Spain unable to form a new ruling coalition: regional separatist parties are kingmakers

Spanish Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo fell short of the 176 votes he needed to become prime minister after a vote by lawmakers on Wednesday. Feijioo's conservative Popular Party won the most seats in the July 2023 general election, but he has struggled with putting together a coalition to form a government as he opposes giving concessions to separatist parties.

Feijoo failed to convince enough lawmakers to back him to win an absolute majority after several hours of debate that began Tuesday, before the first round of voting on Wednesday. “Nobody knows what is going to happen in this country if my bid to become prime minister fails,” Feijoo told lawmakers. ”Therefore it seems reasonable, given that we are in a democracy, that the (current) government not hide its deals. But they don’t even want to talk about them. Transparency and this government are incompatible,“ Feijoo added.

Feijoo had 172 votes in his favor to 178 against in the 350-seat parliament. Feijoo will get a second vote on Friday, though TV station.

If he fails to win votes on Friday, acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez would get a shot at staying in office. To do so, he would need the support of the country's regionalist political parties to add to the 121 seats the PSOE won.

Chief among the regional parties is the party led by exiled former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, as the party holds seven seats. Puigdemont, who is wanted in Spain for attempting the region's secession in 2017, has demanded that legal action be dropped against fellow separatists as a condition for his support. The debate before the vote was also dominated by the possibility that Sanchez was considering accepting the demand of Catalan separatist parties.

If no government is formed before November 27, the parliament will be dissolved. A new election would be called in January.

The climate crisis hits Brazil with extreme events. The Brazilian Amazon faces a drought, while in the southern region of the country, floods are reported.

Today we had out first Presidential Debate in Argentina and primaries winner Javier Milei did an outright and public genocide denial as he claimed "There were no 30,000 disappeared, only 8,000" (He actually gave a very specific number around 8k) and that we have been in a state of "War" in the 70s and the military dictatorship did commit some "excesses".

Death to all Fascists like him.

is dipshit ableist

ooh greece COTW

On fire then underwater in the span of months.

Thessaly has had a number of earthquakes in the last hundred years. During the period 1954-1957 there was a series of devastating earthquakes and floods that leveled much of the city of Volos (port city in Thessaly).

This is the same region hard-hit by fires and flooding this year.

There are concerns about the long-term damage from polluted water (full of agricultural waste) being dumped into a relatively insulated gulf. On top of all of the damage on land, the damage to the sea life in the immediate area will also be bad.

Chile’s Communists elect a new leader—Barbara Figueroa

In an interview with Prensa Latina, Figueroa said she was very proud to become the new party leader, adding that the role brings with it a lot of responsibilities because of the challenges currently facing Chile. “It means a lot to be part of a process of collective debate” on these challenges, she said.

The party is considering the current political situation in Chile and how best to strengthen its leadership to tackle the situation. Chilean voters will be deciding on a new constitution for the country in a referendum on Dec. 17.

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In March 2022, Boric appointed her to become Chile’s ambassador to Argentina. At the time, he noted that it was “invaluable to have a union leader as our representative, the first woman in the history of our country to represent Chile in Argentina.”

Her appointment marked the first time since the Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende that the Communist Party had been asked to take on such an important diplomatic mission. At that time, famed artist and party member Pablo Neruda was sent to the embassy in Paris, France.

Migration crisis; state of emergency in Costa Rica to deal with massive influx of people heading for US

Costa Rica in Central America intends to declare a state of emergency due to an increased wave of migrants on their way to Mexico and later cross to the United States. “I have instructed the security ministry to take a firm stance with anyone who takes Costa Rica's kindness for weakness,” Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves said at a media briefing, referring to recent riots by migrants crossing the nation.

Since January, more than 386,000 migrants have passed through the border from Panama into Costa Rica.

Integrating LGBTI citizens could add $360mn to economies of Serbia and North Macedonia

The reports highlight that if barriers to entry in the labour market for LGBTI individuals were reduced, leading to decreased discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics, the annual GDP of North Macedonia and Serbia would rise by an average of 0.6%. This positive development would translate to an additional $64mn for North Macedonia and $293mn for Serbia.

“This research shows that LGBTI inclusion is not only the right thing to do but also sound economics.” he stated.

While both North Macedonia and Serbia have implemented significant reforms to safeguard the rights of LGBTI individuals, the reports indicate that discrimination and exclusion persist. In Serbia, LGBTI individuals are still more likely to face economic disadvantages compared to the general population. Additionally, one in seven LGBTI individuals in North Macedonia continues to encounter workplace discrimination in hiring, termination, and career advancement.

Russia to Monitor Plans to Deploy INF-Banned Weapons in Europe

"We are closely monitoring any U.S. steps to implement destabilizing plans," Russian diplomat Zakharova said.

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that her country will closely monitor U.S. steps to deploy weapons systems previously banned by the arms-control Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in Europe.

"We are closely monitoring any U.S. steps to implement destabilizing plans that involve the deployment of these weapons," Zakharova said during her weekly press briefing.

She noted that this was particularly significant, considering Russia's moratorium on deploying intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles.

"I would like to remind you that the viability of the Russian moratorium is directly linked to the emergence of these U.S. missiles... in the relevant regions," Zakharova said.

She clarified that the weapon system under discussion was the containerized MK-70 launcher. The system, not only used for SM-6 missiles, has been adapted and can be used to fire long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.

She said that Washington has begun preparing to transfer these missile systems, previously prohibited under the INF treaty, to Europe.

In 2019, Washington officially announced its withdrawal from the INF Treaty. The U.S. and the former Soviet Union signed the INF Treaty in 1987, which prohibited possessing, developing and testing ground-launched missiles with a range of 500-5,500 km.