GAZETA DIGITAL

quinta-feira, 9 de outubro de 2025

No incentive for Vox to prop up PP

However, the demographic power of retirees and their immense bloc voting poses a challenge to any third party in breaking through, increasingly shows the political divide and seriously questions the ability of either PSOE or PP to break the unearned pension and housing privileges of Spain´s retirees. Over 62% of Spanish voters 65+ intend to vote for either PSOE or PP whilst less than a third of those under 34 intend to do so. Vox´s momentum continued with a rally in Alcala de Hernares on Sunday 6th July against what they call the current open border immigration policy of Spain.

After several years of recovering from unwise alliances with PP across Spain, the latest opinion polls show that Vox is set to be on a collision course with PP in the next parliament and indeed the division between the generation that Vox seeks to represent will need them to reassess positions, such as on housing. Whether Vox have the ability to break free from conventional liberal economic positions to actively favour their future base and the discipline not to be tempted by future coalitions with PP remains to be seen.

Datos que deberían preocupar al @ppopular mucho más que sus cambios de caras:
1 El PP pierde más votos a Vox de los que gana del PSOE (sí, es hablar con la pared)
2 La izquierda es cosa de viejos, pero Vox pasa al PP.
Fuente: 4dB para El País. pic.twitter.com/thqNNYib3P

Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza ceasefire and return of hostages

Summary:

WASHINGTON/CAIRO, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Israel and Hamas said they had agreed to a long-awaited ceasefire and hostage deal, the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end a war in Gaza that has killed more than 67,000 people and reshaped the Middle East.

Just a day after the second anniversary of Hamas militants' cross-border attack that triggered Israel's devastating assault on Gaza, indirect talks in Egypt yielded an agreement on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework to bring peace to the Palestinian enclave.

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The accord, if fully implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt a war that had evolved into a regional conflict, drawing in countries such as Iran, Yemen and Lebanon, deepened Israel's international isolation and reshaped the Middle East.

News of the deal prompted celebrations in Israel, Gaza and beyond, with Israeli families of hostages letting off fireworks, while Palestinians clapped and cheered in hopes of an end to the bloodshed.

“Thank God for the ceasefire, the end of bloodshed and killing," said Abdul Majeed abd Rabbo, a man in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

"I am not the only one happy, all of the Gaza Strip is happy, all the Arab people, all of the world is happy with the ceasefire and the end of bloodshed."

But the agreement announced by Trump late on Wednesday was short on detail and left many unresolved questions that could yet lead to its collapse, as has happened with previous peace efforts.

"I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan," Trump said on Truth Social.

"This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace," Trump added.

Successful completion of the deal would mark a significant foreign policy achievement for the Republican president, who had campaigned on bringing peace to major world conflicts but has struggled to swiftly deliver, both in Gaza and on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

60,000 structures across Gaza had been destroyed

Palestinians in Gaza are confronting an apocalyptic landscape of devastation following the ceasefire that paused more than 15 months of Israel’s attacks on the besieged enclave.

Across Gaza, where built-up refugee camps are interspersed between cities, mounds of rubble are stretching as far as the eye can see.

Critics say Israel has waged a campaign of scorched earth to destroy the fabric of life in Gaza, accusations that are being considered in two global courts, including the crime of genocide.

International rights groups said the vast destruction was part of a broader pattern of extermination and genocide directed at Palestinians in Gaza, a charge Israel denies. The groups dispute Israel’s stance that the destruction was a result of military activity.

A United Nations assessment from satellite imagery showed more than 60,000 structures across Gaza had been destroyed and more than 20,000 severely damaged in the war as of December 1, 2024.

Israel also carved out a buffer zone about one kilometre inside Gaza from its fence, as well as within the Netzarim Corridor that bisects north Gaza from the south, and along the Philadelphi Corridor, a stretch of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt.

Vast swaths in these areas were levelle

Aljazeera

Violações em Lisboa aumentam 60 %

Foi durante uma entrevista à SIC que o autarca de Lisboa, Carlos Moedas, afirmou que se havia registado um aumento "exponencial" de violações na região de Lisboa, mais especificamente na zona do Martim Moniz. Porém, dados oficiais, citados pelo Diário de Notícias, referem que não é bem assim.

