What We’re Watching: Canada’s government on the brink again, Far-right setback in the Netherlands, Iran’s capital city on the move?

Canada’s government could collapse next week

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s credibility took a serious hit after Ontario’s anti-tariff ad soured relations with US President Donald Trump and shut down trade talks. Elected in April on a promise to deliver a deal with Washington, Carney now faces a confidence vote on his first budget next Tuesday: if his minority government can’t get the votes to pass it, Canadians could be going to the polls again – that would make twice in one year.

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Far right takes a hit in Dutch election

The center left D66 party and the far-right Freedom Party of anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders tied atop the Dutch elections, each winning 26 seats. The result was a triumph for D66, which picked up 17 seats. PVV, meanwhile, dropped 11. Wilders won the 2023 election, but two years of chaotic, unstable government followed. Because D66 edged out PVV in the vote tally, it has first crack at forming a government. Its success or failure will help answer a key question: does the election result show the limits of the far-right’s appeal, or is it a temporary setback in Wilders’ otherwise steady rise?

Iran’s president wants to move the capital

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian wants to move the capital from bustling Tehran to a remote, sparsely populated province along the Gulf of Oman. Why? He says chronic water shortages can’t be solved and are hemming in the city’s growth. Experts say Iran lacks the money and infrastructure to make such a move right now, and that only a small fraction of people would relocate. Iran is currently suffering hyperinflation and a severe recession as the country's economy feels the pain of UN “snapback sanctions” that were implemented last month.