RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/February 2022

February 2022
For the first time ever, polling in Finland has shown a majority of Finns supporting the country joining NATO, with 53% saying yes to 28% saying no. The Swiss government has agreed to break a centuries long position about neutrality, and to introduce economic sanctions and travel restrictions against Russia. In a 180 degree turn on previous military policy, Germany's chancellor Olaf Schulz has pledged to invest €100 billion in its military and re-committing the 2% GDP defence spending target. Mainland China says Taiwan is 'not Ukraine' and has always been an inalienable part of China, as island raises alert level WAR! Russia invades Ukraine - Putin: "it's for peace" - the same way fucking is for virginity. Brexit: Government to launch study on economic benefits of reintroducing imperial units. Really. Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies to investigate and possibly prosecute gender-affirming care for transgender children as child abuse. "The basic thing they needed to actually get right to get someone in the door, they couldn’t get right": Trump's "Truth Social" Twitter clone crumbles in a disastrous launch Putin Recognizes Independence of Pro-Russia Separatists in Ukraine. Orders Russian troops to occupy the Ukrainian regions as "Peacekeepers" Teachers' unions say new guidelines meant to ensure political neutrality in the classroom are confusing and likely to put teachers off tackling such important topics as climate change and racism. In response to the ongoing Freedom Convoy in Ottawa, the Canadian government enacted the Emergencies Act for the first time. It turns out that introducing anti-vaxxers to a steady diet of rubber bullets and teargas works wonders. Notable satirist PJ O'Rourke dead at 74 Sarah Palin's libel claim against The New York Times is rejected by the jury. Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre have reached an out of court settlement for the civil sexual assault case Giuffre was filling against Andrew. New HIV variant identified that could be more infectious Escalating tensions has led the U.S. to temporarily relocate the country's embassy from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, to the country's second city Lviv. It should be noted that the western city of Lviv is only 80km (50 miles) from the Ukrainian-Polish border and further west from the Russian border than Kyiv [https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/02/10/minecraft-terrorism Russian court sentences 16-year-old to five years in prison on charges of making explosives and training to participate in terrorist activities. ] Part of the evidence for intent was a "plot" to blow up virtual FSB building in Minecraft. Cressida Dick has stepped down as Chief Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, after losing the confidence of the Mayor Sadiq Khan. North Korea boasts of shaking the world by testing missiles that can strike the US. Not this again... Russia sees room for diplomacy over Ukraine - as has the rest of the world since forever ....  so did they blink? Is it just for show? Has Putin actually decided to at least temporarily retreat from his plans for this new Russian empire? Time will tell Well, that aged like milk... North London ‘cult got men to castrate themselves and sold footage’ Elizabeth II has said that she would like daughter-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall to become Queen Camilla rather than Camilla, Princess Consort when she passes away, breaking an agreement when Camilla was allowed to be engaged to Prince Charles. Meta's share price has fallen 26% in one day, wiping $230 billion off the company's value and $29 billion off Zuckerberg's personal wealth after reporting its first ever fall in worldwide users of its platforms including Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp. The leader of ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, killed himself during a US special forces raid in Syria, says Joe Biden Electricity prices in Australia are now among the lowest in the world (10th) due to a huge recent increase in the share of renewable energy generation The National Butterfly Center, an educational and conservation organization in Texas, is closing "indefinitely" after QAnon conspiracy theorists—who claim that the center is a secret hub for child sex trafficking—started sending death threats and physically confronting its workers. The leader of the Canadian Tories' Erin O'Toole, has been ousted as their leader of the party by a ballot of MPs. He was voted out by 73 of the 118 MPs. Germany's equivalent of the FCC or Ofcom, has said that RT Deutsch must stop broadcasting into Germany and has ordered a satellite broadcaster to stop transmission. Jeff Zucker resigns from CNN