Israel’s Electricity Law Triggers Institutional Uncertainty

Israel’s Electricity Law Triggers Institutional Uncertainty

Freedomist Editor January 10, 2022

Electricity Law brings Israel’s institutions to the brink of collapse – The Jerusalem Post

From www.jpost.com
2022-01-09 19:10:00

Excerpt:

The legislative process was one of the most brutal, nondemocratic, politicized processes in Knesset history and the consequences for the State of Israel will be irrevocable…..

What does this new law do that the old law didn’t? Even before Ra’am used its political leverage to pass this law, infrastructure hookups could be expedited for neighborhoods or individual structures that lacked permits but which the government actively sought to regulate or legalize.

The new law takes what was an exception and makes it the rule. It takes a clause that was applicable to select outlier cases and applies it in wholesale fashion and virtually indiscriminately. How indiscriminately? No one – not even the members of Knesset who voted for it – actually knows, and that’s part of the problem…..

The legislative process was one of the most brutal, nondemocratic, politicized processes in Knesset history – and like other highly questionable pieces of legislation in the recent and not-so-recent past, the consequences for the State of Israel will be irrevocable.

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Kazakh Government Crackdown on Gas Tax Protests Leaves 164 Dead

Parker Davis January 10, 2022

Kazakhstan says 164 killed in week of protests over sharp jump in fuel prices, other grievances

From www.cbc.ca
2022-01-09 15:01:26
The Associated Press
Excerpt:

Kazakhstan’s Health Ministry said Sunday that 164 people have been killed in protests that have rocked the country over the past week.

The figures reported on the state news channel Khabar-24 are a significant rise from previous tallies. It is not clear if the deaths refer only to civilians or if law-enforcement deaths are included. Kazakh authorities said earlier Sunday that 16 police or national guard had been killed. Authorities previously gave the civilian death toll as 26.

Most of the deaths — 103 — were in Almaty, the country’s largest city, where demonstrators seized government buildings and set some afire, according to the ministry. The country’s ombudsperson for children’s rights said three of those killed were minors, including a four-year-old girl.

The ministry earlier reported more than 2,200 people sought treatment for injuries from the protests, and the Interior Ministry said about 1,300 security officers were injured.

The office of Kazakhstan’s president…

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10 Killed in Brazil When Cliff Falls Into Boats

Mark Clouse January 10, 2022

Dramatic video captures cliff collapsing on tourist boats, killing 10 in Brazil

From www.cbsnews.com
2022-01-09 20:49:35

Excerpt:

Ten people died when a cliff collapsed onto tourist boats on a lake in Brazil, officials said Sunday after the bodies of two missing people were found. On Saturday a large rock fragment broke free of a ravine and plunged onto four boats in Furnas Lake in Brazil’s eastern Minas Gerais state, as panicked tourists watched helplessly from other vessels.

Dramatic videos shared on social networks captured the moment the cliff collapsed.

URGENTE

Rocha desaba sobre banhistas em #EscarpasdoLago (MG)
Confira: https://t.co/xPnulAgs0E #R7Minas pic.twitter.com/zZukQA1cww

— Record TV Minas (@recordtvminas) January 8, 2022

The bodies of the two remaining missing individuals were found Sunday by rescuers, civil police commissioner Marcos de Souza Pimenta told reporters.

More than 30 people were injured, including nine who had to be hospitalized, authorities said.

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After Dodgy Election, New Nicaraguan Congress Sworn In

Freedomist Editor January 10, 2022

Nicaragua congress takes office after questionable elections – CBS17.com

From www.cbs17.com
2022-01-09 20:44:30

Excerpt:

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Members of Nicaragua’s new congress have taken office, one day before President Daniel Ortega is to be sworn following highly questionable elections.

Of the 90 legislators sworn in Sunday, 75 belong to Ortega’s Sandinista party and the other 15 are from tiny parties considered collaborators with the regime.

The legislators elected Gustavo Porras, a long-time Sandinista and congress member, as leader of the unicameral legislature.

The congressional members, like Ortega, were elected in Nov. 7 elections that drew condemnation internationally.

Ortega was elected to a fourth consecutive term in the elections, which were broadly criticized as a farce after seven likely challengers to Ortega were arrested and jailed in the months prior to the vote.

Nicaragua’s government announced in November it will withdraw from the Organization…

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US Olympic Pairs Skater Joins China Protest

Freedomist Editor January 10, 2022

Timothy LeDuc, US pairs skater, calls out human rights abuses in China

From www.usatoday.com
2022-01-09 17:54:20

Excerpt:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In the months and weeks leading up to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, U.S. athletes have been repeatedly asked about human rights abuses in China and, for the most part, tiptoed around them.

Pairs skater Timothy LeDuc did not do that Sunday.

Hours after they were named to Team USA, LeDuc fielded a question about human rights abuses in China, whether athletes have a responsibility to use their platform to speak about them and whether they plan to do so. They called it “a really hard question to answer.”

