Canadian actor and comedian Seth Rogen answers eight rapid-fire questions from The National’s Ian Hanomansing in two minutes about his career, cannabis and Vancouver.

Pacific Spirit Regional Park

Seth Rogen answers eight questions in two minutes

Eight questions in two minutes, you ready for this? I am. Okay, you can have fun with this. If somebody said to you, you have to make a choice between stand-up, acting, or writing, what would you say to them? I'd probably choose acting because it pays the best. Okay. Who's the short one? Finish this sentence. If I hadn't made it in show business, I would have? Got a job at a comic book store. What's this? It's a gas gun. A gas gun? How does it even work? Indulge me. We're going to do a Vancouver Park part to this. I'm going to mention three parks and just something about like a personal connection to that. First one, Pacific Spirit Park. It was the endowment lands once upon a time. Oh yeah. I did shrooms there once so much I lost my mind. The mushrooms are reacting poorly. You look insane. Only your right eye is working. Do I look weird now? Yes, you look weird. Still weird. Stanley Park. Stanley Park, the seawall, love the seawall. Still ride it every time I'm in Vancouver. And this is an odd one to choose, but I'm going to ask you, Douglas Park. Douglas Park, I think, is where I had sports day as a kid actually growing up. So yeah, I always think of that. A little bit more word association, Jay Baruchel. Montreal. That's what I think of when I think of Jay. But you guys are close friends, right? We are, yes. What the f*** are you doing? Making a cake. Jay, what does it look like I'm doing? In the short question, short answer, cannabis. Uh, great. I start with a bunch of wheat. I put it in the kiln. Ceramics? Great. Okay, and the final question, your favorite spot in Vancouver. Uh, that's a tough one. I really like Granville Island. Why, hello. It's me, Seth Rogen, here at Granville Island in Vancouver, British Columbia. It's where 10 potters will be facing off in the most extraordinary ceramics competition show that this country has ever seen. Which is why it was nice to make the show there. It's like legitimately where I'm always trying to go when I'm there. All right. Seth Rogen, thank you very much. Thank you.

Prospects for a Gaza ceasefire appeared slim as Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to the war in exchange for the freeing of hostages, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly ruled that out.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Israel-Gaza War

Gaza truce hopes fade as Israel, Hamas trade blame

The Israeli cabinet has voted to unanimously shut down Al Jazeera's operations in the country. That's according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement on X. 
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Israel announces ban of Al Jazeera channel, website

Australian police said they have shot dead a boy after he stabbed a man in Western Australia's capital Perth, in an attack authorities said indicated terrorism.

Perth

Australian police shoot boy dead after stabbing

Sadiq Khan has been elected mayor of London, winning a historic third term after a dramatic contest. Khan was declared the winner over the Conservative candidate, Susan Hall with 43.8% of the vote.

London

Sadiq Khan elected London mayor for third term

Floods have killed at least 58 people in southern Brazil. Nearly 70,000 have been forced from their homes. Tens of thousands of people have been left without drinking water or electricity. It's the worst flooding the region has seen in more than 80 years.

State of Rio Grande do Sul

Climate Crisis

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Students at the University of California in Irvine say they will remain on campus until all their demands are met. School officials say they'll continue to negotiate with the protesters -- and are hoping to reach a deal soon.

Irvine

Police, protesters in stand-off at California university

The Federal Government will cut $3 billion in student debts, in measures to be announced in next week's budget. The reforms will see the student loans of three million graduates by an average of $1200 and changes to loan indexation.

Camperdown

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Mexican authorities have charged three suspects over the disappearance of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad. It's believed the tourists became embroiled in a bungled robbery. Four bodies were found near the trio's abandoned campsite, but are yet to be formally identified.

Baja California

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Willetton

Police shoot dead ‘radicalised’ teenage boy in Perth

The death toll from rains in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 57, local authorities said on Saturday (May 4) afternoon, while dozens still have not been accounted for.

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There are renewed hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza after a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo to continue talks amid reports of a proposal agreed to by Israel to halt fighting for an initial 40 days in exchange for the release of hostages.

