GERMANY: Right-Leaning Party Leader Found Guilty of Sedition After Citing Gov't Stats on Afghan Rapes

[world politics news]

 

The Verden regional court confirms a judgment against Rotenburg  district Alternative for Germany leader Marie-Thérèse Kaiser. She was found guilty of sedition because she is said to have stirred up hatred against Afghan local staff.

Although judge Heiko Halbfas did not accept the defense’s request to call Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to the witness stand, it took almost seven hours on Monday until he announced the verdict: Rotenburg AfD district leader Marie-Thérèse Kaiser has was guilty of incitement when she linked Afghan local Bundeswehr staff to gang rape in a social media post almost three years ago.

“Anyone who attacks human dignity cannot invoke freedom of expression.” said Halbfas. 

Kaiser warned of “culturally alien masses”

In August 2021, a few weeks before the federal election, Kaiser wrote on a so-called tile on her social media accounts: “Afghanistan refugees; Hamburg SPD mayor for ‘unbureaucratic’ admission; Welcoming culture for gang rape?”

[FULL STORY HERE] (in German)

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

#SWITZERLAND: Voters Approve Pension Raise

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Swiss voters backed a plan to raise pensions, the first time in the country’s history that social benefits got an increase via plebiscite.

The proposal to introduce a 13th annual payout to pensioners was supported by 58.2% of the electorate and also met the additional requirement of being passed in the majority of Switzerland’s cantons. A second initiative to raise the retirement age — and subsequently tie it to life expectancy — was rejected, garnering only 25.3% of votes.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#SLOVAKIA: PM Fico Says Slovkia Rejects New WHO Pandemic Treaty

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A week ago, during an hour-long speech at the SMER party conference, of which he is chairman, Prime Minister Robert Fico said he will not support strengthening the powers of the World Health Organisation (“WHO”) at the expense of sovereign states in the fight against pandemics. “Only insane pharmaceutical companies could come up with such nonsense,” he told the more than 400 guests, ambassadors, delegates and party members.

Fico was appointed as Slovakia’s Prime Minister for the fourth time on October 25, 2023 after his SMER – Slovenská Sociálna Demokracia (“SMER”) Party won the election on September 1, and formed a coalition with the centre-left HLAS – Sociálna Demokracia (“HLAS”) and nationalist Slovenská Národná Strana (“SNS”) parties.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#GERMANY: Cabinet Approves Recreational Marijuana Use

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Germany's cabinet voted through plans Wednesday to legalize possession of cannabis as well as community cultivation clubs to serve local communities, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced.

Presenting his plans to reporters in Berlin, Lauterbach said the law should be passed by the Bundestag after the summer recess and come into force as early as the beginning of 2024. He said he does not expect any major changes from parliament.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#CZECHREPUBLIC: Opposition Party Sweeps Local Elections

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The party of former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, the Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO), won most of the local election seats in the country's major cities, according to the final results posted by the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) on Sunday.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#HUNGARY: Landslide Victory For PM Orbán's Party

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The final results of Hungary's parliamentary elections have been published, confirming a landslide victory of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition.

The Fidesz-KDNP coalition will take 135 of the 199 seats in Hungary's parliament, NVI informed on Saturday, after counting the last votes cast in the Parliamentary elections held on April 3.

The opposition alliance, consisting of the Democratic Coalition, Jobbik, LMP, Momentum Movement, Hungarian Socialist Party and Dialogue for Hungary, received 57 seats.

While some have said that Orbán's victory is a victory for Russia's Putin, due to Orbán's refusal to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and his long-standing support for Putin, others have attributed the victory to purely national and local issues.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#SLOVAKIA: Two-Week National Lockdown Ordered As Cases Spike

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Slovakia began a two-week lockdown on Thursday as new COVID-19 cases have spiraled out of control, Economy Minister Richard Sulík said Wednesday.

The central European nation followed neighboring Austria, which locked down all unvaccinated people earlier this week.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Sulík said all restaurants and shops will be closed for 14 days, except for essential stores, such as groceries and pharmacies.

“We all wish and hope that the situation will improve by then,” he said. “We will evaluate the situation again in 10 days.”

Photo: A protest against COVID-19 measures in Košice, Slovakia, on September 1, 2021

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#CZECHREPUBLIC: Three Parties Form Coalition Gov't

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The Czech Republic gained a new government Monday after two party coalitions that garnered a sizeable chunk of votes in the country's parliamentary election last month signed a power-sharing deal.

A three-party, liberal-conservative coalition dubbed Together, composed of the Civic Democratic Party, Christian Democrats and the TOP 09 party, led the election with a 27.8% share of the vote.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#GERMANY: Merkel Era Ends As Social Democrats Win Election

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Germany's center-left Social Democrats (SPD) have claimed victory in the federal election, telling the party of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel it should no longer be in power.

SPD leader Olaf Scholz said he had a clear mandate to form a government, while his conservative rival Armin Laschet remains determined to fight on.

The two parties have governed together for years. But Scholz says it is time for a new coalition with the Greens and liberals.

Such a coalition is likely to continue dismantling Germany's nuclear and coal fired plants in favor of arguably less reliable renewable energy sources.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#HUNGARY: PM Orban Defies EU Over Blocking Funds

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused the European Commission of blocking funds over the country's LGBT policies.

