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@ISIDEWITH submitted…2 days2D
In a contentious decision, Vancouver City Council has voted to allow natural gas for heating and hot water in new construction, overturning a 2020 bylaw aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The vote, which ended with a narrow 6 to 5 majority, has sparked a wave of criticism from environmentalists…
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Germany has shut down one of the country’s largest and oldest mosques and ordered a ban on the nationwide Shia Muslim organisation that runs it for religious extremism.Dozens of police raided Hamburg’s Blue Mosque on Wednesday morning, as well as 53 other properties across Germany, in one of the most significant crackdowns on political Islamism in the country in years.The interior ministry said it was formally banning the Islamic Centre of Hamburg and its affiliated organisations for preaching “totalitarian rule, aggressive antisemitism and support for the terror group Hizbollah”.Three other mosques, in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich, have also been raided and closed.Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the German ambassador to Tehran to “condemn the hostile action” and warned about “the consequences of such destructive actions,” which they said “exemplify a clear case of Islamophobia,” according to the official news agency, IRNA.Iran conveyed to Germany that the measure could “incite religious and sectarian tensions”, the ministry added.The ICH, which did not respond to a request for comment, has previously denied accusations of extremism.
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Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is among dozens of lawmakers who are planning to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's joint address of Congress on Wednesday.The list of lawmakers boycotting the speech is growing rapidly, with even one Republican saying they will not attend."The purpose of having Netanyahu address Congress is to bolster his political standing in Israel," Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a libertarian isolationist, said in a post on X."I don't feel like being a prop so I won't be attending," he said."Speaker Pelosi will not be attending today's Joint Meeting of Congress," a Pelosi spokesperson said."This morning, she will join a Members meeting with Israeli citizens whose families have suffered in the wake of the October 7th Hamas terror attack and kidnappings."Pelosi joins a number of leading Democrats skipping the event, including former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and former Jan. 6 committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).
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Netanyahu is confronted with a new balancing act—appealing to the new, potentially more progressive face of the Democratic Party while not antagonizing Trump.There is tension between Netanyahu and both sides of the U.S. political aisle. Some Democrats continue to chafe over his 2015 speech before Congress in which he attacked President Barack Obama’s Iran policy. Meanwhile, Trump was put off by Netanyahu’s embrace of Biden after the 2020 election.Harris has been tougher in her criticism of Israel than Biden, hewing closer to the progressive flank of her party. Netanyahu will need to be wary of reigniting controversy over Israel just as she is formulating her own public approach to what has become a wedge issue in the election.If Netanyahu comes off as too chummy with the Democrats, he risks raising the ire of Trump, who has already lambasted him as someone ungrateful for their prior cooperation.In 2015, nearly 60 Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. While the exact number of Democrats who plan to skip this week’s address isn’t known, some congressional aides have privately suggested it could be between 50 and 100.
@ForsakenSenatefrom California submitted…3 days3D
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