on most Chinese imports.

• Live Updates The US will temporarily lower its overall tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%
• -CNN- breaks down US-China tariff agreement 0:53
• Pre-market stock trading coverage from -CNN-

Updated 7:53 AM EDT, Mon May 12, 2025 - CNN -

Trump's tariffs could boost some 'Made in America' small businesses. But for many, they only hurt

Fabric is sewn at the Faribault Mill factory

It takes about 20 steps for tufts of raw wool to become a signature Faribault Mill blanket, and it all happens under one roof in this southern Minnesota city.

It's a symphonic process that has been honed over 160 years, and now one where employees (including third- and fourth-generation mill staff members) work alongside a blend of state-of-the-art machinery and 19th century equipment from start to finish.

The only things missing from the mill are the sheep themselves: Many of them are busy grazing fields a few states over in the Rocky Mountains.

Published 6:00 AM EDT, Mon May 12, 2025 - CNN -

CANADIAN NEWS:

Yale professor moving to U of T due to 'far-right' Trump administration's pressure on universities

Some top U.S. academics are seeking employment north of the border after President Donald Trump's administration froze hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from institutions unless they agree to his demands. CBC's Dale Manucdoc has more details on a phenomenon called "brain drain" — and how it could benefit Canada.

Prof. Jason Stanley made a decision after policy changes at Columbia University A Yale University professor is leaving the U.S. and taking a position at the University of Toronto (U of T) due to what he says is a "far-right regime" under President Donald Trump.

"The United States is in the process of an autocratic takeover and it's directed by a regime that I don't think will want to leave power," said Jason Stanley, a professor of philosophy.

"Its not just Donald Trump. It's the machine behind Donald Trump."

• April marks the biggest travel decline yet since Trump was re-elected as president*
• Updated: 31 minutes ago
• Canadian university teachers warned against travelling to the United States
• Doctor says political mayhem in the U.S. pushed her to come home to New Brunswick

Posted: May 12, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 40 minutes ago

- CBC News -

Rise in for-profit agency nurse costs in Ontario hospitals' exorbitant,' says researcher

Hospitals turn to staffing agencies when they can't fill shifts, which further exacerbates staffing shortages Ontario hospitals paid for-profit staffing agencies $9.2 billion over a decade, a finding that comes as one hospital aims to stop its use of temp services by September.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives commissioned Monday's report, titled Hollowed Out: Ontario Public Hospitals and the Rise of Private Staffing Agencies, focusing on increased spending on private agencies for nurses, health professionals, and administrative support staff from 2013-14 to 2022-23.

Hospitals and long-term care homes turn to these same staffing agencies when they can't fill all of their shifts with employees. The Agency health-care workers allow them to continue providing services during staff shortages, and the charge triples the regular hourly rate, hospitals have set.

Working to be AagencyFree'

Meanwhile, at Markham Stouffville Hospital, staff are working to reduce reliance on private agencies that provide temporary hires such as nurses to fill shifts in the emergency department, oncology, and other units.

"Our goal is that by the end of September, we'll be agency free," said president and CEO of Oak Valley Health, which includes the Markham hospital that serves a fast growing region northeast of Toronto.

Posted: May 12, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

- CBC -

NATURE'S SOUNDS AND MUSIC:

🪷🌾~Body And Spirit, Healing The Emotional, Physical, Mental & Spiritual plane~🌾🪷

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zsRnOGTFa4

 

"GO FOR IT, MAN!"

Better than the Orange Kink of Bizarromarica

Bernie Goes Punk!

The Fairy Lady

 

TREE HOUSE NEWS🏡

Land of Whispering Pines🌲

Good morning! I pray that you be well, at peace, provided for, & blessed🙏🌅

Well, it is bright and sunny, ☀️ but with a cool breeze,🌬 I needed my coat to be comfortable enough to sit in my green space this morning. But it was nice to watch the sun rise over the trees, and the chilly air didn't stop the spring birds from singing their tunes in the trees across the way. It certainly appears like this is going to be one of those coat summers. 🧥🍃Bummer, eh!☹️

- Google Search -

The Niagara Peninsula generally experiences a warmer climate than the rest of Ontario, particularly compared to the northern parts of the province. This is due to its location on the shores of Lake Ontario, as well as the influence of the Niagara Escarpment.

