Only 17% want to wait until next autumn, widely thought to be the most likely date.
The prime minister confirmed earlier this month that the general election will definitely take place in 2024.
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However, it is still unclear whether the PM will opt to go to the country in the spring or wait until the autumn.
The latest the election can possibly be is January, 2025 – an option supported by just 9% of the public.
The poll also showed that three-quarters of Brits believe that Brexit has increased the cost of their weekly shop, while nearly two-thirds think it has stunted the UK’s economic growth.
Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, said: “The message in our polling from voters is clear – they want an election, they think Brexit has hurt them in their pockets, and they’re prepared to vote tactically for change.
“Labour may be on course for a victory, but under our broken electoral system nothing can be taken for granted.
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“With the possibility of Nigel Farage’s party offering a life raft to his vulnerable friends on the Conservative right, tactical voting will be more important than ever.”
Most voters want a general election by next summer – with one in three demanding one as soon as possible.
A new mega-poll also shows that just 17% want to wait until next autumn to give their verdict on Rishi Sunak’s government.
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The prime minister confirmed earlier this month that the general election will definitely take place in 2024.
However, it is still unclear whether the PM will opt to go to the country in the spring or wait until the autumn.
The latest the election can possibly be is January, 2025 – an option supported by just 9% of the public.
According to the poll of more than 10,000 by Focaldata for the Best for Britain group, 61% want it to be held by June. Of those, 36% want it to be as soon as possible.
The Focaldata poll also found that 38% of voters would consider voting tactically to change the government, with just 13% saying they would do so to keep Sunak in No.10.
Rishi Sunak must decide whether to go to the country in the spring or autumn.
JACOB KING via Getty Images
Meanwhile, Keir Starmer is the most popular choice to be prime minister in 390 of the country’s 650 constituencies, including Sunak’s seat of Richmond.
The poll also showed that three-quarters of Brits believe that Brexit has increased the cost of their weekly shop, while nearly two-thirds think it has stunted the UK’s economic growth.
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Naomi Smith, chief executive of Best for Britain, said: “The message in our polling from voters is clear – they want an election, they think Brexit has hurt them in their pockets, and they’re prepared to vote tactically for change.
“Labour may be on course for a victory, but under our broken electoral system nothing can be taken for granted.
“With the possibility of Nigel Farage’s party offering a life raft to his vulnerable friends on the Conservative right, tactical voting will be more important than ever.”
A staggering proportion of the world’s population will be able to head to the ballot box for major elections next year – a fifth, in fact – meaning the international stage as we know it could look very different next year.
Of course, politicians will probably still be grappling with many of the global issues which appeared in 2023 – the international cost of living crisis; the Israel–Gaza war; the Ukraine–Russia war; post-pandemic recovery; the climate crisis; among plenty of other geo-political issues – and that’s before we even look at domestic politics.
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But, new faces in positions of power could help trigger incremental changes, which ripple around the world.
The first election will kick off in Taiwan, in January, but there will be total of 40 national elections, representing 41% of the world’s population (and 42% of GDP, according to Bloomberg) throughout the year.
So, just changes could a batch of newly elected political leaders bring – if any at all?
Here’s a look at just a handful of the elections which could have major consequences for international diplomacy.
1. UK’s general election
Rishi Sunak, right, and Keir Starmer, left, will go head to head
WPA Pool via Getty Images
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Looking at the most immediate change next year’s elections may bring, let’s start with the UK’s general election.
Technically, the Conservatives could choose not to call a slightly early election and hold on until January 28, 2025.
The Conservatives are trailing in the polls though, meaning Labour’s Keir Starmer is widely expected to get into office. That would be the first time the party has been in Downing Street since 2010.
He is expected to improve the relationship between the UK and the rest of Europe in the wake of Brexit, and has vowed to provide 100% clean power by 2030 – following serious backlash over the Tories’ decision to water down green pledges – and plans to bring in 1.5 million new homes over the course of he next five years.
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Labour want to invest an extra £1.1 billion in the NHS, too.
It’s perhaps not surprising then, that an Ipsos poll from October found voters think a Starmer-led Labour government is more likely to improve public services, offer a fresh start for the country, act with integrity and reduce regional inequalities.
2. US’s presidential election
US president Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump are expected to run as opponents again in November
via Associated Press
Looking further afield, people in North America head to the polls on November 5, 2024 – the last election of the year. The winner will serve four years from their inauguration on January 20, 2025.
