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

January 2019
5 Israeli soldiers charged with beating handcuffed, blindfolded Palestinian detainees. The has stated it would not use the Obscene Publications Act 1959, over pornography between consenting adults, based it on the notion that it is no longer taboo. A small study into using e-cigarettes as smoking cession products, has reported it is slightly more effective than regular nicotine replacement products to help quit smoking. How the Religious Right gained unparalleled access to Trump Eight dead as the polar vortex continues to pummel the Midwest and the Northeast EU Parliament votes to recognize Guaido as the Venezuelan interim president. Man who worked as top conversion therapist comes out as gay. Investigative journalists have found another route in the ties between American conservatives and the Russians, the home schooling movement through sanctioned oligarch Konstantin Malofeev. Ethiopian Jews to hold mass protest in Tel Aviv against police brutality and racist violence. Russia proposes easing laws on corruption, saying it is unavoidable sometimes. A scholar studying China no longer feels safe in her home country, New Zealand, thanks to a series of incidents of harassment. Being able to read Chinese documents in the original language, her work uncovered, for example, Chinese ambitions in Antarctica, a region of vital interest to Australia and New Zealand. Pakistan's Supreme Court has upheld the acquittal of a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy. Carbon monoxide poisoning kills two residents of public housing in Columbia, South Carolina. All other residents of Allen Benedict Court have been evacuated permanently when fire officials discovered "serious and life-threatening code violations." A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the housing authority. Two reporters from the local CBS affiliate were arrested by housing authority police when they tried to access the building holding publicly released documents. UPDATE: Reporters released, housing authority apologizes. A measles outbreak in Washington state, has meant that the state has declared a State of Emergency, after 36 confirmed cases. It is also causing concern to nearby state of Oregon as the center of the outbreak is in Clark County which next to Portland. The government shutdown cost the US economy $11 billion, $3 billion of which won't be recovered. Police are asking public prosecutors for assistance in the protest from an ultra-nationalist group in Auschwitz during Holocaust Memorial Day. Protesters declared they want to 'free Poland of Jewishness, to tell these Jewish invaders: enough!' Criticism has been made to this year’s Emirati Gender Balance Index awards, which are to celebrate improvements to gender equality in the United Arab Emirates, as all the winners were men. Cuba opens its first new church since the revolution. North Korea threatens citizens with execution for watching South Korean TV. A mining dam has burst in Brazil, leaving dozens dead and hundreds missing. This is the second disaster of its kind in 4 years (by the same mining company, too). The disaster could put pressure on incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro's controversial environmental policies. Canada fires ambassador to China after remarks on Huawei case Arson committed at restaraunt Comet Ping Pong, which had been targeted by the bunk Pizzagate conspiracy theory, though causes for this instance are not clear yet. Venezuela's highest ranking military diplomat breaks with Maduro. Militia members get decades in prison for bomb plot to massacre Muslims. Satellite images show that Saudi Arabia has constructed a ballistic missile factory. Dozens of girls subjected to breast ironing in the UK. Trump agrees to reopen the government without wall funding until February 15. Buchenwald Memorial bans German far-right AfD party from Holocaust commemoration The Greek parliament has voted narrowly by 153 to 146 for the Prespes Agreement, meaning that the 27-year-long disagreement over the name of “Macedonia” has ended. Now, the country which has the capital of Skopje is going to be recognised as North Macedonia by everyone, and will work towards NATO and EU membership. Roger Stone, a political strategist who worked for Donald Trump's Presidential campaign was arrested by the FBI and indicted by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller's Trump-Russia investigation. The White House is reportedly preparing a draft national emergency declaration, with $7 billion in potential border wall funding. Openly gay Brazilian congressman leaving his job and the country amid death threats. After reports of 200 people, around 15% of its workforce have been laid off at BuzzFeed, there has been suggestions that the digital news content media bubble of Vice, HuffPost as well as BuzzFeed is about to burst. The partial shutdown is inflicting severe and possibly unconstitutional delays on the federal court system. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un praises progress towards a second meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. New York passes law allowing abortions at any time if mother's health is at risk. Gum disease bug could play a central role in the development of Alzheimer's. Government restrictions on foreign aid activities in Rakhine impact 'at least 50,000 people' - U.N. Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has been arrested and charged with attempted rape. The Australian city of Adelaide has hit a record temperature of 46.6 °C (115.9°F), the hottest temperature ever recorded in an Australian state capital city. Already emergency power generators have been switched on for the first time. Billionaire maker of vacuum cleaners and leading Brexiteer businessman James Dyson has announced that he is moving his business’ headquarters from Wiltshire, UK to Singapore. Venezuelan President Maduro gives U.S. diplomats 72 hours to leave after U.S. recognizes opposition leader as interim president. Update:The opposition has been recognized by Canada, many Latin American countries, and the EU. The U.S. is considering oil sanctions against Venezuela, a country heavily dependent on oil exports and the U.S. is the leading customer. AfD lawmakers walk out on Holocaust survivor's speech in Bavaria. A new addition to Microsoft Edge web browser called NewsGuard, which aims at stopping disinformation, has blocked the MailOnline website on grounds that it "generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability”.  Venezuala Opposition politician Guiado hosts ceremony swearing himself in as president after refusing to participate in the election.  Trump apparently recognizing him as the president of Venezuela.    The European Union puts individuals from Russia and Syria linked to the poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on British soil on a sanctions list, which includes Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center, believed to be in charge of Syria’s chemical weapons program. Tens of thousands protest in Venezuela against Maduro. Iowa's "fetal heartbeat" abortion restriction has been declared unconstitutional. Despite (or perhaps because of) an increasingly vocal and active anti-vax minority in Poland, a growing majority of Poles believe vaccinations are beneficial and should be compulsory. According to a new poll, 87% believe vaccinations should be compulsory, compared with 80% in 2017. Supreme Court narrowly votes to stay a temporary ban transgender people in the military. However, one injunction blocking the Trump administration's ban remains in place, meaning the military cannot enforce the new policy yet. Egyptian TV host sentenced to a year in prison for interviewing a gay man. Report finds another undisclosed North Korea missile site, says there are 19 more. Venezuela captures rogue officers after uprising at military outpost. Shutdown makes government websites more vulnerable to hackers, experts warn The 26 richest people own as much as the poorest 3.8 billion. Aid volunteers found guilty of dropping off water and food for migrants in protected part of Arizona desert. Syria accuses Israel of rare daylight strike as Israeli Defence Forces downs missile over Golan. Lawsuit claims University of North Carolina admissions process unfairly uses race. Two people have been arrested following a suspected New IRA carbombing. More than 10,000 protest in Belgrade against Serbian president. Huge election fraud revealed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mueller's office disputes BuzzFeed story about Trump directing Cohen's false testimony. Families in Chechnya are being ordered to kill LGBT relatives, with authorities also demanding money for the release of detained ones. White House announces second Trump-Kim summit in February. The leader of Poland’s anti-vax movement Justyna Socha has been successfully convicted for defamation by a court, against the epidemiologist Dr Paweł Grzesiowski for allegedly suggesting he was in colluding with drug companies. One upping other recent "Ten Commandments" laws, Mississippi legislator introduces bill requiring all students and teachers to recite the Ten Commandments every day Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and personal fixer, offered the Liberty University's chief infomation officer $50,000 to rig two online polls for Trump. Zimbabwe cuts internet indefinitely amid violent crackdown. ICE almost deported a U.S.