Latest news with #2024Elections
Bloomberg
09-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Why Elon Musk's Third Party Plans Face Big Hurdles
Elon Musk, the single biggest Republican donor in the 2024 elections, says he wants to create a new political party to lower the US national debt, which currently stands at $37 trillion. After spending more than $290 million in 2024 to help elect President Donald Trump and secure a Republican majority in Congress, Musk very publicly broke with Trump and his party over their 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' which the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget warns could boost the debt by as much as $5 trillion over a decade.
Associated Press
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Supreme Court doesn't rule on Louisiana's second majority Black congressional district
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday putting off ruling on a second Black majority congressional district in Louisiana, instead ordering new arguments in the fall. The case is being closely watched because at arguments in March several of the court's conservative justices suggested they could vote to throw out the map and make it harder, if not impossible, to bring redistricting lawsuits under the Voting Rights Act. The case involves the interplay between race and politics in drawing political boundaries in front of a conservative-led court that has been skeptical of considerations of race in public life. Justice Clarence Thomas noted in a brief dissent from Friday's order that he would have decided the case now and imposed limits on 'race-based redistricting.' The order keeps alive a fight over political power stemming from the 2020 census halfway to the next one. Two maps were blocked by lower courts, and the Supreme Court intervened twice. Last year, the justices ordered the new map to be used in the 2024 elections, while the legal case proceeded. The call for new arguments probably means that the district currently represented by Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields probably will remain intact for the 2026 elections because the high court has separately been reluctant to upend districts as elections draw near. The state has changed its election process to replace its so-called jungle primary with partisan primary elections in the spring, followed by a November showdown between the party nominees. The change means candidates can start gathering signatures in September to get on the primary ballot for 2026. The state's Republican-dominated legislature drew a new congressional map in 2022 to account for population shifts reflected in the 2020 census. But the changes effectively maintained the status quo of five Republican-leaning majority white districts and one Democratic-leaning majority Black district in a state in which Black people make up a third of the population. Civil rights advocates won a lower-court ruling that the districts likely discriminated against Black voters. The Supreme Court put the ruling on hold while it took a similar case from Alabama. The justices allowed both states to use congressional maps in the 2022 elections even though both had been ruled likely discriminatory by federal judges. The high court eventually affirmed the ruling from Alabama, which led to a new map and a second district that could elect a Black lawmaker. The justices returned the Louisiana case to federal court, with the expectation that new maps would be in place for the 2024 elections. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave lawmakers in Louisiana a deadline of early 2024 to draw a new map or face the possibility of a court-imposed map. The state complied and drew a new map, with two Black majority districts. But white Louisiana voters claimed in their separate lawsuit challenging the new districts that race was the predominant factor driving the new map. A three-judge court agreed. Louisiana appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court. ___ Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at
Washington Post
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Mamdani's win and the future of Trump's war powers, tax bill
Mamdani's primary win in New York excited progressives as the Democratic Party tries to find its footing after its 2024 losses. Host Colby Itkowitz talks with national enterprise reporter Sarah Ellison about whether Mamdani's victory could be a road map for the party. They also talk with senior congressional reporter Paul Kane about whether the Senate will pass Trump's big tax bill and how congressional Republicans have continued to cede power to the executive branch. Today's show was produced by Laura Benshoff. It was edited by Lucy Perkins and Reena Flores. It was mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks also to Arjun Singh. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
The Guardian
26-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
EU rollback on environmental policy is gaining momentum, warn campaigners
The European Union's rollback of environment policy is gaining momentum, campaigners have warned, in a deregulation drive that has shocked observers with its scale and speed. EU policymakers have dealt several critical blows to their much-vaunted European Green Deal since the end of 2023, when opinion polls suggested a significant rightward shift before the 2024 parliamentary elections. Environment groups say the pace has picked up under the competition-focused agenda of the new European Commission. The most striking examples are the 'omnibus' packages that water down sustainable finance rules, some of which have been put on hold even before they came into force, and which member states proposed diluting further on Monday. The European Commission has promised more simplification measures to 'radically lighten the regulatory load' on people and businesses. In the first six months of the new European Commission mandate, the EU also delayed a law to stop deforestation in supply chains by one year, gave carmakers two extra years to meet pollution targets and downgraded the protection status of the wolf. Environmental NGOs have found themselves in the crosshairs of a funding freeze they argue undermines democracy. The political tensions reached a high this week after an anti-greenwashing law was seemingly killed in the final stages of negotiations. The warnings of green backsliding come amid a global slump in efforts to cut pollution. In the UK, the government has faced growing political resistance to its target to hit net zero by 2050. In the US, Donald Trump has begun his second term with a series of attacks on environment agencies and policies as he seeks to promote fossil fuels. 'DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!!' he told the US Department of Energy in a social media post on Monday. 'And I mean NOW!!! Green groups say similar – albeit less sensational – shifts are under way in Brussels, which boasts some of the most ambitious rules to clean up a polluting economy. 'There has been a radical change in political priorities – and this came before Trump was even close to election in the US,' said Marco Contiero, Greenpeace EU's agricultural policy director. Bold green policies from the EU's executive body have typically been watered down as they pass through protracted negotiations with other institutions. Critics say ambition is now being lost at the top while resistance is growing stronger throughout the legislative process. After farmers' protests swept across Europe last year, lawmakers and member states nearly killed off a nature restoration law that EU institutions had already negotiated. It was the first sign of open revolt against the Green Deal that the centre-right president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had put forward in 2019 after student climate protests. 'The fact that the Green Deal became the poster child of the first von der Leyen Commission was received with surprise by civil society, industry, and lobbies,' said Contiero. 