democracy

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Senator Wraps Up Speech After More Than 22 Hours

'I am standing here to ring the alarm bells,' Merkley said during marathon speech

(Newser) - Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon launched a marathon speech on the Senate floor Tuesday night, warning that President Trump's actions pose "grave threats" to American democracy. The Democrat began speaking at 6:21pm Eastern and wrapped it up almost 23 hours later at around 5pm Wednesday. He used...

Peace Prize Winner on Call: 'I Certainly Do Not Deserve This'

Nobel award recognized Maria Corina Machado's fight for democracy in Venezuela

(Newser) - Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado learned early Friday that she'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in an emotional phone call, captured on video , from Kristian Berg Harpviken of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. "Oh my God," Machado told Harpviken, per CBS News . "I am...

Newsom: Trump Isn't Into 'Free and Fair' Elections

California governor warns Dems are plagued by 'weakness,' urges them to 'wake up' and fight back

(Newser) - Gavin Newsom has a message for Democrats and the US electorate in general: "Wake up." The California governor's warning came Wednesday at a Politico summit, where he said "the rule of law is being replaced by the rule of Don" and called for Americans to "...

Vance to Europe: Your Biggest Threat Is From 'Within'

VP accuses European leaders of 'shutting down media,' ignoring the people's will

(Newser) - European leaders were looking to clarify President Trump's approach to Russia and Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference on Friday. But Vice President JD Vance only mentioned Ukraine in passing during a speech in which he scolded Europe's leaders for opposing anti-immigration parties, while signaling support for political...

Who's Worse for Democracy, Biden or Trump? RFK Jr. Picks

Independent POTUS candidate claims Biden is first president to use feds 'to censor political speech'

(Newser) - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. obviously thinks he's a better man for the Oval Office than either of his two main competitors, President Biden and former President Trump, but he made it clear during an appearance this week on CNN that he thinks one of his political foes looms more...

Support for Political Violence in America Is Kind of Shocking

Poll finds 23% of Americans believe it could be necessary 'to save our country'

(Newser) - Nearly one in four Americans support political violence in a new national survey that pollsters say is likely to indicate a "challenging election season." Some 75% of Americans surveyed by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution—including 84% of Democrats, 77% of Republicans, and 73%...

Libraries for 13 Presidents Agree on Risk to Democracy

Joint plea stresses need for compassion and tolerance

(Newser) - Concern for US democracy amid deep national polarization has prompted the entities supporting 13 presidential libraries dating back to Herbert Hoover to call for a recommitment to the country's bedrock principles, including the rule of law and respecting a diversity of beliefs. The statement released Thursday, the first time...

Walesa Joins Thousands in Pro-Democracy March

Crowds in Poland protest government's move toward autocracy

(Newser) - Hundreds of thousands of people marched in an anti-government protest in Poland's capital on Sunday, with citizens traveling from across the country to voice their anger at officials who they say have eroded democratic norms and created fears that the nation is following Hungary and Turkey down the path...

Democracy Is at Stake, Biden Tells Nation

President denounces political violence, conspiracy theories, voter intimidation

(Newser) - President Biden warned the nation Wednesday evening of threats facing American democracy, drawing a line from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and Republican efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, to the violent attack last week on Paul Pelosi, to the intimidation of midterm voters and...

Thousands Demand Return to Rule of Law in Brazil

Worried that Bolsonaro is following Trump's lead, masses support pro-democracy manifestos

(Newser) - Thousands of Brazilians flocked to a law school Thursday in defense of the nation's democratic institutions, an event that echoed a gathering nearly 45 years ago when citizens joined together at the same site to denounce a brutal military dictatorship. In 1977, the masses poured into the University of...

Sting Pauses Warsaw Concert for a Warning

Democracy is 'worth fighting for,' singer tells audience

(Newser) - British musician Sting interrupted a concert in Warsaw on Saturday evening to warn his audience that democracy is under attack worldwide and to denounce the war in Ukraine as "an absurdity based upon a lie." He asked a popular Polish actor, Maciej Stuhr, to come onstage to translate...

Hong Kong Students Stealthily Commemorate Tiananmen

'Goddess of Democracy' statues pop up as police vow to stop annual vigil

(Newser) - What's being described as a subtle "rebellion" has taken place at the Chinese University of Hong Kong ahead of the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. For decades, Hong Kong had marked the anniversary of the June 4, 1989, pro-democracy protest in Beijing—where soldiers opened fire...

2 Possible POTUS Contenders Team Up, With a Warning

Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney speak of need to protect democracy at private event in Virginia

(Newser) - American democracy is rare, fragile, and in need of protection, Mitt Romney told Republican donors on Monday, amid fresh speculation of yet another presidential run . Five people who attended the private fundraiser for GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming—herself a subject of similar speculation —organized by Republican bigwigs...

Obama: Nix the Filibuster, Pass Voting Rights Legislation

In first op-ed since leaving office, former president calls on Senate to 'do the right thing'

(Newser) - President Biden recently called for altering Senate rules if necessary to remove the obstacle of the filibuster so that voting rights legislation can be passed. Now, a big voice is joining in that same chorus. In what USA Today says is his first op-ed since leaving office in 2017, former...

Pope Warns of Threats From Populism, Authoritarianism

In Greece, Francis defends democracy against 'easy answers'

(Newser) - Pope Francis warned Saturday that the "easy answers" of populism and authoritarianism are threatening democracy in Europe and called for fresh dedication to promoting the common good. Arriving in Greece, the birthplace of democracy, Francis used a speech to Greek political and cultural leaders to warn Europe at large...

'Backsliding Democracies' Now Include US

Group cites several factors, but the election fraud claim is the biggest

(Newser) - The US has been experiencing a "visible deterioration" in its relationship with democracy since 2019, a think tank says. And the organization saw a "decline in the quality of freedom of association and assembly" during the protests after the killing of George Floyd last year. But "a...

America's Spy Chief Slammed China. China Now Responds

John Ratcliffe's 'WSJ' op-ed was a 'hodgepodge of lies,' per China's foreign ministry rep

(Newser) - In an "exceedingly rare" accusation on Thursday, the US director of national intelligence called China "the greatest threat to America today, and the greatest threat to democracy and freedom worldwide since World War II." China is now responding to John Ratcliffe's op-ed in the Wall Street ...

Books Are Vanishing in Hong Kong Libraries

Authorities are 'one step away from ... actual book banning,' says activist Joshua Wong

(Newser) - Now unavailable in Hong Kong libraries: books by leading democracy activists. At least nine titles by authors like Joshua Wong and Tanya Chan are disappearing from city libraries only days after China passed a severe national security law , the South China Morning Post reports. The agency in charge of Hong...

Yovanovitch: Our Democracy Is at Risk
Yovanovitch:
Our Democracy
Is at Risk
OPINION
Feb 6, 2020 1:06 PM CST

Yovanovitch: Our Democracy Is at Risk

Ousted ambassador urges Americans to 'stand up' amid 'turbulent times'

(Newser) - Marie Yovanovitch feels freer to speak her mind now that she's retired from the foreign service after 33 years, and the former ambassador to Ukraine is doing just that in a Washington Post op-ed. Yovanovitch, ousted in what her colleagues testified was a "smear campaign" against her by...

Trump Signs a Bill That Might Upset China

The president supports pro-democracy activists

(Newser) - President Trump on Wednesday signed two bills aimed at supporting human rights and pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, the AP reports. Trump signed the bills, which were approved by near unanimous consent in the House and Senate, even as he expressed some concerns about complicating the effort to work out...

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