A GoFundMe page for the Cho family, who were among eight people killed by a neo-Nazi gunman in Texas earlier this month, raised nearly $2m for their only surviving son. Kyu and Cindy, who were both born in Texas and had moved back home upon starting their family, left behind two sons aged three and six years old respectively. The couple had met in Boston congregation, a church that they both attended, where their supportive relationship had become one of its defining strengths, earning them the title “relationship goals”.
Kyu and Cindy Cho died alongside their son, James, in a recent shopping mall shooting north of Dallas in a case that has disgusted the world. The demented individual who killed the Cho family as well as five others is understood to have a background with white-supremacist and dangerous misogynistic beliefs and writings. The Cho family has set up a fund to support their extended family, following the murder of their children's parents. The family's hope is to allow all of William’s future needs and dreams to be realised and to keep his parents’ legacy alive.
Professors Martin McKee and Sarah Waters from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Leeds, respectively, have called for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate every work-related suicide. In a recent op-ed for the British Medical Journal, they argued that a stress-related suicide of a headteacher in January showed that working conditions have a strong impact on mental wellbeing. The authors also suggested that Ofsted should publicly recognise its duty of care to its staff and that the impact of its inspections on teachers’ welfare should be probed by the education select committee.
Police officers in Canada should receive a thorough university education in a relevant field such as law and psychology to better equip them for the demands of the job in the 21st century, according to an op-ed in the National Post in Canada. Finland was held up as an example whose police officers complete a three-year, research-intensive university degree in policing before going on patrol. Canada suffers from lower confidence in its police, with only 41% of people having "a great deal" of confidence in police with members of minority groups and victims of crime expressing much lower confidence, citing traditional police training, with its paramilitary ethos, as ill-suited for this complex and diverse society.
The Canadian government will receive an initial report from special rapporteur David Johnson on whether to call for a public inquiry into claims of foreign interference. Chinese meddling allegations in the last two federal elections brought attention to the threat, with calls for an inquiry allowing for transparent conversation about the threat faced by Canada and allowing the government to illustrate what action it is taking. An inquiry would bring the conversation back to the details of the foreign interference threat and how the country can combat it, experts say. The signs of foreign interference were already visible before the controversy, however, the government has promised funding to combat foreign interference.
Human Rights Watch is calling on the Indonesian government to support the national Press Council's efforts to protect university media outlets and mediate their disputes with school authorities. The Indonesian Student Press Association found that between 2020 and 2021, there were 48 cases of university administrators intimidating or shutting down student media outlets, among the 185 cases of alleged press-related abuses on campuses in the country. The Press Council is responsible for mediating defamation disputes, but does not protect student media outlets. Most Indonesian universities have at least one student media outlet, such as a newspaper, magazine, or online news site.
China's demographic data is 'unreliable'. Local governments have an incentive to inflate population figures, because more residents mean larger financial transfers from the central government, while households might claim to have more members in order to receive more benefits from local governments, the author argues. There is also political incentive to inflate birth figures. For example, to show that the shift from a one- to a two-child policy worked, the National Health and Family Planning Commission announced 18.85 million births in 2016, a 27% increase from the previous year. In Shandong and Zhejiang provinces, the reported increase was even larger: 56% and 75%, respectively. However, the simplest explanation is that it never happened. The number of administered doses of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine (which is required for every newborn) barely increased in 2016. While population aging may not directly cause economic recession, a higher aging index – the number of people aged 59 and over per 100 individuals younger than 15 – has a strong negative correlation with GDP growth, as does higher median age and proportion of people over 59.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration has warned about the rising use of xylazine, a powerful veterinary sedative, in illegal fentanyl supplies in America. A lab system run by the agency discovered xylazine in 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills it had seized in 2022. Xylazine is cheap and longer-lasting than fentanyl, making it an attractive additive for drug distributors. Illicit drug supplies in the US are increasingly being adulterated with multiple substances, which could hamper attempts to curb the nation’s opioid addiction crisis. Xylazine also complicates treatment for those struggling to overcome addiction.
More young Canadians are showing an interest in farming, particularly in areas with a focus on technology and sustainability. However, the country's ageing farmer population means some 40% of operators plan to retire over the next decade. Barriers to entry include high land, equipment and operating costs, however, increasing interest in indoor farming is helping to attract younger generations to the field. Georges Boudreau, founder of Ferme La Chaleureuse, believes that smaller, community-focused and sustainable farms could be the future. Applicant from a more diverse range of backgrounds are also seeking to enter the industry.
