RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/July 2025

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July 2025[edit]

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17United StatesThe idiocy of DOGE continues; reported 50% budget cuts and 2k layoffs for NASA. So much for 'beating the Chinese to Mars' then.
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14United Statesthe District of Columbia. The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History has removed all references to Donald Trump from its exhibit on U.S. presidents who were impeached, but has indicated that those references will return in a future exhibition that would reference all impeachments.
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16United Statesthe District of Columbia. The White House Communications Director, Steven Cheung, is enraged over online criticism of Sydney Sweeney's ad for American Eagle Outfitters, describing it as "cancel culture run amok" and remarking that "this warped, moronic, and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024." The slogan used in the ad, "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans", has been criticized for its perceived homonymous reference to eugenics and white supremacy.
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9United StatesGeorgia (U.S. State). Trump scores a paper victory; Coca-Cola announces new cane sugar variant for US. Except Coca-Cola *already* has this product in the US. There is no suggestion that Coca-Cola 'Classic' will stop using HFCS. Or that other Coca-Cola lines (such as Fanta and Sprite) will cease using it either.
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12United StatesCalifornia. A California judge has extended temporary protection status for 60,000 Asian and Central American migrants after that status was revoked by the Trump administration.
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23United StatesTexas. The Texas State Legislature has announced a new redistricting plan which primarily targets the state's five largest cities, all of which are Democratic strongholds.
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17United StatesRhode Island. Brown University reached an agreement with the Trump administration, which restored its federal funding for the 2025-26 school year.
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31CanadaPalestineCanadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced that his country will recognize a Palestinian state in the fall.
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14United StatesDonald Trump's defense attorney Emil Bove, who has been criticized for his role in the corruption case against Eric Adams and for attempting to investigate those who prosecuted those involved in the January 6 insurrection, was confirmed to the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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20United StatesPennsylvania. His name is Jesus. He’s a carpenter. ICE arrested him.
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24Saint LuciaGay Pride Flag.svg St. Lucia's Supreme Court strikes down laws banning same-sex relations
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13United KingdomKeir Starmer says the UK will officially recognize the State of Palestine in September, unless Israel abides by a ceasefire and commits to a two-state solution.
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18United KingdomNigel Farage has said Reform UK would repeal the Online Safety Act that makes the UK a "borderline dystopian state". This led technology secretary Peter Kyle to say Farge is on the side of "extreme pornographers" and child abusers. Farage is demanding an apology.
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21Colombia Right-wing war criminal and former president Álvaro Uribe convicted of bribery and witness tampering charges
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16ThailandCambodiaAfter days of clashes along their disputed border, Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an "immediate and unconditional ceasefire".
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19United StatesMassachusetts. Tom Lehrer, the acclaimed musical satirist of the Cold War era, dies aged 97.
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23AustriaNATO The Austrian Foreign minister has said in an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt, that she is questioning the country's decades old status of military neutrality and NATO membership due to the changing geopolitical situation, saying it no longer guarantees the country's stability.
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27United StatesGeorge Santos is now in prison.
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22Palestine Gaza’s descent into mass starvation. According to the Financial Times, one in three Gazans are going several days without food.
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17Czechia Czechia has said it will end hard coal mining next year 2026, leaving Poland the sole hard coal mining nation in the EU.
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17ThailandCambodia Thailand launches airstrike on Cambodia as border clash escalates
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24FrancePalestineFrance is to officially recognize the State of Palestine.
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40United States South Park's return satirizes Trump for suing a shit ton of people, and shows him in bed with Satan (à la Saddam Hussein), who asks Trump about the "Epstein list". Trump's settled lawsuit with Paramount (which publishes South Park), and Paramount's cancellation of Stephen Colbert are mentioned. The White House is not amused.
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24United StatesFlorida. Professional wresting star Hulk Hogan, who spoke at President Trump's Madison Square Garden rally last year, has died of cardiac arrest in Clearwater, Florida, at the age of 71.
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27United States The Wall Street Journal has reported that attorney general Pam Bondi informed Donald Trump that his name appeared in the Epstein files numerous times back in May.
