In China there is fear of public gatherings. Images like those of these days in front of the PSOE headquarters in Ferraz are impossible to see in the Asian giant. The political hypersensitivity, especially of the provincial leaders, always afraid of the slap that Beijing will give them if any attempt at protest occurs in their domains, means that a demonstration, no matter how small, is interpreted, law in hand, as a attempt to subvert state power. Whether it is a crowd to ask for more bread or to honor the memory of a beloved personality who has died, local authorities panic over any roar from the street that could alter the stability achieved.

When the death of former Prime Minister Li Keqiang, the second most important political figure in China in the last decade, was announced at the end of October, there was a stir in many government offices, which quickly deployed their army of censors – both in the restricted cyberspace as well as at street level – to ensure that public tributes did not end in massive social protests.

There are several examples in the past that support the authorities' concern. After the death of two prominent politicians of the Communist Party, former Prime Minister Zhou Enlai (1976) and Hu Yaobang (1989), former General Secretary, the avalanches of mourning transformed into large demonstrations in which some problems of a country that It carried many traumas from the turbulent era with Mao Zedong at the helm and also inferiority complexes towards Western powers and Eastern neighbors.

After Li's death, at a time when the Asian country has several open cracks in its economy, and with many people who have not recovered from the three long years of blockades under the yoke of Covid zero, it was necessary to prevent any fuse of rebellion was lit. This month also marks one year since thousands of young people went out to protest in various regions to demand an end to the pandemic restrictions.. It was the largest citizen mobilization in decades.

In Hefei, the hometown of the late prime minister, there was a silent tribute on the street, with hundreds of residents laying flowers in front of the house where the politician spent his childhood.. The warnings mainly came to state media, with instructions to control “overly effusive comments” about Li's death.

On some university campuses, from the committees that form the youth of the Communist Party within these centers, several notices were disseminated asking students to avoid public tributes.. On social networks, the censorship snip fulfilled its function when some conversations about Li turned towards the economic liberalization reforms that this politician, who became Xi Jinping's rival in the 2012 pools to lead the Asian power, defended in some moments of his career.

Just a week ago, in a public cemetery in Beijing, Li's funeral was held. Flags on government buildings across the country flew at half-mast. In the capital there were more police than usual and some streets were closed. It was a simple farewell, with the leaders of the powerful Politburo present, but without fuss. As a regime that treats its people like little children likes.

After the corruption investigation and the earthquake that has left Portugal without a prime minister, a totally unexpected political crisis with an uncertain ending begins.. The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who this Wednesday met separately with the leaders of the eight parties with parliamentary representation, can call immediate early elections or instruct the Socialist Party to appoint one of the ministers of the current Government as interim prime minister, since he has an absolute majority.

However, after the meetings that lasted until late on Wednesday, everything pointed to an early electoral call, but not immediately, but rather after the approval of the Portuguese Budget, which has already passed its first vote and would be definitively approved on the 29th. of November.

This was the center of a large part of the conversations held this Wednesday by the Portuguese head of state. The leader of the main opposition party, the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), Luís Montenegro, assured after leaving the Belem palace that “he would not put any obstacle” to the call for early elections being delayed for those 20 days.. “The public investments of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, the salary update of public employees and pensions are at stake,” Montenegro admitted.

This delay in the call, which some of the political spokespersons have requested, would mean that the elections will probably not be held until February or March.

The electoral advance has been on the president's mind for a long time. It was Rebelo de Sousa who marked the path to follow on March 30, 2022 in the investiture speech of the resigned António Costa: “Now that he has won, and he has done so for four and a half years,” he told him, “I am sure that your excellency knows that it will not be easy for that face, that face that won the elections so unquestionably and so remarkably, to be replaced by another halfway.”

The Portuguese head of state predicted 20 months ago what no one imagined: that Costa could resign halfway through his term. And he announced that the most appropriate thing would be, in that case, to call early elections, since Costa governed thanks to a historic absolute majority that he achieved after a very personal campaign based on the prestige of his own figure.

