5: Italy votes The Italian Prime Minister is staking his future on a referendum on the constitution
Italians are heading to the polls on Sunday to decide whether or not to change the constitution. The current system was adopted in 1948 in an attempt to avoid a return to fascism. The constitution has long been the cornerstone of Italian democracy, but it has often been blamed for stagnation in the country, since the bicameral nature of the Italian parliament means that the upper and lower houses effectively have the same powers.
The current prime minister, Matteo Renzi, who pushed for the proposed reforms, has hinted that he would resign if he loses the referendum. “This opportunity won’t happen again,” he said this week. “I won’t be playing the game if we leave the country as it is now and condemn our children.”
Vice News
4: Austria’s Norbert Hofer defeated in presidential race
Austria’s far-right party has conceded defeat in a bitterly fought presidential race, after projections indicated its candidate was beaten by Green Party-backed independent Alexander Van der Bellen.
The official result of the election is not expected before Monday, but the Freedom Party (FPOe) conceded defeat within minutes of the poll projections being released, shortly after voting ended on Sunday.
“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr Van der Bellen,” FPOe’s chief strategist Herbert Kickl told Austrian media.
The projections had put Van der Bellen on 53.6 percent ahead of the FPOe’s Norbert Hofer on 46.4 percent.
Aljazeera
Promises by President-elect Donald Trump to deport millions of immigrants have drawn new attention to whether they can be detained indefinitely as they fight their cases. Currently immigrants have no right to a bond hearing. This is different from U.S. citizens who face trial in criminal court and can have a judge examine their case and determine if they should remain in jail until it is resolved. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court held a hearing on this issue in a case that could give immigrants the same right. We speak with Alina Das, a professor at the NYU School of Law, where she co-directs the Immigrant Rights Clinic, and with Hilarion Joseph, who was held for three years and two months in immigrant detention without a bond hearing when he faced deportation after his conviction for transporting weapons. He won his case and was released, and this year he became a U.S. citizen.
Democracy Now
2: Greece must reform or leave eurozone, says German minister
Greece must implement economic reforms if it is to keep its place in the eurozone, Germany’s finance minister has insisted, ruling out debt relief for the country ahead of a crucial euro group meeting on Monday.
As the finance ministers of member states using the single currency prepared to discuss fiscal plans for the coming year, Wolfgang Schäuble in effect presented Greece with an ultimatum: either it must enforce unpopular structural reforms or exit the bloc.
“Athens must finally implement the needed reforms,” he told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag in an interview published on Sunday.
“If Greece wants to stay in the euro, there is no way around it – in fact completely regardless of the debt level.”
Asked if German voters should be prepared for the inevitability of debt relief in the run-up to national elections next year, Schäuble quipped: “That would not help Greece.”
The Guardian
1: Donald Trump’s White House Counsel Is Proud “Architect” of America’s Corrupt Big Money Politics
DON MCGAHN, SOON to be Donald Trump’s White House counsel, bears as much responsibility as any single person for turning America’s campaign finance system into something akin to a gigantic, clogged septic tank.
From 2008 to 2013, McGahn was one of the six members of the Federal Election Commission, the government agency in charge of civil enforcement of campaign finance laws. While there, he led a GOP campaign that essentially ground enforcement of election laws to a halt.
“I’ve always thought of McGahn’s appointment as an FEC commissioner as analogous to appointing an anarchist to be chief of police,” said Paul S. Ryan, vice president at Common Cause. “He’s largely responsible for destroying the FEC as a functioning law enforcement agency, and seemingly takes great pride in this fact. McGahn has demonstrated a much stronger interest in expanding the money-in-politics swamp than draining it.”
The Intercept