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

November 2023[edit]

8

George Santos announces he's going to file a resolution to expel Rep. Jamaal Bowman.

35

Nepal registers the country’s first same-sex marriage, while Greece has finished drafting its same-sex marriage bill.

17

There was a failed coup attempt in Sierra Leone on November 26.

69

Henry Kissinger has died at age 100.

13

UK Minister for Women and Equalities Kemi Badenoch (who is also Business and Trade Secretary) held "secret talks" with conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch within days of becoming minister, and failed to disclose them. A witness compared one of the meetings to a "job interview".

22

The Venezuelan government is trying to annex ⅔ of Guyana.

16

Leaked Pakistani intelligence backs up Canada’s claim of an Indian assassination program.

23

After a House ethics report condemning him, and with another upcoming vote to expel him from US Congress, George Santos calls the head of the Ethics Committee a "pussy", then accuses his colleagues of extramarital affairs, sex with lobbyists, and voting while drunk. The next expulsion vote is expected to succeed.

28

Burlington police make arrest after three young Palestinian-American men are shot. Families and civil rights organizations are calling for the shootings to be investigated as a hate crime.

7

As part of the coalition deal between the National Party, New Zealand First and ACT, planned radical anti-smoking laws will be scrapped to fund tax cuts, including the ban on anyone born after 2009 ever buying tobacco products. However, the government will ban disposable vapes.

26

Putin pardons convicted murderers who ate the flesh of their victims. As for why they were pardoned: they now fight for Putin in Ukraine.

27

Israel/Gaza truce extended by two days.

16

Some details of the Brianna Ghey murder case released. The defendants (though particularly the boy, seemingly) repeatedly insulted the murder victim for being transgender in private texts. Both defendants blame the other for landing the fatal blows during the stabbing. They also considered other targets, but the girl was "obsessed" with Brianna (her own words).

18

MPs this week have been asked to vote on an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill that has been tabled, to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales.

14

The Guardian reports that medics that treat critically ill babies are quitting their jobs owing to “considerable moral distress” caused by the Christian Legal Centre.

17

Israeli police branded "Star of David" onto Palestinian man's face (from August, but still relevant)

21

Biden has sought to lift virtually all restrictions on the categories of weapons and ammunition Israel can take from the U.S., potentially undermining military preparedness and U.S. government oversight.

28

The U.S. government says it has thwarted a plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil, and suspects the Indian government was involved. This is two months after Canada accused India of assassinating a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil.

29

Derek Chauvin, of the George Floyd police brutality case, was stabbed and seriously injured in prison.

20

After three children and a woman were wounded in a knife attack outside a Dublin school, rumors about the ethnicity of the perpetrator in Irish anti-immigrant social media resulted in what The New York Times called "the worst unrest to hit Ireland in decades". Up to 500 people, described by The Washington Post as "a lunatic, hooligan faction driven by a far-right ideology", looted shops, set fire to vehicles, and threw rocks at police. This has resulted in 34 arrests so far.

18

'Israel has the right to genocide': Dubious translation of Sweden’s PM goes viral. Seems to become the third recent viral disinfo campaign targeting Sweden, with these becoming most influential in the Arab world.

34

Ex-Obama staffer, Stuart Seldowitz, who served as deputy director of the US State Department’s Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs, was arrested after harassing multiple Arab New York food vendors, calling for the death of Palestinian children, specifically, telling them they'll get deported back to their Arabic countries (if they even came from them), and asking them if they rape their daughters "like Muhammad".

19

Arab citizens of Israel face intensifying discrimination, including threats and firings after the October 7 attacks. Israel has also enacted a new law that criminalizes "consumption of terrorist materials", which has been broadly interpreted to criminalize merely following people on social media.

31

Florida Judge Reid Scott ruled that there was "reasonable evidence" to conclude that Tesla owner Elon Musk, and other company executives, knew that Tesla autopilot technologies were defective but continued to sell the vehicles anyway. This means a pending lawsuit concerning a fatal 2019 crash in which a Tesla Model 3 drove under the trailer of a a semi-truck can go to trial.

-16

A new Florida bill, HB599, would mandate government employees use "biology"-aligned pronouns and prohibit people from changing their pronouns or honorifics, and establish protections for "deeply held biology-based beliefs".

