RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/May 2021

May 2021
Riley Williams, the woman who stole Speaker Pelosi's laptop during the January 6th insurrection and tried to flog it to the Russians, has been given timed-release from house arrest. China abandons two-child policy, now allowing couples to have at most three children in order to reverse their tumbling birth rates. The trial of rape accused Danny Masterson is already revealing that members the Church of [[Scientology], of which Masterson is a member, approached and threatened his victims.] Iran bans bitcoin mining, while China is likely to do soon Remains of 215 First Nation children found in mass grave at Catholic-run residential school, originally set up to assimilate indigenous people. Germany admits to committing genocide during its colonization of Namibia in the early 20th century and will pay €1.1 billion to the African nation to try to make amends. Celebrity doctor Dr Christian Jesson has been found guilty of defamation against First Minister Arlene Foster and forced to compensate £125 000, over a tweet claiming she had an affair with one of her bodyguards. Students who headed class-action lawsuit against Environment Minister Sussan Ley claim victory after Federal Court stated Ms Ley has a "duty to protect young people from foreseeable future climate change harms". Go students! In a survey for an Irish news website, 39% of people believe cannabis should be legalised for recreational use and nine out of ten support the medical use of cannabis in Ireland. The majority of Americans support allowing openly transgender people to serve in the military but oppose permitting them to play on sports teams that align with their gender identity, according to new Gallup data. Senate preparing a $10 billion bailout fund for Jeff Bezos' space firm Celebrity chef, woo-proponent and oxygen thief Pete Evans has been prosecuted and fined $80,000 by Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration for breaching advertising standards while peddling his snake oil "health" products, including a light-emitting device that he claimed could help manage Coronavirus symptoms. Drug dealer arrested, after police analysed his fingerprints in a picture he'd posted to a supposedly encrypted messaging service. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57224452 A Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania is forced to land in Belarus under false pretenses so that Roman Protasevich, a Belarussian opposition journalist on board, can be arrested. The EU condemns this as state-sponsored hijacking.] Dinosaur kills man. A 1966 document, leaked by Daniel Ellsberg of the Pentagon Papers, reveals that the risk of nuclear war in 1958 was greater than publicly known (paywalled) non paywalled version German Catholic priests will start blessing gay unions in defiance of the Vatican

Hardline rightwinger Ebrahim Raisi takes the field in the upcoming Iranian presidential elections amid accusations of moderate candidates being purged from the race. [https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21528569/homeless-poverty-cash-transfer-canada-new-leaf-project A Canadian study gave $7,500 to homeless people. Here’s how they spent it.] Project for the design and construction of a sailing containership with wind-assisted propulsion is approved How lies and misinformation on Social Media are inflaming the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (paywalled) There are numerous non-paywall versions - eg the Deccan Herald or on their .onion hidden service if you use Tor. Bruno Covas, mayor of São Paulo, largest city in the Western Hemisphere, dies of cancer at 41. Israeli airstrikes destroy an office/housing block that belonged to Al Jazeera and the. Texas passes "heartbeat" bill that would create anti-abortion vigilantes. The bill is expected to be signed by Governor Abbott.

17 years after allowing women to perform the same roles as men in the military, the Swiss army will issue female volunteers with feminine underwear. [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-57100259 Two Indian men in Glasgow were taken by immigration authorities to a van. Hundreds of protestors stopped the van from moving. Police told immigration authorities to let the two men go.] After days of rocket attacks from Hamas, Israel has launched a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Wall Street stocks slide after strong US inflation data. Consumer prices are rising at fastest pace since 2008 and the core CPI inflation saw its biggest climb for a month since 1982. [https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57068182 The UK government's Action Plan for Animal Welfare will enshrine into law that animals can feel hunger and pain and are aware of their surroundings. It will make it illegal to export live animals for slaughter, import hunting trophies or keep primates as pets. And it will make microchipping cats compulsory.] A judge has dismissed the NRA’s bankruptcy case, leaving the powerful gun-rights group to face a New York state lawsuit that accuses it of financial abuses and aims to put it out of business. Blogger and conspiracy theorist Craig Murray has been sentenced to 8 months jail for unlawfully identifying alleged victims in a trial for rape and sexual assault. A proposal has been leaked that people would be required to show photo ID in English, Scottish and Welsh elections. The plan aims to prevent electoral fraud, despite it being virtually non-existent in Great Britain. Palestinians riot in Jerusalem holy sites and Hamas fires rockets into southern Israel on the anniversary of Israel's 1967 capture of the city. [https://archive.is/Kx2ct Venezuela's GDP has shrunk 75% since 2013. Government starts timid pro-market reforms, but IMF still predicts a 10% drop this year and a 5% drop in 2022.] Unwilling to deal with reality, Wyoming plans to sue any state that refuses to buy coal. It's unclear how successful they'd actually be in court, considering that individual states are allowed to ban/tax products so long as it's not obviously targeted at another state. Violent protests in Colombia with at least 24 dead as demonstrators and police clash across the country. A Capitol rioter has blamed Fox News for radicalizing him according to a statement from his lawyer in his terrorism trial. Brazilian police ignore a court ruling and conduct a raid in a shanty town at Rio de Janeiro killing 25, including a police officer. It's the deadliest operation ever conducted by the police in the history of the city. UPDATE: Three more bodies were found, making the death toll rise to 28. Brazilian far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, as well as his vice-president Hamilton Mourão, praised the police for the slaughter. After the British Crown dependency of Jersey imposed restrictions on French fishing rights, in another post-Brexit trade snafu, France responded by threatening to cut the electricity supply to the island, and French fishermen threatened to blockade the main harbour. Now, both the UK and France have deployed naval vessels to the area, as tensions escalate. [https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/05/politics/justin-lafferty-tennessee-lawmaker-three-fifths-compromise/index.html Tennessee lawmaker defends three-fifths compromise. Republican legislators applaud.] Cult leader is found mummified in Colorado The fee for a UK gender recognition certificate, which makes it official that someone has transitioned from female to male or male to female, has dropped from £140 to £5.