Russian defenss ministry of Monday claimed that forces of the Wagner private army, with the support of Russian troops, have seized the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Despite this claim, Ukrainian authorities have said fighting for the city is still continuing. The eight-month battle for the city in eastern Ukraine is the longest and probably most bloody of the conflict in Ukraine. After Russia switched its focus to the Donetsk region following a botched attempt to seize Kyiv early in the February 2022 invasion, Moscow’s troops tried to take Bakhmut in August but were pushed back.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reportedly admitted his army has lost control of the city of Bakhmut to Russian forces. The eastern city, in Ukraine's Donetsk province, has been fought over for months by Ukrainian and Russian-aligned groups but had been holding off a Russian attempt to retake the region. The Russian Defence Ministry and head of mercenary group Wagner have claimed the city for Moscow, but despite heavy casualties, Ukraine says their forces are still fighting. Its loss would allow Russia to move west towards further industrial and administrative centres in the Donetsk region and bring it closer to its goal of full conquest.
South Korea's latest plan to address population decline and support dual-income families is a pilot programme to allow them to hire domestic service workers from Southeast Asia. Families in Seoul will be able to take on overseas domestic workers through certified service providers this year, and the programme will begin the process of introducing foreign domestic workers to the domestic work market more broadly. The hope is that this will ease the burden of household and childcare tasks and offer an affordable solution. Still, there are debates over the programm's effectiveness, potential cultural barriers and discrimination, and fewer people may trust outsiders to take care of their children. The country has backing from Nobel laureate and economist Michael Kremer, who argued that an immigration policy should be made to help include foreign domestic workers.
Using ‘he/him,’ ‘she/her’ in emails got 2 dorm directors fired at small New York Christian college
The Toronto Star
23-05-21 04:19
Two recently fired dorm directors at Houghton University, a small Christian university in western New York, are pushing back against a new policy demanding email signatures have no gender identity attached to them. Shua Wilmot and Raegan Zelaya refused to adhere to the new policy, for which they were fired. The ongoing culture wars in the US over sexual preferences, gender identity and transgender rights have engulfed politics, school campuses and many other facets of public and private life. This is an issue for other religiously-affiliated campuses in the US. In the northwest of the US, 16 plaintiffs are suing Seattle Pacific University to challenge the school’s employment policy barring people in same-sex relationships from full-time jobs. In New York City, LGBTQ students are challenging Yeshiva University’s decision to bar their student-run club from campus. As a result of this issue, Paul Southwick, director of the Religious Exemption Accountability Project, said "there’s a backlash against the rise of LGBTQ rights".
Sudan's army has agreed to a seven-day ceasefire with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), solely aimed at protecting civilians and hospitals rather than addressing political issues, according to an army spokesperson. The ceasefire, set to start on Monday evening, hopes to encourage the rebel militia to follow suit. The news follows escalating tensions and growing violence in Sudan as protests continue against President Omar al-Bashir's rule.
The most important thing America can do in response to mass shootings is to modernise the background check system, according to a new op-ed in the New York Times. The FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System is designed to approve consumer purchases from federally licensed firearms dealers or deny them to ten categories of prohibited buyers, including those convicted of certain crimes or with particular mental health histories. However, the system is prey to numerous data gaps, loopholes and also depends on reform of state and federal privacy laws to ensure comprehensive background checks. Since assault weapons bans aren’t coming back and AR-15-style rifles are here to stay, this is the most viable short-term solution for reducing gun violence, the newspaper’s editorial warns.
The US debt ceiling has long been criticized as a “dumb” feature of American law. Congress spends money and then votes on whether the government will pay its bills. If the government does not pay its bills, it could cause a recession and trigger financial chaos. Moody’s Analytics says that a short debt ceiling breach alone could cause a recession. An analysis by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers estimates that a more protracted default and foresaw a crash on the order of the 2008 financial crisis. In light of this, Democrats should have eliminated the debt ceiling, but they have not.
Two unconventional gambits proving particularly popular in the liberal imagination are being considered as potential solutions: President Biden declaring the debt ceiling unconstitutional, and the Treasury Department using a loophole in a 1997 law to mint a platinum coin of any value it chooses to pay the government’s debts. However, the legality of these proposals depends on how three conservatives read them: John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch, who are the closest to conservative swing justices. While similar legal arguments have worked before, the United States Supreme Court now does what it wants to do, and it is doubtful that Biden, or any Democrat, will try these two measures.
