World
Climate neutrality referendum hindered by Berlin senate, activists say
Environmental activists in Berlin are criticising the choice by authorities to not maintain a referendum on local weather neutrality on the identical day because the state parliamentary elections on Sunday as an try and hinder the success of the marketing campaign.
As a substitute, the referendum to determine whether or not the town needs to be local weather impartial by 2030 shall be held by itself on March 26.
“The truth that they did not [organise the votes on the same day] makes us suppose that possibly they’d an ulterior motive,” Jessamine Davis, an activist at Klimaneustart Berlin, the organisation spearheading the referendum marketing campaign, informed Euronews.
“Perhaps they did not need the local weather referendum to happen on the identical day because the election as a result of they’re hoping for a decrease turnout,” she added.
Publicly, the explanation given for separating the votes is that it will have been a logistical problem to run them on the similar time.
However in an try and show that it will have been potential had the political been there, Klimaneustart Berlin raised over €15,000, reserved 2.8 million poll papers and symbolically delivered them to the state’s senate on 8 December — days earlier than the ultimate resolution was made to separate the votes.
‘It needs to be like in Switzerland’
Davis’ worries – that the separation of the votes will result in decrease turnout – aren’t unfounded.
“In Berlin, there has solely been a single profitable referendum which hasn’t taken place concurrently one other vote,” Oliver Wiedmann, a board member of Mehr Demokratie (“Extra Democarcy”), a German non-profit targeted on enhancing citizen participation in politics, informed Euronews.
“The prospect {that a} referendum will succeed is clearly increased when it takes place concurrently one other vote,” he mentioned.
A referendum held in 2013 on whether or not power firms needs to be renationalised in Berlin was held weeks earlier than a basic election and failed, regardless of 80% of the ballots approving the proposal, as a result of the turnout was too low.
Berlin’s authorized quorum — or threshold for a vote to be legitimate — is 25% of eligible voters.
In response to Michael Efler, a board member of Bürgerbegehren Klimaschutz, motivating individuals to indicate up for a referendum is troublesome because it focuses on one particular subject. Compared, basic elections supply a wider bundle of insurance policies.
After his experiences campaigning for the 2013 referendum, Efler helps abolishing the quorum.
“It needs to be like in Switzerland the place the people who find themselves going to vote determine the end result,” he mentioned.
These on the opposing aspect of the talk at present haven’t any cause to mobilise and run a marketing campaign as a result of rising voter turnout goes in opposition to their pursuits, Efler argued, citing the 2013 referendum.
“[Swedish power company] Vattenfall was very intelligent – they did not have interaction that a lot within the marketing campaign,” he mentioned.
When a referendum on the identical subject was held in Hamburg on the identical day as one other vote, nevertheless, Vattenfall ran a powerful marketing campaign, Efler added. And in contrast to in Berlin, the referendum in Hamburg was profitable, having met the circumstances of the quorum.
2030 local weather neutrality purpose ‘unachievable’
Seeing the chances stacked in opposition to them, Klimaneustart Berlin filed a lawsuit in opposition to the senate, with Davis claiming that the “legislation calls for” the votes happen on the identical day.
She argued that the idea of the lawsuit was “as a result of the Abstimmungsgesetz [voting law] makes it clear that the senate must do every thing in its energy to [combine the votes].”
Jan Thomsen, press officer for the Senate Division of Setting, Mobility, Shopper and Local weather Safety in Berlin, highlighted nevertheless that the lawsuit was rejected by the constitutional courtroom, demonstrating that nothing unlawful came about.
“There have been debates within the Senate. The Senate Division for the Setting, Mobility, Shopper and Local weather Safety and Senator Bettina Jarasch advocated for holding the election and the vote on the identical day,” he wrote in an e-mail to Euronews.
He added that it was the Senate’s Division for the Inside that mentioned it was not potential to carry the votes alongside each other. He nonetheless mentioned his division doesn’t help the referendum as a result of it estimates that the purpose of constructing Berlin local weather impartial by 2030 is “unachievable”.
The explanations given for which are numerous “onerous to vary circumstances” like an incapacity to interchange fossil fuels or change federal laws within the given timeframe.
Regardless of the division’s stance, Senator Jarasch has publicly voiced her help for the Sure marketing campaign.
Wiedmannm, from Mehr Demokratie, mentioned that though it’s not unlawful to separate votes, they need to “ideally at all times” be held collectively, stating that the intention of the legislation the environmental activists referred to is “utterly clear.”
Separating the votes, he argued, has extra to do with the truth that the 12 February poll is a repeat of a September 2021 election that was later declared void due to organisational errors.
“I believe there’s a variety of worry that errors shall be made throughout this vote which might make it invalid once more,” he mentioned.
An estimated 104 journalists lost their lives in 2024, with Palestine the most dangerous territory.
