Latest Democracy News

Lawyers' coalition provides new messengers for Black voter engagement

May. 08, 2024 16:40 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Young Black lawyers and law students are taking on a new role ahead of the general election: Meeting with Black voters in battleground states to increase turnout and serve as watchdogs against voter disenfranchisement. The Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing...

The EU's executive decides to end legal standoff with Poland over democracy concerns

May. 06, 2024 07:31 AM EDT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive decided on Monday to end its 6-year dispute with member state Poland, saying Prime Minister Donald Tusk has initiated the necessary changes to reverse what the bloc called the previous government’s backsliding on democratic principles. ...

Yellen says threats to democracy risk US economic growth, an indirect jab at Trump

May. 03, 2024 18:33 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen argues that a fractured democracy can have destructive effects on the economy — an indirect jab at Donald Trump. Yellen delivered an address Friday in Arizona, using economic data to paint a picture of how disregard for America's...

As China's Xi Jinping visits Europe, Ukraine, trade and investment are likely to top the agenda

May. 03, 2024 00:20 AM EDT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Ukraine, trade and investment are expected to dominate Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s first trip to Europe in five years, as the Asian giant rebuilds its foreign relations after a prolonged absence during the Covid-19 pandemic. Xi will start the tour in Paris...

Save the Children disputes abuse allegations after Guatemalan prosecutors raid offices

Apr. 26, 2024 19:48 PM EDT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The aid group Save the Children said there is nothing to support accusations of misconduct, speaking after Guatemalan prosecutors raided its offices in the Central American country looking for evidence of alleged abuse of migrant children. “We have been...

Repatriated South African apartheid-era artworks on display to celebrate 30 years of democracy

Apr. 26, 2024 01:41 AM EDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A selection of South African artworks produced during the country’s apartheid era which ended up in foreign art collections is on display in Johannesburg to mark 30 years since the country's transition to democracy in 1994. Most of the artworks were taken out...

Portugal marks the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution army coup that brought democracy

Apr. 25, 2024 18:40 PM EDT

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Military vehicles and red carnations returned to the streets and squares of downtown Lisbon on Thursday as Portugal reenacted dramatic moments from the army coup that brought democracy to the country 50 years ago. Tens of thousands of people attended the...

Chinese student given 9-month prison sentence for harassing person posting democracy leaflets

Apr. 24, 2024 17:49 PM EDT

BOSTON (AP) — A former Berklee College of Music student from China was sentenced Wednesday to nine months in prison for stalking and threatening a person who posted a flyer in support of democracy in the Asian country, authorities said. The leaflet that was posted on the campus in...

$8 billion US military aid package to Taiwan will 'boost confidence' in region: president-elect

Apr. 23, 2024 05:45 AM EDT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A $8 billion defense package approved by the U.S. House of Representatives over the weekend will “strengthen the deterrence against authoritarianism in the West Pacific ally chain,” Taiwan’s President-elect Lai Ching-te said Tuesday, in a reference to key rival China. ...

In Modi's India, opponents and journalists feel the squeeze ahead of election

Apr. 15, 2024 02:23 AM EDT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government are increasingly wielding strong-arm tactics to subdue political opponents and critics of the ruling Hindu-nationalist party ahead of the nationwide elections that begin this week. A decade into power, and on...