There has been a significant shift in the political landscape in Northern Ireland.
During the elections for the local government, Sinn Féin experienced a surge to unprecedented levels of support and a record number of new councilors, while the DUP’s support remained at the same level.
In addition, the number of people who voted for nationalist parties exceeded the number of people who voted for unionist parties for the very first time. This was a historic moment.
What led to this phenomenon, and what part do demographics play in its development?
And what exactly does all of this imply for the politics, culture, and society of our society’s future?
Ciarán Dunbar is joined on the show by Sam McBride, the Northern Ireland Editor for the Belfast Telegraph, and Allison Morris, the Security Correspondent for the Belfast Telegraph.
The new COMCAR, the Federal Government’s nationwide chauffeur service for lawmakers, VIPs, and senior public workers, will be the BMW iX electric SUV.
The BMW iX electric SUV will replace 90 BMW 6 Series GT sedans on three-year contracts.
After Holden Caprice manufacture ended, BMW 6 Series GTs replaced them.
BMW removed the 6 Series Gran Turismo from its Australian showroom line-up within weeks of COMCAR’s announcement in May 2020, but fleet purchasers like the Federal Government may still acquire it.
Drive stated that COMCAR initiated a two-year trial of the Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Ioniq in early 2021 to assess the viability of transitioning from petrol and diesel to electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
The Commonwealth Fleet Vehicle Selection Policy requires all vehicles to be low- or zero-emission, have a five-star ANCAP safety rating, provide ‘value for money’, and meet minimum ‘fit for purpose’ requirements, such as accommodating multiple adult passengers and their luggage.
BMW iX3, Polestar 2, Genesis GV60/GV70, Kia EV6, Tesla Model Y, and Hyundai Ioniq 5 were also evaluated.
“COMCAR assessed several factors, including battery consumption, charging capability, vehicle handling, manoeuvrability and performance in a variety of traffic conditions, driver and passenger comfort, ease of access for passengers, luggage space and potential integration with the [organisation’s booking system],” the Department of Finance stated in a written statement.
“The practical assessments provided COMCAR with a good cross-section of feedback from technical tests, driver feedback, ‘real life’ use, as well as input from the Australian Federal Police and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.”
The “only vehicle that is suitable for all aspects of COMCAR’s operations” is the BMW iX.
The BMW iX xDrive40, recently purchased by the NSW Police Force as a highway patrol car, employs two electric motors to transmit 240kW to all four wheels, driven by a 77kWh battery with a stated range of 420km.
COMCAR will also add a few BMW iX xDrive50 versions, which offer 385kW and 630km of range owing to their 112kWh battery packs.
The new fleet will be implemented in 12 months starting in mid-2023.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won five more years to lead the NATO-member nation at Europe’s crossroads.
In Sunday’s presidential runoff, Erdogan won more than 52% of the vote two weeks after losing the first round. He defeated Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the second round, indicating support for a strong, established leader.
Voters were divided between allegiance to Erdogan, who has reigned for two decades, and aspirations for the opposition candidate, who vowed to return to democratic principles, embrace more traditional economic policies, and better ties with the West.
Erdogan must now deal with increasing prices and rebuild after a terrible earthquake that killed over 50,000 people.
Erdogan praised the country in Istanbul and Ankara for re-electing him. “We hope to be worthy of your trust, as we have been for 21 years,” he told supporters outside his Istanbul house on a campaign bus.
Despite saying the election was finished, he continued to attack his opponent.
“The only winner today is Turkey,” Erdogan declared outside the presidential palace in Ankara, pledging to work hard for Turkey’s second century, which he termed the “Turkish century.” The nation turns 100 this year.
The economy, which has suffered from Erdogan’s unorthodox policies, is a major issue. In 11 provinces devastated by the Feb. 6 earthquake, he must oversee major restoration operations.
