fbpx
Sunday, July 13, 2025

US lays charges on Saudi-Canadian man accused of masterminding ISIS propaganda

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

A Saudi-Canadian accused of masterminding propaganda and being a soldier for ISIS has been charged by a US federal court with conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death. 

For years Mohammed Khalifa was a leading propagandist for the terror group. Initially Khalifa, who also went by the moniker Abu Ridwan, was arrested by Syrian Democratic Forces in January 2019.

Since then, Khalifa has been transferred into the custody of the FBI and moved to the Eastern District of Virginia. 

“As alleged, Mohammed Khalifa not only fought for ISIS on the battlefield in Syria, but he was also the voice behind the violence,” said Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

“Through his alleged leading role in translating, narrating, and advancing ISIS’s online propaganda, Khalifa promoted the terrorist group, furthered its worldwide recruitment efforts, and expanded the reach of videos that glorified the horrific murders and indiscriminate cruelty of ISIS.”

The 38-year-old has indicated in the past that he hopes to return to Canada but does not want to be tried by Canadian courts. 

Throughout his tenure narrating English videos for ISIS, Khalifa’s voice could be heard overlayed on many gruesome execution-style videos. 

Authorities believe that Khalifa initially left Toronto where he was living to join ISIS in 2013. By 2014, the man was already working for ISIS’s Media Bureau due to his language skills in English and Arabic. 

Prosecutors allege that Khalifa played a big role in inciting terrorists to conduct attacks on the West and actively recruiting Western sympathizers to join the group. 

It is believed that Khalifa participated in the narration and translation of 15 propaganda videos. 

The Canadian government has yet to charge Khalifa with any crimes. 

If convicted in the US, Khalifa could face life imprisonment. 

Canada must convince countries rejecting mixed-dose travellers: Travel association

By
Jonathan Bradley
-
Credit: Pexels

Millions of Canadians followed the advice of the federal government and decided to mix their COVID-19 vaccines. However, many of these vaccinated individuals may now be turned away at certain borders or mandated to quarantine in other countries.

The Canadian government has the daunting task of convincing skeptical countries to allow Canadians who have received a mixed course of COVID-19 vaccines to travel across their borders. The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) says it may be a difficult task, but Canada has to try.

The director at ACTA Richard Vanderlubbe said Canada should feel obliged to deal with countries rejecting Canadians who have taken mixed vaccines. 

“The problem we have here in Canada is that we’re one of the few places that have really done this in any significant way, and Canada is a tiny travel market compared to the whole world,” said Vanderlubbe. 

There are about 3.9 million fully vaccinated Canadians who have received two different vaccines, not including people from Quebec where data on mixed vaccines is unavailable. About 1.5 million of these Canadians received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and then a second dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. 

Several countries, such as the USA, only recognize people with two identical doses of an approved vaccine as fully vaccinated. Oxford-AstraZeneca is not on the list of approved vaccines in certain countries. 

The Canadian government is expected to release information about a standardized vaccine passport for international travel in the coming weeks.

Vanderlubbe said people who mix vaccines might be annoyed about not being able to travel once mandatory vaccine rules are passed around the world. 

“I’m sure the frustration will rise, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has presented evidence on the effectiveness of mixing vaccines to the USA and other major travel destinations. 

Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam said at a press conference on Sept. 24 that Canada has been active in spreading information about the effectiveness of mixing vaccines. 

“They have not used AstraZeneca vaccines in the U.S. and certainly not a mixed-dose schedule,” said Tam. “As a result, they don’t have domestically-generated information on that front.”

New rules in the US would allow fully vaccinated people to enter the country. Canadians who have received mixed vaccines would be unable to travel to the US as early as November when the new rules come into effect. 

The Canada-US land border is set to remain closed until at least October. Canada continues to advise against all non-essential travel. 

Tam said she hopes other countries will recognize the vaccine status of Canadians who received two doses of any domestically-approved vaccine. Some European countries are starting to recognize mixed doses because they followed a similar approach to Canada. 

