News roundup, 22 June 2026

- Keir Starmer is has announced that he will be resigning as the UK's prime minister. This follows Andy Burnham's byelection victory, as more than 50% of Labour's caucus now support Burnham for leader, making Starmer's position untenable. He will stay on until the party chooses a new leader this summer.

- A jury in Birmingham has refused to convict four activists who admitted breaking into a Wolverhampton factory owned by US manufacturer Moog Inc. Among other things, the company manufactures components used by the Israeli military, leading to the protest. The four had been charged with criminal damage over £5,000, having caused substantial damage to the facility. This contrasts with the fate of four other activists who broke into a plant in Filton, near Bristol, which is owned by Israeli company Elbit Systems. The latter company manufactures drones as well as land-based equipment for that country's military. Three of them were given sentences of around five years, while one of them, Samuel Corner, got seven (to be fair, he had also severely injured a cop with a sledgehammer as she attempted to arrest one of his colleagues). What's especially problematic here, though, is that a decision was made after the conviction to make a "terrorist connection" an aggravating factor in the sentencing, while the jury was only told that the activists other than Corner were on trial for criminal damage with no mention of terrorism. The judge in the Elbit case also tried to have one of the defense lawyers prosecuted for contempt of court for having the audacity to remind jurors in his closing speech of their right to acquit if they believed that the actions of the accused were moral, regardless of the letter of the law.

- An environmental activist who organized a team of volunteers to clean up a river in England is being threatened with prosecution by the UK's environment agency. The agency says that they are concerned that enough material may have been removed from the river to constitute dredging, which requires a permit from the agency, and that this could have potential flood impacts downstream. It's hard not to wonder, though, if the agency isn't also a bit embarrassed by the fact that a bunch of volunteers did what they'd been stalling on for years.

- Abelardo de la Espriella, the Trump-backed candidate in Colombia's presidential election, appears to have scored a narrow victory over left-leaning candidate Iván Cepeda. De la Espriella has vowed a military crackdown on armed groups, the construction of "mega-prisons" in the jungle, and to shrink the state (except for the military and those mega-prisons, presumably).

- Europe is enduring another severe heatwave, with temperatures expected to reach the mid-40s in parts of Spain and France. Even in the UK, an extreme heat warning has been issued for southern England and parts of Wales, with temperatures as high as 38°C expected.

News roundup, 19 June 2026

- Labour Party dissident Andy Burnham won a resounding victory in the byelection in the constituency of Makerfield, winning nearly 55% of the vote compared to 34% for the Reform UK candidate. His vote share was almost double that of Josh Simons, whose resignation triggered the byelection in the first place. Burnham, who until now served as the mayor of Greater Manchester, says that this represents Labour's final chance to reverse its current direction; it remains to be seen whether this will push the party to dump Kier Starmer, much less whether the party could win the next general election by doing so.

- NDP house leader Heather McPherson posted (I'd say tweeted but this was on Bluesky rather than Twitter/X) a quip that billionaires shouldn't exist and trillionaires should be put in jail. This has thrown the folks at Juno News into a tizzy, ranting about a "leftwing hate fest" and misrepresenting the post to boot (McPherson didn't actually call Musk a Nazi, she just reposted someone else's post calling him that, not that I could fault her if she had). Juno News is just a rebranding of the True North Centre for Public Policy, so they shouldn't be taken too seriously, but it's kind of amusing to see what snowflakes they are when you pick on one of their heroes.

- Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on Moscow and some other Russian targets on Thursday. Among the targets hit was the capital's main oil refinery; some 17 people were injured in the attacks, and Moscow's four airports were shut down for most of the day. Meanwhile the Kyiv Post alleges that authorities in a town near the capital refuse to disclose the location of civil defense shelters out of fear of causing panic, saying that this information will only be made public "during mobilization and in wartime". And of course, this conflict is officially just a "special military operation", and calling it a war can get you put in jail or thrown out a window, so...

- The board of directors of the South Winnipeg Community Centre has disbanded and handed control of the facility back to the city. The board had been accused of financial irregularities and other governance-related issues by some members of the community, but an independent audit found no evidence of financial wrongdoing, and the General Council of Winnipeg Community Centres' own investigation found similar results. Despite this, board members continued to receive online harassment, and when you're a volunteer you're only going to put up with so much of this. I haven't been able to find much background on this story, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's some sort of culture war nonsense bubbling underneath all this.

- Selkirk has become the first city in Manitoba to take advantage of funding the province is offering to provide free bus passes to youth aged 12-21. They will need proof of enrollment to be eligible, however. The province is still working with other cities, including Winnipeg as well as Brandon, Winkler, and Flin Flon, to get the program in place in time for next fall; it would be nice if the program covered university and community college students as well, at least in Winnipeg and Brandon, as that would probably lead to a reduction in impaired driving.

- Researchers are reporting that some AI systems are really good at finding loopholes in rules. This should give pause to anyone who hopes that some kind of constraints like Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics could be made to work in the real world.

