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Geopolitics

Courts v. The People? Le Pen Case Is Part Of Global Wave Of Stress Tests For Democracy

France is just the latest in what appears lately to be a non-stop showdown on this fundamental tension of any democratic society: On the one hand, an independent judiciary that treats even the most popular political leaders like every other citizen; on the other, the risk of judicial system usurping the will of voters to choose the leaders they want.

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This Happened

This Happened — August 8: President Nixon Announces Resignation On TV

Updated August 8, 2024 at 11:50 a.m. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon resigned from the U.S. presidency on this day in 1974. Why did Richard Nixon resign? Nixon resigned due to the Watergate scandal, which was a series of illegal activities conducted by members of his administration. The scandal involved a […]

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This Happened

This Happened—January 6: Assault On The U.S. Capitol

Updated Jan. 6, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. It was three years ago on this day that supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on this date. What happened at the Capitol on January 6? After the defeat of former U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters […]

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In The News special series Trump And The World

Indicted, Again! Another Opportunity For Trump To Play The Martyr Card

The third indictment against Donald Trump raises the legal dispute between the United States and its former president to a new level. While Trump cries foul play, drawing shameful comparisons with Nazi persecution 1930s Germany, the consequences of the trial can’t be predicted.

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Geopolitics In The News

Adiós Castillo: Why Latin America Is Ready To Close The Era Of “Cheap Populism”

The impeachment and arrest of Peru’s Leftist president can be taken as perhaps a conclusive signal to the region that populism — from the Left and Right — may have run out of gas.

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In The News

Toxic Delhi, Piñera Dodges Impeachment, Fido Calling

? Zdravo!* Welcome to Wednesday, where Delhi shuts down its schools due to toxic air, Biden bans Nicaraguan officials from entering the U.S., and your dog can now call you. We also see how a new law in Iran, aimed at boosting birth rates in the country, could lead to a rise in HIV/AIDS infections. […]

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In The News

On The Hypocrisy And Empty Slogans Of ‘American Democracy’

A motley crew barging into the U.S. Capitol can hardly be considered to be an attack on democracy in a country where capitalism has already systematically squeezed the rights of common folk.

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Geopolitics OneShot

Photo Of The Week: This Happened In Washington D.C.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/embed/SkCFjpB1RSo expand=1] The United States has been driving news photo agency feeds around the world since last week’s unprecedented scenes of a of pro-Trump mob storming the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. This time, photographer Rod Lamkey captures a more peaceful moment: National Guard troops asleep in the central rotunda. Behind this photograph of […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Ideas Trump And The World

Washington, Rome, Kampala: The Sacred Counting Of Democracy

At 6 p.m. local time Wednesday in Rome, while much of the world was transfixed on Washington, D.C., Italian reporters were huddled in a vast room of the nation’s Parliament to witness another political crisis unfolding. Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced that his minor party would pull out of the government, plunging Italian […]

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In The News

The Latest: China’s Missile Silos, India’s Grim COVID Milestone, Young Chess Champ

Welcome to Friday, where new proof is revealed of China’s long-range missile silos, India surpasses 400,000 COVID deaths, and we meet the youngest chess grandmaster ever. El Espectador also looks at how the popular Hass avocado is threatening Colombia’s ecosystems and causing water shortages in areas once dominated by coffee bean cultivation. • China is […]

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In The News

Impeachment: Trump’s Victory Is Boost For Latin American Strongmen

President Trump’s scuppered impeachment may provide a cue to regional leaders working to undermine their own democracies.

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In The News

The Latest: Twice Impeached, China Lockdown, Navalny Goes Home

Welcome to Thursday, where Trump becomes first president impeached twice, China goes back into lockdown, and a 45,000-year-old wild boar makes news. We also scan what sets “Made in Africa” ID tech apart. SPOTLIGHT: D.C. TO ROME TO KAMPALA, DEMOCRACY IS A COUNTING QUESTION At 6 p.m. local time Wednesday in Rome, while much of […]

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Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics

Worldcrunch Today, Jan. 11: Looming Impeachment, Beijing Lockdown, Kyrgyz Election

Welcome to Monday, where impeachment looms for Trump, a new COVID strain is identified in Japan, and cases spike in China to the highest level in five months. Also, find out what made sharks’ ancestors even scarier … SPOTLIGHT: SWEDEN REVISITED, FROM NORDIC MODEL TO PANDEMIC PARIAH On one of the final Fridays of 2020, […]

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Ideas

Crisis Or Coup? Trump Presidency At Risk From Within

NEW YORK — The New York Times published an extraordinary column this afternoon by an anonymous contributor identified as a “senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardized by its disclosure.” (In a tweet, and perhaps inadvertently, the Times also described its op-ed columnist as a man.) It’s readily apparent why the writer’s job would be threatened. His column describes a White House mired in subterfuge and scheming because President Donald Trump isn’t able or fit to carry out his duties. “The root of the problem is the president’s amorality,” […]

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Ideas Trump And The World

Storm Looms For Trump After Courtroom Bombshells

The President’s former lawyer pleads guilty on the same day his former campaign chairman is convicted of financial crimes. The hand of special counsel Robert S. Mueller is significantly strengthened. What happens now?

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Ideas Trump And The World

Trump For Christmas, A Grim Update For My Friends In Europe

Impeachment is coming, and other failed predictions.

