Now, Non-Citizens Can Vote in NYC Elections

Now, Non-Citizens Can Vote in NYC Elections

Freedomist Editor January 10, 2022

New NYC Law Allows Noncitizens To Vote In Watershed Moment

From www.huffpost.com
2022-01-09 20:21:57

Excerpt:

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 800,000 noncitizens and “Dreamers” in New York City will have access to the ballot box — and could vote in municipal elections as early as next year — after Mayor Eric Adams allowed legislation to automatically become law Sunday.

Opponents have vowed to challenge the new law, which the City Council approved a month ago. Unless a judge halts its implementation, New York City is the first major U.S. city to grant widespread municipal voting rights to noncitizens.

More than a dozen communities across the U.S. already allow noncitizens to cast ballots in local elections, including 11 towns in Maryland and two in Vermont.

Noncitizens still wouldn’t be able to vote for president or members of Congress in federal races, or in the state elections that pick the governor, judges and legislators.

The Board of Elections must now begin drawing an implementation plan by July, including voter registration rules and provisions that would create separate ballots…

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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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VA Senator Gets 0K Over Arrest for Tearing Down Statue

VA Senator Gets $300K Over Arrest for Tearing Down Statue

Freedomist Editor January 10, 2022

Virginia senator to receive $300k to settle protest lawsuit

From apnews.com
2022-01-09 19:09:29

Excerpt:

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) — The city of Portsmouth will pay a Virginia state senator $300,0000 under a settlement in a lawsuit the senator filed after she was charged with damaging a Confederate monument during a 2020 protest.

Portsmouth police charged Sen. Louise Lucas and several others with conspiracy to commit a felony and injury to a monument in excess of $1,000 after a protest that drew hundreds of people to a local Confederate monument. The heads of Confederate statues were ripped off and one statue was pulled down, critically injuring a demonstrator.

Two months later, former Portsmouth police Chief Angela Greene announced felony criminal charges against Lucas and 18 others, including NAACP leaders, public defenders and a Portsmouth School Board member.

A judge later dismissed all charges in the case. Greene was fired the same day.

Lucas served Greene and the police officer who filed charges against her with the $6.75 million lawsuit in November 2021, alleging malicious…

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Princeton Employee Open About Death Threats to Trump Admin

Freedomist Editor January 10, 2022

Former Iranian Official Who Works at Princeton Brags About Death Threats Against Trump Admin Official

From freebeacon.com
2022-01-09 17:00:22
Adam Kredo
Excerpt:

A former Iranian official who is a faculty member at Princeton University recently bragged in an interview about how his hardline government’s death threats against a former top Trump administration official had him and his family “trembling” with fear.

Hussein Mousavian, a former member of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team who works as a Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University, said in a recent interview that the Iranian regime’s threats to murder Brian Hook, the Trump administration’s special envoy for Iran, have heavily impacted Hook’s family life.

“I went to America and an American told me that Brian Hook’s wife can’t sleep, she cries and trembles, she told Brian, ‘They’ll kill you,’ since Hook was a partner in the death of Haj Qassem [Soleimani], that’s how much they were trembling,” Mousavian said, referring to Iran’s vow to kill Hook for his role in the Trump administration’s drone strike that killed Iranian…

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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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Musk Faces Backlash For China Tesla Plant Opening

Freedomist Editor January 4, 2022

Activists urge Tesla to close new Xinjiang showroom : NPR

From www.npr.org
2022-01-04 10:47:18
The Associated Press
Excerpt:

American activists are appealing to Tesla Inc. to close a new showroom in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang, where officials are accused of abuses against mostly Muslim ethnic minorities.

Tesla on Friday announced the opening of its showroom in Urumqi, the Xinjiang capital, and said on its Chinese social media account, “Let’s start Xinjiang’s all-electric journey!”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, an American organization based in Washington, D.C., on Monday urged Tesla and its chairman, Elon Musk, to close the showroom and “cease what amounts to economic support for genocide.”

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Robot Dogs to Replace Most US Troops as Tests Continue

Mark Clouse January 4, 2022

US Air Force Testing Light Detection, Ranging on ‘Robot Dogs’

From www.thedefensepost.com
2022-01-04 11:56:50

Excerpt:

The US Air Force has started integrating light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technology on quadrupedal “robotic dogs” to increase their capability to see in tight spaces and produce digital images of their surroundings.

According to a Popular Science report, putting LIDAR technology on ground robots allows the military to glimpse what the unit sees and gives soldiers a way to map the interior of a building at a safe distance.

LIDAR emits light waves to measure the distance of an object or target based on the amount of time it takes for each pulse to bounce off surrounding objects and return to the sensor.

Air Force Staff Sergeant Javier Rodriguez explained that LIDAR-equipped robots will be useful for reconnaissance and disaster relief.

“LIDAR is the gold standard, because we can get information we couldn’t get from just pictures,” Air Force Rapid Airfield Damage Assessment System program manager Sean Cloud said in a video. “We can calculate how much material we need to repair based on the craters and fill volume.”

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IOC Won’t Address China’s Slave Labor Problem

Ivo Fysic January 4, 2022

Faced With Questions About Forced Labor in China, the I.O.C. Is Tight-Lipped

From www.nytimes.com
2022-01-04 11:13:47
Vivian Wang
Excerpt:

Informal efforts to arrange a conversation between the I.O.C. and the Coalition to End Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region — a group of more than 300 organizations established last year — began in May, according to Mr. Freeman. Finally, in the fall, the I.O.C. invited the coalition to send a formal request to meet, which it did, on Oct. 8.

Officials at first offered a written response instead. In an email on Oct. 29, Ms. Martowicz, the head of human rights, replied to Mr. Freeman to say that the I.O.C.’s sourcing policies banned forced labor. But she did not say how the I.O.C. enforced that ban, other than “from time to time” “engaging with our suppliers” — in other words, the companies themselves — “to request evidence of compliance.”

Third-party checks, she added, were something the I.O.C. “will be looking at” in “coming months.”

Critics say the I.O.C. has been slow to adopt a human rights framework, compared with corporations or even other global sports…

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Italians to Elect New President

Mark Clouse January 4, 2022

Italy sets Jan 24 to start voting for new Italian president

From abcnews.go.com
2022-01-04 11:25:59

Excerpt:

ROME — Italy’s lower chamber of Parliament on Tuesday set Jan. 24 as the start date to begin voting for a new president, officially kicking off a campaign that is expected to see Premier Mario Draghi and ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi vie for the prestigious job.

The victor, who is chosen by around 1,000 “big electors” among lawmakers and regional representatives, will replace President Sergio Mattarella, whose seven-year term ends Feb. 3. The voting is expected to last several rounds over several days.

The Italian presidency has limited powers and is largely ceremonial. But the president plays a key role in resolving political impasses, which aren’t uncommon in Italy. And this election comes before a new season of campaigning before the 2023 parliamentary election.

During Italy’s political…

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