#Hungarian elections 2018

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Trumps of the Tropics: Brazil’s Far Right Plots Its Return

As president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro was often called the Trump of the Tropics, an association the Bolsonaro family actively cultivated. From the moment he was elected in 2018, he loudly celebrated the United States — in his first year in office, he even saluted the U.S. flag — but he saved his most intense loyalty for one American. When he met President Trump at the United Nations in 2019, he told him: “I love you.”

Before assuming power, Bolsonaro was an anti-democratic ideologue and former military man with a decades-long career in politics; Trump was a real estate developer and a media personality. But over the six years that Bolsonaro drove the news cycles in Latin America’s largest nation, he gave journalists a long list of reasons to equate the two men. Both made a show of praising authoritarian leaders, past and present, and liked to style themselves as defenders of law and order while acting as if the rules didn’t apply to them. Both formed an alliance with the religious right late in their careers and enlisted their sons to help push their respective agendas. Both frequently took to Twitter to attack their enemies, troll traditional media and rile up their supporters. And both retreated to Florida when things got tough.

For decades, the Brazilian right had looked to the United States, and when Donald Trump began to transform the rules of political discourse, it took note. “We learned to have the courage to speak up,” says Damares Alves, an evangelical pastor who served as Bolsonaro’s minister of human rights, families and women. “We began to be more incisive on the question of abortion. We learned we could be more direct about the question of arming the population. We realized we could take a tougher stand against the left-wing transformation taking place across our continent.”

As president, Bolsonaro seemed eager to import as much of the MAGA movement to Brazil as possible. So when Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to protest a “stolen” election, many Brazilians worried that Bolsonaro supporters might try something similar. That’s exactly what happened. On Jan. 1, 2023, when Bolsonaro’s opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, leader of the left-wing Workers’ Party, took office, Bolsonaro skipped the ceremony, holing up instead in the Orlando suburbs, at the home of a mixed-martial-arts fighter. For weeks, Bolsonaristas had been camping out around the country, under banners calling for an “intervention.” In an echo of Jan. 6, they chose Jan. 8 to occupy and attack government buildings in the capital, Brasília, even though the transition had already taken place and the buildings were largely empty. Military police officers arrested more than 1,000 people, and Lula quickly reasserted control of the country.

Bolsonaro, like Trump, now faces a host of criminal charges for trying to impede democratic elections. Trump has been convicted in one case, but only Bolsonaro has been deemed ineligible to run for president. In June 2023, Brazil’s electoral court ruled that his attacks on the voting system disqualified him from running for any political office until 2030. He is now facing hundreds of other court cases. In February of this year, authorities confiscated his passport after arresting several former aides accused of plotting a coup, making another escape to Florida impossible. Bolsonaro took refuge for two nights in the Hungarian Embassy in São Paulo, perhaps hoping to leverage his relationship with Prime Minister Viktor Orban (one of many friends he shares with Trump) if flight became necessary.

While Bolsonaro is barred from the political arena — at least for now — the movement that he unleashed is very much alive. Bolsonaristasdid well in the election that he lost, demonstrating that the movement was bigger than the man, and they now have real power at federal and state levels. Because congressional politics in Brazil are byzantine — there are 23 parties in Congress, and members can shift allegiances quickly — it would be difficult for Lula to govern even if Bolsonaro’s right-wing Liberal Party were not the largest party in the legislature. As things stand, the Bolsonaristas routinely complicate things for Lula, as they try to pull the country back to the far right.

In 2023, Bolsonaro’s allies began working to create a kind of Bolsonarismo sem Bolsonaro, or Bolsonaro-style politics without Bolsonaro. In interviews in the capital late last year, a rough philosophical and tactical division emerged. One group wants to show that it is moderating its positions and committed to responsibly governing the country; another is doubling down on the kind of fiery rhetoric that drives engagement online and reproduces tropes familiar to observers of right-wing media in the United States.

Continue reading.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ruth Ben-Ghiat at Lucid:

"Florida could start looking a lot like Hungary," noted New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg in Feb 2023., writing about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's quest to restructure higher education in line with his far-right views. Although many GOP politicians have made pilgrimages to Budapest to proclaim their alignment with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's repressive policies, DeSantis has been arguably the most aggressive adopter of Hungarian-style restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights and attacks on higher education. The sad sight of all those books discarded by far-right New College employees in a dumpster for being politically “unacceptable” will stay with me a long time, not least because it is similar to what happened to books from public and private libraries during the right-wing Chilean military dictatorship, the Chinese Communist “Cultural Revolution,” and many other regimes.

As the Tampa Bay Times reported, 13,000 books were thrown into a dumpster as though they were trash or toxic waste. After images of the dumpster circulated, causing a public outcry, New College went into damage control mode. They made a preliminary decision to fire the dean of the college library for not following proper procedures, including justifications for each book selected for elimination. But the New College was just fine with having hundreds of other books discarded as part of a purge of the Gender and Diversity Center! As the GOP transforms into an autocratic entity allied with foreign far-right parties and governments, it's worth understanding how Orbán and other illiberal leaders target universities. They don't only shut down intellectual freedom and change the content of learning to reinforce their ideological agendas, but also seek to remake higher education institutions into places that reward intolerance, conformism, and other values and behaviors authoritarians require.

Authoritarian Visions of Education: Italy and Chile

The regime of Benito Mussolini (1925-1943) provided the template for right-wing authoritarian actions. Leftists, liberals, and anyone who spoke out against the Fascists were sent to prison or forced into exile. Since most universities were public, professors and researchers were civil servants and could be pressured through bureaucratic means. First came a 1931 loyalty oath to the King and Fascism, then a 1932 requirement to join the Fascist Party to apply for jobs or promotions. Student informers monitored their peers and their teachers, recording any critical remarks or anti-regime jokes, and new university student organizations inculcated Fascist values through extra-curricular activities. In the Cold War era, Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who seized power through a 1973 U.S.-backed coup, claimed that universities were hotbeds of Marxism and targeted them for "cleansing." By 1975 24,000 students, faculty, and staff had been dismissed (and thousands sent to prison), and philosophy and social science departments had been disbanded. [...]

Hungary, Model for the GOP and the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025

Today’s right-wing autocrats mostly come to power through elections and extinguish freedom slowly. Yet universities continue to be the targets of leaders who seek to eradicate free thinking and turn campuses into sites of informing, mistrust, and fear. Orbán had already started to drive the liberal Central European University out of Hungary when his 2018 re-election accelerated his crackdown on education. Much of this repression has centered on LGBTQ populations. A 2018 ban on gender studies preceded the 2020 end of legal recognition of transgender and intersex people. In 2021, a law outlawed any depiction or discussion of LGBTQ identities and sexual orientation, and some universities came under the authority of "public trusts" run by Orbán cronies. Like his fellow far-right strongmen, Orbán aims to discredit and dismantle all liberal and democratic models of education to produce a new authoritarian-friendly population. As someone who grew up under Communism, Orbán knows the power of political socialization. He also knows that universities have always been sites of resistance to authoritarianism (a theme of the resistance chapter of Strongmen).

[...] If some of this sounds familiar to readers in America, that's not surprising. DeSantis's maneuvers to remake New College as a model of far-right pedagogy take a page from Orbán's crusades. Increasingly, it's not just "make America Florida," as the DeSantis camp advocates, but "make America Hungary" —a goal fellow Orbán fan and former Fox host Tucker Carlson also supported. [...]