News roundup, 18 June 2026

- The White House says that the memorandum of understanding signed between the US and Iran is now in effect. Under the deal, Iran agrees never to develop a nuclear weapon, and a $300 billion fund is to be created for the "reconstruction and economic development" of Iran - though the US is not obligated to contribute to the fund. Iran also agrees to allow traffic through the Strait of Hormuz at no charge. It's also supposed to eventually end the sanctions against Iran, but no timeline is provided for this.

- The NAACP has filed a lawsuit to shut down natural gas-fired turbines that power Elon Musk's Grok AI, on the grounds that they not only lack the required permits under the Clean Air Act but will disproportionately harm residents of black communities. The Trump regime's Department of Justice is arguing that the move threatens national security and must be dismissed for that reason.

- The Bank of England is considering the introduction of a state-backed cryptocurrency called Britcoin. Nigel Farage, who until now has never seen a cryptocurrency that he didn't like, is vehemently opposed, and in fact has told a crowd of supporters that he's "prepared to go to prison" to stop it. Probably the fact that he's received donations from a huge crypto baron who stands to lose money if a state-backed cryptocurrency takes off has something to do with this.

- Liberal MP Ruby Sahota, who serves as the government's Secretary of State for Combatting Crime, claims that the people who fired shots at synagogues as well as the US consulate in Toronto were hired by a foreign entity. Toronto police have not confirmed the connection.

- A Conservative MP, Corey Tochor, has introduced a private member's bill to legalize psilocybin for the treatment of some psychiatric conditions. Tochor, who represents the riding of Saskatoon-University, says he was motivated to introduce the bill after one of his constituents was dropped from a pilot study allowing the drug to be prescribed on a limited basis. I have to say I can't fault Tochor on this, even if it is a case of a stopped clock being right twice a day.

- A new poll from Probe Research finds that nearly 50% of respondents do not want Winnipeg mayor Scott Gillingham to win another term. Confusingly, more than 90% also believe that electing someone else won't make a difference, and Dan Lett cites other polling that suggests that people actually understand that a lot of the problems the city is experiencing need to be solved by other levels of government - yet they want to reflexively vote out incumbents anyway. It all seems to suggest that people increasingly see voting as an act of spite rather than one of hope.

- Police in Senatobia, Mississippi killed a toddler when they opened fire on his mother's car, allegedly after someone in the vehicle was suspected of shoplifting. Notably, the boy's mother has not been charged with a crime, which you'd expect the cops to be quick to do if they had a leg to stand on.

 

News roundup, 17 June 2026

- Israel launched a series of new strikes on Lebanon, in defiance of Donald Trump's request. I think the real issue here is that the two leaders have different priorities - Trump wants the war to end in the hope that gas prices will come down in time for the midterms in November, while Netanyahu wants the war to continue until October to maximize his chances of winning the election and thus avoiding a corruption trial that could send him to prison.

- Savneet Talwar, a tenured professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), has been suspended and placed under investigation after giving students an assignment that made a passing reference to Palestine. The student who complained had a history of making similar complaints, and the school warned Talwar that the assignment could be seen as constituting "discrimination, harassment and/or retaliation".

- The yearbooks at two different Canadian high schools, one in Toronto and one in Bedford, NS, published quotes from students that appeared to question the Holocaust. Apparently it was worded in such a way as to question the number who died without making direct reference to the event; the exact wording isn't included in the article so it's hard to say how subtle it was. The Bedford school has asked students to return the yearbook for a reprint with the offending quote removed, while the Toronto school has offered to do the same. Interestingly, a school in the Pittsburgh area had a similar thing happen, but has not recalled the yearbook, saying it wasn't feasible to republish.

- A proposed mixed-use development called the Waters Urban Village would add nearly 3,000 housing units in a largely industrial area of east Winnipeg. The development would be a mix of multi-family and commercial. Seems pretty reasonable, but Transcona councillor (and sex assault suspect) Russ Wyatt is up in arms about the matter. Mayor Scott Gillingham called Wyatt a "desperate man", suggesting that he might be looking for a distraction from his legal issues.

- The town of Sundre in central Alberta has an annual rodeo, and normally there is an accompanying parade. This year, however, the parade was cancelled after organizers were subjected to severe harassment from Alberta separatists who were angered after being denied a float in the parade.

News roundup, 16 June 2026

- The Trump regime claims that the memorandum of understanding signed with Iran will see the Strait of Hormuz "open to all" by this coming Friday. The actual details of the MOU have yet to be released, however, so this claim should be taken with several kilograms of salt.

- The Carney government is suspending several certificates of citizenship that were sent out to people who applied after becoming eligible under the "lost Canadians" law. The suspensions are claimed to be justified based on the supporting documents not being original source material; those receiving the notice are being told that their applications may be reinstated if they provide satisfactory supporting evidence. Some 4,000 people around the world, around half of them American, had been sent certificates under the new legislation; it's not clear how many of these people are affected by this.

