#PERU: 22 Presidential Candidates Registered For April Election

[world politics news] 

Peru will have a record of 22 presidential candidates for the April elections, among them Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, making her third attempt to win her father's old office, and also the ex-president Ollanta Humala, both of whom are in prison in the middle of a corruption investigation.

The National Elections Jury said all applicants were submitted electronically on the last day of registration the day before, due to restrictions caused by the coronavirus.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#AUSTRIA: Politicians, Health Officials Can't Convince Many To Take Covid Tests

[world politics news] 

Nearly a month after Austria started mass Covid-19 tests, the masses have stayed away.

Vienna denies the push has been a failure, but weak participation so far mirrors growing doubt in the population towards a looming vaccination program.

Out of a population of 8.8 million people, about two million have been tested to date – with the participation rate dropping as low as 14 per cent in the capital.

A month ago, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz unveiled the program, a nod to a similar one in neighboring Slovakia using fast PCR tests, as the best way to have “as safe a Christmas as possible”.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#THENETHERLANDS: Labour Party Leader Facing Calls To Resign Over Childcare Fraud Scandal

[world politics news] 

Labour Party Leader Lodewijk Asscher is facing questions from within his own party over his suitability to lead the party into next year’s elections because of his role in the childcare benefits scandal. 

Asscher was minister of social affairs from 2012 to 2017, the period in which thousands of parents were wrongly treated as fraudsters and ordered to pay back thousands of euros in childcare benefit support. 

A parliamentary inquiry into the scandal published a damning report, saying an ‘unparalleled wrong’ had been done to the parents. 

The Labour Party Leader apologized, saying  he was ‘filled with shame’ at his failure to act.

[FULL STORY HERE] 

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#POLAND: Bill Would Fine Social Media Giants For Removing Content Legal In Poland

[world politics news]

 

Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro has announced a legal initiative aimed at enabling internet users to file complaints against the removal of online posts as well as the creation of a special court for freedom of speech.

Ziobro said the aim of the bill is to give internet users the feeling that their rights are protected and that their posts cannot be arbitrarily removed from online platforms.

Under its provisions, social media services can be fined if they remove content or block accounts if the content on them does not break Polish law.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#UK: Scottish First Minister Apologizes For Breaking Mask Rule

[world politics news] 

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has broken her own Covid law by chatting to patrons in a pub without wearing a face mask.

She apologised over the embarrassing blunder at a funeral wake.

The First Minister admitted she was "kicking herself" and said she was “in the wrong” and had no excuses after breaching her own Covid rules.

The Scottish Sun obtained a photo of the Nats leader standing and chatting to three elderly women following a funeral last week in Mortonhall, Edinburgh.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#UK: Final Brexit Deal Reached Between UK And EU

[world politics news] 

The EU and UK have reached a post-Brexit trade deal, ending months of disagreements over fishing rights and future business rules.

At a Downing Street press conference, Boris Johnson said: "We have taken back control of our laws and our destiny."

The text of the agreement has yet to be released, but the PM claimed it was a "good deal for the whole of Europe."

Labour Party Leader Sir Keir Starmer - who campaigned against Brexit - said his party would vote for the deal in the Commons, ensuring it will pass.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#ISRAEL: Fourth Election In Two Years Called After Coalition Collapses

[world politics news] 

On Tuesday night, the deadline to approve a national budget expired, sending Israelis to the polls for the fourth time in less than two years. Elections were automatically called for 90 days from now, namely March 23, 2021, though that date could be changed.

The failure to pass a budget came just seven months after the swearing-in of the “unity government” between Likud and Blue and White. The two parties, which had fought each other bitterly in three indecisive elections, agreed to form a power-sharing government with a rotating premiership between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz in May.

Netanyahu promised a huge win, but polls suggest tough race, with the main threat coming from parties to his right

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#NORTHERNIRELAND: Schools To Reopen In January, Says Education Minister

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Schools in Northern Ireland will reopen in the first week of January, Education Minister Peter Weir has confirmed.

In a statement Weir said his main priority has been to protect children's education mental health and well-being.

"I believe that this can best be achieved through face-to-face learning and social engagement in schools," he added.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#DENMARK: Four Million Minks Buried After Virus To Be Dug Up

[world politics news] 

After slaughtering its entire mink population, Denmark will be digging millions of them up to prevent pollution, the Danish parliament voted on Sunday. 

The world’s top exporter of mink fur, Denmark culled more than 15 million of the mammals in November after government officials reported that they were carriers of a mutated strain of a virus. 

Four million mink that were not incinerated will be dug up after six months, after any chance of infection as passed but before they could affect groundwater. 

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen came under fire for the decision to kill off the mink, which was made without the approval of Parliament. 

