Latvia Questions Party Leader for Russian Comments in Parliament
Latvian authorities detained and questioned the leader of a political party catering to the country's Russian-speaking minority for allegedly inciting hatred in parliament earlier this month.
Aleksejs Roslikovs was ejected from a parliamentary session earlier this month during a debate on restricting the public use of the Russian language, in which the party leader said 'there are many more of us' in Russian and made a vulgar gesture. The episode lays bare the tension in the Baltic nation over its biggest minority group.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
MAGA voters back Trump on Iran and reject isolationism
As President Donald Trump was making his final decision to launch a U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear program, Washington has been abuzz over suggestions that his MAGA movement is 'splintering' over his determination to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Sorry, but that is fake news.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Pro-life movement confronts high abortion rates three years after Dobbs
A 50-year fight to put abortion back in the hands of states ended three years ago with the Supreme Court's landmark Dobbs decision, but the pro-life movement is now grappling with a new reality — abortion remains prevalent. Since securing the legal victory, abortion opponents' concentration has become more fragmented as they contend with evidence that abortions have not decreased and could even be on the rise. Their next big challenges, they say, include neutering the nation's largest abortion vendor, Planned Parenthood, by targeting its funding. Restricting access to pills that terminate pregnancies is another top priority, as is investing in their preferred political candidates and ballot measures. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, told Fox News Digital in an interview that Dobbs prompted a "revolution," but she acknowledged that "there is a lot of work to do." She noted the Charlotte Lozier Institute found that abortions increased in the year after Dobbs and that at least 1.1 million occurred from July 2023 to June 2024. "People can sort of assume or just forget how big a moment [Dobbs] is. . . . It is shaking up and realigning public opinion based on where they really stand, so building consensus," Dannenfelser said. "It would be false to think that it could happen overnight, and we're still right in the middle of it." She said she feels the prospect of defunding Planned Parenthood through a broader reconciliation bill in Congress is "strong." The measure would prohibit Medicaid funds for entities that perform abortions outside of rape, incest, and a threat to a mother's life. Planned Parenthood said in a statement in May, after the bill passed the Republican-led House, that the provision would eliminate other services besides abortion and could cause about 200 of its roughly 600 locations to shutter. "If this bill passes, people will lose access to essential, often lifesaving care — cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing, and yes, abortion," the organization said in a statement at the time. In 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) eliminated a requirement that a customer must appear in person to receive mifepristone, the pill used to end a pregnancy. The pills became available by mail, and they are now being shipped all over the country from various organizations, including to most of the states that have abortion bans in place. "The abortion drugs that are being proliferated by big abortion and Planned Parenthood is a direct assault on the sovereignty of states," Dannenfelser said, noting that "the people of half the states have said this is the pro-life law that we want, so in order to undermine that and press their agenda, the abortion lobby is promoting abortion tourism across state lines." Dannenfelser also said her group, which, alongside its campaign fundraising arm, poured $92 million into the 2024 election cycle, is focused on next year's midterm races. She noted she wants to maintain a "trifecta of pro-life administration, House and Senate." But some of those hoping to eliminate abortion say the current administration could do more to help their bottom line. President Donald Trump granted clemency when he took office to nearly two dozen activists who were convicted of blocking abortion clinic entrances, and the president often touts that he appointed three justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. But in terms of the abortion pill, the Trump administration recently moved to dismiss a case in court aiming to tighten FDA restrictions on mifepristone. Trump has vowed to have Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is openly supportive of abortion access, conduct a study of the pill. Katie Xavios, the national director of the American Life League, told Fox News Digital that she believes Trump "really hasn't been the staunchest pro-life advocate." She said mifepristone distribution has "no guardrails." Dozens of organizations now offer easy access to the pill. Xavios said abortions-by-mail have become the "wild west," and that the government would have to work aggressively to contain it at this point. "I don't think we'll ever see anybody take that away unless we can really get a very truly pro-life person in office," Xavios said. American Life League is a Catholic grassroots organization, and Xavios said one of her group's efforts is to instill values in children that would lead them to opt against abortion if they were faced with the decision in adulthood. Dobbs was not the win for her side that people have framed it to be, she said. "I think we're still kind of seeing the reverberations of that a little bit in the movement, where a lot of people are struggling to find a new legal fight," Xavios said. "But I think the real issue that we're left with is it doesn't matter if it's legal or not if people don't really respect and value the dignity of the pre-born."
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Khaled: Umno to review Sembrong motion seeking to lift Hishammuddin's suspension, reinstate him in party leadership
BATU PAHAT, June 22 – Umno will consider a motion from its Sembrong division appealing for the suspension of its MP, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, to be lifted and for his reinstatement into the party's leadership. Umno Vice-President Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin was quoted saying the motion is among 191 submitted by divisions nationwide and will be reviewed by party headquarters in accordance with the party's constitution. 'Now that there's a motion, we will deliberate. Whether or not the individual involved has submitted an appeal is not the main issue,' Khaled was reported saying by Utusan Malaysia. 'We will send it to headquarters for review and consideration.' Yesterday, Johor Umno chairman Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi assured members that he would back the motion. Sembrong Umno reportedly cited Hishammuddin's decades-long commitment to the constituency and continued loyalty to Umno as grounds for the appeal. Division chief Datuk Abdul Ghani Abdul Rashid said this was the second year in a row the division had submitted such a motion. In January 2023, Umno Supeme Council decided to internally purge itself of critics — resulting in 44 party members being exiled and four members being given a suspension. Sembrong MP Hishammuddin was suspended for six years, reportedly for being the main driver behind the Barisan Nasional MPs signing statutory declarations backing Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister. Among the 44 sacked were former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin and former Selangor Tan Sri Noh Omar, while former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan was also given a six-year suspension.
