Alberta’s referendum to begin the process of seceding from Canada failed by a wide margin on Monday, keeping Canada’s oil wealth intact and delivering a major political win to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
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The American singer and writer Patti Smith, this year’s recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts, said Tuesday at a news conference following the ceremony in Oviedo, Spain that “sometimes it feels like we don’t have power, but we do have power,” and that what the U.S. needs right now is “for people to use that power, to rise up, think for ourselves and then unite.” She added that for her it is difficult to talk about her country’s current situation, describing it as having “deplorable leadership.”
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On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Arena,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) said President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are “fascists.” Host Kasie Hunt said, This is actually just in, some breaking news. So I’ll read it to you. The Wall Street
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Patti Smith (Chicago, 79 años) llegó a Oviedo el pasado domingo con ese aspecto de chamán de trenzas canosas y la colocaron delante del Hotel de la Reconquista acompañada de la tradicional banda de gaitas. Se han dado durante la historia de los premios curiosas estampas que nunca creeríamos: Serena Williams con los gaiteros, y Joan Manuel Serrat, y Haruki Murakami y, sobre todo, Meryl Streep, que fue la que mejor se lo pasó con los gaiteros, porque se echó un dancing.
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La estadounidense Patti Smith, premio Princesa de Asturias de las Artes, ha recordado este martes durante una rueda de prensa en Oviedo que “la gente tiene el poder, aunque a veces sientan que no es así” y en estos momentos lo que necesita EE UU es “que la gente use ese poder, que se levante, se una y vote”. Así, ha indicado que para ella es difícil hablar de la situación actual de su país, con “un liderazgo deplorable”.
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Alberta voters have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to begin the process of separating from Canada, with 77% opposing the initiative in unofficial results that strengthen Prime Minister Mark Carney’s push for national unity.
RELATED: Deadly Incident at Canadian Base Sparks Major Alberta Fire
With more than 1 million ballots counted, 23% supported the proposal, according to Elections Alberta. The October 19 referendum was not a direct vote on independence; approval would have set the province on a path toward a future vote on separation.
Carney welcomed the results, saying Albertans had chosen to remain part of Canada and that the outcome would allow the country to pursue an ambitious economic agenda.
“Above all, Albertans chose Canada,” he said in a statement released on October 20. He added that Canadians could move forward together with renewed purpose and greater ambition.
My statement on Albertans choosing to build a stronger Canada, together: pic.twitter.com/pNXb427wXI
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) October 20, 2026
Carney also pointed to efforts to secure new international trade partners, accelerate major infrastructure projects across the country and expand Canada’s role as a global energy power, with Alberta at the center of those plans.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith also welcomed the early results, saying they demonstrated support for a stronger province within a united Canada.
“Albertans have voted for a stronger Alberta in a united Canada,” Smith wrote on social media.
Smith called the referendum under pressure from separatists within her governing United Conservative Party (UCP), despite opposing independence. She was scheduled to address the province on Tuesday evening about the results and Alberta’s future.
Thomas Lukaszuk, a former deputy premier who led the Forever Canadian campaign against separation, also welcomed the outcome.
“We are a solid country that’s united from coast to coast to coast,” he told supporters.
Separatist leaders, meanwhile, pointed to the vote as evidence of continuing dissatisfaction with the federal government in Ottawa. Keith Wilson, a prominent figure in the movement, cautioned that the results were not final but argued that a substantial share of Albertans wanted the province to be treated better.
“We don’t have the final results. I think the numbers are going to fluctuate, but it is fair to say that at least a quarter of Albertans feel that Alberta needs to be treated better,” Wilson said.
The results were delayed after late openings forced more than 100 polling stations to extend their voting hours on Monday.
Alberta, home to the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves, is a conservative stronghold whose political culture has long had more in common with the American West than with much of Canada.
Resentment toward the federal government has persisted, but separatist parties historically attracted only 1% to 2% of the vote, according to former Premier Jason Kenney. Anger over COVID-19 restrictions helped mobilize activists who later embraced the separatist movement.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and threats to make Canada the 51st U.S. state have helped Carney rally support in Alberta, where Liberal prime ministers have traditionally been unpopular.
En el último concierto que Patti Smith ofreció en Madrid, en octubre de 2025 en el ostentoso Teatro Real, ocurrió al final algo que refleja el sentimiento que produce hoy la artista estadounidense. Después de exhortar a una lucha popular tan necesaria siempre, y hoy más, con People Have the Power, y ya en los saludos finales, tuvo el detalle de llamar al escenario a su promotor de siempre en España, Gay Mercader. Levantó su mano y le abrazó. “Ojalá Patti me diera un abrazo a mí”, señaló una espectadora desde las butacas. Seguramente cuando empezó su carrera recitando poesía contracultural en iglesias abandonadas de Nueva York a finales de los sesenta no entraba en los planes de la cantante convertirse en una figura capaz de despertar ese sentimiento de protección y ternura. Pero así es. Patti Smith (nacida en Chicago) cumplirá 80 años el próximo 30 de diciembre y no piensa celebrarlo en el sofá de su casa. Continúa encadenando giras y recorriendo el mundo declamando poesía a la vez que recibe homenajes y premios. En el marco del acto donde recibirá el premio Princesa de Asturias de las Artes 2026 (el 23 de octubre en Oviedo), actúa el martes 20 en el Teatro Jovellanos y el miércoles 21 en el Palacio de Deportes Presidente Adolfo Suárez, ambos en Gijón. Más tarde, será cabeza de cartel del Festival Azkena (17 al 19 de junio de 2027 en Vitoria).
