Brazilian Impeachment And Italian Same-Sex Marriage

PNUT GALLERY

How did jazz make its way from New Orleans to Montreal? Check out our history of Montreal’s sound and enter to win tickets to this year’s Montreal Jazz Festival. 

IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ

Brazil’s Senate Sounds Loud And Clear On Rousseff

The Senate has spoken, but they sure took their sweet time. The pre-vote debate carried on into the wee hours of the night, since 70 senators registered to speak during proceedings (including former football legend Romario, who is now a Senator). But finally, a simple majority ruled in favor of an impeachment trial, automatically suspending Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff from office. 

What now?

Rousseff had made a last-ditch appeal to the Supreme Court to stop proceedings, but to no avail. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal in a move that strongly signifies their annoyance with how long this is taking. Rousseff now has 180 days to clear her name before she is formally removed as President. Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer will take her place in the interim, although there is an investigation against him for corruption as well… This is like House of Cards, but where everyone is Frank Underwood.

Italy Approves Same-Sex Civil Unions

Italian Parliament has given final approval to a law recognizing civil unions of same-sex couples after a decades-long fight for gay rights. Nearly every Western country had legalized same-sex marriage or some form of civil union at this point, but Italy had long been a notable exception, much in part to its steadfast Roman Catholic tradition. The law, however, does fall short of full marriage rights, and someone in a same-sex civil union will still not be able to legally adopt his or her partner’s biological child. That being said, the historic vote was met with thunderous applause in Parliament, street celebrations in Rome and hope for continued progress. 

NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ

Kenya Will Shut Down World’s Largest Refugee Camp

The Kenyan government will shut down Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp, within the year. Dadaab’s population of over 330,000 people, most of whom are Somali, will be forced to return to their war-torn homeland. Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery justified the plan by saying that al-Shabaab fighters have used the camp as a base for smuggling weapons, but the UN is arguing that the camp’s closure is both illegal and dangerous. Not only that, but the plan sounds a bit impractical. Forcibly moving 330,000 people across a border that is already plagued by violence? At best, that’s a logistical nightmare, but given the circumstances waiting on the other side of the border, this has the makings of a Trail-of-Tears-level catastrophe. 

Tokyo 2020 Olympics Under Scrutiny For Bribery

French police are now investigating the Tokyo Olympic bidding team’s alleged €1.3 million payment to the Black Tidings bank account, a firm that has been at the center of several allegations of corruption at the International Association of Athletic Federations. Based in Singapore, Black Tidings is linked to Papa Massata Diack, the son of Lamine Diack, the former president of the IAAF. Papa Massata Diack was banned by the IAAF ethics commission for his involvement in a cover-up during a Russian doping scandal. Tokyo claims the €1.3 million deposit was “beyond our understanding.” But that begs the question: what Olympic bidding team accidentally deposits €1.3 million into a secret bank account and fails to notice that on their bank statement?

The British Forgot Their Manners And Diplomacy 101

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was gracious enough to say he wouldn’t demand “any apology from anybody” even though it would be justified, especially after UK Prime Minister David Cameron was caught on camera calling Nigeria “fantastically corrupt.” He wasn’t the only British leader that should have been more aware of the cameras in the periphery. In a rare moment of candor, the otherwise stoic Queen Elizabeth was caught on camera saying Chinese officials were “very rude” during President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to the United Kingdom last year. While the gossip isn’t going to burn any bridges, it also won’t help Cameron’s already dismal diplomatic relations. 

KEEPING OUR EYE ON…

Iraq: At least 64 people were killed and another 87 injured after a car bombing at a market in Baghdad. ISIS took credit for the explosion. 

Bees: The US Department of Agriculture reported that 28% of bee colonies in the United States were wiped out over the winter. The troubling study says that beekeepers lost 44% of their colonies. 

LOOSE NUTS: FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT

Curious Raccoon Brings Down Seattle’s Electric Grid

Nearly 40,000 homes lost power in Seattle yesterday, after a raccoon snuck into a substation. After just a few minutes of sniffing around, the masked bandit was able to single-pawedly cause 13 separate system outages and bring down much of Seattle’s electric grid. An eye-witness told local TV that he saw the explosion a little before 3am and a confused and guilty raccoon on the premises.