There’s baking and then there’s Christmas baking. The elevated latter version involves sprinkles. It involves candy cane flavour infusions. It involves a bit more time and energy — but it also involves family or friends bonding in the kitchen. Up the festive fun factor with these five Canadian-made finds. Read More

Donald Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles said the U.S. president had an "alcoholic's personality" in an astonishing interview published Tuesday by Vanity Fair, which Wiles swiftly dismissed as a "hit piece." Read More

Australian Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is not the most astute of politicians. But in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s two-man jihad massacre at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach, she made a cutting observation. Read More

There may not be enough hyphens in the world to enlist in summarizing Kier-La Janisse’s multi-hyphenate identity. Read More

The notion of ghosts at Christmas time inevitably compels us to think of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol but the Yuletime ghost story has a rich past that goes well beyond Dickens, certainly in Britain. The tradition of telling “scary ghost stories” — to quote the perennial song It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year — was revived with the BBC series A Ghost Story for Christmas, which had an annual run between 1971-78, and a sporadic revival beginning in 2005. The films are mostly based on the works of English scholar M.R. James and run between 30 to 50 minutes. Read More

A Jewish couple in their 60s tried to stop one of the alleged Bondi Beach attackers by grabbing his gun, dramatic dashcam footage shows. Read More

Is Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre a dead man walking? Perhaps not yet, but after MP Michael Ma’s shock floor crossing last week, he is certainly limping. The defection reignited the conversation about Poilievre’s leadership that started at budget time, when Conservative MP Chris d’Entremont defected to the Liberals and fellow MP Matt Jeneroux resigned to sit as an independent, bringing the Liberals within sight of a majority government. Read More

OTTAWA — The federal government is implementing stricter methane regulations on both the oil and gas and landfill sectors in an initial batch of more severe environmental policies to be implemented by the Carney government.  Read More

There is no joy in Hogtown. Public transit has struck out. Again. After many years of construction and $3.7 billion spent, there is a new light-rail line on Finch Avenue West, in the city’s north end. It is 10.3 kilometres long, and almost entirely at grade. (For $360 million per kilometre, many places in the world can build fully underground heavy-rail subways. But the mystery of the North American infrastructure surcharge is a subject for another day.) Read More

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The Liberal government concealed a deal with alleged "raging antisemite" Laith Marouf, two Conservative MPs say after they learned about it through a written inquiry. Read More

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has clapped back at remarks by Ontario Premier Doug Ford regarding a boycott of travel there by Canadians, suggesting it's not hurting his state as much as the premier says it is. Read More

First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post’s own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here. Read More

Hanukkah is one of the most joyous holidays on the Jewish calendar, but a pall was cast over this year's festivities on Sunday, when terrorists opened fire on a group of Jews celebrating the first night of the eight-day holiday on Bondi Beach in Australia. Read More

Prior to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, registering to vote in Alabama required passing a "literacy" test designed specifically to keep Blacks from casting ballots. Read More

NEW YORK — Any doubt that calls to “globalize the intifada” have fallen on deaf ears were dispelled over the weekend by the shooting in Sydney that has left 16 Jews dead and dozens injured at a beachside Hanukkah party in the heart of the city. The pair of gunmen, a father and son of Pakistani origin, were only prevented from causing further carnage by Sydney police — along with a brave bystander who literally body-slammed a shooter into submission. Read More

Having worked inside the corridors of power, I can say with certainty that most federal politicians appreciate the unique opportunity to represent a riding on Parliament Hill. Alas, I can also say with certainty that some incumbents believe they’re entitled to hold on to their ridings and never have to face a nomination battle until they lose or retire. Read More

Following the landmark Cowichan court ruling in August which declared private land title “defective and invalid” in areas over which Aboriginal title had been declared, the watchword from those who supported the decision was that everyone should calm down and not to be “alarmist.” Indeed that was the word used by the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations in their Oct. 23 news release on the topic, which blasted then B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad for “selective discriminatory” and “alarmist” rhetoric. It is now clear Rustad was not nearly alarmist enough as the uncertainty chickens have firmly come home to roost in B.C.’s economy.  Read More

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he was classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, ramping up his administration's campaign against drug cartels in Latin America. Read More

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday filed a lawsuit seeking at least US$10 billion from the BBC over a documentary that edited his 2021 speech to supporters ahead of the U.S. Capitol riot. Read More

SYDNEY, Australia -- A father and son were likely driven by "Islamic State ideology" when they fired on Bondi Beach in one of Australia's deadliest mass shootings, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday. Read More

Shock over a shooting rampage at Brown University over the weekend is giving way to frustration over the lack of video footage and suspects. Read More

The massacre unfolded over roughly nine or 10 minutes. Read More

HALIFAX  -- A Nova Scotia woman serving a life sentence for strangling her own daughter to death has been granted six months of day parole. Read More