Tuesday, June 25, 2024

News roundup, 25 June 2024

- The Conservatives have captured the former Liberal stronghold of Toronto-St. Paul's in yesterday's byelection. This is likely to increase internal pressure on Justin Trudeau, but one recent poll has suggested that even getting rid of him may not help their electoral chances very much.

- American journalist Rachel Maddow fears that Donald Trump is not bluffing when he talks about building camps capable of holding millions of people and about "rooting out" the "enemy from within". Someone in this Reddit thread points out that Trump has already talked about putting the homeless and mentally ill into camps, and that fascists usually start with people who have very few allies before going after others.

- Julian Assange has made a plea deal, in which he has agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of violating the American espionage law and be sentenced to time served. He is expected to return to his native Australia afterwards.

- A 42 year old woman in Euless, Texas has been arrested after allegedly attempting to drown a 3 year old Palestinian child in an apartment complex pool following a racially charged confrontation with the girl's mother. She has been charged with attempted capital murder, injury to a child, and public intoxication.

- A fraudster who pleaded guilty to forging Norval Morrisseau paintings has said that a painting held by the Winnipeg Art Gallery is among the forgeries. The gallery has placed the painting into storage while they decide what do to next.

- An OPP officer who fatally ran over a man in Midland while speeding on a run to get coffee for another officer at a crime scene in 2020 has been found to have committed "discreditable conduct", however the OPP has declared that the misconduct was "not serious" and can be handled internally by the force. Somehow I doubt a courier, Amazon driver, or the like would get the same consideration.

- More than 1,100 people have died from the heat in the course of the haj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

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