“There’s no simple answer to this question,” said LeDuc, who will become the first openly non-binary athlete to compete at an Olympic Winter Games.

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No Easing Tensions in Ukraine Affair

Freedomist Editor January 10, 2022

Secretary of State Antony Blinken: Breakthrough with Putin unlikely as Ukraine tensions mount

From www.washingtontimes.com
2022-01-09 18:29:05
Guy Taylor
Excerpt:

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday downplayed prospects for a diplomatic breakthrough with Moscow ahead of high-stakes U.S.-Russia talks this week aimed at staving off a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“I don’t think we’re going to see any breakthrough,” Mr. Blinken said of the talks officially slated to begin Monday in Geneva between Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

…

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Solomon Islands Media Reporting Taiwanese Behind 2021 Riots

Mark Clouse January 4, 2022

Did Taiwan Engineer Solomon Islands Riots?

Taiwan island ‘sponsored premeditated riots’ in Solomon Islands: nation’s media

From www.globaltimes.cn
2022-01-04 10:42:56

Excerpt:

Local media in the Solomon Islands recently reported that Taiwan island allegedly sponsored the “premeditated” anti-government riots in Honiara with the purpose of trying to pull down the government of the Solomon Islands and sabotage relations between China and the Solomon Islands.

“The acts of violence directed against the democratically-elected government of the Solomon Islands, the ethnic Chinese business community in Honiara and the majority of peace-loving Solomon islanders was at its very core a premeditated, cold-blooded and cowardly Taiwan-sponsored attempt to pull down the national government and undermine Solomon Islands-People’s Republic of China relations,” Solomon Star, a local English media, reported on December 17, quoting a writer given the name of George Belau.

The newspaper said the riots resulted in the destruction of the livelihoods of…

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Haitian Prime Minister Survives Assassination Attempt

Mark Clouse January 4, 2022

Haiti PM’s Would-Be Assassin Identifed as Columbian

Colombian suspected of involvement in killing of Haiti president held in Panama – sources

From www.news24.com
2022-01-04 11:59:03

Excerpt:

On Monday, Panama authorities arrested a former member of the Colombian military wanted for questioning in connection with the assassination last year of Haiti president Jovenel Moise, two people familiar with the matter said.

The suspect, Mario Antonio Palacios, 43, was detained during a stopover of a flight on which he was being deported from Jamaica to Colombia, the sources said.

Haitian authorities have accused Palacios of forming part of a mercenary group that assassinated Moise in July in an assault on his residence, during which his wife was also wounded.

Palacios was detained during a stopover in Panama and asked to “voluntarily” board a flight to the United States, a Colombian immigration source said.

In case he resisted, Panamanian officials said they would enforce an Interpol red notice issued by the United States, which is in addition to one that Haiti had already issued, the source said.

Haiti has also issued an Interpol red notice for Palacios.

It was not clear if he had gone to the United States.

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Sudan’s PM Resigns

Mark Clouse January 4, 2022

Struggle for democracy in Sudan continues as PM Hamdok resigns

From www.csmonitor.com
2022-01-03 16:58:49
Samy Magdy
Excerpt:

Cairo

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced his resignation Sunday amid political deadlock and widespread pro-democracy protests following a military coup that derailed the country’s fragile transition to democratic rule.

Mr. Hamdok, a former U.N. official seen as the civilian face of Sudan’s transitional government, had been reinstated as prime minister in November as part of an agreement with the military following the October coup. In that time he had failed to name a Cabinet and his resignation throws Sudan into political uncertainty amid uphill security and economic challenges.

In a televised national address Sunday, Mr. Hamdok called for a dialogue to agree on a “national charter” and to “draw a roadmap” to complete the transition to democracy in accordance with the 2019 constitutional document governing the transitional period.

“I decided to return the responsibility and declare my resignation as prime…

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Somaliland Appeals to Canada for Aid Against Rising Threats

Mark Clouse January 4, 2022

Somaliland asks Canada for help amid superpower rivalry in Horn of Africa

From www.theglobeandmail.com
2022-01-04 11:00:00

Excerpt:

Somali’s breakaway Somaliland region is asking Canada for international recognition and aid, saying it’s important for Western countries to support a functioning democracy that’s resisting China’s influence in the Horn of Africa.

The self-declared state, which split from Somalia 30 years ago, sent its Foreign Minister, Essa Kayd, to Washington, London and Ottawa recently as part of a campaign to refashion its external relationships. A U.S. congressional staff delegation later visited Somaliland.

Mr. Kayd, 61, who also holds Canadian and U.S. citizenship, met with officials at Canada’s Department of Global Affairs in December. He’s asking countries to provide aid directly to Somaliland instead of giving it through Somalia. He also hopes for recognition as a separate country, a measure that Canada would not likely take unless it was part of a concerted effort…

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