Good morning. From Venezuela to Iran, demonstration and dissent reign. More on that below, as well as revisiting the WE Charity scandal and the weekend’s trips to outer space. Let’s get to it.
Graffiti depicts former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Sunday.Cristian Hernandez/The Associated Press
TOP STORY
Trump threatens to hold Venezuelan resources from Cuba
The latest: U.S. President Donald Trump said on the weekend that no more Venezuelan oil or money will go to Cuba. He suggested the long-time U.S. nemesis should strike a deal with Washington but provided no details. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel rejected the threat, suggesting the U.S. had no moral authority to force a deal on Cuba.
What’s next: Venezuela’s regime remains in place, but those who are part of an exiled opposition are assessing how they can work their way back and laying plans for how they can reshape the country.
Analysis: The nation of Simon Bolívar once believed oil would be its new liberator. Instead, it ruined them. Venezuelan exceptionalism has met its long-expected demise, writes Doug Saunders.
On business: Trump’s manoeuvres in Venezuela are creating a heightened geopolitical risk for Canadian businesses in the region.
On the ground: From the mountain metropolis of Bogotá, Colombians and Venezuelans reflect on Maduro’s fall in Caracas and worry what will come next.
This frame grab from video released Friday on social media shows protesters gathering in Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran.SOCIAL MEDIA/Reuters
World
Iran warns U.S. not to launch strikes
The latest: Protesters flooded the streets in Iran’s capital and its second-largest city over the weekend. A crackdown on the countrywide demonstrations has killed at least 490 people and even more are feared dead, activists said. With the internet down and phone lines cut off, gauging the protests from abroad has grown more difficult.
What’s next: Tehran warned that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators. Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by either U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions.
At home: Demonstrations were also held in several Canadian cities yesterday as Iranian Canadians speak out.
Timeline: What started as voicing frustration in an economic crisis has turned into anti-government anger. Read about the protests in Iran and how they grew.
Illustration by Kyle Smart
How We Live
Musicians and industry are out of sync on AI
The latest: After long opposition, the dynamic between the recorded-music industry and AI companies has started to warm up. The sector’s biggest companies have been settling legal battles with AI services and have even begun licensing their recording and publishing catalogues to them – yet many musicians continue to see AI as an existential threat to human expression.
What’s next: Canada’s songwriting royalty-collection organization, SOCAN, is in the early stages of wrangling with the messy output that AI generates, and the extent to which humans are involved. “We did this with digital. We’ve seen this with every single new tech. Things start slow; they start experimental,” said Jennifer Brown, SOCAN’s chief executive.
Illustrators can only imagine the surface of L 98-59 b, a rocky exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star, but NASA’s new Pandora mission hopes to get more evidence to deduce what’s really out there.Science Photo Library/Reuters
Space
Is there other life out there?
The latest: Once a matter of pure speculation, the question of life on other worlds has become serious science. Enter Pandora, a NASA mission aimed at answering this question. The satellite is stowed aboard a SpaceX rocket that lifted off yesterday morning in hopes that atmospheric conditions on several exoplanets can be studied in a meaningful way.
What else: Toronto-based aerospace company Kepler Communications Inc. also launched 10 satellites on Sunday, cementing its position as the operator of the largest fleet of Canadian-built spacecraft to date.
What’s next: In a rare move, NASA cancelled its first spacewalk of the year after an astronaut had a medical issue. The space agency said on social media that it will work to have the crew touch back down on Earth early Thursday morning.
Justice
The Supreme Court revisits WE Charity scandal
The latest: A pandemic-era political scandal lands at the Supreme Court of Canada this week. The WE charity summer jobs program and conflict-of-interest accusations are back in view as the top court considers the limits of citizens’ ability to challenge some government decisions.
Context: Democracy Watch, an advocacy group, believes then-prime minister Justin Trudeau was in a real, not apparent, conflict of interest, and fought at the Federal Court of Appeal to challenge the Ethics Commissioner’s decision. The group lost in 2024. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case last May.
What’s next: The stakes are high with the potential to set a precedent. According to lawyers at Dentons, in a review of the Democracy Watch case last July, a successful challenge could fundamentally change administrative law.
Bookmarked
- At home: WestJet staff, passengers raise concerns over cramped seats after video goes viral.
- Abroad: Hamas says it will dissolve Gaza government when new Palestinian body takes charge as violence strains ceasefire.
- On the streets: Hundreds more ICE officers deployed to Minnesota as protests erupt across U.S.
- Online: Grok’s AI-generated sexualized images of girls and women underscore struggle to regulate social media.
- For your finances: Almost every stock is pricey these days. Here are a few cheap(ish) options.
- Conversation starter: Looksmaxxing is a Gen Z boy’s way to compensate for a lack of control in a world that has pushed them aside.
The Quote
We got more than money. To meet your favourite artist and discover that he’s a very nice person, better than you thought he was going to be – that was everything.
— Rob Frith, owner of Neptoon Records in Vancouver
Rob Frith found a lost Beatles audition tape, so he decided to give it back to Paul McCartney.
The Shot
Zoë Kravitz, left, and Dave Franco, right, hug Seth Rogen during the 83rd Golden Globes Sunday.Kevork Djansezian/The Associated Press
The best, worst and most Heated Rivalry moments from the 2026 Golden Globes awards show turned gambling ad.