democracy
Washington (AFP) - Democracy faced sharp, widespread setbacks worldwide in 2023 with violence and manipulation marring a series of elections, Freedom House said Thursday. In its annual report, the US-funded pro-democracy advocacy and research group switched classifications for two countries, downgrading Ecuador from free to partly free and upgrading Thailand from not free to partly free. Overall, political rights and civil liberties declined in 52 countries and only 21 countries saw improvements, the 18th straight year that global freedom has declined and a much more lopsided trend than a year...
AFP
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States on Wednesday announced $225 million in investments to support emerging democracies in the face of a rise in autocracies around the world. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Samantha Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), were to announce the assistance at an event Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. A major part of the package will be $110 million in private-sector projects for Nepal, where the political system has been stabilizing since a peace deal in 2006 ended a civil war cl...
AFP
New York (AFP) - As George Soros passes control of his philanthropic empire to his son, the legendary investor and democracy advocate remains subject to unrelenting and often anti-Semitic attacks from the right. Under the transition, Soros, 92, will hand the reins to his 37-year-old son Alexander Soros, according to a Wall Street Journal interview with both men. The shift comes as the elder Soros remains one of the far right's favorite targets. He has been baselessly blamed for propagating migrant crises in Europe and on the southern border of the United States, as well as for orchestrating m...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - President Joe Biden on Wednesday promised nearly $700 million to support a global "turning point" toward democracy, painting a portrait of progress at a summit despite the growing assertiveness of China and Russia and concern elsewhere over backsliding. Biden invited 121 leaders for his second, largely virtual "Summit for Democracy," where he also announced an alliance by like-minded countries on rules for surveillance technology -- seen as a growing tool by China as its technology advances. Biden hailed a "turning point for our world toward greater freedom, greater dignity ...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - The United States on Tuesday opens its second Summit for Democracy with its eyes firmly on the rest of the world, seeking a united front against authoritarianism as Russia attacks Ukraine and as China launches a diplomatic offensive. President Joe Biden took office pledging to champion democracy, and in his first year made good with the inaugural summit, which sought to reaffirm US leadership after his predecessor Donald Trump eroded democratic norms and the attack on the Capitol. This time round, in a nod to concerns that the first edition was too much about US navel-gazin...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - Conspiracy theorists backed by Donald Trump were sent packing in many hotly-contested US midterm races, but scores who embraced his bogus claims of a stolen 2020 election won lower-profile contests -- stoking fears of chaos in the next Congress. Despite voters in swing states rejecting his attempts to relitigate 2020, the continued support from Trump's resilient base emboldened him to launch his 2024 campaign last week on the same platform of baseless accusations of voter fraud. "Realistically, what we all know we're about to see is the Donald J. Trump show, Act II, Scene I,...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - The people spending nights staking out and filming ballot drop boxes in Arizona say their task is to save democracy from the "mules" that countless Americans believe rigged the 2020 election against Donald Trump. But to poll officials, voting rights advocates and many citizens in a state where early voting is common, the self-appointed ballot watchers are a physical representation of how a disinformation-laden documentary is making its mark on next month's US midterm elections. Described by some as a vigilante parade, the watchers stand accused of intimidating voters at drop...
AFP
Taipei (AFP) - A US destroyer and a Canadian frigate sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday in the latest joint operation aimed at reinforcing the route's status as an international waterway. Beijing views as its own both democratic Taiwan and the narrow body of water separating the island from mainland China -- one of the world's busiest shipping channels. The United States has long used "freedom of navigation" passages through the Taiwan Strait to push back against Chinese claims and Western allies have increasingly joined these operations. The USS Higgins, an Arleigh Burke-class destro...
AFP
Phnom Penh (AFP) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met a Cambodian opposition leader facing treason charges during a visit to Phnom Penh Friday, expressing concern about the kingdom's eroding democracy ahead of elections next year. One of the world's longest-serving leaders, Prime Minister Hun Sen has ruled Cambodia for more than 37 years. In 2018 his party won every seat in a national election. And in June, a Phnom Penh court convicted about 60 opposition figures -- including dual US-Cambodian citizen Theary Seng -- in a mass treason trial that rights groups have condemned as politically...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - Democracy faces "sustained and alarming challenges" worldwide, US President Joe Biden said Thursday at a virtual summit on democracy where he sparked controversy by pointedly not inviting China and Russia. Biden, who took office in January amid the biggest US political crisis in decades, said trends are "largely pointing in the wrong direction" and that "more than ever, democracy needs champions." "We stand at an inflection point," Biden said. "Will we allow the backward slide of rights and democracy to continue unchecked?" The two-day event, held by video link because of th...
AFP
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