Greek court strips three far-right lawmakers of parliamentary seats
The ruling means parliament will operate with 297 lawmakers instead of 300, while the number of seats needed for an absolute majority drops to 149.
The three former lawmakers were elected with the far-right Spartans party in 2023. An election court, however, ruled that the party was receiving guidance from a politician who is serving a jail term for his leadership role in the banned far-right Golden Dawn party.
Parties in Greece legally cannot run in elections if their "real leaders," not only their official representatives, have been convicted for crimes that carry a sentence of up to life imprisonment, ranging from treason or spying to participating in a criminal organization.
The court ruled that a repeat election was not necessary, the Athens News Agency said.
Greece's conservative government is backed by 155 members of parliament.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
33 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘Before, I felt safe and the locals were nice': asylum seekers on how Epping protests have transformed daily life
Asylum seekers living in the Essex hotel that has become a target of protests and far-right incitement have said they fear for their lives after being attacked on the streets and, in some cases, needing medical treatment afterwards. The situation for men living in the Bell hotel, where they had previously felt safe, has been transformed since the protests began, according to another asylum seeker who was filmed being chased down the street by men involved in the demonstrations. Speaking near the hotel in Epping, an asylum seeker who had fled war in his home country of Yemen said injuries on his face had been caused when six men attacked him while he was out walking. 'They were in two cars and they were ready. They were waiting for us,' said Nabil*. As he spoke, abuse was shouted from a car driving past. A friend who was with him, Jibreel*, from Kuwait, said those in the hotel were being confined to their rooms during the protests, which are now happening during the week and at the weekends. 'It's not safe for us here and we know this,' he said. 'We're here in the UK for different reasons – in my case it's because of politics and persecution in my home – but we just want to be able to live, to study and do something here. He said he had crossed the Channel in a small boat from France, arriving with the body of a friend who had drowned en route. Police have made 18 arrests and charged seven people in connection with the demonstrations, which have drawn hundreds, including local people as well as far-right activists. The gatherings began after an asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault, although the far right has targeted the hotel for years. Asylum seekers living in the hotel have told the Guardian they want it to close as they no longer feel safe there. Abdi*, an asylum seeker from east Africa who was chased down the street by some protesters outside the hotel, said he had been unable to sleep since the attack. 'I don't speak good English but I knew some of the swearwords they were shouting at me, like 'motherfucker'. I have been living in the hotel since April and before the protesters arrived I felt safe here and we had no problem at all with the local residents, who were nice to us. 'But when I was chased I felt as if I was running for my life. I am sure it was a racist attack because I am black and the people pursuing me were white and I had done nothing to them. I hadn't broken the law, I make sure I never even drop litter. I was just walking along carrying some shopping. 'But now I feel that some of the protesters want to get people like me. I experienced bad things in my country but here I can't even ask those people who attacked me why they attacked me, because my English is not good. 'I didn't come to this country to cause harm to anyone, just to feel safe. If the police were not here, I don't know what we would do. They are the only thing standing between us and some of the protesters attacking us. Before we used to leave the hotel individually but now we leave in bigger groups for protection.' The protests show no sign of easing, and a major police operation is planned for this Sunday. Counter-demonstrators from Stand Up to Racism are also planning to gather in Epping. The protests are being promoted on Facebook groups, while misinformation is being shared and amplified on X. One Facebook group – Epping Says No! – has administrators from the far-right Homeland party. Asylum seekers in hotels in other areas of the country were watching the protests anxiously and said they were fearful too. However, several of them had signed an open letter, coordinated by the charity Care4Calais, addressed to 'our brothers and sisters in Epping and others in asylum accommodation'. It states: 'We thought we were safe in the UK but now we are afraid again. Let's not allow fear to divide us. Let's keep supporting one another.' Addressing the British public, it says: 'Some of you have shown us great kindness and we will never forget it. Please keep standing up against hate.' Appealing to the UK government, it says: 'While we wait [for our asylum decisions] protect us, respect us and treat us with dignity.' Research shared with the Guardian by the refugee theatre group Phosphoros Theatre found that, of 37 young asylum seekers surveyed, 49% felt mentally affected by last year's riots one year on, and 69% felt loneliness. * Names have been changed
Daily Mail
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Sudden spike in searches for VPNs as porn users look to get around new ID checks
