Politics and Government

Subterms

    More stories

    • 88 Shares159 Views

      in Elections

      Protesters in Tbilisi Clash With Georgian Police

      by

      Protesters clashed with the police in the Republic of Georgia’s capital late Saturday during the third consecutive night of demonstrations over the government’s suspension of its bid to join the European Union.Thousands of people have rallied in the capital, Tbilisi, since Thursday night after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said the country was putting the process of E.U. accession on hold until 2028 and would decline all grants from the bloc. The police have responded with water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades.Georgia’s Interior Ministry said on Sunday morning that protests overnight had “evolved into violence.” It claimed that protesters “threw pyrotechnics” and “ignited objects” toward police officers and at Parliament, causing a fire to break out. Windows were smashed by “stones and various objects,” the ministry added in a statement, saying that protesters also had damaged protective iron barriers around the building.More than 100 people had been arrested as of Saturday night, according to the ministry, which also said that several police officers were wounded and that 42 of its employees had been injured since the protests began.The Associated Press reported that its journalists had seen police officers chasing and beating protesters; it was not immediately clear how many protesters suffered injuries.Georgia has been gripped by political crisis since the disputed victory of the Georgian Dream party in October’s parliamentary elections. The governing party has been pivoting Georgia more toward Russia and China. Georgia’s opposition, which says the election was rigged and has boycotted the new sitting of Parliament, seeks closer ties with the West.Georgia’s Constitution stipulates that the government “shall take all measures” to “ensure the full integration” into the European Union and NATO. The official powers of the country’s president are nominal, since the prime minister runs the government, but President Salome Zourabichvili has become a vocal supporter of the opposition and has accused the government of committing a “constitutional coup.”“Another violent night in Tbilisi,” Mr. Zourabichvili wrote late Saturday on X. “The illegitimate government resorts to illegal means to silence Georgians standing firm for their constitutional, European choice.”Ivane Gorgishvili/Associated PressAn aerial view of the protest in Tbilisi on Saturday.Giorgi Arjevanidze/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDemonstrators held up a sign at the protest on Saturday night.David Mdzinarishvili/EPA, via ShutterstockAntigovernment protesters burned an effigy of the prime minister in front of the Parliament building.Giorgi Arjevanidze/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesRiot police officers were on the streets, and the police used a water cannon.Giorgi Arjevanidze/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesProtesters ducked behind a makeshift barricade.Irakli Gedenidze/ReutersDemonstrators set off fireworks from behind a makeshift barricade.Irakli Gedenidze/ReutersPolice officers detained a protester.Giorgi Arjevanidze/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesClashes continued into the early morning.Giorgi Arjevanidze/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesA masked protester gestured in front of a makeshift barricade.Giorgi Arjevanidze/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe flags of Ukraine, Georgia and the European Union were displayed at the protest. More

    • 113 Shares139 Views

      in Elections

      Republicans Would Regret Letting Elon Musk Ax Weather Forecasting

      by

      One way Donald Trump may try to differentiate his second term from his first is by slashing the federal work force and budget and consolidating and restructuring a host of government agencies.For people who care about weather and climate, one of the most concerning proposals on the table is to dismantle the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The authors of Project 2025, a blueprint for the administration crafted by conservative organizations, claim erroneously that NOAA is “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry” and should be “broken down and downsized.” An arm of Mr. Trump’s team, the Department of Government Efficiency, to be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, wants to eliminate $500 billion in spending by cutting programs whose funding has expired. That could include NOAA.With the rising costs of and vulnerability to extreme weather in a changing climate for the United States, dismantling or defunding NOAA would be a catastrophic error. Rather, there is a golden opportunity to modernize the agency by expanding its capacity for research and innovation. This would not only help Americans better prepare for and survive extreme weather but also keep NOAA from falling further behind similar agencies in Europe. While the incoming administration may want to take a sledgehammer to the federal government, there is broad, bipartisan support for NOAA in Congress. It is the job of the incoming Republican-controlled Congress to invest in its future.NOAA was established via executive order in 1970 by President Richard Nixon as an agency within the Department of Commerce. Currently its mission is to understand and predict changes in the climate, weather, ocean and coasts. It conducts basic research; provides authoritative services like weather forecasts, climate monitoring and marine resource management; and supports industries like energy, agriculture, fishing, tourism and transportation.The best-known part of NOAA, touching all of our daily lives, is the National Weather Service. This is where daily forecasts and timely warning of severe storms, hurricanes and blizzards come from. Using satellites, balloon launches, ships, aircraft and weather stations, NOAA and its offices around the country provide vital services like clockwork, free of charge — services that cannot be adequately replaced by the private sector in part because they wouldn’t necessarily be profitable.For most of its history, NOAA has largely avoided politicization especially because weather forecasting has been seen as nonpartisan. Members of Congress from both parties are highly engaged in its work. Unfortunately, legislation introduced by Representative Frank Lucas, Republican of Oklahoma — a state with a lot of tornadoes — that would have helped NOAA to update its weather research and forecasting programs passed the House but languished in the Senate and is unlikely to move forward in this session of Congress. However, in 2025 there is another opportunity to improve the agency and its services to taxpayers and businesses.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares119 Views