36

Hamas and Israel agree on a 4-day pause on the conflict to give more chance for hostages to be released.

26

House Ethics Committee publishes a report about George Santos, the House Republican from New York. According to the report, Santos spent campaign money on Botox injections, luxury retail items, and OnlyFans (pornography).

38

Surprising no one, a leader for the Philadelphia chapter of Moms for Liberty turns out to be a convicted child molester.

-16

Far-right 'outsider' candidate Javier Milei wins Argentina's presidential election.

57

U.S. economy outpaces Chinese economy for the first time in 40 years

16

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter dies at 96

48

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declares recognition of the state of Palestine.

21

Israel bombed two U.N.-run schools in Palestine, killing at least 50 people.

20

Deputy director of the Russian Duma asks for the media monitoring agency to clarify that rainbows aren't always a gay pride symbol, because Russian civilians kept reporting the completely heterosexual rainbows to police as "gay propaganda". (Original report in Russian.)

10

Americans now distrust science and scientists more than before. (See the charts here.)

25

The Swedish Tesla worker strikes are spreading among multiple fields in the company. "From tomorrow, cleaners will stop cleaning Tesla showrooms, electricians won’t fix the company’s charging points, and dockworkers will refuse to unload Tesla cargo at all Swedish ports."

19

Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians are on the rise.

16

Israel drops evacuation leaflets in southern Gaza, signaling expansion of invasion.

14

Netanyahu says Gaza needs a new "civilian government", but won't say who.

30

Big day for Twitter: IBM, Lionsgate, Apple, and the European Commission have pulled their advertising. Plus, the White House have now condemned Elon. All this after he publicly engaged in antisemitism.

6

Russia has asked its Supreme Court to label the queer "international public movement" as extremist.

19

A doctor at Gaza's al-Shifa hospital says the IDF have found nothing in their searches. The hospital is also running low on food and water.

20

The Pentagon fails audit for sixth year in a row.

43

The Supreme Court won't allow Florida to enforce its anti-drag law.

14

House of Representatives managed to pass another stopgap funding bill, with about half of Republican representatives dissenting. Not a great sign for the new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, but it averts a government shutdown for a while (some parts until January 19, some until February 2). The Senate and Biden approve of the bill.

21

Paul Pelosi's attacker, David DePape, has been found guilty. Unsurprisingly, his terrible defence that he was protecting children by breaking into the Pelosis' house and assaulting the first person he saw didn't convince the judge.

26

The U.S., despite desperately trying to hide this information from the press, has sent Israel 2,000 Hellfire missiles for Apache attack helicopters, 30mm chain gun ammo, 57,000 155mm shells for artillery guns, 400 120mm mortars, PVS-14 Night Optical Devices, M141 shoulder-fired bunker-busters, 75 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, and 300+ Tamir interceptors (used for their Iron Dome defence system).

18

Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are poised to announce a deal cracking down on fentanyl exports from China to the U.S.

10

SCOTUS has rejected the appeal of a former Illinois prisoner who was kept in solitary confinement for three years.

26

Iran tells Hamas it will not enter the war with Israel.

33

Jesús Ociel Baena, an influential LGBTQ+ figure and the first openly non-binary person to assume a judicial post in Mexico, was found dead from what appeared to be stab wounds after receiving numerous death threats. Thousands marched in Mexico City to demand justice.

11

The Vatican flies a bishop to New Zealand to investigate unauthorised exorcisms. Oh and some more sexual abuse of children too

24

A French court has issued arrest warrants for Bashar al-Assad and two others for their complicity in the 2013 chemical attack war crimes.

19

Denmark may be tasked with inspecting and potentially blocking Russian oil tankers crossing through its waters under new European Union plans, according to reports.

30

The UK’s Supreme Court has ruled that the government’s Rwanda Plan for asylum seekers is unlawful, and breaks the UK’s international obligations for refugees. They have also said even if the UK left the European Convention on Human Rights, it would still be unlawful. Except the Sunak Government does not care about that, and plans to bring in 'emergency legislation' to declare Rwanda 'safe' by ministerial fiat so it can ignore the Supreme Court ruling.