Some of them literally rose from their graves last month, elevated by the release of gas from decomposition, creating "zombie mink" stories in the media.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#UK: PM Johnson Bans Christmas Gatherings With Tough Lockdown

[world politics news]

 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cancelled Christmas for a third of England - with London and the South East to be moved into a new Tier 4 lockdown.

Travel and different households mixing will be banned under the new highest level tier - with families elsewhere only allowed to form ‘Christmas bubbles’ on December 25 itself.

The drastic move will dash families' hopes of Christmas together after a torrid year, and force millions of people to stay home for weeks to come.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#CANADA: Calgary Mask Law To Remain Thru 2021, Fines Rise

[world politics news] 

Calgary, Alberta's mask mandate bylaw will continue until the end of 2021, unless the pandemic circumstances like mass vaccination change, and lead administration or council to decide to amend or repeal it, says Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

“If we’re looking at people in Alberta being fully vaccinated by the fall, then obviously there will be no need for the bylaw at that time,” Nenshi, noting he expects the bylaw to be in place through much of 2021.

Fines under the bylaw have also gone up, from $50 per infraction to $100 for the first, $200 for the second and $300 for each infraction afterwards.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#AUSTRALIA: New South Wales Hopes To Spur Green Energy Boom

[world politics news] 

The Australian state of New South Wales hopes to lead the nation in renewable energy.

The NSW government hopes to drive the transition to renewable energy by attracting $32 billion of private investment in infrastructure, delivering thousands of jobs and creating among the cheapest and most reliable electricity in the world.

In the most ambitious energy plan in the country, the state government will support the private sector to build critical energy infrastructure by 2030 as NSW faces the end of the coal-fired power generation.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

BREAKING: French Pres. Macron Tests Positive For Coronavirus

[world politics news] 

French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for Covid-19 this morning after showing symptoms, according to a statement released by the French government.

He will isolate for 7 days.

He was meant to be in Lebanon on Dec 22-23 — his isolation technically ends on the 24th. 

Six days ago, Macron was with the other EU27 leaders at the #EUCO summit in Brussels, including one-on-one meetings with Angela Merkel.

Yesterday he presided over the weekly meeting of his cabinet and met with Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa.

several of these other European leaders are also self isolating after hearing the news.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#USA: San Francisco School District Wants Abraham Lincoln Name Removed - "Did Nothing" For Blacks

[world politics news]

San Francisco may remove Abraham Lincoln’s name from a high school, because a district committee says the 16th president — who abolished slavery — did nothing to demonstrate that “black lives mattered to him.”

Lincoln is one of dozens of historical figures who the city school district’s renaming committee argued led lives so rife with racism, oppression or abuse that their names should not grace its buildings, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#UK: Scottish Parliament To Revise Proposed Hate Crimes Bill

[world politics news] 

Further changes are to be made to the Scottish Government's controversial Hate Crime Bill, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has confirmed. 

The changes will be made in a bid to strengthen protection for freedom of expression.

Holyrood’s Justice Committee last week said amendments to the Bill were still needed before it could be agreed – with Mr Yousaf saying he had accepted the “overwhelming majority of the recommendations”.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#SPAIN: Vox Party Demands Deportations Of Moroccans Increase

[world politics news] 

Spain's anti-immigration Vox Party has accused Spain’s government of “discriminating against Spaniards” because of its inability to deport Moroccan and Algerian irregular migrants.

“We demand that this illegal immigration, which has become genuine discrimination against Spaniards, be stopped,” declared Vox President Santiago Abascal.

The Spanish politician made the statement in a populist speech on December 5 during a visit to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.

Spain's Socialist government has actually increase deportations as pressure mounts on it to take action against what many call a migration crisis in the country.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#ESWATINI: Prime Minister Of Former Swaziland Dies Of Covid-19

[world politics news]

 

Eswatini Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, who tested positive for COVID-19 four weeks ago, has passed away at age 52- Govt statement. 

Dlamini was hospitalized in South Africa on Dec 1 to fast track his recovery.

Dlamini had announced in mid-November that he had tested positive for coronavirus but said that he felt well and was asymptomatic.

A businessman but political novice, he was named prime minister in October 2018.

The head of government's role is limited in Eswatini where the current king, in power since 1986, names all ministers and controls parliament.

Formerly known as Swaziland, the kingdom of Eswatini has reported over 6,700 coronavirus cases and 127 deaths among its population of 1.2 million people.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#ISRAEL: Normalization Of Relations With Bhutan Announced

[world politics news] 

Israel has established full diplomatic relations with Bhutan for the first time.