Kilicdaroglu called the election “the most unjust ever,” with all state resources deployed for Erdogan. “Until real democracy comes to our country,” he remarked in Ankara. He praised the almost 25 million people who voted for him and begged them to “remain upright.”
Kilicdaroglu claimed the people “wanted to change an authoritarian government despite all the pressures”.
Erdogan’s supporters celebrated by waving Turkish or governing party flags, blaring automobile horns, and singing his name. Several Istanbul neighborhoods celebrated with gunshots.
His next term will include more careful negotiation with NATO members over the alliance’s future and the Ukraine crisis.
Turkey and Erdogan’s increased worldwide influence was noted by international leaders’ congratulations.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog tweeted, “Congratulations to President Erdogan of Türkiye on his election victory.” I’m sure we’ll keep working to improve Türkiye-Israel relations.
Western lawmakers say they are willing to cooperate with Erdogan despite years of sometimes strained relations. Turkey holds Sweden’s NATO dreams. A deal to enable Ukrainian grain exports and prevent a worldwide food catastrophe depends on the desire to expand the military alliance against Russia.
Erdogan declared in Istanbul, “Nobody can look down on our nation.”
As it seeks demands from the United States, Turkey may “move the goal post” on Sweden’s NATO membership, according to Steven A. Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.
He also suggested Erdogan, who has talked about adopting a new constitution, will likely push harder to lock in AKP revisions.
Erdogan pledged to rehabilitate earthquake-ravaged communities in his victory speech. He also predicted a million Syrian refugees will return to Turkish-controlled “safe zones” in Syria as part of a resettlement deal with Qatar.
Conservative voters remain loyal to Erdogan for enhancing Islam’s visibility in secular Turkey and increasing the country’s influence in international affairs.
Since 2010, the pro-secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, has been led by Erdogan’s opponent, a mild-mannered former civil servant. The opposition took months to rally around Kilicdaroglu. He and his party have lost all Erdogan-run elections.
Kilicdaroglu promised to deport refugees home and ruled out peace talks with Kurdish terrorists if he won the runoff.
Erdogan and pro-government media accused Kilicdaroglu, who was backed by the pro-Kurdish party, of conspiring with “terrorists” and advocating “deviant” LGBTQ rights.
In his victory address, Erdogan reiterated that LGBTQ persons cannot “infiltrate” his ruling party or its nationalist supporters.
Turkey’s future is bright, according to Erdogan voter Hacer Yalcin in Ankara.
“Of course Erdogan wins… Someone else? Yalcin stated, “He made everything for us.” “God blesses!”
Erdogan, a 69-year-old Muslim, will rule until 2028.
He barely won a 2017 referendum that abolished Turkey’s parliamentary system, making the president dominant. In 2014, he became the first directly elected president, and in 2018, he won the executive presidency.
Economic development and EU discussions in the early half of Erdogan’s term moved many out of poverty.
He later suppressed liberties and the media and consolidated authority, notably following a failed coup attempt Turkey blames on U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen. The priest denies responsibility.
In Diyarbakir, 37-year-old metalworker Ahmet Koyun stated, “It is sad on behalf of our people that a government with such corruption, such stains, has come into power again.” Mr. Kemal would have been good for our country, at least for a change.”
A fourth anti-government “Serbia against Violence” demonstration took place after President Aleksandar Vui announced his resignation as leader of SNS at the party’s gathering over a difficult political weekend.
As part of its “Serbia of Hope” campaign, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) held a large-scale demonstration in front of the legislature on Friday.
At the demonstration, which was attended by tens of thousands of people transported by buses from all around the nation, Ivica Dai, Peter Sziarto, and Milorad Dodik, the president of the Republika Srpska, all gave addresses.
Vui declared that he would be stepping down as party leader.
“Unity and togetherness are needed more than ever because of everything that has happened,” he stated, requesting the crowd to bow their flags and heads in remembrance of the victims of the May mass killings.
