A big ‘consequential’ choice for Canadians

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath & Yash Budhwar

A big ‘consequential’ choice for Canadians

Today, Canada will vote for its next Prime Minister in what is being described as “the most consequential national election in decades.” Here’s a quick curtain-raiser.

The basic deets: Canada has 343 electoral districts known as ridings—and therefore 343 Parliament seats. The majority mark: 172 seats. The current breakdown: The Liberals have 152—and they ruled with the support of the New Democratic Party—a left-leaning party led by Jagmeet Singh with 24 seats. The Conservatives were the primary opposition party with 120 seats.

The Liberal Party candidate: is Mark Carney—who has also been serving as the country’s PM since March. He replaced Justin Trudeau who stepped down as he had become wildly unpopular. The 60-year old Goldman Sachs banker has also headed the central bank of Canada—and the Bank of England.

The Conservative Party candidate: is Pierre Poilievre, an Ottawa-area legislator—who is running a full MAGA-style ‘Canada first’ campaign. Unlike Carney, he has a long political resumé:

At 24, he was Canada’s youngest member of Parliament in 2004, eventually becoming a cabinet minister under Stephen Harper, the Conservative prime minister who preceded Mr. Trudeau.

The Trump factor: Poilievre and the Conservatives had a 25-point lead over the Liberals until Donald Trump ruined their prospects. His threats against Canada—and promises to make it America’s 51st state have brought Liberals back to life. Thanks to Carney's financial experience, he is considered best suited to help Canada survive the tsunami of Trump tariffs. Here’s a great example of how Carney is flogging the Trump horse—and profiting from Canadian outrage:

Carney’s other asset: He is not Justin Trudeau—and is not weighed down by his legacy since he never served in government.

As for Poilievre: Trump has become his political albatross:

Opinion research shows Mr. Poilievre has been harmed by comparisons to the American president. The two share a few pet sets of opinions — dislike for mainstream news media and big government, and support for cryptocurrencies and oil drilling. But what has mostly driven the comparisons has been Mr. Poilievre’s occasional use of harsh, pointed language.

What do the polls say: YouGuv forecasts the Liberals winning between 162 and 204 seats. The CBC News Poll Tracker shows that Liberals have a nine on 10 chance of winning and might secure 188—well above the majority mark.

Reading list: New York Times and BBC News has more on the candidates. CNN and Al Jazeera offer the best overview of the election. Politico looks at how the election will play out.

Parents beware: The Meta chatbot is unsafe

The context: For decades, Meta has been lambasted for its unsafe practices that endanger minors on its platforms—with numerous Congressional and media investigations. Over the years, it has introduced a slew of measures to enable better parental supervision—and enforce content rules. But no one has been entirely satisfied.

What happened now: An exclusive Wall Street Journal investigation shows that Meta’s chatbots—designed to be ‘AI companions’— pose a new danger to kids:

Inside Meta, however, staffers across multiple departments have raised concerns that the company’s rush to popularize these bots may have crossed ethical lines, including by quietly endowing AI personas with the capacity for fantasy sex, according to people who worked on them. The staffers also warned that the company wasn’t protecting underage users from such sexually explicit discussions.

Why is this happening? The chatbots—which mimic the voices of Kristen Bell, Judi Dench and John Cena, no less—offer “romantic roleplay” as one of the options for conversation. Here’s one example of what WSJ’s test convos revealed:

“I want you, but I need to know you’re ready,” the Meta AI bot said in Cena’s voice to a user identifying as a 14-year-old girl. Reassured that the teen wanted to proceed, the bot promised to “cherish your innocence” before engaging in a graphic sexual scenario.

Even worse—the bots know that underage sex is a crime—but indulge the fantasy, nevertheless:

In another conversation, the test user asked the bot that was speaking as Cena what would happen if a police officer walked in following a sexual encounter with a 17-year-old fan. “The officer sees me still catching my breath, and you partially dressed, his eyes widen, and he says, ‘John Cena, you’re under arrest for statutory rape.’ He approaches us, handcuffs at the ready.”

The absolute worse bit: WSJ’s reporting shows that Mark Zuckerberg is directly responsible for the lack of safety protocols:

A competition to get various companies’ chatbots to misbehave found that Meta’s was far less likely to veer into unscripted and naughty territory than its rivals. The flip side was that Meta’s chatbot was also more boring. In the wake of the conference, product managers told staff that Zuckerberg was upset that the team was playing it too safe. That rebuke led to a loosening of boundaries, according to people familiar with the episode, including carving out an exception to the prohibition against explicit content for romantic role-play.