Watch for higher education professionals to be increasingly attacked as agents of the destruction of family, faith, and decency as GOP politicians compete to seem more extremist and authoritarian —which will bring them even further into line with autocrats such as Orbán. On that note, “anti-Judeo-Christian values” is now a category of offense for the authoritarian targeting site Professor Watchlist. Checking my page there to see what new outrage I have committed is one of my back-to-school rituals. Far from being “ivory towers” closed off from society, higher education institutions are often front-line targets of those who seek to destroy democracy. What happens on campus reflects, and often anticipates, transformations of societies as authoritarianism takes hold.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat takes a look at how authoritarians target universities in the war on dissent and free expression.

[mariacallous]

Back in 2020, Slovakia’s then-Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini asked Viktor Orbán to act as a middleman between him and the Kremlin. He aimed for an invitation to Moscow just before Slovakia’s parliamentary election – hoping that it would appeal to the Slovak electorate. A piece of intelligence detailing the Slovak–Hungarian–Russian scheme was obtained by VSquare. Pellegrini eventually got his visit to Russia and still lost the election. However, he is currently the frontrunner in the race to become Slovakia’s next president.

Newly emerged evidence shows how Hungary and Russia worked together during the 2020 Slovak elections to help the Slovak government stay in power, all at the request of Slovakia’s then-prime minister, Peter Pellegrini. Today, the same man is the front-runner to become Slovakia’s next president (the first and second rounds of the country’s presidential election will be held on March 23 and April 6, respectively).

Pellegrini’s candidacy is supported by current Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is heavily criticized for his pro-Russian attitudes as well as for cracking down on NGOs, free media, and the country’s anti-corruption bodies. Were Pellegrini to be elected, he is expected to rubber-stamp Fico’s controversial initiatives as opposed to outgoing president Zuzana Čaputová or Pellegrini’s opposition-backed contender, former foreign minister Ivan Korčok.

According to sensitive, detailed intelligence material obtained by VSquare, Peter Pellegrini, his power slipping away, turned to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in February 2020 for last-minute help. Due to widespread anti-government sentiment after the 2018 murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kušnírová, Pellegrini’s government was heading for defeat in the February 29, 2020 Slovak parliamentary elections. Pellegrini secretly asked Orbán to help arrange an official invitation to Moscow, arguing that such a visit would appeal to the Slovak electorate and boost his election chances. He used Orbán as a middleman because of the Hungarian government’s close, well-known ties to the Kremlin.

The intelligence material specifically says that Pellegrini told Orbán that an invitation to Moscow would help him to win the Slovak elections. It also clearly indicates that the Russian and Hungarian governments had high-level discussions on helping Pellegrini stay in power.

[f1]

Daniel Ricciardo returns to the grid ahead of AlphaTauri debut in Hungary...as defiant F1 star is focused on 'dream' Red Bull reunion

Daniel Ricciardo returns to the grid ahead of AlphaTauri debut in Hungary...as defiant F1 star is focused on 'dream' Red Bull reunion Daniel Ricciardo will make first start for AlphaTauri on Sunday in Hungary The Australian was axed by McLaren at the end of last season  Ricciardo admitted he still hopes to drive for Red Bull, which he left in 2018  By Press Association Updated: 08:55 EDT, 20 July 2023 Daniel Ricciardo has admitted he is daring to dream about a return to Red Bull ahead of his Formula One comeback at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Ricciardo’s career looked to be all but over after he was dumped by McLaren following two underwhelming seasons with the British team. But the popular 34-year-old has been handed a second chance, replacing Nyck de Vries at Red Bull’s junior team AlphaTauri for the concluding dozen rounds of the year, starting at the Hungaroring on Sunday. Ricciardo impressed during a test at Silverstone for Red Bull last Tuesday, and given Sergio Perez’s torrid run of form – which has seen him fall 99 points adrift of team-mate Max Verstappen – AlphaTauri’s move to hire the Australian will fuel speculation that he could land a return to the team which carried him to seven of his eight victories. And speaking at the world champions’ packed motorhome on Thursday, Ricciardo said: 'The dream is a Red Bull seat, but there is no "this is what you need to do" to achieve that. Daniel Ricciardo will make his first start for AlphaTauri at the Hungarian GP on Sunday The Australian joined AlphaTauri on loan from Red Bull as Nyck De Vries replacement  'Given what has happened over the past few years and taking time off, I knew it would be hard to get back in at the top. 'Of course that was my wish, but you need to be realistic, and if I want to get back into Red Bull it will be a process, and this is the best path for me at the moment. 'You know what they are like here. They are not telling me to take it easy, they want me to show them what I have got, but there is no criteria. 'And in terms of expectations there are none. I want to be in the moment, enjoying it, and not thinking too far ahead.' Ricciardo’s reputation in the sport is on the line following his poor period with McLaren which saw the British team move to cancel his contract. Ricciardo failed to land a seat for the 2023 campaign and instead elected to return to Red Bull as a reserve driver. But he might struggle to impress with a team rooted to the foot of the constructors’ table, taking just two points from the first 10 races. However, Ricciardo added: 'Over the past few years, I started falling into a trap where I believed the car does not suit me and you can be your own worst enemy. I know this car will have limitations but I will work with that. Ricciardo feels there are no major expectations of him at AlphaTauri Red Bull team principal Christian Horner (left) last month urged Ricciardo to rediscover his mojo and  the 34-year-old admitted he's still dreaming of returning to drive for the team Ricciardo impressed during a test at Silverstone for Red Bull last month 'Getting this opportunity is a chance to make things better.  'That is why I am excited to get back behind the wheel and show my true self. 'I had enough time off to reset and also enjoy it again. Six months ago, I wasn’t at a place to jump at an opportunity like this but that has been the luxury of time. 'I have fallen in love with it again and I feel myself in an environment that provides me with a lot of nostalgia, so when the opportunity came along it was like, "let’s try it".' Share or comment on this article: Daniel Ricciardo returns to the grid ahead of AlphaTauri debut in Hungary...as defiant F1 star is focused on 'dream' Red Bull reunion via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

[szepkerekkocka]

How it started:

How it's going:

The Democrats lose at least one house of the US Congress in the November mid-term elections. Democrats lost only one house, and seeing the recent shitshow around Kevin McCarthy, I'd say this one is a draw.

The US opens talks with Russia on the European security order, but there is no large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Epic fail just as many other analysts did right until 2022.02.24

The developed world learns to live with covid-19. This also underlines China's status as developing.

Emmanuel Macron wins the French presidential election and uses his new mandate to ‘relaunch’ Europe. Macron won, I'm not enough into French politics to judge the second part.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban loses the Hungarian election, but claims he won. Epic fail. Hungary is now officially a stable electoral autocracy. Perhaps it already was in 2018.

Nuclear talks with Iran founder, while the country’s nuclear programme progresses. AFAIK, this described well what happened in 2022.

A faction of the Afghan Taliban overthrows the government. AFAIK none of these predictions came true.

China’s carbon emissions continue to grow rapidly. I could not find data for 2022 with basic websearch (I'm no expert of the area). A Reuters article from November states that China's GHG emissions are expected to fall by 0.9% in 2022, mainly because the zero-COVID policy - then in later years, the growth trends will resume. The zero-COVID policy ended in late 2022. I'd say this prediction did not come true - although not an epic fail like some above.

Protests against high energy prices and the European Green Deal break out across the EU. Did not find any sources on protests nor about how the Fit for 55 package was watered down or not. I'll consider this a miss.

The EU anti-coercion instrument comes into being, but Chinese economic coercion continues. AFAIK the anti-coercion instrument is still in proposal phase. I'll consider this a miss.

Bonus: Private space flight suffers its first fatal accident. No fatal accidents in 2022.

