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

March 2017
US Advertisers boycott Google because their brands were placed with extremist content South Korea’s recently impeached president Park Geun-hye is the first leader since the nation’s transition to democracy to be sent to jail. A team of researchers plan to do a head transplant. Mike Flynn offers to testify in exchange for immunity. SpaceX successfully reused a rocket to launch a satellite. SpaceX is betting that this kind of recycling will lower its costs and revolutionize space flight. Venezuela's Maduro decried as "dictator" by opposition after the Supreme Court took over the functions of Congress. Trump wants to take down the Tea Party. After over a year of outrage, embarrassment, and economic consequences, North Carolina repeals its transgender bathroom bill. However, the ACLU claims it is a "fake repeal" and vows to keep fighting it. As China prepares to impose a domestic ban on the ivory trade, a new report has found that the price of raw ivory there is plummeting. Brexit: Article 50 has been triggered, negotiations will last at least 2 years. The EU is demanding €60bn from Britain, says it will only discuss trade after agreeing exit deal but Britain wants the opposite, 3 million EU citizens are worried about their future status in Britain and Britain worries about its 1 million citizens living in the EU, and more. (update: full text of Theresa May's letter to European Council president Donald Tusk) The US House votes to end internet privacy regulations. Next up on the official agenda of the current head of the FCC — axing our net neutrality. Fathom his vision. Cyclone Debbie hits Australia's northeast. The Insurance Council of Australia declared Cyclone Debbie a catastrophe, but said in a statement it was too early to estimate the cost of damage. U.S., Britain, France, others skip nuclear weapons ban treaty talks. (despite calls from scientists, the situation sounds familiar) Controversial jewelry billboard sparks backlash. The jeweler released a public apology. Now that the Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has failed, at least for now, Bernie Sanders introduces a single-payer healthcare bill in the US Senate. Most exceptionally preserved fossil bird discovered to date helps show how bird wings evolved. (scientific article with illustrations or PDF if the first link doesn't work) California air regulators voted unanimously to keep the state's tough vehicle emissions standards through 2025.

Bannon tells Trump to keep a shitlist. The American Health Care Act (aka Trumpcare or Ryancare) has been pulled. Germany's cabinet has backed a bill to clear men handed sentences for homosexuality after World War Two under a Nazi-era law. Of the 50,000 convicted, only 5,000 are thought to be eligible for compensation as most have since died. In spite of church attendance declines, a network of theocratically inclined Christians is gaining a frightening amount of momentum and power. Onionland is shrinking Terror attack near British parliament, news in progress (expect updates). So far, 4 dead including suspect. A recent study by North Carolina State University researchers finds that explicitly teaching critical thinking skills in a history course reduces belief in pseudoscience. Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of State, said he "didn't want this job" and that he only agreed to take it because his wife told him to. In Siberia, bulging bumps in the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas are believed to be caused by thawing permafrost releasing methane. Scientists believe that underground gas bubbles "can harm transport and infrastructure", and that craters "were created by explosions of methane gas unlocked by warming temperatures in the far north of Russia". US bans electronic devices on flights for airlines from eight majority-Muslim countries, in spite of the fact that screening at the airport is the same for all airlines. UK will follow suit. Possible related reading: CEOs of Delta, United and American hope Trump will block Arab Competition. Free market, anyone? [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/upshot/fewer-americans-would-be-insured-with-gop-plan-than-with-simple-repeal.html Repeal and replace? It might as well just be repeal. Under the GOP healthcare plan, even fewer Americans will be covered compared to simply repealing Affordable Care Act.] David Rockefeller has passed away as of March 20th. Donald Trump's approval ratings drop to 37% less than three months into his presidency. Hungary accepts new immigrant: Nick Griffin, y'know, the former BNPer. Florida man tries to burn store run by Indian-Americans in US, says they are ‘Arabs’. Sheriff Clarke [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/david-clarke-trump-milwaukee-mayor_us_58cc9ae5e4b00705db4fc53f? insults] Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett for getting beaten with a pipe, back in 2009, when he intervened between the pipe wielding man threatening a woman and her 1 year old grandson. For the first time in New Zealand, a river has been given the legal status of a person. According to a government official: "it's no stranger than family trusts, or companies or incorporated societies". Russian elite invested nearly $100 million in Trump buildings. A Fox News poll reveals that Bernie Sanders, Planned Parenthood, and Obama's Affordable Care Act are the most popular politician or political item among the American public at the moment, outperforming the incumbent President. DNA samples reveal that Aboriginals have been in Australia for about 50,000 years already. US makes formal apology to Britain after White House accuses GCHQ of wiretapping Trump Tower. Trump's budget proposal involves cuts across the board in science and health agencies. Vietnam urges firms to stop YouTube and Facebook ads in an attempt to fight political dissidents. There is no scientific evidence of a link between women's clothing and back pain, despite recent claims by the British Chiropractic Association. Cyclists use GPS to draw a Goat The Guardian: The Obama era so-called "Countering Violent Extremism" program (which name Trump wants to change to "Countering Extremist Islam") has in practice always targeted Muslims. The web recently turned 28. To celebrate the event, its creator Tim Berners-Lee targets fake news. (his letter "Three challenges for the web" with multiple translations; the Web Foundation's strategy for digital equality) Pro-life, pro-family, conservative, Christian, married, Trump supporting, birther congressman caught with gay teenage hooker. According to the United Nations human rights chief, the conflict in Syria is the “worst man-made disaster the world has seen since World War II”.