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If America wants to win the AI race, sending the world's brightest engineers packing might not be a winning strategy.
That's the warning from Microsoft President Brad Smith, who said the Trump administration's immigration crackdown risks driving the next generation of AI talent away from the United States.
"I think we should all be worried about sending intentionally or inadvertently or otherwise, signals that send the most talented next wave of AI software engineers to other countries rather than the United States," Smith said in an episode of Politico's "The Decoded Podcast" that aired on Thursday.
His comments come after the Trump administration announced last week that it was suspending Microsoft, Adobe, and several other technology companies from a federal program that sponsors foreign workers for permanent residency.
Vice President JD Vance accused Microsoft of abusing the Permanent Labor Certification, or PERM, program by laying off American employees while hiring lower-paid foreign workers.
Smith, who Business Insider reported was recently put in charge of Microsoft's communications, pushed back against those allegations, saying the administration had presented a misleading picture of Microsoft's hiring practices.
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"What was presented as Microsoft replacing 6,000 people who lost their jobs with 9,000 foreigners was frankly completely off base," he said.
Smith said most of the company's visa and green card applications concerned existing employees rather than new hires, adding that Microsoft had hired 9,200 American workers in its last fiscal year.
"That was left out of the narrative," he said.
He also rejected suggestions that Microsoft pays foreign workers less than their American counterparts, saying employees are compensated under the same system regardless of immigration status.
The dispute comes amid growing uncertainty for skilled foreign workers in the US.
As part of our ongoing H-1B Fallout series, Business Insider previously reported that the Trump administration's shifting immigration policies have prompted some international workers to explore opportunities abroad, including in countries like the UK, Germany, and Canada.
An analysis of federal data by Business Insider found that certified H-1B applications fell 10% in the first nine months of fiscal year 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier. Applications for data scientists, however, rose 22.5%, highlighting continued demand for specialized AI talent.
On the Politico podcast, Smith cited immigrants' economic contributions as evidence of what America stands to lose.
He said that five of the six technology and science medal recipients recently honored by President Donald Trump had immigrated to the United States.
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According to Smith, the companies associated with those five individuals collectively represent more than a quarter of the S&P 500's market value.
Their contributions, he said, benefit not just technology employees but ordinary Americans whose retirement savings and pension funds are invested in those businesses.
"Think about what those five individuals have done for the well being, even the wealth and standard of living, of Americans across the country," Smith said.
"Let's not put that at risk."
Washington has put its sanctions on Russian diesel on hold. The US Treasury has authorized the sale, delivery, offloading, and import of Russian-origin diesel fuel, effectively suspending sanctions on that trade until 7 April 2027, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on its website on 9 October.
The waiver lets Russian diesel back onto world markets and, Ukraine argues, hands Moscow fresh revenue for its war, which has killed more than 80 Ukrainian civilians in two days. Until now, it was unclear whether Washington would roll back the sanctions it imposed on Russia in 2022.
OFAC has issued the measure as General License 135, signed by the office’s director, Bradley Smith, according to the report. It authorizes transactions in Russian-origin diesel that sanctions would otherwise block.
The license sets one limit. It does not permit any debits from accounts at US financial institutions held by Russia’s central bank, its National Wealth Fund, or its finance ministry, the document says.
On 9 October, US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, then 500,000 tons in November, and another million tons right after.
Moscow would later send the US up to 3 million more tons, depending on the state of Russia’s refineries, Trump added, framing the deal as a way to bring down energy prices.
Analysts say the amounts are too small to move prices much. Together, the first tranches would cover about a day and a half of US demand, while US diesel use alone runs near 16 million tons a month. Experts read the move as politics ahead of an election rather than a real shift in the market, pointing out that Trump cited volumes in tons, which look larger than the barrels traders track.
The deal drew fury in Kyiv, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a weak decision by strong partners. The EU is moving the other way, with ambassadors approving the bloc’s largest sanctions package against Russia’s war machine, due for final adoption on 12 October.
White Nights, a short novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky first published in 1848, is the latest literary discovery of Generation Z. TikTok users seem to be talking about little else.
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What happens when happiness ceases to be a desire and, instead, becomes an obligation? This is a question that Carl Cederström has been posing for years. The sociologist teaches at Stockholm Business School and is the author of several critical essays on workplace culture and the happiness industry. His popular book The Wellness Syndrome (2015) is a sharp and engaging work, co-authored with André Spicer, dean of Bayes Business School in London.
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For Pakistan, Mohammad Abbas was the standout bowler, taking four wickets.
The post England’s first innings ends at 290 as Pakistan begin batting appeared first on BOL News.
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