Political news from elsewhere

Buzz

Buzz

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I have searched and there are no threads for political news from outside North America and Europe so I thought I would start one. :shuffle:


Anyway Iran had parliamentary elections and the reformists won in a landslide. They were also voting for members of "The Assembly of Experts" which is the body that selects Iran's supreme leader. Iran's current supreme leader is 76 and said to have suffered from health problems. The new Assembly of Experts may have to choose another supreme leader someday. Could this mean that sometime in the future Iran could have a moderate as head of state?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35681250
 
allezfred

allezfred

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Tinami Amori said:
Given we have only Britan and USA...

Ireland is having an interesting downtrend for 2 major parties after Friday's elections.... FF and FG are loosing positions to SF and smaller parties.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35680750
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/feb/18/irelands-general-election-the-guardian-briefing

seems like more Irish don't want "establishment" either.
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Didn't think anybody would be interested in our elections. :D

It is a little difficult to say what the message from the voters is. They were not happy with the government which was FG and Labour. FF have made some gains since they were obliterated in the 2011 elections, but are still probably going to be behind FG. Ironic that in the year of the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising FF and FG (the two rival sides in the civil war that followed independence) are the only possible stable coalition. :shuffle:

The left is very splintered. SF did well, but not as well as expected. Many Irish people will never feel comfortable voting for them while Gerry Adams is their leader. Plus their economic plans are completely ridiculous. Same with the Anti-Austerity Alliance/People Before Profit.

One positive is that new party Renua who were formed after anti-abortion deputies broke away from FG lost all of their seats. :D
 
Prancer

Prancer

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Buzz said:
I have searched and there are no threads for political news from outside North America and Europe so I thought I would start one. :shuffle:


Anyway Iran had parliamentary elections and the reformists won in a landslide. They were also voting for members of "The Assembly of Experts" which is the body that selects Iran's supreme leader. Iran's current supreme leader is 76 and said to have suffered from health problems. The new Assembly of Experts may have to choose another supreme leader someday. Could this mean that sometime in the future Iran could have a moderate as head of state?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35681250
Click to expand...
I don't think a moderate is likely any time soon. Roughly 70% of Iran's population is under 30 and youth unemployment is very high; with oil prices as low as they are right now, the economy of Iran isn't likely to pick up a lot of steam quickly, even with the lifting of the sanctions. IOW, Iran is ripe for revolution. There are two ways to deal with that--you can loosen up and hope that keeps everyone happy enough to keep going along, or you can hold the line to keep the masses in order. Historically, Iran has gone with holding the line.
 
allezfred

allezfred

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Tinami Amori said:
Why are there so many statements "we will not enter coalition"? What are the options... i am getting confused.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35682118
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/28/fianna-fail-rules-out-fine-gael-coalition-irish-election
http://www.ibtimes.com/ireland-elections-results-2016-sinn-fein-refuses-coalition-hung-parliament-looms-2326561
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Because it will mean the end of one (or possibly both) of the parties. Ideologically there is very little difference between FF and FG except they were on opposite sides of the civil war.

It will also probably mean that SF will become the main opposition party. :yikes:
 
Tinami Amori

Tinami Amori

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allezfred said:
Because it will mean the end of one (or possibly both) of the parties. Ideologically there is very little difference between FF and FG except they were on opposite sides of the civil war.

It will also probably mean that SF will become the main opposition party. :yikes:
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I am watching..... in!te!re!st!ing!
 
Buzz

Buzz

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Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been detained in connection with the Petrobras scandal. :watch:

The long-running inquiry, known as Operation Car Wash, is probing accusations of corruption and money laundering at Petrobras.

Dozens of executives and politicians have been arrested or are under investigation on suspicion of overcharging contracts with Petrobras and using part of the money to pay for bribes and electoral campaigns.

Police said they had evidence that Lula, 70, received illicit benefits from the kickback scheme.
Click to expand...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35725415
 
Buzz

Buzz

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The son of a Pakistani governor murdered in 2011 has been found. It is believed that he was held by the Pakistani Taliban and a ransom may have changed hands. Governor Salman Taseer was murdered in 2011 by his own bodyguard for his stance against Pakistan's blasphemy laws.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35757074
 
Tinami Amori

Tinami Amori

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Iran launches ballistic missiles, testing UN resolution
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/iran-launches-ballistic-missiles-testing-un-resolution/article29071533/?cmpid=rss1

Turkey cracks down on freedom of press
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/12187721/In-another-blow-to-freedom-of-speech-Turkish-authorities-seize-control-of-opposition-news-agency.html
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-takes-over-media-outlet-accused-links-erdogan-opponent-1150361332

China is still enforcing 2 children per family limit.
http://wkrn.com/2016/03/08/china-no-plan-for-couples-to-have-as-many-kids-as-they-want/

Venezuelan Opposition is attempting to oust Maduro (Chavez’ successor)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/08/venezuela-president-nicolas-maduro-opposition-campaign
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/07/venezuela-parliamentary-election-opposition-win-political-prisoners-amnesty

Argentina’s new president, Mauricio Macri, is fundamentally shifting his country’s economy by dumping Marxism, curing defaults and sparking a capitalist revival.
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/02/25/argentinas-new-president-dumps-marxism-to-spark-capitalist-revival/
 
Buzz

Buzz

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There is huge uproar in Cameroon after the death of a young mother and her unborn twins. Monique Koumateke fell ill and was rushed to the hospital but the midwife on duty told her family she was already dead and should be taken to the morgue. However the babies were apparently still alive but staff at the hospital refused to help. So a relative in desperation tried to cut the babies out with razor blades and the whole thing was videotaped and put in social media. One was already dead and the other baby died soon after. There are now calls for the health minister to resign and several hospital staff members have been arrested.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35877272
 
Skittl1321

Skittl1321

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Buzz said:
There is huge uproar in Cameroon after the death of a young mother and her unborn twins. Monique Koumateke fell ill and was rushed to the hospital but the midwife on duty told her family she was already dead and should be taken to the morgue. However the babies were apparently still alive but staff at the hospital refused to help. So a relative in desperation tried to cut the babies out with razor blades and the whole thing was videotaped and put in social media. One was already dead and the other baby died soon after. There are now calls for the health minister to resign and several hospital staff members have been arrested.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35877272
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OH MY GOD, that's awful.
 
Lisa

Lisa

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Not sure if this has already been posted here:

Unbelievably there is a diplomatic crisis between Germany and Turkey because of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOxs6MWG314 (song with English subtitles)

The German top diplomat in Ankara has been told off by the Turkish foreign ministry (twice now) because of a satirical song broadcast by a regional TV channel. This dispute is mainly about journalism and freedom of speech. It would be funny if it wasn't so so sad.
 
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