Read Maple - 18/06/2025 Update

51st state... again?? Tensions escalate in the Middle East.

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Read Maple
June 18, 2025

🌎 Headlines

  • He’s demanding Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, claims the U.S. knows Ayatollah Khamenei’s whereabouts (but won’t strike him “for now”), and is directing more military assets to the region, showing an openness for more U.S. involvement in the situation.

  • Trump’s supporters in Congress are divided over U.S. involvement in the conflict.

  • Stop me if you’ve heard this one before… Trump still wants Canada to be a 51st state.

  • After leaving the G7 Summit, Trump hinted Canada could get a much better deal (aka, no-cost option) if it just surrendered to being the 51st state.

  • PM Mark Carney is hopeful that a deal will get done within 30 days. Trump says PM Carney is looking for more “complex” deals where the U.S. is looking for simplicity and speed.

  • Trump also added Canada faces a $71-billion entry fee if it wants to partake in the “Golden Dome” project.

🇨🇦 Canadian Headlines

BY THE NUMBERS

  • Per Spark Advocacy’s polling, PM Mark Carney’s approval ratings are going up. His approval rating is now 67%.

  • Per Nanos, Pierre Poilievre hits a new personal low on “preferred PM” tracking since being voted into CPC leadership.

  • Retirement? A new survey by HOOPP revealed 59% of “unretired” Canadians will never be able to retire due to finances.

  • $4.3-billion. The amount that Canada has pledged in new support for Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia.

OTHER STORIES

  • Conservative MP, Damien Kurek, officially resigned from his Alberta seat to pave the way for Pierre Polievre to run in a byelection and find his way back into Parliament. This comes off Poilievre losing his Carleton seat to Bruce Fanjoy. The Battle River-Crowfoot Alberta seat is considered a safe Conservative seat (but just imagine?).

  • The Liberals will not split Bill C-5. The bill, aimed at opening up internal trade barriers and fast tracking major projects, will have support from the Conservative Party to move through. The Bloc had called for the bill to be split to further evaluate fast tracking major projects.

  • A new Federal EV program is in the works, according to Environment Minister, Julie Dabrushin. The program, originally launched in 2019, was “so popular it ran out of funding.”

STANLEY CUP FINALS

  • The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers in game 6 to win their 2nd consecutive Stanley Cup, while defeating the Oilers both those times. Sam Reinhart scored 4 goals in a 5-1 victory. Sam Bennett came away with the Conn Smythe as the leading goal scorer in the playoffs.

🗞️ MORE HEADLINES

  • WhatsApp will introduce ads. Yes, ads in their messaging app.

    • The claim is that private chats are still private as the ads will live in the Updates tab. Anyone else can’t help but have a “for now…” feeling to this story?

  • Tesla’s stock went up as U.S. eases self-driving regulations.

    • The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is streamlining the exemption process for self-driving without steering wheels or brake pedals. Yes, one day you may share the road with a car with no brake pedal and no driver.

  • X sues New York in an attempt to hide the hate.

    • A New York law requires social media platforms to disclose how they deal with hate. X argues that the state is trying to get involved and censor content that the state dislikes. Sigh…

  • The Trump Phone.

    • Not one to miss an opportunity to monetize the Presidency, the Trump family is getting into the mobile phone business with a gold phone worth $499, and the “47” plan will cost users $47.45 a month.

  • Victoria’s Secret Purge

    • Activist investors are intent on giving Victoria’s Secret board a makeover after seeing share value drop by 57% since June 2021. This comes out to a loss of $2.4-billion.

😊 SOMETHING NICE

  • Sienna is still available, for free, for a forever home. ❤️

🤔 INCASE YOU MISSED IT