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

October 2022
 Tory MPs have already begun "drafting letters of no confidence" for the new British leader Rishi Sunak, following a purge of his cabinet. According to a right-wing rag, that is...  [https://www.npr.org/2022/10/30/1132664078/somalia-mogadishu-car-bomb-attacks-al-shabab At least 100 dead and 300 more wounded in Mogadishu after two car bombs went off. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility.]  Lula defeats Bolsonaro, becoming President of Brazil by 2023.  Formerly banned fascist group Britain First is let back onto Musk's Twitter platform. How long before the more influential scum are let back on?  The Congress of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas voted to legalize same-sex marriage, meaning that same-sex marriage is now legal in all of Mexico.  Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul has been brutally assaulted by an intruder with a hammer, demanding to know where Nancy is.  Finland reforms abortion law to replace outdated legislation—liberalizing it, reducing differences with the other Scandinavian countries  Japan: Unification Church scandals haunt Kishida government—investigation into the cult opened as Kishida popularity down below 30% from above 60%  Elon Musk takes control of Twitter and immediately fires multiple top executives there.  Rishi Sunak will be the next UK Prime Minister  The Norwegian government has arrested at least seven Russian citizens, including the son of a sanctioned gentleman, for suspicious drone activity near the country's airports, and oil and gas platforms.  The current and former leaders of Reform UK, Richard Tice and Nigel Farage, have been criticised for being anti-Semitic for calling the Home Secretary [interior minister] Grant Shapps who is Jewish, a globalist.  After 45 days in office, Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister, to be replaced by ex-Chancellor (and runner up of previous election) Rishi Sunak.  Dagbladet has reported that the Russian Orthodox Church suspiciously purchased real estate near sensitive military sites, including a notable harbour, raising questions. Original is Norwegian - here's google translated to English  The Human Rights Watch has verified footage of Azerbaijani forces executing Armenian POWs during the September 2022 clashes.  Biden officially launches his student loan debt forgiveness program. <vote poll=world202093350451> [https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/03/middleeast/iran-protests-sharif-university-crackdown-intl/index.html Iran is launching lethal crackdowns amid intensifying anti-regime protests, recently using rifles and gas on Tehran’s Sharif University. State media reports that 41 people have died since the beginning of the unrest, but Amnesty International thinks the number is higher]. <vote poll=world202093350450> [https://thediplomat.com/2022/10/the-war-in-ukraine-is-decimating-russias-asian-minorities/ Putin's "partial mobilization" has disproportionately impacted the nation's impoverished ethnic minority regions. Some villages in Kalmykia have been depopulated by as much as 20%.] <vote poll=world202093350449> Health secretary Thérèse Coffey has said she is looking to allow pharmacists to give antibiotics without a prescription, which is causing alarm among microbiologists that it may cause a growth in antibiotic resistance superbugs. Ms Coffey has told The Times newspaper that she has in the past freely given antibiotics to friends and family, despite the fact that she doesn't hold any medical qualifications. <vote poll=world202093350448> Alaska takes unprecedented measure of cancelling the winter snow crab season in the Bering Sea due to the disappearance of about 90% of the crab population, some 1 billion crabs. Alaska is the fastest warming state in the US, and is losing billions of tons of ice each year.

<vote poll=world202093350446> Liz Truss sacks Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng after just 38 days in the job in a bid to calm the markets (and save her premiership). <vote poll=world202093350445> The January 6th Committee has put out a subpoena for Donald J. Trump, for his account of the Capitol attack. <vote poll=world202093350444>Jury orders Alex Jones to pay $965 million to relatives of the Sandy Hook victims and an FBI agent for his lies about the tragic event.Update: Alex Jones continues to be a shitty human being by mocking the grieving families after the near $1 billion judgement “Do these people actually think they’re getting any of this money?” <vote poll=world20209330444>A college town near Chicago is experimenting paying reparations to some of its residents descending from freed black slaves. <vote poll=world202093350443> In a poll, more than a third of Finns, 35% are in favour of extending conscription to women, while 44% are against. Currently, all Finnish men are required to do a least nine months of military service. <vote poll=world202093350442> For the first time ever, for five hours on Friday, October 7th, Greece's electricity needs were fulfilled solely by renewable power, marking a milestone. <vote poll=world202093350441> Putin-sycophant Tulsi Gabbard has quit the Democratic Party, saying the party is an "elitist cabal of warmongers". <vote poll=world202093350440> Lukashenko says that Russia and Belarus are to engage in a "joint military action" without specifying the location. <vote poll=world202093350439> A veritable who's who of bigots converged in a festival of masturbatory self-congratulation. Checks names, Viktor Orban, Donald Trump, Georgia Meloni, Mateusz Morawiecki, Álvaro Uribe, Jeanine Áñez, and Ted Cruz. Christ, it's a rather depressing get-together. Need to find out what the collective noun for bigots is. "Embarrassment of bigots" sounds right. <vote poll=world202093350438> According to The Sunday Times, Home Secretary Suella Braverman wants to reclassify cannabis from Class B, the same level as ketamine or amphetamines, to Class A which is the same level as heroin and cocaine. <vote poll=world202093350437> Proposals are being brought forward by the G20, to introduce stringent financial regulations to the cryptocurrency sector including being supervised by central banks. <vote poll=world202093350436>   An explosion has struck the strategically important  [https://www.rferl.org/a/blast-russian-bridge-crimea-fighting-eastern-ukraine/32070973.html that connects Crimea to mainland Russia, damaging an essential connection for Russian forces in the southern part of occupied Ukraine. The road portion has collapsed, while the rail part has become impassable.] <vote poll=world202093350435>   The Beehive State’s quirky marriage laws have caught the attention of a number of Chinese LGBT couples, who are getting hitched via webcam. <vote poll=world202093350434> Joe Biden pardons all federal convictions of simple marijuana possession. <vote poll=world202093350433> An appeals court in the District has said that homeopathic products must not be placed in the same place as FDA approved medicines, saying that it confuses customers. <vote poll=world2022100301> The Supreme Court has allowed a lawsuit to continue against the MyPillow Guy for up to $1,300,000,000, for alleged harm from MyPillow Guy's claims about the 2020 election. <vote poll=world202093350432> There are growing concerns that Switzerland's second-largest bank, is close to collapse due to the bank's solvency. <vote poll=world202093350431> Armenia has said it looks to possibly exiting the Russian-led CSTO, due to a lack of support of the recent flare-up in Nagorno-Karabakh. <vote poll=world202093350430> Truss says the government should have "laid the ground better" for the supply-side economics oriented mini-budget that tanked the value of the pound. The presentation was flawed and that's why it happened - but they had a champagne reception with City financiers on the day of the mini budget anyway. We hope you arent a critic of these decisions, because that makes you a "declinist". Which would now include the Cabinet; as a partial U-turn is announced.