Briefly

DENMARK

PM calls general election for March 24

Denmark will hold parliamentary elections on March 24, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced on Thursday. In the Folketing, Danish Parliament, Frederiksen said that voters would decide "what direction Denmark will take over the next four years". The vote will determine the makeup of the 179-member body, which includes seats representing Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Under Danish election laws, campaign posters may be put up starting from noon on the fourth Saturday before election day, meaning parties can begin hanging posters from noon on this Saturday for the election. Denmark is a constitutional monarchy governed under a parliamentary system. Frederiksen's center-left bloc won the last general election in November 2022.

UNITED KINGDOM

Green Party wins special poll

The Green Party won a special parliamentary election in the United Kingdom on Friday, a big boost for the small party and a blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose center-left Labour Party was relegated to third place. Green candidate Hannah Spencer was declared winner of the contest in Gorton and Denton early on Friday with 14,980 votes. Matthew Goodwin of hard-right party Reform UK got 10,578 votes. Labour candidate Angeliki Stogia received 9,364. The result illustrates the increasingly fragmented political landscape in Britain, which was dominated for decades by Labour and the Conservatives. The Gorton and Denton constituency in Greater Manchester elected Labour lawmakers for almost all of the last century, but Starmer's government has seen its popularity plunge since it won office in July 2024.

UNITED STATES

Hillary denies knowing about Epstein crimes

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday told US House lawmakers that she was unaware of Jeffrey Epstein and his coconspirator Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes. "I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not recall ever encountering Mr Epstein. I never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices. I have nothing to add to that," Clinton said in a statement posted on social media. The statement came before she was due to deliver a closed-door deposition before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in Chappaqua, New York. Her husband, former US president Bill Clinton, will appear for a similar deposition on Friday, which will be the first time for a former president to testify before Congress since 1983.

Agencies - Xinhua