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

December 2022
 The exiled chief rabbi of Russia's Jewish community has said that Jewish people in Russia should leave as soon as they can, in case they are scapegoats for Russia's woes.  Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95.   Manosphere grifter Andrew Tate who earlier teased environmental activist Greta Thunberg with his 33 cars, has been arrested in Romania by a specialist organised crime police unit for human trafficking and rape. Netanyahu's incoming government released an unhinged list of policy priorities, such as legalizing dozens of illegally built outposts in Palestine, outright annexation of the entire West Bank, passing a law allowing religious discrimination against LGBT people, and allowing parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority (note that Netanyahu is currently on trial for corruption charges). Due to an inaccessible healthcare system, the coronavirus pandemic, and other factors, the average life expectancy in the United States has decreased for a second consecutive year. Putin gives eight golden ‘rings of power’ to CIS leaders, keeping another for himself — sealing their fate along with Sauron  The Polish government has presented a bill to the lower house which would encourage more rural and older voters to be able to vote, by opening more polling stations in remote villages and offering free transport for pensioners. Sounds good, but these are the most likely people to vote for the governing conservative PiS party.  The Orthodox Church of Ukraine has offered parishioners the chance to move Christmas from the Russian-aligned Julian calendar date of the 7th January, to the Western-aligned Revised Julian calendar date of the 25th December in a move away from the. MSG Entertainment defends using facial recognition scan that flagged girl scout mom as security risk at a music hall. The kicker? She works for a law company suing MSG Entertainment. MSG took facial scans of the lawyers suing them and put it into their systems. People who say "if you've got nothing to hide you've got nothing to fear" should pay attention to this. This woman had nothing to hide and she still was targeted.  Bytedance has admitted that it has spied on two journalists from Forbes magazine using the TikTok app that is on their phones.  After intensifying strikes from labor movements working in various economic sectors, the British government has deployed over 1,200 military personnel to engage in strike-breaking activities.  [https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20221222-spanish-mps-approve-new-bill-on-transgender-rights The lower chamber of Spain’s parliament has narrowly voted 188 to 150, to allow trans people to self-identify themselves on their ID cards. ]   [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-64066938 Holyrood has voted 86 to 39 to allow trans people to self-identify themselves without medical intervention. However, there are reports that Westminster may try to prevent the bill from becoming law.] [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63942616 Netanyahu secures a coalition agreement, ensuring he will return as Prime Minister atop a collection of far-right parties. Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the radical Jewish Power party, will have extensive authority over the West Bank and the Israeli Defense Forces as the national security minister. Also in government is Avi Maoz of the anti-LGBT Noam party, who wants to ban gay pride events]. The Taliban has banned all Afghan women from any education past the sixth grade, dispatching security forces to schools and universities to enforce the new law. Texas attorney general office sought information on transgender residents of Texas. When authoritarians are asking for lists of marginalized people, it's time to start paying attention. <vote poll=world2020933505218>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-64028633 Thurrock Council in Essex has issued itself a §114 notice, declaring itself bankrupt on the grounds that it cannot balance its books. This is due to a £469 million black hole in its finances.] Woking Borough Council in Surrey has also said it is in a similar position with a £2.5 billion black hole. <vote poll=world2020933505217> 1/6 committee refers Trump for "criminal prosecution on four counts." Let's see if they manage to make it stick. <vote poll=world2020933505216> Media regulator and ombudsman Ofcom has indirectly revealed in a letter, that the transphobic group LGB Alliance has office space at. This is the same address many Brexit and far-right "think tanks" such as Taxpayers' Alliance have their headquarters. Earlier this year, this group of think tanks was blamed for crashing the British economy during the premiership of Liz Truss. <vote poll=world2020933505215>[https://www.npr.org/2022/12/17/1142675809/cleanup-for-keystone-pipeline-oil-spill-kansas Keystone Pipeline spilled an estimated 600,000 gallons of tar sands oil in Washington County, Kansas. Tar sands oil, or diluted bitumen, is especially toxic and difficult to clean from the environment. A similar spill in Michigan in 2010 cost over $1 billion]. <vote poll=world2020933505214>Peru's government has declared a national emergency to suspend certain rights and expand police powers in response to poor and rural regions violently protesting the removal of former President Castillo. Meanwhile, a judge has ordered Castillo to be held in custody for 18 months, and prosecutors are seeking at least 10 years in prison. <vote poll=world2020933505213> After calling out about the blocking of the ElonJet tweetbot, several notable American journalists, including CNN’s Donie O'Sullivan and Drew Harwell of the Washington Post, have found out that they have been blocked on Twitter themselves. Already this has led to rebuke by the European Commission’s Věra Jourová warning Elon Musk that he may break the EU’s own Media Freedom Act. After pointing out ElonJet is on Twitter's open-source rival Mastodon, Mastodon's own Twitter account has been blocked. Also, Twitter users have reported they cannot share Mastodon accounts on the platform. <vote poll=world2020933505212> A parliamentary select committee has proposed that references in the Irish constitution to the “women in the home” should be removed, in favour of “the care of families”. The idea is that the Bunreacht na hÉireann would recognise the equal responsibility of parents in families, and not women. <vote poll=world2020933505211> States with more abortion restrictions have higher maternal and infant mortality, report finds. <vote poll=world2020933505210> Elon Musk is trolling for QAnon followers' support <vote poll=world2020933505209> President Biden has signed