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Category: Politics

Geert Wilders, the Dutch far-right figurehead sending a chill across Europe

Geert Wilders, the Dutch far-right figurehead sending a chill across Europe

The Guardian reports: Known for his distinctive platinum-blond hairstyle and his aggressive anti-Islam and anti-immigration rhetoric, Geert Wilders has been catapulted by the Dutch elections to the place he loves most to be: at the centre of attention. In a political earthquake, Wilders’ Freedom party was on course late on Wednesday to win the most votes in the country’s parliamentary elections, opening the way for the politician to play a key role in the formation of the next government after…

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Nikki Haley is consolidating the ‘Never Trump’ vote

Nikki Haley is consolidating the ‘Never Trump’ vote

Politico reports: Two years after Nikki Haley vowed not to challenge Donald Trump for the presidential nomination, the former South Carolina governor who served in his administration and once called him a “friend” is becoming the standard-bearer of the movement to knock him out. In recent weeks, Haley has drawn a surge in support from Trump-skeptical Republicans across the GOP, including donors and organizers in early voting states. A group of former Tim Scott donors is preparing to host a…

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Former Obama adviser in custody after halal cart confrontation, NYPD opens hate crime investigation

Former Obama adviser in custody after halal cart confrontation, NYPD opens hate crime investigation

WABC reports: A former Obama administration adviser was taken into police custody Wednesday after a confrontation at a halal cart in Manhattan was caught on camera, police say. Stuart Seldowitz lives around the corner from the halal cart. Several videos captured the former diplomat allegedly harassing the vendor about his Egyptian roots and Islamic faith. Seldowitz was fired from his work with lobbying and communications firm Gotham Government Relations. A hate crime investigation was opened by the NYPD after Seldowitz…

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Far-right conspiracy theorists accused a 22-year-old Jewish man of being a neo-Nazi. Then Elon Musk got involved

Far-right conspiracy theorists accused a 22-year-old Jewish man of being a neo-Nazi. Then Elon Musk got involved

CNN reports: Ben Brody says his life was going fine. He had just finished college, stayed out of trouble, and was prepping for law school. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Elon Musk used his considerable social media clout to amplify an online mob’s misguided rants accusing the 22-year-old from California of being an undercover agent in a neo-Nazi group. The claim, Brody told CNN, was as bizarre as it was baseless. But the fact he bore a vague resemblance to…

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World facing ‘hellish’ 3C of climate heating, UN warns before Cop28

World facing ‘hellish’ 3C of climate heating, UN warns before Cop28

The Guardian reports: The world is on track for a “hellish” 3C of global heating, the UN has warned before the crucial Cop28 climate summit that begins next week in the United Arab Emirates. The report found that today’s carbon-cutting policies are so inadequate that 3C of heating would be reached this century. Temperature records have already been obliterated in 2023 and intensifying heatwaves, floods and droughts have taken lives and hit livelihoods across the globe, in response to a…

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U.S. has sent Israel data on aid group locations to try to prevent strikes, but the strikes continue

U.S. has sent Israel data on aid group locations to try to prevent strikes, but the strikes continue

Politico reports: The Biden administration has been providing Israel with the location of humanitarian groups in Gaza for weeks to prevent strikes against their facilities. But Israel has continued to hit such sites. The information included GPS coordinates of a number of medical facilities and information on movements of aid groups in Gaza to the Israeli government for at least a month, according to three people familiar with the communications. All were granted anonymity because they feared speaking publicly would…

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Ex Obama adviser says killing 4,000 Palestinian children ‘wasn’t enough’

Ex Obama adviser says killing 4,000 Palestinian children ‘wasn’t enough’

Vice News reports: A lobbying group has cut ties with an ex-adviser to former President Barack Obama after videos surfaced that show the man making Islamophobic comments and threats to a food cart employee in New York City. The videos, posted on X (formerly Twitter) by a Columbia University student, shows Stuart Seldowitz asking someone off camera, “Did you rape your daughter like Muhammad did?” and saying that killing 4,000 Palestinian children “wasn’t enough.” Seldowitz was acting director for the…

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Billionaires are lining up to fund Donald Trump’s anti-democratic agenda

Billionaires are lining up to fund Donald Trump’s anti-democratic agenda

Robert Reich writes: As an ever-greater portion of the nation’s total wealth goes to the top, it’s hardly surprising that ever more of that wealth is corrupting US politics. In the 2020 presidential election cycle, more than $14bn went to federal candidates, party committees, and Super Pacs – double the $7bn doled out in the 2016 cycle. Total giving in 2024 is bound to be much higher. That money is not supporting US democracy. If anything, that money is contributing…

