"In the largest protests in decades, Czechs demand resignation of prime minister" by Hana de Goeij and Marc Santora New York Times, June 23, 2019
PRAGUE — In the largest demonstration in the Czech Republic since it won its independence from the Soviet Union in 1989, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets Sunday evening calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
The police and the interior ministry estimated that by 5 p.m. more than 200,000 people had arrived for the demonstrations, with thousands more on their way to Letna Park, which sits on a hill high above the banks of the Vltava River and has commanding views of the old town.
Known around the world for its baroque architecture, Gothic churches, and famed spires, the Czech capital was a sea of European Union and Czech flags, with parents bringing their children to the same place where in 1989, some 750,000 people protested before declaring a general nationwide strike Nov. 27, 1989.
“We want to bring decency and commitment to the public service back to the Czech Republic,” said Magdalena Kascak, 39. “I am not sure they will resign, but it will at least shine light at the public discontent and help energize the society.”
The protests have been building for weeks. Early this month, more than 100,000 people appeared in Prague for a similar demonstration.
At that time, Babis, a billionaire who was elected in part because of his promise to fight corruption, said, “There is no reason for people to protest in the street, because they have a great life.”
Remind you of someone?
The protests have their roots in a scandal that has dogged Babis for a decade and is related to the conglomerate he built, Agrofert. It is the country’s largest employer, with some 34,000 people on the payroll.
Specifically, he has been accused of misusing subsidies from the European Union in the development of a farm and conference center known as Stork Nest. In April, the police recommended that he face fraud charges.
The justice minister, Jan Knezinek, resigned the day after the police made their recommendation. He was succeeded by Marie Benesova, who is close to the country’s president, Milos Zeman, an ally of Babis.
While the police can recommend an indictment, only the state’s prosecutor, who is appointed by the justice minister, can file charges.
The first protests soon erupted, with many people believing Babis was perverting the legal system to protect himself.
Meanwhile, an audit by the European Commission, unrelated to the police investigation, that was made public this month found that Babis’ impartiality over the distribution of EU funds — first when he served as finance minister and later when he became prime minister — was fundamentally compromised.
His company stood to gain from the subsidies, the audit found, and even though he divorced himself from the sprawling enterprise’s daily operations, he also stood to profit.
Babis said the audit was flawed and vowed to fight the findings.
The mood at the rally Sunday was calm and peaceful, but disgust with the government was the overwhelming sentiment.
Speaking earlier this month at the annual Globsec security conference in neighboring Slovakia, where demonstrations last year led to the prime minister’s resignation, Babis said, “The Czech Republic is not going to change the government because of protests in the street.”
He also lashed out at the Czech news media, saying that “no one should believe their lies” and that he would continue to work to make the Czech Republic “great again.”
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Yeah, he needs to be removed as does this guy:
"Turkey’s president looks headed for stinging defeat in Istanbul election redo" by Carlotta Gall New York Times, June 23, 2019
ISTANBUL — Voters in Turkey appear to have delivered a resounding rebuke to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by again electing an opposition candidate for mayor of Istanbul on Sunday, outraged that his party forced the cancellation and redo of the same vote two months ago after it lost.
Within an hour of polling stations closing, the Turkish news media reported that, with more than 60 percent of votes counted, the opposition candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu, was leading with 55 percent, compared with 44 percent for Erdogan’s chosen candidate, Binali Yildirim.
Two hours after polls closed, Yildirim went on national television and appeared to concede.
“As of now, my competitor Imamoglu is leading. I congratulate him, wish him success,” he said. “I wish our friend Ekrem Imamoglu will bring good services to Istanbul.”
Imamoglu appeared at a live news briefing soon after and urged supporters to stay at the ballot boxes until the count was finished.
Supporters whistled in the streets as they caught the results on their cellphones in outdoor cafes. A car raced through the streets, honking its horn as after a soccer match.
The mood had been tense in Istanbul during the day as people voted.