António Costa resigned on Tuesday as Prime Minister after eight years at the head of the Portuguese Government and as soon as the Prosecutor's Office announced that the Supreme Court has opened a separate case against him to investigate him for alleged corruption in the awarding of lithium exploitations and green hydrogen plants.

The socialist leader kept his reputation intact, especially abroad. Not in vain, he was one of the leaders of the European Socialist Party and the only one who governed with an absolute majority besides the president of Malta.. In recent months, he had even been suggested as a possible president of the European Council.

In announcing his resignation, Costa defended his innocence and argued that he was resigning “to preserve the dignity of the institutions.”

In the meetings that Rebelo de Sousa held this Wednesday with the eight parties with parliamentary representation, the majority requested the immediate calling of elections. This was clearly done by the centre-right, the radical right and the Left Bloc (the second, third and fourth parties in Portugal). Even the leader of Chega, André Ventura, the emerging formation of the hard right equivalent to Vox, told Rebelo that not calling elections would be “a fraud” and “a great betrayal, but not to the parties, but to his own word.” two years ago”, in reference to the speech cited. The Left Bloc, which governed in coalition with Costa in the first legislature, also believes that “the only solution” is to call elections “quickly.”

Luís Montenegro, head of the opposition, now has before him a golden opportunity to put an end to the leftist cycle that Portugal began in 2015 with the first Costa Government, a coalition of the Socialist Party (PS), the Left Bloc and the Communist Party. For Montenegro, “the circumstances justify giving the Portuguese people the floor.”

The PS, which has been left completely headless and has not yet come out of the shock, did not speak out and said it was prepared for all options. The socialists no longer have a leader and would have to search for a candidate in a forced march if the elections were called.. The figures most talked about to be the socialist candidate are the Minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva; the former Minister of Infrastructure, who represents the left wing of the party, Pedro Nuno Santos, Mario Centeno, governor of the Bank of Portugal, or the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos.

In any case, analysts and the Portuguese media now give the leader of the center-right, Luis Montenegro, as a favorite in future elections, due to the crisis in which the PS has sunk, with several ministers indicted, and because it would be easier for him to reach an agreement. with Liberal Initiative and with Chega than the socialists with the parties on their left.

In the last 20 months of absolute majority, the Costa Government has had a very bad relationship with the Left Bloc and the communists, in addition to having confronted the unions. For this reason, in the PS Pedro Nuno wins whole as a candidate, who would be the only one who could reissue a pact like Costa's in 2015, when he did not manage to be the most voted force, but he did achieve the majority in the Assembly thanks to his agreement coalition.

Rebelo de Sousa has called the Council of State for this Thursday. Later, late in the afternoon, he plans to announce the decision that will mark the future of Portugal and, in part, of socialism in Europe in the coming years.

This morning, Israeli planes intensified attacks in the center of the Gaza Strip, causing several deaths and deaths in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.. During the night, some of the attacks have hit areas that were already destroyed, especially in the Shujaiya neighborhood of central Gaza.. Military experts indicated that the Israeli Army would be destroying specific streets to facilitate the advance of tanks towards the city center.. The troops are already less than a kilometer from the Al-Shifa hospital, where Israel believes the Hamas command center is hidden in tunnels.. Although the hospital administration has reiterated that it has no link with the militant group, in recent days Israeli attacks have reached the vicinity of the health center, where hundreds of wounded and refugees are staying.

During the day on Tuesday, Israel carried out a pause in its offensive, for about four hours, in which images of Palestinian civilians trying to flee on foot towards the south of the Strip were published.. Images published in the media reveal a line of civilians, many with white flags in their hands, others in wheelchairs or quite a few, fleeing the area with few belongings.