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Tux-wearing Christian nationalists laugh about their influence, live from Mar-a-Lago

Tux-wearing Christian nationalists laugh about their influence, live from Mar-a-Lago

Rolling Stone reports: Christian nationalists were out in force at Mar-a-Lago on Friday night, once again demonstrating their proximity to MAGA power. Lance Wallnau — the chief promoter of a “Seven Mountains Mandate” for right-wing Christians to seize control over government and culture — was dressed in a tux and streaming live to his 1 million Facebook followers. The black-tie event was the America First Policy Institute gala at Trump’s Palm Beach estate, where the former president was soon to…

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Asylum in America, by the numbers

Asylum in America, by the numbers

The New York Times reports: Under President Biden, the Border Patrol has arrested more people for illegally crossing the southern border into the country than in any other period since the government started keeping count in 1960. His time in office coincides with a global migration movement driven by tens of millions of people displaced because of war, persecution, climate change, violence and human rights abuses, according to the United Nations. More Americans far from the border are witnessing the…

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Before Hillary Clinton, there was Rosalynn Carter

Before Hillary Clinton, there was Rosalynn Carter

Azadeh Moaveni writes: When Americans look back and take stock of their most impressive first ladies, they rarely think of Rosalynn Carter. In a 2020 poll that asked historians and other experts to rank first ladies on a score of exemplary characteristics, Mrs. Carter came in ninth, trailing Dolley Madison, Betty Ford and Jackie Kennedy. When Apple TV+ produced “First Ladies,” a series of six documentary portraits, in 2020, it ignored Mrs. Carter entirely. So too did Showtime’s 2022 drama…

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Pro-Israel groups are weaponizing civil rights law to suppress dissent on campuses across America

Pro-Israel groups are weaponizing civil rights law to suppress dissent on campuses across America

The Intercept reports: In front of Columbia University’s Low Memorial Library, seven infant-sized bundles of white cloth rested on the steps, splattered with red paint. Behind the swaddles, plywood boards read “10,600 lives slaughtered,” “4,412 children,” and “let Gaza live,” alongside images of Palestinian flags and olive trees. This was the scene where Columbia students gathered last Thursday for a “peaceful protest art installation” and demonstration organized by the campus chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice…

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Argentina’s new far-right president ‘the madman’ takes the stage

Argentina’s new far-right president ‘the madman’ takes the stage

The Associated Press reports: His legions of fans call him “the madman” and “the wig” due to his ferocity and unruly mop of hair. He refers to himself as “the lion.” He thinks sex education is a Marxist plot to destroy the family, views his cloned mastiffs as his “children with four paws” and has suggested people should be allowed to sell their own vital organs. He is Javier Milei, Argentina’s next president. A few years ago, Milei was a…

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Federal court deals devastating blow to Voting Rights Act

Federal court deals devastating blow to Voting Rights Act

Politico reports: A federal appeals court issued a ruling Monday that could gut the Voting Rights Act, saying only the federal government — not private citizens or civil rights groups — is allowed to sue under a key section of the landmark civil rights law. The decision out of the 8th Circuit will almost certainly be appealed and is likely headed to the Supreme Court. Should it stand, it would mark a dramatic rollback of the enforcement of the law…

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More than 60% of Trump voters would consider voting for a different candidate

More than 60% of Trump voters would consider voting for a different candidate

The Hill reports: More than 60 percent of Trump primary voters said there is “at least some chance” they would support a candidate other than former President Trump in the Republican presidential primary, according to a survey from Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll shared Monday with The Hill. The findings come roughly two months before the first Republican presidential primary contests in Iowa. While the poll found that Trump voters were somewhat open to another candidate, it also found that the former…

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Judge Aileen Cannon is setting up some serious roadblocks in Florida that may delay other Trump trials

Judge Aileen Cannon is setting up some serious roadblocks in Florida that may delay other Trump trials

The Daily Beast reports: When Donald Trump’s beloved federal judge issued yet another head-turning order this week to throw the upcoming Mar-a-Lago classified documents trial into limbo, she actually did him an even bigger favor—she created chaos that can spill over into his other legal battles ahead of the 2024 election. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has pushed back what might have been a one- or two-day meeting with prosecutors to review classified documents until February. On Thursday, she also…

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