Kemi Badenoch says she no longer considers herself Nigerian
Speaking to Gyles Brandreth's Rosebud podcast, the Conservative leader, who was born in London and raised in Lagos and the United States, said: 'I'm Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents, but by identity I'm not really."
Ms Badenoch explained she felt "home is where my now family is'.
The Tory politician was born in Wimbledon in 1980 before her parents took her home to Nigeria.
She was one of the last people to receive birthright citizenship because she was born in the UK before these rules were abolished by Margaret Thatcher the following year.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Why more fentanyl production could be moving to Canada
Although there's no evidence of any significant flows of fentanyl into the United States from Canada, an American authority on 'criminal supply chains' warned Friday that that could change abruptly if U.S. efforts to better seal its border with Mexico are successful. Jonathan Caulkins, who researches supply chains that support illegal markets for the Manhattan Institute think tank and Carnegie Mellon University. said the drug cartels that control the North American fentanyl trade may well shift large chunks of their operations to Canada if the northern border becomes the path of least resistance. Caulkins, the co-author behind a recent Manhattan Institute study of fentanyl supply chains, said the cartels are sophisticated, mobile and will adjust quickly if their cross-border routes are choked. 'They're not trying (now), but they sure could,' he said in an interview hours after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to increase tariffs on some Canadian exports (those products that aren't captured by the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement) to the U.S. to 35 per cent from 25 per cent. Those tariffs, which kicked in earlier Friday, were necessary, according to Trump, because Canada has failed to co-operate with U.S. efforts to curb 'the ongoing flood of fentanyl and other illicit drugs.' Candace Laing, chief executive of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said Trump's fact sheet on the tariffs should be called a 'fact-less sheet' when it comes to using fentanyl as a justification for trade decisions about Canada. 'More fact-less tariff turbulence does not advance North American economic security,' she said. In the Manhattan Institute study, Caulkins and colleague Bishu Giri found that the vast majority of the fentanyl entering the U.S. from within North America is coming from Mexico, not Canada. They used new data from 2023–24 to show that about 40 per cent of the large seizures of fentanyl in the U.S. occurred in counties along the Mexican border, while just 1.2 per cent of the fentanyl powder and 0.5 per cent of pills along the Canadian border. To effectively combat the problem, the researchers wrote, law enforcement and legislators need to begin with accurate information. Caulkins said that fentanyl producers in Mexico and Canada are different in that the Canadian operations tend to produce opioids from imports that are nearly completely assembled with just the finishing ingredients added here, while the cartels in Mexico assemble all the ingredients to make opioids in that country to export to the U.S. In both cases, he said, the imports are believed to come mostly from China, although India may also be a source. Since Trump first raised the allegation earlier this year about fentanyl 'pouring' into the U.S. from its northern neighbour, Canada has taken a number of steps to combat the flow of illegal drugs, and to be seen to be doing so, into the U.S. The steps included: reinforcing the Canada-U.S. border with additional technology, helicopters and personnel; allocating $78.7 million to expand Health Canada's regulatory capabilities; increasing co-ordination with American law enforcement counterparts; hiring a fentanyl 'czar'; and launching consultations on improving crackdowns, as well as tabling Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act to give Ottawa more law-enforcement powers. Kevin Brosseau, the fentanyl czar, was not made available for an interview this week, but in an interim report released in June he pointed out that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data show that only 0.1 per cent of fentanyl seizures at U.S. borders are at the Canada-U.S. border, far less than the flow of illegal narcotics into Canada from the U.S. One thing that the players in the fight against illicit drugs seem to agree on is that the problem requires a multi-faceted response that addresses the border, legislative changes, money laundering and other financial angles, and enforcement that targets both precursors and fentanyl itself. The RCMP also declined an interview this week, but stated in an email that it intends to hit organized crime 'harder and faster' and that one of its priorities is to work with industry to prevent the diversion of precursors that are used to make fentanyl. Jamie Tronnes, executive director for the Center for North American Prosperity and Security, the U.S.-based office of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said Canada seems to be doing a good job of cracking down on the fentanyl trade, and ensuring that those efforts are seen by Trump and others in the White House. 'I believe that Canada is doing everything it can to demonstrate it's taking it seriously,' Tronnes said. She said Canada could focus more, however, on money laundering and other international financial crimes. Darren Gibb, head of communications at the Financial Transactions and Report Analysis Centre (FINTRAC), which works with police and financial institutions to target crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing, said hiding profits from illegal activities such as fentanyl production isn't easy. 'It's their Achilles' heel,' he said of the drug cartels. National Post stuck@ Trump signs executive order to start 35% tariffs on Friday Contrary to Trump's claims, Canadian border is not major source of fentanyl, U.S. report says Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
American Victims of Hamas and Hezbollah Attacks Sue U.N. Agency
Victims and relatives of people killed or injured in attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah have sued the United Nations agency dedicated to Palestinians, accusing it of aiding the armed groups and fueling terrorism. The lawsuit suit was filed on Thursday in federal court in the District of Columbia by American citizens living in Israel and the United States and their family members. A similar case has been playing out since last year in federal court in Manhattan. Both suits are attempting to hold the United Nations Relief and Work Agency, known as UNRWA, responsible in some measure for violent acts by Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, groups dedicated to the destruction of Israel that have been designated terrorist organizations by the United States. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages, both compensatory and punitive. Israel has long maintained that UNRWA has been infiltrated by militants and is biased against Israel in the war in Gaza, an accusation U.N. officials have denied. The agency has been at the center of controversy during the conflict, which was set off by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. In the New York case, lawyers for the U.N. agency have argued it is exempt from such suits because it has diplomatic immunity. The Biden administration supported that position, but in April, lawyers in President Trump's Justice Department reversed the government's stance, paving the way for the latest lawsuit. Some analysts say the Justice Department's new position could open the door not only to more civil cases seeking damages from the agency, but also to the Treasury Department's imposing sanctions on it. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Trade Fueled Inequality. Can Trump's Tariffs Reduce It?
During the three-decade heyday of globalization, goods and money ping-ponged their way to every corner of the world, generating stupendous amounts of wealth, trade and technological innovation. At the same time, the wealthiest countries experienced startling rises in inequality at home. In the United States, where the gap between the rich and everyone else is among the highest in the world, some of those hit hardest were working people without college degrees. Now, free trade believers are swimming against the tide. President Trump has raised tariffs to their highest levels in nearly a century. The president doesn't talk much about inequality. But his animating argument for tariffs — that they will pressure companies to bring well-paid manufacturing jobs back to America — is pitched to those workers who felt left behind and neglected. So, will the tariffs reduce inequality? Probably not, and here's why. Hyper globalization certainly contributed to America's rising inequality. Consumers saved hundreds of dollars on the cost of televisions, shoes and comforters. But many middle-class livelihoods and communities were destroyed when factories either relocated to countries where wages were lower or went bust because they couldn't compete with cheap imports. China's entry into the global marketplace at the beginning of this century delivered a major wallop. Between 1999 and 2011, Chinese imports were directly responsible for the loss of 2.4 million American jobs, according to researchers. It is true that more jobs were created, but many of them did not pay as well as those that were eliminated, nor were they taken by the workers who lost out. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
