#regime-comparison

#regime-comparison

The defeat of Viktor Orbán required not just an ordinary election campaign but the construction of a broad, diverse, and patriotic grassroots social movement, changing politics around the world.

The Supreme Court's ruling stated that Memorial and its supporters are 'clearly anti-Russian in nature and are aimed at destroying the basic foundations of Russian statehood, violating its territorial integrity, and eroding historical, cultural, spiritual, and moral values.'

The January 3rd Operation Absolute Resolve ousted Venezuelan Dictator Nicholas Maduro, marking a significant shift in US policy towards countering adversarial influence in the western hemisphere.

"The news was both surprising and upsetting. Damascus has historically been a city that embraces everyone and diversity is its true identity. This decision makes us feel like we're losing a part of the city's open spirit. It's not just about the drink itself, but about freedom of choice."

Once upon a time, adding official to an announcement served a purpose. It distinguished fact from rumour, press release from pub chat. Sensible. Helpful. Civilised. But in recent years, the word has gone rogue. Nothing can simply happen anymore. It must be officially announced.

The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation issued the decree late on Friday, citing the parties' failure to meet their legal obligations. Beyond stripping them of their legal status, the order froze their assets and banned the use of their names, logos and emblems, with a government-appointed curator assigned to oversee the transfer of their holdings.

In response to his sentencing following his conviction on 34 felonies in May 2024, President Trump stated that he had "won the election in a massive landslide, and the people of this country understand what's gone on. This has been a weaponization of government." Despite his conviction, Judge Juan Merchan sentenced him to an unconditional discharge with no consequences like prison, probation, or even fines.

Since Richard Nixon was forced to resign, powerful people in both political parties have worked assiduously to ensure that their leaders would escape the consequences of their actions. Trump has evaded punishment for crimes both low (campaign-finance violations, for which he was convicted, though he will serve no time thanks to his 2024 victory) and high (his attempted overthrow of the federal government in the aftermath of his 2020 election loss, for which he was spared by the Supreme Court's decision to grant him a kingly immunity).

While anyone drawing up a list of potential Conservative defectors to Reform UK would have put Suella Braverman near the top, this is still a big moment. Braverman is a former Conservative home secretary, a big beast of recent Tory history. And her switch emphasises the momentum Reform are showing in draining the Conservative Party. She is the fourth sitting Tory MP to join the party since the last election, and the third this month. The week before last it was Robert Jenrick, a week ago it was Andrew Rosindell, now Braverman.

When we talk about our inability to pay attention, to concentrate, we often mean and blame our phones. It's easy, it's meant to be easy. One flick of our index finger transports us from disaster to disaster, from crisis to crisis, from maddening lie to maddening lie. Each new unauthorized attack and threatened invasion grabs the headlines, until something else takes its place, and meanwhile the government's attempts to terrorize and silence the people of our country continue.

After several years of suspension, political parties in Burkina Faso have been formally dissolved by the military government, which has also seized all their assets in a move analysts say is a major blow for democracy in the West African nation. In a decree issued on Thursday, the government, led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, scrapped all laws which established and regulated political parties, accusing them of failing to comply with guidelines.

The word that comes to my mind is dissidence. If we want to understand why the whistleblowing, camera-wielding people of Minneapolis have caused the Trump administration-and Donald Trump himself-to flinch, I believe we need some added history, and a bigger map. What we've been watching is part of a long, established tradition-one that might help Americans unlock a different kind of future.