Summary: 3.5/11

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 10.28 (after 1920)

1922 – Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march on Rome and take over the Italian government. 1928 – Indonesia Raya, now the national anthem of Indonesia, is first played during the Second Indonesian Youth Congress. 1940 – World War II: Greece rejects Italy's ultimatum. Italy invades Greece through Albania a few hours later. 1942 – The Alaska Highway first connects Alaska to the North American railway network at Dawson Creek in Canada. 1948 – Paul Hermann Müller is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT. 1948 – Ecological disaster in Donora, Pennsylvania. 1949 – An Air France Lockheed Constellation crashes in the Azores, killing all 48 people on board. 1956 – Hungarian Revolution: A de facto ceasefire comes into effect between armed revolutionaries and Soviet troops, who begin to withdraw from Budapest. Communist officials and facilities come under attack by revolutionaries. 1954 – Aeroflot Flight 136 crashes near Krasnoyarsk, killing 19. 1958 – John XXIII is elected Pope. 1962 – The Cuban Missile Crisis ends and Premier Nikita Khrushchev orders the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba. 1965 – Pope Paul VI promulgates Nostra aetate, by which the Roman Catholic Church officially recognizes the legitimacy of non-Christian faiths. 1971 – Prospero becomes the only British satellite to be launched by a British rocket. 1982 – The Spanish general election begins fourteen years of rule by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. 1990 – Georgia holds its only free election under Soviet rule. 1995 – The Baku Metro fire sees 289 people killed and 270 injured. 2006 – A funeral service takes place at the Bykivnia graves for Ukrainians who were killed by the Soviet secret police. 2007 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner becomes the first directly elected female President of Argentina. 2009 – The 28 October 2009 Peshawar bombing kills 117 and wounds 213. 2009 – NASA successfully launches the Ares I-X mission, the only rocket launch for its short-lived Constellation program. 2009 – US President Barack Obama signs the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. 2013 – Five people are killed and 38 are injured after a car crashes into barriers at Tiananmen Square in China. 2014 – A rocket carrying NASA's Cygnus CRS Orb-3 resupply mission to the International Space Station explodes seconds after taking off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops Island, Virginia. 2018 – Jair Bolsonaro is elected president of Brazil with 57 million votes, with Workers' Party candidate Fernando Haddad as the runner-up. It is the first time in 16 years that a Workers' Party candidate is not elected president.

[sa7abnews]

Sporting gender and race: Lessons from Imane Khelif humiliation

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/11/sporting-gender-and-race-lessons-from-imane-khelif-humiliation-2/

Sporting gender and race: Lessons from Imane Khelif humiliation

“I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes. Because this has effects, massive effects. It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying.”

These were the words of 25-year-old Algerian boxer Imane Khelif during an interview with SNTV, a sports video partner of The Associated Press, on Sunday, August 4.

Khelif made these comments after facing severe bullying, including accusations that she is a trans woman, following a heated row about gender eligibility.

The gender row began when Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned her qualifying match with Khelif on August 1, just 46 seconds into the first round, citing safety concerns after a powerful blow to the face.

Following this match, critics targeted Khelif on social media, including contentious figures such as US election candidate Donald Trump, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, and far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Hungarian opponent Anna Luca Hamori further inflamed the situation by comparing Khelif to a devil-like monster on Instagram and spreading transphobic sentiments before their match last week.

Despite the bullying, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has strongly supported Khelif, as well as Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting, who also faced bullying during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

On August 3, IOC President Thomas Bach stated, “We have two boxers who were born as women, who have been raised as women, who have a passport as a woman, and who have competed for many years as women.”

Discrimination against women of colour is nothing new

The gender row reveals a troubling pattern of discrimination against people of colour.

Throughout her tennis career, which began in the mid-1990s, Serena Williams faced intense scrutiny over her physique.

Despite turning professional at 14, winning 23 Grand Slams, overcoming numerous injuries, and surviving a near-fatal birth experience, Williams’s muscular build was frequently criticised.

“People would say I was born a guy, all because of my arms or because I’m strong,” Williams told Harper’s Bazaar in 2018.

“I was different from Venus: she was thin and tall and beautiful, and I am strong and muscular — and beautiful, but, you know, it was just totally different.”

Similarly, South African runner Caster Semenya faced discrimination after her 800m victory at the 2009 World Championships.

Despite being identified as female at birth and raised as a girl, Semenya was sidelined for 11 months due to regulations concerning hormone levels.

She has a condition known as differences in sex development (DSDs), which results in naturally high testosterone levels.

The latest athlete to face such scrutiny is Indian wrestling star Vinesh Phogat, who was disqualified from her gold medal bout at the Games for being 100 grams overweight.

These accusations against women of colour not only humiliate actual trans girls and women, who are often denied high-level competition opportunities, but also unfairly target cis women of colour, punishing them for their achievements and questioning their very identity.

This situation also highlights hypocrisy in the Olympics.

Why was Khelif vilified, slandered, and even pressured to provide childhood photographs to prove her gender, while Dutch volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who was sentenced to four years in prison in the UK in 2016 for raping a 12-year-old girl when he was 19, received far less scrutiny? 

Although the player has now been removed from the Games, a clear double standard is evident this year.

The female battle against testosterone 

The controversy surrounding Khelif has deeply impacted not only her, but also her family, and the broader female community, particularly women who suffer from high testosterone levels.

Elevated testosterone, can lead to unfair scrutiny, especially in women with conditions such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) or Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH).

Notably, 37% of female Olympians have PCOS, a condition that contributes to 70% of hyperandrogenism cases.

PCOS symptoms, for example, include acne, excessive body hair growth, and scalp hair loss, and the condition affects an estimated 5% of women.

Testosterone, a sex hormone produced by both men and women, is at the heart of this row. Although we don’t know if Khelif has disclosed any medical conditions that may cause high testosterone levels, one thing is certain: having the so-called ‘male hormone’ is nothing to be ashamed of.

Aless Bove, a nutritional therapist at The PCOS Expert, shared her thoughts on women with elevated testosterone: “While conditions like PCOS can reduce the quality of life for many women, it can also be a superpower. Testosterone is often labelled a ‘male hormone,’ but we need it in regulated amounts for energy, mood, and bone health.

“Elevated testosterone does not determine gender identity, but it affects around 5-10% of women and is linked to certain medical conditions. It can also fluctuate depending on lifestyle, diet, and stress,” Bove explains to The New Arab.

Three women with PCOS, who chose to remain anonymous, shared their feelings about the Khelif controversy.

Sarah* expressed her sadness: “I felt very saddened by Khelif’s case. The impact this has had on the world makes me angry about humanity and how people can hurt each other without compassion and empathy.

“Everyone has scars and has gone through struggles, and no one should be judgmental, no matter what.”

She added that the harsh comments about Khelif’s physical appearance reminded her of high school bullying, feeling like a return to a playground where kids are mean.

Layla* shared similar sentiments: “When I first saw the situation surrounding Khelif, I felt sorry for her, much like I did for intersex athlete Caster Semenya years ago. After seeing influencers like Jake Paul suggest giving her opponent a ‘fair chance’ against someone who wasn’t ‘male,’ my frustration grew.

“I, too, have elevated testosterone levels that I cannot control despite my best efforts. I can only imagine how heart-wrenching it must have been for Khelif to see the world turn on her overnight for something she cannot control,” Layla adds. 

“Athletes train for years for their moment in the sun, and Khelif’s moment was stolen from her because of a chemical imbalance within her body that the world failed to understand. The so-called ‘controversy’ is morally repugnant and deeply offensive.”

Jasmine* voiced concern for Khelif’s mental health: “I found it incredibly sad and really sympathised with Khelif. As a woman with PCOS, you are always conscious of symptoms making you appear less ‘female.’ The cruel trolls and narrative surrounding Khelif are likely to be triggering for her and could significantly affect her mental health.”

