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5 Things to Know Today: Canada Enters Recession, Oil Slips on Iran Ceasefire Talk

Saturday, May 30, 2026 — Your quick-hit Canadian financial briefing for the day. 1.Canada Officially Meets the Definition of a Technical Recession Statistics Canada confirmed Friday that real GDP contracted 0.1% on an annualized basis in Q1 2026 — following a revised 1.0% drop in Q4 2025 . That's two straight quarters of negative growth, which meets the technical definition of a recession. The miss was a big one: economists had forecast growth of 1.5% . The main culprits were a surge in imports (up 2.9%, largely gold), declining business capital investment (down 0.7% — its fifth consecutive quarterly drop ), and weakness in resource extraction and construction. On a per-capita basis, GDP actually edged up 0.2% as Canada's population shrank for the second quarter in a row. Not everyone is ready to call it a full recession: some economists note that three of the four weak months were isolated, and early April data points to a sharp 0.4% rebound . Still, the numbers ...

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Trump Denies Epstein Birthday Note, Vows Legal Action Against WSJ

 

U.S. President Donald Trump has forcefully rejected a report by The Wall Street Journal that alleges he contributed a suggestive birthday message to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. The note, reportedly part of a leather-bound album compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday, included typewritten text framed by a hand-drawn sketch of a naked woman and bore Trump’s signature.

Trump responded with outrage, calling the letter “fake,” “malicious,” and “defamatory.” He denied ever writing or drawing anything of the sort, stating, “I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women. It’s not my language. It’s not my words”. He has since filed a libel lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, its parent company NewsCorp, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

The controversy has reignited scrutiny over Trump’s past ties to Epstein, whom he once described as “a lot of fun to be with” in a 2002 interview. Though the two reportedly fell out in 2004, their earlier social interactions—including at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate—remain a point of public interest.

The Justice Department is now reviewing the letter, while Attorney General Pam Bondi has been directed to seek court approval to release grand jury information related to the Epstein case. Trump’s legal team insists the Journal never showed them the original letter before publishing the story, further fueling claims of journalistic misconduct.

This latest episode adds to the growing tension surrounding the unreleased Epstein files, which have become a flashpoint among Trump’s supporters and critics alike.

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