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25FranceUnited StatesDelaware. Candace Owens is sued by French First Lady Brigitte Macron in Delaware because of Owens' constant claims that Madame Macron is secretly trans.
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26Germany Satirist Sebastian Hotz, who was charged with approval of offenses because of online comments he made about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in July 2024, has been acquitted.
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26Ukraine Protesters have been gathering on the streets of Kyiv after the Ukrainian government passed a law that removes the independence of the anti-corruption bureau and the anti-corruption prosecutor's office. Update: The government has backed off, and launched a new bill to reinstall the independence after pressure from the Europeans.
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21Azerbaijan Azerbaijan has arrested and charged two of its citizens for being members of the Wagner Group.
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22United States A spokesperson for Barack Obama responds to Trump's allegations that Obama invented the "hoax" of Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election and should be arrested for treason. The statement begins, "Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction."
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19United KingdomNigel Farage says that if Reform UK comes to power, it will spend £10.5 billion hiring new police officers to ensure a "higher and physically tougher standard of police officer on our streets." Five new prisons will be built to help create 30,000 prison places. Foreign prisoners will be sent home and British prisoners might be sent overseas too.
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21United StatesIn a desperate bid to distract from the self-inflicted Epstein Files fiasco, Trump has released the FBI's files on MLK's assassination. This is despite his family's strong objections.
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27United StatesWashington. Judge rules against Washington state law requiring priests to report child abuse, after the law was challenged by Catholic bishops and the Trump administration. They argued it violated freedom of religion to require priests to report statements heard in sacred confession booths.
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29Canada A prominent OpenAI investor is suffering from ChatGPT-induced psychosis.
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18Taiwan Air raid drills take place across Taiwan in preparation for a war with China that will hopefully never happen.
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16SloveniaNATO Slovenia's parliament has voted to cancel a proposed referendum on NATO membership. The referendum was part of a game of chicken between parties over higher defence spending.
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29United StatesIncriminating evidence connecting Trump to Epstein was leaked to the Wall Street Journal just hours after Trump fired the SDNY prosecutor of the Epstein case Trump subsequently threatened to sue the WSJ.
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24United KingdomEngland Goats in the news! Researchers had hoped that movement and behavior-tracking ear tags would help improve the welfare of dairy goats. However, the unco-operative animals appear to keep resetting the ear tags by headbutting each other. "I'm surprised that the goats haven't eaten them," one researcher said.
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22United KingdomThe voting age will be lowered from 18 to 16 for the next UK General Election.
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22United StatesAfter days of speculation about bruises on his hand, the White House has confirmed that Donald Trump (who has touted himself as being, "the healthiest president that's ever lived"), is suffering from a chronic vein condition.
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26United States Stephen Colbert has announced that Paramount is scrapping its late night chat show altogether on CBS from May 2026. The network cited financial reasons for the cancellation. However, there are suggestions the reasons for it being cancelled are political, as it only received an Emmy nomination two days beforehand and Colbert called out the network for paying a $16 million “bribe” to Trump.
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34Japan The rising far-right populist Sanseitō party is having its first major scandal, following newspaper allegations that the party is linked to the Kremlin.
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33Israel Only 24 hours after the ultra-Orthodox group the United Torah Judaism quit Netanyahu government, the main ultra-Orthodox Shas party has quit the coalition as well. This leaves the Netanyahu government in a minority government in the Knesset, which could led to possible vote of no-confidence and collapse of the government.
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16United KingdomLGBTQ+ rainbow flag Quasar "Progress" variant.svg TERF Kathleen Stock has won a court injunction to stop the local police force from participating in pride and using the progress flag in Newcastle, claiming that it breaches the police's neutrality.
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24United Kingdom An anti-dairy ad from a vegan charity that shows a human mother having her baby taken away from her has been banned for being "irresponsible, distressing and likely to cause widespread offence."