The Israeli Army announced the death of one of its soldiers in Gaza. Fighting and attacks during the ground invasion in the Strip have caused the death of 31 soldiers, while Hamas has not revealed the number of casualties in its ranks.. The Israeli Army claimed on its Telegram channel to have killed Mohsen Abu Zina, an “expert in the development of strategic weapons” of Hamas.. “During the night, troops also identified a terrorist cell that was planning to fire anti-tank missiles at forces. “The troops directed a plane that hit the cell and killed several terrorists,” the statement said.

On the other hand, the International Committee of the Red Cross denounced that a convoy of five trucks and two vehicles that entered Gaza with humanitarian aid was attacked by the Israeli Army, causing injuries to one of the drivers.. “These are not the conditions in which humanitarian personnel can work,” declared the head of the Red Cross in Gaza, Willian Schomburg.. “We are here to bring urgent assistance to civilians in need. “Ensuring that life-saving assistance can reach medical facilities is a legal obligation under international humanitarian law,” he said in a statement.

In addition to the lack of fuel, medical supplies and drinking water, there is a growing food crisis after a month of blockade in the Strip.. All bakeries in northern Gaza have closed due to lack of fuel, water and wheat flour, humanitarian organizations said.

Raids in the West Bank have increased in recent days. Last night there were police operations at the university of Ramallah and in Hebron, in which 47 Palestinians were arrested. Tension also increased on the border with Lebanon, after Israel increased attacks against positions of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.. Israel claims it attacked the organization's warehouses and a group of fighters who tried to launch anti-tank missiles.

British Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer has made the first resignation of his 'shadow government' team for refusing to support a “ceasefire” in Gaza. Imram Hussain, 45, MP for Brafrod, has resigned from his position as head of workers' rights.

Hussain alleges disagreements with his leader over Israel's military offensive, which has caused more than 10,000 deaths in response to Hamas terrorist attacks that caused 1,400 deaths. Starmer has to date supported a “humanitarian pause”, but has opposed the “ceasefire” on the grounds that Hamas would not respect it..

More than 20 Labor councilors have resigned in recent weeks and have criticized “the lack of empathy and humanity” of their leader, who went so far as to justify in a radio interview the water and electricity cuts in Gaza as part of the “right to “self-defense” of Israel.

Last Friday, Starmer attempted to amend the plan by citing the need to “alleviate the suffering” of the civilian population and recognizing that Gaza “desperately needs faster humanitarian aid.”. The Labor Foreign Affairs spokesman, David Lammy, went further this week and urged Israel to take measures to avoid “the humanitarian catastrophe.”

MP Imram Hussain however decided to break the bank on Wednesday and resign from his position in the “front row” of the Labor Party, although he retains his seat.. “I want to be able to firmly defend the ceasefire, which is what the UN Secretary General has called for,” he wrote in his resignation letter to Starmer.

“In recent weeks, it has become clear that my view of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza differs substantially from the position you have taken,” Hussain alleged.. “A ceasefire is essential to end the bloodbath, to ensure the entry of humanitarian aid and to guarantee the release of Israeli hostages.”

The Labor MP Zarah Sultana has presented an amendment in the debate on the King's Speech demanding a ceasefire.. Several MPs from six parties (including at least 14 Labour) announced their intention to back the amendment.

“A humanitarian pause is not an acceptable response to the thousands of men, women and children who are dying,” said Senior Minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Humza Yousaf.. “An immediate ceasefire is the only way to alleviate the suffering of innocent people. “The international community should step forward and put itself on the right side of history right now.”

Yousaf, married to a woman of Palestinian origin, Nadia Maged El-Nakla, has become the most prominent voice in the United Kingdom against the extent of Israeli military retaliation. Her in-laws, Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla, who were visiting their relatives in Gaza, experienced the bombings very closely and managed to escape through the Rafah border crossing this week.

“I had never seen my father-in-law cry like that,” Yousaf confessed. “He is totally traumatized. They have had to say goodbye to his mother, his son and his grandchildren, including the youngest who is only three months old.”