Orban has claimed that the EU had failed to approve Hungary's coronavirus recovery plan because of their disagreements over gay rights.

"The funds are loans that Brussels does not want to give us because of the debate on our LGBT policy," he said in an interview with state media.

In June, the Hungarian parliament banned the "promotion and portrayal of homosexuality" to citizens under the age of 18. 

Orban presented the legal amendment as a child protection tool.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#UKRAINE: Parliament Approves Use Of Cryptocurrency

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The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has adopted Bill No. 3637 "On Virtual Assets," which establishes in Ukraine a mechanism for the legal regulation of virtual assets, such as cryptocurrencies.

According to Ukrinform, 276 MPs voted for the document at its second reading and in its entirety in a Sept. 8 session.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#POLAND: Region Declared "LGBT-Free" Zone By Council; EU To Pull Funding

[world politics news]

A Polish regional council has voted to re-affirm its status as an “LGBT -free zone” despite the EU threatening to remove billions of euros in funding.

The council of Malopolska – a southern region of Poland which includes the country's second city Krakow and 3.4 million citizens – passed a resolution in 2019 which declared itself an “LGBT-free” region.

This prompted a rebuke by the European Commission , which sent a letter to the council demanding it revoked the resolution by the middle of September. If it did not, it could lose the more than €2.5bn (about £2.1bn) in funding it receives from the EU.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#POLAND: Parliament Moves To Approve Media Reform Bill

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The lower house of Poland’s parliament voted 228-216 to narrowly pass a media reform legislation on Wednesday that the US Department of State fears will “significantly weaken the media environment the Polish people have worked so long to build.”

The bill aims to prevent non-European owners from having controlling stakes in Poland-based media companies as part of an effort to nationalize the media.

Effectively, this would force US-based Discovery Inc. to sell its controlling stake in TVN24 network—a flagship evening news program that has a large viewership base and is known to be critical of the current Polish government.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#POLAND: Justice Minister Says Nation Won't Comply With 'Illegal" EU Court Ruling

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Poland's justice minister said it was not possible to comply with a ruling by the top European Union court that the country's new system for disciplining judges broke EU law and should be suspended.

The minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, said the EU court's ruling that Poland should suspend its Supreme Court disciplinary chamber was "illegal in the light of Polish and European law."

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#POLAND: Ruling Party Says It Opts Out Of EU "Social Revolution"

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The European Union is plotting a cultural revolution to destroy traditional families and the continent’s Christian heritage, according to Poland’s most powerful politician.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the nationalist ruling Law & Justice party, is an architect of Poland’s crackdown on gay rights over the last half decade. 

His government has been repeatedly sued by the EU’s executive for eroding the rule of law and may soon face disciplinary action after towns and regions across Poland declared themselves “free of LGBTQ ideology.”

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#CZECHIA: Constitutional Amendment Approved To Ensure Legal Gun Ownership For Self-Protection

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The Czech Chamber of Deputies has approved a constitutional amendment that explicitly gives citizens the right to use firearms when necessary to protect one’s life.

The proposal, first submitted by Martin Červíček of the Civic Democratic Party last year, is based on cementing the right to self-protection, which he says is the most basic human right.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#HUNGARY: New Law Prevents "Promotion Of Homosexuality" To Children

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Hungary’s parliament passed legislation on Tuesday that bans the dissemination of content in schools deemed to promote homosexuality and gender change, amid strong criticism from human rights groups and opposition parties.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who faces an election next year, has grown increasingly vocal on social policy, railing against LGBT people and immigrants in his self-styled illiberal regime.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#CZECHIA: Pres. Babis Survives Confidence Vote

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The Czech government headed by Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Thursday survived a no-confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies.

A total of 171 deputies cast their votes on Thursday night, including 89 voting in favor of the no-confidence motion, and 82 against. At least 101 votes are needed in the 200-member lower house to pass the motion against the government.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#POLAND: Schools To Teach EU Is An "Unlawful Entity"

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Students in Polish schools will be taught that the European Union is an “unlawful entity," says Eucation Minister Przemysław Czarnek. He also wants history classes to focus more on teaching pride in Poland’s past rather than, as before, “shame” about it.

Czarnek said the changes are part of the government’s new “Polish Deal” program, which was unveiled last Saturday. As well as bolstering social spending and introducing a more progressive tax system, the plan also contains elements intended to strengthen Polish identity, such as more history teaching in schools.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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

#POLAND: Author Faces Prison For Insulting The President

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A popular Polish writer and journalist could face up to three years in prison for calling President Andrzej Duda a "moron" in a Facebook post in November.

Jakub Zulczyk accused Duda of failing to understand the US electoral process in a tweet to Joe Biden.

Duda's tweet stopped short of recognising his victory, pending Electoral College confirmation, but hailed his "successful campaign".

Poland has made it a crime to insult state leaders and religion.

In a Facebook post, his British publisher, Legend Times, said they were shocked by the charges.

"History shows us the consequences of denying freedom of speech, it is essential for working society and its chilling oppression cannot be accepted. As his UK publisher, we stand fully with Jakub as I am sure do all writers and others here in the UK.

[FULL STORY HERE]

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