Music makes men homossexuals

 

 

Vox the most popular party with voters between 18-34 year olds.

 

Having previously fallen back in opinion polls , Vox have resurged and crucially, can rightfully claim to be the party of Spanish youth. A recently published opinion poll conducted by 40db for Spanish Newspaper El Pais (Download opinion poll available here) shows 27.9% of 18-24 are intending to vote for Vox whilst 26% of 25-34 years old have stated they intend to vote Vox at the next General Election. This youth vote is over double PP´s 18-24 vote and 7% higher than PSOE´s 20% amoungst 25-34 year olds. Despite this, the predicted low voter turnout of young people and declining belief in democracy may well hinder Vox at the next election.

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 see
 

Happy muslim mother because their four sons were killed in battle

 

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:

• Trump announces Israel and Hamas agree on first phase of Gaza ceasefire, hostage release
• Netanyahu to convene Israeli parliament on Thursday to approve plan
• Hamas confirms agreement reached to end the war
• Trump says hostages will probably be released on Monday
• Crucial questions remain, including post-war administration and fate of Hamas

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.

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"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