This veto is an attack on Scottish democracy and indicates contempt for progress. After years of public prejudice against transgender people, things began to move forward in Scotland. However, Rishi Sunak's decision could erase all of those gains and will negatively impact an already marginalized and vulnerable community. This is a dark day for trans rights and a dark day for democracy in the UK.
The so-called reforms in this bill seriously threaten women's rights and children's safety in Scotland as well as in the UK. By stripping all requirements to change one's gender, the Scottish legislature was making women vulnerable in female-only spaces. The veto has been painted as an unprecedented constitutional crisis, but the truth is that different gender recognition policies in the UK cannot coexist.
There's a 21% chance that Scotland will leave the United Kingdom before 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
It's hardly surprising that China's population growth would eventually slow greatly. However, in order not to jeopardize further economic development, Beijing now has to focus not only on continuing on the path from an industrial to a service sector economy but also on expanding technological innovation. Moreover, if China's economic policy takes into account the consumption needs not only of the young but also of the growing elderly population, its population may decline — but its economy is set for further growth.
The population decline in China risks numerous negative consequences for its economic growth, as the Chinese economic model remains reliant on a large supply of labor. This hardly-reversible demographic trend is likely to trigger not only higher prices due to increased labor costs but cause more problems with the underfunded national pension system. As a result, China may struggle to surpass the US economically in the foreseeable future, unless government policies to boost fertility produce results.
The fact that India is set to replace China as the world's most populous country could yield major global economic impacts since significant production capacity will be moved to the Subcontinent. Added to this is the West's geopolitically-motivated tilt toward New Delhi. Both developments may boost India's economic and political stance against China — with its economy potentially surpassing not only China's but also that of the US by the second half of the century.
The outlook for the Chinese economy is uncertain as the property sector is weighed down by enormous corporate debt and the Chinese population has begun to shrink. It's unclear if some workers will come back to their cities of work after Lunar New Year travels. Worse yet, foreign demand has fallen due to higher interest rates which have dampened the demand for imported goods from China.
The PRC's economy is certain to improve this year. The signs are there, showing a vast market potential that will result in growth. China has made economic stability its top priority for the new year and will pursue progress while ensuring stability. Compared with other major economies the 3% growth rate is relatively remarkable. The worsening global economic situation needs China's steady growth as a stabilizer. Clearly, the latest figures show that China is maintaining its position as the world's second-largest economy.
There is a 40% chance that China's GDP will overtake the US before 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Lightning strikes are a daily and dangerous occurrence, although ironically, research indicates that this will become a diminishing threat with climate change. For now, however, 100 lightning strikes happen every second across the globe. An airplane is struck by lightning about once in every thousand flight hours. It's prudent to explore laser technology as an upgrade over traditional metal lightning rods.
Weather alteration has a long and questionable history. US taxpayers paid $3.6M per year to fund the altering of the weather during the Vietnam War. In 1978, the Environmental Modification Convention went into effect banning weather modification during warfare. The treaty doesn't provide accountability or transparency, leaving the world's most dangerous powers to potentially violate the treaty. Without better regulation, this development is a slippery slope.
Twitter's leniency toward the Taliban threatens to glorify violence and legitimize human rights abuses in Afghanistan. By allowing Taliban-affiliated accounts to use its platform, Musk potentially perpetuates extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and torture, systematic segregation of women in Afghanistan, and the war on freedom.
The Taliban may not be considered the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan by the international community, but they have a right to a social media apparatus to counter what they consider Western propaganda. Musk's Blue Tick services don't promote Taliban messages, they simply allow community members to form their own opinions.
There's a 46% chance that Afghanistan will be used as a base for anti-NATO terrorism by 2026, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Soccer riots are relatively common in Indonesia, and this tragedy highlights the problems with the use of tear gas by Indonesian police — which has played a role in many stadium disasters in the nation's history. It's baffling that the police claim they didn't know that tear gas was banned by FIFA. The entire tragedy can be blamed upon years of mismanagement and corruption at the heart of Indonesian soccer.
Indonesian soccer seems to be driven by hooliganism, and it must be remembered that the disaster began after the home team was beaten. While police and management of Indonesian soccer must be held accountable, we must also hope that the disaster will be a long-overdue wake-up call to stand up against hooligan culture and crowd violence.
After losses of personnel and territory it had captured, Russia's plan to build up its army to 1.5M soldiers is further acknowledgment from Putin that this war isn't going as expected.
Russia's buildup of troops is a direct consequence of the West's proxy war against Moscow. Had the West not carried out its crusade against Russia, while pumping Ukraine full of weapons and military aid, this situation could have been averted.
There is a 2% chance that Ukraine will officially recognize a former Ukrainian territory (Luhansk, Donetsk, or Crimea) as independent before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
The US Supreme Court must drop this unlawful and unprecedented prosecution against Halkbank as the standing of this lower court's ruling would threaten future indictments of any sovereign state. By doing so, it would also help the smoothing out of critical relations between Ankara and Washington.
Halkbank may argue that it is entitled to sovereign immunity, but this notion rests on a false premise that the bank and the Turkish government are the same. Established international law and practice are unequivocal that despite being a publicly owned corporation, the bank is not a sovereign entity. This is about conforming to well-established international norms.
Musk and Tesla are already behind the eight ball because of the judge’s summary judgment that the tweets were untruthful and recklessly shared. Neither Musk’s previous settlement with the SEC nor his erratic behavior since taking over Twitter has done him any favors, and this case is probably going to cost him another devastatingly large chunk of his fortune.
There’s no way for Musk to get a fair trial. Tainted coverage of the situation surrounding his tweets, in addition to other reporting on his career, will sway the jury against him, which is why the judge should’ve allowed a change of venue. The plaintiffs should also be more appreciative that despite what might’ve happened around the tweets, their Tesla shares are now worth six times as much as they were valued back then.
Baselessly claiming election fraud has now reached a critical point where "extreme MAGA Republicans" are resorting to violence against their political opponents — an extremely devastating development. If elected officials now have to fear literal gunfire, this is a blow to democracy, and the GOP is to blame.
The justice system exists for a reason, and if Peña has orchestrated this horrible string of crimes, he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The GOP strongly condemns all forms of violence.