News roundup, 16 June 2025

- Israel launched a series of attacks on Iran starting Friday; Iran has responded in kind. Iran reports at least 224 fatalities, most of them civilians; Israel has experienced a number of fatalities as well. Donald Trump has hinted at the possibility of the US joining the conflict.

- A Democratic member of the Minnesota legislature was shot to death along with her husband in their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park. The suspect is also accused of the attempted murders of another legislator and his wife; he was reportedly disguised as a police officer and left behind an SUV that had been equipped and painted like a police car. He remained at large until surrendering to police on Sunday. A hit list including several other politicians, as well as Planned Parenthood locations, was found in the vehicle; evidently this guy is so pro-life he'll kill you.

- A man showed up to a "No Kings" protest in Salt Lake City on Saturday and pointed an AR-15-type rifle at the protesters. It is believed that a member of the protesters' "peacekeeping team" opened fire with a handgun in response, wounding the attacker and killing a bystander. The attacker was only slightly wounded; he has been arrested on a murder charge. The person who opened fire has yet to be identified.

- The valedictorian at an Ottawa high school says that she was phoned by the principal and told not to come to school today after her speech made reference to the more than 17,000 children who have died in Gaza since the most recent conflict. Elizabeth Yao says that the principal told her that her statements had "caused harm"; the principal and the school board have declined a request for comment.

- Buzz Hargrove, who led the Canadian Auto Workers (now Unifor) from 1992 until his retirement in 2008, has died at the age of 81.

- An internal memo in Nigeria's agriculture ministry has called for all department staff to pray for food security. This has led some Nigerians to wonder how about the department's commitment to actually do something about the problem.

Praying at the pump

Where else but in America?

At a Shell petrol station in Washington, Rocky Twyman and an unusual group of activists were mad as hell about soaring fuel prices.

"Last week, this station was $US3.51 ($A3.72). Now it's practically $US3.60 ($A3.82). So it's gone up nine cents in one week," Twyman said as he pumped five dollars worth of petrol into his thirsty American car.

"Someone's making a lot of money and it's really, really wrong," added Twyman, who founded the Prayer at the Pump movement to seek help from a higher power to bring down fuel prices, because the powers in Washington haven't.

The half-dozen activists - Twyman, a former Miss Washington DC, the owner of a small construction company and two volunteers at a local soup kitchen - joined hands, bowed their heads and intoned a heartfelt prayer.

From here.