An estimated 104 journalists were killed worldwide over the past year, according to data shared earlier this month by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
Another report by NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) puts the figure at 54, but its methodology means it only includes killings that are considered “directly related” to journalists’ professional activity.
Both organisations say that Palestine is the deadliest place on earth for journalists. More than half (55) of the 104 killings reported by IFJ were Palestinian media professionals in Gaza, while a further six were killed in Lebanon.
At least 138 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on 7 October 2023, making the country one of the “most dangerous in the history of modern journalism, behind Iraq, the Philippines and Mexico,” according to the IFJ.
Reporters without Borders has described the number of killings in Gaza as “an unprecedented bloodbath”.
Israel firmly denies it has intentionally targeted any journalists, but has recognised some that have been killed in its airstrikes on Gaza.
The 104 total killings reported by the IFJ is a slight decrease on the 129 they reported on in 2023, which is considered the bloodiest year for journalists since 1990.
How do other world regions fare?
Asia Pacific is the world’s second most dangerous region for journalists, after the Middle East, according to the IFJ.
It recorded 20 deaths in the region in 2024, of which 70% happened in the southern Asian countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.
The region has seen an “upsurge” in violence, according to the IFJ, with deaths increasing sharply from the 12 recorded in 2023.
Africa was the third most dangerous region for journalists at eight deaths, five of them in war-torn Sudan.
The number of journalists killed in south, central and north America has dropped sharply over the past two years, from 30 in 2022 to six in 2023, and another six in 2024. Mexico, considered to be one of the deadliest places in the world to do journalism, continues to see “threats, intimidation, kidnappings and murders” against journalists, particularly due to reporting on drug trafficking.
Number of journalists behind bars on the rise
According to IFJ estimates on 10 December, there were 520 journalists in prison across the world, considerably more than in 2023 (427) and 2022 (375).
China, including Hong Kong, accounts for most of journalists behind bars, followed by Israel and Myanmar.
The IFJ says the figures show how “fragile” the independent press is and how “risky and dangerous” the profession of journalism has become.
World
Christmas in Puerto Rico is a 45-day celebration with caroling, festive decorations, family feasts and more
Christmas, Navidad in Puerto Rico, extends far beyond Dec. 25.
The island proudly proclaims itself as having the “longest holiday season in the world,” according to the website Discover Puerto Rico.
On average, the holiday festivities in Puerto Rico last about 45 days, per the source, commencing right after Thanksgiving, and stretching all the way through mid-January.
The Christmas season in Puerto Rico typically lasts around 45 days. (iStock)
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The holiday season in Puerto Rico is full of rich traditions beloved by families.
One tradition those who visit Puerto Rico will immediately notice during the holiday season is decorations.
In Puerto Rico, decorations are typically put up by Thanksgiving, and kept up until the season concludes in mid-January, with opportune picture moments at every corner.
Parrandas, Christmas caroling, is a holiday staple.
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Carolers choose houses of family and friends to visit, typically starting around 10 p.m., performing aguinaldos (traditional Christmas songs), with not only their voices, but often with instruments as well, according to Discover Puerto Rico.
The group you begin caroling with is likely not the same group you end with.
In Puerto Rico, when carolers visit a house, they’ll often stop inside for conversation, food and drink before moving to the next residence.
Coquito is a popular beverage enjoyed during the holiday season in Puerto Rico. Coconut, vanilla and rum are among the ingredients. (Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Usually, the residences of the house visited will join the group for the next house, according to Discover Puerto Rico.
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A night of serenading loved ones can last quite a while, often stretching into the early morning hours of the following day, according to the source.
The biggest day of the holiday season in Puerto Rico actually isn’t Christmas, but instead, the night before.
In Puerto Rico, Dec. 24 is Nochebuena. On that day, loved ones gather for the exchange of gifts, caroling and a large feast.
Many families will also attend a midnight Mass on the day, known as Misa de Gallo.
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After Christmas passes, the festivities go on in Puerto Rico.
Another big event in the holiday lineup is Three Kings Day on Jan. 6, a holiday that “commemorates the visit that the Three Wise Men paid to Jesus after his birth,” according to Discover Puerto Rico.
On the eve of the day, children fill up a shoebox with grass to be left for camels to munch on while the Three Kings leave behind gifts for them, according to PuertoRico.com.
For a particularly festive Three Kings Day, Juana Díaz is the place to go, as it hosts the largest celebration in Puerto Rico for the holiday. In Juana Díaz, there is an annual festival and parade in honor of Three Kings Day that brings together over 25,000 people every year, according to Discover Puerto Rico.
Gifts are primarily exchanged between loved ones on Christmas Eve in Puerto Rico. (iStock)
Then, eight days later is Octavitas, a post-holiday celebration where families get together and celebrate one last time for the season.
The end of the holiday season is marked with the San Sebastián Street Festival.
This festival, spanning over multiple days, takes place in Old San Juan, and is filled with live music, dancing, shopping and parades.
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