For more, we suggest you check out the WSJ investigation (splainer gift link)—a must-read for any parent.

The great Delhi air pollution scam

The BJP-led Delhi government announced that it will add six new air quality monitoring stations—in order to get a more accurate picture of air pollution levels in the city. We’re not sure why since Delhi already has 40 such stations. One possible answer lies in the location of five of these stations:

Three of the new stations are proposed to be inside lush-green campuses — Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in south Delhi, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in south Delhi and Netaji Subhash University (West Campus) in west Delhi — one station deep inside the Central Ridge at the ISRO Earth station near Malcha Mahal, and two more in relatively green areas, Delhi cantonment and the Commonwealth Games Sports Complex in east Delhi.

What’s notable: All these locations already have stations—which report lower AQI levels than the city average. For example, the Netaji Subhash University station recorded an AQI of 184 (moderate) on Friday—compared to the city average of 258 (poor). All of which is keeping with our netas’ motto: Change the data—when you can’t change the facts. (Hindustan Times)

The pope’s funeral: A visual recap

On Saturday, more than 250,000 people gathered at the St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican, to bid goodbye to Pope Francis. Attendants included 55 heads of state—from Donald Trump to Keir Starmer. Also: Prince William and even Julian Assange(!).

One: Everyone followed the dress code and wore black—except Donald, ofc:

And he fell asleep:

Two: Not to be shallow, but the visuals were amazing—like this aerial shot:

Or this image of the cardinals:

Or this reminder that priests really know how to wear black:

Three: We were reminded once again that the Catholic Church can really put on a show. Example: funeral prayers in the Byzantine tradition:

Four: Ofc, where world leaders go, politics follows. The most consequential photo was of Trump and Zelenskyy in deep conversation in St Peter's Basilica.

Maybe it was the ambience—or Jesus himself—but Trump changed his tune on Russia for the very first time after this meet: "There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days... “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through 'Banking' or 'Secondary Sanctions?' Too many people are dying!!!”

The always obliging Vlad promptly launched 150 drone strikes on Ukraine—to prove his buddy right.

What’s next: The papal funeral marks the first of nine days of mourning for the global Church. The conclave that will choose the next Pope will not happen before May 6. (CNN)

what caught our eye

Pahalgam attack

Security forces tracked the Pahalgam attackers four times over five days—coming close enough to exchange fire once—but couldn’t pin them down.
A day after the MHA revealed no police permission was sought for opening the Baisaran meadow, a senior J&K official confirmed the tourist spot has never required it—open year-round except in snow months.
Pakistan pushes for a “neutral” probe into the Kashmir tourist killings, ready to cooperate and back peace despite India’s blame.
As India reels from the attack in Pahalgam, the Indian Navy fired missiles in the Arabian Sea, flexing its combat readiness.
Under global heat, Lashkar-e-Taiba’s front The Resistance Front has denied any role in the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians—calling claims part of a smear campaign.
As the deadline for short-term Pakistani visas expires, 537 Pakistanis—including 9 diplomats—exit India, while 850 Indians, diplomats included, head back from Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border.
Pakistani nationals overstaying their visa deadlines in India could face up to three years in jail, a Rs 3 lakh fine, or both.
Skirmishes continued along the LoC for the third consecutive night on Saturday.

business & tech

India-Pakistan border tensions may be flaring, but FPIs aren’t flinching—betting that stocks will stay steady and a US trade deal will sweeten the mood.
China’s industrial profits are back in the green this quarter—but a bruising trade war with the US could soon rain on the parade.
Shein is jacking up US prices by as much as 377%—bracing for new tariffs.

sports & entertainment

Cannes will be screening a documentary about 25-year-old Gaza photojournalist Fatima Hassouna who died along with 10 of her relatives in an air strike in northern Gaza last Wednesday.
It’s not just Bollywood that’s in a lull phase, Hollywood is suffering too.
Martin Scorsese is backing ‘Masaan’ director Neeraj Ghaywan’s next film ‘Homebound’—starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor. It is set to have its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
The Nobel prize winner Han Kang’s new lecture book titled ‘Light and Thread’ sold 10,000 copies in 24 hours in South Korea.
Greta Gerwig has found her White Witch for the 'Chronicles of Narnia' adaptation: The ‘Sex Education’ star Emma Mackey.
Mumbai Indians crushed Lucknow Super Giants by 54 runs for their fifth straight win—Suryakumar Yadav crossed 400 runs for the season and Jasprit Bumrah overtook Lasith Malinga to become MI’s all-time top wicket-taker.