At present, the White House is open to budget negotiations but opposes debt ceiling brinkmanship. Republicans are the ones threatening default if their demands are not met. Biden should think carefully before taking the risk of snatching the grenade out of their hands and holding it himself. The Times considers it unlikely that the Biden administration declares the debt ceiling unconstitutional, as if the Supreme Court declared this ploy unconstitutional, Biden would own the market chaos that would follow, which risks causing significant electoral damage.
US President Joe Biden's decision to let Europe supply Ukraine with F-16 fighters has been warmly welcomed. Erstwhile blocked by the US, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky had cited the loyal backing of European leaders to train Ukrainian F-16 pilots in readiness for the potential launch of airborne missions against Russia. It is unclear when the delivery will take place, but the Ukrainian resistance to the continuing Russian threat highlights the value of these jets. Ukraine holds a variety of Soviet-era fourth-generation fighters with few of the more advanced European-generation 4.5 models found in service, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and French Dassault Rafale.
Russia has hundreds of these fifth-generation stealth fighters such as the American F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II. The move to F-16s means Ukraine can develop its air defence capacity, as these jets have the capacity, unlike older Soviet-era planes, to cover the length and breadth of Ukraine. As we reported last week, White House officials are said to have had preliminary talks about selling F-35 stealth fighter jets to Japan, following similar requests from South Korea and the UAE. Japan is keen to upgrade its ageing air force to balance China, while the UAE is anxious to build up its defence capabilities against Iran. South Korea is also looking to replace its F-4 and F-5 jets with next-generation fighters.
Smooth FM evening announcer, podcast host and founder of My MensTeam charity, Cameron Daddo, revealed in an interview that he got his big break by saying yes to opportunities and his daily news media habits include reading online newspapers and tuning in to hourly radio headlines. He admires Barack Obama and wishes he could give up self-sabotaging. His recommended podcast is Separate Bathrooms, followed by SmartLess. The Dire Straits’ Romeo and Juliet is always on high rotation and his top sporting bucket list is a round of golf at Augusta National.
Police in Germany are investigating a possible poisoning case involving two Russians living in exile. The incident happened when the pair attended a meeting organised by Kremlin critic and exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky in Berlin on April 29 and 30. One of the individuals was a journalist experiencing unspecified symptoms treated at Charite Hospital in east Berlin. The other, Natalia Arno, the director of Free Russia Foundation in the US, suffered sharp pain and strange symptoms after returning to her hotel in Prague. Several Russian opposition politicians and businessmen have died in unexplained circumstances in recent years.
Two Russian exiles are suspected to have been poisoned while attending a conference in Germany organized by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Detectives in Berlin have opened a file after two women complained of symptoms suggestive of poisoning, according to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. One of the women, a journalist, reported symptoms that may have pre-dated the conference, but she also attended the hospital in Berlin. The second woman, Natalia Arno, director of the NGO Free Russia Foundation, found the door to her hotel room ajar and later complained of sharp pain and strange symptoms.
Berlin police are investigating after two Russian exiles fell ill following a conference organised by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Natalia Arno, director of the NGO Free Russia Foundation, reported feeling unwell after waking to find her hotel room door ajar. One of the women had symptoms prior to the event, according to reports citing Russian investigators. Berlin police said “a file had been opened” but did not comment further. Russia has been accused of carrying out numerous poison attacks on its opponents in Russia and abroad in recent years. Alexei Navalny, an opposition figure, was treated for a nerve agent attack although the Russian government denied any involvement. Navalny returned to Russia in January 2021 from Germany, where he had been treated for the effects of the attack, and has been imprisoned since his arrival. Arno declined to speculate who might have been responsible for her incident although she has previously experienced harassment from Russian agents.
The G7 summit in Japan failed to convince three emerging economies, Brazil, India and Indonesia, to endorse its views on Ukraine. Brazil, whose former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was invited to the summit, declined to meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and privately criticised the alliance’s stance in the Ukraine conflict. Indonesian President Joko Widodo offered to be a peace envoy after meeting Zelenskiy separately. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi also endorsed a diplomatic solution. The interaction highlighted the G7’s difficulties in persuading major emerging nations to impose sanctions against Russia, and the difficulties of maintaining a global principle based on territorial integrity. A strategy was adopted before the summit to avoid pressuring invitees to condemn Russia.
