TRUMP’S NEW IDEA FOR HIS WALL
He’s been promising it since before he became president. Work’s not started on it yet because the other nation has refused to pay for it, but he’s already promising embellishments to it. No, it’s not the latest building project by the Trump organisation, but Donald Trump’s idea for his pet project: the wall along the Mexico border and he was perhaps drawing from his experience as a construction company owner when he suggested that the wall along Mexico could be ‘a solar wall’.
“We’re thinking of something that’s unique, we’re talking about the southern border, lots of sun, lots of heat. We’re thinking about building the wall as a solar wall, so it creates energy and pays for itself. And this way, Mexico will have to pay much less money, and that’s good, right?” Trump told a rally in Iowa. “Solar wall, panels, beautiful. I mean actually think of it, the higher it goes the more valuable it is. Pretty good imagination right? Good? My idea,” he said. However, what he did neglect to mention that one of the companies that has bid to build the wall had mentioned solar panels in its proposal.
THE PALACE COUP AT UBER
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick made global headlines when he announced Wednesday that he would be stepping down. And now reports reveal a palace coup to unseat the CEO of the world’s biggest taxi-hailing app. Despite being on a leave of absence, Kalanick was in Chicago interviewing candidates for executive roles in the company following a slew of resignations. That was when two venture capitalists from Benchmark, one of the biggest shareholders in Uber, delivered a letter signed by the biggest investors in the company listing the various scandals the company had been through and why the solution was Kalanick’s resignation as CEO. Kalanick reportedly consulted board member Arianna Huffington and after being told to consider resigning had a discussion with the venture capitalists before resigning.
Investors were reportedly unhappy with the multiple scandals Uber, and Kalanick, were embroiled in and the fact that it could affect them as well. He was also perceived to be stalling on the hire of key executives after their predecessors left the company. It didn’t help that the CEO was also said to be behind the removal of board member David Bonderman, for making a sexist remark at an Uber employee meeting. While he’s no longer CEO, Kalanick’s still on the board of the company valued at $70 billion. But the bigger hope is that his departure might bring some pause to the ‘bro culture’ at Silicon Valley, that Kalanick was a prominent face of.
MORE PRESSURE ON PAKISTAN?
As the U.S. prepares to send more troops into Afghanistan it might be contemplating new measures to take down militants who are operating from Pakistan. A Reuters report said that the Trump administration was considering various measures including expanding drone strikes, redirecting or withholding some aid to Pakistan and perhaps eventually downgrading its status as a major non-Nato ally. But officials are already scpetical of these measures working given that Pakistan is already upset about closer ties between the U.S. and India. An escalation in demands from Pakistan could only lead them further away from negotiations and that’s something that the U.S. doesn’t want either as it tries to gain some semblance of control in Afghanistan.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT ON CAMPUS
It’s not easy being a woman on an Australian university campus, many of whom have complained of sexual harassment. But it’s worse being a complainant or pointing out sexual harassment on campus in many Australian universities. Women have complained of being targeted in various ways by fellow students for complaining against sexual harassment on campus. Flooded rooms, defaced doors in hostels, people urinating on their mattresses and being isolated are just some of the ways in which women have been targeted for complaining about harassment on campus. One report found that universities often failed to support victims of sexual assault and harassment and in some cases even actively covered them up. And a recent case of date rape has prompted debate on the hypermasculine culture in the nation. Australian universities are taking note. Some of the biggest universities have set up hotlines and training programmes for staff. But students say it’s not even close to being enough. “They’re tougher on plagiarism,” Katie Thorburn, the student government co-women’s officer at Sydney University, told the New York Times.
SUPERCARS IN THAILAND
If a supercar like a Lamborghini or Porsche was reported stolen in London, there’s a good chance it’s being driven around in Thailand, police have found. London’s a favourite for sending the cars to Thailand since both nations’ drivers have to stick to the left side of the road. An AFP report says that more than 120 sports cars have been seized in the drive by Bangkok police, some of which were stolen from UK and there may be hundreds more. In the case of two vehicles, they were completely dismantled and then re-assembled in Thailand to avoid the country’s taxation on super cars which is 328 per cent of the price of the car. In other cases, the super cars were bought in the UK on installments and then shipped to Thailand. While they were being shipped the owners reported them stolen and stopped making the payments on them. One of the arrested dealers of the cars in Thailand, who has been arrested, has pleaded innocence saying he was a legal importer of the vehicles. But he’s now facing the ire of his disgruntled customers.