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Hard Numbers: Israel evacuations, high-flying drama with China, digital tax forecast, beer o’clock
Arriving Royal Canadian Air Force flight, evacuating Canadian nationals and other nationalities from Israel
Reuters
October 19, 2023
1,300: At least 1,300 Canadian citizens have been evacuated from Israel over the past two weeks. Two remain missing and may be among the hostages taken by Hamas during their Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel. Thirty-one Canadians have been evacuated from the occupied West Bank. Thirteen Americans remain missing as well.
5: Some high-altitude drama this week as Canada accused a “dangerous and reckless” Chinese warplane of coming within five meters of a Canadian surveillance aircraft in the skies off the Chinese coast. The Canadian plane, reportedly in international airspace, was part of a UN operation that looks for violations of sanctions against North Korea.
7.2 billion: Canada’s digital services tax, set to come into force next year, would raise $7.2 billion in its first five years, according to a government analysis. Canada is going ahead with the tax – which would force tech companies providing services in Canada to pay taxes there even though they are based elsewhere – despite stiff resistance from the US, which is (not coincidentally) home to many of the tech giants affected.
2: From my cold, drunken hands! Some US lawmakers are up in arms this week after the Biden administration’s “alcohol czar” suggested the US might adopt Canada’s new health guidelines, which recommend that adults consume no more than 2 alcoholic drinks a week. The current US guidelines are ok with two drinks a day. The science is the science, we guess, but after the past few weeks, the US guidelines sound just fine to us.
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended a meeting of the European Political Community in Armenia this weekend, a first by the leader of a non-European country. He was invited to discuss common interests in trade, energy, and security. In a speech that echoed his address to the World Economic Forum in Davos two months earlier, Carney called on middle powers, including Canada and European nations, to work together in the wake of disruption of the established world order — implicitly pointing to the United States. “It’s my strong personal view that the international order will be rebuilt,” he told the crowd in Yerevan, “but it will be rebuilt out of Europe.”
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s government fell after losing a no-confidence vote, putting Romania’s access to EU recovery funds – worth approximately $13 billion – at risk.
Natalie Johnson
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s government fell after losing a no-confidence vote, putting Romania’s access to EU recovery funds – worth approximately $13 billion – at risk. The country, which has the largest budget deficit in the EU, has to complete the bloc’s mandated economic reforms by August to unlock the funds. But with its country’s pro-EU government pushed out, those reforms are uncertain.
One year after announcing its European digital commitments, Microsoft shared an update on progress across the region, highlighting new investments and expanded infrastructure to support AI adoption, strengthen resilience, and protect data. As demand for AI grows, organizations across Europe are increasingly focused on digital sovereignty, seeking greater control over data, stronger security, and assurance that critical systems remain available amid geopolitical uncertainty. Microsoft’s latest update outlines progress across key areas, including cloud expansion, cybersecurity, and privacy protections, helping enable AI and cloud adoption at scale while aligning with European regulations and priorities. Read the full update here.
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