Montana’s TikTok ban throws users into new era of uncertainty
CNN
23-05-21 12:44
The state of Montana became the first in the US to ban short-form video app TikTok last week, in a move unlikely to be enforceable. Proponents of the ban cite concerns that data harvested by TikTok could be used nefariously by the Chinese government. Montana's ban comes at a tough time for entrepreneurs reliant on TikTok, such as Keri Williams, whose Branded Pinto custom hat shop has been almost entirely dependent on the platform since its launch two years ago. Williams, who is already looking to encourage her fans to migrate to Instagram, said the ban shows that some senators have "no idea what TikTok even is."
Students at the University of Oxford are suppressing free speech, according to an anonymous article in The Oxford Student. The author said they were cautious about mentioning their research on gender and occasionally attended the events of figures with contentious views on the topic. The article accuses a minority of students of being overly aggressive in preventing open discussion. Otherwise sensible students often go along with this, despite personal misgivings, due to social pressure or hoping to gain from virtue signalling. Overall, the article paints a picture of an environment in which ambition and rivalry combine with identity politics, sometimes escalating to anonymous attacks and blackmail.
Grassroots footy club, the University of Melbourne Women’s Football Club (also known as the “Mugars”), has welcomed transgender and gender-diverse people with open arms. The club held an open training night for trans and gender-diverse persons in April this year and since then has recruited just one participant, a woman named Olivia who now plays in the club’s third team. The value of the club’s inclusion practices has been reflected in the club’s success both on and off the field. The club has received better welfare opportunities for players, better revenue opportunities for the club through sponsorship and through grants, better social events, and more chances for on-field success. The Mugars’ open training night was held to create a space for trans people who feel unwelcome in sporting environments. At the elite level of AFL in Australia, players must meet certain standards: the AFL requires female trans players’ testosterone levels to be at or less than five nanomoles per litre continuously for at least two years, and to provide physical and athletic performance data.
Berlin police investigate report of Russian exiles falling ill
The Toronto Star
23-05-21 18:49
German police are investigating reports that two Russian exiles fell ill around the time they attended a conference in Berlin last month, linked to opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Police are being tight-lipped about details, but the probe is being conducted by a team that handles politically-motivated crimes. There is speculation that the pair may have been poisoned with a nerve agent, but this has not been corroborated.
Leadership is often considered a set of honed competencies, but executives could learn more from understanding elusive inner qualities, according to business lecturer Hitendra Wadhwa. Looking at the experiences of history's finest leaders, Wadhwa instated his belief in five core energies: purpose, wisdom, growth, love and self-realisation, and suggests guiding staff to cultivate a positive attitude and recognise insecurities, habits and ego. Wadhwa recommends taking a moment to focus on these energies in the run-up to high-stakes events, which taught people using such methods to be three times more likely to achieve their target objective.
No immediate end in sight as wildfire near Hay River, KFN keeps burning
CBC
23-05-21 16:18
Around 4,000 residents in Canada's Kátł'odeeche First Nation reserve and Hay River remain under evacuation order a week after a wildfire broke out close to their homes. Officials continue to work on strengthening fire lines and protecting people and homes, but no timeline for the relocation has been given, with adverse weather conditions said to remain a threat to containment efforts. Meanwhile, the Town of Hay River has renewed its local state of emergency for another week but said the move was not indicative of a timeline for evacuation planning.
Out-of-control wildfire in Kootenay National Park expands in size
CBC
23-05-21 20:06
An out of control wildfire that started from lightning in Kootenay National Park on the British Columbia-Alberta border, is continuing to grow and is now estimated to be 190 hectares in size. This fire was initially reported on 9th June and has grown much more rapidly than parks normally see at this time of year. Parks Canada stated that the primary concern is how early this type of behavior is seen in these areas. Cooler temperatures and precipitation were forecasted for Monday which could help fire suppression activities, but according to Alberta Wildfire's online dashboard, 84 wildfires continue to rage inside Alberta's forest protection zones, with 22 categorized as out of control.