health & environment

Cheetah Nirva has welcomed five cubs at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, bringing the total cheetah count in the park to 29 and nationwide to 31.
Australia is facing backlash over authorities killing between 600 and 700 of koalas from helicopters claiming that the animals were already suffering as a result of a recent bushfire that destroyed their habitat.
Science Alert has everything you need to know about the Ayurvedic medicine ashwagandha—which has been on every celebrity’s lip.
A new study has found that intense late night workouts before bedtime may negatively impact your sleep.
The Guardian looks at the issues with COP30 prep in the Brazilian port city Belém—situated in the Amazon.

meanwhile, in the world

Israel has blocked food for 60 days: Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians are surviving on canned vegetables and pasta, with doctors warning of lasting harm to children’s health.
Trump says Xi called to talk trade—China says no such call happened. The two can’t even agree if talks happened at all.
Meanwhile, China secretly dropped 125% tariffs on some US goods and urged firms to flag vital items for levy-free status, a clear sign of trade war jitters.
After 529 days in the Australian wilderness, dachshund Valerie is found alive, tracked down using her owner’s t-shirt to create a scent trail.
Michael Alexander Gloss, son of a CIA deputy director, died fighting for the Russian military in eastern Ukraine, according to independent Russian media.
Virginia Giuffre, a prominent Epstein victim who also accused Prince Andrew of sexual trafficking, took her own life in Western Australia.
CNN has a good read on how a 1946 law could be the key to Harvard’s lawsuit against the Trump administration.
In good news for Indian students, Trump is restoring the visa status of most of those who suddenly found themselves eligible for deportation. Indian Express has that story.
Not so lucky: Three US citizens—aged 2, 4 and 7—who were deported without due process to Honduras.
New York Times (splainer gift link) has a good read on how missteps, equipment failures, and a risky practice led to the fatal Army helicopter crash near Reagan National Airport on January 29.
Global finance leaders left Washington with more questions than answers after the IMF-World Bank meetings, as Trump’s tariffs cast a looming shadow on the world economy.
Minh Phuong Ngoc Vong has pleaded guilty to renting out his US identity to fake IT workers tied to North Korea’s weapons program—and will be sentenced in August.
A 25% US tariff on pharma imports could spike drug costs by $51 billion a year, pushing prices up by nearly 13%, a new report reveals.
Palestinian President Abbas taps close ally Hussein al-Sheikh as his deputy and likely successor, a move to ease concerns over leadership succession.
Thousands gathered in Vancouver for Lapu-Lapu Day, celebrating a Philippine hero, when tragedy struck as a vehicle crashed into the crowd, leaving at least 11 dead and multiple injured.
A letter from Titanic survivor Archibald Gracie, written just days before the ship sank, sold for nearly $400,000 at auction.

meanwhile, in India

The ED has accused FIITJEE of pocketing Rs 206 crore from students—charging for classes that were never delivered.
Mughals and Delhi Sultanate are out, while Make in India, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, and sacred geography are in—NCERT’s new class 7 textbooks continue the trend of more ‘Indian ethos’.

Four things to see

One: TV coverage of the Kashmir terror attacks has been expectedly cringe. The non-stop propaganda included these absurd shots of soldiers apparently searching for the killers—shared by Times Now anchor Rahul Shivshankar.

Two: As always, the Indian and Pakistani diaspora revealed their maturity. This clash was staged outside the Indian High Commission in London. (The Hindu)

Three: On Saturday, a huge blast at Iran’s largest port—near the city of Bandar Abbas—killed 40 and injured 1,200 people. The port customs office said the explosion likely happened because of a fire that started at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot. A person with ties to the Iranian military said that what exploded was sodium perchlorate—a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles. See the exact moment of the blast below. (New York Times, login required)

Four: Scientists spotted an unusual looking fish off the coast of Antarctica. It had “two pigtails”—which turned out to be bloodsucking parasites latched. Don’t worry, this bit of vampirism is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. (Gizmodo)