RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/June 2020

June 2020
Supreme Court rules in favor of parents in Montana seeking to use a state scholarship to send their children to religious schools, opening the door for more public funding of religious education The Mary Trump tell-all book on the Trump Family has been blocked from publication. [https://www.rtbf.be/info/belgique/detail_le-roi-philippe-exprime-au-congo-ses-profonds-regrets-pour-les-blessures-du-passe?id=10532781 On the back of the celebration of the sixtieth anniversaity of DR Congo's independence from Belgium. King Philippe I, King of the Belgians has expressed his “deepest regrets” over Belgium’s behaviour of its colonisation of] Belgian-Congo. The world's largest liquid air battery is now under construction in England with a £10 million grant from the government A 40 years old program to save the kaki has borne fruit with wilderness population up to 30% SCOTUS strikes down Louisiana abortion restrictions requiring physicians to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Respecting the 2016 precedent of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, Roberts joins the court's liberals in a 5-4 decision. According to a report, not a single police department in the 20 largest American cities comply with international rights laws

An increase in radioactive isotopes across Scandinavia in the past few weeks may be the result of a classified Russian nuclear accident. Far-right demonstrators take to Lisbon's streets to deny racism is a problem The Mississippi Legislature have voted for a bill to change the state’s flag, by removing the Confederate War banner from it. It now in the hands of the state’s governor Tate Reeves. US intelligence officials allege that the Russian offered monetary bounties to the Taliban for attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan. Moreover, Trump was briefed on this information back in late March, and yet has continued to push for Russia to be allowed back into. A European intelligence official backs the allegations. Unsurprisingly, Russia, the Taliban deny the allegation. The White House says Trump and Pence were not briefed on the information. The Center for Strategic and International Studies concludes that violence by the far right is one of the most dangerous terrorist threats faced by law enforcement in the United States Illegal gold miners murdered two indigenous men in the Amazon, according to human rights group The Simpsons will no longer have white voice actors voice non-white characters.

California is working on a scheme that will lead eventually a ban on diesel-powered heavy trucks and big rigs by 2045. Notable Texan trio The Dixie Chicks removed the word "Dixie" from their name, and now are officially known simply as "The Chicks". They have done this in the current rethinking of the Confederacy, especially since another country trio have changed their name to "Lady A". Rebecca Long-Bailey has been sacked as shadow education secretary after she tweeted praise for an interview in which the left-wing actress Maxine Peake said the U.S. police tactic of kneeling on someone’s neck was taught by the Israeli secret service. Trump faces a revolt amongst Congressional Republicans over order to withdraw troops from Germany NDP leader Jagmeet Singh expelled from House of Commons after calling a member of Bloc Québécois racist, though Singh has the support of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Pentagon war games include Gen Z protests Climate scientists alarmed at record breaking heatwave in Siberia, though the high temperatures are linked to wildfires, moth swarms and the oil spill #BlueLeaks data dump exposes 269 GB of files from hundreds of police departments across the US Congressman and head of the homeland security committee Bennie G Thompson (D-MS) has written to the acting secretary, to enquire why Nigel Farage was given special disposition to visit the Trump rally in Tulsa, OK considering a virtual ban on British nationals from visiting the U.S. due to COVID-19. The BBC promises to spend £100 million (US$124 million) over the next 3 years on TV that encourages inclusion and diversity. Gen Z pranks Trump by requesting tickets to a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 20, 2020 by the hundreds of thousands. This inflated the expectations of the Trump campaign, and caused Trump to plan for an overflow stage, expecting massive crowds. Actual attendance was much, much lower than expected; the overflow stage was canceled, and Trump ended up speaking to a crowd of just an estimated 6200 (out of 19,200 capacity seats). Naturally the campaign denies it was anything to do with that - It was the evil leftists and online trolls! The astute might note that this is not actually exclusive of teens and K-pop fans. Over five hundred strikes in the last three weeks There's a right wing plot to coup the leftist president of Mexico in the works, as new leaks expose The Nova Scotia Shooter Case has the hallmarks of an undercover operation Official ABC figures has reported put the Daily Heil over The S*n as the UK’s most popular newspaper in terms of daily sales figures. The UK has had its longest ever period without burning coal for electricity, [https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4016627/uk-record-coal-power-free-run-67-days a run of 67 days, 22 hours and 55 minutes. The last time a coal-free gap nearly this long happened was back in 1882. The run only stopped because of maintenance testing at the Drax power station.] In an historic first, Nebraska farmers return land to the Ponca tribe in an effort to block the Keystone XL pipeline. In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has blocked the Trump administration's attempt to end the immigrant relief program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). British icon Dame Vera Lynn, whose songs such as "We'll Meet Again" helped boost public morale in the dark days of the Second World War, passed away aged 103. Pub chain Greene King and insurer Lloyd's of London apologize for their historic links to slavery and promise to make large financial donations to benefit the black and minority ethnic communities. UPDATE: The Church of England and the Bank of England have apologized for their historic links to slavery as well. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53083664 Since Aunt Jemima was originally a character in racially offensive minstrel shows, Quaker Oats has decided to rename its Aunt Jemima line of foods. And Mars Inc. is considering rebranding its Uncle Ben's rice too.] Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton could be jailed for contempt of court if he defies a court order to make a decision on whether to grant an Iranian asylum seeker a protection visa. The  has declared that it will stop now any future harvesting of peat bog in Ireland, and instead it will work in bog rehabilitation. No jobs will be lost as all the workers are turning into bog managers. North Korea destroys an abandoned joint liaison office with South Korea inside the demilitarized zone. It comes after reports of increasing tension between the North and the South Fox Noise is using digitally altered images because it can't stand the fact that Seattle is not in chaos SCOTUS rules in a 6 to 3 decision that does protect workers from being fired because they are gay or transgender. (The opinion). Roberts and Gorsuch joined the four liberal judges in the majority. Minneapolis City Council votes to abolish its police department [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53037767 What was originally stated to be an attempt to protect the statue of Winston Churchill and war memorials in London degenerated into an alcohol-fueled, violent display of racist thuggery at which there were 100 arrests. Ironically, the most iconic photograph from the day shows a man urinating next to a memorial to Keith Palmer, a police officer murdered in a terrorist attack in 2017.] Trump rollback of transgender healthcare protections occurs just a week after the murders of two trans black women, and on the fourth year anniversary of the Pulse Club shooting Emma Soames, the granddaughter of Winston Churchill, [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53033550 thinks her grandfather did more good than bad but acknowledges he had some views that would be unacceptable today. She thinks it might be best if his statue in Parliament Square, that has become a target for anti-racism protesters, is moved to a museum.] As evictions ban are set to expire in July 25, the US could face a "tsunami of evictions". This will exerbate the already existing housing crisis as every year more than two million people are evicted, a number far greater than homeowners facing foreclosure during the Great Recession Statues of King Leopold II, the man responsible for the deaths of 10 million Africans as the personal ruler of the Belgian Congo, have been attacked by anti-racism protesters, making some Belgians aware of their country's bloody colonial past for the first time. Norwegian far-right extremist Philip Manshaus is sentenced to 21 years in prison for the murder of his Chinese-born stepsister and a failed attempt to carry out a mass shooting in a mosque. The Trump administration defines sex as purely defined by biology, ending medical protections enacted during the Obama era for transgender people across the US. Internet Archive will end its program of free e-books after publishing houses win a copyright lawsuit While protesters attack and remove statues of Christopher Columbus and Confederate leaders, Donald Trump says he will "not even consider" renaming US military bases named after Confederate generals. In a recent poll, a quarter of Welsh people said they support Welsh independence from the UK. This is the highest level ever recorded.

