Global National: July 11

A growing chorus of Democratic voices continues to turn against U.S. President Joe Biden, after a high-stakes news conference — the first that the 81-year-old has held since the disastrous debate — raised even more concerns about the president’s age and health. On the final day of the NATO summit, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed that Canada plans to hit NATO’s defence spending target of two per cent of GDP by 2032. Despite the pledge, Trudeau questioned the relevance of the target for Canada. And in a major development in the case of a confessed Canadian serial killer, Jeremy Skibicki has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of four Indigenous women. Delegates to the annual meeting of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) in Montreal heard from two federal party leaders on Thursday: Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh. Plus, a group of independent human rights experts warned this week that famine has spread throughout the Palestinian enclave. And Canada’s head coach had positive news about captain Alphonso Davies, who hobbled off the pitch Tuesday after a hard Argentine challenge. And finally, a simple trip to the beach became a castaway nightmare for one woman in Japan who spent 37 hours adrift in the Pacific Ocean, after she was swept out to sea in an inflatable swim ring.