Climate scientists rebuke Scott Pruitt, incumbent head of the EPA, for his recent statements denying the reality of anthropogenic global warming and climate change. Measles outbreak kills 17 unvaccinated children in Romania In Australia, brewing company Coopers under fire for Bible Society marriage equality video. (everything but kangaroos: religion, politics, alcohol, gay rights, advertising, internet video, social media) Scientists now know exactly how lead got into Flint’s water Widower murders naturopath who told his cancer-stricken wife 'chemotherapy is for losers'. US officially has "couple of hundred" boots on the ground in Syria. According to a new study from Indiana University, increasing minimum wage would reduce teen pregnancies. In a demonstration of how out of touch the elite of society are, board member of Tesco claims White men are an endangered species in board rooms, because 25% of Tesco's board members are female (and 100% of the board is white). He later tried to backtrack with "haha it's a joke" In the town of Cuntis, Spain, a Catholic priest has been told off for riding on a carnival float dressed as Hugh Hefner and performing simulated sex with two men dressed as bunny girls. Park Geun-hye, daughter of brutal but efficient dictator Park Chung-Hee, has been removed from the South Korean presidency Nike launches hijab for female Muslim athletes, misses chance to name it Nikeab. Trump appoints gay man Ambassador to NATO As Allah wills it, the Caliph has abandoned the battlefield and is on the run Neanderthals were vegan stoners. Medicine with a side of mysticism: Top hospitals promote unproven therapies. Study finds no link between long-term playing of violent video games and changes in empathetic neural responses. Trees' ability to store carbon in doubt after groundbreaking Australian study. Telecoms operator Asiacell to offer free access to Wikipedia in Iraq. (press release from Wikimedia Foundation) South Sudan will now charge $10,000 for an aid worker permit, despite the current famine and the promise of "unimpeded access" to humanitarian aid organizations. Australian State of the Environment report warns climate change impacts could be irreversible. (official portal, downloadable reports) As if Ben Carson being promoted secretary of Housing and Urban Development wasn't bad enough, the newly elected secretary of Housing makes his debut by claiming that slaves were immigrants coming here "in pursuit of prosperity and happiness." Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull attacks Pauline Hanson's views on vaccination which experts and others also qualified as "dangerous and ignorant" and "hocus pocus pixieland critiques". In a world first, a teenager with sickle cell disease (the first genetic disorder ever discovered; thought cronic and permanent) achieved complete remission after an experimental gene therapy. Mass grave of babies and children found at Tuam care home in Ireland. A United Nations independent expert is calling for additional oversight of traditional healers who use body parts in witchcraft rituals and so-called medicines. (maybe linked to this case and its outcome) Milo was taken down by a 16-year-old girl. Sex wearable is coming, claims to track performance and detect STI. NASA releases third edition of software catalog, granting the public free access to technologies for earthly applications. European Parliament votes to end visa-free travel for Americans after the US refuses to permit visa-free travel for citizens of five EU-member countries including Poland and Romania. US has boots on the ground in Yemen, reports say 2 transgender women were killed in New Orleans in 48 hours Muslim teen found hanged in woods near Seattle; family seeks answers China, where "Internet is fully open", has released a cyber policy paper and aims to reach a "fair and reasonable global cyberspace governance system". (Full Text: International Strategy of Cooperation on Cyberspace) War crimes were committed by all parties in battle for Aleppo. Sweden is to reintroduce military conscription next year due to difficulties filling the ranks on a voluntary basis. Around 200,000 phone users in Ukraine's rebel-controlled eastern city of Donetsk were cut off from the rest of the country after armed men took over the offices and equipment of the main fixed-line telecoms company. Study: Global warming means slower snowmelt. That's bad for places that depend on snowfall for its water because plants would use the slower-melting snow before flowing into rivers and reservoirs and it may have an impact on the annual spring runoff. State: Drilling health risk to residents low Goat head found in cemetery US approves 3 types of genetically engineered potatoes Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change restricting greenhouse gas emissions. Nicaraguan Evangelicals get old school Catholic, set people on fire to remove demons. 4.3 billion year old Canadian microfossils are discovered; they're being called "the oldest evidence of life" A new study suggests that online psychological therapy is highly effective against depression.