#RUSSIA: Duma Considers Further Restrictions On Support For Gay Rights

[world politics news]

Russia’s parliament is moving to tighten already stringent restrictions on the discussion of LGBTQ rights and relationships.

A draft bill calling for the broadening of a 2013 ban on the “promotion of non-traditional sexual relations” to minors, widely referred to as the “gay propaganda” bill, was announced on the website of the parliament, or Duma.  The draft bill introduced this week is proposing a ban on public discussions of LGBTQ relationships in a positive light, and queer content in cinemas.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#KENYA: Parliamentarians' Perks Cut

[world politics news]

Kenya has stopped giving Lawmakers sitting allowances and car grants.

Incoming Members of Parliament will now have to buy their own cars if they want.

Kenya will reportedly save $8.4 million yearly by doing this.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#UKRAINE: EU Considers Doubling Importation of Ukrainian Electricity

[world politics news]

EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said on July 26 that the European transmission system operators will meet this week to discuss increasing the importation of electricity from Ukraine.

Simson added that this step will allow the European Union to partially compensate for the lack of gas due to the energy crisis unleashed by Russia.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#PAKISTAN: Supreme Court Rules Banning Frmr. PM's Comments Was Wrong

[world politics news]

The Pakistani Supreme Court has ruled that a state agency was wrong to ban the rebroadcast of an interview with former prime minister Imran Khan.

In the interview, Khan warned about the consequences of defaulting on the nation's debt, which could have devastating consequences, he said, including the breakup of the country into three parts.

He said that this was already said in plans by foreign think tanks. “So if the right decisions aren’t made now, Pakistan is headed toward suicide which is why I am exerting pressure,” Khan said,

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#FRANCE: Parliament Ends TV Licence Fee

[world politics news]

The French Parliament has voted to end the TV license fee as part of a bill aimed at tackling the country’s cost of living crisis, in a move that has provoked fears over the future independence of French state broadcasters.

Under the bill, more than 23 million French households will no longer pay the annual fee, currently set at 138 euros ($141) per household. As of this October, families will not be billed for the fee and any households that paid it in advance will be reimbursed.

There is a similar push in the UK to eliminate the state license fee which supports the publicly funded BBC radio and TV apparatus.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#UKRAINE: Military Signals Push Into Moldova

[world politics news]

Signaling that the war in Ukraine may spread to yet another country, the Ukrainian Army has declared in its readiness to help Moldova get rid of the 1500 Russian soldiers who illegally occupy Moldovan territory in Transnistria.

The statement was made by the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Kirill Budanov

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

#CANADA: Journalist Suggests Conservative MP Be "Shot" Like a Lame Horse

[world politics news]

Journalist Dale Smith, an official member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery which grants exclusive access privileges to the best-of-the-best Canadian and international journalists in the House of Commons, appears to have drawn a direct line between a question posed today by MP Garnett Genuis and shooting an animal.

Smith tweeted, "Genuis tries to includes lyrics from “Bohemian Rhapsody” in his question, and I cannot adequately tell you how lame it is. When horses are this lame, you shoot them.

Former Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer tweeted in response, "Dale, you are using a violent metaphor invoking an image of shooting someone you disagree with. You are a member of the parliamentary press gallery. If a Conservative MP did something like this, you would be the first to demand their resignation. You are a complete hypocrite." 

Current Party Chairman Pierre Poilievre tweeted, 

"So a member of the press gallery tweets that a Conservative MP should be shot. Where is the outrage? Have the Prime Minister or journalists condemned this incitement to violence?"

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#EU: Digital Services Act Would Regulate Social Media Platforms

[world politics news]

 

The European Parliament has reached agreement on a text of the Digital Services Act (DSA)1. The DSA is designed to regulate the conduct of providers of so-called “intermediary services”, i.e. those which connect consumers and/or users to goods, services or content online. 

The DSA will, notably, govern the conduct of online search engines and online platforms, such as social media and marketplaces

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#IVORYCIAST: Legislator Proposes Legalizing Polygyny

[world politics news]

Muslim-majority Ivory Coast is considering a bill to legalize polygyny – a practice which is widespread across the country but which is technically illegal. 

Ivorian MP Yacouba Sangaré introduced the bill to legalize polygamy on June 30, describing current legislation as “a generalized hypocrisy."

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

REPUBLICOFGEORGIA: Ruling Party Opposes Request For Special Session On EU Membership

[world politics news]

Independent MPs have addressed Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili with a joint statement, requesting she convene a special parliamentary session to consider the necessary legislative changes for the implementation of 12 recommendations issued by the European Commission for granting Georgia European Union candidacy.

But the ruling Georgian Dream Party says it sees no need to call a special session at this time.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#CAMBODIA: Opposition Groups Oppose Constitutional Amendments

[world politics news]

Civil society and non-governmental organisations claim that the proposed amendments to the Cambodian Constitution will harm national interest and affect the process of seeking justice for the people, while the National Assembly (NA) was scheduled to discuss the draft law yesterday.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#CANADA: Trucker Convoy Organizer Granted Bail, Banned From Social Media

[world politics news]

Pat King, an organizer of the “Freedom Convoy” that paralyzed downtown Ottawa for three weeks last winter, but also galvanized opposition across Canada to mandatory vaccines, has been granted bail.

As a condition of his release, the Red Deer, Alberta native has been restricted by the court from posting messages on social media sites.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#UGANDA:: Law Seeks to Curb Illicit Organ Trade

[world politics news]

A law to regulate the harvesting and trade in human organs and tissues has been introduced in Uganda’s parliament, the health minister said, as authorities move to curb a growing illegal market in body parts such as kidneys in the country.