O presidente da Câmara de Lisboa era o entrevistado de Júlia Pinheiro, no programa da tarde do canal de Carnaxide, quando afirmou que o "número de violações aumentaram". "Mas aumentaram exponencialmente, 60%! As violações na cidade aumentaram! Eu não quero que as minhas filhas… Não quero que elas sintam isso!”

O autarca, candidato à Câmara de Lisboa nas eleições autárquicas de 12 de outubro, acrescentava ainda que as estatísticas se reportavam à zona da 1.ª Divisão da PSP, "ou seja, ali na zona de Martim Moniz, Arroios..."

A alegação, refere o Diário de Notícias, não está correta, dado que os dados a que se refere Carlos Moedas dizem respeito a toda a zona da 1.º Divisão e que englobam, ainda, o Rossio, a Baixa, Arroios, e Alfama, zonas com um grande fluxo de pessoas. É por isso errado, defende, associar este aumento a uma zona com maior número de imigrantes.

Dados da PSP e PJ

Segundo os dados a que o DN teve acesso, registou-se um aumento de casos de violação entre 2023 e 2024 nesta divisão, passando de nove para 15.

Já em todo o município de Lisboa, o total de participações registadas pela PSP subiu 12%, passando de 49 em 2023 para 55 em 2024. Dados da Polícia Judiciária, autoridade que investiga os crimes de violação, por sua vez, falam em 75 queixas no concelho em 2024, mais 17% do que no ano anterior.

Segundo a PJ, citada pelo mesmo jornal, não existe qualquer relação entre este aumento e as zonas da cidade com maior presença de imigrantes, o que contrapõe a teoria de Carlos Moedas, escreve o Expresso.

A par disso, note-se que em anos anteriores, entre 2022 e 2023, por exemplo, tinham sido registadas descidas no número de queixas.

Martim Moniz foi só a "título de exemplo"

Posto isto, a Câmara Municipal de Lisboa foi confrontada com as alegações do seu representante, questionando-se o porquê de associarem este aumento especificamente à zona do Martim Moniz.

Em resposta, o gabinete do autarca respondeu que a menção ao Martim Moniz "foi a título de exemplo".

"Faz parte da primeira divisão, certo?", terá ainda questionado, na mesma resposta.

Associação ao Martim Moniz é errada

Entretanto a Polícia Judiciária, ao mesmo jornal, explicou que existe efetivamente um maior registo de queixas deste tipo de crimes na região de Lisboa. No entanto, especifica que as mesmas estão, na sua maioria, relacionadas com situações ocorridas de noite ou madrugada, nomeadamente "em bares ou discotecas, de utilização de químicos nas bebidas das mulheres que as deixam prostradas e indefesas à violação”.

Questionado se existe alguma relação entre o acréscimo de participações registado em 2024 na cidade e o Martim Moniz, esta força policial nega que se possa ser feita essa associação.

Notícias ao minuto

Failed policies on housing, wages and employment are driving young voters into the arms of Vox

According to recent polls, almost 40% of Spanish men aged between 18 and 34 say that they plan to vote for Vox, the far-right party. Vox won its first seat in the Spanish parliament in 2019 and now it is surging again. Its recent success is no longer a story of just male voters, either: 20% of young women say they would vote for Vox, with the biggest increase among the youngest voters in that group.

It seems that the younger you are in Spain at the moment, the more likely you are to vote for a party that advocates, among other things, the mass expulsion of immigrants in order to preserve “Spanish identity”, the restriction of abortion, end-of-life and trans rights, the dismantling of the European Union’s institutions and the rejection of policies to tackle the climate crisis. Older generations continue to back the two largest parties, the centre-left Socialist party (PSOE) and the centre-right Popular party (PP). Women aged 60 and over make up the largest group rejecting the far right. Catalonia is the exception: support for the nationalist far right is spread across older generations, too.

Because of its 20th-century history, Spain had long appeared resistant to the recent rise of the populist right. That exceptionalism is no longer true, but how do we explain Vox’s growing appeal among a new generation of younger Spanish voters? There are several contributory factors, but two particular crises, badly mishandled by the biggest parties, appear to have drained mainstream support: the deadly floods in Valencia last year and this summer’s wildfires in León, Zamora, Orense and Extremadura. Spain’s quasi-federal system makes it easy to assign blame both to the centre-left governing coalition in Madrid and to the conservative-led regional governments. At the same time, corruption and other scandals have once again tainted both main parties.

The last Spanish general election was in 2023 and the biggest concerns identified by Vox voters at the time were migration and “government and political parties”.

