Saturday, December 30, 2023

News roundup, 30 Dec 2023

- A councillor with the RM of Springfield has added his voice to those calling for Tory MLA and former economic development minister Jeff Wharton to come clean about his having pressured other members of the moribund Stefanson government to approve a silica mine in the municipality. The ethics commissioner is tight-lipped about whether he has been asked to investigate so far, but it does seem like someone should look into what kind of connections Wharton might have with the company behind the project.

- The controversy over keeping Trump off the ballot continues. Even some Democrats are uncomfortable with the idea because of the implications for democracy - except that the implications for democracy if Trump wins again are even worse. Amusingly, at least one Trump supporter tweeted that she won't vote at all if Trump isn't on the ballot, which isn't really the threat she thinks it is.

- Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen has admitted to having submitted phony, AI-generated legal case citations to his own lawyer as part of a legal motion, but says it was an accident.

- Russia has launched what has been described as their "most massive aerial attack" on Ukraine since the invasion in 2022, killing at least 31 people, while a Russian border town has been shelled, killing 14. Meanwhile in Gaza, an aid convoy has come under fire from the IDF. This has not stopped the Biden administration from using an emergency provision to bypass Congress to supply weapons to Israel.

- A tennis match in Brisbane was paused when a small (50cm) but potentially deadly Eastern Brown Snake slithered onto the court. The snake was successfully removed by a professional snake catcher and the match continued to completion.

- Also in Australia, large amounts of cocaine are washing up on shore following a storm. A total of 124 kilograms have been found so far.

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