- Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, has been arrested in France on suspicion of facilitating various crimes, including "fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organised crime and promotion of terrorism" through his company's app. Durov is a Russian-French dual citizen, and Russia is accusing France of "totalitarian" behaviour. Now that sounds pretty rich coming from the Russians; that said, it's worth questioning whether making it possible to securely communicate, which is no doubt useful for the above and other crimes, is sufficient grounds for considering you complicit in those crimes.
- The Trudeau government has slapped a 100% surtax on all Chinese-made electric vehicles, ostensibly to support the EV industry at home. This follows the lead of the US, which took similar measures earlier this year. The editorial board at the Globe and Mail are arguing that this is a necessary move, even as they claim that tariffs are generally a bad thing. I'm not sure it is so good on the big picture, though; while it's definitely true that Chinese EVs are subsidized heavily by the state, subsidies to shift away from environmentally damaging things such as internal combustion engines are a sound and reasonable move, and notably the Trudeau government is not above such measures themselves when it benefits Canadian workers.
- The Canada Industrial Relations Board has ordered an end to the lockout at Canada's two main railways. This was seen as necessary due to the economic impact of the dispute; however, the union plans to fight it in court, and raises concerns that such a move could make it harder for other unions in federally regulated industries.
- A startup called Form Energy plans to build the world's largest battery in Maine, as a measure to maintain the stability of New England's power grid and improve the capacity for the use of renewable energy on the grid. The battery is a new type called an iron-air battery that doesn't require a lot of the hard-to-secure materials needed to build many battery types.
- A new poll suggests that Texas might be within reach for Kamala Harris. While Trump still holds onto a 5% lead, which is outside the margin of error, things could get interesting if his lead continues to slip. Also notable is that of those who planned to support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. prior to his withdrawal, 44% had switched their allegiance to Harris, while only 21% had switched to Trump. If that holds nationwide, this is very good news.
- Manitoba health minister Uzoma Asagwara has announced that prescription birth control medications will be made available free of charge in the province. The measure has been applauded by many, though some would like to ensure that the "morning after" pill is covered as well, which it currently is not due to its not being available by prescription.
- Some cycling advocates in Winnipeg are calling for the introduction of the "Idaho stop" law in Manitoba. Under this proposal, cyclists would be permitted to treat stop signs as motor vehicles treat yield signs, and to treat red lights as motorists would treat stop signs. The part relating to stop signs makes a great deal of sense, since it enables cyclists to clear the intersection faster (which is beneficial to them as well as to motorists). I used to be more skeptical about the part related to traffic signals until someone tried to bikejack me at a red light last year. Getting a government to resist populist fury sufficiently to introduce such a measure might be a challenge though.
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