A former prime minister and president of Armenia, Dr Armen Sarkissian, has delivered a speech celebrating the life of William Gladstone, former prime minister of the UK. Despite Gladstone’s father being a known slave trader, Sarkissian says he was the greatest prime minister of the 19th Century, and “his views evolved as he aged”, noting that Gladstone became much more radical later in life, opposing what he called “the earth-hunger” of British imperial expansionists. Although Gladstone pursued Irish Home Rule, Sarkissian says Gladstone’s main involvement in later life was in “Armenia: his involvement in the ‘Armenian Question’, driven entirely by moral considerations, began in the late 19th Century”. Gladstone took diplomatic action to raise awareness of the “Hamidian massacres” by the Ottoman Empire which resulted in the killing of many thousands of Armenians in the late 19th Century. Although Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli earned a reputation for reshaping the law during his terms in office, Sarkissian notes, “Disraeli had the law; Gladstone had humanity”.
Bryan Kohberger, a criminology PhD student accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in November 2022, will appear in court on Monday for his arraignment. Kohberger is expected to enter a plea on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. Following a six-week investigation, Kohberger was arrested on 30 December after his DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the crime scene. A white Hyundai Elantra, matching his, was also captured on surveillance footage driving away from the area at the time of the murders.
In a recent report released by NBC Dateline, Kohberger was believed to have broken into the home of a female student and then installed security cameras to spy on her in the weeks before he allegedly killed the four students. Kohberger had allegedly befriended the woman after moving to Pullman, Washington State, to begin a graduate program in criminal justice at Washington State University. He installed a video security system inside her home to allow him to spy on her, as he knew her wifi password and was able to tap into the cameras. NBC Dateline also reported that Kohberger’s sister feared he was involved in the students’ murders because of reasons including his behaviour and the fact that she saw spots of blood on his clothing.
Kohberger became a suspect in the case after six weeks of near-silence from law enforcement in Idaho and Pennsylvania. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Kohberger’s apartment, where they seized various items, including cell phone records and a disposable glove, stained with blood, according to sources.
British Columbia is experiencing significantly larger and more frequent forest fires than ever before, leading to concerns for carbon sequestration and biodiversity. In 2003, forest fires burned more than 250,000 hectares, but in 2017, the figure surged to 1.22 million hectares. Prof Lori Daniels, a forest ecologist at the University of British Columbia, argued that this makes recent forest fires megafires, in some cases causing complete tree mortality or reducing biodiversity by overrunning particular species. The fires have been attributed partly to climate change, which is causing hotter, drier and longer summers. Prior to colonisation, forest fires occurred regularly but tended to be far less severe, leaving much biodiversity intact. Indigenous nations managed forests using fire to cultivate food and medicinal plants and produce forage for wildlife, but this system was ended by colonisers.
Karakalpakstan’s Sovereignty in Mirziyoyev’s Uzbekistan
Diplomat
23-05-22 12:31
Uzbekistan has been accused of suppressing activists who support Karakalpakstan's right to greater autonomy from Uzbekistan. Karakalpakstan is an autonomous region located in the northwest of Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan annexed Karakalpakstan from the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic in 1936. Uzbekistan is mainly made up of former Soviet republics and national groups, including the Karakalpak people. Karakalpakstan has a history of seeking political autonomy and independence. The conviction and sentencing in absentia of Karakalpak activists, including Aman Sagidullayev, is thought to be part of a crackdown on dissidents, dragging the tide of political discourse backwards since the death of Islam Karimov in 2016 and the rise of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. In recent years, many Karakalpaks have fled the country, while others have been arrested and prevented from fleeing.
President Biden's prediction of a "thaw" in relations with Beijing after what he called the "silly" act of China sending a giant surveillance balloon over the United States has been overshadowed by US plans to support Ukraine with new arms packages, including an avenue to provide F-16 fighter planes. President Biden sees a struggle in China between factions that want to restart the economic relationship with the United States and a far more powerful group that aligns with the country's emphasis on national security over economic growth. Though the G7 have assured China that they are not trying to contain the country, a string of diplomatic wins for the US and losses for China has created a tighter nuclear alliance between the US, Japan, and now South Korea in Beijing's neighbourhood. In response, China accused the G7 of "vilifying and attacking China" and "crudely meddling in China’s domestic affairs."
