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

September 2024[edit]

54

Israel is about to launch a ground invasion on Lebanon. Update: The invasion has commenced.

21

In the first six months of Javier Milei's presidency, the Argentinian poverty rate has jumped from 42% to 53% according to the country's statistics agency.

31

UK becomes the first major economy to stop burning coal for electricity, closing its last power plant

-15

Russia does not appreciate anti-natalism, and would now like to make it a criminal offense. Putin needs meat for the meat grinder!

52

Israel's attacks on Lebanon have already displaced 140,000 kids as Netanyahu vows to continue the carpet bombing.

53

Hezbollah confirms that an Israeli airstrike in Beirut has killed its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.

25

The far right is using AI to sell Hitler to a new generation: Videos of the Nazi leader speaking in English are reaching millions online. Experts fear they are fueling a surge of antisemitism.

21

P Diddy has been indicted for racketeering and sex trafficking.

27

Lawsuits filed against Baton Rouge cops for torturing detainees in torture warehouse dubbed the "Brave Cave."

37

For this week's "no shit" award: More trans teens have attempted suicide after states passed transphobic laws, a new study finds. Specifically, rates of suicide attempts from transgender and gender nonconforming teenagers increased by as much as 72%.

-5

It has been revealed in the Wall Street Journal that Russian money to the sum of $300,000 was used to support an American anti-LGBT organization Family Watch International in its activities in Africa, including a conference in Uganda.

30

A Haitian nonprofit files "longshot" charges against JD Vance and Donald Trump over their bullshit allegations that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in the city of Springfield, Ohio.

31

Alex Jones fucked around, and now he's found out as he's been ordered to liquidate Infowars to pay off settlement to Sandy Hook massacre families.

16

Alabama is set to execute second person with nitrogen gas, after the utter shitshow that was the first one.

57

Morocco court to try IDF soldier for war crimes in Gaza.

25

DINO NYC mayor Eric Adams indicted on federal charges (Archive)

22

The US is sending more troops to the Middle East despite an insistence from Biden that he is "working on de-escalation."

23

The DOJ is suing Visa for monopolizing the debit card market.

9

The Spectator magazine which is now owned by main shareholder of GB News Paul Marshall, has headhunted former minister and journalist Michael Gove as editor.

25

The French colony of New Caledonia is in crisis. French police cracked down on pro-independence indigenous groups after protests turned violent over a bill that would have granted voting rights to residents who have settled in the last decade, thereby diluting native votes. 13 people have been killed and 3,000 arrested, and protest leaders were deported to prisons in mainland France.

55

Thailand legalizes same-sex marriage.

26

Despite pleas from the public, prosecutors and even the victim's family to spare him, Marcellus Williams was executed for a crime he probably did not commit.

43

To the surprise of nobody, Sec. Antony Blinken rejected 2 reports that concluded Israel was blocking US aid to Gaza - accepting the reports would have required the US to stop delivering weapons to Israel.

23

One MAGA extremist is sending threatening messages to people perceived as political opponents of Donald Trump that are carefully worded in such a way as to avoid arrest.

-10

Top economist reportedly missing in mainland China after making private comments criticizing Xi Jinping due to the country's economic slowdown. According to the Wall Street Journal's sources, he was jailed and removed from his positions.

13

Florida state government pressuring school districts to teach abstinence in sex education, and to avoid educating students about sexual activity, contraceptives, anatomy, or abuse.

15

In a surreal twist of irony, the prosecuting attorney in charge of the second Trump assassination attempt is Haitian-American.

48

Israel has carried out the vast majority of cross-border attacks in their conflict with Hezbollah since October 7th.

49

Tlaib enters the names of 710 Palestinian babies murdered by the Israeli government into the Congressional record.

14

Federal regulators are accusing the country's "three largest pharmacy benefit managers" of illegally driving up the price of insulin.

22

Instead of raising wages, McDonald's is using prison labor instead.

27

California sues ExxonMobil for lying about plastics being recyclable

51

Israel has bombed targets across southern Lebanon, killing 274 people, including women and children, and wounding over 1,000.

20

Leftist leader Anura Dissanayake wins Sri Lankan presidential election.

56

Israeli troops have raided Al Jazeera's press office in the West Bank, seizing equipment and literally welding the office's doors shut to keep it closed down. Ramallah, the city in which this happened, should legally be under full Palestinian political and security control.

9

A poll by the PCPSR finds most Gazans oppose October 7 attack

46

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has signed an executive order banning conversion therapy on minors.

57

Cards Against Humanity LLC, the company behind the popular card game, sues SpaceX due to the illegal takeover and development of a strip of US-Mexico border land to store materials and equipment. Cards Against Humanity LLC purchased the land in 2017 to intentionally impede former president Trump's plans for a border wall.

27

An investigation by the Associated Press and PBS found that governments in the EU as well as the USA and Australia ignored evidence, for decades, that adoption agencies in South Korea were kidnapping and committing fraud to supply babies for adoption. At the peak in the 1970s and '80s, South Korea was sending out hundreds of babies per month, and Western nations pressured South Korea to keep the practice going when the Korean government was tempted to put an end to it. The Korean adoptee diaspora is the largest in the world, at 200,000.

-22

Parliament in Georgia (the independent country) passes harsh restrictions on LGBT rights. This appears to be part of Georgia's ruling party moving closer to Russia and taking inspiration from Putin (this being evocative of Putin's so-called "gay propaganda" ban). Just a day after the restrictions were passed, a trans woman was found murdered in Georgia.

