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By law, an election needs to be held within 60 days of the publishing of the presidential decree dissolving parliament. "I hope that time, sooner rather than later, will allow us to clarify what happened," Rebelo de Sousa said. By calling the March election, Rebelo de Sousa also addressed the need of the PS to pick a new leader to run. Earlier, PS President Carlos Cesar said March would be the best timing, while other parties pointed to January or February. "It is urgent to reestablish trust and prestige in democratic institutions," the leader of the PSD, Luis Montenegro, said after the president announced the election.

Persons: Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Rebelo de Sousa, Antonio Costa, illegalities, Costa, Rebelo, Mario Centeno, Filipe Garcia, Mercados, Carlos Cesar, Andre Ventura, Luis Montenegro, Catarina Demony, Sergio Goncalves, Andrei Khalip, Marguerita Choy, Alistair Bell Organizations: Lawmakers, Socialist, Socialist Party, of State, Prosecutors, Bank of Portugal, Social Democrats, PSD, Thomson Locations: LISBON, Portugal, Portuguese, Lisbon, Belem, Europe, Western, Montenegro

☆ Poll Shows Most Portuguese Want Snap Election, President Readies Decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

LISBON (Reuters) - Nearly 70% of Portuguese voters want an early election following the abrupt resignation of the Socialist prime minister, a survey showed on Thursday, as President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was due to announce his decision on the matter later in the day. His office said he would address the nation after meeting his consultative body, the Council of State. PS President Carlos Cesar said on Wednesday that if the president decided to call an election, March would be the best timing. The budget includes lower income tax rates for the middle class, higher wages and social benefits. (Reporting by Catarina Demony, Patricia Rua, Sergio Goncalves, editing by Andrei Khalip and Alex Richardson)

Persons: Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Antonio Costa, illegalities, Costa, Correio, Rebelo de Sousa, Joao Duque, Carlos Cesar, Diogo Lacerda Machado, Catarina Demony, Patricia Rua, Sergio Goncalves, Andrei Khalip, Alex Richardson Organizations: Socialist, Prosecutors, Socialist Party, of State, Jornal de Negocios, Analysts, Lisbon School of Economics, Management Locations: LISBON, Lisbon

☆ Poll shows most Portuguese want snap election, president readies decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

His office said he would address the nation after meeting his consultative body, the Council of State. PS President Carlos Cesar said on Wednesday that if the president decided to call an election, March would be the best timing. The budget includes lower income tax rates for the middle class, higher wages and social benefits. Separately, those detained in the investigation, including Costa's close friend and consultant Diogo Lacerda Machado, were due to appear before a Lisbon court on Thursday. Reporting by Catarina Demony, Patricia Rua, Sergio Goncalves, editing by Andrei Khalip and Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Antonio Costa, Pedro, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, illegalities, Costa, Correio, Rebelo de Sousa, Joao Duque, Carlos Cesar, Diogo Lacerda Machado, Catarina Demony, Patricia Rua, Sergio Goncalves, Andrei Khalip, Alex Richardson Organizations: REUTERS, Socialist, Prosecutors, Socialist Party, of State, Jornal de Negocios, Analysts, Lisbon School of Economics, Management, Thomson Locations: Lisbon, Portugal, LISBON

☆ Spanish Socialists and Catalan Junts reach deal for government support, amnesty
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A law granting amnesty to those prosecuted over Catalonia's attempt to secede from Spain was included in the deal, political leaders said and the deal text showed. The agreement included Junts lending its votes in parliament to support legislation for a full four-year term, he said. But Junts, which seeks another independence referendum, said supporting each law would depend on progress in talks involving Catalonia's political conflict. As a deal between Junts and the Socialists edged nearer in the past week, the mood in the country has become increasingly febrile, with protesters clashing with police outside the Socialists' headquarters in Madrid. An amnesty could exculpate as many as 1,400 activists and politicians involved in the attempt to separate Catalonia from Spain.

Persons: Junts, Feijoo, Puigdemont, Pedro Sanchez, Santos Cerdan, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Sanchez, Carles Puigdemont, Jaume Clotet, Belen Carreno, Joan Faus, Graham Keeley, Aislinn Laing, Charlie Devereux, Alison Williams, Toby Chopra, Bernadette Baum, Sharon Singleton, Alex Richardson Organizations: Companies Spain's Socialists, Conservative, Socialist Party, PSOE, Socialist, Socialists, Police, People's Party, Spanish Socialist Workers ' Party, Basque Nationalist Party, Thomson Locations: Catalan, Madrid, MADRID, Spain, Brussels, Junts, Catalonia, Belgium, Waterloo

☆ Hundreds protest against Spain's potential amnesty law
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Reuters Editorial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PoliticsHundreds protest against Spain's potential amnesty lawPostedHundreds of people protested on Wednesday (November 8) outside Spanish Socialist party headquarters in Madrid against ongoing negotiations for granting an amnesty to people involved with Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid.

Persons: Catalonia's Organizations: Spanish Socialist Locations: Madrid

Timing is everything," said political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto. By law, an election needs to be held within 60 days of the publishing of the presidential decree dissolving parliament. The PSD is still reeling from defeat in a January 2022 election that caused a leadership change. The 74-year-old former law lecturer and political commentator has used his constitutional power to disband parliament once before, in November 2021. Unlike now, Costa's government then had no parliamentary majority and had just had its budget rejected.

Persons: Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Antonio Costa, illegalities, Costa, Antonio Costa Pinto, Ines de Sousa Real, Rebelo de Sousa, Antonio Barroso, Luis Montenegro, Pedro Nuno Santos, Andre Ventura, Patricia Rua, Aislinn Laing, Nick Macfie Organizations: Socialist, Socialist Party, Nature, Social Democratic Party, TAP, Thomson Locations: LISBON, Portuguese, Montenegro

The clashes led to chaotic scenes of people running amid smoke and trash containers thrown in the streets, Reuters video footage showed. Around 4,000 people attended the protest - including Spain's far-right party Vox leader, Santiago Abascal - and at least one person was detained, according to local media reports. The Socialists are reportedly nearing their negotiations with Puigdemont's party, Junts, while the proposed law has been fiercely criticized by conservative parties and judges who accuse Sanchez of jeopardizing the rule of law. The protest was organised by a Spanish nationalist grassroots organization and smaller protests took place in other Spanish cities such as Barcelona. "To attack the PSOE offices is to attack democracy and all those who believe in it," Sanchez posted on X, using the Socialist Party acronym in Spanish.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez, Catalonia's, Santiago Abascal, Sanchez, Carles Puigdemont, Puigdemont Organizations: Spanish, Spain's Socialists Party, PSOE, Socialist Party, TVE, Police, Socialist, El, Socialists, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Spain, MADRID, El Pais, Spanish, Barcelona

☆ Spain's acting PM Sanchez backs Catalan amnesty deal in bid to form government
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/ Albert Gea/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsMADRID, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Spain's acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday said he supported granting a controversial amnesty to those involved in Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid, in the hope of persuading the region's parties to back him in government. He needs the backing of Catalan separatist parties, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya ERC and Junts, who have demanded an amnesty law that could potentially cover more than 1,400 people involved in the failed independence bid. "To continue moving forward, we must overcome all the episodes that in the past divided us and fractured our societies," Sanchez said. He said his party "looks at the problems head on", adding 80% of Catalans supported an agreement on the issue. A poll in September showed 70% of respondents - 59% of them socialist supporters - were against an amnesty.

Persons: Oriol Junqueras, Passeig de Gracia, Albert Gea, Pedro Sanchez, Catalonia's, Sanchez, Esquerra, Jessica Jones, Mike Harrison Organizations: Passeig, REUTERS, Rights, Socialist Party's Federal, Catalunya ERC, Junts, Catalans, Thomson Locations: Barcelona, Spain, Rights MADRID, Catalonia, Madrid, Catalan

The practice of citizen-originated ballot measures began 125 years ago when South Dakota became the first in the nation to enact a statewide initiative and referendum process. But some still invoke his name in their fight to preserve voters’ ballot measure rights. “It represents for me the fundamental idea of the equal dignity of every human being,” said Heidelberger, who blogs about South Dakota politics. The political conditions were brief but just right in 1897 for lawmakers to approve it; voters passed it the following year. In a memoir compiled by the state Socialist Party, Haire is credited with writing the amendment itself.

Persons: it’s, Robert W, Cory Heidelberger, ”, Heidelberger, Pierre, Haire, Ohioans, “ That’s, John Matsusaka, “, can’t, ” Matsusaka, ” David Schmidt, Drey Samuelson, Sen, Tim Johnson of, you’re, Samuelson, Janine Giordano Drake, Republican State Sen, Michael Rohl, Rohl, ’, Rohl didn’t, Sister Kathleen Bierne, Drake, ” Drake, Bierne, “ We’ve, Father Haire’s, Jesus ’, Eugene Debs, Liz May, Tom Heinz, Heinz, ain’t Organizations: Republican, Socialist Party, it’s, University of Southern California’s Initiative, Referendum, “ Citizen, U.S, Indiana University, Christian Socialist, Catholic, Republican State, Associated Press, Michigan, Aberdeen News, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: U.S, Ohio, South Dakota, Dakotans, Dakota, California, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, state’s, Brown, Aberdeen

☆ Spain's Socialists, hard-left Sumar strike government coalition deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The agreement came after acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met with Sumar leader and acting Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz on Monday. Sanchez requires the support from Sumar's 33 lower-house lawmakers - as well as from other parties, including some advocating for Catalan and Basque independence - in his bid to renew his term as premier. While Sumar's support is crucial, it is not enough to secure Sanchez's investiture in the lower house. He still needs the backing of Catalan separatists, who are demanding an amnesty law to mass pardon people involved in the region's failed independence bid of 2017. Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Ed Osmond and Aislinn LaingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Spain's, Yolanda Diaz, Pedro Sanchez, Sanchez, David Latona, Ed Osmond, Aislinn Laing Organizations: Socialist Party, PSOE, Spain's Socialist Party, Labour, Catalan, Socialists, Thomson Locations: MADRID, Basque, Catalan

☆ Spanish potential coalition government to reinforce banking tax
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The leader of Spain's leftist platform Sumar, Yolanda Diaz, said on Tuesday an agreement for a potential coalition government with the Socialist Party envisaged extending and reinforcing a windfall tax for banks and large energy companies. Their potential coalition has yet to win the backing of other parties in parliament. Companies currently pay between 23% and 25% on underlying profit. The deal, which came after acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met with Sumar leader and acting Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz on Monday, also includes a proposal to reduce working hours while preserving the same pay. Reporting by Belen Carreno, Emma Pinedo, Jesus Aguado, writing by Andrei KhalipOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Yolanda Diaz, Pedro Sanchez, Belen Carreno, Emma Pinedo, Jesus Aguado, Andrei Khalip Organizations: Socialist Party, Companies, Labour, Thomson Locations: MADRID

MADRID (AP) — The parties forming Spain’s acting government said Tuesday that they will push for a 37½-hour workweek as part of an agreement the coalition partners struck as they try to remain in power following an inconclusive election in July. Now, the government wants to move toward a shorter workweek like in neighboring France, where the workweek is 35 hours. The proposal is for Spain to have a 38½-hour workweek next year and for that to fall to 37½ hours in 2025. Spain’s Socialist Party and its junior coalition partner, the leftist Sumar (Joining Forces), have until Nov. 27 to earn the backing of the majority of Spain’s Parliament to form a new government. ___This story has been corrected to show that Spain’s governing party and its junior coalition partner have until Nov. 27 to try to form a government, not Nov. 21.

Persons: Pedro Sánchez, Yolanda Díaz Organizations: MADRID, Spain’s Socialist Party, Forces, Socialists, Socialist Locations: Spain, France, Catalonia, Basque, Madrid

Those include two pro-secession Catalan parties who led the unsuccessful 2017 breakaway attempt and who now find themselves holding the key votes in Parliament that Sánchez requires. They have made an amnesty law as a prerequisite for supporting Sánchez. “Pedro Sánchez needs the amnesty law to pass so he can get the four votes he is lacking,” Nebrera told the AP. Spain granted a sweeping amnesty during its transition back to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. But legal experts are divided over the constitutionality of an amnesty for the Catalan separatists.

Persons: Oriol Calvo, Calvo, Pedro Sánchez, “, ” Calvo, Sánchez, Carles Puigdemont, Spain can’t, ”, Pablo Seco, Montserrat Nebrera, ” Nebrera, Felipe González, Francisco Franco, Xavier Antich, Hernán Muñoz Organizations: —, Socialist, International University of Catalonia, AP, Omnium Locations: BARCELONA, Spain, — Barcelona, Catalonia’s, Madrid, Catalonia, Belgium, Barcelona, Montserrat, Sánchez, Catalan

☆ Opinion: Paris’ bedbug bedlam
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( David A. Andelman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

He formerly was a foreign correspondent for The New York Times and Paris correspondent for CBS News. But conquering the city’s bedbug infestation, too, could prove to be an Olympian challenge. The deputy mayor of Paris has also asked Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne to take it on. A French government survey found that at least 11% of all French households reported having a bedbug infestation between 2017 and 2022. The tried-and-true solution to combating bedbugs is as old as Paris itself.

Persons: David A, CNN —, David Andelman, Élisabeth Borne, Borne, they’re, ”, Mathilde Panot, bedbugs, ” Panot, who’d, Anne Hidalgo, Emmanuel Gregoire, implore Borne, Gregoire, Hidalgo, they’ve, Charles de Gaulle, Jean, Michel Berenger, Dior, Mayra Peralta, “, Rue de Solferino, you’ve Organizations: CNN, French Legion of, The New York Times, CBS News, Maison, Legion, French Socialist Party, David Andelman CNN, Paris, bedbugs, Metro, Paris’s, French National, France Insoumise, Paralympic, EnVi Media, PUNAISES RUE DE, Rue de Locations: Paris, Paris’s, France, Seine, Le, “, Rue

☆ French centre-right keeps control of Senate, far-right wins three seats
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] French Senate President Gerard Larcher arrives to attend a state dinner in honor of Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla at the Chateau de Versailles (Versailles Palace) in Versailles, near Paris, on the first day of their State visit to France, September 20, 2023. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Acquire Licensing Rights Read morePARIS, Sept 24 (Reuters) - France's centre-right Les Republicains (LR) party maintained its majority in the Senate after Sunday's vote, in which three senators from Marine Le Pen's far-right party were elected. The Senate is indirectly elected by France's mayors as well as regional, departmental and municipal councillors. Le Pen's Rassemblement National had been widely expected to make a new breakthrough in the Senate but the score of three wins was above expectations. Under France's Fifth Republic, the Senate has less influence over legislating than the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.

Persons: Gerard Larcher, Britain's King Charles, Queen Camilla, Hannah McKay, Les Republicains, Le Pen's, Sonia Backes, Emmanuel Macron's, Macron, Michel Rose, Sybille de La, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Chateau, REUTERS, State, France's Fifth, National Assembly, Socialist, Thomson Locations: Versailles, Paris, France, PARIS, Marine, Rassemblement, New Caledonia, France's Fifth Republic

☆ Socialists would win Spain election over conservative PP, poll shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrives to address the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 20, 2023. Most parties - except PSOE - and rival private pollsters have questioned the agency's neutrality and methodology. The new poll gives third place to the left-wing alliance Sumar at 11.9% and fourth to the far-right Vox with 11.1%. Should those efforts to woo the pro-independence parties prove to be unsuccessful, a repeat election would be held in mid-January. Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez, Eduardo Munoz, Vox, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, David Latona, Andrei Khalip, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Spain's, General Assembly, REUTERS, Rights, Spain's Socialists, People's Party, for Sociological Studies, CIS, Socialist Party, PSOE, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Rights MADRID, Sumar, Navarre, Catalan, Basque, Madrid

Polish leaders have compared Ukraine to a drowning person hurting his helper and threatened to expand a ban on food products from the war-torn country. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that EU allies that are prohibiting imports of his nation’s grain are helping Russia. All the EU countries will keep allowing Ukrainian products to move through their borders to world markets. Russia dealt a huge blow by withdrawing in July from a wartime agreement that ensured safe passage for Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. Ukraine also threatened this week to ban some Polish food items, but appeared to back off that.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “ Alarmingly, they’re, ” Zelenskyy, Pawel, “, Vasyl Zvarych, Jablonski “, Andrzej Duda, Mateusz Morawiecki, ” Morawiecki, Nikolai Denkov, Veselin Toshkov Organizations: Union, EU, World Trade Organization, General, Polish Foreign Ministry, Law, Justice, Croatia, Kyiv, General Assembly, Russia, Confederation, Polsat, Russia Socialist Locations: WARSAW, Poland, Kyiv, Warsaw, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Moscow, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, New York, EU, Ukrainian, Bulgaria, Sofia

GENEVA (AP) — Venezuela’s government has intensified efforts to curtail democratic freedoms with use of threats, surveillance and harassment as President Nicolás Maduro faces a re-election contest next year, U.N.-backed human rights experts reported on Wednesday. An international fact-finding mission authorized by the Human Rights Council notes that violent repression between 2017 and 2019 eased after the coronavirus pandemic broke out the following year. A report by the mission three years ago decried “crimes against humanity” in Maduro's Venezuela. In the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, the experts warned that political interference has been on the rise. The mission's latest report, based on interviews and talks with nearly 300 people, covers a period from January 2020 through last month.

Persons: —, Nicolás Maduro, ”, Henrique Capriles, Maria Corina Machado, Freddy Superlano —, Patricia Tappata Valdez Organizations: GENEVA, U.N, Human Locations: Maduro's Venezuela, Venezuela

☆ Opinion | Bayard Rustin Challenged Progressive Orthodoxies
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( James Kirchick | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

In May 1966, the moderate integrationist John Lewis was ousted from the chairmanship of SNCC by the Black Power radical Stokely Carmichael. Committed to a political program that would improve the lives of the poor and working class regardless of their skin color, Mr. Rustin opposed racial preferences . Contrary to contemporary “antiracism” advocates who claim that the existence of racial disparities necessarily constitutes evidence of racism, Mr. Rustin asserted, “That blacks are underrepresented in a particular profession does not by itself constitute racial discrimination.”Another major source of tension between Mr. Rustin and the progressive left concerned American foreign policy. Briefly a member of the Young Communist League in the 1930s, Mr. Rustin followed the path of many a disillusioned ex-Communist by becoming a staunch anti-Communist. Although an early opponent of American military involvement in Vietnam, Mr. Rustin could not, as he wrote in 1967, “go along with those who favor immediate U.S. withdrawal, or who absolve Hanoi and the Vietcong from all guilt.

Persons: —, John Lewis, Stokely Carmichael, Rustin, “, Mr, ”, antiracism ”, George McGovern’s, leftward, Scoop Jackson Organizations: SNCC, Black Power, Negro, Democratic Party, Young Communist League, Communist, Social Democrats, USA, Socialist Party of America, Soviet Union, Democratic, Coalition for Locations: American, Vietnam, Hanoi, South Vietnam, Soviet, Washington

☆ Spain's acting PM rejects conservative leader's request to back 2-year government
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

He had asked Sanchez, a Socialist, in a meeting earlier on Wednesday to back him in exchange for policy pacts. "Unfortunately, what I have obtained, as far as I understood, is a no," Feijoo told reporters after the meeting. Sanchez did not talk to the media, but his Socialist party's spokesperson Pilar Alegria confirmed to reporters the party will not support Feijoo's premiership bid. In a written document handed to Sanchez, the conservative candidate to premiership had said the two-year government would be extended if both parties agreed. On Aug. 17, Sanchez's Socialists party managed to secure 178 votes with support from left-wing and regionalist parties to get its candidate elected as speaker.

Persons: Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Violeta Santos Moura, Pedro Sanchez, Feijoo, Sanchez, Pilar Alegria, King Felipe, Vox, Emma Pinedo, Inti, Andrei Khalip, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: People's, REUTERS, Rights, Party, Socialist, Sanchez's Socialists, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Spain

☆ Spanish king nominates conservative Feijoo for premiership bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Spain's King Felipe on Tuesday nominated the leader of the conservative People's Party (PP), Alberto Nunez Feijoo, to face a parliamentary vote for prime minister, according to lower house speaker Francina Armengol. No single party or bloc earned an outright majority of seats in the snap general election. Earlier on Tuesday, acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that he believed his Socialist party would be able "to gather the parliamentary support needed" to form a government. Her appointment was seen as a nod to smaller regional parties, whose support Sanchez would need in a potential bid should Feijoo fail. If no candidate secures a majority within two months of the first vote, new elections have to be called.

Persons: King Felipe, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Francina, Feijoo, Feijoo's PP, Pedro Sanchez, Armengol, Esquerra Republicana, Sanchez, Pietro Lombardi, David Latona, Andrei Khalip, Mark Porter, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: People's Party, Socialist, Sanchez's Socialists, ERC, Thomson Locations: MADRID, Balearic, Catalonia

☆ Spain's acting PM Sanchez says he will seek investiture vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"I will ask for parliament's confidence to form a progressive government," Sanchez said in a address to the legislators of his Socialist Party. He said his party, which won the second-highest number of votes in the general election held last month, will first seek to clinch the lower house speaker position on Thursday. Sanchez, who first took power in 2018, has ruled since early 2020 thanks to a minority coalition with a far-left party. The conservative People's Party won more seats than the Socialists, but did not secure an outright majority and faces an uphill battle as it so far lacks enough support to form a government, as does Sanchez. Reporting by Inti Landauro, editing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez, Violeta Santos Moura, Sanchez, Inti Landauro, Andrei Khalip, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Spain's, Socialist Party, PSOE, Rights, People's Party, Socialists, Thomson Locations: Getafe, Spain

☆ 'Mad' tree cull raises hackles in Canary Island town
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( John Stonestreet | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Opponents of the scheme on the Canary Island of La Gomera call it an atrocity and will demonstrate against it on Saturday. Their petition to halt the cull of flame trees, whose bright red flowers make them a magnet for tourists, has drawn more than 1,200 signatures. "We are all battling climate change, and trying to create a green San Sebastian. Laura Concepcion, biologist at the World Biosphere Reserve on neighbouring La Palma, said flame trees could not be deemed an aggressive species. Rodriguez admitted the San Sebastian flame trees' roots were interfering with pipes and distorting stones in some places.

Persons: Aguilar, Elizabeth Scullion, Angelica Padilla, del Carmen Rodriguez, Gomera, Javier Sanchez, Laura Concepcion, Rodriguez, John Stonestreet, Corina Rodriguez, William Maclean Organizations: Avenida, REUTERS, Canarian, Socialist Party, PSOE, Reuters, UNESCO, La, Thomson Locations: Spanish, La Gomera, Spain, Handout, SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, San Sebastian, La Palma

☆ Iran's drones could reach a new South American market as Bolivia expresses interest
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here's what's ahead for defense stocks "Latin American countries are of special significance in Iran's foreign and defense policy based on the importance of [the] very sensitive South American region," Iran's Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani was quoted as saying. Iran's drones have made "considerable impact on any battlefield they have appeared in," according to Farzin Nadimi, an arms expert at The Washington Institute said. The U.S.' concerns center on Iran's deepening foreign alliances and dissemination of its lethal drones, analysts say. It added that a former Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, "boasted in October 2022 that 22 countries — including Algeria, Armenia, Serbia, Tajikistan, and Venezuela — had submitted formal requests for Iranian drones." Iran has previously provided drones to African countries including Sudan and Ethiopia, which the latter used against Tigrayan rebels.

Persons: Oleksii Samsonov, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, Edmundo Novillo, Novillo, Farzin, Nadimi, Novillo's, John Kirby, Biden, Ebrahim Raisi, Kirby, Annika Ganzeveld, Asad, Khomeini, Majid Asgaripour, Venezuela —, Raisi, ISW Organizations: Kyiv, Getty, Iran's, Bolivian, Bolivia's, CNBC, U.S . Defense Intelligence Agency, The Washington Institute, U.S . Institute for Peace, The U.S, U.S . National Security Council, Sepah, Anadolu Agency, American Enterprise Institute, Associated Press, U.S, Missiles, WANA, REUTERS, for, Revolutionary Guard Corps Locations: Russia, Kyiv, Ukraine, Iran, Washington, South America, Tehran, Fars, Bolivia, The, U.S, Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia, America, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, U.S Ayn, REUTERS Washington, Algeria, Armenia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Iranian, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Ethiopia

[1/2] "Junts x Catalunya" members raise up an "Estelada" flag (Catalan separatist flag) as they celebrate the results of the European Parliament elections in Barcelona, Spain, May 27, 2019. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File PhotoBARCELONA/MADRID, July 26 (Reuters) - Spain may be heading for a repeat of Sunday's inconclusive election unless Catalan separatist parties compromise on their demands for an independence referendum in exchange for their support. After neither the right nor left bloc won enough seats to form a majority, Catalan separatist parties Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) and Junts have emerged as kingmakers. However, Sanchez, who rejects Catalan independence, has long said he opposes a referendum or an amnesty. INDEPENDENCE SUPPORT DECLININGEven if Sanchez were willing to concede, a referendum could prove difficult to implement.

Persons: Albert Gea, Esquerra, Pedro Sanchez, Sanchez, Junts, Carles Puigdemont, Ramon Tremosa, mignon, Tremosa, Josep Rius, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Feijoo, Mariano Rajoy, Joan Esculies, Isabel Rodriguez, Yolanda Diaz, Diaz, Jaume Asens, Puigdemont, Wayne Griffiths, Rius, Pedro Sanchez's, Joan Faus, Belen Carreno, Charlie Devereux, Aislinn Laing, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, ERC, Junts, Sanchez's Socialists, Socialists, European Union, People's Party, Socialist, Monday, Volkswagen's, SEAT, Catalans, Vox, Thomson Locations: Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, BARCELONA, MADRID, Catalan, Catalonia, Belgium, Socialist, Madrid, Volkswagen's Barcelona, Spanish

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