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25Israel One of the smaller parties in the Netanyahu government, the ultra-Orthodox group the United Torah Judaism has quit the collation over the demand that Haredim must be conscripted into the IDF. There is now suggestions that the main ultra-Orthodox party Shas could quit as well over this issue, which could collapse the government.
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17France As a cost cutting measure, prime minister François Bayrou proposes to cut two public holidays from the French calendar, reducing them from eleven to nine, next year. They are Easter Monday and May 8th [Victory in Europe Day].
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17AzerbaijanRussiaArmenia A breakdown in relations between Azerbaijan and Russia, especially over a land bridge in the Caucasus connecting the two parts of the country, has caused a surprise warming in relations between Azerbaijan and its old foe Armenia.
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13United StatesPastor John MacArthur dead at 86: 'Grace To You' announces passing of "beloved preacher".
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28IranIsraelUnited StatesSenior Iranian clerics have issued a fatwa calling for the assassination of Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump. More than US$40 million has allegedly been raised as a reward for anyone who kills Trump.
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38United StatesCalifornia. 57-year-old farm worker Jaime Alanis becomes the first person to die as the result of an ICE raid.
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24United StatesBorder Czar Tom Homan says ICE have the right to briefly detain people based on their physical appearance.
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29United StatesTexas. Donald Trump calls a CBS reporter who asked him if late warnings about the Texas floods contributed to a loss of lives a "very evil person".
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43United StatesTrump's Epstein memo debacle is tearing the MAGA movement apart. Update: Trump decides the Epstein files are now a Democrat hoax, and defends Pam Bondi against Bongino and the MAGA base. At a TPUSA conference, the attendees side with Bongino.
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22IsraelPalestineUnited StatesIllegal Israeli settlers have killed an American citizen in the occupied West Bank.
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20United StatesOklahoma. An Oklahoma City TV station weather radar has been damaged by militia movement freaks believing it to be a tool to control the weather. The group responsible has warned other attacks are incoming.
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19Canada Canadian RCMP charge a pair of active Armed Forces members with terrorism amid an alleged plot to form an anti-government militia, occurring days after the Armed Forces announce an investigation of members being involved in an extremist Facebook group.
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27United StatesBisexual Pride Flag.png After it removed references to trans people from it in February, the US government is now removing references to bisexual people from the Stonewall National Monument website.
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17United States The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance voted to enact stricter English language requirements for commercial vehicle drivers in the US. This was after an executive order was signed by Donald Trump to require all truck drivers to be able to speak English with “proficiency” or be placed out-of-service.
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24United KingdomTrans flag.svg A gender critical trainee detective and former journalist who took the Metropolitan Police to an employment tribunal over a pro trans rights speech that was delivered during a trans rights event, has her case dismissed.
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35European Union For the first time ever, solar energy was the biggest supplier of electricity in the EU in the month of June.
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24Vatican CityPope Leo XIV interrupts his vacation to say a prayer for the Texas flood victims and to urge action on tackling climate change. "We have to pray for the conversion of many people … who still do not see the urgency of caring for our common home," he said.
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20United StatesCanada US politicians write a letter to Canada asking them to stop being so engulfed in flames, as they don't like the smoke very much.
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27IrelandUnited Kingdom An anti-extremist think tank has reported that a number of Irish extreme-right and anti-immigration groups, are linking up with Ulster loyalists such as the UVF and British neo-Nazi networks.
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33United States The National Education Association, which has millions of members, cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League.
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26the WorldAfghanistan The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Taliban leaders Hibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani.
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11United KingdomEnglandWales To reduce the backlog of cases in criminal courts, a former Lord Justice has suggested removing the right to jury trials and using a magistrate system for minor offences.
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22United KingdomUkraine Three men from south London have been found guilty of a Wagner-linked arson attack, involving setting fire to aid to Ukraine.
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10United States Trump's FBI says Jeffrey Epstein had no "client list", and that he killed himself.
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18IranAfghanistan ~450,000 Afghan refugees in Iran abruptly deported back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Further deportations could impact as many as 4 million Afghans in Iran.
