Canada’s Carney mocks Trump's conspiracy claims

Richard Hall | August 07, 2026

Hey there and welcome to The Brief. Do you want to believe? According to polls, most Americans are convinced of the existence of unidentified anomalous phenomena, formerly known as UFOs. An even greater number want more information from the government about what it knows. Our new cover story dives into this increasingly serious search for extraterrestrial life—and why it matters.

Back here on earth, we’re taking a closer look at Spain’s immigration policies, and how doom-laden headlines about them might not tell us the whole story.

IN TODAY’S BRIEF

The search for alien life
A ‘historic’ flu vaccine
Carney mocks Trump (again)
Trump’s border wall promise, 10 years on
The truth behind Spain’s immigration ‘nightmare’
110 million flock to free streaming
Buoy border barrier

READ THIS FIRST

America is finally taking extraterrestrials seriously

TIME photo illustration

After decades of secrecy, stigma, and sometimes silliness—like the conspiratorial tales about recovered spacecraft and alien remains at a place known as Area 51—the government has at long last begun taking things seriously. What used to be called UFOs and now go by the more decorous handle of UAPs, are being given the full investigatory treatment.

Congressional hearings into the origins of the sightings were held in 2022 and 2023. In 2022, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) was established “to detect, identify and attribute objects of interest.” In December 2023, then-President Joe Biden signed into law the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act, requiring the collection, review, and public disclosure of all sightings and encounters.

It’s a measure of the growing public interest in the phenomena and the mounting evidence that something is out there that more and more serious people are willing to take that risk. —Jeffrey Kluger

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HEALTH CHECK

FDA approves the first mRNA flu vaccine

NurPhoto / Contributor—Getty Images

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first mRNA-based vaccine for influenza. Health experts say the shot, made by Moderna, could have several advantages over traditional flu vaccines, but its approval comes at a time when federal health agencies have walked back recommending flu vaccines for many people.

“I think this is a historic event and incredibly exciting, both scientifically and from a public-health standpoint,” says Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, CEO of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Marrazzo says the mRNA-based flu vaccine is a game-changer when it comes to matching influenza strains circulating at a given time and in a given region to the flu vaccine. The better the match, the more effective the shot in preventing flu and some of its serious consequences, including pneumonia, respiratory distress, and even organ failure in those who are most vulnerable to infections, which include older people, young children, and those with weakened immune systems. —Alice Park

HAPPENING NOW

Canada’s Carney mocks Trump over conspiracy claims

Ebrahim Noroozi—AP

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney took a swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump when a teleprompter malfunctioned in the middle of his on-camera speech.

During a housing policy news briefing at a construction site in Toronto on Wednesday, Carney was speaking in French before he abruptly stopped, telling the crowd in English: “I would now like to inform you that the teleprompter has ceased to function. Unlike a certain world leader, I do not view this as a conspiracy.”

Carney laughed, along with the audience, as he delivered the quip, before launching back into the French-language portion of his speech.

The remark appeared to reference Trump’s claims of “sabotage” after a teleprompter malfunctioned during his address at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last September. —Tiago Ventura

THE CONTEXT

What’s the status of Trump’s border wall? A key campaign promise, over a decade on

President Donald Trump participates in a ceremony commemorating the 200th mile of border wall at the international border with Mexico in San Luis, Arizona, on June 23, 2020. Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images

More than a decade after President Donald Trump pledged to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in what became a defining rallying cry of his 2016 presidential campaign, the project is still ongoing, with many miles of work ahead.

In the final months of Trump’s first term, his Administration touted the completion of more than 450 miles of the promised border wall, a symbol of the President’s hardline approach to immigration. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) tracking shows that dozens more miles have been completed since Trump’s return to office last January, with work underway on hundreds of others.

But as of today, the new portions of the wall that have been constructed under Trump’s two Administrations still account for only a fraction of the total planned barrier system, and hundreds of miles of the structure remain unfinished. —Connor Greene

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IN FOCUS

Spain’s immigration success story

A migrant runs from Spanish police officers as they cordon off access to the beach for people crossing from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Friday, July 31, 2026. Antonio Sempere—Associated Press

When tens of thousands of Moroccans stormed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last week, conservatives in the U.S. saw a cautionary tale.

“It’s terrible. Remember that picture. That’s going to be us in three years if the wrong side gets in,” President Donald Trump told Fox News. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said on social media: “Democrats did this to America every single day for 4 years under Biden.”

Through a MAGA lens, immigration has been a disaster for Spain. But the country’s leaders and economists have been telling a different story for the last few years, crediting its pro-immigration policies for fueling its economic success.

Since coming to power in 2018, Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s Prime Minister and one of Europe’s longest-serving left-wing leaders, has dramatically increased pathways to legal immigration to counter a low birthrate and gaps in critical sectors of the Spanish economy. Spain’s foreign-born population has grown by roughly 500,000 people a year since 2022, passing 10 million for the first time as of Jan. 1, 2026, according to official figures.

Today, Spain’s economy is growing three times faster than the Euro area, and economists agree that immigration has played a role in that success. Goldman Sachs said a “boost” from immigration fueled Spain’s “region-leading performance” in 2025. A Bank of Spain analysis from last year suggested that immigration contributed between 14% and 24% to the near-3% per capita growth during 2022-2024.

This week, as he was still reeling from the Ceuta crisis, Sánchez touted official figures showing that Spain had achieved a record number of people in employment and the lowest July unemployment rate in nearly 20 years.

There have been some detractors, and not just here in the U.S. A YouGov survey from last year found that 81% of Spaniards thought immigration was too high. Some suggest that Sánchez may be providing an inroad for the far-right in Spain ahead of next year's elections.

But he has shown no signs of backing down, pitching Spain as an alternative to the anti-immigration politics in Europe and the U.S. In a February New York Times op-ed, he directly addressed skeptics of Spain’s immigration policy, hitting out at “MAGA-style leaders”.

“Governments can buy into the zero-sum thinking of the far-right and retreat into isolation, scarcity, selfishness and decline,” he wrote. “Or they can harness the very same forces that, not without difficulties, have allowed our societies to thrive for centuries.”

ONE NUMBER

110 million

The free streaming platform Tubi now has more than 110 million monthly active users, CEO Anjali Sud told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday. The Fox-owned platform has become a streaming heavyweight by providing a free service in the midst of a subscription-based industry.

SOURCE: HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

A VIRAL MOMENT

Buoy border

The Trump Administration has been installing buoy barriers along the Rio Grande to prevent migrant crossings. Part of a “smart wall” border security plan, the buoys are slated to stretch for 17 miles, but they have faced opposition from environmental groups.

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