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In The News

The Swamp Of Brazilian Politics

Watching from abroad as Brazil’s anti-corruption probe rumbles into its fourth year, you can’t help but think: “Well, I guess they’re all corrupt…” “How could it get any worse?” No doubt, many Brazilians are thinking the same. The latest episode in this seemingly unending series of accusations and counter-accusations, rising and falling political fortunes, is […]

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Geopolitics Ideas

Michel Temer, Brazil’s New “Black-Box” President

Little is known of what Dilma’s successor actually plans to do to lift Brazil out of its crisis. Temer, whose career has been defined by discretion, must now show his hand.

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blog

A New Kind Of Space Race

The quest for the final frontier is still very much on. But rather than the Cold War-era space race between the two governments of the United States and Soviet Union, the competition now has many players, both public and private. The public sector these days includes China, which recently announced plans to send an unmanned […]

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blog

Dilma Rousseff Faces Senators On Brazil’s Front Pages

O Globo, Aug. 29 Brazil’s suspended president, Dilma Rousseff, will address the Senate today as part of the final moments of her trial before a vote on her impeachment tomorrow. Rousseff studied each and every senator in detail last week “to have something up her sleeve if she gets attacked,” Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported […]

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blog

Dilma Suspended, Tokyo Olympic Probe, Praying For Trump In India

SPOTLIGHT: DEATH IN IRAQ As the attacks in Paris and Brussels have shown, ISIS is a very real threat to daily life in the West. But as unacceptable as the toll paid by innocent European victims may be, it’s always worth remembering who bears the brunt of Islamic terrorism: innocent Muslims. The latest case is […]

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blog

Dilma D-Day, Dozens Killed In Baghdad, Duterte Weeps

SPOTLIGHT: D-DAY FOR DILMA’S IMPEACHMENT After weeks, months even, of political chaos, the Brazilian Senate will vote to impeach President Dilma Rousseff later today. That is the scenario Brazil’s top media outlets are predicting, barring any last-minute twists. Of course in the mess that has become the impeachment process and criss-crossing corruption probes that have […]

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blog

Dilma Loses, Earthquake Toll Rises, Monkey Laughs

DILMA LOSES IMPEACHMENT VOTE More than the necessary two-thirds of the Brazilian lower house of Congress voted in favor of starting impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. O Globo reports on yesterday’s momentous proceedings, as Brazil’s first woman president faces accusations that she manipulated budget figures to secure her reelection in late 2014. A total […]

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blog

Impeachment! On Brazilian Front Page

Folha de S. Paulo, April 18, 2016 “Impeachment!” reads the front page of leading Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo on Monday, a day after Brazil’s lower house of Parliament voted in favor of starting impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. The embattled president faces accusations that she manipulated budget figures to secure her reelection […]

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Economy Ideas

Dilma’s Disastrous Legacy, Destroyer Of Brazilian Wealth

Regardless of when or how she exits the political stage, the Brazilian president will leave chaos in her wake.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Folha Editorial: Dilma Rousseff Must Resign

Paralyzed by scandal and the threat of the president’s impeachment, Brazil can only be governed successfully with new — and irreproachable — leadership.

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blog

South African Daily On President Zuma’s Future

“What now for Zuma?” asks Cape Town-based, Afrikaans-language daily Die Burger on its front page Friday, a day after South Africa’s highest court ruled that President Jacob Zuma breached the constitution by upgrading his private home with government money. The embattled president still has 60 days to repay the estimated $23 million, but the verdict […]

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Geopolitics Ideas

For Dilma And Lula, This Is The End

-Editorial- SAO PAULO — The appointment of such a major figure as Brazil’s ex-President Lula da Silva as Dilma Rousseff cabinet’s chief of staff could be seen as just an expression of the government’s terminal state of despair, stuck with incredibly low popularity poll numbers — and with little support in Congress to fend off […]

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blog

In Brazil, Can 3.6 Million Protesters Be Wrong?

O Globo, March 14, 2016 “Brazil takes to the streets against Dilma and Lula and in favor of Moro,” Rio-based daily O Globo writes on its front page Monday, a day after an estimated 3.6 million Brazilians protested recession and corruption and called for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. Sao Paulo’s Avenida Paulista (pictured […]

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blog

Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff Targeted By Impeachment

The speaker of Brazil’s lowest house of Parliament, Eduardo Cunha, has initiated impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. The political showdown between two leaders described as “arch enemies” was put in stark terms on the Thursday edition of Portuguese-language Brazilian daily Correio, which used the English word “Impeachment” on the front page. Rousseff is facing […]

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blog

Brazil, Can Game-Of-Thrones Politics Save Dilma’s Job?

SAO PAULO — The mess that is Brazilian politics right now would make for a fantastic television drama series. Its intricate plots, combining power disputes and alliances concluded behind closed doors, would easily match those of Game of Thrones, except that the omnipresent blood would be replaced with dirty money. Ever since her reelection for […]

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blog

Extra! Impeached Guatemalan President Jailed For Corruption

Guatemala’s parliament voted to sack President Otto Pérez Molina Thursday, forcing his resignation and immediate arrest for his suspected participation in an extensive corruption ring. Like an ordinary felon, he will have to “answer to justice,” the daily Publinews wrote on its front page. Publinews Guatemala and other Guatemalan dailies also showed the former president […]

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blog

Extra! Massive Brazil Protests Call For Rousseff Impeachment

Folha de S. Paulo, Aug. 17, 2015 Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets in cities across the country Sunday, calling for Dilma Rousseff’s resignation as the Brazilian president and her party face corruption allegations. “New protests keep Dilma under pressure; 135,000 demonstrate in Sao Paulo,” Monday’s Folha de S. Paulo“s front page […]

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