All posts tagged: weakened

Scotland’s Leader Resigns After Conflicts Over Climate Change, Gender Identity Weakened Government

Scotland’s Leader Resigns After Conflicts Over Climate Change, Gender Identity Weakened Government

LONDON (AP) — Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, resigned on Monday, triggering a leadership contest as the governing Scottish National Party seeks to avoid early elections. Yousaf, whose party has been weakened by a campaign finance scandal and divisions over transgender rights, was finally brought down by his decision to oust the Green Party from his governing coalition because of differences over climate change goals. He was forced to resign after that left him unable to cobble together a majority in Scotland’s devolved regional parliament. With no prospect of victory in two confidence votes later this week, Yousaf quit rather than face defeat. “I’ve concluded that repairing our relationship across the political divide can only be done with someone else at the helm,” he told reporters in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital. “I have therefore informed the SNP’s national secretary of my intention to stand down as party leader.” Yousaf will remain first minister as the SNP tries to choose a replacement who can command a majority in the Scottish parliament. If it fails to do so, …

The taxman cometh for India’s weakened opposition as Modi eyes election victory

The taxman cometh for India’s weakened opposition as Modi eyes election victory

The arrest of top Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal on corruption charges weeks before the general elections helped galvanise an opposition alliance against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party. But as the investigations and graft allegations against opposition politicians mount, defections to the ruling party are also on the rise as they seek to avoid being targeted in tax raids. As supporters of a top Indian opposition leader gathered in New Delhi on Sunday, April 7, to protest against his arrest just weeks before the 2024 general elections, Mary Pinto* joined a parallel solidarity rally in the country’s economic hub, Mumbai. The demonstration came two weeks after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, an opponent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was arrested in a graft case. Members of Kejriwal’s Aam Aadami Party (AAP) have dismissed the corruption allegations as “fabricated” in an attempt by the BJP government to politically “finish” a rival. The government and the BJP have denied the accusations. Since Kejriwal’s shock arrest, his party has held protests primarily in AAP-controlled Delhi and the northern Indian …

Peruvian democracy weakened as government consolidates control: Report | Politics News

Peruvian democracy weakened as government consolidates control: Report | Politics News

Peruvian democracy has continued to deteriorate more than a year after the removal of former President Pedro Castillo, according to a recent report from the Washington-based nonprofit Freedom House. The report — released this month — traced the lingering effects of a government crackdown on protesters, as well as efforts to interfere with judicial independence and other oversight bodies. The result was that Peru slumped from a rating of “free” in 2022 to “partly free” in 2023 and 2024, as Freedom House noted declining democratic protections for the freedom of assembly and eroding safeguards against corruption. “All these regulatory bodies and independent branches of government used to have the possibility of opposing decisions by Congress, and now that possibility is really attenuated,” said Will Freeman, the author of the report and a fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He added that Peru saw the fourth-largest drop in its Freedom House score of any country in the world. “It’s all producing a situation where it’s very possible that, by the next …

Rishi Sunak’s Weakened Authority Looms Over Prime Minister’s Questions

Rishi Sunak’s Weakened Authority Looms Over Prime Minister’s Questions

2 min read1 hr Labour leader Keir Starmer took aim at the continuing divisions in the Conservative Party at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), accusing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of not being able to “stand up” to his own MPs. “He’s now so diminished that his entire focus is stopping his MPs holding the sword of Damocles above his head – literally in the case of the Leader of the House,” Starmer said of the Prime Minister, referring to perceived leadership maneuvers of Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt and her sword-brandishing display at the King’s Coronation last year. “You can see why he doesn’t want an election, why his party have lost faith in him, why half his cabinet are lining up to replace him. No answers, no plan, no proof, and the Prime Minister has never had the courage to stand up to his party.” Starmer suggested that Sunak should address Tory backbench MPs and tell them that “mortgage mayhem” and long NHS waiting lists were the “costs of Tory chaos”. “If they can’t bring themselves to …

Myanmar’s rebels see unity as key to victory over weakened military rulers | Conflict News

Myanmar’s rebels see unity as key to victory over weakened military rulers | Conflict News

Karen State, Myanmar – A young fighter looks out from the upper floor in a concrete skeleton of a church that villagers have been building for two years in this small pocket of southeast Myanmar. The construction work has been a slow undertaking, said 21-year-old Zayar, a member of Myanmar’s Muslim community who moved from the country’s biggest city, Yangon, to this rebel camp near the Thai border to fight against his country’s military rulers. Air strikes by military warplanes are a constant threat in this hamlet in Karen State – also known as Kayin – where jobs are scarce and money is tight. But, little by little, the ethnic Karen here were able to build their church. “Before, we thought the Karen people were dacoits [bandits],” said Zayar, who joined the rebellion against Myanmar’s military just last year. “Now people understand the real situation,” he told Al Jazeera. Zayar’s opinion of the Karen – one of Myanmar’s largest minorities – was shaped by disparaging depictions and stereotypes circulated under the country’s military generals, who primarily hail from the ethnic Bamar majority and have violently suppressed the aspirations of …

Putin won’t lose Russia’s election, but his grip on power could be weakened | Olga Chyzh

Putin won’t lose Russia’s election, but his grip on power could be weakened | Olga Chyzh

In December, Vladimir Putin finally ended any suspense by announcing his candidacy for a fifth term as Russia’s president. With a blend of resignation and cynicism, the world will watch as the country gears up for another presidential “election” – a term I employ with the heaviest of quotation marks. In the lead-up to the election, Russia will undergo a cosmetic transformation. Streets will be cleaned, buildings given a fresh coat of paint and pensioners handed their electoral encouragement: a free meal. On the day of the election, students and state employees will be herded to polling stations to perform their most important job: voting in an orchestrated display of fealty to Putin. Putin will feign humility at his landslide victory, in what will probably be touted as a historic turnout. And yet, rigged as it will be, the election is profoundly important, as Putin knows very well – consider why he exiled his biggest political opponent, Alexei Navalny, to a remote Arctic colony. Authoritarian elections are more than mere theatrics: they are a critical …

Leicester and ageless Mike Brown storm to bonus-point win over weakened Bath | Premiership

Leicester and ageless Mike Brown storm to bonus-point win over weakened Bath | Premiership

Mike Brown made a strong case for a new contract at Leicester as the Bath head coach, Johann van Graan, saw his selection gamble backfire in the Midlands. Van Graan sent a near-second string side to the Tigers lair and they were laid to waste by the hosts with the veteran Brown, playing on the wing, and the lock pairing of George Martin and Ollie Chessum to the fore. Brown, now 38, is eyeing a new deal with the club and did his cause no harm with an explosive display that showed he is an evergreen who shows no sign of wilting. Chessum, in his 50th game for Leicester, and Martin were partnered in the engine room for the first time at club level and took the Bath pack to the cleaners as Leicester got their playoff chase back on track. They had the bonus point wrapped up before half-time and narrowed the gap to fourth place to seven points when defeat here could have left them out of touch. Bath and Van Graan had …

Analysis: Has Israel weakened Hamas enough to win the war on Gaza? | Gaza

Analysis: Has Israel weakened Hamas enough to win the war on Gaza? | Gaza

Almost 23,000 people – the vast majority Palestinian – have been killed since the unprecedented Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7, which launched the Israeli assault on Gaza. As the end of 2023 approaches, the Israeli offensive is showing no signs of any let-up and the death toll is certain to rise on both sides as fighting continues. Political attempts at peace have failed. Israel has stated from the outset that its objective is to eliminate Hamas’s military and governing capabilities. To this end, it has continued the aerial bombardment and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip almost without pause, since October 7. While Israel admits it has failed in this mission so far, it claims it is just a question of time before it achieves this goal. But does the situation on the ground support that claim? The answer is a cautious no. A detailed and impartial analysis of various aspects of its performance leads to the conclusion that so far, Hamas has experienced more successes than failures – for the following …

Markets fall after US credit downgrade; Taylor Wimpey warns rising interest rates weakened housing market – business live | Business

Key events Energy bosses meet Grant Shapps amid debate over net zero The bosses of big energy companies are set to meet Grant Shapps, the energy security secretary, today to discuss the future of net zero as a debate rages over the UK government’s green policies. The meeting comes just days after the government announced it would grant more than 100 new oil and gas drilling licences off the coast of Scotland. The move was immediately condemned by climate campaigners as sending a “wrecking ball” through the government’s climate pledges. Executives from the utility companies EDF and SSE and the oil and gas giants Shell and BP are meeting Shapps, who has faced criticism from his own ranks, including former energy minister Chris Skidmore, who said it was “the wrong decision at precisely the wrong time, when the rest of the world is experiencing record heatwaves”. Shapps told GB News: I’m meeting today with a bunch of energy companies at No 10 who are going to invest £100bn in renewables, and that’s great. Secretary of …