18

Two premature infants die, 37 others under threat, because of a lack of fuel and power at the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, which is currently under siege by the IDF

22

According to reporting humanity's first battle in space took place when Israel shot down Houthi-launched rockets above Earth's atmosphere.

18

Paul Pelosi's attacker released an.... interesting legal defense to say the least. The defense is that DePape definitely attacked Mr. Pelosi as described, but the intention does not meet the federal charges, because, according to the defense, DePape's attack was not motivated in retaliation for the carrying out of Nancy Pelosi's political duties, but to "save children from corrupt and lying elites." Basically the attack was motivated by QAnon bullshit, according to the defense, and not as retaliation for Nancy Pelosi's political duties specifically. Because this defense is about the motivation of the act, and not the act itself, this defense would not be feasible if the prosecution had laid out general assault and attempted kidnapping charges instead of the highly specific charges they did lay out.

22

The newspaper NRC has released a leaked report from the Dutch defence attaché in Tel Aviv, saying the Israeli army "intends to deliberately cause massive destruction to infrastructure and civilian centers" in Gaza.

9

Democrats now open to GOP House Speaker's stopgap funding proposal. His "laddered" proposal sets different funding deadlines for different parts of the government.

20

Trump but a Democrat: The FBI have seized all of New York City mayor Eric Adams' electronic devices amid a corruption investigation.

24

British PM Sunak 'dumps the pilot' in the failing war against 'Woke', firing Suella Braverman from the Home Office, bringing in ex-PM David Cameron as Foreign Secretary (throwing in a peerage gratis) but throws as a sop to the right wing giving Esther McVey the position of 'Minister for Common Sense'.

30

Opposition forces in Myanmar have captured multiple cities in a major offensive against the ruling military junta.

11

According to the Sunday Times, Mark Littlewood of the Institute of Economic Affairs, who was the architect of Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget, has been refused a peerage by the Committee for the House of Lords. The IEA’s charity status has previously been called into question.

15

Fears swell that a volcano in Iceland with a very silly name could erupt.

14

Suella Braverman fearmongered over pro-Palestinian protesters vandalising a memorial on Armistice Day, so a bunch of far-righters showed up on the day and fought with the police.

11

Shell is suing Greenpeace for $2.1 million after protestors boarded an oil vessel of theirs.

6

Elderly retired American lawyer shoots dead two anti-copper-mining protestors blocking a road in Panama.

19

Trump and allies are preparing to use the Insurrection Act to quash protests with military force the first day of his prospective second term in office. They also want to use the Justice Department to prosecute those of Trump's former aides or administration officials who turned on him.

20

Pope fires conservative Texan bishop, a rare move that comes after the Vatican's investigation into bishop Strickland as "doctrinally unorthodox".

32

Australia has agreed to allow Tuvaluan residents the right to resettle in Australia if their nation is displaced by rising sea levels due to climate change.

15

The U.S. dropped bombs on a weapons storage facility in Syria. The facility was apparently being used to aid attacks on bases housing U.S. soldiers in the area.

-10

Law proposed in Florida aims to grant Governor DeSantis the power to remove elected officials who approve Confederate monument removals. Unclear just how legal this would be.

51

Latvia's parliament legalizes gay civil unions.

28

Cracks already showing for House Republicans after two weeks: "I don't think the Lord Jesus himself could manage this group... we're ungovernable", says one GOP congressman from Texas. Keep in mind... to avert a government shutdown, they would need to pass a funding bill by November 17.

31

Netanyahu suspends one of his coalition partners, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu of Ben-Gvir's ultranationalist Jewish Power party, after Eliyahu stated that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza was an option. Eliyahu now claims this was "metaphorical".

12

BBC News states a report that aired on its Spanish-language service failed its editorial standards. The report claimed that the reason the US supports Israel is because "Jews are a powerful minority" with "wealth and influence". And... postgraduate degrees, somewhat strangely.

37

The Roman Catholic Church in a document released jointly by Pope Francis I and Cardinal Victor Manual Fernández has said that trans people can be; baptised, serve as a godparent and a witness in a wedding.

40

Biden announces $16 billion for Amtrak train improvements.

9

A Murfreesboro, Tennessee city ordinance that bans public homosexuality is currently being used to ban books that contain queer themes from libraries. Update: A court order has told city officials that they can't enforce this law.