- Last week new regulations from Canada's telecommunications regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), took effect, prohibiting telecoms from charging extra fees to activate, change, or cancel cellphone plans. Shortly before the regulations came into force, Bell Canada and Telus rebranded these fees as a "handling fee" in the case of Bell, and a "SIM card fee" in Telus' case. The CRTC sent stern letters to the companies suggesting that these new fees may still be illegal; whether they take more concrete action than this remains to be seen.

- A man suspected of murder in the death of a 61 year old woman in the township of Greater Madawaska, Ontario was arrested in Winnipeg after police investigating the killing discovered threats that the suspect had made to a local business here. When captured he was found in possession of a shotgun as well as three jerry cans full of gasoline.

- In 2022, it was claimed by Russia that several public health facilities in Ukraine, which had received funding from the US, were actually biological warfare research facilities. The official story is that facilities were working to secure Soviet-era bioweapons and then turned into general purpose public health labs once this had been done. Russia's claims were denied by the US at the time. Of course, one could reasonably ask whether the Americans can be trusted to tell the truth about this, but notably these claims have also been dismissed by the UN as well as by some actual Russian scientists (who had best keep a safe distance from windows for the foreseeable future). However, a Canadian blogger, Patrick Armstrong, now claims to have new evidence supporting Russia's assertions. The source for this information is Donald Trump's Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who has released what she calls declassified information that allegedly supports the claim. Those convinced of Russia's righteousness in the conflict are naturally pleased with this report; whether information put out by the Trump regime can be trusted to be truthful on this matter (or any other) is left as an exercise for the reader.

News roundup, 15 June 2026

- The US and Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war. The full text of the agreement has not yet been made public, but Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who oversaw the negotiations, says that they have declared "immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon". Whether the Israelis will cooperate on that last point is another matter; indications are that they won't. Regarding Iran's nuclear program, the agreement allegedly 60-day timeline for "technical discussions" on the matter. That sounds like a comedown from the Americans' previous demands; I have to assume that the regime desperately wants to get gas prices down in time for the midterms this fall.

- Russian drone strikes on Kyiv have killed at least 10 people and severely damaged an 11th century cathedral that is part of a larger group of buildings called the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO world heritage site. The Russians are also accused of a "double tap" strike in which another wave of attacks comes after first responders have arrived; four emergency workers are among the dead.

- Last week's storm could set a record for insurance claims in Manitoba. MPI reports that they have received some 20,000 claims for vehicle damage so far, and home insurers are also seeing potentially unprecedented damage for such things as basement flooding.

- The rise of e-bikes has led the Netherlands to consider a 20 km/h speed limit for bike lanes and are conducting a two week trial in the municipality of Houten. Many naturally question whether such a rule needs to apply to regular, non-assisted bikes; after all, the real problem is the fact that an e-bike allows an inexperienced cyclist to reach speeds normally only reachable by an experienced cyclist.

- A study in the US has found that more than 50% of parents of young adults (18-25 years old) are using cellphone tracking apps to keep an eye on their kids. 

News roundup, 12 June 2026

- The US military attacked another Palau-flagged tanker, the Settebello, in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, two days after a similar attack, in the name of enforcing its blockade of Iranian ports. This time, three crew members, all Indian nationals, were killed. Trump says, though, that he's cancelled further strikes in anticipation of a ceasefire; we'll have to see how seriously that can be taken.

- Following Tuesday night's storm in southern Manitoba, some people are raising concerns that the emergency alerts sent to cellphones about severe weather such as tornadoes could have a "cry wolf" effect if too many people outside the danger zone get alerts. The alerts are sent based on connection to a cellphone tower in the affected area, but sometimes that means further away than expected (according to someone in this Reddit thread, cellphones can sometimes connect to a tower much further away than normal). Some people report getting as many as 20 alerts that night; meanwhile only a single tornado is confirmed, and that was over 30 km from Winnipeg where many people got these alerts. Environment Canada say that they are working on a more targeted system.

- This week's storms are also expected to have a devastating effect on agriculture in parts of Manitoba. The storms follow a late planting season, meaning that the plants haven't grown long enough to be as resilient against flooding as in a normal season.

- Authorities in Nova Scotia are using civil forfeiture laws, more often used against drug traffickers, to seize equipment from the site of an illegal landfill on the outskirts of Halifax. The owner of one of the pieces of equipment seized claims that he had nothing to do with the operation and was just leasing the land, however documents filed in the provincial supreme court include drone footage showing the equipment being loaded with topsoil adjacent to one of the dumping locations.

- A group of independent musicians, songwriters, and producers are suing Google for copyright infringement, alleging that the company's AI music generator Lyria 3 was trained on their works without permission. Google has filed a motion to dismiss, saying that the artists agreed to this under the terms of service when they uploaded their material to YouTube.

- The SpaceX IPO being launched today is expected to make Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.