Afternoon front page: A DEI blowup at Cambridge University; case of teacher fired over residential school comments heads to court; and more

Jason Arday is a “working class Black man,” a petition from the Good Law Project notes, in a typically British class-war flourish. The petition calls the allegations against Arday “groundless. Photo by Screen grab via Good Law Project

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It’s Friday, July 31. Here are the top stories we’re following today.

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Chris Selley: The DEI meltdown at a British university shows why we need more skepticism

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Star Cambridge University prof Jason Arday has a compelling story: born with autism, he says he was non-verbal until 11 years old, yet achieved a doctorate by 30. But now he has been credibly accused of plagiarizing large parts of his PhD thesis and accusations of racism are being thrown at his accusers. “Perhaps there’s at least an implicit message here that we value identity over aptitude at least a wee bit too much,” Selley suggests.

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The Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C. Photo by Nicholas RAUSCH/AFP via Getty Images

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Michael Higgins: Teacher fired for speaking truth on Kamloops gets day in court

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Four days after an announcement “confirmed” that the remains of 215 children were found at Kamloops Indian Residential School, high school teacher Jim McMurtry spoke to his students about it in a “respectful, free and frank manner.” “For such heresy, McMurtry was marched out of class later that morning. The next day, he was suspended. In 2023, he was fired,” Higgins writes.

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Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a news conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, Canada on June 25, 2026. Photo by Blair Gable/Postmedia

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Poilievre calls for changes to public alert system after missing Calgary boy found dead

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Because the boy’s disappearance was not a suspected abduction, an Amber Alert only went out when authorities issued a special exemption two days later. “Parker’s death has … exposed a serious gap in how Canada responds when vulnerable children go missing,” wrote Poilievre in a letter to the federal emergency management minister.

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‘We need resolve, not sympathy’: Why Canada must go on the offence against antisemitic terror

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The growing antisemitism problem in Canada and other western nations is a national security threat, amid terror plots and evidence of a foreign-funded “guns-for-hire” scheme. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs’ CEO talks about the severity of this threat, and what kind of response is needed.

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Beachgoers watch on a beach as clouds of smoke rise from a nearby wildfire, in Lacanau, France, on July 24, 2026. Photo by Maximilien Lamy/AFP via Getty Images

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‘Dragon clouds’: How massive wildfires create their own weather — fiery clouds with thunder and lightning

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Pyrocumulonimbus clouds are fire-generated thunderstorms that form when a wildfire burns hot enough to punch a column of air into an unstable atmosphere. France recorded its first one ever this week but they are common is Canada, and what happens underneath these clouds makes them dangerous.

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