The Republican Party is yet to choose their final candidate, but it is widely expected that former US president Donald Trump will be on the Republican ticket against the incumbent Joe Biden will be on the Democrats – just like in the 2019 race.
Trump has been charged in four separate criminal cases and could be put on trial as soon as March. He has pleaded not guilty in all cases, but two states have already removed him from the primary ballot, Maine and Colorado.
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However, if he does still manage to get into the Oval Office again, he has already hinted he would be even more controversial than in his previous stint.
He has accused immigrants of “poisoning the blood of our country” and has called “communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical-left thugs” “vermin”.
Trump has announced plans to “dismantle the deep state” too.
On the international stage, there’s a chance his presence in the White House could impact the Ukraine-Russia war in Vladimir Putin’s favour, while US-China tensions could skyrocket, too.
3. Russia’s presidential election
Vladimir Putin is almost certainly going to be re-elected in the Russian presidential election
DMITRY ASTAKHOV via Getty Images
Vladimir Putin is almost definitely expected to win this election with a staggering proportion of the vote. As an authoritarian leader, he has been in office since 1999.
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Set to take place in March 2024, the Russian election is not exactly going to be a level playing field.
Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told the New York Times that the “presidential election is not really democracy, it is costly bureaucracy”, and that Putin would be “re-elected next year with more than 90% of the vote”.
However, Peskov later claimed his comments had been interpreted “in an absolutely the wrong way”.
Still, Putin has no main political opposition – his primary opposition, Kremlin critic Alexi Navalny, in currently in a penal colony beyond the Arctic Circle as part of his 19-year sentence for extremism charges.
Another candidate, former TV journalist and anti-war campaigner Yekaterina Duntsova, has been banned for running against Putin supposedly after errors were discovered on her application.
That doesn’t mean there’s no risk for Putin, though.
As Chatham House pointed out, elections where there’s just one contender up for office again and again means they still have to “match or beat their own results in prior votes to maintain a winning image” – that could be a challenge, considering the fatigue towards the Ukraine war creeping into Russia.
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Still, a fifth term of Putin would strengthen and legitimise his efforts in Ukraine, especially as this will be the first presidential election since he ordered the invasion back in February 2022.
In that time, Putin has been declared a war criminal by the International Criminal Court, thousands have fled the country and at least 300,000 mobilised to fight in the war.
4. Taiwan’s presidential election
Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai and frontrunner in the presidential elections
via Associated Press
Taiwan may not be a huge country but the results of its presidential election in January could rock the boat for both China and the US.
Taiwan, split from China in a civil war in the 1940s, has since become self-governed with democratically elected leaders and around 300,000 active troops in its armed forces.
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Beijing, however, thinks Taiwan should still be part of China – and has repeatedly hinted at seizing the island.
The US has irked China by offering Taiwan the means to defend itself, even if the White House insists that it does not officially recognise the state’s independence.
China has warned it will use force if Taiwan ever formally declares independence, while Taiwan has maintained it is still an independent state and it will still protect itself.
So, tensions are pretty high ahead of Taiwan’s January 13 elections – especially as the island plays an essential role in the global economy because of its supply of microchips.
China is expected to look for means to undermine the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in any possible.
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Right now, Tsai’s DPP vice-president William Lai, is the frontrunner and known for pushing for formal Taiwan independence, which means Beijing is desperately hoping he does not get into office.
Meanwhile, his main opposition, the candidate for the nationalist group Kuomintang, Jaw Shaw Kong, is looking to build a relationship with China by suggesting one day the two can be reunited again, without any form of war.
There are domestic issues at play, too, such as rising costs and a housing crisis, which has helped populist candidate Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party win support. He has also promised to build a better relationship with Beijing.
Lai and the DPP are expected to win an unprecedented third term, but on a narrow margin – and the election itself could still mean China gets a chance to strengthen anti-DPP propaganda on social media.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was heckled Monday by family members of hostages who are believed to still be in captivity in Gaza.
In an address to the country’s parliament, Netanyahu spoke about the ongoing Israeli offensive in the territory and said that “we will not stop until victory.” As he spoke, families in the gallery held up photos of the hostages who have not yet been freed and chanted for them to be released “now.”
