Five things to know to start your Saturday

The Port Harcourt refinery stopped working – again

The Port Harcourt refinery, which had just started making fuel again, has already stopped working. This happened less than a month after it reopened.

A reporter from The Punch newspaper visited the refinery on Thursday, December 19, 2024, and found that they were no longer distributing petrol. The distribution actually stopped on Friday, December 13 – the refinery’s 18-arm loading bay, where trucks normally get filled with fuel, was completely empty.

The reporter saw many trucks just sitting around: about 18 trucks were lined up on the busy road leading to the refinery, and nine more trucks were parked in the refinery’s parking yard. But no trucks were being loaded with fuel at the loading bay.

Google might sell Chrome and Android

The U.S. government wants to make big changes to Google’s business. They say Google needs to sell its Chrome web browser, share its search data and results with competing companies, and possibly even sell Android (its phone operating system).

Why? Because a judge found that Google has too much control over how we search for information online. Google handles 90% of all searches in the United States.

Here’s what the Department of Justice (DOJ) said about the problem: “Google’s unlawful behaviour has deprived rivals not only of critical distribution channels but also distribution partners who could otherwise enable entry into these markets by competitors in new and innovative ways.”

One big change would stop Google from paying companies like Apple to make Google the default search engine on phones and tablets. Currently, Google pays billions of dollars for this privilege.

The U.S. House approved a bill to prevent a government shutdown

The House of Representatives, which Republicans dominate, just passed a bill to prevent the government from shutting down at midnight. They did this even though President-elect Trump wanted them also to approve trillions in new government debt.

Now the Senate, which Democrats control, needs to pass the same bill to keep the government running past midnight. President Biden has said he’ll sign the bill if the Senate approves it.

The bill would keep the government funded until March 14. It includes $100 billion to help states hit by natural disasters and $10 billion for farmers. However, it doesn’t increase the debt ceiling (the amount of money the government can borrow), which is something Trump wanted done before he takes office on January 20.

If the government did shut down, law enforcement and national parks would be disrupted, and millions of federal workers wouldn’t get their paychecks.

Trudeau reshuffled his cabinet while under pressure to resign

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has picked new leaders for his government team, making these changes just days after his second-in-command unexpectedly quit. This resignation shocked many Canadians and led to more people asking Trudeau to step down as leader of the Liberal Party.

The new team members were officially sworn in during a ceremony in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, on Friday. One of the biggest changes was making David McGuinty, a member of Parliament from Ontario, the new public safety minister – meaning he’ll be in charge of federal law enforcement. Another Ontario politician, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, was chosen to handle Canada’s housing problems as the new housing minister.

Trudeau has been Canada’s leader since 2015, but lately, he’s been under a lot of pressure to quit as head of the Liberal Party before the next elections, which must happen by late October. People aren’t as happy with him as they used to be, largely because Canada is dealing with some big problems – it’s hard to find affordable housing, and everyday things cost a lot more than they used to.

After his deputy resigned this week, some members of Trudeau’s own Liberal Party publicly said he should step down. However, many others in the party are still supporting him despite all this pressure.

Elon Musk is supporting Germany’s far-right AfD before elections

Elon Musk has openly supported Germany’s far-right political party called the Alternative for Germany (AfD). This comes as Germany prepares for important elections in February.

The AfD has strong support in current polls, coming in second place. This means they could prevent other political parties – whether centre-right or centre-left – from getting a majority. But Germany’s more mainstream political parties have said they won’t work with the AfD to form a government at the national level.

On Friday, Musk posted a message on X (his social media platform) saying “Only the AfD can save Germany.”

Germany, which has Europe’s biggest economy, is having this election on February 23 as its current government, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, has fallen apart.