Today’s News Briefs include: Terrorists planned to kill 10,000 Taylor Swift fans; Japanese typhoon threatens 4 million; Ford Motor Company drops most DEI initiatives.
Japan urges evacutation for 4 million
Almost 4 million people being urged to evacuate as Typhoon Shanshan makes landfall in Japan. The slow-moving storm is bringing wind, dangerous storm surges and torrential rain, reports CNN. “The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a rare emergency warning for the slow-moving storm, saying it was expected to bring damaging flooding and landslides to most of Kyushu, the country’s southernmost main island, with record rainfall expected.” Major companies like Toyota have shuttered their huge factories while both flights and bullet train service has been ended. The storm, moving at just 7 mph, is bringing flooding rain hundreds of miles away from landfall and is expected to linker through the weekend.
Ford latest company to drop DEI efforts
The Ford Motor Company announced Wednesday will scale back, and in some cases, end, DEI initiatives and ditch involvement in an LGBTQ-backed “corporate equality index” — according to a statement from Ford CEO Jim Farley. It joins other high-profile companies doing the same this week including Home Harley-Davidson, John Deere & Co, Home Depot, Lowes, Tractor Supply and others. In a letter to employees, Farley said they would “stop participating in external culture surveys such as the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index” as well as “various ‘best places to work’ lists.” General Motors is under pressure to do the same. According to the NYPost, the company “doled out at least $110 million to DEI and other woke initiatives since 2020, according to their own public documents.” Extensive research has found that DEI practices actually harm the workplace environment and create more division among employees with diverse backgrounds.
CIA: Terrorists planned to kill thousands of Taylor Swift fans
The Islamic-linked terrorist in the foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna sought to kill “tens of thousands” of fans before the CIA discovered intelligence and warned Austrian authorities, according to the AP. The CIA says the terror plot included links to ISIS. Investigators unearthed a stockpile of chemicals, explosive devices, detonators and 21,000 euros in counterfeit cash at the home of the main suspect. The intelligence and subsequent arrests, which included Iraqi and Turkish men, ultimately led to the cancellation of three sold-out Eras Tour shows. CIA Deputy Director David Cohen addressed the plot, saying “They were plotting to kill a huge number — tens of thousands of people at this concert, including I am sure many Americans — and were quite advanced in this.”
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice