The following blog is created and published by Talgat Kabdygali. A little bit of information about me, I am studying at Oxford International College, and I want to pursue a career in Law. The aim of this blog is to examine current events from a neutral perspective and notice how politics changes every day.

In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.

George Orwell

North American Politics:

• “Yesterday, Fox News published a report stating that nearly hundredths of protesters gathered at Grand Central Station in New York City, to protest against President’s Trump Administration Immigration Policies. Following demonstrations were made to show the disrespect towards President Trump’s immigration policies. The hour-long protest was organized by the Rise and Resist NYC (nonprofit organization), which was created after President Trump’s election 2016.” The main purpose of the following event was to protest and object to Border Patrol and ICE terrorizing immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. No arrests were reported and nearly 300 people gathered on Thursday for the following campaign. This campaign is very unique, especially at this time when Presidential campaigns of the different candidates will start in spring. This event is very crucial for American politics not only because it shows the opposition towards the current government, but because of the idea that most of the electorate wants a new leader for the nation. Source: Fox News, published August 30 2019.
• An example of when our basic freedoms and rights were violated is the recent statement made by US citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which claims that they are now capable of using fake social media accounts to monitor immigrants seeking citizenship, green cards and visas. Furthermore, USCIS claimed, “to access social media content that is publicly available to all users of the social media platform,”. The problem here is that USCIS technically violates terms of use of Facebook and Twitter, which prohibits users from making fake accounts. However, the strangest part of the situation is that the UCSIS action is that it got bipartisan support from the House of Representatives. Source: Fox News, 31 August 2019.
• A national race between two Democratic candidates for the Presidency has to lead to the new outcome. Joe Biden (the ex-Vice President) has shown his dominance over the nation, but the early political polls show stiff competition. However, another survey shows early voting states, in which there is a contest between two other progressive candidates. Mr.Biden leads the race with 27% among Democrats. On the other hand, Senator Bernie Sanders is second with 19%, while Senator Elizebeth Warren came third with 17%. Biden is the dominant candidate all over the democratic party, however, in some of the states, there is a competition with two other candidates. The main states where the race is neck to neck are Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. The only state where he has the apparent dominance is South Carolina. The Senior Campaign claimed in the recent report “we can lose Iowa, but we still have the chance to get the nomination”. The question is “By losing Iowa would not that mean that there is a higher chance for other two candidates to win the Democratic race?”. Source: CNN, September 8th 2019.
• One of the problems that the current president of the United States of America is experiencing, regarding his presidential campaign is his tense relations with Iran. After the US withdrew from the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action“, that was signed and ratified by the ex-President Barack Obama. President Trump has taken all the benefits Tehran was getting from the deal, which has lead Iran look smaller on the global stage, crippled economy and damaged the International Relations of Iran with the EU because they have nuclear power, which could not be controlled. This deal meant that Iran will eliminate its stockpile of Uranium under the supervision of the Security Council. After the withdrawal by Mr.Trump, Iran was sanctioned by EU states. However, the hope of every Iranian citizen is that the result for 2020 Elections will be against the Republican Party, which will lead to better-suited president who will renew the Iran Deal. Source: Fox News, 10th September 2019.
• A few hours ago President Trump stated that John Bolton (national security adviser of USA) was fired. In his letter, Mr Trump stated, “his services are no longer needed in the White House”. One of the main reasons was the number of disagreements both of them encountered. However, the main reason for the firing of Mr Bolton was because of the administration’s talks with the Taliban. That is the third security adviser that was fired under Mr.Trump’s administration. The problems have arisen because of their disagreements towards the foreign policy of the US with the Taliban. The talks were “dead” after the car bomb that killed one American Soldier. Source: BBC News, 10th September 2019.
• On 11th September 2019, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau called a federal election on 21st October 2019. This race is going to be tough, who will be seeking his second term in the office. The campaign will be concentrated on the economic, climate and affordability issues of Canada. Different political parties are getting ready for the political race, and many of them stated that Mr.Trudeau did not live up to their expectations. The question is “Will current PM win following elections? and “What was the reason for having all of a sudden elections, that could end his career?”. Source: BBC News, 11th September 2019.
• Leader of Canada’s Conservative party is running away from the comments made by Conservative candidate regarding abortion, to save the votes from female voters. On Tuesday Conservative Party Leader Andrew Sheer stated that “Conservative Party is not planning to open this issue (abortion) again”. However, a video was published by Liberals where Rachel Wilson (Conservative candidate) was commenting on the problem of abortion. Questions were asked, but the opposition leader claimed that it was the plan of Liberals, which meant to reopen the issue of abortion. Wilson asserted that she never made her opinion towards abortion a secret, but will focus on policies that will unite all Canadians. The question, “After following concerns does Conservative Party have the chance to win the general election, which is due on 21st October 2019.”. Source: Reuters, 12th September 2019.
• United Nations is going to charge US military servants for war crime and civilian targeting in Syria. US military and allied forces are blamed for the mass destruction of civilian houses, villages and towns. However, the reason behind following accusations towards the US specifically is because the US was an uninvited guest in the Syrian War. The question is when US Military servants will be called to the court. Source: Russia Today, 13th September 2019.
• The Democratic Debate that was held, yesterday in Houston, Texas have shown ten different democratic candidates on the same stage debating on different issues concerning today’s US. The Winners and Losers of the Debate. Mr Biden was criticized for different statements, specifically for the way he answered the question regarding the legacy of racism. He was mumbling and was going off-topic, talking about the radio and television. However, later he was asked about his own tragedy of losing his family in the car accident and death of his adult son from brain cancer. But this question did not show as the weak, sentiment candidate, but as the strong and willing man who did not give up the memory of his family. On the other hand, tow other candidates who have a very high chance of winning Democratic selections, still have an alliance. Mr Sanders and Miss Warren have an alliance, which shows that these two candidates are willing to work with each other for the time being to get rid-off Joe Biden (who has the highest rating in opinion polls). Furthermore, Beto O’Rourke (former congressman from El Paso) was respected by all the candidates and by the audience after his comments towards the second amendment. He stated that “Hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15, your AK-47”. The question of the guns is full of controversies, especially for the democratic candidates, who believe it is like poison. In the end, it was an interesting debate, but the chance of Biden winning the democratic election is very high. Source: BBC News, 13th September 2019.
• President of Turkey Tayyip Erdogan stated that he is willing to discuss the U.S. Patriot missiles, with President Trump. He claimed that “his personal bond with Mr.Trump can overcome the crisis caused by turkey after buying Russian air defence systems. After, the purchase of the S-400 missile system from Russia, US sanctioned Turkey and claimed that the purchase of the Patriot missile system is expired for Turkey. However, President Erdogan discussed the possible change of plans on the phone call with US Leader. President Erdogan claimed that he is willing to buy Patriots, as long as they can match up to the S-400. This discussion will be followed during the meeting of the UN General Assembly. This and other talks between two countries have shown that President Erdogan is trying to improve his international relations with the United States and with Mr.Trump just before the 2020 Elections. Source: Reuters, 14th September 2019.
• Former Vice President Joe Biden delivered a speech on Sunday about racism and how it became one of the biggest nation’s issues. Mr.Biden stated in his most expansive speech about racial equality in today’s America. Delivering his speech on the 56th Anniversary on the bombing of Birmingham Street Baptist Church, which killed four black girls. He stated that American dreams cannot be achieved through the perception of slavery. In his address, Biden told about the prominent hate crimes involving the racial colour. Also, he stated that if America wants to live to its ideals it has to stop this complicity. The reason why Mr. Biden delivered the following speech was because he wanted to get the votes of the racial minorities that live in America. Source: EuroNews, 15th September 2019.
• On 15th September 2019, Iran dismissed the US claim that it attacked Saudi Arabia oil factory. The Yemen Houthi group claimed that it was under the Saudi attacks, which knocked out the country’s oil output or more than 5% of global supply. However, Mike Pompeo US Secretary of State claimed that Iran was under the attack. Following attack is predicted to decrease the oil prices by 5 or 10 USD per barrel. On the other hand, Iran foreign minister dismissed the following claims as “pointless”. However, US intelligence says that Iran is involved after it identified the attacks from its satellite. But, no evidence other than claims and pictures from the satellite suggests that Iran was involved in Saudi attacks. The question is “was Iran really involved in these attacks?”. Source: Reuters, 15th September 2019.
• Senator Elizebeth Warren released her new set of anti-corruption proposals ahead of a rally in New York City. Warren is implementing stricter ethical law on corruption. Corruption is the central theme of her 2020 Presidential campaign. In her campaign, she stated that corrupt politicians will be strictly prosecuted. Also, she claimed to create federal “Office of the Public Advocate”. The aim will be to engage the public in understanding the legislation and laws that are discussed by Congress. It will engage the people how different regulatory rules are negotiated. Source: CNN, 16th September 2019.
• Big Brother is watching you. US intelligence has set new facial-recognition devices, with the technology that can identify the target from the crowd of a hundred people and from hundreds of meters away. In other words, changing drones to spy cameras. Also, the agency hopes to use algorithms to hunt the prey across the whole city, through the cameras. Source: Russia Today, September 19th 2019.
• Yesterday, President Trump tweeted that he is going to revoke California’s authority to set strict fuel economy standards. Mr.Trump stated that the reason behind it, “is to produce far less expensive cars … while making cars safer”. California’s authority to produce its own strict laws regarding automobile industry, was tougher than of the Federal government goes back to a waiver issued by Congress in 1970. However, a dozen states, including the District of Columbia follow California strict laws. On the other hand, California’s attorney general claimed that the administration action could hurt the American families and US automakers. He stated that the legal fight is on the way, which was supported by Environmental groups. Source: Fox News, 18th September 2019.
• Mr Trump has appointed the new Security Advisor and cannot decide what type of relationship he is willing to have with Iran. A few days ago President Trump was threatening to put “ultimate strike” on Iran after the bombings of oil factory in Saudi Arabia. On another hand, he regretted that the United States was involved in the Middle East crisis and invited the President of Iran to Washington for the visit. However, another decision that was made by President Trump was appointing the new Security Advisor, Robert O’Brien. Source: NY Times, 19th September 2019.
• Iran foreign minister stated that It will start “all-out war” if the US or Saudi Arabia will strike. (Breaking News)
• President Trump threatened to use EPA over San-Francisco’s homelessness problem. EPA is the Environmental Protection Agency that takes the responsibility of charging different organizations or government authorities for environmental crimes. President Trump claimed that California (specifically Los Angeles and San Francisco). Mr.Tump claimed that the problem of homelessness has lead to big concerns regarding pollution that was flowing into the ocean, specifically used needles. The mayor of San-Francisco London Breed on Thursday claimed that the city is already tackling the following problem. Source: CNN, 20th September 2019.
• Mayor of NYC Bill de Blasio dropped from the Presidential Democratic race. Mayor of New York City was one of the players in democratic race for the presidency, whose policies were set out to help and support the workers and their rights. However, one of the main reasons Mr.De Blasio dropped is because of the limit of funding and support he received. Democratic opinion polls show that only 1% of the members supported his policies. Finally, he claimed to represent the NYC, and that he does not regret the work that was done for the campaign. Source: NY Times, 20th September 2019.
• Current Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan claimed released the department’s counterterrorism strategy, which claims that threats are coming from different terrorist groups, specifically from white supremacists. Secretary called white supremacists main threat to democracy and called their ideology extremist. he pointed out that mass shootings in El Paso, Poway, Pittsburgh and Charleston were motivated by the extremist’s ideologies, specifically by “white supremacy”. Also, he claimed that ISIS and al Qaeda are two radical terrorist groups that support some type of supremacy, which could have led to wide support of the following extremist’s groups in the US. Source: CNN, 21st September 2019.
• Ukrainian Foreign Minister defended the call of President Trump with President Zelensky. During the phone call, Mr.Trump urged Ukrainian Authorities to investigate the son of the ex-Vice President and his dealings in Eastern Europe. “The talk between two leaders was long, friendly and touched on many questions” stated foreign minister of Ukraine. Zelensky’s office did not comment on the allegations. However, two leaders are going to meet very soon at the UN General Assembly in New York. Source: Fox News, September 22nd 2019.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for the legislation on Friday, which means that US Presidents can be indicted of the crime. Pelosi stated, “Presidents should legally be charged for the wrongdoing”. As well as this she claimed that she does not support Impeachment of President Trump, but supportive towards the Judicial Committee’s investigation regarding recommending or not the articles of impeachment. Source: CNN, September 22nd 2019.
• The presidential race between Democratic candidates in their home states is suffering. Democratic primaries. In a new poll that was taken by Monmouth Poll suggests that former Vice-President Joe Biden is leading the democratic primaries with 26%. He is followed by Senator Elizabeth Warren at 20%, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders at 18% and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker at 9%. It shows that Booker’s campaign is struggling significantly, with lower than 10% approval rate in their home state. Same could be said about her fellow democratic candidates. Bill de Blasio gave up on his campaign in his home state (New York). Senator Kamala Harris has averaged only 10% in her home state (California). Senator Micheal Bennet received only 5% approval rate in his home state (Colorado). All these candidates show that some democratic candidates are struggling significantly in their home states. Source: CNN, September 23rd 2019.
• Kamal Harris and the impeachment of the current President. She claimed that she has the list of reasons for Impeachment proceedings, following the Ukraine incident. She was asked a question if she is protecting Joe Biden and his son, from this accusation, on which she answered: “Donald Trump is trying to play politics on this issue”. There is a chance that the current president can be impeached just ahead of the 2020 election, for which he is going to run. Source: CNN, 24th September 2019.
• House of Representatives launches a formal inquiry to impeach President Trump (Breaking news)
• House of Representatives lead by Nancy Pelosi launched impeachment inquiry after the whistleblower scandal, involving Joe Biden and Ukraine Government. At the Press Conference, President Trump denied that he pressured Ukraine President. Also, White House released the transcript of the phone call between two Political leaders (it shows that President Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden). The Whistleblower complaint was delivered to Capitol hill for the legislature to review. Source: CNN, 25th September 2019.
• House of Representatives passed a bill that will enable the cannabis industry to access the banking and financial services. The bill was passed on Wednesday with the 321 to 103 votes, nearly all Democrats voted in favour and even their republican colleagues joined them; only one democrat voted no (Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama). The legislation is a win for the cannabis retailers, banking industry and it created the bipartisan support, especially during the impeachment inquiry against the current US President. The “bill will avoid any tax evasion, money laundering, theft” said the Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, who is the sponsor of the bill. Marijuana is legal in 11 states and in Washington D.C. and decriminalized in other 15 states. Source: CNN, 26th September 2019.
• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was subpoenaed by the House committees over the failure to produce documents related to Ukraine call. After the impeachment inquiry, Secretary of State was subpoenaed and should produce documents by October 4th 2019 stated by the chairmen of House of Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees. Source: CNN, 29th September 2019.
• Joe Biden is leading the opinion polls in South Carolina, while Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are losing in Nevada. Biden is winning by 21 points in South Carolina, 37% back former VP, 16% back Elizabeth Warren and 11% Sanders. Biden is supported mainly by the black voters with 45% backing rate. For white voters, there is a deadlock between Warren and Biden with 29% and 28% backing rate. Source: CNN, 30th September 2019.
• Bernie Sanders cancels his presidential campaign after he experienced the “chest discomfort”, after following comments Democratic candidate stopped his campaign until the further notice from medical experts. Doctors claimed that it happened because “one of his arteries was blocked”, however, now Senator Sanders is “in good spirits”. Bernie Sanders is 78 years old and was campaigning for the 2020 elections from the Democratic party. It happened after he arrived in Las Vegas, to pay tributes for the mass shooting that happened on October 1st 2017. However, straight after the news of his health problems were known he was supported by his rivals. Elizabeth Warren tweeted “I hope to see my friend back on the campaign trail very soon” and former Vice President sends his support “.⁦‪ Biden‬⁩ and I are sending our best wishes to ⁦‪@BernieSanders‬⁩, Jane, and the whole Sanders family. Anyone who knows Bernie understands what a force he is. We are confident that he will have a full and speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him on the trail soon”. Source: CNN, October 2nd 2019.
• Secretary of State stated that he was on the call, because of which Trump is getting impeached. Because of the Whistleblower complaint, Democrats are investigating the call between two political leaders. Pompeo stated, “I was on the phone call”. Secretary of State and Attorney General of Trump’s Administration were subpoenaed by lawmakers. State Department staff has been contacted directly by the lawmakers and was told not to talk to the State Department. Pompeo claimed that he will cooperate with Congress “We will, of course, do our constitutional duty to cooperate with this co-equal branch but we are going to do so in a way that is consistent with the fundamental values of the American system,”. The staff of President Trump was due to give depositions in Capitol Hill, because of the call. The inquiry could lead to approval of articles of impeachment, which will lead to a dispute in the Senate on whether to remove him from the office. Source: Reuters, October 2nd 2019.
• Trump slammed the conference with the Finnish President. On Wednesday, during the conference journalists asked President Trump about the impeachment inquiry. He blasted at the reporters who asked him about the impeachment issue. He called them “a fraud” and “a hoax”. But claimed that he will cooperate with the inquiry. He was angry and showed that he is really fed up with the situation, therefore he is willing to end this situation as soon as possible. The impeachment probe that was angrily discussed by Trump and the reporters can lead to articles of impeachment, which will mean that the President will need to face a trial on whether to be removed from the office. Source: Reuters, October 2nd 2019.
• Bernie Sanders is coming back after receiving a heart attack. Democratic Candidate was diagnosed with a blockage in an artery. His staff revealed very little info about his medical conditions. Sanders said, “After two-and-half days, I feel great, after taking a short break, I look forward to getting back to work”. However, after this incident, everyone understood the problem Democrats are facing with their candidates, which is age. Sanders is 76, Biden is 78 and Warren is 70. Source: POLITICO, October 3rd 2019.
• Judge dismisses Trump’s effort to prevent his tax returns to be seen by New York’s grand jury. The tax returns will be provided in response to the subpoena from the Manhattan’s District Attorney office. The tax returns will only be publicly visible if they will be used as evidence during the trial. President Trumps, on the other hand, claimed that “absolute immunity from the criminal process of any kind”, but it was stated by the US District Judge Victor Marrero that “such position would constitute an overreach of executive power”. The investigation concerns “whether the Trump Organization violated any New York state laws — including potentially filing false business records”. Source: CNN, 7th October 2019.
• Donald Trump complimented Turkey after it has cleared the way for NATO ally to invade Syria. President Trump claimed that President Erdogan will visit White House on November 13th, asserting besides that they make structured steel for the F-35 Fighter Jet. The US defence department claimed that Turkish aircraft is removed from the daily air operations by the US. Source: Bloomberg, 8th October 2019.
• Turkey began a military offensive into Northeastern Syria on Wednesday. Turkey launched the airstrikes and artillery fire, days after white House announced it was pulling US troops back from the area. President Erdogan claimed that “Our aim is to destroy the terror corridor which is trying to be established on our southern border and to bring peace and peace to the region”. Name of the operation is “Peace Spring”. “the offensive comes days after US President Trump provoked a storm of criticism” after announcing the pullback of US troops from the region. US President defended the decision of pulling out the troops, but claimed: “The US does not endorse the operation”. Furthermore, many countries around the world condemned the actions taken by Turkey. Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and UK expressed their disagreement towards the operation and their condemnation. Source: CNN, October 10th 2019.
• Former Vice-President called for the impeachment of Donald Trump for the first time. But the crowd was cheering when he claimed about the impeachment of Trump and joked about Rudy Guliani. For weeks Joe Biden was very cautious towards the impeachment inquiry, even after all the other Democratic candidates called for it. It was the first time, Biden attacked the President in the sharpest and most personal manner. It was seen as he was a “hero America needs” while positioning US President as a “coward” and “a bully”. Similar style and tone were used against Elizabeth Warren who overtaken him national polls. Source: POLITICO, 10th October 2019.
• Democratic debate winners and losers. Tuesday 15th October 2019, has seen one of the interesting debates in current Democratic primaries. The whole debate was focused on attacking Warren. Candidates accused her of refusing to say whether she will raise taxes or not. Other major candidates were also under attack. Former VP denied any wrongdoing in Ukraine and Sanders was questioned about his health problems after the recent heart attack. In the end, the winner of the debate will go against President Donald Trump in November 2020 election. The debate in Ohio was the most crowded Democratic debate, with 12 candidates hoping to preserve the oval office. Candidates are Pete Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang, Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Tom Stayer, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden. Source: BBC News, 16th October 2019.
• Energy secretary is going to resign. White House confirmed that Rick Perry Energy Department Secretary is going to resign. Trump claimed “We already have this replacement” and “Rick has done a fantastic job. But it was time.”. President Trump did not tell who is the new Energy Secretary but will announce on Thursday’s campaign rally. POLITICO sources claimed that “DOE Deputy Secretary Dan Brouillette, a former head of public policy at the U.S. Automobile Association and executive at Ford Motor Company, is the most likely person to replace Perry at DOE”. Perry was mainly concentrated on energy issues in Eastern Europe, therefore he was a subject to recent House Democrats subpoenas. Source: POLITICO, 17th October 2019.
• Donald Trump announced that he will not hold the G-7 summit at one of his family’s resorts. The decision was made after Congress and Government Ethics experts accused him of violating the US Constitution for holding the summit at “financially struggling resorts”. However, the most unusual part about this case is that he was criticized by his own party and by his favourite tv channel Fox News. Also, Congress condemned the action of holding the G-7 summit in Miami, after asking White House administration for documents, which would outline the reason of holding talks in one of his family resorts. Source: POLITICO, 19th October 2019.
• Justin Trudeau won federal elections.
• Election results claim that PM Trudeau and his Liberal Party won the federal elections. This means that he will serve as the PM for the second term. However, the fight was tight between him and Conservative Leader Andrew Sheer, was more than equal in some of the federal regions, elections were focused on three main issues, which are health care, climate change and cost of living. Source: CNN, 21st October 2019.
• President Trump lifted import sanctions on Turkey. Turkey claimed that it will stop the combat in northeastern Syria, which meant that the White House will lift the sanctions it had imposed in response to the violence. Recently, President Trump stopped the 100 billion trade deal with Turkey. The ceasefire ended after Russia and Turkey struck a deal in Sochi. Under this agreement, both countries will support each other in order “facilitate the removal” from the border region YPG fighters. On the other hand, Russia warned Kurdish forces to leave the Turkey-Syria Border or they will be crushed by the Turkish army. Initially, Trump imposed sanctions after the “backlash with Democrats and his own party members” over the withdrawal and Turkey’s sudden offensive. Source: Al-Jazeera, 23rd October 2019.
• ISIS Leader is dead.
• ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed on Saturday in Northeastern Syria by US Military during the raid. It is suggested that al-Baghdadi was wearing a suicidal vest during the raid. it was believed that Baghdadi was out hiding for five years. It is officially stated by the White House that Kurdish intelligence helped US forces to track the terrorist. Source: CNN, 26th October 2019.
• House of Representatives will vote next week to formalize the steps taken for the impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump. This means that Democrats are ready to introduce the investigation to public probe. The vote is expected to happen on Thursday. Republicans, on the other hand, claimed “Democrats’ reliance on closed-door hearings during the fact-gathering stage of their inquiry and have also demanded that Democrats detail their plans to give Trump a chance to cross-examine and call his own witnesses”. It all depends on Thursday’s vote. Source: POLITICO, 28th October 2019.
• On Thursday, House of Representatives led by Nancy Pelosi took the major step towards the impeachment probe. The resolution was passed with 232-196. On the other hand, Republicans and White House claimed that the inquiry is unfair towards President Trump. Nancy Pelosi stated, “Today, we are further down the path of our inquiry, it’s a sad day, nobody comes to Congress to impeach the President”. Every Republican voted against the inquiry. Source: POLITICO, 31st October 2019.
• US Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke ends his presidential campaign. The former presidential candidate stated in his twitter “Our campaign has always been about seeing clearly, speaking honestly, and acting decisively”. Something wrong with his campaign. O’Rourke tried to reboot his campaign, he started to focus on gun control, and became even more famous after sting “Hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15s”. The problem was that he could not catch up with 3 main candidates. Source: BBC News, 1st November 2019.
• Kentucky, Virginia and Mississippi elections. Democrats have won the seat in Kentucky, one of the most Republican seats in the US. The Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear declared victory with 0.4% point lead against he Republican Governor Matt Bevin. President Trump was supporting Bevin, by going to rally with him across the state, but it did not help. Beshear claimed that he will ease the Medicare for all, overhaul the state education system and restore rights of former felons. Besides, to this victory Democrats got the seat in Virginia, they won the majority in the House and in the Senate of the state. This victory will mean to establish strict gun control laws, an increased minimum wage and so on. On the other hand, Republicans got the seat in Mississippi. This means that the state will pursue tax cuts and avoid the expansion of Medicaid. Source: CNN, 6th November 2019.
• Sanders is willing for the US to join the Iran Nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). Democratic candidate stated that the US should rejoin the deal after Tehran’s step away from the deal, while GOP is against any further commitments regarding the Iran nuclear deal. However, Iran scaled back its commitments over the deal, after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal. Former VP and Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders both do not understand the purpose of withdrawing from the deal bu President Trump. On the other hand, Representative of Wyoming Liz Cheney (GOP) and Senator ted Cruz and Rep.Lindsey Graham acknowledged the decision taken by White House regarding the further step away taken by Iran, which solidified their argument. Source: Russia Today, 7th November 2019.
• Whistleblower attorney denies his past 2017 tweets. Mark Zaid the Ukraine Attorney regarding the Whistleblower call defended his past tweets. In these published 2017 tweets he claimed and predicted “coup” and stated that he will “get rid of him”, but in “a completely lawful process”. On the other hand, President Trump tweeted about this situation as “Based on the information released last night about the Fake Whistleblowers attorney, the Impeachment Hoax should be ended IMMEDIATELY! There is no case, except against the other side!”. Zaid was critical of Trump since 2016. Source; Fox News, 7th November 2019.
• General election: Pact between Tories and Brexit Party last chance. Nigel Farage the leader of the Brexit Party stated that he will have the party try for few more days to get a pact with the Conservative Party. However, he claimed that BoJo would need to abandon his Brexit agreement with the EU. Also, he challenged PM to “head to head” debate on the deal. Source: BBC News, 8th November 2019.
• The first public hearing in the Trump impeachment inquiry has started.
• Deval Patrick joined the late Presidential campaign. Former Governor of Massachusetts, D-Mass told his friends and allies that he is joining the Democratic Primary. After this declaration, it is considered that he will travel to New Hampshire to file for the state’s first primary candidate. The deadline is Friday to declare the part in the race. Patrick served as the as U.S. Assistant Attorney general for the Civil Rights Division form 1994-1997 under President Clinton. He was elected as the Governor of Massachusetts in 2006 and re-elected in 2010. However, he left his position in 2015. On another hand, Warren has been asked if she has contacted Patrick, on which she answered “no “. Source: Fox News, 14th November 2019.
• Erdogan’s visit to the White House. Leaders have very contradictory and tense relations. But President Trump claims that they have very good relations and called the meeting “very productive”. The discussion was focused on the Northern Syria and Turkish purchase of Russian missile defence system. The Trump’s welcome came amid the total condemnation by the Congress of Turkish forces operation in Syria. Trump stated as any politician “We’ve been friends for a long time, almost from day one. We understand each others’ country. We understand where we are coming from”. Also, he claimed that two NATO allies can settle their conflicted relations and settle their differences. After the purchase of S-400 missiles from Moscow, Washington made the choice of removing Ankara from the list of countries that receives F-35 jet programme. House of Representatives passed a sanction on turkey after the purchase of Russian missiles. Trump commented, “Turkey’s acquisition of sophisticated Russian military equipment, such as the S-400, creates some very serious challenges for us and we are talking about it constantly,”. He also added, “hopefully we will be able to resolve this issue”. On another hand, President Trump’s own party pressed Erdogan for the purchase of S-400. Source: Al-Jazeera, 14th November 2019.
• The US claimed that it will keep 600 troops in Syria, even after ending all the operations in Northern Syria. Secretary of Defense claimed that most of the troops are coming back home after months in Syria, but 500-600 of them are going to stay in Northern East Syria to protect the oil fields, after what happened in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, he claimed that European allies may join them, but it is still questioned. Trump’s sudden announcement of the full troop withdrawal from the region was critiqued by everyone in the US and around the world. This is because it could possibly allow the resurgence of the ISIS. After all, the US is leaving the vulnerable Kurdish forces with Turkey. But in the end, he will leave some troops to protect the oil fields. Source: Al-Jazeera, 14th November 2019.
• The first public impeachment hearing happened during which Senior US diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor and Senior State Department official overseeing Ukraine foreign policy George Kent. They testified over the House Intelligence Committee. It was the first public testimony about the abuse of. power by President Trump after the whistleblower incident. Republicans attacked the witnesses for not cooperating with the Administration of the President. The new evidence was told by Taylor, that President had another conversation with Ukraine to push his desire of making them publicly announcing accusation against Hunter Biden so that he will have the chance during 2020 election race. Besides, to this Kent brought some revealing contradictions that President Trump made. “Kent claimed that Trump was “trying to dig up dirt” on a political rival, rebutting Trump’s claim that he was fighting corruption in Ukraine. Taylor said there was “no good policy reason” and “no good national security reason” for Trump to withhold US military assistance from Ukraine”. Source: CNN, 14th November 2019.
• Nancy Pelosi claimed that first time that President Trump committed “Bribery”.
• Donald Trump is going to visit the UK for the NATO meeting on December 2nd 2019. During this meeting, President Trump intends to discuss defence spending and any terrorist attacks.
• US Ambassador to European Union Gordon Sondland appeared in front of the house and testified. “He had to announce the investigations” – Sondland said he understood Trump wanted Zelensky to announce the investigations but “didn’t have to do them”. “Two plus two equals four” – Sondland said he believed military aid was held up to pressure Ukraine but never heard Trump say as much – “the aid was my own personal, you know, guess, based on [the] analogy two plus two equals four”. Another July phone call to know about – Sondland confirmed he spoke with Trump on 26 July and discussed “investigations”. Pompeo knew – Sondland told lawmakers the state department was aware of his activities, and “that included communications with Secretary of State Pompeo”. “We did not want to work with Mr Giuliani” – the ambassador to the EU confirms he and other Ukraine officials worked closely with the president’s personal lawyer at Trump’s behest. Source: BBC News, 20th November 2019.
• President Donald Trump signed two bills which will support Hong Kong protesters, despite Beijing’s objections. “I signed these bills out of respect for President Xi, China, and the people of Hong Kong. They are being enacted in the hope that Leaders and Representatives of China and Hong Kong will be able to amicably settle their differences leading to long term peace and prosperity for all,” Trump said in a statement released by the White House. The reason trump signed the bill was to support the “phase one” of the trade deal with China, which condemned any legislation that will help the protesters in Hong Kong. Hong Kong government expressed strong opposition towards the bills and they also claimed that these bills will not stop the protests but will create even more problems than solutions. However, the bill was passed by the Legislative body with Bi-partisan support, which is very rare, but it shows that the whole of US is willing to help Hong Kong protesters, especially during the trade war with China. Source: CNBC, 27th November 2019
• Trump Administration stated that France’s digital services tax discriminates against U.S. companies, thus they will propose tariffs of up to 100% on 2.4 billion dollars of French products. This shows that both countries have a very tense relationship with one another. It all started after President Macron signed the legislation this July, which established a 3% tax on large companies’ revenues from digital services. The tax was criticized by US-tech giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon and so on. US Trade Administration that this tax discriminates against US tech companies and that it goes against international tax principles. Source: The Hill, 2nd December 2019.
• Micheal Bloomberg the new candidate that will for 2020 Presidential campaign. The new candidate already gave his first speech and there is not enough energy it can put anyone to the sleep. However, it will be hard for another billionaire to participate in this intense elections when he was the one who supported President George W. Bush, claimed that Rudy Guliani has to became the mayor of New York City and supported the 2012 challenger to progressive darling Senator Elizabeth Warren. Many interesting things will happen on this 2020 election. Source: The Hill, 30th November 2019.
• Kamala Harris drops out of 2020 presidential race due to lack of finances.
• US and China signed Phase one of the trade deal.

UK Politics:

• The main problem that the UK parliament is experiencing nowadays is called “Boris Johnson”. One of the problems the newly elected PM has caused is that he supports a no-deal Brexit. The PM has warned MP’s, saying they are “damaging his chances of getting a deal with the EU by trying to block a no-deal Brexit”. The PM stated that MP’s do not have the right to block the choice that was made by the electorate in 2016. Furthermore, Mr Johnson claimed that the UK will leave the EU on 31 October 2019, with a no-deal Brexit, specifically after he suspended Parliament for five weeks with the power of the Royal Prerogative. However, one of the positive aspects of this action by the PM was that he started the bipartisan support, which meant that Tory rebels, Labour Party, LIb-Dems and so on joined together to stop no-deal Brexit. Moreover, ex-Prime Minister Sir John Major joined the court case with other MP’s to stop Parliament’s suspension. The real question that interests me is, even if MP’s will stop the suspension, will UK citizens support soft Brexit? In my opinion, the people of the UK will support any deal regarding Brexit, as long as Boris Johnson is not re-elected. Source: BBC News, August 30 2019.
• Another problem that has been caused by Boris Johnson was that he stated in a recent report that if MP’s will not stop the block of no-deal Brexit, the Government will motion the election on October 14th 2019, if defeated by MP’s on September 3rd 2019. The Prime Minister claimed that in “no circumstances” will Brexit will be delayed until 31st January 2020. The problem which arises from Mr Johnson calling an election is that it violates the Fixed-term Parliament Act, which requires him to get two-thirds of the majority in the House of Commons. As I mentioned in the previous report, one of the main reasons the PM is stating the following motion is because of the bipartisan support of the delay, which consists of Labour Party and Tory Rebels. Source: BBC News, September 2nd 2019.
• Boris Johnson has lost the majority in the House of Commons. Prime Minister has lost his majority after the Conservative MP Philip Lee resigned from the Tories. Mister Lee stated that “he will defect to Lib-Dems” and claimed the main reasons for his resignation were the “populism” and “nationalism”, which were promoted by the Brexit referendum. Source: Euro News, September 3rd 2019.
• Amber Rudd quits the Conservative Party after Government’s inaction towards Brexit. She claimed, “90% of the time on Downing Street is spending to get ready for the No-deal Brexit”. She was the Home Secretary from 2016 to 2018 and was the Secretary for Work and Pensions from 2018 to 2019. She calls the decisions of PM to expel 21 MP’s from the executive “an act of political vandalism”. This act will affect the Tories inside and outside significantly. The question is how many other ministers and secretaries will quit the current government. Source: BBC, 8th September 2019.
• To avoid no-deal Brexit, Boris Johnson should quit, which means that MP’s must back Jeremy Corbyn. One of the main reasons was after his cross-party alliance which lead to the defeat of the early general election vote in Parliament. It is claimed that because of him, different opposition parties, such as Plaid Cymru, Lib-Dems, Labour, SNP and so on, united against the Hard-Brexit Tories. However, the problem is that Parliament was suspended by PM until 14th October. Which lead to massive rebel in the House of Commons. After, the following action Speaker John Berkow stated that he will step down as the Speaker of the House of Commons by 31st October 2019. Furthermore, MP’s voted that the executive government should publish all written and electronic documents regarding No-deal Brexit planning. Finally, Lib-Dems claimed that they revoke article 50 as the most pro-EU party, which shows that they will have an alliance, which could lead to the coalition between two parties for the general election. Source: Guardian, 9th September 2019.
• Today, Scottish Highest court ruled that the suspension of Parliament by Boris Johnson was an unlawful act. Three judges at the Court of Session decided in favour of the politicians who were against the suspension of Parliament by Boris Johnson. The decision overturns the earlier decision by the Scottish court, which claimed that PM did not break the law. But, it will not be enabled straightaway. This is because it cannot stop the suspension until, the full hearing by the Supreme Court in London, next Tuesday. The question, what will the Supreme Court decision on the following matter. Source: BBC News, 10th September 2019.
• Thirty minutes ago opposition MP’s demanded Parliament to be recalled after Scottish Court ruled against the prorogation of Westminster Parliament. Lib-Dems, SNP, Labour came back to Parliament to protest against the suspension after the court decision in Scotland. The problem is that following protest will not alter any action because Parliament will need to wait for the Supreme Court decision on next Tuesday. Source: BBC News, 11th September 2019.
• One hour ago BBC News reported that the legal challenge against no-deal Brexit was dismissed by the Highest Court in Northern Ireland. It stated that no-deal Brexit will harm the peace process and on the Good Friday Agreement, because of the deadlock. However, the decision made in Belfast by the Lord Justice Bernard McCloskey was in favour of no-deal Brexit. He stated that the following matter is “inherently and unmistakably political”. The question what will Supreme Court decisions regarding Parliament’s suspension. Source: BBC News, 12 September 2019.
• Leader of Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Arlene Foster will not support the no-deal Brexit proposed by Prime Minister. She stated that “it divides the internal market of the UK”. The only way to stop no-deal Brexit is the North-Ireland Backstop. If the UK leaves the European Union law on 31st October 2019, with or without a deal, Northern Ireland would still need to create special customs law, from the rest of the country to trade goods. Source: Reuters, 13th September 2019.
• Boris Johnson is holding talks with the EU on Monday. No 10 claimed that it will have talks with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker about different issues, relating to Brexit. In the past interview, Juncker stated: “Brexit was the mistake of UK, not of EU”. Does it mean that PM is trying to soften the Brexit deal? Source: EuroNews, 13th September 2019.
• Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow warned current Prime Minister about disobeying the Brexit Law. Mr.Speaker stated that the only legal Brexit is when it is widely supported by the House of Commons MP’s. A law that was passed before the suspension of Parliament stated that PM will need to seek for the delay until 31st January 2020, if the no-deal Brexit will not be backed by MP’s on 19th October 2019. Some of the MP’s claimed that the role of the Speaker has become too radical and political. Will there be any debate about the role of the Speaker, before Mr.Berkow leaves his seat?. Source: BBC News, 13th September 2019.
• Liberal-Democrats have stated that if they will win future General election, they will cancel Brexit. Members voted that they will cancel the referendum result at their conference in Bournemouth by a majority. It has shown that Lib-Dems are the most Remain and Pro-EU party in the House of Commons. But. the question of how can they get the majority in the Parliament, when they only have 18 seats out of 650. Source: BBC News, 15th September 2019.
• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed to the Juncker that the Brexit delay will be rejected at any point. The meeting between two Politicians will be in Luxembourg and it will be the first meeting since the PM Selection in July 2019. The question is how will the meeting in Luxembourg determine the outcome of Brexit for the UK. Source: BBC News, 16th September 2019.
• Mr.Johnson has stated in his recent interview that he is going to wait for the decision of Supreme court on whether he needs to recall Parliament back. On Tuesday, at 10:30 BST Supreme Court will start the case about the proroguing of Parliament for 5 weeks. The decision will be held on Thursday and it will decide if PM acted lawfully. On the other hand, Edinburgh’s High Court decided that it was unlawfully, and London’s High Court decided that it was not court matter. In the end, the decision of the Supreme court is crucial. Source: BBC News, September 17th 2019.
• The second day of the legal battle in Supreme Court has ended. The government’s lawyer, Sir James Eadie QC, claimed that it was not for the courts to decide over prorogation as it was a political issue, not legal. On another hand, the campaigners’lawyer Aidan O’Neill QC claimed it was “for the improper purpose”. However, there are two appeals in two different courts, which correlate with the decision of the Supreme Court about the Suspension of Parliament. London High Court’s decision was “the issue is not legal, it is political”, the decision was challenged and appealed by the Gina Miller. On the other hand, the Edinburgh High Court, decide that the action of PM to prorogue the Parliament was unlawful. However, No 10 claimed that the Supreme Court will rule that it is the decision of the court to decide if the act was lawful or not. Tuesday, was the day of hearing the appeals of the campaigner, whereas Wednesday was the day of hearing the appeals of the Government side. Source: BBC News, 18th September 2019.
• EU leaders asserted that PM has 12days to set out plans for the Brexit. Finland’s Prime Minister claimed that BoJo has 12 days to set out plans to EU about their Brexit plan. Mr Johnson claimed that deal will be ready on 17th October, at the EU Summit, but the UK will leave the EU on 31st October 2019. Also, it was stated that there is progress regarding the talks with the EU. Also, several proposals were set ours as alternatives for the Irish Border Backstop. The question is “how will PM set out the Brexit plans in such a limited time frame?”. Source: BBC News, 19th September 2019. (New updates with the Prorogation case, Supreme Court has stated that the decision is due early next week)
• BoJo hares the Brexit papers with the EU. Ministers will reveal the secret documents concerning Brexit to the EU. The decision to set out the plans came after the statement made by Finnish PM (about setting the plan in 12 days). European Commission claimed that documents are received and technical talks are coming. The most interesting thing to witness would be the reaction of the EU to these secret documents made by BoJo and his government. Source: BBC News, 19th September 2019.
• Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay is going to hold talks with the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier. This is followed after BoJo meeting with the Jean-Claude Juncker, who stated that the new Brexit deal is “achievable” on 31st October 2019. One of the main aims of the following talks is to discuss the Irish Backstop, which is the big problem for both the EU and UK. “There is progress” stated by Boris Johnson. Source: BBC News, 20th September 2019.
• Boris Johnson is going to have a meeting in New York with the world leaders about Brexit, Climate Change and instability in the Middle East. BoJo is going to meet President Trump, President Macron and Angela Merkel and others at the UN annual general assembly. Also, he will meet India’s PM and Prime Minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar. relations between the UK and the Republic of Ireland are improving. However, the UK is due to leave the EU on 31st October 2019 unless the bloc between Ireland and Northern Ireland would like to extend the process. The most interesting is awaiting in New York, next week. Source: BBC News, 20th September 2019.
• In the recent meeting of the Brexit Party members, Nigel Farage claimed that labour has betrayed its own pro-Brexit voters. He claimed that his party will target traditional safe seats in Wales that belong to the Labour Party. Mr.Farage claimed that Brexit Party’s win during the May’s European Elections was a “good start”. The reason Mr.Farage wants to tackle Labour seats is that he believes that constituents will vote for pro-Brexit. Source: BBC News, 21st September 2019.
• Jeremy Corbyn said he is willing to divide the position of Labour deputy leader, this statement came straight after the controversy of scraping Mr.Watson position as the Labour deputy leader. Both leaders of the Labour party had disagreements in the past over Brexit and antisemitism claims. He reflected on the idea of having a party election over two deputy leaders, which was agreed. Source: SkyNews, September 22nd 2019.
• The foreign secretary of the UK claimed that the UK executive will respect the ruling of the Supreme Court on the prorogation of Parliament. Dominic Raab claimed that any decision made by the Supreme Court will be respected later next week. Source: Reuters, 22nd September 2019.
• PM of UK Boris Johnson claimed in the recent statement that Iran is to blame for the strikes on the oil factory in Saudi Arabia, just ahead of the meeting with the country’s President Hassan Rouhani. PM said that there is a “very high degree of probability” that Iran was under the attack on the oil rig. On the other hand, the US (also blames Iran) sent troops to Saudi Arabia. Additionally, Saudi Arabia believes too that Iran has sent 18 drones and 7 cruise missiles to bomb the oil factory. BoJo claimed that the UK is working with the US and other countries “to construct a response that will de-escalate the tensions in the region”. The most interesting will be soon, during the UN General Assembly in New York. Source: BBC News, 23rd September 2019.
• Supreme court decision that propagation of Parliament by the PM was unlawful. (Breaking news)
• After the suspension of Parliament for five weeks, MP’s around the UK decided to call this decision to account, by letting the Judiciary decide if t was lawful. On Tuesday President of Supreme Court, Lady Hale said: “the effect on the fundamentals of democracy was extreme”. No 10 claimed, “currently processing the verdict”. Lady Hale claimed, “to prorogue Parliament was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification.” The unanimous decision of 11 Judges was not to prorogue Parliament. Additionally, she stated that “the Speakers of House of Commons and Lords to decide what to do next.”. Source: BBC News, 24th September 2019.
• Jeremy Сorbyn claimed that PM should resign after the decision taken by the Supreme Court. In the Labour Party conference in Brighton, Opposition leader stated that after the following decision BoJo has to resign to respect democracy. SNP and other Labour MP’s stated that vote of no confidence can be revoked PM will not resign. MP’s will return to House of Commons on Wednesday at 11:30pm after the court’s ruling. Some of the government officials believe that Boris Johnson should resign after the UN General Assembly. Source: 24th September 2019.
• Parliament is back. Today at 11:30 am MP’s around the UK returned back to the House of Commons after the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the prorogation of Parliament. Chief Legal Advisor of Government Geoffrey Cox claimed that executive acted in “good faith”. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox stated that he is “disappointed” over the decision of the Supreme Court, but respects it. However, after some time he started an attack on MP’s for being cowards over the General election. Attorney General claimed that the government believed that it was acting constitutionally and lawfully, but over some time he will decide whether suspension of Parliament was really the correct decision. On the other hand, opposition parties demand PM resign. BoJo asserted that the UK will leave the EU with or without a deal on 31st October 2019. However, MP’s passed a law “Benn Bill”, which makes PM ask for an extension from the EU. Real heat started after Mr Cox was criticizing MP’s for acting cowardly towards the General election. Source: BBC News, 24th September 2019.
• SNP MP Stewart House claimed that there is going to be the vote of no confidence next week against the current PM. Stewart House claimed that this is the only way to avoid Brexit on October 31st 2019. Also, Nicola Sturgeon Leader of the SNP claimed that she will back Jeremy Corbyn on becoming the PM. On the other hand, Lib-Dems do not support Opposition Leader. Furthermore, there is a Conservative Party conference that will take place in Manchester, during which BoJo is going to claim that the Conservative Government is only able to achieve the result of 2016 Brexit referendum. Moreover, Jeremy Corbyn was asked if he is ready to become interim Prime Minister, he claimed “Absolutely”. If the government loses the vote MP’s have 14 days to express their support for an alternative government. If an alternative government will not get the majority in House of Commons, General election will be held. Source: BBC News, 28th September 2019.
• Boris Johnson has presented the new government plan for the EU, regarding the Irish Backstop. The plan outlined that Northern Ireland will stay in the European Single Market for goods, but will leave the customs union. Northern Ireland Assembly will vote on the resolution and then will vote every 4 years to keep them. UK is to leave the EU on 31st October 2019, and BoJo is showing an effort to leave as soon as possible. DUP (coalition party with the current Government) gave a cautious welcome to the proposals. DUP stated, “the plan demonstrates a commitment to working with our neighbours in Ireland and respected the integrity of Northern Ireland economic and constitutional position within the UK”. On the other hand, Sinn Fein accused the Government of going against the will of the people and Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed that the plan is “unacceptable and worse than Theresa May’s agreement because it undermines the Good Friday agreement, between two nations”. Source: BBC News, October 2nd 2019.
• EU is unconvinced by the Brexit plan proposals. European Union, specifically Donald Tusk is “open but unconvinced” by the UK PM’s Brexit proposals. He expressed doubt towards the Brexit plan. The plan stated that Northern Ireland will remain in the EU Single Market, but will leave the Customs Union. Ireland’s PM claimed that the plan was welcomed “but fallen short in some aspects”. The UK Brexit Chief Advisor David Frost will hold talks again with EU, about the Irish Backstop. The EU Chief Negotiator Michel Bernier claimed that he has plenty of questions about the backstop. UK executive stated that it is trying to achieve a final agreement with the EU before the EU Summit on 17th October. Source: BBC News, October 4th 2019.
• Northern Ireland’s abortion law breaches the UK’s human rights commitments, the Highest Court judged. The case was in Belfast by Sarah Ewart, who challenged the law, after she was denied the termination of her pregnancy. The judge ruled in favour of Miss Ewart because it was not right to ask another woman to relive her trauma. Sarah Ewart claimed that “the case is a turning point for all women of Northern Ireland”. Mrs Justice Keegan already brought the case to Westminster for scrutiny and is already passed in the UK parliament, it will lead to the decriminalization of abortion by 21st October. Northern Ireland abortion law is very different from the one in the UK. It is illegal to terminate pregnancy in Northern Ireland only if “it was the result of rape, incest or if the pregnancy will lead to physical or mental abnormalities or if the baby will not survive 100%”. Source: BBC News, October 3rd 2019.
• Ex-Conservative MP Rory Stewart who lost the PM selection in 2019, is going to run for London Mayor election. Rory Stewart became an independent candidate. He will run for 2020 London Mayor Election, which will start on 7th May 2020. His opponent will be current Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan and Tory candidate Shaun Bailey. Rory Stewart was expelled from the Conservative Party, along with other 20 Tory MP’s, this year, after he rebelled against the BoJo and the Brexit on October 31st 2019. This is going to be an interesting race, for Tory and Labour MP’s to witness. Source: BBC News, October 3rd 2019.
• The Welsh Independence referendum will take place in 2030 and will be lead by the Plaid Cymru leader. Adam Price Plaid Cymru Leader claimed that the chance for the Welsh Independence referendum is accelerating and that everything can change. It comes before the Plaid Cymru Party conference in Swansea, where he will be revealing the party policies, which are “aimed at lifting 10,000 children out of poverty”. Another policy is going to concentrate “on providing the job guarantee for young people aged 16-24”. Source: BBC News, October 3rd 2019.
• BoJo called on the EU to enter detailed talks to “thrash out” its objections towards Brexit proposals. PM claimed that Brexit proposals are “big concession”, but EU leaders did not offer any constructive criticism of the plan. No 10 claimed that PM had a phone call with the leaders of Denmark, Sweden and Poland, after the talks with President Macron. This criticism is very crucial for PM as he wants to set out the problems (EU leaders issues with the proposal) before the EU summit on 17th and 18th October. Source: BBC News, 7th October 2019.
• A No 10 source said that the Brexit deal is “essentially impossible” after the call of UK PM and Angela Merkel. President of the European Parliament claimed that “there is no progress” and MEP’s will not agree to compromise “at any price”. No 10 claimed that Mrs Merkel told her team that the only to break the deadlock, is by letting Northern Ireland stay in the Customs Union and for it permanently accept EU single market trade policies. Source: BBC News, October 8th 2019.
• MP’s will be called on Saturday for emergency siting in aa decisive day in the future of Brexit. Parliament will meet on 19th October after the EU summit. If a deal will be agreed Boris Johnson will ask MP’s to approve it, if not other options will be shown. MP’s will have to agree on a business motion in the Commons for the sitting to take place. Source: BBC News, 9th October 2019.
• EU leaders criticize the UK Brexit proposals. EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier claimed, “EU needs workable solutions, today not tomorrow”. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker stated “progress had been limited”, while BoJo remains optimistic about the proposal. he will meet Irish Varadkar on Thursday to solve the border issue. However, other Conservative MP’s in Westminster is hoping that PM will not bring them to the new general election. Source: BBC News, 9th October 2019.
• Jeremy Corbyn claimed that he will stand down as the Labour Leader if the Labour Party will not win next General Election. The Shadow Chancellor claimed that he cannot see how Mr Corbyn will encounter second loss”. However, Mister McDonell claimed that the successor of Mr Corbyn should be a woman. Under his lead, Labour did well during the 2017 snap election, by securing many seats, but not getting +56 seats to get the majority. Mr McDonell stated that if they will fail to win the next election, they will select the new Labour Leader. Source: BBC News, 11th October 2019.
• Welsh Government claimed that Westminster should be open for Wales quitting the EU. Ministers claimed, “Westminster should allow Wales to hold an independence referendum”. It all comes after the poor-handling of Brexit referendum by No 10 and after some Independent marches that were held in Wales. This means that all unions should have their own right and vote to choose if they want to leave or not the EU. It shows that even the devolved regions are worried about the outcome of all these Brexit talks. Source: BBC News, 11th October 2019.
• The Brexit deal has been agreed.
• The Brexit deal has been agreed by the UK and EU, but DUP does not support it. Both parties have been working on the legal aspect fo the deal, but now it will only need the approval of both Westminster EU Parliaments. On the other hand, DUP claimed, that they will not vote for the deal. DUP stated, “These proposals are not, in our view, beneficial to the economic well-being of Northern Ireland and they undermine the integrity of the Union.”. Furthermore, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn asserted that the deal “worse” than the one TM recommended. But EU Commission President Juncker claimed that the deal “is fair and balanced”. BoJo said to EU that “he has faith in his ability to convince the majority he needs in the House of Commons.”. The deal was not adjusted entirely comparing to TM deal’s, only the part about Northern Ireland staying in Single Market. Source: BBC News, 17th October 2019.
• MP’s backed the delayed approval of the deal.
• What will happen after Saturday’s vote? MP’s supported the amendment proposed by an independent MP Sir Oliver Letwin. In this amendment, it is stated that deal will “withhold approval for BoJo Brexit deal, to scrutinize the deal. The government lost by 16 votes, 322 to 306. The amendment was to be followed with the main vote about the Brexit deal, which will be debited only after House scrutiny, while the vote on the second referendum was not heard by the house. However, Boris Johnson claimed that he “will not negotiate the delay with the EU”, and “law does not compel me to do so”. Source: BBC News, 19th October 2019.
• The executive plans to push the Brexit deal, which was defeated in Parliament to be scrutinized by the legislative committees. BoJo asked EU for the extension until 31st January 2019, after MP’s backed the delay on Saturday. However, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab claimed that he was confident that MP’s will approve the deal, and Brexit will happen on 31st October 2019. On the other hand, Labour claimed that they will support the moves towards Second Referendum. No 10 stated that PM sent two letters to EU asking for an extension and explaining why it could be damaging for both unions. Source: BBC News, 20th October 2019.
• The government will give up their Brexit Bill if MP’s will reject the three-day time table to pass through the commons. BoJo claimed that “if the programme will be rejected and if EU will confirm the delay to 31st October 2019, I will push for a general election”. On the other hand, opposition MP’s stated that the “threat to pull out the bill is childish blackmail”. However, if the general election will be triggered, the earliest the results will come out will be Thursday, 28th November 2019. Source: BBC News, 21st October 2019.
• Scotland’s Highest Court delayed the decision on whether the PM has fully complied with a law that requires him to ask for the extension. The issue is concentrated on the legality of sending two letters to Brussels that ask for the extension and the other one suggesting the limitations of this extension. It was taken to Court by SNP MP Joanna Cherry and by QC Jolyon Maugham. They are represented by QC Aidan O’Neill who described the second letter as “unusual”. However, one of the judges Lord Carloway “noted that it was very carefully written the letter”. Government lawyer QC David Johnston claimed that “the appeal should be dismissed immediately”. However, the judges refused to dismiss the action and continue the case. Source: BBC News, 21st October 2019.
• Speaker has the power. John Bercow refused the “yes-no” vote on PM Brexit deal again. He claimed “it will be repetitive and disorderly” to debate on the same issue again, and wasting Chamber’s time. The government stated that the speaker is going against the will of the people. Source: BBC News, 21st October 2019.
• MP’s voted in favour of his Withdrawal Agreement, but after some minutes voted against the three-day timetable. After, this EU Council President Donald Tusk recommended EU leaders to back the idea of the further extension. However, No 10 claimed, “if the extension will be granted, PM will seek a general election”. Source: BBC News, October 22nd 2019.
• Tension is No 10. Government has dismissed any reports regarding the division of the Tories regarding the snap election. BoJo stated that he will be willing to snap a general election if the EU decides to delay the Brexit deadline until 31st January 2020. In the end, it’s all up to EU leaders to decide on whether granting the extension or not. However, Donald Tusk claimed that it is better for everyone to grad the extension until 31st January 2020. Source: BBC News, 24th October 2019.
• EU agrees on the Brexit extension, but the date is not established yet. Sajid Javid Conservative Chancellor claimed that it is impossible to achieve the Brexit on 31st October 2019 and that the best outcome for the UK would be the extension until 31st January 2020. It is expected that on Monday, BoJo will call for an early general election that will define the course of politics in the UK. EU Commission claimed that “work on this would continue in coming days”. Source: BBC News, 25th October 2019.
• EU agrees for the extension of Brexit until 31st January 2020. PM formally accepted the EU offer for the Brexit extension. However, BoJo claimed that he will try many methods to get the early election on December 12th 2019. Despite the “do or die” campaign, which Conservatives promised to leave the EU on 31st October 2019. However, it all now comes for the MP’s to approve the early election on December 12th. Source: 28th October 2019.
• MP’s rejected PM’s plan for the early election on December 12th. BoJo claimed that MP’s are “dysfunctional and could not be trusted”. Jeremy Corbyn claimed that “PM is wasting the time of both UK and EU”. House of Commons backed the Government’s election by 299 to 70 votes, short to get the 2/3 majority. All tory MP’s backed the deal, but the vast majority of opposition MP’s abstained from the vote. Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mog claimed that the government will scrutinize the early election bill to ask Parliament about the problem with the bill. Also, he claimed that the government will not be returning the Withdrawal agreement bill. To achieve the vote government needed 434 votes, but only received 299. There is a chance that opposition parties will change their mind, this is because most of them are willing to have the early election on 9th December, before Parliament will be dissolved. Source: BBC News, 28th October 2019.
• Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn will back the early election.
• Opposition parties are readying themselves for the 12th December early election. The legislation which was passed by MP’s on Tuesday will now go over the House of Lords, where it will be passed. Jeremy Corbyn claimed, “most radical and ambitious campaign for real change that our country has ever seen”. BoJo, on the other hand, hopes that the general election will “give him the fresh mandate for the EU and break the current deadlock in Parliament”. However, Brexit can happen earlier than 31st January, if the deal will be agreed, which is unlikely. Source: 30th October 2019.
• Former Home Secretary Amber Rudd claimed that she will not stand down during the election as an MP, which means that her political career is coming to an end. But, other MP’s said that she is “not finished with politics”, it’s just that she will not defend her seat. Ms Rudd had a majority of 346 at the last snap election, however, she resigned because of the Tory Whip in September. She stated “I will be leaving the House of Commons on perfectly good terms with the prime minister and I want him to succeed. I’m happy to leave the House of Commons as a Conservative MP”. Her decision came after 21 Tory MP’s were expelled from the party. Source: 30th October 2019.
• General Election 2019: Brexit Party is willing to achieve an alliance with the Tory Party, only if the Brexit deal will be removed from the table, and they will achieve the same deal as in Canada. Nigel Farage called BoJo to “ditch his Brexit deal and build a Leave alliance”. Farage claimed at the start of the election campaign that alliance is the only way. However, the Conservatives claimed that they are not connected at all with this pact. On the other hand, Farage was critical over BoJo for failing to deliver Brexit on 31s October 2019. Source: BBC News, 1st November 2019.
• Boris Johnson rejects the pact with the Brexit Party. PM stated he was “always grateful for advice” but he will not sign any pact with any party. These comments came after President Trump stated that both politicians will an “unstoppable force” of populism. However, during the interview, BoJo stated that making any pacts “will make Jeremy Corbyn enter No 10 easier”. Source: BBC News, 1st November 2019.
• Speaker John Bercow says goodbye to Westminster after being 22 years an MP and 10 years a speaker. On 4th November 2019, House of Commons will elect the new speaker.
• Nigel Farage claimed that he will not stand up as an election candidate, for the general election. Farage claimed that he will be a better leader if he will not be participating along with other 600 candidates across the UK. He said, “I do not want to be in politics for rest of my life”. For failing to stand up for elections seven times, also critiqued the PM Boris Johnson. Source: BBC News, 3rd November 2019.
• The New House of Commons speaker is elected. The new speaker is Labour MP Sir Lindsay Hoyle. His father was an MP and now the Labour peer in the House of Lords. He is seen as a very experienced politician who set his eyes on becoming the speaker after he was elected as the deputy speaker. However, it can be easily claimed that he will play an important role in the future of UK Politics. Source: BBC News, 4th November 2019.
• Ex-Tory MP Philip Hammond will not stand for the 2019 general election. After losing the Conservative Leader selection in July and getting expelled of the party along with other 20 MP’s, the former chancellor made a decision of not standing as an Independent MP in Runnymede and Weybridge, which he represented since 1997. Source: BBC News, 5th November 2019.
• Ed Vaizey the Conservative MP is standing down, and will not participate in 2019 general election. After getting expelled from the party for blocking BoJo no-deal Brexit. The former culture minister was expelled along with 21 other Tory MP’s, got the whip back last month. He stated that the “decision to stand down was one of the hardest I have ever taken. In his letter of resignation, he claimed that he and PM will always remain good friends and allies, even after some disputes over Brexit. Finally, he claimed that he is very enthusiastic to specialize his career in creative industries and technology. Source: BBC News, 6th November 2019.
• Boris Johnson visited Buckingham Palace to tell the queen that the 2019 general election will open its polls on 12th December 2019. This made the official start of the elections and led to the dissolution of Westminster Parliament. The political campaigns are launched. The most interesting will happen on December 12th. Source: BBC News, 6th November 2019.
• Labour Party claimed that the billions of pounds will be spent on NHS. Shadow Chancellor John McDonell claimed, “transfer power and money from South-East England and the funding will come from borrowing”. The same proposal was claimed by the Conservatives. However, Sajid David claimed that Tories are not copying Labour Plans. Besides, both parties stated that they will shift the funding and control of spending from London. Source: BBC News, 7th November 2019.
• Liberal-Democrats, Green Party and Plaid Cymru made an electoral pact. It is stated that that they agreed not to stand against each other in dozens of seats. The deal between pro-Remain parties will cover 60 seats in England and Wales. This is the moment when proportional representation will come to Westminster by creating a Coalition Government. All of the tree parties support the second referendum and are willing to remain in the EU. Source: BBC News, 7th November 2019.
• Ex-Labour MP claimed that Labour voters should support Boris Johnson in 2019 general election. The former minister Ian Austin resigned from the Labour Party in February after accusing Jeremy Corbyn of failing to tackle antisemitism. Yesterday, Mr Austin told BBC Radio 4 that old-Labour voters should vote Conservative. However, comments came by claiming that “it’s easy to say for someone who works on Tories”. On the other hand, he stated that it is “a complete lie”, he said that he had been appointed by the government as a trade envoy, which is an unpaid role. Also, Tom Watson claimed that he is standing down as the Labour deputy leader. Source: BBC News, 7th November 2019.
• SNP and their election campaign launch. They are going the launch the campaign by promising the bill that will protect the NHS. The legislation will focus on the protection of NHS from privatization and future trade deals. “It will block any Uk government from using the NHS as a bargaining chip in trade talks”. If it will be passed UK devolved parliaments will also be able to veto the deal. Some of the people in the UK are feared that NHS will be open for private companies for profit if the trade deal with the US will be ratified. Both Labour and SNP are worried about the future of the NHS. Source: BBC News, 8th November 2019.
• Conservative party stated that they will boost the healthcare, by employing 6000 doctors by 2025. Tories claimed that they will reach the target through additional doctors working and training surgeries, international recruitment and better retention. On the other hand, the previous Tory pledge to employ 5000 doctors by 2020 have failed. Jeremy Corbyn claimed, “You cannot trust Tories on the NHS”. Labour stated that they will expand GP (General practice) training places from 3500 to 5000 a year to ease the burden on GPs. The shortage of doctors will an important factor for both voters and politicians to win this election. Source: BBC News, 10th November 2019.
• Nigel Farage has ditched the plans of getting the Conservative seats. Brexit Party leader has ditched the plans to take on the 300 Tory seats, after BoJo “shift of position” towards Brexit. He planned to run the candidates in 600 seats after PM rejected his pact “leave alliance”. The party will not stand in 317 seats won by TM in 2017 and focus on other seats in the country. Farage claimed that the party will focus on taking away the seats from Labour, which he accused of “betraying it leave voters”. Source: BBC News, 11th November 2019.
• Labour claims it was cyber attacked. Labour party successfully defeated the cyberattack that targeted at its digital platforms. Party claimed that the attack failed because of the “robust security system, no data was breached”. Source claims attacks came from Russia and Brazil, but they were not linked with the state. Jeremy Corbyn claimed, “cyberattack was serious and suspicious because it took place during the election”. Source: BBC News, 12th November 2019.
• Tories against Labour (NHS spending). Labour promises more spending on NHS than Tories if it wins the general election. Labour promised to raise NHS budget to 155 billion pounds by 2023 to 2024, higher than the five-year plan created by Theresa May. Labour claimed the “plan would cut the waiting time and boost mental health services”. While Matt Hancock Health Secretary stated that the “plan would cripple our economy”. Labour, claimed that the 32-hour plan would be phased over 10 years and will grow gradually, therefore no adverse effect on the economy. Source: BBC News, 13th November 2019.
• BoJo promised to close the opportunity gap between the poor and the rich. In his speech, he claimed to boost regional industry and start “clean energy revolution” after leaving the EU. He also claimed that “The Tory government will double investment in high-tech research and development to 18 billion pounds”. Besides, he talked after a taxi ride about post-Brexit Britain saying that his goal is to “unite the country and boost the economic performance of the UK”. finally, he claimed that “by voting Conservatives on 12th December, will mean that UK will leave the EU in January, which will be good for the country’s politics, economy and psychological health after a month of paralysis”. Source: BBC News, 13th November 2019.
• Tories will cut the immigration level. Home Secretary Priti Patel claimed that if Conservatives will win the general election they are going to cut the immigration level in the UK after they will “get Brexit done”. BoJo stated, “I have been pro-immigration, but also in favour of control”. On another hand, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed that “a fair immigration process that recognized the huge contribution made by migrant workers to this country”. He added, “our economy needs skilled workers”. SNP claimed that cutting immigration will be a huge mistake for Scotland, same goes for Lib-Dems (they criticized the current PM for this statement). Home Secretary was asked about the specific number, but she claimed that it is too arbitrary and that previous examples show that numbers only confuse and create more problems than solutions. Source: BBC News, 14th November 2019.
• SNP and Lib-Dems lost the legal challenge to be included in the ITV debate. This is because the channel is going to present the face-off debate of Conservative leader Boris Johnson and Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn. Lib-Dems wanted to present the pro-remain stance, while SNP wanted to call to the account the fact of Scottish Independence. London’s High Court Justices Lord Davis and Miss Warby claimed the ITV does not carry any public function towards the public. However, both Lib-Dems and SNP claimed that the following action is “outrageous and unfair”. Source: BBC News, 18th November 2019.
• The ITV debate between two leaders of the biggest political parties in the Westminster Parliament had the debate about Brexit, NHS and Trust. The debate took place in London on Tuesday 19th November 2019. Different questions were asked and raised. Jeremy Corbyn was asked about his position and his opinion regarding Brexit, he was asked 9 times and answered that he will deliver a new better deal and conduct the referendum, but he never stated his clear opinion. Also, Jeremy Corbyn confronted current PM by asking whether the new deal with the US will mean that he will sell NHS to private companies from the United States. BoJo claimed that “NHS is not for sale”. Last but not least, one of the questions that were asked during the debate by the audience was “How can we trust you?”. Both leaders of the major parties claimed that they will deliver Brexit even if it is commonly opposed by the people of the United Kingdom. Source: ITV debate youtube video, 19th November 2019.
• Conservatives are under attack over the Twitter “fact-checking” scandal. However, senior Tory MP’s dismissed any criticism over the rebranding of one of their twitter accounts. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab claimed “no-one will have been fooled” and they had the right to rebut Labour Party’s claims. On the other hand, Lib-Dems claim that the electoral commission should intervene in this situation. Twitter, claimed that If Conservatives will repeat something like this they will “decisive, corrective action”. “During the ITV debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, the first-ever televised head-to-head encounter between Tory and Labour leaders, the party’s press account changed its name and its appearance, telling people it was “fact-checking Labour from CCHQ,” claimed BBC. This shows the factors that are really important for the parties in this election, which is Media. Source: BBC News, 20th November 2019.
• Lib-Dems showed their manifesto. 12 main policies are explained by the BBC. These are: Stop Brexit (revoke Article 50), raise 7 billion pounds every year (total of 35 billion pounds in five years) to spend on NHS and social care, free childcare, generate 80% of all electricity from renewable energy, tax those who take frequent international flights, recruit 20,000 teachers, legalize cannabis, freeze train fares (nationalize railways), pay 20% higher for workers working zero-hour contracts, resettle 10,000 refugees a year, raise taxes and toughen up the borrowing rules, build new 300,000 homes every year. Source: BBC News, 20th November 2019.
• Green Party showed its manifesto too. 12 main policies are explained by the BBC. These are: spend 100 billion pounds to cut emissions, invest 6 billion pounds on NHS, remove fossil fuels from the economy, plant 700 million trees by 2030, build 100,000 zero-carbon homes, scrap tuition fees (like in Scotland), create a universal basic income for everyone (89 pounds for everyone), improve energy efficiency, ban single-use plastic, invest 4.5 billion pounds in social care, spend 2.5 billion pounds on cycle routes and of course scrap first-past-the-post system. Source: BBC News, 20th November 2019.
• Labour Party manifesto key policies. Labour Party is one of the only political parties that is not supporting either side regarding Brexit. Jeremy Corbyn stated that Labour is going to make a new Brexit deal with the EU and then conduct a second referendum, which will have two choices, which are this new Brexit deal or remain in the EU. Regarding the environment, Labour claimed about the so-called “Green industrial revolution”, which will mean creating a million jobs and 800,000 new apprenticeships to tackle climate change. Labour will aim to achieve zero-emission by 2030. However, they are proposing an 11 billion pounds windfall tax on oil companies. In terms of housing Labour promised the building of new 100,000 council homes. Also, regarding the NHS and social care, they claimed that NHS will receive 4.3% rise in the NHS budget and 1.6 billion pounds uplift in spending for mental health services. Labour claimed that they will scrap the university tuition fees, getting rid off the Ofsted and ending SATS tests for Key Stage 1 and 2. Regarding the welfare state, Labour stated that they will scrap the universal credit, the two-child limit benefit and the welfare cap, introduce a new real living wage of 10 pounds and scrap zero-hour contract. Besides, Labour claimed that they will nationalize many industries, such as railways, mail, water and energy. Furthermore, they will employ 22,000 new police officers, taxes will increase and spending will be cut down. Source: Huffington Post, 22nd November 2019.
• Brexit party main 12 policies. They are: Leave the EU with no-deal Brexit (clean-break Brexit), no privatization of the NHS, reduce the annual immigration rate, cut VAT on domestic fuel, recycle its own waste and make it illegal for it to be exported, free Wi-Fi on public transport, scrap the license fee, abolish inheritance tax, scrap the HS2 rail link and invest 50 billion pounds in regional road and rail project, abolish interest on student loans, change planning to help house-holding and reform the Supreme Court (like in the US, every judge carefully reviews to avoid any bias). Source: BBC News, 21st November 2019.
• Plaid Cymru main 11 policies. They are: back the second EU referendum, spend 20 billion pounds on “Green jobs revolution”, electrify Wales main rail lines by 2030, free social care at the point of need, reform drug laws, pay 35 pounds a week low-income children, spend 300 million pounds a year on education, oppose new nuclear sites, recruit new 1600 police officers, devolve taxation powers to devolved regions and give devolved powers a say on wars. Source: BBC News, 22nd November 2019.
• Nicola Sturgeon launched the SNP manifesto campaign, with the slogan “Stop Brexit and put Scotland’s future in Scotlands hands”. By winning the majority seats in Scottish Parliament it will send the message that the independence referendum should be held next month. Miss Sturgeon said that the country is facing a “fundamental question” over who will decide the future of the country. Of course, she supports an increase in NHS funding across the UK. She stated that the party is open for any alliances with other political parties, but not with Tories or Labour if the hung Parliament will occur. The key points of the manifesto are the Second referendum on Scottish independence, another second referendum on Brexit, to call the UK Government to match the Scottish per capita NHS spending, which will deliver increased funding to Scotland, demand the stop of austerity and invest in public services, to press for the devolution of employment law, seek the immigration powers, and scrap UK’s Trident nuclear missile system. SNP believes that Brexit will only damage the UK. Therefore, the vote for the SNP is the vote to escape Brexit. Source: BBC News, 27th November 2019.
• Conservative Party manifesto 13 key policies: increase the number of nurses by 50,000, leave the EU by January, no tax rises, pensions will rise by 2.5% per year, no one will sell their home to pay for care, reach zero emissions by 2050, spend 6.3 billion pounds on disadvantages homes, introduce points-based immigration system (like in Australia), continue the universal credit, create 250,000 extra childcare places, student finances (freeze tuition fees at 9,250 pounds), a new Manchester to Leeds rail line and introduce the democracy commission. Source: BBC News, 24th November 2019.
• The Conservative party is criticized over the police cuts. After the terrifying incident on London Bridge, when a terrorist killed two innocent civilians, Tories faced criticism for having reduced the police numbers by 20,000 over the last 9 years. This could severely damage the public image of the Conservative party. Source: Guardian, 29th November 2019.
• Nigel Farage promises that after Brexit will be settled he will rename Brexit Party into Reform Party. The party will be campaigning for the changes to the voting system and the abolition of the House of Lords. Farage claimed, that it would “change politics for good”. This announcement came after the party lost its four members of the European Parliament. Source: BBC News, 8th December 2019.
• Ariene Foster (DUP leader) said that she Northern Ireland parties are in the space to make a deal that will create the power-sharing in the Stormont. Boris Johnson claimed that the executive will be restored on 13th January, if the parties do not achieve the agreement by that time, a fresh assembly will be called. Mrs Foster said that the conversation with Sinn Fein was continuing. She also claimed that the party will only accept a “fair and balanced deal”. Source: BBC News, 7th January 2020.
• Stormont deal-Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar will meet in Belfast to mark the restoration of Northern Ireland. After the new sharing-power government was formed by Stormont’s five parties. The agreed deal will include the extra funding for Northern Ireland. Prime Ministers will meet with the first and deputy ministers to discuss the deal. This would mean that the executive can now make decisions after the three-year absence. Source: BBC News, 13th January 2020.

Europe (EU member states) Politics:

• Greece’s new Prime Minister had talks with Germany on war reparations from two World Wars. Newly elected prime-minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had a meeting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated during his visit in Berlin that “we hope there will be a positive response” Previous Greek government delivered a request in April to enter talks about paying reparations Athens claims Greece owns from two world wars. Germany mentioned that the question regarding reparations had been settled with the Greek government. Athens estimates it could claim minimum reparations of €292 billion ($323 billion) for Germany’s World War II occupation and €9.2 billion ($10.19 billion) for World War I. Source: Russia Today, August 29th 2019.
• Yesterday, Warsaw and Washington agreed on six locations for new US troops in Poland. Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak agreed with John Bolton on the six different locations of US troops. In June Poland signed a deal with President Trump’s administration to increase the American military presence after Russia’s growing assertiveness since what happened with Ukraine and with Crimea. Unfortunately, Donald Trump cancelled his visit to Poland due to the hurricane which is bearing down in Florida. However, the next time Vice President Mike Pence will visit Poland, talks will shift towards the improvement of 5G internet in the regions and towards the energy issues. Hence, it is not coincidental that only in 3 months John Bolton visited 3 post-soviet union countries to discuss their relationship with Kremlin. Source: Reuters, August 30, 2019.
• Power of the European Union and the power of Russia. On 30th August 2019, the European Union stated that Serbia should compromise its free-trade deal with Russia and other CIS countries, in order to achieve the EU membership. The free-trade deal will include access to the market of 180 million consumers for Serbia. On the other hand, EU membership will mean access to 500 million consumers market. The question is what will be more crucial for Serbia, becoming the member state or improving its relations with CIS countries, especially with Russia, which was imposed with sanctions after the annexation of Crimea by President Vladimir Putin. Source: EuroNews, August 30th 2019.
• Prime Minister of Luxembourg is against any further delay of Brexit by the Westminster Parliament. Xavier Bettel in one of the other European Politicians who are annoyed by the delay of Brexit by UK MP’s. Bettel said “We see no extension for Brexit, when there is no reason to”, “At the moment there is nor reason for the extension”. Source: Reuters, 12th September 2019.
• Visit of Macron to Italy. French President visited the new government formed by the current PM Giuseppe Conte. Conte’s new coalition government with the Democratic party was confirmed by the Italian Parliament. The key issue that was discussed by the EU leaders was migration policy. macron claimed that policy regarding asylum seekers should be more moral and ethical. Both leaders are concerned with the treatment of the asylum seekers in the EU, and that others they can make EU “stronger in the world”. Additionally, they talked about the following crisis in Libya. Macron stated, “solution can be found only through political compromise and discussion”. Source: EuroNews, 19th September 2019.
• Italy’s constitutional court to decide its position over the assisted suicide. Italy’s top court will decide whether Assisted Suicide is legal or not. The decision became crucial, after the case of Fabio Antonioni-the music producer who left tetraplegic and blind after the car accident. Marco Cappato (a member of Italy Radical party) drove him to Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal. However, after the peaceful death of Fabio, Marco was arrested and charged for “civil disobedience” and faces 12 years in prison. The case will not mention Euthanasia. Euthanasia versus assisted suicide. The difference between Euthanasia and assisted suicide is that depends on the third party that performs the act. Only 6 countries in Europe allow assisted suicide, which are Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Finland and Austria. Source: EuroNews, September 26th 2019.
• Ex-Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi will sue George Papadopoulos. Former Italian PM plans to sue ex-campaign aide of President Trump, over the allegations that Renzi undermined Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign. Papadopoulos claimed, “Renzi was ordered by Barack Obama to strike a low blow against trump in 2016 Elections”. After the following statement, both Renzi and Papadopulous tweeted to each saying that “see you in court”, on what Papadopulous retweeted with “Good Luck”. Source: POLITICO, October 4th 2019.
• France and Germany are trying to end the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, but it will lead to further tensions with Russia. Progress in talks between two Post-Soviet Union countries has given hope to the EU. However, some EU member states are worried that the EU will lift the sanctions on Moscow that were put after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Moreover, there is a huge disagreement between diplomats on the way to handle Russia. Appease them or resume harsh policies? In addition, Baltic states (Post-Soviet Union countries) are worried that Russia will stop Ukraine’s ambition to enter NATO and the EU. But Macron has hopes and will send his Defence and Foreign ministers to Moscow and ending the four-year freeze, Macron seeks to bring back Russia to the leading industrialized nations. Source: Reuters, October 6th 2019.
• Socialists and Podemos reached the coalition.
• Spain’s socialists (PSOE) and left-wing Podemos reached the coalition agreement in order to create the government and avoid hung Parliament (Cortes Generales). “Socialist leader Pedro Sanches and Pablo Iglesias announced the agreement today”. PM claimed that “aiming to form a progressive and stable government”. This places Iglesias as deputy Prime Minister. In addition, they will start talks with other parties in order to get the majority in Parliament. PSOE got 120 seats and Podemos got 35 seats, while 176 seats are required to form the majority, which means 21 more lawmakers are needed. Source: Euronews, 12th November 2019.
• Donald Tusk resigned as the President of the European Council and hands over his position to Charles Michel.
• Macron claims that NATO is “brain death”. In the interview, French President stated that “Europe is in danger of disappearing geopolitically”. He claimed that European countries cannot rely on the US to protect its allies. He claimed that he is not even sure and does not know if article 5 of NATO actually works. Article 5 asserts “attack on one member state is the attack on all of the member states”. Angela Merkel German Chancellor stated that he had “used drastic words, that were not my view of cooperation in NATO”. Source: Guardian, 7th November 2019.
• The new President of the European Council is Charles Michel (former PM of Belgium). Ending five years as the European Council president Donald Tusk was replaced by the Charles Michel. Michel said, “It’s a great responsibility and a great honour”. Another major change that will happen is the replacement of the Jean Claude Juncker by Ursula von der Leyen as the president of the European Commission. Source: Euronews, 29th November 2019.

CIS Politics:

• On 29th August, Russia today published that Ukraine’s MP’s elected new Prime Minister and appointed new Defence Minister and the new speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament). Oleksiy Honcahruk, a 35-year-old lawyer was appointed as the new Prime Minister on Thursday. He was proposed and recommended by the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky and received support from 290 MP’s on Thursday. Furthermore, Aleksei Zahorodnuk was appointed as the new Defence Minister, as well as this Parliament elected Dmitri Razumkov as the Speaker of Parliament. Source: Russia Today, published on 29th August 2019.
• US National Security Advisor John Bolton has visited two post-soviet union countries, which included Ukraine and Belarus. There is a chance that US influence is growing in post-soviet union countries, especially when most of the CIS countries have a very bad relationship with Russia Federation. Bolton’s visit to Ukraine was not seen as unusual, especially because the current Government has a very pro-Western relationship with the US and anti-Russian position after 2014 “Maidan”. However, the question that arises is what was the purpose of his visit to Belarus. Different political analysts believe that Aleksandr Lukashenko wants to amend his political beliefs towards the US and Russia. Especially, after what happened with Crimea. But, the president stated that current working relations with the US is still pragmatic and have not changed, but they are looking forward to furthering co-operation. The reason is that Belarus is both politically, economically and geographically influenced by Russia. Source: Russia Today, August 29th 2019.
• After the resignation of Georgia’s Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze who served the country for the past one year, ruling dominant party “Georgian Dream” of the Georgian Parliament, chosen its new leader in the face of very controversial Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia. The controversy comes to form his handling of the Anti-Kremlin protests that happened at the end of June 2019. Source: European Union, September 2nd 2019.
• US National Security Advisor John Bolton has visited two post-soviet union countries, which included Ukraine and Belarus. There is a chance that US influence is growing in post-soviet union countries, especially when most of the CIS countries have a very bad relationship with Russia Federation. Bolton’s visit to Ukraine was not seen as unusual, especially because the current Government has a very pro-Western relationship with the US and anti-Russian position after 2014 “Maidan”. However, the question that arises is what was the purpose of his visit to Belarus. Different political analysts believe that Aleksandr Lukashenko wants to amend his political beliefs towards the US and Russia. Especially, after what happened with Crimea. But, the president stated that current working relations with the US is still pragmatic and have not changed, but they are looking forward to furthering co-operation. The reason is that Belarus is both politically, economically and geographically influenced by Russia. Source: Russia Today, August 29th 2019.
• Yesterday, Moscow was visited by the France Defence Minister and Foreign Minister to have talks with the Russian Foreign Secretary. This is a significant event since 2012, because of the cold relations two nations had. During these talks in the capital of the Russian Federation, ministers talked regarding, Ukraine, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela and about international nuclear issues. This event shows that relations between two counties are improving, since the visit by Vladimir Putin of his fellow President Emmanuel Macron in late August. After the following talks, President Macron stated that EU and Russia play a significant role in resolving the crises in Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela. It is claimed by most of the EU member states that they have eased their relations with Russia over Crimea and Ukrainian Crisis. The reason behind all of this is that EU states want to have a new Geopolitical ally in the face of Russia. This is because both regions have tense relations with President Trump. “Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend”. Source: Russia Today, 9th September 2019.
• The dominant party in Russia has lost one-third of its seats after the Capitals Parliamentary elections. The dominant party “United Russia” which is led by the President and Prime Minister of Russia have gotten 13 seats out of 45 in the Parliament. The following result is more than satisfying for the leaders of the opposition. Specifically, for Alexey Navalny whose candidates could not take part in the Parliamentary elections because they could not get enough signatures from the public. However, he claimed that people should vote tactically, against the dominant party. In the end, the dominant party have lost the majority in the Parliament, which shows the gradual steps of the rise of the opposition in Russian Politics. Source: Reuters, 9th September 2019.
• Vladimir Zelensky received the approval of Verkhovna Rada regarding the legislation 1011, which means that the President can dictate the Plan of Defence of Ukraine. Which means during the crisis President will dictate what to be used in order to defend the country from the foreign invaders. Source: Russia Today, 12th September 2019.
• “Opponent to Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny was subjected to searches” reported Russia Today. The reason for these searches was to show the ruling party’s (United Russia) dominance over the opposition. Navalny’s right-hand Leonid Volkov reported that nearly 40 branches in 40 Russian cities were searched by the police. The warrants that were issued stated that the following organization was alleged with large-scale money laundering scheme. Alexey Navalny is the founder of the Anti Fund (ACF), an NGO which was investigating different Russian political figures and their role in corruption led organization created by Vladimir Putin. Investigators stated that nearly 15$million were transferred into the NGO illegally over the past three years. The reason Navalny stated for the following searches was that different opposition parties have won Moscow Parliamentary elections; because of this “United Russia” has lost a significant number of seats in the Parliament and the only way to show the strength of the party was by threatening the opposition. Source: Russia Today, 12 September 2019.
• Russia and Ukraine relationship have changed recently and the main reason is the newly elected president of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. Russia and Ukraine are set to have talked about the natural gas, with the EU seeking no disruptions in imports, as Russia is, their biggest supplier. In the past years since the annexation of Crimea, the EU played a significant role in avoiding any disruptions of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine. Tense relations between Russia and Ukraine have led to disrupted deliveries of natural gas to Europe. More than 1/3 of Europe’s gas comes from Russia and most of it transmits through Ukraine. However, since the new President Zelensky is willing to improve their once good relationship, this talks can lead to a better outcome for all parties. The question is “how will big corporations that export natural resources react?”. Source: Russia Today, September 19th 2019.
• 20,000 people protest against the current government, after Moscow’s capital elections. People protested against the unfair political and legal system in Russia. The protest was organized by the same organization that organized protests in July and August (ФБК). However, the most important part of this protest was that it was promoting for the release of past protesters, who were illegally arrested by the police, during the past protests, as well as this protest was sanctioned by the officials and was peaceful, without any mass arrests. Rally saw people with different flags and banners that demanded the release of other activists by the police. Moscow experienced a number of massive protests recently and there is hope that things will change in the end. Source: Russia Today, 29th September 2019.
• Ukraine’s newly appointed attorney general will review the case that involves the Gas Company, in which Hunter Biden currently sat on the board. Ruslan Ryaboshapka told journalists in Kyiv that his assistants are now conducting the audit of the Gas Company. He claimed that there are no foreign or Ukrainian politicians that are trying to influence his investigation. President Zelensky is not involved in the investigation. Source: The Telegraph, October 4th 2019.

Asian (the Far East and the Middle East) Politics:

• Yesterday, Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders were arrested. Joshua Wong, Andy Chan and Agnes Chow were arrested by the police, just ahead of weekends anti-China protests. Joshua Wong was arrested when he waiting for his metro, he was forced by the police to enter the private minivan. Wong and Chow were charged with “inciting others to participate in” and “knowingly participating in” an unauthorized assembly for their alleged roles in a demonstration on 21 June, in the early days of the Hong Kong protests. She was charged with the suspicion of “inciting others to participate in an unauthorized assembly” as well as “knowingly participating in an unauthorized assembly” during protests outside of police headquarters on 21 June. All of the students are members of the Organization called the Umbrella Movement, which beliefs in the independence of Hong Kong from mainland China. the question, how will world stage react to the following event, which violates our rights and freedoms. Source: Reuters, August 30 2019.
• Malaysia deported Turkish asylum seeker after police advice. Malaysian government deported the Turkish asylum seeker who was registered by the United Nations. One of the reasons for the deportation of Arif Komis and his family to Turkey was because of his membership in Turkish “faith-based group”. The following action was criticized by rights groups who claimed that it is the violation of the freedom of religion and freedom of expression. “In deporting the Komis family, the Malaysian government has violated the international principle of non-refoulment, which prohibits the transfer of anyone, in any manner whatsoever, to a place where they would be at real risk to their safety,” Amnesty official Shamini Darshni Kaliemutu said in a statement. Arif Komis was the chemistry teacher in the international school in Kuala Lumpur, he was deported mainly by the advice of the police. The question is how will President Erdogan and the Turkish government react on the following violation of human rights of one of their citizens. Source: Reuters, August 30 2019.
• In the special report, Reuters announced the regrets of Hong Kong Leader. Upset Hong Kong Leader Carrie Lam claimed that she caused “unforgivable havoc” by starting the political crisis, which has caused massive injuries of the citizens of Hong Kong. Furthermore, she stated that he has limited power to alleviate the legislation and the crisis. This is because the unrest has become the national security and sovereignty problem in China. This all started only because people were against the legislation, which meant that people who were criminally charged can be extradited to mainland China to face a trial. Finally, she contended that Beijing had not taken any action in Hong Kong. Source: Reuters, September 2nd 2019.
• Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea will be annexed if he will come back to the office next week. Israel sovereignty will be applied over the territory. Jordan Valley is located in the West Bank, which is occupied by Israel since 1967, but was not annexed. Palestinian diplomat Saeb Erekat claimed, “it will bury any chance of peace”. All this information was stated on the television speech, but later Mr.Netanuahy was whisked off the stage to the shelter after sirens were signalling possible rocket launches from Gaza. The question is “who or what was under the following attack on the PM?” and “will it stop the annexation?”, or it will be stopped by the general election of Israeli Parliament. Source: BBC News, 10th September 2019.
• Tunisia Presidential Election: Two candidates are heading to the second round, in the country’s election. After the death of the former President of Tunisia Mohamed Beji Caid Essebsi who died in July at the age of 92, it started the campaign for his successor. Eusebius was country’s first democratically elected president since the 2011 revolution. However, for the current election, the turnout is lowest in the country’s history, only 45.2%. Two candidates stated that they qualified for the second round, even without the results being released yet. One of the candidates is the populist and anaemic Kais Saied, who called for the reinstatement of the death penalty and described homosexuality as a threat to Tunisia. Another candidate is Youssef Chabad his programme which is aimed at reducing Tunisia’s large public debt by the series of tough cuts in spending through an IMF. There are chances that following candidate who stop the country’s economic disaster. In conclusion, two candidates one is the populist and another one that has the plan to stop the economy failing. Source: EuroNews, 16th September 2019.
• Kashmir Situation is improving. Union minister G Kishan stated that the situation in Kashmir and in Jammu is heading towards normal. The situation in Kashmir is heading to normality. Union Minister Amit Shah claimed that there were no restrictions in the valley. Curfew was lifted in all the areas under the 196 police stations in Kashmir and that section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was imposed only in 8 police stations. “Freedom of movement has been established in Kashmir once again and many journalists from India are moving around Kashmir,” said the Union Minister Amid Shah. Source: Economic Times, October 1st 2019.
• North Korea fired new rockets from its submarine, a day after it announced the resumption of talks with the United States. It is not confirmed, yet but It can the most propagative test by the DPRK. Analysts believe that Pyongyang presented new tests as a reminder of aggressive power. South Korea military said that they detected the missiles that flew 450 km and reached an altitude of 910 km. The Defence Minister stated that missile was launched from an “underwater platform”, which DPRK experienced before in 2015. South Korea and Japan expressed concern and condemned the launch, stating it was the violation of UN Security Council Resolutions. There is a chance that the US could walk away from the talks, after this violation, but it is unlikely. This is because the US Administration is invested in the talks and want to make progress following it. Source: Reuters, October 1st 2019.
• Hong Kong officially scrapped the Extradition Bill.
• After the announcement of the positive news for many people around the world that the extradition bill is scrapped and of the table, Hong Kong is still experiencing the protests and riots. Source: BBC News, October 22nd 2019.
• China agreed with the US to cancel tariffs in phases. “US-China trade deal is expected to scrap the US pledge scrap tariffs scheduled for December 15th on about 156 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports. The Chinese ministry of commerce stated, “this cancellation will lead to the new phase of the trade deal”. It is interesting that Washington is pressed by Beijing “to remove all tariffs as soon as possible”. Source: Reuters, November 7th 2019.
• Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was charged with corruption. Israel’s Attorney General charged current PM of Israel with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, all of them are connected with three separate cases. However, on these legal charges, populist leader claimed that “attempted coup”, he claimed he will not resign and not legally obliged. In his televised speech he stated, “weren’t after the truth, they were after me”. The Attorney-general claimed that he made this decision with a “heavy heart”. “Law enforcement is not a choice, it is not a matter of right or left, it is not a matter of politics” claimed the Attorney General. Also, PM’s main political opponent Benny Gantz claimed that he supports the decision of the Attorney General. President of Israel Ruvi Rivlin claimed that lawmakers should agree on a candidate within 21 days or they will face an unprecedented third election in the year. There are three cases that are connected with the PM. Case 1000, case 2000 and case 4000. Every one of these cases is focused on a different aspect of the crime that was made by the PM, which is fraud, bribery and breach of trust. Source: BBC News, 22nd November 2019.
• Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam claimed that the government will consider very important reflections after local elections support saw massive gains for pro-democracy leaders. 17 out of 18 district councils are now controlled by pro-democracy councillors. The turnout was 71%. She said many felt the results reflected “people’s dissatisfaction with the current situation and the deep-seated problems in society”. The government would “listen to the opinions of members of the public humbly and seriously reflect”, she said. 2.94 million people voted on this election compared to 1.4 million people in 2015. Pro-democracy got 347 seats out of 452, pro-Beijing got 60 seats and independents got 45 seats. Source: BBC News, 25th November 2019.
• Japanese PM and the strange problem with the shredder. Different documents had been shredded recently by the Administration, these include the guestlist for a controversial state-funded party and list of visitors to PM’s office, journals showing the dangers encountered by Self-Defence forces on duty in Sudan and Iraq, were claimed that it was shredded but then rediscovered, important documents relating to school scandal, which threatened to bring down the PM’s office and so on. The group of opposition politicians were interested with the shredder Nakabayashi NSC-7510 Mark III (government machine) which can destroy 800-page documents within 30 seconds. Source: The Washington Post, November 27th 2019.
• Iraq’s PM is to step down amid protests. PM of Iraq Adel Abdul-Mahdi claimed that he will step down during the anti-government protests that are going on in Iraq. He said that he will submit his letter of resignation as soon as possible. In addition, e stated that he will ask Iraq’s Parliament to dissolve as the new government will need to be elected. The announcement follows another day of unrest that saw security forces kill 40 people in Iraq. The previous day, protesters had burned the Iranian consulate. Protesters are demonstrating their anger towards the corruption within the Tehran-backed government. Source: The Hill, 29th November 2019.