Latest Democracy News

Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai denies he asked a newspaper colleague to draft list of sanction targets

Nov. 21, 2024 03:18 AM EST

HONG KONG (AP) — Former publisher Jimmy Lai denied that he asked a colleague to draft a list of potential sanction targets in his second day of testimony Thursday at his landmark national security trial in Hong Kong. The 77-year-old founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily...

Biden has become notably quiet after the 2024 election and Democrats' loss

Nov. 20, 2024 18:51 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has been notably quiet since the Democrats' gut-wrenching defeat at the polls. After warning voters for years that a Donald Trump win would be calamitous for American democracy, Biden has gone largely silent on his concerns about what lays...

Hong Kong ex-publisher Jimmy Lai testifies he didn't ask Pence, Pompeo to take action against city

Nov. 20, 2024 05:02 AM EST

HONG KONG (AP) — Former Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai denied in his landmark national security trial on Wednesday he had asked then U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to take action against the city and China during the territory's anti-government protests in...

45 pro-democracy activists get 4 to 10 years in prison in Hong Kong's biggest national security case

Nov. 19, 2024 18:32 PM EST

HONG KONG (AP) — Forty-five ex-lawmakers and activists were sentenced to four to 10 years in prison Tuesday in Hong Kong’s biggest national security case under a Beijing-imposed law that crushed a once-thriving pro-democracy movement. They were prosecuted under the 2020 national...

Foreign governments criticize Hong Kong's sentencing of 45 activists. Beijing defends it

Nov. 19, 2024 17:01 PM EST

HONG KONG (AP) — Forty-five prominent activists in Hong Kong were sentenced to jail for up to 10 years on Tuesday, sparking criticism from foreign governments and rights groups. Beijing defended the decisions. The democracy advocates were among 47 people charged under a...

45 pro-democracy activists face sentencing in Hong Kong. Here's who some of them are

Nov. 17, 2024 22:55 PM EST

HONG KONG (AP) — Dozens of prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activists are scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday in the largest case under a national security law that critics say crushed political activism in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. The convictions of the 45 activists under...

Slovak opposition rallies against the government of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico

Nov. 17, 2024 22:06 PM EST

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Thousands of protesters gathered in Slovakia’s capital on Sunday, the 35th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution that brought an end to decades of communist rule in Czechoslovakia, to oppose the policies of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico. The...

Democracy was a motivating factor for both Harris and Trump voters, but for very different reasons

Nov. 09, 2024 20:42 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — While inflation and immigration emerged as the dominant themes in this year's presidential race, another issue was prominent in the minds of voters for both major candidates: the stakes for democracy. Half of voters identified democracy as the single most...

Democrats enter a Trump presidency without a plan or a clear leader

Nov. 06, 2024 20:00 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats spent billions of dollars warning American voters that Donald Trump posed an imminent threat to democracy, that his economic policies would benefit only his wealthy friends, that he was literally a fascist. In the end, voters didn't care — or if they...

Trump has vowed to shake some of democracy's pillars

Nov. 06, 2024 19:18 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — American presidential elections are a moment when the nation holds up a mirror to look at itself. They are a reflection of values and dreams, of grievances and scores to be settled. The results say much about a country’s character, future and core beliefs. On...