Vote to Leave Canada

Hi Global Recap readers,

On Christmas Eve 1914, Rifleman Graham Williams of the 5th London Rifle Brigade noticed lights flickering along the German trench line.

• Then he heard them singing “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht.”

• From the British side came a reply: “The First Noel.”

It wasn’t an isolated pause. In multiple places along the Western Front, spontaneous ceasefires flared up. Some lasted only hours, while a few even stretched into the New Year.

• The pause let soldiers recover bodies from no man’s land and bury the dead.

• Men swapped food and small souvenirs from home.

• However, commanders on both sides tried to shut it down quickly, issuing orders against fraternization and threatening punishment (even court-martial). Before long, the shooting resumed.

This is a famous story of the "1914 Christmas Truce." Reading this story really makes you wonder, “what's all this for?”

🇨🇦 CANADA
Alberta Independence
Question Approved

Elections Alberta has approved a citizen-initiated referendum question that asks voters whether Alberta should become an independent state. If the petition campaign hits the signature target on time, Albertans could be staring down a straight yes-or-no vote on leaving Canada.

• Question: The approved wording is: "Do you agree that the province of Alberta should cease to be a part of Canada to become an independent state?"

• Proponent: The push is coming from the Alberta Prosperity Project, led by Mitch Sylvestre, who is also described as a constituency association president for Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party.

• Threshold: Sylvestre has until January to appoint a financial officer before he can begin collecting signatures, and then four months to gather just under 178,000. If he meets that threshold, the question will go to a province-wide referendum.

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES
Visa Bans Hit Europe

The U.S. just hit five European figures with entry bans, calling their work on content rules and disinformation enforcement a form of "censorship". The Trump administration announced the move today, framing it as payback for Europe trying to police American speech online.

• Targets: The list includes

  • former EU commissioner Thierry Breton,

  • Imran Ahmed (Center for Countering Digital Hate),

  • Clare Melford (Global Disinformation Index),

  • two leaders from Germany’s HateAid, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon.

• Charge: The State Department argues these figures helped push “extraterritorial” pressure on US platforms via Europe’s Digital Services Act, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio blasted what he called a "global censorship-industrial complex."

• Blowback: Breton hit back within hours of Rubio’s post, in a somewhat teasing tone, stressing that the DSA was democratically adopted.

What Happened?

But here’s a video from 2022 of Musk seemingly agreeing with the DSA. The video shows Musk (left) and Breton (right).

• Some are calling Musk a hypocrite, only opposed to it now that the law is being applied to him.

• Others say the law sounds fine on paper, but Musk realized its dystopian nature later, once it was put into practice.

🇵🇦 PANAMA
China Wants Majority Control

A $23bn ports buyout centered on the Panama Canal is wobbling after China’s state-owned shipping company COSCO demanded majority control. BlackRock and shipping giant MSC are now weighing whether to walk away from the whole thing.

• Deal: Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison agreed in March 2025 to sell 43 ports across 23 countries, including two at the Panama Canal, to a consortium led by BlackRock and tied to Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).

• Pressure: Beijing has treated the sale as a strategic problem and pushed for it to face China’s merger review process, even though the assets are outside mainland China.

• Invite: To reduce the political friction, COSCO was brought into talks as a potential partner, with early discussions reportedly centered on a 20-30% stake in CK Hutchison’s non-Panama ports.

• Demand: However, COSCO is now insisting on a majority stake and negotiators are unsure whether that is a bargaining move or an instruction from Beijing.

• Risk: If COSCO will not budge, BlackRock and MSC could exit, leaving CK Hutchison with a politically radioactive deal that may hinge on US–China relations cooling in 2026.