Voters worldwide shun elections as democracy is bastardised, reduced to a vague dynastic idea
As half the world’s population votes in elections this year, voters are in a foul mood. From South Korea to Poland to Argentina, incumbents have been ousted in election after election. In Latin America alone, leaders and their parties had lost 20 elections in a row until this past weekend’s presidential election in Mexico, according to a tally by Steven Levitsky, a Harvard professor of government.
Auditors unearth how former US government advisor on Covid pocketed $690m Big Pharma bribes as pandemic killed millions
And thousands of names are still shrouded in mystery. Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com counted 4,669 instances of payments to scientists with redacted names from October 2009-September 2023. The exemptions cited under FOIA law justifying the redactions, (b)(4), protect “from disclosure trade secrets and commercial or financial information that is privileged and confidential.”
There’s growing fear in US Trump is running for presidency to protect himself from prison
When the state charges were first brought against Trump in New York, pundits with little understanding of the legal system immediately branded the case to be weak, overdrawn, and too complicated. But the basic facts of the case are actually straightforward, revealing a criminal conspiracy that was designed to help Trump win the White House in 2016.
Date with fate: For Trump’s false records charges prison is rare, but not unprecedented
In deciding any sentence, Merchan may weigh the underlying seriousness of the charges due to their ties to the 2016 election, as well as Trump’s decision to go to trial rather than accept responsibility by pleading guilty.
After two decades in the doldrums Arsenal managed by Arteta, has joined Europe’s elite clubs
Arsenal’s average age this season, weighted by minutes played, was just 25, making them the seventh-youngest team in Europe’s top five leagues. Of their 15 top players by minutes played, only two — Trossard and goalkeeper David Raya – are older than 26.
It’s worse than hell: Drained emotionally and materially, Ukrainian military fear being overrun by Russians
Ukraine’s soldiers talk of exhaustion, faith, personal loss and a perilous shortage of munitions as Russian forces take new ground. We travelled along the front line, where Ukrainian troops say Vladimir Putin must be beaten back. Otherwise, said one, “he’s not going to stop over here.”
South Africa’s assassinations epidemic: ANC, like Kanu in Kenya, leaves a trail of political killings
Political demagoguery, explain Prof Oniang’o and Salat, is the source of disenchantment with ANC and Kanu, leading to splits. Similar situations obtain in Zimbabwe, where independence parties Zapu-PF and Zanu-PF are sliding into insignificance. They are accused of the same mistakes Kanu made in Kenya, and which are currently being replayed in South Africa as the country holds its seventh general election.
Walk from freedom: South Africa’s ANC loses favour with voters as it suffers ‘Kanu moment’
When Tell Media caught up with Salat to shed light on such unedifying comparisons. He summed it up as “an abuse of trust by Kanu” that is being replicated all over Africa. According to Salat, Kanu has become a “case study in Africa for betraying the wretched of the earth.”
Sudan’s descent into chaos provides fertile ground for al-Qaeda gestation, spread terror
Sudan’s civil strife predates the current fighting by decades. It ignited in 1989 when al-Bashir seized power, aligning the nation with radical Islamist ideologies. He imposed Sharia law and in 1991 sheltered al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Under al-Bashir’s regime, bin Laden established training camps and expanded al-Qaeda’s financial network, laying the groundwork for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Uncertainty hangs over ruling ANC party as South Africans get ready to vote next week
The vote occurs in the lower house of Parliament, known as the National Assembly, and it needs at least 201 votes from its 400 lawmakers to elect a president. The ANC has always had a majority in Parliament since 1994 and so the president has always been from the ANC.
