News roundup, 15 April 2026

- Donald Trump is threatening to revoke the trade deal he made with the UK last year if relations between the two countries don't improve. Trump accuses the UK, as well as numerous other countries, of being "not there when we needed them" for the war on Iran. To his credit, PM Kier Starmer says he will not give in. Meanwhile Trump is suggesting that peace talks with Iran could resume in the coming days, after breaking down over the weekend. 

- Along with the war, Trump's feud with the Pope and circulation of an AI-generated image of himself as a Christlike figure may be among the few things he's done that could significantly cut into his support. He's drawn a lot of support from conservative Catholics, but there seem to be limits. On the other hand, his followers are extremely good at compartmentalization, especially when he causes people they dislike to suffer.

- The Carney government is temporarily suspending the excise taxes on gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel. I still say a better way of providing relief, if you're going to reduce taxes, would be to reduce the GST by a revenue-equivalent amount, thus helping everyone rather than just those who drive or fly. This just incentivizes people to keep driving. And this sort of thing tends to develop a momentum; already Manitoba's opposition is calling on the province to scrap its gas tax permanently. This needs to be nipped in the bud.

- Communities in Manitoba's Interlake region are concerned about the flooding situation this spring. Peguis First Nation as well as the town of Arborg are watching anxiously to see if it's as bad as it's been in some recent years. Even in Winnipeg the floodway is being operated to protect low lying properties. This isn't entirely bad news, since it means some relief for Manitoba Hydro from the impacts of the drought we've seen over the last few years.

- An American influencer who calls himself Johnny Somali has been sentenced to six months in prison for public order violations in South Korea. He had caused public outrage by filming himself kissing a statue commemorating wartime sex slaves, referred to as "comfort women" by Japan. He has previously created a stir by taunting Japanese commuters about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

News roundup, 24 Dec 2024

- The outgoing Biden administration is trying to push through a new regulation that will require natural gas utilities to address leakage from distribution networks. There are already requirements for them to address large leaks (big enough to cause an explosion) but the administration wants them to take into account the climate impact of leakage. Of course, it's questionable whether the incoming administration will let such a regulation survive. On a positive note, though, the gas industry does seem to be losing the war in the long term; the total installed renewal energy capacity in the US is expected to exceed that of natural gas within a few years. And the owners of a coal-fired plant in Texas have received federal funding to convert the facility to a solar farm.

- The judge who will be hearing Luigi Mangione's murder trial is married to a former Pfizer executive. This has led to skepticism among some as to whether he will receive a fair trial. Meanwhile, someone claiming to represent United Healthcare is submitting takedown requests under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to suppress the sales of merchandise depicting Mangione's face and related materials. No explanation why United Healthcare has any copyright in such images, but they're not letting that stop them. And a poll has found that 41% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 consider Mangione's actions "acceptable".

- Donald Trump wants to take back the Panama Canal from Panama, saying that shippers are charged "ridiculous" fees to use the canal. Perhaps we'll soon be hearing accusations of drug trafficking against Panama's president; it's not like stuff like that hasn't happened before.

- Honda and Nissan are in merger talks in the hope of becoming the world's third largest automaker and thus increase their competitiveness against Toyota and Volkswagen, not to mention Tesla and Chinese upstart BYD.

- The gas tax will be returning to Manitoba in the new year, albeit at a lower rate than before the tax holiday brought in by the government. I still think a reduction in the PST would be a more equitable, not to mention more environmentally friendly, way of providing tax relief, but that's just me.

- A Flin Flon man has had his charges of possessing child pornography thrown out due to excessive delays in the case. This is in keeping with a 2016 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that limits the time to prosecute to 18 months in most cases. A major factor in the delay was the RCMP's failure to hand over evidence in a timely manner.