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“We wouldn’t have succeeded up until now to release more than 100 hostages without military pressure,” Netanyahu said. “And we won’t succeed at releasing all the hostages without military pressure.”
He also said Monday that the fight against Hamas “isn’t close to finished,” despite growing calls from some of Israel’s allies for a cease-fire.
Around 240 people were taken hostage during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, with the country saying that the assault killed around 1,200 as well. After a short period in which some hostages were released, more than 100 are thought to remain in captivity, according to The Associated Press. Earlier this month, the Israeli military said that it had mistakenly killed three of the hostages.
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Israel’s retaliation against Hamas has killed more than 20,000 people in Gaza, according to officials in the Palestinian enclave. Around 2 million people have been displaced there, and more than half a million people are starving following Israel’s siege of the territory, according to a report released this month by the United Nations and other agencies.
The AP reported Tuesday that Israeli forces had made moves signaling an expanded ground offensive.
Visiting the State Department 10 days after his inauguration, President Joe Biden said his foreign policy would prioritize an approach to diplomacy defined by: “defending freedom, championing opportunity, upholding universal rights, respecting the rule of law, and treating every person with dignity.”
Nearly three years later, Biden’s handling of the biggest international crisis of his presidency — a shock Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and a devastating U.S.-backed Israeli campaign of retaliation since — has shattered any credibility he had in claiming those guiding lights.
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Biden’s narrative of championing human rights globally crumbled in striking ways throughout his presidency. But foreign affairs watchers say his actions over the last three months have dealt a knockout blow to that image — and to Biden’s pledge to represent America in the world in a meaningfully more humane way than his predecessor and likely 2024 presidential election rival Donald Trump.
“Biden and his administration told us in their own words … how all this stuff is important, so this is the standard that they created for themselves,” said Yousef Munayyer, a senior fellow at the Arab Center think tank. “The scale of destruction of Palestinian life, the mass killing, the cruelty that we’re seeing the United States support and stand by is unlike anything we have ever seen, and not like anything we saw during the Trump administration.”
Israel’s onslaught in Gaza, where Hamas is based, has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the vast majority women and children, local health officials say, and displaced nearly 2 million people. The Biden administration has rejected nearly all global calls to force Israeli restraint. Officials say they are encouraging Israel to avoid hurting civilians, but repeatedly note it is establishing no red lines in support for the U.S. ally that the president has long defended, even despite concerns from other Israel supporters who see its war strategy as self-defeating.
The U.S.’s reluctance to rein in Israel drove United Nations Secretary General António Guterres to invoke a rarely used emergency article of the U.N. charter for the first time in his seven-year tenure, and has sparked huge anxiety among American partner nations and U.S. officials.
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The internal effect of Biden’s hardline views on Israel-Palestine was clear to Josh Paul, a veteran State Department official who resigned over the Gaza policy in a development first reported by HuffPost. “I have had my fair share of debates and discussions,” he told HuffPost in his first interview after quitting. “It was clear that there’s no arguing with this one.”
Yet the president’s specific influence over foreign policy makes the Biden administration’s rights record even more disturbing for many observers.
“No principal in this administration is an equivalent heavyweight when it comes to experience or foreign policy to the president himself,” Munayyer noted. He anticipates political headwinds for Biden in 2024 given his prominence on global affairs and his limited ability to sell himself as different.
“I don’t find it a very convincing argument to tell people your only chance of saving democracy is voting for this one candidate because the alternative is you’re going to get deported,” Munayyer said, referring to the Biden reelection’s campaign’s recent focus on emphasizing Trump’s hardline immigration policies. “That’s not exactly how democracy works, and the fact that it’s come to that speaks volumes about how much things have deteriorated already.”
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Early Hope, Rapid Disappointment
In his first months in office, rights advocates celebrated as Biden took steps to address a policy that began with President Barack Obama and expanded under Trump, ultimately creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis: U.S. support for one side in the civil war in Yemen.
Biden barred American offensive weapons for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, close U.S. partners in the Middle East that had been bombing Yemen since 2015 and arming fighters there to battle an Iran-backed militia called the Houthis. He appointed a special envoy to try to end the Yemen war. And he moved to make good on his campaign promise of a less pro-Saudi policy than Trump by declassifying a U.S. intelligence determination that de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Yet it soon became clear the old-school president would not truly break with the old U.S. foreign policy habit of treating human rights as a secondary concern. In April 2021, HuffPost broke the news that Biden greenlit the biggest arms deal of the Trump era, a $23 billion package for the UAE that many lawmakers and national security experts saw as destabilizing, given the Emirates’ pattern of fueling conflicts across the Middle East.