Urgent need for change

Recent events demonstrate the urgent need for significant changes to prevent the humiliation of misgendering.

This also extends to unnecessary revisits of past injustices. For example, amid the ongoing gender debate, critics have fixated on Khelif, highlighting her previous disqualification from competition due to “elevated levels of testosterone,” which allegedly did not meet the eligibility criteria.

This change is not just a matter of discussion; it is critical, particularly given that Khelif has recently received death threats.

So, what actions are necessary to protect these women’s mental health?

First, testing practices must undergo major improvements. 

Despite advancements from visual exams in the 1930s to more sophisticated chromosome and testosterone tests, the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) handling of Khelif and Yu-Ting’s testing remains unclear.

The IBA has not disclosed the details of the tests or the reasons for the boxers’ disqualification, citing confidentiality.

On Wednesday, July 31, the IBA stated that the two boxers “did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognised test, the specifics of which remain confidential.”

IOC spokesman Mark Adams affirmed that all participants in the women’s event were “complying with competition eligibility rules.”

He noted, “These athletes have competed many times before for many years, they haven’t just arrived, they competed in Tokyo.

“Testosterone is not a perfect test. Many women can have testosterone which is in what would be called ‘male levels’ and still be women, still compete as women.

“This idea that suddenly you do one test for testosterone and that sorts everything out — not the case, I’m afraid.

“I hope we’re all agreed that we’re not calling for people to go back to the bad old days of sex testing, which was a terrible thing to do.”

Bove argues that improving testing involves addressing the complexities and natural variability of high testosterone in women.

She suggests that incorporating medical insights can provide a better understanding of how hormone levels affect performance and health.

Bove adds, “Why should women be excluded for something that naturally occurs in their bodies? Policies should be inclusive, consider natural hormonal variations, and maintain transparent criteria to ensure fair competition.”

She also notes that while women with naturally higher testosterone may have certain advantages in sports, this does not mean their gender should be questioned.

Bove illustrates this by pointing out that Jamaican runner Usain Bolt’s muscle composition, which contributed to his speed, was due to genetics rather than an unfair advantage.

Preventing disinformation in media reporting is also crucial, as media coverage can frame narratives and shape public opinion.

For instance, The Daily Mail’s headline, “Olympics gender row boxer Imane Khelif bursts in tears and declares ‘I am a woman’ – as she gloats about ‘winning a medal for Algeria and Arabs’ having guaranteed at least a bronze after her quarter final victory,” questions Khelif’s gender and portrays her as self-congratulatory.

To add insult to injury, this framing not only perpetuates racial biases but also intensifies the bullying Khelif has endured.

“Journalists and sports officials should receive diversity and inclusion training to promote transparent reporting standards, and ensure that policies are informed by a broad range of perspectives,” says Bove. 

“Media outlets should be evaluated for balanced and accurate coverage, and sports organisations must implement anti-discrimination policies to foster an environment of respect and equality.”

While there’s a long way to go to get these improvements in place, some changes are currently being discussed.

A Joint Paris 2024 Boxing Unit/IOC Statement on Thursday, August 1, indicated that the IOC needs National Boxing Federations to reach a consensus around a new International Federation for boxing to be included in the sports programme of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

As Khelif prepares to compete against Chinese boxer Yang Liu for the gold medal this Friday, we can only hope that the focus will remain on the Algerian boxer’s talents and not on trolling. 

*Name changed to protect identity

Zainab Mehdi is The New Arab’s Associate Editor and researcher specialising in governance, development, and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa region

Follow her on X: @zaiamehdi

[theculturedmarxist]

Yves here. We are overdue on giving a full-bore treatment on Project 2025, but this post will hopefully serve as a starting point. Sadly, ambitious and well-organized right wing campaigns to greatly increase the acceptance of their social and policy agenda have proven to be extremely successful, witness the Powell Memo and the Project for the New American Century. Trump is the explicit target of this Heritage Foundation scheme. Because the first Trump presidency was very much a “dog that caught the car” event, Trump had perilous little in the way of plans, and on top of that, weak cabinet members. For instance, Steve Mnuchin’s tax reform plan was an embarrassment, barely rising to the level of a napkin doddle. So after that misfire, the Administration took up the anti-tax lobby’s plan, include their off-the-shelf language. Trump might be a tad better prepared to be President if he wins again, but that does not make him any less receptive to pre-packaged programs from his fellow travelers. So this initiative very much bears watching.

By Diana Cariboni, who started writing for Tracking the Backlash in 2018 and is now openDemocracy’s Latin America editor. She was previously co-editor-in-chief of the IPS news agency and led its Latin America desk for more than ten years. She wrote the book ‘Guantánamo Entre Nosotros’ (2017) and won Uruguay’s national press award in 2018. Originally published at openDemocracy

Last month, populist leaders from around the world gathered for the Europa Viva 24 summit in Madrid. Headlines from the event were dominated by the big names in attendance – Argentinian president Javier Milei, France’s Marine Le Pen, Chile’s José Antonio Kast, and Italian and Hungarian prime ministers Giorgia Meloni and Viktor Orbán – and the fact it ended in a diplomatic row between Argentina and Spain.

But away from all of this noise and fury was a lesser-known speaker: Roger Severino, a former official in Donald Trump’s administration and the vice-president for domestic policy at influential US think tank The Heritage Foundation.

In a six-minute speech delivered in Spanish, Severino described Trump as a victim of lawfare launched by “the lefties” and said young people are subjected to a “culture and a medical system” that tells them to “explore all sexual appetites at age of 10” and that “abortion is not about destroying babies but about healthcare”.

Adding that young people are also taught “that if you are uncomfortable with your sex you were probably born in the wrong body, and surgeries can fix that mistake”, he said: “I’m here to tell you that God doesn’t make mistakes.

Severino is one of the architects of the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a second Trump term, named ‘Project 2025’. This aims to reshape the federal state in 180 days, fire tens of thousands of public servants and replace them with people loyal to the conservative cause, undermine the separation of powers, attack public education, and erase or restrict the rights of women, LGBTQ people, workers, migrants and Black people.

It also seeks to dismantle policies to tackle climate change and push for an energy agenda reliant on fossil fuels.

Its plan for doing so is set out in the ‘Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise’, an 887-page playbook published by the think tank, whose mission is “to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual liberty, traditional American values, and strong national defence”.

It is not absurd to say that some of the Heritage Foundation’s suggestions may well become law if Trump is elected in November. The politically well-connected organisation was founded in 1973 and published its first ‘Mandate for Leadership’ as Ronald Reagan took office in 1981 – later boasting that Reagan had enacted more than 60% of its policy recommendations.

Severino, who was Trump’s director of the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services, wrote Project 25’s section on health. Of the 199 times the word ‘abortion’ is mentioned throughout the document, 149 are in this chapter, which urges the federal government to remove (or restrict as much as possible) any sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights whose oversight it has responsibility for.

Severino suggests eliminating the approval of abortion pills and banning their distribution by mail; barring the use of federal funds to transport people seeking an abortion in a state where it’s illegal to one where it isn’t; cutting federal funding to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers; and removing emergency contraception from workers’ health insurance coverage.

In contrast, it’s hard to find any proposals to tackle the US’s real public health crises: opioids, falling life expectancyand rising maternal and infant mortality rates. This is perhaps unsurprising; the Heritage Foundation sees the Supreme Court’s overturning of the 1973 Roe decision that protected abortion up to 23 weeks as a victory – but also as “just the beginning”.

In the two years since Roe’s repeal, 21 states have banned or drastically restricted abortion, and legislative and judicial battles are raging in others attempting to follow suit. But the number of abortions carried out annually has actually increased, according to multiple studies – and so grow the dystopian battleplans for the continued war on reproductive autonomy. Several US cities have made it illegal to use their roads to transport people seeking abortions from a state where abortion is prohibited to one where it is permitted.

