Hi ,

It's been (another) week of bad decisions in global politics.

There's been uncharacteristic political drama in France as the prime minister, Michael Barnier, lost a no-confidence vote after trying to force through a budget and will now have to resign just three months into the job.

In South Korea, the president inexplicably decided to impose martial law. This led to protests, lawmakers defending themselves from soldiers, and a vote to end the law from opposition politicians who had fought their way inside the country's national assembly.

President Yoon Suk Yeol scrapped the restrictions six hours after announcing them and is now facing calls for impeachment.

Don't be like these foolish politicians; make a good decision and read what The Ferret's been investigating this week. 

Yours,

Ali

Story of the week

An in-depth look at a Ferret investigation

A Scottish firm has given financial backing to an AI weapons start-up founded by a US tech billionaire who has links to Donald Trump.

Edinburgh-based investment firm, Baillie Gifford, was one of a group of new investors who took part in a fundraising round for Anduril Industries over the summer which brought in around £1.2bn for the company.

Anduril has pledged to use the money to “hyperscale” its manufacturing to produce “tens of thousands of autonomous weapons systems”. 

The company’s products include unmanned drones which can be loaded with explosives and are equipped with technology which allows them to identify targets on their own and a single person to control numerous drones at once.

What did we dig up this week?

A round up of our investigations in the last seven days

Millions of gamebirds imported during record bird flu outbreak

The most recent global strain of the highly contagious avian disease killed nearly four million birds in the UK, ranging from farmed poultry to wild and endangered species.

Revealed: Labour donor’s hedge fund invests in private healthcare

Martin Taylor has given more than £5.5m to Labour, its politicians and a Labour think tank since April 2020, when Starmer won the party’s leadership contest. 

Question of the week

Should the Scottish Government restrict game bird imports during the bird flu outbreak?

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Best of the rest

Investigations we've enjoyed from around the world

The dark story behind the guy who bought (and ate) that banana art

A banana attached to a gallery wall was sold off by Sotheby’s for $6.2m. The lucky new owner? Chinese cryptocurrency maven Justin Sun, who has since eaten the art. (Slate)

How Ukraine has faced its worst month on the battlefield in two years – visualised

November was Ukraine’s worst month since September 2022 for territory lost to Russian forces. These charts and maps show the latest developments in the war. (Guardian)

Why are people pouring milk down the drain over a cow feed additive

Arla Foods, a company which owns the UK’s biggest dairy cooperative, announced 30 of its farms across the country would test an additive, named Bovaer. (BBC News)

Any comments? Have you seen something we could include? Email us at contact@theferret.scot.

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