1st Field Hospital Opens in Burlington

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On Monday, January 5, an Ontario field hospital began taking patients in as the rising spread of COVID-19 put a significant strain on hospital capacity, particularly in Southern Ontario. Built in April on the grounds of the Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington, it was constructed as a precaution for when local hospitals and healthcare personnel were reaching their limits. When interviewed on Tuesday, Hospital CEO Eric Vandewall said, “The (field unit) is, in a sense, an insurance policy, and one that you hope you never have to use. We’ve very fortunate to have the resource. It’s troubling obviously, that we’re having to use the resource at this time.” [TorontoStar] [By Iris Ma]

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4 dead after Pro-Trump rioters breach US Capitol 

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On 6 January, Trump supporters pushed past barricades and forced themselves into the US Capitol. Trump had encouraged his supporters to protest Congress’s formal approval of president-elect Joe Biden’s win in the general election, and continued to falsely claim that the election was stolen. Protesters deployed “chemical irritants on police” to enter, and there were violent clashes with police in full riot gear, causing at least four deaths. A series of images show one man walking around with a Confederate flag, and another with his feet on Pelosi’s desk, happily sporting a MAGA hat. Heavily armed police finally secured the US Capitol nearly four hours after the rioters broke in, with at least fifty-two people arrested. Trump has told protesters to “go home now” in a video that also repeated lies regarding the election being stolen. [CBC] [By Emily Ma]

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Trump banned on social medias for at least the next 2 weeks

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Facebook Inc. and Instagram extended the ban on U.S. President Donald Trump for the remainder of his presidency. Trump won’t be allowed to post on either social media platform for at least the next two weeks. This is until the presidential transfer is completed. Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc., and Snap Inc. temporarily locked Trump’s account on Wednesday, January 6th in an attempt to crack down on his baseless claims about the U.S. presidential election being “stolen,” later followed by hundreds of Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol. “We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. [CBC] [By Anirudh Goel]

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Elon Musk becomes the world’s richest man after the 4.8% jump in Tesla stock

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Elon Musk, the famous entrepreneur behind Tesla Inc. and SpaceX, is now the richest man in the world. A 4.8% jump in the Tesla stock on Thursday, January 7 boosted Musk past the Amazon.com Inc. founder, Jeff Bezos. Musk’s net worth was 188.5 billion USD at 10:15 a.m. EST, 1.5 billion USD more than Bezos, who held the top spot since October 2017. This milestone caps an extraordinary year for Musk. Over the past year, his net worth has increased by more than 150 billion USD, possibly the fastest bout of wealth creation in history. Fueling this rise was the unrivaled rally in Tesla’s share price, which surged 743% in the last year. Despite such astronomical gains, Musk said he has little interest in materialistic things and the main purpose of his wealth is to accelerate humanity’s evolution into a spacefaring civilization. [Bloomberg] [By Anirudh Goel]

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Iran Begins Producing 20% Enriched Uranium

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On 4 January, it was announced that the Iranian Fordo nuclear facility began enriching uranium to 20% U-235. The move follows the passage of a nuclear law in December 2020, mandating the production of 120 kg of 20% enriched uranium annually. The Arms Control Association warned that “120 kg of uranium enriched to 20% is about half the amount of uranium that, when enriched to weapons-grade (above 90%), is necessary for one bomb.” Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted that “our measures are fully reversible upon full compliance [of the 2015 nuclear deal] by all”. [BBC] [By KEVIN WANG] 

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53 Pro-Democracy Leaders Arrested in Hong Kong

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Hong Kong authorities arrested 53 opposition politicians and activists, raided dozens of homes and offices, and froze $200,000 in assets on 6 January. This event was the latest in a series of crackdowns on the city’s pro-democracy movement, since the passing of a new national security law in June 2020. Even before Wednesday’s events, dozens of people have already been arrested, including local tycoon and pro-democracy icon Jimmy Lai. [NYT] [By KEVIN WANG] 

 

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Ontario reports record-high new COVID-19 cases

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On 7 January, Ontario reported 3,519 new cases of COVID-19, a single-day record, along with 89 deaths, making it the deadliest day of the pandemic. This increase in cases bumped up the seven-day average of new daily cases to three thousand one hundred forty-one, another new high. Premier Ford reported that COVID-19 positivity rates among children have been increasing. Fortunately, Ontario has now received another forty-eight thousand doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, for a total of one hundred forty-three thousand doses. [CBC] [By Emily Ma]

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Caillou cancelled after 20 years

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Caillou first premiered on PBS kids on 4 September 2000. The show follows a 4-year old boy as he explores the world around him. PBS announced on 5 January that they were cancelling the show. The show has been subject to controversy due to the whiny and mean-spirited nature of Caillou. Due to this, it’s cancellation has mostly been met with positive reactions online. [National Post] [By Miranda Zhao]

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More than 15 Canadian politicians in trouble for international travel

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More than 15 Canadian politicians are under fire for travelling internationally over the winter break. Non-essential travel has been heavily discouraged by the government. Politicians who travel undermine their political authority and are heavily criticized as hypocritical. The majority of them have resigned or been demoted from their positions in parliament. From Ontario, three politicians have stepped down from their roles; Rod Phillips, Ontario Finance Minister, Kamal Khera, parliamentary secretary to the minister of international development, and David Sweet,chair of the House of Commons access to privacy, information and ethics committee.  [CTV][By Miranda Zhao]