'In a very similar manner, so has her decision to radically change her approach.' In mission letters to commissioners in September, von der Leyen set targets to reduce administrative burdens by 25% for all companies and by 35% for small- and medium-sized enterprises, with a 'one in, one out' principle to ensure that new rules displaced existing ones. The Commission also promised to fight 'gold-plating' measures, in which member states add their own rules that go beyond what the EU requires. The push to cut red tape has been led by the European People's party (EPP), the largest group in parliament and the political home of 10 of the 27 commissioners, including von der Leyen. Its shift in tone has increasingly led to it siding with far-right forces. The cancellation of the anti-greenwashing law this week came after EPP and far-right lawmakers separately wrote to the European Commission to withdraw the bill. The EPP later celebrated the bill's withdrawal as 'a win for European companies'. Tiemo Wölken, a German MEP from the centre-left S&D grouping who led negotiations of the proposal, said: 'The Commission obviously wanted to fulfil the wishes of the right, and this is what is so scandalous. The EPP is again working with the far right to get rid of Green Deal files, but are pretending they are still in the middle and working with pro-European democratic forces.' The Commission has said it is pursuing an agenda of simplification rather than deregulation, and that its focus on competitiveness does not contradict the environmental aims of the Green Deal. It has also put forward plans to green industry, such as the Clean Industrial Deal, which have been celebrated as driving the energy transition in the EU forward. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion Paul de Clerck, a campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said the scale of the cuts in the first omnibus proposal in February showed that the simplification argument was 'basically bollocks'. The Commission's plans postpone corporate sustainability reporting requirements by two years and reduce the number of companies in its scope by 80%; delay corporate due diligence rules by one year; remove a requirement to conduct in-depth impact assessments; scrap a civil liability clause that would make it easier to sue companies; and exclude about 90% of businesses from the carbon border adjustment mechanism. Member states on Monday proposed reducing the scope even further. De Clerck said: 'This is highly relevant because it's the first proposal under the simplification agenda that's been put forward and … it's not just weakening it a little bit, it's slashing it. The heart of the proposal has basically been taken out.' Political support for environment rules has dried up in several wealthy economies in the past year, even as the energy transition gains pace and an overwhelming majority of people say they want governments to cut pollution faster. European businesses have long complained of complex rules that hamper innovation and make it harder for them to compete with foreign companies. 'The Green Deal often overlooked challenges like high energy costs or lengthy and complex permitting procedures,' said Markus Breyer, the director general of the industry association BusinessEurope. 'The current focus on competitiveness reflects a more balanced and pragmatic approach that better aligns climate goals with economic realities.' Critics counter that failing to quickly transition to a clean economy will jeopardise economic prosperity in the medium term, as well as saddling individuals and governments with the cost of climate damages. Contiero said the EU would be 'crushed by larger blocs such as the US and China' if it continued to play by 20th-century rules. 'Investing in the Green Deal means decoupling economic growth from the use of natural resources – that was the essential element that made an awful lot of sense for the 21st century,' he said. 'Abandoning such a critical approach will take away the competitive advantage that Europe could have had.'
Mail & Guardian
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Mail & Guardian
Does Africa's supposed digital disadvantage protect it from election interference?
Data analytics and strategic manipulation have become the new tools in today's politics, even in Africa. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy, M&G With about 13 African countries coming from the polls in 2024 and others preparing for municipal elections in 2026, some analysts suggest, perhaps a bit too confidently, that African countries have been spared the worst of election interference simply because they are not yet as digitally advanced as other states in the world. But is the continent really safeguarded, or do we just minimise the effect of interference by digital technologies? As Africa undergoes a stagnation in its democratisation, increased attention is being paid to countries that still uphold democratic principles. This has prompted observers to assess how these nations are adhering to democracy or taking a decisive shift towards other Still, many argue that things could be worse if digital interference ever decided to join the party. But digital interference has certainly been occurring in Africa, just not with the same intensity or visibility as in more technologically advanced states. These states have integrated high-level digital infrastructure, innovation-driven economies and widespread access to Online platforms such as Facebook, X, and YouTube become arenas for misinformation, disinformation and algorithmic manipulation. Social media bots, fake accounts and data-driven micro-targeting are used to spread false information and polarise public opinion. A study by Using the Contrary to this, the International Telecommunication Union puts Africa's internet In Nigeria and Kenya, investigations have uncovered that Cambridge Analytica, the infamous data-crunching firm, played a shadowy role in manipulating elections in 2015 and 2017. Channel 4 News Ahead of Angola's 2022 election, In other cases, African states embraced biometric registration and digital results transmission . The only catch? They often forgot to bring cybersecurity along for the ride. In Kenya's On the other hand, countries such as the DRC and Senegal are accused of violating basic rights to freedom of expression and assembly by resorting to internet shutdowns. These blackouts are used to suppress dissent and restrict information. But they cut citizens off from critical, sometimes even lifesaving information, conveniently timed before or during elections. Other evidence of this occurred in Zimbabwe's August 2023 general elections were marred by accusations against the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, including premature announcement of results and allegations of voter suppression and irregularities. During South Africa's national and provincial elections in May 2024, the electoral commission had to deal with technical glitches that sparked public worry. This included a brief outage of the election results dashboard at the Results Operating Centre in Midrand, as well as power outages during the vote counting process. Both countries encountered issues that undermined public trust in their electoral bodies. Notably, digital interference was not a major focus of concern in either case; apparently, it takes more than a few server crashes and power outages to steal an election. It is fair to say that technologically advanced states do face greater vulnerability because of their reliance on digital infrastructure and widespread internet access. But Africa is not immune to election meddling; rather, its exposure to digital interference is currently less pronounced. This should not breed complacency. Instead, African nations must strengthen their electoral systems to avoid the pitfalls that have already compromised democracies elsewhere. Thuto Khumalo and Mihle Kambula are international relations students at the University of Johannesburg.
