News Round-Up: ‘Kafkaesque’ Hate Crime Investigation, Shell Wins Climate Case and CNN in Trouble
Every week, the editorial team of Freedom Research compiles a round-up of news that caught our eye, or what felt like under-reported aspects of news deserving more attention.
Over the past week, the following topics attracted our attention:
The Telegraph journalist accused of stirring up racial hatred in a social media post last year.
Shell wins a landmark Dutch climate case.
Ratings have plummeted: CNN lays off hundreds of employees.
The Netherlands reinstates temporary border controls to curb illegal immigration.
Trump plans to ditch Paris Accords, announces awaited RFK Jr. appointment for health secretary.
The Telegraph journalist accused of stirring up racial hatred in a social media post last year
Allison Pearson, an award-winning writer, has described how two police officers called at her home at 9.40 am on Remembrance Sunday to tell her she was being investigated over the post on X, formerly Twitter, from a year ago, writes The Telegraph. She said she was told by one officer that she was accused of a non-crime hate incident and it was to do with something she had posted on X a year ago. The investigation was launched because someone had made a complaint that her post was stirring up racial hatred. When Pearson asked what she had allegedly said in the tweet, the officer said he was not allowed to disclose it. The police officer also refused to reveal the accuser’s name. Pearson recalled: “‘It’s not the accuser,’ the PC said, looking down at his notes. ‘They’re called the victim.’”
When she asked the officers why she could not know what she was accused of, she said: “The two policemen exchanged glances. Clearly the Kafkaesque situation made no sense to them, either.”
This time last year, she was frequently tweeting about the October 7 attacks on Israel and pro-Palestinian protests on the streets of London.
Essex Police commented that officers had opened an investigation under section 17 of the Public Order Act 1986 relating to material allegedly “likely or intended to cause racial hatred”. Police sources indicated that it was being treated as a criminal matter rather than a non-crime hate incident.
Shell wins a landmark Dutch climate ruling
The Dutch court overturned a previous ruling against Shell that would have required the oil giant to sharply reduce its global carbon emissions. This is a precedent that could have far-reaching consequences for future climate disputes, CNBC reports.
In May 2021, The Hague District Court ruled that Shell must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. The case against Shell was brought up in 2019 by the campaign group Milieudefensie, the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth, together with six other organisations. In addition to a specific percentage target, the judgment also stated that the company is liable for all emissions from the use of its products. Environmental activists cheered at the time that Shell's decision would be followed by other lawsuits, starting with other fossil fuel companies and then financial institutions and their board members.
Shell challenged the 2021 decision, arguing that it had no legal basis and that the courts had no mandate to set climate targets, only governments could do so. The company argued that the court ruling will force them to cut back on business and will be of no use in the fight against climate change.
The Dutch court overturned the earlier ruling because the case failed to prove that Shell should be obliged to reduce its carbon emissions by 45% or any other percentage. The court found that it was not an effective solution to set a percentage reduction because other companies could gain market share, i.e. while Shell's business is shrinking, another oil company's is growing and the desired target will not be achieved anyway.
Ratings have plummeted: CNN lays off hundreds of employees
In the next few months CNN will implement another round of layoffs that will impact hundreds of employees across the organization, The Daily Mail writes citing a report by Puck. This follows the recent 100-person layoff at the network seen over the summer. The fresh round of firings, the insiders have said, will be geared more toward the production side of things. As a result, reporters and correspondents will be required to cover their slack, they said – describing how on-air workers will be 'asked to assume more of the responsibilities once handled by teams of producers and production assistants.' Redundant assignments will be nixed, and various divisions will be reduced or even eliminated. Some of the on-air talent are also likely to be affected. Sources who spoke to the reporter Dylan Byers, who worked at CNN for three years before founding Puck, added how the looming layoffs are part of an overarching plan – one that puts a premium on the station's digital platforms.
It was revealed Monday that longtime host Chris Wallace would not have his $8.5 million-a-year (€7.99 million) contract renewed.
