RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/November 2019

November 2019
In its latest financial report, Chick-Fil-A has mentioned that it is stopping donations to two same-sex marriage opponents, the Salvation Army and the and it is also donating to the Southern Poverty Law Center. This in turn leading to condemnation from conservative politicians Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee. Police in South Africa arrest members of the National Christian Resistance Movement, claiming they were planning terrorist attacks. NYers jump turnstiles to protest police brutality and a crackdown on fare evasion in the subway which have disproportionally affected people of color and working class folks. A man wearing a hoax explosive device has been shot dead by police after stabbing multiple people, in what has been declared a terrorist incident. In the latest example of anti-abortion activists ignoring medical science, a new bill in Ohio requires physicians treating ectopic pregnancy (a serious, potentially fatal, condition) to attempt to reimplant the embryo into the womb even though this is not medically possible, or face charges of murder. This is after a previous bill that tried to eliminate insurance coverage for abortion but provided exemptions for reimplantation and after doctors said pretty much the same thing about reimplantation. After de-platforming a leadership debate about climate change, and in return the channel put an ice sculpture in its place. Johnson has threatened to review the public service obligations of the channel in question. The French government is planning to change the law on retail sales and discounting outside official sales periods, so in effect make Black Friday illegal in France. (subscription paywall shit) The Daphne Caruana Galizia case, it has been believed that the former prime-ministerial aide Keith Schembri masterminded the businessman Yorgan Fenach to kill Daphne. In which he did this, by paying three hit-men (who are currently in prison) €130 000 to kill the journalist. There have been repeat protests outside the Maltese parliament, demanding the resignation of prime minister Joseph Muscat. Climate change has meant that Greenland’s main airport at Kangerlussuaq, would be unusable within five years as melting permafrost destroys the airport’s runway. Israeli researches have developed a bacterium capable of eating carbon dioxide. Samoan measles epidemic -toll reaches 39 - 29 them pre-school children Two senior ministers Konrad Mizzi & Chris Cardona and a prime-ministerial chief of staff Keith Schembri, have resigned over links between a businessman and the death of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Update: Police have now started questioning Schembri In case you couldn't hate ICE more, here's a reason to. ICE entrapped about 250 students on foreign visas by creating a fake university, 80% have been deported but the remaining 20% are contesting their deportations in court. ACAB. Israeli soldiers injure two nonviolent Palestinian protestors and abduct two Palestinian teens protesting Trump's recognition of the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank territories The Labour Party has revealed a 451-page document that seems to prove that the NHS is 'up for sale' in a trade deal with the United States. This document had previously been released after a Freedom of Information Act request, but was almost entirely redacted. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, previously denied this was the case. Death toll from Samoan measles epidemic increases to 32 (mostly children), but Australian anti-vax "influencer" continues to spout life threatening nonsense about health authorities behaving like Nazis. Godwin's law might apply but this is, literally, killing people. ETA: Another child dies - death toll now 33. Leaked documents show the extent of the Chinese government to suppress the Uyghurs and deflect criticism. Research shows that, even if we meet emissions targets, sea levels rises will continue all the way to the 2300s. A poll by the respected pollster Pew Research found 80% of Americans accept a human role in climate change. It was also found that partisan divide on the issue, was older white male conservatives. A bill passed by the Duma, will require from July 2020 that all new smart gadgets like smartphones to have certain government-approved apps already installed on the device. Newly-released State Department records show that Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had at least two phone conversations shortly before US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was removed from her post. Colombia's capital placed under curfew due to ongoing protests against the country's right-wing populist president Iván Duque. Protesters are demonstrating against Duque's lack of support for the civil war peace treaty, failure to protect human rights workers, and potential plans to cut pension benefits. Impeachment witness Laura Cooper testified that Ukraine knew about the president's hold on their military aid as early as July 25th, far earlier than what the White House claims. Lev Parnas implicates Devin Nunes as pushing for Biden investigations. Bougainville's long awaited independence referendum finally here Solar farms can keep UK's lights on even at night. Eyebrows have been raised after the economy minister Chris Cardona was voluntarily questioned by police, although neither side said why he was questioned. This was only a short while after the arresting and questioning