Sunday, January 14, 2024

News roundup, 14 Jan 2024

- Israel continues to reject the genocide accusation raised by South Africa at the World Court of Justice, accusing the plaintiffs of presenting a "profoundly distorted" view of the conflict. Meanwhile Namibia is condemning Germany's almost unconditional support of Israel and reminding the world of Germany's actions in Namibia between 1904 and 1908, which has been called the first act of genocide of the 20th century (not to be confused with the better known genocide that their support seems to be an attempt to atone for). Though even Germany is starting to take note of how bad things are.

- It's been known since election night that Heather Stefanson would be resigning as leader of the Manitoba PCs, but she had not announced a date and it was assumed that she would stay on as leader until the party could select a new one. This has changed; she is stepping down now, and an interim leader will be selected until the party can elect one for the long term. Perhaps the fact that she's now facing an ethics complaint has something to do with it (even if she still denies any wrongdoing).

- Meanwhile Wab Kinew is looking at what can be done at the provincial level to address the recent rise in violent crime, notably bail reform, which is something he cited during the leaders' debate during the election campaign, as well as preventative measures such as recreational programs and mental health resources to help prevent crime. While the latter is the approach more associated with the NDP, politics is the art of the possible and the former is probably also necessary to convince the public that they're serious about the problem - and given some of the disturbing stories we've been hearing of late, it's probably just a good idea anyway.

- At the municipal level, Winnipeg Transit will begin training safety officers next week in an attempt to restore confidence in the safety of the system. The first officers will be ready for deployment in mid-February.

- Taiwan has elected Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party as their next president. China has repeatedly condemned him as a separatist, and many fear that this brings the possibility of conflict closer.

- While the settlement of the SAG-AFTRA strike was beneficial to a lot of people in the industry, voice actors in particular are concerned that it leaves the door open to their replacement by AI.

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