Hopes rise for Gaza ceasefire amid Hamas talks

Students showing support for Palestinians have set up camp outside the University College London. They say they'll continue their protest until the university divests from Israeli institutions that 'profit from the war in Gaza'.

Pro-Palestine university protests spread to London

Dozens of Palestinians have held a demonstration in the West Bank, to condemn the killing of five Palestinian fighters. Crowds rallied hours after Israeli troops attacked the fighters in the village of Deir al Ghoson.

Jerusalem

Five Palestinian fighters killed during West Bank raid

Dozens of people in two rubber dinghies have reached the southern coast of England, the latest among thousands of asylum-seeking migrants to make the risky sea crossing from France this year.

Dover

Asylum seekers arrive in England despite Rwanda threat

A former immigration detainee has been bailed after allegedly threatening police with a knife in Melbourne. It follows the recent violent home invasion allegedly committed by another released detainee in Western Australia Pressure is mounting on Federal Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to be held to account.

Canberra

Pressure mounts on Immigration Minister after latest detainee incident

Mexican authorities have reportedly discovered a fourth body near the cliff site where Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson disappeared, along with their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad. The Australian family of the brothers are en route to Mexico. The bodies are yet to be formally identified.

Ensenada

Fourth body discovered in Mexico search for Australian brothers

Ukraine is eagerly waiting for Western aid as Russia racks up more victories on the battlefield. Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on a visit to Kyiv gave Ukraine the go-ahead to use British weapons to strike directly at Russia.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

U.K. allows its weapons to be used on Russian soil

Canadian police have charged three Indian men with the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year and said they were probing whether the men had ties to the Indian government.

Surrey

Canada police charge three with murder of Sikh leader

China has launched an uncrewed spacecraft on a nearly two-month mission to retrieve rocks and soil from the far side of the moon, the first country to make such an ambitious attempt.

Wenchang

China launches mission to far side of the moon

Britain's opposition Labour Party won a parliamentary seat in northern England on Friday (May 3) and control of several councils, inflicting heavy losses on the governing Conservatives to pile more pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

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Turkey has announced that it is halting trade with Israel, worth $7 billion a year, until a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian aid are secured in Gaza. Israel denounced the decision as breaking trade agreements.

Ankara

Turkey to stop trade with Israel until Gaza ceasefire

Media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders warned of declining government support for press freedom as it unveiled its annual world rankings on Friday, highlighting Argentina among the countries where the situation has deteriorated.

Paris

States doing less to support press freedom, says watchdog

Arizona's Democratic governor signed a bill overturning an 1864 law banning abortion, a month after the state's supreme court said the Civil War-era rule was valid.

Arizona

Arizona governor signs bill repealing 1864 abortion ban

U.S. President Joe Biden said that both freedom of speech and the rule of law must be respected in protests at college campuses over Israel's war in Gaza. In response to a reporter's question, Biden said that the campus protests had not forced him to reconsider his policies in the Middle East.

Washington

Biden breaks silence on protests at University Campuses

From suspensions to expulsions to criminal charges, college students across the U.S. involved in these pro-Palestinian protests could face life-changing consequences. Some are demanding amnesty for these protesters.

New York

More than 1,000 student protesters arrested across U.S.

English voters are heading to polling stations to pick mayors, councilors and a new lawmaker in the last electoral test for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before a national vote later this year.

Voters head to polls in last test for U.K.'s Sunak

The US State Department accused Russia of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, while also announcing fresh sanctions against Moscow. In addition to the chemical agent chloropicrin, Russia also used "riot control agents (tear gas) as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of the CWC," the department said in a factsheet.

Zaporizhzhia

U.S. accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine

There are grave concerns for Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson who are missing on a surf trip in Mexico's Baja region. The pair have failed to arrive at their accommodation and are not responding to contact from their families.

Council of the City of Sydney

Grave fears for brothers missing on Mexico surf trip

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has kept open the prospect of tax incentives in the budget as business warned that changes to foreign investment laws. It comes amid criticism that budget spending could prompt further inflation and prompt rate rises.

Government hints at further tax incentives in Budget

Colombian President Gustavo Petro says his country will break diplomatic relations with Israel. He's criticised Israel's conduct since the start of the war on Gaza. Petro requested to join South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide.