- Mary Robinson, the former Irish president who has also served as a climate envoy for the UN, warns of the impact of investment treaties such as the Energy Charter Treaty. Like many modern trade agreements, these treaties enable corporations (such as fossil fuel firms) to sue countries that take measures that cost them money. This is a strong deterrent for signatories who want to take meaningful action on climate. The oil barons aren't satisfied with that, though; ExxonMobil launched a lawsuit earlier this year, not against a government but against actual investors who filed shareholder proposals to be voted on at annual general meetings. The shareholder organizations targeted by the company withdrew their proposal, but ExxonMobil is still pursuing the lawsuit. They were also careful to file the lawsuit somewhere where they could count on it being heard by a Trump-appointed judge. And speaking of Trump and the oil companies, concerns are being raised about Trump's promise to gut climate regulations if the companies can raise a billion dollars for his campaign.
- Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, was shot and seriously wounded at a campaign rally in the leadup to EU parliamentary elections. A 71 year old suspect is in custody.
- The Manitoba government is changing the school tax rebate system. Starting next year, the existing rebate and credit will be replaced with a flat credit of $1,500 applied towards school taxes, but only for your primary residence. So people with expensive houses (over about $400,000) will pay more, as will people who own multiple properties, while those with less expensive houses as their primary residence will pay less. Seems more equitable, but of course that's not stopping the Tories from whining about "the middle class".
- The University of Winnipeg has closed its doors to the general public over perceived "safety concerns" stemming from the protest encampment on the front lawn, despite the fact that no violent incidents or threats have been reported so far.
- The Food Fare grocery store on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg had another incident on Tuesday evening; apparently a teen who had been kicked out of the store earlier in the day came back with brass knuckles and attacked three staff. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, who had cut ties with the chain following the earlier incident when a staff member apparently assaulted someone he suspected of shoplifting, announced a joint press conference with store owner Munther Zeid, but then cancelled it; neither the AMC nor Zeid has commented on the reason for the cancellation. Meanwhile, a Shoppers Drug Mart location in Steinbach say they've been able to greatly reduce shoplifting by prohibiting unaccompanied minors from entering the store.
- Following reports of high levels of H5N1 in unpasteurized milk, there has been a dramatic increase in the sale of said milk, as people have been buying the stuff in the hope of giving themselves immunity. One would be tempted to say, "so a bunch of Trump supporting morons will get sick and die. Where's the problem?" except that every human that gets infected is a potential "patient zero" for a new variant that spreads from person to person more easily than avian influenza currently does.
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