Vote Leave! Talk radio station LBC will not renew the contract of professional Brexiteer, and all-round shitweasel, Nigel Farage. There are calls to remove statues and other memorials to people associated with the slave trade, racism and colonialism across the UK. A statue of slave trader Robert Milligan has been removed from outside a museum in London. A building named after once pro-slavery prime minister William Gladstone at the University of Liverpool is to be renamed. There are calls to remove a statue of arch-imperialist Cecil Rhodes from the University of Oxford. Likewise there are calls to remove a statue of Robert Clive, known as Clive of India, from Shrewsbury in Shropshire. And it has been decided that a statue of Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts, will be removed from Poole in Dorset because not only was Baden-Powell a racist, he was also a homophobe and a Nazi-sympathizer. NASCAR has announced it will no longer allow the flying of the Confederate flag on its stadia. Swedish prosecutors believe they have identified the individual who assassinated Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986. Batshit on Main Street: 'Antifa bus' hoaxes are spreading panic through small-town America. Armed local racist girds his loins for race war, is disappointed: "Antifa members have threatened our town and said that they're going to burn everything and to kill white people, basically."

Four people are jailed for belonging to the banned far-right terrorist group National Action, including a former entrant in the Miss Hitler beauty contest.

An admitted KKK member and neo-confederate has been detained after attempting to run over protesters in a car in Virginia. Democrats vote to renew and give Trump more police powers Protestors in Bristol tear down a statue of 17th century slaver Edward Colston and dump it in the harbour. Tory Home Secretary, Priti Patel, is not amused. A new outbreak of Ebola kills four people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose health authorities are stretched thin dealing with coronavirus and measles outbreaks Minneapolis City Council members look to disband the police department as schools and other city agencies cut ties with police

Legislation is being drafted that would make criticism of traditional Chinese medicine illegal in Beijing. 54% of American think burning down the Minneapolis police precinct was justified with a 60% think the protests are justified An oil spill in the Siberian city of Norilsk prompts a declaration of state of emergency with the clean up taking between five to ten years in an area that has massive potential for wind and geothermal energy Gen. Jim Mattis finally takes aim and unloads on Pvt. Bonespurs: [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/ We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution.] It's enough for the Daily Express to go into orgasmic mode. Police are saying that they are questioning a German suspect over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz 13 years ago. [http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52897303 Washington's Catholic archbishop, Wilton D. Gregory, says Trump has misused and manipulated the Saint John Paul II National Shrine by visiting it while protests continue. Archbishop Gregory also said that Pope John Paul II wouldn't have approved of using tear gas to make the photo opportunity outside the Episcopalian church possible.] Episcopal Bishop of Washington, DC outraged that the White House did not provide advance notice to the Diocese that Trump would be walking the one block (hence necessitating the use of the National Guard) to the historic St. John’s Episcopal church. Trump sends national guard after George Floyd protesters Hong Kong police have banned the annual June 4th vigil held in memory of the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre for the first time in 30 years.