RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/January 2023

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January 2023[edit]

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-46United StatesTrans flag.svg Donald Trump announces his plan to ban gender-affirming care and puberty blockers for minors nationwide, punish schools and teachers who raise the issue to students, and refocus education on traditional gender roles as part of his 2024 presidential campaign. He also suggested a federal law ensuring recognition for only two genders.
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-35United StatesBrazilBolsonaro applies for six-month US tourist visa
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21New ZealandGay Pride Flag.svg First openly gay (ex-)All Black comes out on national TV in New Zealand. For those in non-rugby playing nations - the All Blacks are the epitome of traditional male values, and the position of Prop in Rugby Union implies massive body and legs, no neck, and taking all the pressure from the opposing forward pack in a Scrum where the 8 forwards of each side push against each other.
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49GermanyMost of the German population believes that the country should send tanks to Ukraine. The exceptions are those that support AfD and Die Linke.
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32United StatesBrazil Republican congressman George Santos performed as 'Kitara Ravache' in Brazil, say local drag queens. If the rest of the homophobic MAGA Dominionists he caucuses with still spoke to him before, this might be the final straw as they try to turn drag queens into yet another moral panic.
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43United States Satellite TV provider DirecTV has dumped Newsmax from its line-up of news channels, stating low viewing figures for the channel.
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21RussiaGay Pride Flag.svg New (old) scapegoat? Putin targets LGBT in his new crackdown
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-30United States Kevin McCarthy removes Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee. Also, Marjorie Taylor Greene is now on the COVID-19 subcommittee.
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24Sweden Turkey It has been revealed that the Paludan's stunt of burning the Qur'an outside the Turkish embassy to inflame Sweden's candidacy for NATO membership, was paid for by a far-right news website that is close to the Sweden Democrats.
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30Germany Ukraine After weeks of dithering, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has finally agreed to send Ukraine 14 Leopard 2 tanks and allow other nations to ship their German-made Leopard tanks as well.
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18 the World The Doomsday Clock is now 90 seconds to midnight. Largely the result of the Russo-Ukrainian War, North Korean tests, and climate change. Whether this means anything objectively is anyone's guess.
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22United StatesCalifornia. Another day in America: A mass shooting which allegedly targeted Asian Americans has killed at least 11 in Northern California. This is the 38th(!) mass shooting so far in 2023.
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33United StatesRichard Barnett, the Jan. 6 rioter who became famous for putting his feet on Speaker Pelosi's desk and stealing an envelope, is convicted on all eight charges brought against him. He is scheduled for sentencing on May 3.
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6New Zealand Chris Hipkins has been put forward as the new leader of the New Zealand Labour party. He is set to replace Jacinda Ardern as prime minister.
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53United StatesUS District Court orders Donald Trump to pay $937,989.39 to Hillary Clinton over frivolous lawsuits.
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36United StatesThe Treasury Department reports that the US has hit its debt limit, but House Republicans have vowed to block any increase without huge spending cuts. This sets the stage for a fight in Congress, a probable government shutdown, and a potential cataclysmic US default.
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51RussiaEuropean Union Putin tried to blackmail Europe by cutting off Russian gas. But Europe successfully found alternatives and couldn't be blackmailed.
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17New Zealand Jacinda Ardern has announced she will be stepping down as Labour leader and prime minister of New Zealand on the 7th February.
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30Israel Israel's new finance minister: "I'm a fascist homophobe but I won't stone gays"
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19Ukraine Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, other Interior Ministry officials, and multiple civilians have been killed in a helicopter crash in an eastern suburb of Kyiv.
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-10United KingdomScotlandTrans flag.svg UK's Parliament has blocked Scotland's gender recognition bill, which would allow trans people in Scotland to change their legal gender without a medical diagnosis.
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-9Germany That coal protest from earlier? Greta Thunberg was detained by police there, though some people believe her arrest was staged.
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32United StatesNew Mexico. Self-proclaimed "MAGA king", failed Republican candidate, and batshit crazy election denier arrested in New Mexico after multiple shootings targeting Democrats' homes
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9Germany After shutting down most of its nuclear plants, Germany plans to destroy a village for a coal mine. Thousands are gathering to stop it.
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34Poland The number of Poles that go to mass has fallen massively since the pandemic, from 37% in 2019 to just 28% in 2021. This continues the long-term trend of falling mass attendance since the 1980s, when it was 52.7% in 1981.
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37China China confirms that its population numbers have fallen for the first time in 60 years, due to an aging population and lack of children.
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-28United States Wyoming. Republican legislators in Wyoming have introduced a resolution that would ban electric vehicles by 2035. Update: It has died in committee.
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21United StatesArkansas. Sarah Huckabee Sanders bans ‘Latinx’ from use in government documents on first day as Arkansas governor
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41United Kingdom The Conservatives have decided to remove the whip (party affiliation) from MP Andrew Bridgen due to his COVID-19 anti-vax stance, in which compared vaccines to the Holocaust. This is despite getting the vaccine himself.
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34Australia George Pell, the cardinal involved in a child abuse scandal that rocked the Roman Catholic Church in Australia, has died.
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27Peru At least 17 dead in deadliest day of anti-government protests in Peru
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32United States “Diamond” of the conservative duo Diamond and Silk has died. She was 51 years old.
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26United States Neoconservative think tank Heritage Foundation spies on cell phones at migrant aid shelters and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities and traces their movements across the United States
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6Switzerland Flag of Canton of Bern.svg Global heating has meant that snowfall is so low in the jet-set ski resort of Gstaad, they are having to helicopter in snow from elsewhere.
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40 United States After a historic 15 rounds of voting, Trump henchman Kevin McCarthy has become Speaker of the House.
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40 Brazil Supporters of recently-defeated former President Bolsonaro storm Congress and police respond with tear gas.
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44 United StatesUnited Kingdom Degeneracy grows as British and American millennials become less conservative as they age compared to older generations
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22United StatesKansas. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has released the findings of its investigation into Catholic clerical child sexual abuse cases, referring 30 cases involving 14 clergy members to county prosecutors and finding that every diocese in Kansas violated their own policies regarding instances of abuse over decades by deleting records and transferring offenders to new parishes with continued financial support. At least 15 victims of abuse died by suicide since 1960. Unfortunately, prosecution is unlikely since Kansas has not eliminated the statute of limitations for child sex crimes prior to 2013.
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-3United KingdomRishi Sunak seems to go ahead with plans to undermine the right to withdraw labor as a form of protest.
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51United States South Carolina. The Supreme Court of South Carolina has struck down the state's abortion ban, saying it breaks the state's constitutional right to privacy.
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25Europe satellite globe.jpg Ski's off; critical lack of snow in the Alps, record high temperatures across the continent only three days into the month. Slight upside; less energy usage, easing Putin-caused shortages.