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Tag: Politics

Chinese-Russian Alliance Has Epic Ambitions to Roll Back US Power
Politics

Chinese-Russian Alliance Has Epic Ambitions to Roll Back US Power

Will China and Russia form an alliance? The question arises every time Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping get together, as they did in Moscow last week, and it mostly misses the point. By any reasonable historical standard, Russia and China already have an alliance dedicated to transforming global politics — even if Americans, blinded by their own experience, don’t yet see it as such.Alliances are as old as international politics. In the 5th century BC, Athens arranged Greek city-states into the Delian League. In the 19th century, Otto von Bismarck forged overlapping, sometimes-secret ties with neighboring powers to safeguard Germany’s position in Central Europe. Since World War II, the US has anchored a global network of alliances to deter aggression and keep the peace. Source link ...
Israel Defense Minister Calls for Freeze to Judicial Overhaul
Politics

Israel Defense Minister Calls for Freeze to Judicial Overhaul

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called on the government to freeze a contentious judicial overhaul, urging the public to stop massive street demonstrations and to begin repairing what he called a widening rift in society that’s endangering the country’s security.“Today, publicly, for the sake of Israel’s security and the security of our children, I say we must stop the judicial overhaul,” Gallant said in a televised address made while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on a trip to London.  Source link
New Zealand tells China its concern on lethal aid to Russia
Politics

New Zealand tells China its concern on lethal aid to Russia

BEIJING (AP) — New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has expressed concern to China over any provision of lethal aid to support Russia in its war against Ukraine during a meeting with her Chinese counterpart. Her press office on Saturday detailed Mahuta’s cautionary remarks in Beijing, days after Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his trip to Moscow, a warm affair in which Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin praised each other and spoke of a profound friendship. Mahuta’s four-day trip, which began Wednesday, was the first made by a New Zealand foreign minister to Beijing since 2018 but it came at an awkward time as Xi visited Moscow the same week to give Putin a diplomatic boost after the International Criminal Court said it wants to put him on trial for alleged war crimes....
Greene’s DC Jail Visit Pulls GOP Closer to Jan. 6 Rioters
News

Greene’s DC Jail Visit Pulls GOP Closer to Jan. 6 Rioters

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene swept into the District of Columbia jail to check on conditions for the Jan. 6 defendants, with Republican lawmakers handshaking and high-fiving the prisoners, who chanted “Let's Go Brandon!” — a coded vulgarity against President Joe Biden — as the group left.And the House Republican leader recently gave Fox News’ Tucker Carlson exclusive access to a trove of Jan. 6 surveillance tapes despite the conservative commentator’s airing of conspiracy theories about the Capitol attack.Taken together, the House Republicans can be seen as working steadily but intently to distort the facts of the deadly riot, which played out for the world to see when Donald Trump's supporters laid siege to the Capitol, and in the process downplay the risk of domestic ...
Why Does US See Chinese-Owned TikTok as a Security Threat?
News

Why Does US See Chinese-Owned TikTok as a Security Threat?

A Singaporean native, Chew told the lawmakers that TikTok prioritizes user safety and as he sought to avert a ban by downplaying the app's ties to China. Both Republican and Democratic representatives aggressively questioned Chew on topics including TikTok’s content moderation practices, its data security plans, and past spying on journalists.Here's a look at some of the concerns about TikTok and its ownership.WHY DOES WASHINGTON SAY TIKTOK IS A THREAT?Political Cartoons on World Leaders Political CartoonsTikTok, which has over 150 million American users, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd., which appoints its executives.ByteDance is based in Beijing but registered in the Cayman Islands, as is common for privately owned Chinese companies. Its headquart...
Kids to require parental consent to access social media apps under new Utah law
Business

Kids to require parental consent to access social media apps under new Utah law

Children and teenagers in Utah are to lose access to social media apps such as TikTok if they don't have parental consent and would face other restrictions under a first-in-the-nation law designed to shield young people from the addictive apps.The two bills Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law also prohibit kids under 18 from using social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., require age verification for anyone who wants to use social media in the state and seek to prevent tech companies from luring kids to their apps using addictive features. The laws passed through Utah's GOP-supermajority Legislature reflect changing perceptions of both Democrats and Republicans toward technology companies. Tech giants like Facebook and Goog...
Alberta’s NDP and UCP deadlocked ahead of provincial election: ThinkHQ report
Global News

Alberta’s NDP and UCP deadlocked ahead of provincial election: ThinkHQ report

Alberta’s rivals United Conservative Party and NDP remain deadlocked in the polls 68 days before the provincial election, a ThinkHQ survey suggests. In a report published on Tuesday, the public relations firm said the NDP holds 46 per cent of the decided vote, which is essentially tied with the UCP at 45 per cent. The NDP regained a “nominal lead” over the UCP since ThinkHQ’s last survey in January.Only 13 per cent of voters are undecided about their vote, according to the report. Read more: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says conservatives must learn to win in ‘big cities’ “The results of this survey are a bit surprising, almost counter-intuitive,” ThinkHQ president Marc Henry said in a statement.“The Smith government has released a ‘chicken in every pot’ bud...
Appeals Court Blocks Vaccine Mandate for US Gov’t Workers
News

Appeals Court Blocks Vaccine Mandate for US Gov’t Workers

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Joe Biden’s order that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 was blocked Thursday by a federal appeals court.The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected arguments that Biden, as the nation’s chief executive, has the same authority as the CEO of a private corporation to require that employees be vaccinated.The ruling from the full appeals court, 16 full-time judges at the time the case was argued, reversed an earlier ruling by a three-judge 5th Circuit panel that had upheld the vaccination requirement. Judge Andrew Oldham, nominated to the court by then-President Donald Trump, wrote the opinion for a 10-member majority.Opponents of the policy said it was an encroachment on federal workers’ lives that neither the Constitution nor ...
Georgia Senate Unveils New Mental Health Bill at Late Hour
Health

Georgia Senate Unveils New Mental Health Bill at Late Hour

ATLANTA (AP) — An effort to make more changes to Georgia's mental health system could stall in the closing days of the 2023 legislative session even though a Senate committee on Wednesday unveiled a rewritten bill that House sponsors and advocates found broadly acceptable.That's because the Senate Health and Human Services Committee didn't take a vote on House Bill 520 and didn't schedule another meeting before a Thursday deadline for bills to advance out of Senate committees.Committee Chairman Ben Watson, a Savannah Republican, said that means a two-thirds vote of the Senate would be required to set aside normal rules and vote on the bill after the deadline. When asked whether he would seek that move, Watson said “That’s probably not my question to answer."That's an apparent reference ...
Arkansas bans transgender people from using school bathrooms that match gender identity
Politics

Arkansas bans transgender people from using school bathrooms that match gender identity

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday signed a law prohibiting transgender people at public schools from using the restroom that matches their gender identity, the first of several states expected to enact such bans this year amid a flood of bills nationwide targeting the trans community.The bill signed by the Republican governor makes Arkansas the fourth state to place such restrictions at public schools, and it comes as bills in Idaho and Iowa also await their governor's signature. And it might be followed by an even stricter Arkansas bill criminalizing transgender adults using public restrooms that match their gender identity.Arkansas' law, which won't take effect until later this summer, applies to multi-person restrooms and locker rooms at public schools and chart...