February: done, the shortest month of the year kicked to the curb. But what were its best bits and what were its worst, and what are the essentials you’ll need to move into March? We’re on hand to help again.
This month we found that a deadly virus may be about to sweep the globe, a laughably-coiffed demagogue might soon have access to the nuclear codes and one of the UK’s best-known newspapers is about to go gentle into that good night.
It’s not all bad news though. Physicists have found a whole new way to look at the universe, and finally proved Einstein right in the process. Meanwhile, the warring factions in Syria took one step closer to a lasting peace in the region. Chin up, read on!
Trump for President?
The race to the White House kicked off in earnest with the Iowa caucus on February 1. These caucuses and primaries are the beginning of a long, long process to decide which candidate each of the two major parties will field in the November presidential election.
The big story is that Donald Trump’s momentum shows no sign of slowing, with the US’s version of Alan Sugar sweeping to comfortable victories in three of the four states so far contested. This is all in spite of a set of policies that would make even the most foamy-mouthed Little Englander wince.
It looks increasingly likely that Trump will win the Republican nomination. Jeb Bush, brother of George W. and son of George Sr., dropped out after a limp campaign and a poor showing in the South Carolina primary, although not before blowing $130 million trying to convince the public that he was a regular guy and not a member of a titanic political dynasty. With Bush’s exit, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have redoubled their efforts to contain Trump, resulting in an bitter slanging match.
Keep an eye open today for the results of Super Tuesday, as 12 states take to the polls.
The Next Pandemic
On February 1, the World Health Organisation declared that Zika virus, which is suspected to have infected at least 130,000 people, has caused an international public health emergency, with the virus likely to spread throughout the Americas.
Zika virus is spread by mosquitoes, and thought to be behind the recent outbreak of microcephaly — the development of unusually small heads — amongst newborns in Brazil, causing serious brain damage. Scientists believe that Zika may also cause Guillain-Barré syndrome, which is generally not lethal but can cause temporary paralysis.
Much of this is conjecture. Very little is known about the virus and there is no known cure. Still, there’s no hard proof that Zika is behind the spike in microcephaly or Guillain-Barré syndrome, but the risk is deemed to be high enough to cause serious concern amongst public health authorities, with the WHO commenting that ‘at this time, the virus is considered guilty until proven innocent.’
Dave vs Bojo
Ahead of a referendum on EU membership in June, David Cameron reached a deal with European Union leaders intended to give the UK ‘special status’. Aiming to placate eurosceptics within and without the Conservative Party, the deal outlined a number of concessions to the UK government.
But Cameron’s agreement failed to convince many eurosceptics, with senior Tories decrying its lack of provisions to stem immigration. In effect, the deal acted as a starting gun for open campaigning against the EU within the Conservative party, with dishevelled Mayor of London Boris Johnson throwing his weight behind the ‘Out’.
This could be the beginning of a serious, fratricidal schism within a previously bullish Tory party — David Cameron has already publicly savaged Johnson at Prime Minister’s Questions. Many believe that the Mayor of London’s anti-EU stance is the first in a series of devious political manoeuvres to claim leadership of the party in the 2020 election.
Assange’s Arbitrary Detention
A UN panel released a report stating that Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, has been subject to arbitrary detention by the British and Swedish governments and should be allowed freedom of movement and the right to claim compensation. Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy since 2012, has had a European Arrest Warrant issued against him and stands to be extradited to Sweden to face rape charges.
The UN report is not legally binding, and was vociferously rejected by the British government. Foreign secretary Philip Hammond decried the panel’s findings as ‘ridiculous’, asserting that Assange is simply a fugitive from justice, trapped in the embassy by his own choice.
The UN has since urged the UK and Sweden to set a ‘good example’ by accepting the findings of the report and allowing Assange to walk free, warning that the UK’s aggressive response is damaging to the integrity of the UN. Without any legal muscle to back it up, it is unlikely that Assange will be seeing sunlight any time soon.
It’s All Relative
In one of the major scientific discoveries of the twenty-first century, a team of scientists detected gravitational waves, proving Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity and giving us a whole new way to observe the universe.
Gravitational waves were detected from the collision of two black holes, about 30 times as massive as the sun, a billion light years away. Both were spiralling into each other at half the speed of light, circling each other 250 times per second before finally colliding, creating rippling distortions in space-time.
The reason this discovery is so huge is that it offers physicists a whole new way to observe the universe. Up to now, scientists have only been able to ‘see’ the universe by observing light. By measuring gravitational waves, we should be able to better understand the universe’s structure, in the same way that we use seismic measurements to work out what is in the Earth’s core.
Peace in Syria
Last Saturday saw the beginning of a fragile truce, backed by the US and Russia, between 97 Syrian rebel groups and the government of Bashar al-Assad. This temporary ‘cessation of hostilities’ is intended to act as the precursor to a lasting political settlement to the Syrian Civil War. Islamist hardliners Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front were excluded.
Although Syrian state media reported that the capital, Damascus, had been subject to sporadic shelling on Saturday morning, the truce seems to be holding, with Russia halting airstrikes against anti-government rebels. Nonetheless, because more moderate groups are, in many areas, intermingled with extremist groups excluded from the ceasefire, it seems likely that Russian air strikes will at some point violate the terms of the agreement. US security officials are, according to the Wall Street Journal, doubtful that Russia will honour the terms of the truce, and are drawing up contingency plans.
Indy Print is Dead
The Independent newspaper announced that its print edition would be discontinued, and the paper would continue as an online-only outlet. Once boasting a circulation of over 400,000, the weekday sales of the newspaper had plummeted to less than 28,000, a figure unsustainable to its publishers — each stockist was selling less than one copy on average.
The paper may only be the first casualty of the protracted ‘death of print,’ and a more general decline in the fortunes of established media outlets. Even The Guardian, which has managed to build a formidable online presence, is haemorrhaging around £1 million per week, and has historically been propped up by a somewhat less eminent title — Auto Trader.
So now you know. Bring it on March…
Weapons of Reason’s issue #2: Megacities, is available to order now.