“We still have to advise travellers that they must check in with the specific country requirements prior to travel because it is a bit of a varied landscape out there, but we’re doing everything we can to facilitate that recognition,” she said.

People travelling to Canada who meet vaccine requirements are exempt from mandatory quarantine upon arrival, but they need to have taken a vaccine approved by Health Canada. 

Canada has struggled with vaccine procurement at times. In February, when more than half of all Israelis had taken a vaccine, Canada had two per cent of the population vaccinated. The Canadian government fell so far behind in vaccinating people at one point that they tapped into a global vaccine sharing pool meant for poorer, developing countries. 

FUREY: China continues to pose a serious threat to Canada

By
Anthony Furey
-

While it’s great news that the two Michaels are back in Canada, China still poses a serious threat to our country and our allies.

Canadians need to pay close attention to the conflict in the South China Sea as tensions between Communist China and the democratic state of Taiwan continue to increase.

Anthony Furey discusses in his latest video.

Taxpayers group claims carbon taxes are contributing to soaring gas prices

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is raising the alarm about the high gas prices at the pumps and how the carbon tax is making things worse for Canadians. 

“Drivers are feeling the pain of high gas prices and taxes are making things much worse,” said CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano in a Wednesday news release. 

“More than a third of the price of gas is actually tax in many provinces. In fact, Canadians even have to pay taxes on top of taxes when they fill up the tank.”

Gas prices across the country have increased in recent weeks. Currently, gas prices in Toronto average $1.40 per litre, while in Vancouver consumers are paying $1.59 per litre at the pumps.

According to estimates, taxes contributed anywhere from 31% to 42% of the cost of gasoline depending on the province. 

“Taxes already cost Canadians big time at the pumps and that tax bill will only grow with carbon tax hikes,” said Terrazzano. 

“If politicians want to improve affordability and lower prices at the pumps, then they need to provide tax relief.”

By 2030, the carbon tax will contribute about 40 cents per litre of gasoline on top of other taxes. Additionally, other provinces like British Columbia and Quebec have their own provincial carbon pricing scheme which also contributes to the price of gas.

Despite pledging to undo Trudeau’s carbon tax if elected, Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole flip-flopped on his position ahead of the election in a failed attempt to lure Liberal and progressive voters. 

O’Toole reversed his position despite signing a pledge with the CTF to implement “no carbon tax” if elected. 

CBC employees asked to report vaccination status by end of October

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

The CBC has asked its employees to report their vaccination status by the end of this month while the crown corporation reviews Wednesday’s mandatory vaccination announcement for federal workers.

In a statement given to True North by CBC/Radio-Canada Director of Media Relations Leon Mar, the broadcaster noted that it plans to comply with the order. 

“We are currently reviewing the information available regarding this morning’s announcement. We expect that other Crown Corporations will be asked to mirror the federal government’s policy in their own operations. We have already told employees that they are required to report their vaccination status by the end of this month. This information will help us make additional decisions about mandatory vaccination and how to operationalize it,” Mar wrote in an emailed statement. 

“In the meantime, we continue to recommend employees follow public health recommendations and to encourage those who can to get vaccinated. We will continue to comply with provincial and federal public health directives as they evolve.”

The statement indicates a shift in approach to the broadcaster’s former position on mandatory vaccinations. 

In August, as exclusively reported by True North, the CBC stated that COVID-19 vaccination was a “personal decision” for each of its employees to make and that at the time it was not being required from its workers. 

“At present, vaccination is a personal decision for each employee to make,” Mar said at the time. 

On Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that all public servants will be required to be vaccinated by the end of October. Additionally, all federally-regulated industries including airlines and rail companies will be required to implement their own policies by the end of the month. 

Workers who refuse to comply with the orders will be put on unpaid leave. 

During the announcement, Trudeau made no mention of high rates of vaccine hesitancy among black and Indigenous Canadians, who will be negatively impacted by the policies. 