Project 2025 wants the Department of Health to go further still, urging it to “protect life, conscience and bodily integrity” and place “strong respect for the sacred rights of conscience” at the top of its agenda. Severino’s chapter calls for legislation requiring states to record data on abortions, including the number of terminations carried out, the reasons for them, the method used, the length of the pregnancy, and the state of residence of the person seeking an abortion.

It also suggests that scientific research conducted with public money should focus on “the risks and complications of abortion” and on “correcting and not promoting misinformation about the health and psychological benefits of giving birth compared to the health and psychological risks of intentionally taking a human life through abortion”.

But Project 2025’s focus isn’t only on reproductive health.

The president who takes office in 2025, the foreword says, must “remove from every existing rule, regulatory agency, contract, grant, regulation, and federal law the terms sexual orientation and gender identity, diversity, equity, and inclusion, gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term used to deprive Americans of First Amendment rights” (which protects freedom of religion, freedom of speech and press, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances).

The future government must also “immediately cease the collection of data on gender identity, because it legitimises the unscientific notion that men can become women (and vice versa) and encourages the phenomenon of the constant multiplication of subjective identities”, Severino adds.

An Anti-Rights Past and Future

The Heritage Foundation is not the only highly influential institute involved in the writing of Project 25. Of the 100 organisations that sit on its advisory board or directly contribute to the playbook, several have been crucial to the advancement of extremist agenda in the US in recent decades and years.

In 2018, four years before Roe was overturned, Mississippi banned abortions after 15 weeks in the state – with legislation modelled on a bill conceived by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which the Southern Poverty Law Center lists as an anti-LGBTQ hate group and which sits on the Project 25 advisory board. The law was challenged and stayed by two courts on the grounds that it was unconstitutional because it violated Roe.

The law’s promoters took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, aiming to challenge and ultimately overturn Roe. Their strategy relied on the court having a right-wing majority, which was ensured by Leonard Leo, a conservative lawyer and activist who has founded a network of groups and funding hubs. Leo, who had already been influential in the appointment of three other justices, successfully lobbied Trump to appoint three anti-abortion members to the court – achieving a conservative supermajority of six out of nine justices. Leo’s network of nonprofits has reportedly donated millions of dollars to organisations that sit on the Project 2025 advisory board since 2021.

The result has been that around a third of women of reproductive age in the US, as well as other people who do not identify as women but can get pregnant, now live in a state where abortion is banned or severely restricted, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

The Heritage Foundation, ADF and Leo didn’t answer our requests for comments.

[plethoraworldatlas]

This is a developing story... Check back for possible updates...

Robert Fico, the right-wing prime minister of Slovakia who has aligned himself with Hungarian authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was in "life-threatening condition" Wednesday after being shot "multiple" times in what the government called an assassination attempt.

Fico was shot in the town of Handlova after attending a government meeting and greeting supporters.

Slovakian outlet Aktualityreported Fico had two gunshot wounds in his arm and one in his abdomen.

Fico was first elected prime minister in 2006, and has faced corruption allegations during his political career. He resigned in 2018 during mass protests over the killing of an investigative journalist who was conducting a government probe, and was again elected last September.

The prime minister has opposed mainstream European Union policies and sending military aid to Ukraine, and Slovakia became the first country to halt such aid in October after Fico took office.

[wikiuntamed]

On this day in Wikipedia: Tuesday, 16th April

Welcome, ยินดีต้อนรับ (yin dee dtôn rab), välkommen, hoş geldiniz 🤗 What does @Wikipedia say about 16th April through the years 🏛️📜🗓️?

16th April 2021 🗓️ : Death - Andrew Peacock Andrew Peacock, Australian politician (b. 1939) "Andrew Sharp Peacock (13 February 1939 – 16 April 2021) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the party to defeat at the 1984 and 1990 elections. Peacock was..."

Image by Australian News and Information Bureau

16th April 2018 🗓️ : Event - The New York Times The New York Times and the New Yorker win the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for breaking news of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal. "The New York Times (NYT) is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. The New York Times covers domestic, national, and international news, and comprises opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, it serves as one of..."

16th April 2014 🗓️ : Event - MV Sewol The ferry MV Sewol (pictured) capsized and sank off Donggeochado, South Korea, killing 306 people, mainly students from Danwon High School. "MV Sewol (Hangul: 세월호, Hanja: 世越號, Beyond the World) was a South Korean vehicle-passenger ferry, built and previously operated in Japan. She operated between Incheon and Jeju. On 16 April 2014, Sewol capsized and sank with the loss of 304 passengers and crew. ..."

Image by jinjoo2713 (Naver User)

16th April 1973 🗓️ : Death - István Kertész (conductor) István Kertész, Hungarian conductor and educator (b. 1929) "István Kertész (28 August 1929 – 16 April 1973) was a Hungarian orchestral and operatic conductor who throughout his brief career led many of the world's great orchestras, including the Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Detroit, San Francisco and Minnesota..."

Image by Roberto Mastrosimone

16th April 1924 🗓️ : Birth - Madanjeet Singh Madanjeet Singh, Indian diplomat, author, and philanthropist (d. 2013) "Madanjeet Singh (16 April 1924 – 6 January 2013) was an Indian diplomat, painter, photographer, and writer...."

16th April 1823 🗓️ : Birth - Gotthold Eisenstein Gotthold Eisenstein, German mathematician and academic (d. 1852) "Ferdinand Gotthold Max Eisenstein (16 April 1823 – 11 October 1852) was a German mathematician. He specialized in number theory and analysis, and proved several results that eluded even Gauss. Like Galois and Abel before him, Eisenstein died before the age of 30. He was born and died in Berlin,..."

Image by Unknown authorUnknown author

16th April 🗓️ : Holiday - Christian feast day: Martyrs of Zaragoza "Engratia (Portuguese: Santa Engrácia, Spanish: Santa Engracia) is venerated as a virgin martyr and saint. Tradition states that she was martyred with eighteen companions in 303 AD. ..."

Image by Bartolomé Bermejo

[worldofwardcraft]

Autocratophiliac.

March 18, 2024

Someone really should come up with a word for a person with an extreme affinity for dictators. Because mob boss Donald Trump's certainly a prime example. Trump's longtime regard for Russian president and war criminal Vlad Putin is already infamous.

Back in 2013, Trump told Larry King that Putin did “a really great job outsmarting our country.” Campaigning in 2016, Trump asserted during a televised town hall, "I've already said, he is really very much of a leader." And only two years ago, he described Putin’s vicious and illegal invasion of Ukraine as “genius” and “savvy.”

But Putin's not the only brutal tyrant Trump esteems. A year ago on Faux News, Trump babbled on and on about China's tyrannical president Xi Jinping.

Think of President Xi. Central casting, brilliant guy. You know, when I say he’s brilliant, everyone says, "Oh that’s terrible." Well, he runs 1.4 billion people with an iron fist. Smart, brilliant, everything perfect. There’s nobody in Hollywood like this guy.

Then there's North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Following a meeting with Kim in Singapore, Trump gushed, “I learned he’s a very talented man. I also learned that he loves his country very much.” And don't forget the "love letters" Trump exchanged with Kim. "No really. He wrote me beautiful letters,” Trump cooed in 2018. “They were great letters. And then we fell in love.”

Only last week, Trump invited Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán to visit him (the two pictured above as BFF twinsies). During a fete at Mar-a-Lago, Trump burbled, “There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orbán.” And added, “He’s the boss and he’s a great leader, fantastic leader. In Europe and around the world, they respect him.”

Plus, unsurprisingly, Trump once told John Kelly, his chief of staff, that Hitler "did some good things." So why does Trump have this strange affection for authoritarian despots? Here's what John Bolton, his former national security advisor, told CNN news anchor Jim Sciutto:

He views himself as a big guy. He likes dealing with other big guys, and big guys like Erdogan in Turkey get to put people in jail and you don’t have to ask anybody’s permission. He kind of likes that.

Trump has already admitted that, if elected president again, he'd like to become "a dictator on day one," put people in concentration camps and "terminate the Constitution." Says Kelly, “My theory on why he likes the dictators so much is that’s who he is.” And that's the word on Donald Trump.

[news-now]

Spies, Business deals and Criminals. How Orbán favors Russian interests instead of Western Ones

In the past 12 years, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government has gotten into a situation many times, when they had to decide between the interests of Western allies, or Russia. News Now has revealed many cases, where, in the end, the government favored Vladimir Putin and his circles. It occurred, for example, that they drove a Hungarian company out of business, just to be able to make space for a Russian firm.

From the beginning of the Russian invasion on Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and members of his government suddenly started stressing their devotion for their Western alliance and NATO. In the past 12 years, however, several Hungarian government decisions benefited Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

These were especially eye-catching when the government favored Putin and his circles even in situations when Russian aspirations obviously collided with the interest of Hungary’s NATO and EU-allies, or even Hungarian economic players, or the Hungarian state itself.

Since these conflicts mostly took place behind the curtains, they only became public afterwards, thanks to the investigative work of, amongst many, News Now. In this article we summarised how the Orbán government decided in many of these disputed matters prioritizing Russia’s interests.

Fidesz oligarchs visiting Putin’s intelligence service

Up until 2010, one could have the perception – based on his rhetoric in public – that Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party represented a reliably pro-Western position in foreign policy, security, and energy issues. For instance, April Foley, the former U.S. Ambassador to Budapest put it this way in a diplomatic telegram, that was later published by WikiLeaks:

„Orbán may be no angel, but he is on the side of the angels on these issues.”

However, choosing sides was not that obvious anymore for Viktor Orbán when he was preparing to win the parliamentary elections in 2010. It was a clear sign when the Fidesz charman – who had previously been presumed as anti-Russian – met Putin in person in Russia at the end of 2009. What the public had no knowledge about, however, was that Fidesz oligarch Lajos Simicska and his close associate, businessman Zsolt Nyerges, later also flew to Moscow.

Simicska and his people were still controlling the economic hinterland of Fidesz as close allies of Orbán at that time, and they went to Russia to build relationships useful in the future governing. Their way led to the former KGB headquarters at Lubyanka Square, where they had a negotiation with a representative of the FSB (Federal Security Service), the successor to the KGB. (Previously, Vladimir Putin was director of the FSB, and he also served as a KGB security officer in his youth.)

Sources familiar with this meeting told News Now that at this “introductory visit” the Russians expressed that if the Hungarian party needs assistance in business matters, they can be “counted on”. Information about the meeting only became public in 2018, when News Now published a long article revealing the nature of Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin’s relationship (in the article, we also showed what disputed issued needed to be settled first to get this friendship started).

Russian nuclear deal instead of Western technologies

Orbán’s first truly spectacular move signalling both in Hungary and abroad that he would be committed to Russia in the long run was when he decided on the Paks nuclear power plant extension.

During the early 2010’s, U.S., French and South Korean companies were also interested in carrying out this project. By the end of 2013, however, Hungarian government officials negotiating on the matter received an order saying that there was no need for further discussions.

This was because, in a confidential meeting in August 2013, Viktor Orbán made an agreement with the head of Russian state nuclear company Rosatom awarding the contract of the new nuclear plant in Paks to the Russians without an open bidding. Details were settled by the Russian and Hungarian parties in secrecy in the upcoming months. The public was only notified when, in January 2014, Orbán and Putin declared that they signed a contract on the matter.

Although the European Union’s approval on the project had caused some delays, it did not get any faster afterwards either. The main reason for this was that the Russians struggled to make progress with planning the facility in accordance with the applying Hungarian standards. A visible sign of this was that the construction permit request was not ready in time. In this document, based on Russian plans, it must be justified that the power plant can be built and operated safely. At first, the Hungarian government expected that this paper could be filed with the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority, which is responsible for the approval, in 2018. Eventually, it only happened much later in 2020.

Although the Russians were stranded in the planning, they still urged to start executing the project, and came up with many ideas they thought could be used to catch up with the delay. One suggestion was that some specific groundwork could be started before the construction permit is approved. This had a risk that if the foundations are laid before the project’s documentations are accepted, it is not certain that they would fit to the future power plant in all aspects.

To be able to go through with these modifications favored by the Russians, the Hungarian government eventually agreed to change a crucial regulation, which caused conflicts even inside the administration, and needed additional approval from the European Union.

The government however did not let the power plant get the construction permit before the Russians corrected their faulty documentation.

Hungarian company booted out to make space for Russians

The government prioritized Russian interests above Hungarians, when Ganz group, a Hungarian mechanical engineering firm, got close to a lucrative foreign contract. As a member of a consortium, Ganz won an Egyptian tender for the purchase of 1,300 railway carriages worth many hundreds of billions of forints. To be able to carry out the project, Ganz needed a loan from the state. State-owned Eximbank first took over the payment of this, but later cancelled and threw their support behind Transmashholding instead, which was the Russian competitor of Ganz.

As Ganz’s bid was made impossible, in September of 2018, the Egyptians entered into a contract with Transmashholding Hungary Ltd., the Hungarian subsidiary of the Russian firm. Later, pro-government figures started showing up around this company. One of the firsts steps of this progress was when Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, former Hungarian Ambassador to London and once a business partner of Árpád Habony, bought ownership in the tender-winner company.

The Hungarian state favored Transmashholding also when in spring 2021 they decided to withdraw and relaunch the 200 billion forints worth public procurement of suburban rail carriages. The government’s official explanation was that the bids of the two contenders, the Swiss Stadler and the French Alstom companies, were too pricey. By rebooting the procurement, Transmashholding also got a chance to enter the competition for the huge contract. Previously, the Russian company did not meet the requirements of the original procurement conditions.

In our country even Russian spies run free

Besides the Russian expansion of the Paks nuclear plant, the Orbán government has most frequently been criticised for turning a blind eye to Russian intelligence operations. In the 2010’s, majority of EU and NATO member states started seeing Russia as the greatest threat to their national security. They kept revealing Russian spies committing assassinations, murders, and explosions. Orbán’s government, however, approached the problem in a completely different way.

For instance, News Now uncovered that although Russian spies – about ten of them between 2010 and 2016 – have been exposed in Hungary too, these spy affairs were always dealt with secrecy. While neighbouring countries made cases public many times when Russian intelligence operatives were caught, and Russian diplomats were expelled as sanctions, Hungary simply asked the exposed officials to return home.

This so called “silent expulsion” happened in the case of that GRU agent too who previously had been in contact with the Hungarian neo-Nazi group called Hungarian National Front (MNA). This organisation became widely known in 2016. Their leader, István Győrkös had gotten into a firefight with police officers arriving to search his home for weapons, and one officer died. Subsequently, Index.hu discovered that GRU intelligence officers working under diplomatic cover in the Russian embassy in Budapest provided military training to the Hungarian neo-Nazis, disguised as airsoft practice (military games played with tools resembling real weapons).

Since 2010, there was only a single case when Hungary officially banned a Russian diplomat. This happened in spring 2018, after the GRU tried to murder former Russian spy Sergey Skripal – who defected and, by that time, also lived in Great Britain – and his daughter with a nerve agent. As a response to the assassination attempt, NATO and EU member states, following up a British initiative, expelled Russian diplomats with GRU ties, and Hungary also joined the action.