-born Marine veteran, says ACLU. New York becomes the 15th U.S. state to ban "gay conversion therapy" for minors. California was the first state to do this and has been joined by the District of Columbia and several localities. A number of other states are considering a ban. Facebook blocks accounts linked to Russian state-owned Sputnik. The WHO has declared the anti-vaxx movement one of the top threats to global health. Three out of the four government-funded Steiner schools in England have been declared “inadequate” by the schools inspector. Ofsted has listed concerns include; “put pupils at risk of harm”, “physical intervention is used unnecessarily”, safeguarding is “not effective” and high number of exclusions for special needs pupils. The far-right Spanish political party Vox has admitted that it received large amounts of money in the past from the Iranian organisation the, also known as the MEK. The shutdown has meant as many as 80 plus federal government websites like ows2.usdoj.gov and rockettest.nasa.gov are inaccessible, since their website security certificates haven’t been renewed. Intensifying ethnic violence in the Congo killed 900 people in December, UN says. Crackdown on protesters in Zimbabwe results in scores beaten and abducted from their own homes. The bill which decriminalizes abortion for up to fourteen weeks on the Isle of Man has had its Royal Assent. A Canadian man tried to get out of paying in a bankruptcy case by using documents that said assets he holds belong to someone else. However, it was discovered that the documents he was using were forgeries, because the typefaces used in the paperwork were newer than the stated ages of the documents. Theresa May and her government win a 'no-confidence' vote 325 to 306 "El Chapo" paid former Mexican president Pena Nieto a $100 million bribe according to a former associate. In 2012, Nieto ran on a campaign of "reducing corruption" by fighting the national teachers' union. Theresa May's Brexit deal is rejected by Parliament by 432 votes to 202. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has scheduled a confidence vote. Congressional liberals dare President Trump to make good on his promise to cut prescription drug prices by backing their legislative proposal do to just that. "We are taking aim at the global freeloading that forces American consumers to subsidize lower prices in foreign countries through higher prices in our country," said the President before the 2018 midterm elections. Another migrant caravan heads for the US from the Honduras. The European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) is planning a particle accelerator that is four times the circumference of the Large Hadron Collider, currently the biggest of its kind, and ten times more powerful. Trump's Attorney General pick vows to protect the Mueller investigation China Germinates First Seed on Moon Due to the government shutdown, there is no catering at the White House for presidential functions. So for his guests of the winning Clemson University football team, Trump provided McDonald’s and Wendy’s fast-food. At least he was paying for it out of his own pocket! Antarctic ice melt has accelerated by 280% in the last 4 decades. A federal judge blocked Trump's new birth control rules, which would allow employers to decline providing contraception to women if doing so violates their "moral conviction" or "religious beliefs." Reports about the treatment of the former boss of Renault-Nissan Carlos Ghosn by his wife Carole, has shown concerns about the treatment of accusers within Japanese criminal justice system. Such examples include forced confessions and having limited access to lawyers, as well as poor treatment of people in detention including unheated cells, poor diet and limited access to medication. The mayor of Gdańsk Paweł Adamowicz has been murdered at a charity concert by a convicted bank robber angry at the Civic Platform party for his conviction. Canadian Robert Schellenberg sentenced to death in China for drug trafficking. He was initially sentenced to 15 years in prison for carrying 200 kg of illegal drugs but prosecutors argued that was too lenient. National Security Council asked for military options to strike Iran. AfD has voted in its conference to make itself the UKIP of Germany, by supporting “Dexit” (Germany leaving the EU) in its 2019 Euro-election manifesto. Road with wall separating Israelis and Palestinians opens in West Bank. GoFundMe is refunding all donations made to the "Fund the Wall" campaign. Syrian state media says Israeli warplanes fired missiles at a warehouse at Damascus airport. The Supreme Court of the United States announced that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg shows "no evidence" of cancer and is recuperating from surgery. She was appointed in 1993 and has signaled she will serve on the bench for as long as possible. The global retreat of democracy either stopped or paused in 2018, according to a statistical analysis by The Economist. While civil liberties remain under threat, voter participation has gone up. Russia's only space radio telescope not responding, Kremlin says. Government shutdown blocks key services