“I will no longer be the leader of a political party, but I will begin tomorrow as the president of all Serbian citizens. To have a base and foundation to sustain our nation in the upcoming two to three years of crisis.
Which will determine the destiny of Serbia, we will, nonetheless, establish the Movement for People and State on June 28 due to the predicament we find ourselves in, added Vui.
Milo Vuevi, the minister of defense, would take over as SNS’s leader a few hours later.
“We continue to be the engine of progress for our nation, but we are also a party that upholds and preserves Serbia’s fundamental values. According to Vuevi,
“We will continue to support the interests of Serb populations worldwide, but especially in the nations of the former Yugoslavia, and we will continue our political commitment to retaining Kosovo and Metohija inside Serbia.
The fourth anti-government “Serbia against violence” rally, which was organized by some of the opposition, took place on Saturday afternoon. After leaving flowers in front of the parliament, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched en masse to the “RTS” headquarters, the national broadcaster.
They yelled “thieves” and “resign” when the evening news was shown live around the building. Numerous demonstrators reiterated their demands as thousands gathered nearby in Tamajdan Park.
The next “Serbia against violence” rally was scheduled to take place on Friday, June 2, according to the organizers. According to Radomir Lazovi of the left-wing group “Do not let Belgrade drown” (NDB), Serbia must demonstrate that it cannot carry on in this way.
“We want to continue working to enact laws and put a stop to hate factories like Pink and Happy TV. must halt the assault and misleading news that the regime’s media is inundating us with. To set Serbia on a regular course, we want to struggle for the fulfillment of our requests.
When those needs are satisfied, we won’t stop; instead, we need to figure out how to increase the number of educators and psychologists in both society and schools, as well as how to improve the performance of our social services, he added.
On Sunday, high-level officials from Iran and Oman got together to sign four different treaties, with the goal of boosting their collaboration in a range of different areas. In controversy is certain documentation that was signed by the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, when he was on official business in Tehran.
In addition to free zones, Tehran and Muscat have reached an agreement to expand their collaboration in the areas of economy, energy, and investment.
The documents were signed by the Iranian ministries of petroleum, economic affairs, and finance, as well as the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Free Commerce-Industrial and Special Economic Zones and the Omani ministry of Energy, finance, and Commerce.
The Supreme Council of Free Trade-Industrial and Special Economic Zones secretary-general signed them.
During a news conference with his Omani counterpart, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian reportedly claimed that in addition to the four documents, the leaders of Iran and Oman want to conclude a comprehensive strategic cooperation deal in the near future. This was reported by news TV.
According to Amirabdollahian, the volume of commerce that takes place between Iran and Oman has more than doubled since President Ebrahim Raisi paid a visit to Muscat in May of the previous year. During this trip, 12 cooperation contracts were inked.
He expressed his hope that the latest agreements on cooperation will provide an additional boost to the already expanding trade that takes place between the two countries.
Japan and the United States will establish a roadmap for the collaborative development of next-generation semiconductors, according to a joint statement issued by the two countries’ senior trade officials on Friday.
During discussions in Detroit, Yasutoshi Nishimura, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, and Gina Raimondo, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, agreed that the two nations will collaborate in areas such as biotechnology-based drug development, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum technology.
In their statement, Nishimura and Raimondo emphasized that strengthening Japan-U.S. cooperation is “essential for bolstering the economic prosperity and security of both countries, as well as for maintaining and enhancing the regional economic order.”
Japan and U.S. to Develop Next-Generation Semiconductors
In addition, they reaffirmed the significance of bolstering global supply chains via the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity and other mechanisms.
Nishimura told the media after the talks, “I want to significantly accelerate Japan-U.S. cooperation in technological development and other fields.”
Tokyo and Washington will create a road map for jointly developing next-generation semiconductor technology and training personnel in order to strengthen semiconductor supply chains.
In the near future, the U.S. government intends to establish a National Semiconductor Technology Center, which will collaborate with the Leading-edge Semiconductor Technology Center that the Japanese government established last year.