23

Encrypted messaging app Signal is beta-testing a facility where one can share a username rather than a phone number. This would be useful in areas of covert communications.

20

Israel plans to take "indefinite... overall security responsibility" in Gaza.

16

The House of Representatives has voted to censure Palestinian-American Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, falsely accusing her of calling for a genocide of Israelis.

25

The intelligence agency for the state of Saxony-Anhalt has declared that the local branch of the Alternative für Deutschland, is an extremist organisation.

18

Trump now claims he won all fifty states in the 2020 election. Update: He was referring to the primaries before the election.

28

A British Columbian nurse is being investigated in an employment hearing for her transphobic views. Not surprisingly, she is being supported by a number of extreme conservative media organisations, including; Rebel News, The Daily Wire and The Post Millennial.

25

The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 10,000 as the war has entered its second month. 88 UNRWA workers have been killed, making this the highest UN death toll ever recorded in a single conflict. Israeli ground forces have also reached the coast of Gaza, splitting the region in half. An estimated 300,000 civilians are still trapped in the northern Gaza combat area, as roads to the south are largely rendered impassable.

21

Nearly seven million people have been displaced by conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

25

Trump takes the stand in his New York fraud trial. Perhaps predictably, he denied wrongdoing, clashed with the Judge and called Letitia James a “political hack”.

21

Deutsche Welle reports that Polish authorities are going as far as testing women’s blood and doing a police home search for those who come into hospital with a miscarriage, to check if they take the mifepristone and misoprostol abortion pills.

22

It is reported that the gas industry knew about the dangers of cooking with gas in terms of air pollution as far back as the 1970s, and they looked at big tobacco’s play book to help out in the possible PR disaster.

-16

Wonderful, not! X has reactivated the accounts of Katie Hopkins and Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

20

Gallup, a US-based polling firm, withdraws from China some time after a state-owned paper (Global Times) accused it of being a tool "to discredit China".

22

A new document has been leaked showing the U.K. government's plan to brand anyone "undermining" the U.K. as an extremist.

8

Suella Braverman has proposed a law that would ban the use of tents by homeless people, calling living on the street a "lifestyle choice".

26

MSN replaced its news curators with AI. Microsoft Windows pushes MSN news to desktops by default. Go ahead and guess how well this is going.

32

A local conservative outlet, 1819 News, published crossdressing porn from a town's mayor-plus-pastor along with posts he claims to be trans in (later he said he was only playing a character). The baptist churches association called it "alleged unbiblical behavior". After all this, he killed himself.

25

Mark Meadows’ publisher is suing him for over $1 million over the election lies he told in his book The Chief’s Chief.

32

The people who make all of your clothes in Bangladeshi sweatshops are mass-striking right now, and demanding a near-tripling of their wages.

21

Genocide experts are calling Israel's war in Gaza a "textbook case of genocide"

16

Advocacy for Palestinians has been outright criminalized in the US

15

Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) has introduced a bill that would ban Palestinians from coming into the U.S.

11

You thought surge pricing for flights and hotels was bad? Wait till you face surge-pricing for items you buy online or at the supermarket.

28

Tesla workers from Sweden's IF Metall are on strike after the US-carmaker failed to sign a collective bargaining agreement. Now, the Swedish trade union confederation is threatening to boycott anything Tesla, including repairs and off-loading vehicles for delivery.

27

Biden's unconditional support for Israel, regardless of Israel's conduct, has cost him favor among the youth and Muslim and Arab Americans, who are three constituencies that traditionally strongly support the Democratic Party. This may end up costing Biden in general, especially as Muslim Americans have become an increasingly influential voting bloc over the last several election cycles.

6

Emmanuel Macron backs a ban on using gender neutral language on official state documents. Neoliberals gonna neoliberal.

18

The House has passed a bill that would give Israel $14.3 billion (£11.7 billion/€13.4 billion) in aid. But, because the bill cuts that $14.3 billion off IRS funding, Joe Biden has said he would veto it if it ends up on his desk. (It's a Republican bill, so no it doesn't contain any aid to Ukraine.)

0

The White House has requested for it to be able to conduct arms deals with Israel in complete secrecy.

-22