of prominent businessman Yorgen Fenech over the murder case of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. An Ontario court has thrown out a $210 million (US$158 million) lawsuit by Doctor's Associates Inc [Subway] against the public broadcaster CBC, over a TV show that revealed that Subway's chicken products contained only about 50% chicken. As solar energy prices hit records low, the Indian government cancels plans for 14 huge coal-fired power stations An FBI report discloses that Jews were the most targeted victims of religious hate crimes in 2018 Falling interest and #MeToo has meant that the American female underwear company Victoria's Secret has confirmed it is scrapping its famous televised catwalk shows. Australian authorities seek travel records of Fraser Anning in bankruptcy case. If you don't know who Fraser Anning is, he's a former Australian state Senator remarkable solely for his role in making egg boy famous Leading expert on money laundering and University of Miami professor indicted for you know what... Russia opens criminal enquiry after a video emerges of children asking a gay man about his lifestyle and sexuality Measles death toll nearly 5000 in Democratic Republic of Congo Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu has been indicted by the attorney general for bribery and fraud after offering various bribes for favourable coverage in the country’s media. Former First Minister has appeared in court charged with sexual offences against 10 women. Prince Andrew is stepping back from royal duties following his 'car crash' interview with the BBC regarding his links to Jeffrey Epstein. At the New Zealand inquiry into abuse in state and faith based institutions, a catholic apologist tells a survivor her abuser was "healing his sexuality with women". The Austrian house that a notable moustached German was born in, is set to be the town's resident police station. Las Vegas adopts ban on sleeping on the streets with a penalty of a $1000 fine. If a person cannot pay, they will be given a "work crew" to pay it off in another victory for the Prison industrial complex. In a stopped clock moment, FCC chair Ajit Pai has announced a proposal for an easy-to-remember three-digit number for emergency suicide prevention and mental health hotline services, similar to that of other emergency services. A vegan man sues restaurant chain Burger King after discovering that his meat-free Impossible Whopper burger was cooked on the same grill as the regular meat Whopper burgers. In the last five years, raw milk sales have increased nearly five times over in the UK. If it's a day ending in y... another mass shooting, this time at a house party in Fresno. After weeks of protests, the Chilean government agrees to rewrite the constitution written under Pinochet's brutal regime. Bolivian protests: five killed in a rally calling for Morales' return after police opens fire on crowd. UPDATE: The country spirals further into chaos after Sacaba massacre and proclamation of an impunity decree and the threatened detention of MAS-IPSP leadership Bolivian coup comes less than a week after Morales stopped multinational firms' lithium deal(which is a key to green energy) 89 year-old Auschwitz survivor under police protection after receiving 200 death threats. Foreign visitors to the U.S. are warned that although cannabis is legal in many states like Alaska, California and both Washingtons (state and district), it is illegal on a federal level. This means that visiting foreigners can be arrested, detained, and expelled, and lose their visa-waiver status. WTF!? GOP-lead Ohio House passes bill allowing student answers to be scientifically wrong due to religion. This means a question on evolution, could be answered with creationism and the teacher has to mark correct. Roger Stone is found guilty of 1 count each of obstructing an official proceeding and witness tampering, and 5 counts of making false statements to Congress. Shockingly, Trump is not happy, and took to Twitter to cry about the verdict. Cop thrashes teenage amputee to the ground in yet another case of goddamn police brutality. First removed price caps on .org website domains, and then, the non-profit responsible for those domains sold itself to a for-profit private equity firm, Ethos Capital. The Samoan measles epidemic has now claimed 7 lives in the small island nation of about 200,000 people. The Bundestag has voted by a large margin to make the measles vaccination obligatory for all children who attend school, child refugees and childminders. Those who refuse it are liable to a fine of up to €2500. Not surprisingly, while the governing CDU and SPD parties are for this measure, the AfD voted against, while a number of the Greens and the Left abstained. In the "Irony Award of the Year" section, the Venetian legislatural council is flooded for the first time in history immediately after rejecting measures on climate change. [https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/nov/14/ae-waiting-times-in-england-hit-worst-ever-level Accident & Emergency waiting times across England have now hit their worst on record, with 74.5% of patients being treated and then discharged, admitted or transferred within four hours. The target has been 95% since 2004.] Hong Kong in a "technical Recession" amid civil unrest and unrelenting protests, according to finance secretary Paul Chan The most important moments of the first day of Trump's Impeachment inquiry hearing The catastrophic fires currently decimating Australia, which