Domestic
As of Tuesday, January 30, Utah is the latest state to ban DEI efforts on campuses and in government institutions. This is just one of at least 17 states in the U.S. that have seen bans or requirements such as these come across their desks. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is a strong proponent of these bans, naming workplace and campus DEI efforts “awful, bordering on evil. “The new law prevents universities and governments from having offices specifically dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion. These banning and regulation efforts have been mostly targeted at higher education. “It ensures academic freedom on university campuses where all voices will be heard,” claimed Republican Keith Grover, a sponsor of the bill at the state Senate.
On Wednesday, the CEOs of large social media companies such as Meta, TikTok, and X went before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify on the topic of social media’s harm to children and young people. Children’s safety advocates and lawmakers are concerned about the lack of protections built into social media apps, allowing young people to access harmful content that has lead to outcomes as severe as suicide. Unfortunately, these effects get cast aside when CEOs and their companies prioritize profit, but parents and children present at the senate made sure that their voices were heard. Democratic and republican senators alike seemed to agree on the general consensus that more protections need to be in place, with Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley stepping forward to ask Zuckerberg to apologize to the families in attendance. “I’m sorry for everything you have all been through,” responded Zuckerberg. “No one should go through the things that your families have suffered.”
International
On Wednesday, Ukraine and Russia announced an exchange of about 200 prisoners of war each. This came in the wake of tensions over the crash of a military transport plane last week, which Moscow claimed was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war and accused Kyiv shooting down. While the cause of the crash remains unknown, Ukrainian officials have not confirmed or denied responsibility and called for an international investigation into whether or not prisoners were on the flight. Though officials on both sides questioned the possibility of future POW swaps as a result, the process of exchanging prisoners between Russia and Ukraine has continued, even if slowed at times, just as it has throughout the near two years of war.
A Pakistani court found Former Pakistani Prime Minster Imran Khan guilty of corruption, sentencing him to 14 years in prison and disqualifying him from holding public office for 10 years. Specifically, Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were charged with “retaining and selling state gifts” when he was in power, violating government rules. Khan was ousted from his position in April 2022 through a no-confidence vote, and he now has more than 150 legal cases pending against him. “The message is Imran Khan will remain behind bars for a longer time if he does not change his rhetoric against the country’s institutions,” independent, Islamabad-based analyst Azim Chaudhry told AP.
