34 h. ago ‘Illusion of democracy’: Ben Sulayem’s last rival exits FIA presidential race

Tim Mayer hits out over rules surrounding electionMohammed Ben Sulayem will be the only candidateThe FIA has been accused of presenting an “illusion of democracy” in an uncompromising broadside from the last remaining challenger to Mohammed Ben Sulayem as he formally announced his attempt to succeed the organisation’s incumbent president was over. Tim Mayer, a former FIA senior steward, also condemned Formula One’s governing body for lacking transparency and threatening the sport’s future.The 59-year-old American, who was sacked from his FIA role last year, had been standing as a candidate against Ben Sulayem but on Friday in Austin acknowledged the incumbent would run unopposed because of the way FIA electoral regulations are composed. Continue reading...

Politics

38 h. ago Tim Mayer withdraws from FIA presidential election and slams 'illusion of democracy'

Mohammed ben Sulayem will run unopposed in December's FIA presidential election as Tim Mayer told a press conference on Friday why he has chosen to pull out of the race

Politics

60 h. ago Mohammed Ben Sulayem set to remain FIA president after Mayer denied by arcane rule

Challenger expected to announce withdrawal on FridayBen Sulayem has been accused of concentrating powerMohammed Ben Sulayem will stand unopposed for another term as the FIA president after it emerged the last remaining candidate who was preparing to run against motor sport’s divisive global leader will not be mounting a challenge due an arcane election rule.Tim Mayer, a former FIA senior steward with 15 years in the role until he was sacked last November, was one of three candidates who had announced they would oppose Ben Sulayem, alongside the former racing driver Laura Villars and the Belgian journalist Virginie Philpott. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Cameroon opposition leader declares victory in presidential election

Issa Tchiroma Bakary calls on 92-year-old president to accept end of reign, although results have yet to be releasedThe Cameroonian opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary has declared himself the winner of the 12 October presidential election and called on the incumbent, Paul Biya, to accept the end of his 43-year rule.“Our victory is clear, it must be respected,” Tchiroma said in a video statement on Facebook with the national flag in the background, before directly addressing 92-year-old Biya: “We call on the regime in power to show greatness and to honour the truth of the ballot box with a long-awaited gesture: that phone call of congratulations, which will demonstrate the political maturity of our nation and the future strength of our democracy.” Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Lecornu backs delaying rise in French retirement age until after 2027 presidential election – Europe live

PM says that law increasing age to 64 will be put on pause in bid to stave off losing a no-confidence vote that would bring down his governmentThe Kremlin said on Tuesday it welcomed US president Donald Trump’s desire to focus on the search for a peace deal to end the fighting in Ukraine after achieving a ceasefire in Gaza and hoped he would be able to push Kyiv towards a settlement.Addressing the Israeli Knesset a day earlier after brokering a deal between Israel and Hamas, Trump spoke of wanting to get a deal done with Iran over its nuclear programme, but said he would turn his attention to trying to end the war in Ukraine first.We are already well acquainted with Mr Witkoff; he is effective, has proven his effectiveness now in the Middle East, and we hope that his talents will continue to contribute to the work already under way in Ukraine.The Russian side remains open and ready for peaceful dialogue, and we hope that the influence of the United States and the diplomatic skills o...

Politics

6 d. ago Connolly warns of ‘politics of fear’ as Humphreys says rival ‘insulted allies’

Catherine Connolly was ahead in two recent polls ahead of the presidential election.

Events

8 d. ago Trump claims Nobel Peace Prize winner called and told him he really deserved it: ‘very nice thing to do’

Trump has openly lusted for the award once given to former president Barack Obama after the 2008 presidential election

Politics

9 d. ago We research AI election threats. Here’s what we need to prepare for | Samuel Woolley and Dean Jackson

Artificial intelligence endangers democracy – but it’s less about specific deepfakes and more about a bigger transformationWe study AI and democracy. We’re worried about 2050, not 2026.Half of humanity lives in countries that held national elections last year. Experts warned that those contests might be derailed by a flood of undetectable, deceptive AI-generated content. Yet what arrived was a wave of AI slop: ubiquitous, low quality, and sometimes misleading, but rarely if ever decisive at the polls. Still, given the outcome of the US presidential election, few observers concerned about democracy felt relief. The immediate, prolonged challenges brought by the second Trump administration make it difficult to do much more than react to crises as they happen.Samuel Woolley is the author of Manufacturing Consensus: Understanding Propaganda in the Era of Automation and Anonymity and co-author of Bots. He is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Dean Jackson is a senior fellow at ...

Politics

1 week ago Macron should announce early election, says former PM as France’s political crisis deepens

Édouard Philippe, a contender to succeed Macron, says situation is ‘distressing’ amid last-ditch efforts to get cross-party support for cabinetEurope live – latest updatesÉdouard Philippe, a former French prime minister and one-time ally of Emmanuel Macron, has said he favours early presidential elections given the gravity of the political crisis rocking the country.The remarks by Philippe, a leading centre-right contender to succeed Macron, came as the outgoing prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, began a last-ditch effort to rally cross-party support for a cabinet to pull France out of its deepening political deadlock. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago French PM in final bid to salvage cabinet amid political turmoil – Europe live

Macron has asked Lecornu to stay on for 48 hours to try to win over lawmakersJordan Bardella, the leader of the far-right party National Rally, has also supported the dissolution of parliament, followed by elections.Bardella told France’s BFM TV that his party was preparing for both parliamentary elections and an early presidential vote. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Knives come out for Macron as France spirals into crisis: One of Emmanuel's former prime ministers calls for early presidential election after latest PM lasts just 27 days

Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Tuesday that he was in favour of an early presidential election.

Politics

1 week ago Outcry over shock withdrawal of Irish presidential candidate

Billy Kelleher, who ran against Jim Gavin for the Fianna Fail nomination, called his selection a ‘serious miscalculation’

Politics

1 week ago Jim Gavin withdrawal from presidential election the ‘right decision’ – minister

Minister Jack Chambers said a ‘clear contradiction’ emerged in relation to Jim Gavin’s account of payments due to a former tenant.

Politics

1 week ago Georgia’s prime minister announces crackdown on dissent after Tbilisi protests

Irakli Kobakhidze accused EU ambassador of supporting ‘attempt to overthrow constitutional order’ Georgia’s prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has announced a sweeping crackdown on dissent, accusing demonstrators who tried to storm the presidential palace of aiming to topple his government and blaming the European Union for interference in his country.Kobakhidze levelled his allegations a day after protesters attempted to breach the presidential palace as local elections were being held. They were stopped by riot police using pepper spray and water cannon. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Georgia launches sweeping crackdown on dissent as opposition blocs boycott local election, in photos

Police in Georgia used water cannons and pepper spray on Saturday to push back protesters who tried to storm the presidential palace, as the South Caucasus country held a municipal election boycotted by the main opposition blocs amid a sweeping crackdown on dissent.

Politics

2 w. ago Trump officials cut nearly $8bn in clean energy projects in Democratic states

Democrats and environmental groups slam move as ‘sick political game’ and say it will drive up energy billsThe Trump administration is cancelling $7.6bn in grants that supported hundreds of clean energy projects in 16 states, all of which voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election.The move comes as Donald Trump threatens deep cuts in his fight with congressional Democrats over the government shutdown. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago “‘I’m leaving,’ Trump said. ‘There’s no reason to be here any more’”: inside the meeting that brought Nato to the brink

Former secretary general Jens Stoltenberg recalls the rollercoaster ride of dealing with Donald Trump – and how close the US president brought the alliance to the point of collapseNo other nation means more for what Nato is than the United States. It holds a unique position among member states due to its political, economic and military weight. Which is why the forces that dominate American politics – and who is in the White House – are such decisive factors. The presidential election in November 2016 was therefore not only important to the US, but also to all of Nato.For the first six months of 2016, Hillary Clinton was ahead in every poll. By autumn, election experts were predicting her victory. I, too, had a gut feeling this would be the outcome. On election night, my wife Ingrid and I arranged a party with friends and colleagues at the residence in Brussels. We rigged up a large television in the living room, and hamburgers were served. A long day lay ahead, so I turned in befor...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Trump’s decomposing ear of corn’: what does ‘hair certainty’ tell us about our leaders?

From Starmer’s stiff quiff to the Maga movement’s glossy TV locks, a politician’s mane can speak volumes – it says as much about what side of the divide they sit on as it does about the prevailing political windsLabour has an image problem. In a recent YouGov survey, people expressed a view that the party is “dishonest”, “only interested in themselves”, and “the same as the rest”. It’s no wonder that they are currently, terrifyingly, 10 points behind Reform in the polls. They also, by a slightly different – you could say less data-driven – metric, have a different kind of image problem. They lack “hair certainty”, from the top down. The idea of “hair certainty” was coined by the writer Simon Doonan. Writing in the buildup to the 2016 presidential election that would see Donald Trump first take office, he explained: “Presidential hair = hair with certainty Hair-certainty describes hair that is what it appears to be. No illusions. No Greco-Roman fakery. Presidential hair can be thick ...

Politics

2 w. ago Ariana Grande lashes out at Trump supporters in scathing Instagram post

The 32-year-old pop star voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election and Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential election

Politics

2 w. ago Rudy Giuliani and Dominion settle $1.3bn defamation suit over election lies

US voting machine maker sued ex-New York mayor and Trump lawyer in 2021 for repeatedly calling election riggedRudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and personal lawyer to Donald Trump, has settled a long-running defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over lies he told about the result of the 2020 presidential election.Details of the settlement, revealed in federal court in Washington DC in a filing late on Friday, are confidential. The Colorado-based voting machine manufacturer sued Giuliani for $1.3bn in 2021, citing more than 50 instances in which he made false or defamatory statements insisting the election was rigged against Trump, with the integrity of Dominion’s machinery at the heart of the conspiracy theory. Continue reading...

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