      in Elections

      Rebels Seize Control Over Most of Syria’s Largest City

      by

      The rapid advance on Aleppo came just four days into a surprise rebel offensive that is the most intense escalation in years in the country’s civil war.Rebels had seized most of Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, on Saturday, according to a war monitoring group and to fighters who were combing the streets in search of any remaining pockets of government forces.The rebels said they had faced little resistance on the ground in Aleppo. But Syrian government warplanes responded with airstrikes on the city for the first time since 2016, according to the war monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.The city of Aleppo came to a near standstill on Saturday, with many residents staying indoors for fear of what the sudden flip in control might mean, witnesses said. Others did venture out into quiet streets, welcoming the antigovernment fighters and hugging them. Some of the rebels tried to reassure city residents and sent out at least one van to distribute bread.The rapid advance on Aleppo came just four days into a surprise rebel offensive launched on Wednesday against the autocratic regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The development is both the most serious challenge to Mr. al-Assad’s rule and the most intense escalation in years in a civil war that had been mostly dormant.The timing of the assault has raised questions about whether the rebels are exploiting weaknesses across an alliance that has Iran at the center and includes groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as the Syrian regime.In Aleppo on Saturday, well-armed rebel fighters dressed in camouflage patrolled streets still lined with the ubiquitous posters of Mr. al-Assad. The opposition forces said that although they were in control of nearly the entire city, they had not yet solidified their hold on it. More

    • 125 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      UK Transport Secretary Louise Haigh Resigns After Fraud Conviction Revealed

      by

      In the latest setback for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Louise Haigh resigned from the cabinet Friday after admitting she pleaded guilty to a type of fraud in 2014.Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain suffered the first resignation from his cabinet on Friday when the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, quit hours after it emerged that she had been convicted of a fraud offense involving a phone a decade ago.The departure is a blow to Mr. Starmer, who has been buffeted by a series of setbacks since Labour won the election in July, but the speed with which Ms. Haigh resigned suggests Downing Street is hoping to minimize the political fallout.As transport secretary, Ms. Haigh had overseen one of Labour’s flagship policies of bringing Britain’s troubled private rail network back into public ownership, through legislation which recently completed its passage through Parliament.Her resignation was triggered by reports from Sky News and The Times of London on Thursday night that revealed she had pleaded guilty to an offense in 2013. At the time she was 24 and working for Aviva, an insurance firm, when she was mugged in London.In her letter of resignation Ms. Haigh said “the experience was terrifying,” and said, “in the immediate aftermath, I reported the incident to the police. I gave the police a list of my possessions that I believed had been stolen, including my work phone.”She added: “Some time later, I discovered that the handset in question was still in my house. I should have immediately informed my employer and not doing so straight away was a mistake.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 88 Shares109 Views

      in Elections

      Why Mexico Is Eliminating Independent Watchdog Agencies

      by

      A vote in the country’s Senate has cleared the way to abolish seven independent organizations that provided oversight on issues such as public information and price fixing.Mexico’s Senate on Thursday night passed a sweeping proposal to dissolve several government-financed yet independent watchdog organizations, a move the president and her supporters said would help reduce corruption and waste. Critics have called it a step backward for transparency and regulation.The duties of most of the seven agencies, which provided oversight on a host of issues, such as public information requests and price fixing in the telecommunications, pharmaceutical and energy sectors, would be absorbed by other parts of the federal government, overseen by the president.Perhaps the most noteworthy of the agencies — the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data, known as INAI — would have its responsibilities divided among a handful of existing federal agencies.“The disappearance of these autonomous bodies represents a democratic setback,” the Mexican Association for the Right to Information, a nongovernmental group, said in a statement. The move, the group added, “weakens the mechanisms of control, transparency and protection of rights that have been built with great effort in our country.”The constitutional amendment dissolving the agencies is part of a series of far-reaching proposals pushed by the former Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, that are supported by his successor and mentee, Claudia Sheinbaum, and by their political party, Morena.In September, Mexico passed an amendment overhauling the country’s judiciary, which supporters of the proposal said was riddled with graft, influence-peddling and nepotism. Critics warned that the move, which will see nearly all Mexican judges elected rather than appointed, undermines judicial independence and politicizes the courts.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 125 Shares129 Views

      in Elections

      Who Might Be the Next Chair of the Democratic Party?

