- The UN states that Israel's order for the 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to relocate could constitute a "forcible transfer of civilians", which is a violation of international law. I suspect that their airstrike on a hospital, something straight out of the Russian playbook, could run afoul of some conventions too. Some argue that Israel is "losing its value as an ally" for the West, though that sounds like wishful thinking to me. In any case, their value as an ally is secondary to who they might take with them if they go down, so they'll never be allowed to fall in any case (nor should they, given the consequences).
- Speaking of Russia, they seem to be encountering difficulties in their attempts to storm the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka. They may benefit, however, from the distraction of the Israel-Gaza war, which may redirect a lot of aid to Israel that would otherwise have gone to Ukraine.
- A man who shot three people, two of them fatally, near a soccer stadium in Brussels has been killed by police. It looks like a case of "lone wolf" terrorism, albeit inspired by ISIS/Daesh.
- The natural gas industry is borrowing a page from the tobacco industry in its efforts to fight restrictions on gas stoves.
- Australia's bushfire season is taking off in a big way in northern NSW, with one fatality already and several communities threatened.
- Besides laying bare a dark undercurrent of Australian culture, the Voice referendum also raises serious issues about the role of disinformation in democratic politics and how to address it. It's old Karl Popper's "paradox of tolerance"; if you tolerate all speech and viewpoints, you hand too much power to the liars. Yet there's no doubt that an overzealous campaign against disinformation has the potential to criminalize legitimate speech as well. Not an easy problem to solve.
- The EU seems to be making some serious efforts to address the microplastics problem, including but not limited to a ban on glitter.
- The banning of books is an issue in two byelections being held to fill vacancies on the board of the Brandon School Division. A resolution to create a book banning committee failed to gain traction, but the bad guys are doing their darnedest to get onto the board and keep this kind of crap on the agenda.
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