A U.S.-backed campaign of air strikes by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates devastated Yemen. Biden promised to alter the policy but quickly drew close to the Saudis and Emiratis.
In the interim, Biden sparked worldwide horror by fulfilling his promise to withdraw from Afghanistan through a chaotic August 2021 pull-out that abandoned thousands of Afghans who worked with the U.S. and ushered in mass rights violations, particularly against women and religious minorities, by Taliban militants.
The trauma remains deep years later, current and former officials told HuffPost this spring, as well as the impression that Biden botched it: “There were challenges that were inherited, but I do not believe they couldn’t have been overcome,” noted civilian protection expert Marla Keenan.
The administration continued to try to bolster its pro-human rights credentials. It restored U.S. membership to the U.N. Human Rights Council, which Trump had ended, and launched a new program of Summits for Democracy which, while controversial, spurred some hope among analysts of resisting the trend of resurgent global authoritarianism.
Biden’s team also rolled out new regulations U.S. officials and outside experts described as valuable tools to prevent and seek justice for rights violations internationally. Those include a new Pentagon plan to reduce the civilian toll of American military operations; a new policy governing arms deals that bars weapons transfers if U.S. officials determine it is “more likely than not” those arms will be used to violate international law; and a new system for tracking whether American partners use U.S. equipment to injure or kill civilians. They additionally wound down America’s drone program to some degree.
But Biden continued to be selective in treating concerns about universal values as his priority.
Earlier this year, he hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a high-level White House visit without securing any serious commitment by India — the world’s largest country — to address its worsening repression of its minority communities, primarily Muslims, and of anti-Modi voices. “Modi’s red-carpet treatment was a significant endorsement of his governance, and one few world leaders have received,” wrote Knox Thames, a senior State Department official under both Biden and Trump. “Modi’s damaging policies should not lead to self-censorship.”
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And since the Israel-Hamas war began, the administration’s refusal to challenge Israeli actions widely seen as war crimes — from collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population to attacks on civilians — has made it impossible for most observers to take Biden seriously on human rights.
Annie Shiel, the U.S. advocacy director for the rights group CIVIC, reflected on the contrast in a Dec. 21 statement reacting to the Defense Department’s announcement of a policy to shield civilians.
“For this policy to be meaningful, it must be applied consistently. The department’s response to catastrophic civilian harm and destruction in Gaza, caused by Israeli operations directly supported by U.S. assistance, has failed to live up to and actively undermined U.S. civilian protection efforts like this policy,” Shiel said. “A true commitment to protecting civilians must go beyond rhetoric and be backed by action and leverage — including the political will to suspend military aid that is directly contributing to the deaths of thousands of civilians.”
The same day, The New York Times reported that Biden was lifting his ban on offensive weapons for the Saudis — a shift HuffPost first reported as under consideration despite deep wariness about it among U.S. national security officials.
The Overwhelming Pain Of Gaza
Israel’s U.S.-backed operation in Gaza has created a crisis that United Nations officials and humanitarian experts call unprecedented and horrifying.
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Amid Biden’s refusal to seriously limit American support for the campaign and attempts to shield the U.S. ally from global accountability for actions from killing journalists and destroying tens of thousands of homes to repeatedly striking medical facilities, the Israeli offensive has continued to expand.
Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks are buried in a mass grave as some cemeteries run out of space due to the rising death toll as Israeli attacks continue in Gaza City, Gaza, on Dec. 23.
Anadolu via Getty Images
U.S. officials and outside analysts say the upshot is deep unnecessary civilian suffering and an erosion of any American ability to promote human rights globally, from Europe to Asia.
Tobita Chow, the founding director of the advocacy group Justice Is Global, noted the hollowness of American condemnations of China’s deepening crackdown in Hong Kong.
“Gestures like this might be more effective coming from a government that was not busy sacrificing its international legitimacy along with the lives of the people of Gaza,” Chow wrote on X in response to a recent statement from Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
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Antonio De Loera-Brust, a former aide to Blinken, has warned against the administration’s approach to seeking a new aid package for Israel and Ukraine, which involves accepting reduced U.S. protections for migrants. “U.S. support for Ukraine must be attentive to the perspectives and interests of the Global South, especially given the wedge the conflict in Gaza is already creating between the United States and nations in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. The negative optics of U.S. aid to Ukraine (and Israel) coming at the expense of Latin America would be unavoidable,” he wrote in The Washington Post.
And within the administration, officials say the president’s treatment of Israel policy conflicts with his claims of improving American foreign policy by boosting diversity among national security personnel.
“One reason to want a diverse staff is to have a variety of inputs into your decision-making, not just to check a box on a little quota sheet,” a person in the administration told HuffPost in October. “The inner, inner circle on [Gaza] is not at all diverse. Does that completely explain the monstrous disregard for innocent Palestinian lives? No, but it’s hard to think these things are entirely disconnected.”
A sliver of faith in Biden persists among human rights advocates going into 2024, but it could quickly dissipate.
“From India, to Ethiopia, to Saudi Arabia, and beyond, the administration has appeared to put partnerships over human rights,” said Amanda Klasing, the national director of government relations and advocacy at Amnesty International USA. “It is also hard to imagine the unfolding catastrophe in Gaza will not define [Biden’s] legacy, without a significant shift in policy.”
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“In 2024, we hope to see actions that match the administration’s rhetorical commitment to human rights,” Klasing told HuffPost.
The former president hopped on his Truth Social platform to unwrap a number of festive screeds to foes including one that criticized Jack Smith, the special counsel who has brought two cases against Trump.
“Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith, the out of control Lunatic who just hired outside attorneys, fresh from the SWAMP (unprecedented!), to help him with his poorly executed WITCH HUNT against ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA,’” the former president wrote on Monday.
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The unhinged, frosty rant comes just days after the Supreme Court, on Friday, rejected Smith’s request to fast-track consideration of Trump’s presidential immunity claim in his 2020 election case.
Trump, who celebrated Christmas by launching into a rant full o’ caps last year, later directed his holiday wishes to “both good and bad” world leaders before comparing them to his adversaries in America.
He continued: “But none of which are as evil and ‘sick’ as the THUGS we have inside our Country who, with their Open Borders, INFLATION, Afghanistan Surrender, Green New Scam, High Taxes, No Energy Independence, Woke Military, Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Iran, All Electric Car Lunacy, and so much more, are looking to destroy our once great USA. MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!”
The former president – elsewhere on Christmas Day – claimed Biden would interfere in next year’s election, warned of looming “MADNESS & DOOM,” boasted about his polling performance and declared that people “will be happy, not sad” with his Obamacare alternative.
Trump remains the GOP presidential frontrunner, leading Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by over 50 percentage points in an average of national polls, according to polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight.
King Charles has used his Christmas message to call on people to imagine themselves in the “shoes of our neighbours” at a time of “increasingly tragic conflict around the world”.
In the speech delivered on Monday afternoon, amid the bloody wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the King said people should “love our neighbour as ourselves”.
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The King – a committed environmentalist – also said it was the duty of people “all faiths” to protect the planet.
In his second Christmas message since ascending to the throne, the King said: “At a time of increasingly tragic conflict around the world, I pray that we can also do all in our power to protect each other.
“The words of Jesus seem more than ever relevant: ‘Do to others as you would have them do to you.’
“Such values are universal, drawing together our Abrahamic family of religions, and other belief systems, across the Commonwealth and wider world.
“They remind us to imagine ourselves in the shoes of our neighbours, and to seek their good as we would our own.”
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It came following reports Egypt has put forward a plan to end the Israel-Hamas war with a cease-fire, a phased hostage release and the creation of a Palestinian government.
In the Maghazi refugee camp, rescue workers pulled dozens more bodies from the wreckage hours after a strike levelled a three-story building and shattered others nearby.
On the environment, the King said: “Service to others is but one way of honouring the whole of creation which, after all, is a manifestation of the divine. This is a belief shared by all religions.
“To care for this creation is a responsibility owned by people of all faiths and of none. We care for the Earth for the sake of our children’s children.
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“During my lifetime I have been so pleased to see a growing awareness of how we must protect the Earth and our natural world as the one home which we all share.”
Over the past year, headlines in America were dominated by US politics and some world news events, including the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and the Hamas militant group, and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in Eastern Europe, among other things.
