Political Parties

KARACHI — Gunmen killed at least 25 people in Karachi in 24 hours, raising tensions in Pakistan’s largest city as voters cast ballots yesterday to replace a provincial lawmaker killed in August. Police said they were still investigating the motives behind the shootings, but many “target killings’’ in Karachi have been linked to gangs controlled by the city’s main political parties, which have been feuding for much of the past 20 years. “We cannot say whether all the killings were politically motivated or some gangs were involved because the killings took place...

News flash: The next president of the United States, like the last 29, will be a Republican or a Democrat. That's not news, you say? But surely it must be. Haven't we been hearing for months that the post-partisan hour was finally at hand? Weren't legions of Americans said to be ready to turn their backs on the old two-party system, with all its divisiveness and ideological rigidity? Haven't tens of millions of dollars been donated to Americans Elect , the widely praised anti-special-interest reform group intent on anointing a genuinely bipartisan ticket — a presidential candidate...

ISLAMABAD — Gunmen killed 16 people in Pakistan’s largest city yesterday, officials said, the latest victims in a surge of violence to grip Karachi and underscore the poor state of law and order in this US-allied nation. At least 48 people, including several political activists, have been killed and another 48 have been wounded since Saturday in the southern port city, according to Sharmila Farooqi, a spokeswoman for the Sindh provincial government, and police. The violence coincided with Sunday’s election to replace a provincial lawmaker killed in August.

WASHINGTON - A Republican senator has asked both political parties to refund the millions of federal dollars each has received to help pay for this summer's presidential nominating conventions. In a letter to leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said the two gatherings will be "weeklong parties paid for by taxpayers. " Even Coburn's party is spurning the request. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said Friday that the meetings play an important role in the nominating process and that if Coburn had other ideas...

I FIND it interesting that Yvonne Abraham quotes Occupy Boston protester Hilary Richard saying that "there is corruption in the government," and follows that up by calling out the Tea Party movement and the Republican House ("Straight talk 2.0," Metro, Oct. 13). Last I checked, we had a Democrat as president and a Democratic majority in the Senate that seem to be at least part of the problem; yet they get no mention. I think they are all equally guilty of creating this "corrupt" environment.

TRIPOLI, Libya - The National Transitional Council issued a new law Wednesday that bans parties based on religious principles, the council spokesman said, a surprising move that was denounced by Islamists organizing to compete in upcoming elections. Mohammed al-Hareizi said the provision, included in a law that governs the formation of political parties, was designed to preserve "national unity. " "Parties shouldn't be based on ethnic or religious ideologies," he said. "We don't want the government to be divided by these ideological differences.

AMMAN, Jordan - Parliament passed a law Wednesday to encourage an effective multiparty political system, a change long sought by prodemocracy activists. It would allow parties to compete in elections based on political platforms. The previous system encouraged formation of dozens of small parties and voting for tribal affiliation. That produced docile legislatures dominated by conservative backers of King Abdullah II. Up to now Jordanians have been hesitant to join policy-based political parties for fear of retribution from the state.

Jamaica's two main political parties are investigating allegations a Jamaican fraudster gave them millions in 2007. A confiscation order by a Turks and Caicos court claims that convicted fraudster David Smith gave generously to both the Jamaica Labor Party and the People's National Party. Former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson is accused of accepting $1 million from Smith, who ran a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme through a phony investment group called Olint. Patterson of the PNP denies "soliciting or receiving any such gift.

KATMANDU, Nepal -- The gates to the party headquarters are locked, the offices empty. But around back, a party official gestures to a group of visitors to follow him and drives a few blocks away on his motorcycle. He stops along a busy road, hoping no one will notice him amid the clamor of Katmandu's morning traffic. "I'm just in and out," said Shovakar Parajuli, who risked arrest for his quick trip yesterday to the office of the Nepali Congress, the country's main opposition party, slipping in for a few sheets of party stationery.

