Gun control advocates have been advocating that the Second Amendment was never intended to protect individuals from bearing arms, but rather state militias. Kris Brown, president of the top US gun control group, formerly known as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, spoke out against the interpretation, thus suggesting that wording that protected an individual's right to bear arms would not protect children. It is argued that the minute men who employed firearms to defend their rights and liberties were based on a historically sound interpretation of the Second Amendment.
Most gun crimes in the US are not committed by lawful gun owners, but by a small group of repeat violent offenders who are already prohibited from possessing firearms, according to an op-ed in The Daily Signal. Lawful gun owners make up a majority of gun owners and use their firearms to harm themselves or others in few cases, with most using their firearms for self-defence. Every major study has found that Americans use their firearms for self-defence between 500,000 and 3 million times a year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has documented. The article added that while gun owners can make poor decisions, a well-armed civilian population does more to benefit public safety than it does to undermine it.
Montpelier, the home of James Madison and owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is being accused of allowing politics to override history. The trust is accused of using Montpelier to influence how history is taught in Virginia rather than preserving Madison's legacy.
The UK’s pledge of £1bn ($1.4bn) to boost its semiconductor industry over the next decade has been criticised as “insignificant” by industry figures, compared to the $50bn promised by the US and €43bn pledged by the EU. The boost is intended to expand the domestic industry, protect national security and reduce the risk of supply chain disruption. However, the UK currently has to import critical silicon chips from Taiwan. Simon Thomas of UK start-up Paragraf described the announcement as “quite frankly flaccid” and Garner consultant Gaurav Gupta said it would not create a UK company capable of competing with major chip producers.
The UK's Home Office has reportedly projected an influx of over a million foreign workers and students by 2024, according to an official document sent to Downing Street last year. The revelation comes after Home Secretary Suella Braverman warned that an "unchecked drive towards multiculturalism" without successful integration was a "recipe for disaster". Readers criticised the Conservative Party for failing to curb unchecked immigration levels, while the decline in the UK's birth rate also sparked debate over the cost of raising a family and the world's population.
The US Supreme Court has voted to protect big tech firms from being held liable for material posted by users. In an 8-1 verdict, the court said that the companies were entitled to legal immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The ruling followed a case involving Google, in which data firm Oracle claimed that the search engine had illegally copied its programming language. Oracle argued that Google had breached copyright in doing so, which emphasised that Section 230 should not rule in favour of technology firms in all cases.
TikTok has been accused of spying on FT journalist Cristina Criddle in the latest attack on the social media platform. Criddle reported that the app provided her with notifications warning of a successful login to her account. When Criddle, who had not logged in since creating her account, contacted the app, she received no answer from the developers. It is unclear whether Criddle had been hacked by a user or if the activity was the result of a glitch in the app. TikTok has previously been criticised for sharing user data with China-based parent company, Bytedance.
G7 countries are preparing new sanctions against Russia following Dmitry Medvedev’s resignation as prime minister. The move is expected to provide President Putin with a new term in office after presidential term limits were lifted. Protesters took to the streets following the news, but were widely ignored by Kremlin-aligned media outlets. The Japanese government, which is currently hosting the G7, has also been working to unify the group over concerns around Beijing’s technology industry policies.
Many companies are struggling over whether to withdraw from the Russian market in the wake of the country's seizure of Ukrainian territory. While some companies have withdrawn swiftly, others have played a long waiting game, watching the situation unfold. For those that have decided to leave, there were new rules that made divestment very difficult and costly. In December 2022, the Kremlin mandated that companies wanting to leave must divest at a 50% discount after government asset valuations have been completed. Companies still operating in Russia face the dilemma of how to draw a “red-line” on when to exit, while others struggle with the moral obligation of supporting a repressive regime. While civil society experts have argued that remaining companies could pay around $18bn in taxes to Russia's war effort, others maintain that a societal license to operate in Russia is diminished if they stay on in the country, indirectly supporting a one-sided war.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has lost money every year since 2014, mostly due to hedges made against a fast-rising market to protect his investment empire against another financial crisis, according to analysis by the Financial Times. Since 2017, the prominent activist investor has lost around $9bn due to hedges which would have paid out if asset prices had collapsed. According to the analysis, Icahn lost approximately $1.8bn in 2017 on hedging positions and $7bn between 2018 and Q1 2019. Icahn has bet on a market collapse since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, deploying a strategy that involved shorting broad market indices, corporations, commercial mortgages and debt securities. At times, the notional exposure of his trades surpassed $15bn. This has neutralised approximately $6bn in gains from his activist wagers.
UK-based multi-development bank the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is set to collaborate with emerging market asset manager ILX and the European Union (EU) to improve "climate-smart solutions, digital transformation and financial inclusion" in eastern Europe. Although not strictly a blended-finance arrangement as the ILX investment is ring-fenced, the $300m project sets down a "new marker in development finance," according to Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission executive vice-president. Dombrovskis said he hoped the scheme would serve as "a new model that can inspire other international financial institutions and private investors to step up sustainable and green investment." The initiative ties into the EU's plans to invest $300bn in green projects with a view to attracting private funding.
It's a wild year for wildfires already in parts of Newfoundland
CBC
23-05-19 08:30
A lack of rain in Newfoundland and Labrador has led to an increased risk of wildfires across the provinces. The government has recorded 53 fires covering over 109 hectares, which is more than the 18 recorded last year. The increased likelihood of fires has been caused by a lack of retention of water, which decreases the amount of moisture in and around forest areas. While some areas of Newfoundland and Labrador have high rates of wildfire probability, no two seasons are the same, making the sharing of firefighting resources an essential part of managing wildfire emergencies.
Readers from the Sydney Morning Herald have criticised Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a series of letters to the newspaper. One critic called Morrison the "worst ever PM" and accused him of trashing Australia's international reputation and obstructing action on climate change. Morrison was also accused of grandstanding, while going missing when the going got tough. Unemployment seemed to be another focus of criticism, with one letter writer saying that Morrison would struggle to win any other jobs outside of parliament. Others questioned why he remains in parliament at all, suggesting that he has no purpose other than a sinecure. The PM received criticism after it was reported that he is mentoring younger colleagues while on the back bench, with one Sydney Morning Herald reader declaring that the claims were the "best laugh" they'd had all day.
My family came to Canada to get away from China's influence. It turns out that was no escape
CBC
23-05-19 08:00
Canada needs to establish a foreign agent registry and an independent commission to investigate foreign interference campaigns within its borders, writes Henry Chan in an opinion piece for CBC News. The U.S. is already using the tool to crack down on foreign interference leading to criminal charges against two US citizens accused of failing to register work done on behalf of China, while the UK is considering following suit. Chan notes that Canada must take action to protect its sovereignty and stand against foreign interference, including harassment and intimidation of its diaspora communities.
Senator Ted Cruz has found a new cause in cultural “wokeism” to target. He and fellow Republican Marsha Blackburn sent a letter to the CEO of Anheuser-Busch, owner of Budweiser beer, complaining about the company's partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which saw Mulvaney’s image on some Bud Light cans. Cruz and Blackburn claimed the partnership had breached standards by violating the Beer Institute’s Advertising/Marketing Code and Buying Guidelines, which require firms to focus marketing at adults. Cruz and Blackburn said they wanted an investigation into the company over the partnership, which they claimed “targeted youths” with beer marketing. However, critics argue that the stance represents nothing more than an attempt at a culture war and note that the video was hosted on Instagram, which bans alcohol adverts and requires age-confirming statements.
In 2017, Italy launched the Case 1 Euro initiative to rejuvenate derelict properties in rural areas. It offers abandoned buildings for €1 each, with conditions attached that vary according to the locality. Property owners must plan and complete refurbishments within a set timeframe, restoring the exterior of the properties in Mussomeli to their original facades. They face paying a €5,000 fine if shell renovation does not take place within three years. Local authorities are keen to avoid abandoned properties, left as secondary homes and to evade taxation, according to The Independent. Interestingly, data from Halifax Mortgage Experts reveals that the average property deposit in London costs £115,759, reflecting widespread difficulty in getting on to the UK housing ladder. Buyers should receive tax exemption for 110% of qualifying building expenditures. Mussomeli is among the towns accepting €1 euro buyers, but the scheme is running in a number of other Italian regions.