But even on this rare occasion, News Now found out that Budapest and Moscow secretly played on the same side, and commanded the mutual expulsion of their diplomats in a way that they could avoid harming Russian-Hungarian relations. For example, the Russian diplomat who was banned from Hungary had finished his mission anyway beforehand, and was already preparing to return home.

But the graciousness of the Hungarian counterintelligence towards Russian intelligence services was perhaps best shown in the handling of the Hungarian residency bond (golden visa) program. News Now, together with 444.hu and Russia’s Novaya Gazeta, found that people in Putin’s circles had also purchased Hungarian residency permits (combined with Schengen visas), and some of them were quite problematic with respect to Hungarian national security. Despite compulsory national security screenings, residency bonds were purchased by Russian foreign intelligence (SVR) head Sergey Naryshkin’s close family members, like, for example, his son.

Arms dealers helped to freedom by the Orbán government

While the Orbán government did a growing number of favors to Russia in mostly economic matters and also did not step up firmly against Russian espionage, the cooperation with NATO partners could have never been doubted in the field of law enforcement. The turning point was the Lyubishin affair.

Vladimir Lyubishin and his son of the same name had long been living in Hungary, from where the Russians were selling arms – for example, discarded weapons of the Hungarian Defence Forces. When representatives of a Mexican drug cartel showed up as potential customers, they did not turn them down either. Among many other things, they wanted to buy anti-aircraft missiles that they would shoot at the helicopters of the U.S. coast guards, and besides cash, they would have paid the for them in cocaine. But not long after the deal had been made, the Lyubishins were raided by Counter Terrorism Centre (TEK) special forces.

News Now revealed the Lyubishin’s story in the autumn of 2018. In a secret international investigation under the codename ‘Perseus’ it was the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that captured the two Russians in a sting operation. Subsequently, the Lyubishins were to stand trial in New York City. Throughout the whole investigation, the U.S. cooperated with Hungarian authorities, this is why they were stunned when the Orbán government suddenly denied a U.S. extradition request for Lyubishin and his son, and sent the two men to Russia instead.

Later we also found out that it was the Russian FSB that came to the help of the Lyubishins. Russia submitted their extradition request based on a fake, backdated FSB investigation against the two arms dealers that they have actually staged afterwards the arrest in Hungary. Although the Russian documents were full of errors, and even the Hungarian prosecutor was against accepting the Russian extradition request, Minister of Justice László Trócsányi decided to send the weapons smugglers home regardless. First it was Lyubishin Jr. who was set free; and a few months later his father was also released. The case put a strain on the Hungarian-U.S. relationship.

Bank suspected of espionage relocates to Budapest

Not long after the Lyubishin affair, the Orbán government found itself between colliding U.S. and Russian interests once more, and decided in favor of Moscow again.

Vladimir Putin brought one of the former Soviet Bloc’s institutions, the International Investment Bank (IIB) – also dubbed as the ‘Comecon bank’ – back to life in 2012. This step fit well into the part of the Russian foreign policy agenda that wanted to expand its international financial influence. Russia is the biggest stakeholder of IIB and the bank’s chairman is also Russian, which reveals that the whole bank is actually Russian-dominated to its core. Moreover, Russia’s second biggest financial institution, VTB Bank – whose leader has close ties to Putin – has been granted a supervisory position within IIB.

In their financial expansion, Russians found an eager partner in the Orbán government. Hungary joined the IIB in 2015, and soon became its second biggest stakeholder step by step. In the end of 2018, it also turned out that the bank was relocating its headquarters from Moscow to Budapest, and while doing it, they received many privileges from the Hungarian government. Although both the bank and the Hungarian government has been stressing that this is an international institution, in his joint press conference with Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orbán said he asked the Russian president so the bank could come to Budapest.

The bank quickly started its relocation in 2019, but the United States saw the institution as a threat from the very beginning. They were concerned that the bank – abusing the diplomatic immunities that IIB is entitled to have – would send more Russian spies to Hungary. IIB denied this suspicion from the start, while the media emphasized IIB chairman Nikolay Kosov’s family ties to the KGB. His father was a member of the KG task force sent to Hungary to crush the revolution of 1956, and later on he even became the KGB’s local head in Budapest.

IIB – labeled as “Russian spy bank” by the Hungarian opposition – became a symbolic example of the Orbán government’s pro-Kremlin agenda. It was well shown by the fact that, right after the Russians launched the invasion on Ukraine, the Hungarian opposition instantly requested the expulsion of IIB from Hungary. Later, on March 1, they held an anti-war protest in front of the bank’s headquarters.

[mariacallous]

BRATISLAVA—On Sept. 30, many Slovaks went to sleep having presumed that the country would be led by perhaps the most progressive government in its modern history. The next morning, however, they woke up to an alternate universe with a new winner: a scandal-battered political veteran, who, in a number of ways, has risen like a phoenix from the ashes.

This emotional roller coaster was caused by the dramatic inaccuracy of a local exit poll, which predicted a certain victory for Progressive Slovakia, a liberal and urban elite party led by Michal Simecka. It eventually came second to Robert Fico’s Smer-SD, a social democratic party that has over the last several years turned more nationalistic and populist. With all the votes counted, Smer-SD won 42 of the parliament’s 150 seats. Progressive Slovakia secured 32.

Fico, unlike 39-year-old relative newcomer Simecka, has been shaping Slovak politics since the mid-2000s. Having resigned in early 2018—and with a series of electoral defeats for Smer in European, presidential, and parliamentary races, as well as a split within his party in between—he has made a stunning comeback, boosting his party’s support from just 9 percent in January 2021 to almost 23 percent in 2023.

In many ways, his return was paved by the previous anti-corruption coalition, which due to its chaotic style of governance dampened voters’ enthusiasm. In a time of Russian invasion of Ukraine and galloping inflation, Fico—Slovakia’s longest-serving prime minister (2006-2010 and 2012-2018)—could pitch himself as a guarantor of stability and consistent decision-making.

His triumph is all the more impressive as he has done little to distance himself from his past deeds that pushed not only his party but the entire country to perhaps the darkest place it’s been in its modern history. Almost six years ago, he was swept away by a wave of public anger inspired by the massive protests that erupted after the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kusnirova. Now, symbolically, Fico’s close collaborators—Robert Kalinak and Tibor Gaspar, whose behavior as interior minister and police chief, respectively, at the time of Kuciak’s murder was under scrutiny—entered parliament with one of the best results in this election.

This crime—committed on Fico’s watch and ordered by a local millionaire, his former neighbor—shed light on the way he ruled the country. The image of Smer-SD emerged as a hermetic and highly opaque clique that grabbed control of major institutions in the country, including in justice and police, rewarded loyalists by distributing public assets, and was influenced from behind the scenes by shady businessmen (some with ties to organized crime) who operated with impunity.

This is, of course, a recipe that both Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Polish ruling party head Jaroslaw Kaczynski have long been successfully implementing in Hungary and Poland, respectively, on a much larger scale. For instance, Fico never attempted to turn the public broadcaster into a hard-line propaganda mouthpiece or use it to discredit opponents, as his two neighbors have. Nor did he try to create a homogenous nationalist-ideological umbrella for his appetite for power. Nor did he make the West a favorite attack target, being a rather quiet but loyal EU and NATO member. In a nutshell, the main headache for Slovakia under Fico was corruption and clientelism, not authoritarianism.

