RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/December 2017

December 2017
Statistics reveal that 2017 was the greenest year for the United Kingdom, as far as power generation is concerned. Indeed, she (i.e. the UK - not Theresa May, lest anyone be under the misapprehension that she has actually accomplished anything of note) has reduced carbon emissions faster than any other G7 countries. South Korea seized a vessel suspected of delivering oil to North Korea, violating U.N. sanctions. U.S. satellite imagery show Chinese vessels of doing the same. China dismissed all allegations as "not consistent with the facts." Amid a brutal cold spell with temperatures falling to record lows hitting the U.S. and Canada, President Trump opined that global warming is good and told people in the affected areas to bundle up. Iran faces anti-government protests from anti-war demonstrators and secularists. SWATting fatality in Wichita, Kansas, after an argument between two Call of Duty gamers over a $2 wager. One gave the other a false address, resulting in an innocent neighbour being SWATted and fatally shot by police. Gävle Goat sees December 25, 2017 Greek anarchists are injecting food with poison In a rare act of truth Breitbart's editor-in-chief, Alex Marlow, has admitted that Leigh Corfman’s claims against Roy Moore “had a lot of credibility” and Breitbart only defended Moore in an attempt to protect Predator-in-chief Trump. Big shocker there, right? Clinton and Trump are now equally unpopular at 36% favorability. Potential terror plot by ex-marine has been foiled by the FBI. Trump's travel ban has been blocked again. A bad day for Trump's new Dutch ambassador Pete Hoekstra, who accuses an interviewer of reporting fake news about his belief in violent no-go zones in the country, then, when shown footage proving it, declares the claim he called it fake news to be fake news. An outbreak of mumps in New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland, is now officially out of control and a national epidemic. Authorities are blaming low vaccination rates among 10-29 year olds - a "missing generation" thanks at least in part to anti-vaccine panics in the 1990's and 2000's. The Pentagon ran a secret program investigating UFOs from 2007 - 2012

Right-Wing Media Blames Amtrak Derailment on Leftist Activist (Alex Jones and Jack Posobiec). The Trump administration has apparently banned the CDC from using words like "science-based", "evidence-based", "vulnerable", and "transgender" in any budget-related official documents. Predictions of many resignations coming from Congress in the next 72 hours. You heard it first here folks. UPDATE: oh, look. Nothing happened. Artificial Intelligence, NASA Data Used to Discover Eighth Planet Circling Distant Star The FCC has voted in favor of repealing net neutrality. A Roy Moore campaign representative, a former elected official no less, vapor locks and goes slackjawed when told a well known fact about separation of church and state.

Poland: Beata Szydło forced to resign from being the Prime Minister, succeeded by Mateusz Morawiecki - which makes little sense from the state's perspective, seeing that Szydło is quite popular among Poles. On the other hand: following a recent penalty on a Polish TV channel for broadcasting the course of protests issued by the National Broadcasting Council (met with a backlash requiring a response from NBC), a resolution project allowing NBC (or KRRiT, if you prefer the Polish abbreviation) to censor the Internet was leaked. If the majority of MPs sign it, PiS' influence over media will increase. It is not a coincidence that those two things are happening at the same time - the majority of media focus only on the new Prime Minister. For now.

The Alt-Right parallel web is not really good and technically buggy... We expect that the self-proclaimed "master race and sex" to at least make half-decent websites... along with half-decent video games.

Iraqi commander says his country's war against DAESH Islamic State has ended Following the passage of a bill that allows the carrying of concealed firearms by the U.S. House of Representatives, a school shooting has left several dead. U.S. Senator Al Franken says he will resign from the Senate after charges of sexual misconduct. After a two month long postal survey, some political delays and various nonsense spouted by those opposed, Australia becomes the 25th country to legalise same sex marriage, with four out of 150 members in the lower house opposing the bill. Couple who swore they'd get divorced if it passed back down. Time magazine's Person of the Year goes to "The Silence Breakers" (the people who spoke out about sexual abuse and harassment). Donald Trump announces that the U.S. will move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, fulfilling a campaign promise but risking further instability in the Middle East Ten people so far have been arrested by Maltese police over the recent car-bombing of an anti-corruption activist and journalist. The UK government has suspended a foreign aid project after a BBC investigation found money for (dead) police officers was being siphoned off to Nour al-Din al-Zenki. The former President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is believed dead after Houthi rebels bombed his home as their political alliance fell apart. A Polish-born Britain First donor has been arrested for trying to use a van to murder a Muslim restaurant worker. Former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn has been charged with lying to the FBI, has pleaded guilty, and is cooperating with the special counsel's investigation into Russia's interference in last year's election.