According to Statistics Canada, black Canadians have some of the lowest willingness to take COVID-19 vaccines (56.6%). 2020 data shows that black Canadians make up 3.5% of the federal workforce.

O’Toole blames Trudeau’s divisive campaign for CPC loss

By
Candice Malcolm
-

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole will survive this week as leader, but did he learn anything from his loss? Did he learn anything from Tuesday’s caucus meeting?

Candice Malcolm says no, he didn’t. In fact, yesterday he said “the simple reason” why the CPC lost the election is because “Trudeau used the pandemic to divide Canadians. We did not.”

O’Toole doesn’t seem to be learning any of the right lessons from this election. 

We go through key Conservative MPs statements from outside of yesterday’s caucus meetings and talk about why the Tories are leaving O’Toole in as leader.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CANDICE MALCOLM SHOW

LEVY: How are we supposed to have faith in the government’s flawed COVID rules?

By
Sue-Ann Levy
-

While our Prime Minister was out in Tofino riding the waves on a little post-election holiday last weekend, I was being harassed non-stop by his public health police in the aftermath of my own birthday trip to New York City.

I travelled to the Big Apple for five days, returning Sept. 27. 

Two days before my wife and I boarded our Porter Air flight to Newark, we took the requisite antigen tests.

A few days later, we were given COVID PCR tests at a mobile site in New York City, the prerequisite to board our return flight and to re-enter Canada.

Both sets of tests were negative.

On my last morning in the Big Apple, I spent some time filling out the ArrCan app as well. I meticulously recorded the detailed questions about where and what date we got our first and second vaccine shots.

When we arrived at Billy Bishop Airport Monday evening with our vaccination cards, our negative test results and proof we’d filled the ArrCan app, we were whisked through.

But three days after our return, I started getting e-mails from the Public Health Agency of Canada, warning me I could be in big trouble if I didn’t quarantine for 14 days – and take COVID tests on the first and eighth days after my arrival.

This was followed by a similar email from the Ontario medical officer of health Kieran Moore.

Then the phone calls started. 

At first, thinking the 1-888 number was from telemarketers, we didn’t answer. 

But by Sunday the calls were persistent, coming almost every two hours.

Over the course of Sunday and Monday, I received 10 phone calls in total. 

When we answered the call Monday afternoon, a computer voice imperiously proceeded to force me through a series of questions about whether I’d remained in quarantine and taken my first day COVID test.

When I answered no to the test, the computer voice informed me I had not met the protocols and could be subject to a minimum $5,000 fine.

I suspected I was dealing with a similar situation to Lois Winstock about whom I’d written in early September after she too was harassed by the federal public health police upon returning home from a trip to North Carolina.

However, I was under the impression that the apparent glitch in the system would have been fixed by now.

After all, the Trudeau government changed the rules for fully vaccinated travellers two months ago on Aug. 9, lifting the requirement to quarantine for 14 days.

But I guess engaging in a $610-million useless election took priority over fixing anything.

Like Winstock, it was downright frustrating that I was being hassled by a computerized phone call, which did not permit me to advise anyone that they’d made a mistake.

The threats even made me wonder if I’d soon be receiving a knock on my door from the public health police.

Health Canada spokesman Anne Genier advised Tuesday that if a border services officer confirmed upon entering Canada that I qualified as a fully vaccinated traveller, I “should not receive further emails or notifications from ArriveCAN.”

Indeed there were no calls or emails on Tuesday.

But the e-mails and phone calls started up again with a vengeance Wednesday.

Genier gave no indication as to when this apparent glitch would be fixed.

However, if the Trudeau government can’t get these changes straight after two months – in which they had to deal with a smaller subset of Canadians travelling outside of the country – how can we expect them to handle their newest edict to provide proof of full vaccination before flying, taking the train or a cruise ship anywhere in Canada as of Oct. 30?

It’s easy to crow that Canada will have the “strongest” travel measures in the world – and threaten stiff penalties for non-compliance – as the Trudeau government did Wednesday.

