DARK SECRETS: 29 | Vintage Vibes

Polling booths to be set up in train stations and supermarkets to encourage people to vote

Sweeping changes will also see 16- and 17-year-olds able to vote in the next general election

The Independent UK · Feb 11

Labour bill would stop ‘dodgy front companies’ making political donations

Bill would also give votes to 16-year-olds and pave the way for ‘opt-out’ voter registration

The Guardian - UK · Feb 11

Democracy dies in broad daylight: the Trump administration’s frontal assault on the free press

When the billionaire owner of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, bought the Washington Post from the Graham family in 2013, he promised a “golden era to come”. In February 2017, one month into Donald Trump’s first term as US president, the paper adopted the motto: “Democracy Dies in Darkness”, reflecting the perceived…

The Conversation · Feb 11

'We hold these truths': Viewing the Declaration of Independence, visitors reflect on America at 250

America’s 250th anniversary arrives at a time of deep political divisions and, in some quarters, heightened anxiety over whether representative government in the world’s oldest democracy can be sustained

The Independent UK · Feb 10

20 years for a China critic: Former media tycoon’s jailing signals the end of an era for Hong Kong’s press

Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media tycoon and a fierce critic of Beijing, was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison in the longest punishment given so far under a China-imposed national security law that has virtually silenced the city’s dissent.

Newslaundry · Feb 10

Helldivers 2’s ‘Machinery of Oppression’ update adds Cyberstan and socialist Cyborgs

The democracy is under the Cyborg threat again!

Dot Esports · Feb 10

OPINION - Jimmy Lai and Sir Keir Starmer ... what a contrast between the two

The Hong Kong democracy activist is suffering for his principles; Sir Keir is another matter. Yet Labour must stick with him

Evening Standard · Feb 9

Jimmy Lai's evolution from Hong Kong media magnate to activist in photos

Prominent democracy advocate Jimmy Lai was a child stowaway from mainland China who rose to become Hong Kong’s onetime media magnate. Unlike other rags-to-riches tycoons who cultivated ties with Beijing, he chose to become its fierce critic.

The Independent UK · Feb 9

Why scrapping a key health promotion agency makes little economic sense

News the world’s first independent health promotion agency – Australia’s own VicHealth – is to be abolished has been called “incomprehensible” and “a disaster” that places democracy at risk.

The Conversation · Feb 8

‘It’s a travesty’: Calls to free frail Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai from jail before it’s too late

Exclusive: Pro-democracy media tycoon’s son warns ‘this is not justice, it is political persecution... for speaking truth to power’ as his father waits to learn his fate

The Independent UK · Feb 8