Still, there are plenty more international news stories that are worth your attention.
2023 saw the rise of right-wing populism with leaders like Javier Milei, who prevailed in Argentina’s presidential contest last month, winning elected office.
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However, in Poland, where voters turned out to the polls in record-breaking numbers, conservatives were unable to secure enough support to stay in government, paving the way for Donald Tusk, a centrist politician who previously served as the country’s leader, to return as prime minister.
Meanwhile, natural disasters took place around the world — including in Libya, where Storm Daniel and the ensuing floods killed thousands of people, and in Greece, which recorded the largest wildfire ever in the European Union.
There was still cause for optimism though, as UK scientists made a huge breakthrough in cervical cancer research, and the sports world appears to be taking more action to increase diversity among its referees.
Here is a more detailed look at 13 international stories from 2023, which we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss.
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The Rise Of Right-Wing Populism
Argentina
Far-right politician Javier Milei last month won Argentina’s presidential election, defeating then-Economy Minister Sergio Massa by over 11 percentage points, and earning the praise of former US President Donald Trump. Milei, who became popular by calling out what he described as the political “caste” on national TV before being elected to serve in Congress, has since announced shock economic measures, including devaluing the currency by over 50% and slashing ministries from 18 to 9, to stem the country’s fiscal deficit that he says is responsible for high inflation, among other things.
Argentina’s new government is also bringing in new security rules as part of an effort to crack down on anticipated protests over the austerity measures, in a move that critics have deemed “unconstitutional.”
Argentina’s newly sworn-in president, Javier Milei, waves to supporters from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Dec. 10, 2023.
Matilde Campodonico via Associated Press
The Netherlands
The party of populist Geert Wilders won the general election in the Netherlands on November 22, delivering a shock to onlookers around the world. His party, however, will need to form a coalition to earn a majority, and Wilders has so far struggled to do so.
Wilders’ Party for Freedom had campaigned on a manifesto proposing a referendum on the country’s EU membership. An official for the Netherlands’ central bank on Monday, though, warned that a potential “Nexit” would be a “very bad idea.”
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Wilders — who has previously praised Vladimir Putin but has in recent weeks criticised the Russian president, calling him a “terrible dictator” — says his country should cut off military support to Ukraine.
Slovakia Elects Left-Wing Populist With Pro-Russia Agenda
The left-wing party led by Robert Fico, who ran on a pro-Russia and anti-US agenda, won the country’s general election in October. Fico was sworn in as prime minister for a fourth time after he managed to form a coalition government with another left-wing party, Hlas, and the ultranationalist Slovak National Party.
People in capital Bratislava took to the streets to protest a plan by Fico’s government to close the top prosecutors’ office as part of a series of legal changes it wants to implement, which both the EU and Slovakia’s president have raised concerns about. Many are also worried that Fico could follow in the footsteps of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who often spars with the EU and opposes more funding for Ukraine.
Fico had resigned as prime minister in 2018 amid mass protests over the killing of an investigative journalist and his fiancée outside the couple’s home.
Poland Rejects Conservatives
Centrist Donald Tusk was sworn in as prime minister of Poland, ending the rule of the right-wing Law and Justice party after eight years. While Law and Justice won the election, its vote share decreased by nearly 7 percentage points, and it was ultimately unable to reach a deal with other parties to remain in power.
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Donald Tusk forms a heart shape with his hands after he is elected as Poland’s prime minister, in Warsaw, Poland, on Dec. 11, 2023.
Michal Dyjuk via Associated Press
The party of Tusk, who previously served in the premiership from 2007 to 2014 before becoming president of the European Council from 2014 to 2019, formed a coalition government with two other opposition parties as he vowed to restore Poland’s ties with the European Union. The EU had cut the country off the bloc’s pandemic recovery fund over concerns about the independence of Poland’s judiciary, but the bloc on Friday announced that it would be transferring 5 billion euros (£4.3 billion) of those funds to Warsaw.
‘Patriots Only’ Local Election Sees Record-Low Turnout In Hong Kong
Just over 27% of Hong Kong’s eligible voters took part in last month’s district council elections, despite the government’s efforts to encourage people to head to the polls. As the Financial Times wrote, the vote was also “an important test of the government’s ability to demonstrate public support for the political order imposed by China’s President Xi Jinping.”
Participation was down dramatically compared with 2019, when widespread pro-Democracy protests opposing a security law backed by Beijing drove a historic 71% turnout. Since then the landscape has shifted, with only those considered “patriots” in support of China being allowed to run, based on new criteria.
Candidates are now required to pass national security screenings and get nominated from government-appointed committees to be eligible to participate in races. The number of directly elected seats in district elections has also been dramatically reduced.
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Meanwhile, the trial of Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong media tycoon who has been in jail since 2020, started in December in what is considered a big test for the city’s judicial independence. Lai faces National Security Law and seditions charges. Lai owned Apple Daily, a news outlet critical of Beijing that authorities shut down in 2021.
Hong Kong’s government last week placed five activists who fled abroad from the city on a wanted list, claiming that they have “continued to commit offences under the National Security Law.” It announced a million Hong Kong dollar ($101,000) reward for anyone who “can provide information on the wanted persons or the related cases.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced the move as an “attempt to threaten and harass those advocating for freedom and democracy.”
Portugal Corruption Scandal
António Costa, Portugal’s longest-serving socialist prime minister, abruptly resigned last month after police raided his residence amid a corruption probe into him and other government officials, in relation to energy deals in the north of the country. These included schemes to mine lithium, build a solar-powered data center and generate hydrogen fuel.
Snap elections have been scheduled for March to elect a new government. While Portugal has resisted the nationalist wave that has engulfed other European countries in the past, Chega, a far-right party, is expected to make gains in next year’s race.
Over the weekend Portugal’s Socialists, Costa’s party, elected Pedro Nuno Santos as their new leader heading into the 2024 contest.
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Costa was also reportedly being considered as a leading candidate to replace European Council President Charles Michel in the upcoming EU elections before the scandal broke.
India Cracks Down On Dissent
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued cracking down on dissenting voices in the media in 2023.
In October, Indian authorities raided the homes of several journalists from the digital news outlet NewsClick, which is known for its critical coverage of Modi’s government, and arrested its founder and the company’s head of human resources, in what human rights groups decried as an assault on press freedom. Indian officials claimed the move stemmed from allegations that the news platform was getting illegal funding from China, which NewsClick has denied.
In February, Indian authorities raided the BBC’s offices in Mumbai and New Delhi following the network’s release of a documentary that looked at Modi’s role in anti-Muslim protests in Gujarat, which left over 1,000 dead in 2002, and at his government’s track record following his 2019 reelection. The government also moved to restrict screenings of the two-part documentary and had it removed from YouTube and Twitter, the platform now known as X.
Military Coup In Niger
Niger’s military overthrew Mohamed Bazoum, the country’s president, over the summer, with Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani becoming the country’s new leader. The U.S. officially designated Bazoum’s ouster a coup on Oct. 10, announcing that it was suspending more support for Niger’s government. The Economic Community of West African States has repeatedly called on coup leaders to release Bazoum, and recently offered to lift sanctions on the country in exchange for his freedom. But Tchiani has ruled that out.
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The ECOWAS Court of Justice last week ruled that Bazoum was arbitrarily detained and should be reinstated. The decision was welcomed by Bazoum’s legal team, who said that it “gives legal ammunition to those pressing for his full restoration.” While the decision is binding on ECOWAS institutions, it’s unclear how the junta will proceed.
Natural Disasters
Libya Floods
Floods that hit Libya following Storm Daniel in September killed thousands of people, with many still missing and thousands of others displaced. The coastal city of Derna was the most affected area, and the storm caused two dams above the city to break; up to that point, the dams had been holding back the floodwaters.
Protesters burned down the home of Derna’s mayor, who later resigned. And authorities targeted the media, instructing all journalists to leave the city after being accused of blocking the rescue teams’ efforts.
Residents told BBC Arabic that the government’s response was seriously flawed. They pointed to poor maintenance of the dams, the absence of a plan for where evacuated people would shelter, and conflicting stay-at-home orders and curfews, among other things.
Rescuers and relatives of victims set up tents in front of collapsed buildings in Derna, Libya, on Sept. 18, 2023.
Muhammad J. Elalwany via Associated Press
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Greece Wildfires
The blaze that burned in Greece’s Evros region this summer was the largest wildfire recorded in the EU since 2000, when the European Forest Fire Information System started gathering data. The fire — which, according to the Guardian, destroyed 96,600 hectares (239,000 acres) of forest — killed 18 people who were believed to be migrants, including two minors.