The execution is quite a different matter.

China could invade Taiwan within four years, Taiwanese defence minister warns

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Taiwan fears that China could mount a “full-scale” assault on the island nation within four years.

The warning of an invasion by 2025 came from Taiwanese defence minister Chiu Kuo-cheng nearly a week after a record number of Chinese military planes buzzed Taiwan’s air defence zone. 

“With regards to staging an attack on Taiwan, they currently have the ability. But [China] has to pay the price,” said Chiu. 

“We will make preparations militarily. I think our military is like this — if we need to fight, we will be on the front lines.”

Last week, China sent 150 bombers, including planes with nuclear capabilities into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone. 

According to Chiu, it was “the most serious” provocation in the 40 years he’s served in the military. 

In response to the incident, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu stated that the country was “absolutely committed” to defend itself in the case of an invasion. 

“The defence of Taiwan is in our own hands, and we are absolutely committed to that,” Wu told ABC’s China Tonight program. 

“I’m sure that if China is going to launch an attack against Taiwan, I think they are going to suffer tremendously as well.”

Despite calls from the opposition in Canada to offer support to Taiwan, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has refused to take a strong stance on the conflict. 

Earlier this year, the Liberal government even went so far as to try and block Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen from receiving the prestigious Halifax International Security Forum’s 2020 John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service. 

Additionally, last month, Trudeau refused to offer support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Canadian Taxpayers Federation says Erin O’Toole has “credibility problem”

By
Andrew Lawton
-

Conservative leader Erin O’Toole proposed a carbon tax despite previously promising not to, and promised to balance the budget within a decade, but ran on a platform that had more spending than that of the Liberals. Canadian Taxpayers Federation federal director Franco Terrazzano says O’Toole has a “credibility problem” on fiscal issues that the Conservative Party of Canada needs to reckon with. He joined The Andrew Lawton Show to explain.

Watch the full episode of The Andrew Lawton Show.

Trudeau stayed in $18.8 million beachfront rental property for Truth and Reconciliation Day vacation

By
Jonathan Bradley
-

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided to mark the first National Truth and Reconciliation Day by hitting the beaches in Tofino, B.C., he stayed in a multimillion-dollar beachfront estate.

According to the Toronto Sun, the home that hosted Trudeau and his family last week is owned by a Calgary business executive. 

Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, a real estate agency, describes this rental house as a “surfer’s paradise.” Sotheby’s values this house at about $18.8 million. 

Trudeau arrived in Tofino for a four-day vacation on the same day as Canada commemorated the first National Truth and Reconciliation Day. The prime minister’s poorly-timed vacation garnered criticism from Indigenous groups, some of which extended invitations for him to mark the day with them. 

Union of BC Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart Phillip called Trudeau’s move a “slap in the face” of residential school survivors. 

“Given the fact this is a nationally recognized holiday in regards to truth and reconciliation, it would have been appropriate for the prime minister to fully acknowledge this day,” said Phillip.

Trudeau extended a private apology to Kamloops, BC, Tk’emlúps Nation Chief Rosanne Casimir on Sunday and on Wednesday, he told reporters that “travelling on September 30th was a mistake.”

The multimillion-dollar beachfront estate that Trudeau stayed in measures 5,987 square feet, and it is located on a 1.2-acre lot. 

Municipal land records from 2012 identify the property owner as a numbered corporation. The corporation’s website advertises itself as a “secure payment processing solution” for the cannabis industry. 

Dun & Bradstreet, a data and analytics business, lists the current owner’s husband as their main principal. 

The property has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms split between four buildings. The luxurious home features white oak and Italian tile flooring, recycled barn wood ceilings, accented walls, custom cabinetry, granite and quartz countertops inside the residence, boardwalks leading to every residence, the sandy beach and a beachfront private deck with a built-in firepit. 

The Prime Minister’s Office could not be reached for comment in time for publication of this article.

1...964965966...1,460Page 965 of 1,460

Related stories

© 2025 True North | Privacy Policy