Israeli Ambassador to India Ron Malka and his Bhutanese counterpart Vetsop Namgyel signed the final agreement normalizing ties Saturday night.

The countries’ foreign ministries held secret talks over the past year towards the goal of forging official ties, which included delegations from Jerusalem to Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital, and Thimphu to Jerusalem.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#UK: Labour Party Member Wants To End Empire-Related Honors

[world politics news]

 

Honors titles associated with the British Empire are "offensive and divisive" and should be rebranded, a senior Labour Party Member of Parliament has told the BBC.

Kate Green, who herself got an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2005, admitted to the Political Thinking podcast it gave people "huge pleasure" to have their achievements recognized.

But the shadow education secretary said such honors were hierarchical and the link to Empire was "hurtful to people."

"You can't justify that branding," she told host Nick Robinson.

Conservative MPs have hit back at her comments, arguing changing the name of the honours system would be an 'act of cultural and historic vandalism' as they 'reflect this country's history and traditions.'

Among those who have received the OMB honors are The Beatles and scientist Stephen Hawking.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#CANADA: PM Trudeau Invited Chinese Troops To Train In Canada

[world politics news] 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invited China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to send its troops for cold weather training at CFB Petawawa in Ontario — and Trudeau raged at the Canadian Armed Forces for cancelling the training after China kidnapped Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig.

North American media outlet Rebel News obtain information from a freedom of information request. It took the Trudeau government 19 months to respond. Many of the thirty-six pages they received were "grayed out," but not blacked out, enabling the media outlet to easily read the information.

But there were other exchanges between the PLA and the Canadian armed forces. Those include training Chinese commanders at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, as well as other military facilities in Kingston. 

Chinese military participants included 1- and 2-star generals and an entire contingent who would learn Canadian cold weather military tactics.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

Bougainville Delegates Left Waiting After Independence Referendum

[world politics news] 

Last December, 97.7% of the Pacific island of Bougainville voted in a non-binding referendum to break away from Papua New Guinea.

The two governments were them to consult and take the results to the parliament of Papua New Guinea for final decision. 

But a delegation from Bougainville was recently kept waiting in a Papua New Guinea hotel for days without a substantial meeting.

The deferred meeting left a bad taste in one delegate's mouth. 

“The deferral … is a reflection of so much inconsistency and lack of real commitment from the PNG government to engage,” says Joseph Watawi, a long-time Bougainville politician currently with the consultation team.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#MOLDOVA: Pro-EU Candidate Wins Presidential Election

[world politics news] 

Pro-EU opposition candidate Maia Sandu has ousted incumbent Igor Dodon to become Moldova's new president.

Sandu won 57.75% of the vote to Dodon's 42.25%, according to the country's electoral commission.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#CHINA: Hike In Retirement Age Stirs Controversy

[world politics news] 

Chinese are venting anger at a move to raise China's retirement age, which is among the world’s lowest. It has remained unchanged for more than 40 years at 60 for men and 55 for women white-collar workers.

China is trying to cope with a rapidly aging population, but the proposal is fueling public discontent and will test the Communist Party’s ability to implement reforms. 

Officials say the age increase is necessary because the nation's pension fund will run dry in the year 2035 unless it's raised. That's not stopped the outrage.  Their have been tens of thousands of angry comments about the change posted on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#USA: Congress Quietly Passes Resolution Supporting "Autonomy" For Tibet

[world politics news] 

In a measure that went unmentioned on the American press, the US House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan resolution recognising the cultural and religious significance of an autonomous Tibet and seeking peaceful solutions to the conflict. 

The resolution recognised the significance of the “genuine autonomy of Tibet and the Tibetan people” and the work done by 14th Dalai Lama to promote global peace, harmony and understanding.

The resolution, which passed unanimously which passed unanimously, was the work of Florida Republican congressman Ted Yoho.

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.

#ITALY: EU Braces For More "Brexits" As Italians Vent Anger

[world politics news] 

Brexit has appeared to spark those wishing to leave the EU in Italy into action, after a campaigner exclusively told Express.co.uk of a plot to see the country exit the bloc in less than two years.

Euronews recently reported that among voters in the EU’s “Big Four” of Italy, Germany, France and Spain, polling had found that Italians were the “most in favor of leaving the EU in five years’ time if Brexit is seen to be benefiting the UK, with 45% either agreeing or strongly agreeing with the idea."

Italexit Party spokesman Sergio Montanaro told there Express UK newspaper how they plan to take Rome out of the bloc in "less than two years".

He said: "Our goal is to leave the EU because it is possible. It is about political will. The Italian people, just like the British, want to get out of this cage."

[FULL STORY HERE]

World Politics News is dedicated to raising Americans' knowledge of political events, elections, and legislation throughout the world.