News roundup, 28 Nov 2025

- Steven Guilbeault has resigned from Mark Carney's cabinet in protest over a memorandum of understanding the government signed with Alberta that essentially gives Danielle Smith whatever she wants in terms of getting a pipeline through BC. For Guilbeault, a lifelong environmentalist, this was a pipeline too far.

- One of the West Virginia National Guard members shot on Wednesday has died. Donald Trump is vowing to "permanently pause migration" from poorer countries in response. Meanwhile Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered diplomats in Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia, and New Zealand to press those countries to restrict immigration, and to report if the governments appear to be "overly supportive" of immigrants. Canadian Immigration Minister Lena Diab has denied knowledge of the order but says that she will continue to consult with the provinces and territories, not the Americans, over such matters. It's kind of interesting that Rubio cares so much about other countries' immigration policies; you'd think he'd be glad about anything that takes pressure off the US. Maybe he's worried about too many skilled Americans leaving and doesn't want it to be too easy for them to do so. 

- Vladimir Putin is doubling down on his demand that Ukraine let Russia have the Donbas region as a condition of ending the war. This is naturally unacceptable to Volodymyr Zelensky. Meanwhile Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies are now investigating Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Zelensky. This raises unfortunate questions about how long Ukraine is going to be able to hold on.

- At least 128 people are now known to have died and 79 have been injured in the fire in Hong Kong. 200 still remain unaccounted for in the city's worst fire in decades.

- The UK's Ministry of Justice plans to limit the use of jury trials to the most serious crimes. Courts minister Sarah Sackman says that the time taken to select juries slows the court system to a crawl. The measures are opposed by 90% of the Criminal Bar Association (understandable, since the slower the process the more lawyers tend to get paid). Whether it's actually a good idea is a matter of debate, even among Guardian columnists. Simon Jenkins is in favour, pointing out that European countries that seldom use juries actually imprison far fewer people than the UK (much less the US, which also is all-in on jury trials). On the other hand, Gaby Hinsliff thinks that juries are not the main factor in delaying trials. She also argues that they may be a defense against racism (definitely debatable given the quirks of jury selection, but I see her point) and moreover thinks that in the event that extremists take control of the government, they will have an easier time persecuting people without juries than with. I'm not sure she's right about that; future extremist governments could quite easily abolish juries entirely if they want anyway. I also can't help but think think that while jury trials make sense in a simple, homogeneous society like medieval England, modern societies are not simple and homogeneous and juries may not be well adapted to the modern reality. Maybe Hinsliff's best point is that doing away with juries will tend to further alienate the public from the justice system, which would not be a good thing.

- Apparently the folks at CNBC are freaking out about the fact that people aren't upgrading their cellphones as often as the manufacturers would like. I dunno, why would I waste money on a new one when my current one still works? I'd rather emulate the Dutch octogenarian who still runs errands on the same bike her parents gave her when she was 13.

 

- An Auckland man has been charged with aggravated robbery after allegedly using a spear gun to carjack an elderly man. 

- A Singapore toy manufacturer has pulled one of its products, a teddy bear which uses ChatGPT to interact with kids, from the market after reports that the bear was discussing matters with the kids that weren't age-appropriate, including sadomasochistic sex, where to find knives, and how to light a match.

News roundup, 27 Nov 2025

- Two members of the West Virginia National Guard who were stationed in DC, ostensibly to address Donald Trump's concerns about the city's crime rate, found out the hard way that occupying forces are frequently not welcomed. The suspect, who was also wounded, is in custody; the suspect is an Afghan national who was admitted to the country under the Biden administration. Trump plans to milk this for all it's worth; he has suspended all processing of immigration requests from Afghanistan and will be reviewing the immigration status of everyone who was brought in during the withdrawal from the country. He is also sending an additional 500 National Guard troops to the city.