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23Peru Archaeologists unveil 3,500-year-old city in Peru
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21IranIsraelTrans flag.svg Israel's June strikes against Iran hit the infamous Evin Prison, where many dissidents against the Iranian state are housed. Though hated officials such as the prison's prosecutor Ali Ghanaatkar were killed, many in the Iranian opposition denounced Israel's disregard for the life of dissident inmates. The picture is still emerging, but probably over 100 people died, if not many more. The prison apparently had a wing that held transgender people, which was struck badly and The New York Times reports about 100 of them are presumed dead. A statement to the Times by human rights lawyer Reza Shafakhah indicates the Iranian state tends to treat transness as criminal (despite claims elsewhere they were protected by a 1987 fatwa).
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20United States Medical associations sue the Trump administration's HHS for anti-vaccine policies. "Plaintiffs include the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians, American Public Health Association, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Massachusetts Public Health Association, Massachusetts Public Health Alliance, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine."
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18United StatesTexas. Death toll from flooding in Texas surpasses 100.
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20United States U.S. annual measles cases are higher than they've been in over thirty years.
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17Germany Birds of a feather flock together. The left-populist Bündis Sahra Wagenknecht has said it's open to talks with the far right-populist AfD.
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26United KingdomEnglandGay Pride Flag.svg At London's annual Pride parade, LGBTQ+ artists decried the UK Supreme Court's April ruling on the definition of a woman and there were shouts of, "Trans rights now!" Proceedings were also held up by pro-Palestine protesters.
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12United StatesTexas. Georgia (U.S. State). There have been deadly floods in Texas, which MAGA congressional hopeful Kandiss Taylor has called "fake" and which have probably prompted Marjorie Taylor Greene to tout the idea of making it illegal for "them" to control the weather anymore.
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18United States Elon Musk says he formed a new political party called the "America Party". This follows his recent disagreement with Trump about government spending levels.
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18United KingdomEngland Protesters arrested for holding signs that said "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action." Palestine Action is a group the British government recently proscribed as a terrorist organization for vandalizing military equipment. Five United Nations special rapporteurs "urged the United Kingdom not to ban the 'direct action' group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000."
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18UkraineLaosRussiaUkrainian intelligence has said that Laos has unofficially joined Russia in supporting the frontline in the Kursk region. Laos would be the second country joining the DPRK in supporting Russia.
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24Australia A bill has been presented to the Victorian state parliament to make its local indigenous voice, the First People's Assembly a permanent fixture. This is after a year ago Australia voted no to creating a constitutional indigenous council, the Voice.
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19United KingdomEnglandTrans flag.svg Reform UK-run Kent County Council "emboldens anti-trans rhetoric and contributes to a culture where marginalized people feel unsafe, unwelcome, and silenced" by banning trans-related books from the children's sections of its 104 public libraries.
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13RussiaAfghanistan Russia has become the first country to formally recognise the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.
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20United StatesDonald Trump casually uses a "blatant and vile antisemitic slur" at an Iowa rally.
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26United Kingdom New socialist party splits from the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. The party is led by left-wing MPs Zarah Sultana (suspended from Labour) and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was expelled from the party. Sultana states that the Starmer government is an "an active participant in genocide" in Gaza, failed to tackle poverty and welfare issues, and had mistreated disabled people.
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21United Statesthe World The Trump administration officially shuttered the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on July 1st. A study in The Lancet estimated these cuts to foreign aid will cause 14 million deaths, if the cuts persist to 2030.
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21United States Climate change assessments scrubbed from U.S. government websites.
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14United States Congress passes Trump's budget bill. There are many elements, but some major points include that this increases the national debt by trillions, narrows Medicaid eligibility (essentially a Medicaid cut), makes permanent the tax cuts from 2017, and massively funds immigration enforcement.
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39AustraliaUnited StatesKanye West, once a frequent visitor to Australia and married to an Australian, has been barred from entering the country because of his new "Heil Hitler" song.
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41United KingdomTrans flag.svg The Lemkin Institute has issued a Red Flag Alert over the ongoing systemic erasure of trans and intersex rights in the UK.