RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/November 2020

November 2020[edit]

16

The British government has ruled out a full public inquiry into the 1989 murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, who was shot dead in front of his family by Loyalist paramilitaries in the middle of the Troubles.

48

Nearly 250 million workers (equivalent to 1 out of every 30 people in the entire world) start history's largest labor strike

19

Top Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated in apparent terrorist attack. Iran naturally suspects Israel.

33

The Austrian village of Fucking is going to change its name to Fugging from January 2021, because locals were getting fed up of its sign being frequently stolen.

42

Leaked documents reveal that Amazon has hired the Pinkertons, the infamous union-busting mercenaries, to monitor European workers’ labour union organising efforts

41

Scotland becomes the first country in the world where everyone who needs them can get free tampons and sanitary pads.

26

Department of Justice lawyer claims that the US government can kill its own citizens without review when state secrets are involved

19

Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong pleads guilty to illegal assembly. If convicted, he could up to five years in jail

16

In a case of the online media world eating itself, Verizon Media has agreed to sell the Huffington Post to rival Buzzfeed.

38

After Inauguration Day, Trump will no longer have the legal protection of the presidency. Here are the many legal problems he will face.

36

Protestors in Guatemala break into and burn part of the Congress building as retaliation for a controversial budget that would cut education and health that was approved in secret while most of the country was distracted with hurricanes and the pandemic

10

Three state republicans have introduced a resolution to impeach Governor Gretchen Whitmer on the charges of corrupt conduct

22

Emmanuel Macron issues a "republican values" ultimatum to Muslim leaders with the goal of saving the children from islamism while anti-French protests are growing throughout the Muslim world

2

The BBC has decided to only play a censored version, without homophobic and misogynistic slurs, of the 1987 Christmas song "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues on BBC Radio 1, its pop music station aimed at teenagers. However, on BBC Radio 2, an adult contemporary music station, only the original uncensored version will be played. Both versions will be heard on BBC Radio 6 Music, the station for serious musos, with the DJs getting to choose which one they play.

14

After assessing the damage to the Arecibo Observatory, the National Science Foundation has decided to decommission the 305-meter radio telescope.

17

Trump has placed a neo-nazi in charge of Holocaust memorials. This particular neo-nazi was also a speechwriter who had been sacked back in 2018 for meeting with white nationalists

9

Ethnic Armenians return to Nagorno-Karabakh after cease-fire

13

A study finds that artificially cooling the Earth through solar geoengineering would not be effective of stopping climate change if greenhouse gas emissions were left to continue to climb to high levels

28

President Alberto Fernández has presented a bill to Congress which would legalise abortion for the first 14 weeks in Argentina, saying it protects women's health.

24

Jeremy Corbyn has been readmitted into the Labour Party UPDATE: Corbyn has not been restored to the Parliamentary Labour Party. He will not sit as a Labour Party MP in the Commons

39

Norway bans hate speech ľagainst bisexual and trans people

16

The Trump administration is rushing to auction off rights to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before President-elect Biden can block it.

28

Jim Watkins, the owner of 8chan/8kun gets seemingly outed by his own son, Ron Watkins, as having posted as the "Q" from QAnon on the far-right messaging platform Parler. Ron Watkins later claimed that he never owned a Parler account, but the account had its identity verified, making this unlikely.

13

Poland and Hungary block the European Union's recovery budget due to a clause that forces members to abide by the rule of law and as a reaction to criticism for these two countries violating democratic standards

24

Wall Street Journal reports that the social media platform Parler is actually owned by the alt-right Mercer family who also owns Cambridge Analytica.

33

Federal judge has ruled that acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf was appointed unlawfully and thus his suspension of DACA migrant protections is invalid.

25

Suspects in the Ahmaud Arbery's murder have been denied bail because they attempted to use their influence in law enforcement to influence and obstruct the investigation

26

Crows found to possess human-like intelligence

17

No. 10's resident Mekon and Brain of Brexit, Dominic Cummings has finally left the building.

30

Mike Pompeo wants to use his State Department to label leading human rights groups like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Oxfam as antisemitic in retaliation for their criticism of the Israeli government.

36

Infighting amongst Proud Boys as some members seek to do away with the pretense they are anything other than a neo-nazi organization

31

Reporters in Florida have discovered local Republicans in Miami-Dade county had purposefully put a candidate up with similar names to a local Democrat State Senator to confuse the voters to split the vote. Plus, the funding of this operation was completely dark due to election funding rules.

18

Fighting has broken out between the Ethiopian military and insurgents loyal to Tigray's nationalist government.

31

Evo Morales returns to Bolivia one year after being ousted by a US-backed coup

27

US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a case in which GOP states are again asking the Court to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act.

25

A new Vatican report on former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked last year amid numerous allegations of sexual misconduct spanning decades, shows that Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI were aware of the accusations against him and did nothing.

23

Bill Barr authorizes the DOJ to investigate voting irregularities. The head of the Election Crimes Branch promptly resigns, citing his prior DOJ recognition for "Exceptional Integrity and Professionalism"!

26

The chief of Arkansas' Marshall Police Department has resigned after a series of Parler posts calling for physical attacks and even murders of Democrats, though he insists it was a hoax.

18

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has been fired, and is to be replaced by National Counterterrorism Center director Christopher Miller.

39

In worrying sign of increasing radicalization, French police questioned four 10-year-olds who voiced support for the recent beheading of a schoolteacher and who said they would kill their own teacher if he insulted Muhammad.

24

Scotland becomes the first part of the UK in which smacking children is made a criminal offense.

27

Charities are identifying a growing number of “newly hungry”, a cohort of people previously in good jobs and enjoying comfortable middle-class incomes who have been forced to use food banks and claim welfare benefits for the first time during the pandemic.

35

~~Dictator~~ Vladimir Putin plans to step down next year amidst fears of him developing Parkinson's disease, according to a report. By sheer coincidence, the Russian Parliament is discussing whether to grant lifeline immunity from prosecution for ex-presidents

58

While the world was distracted by the US elections, Israel carried out the largest bulldozing operation against Palestinian homes in the last decade. They apparently hoped to avoid international criticism with their timing.

43

US Supreme Court now hearing a case on whether cities can forbid private foster care agencies from discriminating against LGBT couples.

41