RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/May 2024

May 2024

25

Iran uses Swedish gangs to target Israeli and Jewish interests in Sweden. Israel's Mossad first claimed and Sweden's Säpo then confirmed gangs were used as proxies. Säpo names Iran one of the big 3 threat actors Sweden faces alongside Russia and China, noting it previously mainly targeted Iranian dissidents. The Foxtrot gang were apparently the ones to place a grenade at the Israeli embassy in January.

57

A first step in finding a cure for diabetes: One person with diabetes has been completely cured and no longer needs daily insulin.

24

Some US drugmakers will now significantly cap prices for asthma inhalers, which can be quite expensive compared to costs in other countries.

35

A little over a year after his wife's conviction of similar, doomsday author Chad Daybell has been found guilty of the murder of his first wife and his second wife's two children. The couple held extreme fundamentalist Mormon beliefs as well as radical End Times doomsday views, and justified the murders with their shared belief that the victims were "zombies" and "dark spirits".

148

Jury reaches verdict for Trump's hush money case in New York. Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts.

-40

Families of Uvalde School Shooting victims are suing the publisher of the Call of Duty video game franchise, alleging the games "knowingly exposed the Shooter to the weapon, conditioned him to see it as the solution to his problems, and trained him how to use it."

21

Labour MP Jess Phillips has revealed in an open letter to the prime minister that former PM Liz Truss, has planned to be interviewed by Carl Benjamin on the far-right platform Lotus Eaters.

10

London's freesheet, the Evening Standard has announced to reduce costs it will go from daily to weekly and cut a number of staff.

14

The management board of the Royal Mail, the postal operator for the UK, has agreed to sell the business to Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský for £5 billion.

31

An Israeli airstrike targets a refugee camp in Rafah, killing dozens of Palestinians. Benjamin Netanyahu claims it was a mistake.

21

A shady donor's US$273 million donation to a Florida university is canceled and causes a big scandal, a year after he announced, then canceled a US$93 million donation to a South Carolina university. Before that, he promised another big donation to a college in Alabama that never came to pass.

21

New Hampshire has passed a bill revoking many previously-established discrimination protections for transgender people.

22

The Tech Baron Seeking to Purge San Francisco of “Blues”: If Balaji Srinivasan is any guide, then the Silicon Valley plutocrats are definitely not OK.

23

‘A catastrophe’: Greenpeace blocks planting of ‘lifesaving’ Golden Rice: Thousands of children could die after court backs campaign group over GM crop in Philippines, scientists warn

13

Orbán holds up Ukraine arms funding from frozen Russian assets

14

Film-maker Morgan Spurlock, who created the film Super Size Me has died aged 53 from complications of cancer.

19

Governor of Louisiana signs a law that restricts two medications used to induce abortions as "controlled and dangerous substances". (See: RU-486.)

34

Google's new AI-driven search results sometimes spread conspiracy theories, encourage people to eat rocks, or suggest glue as a pizza ingredient. Apparently this is because it will occasionally prioritize sources as trustworthy as The Onion or random Reddit shitposters named "fucksmith". Google insists the feature has undergone "extensive testing" despite this but will continue to improve.

27

Kabosu, the Shiba Inu dog that was behind all those Doge memes has died in her home in Sakura, Japan, aged 18.

17

A row has erupted in Italy, after a teacher in Treviso allowed two Muslim students to be exempted from learning Dante's Divine Comedy. The reason is there is a section in the poem that places the Prophet Muhammed in Hell.

14

Baltic concerns over Russian plan to move sea borders. Russia wants to unilaterally change Baltic sea borders, but deleted its draft text about it. Apparently Russia plans to draw a map of the proposal and release a new statement later. This may be a provocation aimed at NATO, which the other countries concerned are members of.

21

The British government admits that flights of asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing are unlikely to happen due to the election.

26

Inquiry finds the UK's NHS knowingly infected tens of thousands of people with contaminated blood from the 1970s–1990s. This killed about 3,000 people and sickened more, then multiple governments covered it up.

23

Maximilian Krah is banned from campaigning for the AfD due to his 'not all members of the SS were bad people' comments. during the European elections.

34

Ireland, Norway and Spain have announced they are recognising the State of Palestine.

30

New census figures reveal that for the first time, over half of Scots, 51.1% are irreligious. Biggest change are those over-65s, with those saying they are irreligious have more then doubled.

36

The Church of Scotland has said in its annual General Assembly that transgender people are made in the image of God, worthy of our respect and love and part of the Church.

27

New 9/11 Evidence Points to Deep Saudi Complicity: Two decades of U.S. policy appear to be rooted in a mistaken understanding of what happened that day.

19

WikiLeaks founder Assange wins right to appeal against US extradition.