- The death toll in the Hong Kong highrise fire has jumped to 55 after numerous bodies were found in the ruins of the complex, with many others still unaccounted for. Three people, including two directors of a company as well as an engineering consultant, have been charged with manslaughter.

- A snowplow operator with one of Toronto's main plowing contractors drove a plow through a crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators last week. Nobody was injured; video of the incident may be found here. Police investigated and rather quickly declared that they saw no sign of criminal intent; others are questioning this, however, especially given that the driver's social media accounts were full of Islamophobic content. Her Facebook profile is here, for the curious. Her employer says that she was issued a one day suspension for the incident.

- The Rural Municipality of Alexander in eastern Manitoba is concerned about the safety of its staff after multiple incidents, the most serious of which involves a grader that was hit with a high power rifle bullet in a residential area where no hunting is allowed. Other incidents include a crosshair spraypainted on a municipal employee's personal vehicle and a resident being removed from a council meeting after harassing staff.

- A rubber duck museum in the town of Point Roberts, Washington, which is not directly connected to the US mainland, is moving to Delta, BC in order to survive as the trade war slashes visits to the town.

- A 65 year old woman in Thailand woke up in a coffin after being mistakenly declared dead. Fortunately people heard her knocking on the inside as she was being taken for cremation.

News roundup, 26 Nov 2025

- A competition held by Canada's defense department in 2021 found that Lockheed Martin's F-35 had substantially better combat capabilities than Saab's Gripen; the superiority is based on the F-35's "greater stealth and ability to integrate information from various military assets". It's worth noting, though, that stealth in particular is far more important for an aircraft's offensive capabilities than its defensive ones, and all this presupposes that we're still friendly enough with the Americans that they don't remotely disable them or something.

- Another special election is being held next month, to fill a vacant congressional seat in Tennessee. While the district has been reliably Republican of late (Trump outpolled Harris by 22% in the district last year) the race is now seen as competitive, with the possibility of an upset. Whether this will pan out as hoped is another question, though.

- Organizers of a pro-Palestinian conference that was shut down by authorities in Berlin last year are suing the state. Hundreds of police in riot gear had swarmed the venue and pulled the plug to ensure that speeches at the event could not be heard or livestreamed; the state defends this on the grounds that they "predicted" that criminal statements would be made by presenters.

- Violence on Winnipeg Transit buses increased by 281% between 2018 and 2024, the sharpest increase seen among Canadian cities that specifically track this kind of thing. The biggest category of such crimes is common assault, but it also includes a substantial number of more serious cases involving weapons and/or bodily harm.

- University of Winnipeg president Todd Mondor has left office, apparently having been removed by the Board of Regents. He had been appointed in 2022 for what was supposed to be a five year term. The chair of the board is denying suggestions that this was connected to a whistleblower complaint alleging misconduct.

- A fire at a Hong Kong high-rise complex has killed at least four people, including a firefighter, and injured at least five; there are reports that numerous other people are still unaccounted for. The spread of the fire has been attributed to bamboo scaffolding used by maintenance workers.

- An executive with Campbell's is on leave after reportedly mocking the people who eat the company's products, calling the soup "shit for fucking poor people". Not going to win any marketing prizes like that...

News roundup, 25 Nov 2025

- Democratic senator Mark Kelly, who represents Arizona, appeared in a video with other Democratic politicians in which they called upon military and intelligence personnel to refuse illegal orders. Trump fulminated about "sedition" on Truth Social, while the Pentagon is looking into what actions they can take against Kelly owing to his status as a retired US Navy captain, which would theoretically allow them to recall him to active duty for a court martial.

- A US judge has dismissed all charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey on the grounds that prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was unlawfully appointed. The charges were, however, dismissed "without prejudice", meaning that the cases could be revived if the regime finds a suitable replacement for Halligan.

- Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter, recently introduced a new "About this account" feature, which enables users to see where an account is based, when they joined the platform, and how often they have changed their username, among other things. This has led to the discovery that a large number of MAGA influencers are actually based overseas. Some are calling this "total Armageddon for the online right", though that is almost certainly giving the American public too much credit.