The highest paid hosts include Anderson Cooper – who rakes in $ 20 million (€18.8 million) a year – Erin Burnett ($ 6 million, €5.64 million), and Kaitlan Collins ($ 3 million, €2.82 million). Who will be affected remains to be seen.
The move mirrors the troubles CNN has had over the recent years as its ratings have plummeted dramatically. 10 years ago CNN averaged 13.3 million viewers in primetime. Today, it's only around 800,000.
Netherlands reinstates temporary border controls to curb illegal immigration
The Dutch government, like several other EU countries, is introducing border controls to prevent out-of-control immigration, and is taking other measures to deal with the situation. The government has also reportedly agreed to send back migrants once their country of origin is safe and to stop giving them priority accommodation.
The Dutch government has approved a proposal to reintroduce border controls from December 9. The proposal was tabled by Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber with a pledge to be the one to take concrete steps to control immigration, writes Remix News.
According to the government, it is an emergency and temporary measure that will expire in mid-2025 unless it is decided to extend it. According to Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch right-liberal Party for Freedom, the governing coalition has agreed to the toughest measures so far to curb immigration. Wilders said that other reforms besides border controls had been agreed on, such as the abolition of indefinite residence permits, the return of Syrians to safe areas and the end of the allocation of priority housing for migrants.
With the move, the Netherlands follows several EU countries, including Germany, Austria, France, and Denmark, in restricting free movement along its borders.
The reintroduction of border controls was announced by the Netherlands shortly after a wave of Muslim violence hit Jews in Amsterdam last week. Israeli football fans who had arrived in the city to watch a European League match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax were targeted.
This particular case, however, is only a small part of immigrant-related crime in the Netherlands and Europe more broadly. Just last week we wrote how Europe is facing a huge sexual crime wave caused mostly by immigrants.
Trump plans to ditch Paris Accords, announces awaited RFK Jr. appointment for health secretary
The team of Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States of America, has already prepared an executive order for the United States to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords, which obliges signatory countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reports The Telegraph.
Trump also withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords of 2015 during his first term in office in 2017, but Joe Biden, who succeeded him as president in 2021, rejoined it as soon as he took office. Now Trump plans to do it again.
Trump's plans will forcefully change US energy policy and this will mean more domestic oil production, with the aim of halving energy prices within a year. Trump also has plans to restore the liquefied natural gas exports to Europe and Asia that were put on hold by Biden.
The possibility of using more domestic energy was also referred to in Trump's victory speech. “We have more liquid gold, oil, and gas. We have more liquid gold than any country in the world. More than Saudi Arabia. We have more than Russia. Bobby, stay away from the liquid gold,” he said.
With ‘Bobby’ he was referring to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who stepped down as an independent candidate during the presidential race to back Trump and now becomes The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. Why Trump mentioned RFK Jr. in the context of his planned energy policies is the fact that besides being known for his criticism of Big Pharma, having published much critical information on drug companies, their business tactics, regulatory agencies, and the harms that many medicines and vaccines can create, he has also been a vocal environmental activist.
Anyhow, now he takes the position that could allow him to clean up the health system that does not affect only Americans but could have a worldwide impact.
“The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country. Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic,” Trump posted on X.
I am baffled by the very existence of a such thing as a non-crime hate incident (NCHI). According to gov.uk an NCHI "means an incident or alleged incident which involves or is alleged to involve an act by a person (‘the subject’) which is perceived by a person other than the subject to be motivated - wholly or partly - by hostility or prejudice towards persons with a particular characteristic." So, in my long life, I have been victim of many NCHI's because I was short and fat as a kid, wore NHS glasses for a while, had a large head, went to a Roman Catholic school, was an alter boy, went to junior seminary, came from Glasgow, and from a multiply deprived family of 13 children, was terrible at football and cricket and refused to get provoked into fighting outside. I have demonstrably suffered due to hostility and prejudice so the question is this: is there a statute of limitations for NCHI's and, if not, can I still report any of these incidences as they obviously marked me for life?