The escarpment helps to moderate temperatures.

Well, at least here at the Niagara Escarpment, there is a warmer climate. We seem to avoid the worst of the nastiest winter weather all around us: I would sooner see the wet stuff than snowflakes, you don't have to shovel the wet stuff and you don't need to wear a fat coat where your feel like that Soviet cosmonaut back in '67 whose spacesuit nearly blew up.🧑‍🚀Especially trying to get behind the steering wheel, "hey Ma, hand me the shoe horn please!" 👠🪃

Well, that's about the only hot air I can find to air out for the moment. At the time, it appears I am the only one in the room who is mainly blowing around the hot air. Certainly not the heater,♨️ my fingers are turning blue.🪬Well, that's about it from the _*Newsroom,📰 now it's time for the discussion of the day.🙇‍♀️

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

Population Control

- Google Search -

Population control refers to the practice of managing population size, often with the goal of limiting growth and ensuring sustainability. This can involve various approaches, including birth control, family planning, and other methods to influence population dynamics.

- Google Search -

War, while not intentionally designed as a population control method, can significantly impact population size through increased mortality and displacement. War can lead to high death rates due to direct combat, disease outbreaks, and famine caused by war-related disruption of food supply. Additionally, displacement of populations due to war can have long-term consequences for resource availability and overall population dynamics.

I wonder, since today's society doesn't seem to hold human life anymore sacred than an overpopulated bunch of cockroaches, is that what all human lives have become worth nowadays, no more than a bunch of cockroaches?

Everyone is out for themselves, paranoid schizophrenic, selfish, greedy, aggressive, filled with hate in the pit of darkness. Does it have to be that way?

_ Google Search -

Do we have to listen to the conspiracy theorists, the killjoys? The wars, while not intentionally designed as a population control method, can significantly impact population size through increased mortality and displacement. War can lead to high death rates due to direct combat, disease outbreaks, and famine caused by war-related disruption of food supply. Additionally, displacement of populations due to war can have long-term consequences for resource availability and overall population dynamics.

When dealing with insanity and Alzheimer's, nothing but unnecessary hardship, confusion, and chaos will come out of that Orange House.

Jabba the Hutt and his Gestapos are way too busy painting the Democrats with the same brush they are being painted with, like they were malfunctioning robot coo, coo parrots🤪🦜 shouting for blood. The far-right-wingers are over the edge, I tell ya! Jabba the Hutt's ideologues beware! You may just get your arse wiped by a leftwing street sweeper,🚜 jackasses deserve some nice glow in the dark hemoroids. I'll dance at the cockroaches' funerals.💃

BREAKING NEWS:

Trump made historic gains with minority voters in 2024. They are already pulling back in 2025

Several of the key voter groups that provided President Donald Trump's most important electoral gains in November are recoiling from him as his term moves past the 100-day mark. But it remains unclear how much Democrats can benefit from these growing doubts.

In 2024, Trump improved his performance among some big voting blocs that have historically favored Democrats, including Latinos, younger men, non-White voters without a college degree, and, to some extent, Black men. Trump's advances generated exuberant predictions from an array of right-leaning analysts that he had achieved a lasting realignment and cemented the GOP's hold on voters of all races without a college degree.

But the flurry of polls 100 days into Trump’s second term suggests that cement has not hardened as much as some allies anticipated. Across multiple surveys, Trump’s overall job approval rating has fallen below his 2024 vote share with these key groups, and they are consistently giving him even lower marks for his handling of the economy, particularly inflation.

Published 6:00 AM EDT, Sun May 11, 2025 - CNN -

Another equipment outage impacts flights at Newark Liberty International Airport

Washington -

Operations have returned to normal after another air traffic control equipment outage caused the Federal Aviation Administration to implement a ground stop for Newark Liberty International Airport-bound flights Sunday morning.