There has been a public outcry in Uganda over the trade in organs and tissues derived from unwilling donors

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#AUSTRALIA: PM Albanese Handling of Floods Criticized By Opposition

[world politics news]

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been blasted by a Liberal MP over his response to the New South Wales flood crisis.

More than 30,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes as torrential rain continues to cause flooding in Sydney and surrounding areas.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

Liz Truss, Penny Mordaunt Fight For Conservative Party Leadership

[world politics news]

Backers of Foreign Secretary Liz Truss have attacked Tory leadership rival Penny Mordaunt, as they fight to stay in the race to succeed Boris Johnson.Former Brexit Minister Lord Frost said Mordaunt did not "master detail" and ex-party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith questioned her level of experience. 

Mordaunt said rivals were trying to stop her as they did "not want to run against me" in a vote by Tory members.

She also promised she would "not engage" in negative campaigning.

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak came first in Thursday's second round of voting by Conservative MPs for a new party leader and prime minister, with Mordaunt second and Truss third.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#FINLAND: Parliament Speaker: Consider Joint Nordic Air Defense Control

[world politics news]

Finland, Sweden and Norway should consider organizing their air defence control jointly in territories north of the Arctic Circle in coming years, the speaker of the Finnish parliament Matti Vanhanen, said.

If Finland and neighboring Sweden's applications for membership in the Western military alliance NATO are successful, the Nordic nations could for the first time consider organizing parts of their defense jointly with their common neighbor Norway, which is already a NATO member.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#HONGKONG: Former Student Leader Arrested For Sharing Facebook Post

[world politics news]

Former Hong Kong student leader Owen Au was arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) at 7 a.m. on Tuesday for allegedly violating the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance, according to HKFP sources.

Over seven months ago, Au shared a post by self-exiled democrat and former lawmaker Ted Hui on Facebook, which encouraged the public to cast blank votes in the first “patriots only” Legislative Council election last December.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#UK: PM Johnson Stepping Down Sept. 6

[world politics news]

Boris Johnson’s premiership will end on September 6 under a timetable agreed to by Conservative Party bosses.

The U.K prime minister is set to step down from his role in eight weeks’ time, after a new Tory leader is elected in a ballot of party members ending September 5. Johnson’s anointed successor is likely to take over as Tory leader and U.K. prime minister the following day — Tuesday, September 6.

Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, which decides the leadership timetable, announced the terms on Monday night after the rules were rubber-stamped by the Conservative Party board.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#UKRAINE: Zelinsky Sacks Several Ambassadors

[world politics news]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Kyiv’s ambassador to Germany on Saturday as well as several other top foreign envoys, the presidential website said.

In a decree that gave no reason for the move, he announced the sacking of Ukraine’s ambassadors to Germany, India, Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#INDIA: Twitter Sues Gov't Over Free Speech

[world politics news]

Twitter announced that it has launched a lawsuit against the Indian government, the latest salvo in an ongoing fight over the country's aggressive speech laws. The suit comes after Twitter was ordered to remove a number of accounts and posts that violate India's obscenity and defamation laws, The New York Times first reported. 

Twitter has now removed the posts, but it is seeking court protection from such orders in the future, citing free speech.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#SRILANKA: President To Resign After Mob Occupies Home, Office, Demands Resignation

[world politics news]

Thousands of protesters in the Sri Lankan city of Colombo stormed the president’s residence and took over his administrative offices amid growing calls for him to resign, which later in the day, he agreed to do on the 13th of July.

In extraordinary scenes, protesters demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa steps down, as the country continues to struggle through its worst economic crisis since independence, charged into the president’s official residence on Saturday morning.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#RUSSIA: Bill Seeks to Regulate Issuance Of Cryptocurrencies

[world politics news]

 

Russian authorities are accelerating cryptocurrency regulation with the introduction of a new bill seeking to govern the issuance of cryptocurrencies. 

A bill under consideration before the country’s parliament spells out that individuals or companies involved in the illegal issuance of cryptocurrencies will be subject to significant fines. 

According to the bill by Anatoly Aksakov, if adopted into law, individuals will be fined up to 5,000 Russian rubles ( $90) and 30,000 ($550) for officials. Legal entities will part with a fine of between 700,000 and 1,000,000 rubles.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#JAPAN,: Former PM Shinzo Abe Assassinated

[world politics news]

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated at a campaign stop yesterday by a lone gunman. He was 67 years old. 

Abe, who stepped down in 2020, was shot moments into a speech in Western Japan. He was immediately airlifted to a hospital, but was later pronounced dead. 

Police arrested suspected gunman, a 41-year-old former member of the Japanese Naval Defense Force, who used a homemade shotgun to shoot Abe twice, was easily apprehending him at the scene.

World leaders reacted with shock at the news.

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

#EU : Euro Parliament Says Nuclear, Natural Gas Can Be Considered "Green" Fr Investments

[world politics news]

European Union lawmakers have voted in favor of calling natural gas and nuclear power "green" or "sustainable" sources of energy.

The European Commission has argued that natural gas — a fossil fuel primarily made of methane, a significant contributor to the climate crisis — plays a key role in transitioning to renewable energy, angering climate activists and some lawmakers. 

Natural gas typically emits less carbon dixoide than coal, but critics argue more focus should be place on boosting renewable energy, and that supporting new gas projects will only prolong the life of the fossil fuel.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

UK: Johnson To Resign As Conservative Party Leader

[world politics news]

Boris Johnson on Thursday announced his resignation as head of the U.K. Conservative Party, but promised to stay on as prime minister until a new party leader is chosen. A historic number of government resignations, triggered by a series of scandals, had made Johnson's position untenable.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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