28

Peru protesters slam new insurance law that deems transgender people mentally ill

53

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar.

35

A helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi has crashed amidst massive fog in Iran. Raisi's status is currently unknown. Update: Raisi has been found dead.

17

In an excellent example of Foucault's boomerang, an Israeli company is hawking "self-launching" drones to US police departments.

14

Lee Hsien Loong has stepped down as Prime Minister of Singapore after nearly 20 years in the position. Lawrence Wong will succeed him.

19

LGBT+ think tank ILGA Europe releases its Rainbow Map for 2024. Top five countries are; Malta, Iceland, Belgium, Spain & Denmark. Bottom five are; Russia, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Armenia & Belarus. Ireland came 15th and the UK came 16th out of 49 countries.

24

Israeli protesters arrested after attacking Gaza aid trucks

19

Swedish government coalition ‘undermined’ by far-right troll farm scandal. After ally Sweden Democrats revealed last week to have been doing it for years, going after even their coalition partners online.

21

Pentagon intelligence officer has quit in protest of continued unconditional support of the Israeli war effort

19

Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Robert Fico, is in a life threatening condition following an assassination attempt.

21

Section 28 part deux? Education secretary Gillian Keegan has said there will be new sex education guidelines on what teachers can say to primary school pupils. Notably mentioned is guidance in relation to trans and non-binary people.

18

Mt. Ibu erupts in Indonesia, spewing ash and dark clouds into atmosphere.

59

UK toddler has hearing restored in world first gene therapy trial

37

A MAGA Floridian has discovered, despite living in the U.S. for over 60 years, he is an illegal immigrant when he tried to collect his Social Security.

28

The former prime minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, has been sentenced to one year in prison for attempting to stop the police from investigating former staff members at a university.

41

The mayor of Poland's second city Kraków has said he would march with others in the city's equality march [gay pride] next week, the first time the mayor has marched in the city’s equality march.

33

In exchange for Speaker Johnson’s help in passing foreign aid for Ukraine, Democrats overwhelmingly vote against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s abrupt motion to vacate his position.

26

Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke defects to Labour Party. This is notable because Ms Elphicke was one of the most right-wing MPs in the Commons, making her 'crossing the floor' equivalent to a member of the US Freedom Caucus joining the Democratic Party (so cue the WTF?! comments aimed towards Starmer).

27

The Taliban announces that they’ll reinstate public flogging and death by stoning as punishments for women found guilty of adultery.

15

Vaxzevria, the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has been voluntarily withdrawn from sale, because the manufacturers believe there are better vaccines available to cope with the current strains.

10

John Swinney will become the next First Minister of Scotland after securing the SNP leadership.

28

In a move described by the Foreign Press Association in Israel as "a dark day for democracy", Netanyahu's government has shut down Al Jazeera in Israel, and raided their Jerusalem press office.

14

UKGov proposes new law to mandate separate male/female toilets in new buildings excepting private homes. No, it's really about dealing with 'the complaints of elderly and disabled people' and not at all about doubling-down on the 'bathroom wars' shite in the vain hope to shore up a Conservative Party which just got whipped in local elections and is cruising into a huge electoral defeat within six months.

27

Javier Milei said in an interview for the BBC, that he accepts that the Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands are under British management. A complete reversal of Argentine policy, which says that the islands are under the sovereignty of Argentina.

13

Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar and his wife have been charged with bribery, among other crimes.

15

Ignoring the recent 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that recognises bans on gender-affirming care are unconstitutional, South Carolina has banned gender-affirming care for minors, among other abhorrent rules.

24

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that state bans on gender-affirming care are unconstitutional.

18

Hamas negotiators arrive in Cairo for truce talks. William Burns, the chief of the CIA, is also present.

29

Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom sees worst loss in decades as European exports collapse

24

Two far-right news websites, Human Events and The Post Millennial, hacked with a message saying Andy Ngo came out as trans and leaking the personal information of the contributors. Many government-affiliated emails were signed up.

29

Arizona repeals an 1864 law that bans abortion. The state's Supreme Court previously ruled that the law should have been enforced.

7

Oklahoma passes a series of laws. Among other things they ban ranked-choice voting, ban homeless camps on public property, tax-incentivize people to be poll workers, and make the soybean an official state symbol.

20

A second Boeing whistleblower has died in a short time span.

22

Thousands have shown up to protest as the Georgian parliament has advanced the "foreign influence" bill that'd basically allow Georgia to ban and suppress non-governmental organisations and news sources.

31

US accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine

28

The MP for Ipswich Tom Hunt, who has voted to introduce voter ID laws for British elections, is scrambling around for help after he has discovered he has no such ID on him. Updated: Boris Johnson, whose government demanded voter ID, has also revealed that he tried to vote without the appropriate voter ID.