People react as they try to extinguish a wildfire in Avantas village, near Alexandroupolis town, in the northeastern Evros region of Greece on Aug. 21, 2023.
Achilleas Chiras via Associated Press
Right-wing groups in the country seized the opportunity to spread baseless conspiracy theories, accusing migrants of being behind the environmental disaster.
Major fires also broke out in other parts of Greece in July — one of the busiest months for tourism — including on the island of Rhodes, where officials performed the largest evacuation from wildfires that the country has ever recorded.
Venice Becomes First City To Charge Day-Trippers For Entry
Venice in September became the first city to authorize an entrance fee of 5 euros for travelers who visit but don’t stay there overnight, in yet another effort to curb overtourism to the popular destination. The charge will apply on peak days starting in the spring, and the measure will first be tested for 30 days.
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U.K. Scientists Make Breakthrough In Cervical Cancer Research
Researchers from University College London and University College London Hospitals found that giving cervical cancer patients a short course of chemotherapy before they received standard treatment reduced their risk of dying or the disease returning by 35%, in what the lead investigator of the trial described as “the biggest improvement in outcome in this disease in over 20 years.” Researchers expressed hope that their findings could be replicated to help patients experiencing other types of cancer.
Progressives Who Won Thailand Election Left Out Of Coalition Government
The progressive Move Forward Party, which promised to reform legislation that bans criticism of the country’s monarchy, made a surprise win in Thailand’s election in May. But it was unable to get its eight-party coalition government confirmed after it failed to garner enough support from the unelected conservative Senate.
Pheu Thai, the populist party that came in second in the election and was originally part of Move Forward’s coalition, was then given the opportunity to form a government but chose to exclude Move Forward from its coalition. Pheu Thai said Move Forward’s opposition to the country’s royal defamation law would have made it impossible to get the required votes in parliament.
Pheu Thai also walked back a pledge to not partner with pro-military factions, with its 11-party coalition government now including two pro-military parties.
Saudi Arabia Attracts Some Of Europe’s Biggest Soccer Stars
After Cristiano Ronaldo signed with Al-Nassr in December 2022 following his departure from England’s Manchester United, Saudi Arabian soccer teams continued their quest to attract top-tier talent in Europe to their league. The league, which is funded by the country’s Public Investment Fund, spent more than $1 billion over the summer transfer window for players like Neymar, who signed a two-year contract with Al-Hilal with yearly earnings of nearly $1 million, and Karim Benzema, who got a $436 million two-year contract to join Al-Ittihad. Al-Hilal also reportedly made record offers to Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi, but the two players turned them down.
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Female Referee To Make History In English Premier League
Women are due to shatter another glass ceiling this year as Rebecca Welch is set to officiate Saturday’s game between the Fulham and Burnley soccer clubs, which will make her the first woman to referee a Premier League game.
Referee Rebecca Welch is seen during a match between Benfica and Eintracht Frankfurt on Dec. 13, 2023, in Lisbon, Portugal.
Gualter Fatia via Getty Images
Meanwhile, Sam Allison is set to officiate a game between Sheffield United and Luton on Tuesday, which will make him the first Black person to referee a Premier League game in 15 years.
This follows a pledge by the Football Association to hire 50% more referees from “historically under-represented” backgrounds by 2026.
Scaramucci, a frequent Trump critic since his brief stint in the White House, weighed in on his ex-boss’ xenophobic comments which have been condemned for echoing the rhetoric of Adolf Hitler.
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“He knows exactly what he’s doing,” said Scaramucci when asked by CNN’s Abby Phillip why Trump keeps saying a phrase “lifted” from the Nazi leader.
“He puts things out there, sort of with a forked tongue. He’ll say one thing and say, ‘Oh geez, I didn’t realize that that was from that,’ but he does know that it’s from that.”
The claim conflicts with a 1990 Vanity Fair story that described Ivana Trump – the former president’s first wife – noting that her then-husband read a book of Hitler’s collected speeches and kept it “in a cabinet by his bed.”
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Scaramucci told Phillip that someone wrote the “poisoning the blood” speech for the former president knowing that “Hitler said it.”
“I do believe him that he has not read ‘Mein Kampf,’ OK, because I don’t think this guy has ever read a book … The joke on the campaign is that he’s written more books than he read,” he said.