In the field of biotechnology, the two administrations intend to collaborate to foster connections between drug development firms. Cooperation will be strengthened to promote the industrial use of quantum computers, and the development of a supply network will be accelerated.
Additionally, efforts will be made to increase the competitiveness of private companies in Pacific island nations, including start-ups, as China increases its presence in the region through infrastructure development and enormous financing.
Japan and the United States will collaborate to establish a market share target for Open RAN, a technology that integrates equipment from numerous manufacturers to create a network of essential base stations for telecommunications.
During their meeting, Nishimura and Raimondo agreed to convene a second meeting of the Japan-U.S. Economic Policy Consultative Committee, also known as the Economic “2+2,” incorporating the foreign and economic ministers of both countries, as soon as possible.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton faces impeachment on Saturday after years of investigations.
A Republican-led Texas House probe on Wednesday accused the scandal-prone attorney general with strong links to former President Donald Trump and Governor Greg Abbott of breaching various laws while in office.
The committee investigating him submitted 20 articles of impeachment on Thursday, including bribery, obstruction of justice, falsifying official documents, and unfitness for office.
Paxton denies the charges and calls the proceedings a “illegal impeachment scheme.”
“They have denied me the opportunity to present the evidence which contradicts their politically motivated narrative,” Paxton said in a press conference Friday.
Paxton representatives didn’t reply to Insider’s request for comment.
“Paxton is crooked.”
Since becoming attorney general in 2015, Paxton has been indicted and investigated. In Texas, activist and political strategist Olivia Julianna, who Paxton banned on Twitter, told Insider that “Ken Paxton and crooked are synonymous.”
After promising to stop banning critics in a First Amendment case, Paxton blacklisted the activist who openly challenged his FBI inquiry.
“He’s always been shrouded in some kind of criminal conspiracy or criminal controversy,” Julianna told Insider. “So it’s not surprising in the slightest that we’ve gotten to this point now where he’s starting to feel the flames on his feet, because the higher they are, the harder they fall.”
Letter and FBI inquiry
The Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV received a 2020 letter from Paxton’s employees reporting their boss to the FBI. Staff members wrote that Paxton may have committed severe crimes, including bribery, to help friend and political donor Nate Paul when the FBI searched Paul’s house in 2019. Investigators did not explain the raid.
After the raid, Paxton hired an independent counsel to investigate the FBI on Paul’s behalf.
There were also charges that Paxton had exploited his authority to aid Paul in his real estate operations and that Paul had recruited Paxton’s mistress as a favor. Paxton and Paul refuted these claims.
The letter prompted an FBI inquiry into the attorney general’s office use. In February, Paxton resolved a lawsuit by whistleblowers who were dismissed by him.
Taxpayer-funded lawsuit settlement
In February, Paxton asked the Texas House Appropriations panel to raise the attorney general’s budget to pay out four former workers’ $3.3 million settlement. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan called it a waste of taxpayer money.
A spokesman informed The New York Times that Phelan led a House Investigation into Paxton’s charges after the funding request.
After Paxton demanded Phelan’s resignation for being inebriated on the House floor, they delivered their findings on Wednesday.
“But for Paxton’s own request for a taxpayer-funded settlement over his wrongful conduct,” Phelan said Friday in announcing Saturday’s impeachment resolution vote.
Julianna told Insider that House Republicans’ impeachment of Paxton is more about political strategy than accountability as the Texas Republican party splits.
“I think it’s that Ken Paxton antagonized the wrong people knowing that he had a lot of skeletons in his closet,” Julianna added.
Paxton’s impeachment vote is Saturday. If it passes, he will be suspended immediately while the Senate decides.
Ethiopian government officials are often assassinated. Political violence has resurfaced as opposition and rebel organizations use violence to attain their goals. Ethiopia has seen extrajudicial murders since the Red and White Terror under Dergue in the 1970s and 1980s.