Data on the new young voters is limited, but polling shows that housing is the top concern for the population in general and even more so for anyone under 35. Wages, employment and the cost of living are mentioned too. Migration barely registers as an issue for younger voters. But the perception of politicians themselves as a problem, which was the other big issue for Vox voters in 2023, is widespread across generations. Marta Romero, a political scientist, says Vox has become fashionable among young people drawn to the “anti-establishment” image that the party is managing to project – just as parties on the left and the centre did in the previous decade.

Amid all the hand-wringing in Spain about the latest far-right insurgency, one thing is clear: the solution is not going to be found by moving the political centre of gravity rightward. Mimicking the far right on migration or women’s rights has demonstrably failed for parties across Europe – and it has already proven costly for the conservatives in Spain as well.

The Spanish economy stands out in Europe for its growth rate and is among the best performing in the west. But it’s still not delivering for many, particularly the younger adults who enter the labour market in cities such as Barcelona, Málaga or Madrid.

Focusing on – and delivering – affordable housing is the most important issue for younger people, who are poorer than older Spaniards mainly because of the high cost of renting or buying homes in the cities where jobs are concentrated. Wages are still low compared with other countries. In the past two decades, pensioners have become wealthier than young adults, particularly those with children, as El País’s data journalist Kiko Llaneras explained. Life is better in so many ways – Spain is richer, more modern, more inclusive and safer. But intergenerational tension is rising as the economy is not growing as fast as in the 1980s and 1990s.

What else can the mainstream political class do – particularly on the left, which traditionally counted on the support of progressive young adults? One obvious answer would be to challenge the prevailing political culture and stop bickering. Politicians, particularly from PSOE and PP, devote so much energy, day in day out, to insulting one another it is no wonder they attract widespread public cynicism, if not ridicule.

Most of the time this is just noise in the background as people get on with their lives. But a public backlash is palpable when this, often performative, conflict flares during or in response to a serious crisis. Yet it is now hard to find a politician from either of the two largest parties in national and regional government – those who bear the greatest responsibility – willing to pause before attacking a rival, even when the facts are still unclear.

In Valencia, there is a clearcut case the conservative regional government must answer. It is shocking that it remains in place a full year after mishandling emergency alerts during the floods. Central government is right to highlight the Valencia region’s leaders’ negligence and its neglect of the climate crisis, which is already reshaping Spain while Vox (and increasingly the PP) divert attention elsewhere. But is a public row required on every subject every day?

The Guardian

Taiwan electricity generation by source, July 2025

Taiwan’s government is increasing energy storage and rethinking the island’s energy mix. It is looking anew at nuclear power, just months after it shut down its last reactor.

But Taiwan’s drive for energy self-sufficiency has a long way to go, leaving the island more immediately focused on a U.S. assessment that Chinese leader Xi Jinping wants his military to be ready to seize Taiwan by force by 2027.

Two U.S. senators introduced legislation in September that would support Taiwan’s ability to secure a reliable supply of American LNG, including providing U.S. insurance for shippers to keep deliveries flowing if the island is threatened.

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R., Neb.) said he co-sponsored the legislation with Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.) after participating in a wargame that showed Taiwan running out of LNG within 11 days in a blockade.

“It really highlighted how this could be the Achilles’ heel of Taiwan,” Ricketts said of the wargame, which was run by the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, or FDD.

While Taiwan could temporarily resist a Chinese blockade and briefly sustain its output of power, the island would require U.S. intervention to restore electricity over a longer period, according to the results of a series of wargames run by the Washington-based
Any Chinese use of force to subdue Taiwan would quickly test President Trump’s appetite for military intervention against Beijing.

U.S. policy about whether to come to Taiwan’s defense in an invasion is intentionally vague. While an overt Chinese attack would force Washington to act quickly, a more subtle interruption of Taiwan’s seaborne trade, including of fuel, would complicate decision-making in Washington.

For example, Beijing could subject vessels serving Taiwan to inspection by declaring a law-enforcement or health action, allowing Beijing to quietly raise pressure on Taipei. Since a blockade is an act of war against an enemy state, China would call its action something else, such as a quarantine.

A Chinese quarantine would force Taiwan and the U.S. to decide whether to take military action and potentially be accused of starting a war.

“This is the kind of coercion that flies under the threshold of war, but could still bring Taiwan to its knees,” said Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the FDD, who testified Tuesday about the topic on Capitol Hill at a hearing chaired by Ricketts.