A major European Jewish organization is urging European governments to quickly adopt measures to tackle anti-Semitism and far-right extremism, including possibly banning a hardline Greek party that did unusually well in recent elections. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, was meeting with Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas on Wednesday to seek his support for "emergency measures" to protect the continent's Jewish communities from violent hate crimes. Kantor would not give details of the measures that his organization plans to propose, but they...

A major European Jewish organization is urging European governments to quickly adopt measures to tackle anti-Semitism and far-right extremism, including possibly banning a hardline Greek party that did unusually well in recent elections. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, was meeting with Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas on Wednesday to seek his support for "emergency measures" to protect the continent's Jewish communities from violent hate crimes. Kantor would not give details of the measures that his organization plans to propose, but they could involve...

ATHENS - Talks to form a new Greek government appeared near collapse on Sunday after the leader of a left-wing party that favors rejecting Greece's loan agreement with foreign creditors again refused to join a unity coalition, making new elections almost a given. President Karolos Papoulias met with the leaders of several smaller parties Sunday evening, but the meeting ended without agreement on a two-year unity government with the Socialists and the center-right New Democracy Party.

THE CALL: With Spain's borrowing costs rising and stock prices falling at alarming rates, its foreign minister issued an urgent appeal Monday to battling political parties in Athens to form a government quickly. THE ROAD BLOCKS: Investors fear that because Greeks voted heavily in favor of parties that want to cancel or renegotiate Athens' international bailout, the country may be forced into default. THE STAKES: "The best thing Greece can do for its own survival and for the survival of European economic and monetary union" is to say it's going to comply with the terms of its...

US stocks fell for a second straight week, driving the Dow to the biggest loss of 2012, as political tension in Greece heightened concern about Europe's debt crisis and JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $2 billion trading loss weighed on shares of banks. Global equities declined as an inconclusive election in Greece left political parties struggling to form a government.

The European Union observer mission Saturday called Algeria's elections an important step toward reform, even as the opposition denounced the overwhelming win by government parties as resulting from fraud. The EU did say, however, that additional measures could have been taken to increase transparency and trust in the process. Algeria's main ruling party took nearly half the seats in the elections, prompting the independent daily El Watan to describe the election result as the "The Status Quo" in a banner headline — a marked departure from recent elections in other Arab...

AMMAN, Jordan - Parliament passed a law Wednesday to encourage an effective multiparty political system, a change long sought by prodemocracy activists. It would allow parties to compete in elections based on political platforms. The previous system encouraged formation of dozens of small parties and voting for tribal affiliation. That produced docile legislatures dominated by conservative backers of King Abdullah II. Up to now Jordanians have been hesitant to join policy-based political parties for fear of retribution from the state.

SANA, Yemen — The youth activists who spearheaded the uprising that ended President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year rule are grappling with internal divisions, as politics and competing visions weaken one of the Arab world's most dynamic revolts of the past year. In Change Square, the nexus of the revolution, protesters have splintered into politically aligned groups, each determined to hold sway over the sprawling tented encampment near Sana'a University. The demonstrations have grown smaller as opposition parties have taken control, and clashes have erupted over who...

A look at some provisions in the campaign finance law upheld yesterday by the US Supreme Court. The ruling: Prohibits national political parties from raising unregulated "soft money," including donations of any size from corporations and unions and unlimited contributions from any source; Bans the solicitation of soft money by federal candidates and officeholders for federal campaigns; and Restricts election-time political ads...

PARIS (AP) — The day after Francois Hollande rode to power in France on a slogan of ‘‘change now" the conversation in Europe is already different: Austerity has become a dirty word. In Greece, political parties who reject the extreme belt-tightening required by international bailouts were the big winners in parliamentary elections. German voters in a northern state ousted the coalition led by Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party, which has pressed the case for austerity.

Jamaica's two main political parties are investigating allegations a Jamaican fraudster gave them millions in 2007. A confiscation order by a Turks and Caicos court claims that convicted fraudster David Smith gave generously to both the Jamaica Labor Party and the People's National Party. Former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson is accused of accepting $1 million from Smith, who ran a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme through a phony investment group called Olint. Patterson of the PNP denies "soliciting or receiving any such gift.