“There was a telecommunications issue at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport airspace,” the FAA said in a statement. “The FAA briefly slowed aircraft in and out of the airport while we ensured redundancies were working as designed.”

The ground stop, which means flights heading to Newark could not take off, lasted about 45 minutes, according to FAA air traffic advisories.

May 11, 2025 - 36 minutes ago: - CNN -

CANADIAN NEWS:

Quebec riding of Terrebonne flips to Liberals after recount shows candidate won by single vote

Liberals now have 170 seats in House of Commons, two shy of a majority government

8 minutes ago

These incumbent MPs lost their races. Now, they're packing up and saying goodbye

Carney to name new cabinet Tuesday

Misinformation about Poilievre's election loss persists. Here are the facts

Terrebonne riding flips to Liberals by a single vote after recount

31 minutes ago

Duration3:53

NDP not seeking 'quid pro quo' with Liberals for party status, interim leader says

Ballot recounts taking place in 4 tightly contested federal ridings

May 11, 2025, 46 minutes ago: - CBC -

NATURE'S SOUNDS AND MUSIC:

🏞~Take time in Mother Gaia's Garden, relax, and feel the harmony~🏞

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_2qLqIT_IA

 

TREE HOUSE NEWS🏡

Land of Whispering Pines🌲

Good morning! I pray that you be well, at peace, provided for, & blessed🙏🌅

I was up at the usual time this morning.🌄 At this time of year, I'm up with the sun. Back when I was younger, when I had time off, I used to think getting up early was literally for the birds. And especially during the winter, you had to be COO COO!🦜 to get up from under the warm blankets early to go out in the cold.

Now I enjoy getting up at sunrise and listening to the birds,🐦 or in the winter, it's just pleasant to get up and see the brilliant sun streaming in through the windows, especially from my green space outside the sliding glass doors when I sit at the dining table, it makes it feel balmy all year around—bringing the French Riviera to our balcony, or wherever tropical places your imaginations you wish to be.

It is supposed to be partly sunny🌥 and around 70°F today, but it doesn't seem like that at this time. When I went out a while ago, it was definitely coat time, and the clouds were moving from the northeast. The Scrotum (sagging jetstream)🌬🐧 effect is still with us.🥺 I pray that it gets pleasant enough to just sit out there in the sun, without a coat,🧥 at least for a while.🙏

🙏👼 Let us also pray today, Great Spirit, G-d,😶‍🌫️ to protect, help, and guide our brothers and sisters🫂👨‍👨‍👧‍👦 south of the border, the victims of The Orange Jabba the Hutt, Kink of Bizarromarica, and his Gestapo.🥷

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

American Brain Gain Canada

UPDATE

-Google Search:

In 2025, Canada aims to welcome 395,000 new permanent residents, including professionals from countries like the United States, through various economic immigration programs. Canada uses Express Entry, a system that manages applications for skilled workers, to prioritize candidates with specific skills and experience, particularly in fields like healthcare, trades, and Francophone communities outside Quebec. The Express Entry system includes programs like the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Canadian Experience Class.

Key aspects of Canadian immigration for professionals in 2025:

- Express Entry:

- Priority Sectors:

- Category-Based Draws:

- Francophone Immigration:

- Canadian Experience Class (CEC):

- Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs):

- Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathways:

- Immigration Levels Plan:

- For US-based professionals:

- Research the Express Entry programs:

- Assess your eligibility:

- Develop a strong profile:

- Consider Provincial Nominee Programs:

- Seek professional advice:

Consult with a Canadian immigration lawyer or consultant for guidance and support throughout the process.

Immigration of American professionals to Canada, May 10, 2025

- Google Search -

BREAKING NEWS:

India and Pakistan agree to ceasefire after weeks of tensions

What we're covering:

• JUST IN: India and Pakistan have agreed to a ceasefire after weeks of tension and back-and-forth strikes, with India’s foreign secretary saying the halt in fighting is now in effect. US President Donald Trump made the surprise announcement on social media, saying it came after a night of talks mediated by Washington.