In a blockade, Taiwan’s LNG supplies would last under two weeks, while coal would last seven, the CSIS wargames concluded.

The Wall Street Journal

Britain’s once-mighty Conservative Party is battling to avoid extinction

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Britain’s Conservatives used to boast they were the world’s most successful political party. Not anymore.

The center-right party that governed the U.K. for more than 60 of the last 100 years before being ousted in 2024 is embracing Donald Trump -style policies, including mass deportations and government budget-slashing, as it battles to remain a contender for power.

The Tories are fighting not just the Labour government to their left, but Reform UK to the right. Nigel Farage’s hard-right party has topped opinion polls for months, trounced the Conservatives in May’s local elections and has welcomed a stream of defecting Tory members and officials.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch acknowledged that the party has “a mountain to climb” to win back voters.

But in a speech closing the party’s annual conference on Wednesday, she insisted the Conservatives are “the only party that can meet the test of our generation, the only party that can deliver a stronger economy and stronger borders.”

Crowds were thin under the vast vaulted roof of the Manchester Central conference venue, a former railway station in the northwest England city, as delegates absorbed the party’s diminished stature.

“It’s not in a great place at the moment, we’re aware of that,” said Neil McCarthy, a member from northern England. “There needs to be passion, and we need to get the message across that we’ve changed.”

Questions of party competence weren’t helped by Conservative-branded chocolate bars distributed at the conference on which Britain was misspelled as “Britian.”

The Conservatives have endured years of turmoil – some of it of their own making, some of it shared by incumbent parties in a world of economic and geopolitical instability.

The economic benefits of Britain’s 2020 exit from the European Union, championed by those now running the party, have been elusive. Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a huge election victory in 2019 but was ousted by the party in 2022 after a string of ethics scandals.

His successor, Liz Truss, sent inflation and interest rates soaring with a disastrous tax-cutting plan that wrecked the Conservatives’ reputation for economic stability.

Under Rishi Sunak, the government staggered on until the July 2024 election that delivered the Conservatives’ worst-ever defeat.

Badenoch, a small-state, low-tax advocate elected leader last year, has shifted the party to the right, announcing policies with a distinct MAGA flavor. She says a Conservative government will scrap carbon emissions reduction targets, sharply cut legal immigration and deport 150,000 unauthorized immigrants a year with a removals force similar to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the U.S. It would also leave the European Convention on Human Rights and limit the power of judges to block the will of government.

Such policies, which alarm civil liberties groups, are similar to Farage’s plans for power, leading some to ask what sets the Conservatives apart from Reform.

Badenoch says the difference is fiscal prudence. She rejected Farage’s promises to increase welfare spending and nationalize key industries such as steel, and said a Conservative government would slash welfare spending to fund lower taxes on businesses and homebuyers.

Jill Rutter, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government think tank, said Badenoch’s attempt to make the Tories “Reform with better economics” risks “narrowing the appeal” of the party.

“Basically, she’s chucking quite a lot of people out of the Conservatives’ broad church,” Rutter said.

Climate-change targets, human rights rules and support for managed immigration were until recently mainstream Conservative positions, and some party members are uncomfortable with the rightward turn.

Associated Pres

Spain's grid operator warns of new voltage swings, urges measures to avoid blackout

MADRID, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Spain's grid operator REE has detected steep voltage swings in the system over the past two weeks that are capable of affecting power supply in the country that suffered a massive blackout in April, it warned in a document sent to market regulator CNMC.

It urged swift technical changes to be implemented to avoid any such impact. The CNMC said on Wednesday it was calling a public consultation for the coming days with a view to adopting urgent, provisional measures to stabilise the system before a more permanent solution can be found.
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"According to the information provided to the CNMC by the system operator, the rapid voltage fluctuations recorded in the last two weeks, even though the voltages are always within the established margins, can potentially trigger demand and/or generation disconnections that end up destabilising the electrical system," it said in a statement.

The European network of electricity transmission system operators said in a report last Friday the massive power outage that hit the Iberian Peninsula on April 28 was the first known blackout caused by excessive voltage.
The report, like previous inquiries, pointed to a surge in voltage as the immediate cause of the April 28 outage - Europe's most significant blackout in more than two decades, which paralysed cities and stranded people on trains across Portugal and Spain.

Reuters