Today, third parties including political groups, individuals, and other non-state entities commit these crimes.
Government employees were assassinated immediately after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) took office in 2018. At a Meskel Square demonstration in the early political transition, the Prime Minister escaped a grenade attack.
Two months later, GERD head engineer Simegnew Bekele was found dead in his automobile in the same square. 2019 saw more terrible murders.
Ambachew Mekonnen and Seare Mekonnen (Gen.) were slain.
In June 2019, Bahir Dar’s capital, Ambachew and his advisor Ezez Wassie were slain. On the same day, Seare’s bodyguard assassinated him in Addis Ababa after seemingly turning on him. Asamnew Tsige (Gen.), Amhara’s chief of state security, headed a party of troops who carried out the coup attempt in the region’s executions.
Last month, armed factions in the Amhara Region killed another official, a sad reminder that history repeats itself.
Regional states have seen more killings, but even the capital city has been affected. The Amhara regional state Prosperity Party head Girma Yeshitila and the Afar region PP leader of Hanruka District, Umer Lema, have been slain in recent months.
Oromia had the most officials slain in recent years, save for Tigray, where the two-year civil war caused such brutality. Last year, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) assassinated 28 officials.
Political and ethnic tensions in Oromia lead to government assassinations. Political organizations representing the majority Oromo community of Oromia have long complained of political marginalization and discrimination. In response, armed organizations like the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) have attacked government officials and security forces to promote their political goals.
Ethiopian official targeted killings have been researched by several groups. Opposition parties attacking government people is a sign of larger political and societal issues, frequently rooted in bad administration, according to research.
Kristian Takvam Kindt and Kjetil Tronvoll found in a 2019 Journal of Modern African Studies study that political violence, including targeted killings of government officials and leaders, had created a culture of fear and mistrust and undermined social cohesion and political stability.
In 2017, Lencho Lata and the Institute for Security Studies determined that political violence, including targeted assassinations, disrupted supply lines and lowered investor confidence in Ethiopia, hurting economic growth. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported targeted deaths of Ethiopian opposition leaders, journalists, and human rights campaigners.
These research showed that targeted assassinations of Ethiopian officials can affect political stability, social cohesion, human rights, and economic development.
Political heavyweights have debated Ethiopia’s recent violence, proposing their own explanations. Some blame the governing party for lawlessness, while others blame the administration.
The problem goes beyond political reform for renowned Amhara lawmaker Chuchu Alebachew. Chuchu instead blames weak leaders.
He believes leaders are made through hard labor. However, Ethiopian leaders have failed to listen, producing a country that “consumes its leader” and causing current Amhara problems.
The Extremely High Cost of Power
Despite these problems, Chuchu believes great leaders will emerge from the nation and deliver Ethiopia the peace and security it needs. He underlines that political conflicts are inevitable and do not make leadership tougher.
Opposition politician Mulatu Gemechu believes Ethiopia’s recent murders are political and caused by the government’s incapacity to maintain order. He claims that the government has mismanaged its power and resources, making it difficult to uncover criminals.
Mulatu stresses that promoting harmony and stability requires meeting people’s interests through a plan that benefits everyone.
The Oromo Federalist Congress secretary, Tiruneh Gemta, blames the governing party for Ethiopia’s current condition.
The legislator demands a third-party probe because “as an opposition party, we have lost our members.”
Tiruneh also claims that civilians and political opponents have been targeted by the violence. He thinks the small political arena causes all issues.
With these opposing views, it’s unclear how the government would respond to the violence and protect Ethiopians.
Mumbai Live News Updates: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will conduct events throughout the state to elucidate the Supreme Court’s ruling on Maharashtra’s political crisis.
“In its order, the Supreme Court has questioned not only the designation of Eknath Shinde as group leader, but also the appointment of Bharat Gogawale as party whip.
In light of this conclusion, the government has no moral right to remain in office. Former minister and NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad believes the issue should be brought before the people’s court immediately.
NCP to organize events clarifying SC judgment on political “crisis” in Maharashtra.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) established by the Maharashtra government to investigate the murder of journalist Shashikant Warishe has filed a chargesheet in the case, alleging that Warishe was killed by the accused, Pandharinath Amberkar, in a fit of rage for writing a news story against him.
Amberkar had a grievance against Warishe, according to the chargesheet, for covering stories about the Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL) project in Barsu, which is confronting strong local opposition. It was also stated that Amberkar had repeatedly threatened Warishe for writing against him and the refinery in the past.
According to police, two men from Dombivli were detained on Friday for allegedly murdering a 38-year-old man by bashing him to death.
The accused, identified as Sonarpada residents Dadu Matu Jadhav and Vinod Padwal, allegedly threw the deceased’s corpse from the third floor of a residential structure to make it appear as if he committed suicide.
On Friday, tens of thousands of people rallied in favor of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who is facing an unprecedented revolution against his dictatorial leadership after two horrific murders shocked the nation.
Vucic slammed the opposition for demanding his resignation for mishandling the situation and dividing the nation. Two early May shootings killed 18 individuals.
Vucic accused opposition lawmakers of “trying to abuse the tragedy” after weeks of huge anti-government rallies.
“Politicians will go down in history of dishonor because they abused the biggest tragedy in our nation,” he stated. Politicians deserve disdain.
“They only wanted to overthrow me and the Serbian government,” he added. “Those politicians didn’t care about kids.”
Vucic asked the opposition to discuss their demands.
Vucic said he will resign as Serbian Progressive Party chairman on Saturday and launch a new national movement including politicians, philosophers, artists, and others.
“I’m staying,” he said. “We will protect Serbia.”
Vucic ordered Serbian forces to be on a “higher state of alert” after ethnic Serbs battled with Kosovo police on Friday, overshadowing the demonstration. Vucic also ordered “urgent” Serbian troop deployment near Kosovo’s 2008 independence border.
Vucic’s fans, many wearing his image T-shirts, were bused to Belgrade from throughout Serbia and neighboring Kosovo and Bosnia for what he dubbed “the largest rally in Serbia’s history.”
The organizers stated “hundreds of thousands” joined the gathering in front of Serbia’s National Assembly despite rain and a thunderstorm that forced many to seek cover.
State employees were given a day off to join the march in front of parliament. Some alleged they were informed they may lose their jobs if they didn’t get on the buses that arrived hours before the gathering.
Serbian officials stated the march promotes “unity and hope” for Serbia.
The capital’s three massive anti-government rallies earlier this month sought Vucic’s resignation and that of two top security officers. They also urged that two pro-Vucic television stations that advocate violence and host convicted war criminals and other criminals lose their broadcasting licenses.
Opposition protestors accuse Vucic for generating an atmosphere of pessimism and divisiveness that partly contributed to the May 3 and 4 mass shootings that killed 18 people and injured 20, many of them schoolchildren shot by a 13-year-old classmate.
Vucic has angrily denied culpability for the shootings, branding opposition protest organizers “vultures” and “hyenas” who seek to use the tragedies to seize power without an election.
Analysts say Vucic, who has controlled the nation for nearly a decade, is seeking to eclipse opposition demonstrations with the big assembly.
“For the first time, Vucic has a problem,” said political expert Zoran Gavrilovic. His concern is Serbian society that has awakened, not the opposition.
Former pro-Russia ultranationalist Vucic, who now wants to join the EU, has blamed “foreign intelligence services” for opposition rallies. He obtained the tip from “sisterly” espionage organizations “from the east”—presumably Russia.
In the early 1990s, Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic mobilized the populace for the Yugoslav Wars with furious speeches.
Bob Ryan on Celtics’ historic chances
Bob Ryan and Tara Sullivan discuss the Celtics’ unlikely comeback. The Patriots are in trouble again.