but Trump, not having his priorities set straight, expands drilling in the Arctic regardless. According to the Financial Times, Ivanka Trump is being rumoured to be nominated by President Trump as the next head of the World Bank, replacing Jim Yong Kim. This is despite being banned from New York State for running charitable foundations. It is now the longest shutdown in United States history. Also, congress went home for the weekend, so it's going until next week, at the earliest that the shutdown ends. The necessary two thirds of the parliament of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have voted to constitutionally change the country's name to North Macedonia. Now they are waiting for a vote from the Greek parliament to accept the deal of the Prespes Agreement. Several gay men and women detained in Chechnya. Saudi woman who fled her family has been granted asylum in Canada. Parliament has attacked the government for delaying plans to force overseas territories to make their companies registers public. This is because government has retaliated against possible court action or succession by the said territories, noted among which are the British Virgin Islands. 31,000 Los Angeles teachers prepare to strike China broadcasts images from the Far Side of the Moon An inside look at China's Muslim-targeted concentration camps Oceans are warming even faster than previously thought. Venezuelan President Maduro sworn in for second term. The FDA is halting all food testing and inspections due to the government shutdown. E-coli and salmonella anyone? The proposed steel slats for Trump's wall would be useless, as one could easily break them with a domestic saw according to tests. Rising milk yields, falling domestic consumption, changing tastes and falling exports has meant that the American cheese mountain surplus is at its biggest size yet. Outcry as winner of DRC presidential election is declared a "perpetrator of voter fraud" by the runner-up "Fireball" over New Zealand was satellite, not missile, Russia confirms "It's the Last Resort": Federal workers turn to GoFundMe in a desperate attempt to secure funding as government shutdown lumbers on with no seeming end in sight Trump walks out on shutdown negotiations, reportedly calling them a "waste of time." Iran sanctioned by the EU for ordering the killings of two opposition figures. Trump tells FEMA not to send more money to California for forest fires. China to let thousands of ethnic Kazakhs leave Xinjiang as China begins to feel mounting pressure against the mass internment of ethnic Muslims in the Western Regions "It's a Nightmare": US Citizens at risk as government shutdown slashes funding for the EPA. Vietnam says Facebook violated its new cybersecurity law by allowing users to post content critical of the government. Manafort suspected of sharing polling data with associate linked to Russian intelligence. The government's 'no-deal' Brexit preparations have been 'thwarted' by a House of Commons vote. Florida’s Amendment 4, which removes the ban on ex-felons from voting, has been enacted. The Italian government has pushed through an emergency decree designed to help the troubled with state guarantees, despite pre-election promises of not bailing out troubled banks. Due to the shutdown of the federal government innumerable TSA employees are calling in sick, leading to delays in screening and travelers feeling less safe overall. US downgrades EU in diplomatic importance with regards to relations between the US and the EU. Russian lawyer charged with obstruction of justice in Trump Tower meeting. Trump pleads to US populace for his wall on his first prime time address from the Oval Office. US carbon emissions spiked in 2018. AfD politician badly beaten up in "politically-motivated attack". Only six immigrants in terrorism database stopped by CBP at southern border in first half of 2018. Following seven weeks of protests and riots, the French government announce plans to crack down on unsanctioned protests and punish those who participate in them. Jim Yong Kim will voluntarily resign as president of the World Bank effective 1st February. As traditionally the President of the United States chooses the next head of the World, this is causing some concerns. Sweden’s central bank is warning people not to fall for scams that are based on the cryptocurrency, the “e-krona”. The Riksbank says at the moment is just a proof of concept. Enormous "Pulse of Death" during Holocaust was far worse than feared. Some attendants of the annual Indian Science Congress dismiss the physics of Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein while promoting Hindu mythology. Some even claim that stem cell research was started by the ancient Hindus. Pre-Aztec temple dedicated to the "Flayed Lord" Xipe Totec recently uncovered in the Mexican state of Puebla, dated to between 900 and 1150 CE. 30 killed in Afghan gold mine collapse Bolton states that US won't withdraw from Syria until ISIS defeated and Kurdish freedom is secured Coup attempt in Gabon fails. Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, an American Muslim boys and men's club, organizes to help clean trash out of National Parks that furloughed National Parks Service staff can't do. Saudi woman says she is stranded at Bangkok's main airport after fleeing her family and having her passport seized by a Saudi official. UPDATE: Thailand vows not to deport Rahaf al-Qunun, the aforementioned Saudi woman Sultan Muhammad V abdicates as Malaysia's king in historic first. President Donald Trump in "no hurry" to replace his acting Cabinet secretaries; claims they give him "more flexibility." "Yellow vests" storm French ministry as protests turn violent. USS Cole bomber died in Yemen airstrike. Devastating wildfires force California's largest utility company to plan huge sale of gas assets As China starts to feel the cold bite of Trump's trade war, a "chill" spreads around the world Another mass shooting as California reels from a massacre that has left three dead and multiple people injured The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is now recognised as an independent church of the Orthodox Churches of Constantinople, as the head of Orthodox Church Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has signed the "Tomos of Autocephaly". Complexity on the case of ex-USMC Paul Whelan case in Russia, after the embassies of Canada, the UK and Ireland were called as it was discovered he is a citizen of all those countries. Brazil's Bolsonaro begins firing left-wing and centrist public servants. Egypt demands CBS should not air interview with President Sisi. Appeals court sides with Trump on transgender military ban. Massive data hack targets German politicians. The United States stopped reporting to the UN on potential human rights violations overseas, thereby setting a dangerous precedent for other countries as well. Further embarrassing revelations about, the ferry company without any ferries that has been given a government contract to somehow provide ferry services in the event of a no deal Brexit. The terms and conditions on its website were copypasted from those of a take-away pizza restaurant and one of its company directors used to run shipping companies that were compulsorily liquidated. Psychological or emotional abuse to be made legal offense in Ireland. The commission investigating the Parkland shooting recommends teachers be allowed to carry guns. Nancy Pelosi has been voted as the new House speaker, and the first bill to be put through Congress HR.1, would be over federal voter reform include easiness in registering, which includes nationwide same-day voter registration. North Korea's top diplomat in Italy has become the latest high-profile defector. China Lands Probe on the ‘Dark Side’ of the Moon A former Alabama police chief is now facing charges of raping a disabled relative, after having been recently dismissed for drugs charges. The US and Israel have left UNESCO after accusing it of anti-Israel bias. Protests break out in India after two women enter temple. Xi Jinping says Taiwan "must and will be" reunited with China. Counterterrorism police are investigating a suspected Islamist attack in Manchester, after a man stabbed three people at a train station. He is, however, currently detained under the Mental Health Act rather than the Terrorism Act. Far-right Jair Bolsonaro sworn in as Brazil's president. New Horizons performs the most distant space encounter in history, 4 billion miles from Earth. Bill announced in Congress to end shutdown of federal government, without the funding needed for Trump's beloved wall Amazon warehouse employees push to unionize, shouting that they "are not robots!" Kim Jong Un wants a new summit with Trump, but also issues a transparent "warning" to the US, stating that he'll amp up nuclear arms development if the US doesn't end economic sanctions against Pyongyang "immediately" The household-based TV licence which pays for public broadcasting has been scrapped from today in Sweden. It has been replaced by an income-based public service fee managed by the tax agency. Danish bank has been named by The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project [https://www.occrp.org/en/poy/2018/ as the 2018 Actor of the Year in Organized Crime and Corruption. That was as a result of using its Estonian branch as a funnel for corrupt money to various tax havens.] Polish far-right politician has been appointed as the country’s secretary of state in the Ministry of Digitization, leading to concerns about censorship in the Polish internet sphere Abortion services are now available under the 36th amendment, including support by the HSE (Irish public health provider). 2018 was the worst year for US stocks since the Great Recession.