Kitchener church's housing project receives $5.5M in federal and provincial funding
CBC
23-05-19 18:03
St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Kitchener, Ontario has received $5.5 million in funding from the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative to renovate unused classrooms into affordable housing units. The federal government will provide more than $30 million, while more than $15 million will come from the provincial government. The church also received $8.9 million in funding from the Region of Waterloo for the project, which aims to create 41 affordable housing units ready for occupancy by summer 2024.
The FBI has been accused of misusing Section 702, a powerful digital surveillance database, more than 278,000 times against crime victims, January 6 riot suspects, and people arrested protesting the death of George Floyd. The FBI took data from 19,000 donors to a congressional candidate, believing that the campaign was a “target of foreign influence”. Section 702 was established in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks to target foreign intelligence and terrorism, and it is authorised to search this database only when foreign intelligence information is believed to be produced or when evidence of crimes is sought. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has warned the FBI about its compliance errors and delays in fixing them, despite stating regular queries for instances of abuse. FBI officials say the database has already been fixed since the discovery of the errors. This misuse poses a potential problem for the FBI as it could weaken Congress’s support to renew the law as it is set to expire at the end of this year.
Tesco's chairman John Allan will resign next month after allegations over his behavior risking becoming a "distraction." The decision follows several allegations over Allan's behaviour made in recent weeks, including accusations of inappropriate behaviour on four separate occasions, including an incident in which he was alleged to have touched the bottom of a senior Tesco employee; he was also accused of making inappropriate remarks to two other women on separate occasions between 2019 and 2022, and touching another woman's bottom. Allan denied all but one of the allegations, admitting only to having made comments about a worker's appearance in 2019, apologising for the action.
The G7 summit, held in Hiroshima, Japan, is focusing on both heightened global economic uncertainty and a new common approach to China. Alongside climate change and artificial intelligence, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, has labelled the G7 as the “steering committee of the free world”, underlining the meeting's potential for a generational struggle in a new era of superpower rivalry. The seven countries involved in the summit include the US, UK, Japan, Canada, Germany, France and Italy. During the meeting, members have announced sanctions, including proposals to hit Russia’s diamond business, which has not yet been affected by western restrictions. They confirmed they will provide continued support for Ukraine for “as long as it takes”. Meanwhile, Russia has admitted to “problems” with oil and gas revenues, which have fallen to their lowest level in years, undermining the country’s ability to fund its war in Ukraine.
The indictment of DC police officer Shane Lamond for his support of the right-wing Proud Boys group doubtless reflects a major challenge for American law enforcement, according to an op-ed in the Washington Post which reports on the close ties Lamond allegedly had with its leader, Enrique Tarrio. The indictment stated that Lamond supplied Tarrio with intelligence and helped him evade police surrounding demonstrations and rallies in which the far-right group engaged. The case underscores the issue of the political behaviour of some members of US police forces. Since the Black Lives Matter movement emerged around a decade ago, the movement’s focus on highlighting the systemic issues with US law enforcement has engendered a strong reaction from the American political right, increasing tensions and diverging political views of police. This has led to confidence in police plummeting among Democrats, with Gallup reporting an 11-point gap between Democrats and Republicans compared to 2012, which had risen to 38 points by 2021.
The G-7 lords have launched the Coordination Platform on Economic Coercion, aiming to see off China's business bullying. The joint mechanism will target economic measures aimed at interfering with other states' affairs, with Bloomberg Singling out Australia and Lithuania as two countries that have felt China's wrath. The platform says China has used its economic weight to coerce nations in political disputes; however, an automatic response is not within the remit of the panel. Several G-7 members failed to agree on what stronger measures could be taken and by whom.