• Latest strikes:

• Kashmir massacre:

• A history of tension:

41 min ago

India's foreign secretary says both sides agreed to ceasefire starting at 5 p.m. local time

India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire, which came into effect starting at 5 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. ET).

During a news conference, Misri said that Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) held a phone call with his Indian counterpart earlier on Saturday afternoon local time. During the call, it was agreed that both sides “would stop all firing and military action” from 5 p.m. Indian Standard Time.

Misri added that the directors general of the two countries are scheduled to speak again on Monday.

Updated 9:05 AM EDT, Sat May 10, 2025 - CNN -

Inside Trump’s negotiating strategy with China

Switzerland's President Karin Keller-Sutter, US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Switzerland's Economy Minister Federal Councillor Guy

Parmelin, in Geneva, Switzerland.

A few hours after President Donald Trump’s trade negotiating team boarded a flight for the most important economic meetings in the world, their boss took to social media to publicly throw a curveball into the negotiations.

That was the point – not necessarily the path.

Trump’s decision to float the possibility of cutting his 145% tariffs on China to 80% gave the impression that Trump was negotiating with himself before the discussions started. But the substance of the message, was not a surprise to his top negotiators, who have discussed the possibility of lowering America’s tariff on China in internal discussions ahead of the US-China talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

Published 4:50 PM EDT, Fri May 9, 2025 - CNN -

European leaders visit Kyiv, and tell Russia: 30-day ceasefire now or face massive sanctions

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, France's President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrive at Kyiv railway station on May 10, 2025. Kyiv, Ukraine

- CNN -

—

The leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Poland have told Russian leader Vladimir Putin to agree to a 30-day ceasefire starting on Monday or face possible “massive” sanctions, according to French President Emmanuel Macron, on a highly symbolic visit to Kyiv. The demand comes with the backing of the White House after a joint phone call with President Donald Trump, the Europeans said.

Standing alongside Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, the four leaders - Macron, new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk – said the ceasefire should be observed on land, at sea, and in the air.

If successful, Macron said, it could pave the way for “the immediate launch of negotiations to build a robust and lasting peace.”

Updated 9:31 AM EDT, Sat May 10, 2025 - CNN -

CANADIAN NEWS:

Can machine-grown lettuce help cut Canada's reliance on U.S. greens? This farmer is betting on it

In 2024, 92 per cent of Canadian lettuce was imported from the U.S. A third-generation farmer and the owner of Haven Greens, a new automated greenhouse in King City, Ont.

As Canada's reliance on U.S. produce hits the spotlight, one Ontario farmer has a pitch: locally grown, year-round produce, grown by artificial intelligence and automation.

In a sprawling two-hectare greenhouse, tucked inside a wooden red barn in King City, Ont., an animated Jay Willmot, farmer and entrepreneur, shared his vision.

"From sowing and seeding, all the way through to harvest and packing, no one touches this crop," he said in front of rows and rows of lettuce shoots.

Lettuce close to home:

Even without AI, a traditional greenhouse, or a vertical farm, would have addressed the issue of year-round growth. It's a route many are choosing to take; Canadian greenhouse lettuce production alone has quadrupled over the last decade, according to Statistics Canada.

Posted: May 10, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

- CBC -

Prime Minister Carney to name new cabinet Tuesday that could include tiered structure

Sources say PM is considering a smaller group of core ministers

Prime Minister Mark Carney was first sworn in on March 14. His new cabinet will be sworn in on Tuesday morning following the Liberal election win last month

Prime Minister Mark Carney's new cabinet is expected to be larger than his first, but could include a tiered structure with a secondary ring of ministers.

Rideau Hall announced Friday that Carney and his cabinet will be sworn in Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in Ottawa by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon.

Three Liberal sources tell CBC News that one of the options Carney's considering is selecting a core group of senior ministers and a secondary group of ministers of state.

Posted: May 09, 2025 1:16 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 9

- CBC -

NATURE'S SOUNDS AND MUSIC:

🏞🍃~Tranquility and healing in the garden of Mother Gaia~🍃🏞

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNMuUoosTGk