Word: parliament
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Merkel to act quickly to counter the growing economic and financial crisis. The grand coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD unites the biggest parties in the center and the left of the political spectrum and has until now wielded sufficient power to pass laws in the lower house of parliament and then rubber stamp them in the upper house, which represents the 16 federal states. But after Hesse, that cozy system is history...
...Britain's ruling Labour party now faces a backlash within its own ranks: more than 50 Labour MPs oppose the expansion, which they see as irreconcilable with their environmental pledges. On Thursday, John McDonnell, the MP who represents Sipson, was ejected from Parliament and banned for five days after grabbing the mace - a 5-foot long ornamental key and a symbol of Parliamentary Authority - and shouting, "It's a disgrace to the democracy of this country...
...European Parliament is currently studying whether it should extend from 50 to 95 years the copyright term covering sound recordings, thereby bringing European law in line with that of the U.S. But opponents of extending copyright say shorter copyright periods benefit consumers by eliminating hidden costs - European publishers are able to sell books at a much cheaper price, for instance, if they are not required to pay a licensing fee. Consumer groups accuse European politicians of swooning for the handful of crooners currently lobbying for copyright extension. French singer Johnny Hallyday - a close friend of French President Nicolas Sarkozy...
...debate is unlikely to end anytime soon. Four committees in the European Parliament are currently discussing the issue. A resolution is not expected until well into this year at the earliest - not soon enough to end the controversy over Popeye. With the pugnacious sailor in the public domain, intellectual-property lawyer Owen predicts battles between publishing houses and King Features over whether Popeye and his Thimble Theatre pals are bound by trademark. But if European publishers decide it's worth the risk to try to resurrect the hero of the Great Depression, who other than King Features could blame them...
...dying days of the Weimar Republic and the conditions that enabled Hitler's rise. The German daily Der Tagesspiegel recently reported a rise in the number of Neo-Nazis, citing intelligence sources. Polls suggest the far-right NPD party could maintain the foothold in Saxony's state parliament that they gained in 2004 and win seats in the state of Thuringia in elections this summer. In December, the police chief of the Bavarian city Passau survived a knife attack by a skinhead, thought to be a Neo-Nazi...