RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/September 2021

September 2021

33

Research by MIT has shown that many of the largest Facebook pages, including the largest targeting American Christians and blacks, are run by Russian troll farms.

38

YouTube to now ban all anti-vax misinformation

53

R. Kelly found guilty of sex trafficking

34

Over three-quarters of Sammarinese have voted yes in a referendum to legalise abortion in the microstate. The proposal would allow no-fault abortion for up to 12 weeks.

54

Hopp Schwiiz! Switzerland has voted by nearly two to one (64% to 36%) and in ALL 26 cantons to legalize same-sex marriage. Update: The Federal Council has said the first marriages could happen by July next year.

17

The Magic Circle elects its first woman president. 28-year-old Megan Swann, also the society's youngest ever president, uses her magic act to draw people's attention to environmental issues and what they can do about them.

15

Administrative judge rules that a Native American tribe should be allowed to resume whaling as promised by treaty.

30

To prevent monetary speculation China has outlawed cryptocurrency transactions, effectively outlawing Bitcoin.

42

Kent Hovind sentenced to 30 days' imprisonment, for domestic abuse.

17

Brexit is causing problems with the supply of CO2, a major chemical used in the food industry. This is especially worrying for the Scots as it is a major ingredient of the country's other national drink, Irn-Bru.

25

Rwanda genocide hero, Paul Rusesabagina, is found guilty on trumped-up terrorism-related charges.

24

The European Court of Justice has ordered Poland to pay a daily fine of €500 000 ($586 000, £429 000) for as long as it fails to comply with an order to cease operations at a coal mine near the borders of Germany and Czechia. A Polish deputy minister, however, says that the EU "won't get a single cent" from Warsaw.

22

An English doctor is sentenced to 14 1/2 years in jail after nearly killing his partner in an attempted exorcism.

11

Senate Republicans say they will vote to allow a debt default, leaving Democrats scrambling to avert economic collapse

16

The Taliban government has turned the former headquarters of the Afghan women's ministry into the new seat of its morality police, the "Ministries of Prayer and Guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice". The old ministry's female employees have been unceremoniously fired and told to remain home.

16

The US is planning a massive operation to deport roughly 12,000 Haitian migrants back to their home country, operating under a pandemic-related March 2020 executive order to expel all migrants without giving them the opportunity to seek asylum.

18

U.S. government admits that it killed ten civilians and no terrorists during an August 29 Kabul drone strike that was initially hailed as "righteous".

26

The world's largest tree, the General Sherman, has been wrapped in fire-resistant blankets, as a wildfire rages through Sequoia National Park.

23

Bell v. Tavistock, a decision that banned people under 16 from using puberty blockers, has been successfully appealed.

14

Johnson's latest dead cat while Britain burns, reverse metrication. Global Britain, yeah right!

25

Months after being convicted of murdering George Floyd, former police officer Derek Chauvin will return to court on civil rights charges for a 2017 case where he allegedly beat a 14 year-old black boy with a flashlight and held him down by the throat.

14

One of the most noted computer boffins of the British microcomputer era, Sir Clive Sinclair has died aged 81 to a long illness.

38

Far-right hosting provider Epik gets hacked by Anonymous. The hackers released all of the company's domain registrations, WHOIS records, DNS settings, GoDaddy logins, and pretty much every internal detail related to the operation of the company. The only element deliberately omitted is credit card information.

17

An all-white school board in York, Pennsylvania, unanimously bans several anti-racist children's books, including a book about Rosa Parks, Malala Yousafzai's autobiography, and a Sesame Street town hall on racism. Update: Ban rescinded after parental backlash.

28

As four of the six living US Presidents attend memorial services commemorating the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Trump spends the day commentating on a boxing match.

14

Nordstream 2 is now completed.

14

Growing worries that China's largest property company Evergrande Group might default or have a huge government bailout, due to the company's massive debts of $300 billion.

38

The Mexican Supreme Court has had its own Roe v. Wade moment, by ruling that it is unconstitutional to punish abortion as a crime. (Statement from the Court)

24

The Taliban unveils the new government of Afghanistan, featuring a Prime Minister who's on a UN blacklist and an Interior Minister who's wanted by the FBI.

31

"Last year, three cryptocurrency enthusiasts bought a cruise ship. They named it the Satoshi, and dreamed of starting a floating libertarian utopia. It didn’t work out." A heartwarming tale of seasteading and libertarian ineptitude.

13

The taliban claims the Panjshir resistance is defeated as the Taliban seizes the provincial capital and chases the militias off to the mountains

26

Military coup in Guinea, with the president arrested and the national assembly dissolved

32

Hosting provider GoDaddy stops providing services to anti-abortion group Right to Life. The group had been hosting a "whistleblowing" site to assist people in reporting people who broke the Texan anti-abortion law. The site was subsequently put online with the services of Epik (the former hoster of 8chan and the Daily Stormer, both of which are now hosted by a company ran by Epiks CTO).

20

Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister of Japan, will step down later this month. Despite being in office less than a year, his approval ratings have tanked due to Japan's large Covid outbreak and slow vaccination program.

19

An ISIS-inspired terrorist is shot dead by police after stabbing 6 people in an Auckland supermarket.

13

This is no laughing matter, but Home Secretary Priti Patel is planning to restrict the sale of nitrous oxide [laughing gas] due its usage as legal high.

18

What is regarded as the biggest data leak in the UK, a leak involving names and map coordinates of 110 000 legal gun owners who used a gun trading website has been revealed. It is believed that it has connections with anti-hunting animal rights activists.

33

Irish population reaches five million for first time since 1851 census

26

Texas bans abortion after 6 weeks. Note that many people may not even know they are pregnant at 6 weeks. The law also allows anyone to bring a civil suit against someone who has provides or assists an abortion, i.e., the stalkers who sit outside of Planned Parenthood and go out of their way to dox any girl walking in the door (e.g., get their license plate number and use that to harass them) now have the ability to sue the women abortion facilitators, and they will. Even more disturbingly, it's unclear if the legal threat applies to helping women who go to another state to get an abortion.

25

The Brexit hits keep coming, as the NHS tells GPs and hospitals to reduce the number of blood tests performed, due to a shortage of sample vials. Oh, and pub chain Wetherspoons, owned by pro-Brexit Tim Martin, is running out of beer.