Tag: democracy
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Paris votes on SUVs: voters back proposal to triple parking fees for SUV drivers
Paris voters on Sunday, February 4, backed a proposal from the city’s socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo to triple parking charges on hefty SUV-style cars, according to official results from city hall. Parisians voted 54.55 percent in favor of charging cars weighing 1.6 tonnes or more 18 euros ($19.50) per hour for parking in the city…
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El Salvador votes in presidential election that the ‘world’s coolest dictator’ has clear path to win
Salvadorans voted in presidential and legislative elections Sunday, with many expressing willingness to forego some elements of democracy if it means keeping gang violence at bay. With soaring approval ratings and virtually no competition, Nayib Bukele was almost certainly headed for a second 5-year term as president. After voting, he jousted with reporters, asserting that…
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At least 19 dead in Chile as forest fires approach densely populated central areas
Intense forest fires burning around a densely populated area of central Chile have left at least 19 people dead and destroyed about 1,100 homes, officials said Saturday. Chile’s Interior Minister Carolina Tohá said there were currently 92 forest fires burning in the center and south of the country, where temperatures have been unusually high this week.…
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Testimonies describe forced displacement campaign in northern Gaza
Meters away from Egypt’s border with the city of Rafah in southern Gaza stands Mahmoud Ahmad, whose real name has been altered at his request. Mahmoud asks passers-by about a place where he can find shelter for himself and his family, who were recently displaced from Gaza City. With a yellowed face and a hesitant…
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Thai court rules MFP bid to reform lese majeste law violates constitution
A court in Thailand has ruled that the biggest party in parliament violated the constitution when it sought to change a strict law against insulting the country’s monarchy. The reformist Move Forward Party (MFP) finished first in last year’s election on a progressive platform that included a proposal to amend the lese majeste law that…
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Australia to spend $80m on business case for Sydney-Newcastle high speed rail
The Albanese government will spend $80m developing a business case for the Sydney-to-Newcastle stretch of its east coast high speed rail line, as the decades-long project inches further forward. The transport minister, Catherine King, said the allocation of $78.8m was part of Labor’s $500m election commitment to the early stages of high speed rail, with…
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French farmers prepare for lengthy showdown as they launch ‘siege of Paris’
“We’ll stay for as long we have to” — that’s the mantra of protesting farmers in France who insisted they won’t back down as they launched a “siege of Paris” onboard their tractors. The slogan has been repeated by unions and first-time demonstrators alike since the disgruntled farmers’ movement was launched a week and a…