- The leader of the political wing of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an airstrike in Tehran. Launching an airstrike at a foreign country to take out someone who lives there might seem to be a reckless move, but I'm guessing Netanyahu wouldn't mind a war with Iran. After all, he needs some kind of foreign threat in order to maintain his grip on power. And given that he's at risk of going to jail as soon as he leaves office, he has a rather strong incentive to retain power at all costs, no matter how many people (including Israelis) have to die as a result. As for the Americans, they say they hope it doesn't escalate, but that they'll step in to defend Israel if it comes down to it. Because, well...
- In 2016, Facebook introduced a feature called CrowdTangle, a feature that journalists have found extremely useful to track what's going viral. Now, parent company Meta has decided to shut it down, perhaps fearing that it reveals too much about the effects of Facebook's algorithms on the broader society. This is alarming to many, especially given that it's happening in the lead-up to one of the most divisive elections in American history.
- The County Recorder of Maricopa County, Arizona, Stephen Richter, has been defeated in the Republican primary by far-right challenger Justin Heap. Richter, a moderate Republican, had been a strong defender of the integrity of the 2020 election, which naturally made him a target. Stuff like this does not bode well for the integrity of future elections.
- Following a mass stabbing at a children's dance workshop in the English town of Southport that killed three young girls, disinformation circulating on social media attributed the attack to Islam (even though the actual suspect has no known links to the religion). As a result, rioters vandalized cars in the parking lot of a mosque, torched a police van, and injured several cops.
- Just weeks after a cyclist was killed in a hit and run on Wellington Crescent, a teenage cyclist was injured by another motorist. She'll apparently be OK, but the cycling community is calling for a 30 km/h speed limit for the entirety of Wellington. That might be a big ask; even though much of the street is already subject to such limits during the summer, the section from River to Academy is a major route for motorists and one could expect a lot of sound and fury from them if such measures were taken there.
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