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IMPORTANT
| | | Lines in Sand | House Republicans Target Govt Agencies in Committee Concession Gift Any federal agency that obtains information about American citizens will be open to investigation by a new subcommittee — approved by the House in a vote along party lines. It’s one of the many concessions newly elected Speaker Kevin McCarthy made to win the support of Conservative holdouts in last week’s vote. Supporters said it’ll target the “weaponization of government,” but law and security experts worry that the committee’s broad mandate may find it clashing with the agencies it seeks to oversee: it’s “a dangerous further erosion in the wall between congressional oversight and law enforcement,” former House general counsel Stan Brand said. (Sources: WaPo, Politico) |
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| | | Commute From Hell | Early Morning Knife Attack Stuns Paris, Month After Gun Attack Six people were injured in a knife attack at the Gare Du Nord central train station early Wednesday. Police said the unidentified suspect was shot several times before being taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The attack is considered a criminal act, not an act of terror, police sources added. While investigations are continuing into the suspect’s motives, the city is still reeling from a December attack that saw three Kurds allegedly shot and killed by a French national professing a “pathological” racist hate. The station is one of the world’s busiest and connects France, the U.K. and much of Europe. (Sources: Le Monde, CNN) |
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| | | Turmoil | Peru Spasms With Violence, Prosecutors Target New Government “What happened yesterday was really a massacre,” Jennie Dador of the National Human Rights Coordinator of Peru said. The group, which monitors human rights abuses in the country, accused government security forces of “indiscriminate use of force” in clashes across the country Monday. At least 47 have been killed in nationwide protests since former President Pedro Castillo was ousted and detained last month. Peru’s attorney general’s office announced this week it is investigating the new president, Dina Boluarte, along with other key members of cabinet on allegations of “genocide, qualified homicide and serious injuries.” (Sources: NYT, France24) |
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| | | | | Closed Ranks | Cardinal Haunted by Child Sex Abuse Cases, George Pell, Dead at 81 Pell, who died during surgery in Rome Tuesday, rose through the senior ranks of the Australian Catholic church before serving as the Vatican’s treasurer, the third-highest rank within the church’s hierarchy. He returned to Australia in 2017 to face charges of historic child sex abuse of two boys dating back to the 1990s. The cleric was found guilty and jailed in 2018, serving 13 months in prison before the sentence was controversially overturned by the High Court in 2020. It was later revealed Pell had known of child sex abuse cases involving priests during his time in church leadership since the 1970s but had failed to act. (Sources: BBC, ABC) |
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| | | Briefly | Here are some things you should know about today: Lawless. Haiti is left without any elected representatives after the terms of 10 remaining senators expired Monday night. The country has been unable to hold elections since 2019 amid rising violence. (Source: AP) Raising eyebrows. German finance minister Christian Lindner is facing questions and a possible investigation after it was revealed a line of credit in the millions was extended by local bank BBBank days after giving a speech in which he seemingly endorsed the bank. (Source: DW) Tinseltown. Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans and black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin took home the two top film awards at the Golden Globes, setting both up for likely glory at March’s Academy Awards. (Source: Reuters) |
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INTRIGUING
| | | | | Hitting Back | Romanian Court Rules No Early Jail Exit for Tate Former kickboxer and notorious influencer Andrew Tate lost an appeal against a 30-day remand order at a Bucharest court Tuesday. Tate was arrested late last year alongside his brother and two female Romanian nationals on allegations of human trafficking, rape and establishing an organized crime network to coerce women into sex work. “I am very disappointed — the measure seems excessive to me,” Eugen Vidineac, the Tates’ lawyer said. The initial 24-hour remand was extended last week with the judge citing fears the brothers could flee to a country that does not have an extradition agreement with Romania. The brothers have denied all accusations. (Source: The Guardian) |
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| | | Perfect Storm | ‘Climate Hoax’ Misinfo Rife on Musk’s Twitter, Study Finds The use of terms like “climate fraud,” “hoax” and “scam” rose 300% last year on 2021, according to a study by research group Advance Democracy. A policy of providing context for or challenging misinformation in popular tweets has not been widely enforced since Elon Musk took over the platform, the study found. Climate scientist and author Michael Mann blames the billionaire boss: “Musk has openly encouraged attacks on mainstream science” via his own tweets, but also by unbanning egregious anti-science accounts and algorithm changes that bury “the reach of leading climate communicators.” Advance Democracy also found increasing misinformation content on YouTube and TikTok. (Source: USAToday) |
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| | | Bad Reputation | McMahon Daughter Resigns for Prodigal Dad’s Return: Will It Work? Stephanie McMahon became co-CEO and chairperson of the WWE last July after her father Vince was forced out. Under McMahon senior’s leadership, the hinted-at “review of its strategic alternatives” — that is, a buyer with deep pockets — is well underway. But some market watchers think the return of Vince McMahon could scare off any would-be buyers. The U.S. attorney’s office and the Securities and Exchange Commission are both investigating McMahon’s conduct, while the WWE board explored allegations of sexual misconduct. Pulling off over-the-top performances has always been McMahon’s forte but this fight might be a long one, industry insiders predicted. (Sources: Hollywood Reporter, CNBC) |
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| | | Drawing Blanks | The UK Has Offshored One Vital Industry — Sperm Donation In 2010, around 22% of sperm donations in the country came from abroad — but that portion had grown to a whopping 52% by 2022. It’s been a longer trend, researchers from the University of Sheffield found, with the so-called “Viking baby invasion” of donations from Denmark beginning in 2005. That’s the year laws in the U.K. changed, meaning British donors could no longer stay anonymous and must agree to be identifiable. “There simply aren’t enough guys in the U.K. willing to do that, or we haven’t tempted them enough,” lead researcher Allan Pacey said, suggesting a targeted advertising campaign. (Source: Cosmopolitan) |
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| | | Good Sport | Shiffrin’s World Record Bid Thrown Off Alpine Course by Illness Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin went from the slopes of the slalom to throwing up mid-interview after Tuesday’s World Cup event — but not without some fine words for her chief rival. Shiffrin came second at the Austrian round of the championships to Olympic champion Petra Vlhova of Slovakia, saying “no matter what, Petra skied amazing tonight and she deserves the victory.” She equalled the women’s all-time record of 82 race victories held by Lindsey Vonn at Sunday’s Kranjska Gora in Slovenia but the sudden stomach bug threw her off. She’s got 10 days to perk up before the next race in Italy. (Source: AP) |
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COMMUNITY
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