- The recently passed federal budget bill contains new legal powers to facilitate expropriation for projects such as the planned high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City. This could be a good thing if it leads to the construction of the line in a reasonable time, though it's worth considering the fact that such powers could also be used to push through a new highway or pipeline.

- Unlike the US, in Canada it is extremely unusual for the terms of bail to require an actual cash bond; the federal government restricted its use in 1971 owing to concerns that this discriminated unduly against the poor. This was amplified in a 2017 Supreme Court ruling that limits the use of cash bail to "exceptional" circumstances. Doug Ford wants to change this, having introduced legislation to make cash bail mandatory. Whether this is constitutional remains to be seen, give that bail is governed by the federal Criminal Code rather than provincial legislation.

- Sio Silica is still trying to convince Manitoba to accept a silica mine in Springfield following last year's rejection of their application for an environmental license. The company held an open house at the Club Regent casino to promote their plans; critics are still skeptical.

- Steinbach is facing pushback from some residents for permitting the use of the city-owned Southeast Event Centre as a warming space for homeless people. An email sent to city council expressed concerns about encounters that "unsettled some young athletes". It's telling that the sender doesn't specify any wrongful actions by the homeless people, just worries that the kids might have to look at these people.

- Thomas King, author of books such as The Inconvenient Indian, has discovered that he is not half Cherokee as he had believed for his entire life. He expects a backlash, though in his defense it was he himself who investigated the matter in the first place and he was forthcoming with the evidence, in contrast with the likes of Buffy St. Marie. Doubtless many will question why it took him so long to look into the matter, though.

- An Oakville woman who had booked hotel rooms for herself and some European relatives in Montreal for the Grand Prix at a cost of $4,300 was taken by surprise when the online booking platform Booking.com cancelled her reservations, claiming that the pricing was a mistake, then offered her the same rooms for the "correct" price, which was in excess of $17,000. The hotel is attributing this to a "synchronization error" between them and the booking platform that briefly allowed the regular prices instead of the event-inflated ones to appear on the site.

News roundup, 24 Nov 2025

- Marjorie Taylor Greene has announced that she is resigning from Congress in January, saying that she wants to spare her district from a "hurtful and hateful" primary that would result if she tried to stay on. Greene was a staunch Trump ally until the president began stalling on the release of the Epstein files, but her stance on that issue has drawn the president's wrath.

- Four more measles cases have been reported in Manitoba, bringing the province's total number of cases this year to 253. Sixteen people have been hospitalized; nobody has died from the disease in the province so far, though two premature babies have died in other provinces. The emergency department at the Boundary Trails Health Centre outside Winkler is listed as a potential exposure site.

- US Senator Angus King, an independent who represents Maine, fears that Trump's behaviour towards Canada is causing a "cultural break" between the two countries that never was a issue with previous trade disputes. Threatening to annex a country has a way of doing that, though.

- Approximately 25% of all doctors in the US are immigrants. In rural communities, the proportion of immigrants in the profession is even higher; this leads to questions about what will happen to healthcare in the country if prospective immigrants no longer want to go there. 

- A home care worker is being investigated for multiple thefts from residents at an assisted living facility in Selkirk, Manitoba. At least eight residents and their families reported missing money and valuables as well as having seen the man in their units during odd hours. Charges have yet to be laid.

- The vice-president of research at Brandon University is under investigation for changing a student's failing grade to an A+ during her time as the university's dean of science. The student in question is related to someone known to her from outside campus.

News roundup, 21 Nov 2025

- While polls point to a favourable outcome for the Democrats in the midterms, this is contingent on the actual elections being held freely and fairly. With Donald Trump in the White House, though, that is far from guaranteed. One Trump ally, lawyer Cleta Mitchell, is promoting the idea that declaring a national emergency could enable the regime to take over the electoral functions that constitutionally are supposed to be under the jurisdiction of the states. While most legal experts are skeptical, that might not matter if Trump's hand-picked judges come through for him.

