Wednesday, September 27, 2023

News roundup, 27 Sept 2023

 - Some more allegations regarding the death of Sukhdool Singh Gill, which might lend support to the claim that he was involved in criminal activities... except these allegations are also coming from the executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi. Now it's possible that it's true; it's also possible that he was just a political activist and got killed for that. Or both - it wouldn't be the first time that the lines between a liberation movement and a criminal gang were blurred (see for example the IRA). I'd like to hear some evidence from someone who isn't beholden to Narendra Modi before I believe it, though.

- Meanwhile, federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says he has been briefed by intelligence officials on the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey and considers the allegations of Indian involvement credible. Gwynne Dyer has some thoughts on possible international consequences.

- Several prominent physicians have endorsed the Manitoba NDP. No surprise given that they can see first hand the impact of Tory cuts.

- MPI has given what they say is their final offer to settle the strike. Whether it actually is or not remains to be seen. Meanwhile Hollywood writers are now returning to work after their strike was settled.

- The apologies and recriminations in the Yaroslav Hunka story. I would hope that someone is investigating who might have recommended that the speaker take him as a guest; it could have simply been a stupid mistake, but I could also see nefarious actors (be they working for Poilievre, Putin, or someone else) having set this up.

- A court has ruled that Donald Trump committed fraud by inflating the value of his holdings in order to get loans. Not a criminal conviction as such (this was a civil case), but it doesn't look good on him, and it's gotten his business licenses in New York State cancelled. The effect on his business empire could be dire.

- The Republicans aren't letting a lack of evidence stop them from opening an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden. The outcome of this remains to be seen.

- MIT researchers are reporting a breakthrough in solar powered desalination. This could be crucial in the coming years, if it works as advertised. In other potentially good news, a geological energy storage technology, in which water is pumped into an aquifer and kept under pressure, is showing great promise (though I could see it having some of the same issues as fracking, in terms of seismic effects at least).

- The International Energy Agency is suggesting that global oil consumption could peak within a decade, even without new policies; this would be very good news indeed if it pans out. Still too late for a lot of people, of course (not to mention numerous other animals and plants) and the more action taken the better. And there are still fears that the masses won't be willing to pay the cost of transition. Better to make the rich pay, of course, but in lieu of that the rest of us are going to have to pony up, and a lot of people are unwilling.

- China has ambitious plans to build a base inside old lava tubes on the Moon.

- Germany is cracking down on a cultlike far-right group known for indoctrinating children. More worrisome are the cracks in the country's "firewall" against extremism, though they're still doing better than most of Europe in that regard.

- A reporter for an Australian TV network has been charged with impersonating a police officer in the hope of obtaining security footage from a business.

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