has resulted in peacetime military deployment to aid in fire-fighting, will last for months according to a local fire chief US held record number of migrant children in detention camps in 2019 so far. Many of these detained children, including some as young as three years old, have been sexually abused by the staff. Stephen Miller outed by SPLC for sending e-mails with white supremacist content to Breitbart. A federal court judge in Boston has ruled that suspicionless searches of traveler’s electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops are unconstitutional. The judge states that both ICE and CBP border agents need to have "reasonable suspicion" for a search. The SCOTUS has allowed the families of Sandy Hook Massacre to proceed in filing a lawsuit against Remington Arms. [https://www.npr.org/2019/11/11/778211815/italian-holocaust-survivor-faces-threats-after-calling-for-investigation-into-ha Anti-semitism is dividing Italy again. After receiving threats and being placed under police protection, a prominent Holocaust survivor and Italian senator called for a parliamentary investigation into racism and anti-semitism. The parliament vote was boycotted by all of Italy's right wing parties, and racist incidents seem to be on the rise]. [https://www.npr.org/2019/11/11/778291867/in-bolivia-a-power-vacuum-and-chaos-after-morales-resigns-as-president Evo Morales is heading to Mexico, which has offered him political asylum. Meanwhile, Bolivia is in political chaos with an empty government, suspicious behavior from military leaders, street battles between Morales' supporters and opponents, and no clear way of restoring order]. Bolivian socialist president Evo Morales has resigned after nearly 14 years in power. This comes after weeks of protests over election fraud allegations convinced the Bolivian military to demand he step down. Research shows that tomatoes, peas and other crops can be grown on Mars and the Moon There are allegations that Boris "Sasha" Johnson is personally holding up and suppressing a report that about Russian interference and finance in British politics, and especially with the Conservative party. Emboldened by Bolsonaro, illegal loggers in Amazon kill indigenous leader Paulo Paulino Guajajara Japan 'glasses ban' for women at work sparks backlash. Celebrations in Germany and across Europe mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, an event which has become iconic as symbolizing the defeat of communist tyranny in Europe. The anniversary is also a reminder of the challenges that still face Germany and the world. In a move that will definitely not incite religious tensions in an already tense region, the Indian Supreme Court has awarded Hindus the rights to a site disputed by Muslims, which contained a mosque which was torn down in '92. After Brazil's Supreme Court ruling to end mandatory imprisonment of convicts after first appeal, former President Lula da Silva has been freed from political imprisonment. The UK's best-selling Jewish newspaper The Jewish Chronicle has in an unprecedented move, put a statement on its front-page asking all Gentiles (non-Jews) not to vote Labour under the party's current leader. This is due to his anti-Semitism. Hard-line Hindu nationalist activists with close ties to the BJP are attempting to influence to swing voters in 48 marginal constituencies away from Labour to the Conservatives. Experts have put out a warning that American service veterans are being targeted by various disinformation groups in the run up to the 2020 elections. One expert tallied-up at 32 different nationalities running fake social media accounts aimed at veterans. Senior officials at NOAA and the Commerce Department disciplined Birmingham weather forecasters for issuing an accurate forecast about hurricane Dorian despite their unawareness of the president’s disinformation. News website TheGuardian.com is creating a local New Zealand version of its international page, after setting up its first local bureau in the country. Global warming is affecting evolution - Red deer in the Scottish Highlands are evolving due to global warming - specifically warmer weather is allowing earlier births, which is increasing the prevalence of the gene for earlier births. Another +1 for actual evidence of both! Activists from the local branch of right-wing AfD have slurred the Bavarian city of Nüremberg, after the city choose its first ever "ethnic"  (Christ Child), locally born Indo-German Benigna Munsi. However this backfired, after she received warm support from many, including the locally-born state premier. The Trump administration has formally started to leave the Paris Climate Agreement. Neoliberalism in a nutshell: Private fire crews in California protect the insured, not the public Rumors are swirling that Steve Bannon is interested in purchasing Britain's Daily Telegraph for around $125 million. He hopes to turn the paper and its brand into an alt-right media giant. The Sunday Times has reported that a whistleblower has reported “serious concerns" to the security agencies regarding the security clearance of the prime minister's senior advisor Dominic Cummings. This is due to his time working in Russia between 1994 to 1997. Criminal evidence that could lead to charges against pro-Brexit campaign group Vote Leave has been passed from the Metropolitan Police to the .  Portion of Keystone Pipeline shut down after 380,000-gallon oil leak in North Dakota.  An Indonesian official who helped set up strict adultery laws has been flogged for adultery