Britain's new porn laws sparked a huge surge in VPN use, suggesting porn users are rushing to dodge the strict new age checks. Under rules that came into force on Friday, UK users must prove they are over 18 to access pornographic websites, with some platforms demanding ID uploads or even facial scans. Major sites including Pornhub, YouPorn, RedTube, Cam4, and others have told regulator Ofcom they've rolled out these checks. Social media and messaging platforms such as Reddit, Discord, Bluesky, Grindr, and X have also introduced age verification measures. But the clampdown appears to have backfired as online searches for VPNs, which can disguise a user's location, spiked by more than 700 per cent on Friday morning, suggesting thousands are already looking for ways around the restrictions. VPNs help users appear as though they're browsing from another country, allowing them to access sites without triggering the local ID checks. Experts had previously warned that the technology could be used by users trying to bypass the system. Marcus Johnstone, a criminal defence solicitor, told The Independent that such measures won't prevent access to fringe forums or the dark web, where much online exploitation occurs. He said: 'It will also do nothing to restrict access to [fringe] forums, where much online exploitation takes place, or to the dark web, which remains easily available to those with the motivation to look.' Under the new rules any sites fail to do the checks, Ofcom can impose fines and in very serious cases apply for a court order to prevent the site or app from being available. 'We will be actively checking compliance from 25 July and, should it be necessary, we expect to launch any investigations into individual services next week,' Ofcom said. Why is the porn crackdown happening? According to Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom's group director of online safety, making life safer online 'is one of the defining challenges of our era'. 'Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren't suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling,' he said. 'But for too long children have been only a click away from harmful pornography online. 'Now, change is happening. These age checks will bring pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world, without compromising access and privacy for over-18s.' How do the age checks work? Ofcom has listed seven methods that porn providers could use. Ultimately, which one they opt for is their decision, not Ofcom's, but their chosen method must be 'highly effective' at correctly determining if a user is under 18. Ofcom's seven suggested strategies are photo-ID matching, facial age estimation, mobile-network operator (MNO) age checks, credit card checks, email-based age estimation, digital identity services and open banking. Open banking works by accessing the information a bank has on record regarding a user's age, while photo-ID matching involves uploading a verified photo-ID document, like a PDF of a passport of driving licence. Facial age estimate works by analysing the features of a user's face from a photo to work their age, while MNO age checks involve mobile-network operators applying age-restriction filters themselves. Because you must be 18 to get a credit card in the UK, credit card checks are also listed as 'highly effective', as are email-based age estimations, which estimate your age based on other services where you've provided your email address. 'The process can be as simple as submitting an email address and will return an accurate result in seconds,' explained Lina Ghazal, head of regulatory and public affairs at safety tech firm Verifymy. What happens if porn sites don't comply? Ofcom says that many porn sites have already put their age checks in place. It stresses that the law applies to all sites and apps that allow pornography – whether they are dedicated adult sites or social media, search or gaming services. Fines for non-comply could be up to £18 million or 10 per cent of the platform's qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater. The Online Safety Act The crackdown is part of the Online Safety Act 2023 – a set of laws that protects children and adults online. Mrs Ghazal said it is a 'great step forward for child safety', adding: 'It means some of the world's biggest sites will have highly effective age assurance in place that protects children and also preserves the privacy of users.' The idea of implementing age checks on pornography websites, and fining those sites that don't comply, has existed for several years now. Back in 2016, the UK government launched a public consultation over plans to implement age checks on pornography sites. It was then included in the Digital Economy Act 2017 – but the provision was delayed and eventually abandoned in October 2019. Government said at the time age checks would be delivered through its 'proposed online harms regulatory regime' – in other words, the Online Safety Bill. One criticism of age-checking technology for porn is regarding concerns about handing sensitive identification information – namely age or date of birth – to third parties. 'Everyone realised right from the start – 2016 – that users were not going to want to share their name, let alone a copy of their passport or driving licence, with a porn site,' said Iain Corby, director of Age Verification Providers Association. New research from Ofcom reveals the extent to which children are accessing porn online, and underlines the need for new measures to protect them. It found that eight per cent of children aged 8-14 in the UK visited an online porn site or app in a month – including around 3 per cent of 8–9-year-olds – the youngest children in the study. Ofcom's research tracked the use of websites and apps by 8–14-year-olds across smartphones, tablets and computers over a month. Boys aged 13-14 (19 per cent) were mostly likely to visit a porn service, significantly more than girls the same age (11 per cent).
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Russia's Zakharova says peace settlement in Ukraine has never been on 'real agenda' of the West
MOSCOW, July 26 (Reuters) - Peace talks and a settlement in Ukraine have never been on the real agenda of the West, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday, in her first comments on negotiations since Russian and Ukrainian officials held talks on Wednesday. If the West wanted "real peace" in Ukraine, it would stop supplying Kyiv with weapons, Zakharova said in comments reported by TASS news agency. Earlier, in her weekly briefing on Thursday, she had declined to comment on the talks.
