Monday, December 9, 2024

News roundup, 9 Dec 2024

- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been overthrown and forced to flee the country. This apparently came as a surprise to the Americans; Biden spoke of both "historical opportunity" and of "risk and uncertainty", which when combined essentially means "we're not sure what to think of this yet". That didn't stop them from launching a few airstrikes at ISIS/Daesh sites in the country, because that's what they do when they're not sure how to proceed.

- The attempt to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has failed after his party's parliamentary caucus boycotted the vote, with the result that the parliament did not have quorum. His own justice ministry, however, has imposed an overseas travel ban on him, which indicates that his troubles have not ended.

- A former Calgary police officer is the subject of a Canada-wide warrant for breach of trust and misuse of a computer system, after allegedly using police information systems to stalk women who he initially met as a result of service calls. He is believed, however, to have left the country.

- New Manitoba legislation will prohibit the sale of long bladed weapons including machetes to persons under the age of 18 as of the new year and require purchasers to show photo ID; information pertaining to the sales must be retained by retailers for two years. Stores where a majority of products sold are kitchenware products are, however, exempt from the legislation, which sounds like a pretty big loophole to me.

- Alberta is planning to recruit foreign workers from the United Arab Emirates, which has raised alarms among labour leaders that it will drive down wages.

- The storm that hit the UK over the weekend has killed at least two people when trees fell on their vehicles in separate incidents; power was cut to thousands and rail services have been disrupted.

- Apparently black Republicans are having a hard time understanding why Trump hasn't appointed any of their number to his cabinet. Gee I dunno, I think this might be an example of what the young folks call "FAFO".

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