Administration officials hope that a more regular dialogue with China will eventually be established, although the war in Ukraine will continue to shadow the relationship and the course of the relationship between Moscow and Beijing. Analysts have predicted that while the US’s de-risking strategy may seem like risk reduction for the US and Europe, it could be perceived as nicely worded containment strategy in Beijing.
With calls for change of one kind or another continuing to emerge, Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is still weighing up its future in the country. Among the questions being asked are whether the organisation should be withdrawn from small communities in order to focus on larger issues and whether the Federal mandate continues to be appropriate. Although the organisation may have to consider fundamental change in order to survive, many suggest that improving the ways things are currently being done may be the better option. Meanwhile, another argument suggests that there should be a new approach to federal financing of provincial and municipal policing, with more cash being given to communities to ensure adequate policing in rural and remote areas. Regardless of what happens, it seems police forces will have to adapt to an evolving landscape of social and mental-health services as well as the need to break down silos between different government-funded services.
New York Mayor Eric Adams is facing criticism for rehousing migrants in school gyms. Commentators have said the mayor is culpable for ignoring an array of excellent volunteer groups working on the crisis, which has led to some mosques, churches and synagogues in all New York boroughs being denied access to migrants. In a final insult, the mayor was also criticized for his spokesman blaming volunteer groups for encouraging more people to arrive, an untrue comment. However, a social justice consultant and former member of the NY City Council argued that the mayor was right to ask for help and his requests for financial and strategic input were entirely reasonable. Commentators also called for ownership of mistakes made in the past, highlighting that US imperialism is a "fool’s errand" and the crisis is a national one, so it requires governmental rather than mayoral action.
The Venice Architecture Biennale has opened with a focus on radical expressions of architecture, in relation to the themes of race, colonialism, and climate change. Curated by Scottish Ghanaian architect and novelist Lesley Lokko, the Biennale featured two strands of work: the first highlighting architectural devices to recall hyper-history and the second imagining radically different futures. Race and colonialism are addressed with particular focus on African diaspora narratives, while climate change anxieties are explored through a range of means including agricultural practices, sustainable design methodology, and archaeological exploration of ancient, circular settlements. Many of the pavilions and galleries have taken the historic opportunity to address issues of waste, particularly in the plastics sector, as well as acknowledging the realities of how inherited wealth has shaped the industry. Overall, the Biennale highlights works that challenge Western assumptions about the narrator of matters of consequence in the architectural world, and those that embrace resourcefulness and reconstructionism over honed and highly polished design.
The US is seeing nearly two mass shootings per day in 2023 with the current number of 227 well on course to be the worst for mass shootings in a decade, according to an analysis of Gun Violence Archive data. There has been a surge in gun buying, which means an increased potential for deadly violence, with the number of first-time gun owners more than doubling compared with 2019. Personal, social, and economic dislocation caused by the pandemic has also contributed. The US stands apart with easy access to so many firearms, which is the difference that makes the violence lethal.
As agricultural fertiliser prices rise for West African farmers as a consequence of the ongoing geopolitical crisis in Ukraine, farmers in the region have been turning to a Japanese fertilisation method, called bokashi. The practice utilises the process of fermentation, a method, which can prepare local crops in just 12 days and uses ingredients such as rice bran, straw, manure, yeast, clay and sugar cane molasses. Bokashi is a “cheaper” alternative to synthetic fertilisers and has served as a means of empowering farmers and reducing their reliance on “products linked to volatile global markets and transnational corporations”. In West Africa, the nutritional practice has spread through word-of-mouth and has been credited with helping farmers increase their harvest yields, with some reporting that their produce has doubled.
Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) has been urged to avoid backing carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the country's oil and gas sector with its C$15bn ($11.8bn) Canada Growth Fund, according to an op-ed in The Globe and Mail. The writers have said CCS for oil and gas is an old technology that has been tried and tested, but remains unproven in its ability to cut emissions from fossil-fuel production. By contrast, PSP is being encouraged to consider backing established technologies such as onshore wind, energy efficiency and electric vehicle batteries and emerging innovations.