      by

      The current leader of the Democratic National Committee, Jaime Harrison, won’t seek re-election. His successor will need to revive a distressed party.As the Democratic Party reels from devastating losses — in the presidential contest, the race to control the Senate and its bid to regain control of the House — its national committee is searching for a new chair. Whoever lands that critical role will be charged with shepherding the party out of the woods and into a new era.Jaime Harrison, the current chair of the Democratic National Committee, has decided not to seek re-election. The party’s 448 committee members, who include party officials and politicians from across the country, are expected to vote on his replacement on Feb. 1.Two contenders have already entered the race. Several others have either suggested publicly that they are considering a run, or are quietly holding conversations with party members to gauge potential support. The private deliberations were described by several people who have participated in them and insisted on anonymity.Here’s a look at the Democrats in the mix.Who’s already joined the race?Martin O’MalleyMr. O’Malley, a former governor of Maryland and a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, was the race’s first entrant.He has a long record of public service, getting his start on the Baltimore City Council before becoming the city’s mayor in 1999. During his tenure as governor, an office he held from 2007 to 2015, he led the Democratic Governors Association.In 2023, President Biden tapped him to lead the Social Security Administration. Mr. O’Malley has said he will resign from the post on Friday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 100 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      Uruguay’s Center Left Reclaims Power in Presidential Election

      by

      After a campaign notable for the amiable tone from both sides, Yamandú Orsi was named the winner.MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — A onetime mayor and history teacher defeated the candidate of the conservative coalition that has governed Uruguay for the past five years to win his country’s presidency on Sunday.Even as ballots in the closely contested runoff election were still being counted, Álvaro Delgado, the current president’s chief of staff, conceded defeat to his challenger, Yamandú Orsi.“With sadness, but without guilt, we can congratulate the winner,” Mr. Delgado said.Mr. Orsi’s center-left party, the Broad Front, released a statement saying that “joy will return” and announcing him as the winner.Election officials said that with just over half the ballots counted, Mr. Orsi had secured 784,523 votes, and Mr. Delgado 771,434.Mr. Delgado’s concession signaled an end to the short stint of the right-leaning government in Uruguay that in 2020, when President Luis Lacalle Pou took office, ended 15 years of government by the Broad Front. During that period, the Broad Front oversaw the legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and the sale of marijuana.“I called Yamandú Orsi to congratulate him as president-elect of our country,” Mr. Lacalle Pou said in a statement, adding that he would “put myself at his service and begin the transition as soon as I deem it appropriate.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 100 Shares149 Views

      in Elections

      What Worries Me About Uruguay’s Elections This Year

      by

      In a year of landmark elections, my country’s presidential vote last month flew under the radar. And perhaps with good reason: Uruguay’s balloting was marked by unexciting candidates and their lackluster attempts to entice undecided voters to the polls. In the end, no candidate won a majority, leaving weary Uruguayans to brace for another round of unimpressive speeches leading up to a runoff on Sunday.It’s out of character for Uruguay to have such a boring political season. For as long as I can remember, elections here have been a spectacle, with balconies draped in political flags and spirited debates in the streets. Memories of life under a brutal dictatorship late last century have nourished our enthusiasm for democracy and the peaceful transfer of power between the right and left. Over four decades, this has been our superpower, rendering our nation of 3.4 million a politically stable oasis in a tumultuous part of the world. An uneventful vote seems preferable to the deep polarization that has surrounded presidential elections over the past year in countries like El Salvador, Argentina, Venezuela and even the United States.But underneath our staid election lies an urgent problem: Young people here feel increasingly left behind, despite Uruguay’s reputation as a beacon of economic and social success. That’s potentially bad news for one of the strongest democracies in Latin America: In a 2023 Latinobarómetro poll, 38 percent of the young people surveyed said they’d be fine giving up democracy for a government that could solve their problems.And young Uruguayans are afflicted by many problems. The country has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Latin America, at 26 percent in 2023, compared with Argentina’s 18 percent the same year. Uruguay has elevated high school dropout rates. Young people are disproportionately affected by food insecurity and high imprisonment rates, with one in five children and adolescents living in poverty and 45 percent of the prison population under 30. As it did in other countries, the Covid-19 pandemic left Uruguay in the grip of a mental-health crisis that hit this group hard. In recent years, suicide was one of the leading causes of death among young people.All of this has translated into political apathy among marginalized young voters. But older generations also show dissatisfaction, voicing considerable disappointment in the government’s handling of childhood poverty, the high cost of living, corruption and rising crime rates. Although the inflation rate has slowed, net public debt rose, and there have been high-profile cases of mismanagement of public funds and corruption in President Luis Lacalle Pou’s administration.Before the first round of elections, I spoke with a handful of undecided young voters in the capital, Montevideo, all of whom were casting ballots for the first or second time. Some said that the presidential candidates who made it to Sunday’s runoff — Yamandú Orsi of the leftist Broad Front, and Álvaro Delgado of President Lacalle Pou’s center-right National Party — seemed distant, out of touch and difficult to understand.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More