- The US has moved a large number of military assets to within striking distance of Venezuela. These include the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest warship. This suggests that they may have plans for more than just a few random strikes at the fishing boats that they claim are full of drugs.

- The US and Russia have drafted a new peace plan for Ukraine that calls for the country to cede territory, including the entire Donbass region, to its invader, as well as reduce the size of its military. Ukraine is naturally not keen on this, but they're also concerned about Trump's growing impatience.

- A man charged in a string of arsons in Winnipeg had worked at two of the businesses he is accused of targeting. He had also posted on social media about his objections to a supervised consumption site that the provincial government had been planning to open, which might point to a motive for attacking the constituency offices of two cabinet ministers.

- The Canadian Museum of Human Rights is hosting an exhibit on the Nakba, the mass expulsion of Palestinians from present-day Israel in 1948. In response, the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada is cancelling all future collaboration with the museum, perhaps fearing that their version of the story won't be the dominant one for once.

- This past summer has been a record-breaking one for tourism in Canada, both because Canadians chose to spend their money at home, and because overseas visitors have chosen Canada instead of the US, even as fewer Americans visited.

- For decades, veterans in Canada were overcharged for long-term care due to an error in the use of a formula that determines how much they're supposed to be charged. The new federal budget contains a provision that "fixes" the issue by retroactively changing the formula. Veterans' organizations are not impressed.

- A United Airlines Boeing 767 on a flight from London to Washington turned around over the Atlantic and diverted to Dublin after a passenger dropped a laptop down the side of a seat. Since the laptop was not accessible, the crew were forced to assume the worst in case the battery was damaged when it was dropped, which could lead to a fire that would be difficult to extinguish.

News roundup, 20 Nov 2025

- Trump has signed the bill authorizing the release of the Epstein files. The bill contains provisions that parts may still be withheld if they are related to an active investigation... or if they are deemed to "invade personal privacy". So in all likelyhood, just about anything in the files could be withheld if Trump so desires.

- Ukraine is accusing Russia of recruiting Ukrainian teens for sabotage jobs. Some of those recruited are said to have been as young as 11. The BBC managed to contact one of the recruiters posing as an interested party; they were offered $1,500 for setting fire to a post office or $3,000 for a bank.

- The federal government plans to move ahead with plans for high speed rail between Toronto and Quebec City. The travel time between Toronto and Montreal would be about 3 hours. Of course a flight is only about 90 minutes, but once you factor in getting to the airport an hour early and checking in, it's pretty much a wash.

- An ICE employee was among 16 men arrested in a sex trafficking investigation in Minnesota, allegedly for attempting to purchase sex from an underage girl. He tried to dissuade the arresting officers by telling them who he worked for, but they weren't swayed.

- Winnipeg police have made an arrest in a string of arsons around the city, including the constituency offices of cabinet ministers Bernadette Smith and Nahanni Fontaine as well as multiple businesses. Interestingly, the police claim that he acted alone and that this is not related to recent reports of extortion by many business owners.

- The Manitoba Nurses Union has voted to "grey-list" Thompson General Hospital, warning that it is not a safe place to work. The last straw was the stabbing of a patient in September. The union had previously given this dubious designation to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.

- Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in western Manitoba has called in the RCMP to investigate threats made during their band election last week. Among other things, vote counting had to be paused after someone tried to storm the hall where the count was occurring; the incumbent chief, who is facing sexual assault charges, was defeated in the election but is trying to have the results thrown out. Whether the threats are connected with this has not been stated by the authorities.

- A Christian organization calling itself the Burn 24/7 Canada Worship Ministries Society is suing Quebec City for cancelling a concert by American far-right musician Sean Feucht at a city-owned venue. They have retained the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms for legal assistance.