64

Israel has killed dozens and wounded thousands in Lebanon by somehow causing pagers and walkie-talkies held by Hezbollah militants to explode. 2 children were among the fatalities. Israel's defense minister said the country is "opening a new phase in the war".

40

California passes laws limiting use of AI, including by adding protections for actors against use of their likeness without permission.

60

Israel is exploiting African asylum seekers for dangerous military service in Gaza, promising permanent residency in exchange for service.

62

Another person self-immolates in protest of continued American complicity in the Gaza genocide.

27

Teenage grooming victim takes her own life after being spied on by MI5 and charged with terrorism by British police.

23

44 Senate Republicans voted to block advancement of a bill that would have established a nationwide right to IVF treatments. The bill needed 60 votes to proceed.

7

The number of new businesses founded in China this year has declined 99% from 2018 due to an economic slowdown, poorly-conceived policies from the government, and Xi Jinping's ongoing crackdown on the private sector.

1

Things are getting worse and worse in Cuba. Many Habaneros (Havana residents) are suffering water shortages due to a faulty water system. Crime is increasing which is making locals feel unsafe. On top of that there are reports coming out that emigration is running so high, the country has already lost 18% of the population between 2022 and 2023.

38

Plans to create one of the longest interconnectors in the world between Morocco and the UK, bringing over cheap renewable electricity from the Maghreb to Western Europe has just hit a typical big British stumbling block of NIMBYism over the wires carrying the power.

34

The results of the 2024 Ig Nobel Prize are in. Among the winners are a Japanese research team that discovered that mammals can breathe through their anuses, two researchers who discovered that real plants can sometimes imitate the shape of nearby fake plants, and a European research team that discovered that the chances of flipping a coin aren't 50/50.

28

Austrian woman is found guilty of fatally infecting her neighbor with COVID-19.

62

American protester shot dead by IDF in occupied West Bank.

63

The true death toll for the Gaza genocide, as of September 2024, could be as high as 335,500.

-30

Four Russia-backed Black Hammer "activists" convicted for interfering in a St. Petersburg, Florida election.

59

Israel is lobbying United States Congress to pressure South Africa to drop its genocide case.

42

US and British fighter jets blow up girls' school in Yemen, killing two girls and leaving seven more injured.

13

Bomb threats have been reported being made against multiple buildings in Springfield, Ohio, including City Hall.

-31

Iran turns to Hells Angels and other criminal gangs to target critics: Iran has cultivated ties with criminal networks in the West to carry out a recent wave of violent plots in the United States and Europe.

20

Inflammatory hoaxes being spread (including by Trump at the presidential debate) about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are causing the Haitian families there to feel ostracized and to fear for their safety.

14

The IDF is investigating disinformation that was planted in the London-based Jewish Chronicle, on a story that Hamas' leader Yahya Sinwar planned to flee to Iran with some of the Israeli hostages.

-36

Ministry of Defense official, Alexander Ivanov, claims that Pokémon GO's development team Niantic has been using their game to spy on them. Perhaps Mr. Ivanov has been watching RT too much.

26

Mexico's Congress passes controversial judicial reform that will require judges to stand for election.

31

Alberto Fujimori, Peru's former dictator who was guilty of corruption, murders, and human rights abuses, has died at age 86. According to his eldest daughter, Fujimori had been planning to run for president in 2026. Lucky miss.

58

X Corp. says Twitter should not have to pay fines for failing to adequately respond to questions about their moderation of child sexual abuse content from the Australian government. Their reasoning given in court for why not to pay the fines is "Twitter has ceased to exist."

25

The Court of Justice of European Union has ordered Apple to pay the tax authorities in Ireland 13 billion euro (US$14.3 billion) in unpaid corporate taxes, after the court ruled its special tax arrangements with the Republic was illegal state aid.

24

The Green Party has done a complete 180 on its opposition to High Speed 2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, and voted to fully support high-speed rail.

-35

Emmanuel Macron appoints former EU right-wing bureaucrat and Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as France's new Prime Minister.

-25

Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González flees to Madrid, and seeks political asylum in Spain.

22

LGB Alliance in desperate attempt to institute trans-erasure by demanding that government publications remove references to T in LGBT.

16

CDC reports a human case of bird flu in Missouri without known exposure to infected animals.

18

NYT investigation: a leading American psychiatric hospital chain trapped people inside when not medically necessary, in order to extract health insurance money.

22

Reuters reports that hedge fund Starboard is challenging Murdoch's control over News Corporation through the company's dual share ownership, which allows the Murdoch family to control 40% of the company despite only owning 14% of the shares.

69

Say it with us, folks: this was the hottest summer on record.

22

Sentencing for Donald Trump's felony conviction will be delayed until 26 November, after the presidential election.

-30

US seizes plane linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the Dominican Republic for alleged sanctions violations, with a second one under investigation.

-29

A new DOJ indictment has accused Tenet Media, a company that produces the shows of Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, Lauren Southern, and Benny Johnson, of being paid by RT to promote right-wing and pro-Russian talking points. Tenet Media was co-founded by neo-Nazi Lauren Chen, and her husband is president of the company. Update: The New Republic has reported that Tenet Media folded one day after the indictment was unsealed. In addition, Blaze Media has terminated their association with Lauren Chen.

11

The Internet Archive loses its court appeal against book publishers.

-36

Former aide to New York governor charged by US Justice Department for allegedly working as an "undisclosed agent of the Chinese government".

25