the Respect for Marriage Act, codifying same-sex and interracial marriages into federal law. <vote poll=world2020933505208> A bipartisan investigation by the US Senate has uncovered [https://www.npr.org/2022/12/14/1142520821/senate-probe-found-some-federal-prison-staff-abused-female-inmates-without-disci numerous instances of sexual abuse of women inside at least two-thirds of the federal facilities that housed women over the past decade, which had gone without punishment or had even been covered up. According to Sen. Ossoff (D-GA), "several officers who admitted under oath to sexually abusing prisoners were nonetheless able to retire with benefits."] <vote poll=world2020933505207> Twitter hasn't paid rent for any of its global offices, nor its San Francisco headquarters, for weeks. Elon Musk is also considering cutting severance packages for former employees. Non-paywall version. <vote poll=world2020933505206> Anyone born after 2008 will never be able,  to purchase cigarettes or tobacco products, as New Zealand hopes to eventually eliminate smoking. <vote poll=world2020933505205> Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is arrested in the Bahamas on charges including wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering <vote poll=world2020933505204> EU democracy 'under attack' as parliament rocked by Qatar bribe claims <vote poll=world2020933505203> Iran cuts off funds for militant Palestinian groups such as Hamas or the. <vote poll=world2020933505202> Putting her money where her prejudice is; JK Rowling to fund a sexual abuse clinic in Scotland. Naturally, this largesse only extends to biological women. <vote poll=world2020933505201> You might have thought Effective Altruism always smelt like an obvious scam - but spending the charity money on buying a literal frickin' castle is clearly the most effective maximiser for the happiness of 10^54 hypothetical human emulations. update: Of course the EAs didn't spend the charity dollars on a castle! No, they spent the charity dollars on two castles. (Original story in Czech) <vote poll=world202093350520> About 967,400 adult immigrants became US citizens in 2022, the third-highest year on record, after 2008 and 1996. <vote poll=world202093350519> Former president Otto Pérez Molina sentenced to 16 years for corruption in Guatemala <vote poll=world202093350518> No-longer-DINO Kyrsten Sinema leaves the Democratic Party and becomes an independent. She said she wouldn't caucus with Republicans, but hasn't made it clear whether she will caucus with Democrats. <vote poll=world202093350516> The European Parliament has confirmed that three current and former MEPs, including a vice-president, have been brought for questioning by Belgian police over corruption links with a Gulf country. Journalists have said that the country in question is Qatar. <vote poll=world202093350517> The falling share price of Tesla, due to reputation issues with its owner, has meant that Musk is no longer the richest man in the world. It now belongs to Frenchman, who manages the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, at $185 billion. <vote poll=world202093350515> China's operating over 100 police stations across the world with the help of some host nations, report claims. Beijing has set up more than 100 so-called overseas police stations across the globe to monitor, harass and, in some cases, repatriate Chinese citizens living in exile, using bilateral security arrangements struck with countries in Europe and Africa to gain a widespread presence internationally, a new report shared exclusively with CNN alleges. <vote poll=world202093350514> The House of Representatives have voted 258-169 to pass the Respect the Marriage Act, which would codify same-sex and interracial marriage. Now all it needs is the president's signature to become federal law. <vote poll=world202093350513>Peru's Congress has impeached and removed President Pedro Castillo from office following his attempt to dissolve Congress as political crisis explodes. Update: Castillo has been arrested for "rebellion" and conspiracy to overturn the constitutional order, and Peru now has its first female president. <vote poll=world202093350512> Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year". <vote poll=world202093350511> Police arrest 25 far-right extremists subscribing to the Reichsbürger movement and QAnon conspiracies for allegedly plotting to storm the Reichstag and overthrow the government <vote poll=world202093350510>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-63872953 An Argentinean court has sentenced former President and current Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to 6 years in prison and barred her from public office for political corruption. However, there will be a lengthy appeals process.] <vote poll=world202093350509> Trump Organisation found guilty of tax crimes. <vote poll=world202093350508> Self-proclaimed "Liver King" Brian Johnson, who promoted eating a raw organ meat diet, was exposed as a fraud who has a steroid addiction ($11,000/month for HGH). <vote poll=world202093350507> International sanctions on Russia don't seem very effective right now, but long-term economic damage will likely accumulate. <vote poll=world202093350506> Federal enforcement of the REAL ID Act will be [https://www.npr.org/2022/12/05/1140778386/real-id-enforcement-delayed-2025-immigration-privacy postponed again to 2025. Federal agencies will still accept noncompliant IDs until then.] <vote poll=world202093350505> [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63869078 Indonesia passes criminal code banning sex outside marriage, blasphemy, and "immorality". The code applies to visiting foreigners as well.] <vote poll=world202093350504> Elon Musk’s medical device company Neuralink is under federal investigation for potential animal-welfare violations <vote poll=world202093350503> "Intentional" attack on electrical substation leaves thousands without power in Moore County, North Carolina. Perhaps not so coincidentally, a drag show was being held in Moore County the same day the attack occurred. <vote poll=world202093350502> Iran has reportedly abolished the morality police, though activists and state media have disputed such reports. Mandatory hijab is also under review. <vote poll=world202093350501> Elon Musk welcomed thousands of banned accounts back to Twitter, including Nazi Andrew Anglin. <vote poll=world202093350500> We're all weeping; Alex Jones files for personal bankruptcy after trying to hide his assets among relatives and friends. <vote poll=world202093350499> Edward Snowden is now officially Edvard Lonniovich Snoudyen (Эдвард Лонниович Сноуден) as he has sworn in as a citizen of the Russian Federation and receives a Russian passport.