Politics

This morning Jacques Chirac, who served as President of France for twelve years, died at home in Paris, France, surrounded by family. He was 86. The news came from his son-in-law, Frédéric Salat-Baroux, and came after a long period of health problems. He had not made public appearances since 2014, which his wife Bernadette said was due to memory problems. Jacques Chirac was born in 1932 in Paris. He was a civil servant before becoming a career politician. From 1967 to 1995 he was a member of the French Parliament during which he twice served a

Yesterday afternoon, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, announced that she would be launching an impeachment inquiry into the conduct of United States President Donald Trump. Pelosi had previously opposed impeachment proceedings. Pelosi called Trump's conduct a "breach of his Constitutional responsibilities," according to NBC. "[T]he House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry," she announced. Specifically, she was directing six of the House's committees to "proceed with their investi

Yesterday, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran said if the goal is peace and security, then foreign powers should "get out of the region" as their presence could cause an arms race. He also announced a new security initiative for the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz to be unveiled at the United Nations General Assembly later this week. Rouhani was speaking at the opening of Sacred Defence Week, an annual commemoration of the eight-year Iran–Iraq War, which features military parades. "The presence of foreign forces can be da

Akilisi Pohiva, the prime minister of Tonga, died today at 10:00 a.m. Tongan time (2100 UTC, yesterday) at the age of 78. Pohiva, who had been Tonga's prime minister since his election in 2014, was evacuated Wednesday afternoon from Tonga's capital, Nukuʻalofa, to a hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, with pneumonia. ABC reported that Pohiva received medical treatment in New Zealand for problems with his liver this year. In the wake of Pohiva's death, Tonga's parliament, the Legislative Assembly, was suspended indefinitely according to local me

Yesterday, the United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth II announced she will comply with the request of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend Parliament for parts of September and October. Critics from across Britain's political spectrum have claimed this is a move by Johnson to foil opposition to his plans for a no-deal Brexit by October 31. Per the request, Parliament would meet briefly in early September and then not reconvene until October 14, two weeks before the current Brexit deadline. According to Johnson, this break will allow him to devel

John Hickenlooper, who was a candidate in the Democratic primaries for the 2020 United States presidential election, ended his campaign yesterday. Hickenlooper made his official announcement via a YouTube video in which he thanked his supporters. According to reports, Hickenlooper was polling so low nationally, he was in danger of not qualifying for the next round of televised debates. Reports citing sources within the Democratic Party have indicated Hickenlooper was actively encouraged to drop out in favor of a run for a seat in the United St

The governor of Louisiana, a U.S. state on the Gulf of Mexico, declared a state of emergency for the state on Thursday, with Tropical Storm Barry approaching the coast. Governor John Bel Edwards addressed the public: "No one should take this storm lightly. As we know all too well in Louisiana, low intensity does not necessarily mean low impact." He said he has arranged for 3000 of the National Guard to be available and has search and rescue teams at the ready and has requested U.S. President Donald Trump declare a state of emergency in Lousian

On Wednesday, as a part of his pre-election campaign, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pledged converting Hagia Sophia, formerly a Greek Orthodox church and now a museum, to a mosque, following the election today. He announced this change by live television on Wednesday and again verbally in a rally on Friday, despite criticism by the Greek foreign minister and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) who questioned his authority to make the change. On Friday in Istanbul, as a part of an election ral

On Monday, attorneys general from sixteen states filed a combined lawsuit against the state of emergency United States President Donald Trump declared last Friday so he could fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. The motion claims Trump's declaration is unconstitutional, and that the states filing suit have standing to do so because building the wall would divert funding away from programs that would otherwise be performed to the benefit of these states. Because only Congress may allocate funds in this way, reads the motion, the declaration

On Saturday, Thailand's Thai Raksa Chart Party withdrew from using Princess Ubolratana Mahidol as their candidate for prime minister in response to a statement from her younger brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Shortly after she formally filed for candidacy, the palace issued a statement to the effect the king considered it inappropriate for Thai royals to run for elected office. The constitutionality of the Princess's candidacy had also been challenged by the opposing military political party. The palace issued the following statement from

United States President Donald Trump said on Friday he can and may declare a national state of emergency, which he said would allow him to act without approval from Congress and allocate funding for the construction of a wall along the country's border with Mexico. The US government is currently partially shut down because the president and Congress could not agree on a national budget. The President insists that the budget include funding for the wall, which was one of his campaign promises, but Congress has not passed his proposed budget. Tr

A fire yesterday afternoon killed five girls, all aged fifteen, at an escape room the group was visiting to celebrate a birthday in Koszalin, North Poland. Following the fire, which also seriously injured a man, authorities are performing checks on all the nation's escape rooms. Escape rooms see participants locked into a space and given clues and a time limit to figure out how to free themselves. The enterprises have grown in popularity in recent years with reportedly over 1,000 in Poland which are especially patronised by teens. President A