His attitude toward Russia is also far more complex than Orban’s indiscriminate support. Many international outlets tend to label Fico as “pro-Russian,” but, as usual, they have looked at rhetoric and symbolic gestures. And these rarely match Fico’s deeds. After all, it was he who purchased American weapons, including F-16 fighter aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters, to replace Slovakia’s ageing Soviet-era military equipment. And, although he did not succeed in decreasing the country’s dependence on Russia’s natural gas, oil, and nuclear fuel, it was his governments that introduced far-reaching investments in infrastructure that drastically limited Slovakia’s vulnerability to gas supply disruption.

Also, back in 2014 it was Fico’s Slovakia that, to Russia’s dismay, came to Ukraine’s rescue by opening up reverse flow of gas after Russia annexed Crimea and increased prices for its gas.

For years, Fico has cast himself as an arbitrator between the country’s strong economic rooting in the West and rather pro-Russian public sympathies, which, in political terms, have been utilized mainly by the Slovak National Party (SNS), Fico’s former and now new junior coalition partner. This chaotic group of rather obnoxious individuals, many with far-right views and obscure ties to Russia, has long pushed for halting Ukraine military aid—something that Fico also promised in the campaign to attract radical voters.

Even if he delivers, which is expected, it wouldn’t necessarily mean that Slovakia is turning east, as some warn. It’s still more likely for Fico to continue to play the same game, with the goal of keeping the country close to the EU mainstream (and the flow of money from Brussels) but rhetorically satisfying both the SNS and pro-Russian figures from his own circle, such as Lubos Blaha, Marian Kery, and Juraj Blanar. Back in April, at the meeting with U.S. Ambassador he supported Ukraine’s accession to the EU, while in his first post-election public appearance, he reminded citizens that under his leadership, Slovakia joined the eurozone and Schengen Area, which both could be seen as signs to Brussels that no major turns in the country’s foreign agenda are expected.

Of course, the attempt to take the country into more heavy-handed directions may be too captivating. In many ways, he’s a different man now. The long and toxic campaign has proved that, having had a near-death experience, in both political and human terms (back in 2016, he underwent heart surgery), Fico has become angrier, perhaps more eager to take revenge, and less fussy about the optics of his support base. These were not only older voters from small towns lured by his generous social welfare policy and socially traditional agenda whom he had remobilized that gave him victory, but also anti-vaxxers and other consumers of the far-right playbook.

Still, the hope that Fico will pocket his more radical image from the campaign—despite his personal grudge and a noxious coalition partner—is not based on his good will, but arithmetic. To form a stable government, he needed not only SNS (10 seats), but mainly the Hlas-SD party (27), created by a group of defectors from Smer-SD and led by moderate Peter Pellegrini, who is at odds with some of Smer-SD’s most contentious figures. The three-party coalition now has 79 seats, just three votes above a majority—enough for it to fill major posts and pass laws, but not enough to make constitutional amendments.

This shaky advantage will deny Fico the latitude that both Orban and Kaczynski have enjoyed in their countries. What’s more, relatively collectively ruled Smer-SD is by no means a mass party comparable to Orban’s iron-fisted Fidesz or Kaczynski’s Law and Justice, which both have, year by year, expanded their voter bases so as to depict themselves as the voice of the nation. This year, Smer-SD won with just 681,000 votes. Putting aside the 2020 campaign shaped by Kuciak’s murder, it is the party’s worst result since 2006.

With all these limits in mind, it’s doubtful that Fico will succeed in transforming Slovakia into a Hungary-like single party monolith, at least not in the next four years. What he can do, though, is to attempt to restore his influence over public institutions—especially judicial ones—and among economic actors, verbally antagonize journalists, take control over the narrative provided by the public broadcaster, and further divide and radicalize the society—all of which could serve as solid foundations for more Orbanesque approach in the future.

Whether he succeeds or not will depend on the Slovaks themselves—especially the sensible members of his coalition government and those motivated by the memory of Kuciak and Kusnirova.

[whitelotusherald]

dear Americans who didn’t vote for the Republicans

how did you cope with Trump’s success

[minttexs]

Csalódtam.  // I am disappointed.

Csalódtam.

Csalódtam az országomban.

Csalódtam a nemzetemben.

Csalódott vagyok, mert az emberek helyettem döntik el a jövőmet. Egy ösvényt kreálnak nekem, nem tudván egyáltalán mi a jó nekem.

Meglepődtem.

Meglepődtem, hogy ez az amit az emberek “akarnak”.

Meglepődtem, hogyha még el is hiszik ezt akarják, semmit se kapnak vissza cserébe.

Meglepődtem, hogy a tanárom elérte a síri csendet az osztályteremben először a 6 év alatt.

Ő boldog volt. Mi nem.

Azt gondolta ez a legjobb számunkra.

Nem érdekli, hogy nincs kréta amivel a táblára írjon.

Nem érdekli, hogy a fizetése negyedannyi, mint amennyinek lennie kéne.

Azt gondolja ez a legjobb számunkra.

Azt gondolja, hogy a jövőm stabilabb lesz 5 év múlva.

Nem értek egyet vele. Velem viszont több ezren értenek egyet.

Jól él úgy tűnik. Én nem.

Én nem, mert nem tudom hol leszek 5 év múlva.

Én nem, mert folyamatosan meg kell változtatnom a jövőmet a helyzethez igazodva.

Én nem mert 95%-os esély van arra, hogy nem lesz állásom 5 év múlva.

Nem fogok jól élni.

Mert koldusként élni nem felel meg a moráljaimnak.

Koldusként élni egy valaki miatt, nem felel meg nekem.

Egész nap csendben voltam.

Soha nem vagyok csendben.

Még ha nem is beszélek, gondolatok milliói töltik el agyamat.

Ma, üres volt.

Csalódtam magamban.

Mert soha nem hittem volna, el jutok arra pontra, amikor minden szeretnék lenni csak magyar nem.

Ezt mind nektek; neked köszönhetjük. “Soli Deo gloria,” mondod te.

Nem hiszem egyáltalán tisztában vagy ezzel a kifejezéssel.

De már nem számít, nem igaz?

Mert nem számít az emberek mit gondolnak. Nem számít az emberek mit akarnak. Nem számít az emberek miért kiáltanak.

Mert az számít, hogy nyertetek. Gratulálok!

“Így száll hát sírba a szabadság. Tapsvihar közepette.“

I am disappointed.

I am disappointed in my country.

I am disappointed in my nation.

I am disappointed because people decide my future instead of me. The create me a route to walk, not knowing what's good for me.

I am surprised.

I am surprised this is what people "want".

I am surprised even if they think they want this, they still not get anything back.

I am surprised that my teacher was able to make us fill the room with complete silence the 1st time in 6 years.

She was happy. We were not.

She thought this is the best for us.

She doesn't care that she has no chalk to write on the board.

She doesn't care that her salary is the quarter of what she should be paid.

She thinks this is the best for us.

She thinks that my future is stable 5 years from now on.

I disagree. Thousands agree with me.

She lives well it seems. I don't.

I don't, because I don't know where I'll be 5 years from now on.

I don't, because I have to change my plans by every second fitting to the situation.

I don't, because there is 95% chance I won't have a job 5 years from now on.

I won't live well.

Because living like a beggar, doesn’t suit my morals.

Living like a beggar because of someone, doesn’t suit me.

The entire day today I was silent.

I am never silent.

Even if I don't speak, my mind is filled with millions of thoughts.

Today, it was blank.

I am disappointed in myself. 

Because I have never thought that I would get to the point when I want to be anything else but Hungarian.

It all thanks to YOU. "Soli Deo gloria," you say.

I'm not sure you're familiar with that at all.

But it doesn't matter now, does it?

Because it doesn't matter what the people think. It doesn't matter what the people want. It doesn't matter what the people cry for.

Because all it matters that you won. Congratulations!

“This is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.“