If the opposition does manage to wrest the country’s largest city from Erdogan’s control, it would be the biggest defeat of his political career, ending his party’s 25-year dominance of the city. Opponents say such a loss would crack the president’s aura of invincibility and could be the beginning of the end of his 16-year rule over the country.
Istanbul is Erdogan’s home as well as political base, where he began his political career as mayor.
Imamoglu, 49, is a former district mayor who was backed by an alliance of opposition parties, united by their rejection of Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian grip on Turkey.
Besides the blow to his image and prestige, the loss of Istanbul will have practical political consequences for Erdogan, analysts said.
The AKP will grudgingly accept the results, predicted Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, the Ankara director for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a research organization, before the election, but the party will seek to manage the change of power in Istanbul by “hollowing out the powers of metropolitan mayors in time,” he said.
Former president Abdullah Gul and former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu are both committed to breaking away and starting their own conservative movements, said Asli Aydintasbas, a senior fellow with the European Council for Foreign Relations, said before the vote.
Erdogan grew up in a working-class district on the Golden Horn in Istanbul and embarked on his political career as a popular and energetic mayor of the city in the 1990s.
The city has remained in the hands of his party ever since, and he has transformed it with extensive infrastructure projects and grandiose signature constructions, including a vast hilltop mosque, high-rise towers, and expanding suburbs, but Erdogan’s popularity in Istanbul, which derived largely from delivering services to city residents, has waned in recent years as the construction boom has stalled and the economy has slipped into recession.
Unemployment and inflation have angered Turkish voters and cost Erdogan several of the largest cities, including the capital, Ankara, in local elections in March.
“Erdogan lost his magic touch,” said Cagaptay, the analyst. “Erdogan was this politician who came from the other side of the tracks, representing the voice of the common man, the pious, the dispossessed, making this his brand for nearly two decades. That is gone.”
Imamoglu has been compared to a young Erdogan because he comes from the same Black Sea region known for its fighting spirit, and for his personable and energetic attitude. He won voters’ support by offering a clean and all-embracing administration, tapping into a general weariness with the governing party and complaints of corruption and cronyism.
He promised that municipal workers’ jobs would be secure and that his administration would be nonpartisan.
“Nothing sticks to Imamoglu,” Cagaptay said. “He became the new Erdogan.”
Yildirim has been a close ally of Erdogan’s throughout his career, holding posts like transport minister and prime minister and, most recently, president of Parliament. He had seemed a reluctant candidate in the March campaign, but after the shock of losing, he adopted a new campaign style, meeting people on squares and in neighborhoods, and emphasizing his years of experience and knowledge.
The opposition faced an uneven playing field throughout both mayoral campaigns, with Erdogan maintaining control over the mainstream news media and blatantly using government and municipal resources to support his candidate.
A week before the election, the two candidates faced off in a live television debate — the first Turkey had witnessed in 17 years — though it did not seem to tip the balance definitively. Imamoglu remained narrowly ahead in the polls.
Tensions rose in the final days before Sunday’s vote as Erdogan excoriated the opposition candidate while never uttering his name, and blasted the main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party, as undemocratic and the source of years of discrimination against religiously conservative citizens.....
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National Leads:
"Trump shrugs off killing of Khashoggi by Saudi agents" by Michael D. Shear New York Times, June 23, 2019
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Sunday shrugged off the brutal dismembering of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, just days after a United Nations report described how a team of Saudi assassins called Khashoggi a “sacrificial animal” before his murder.
The UN report urged an FBI investigation into the slaying, but in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump said the episode had already been thoroughly investigated. He said the Middle East is “a vicious, hostile place” and noted that Saudi Arabia is an important US trading partner.
Times is living in the past, and to hell with any pretense of human rights -- which is now something the U.S. throws around to designate the enemy du jour.
“I only say they spend $400 to $450 billion over a period of time, all money, all jobs, buying equipment,” the president told Chuck Todd, the show’s moderator. “I’m not like a fool that says, ‘We don’t want to do business with them.’ And by the way, if they don’t do business with us, you know what they do? They’ll do business with the Russians or with the Chinese.”
That's a heck of a rational.
Just days after pulling back from striking Iran for its downing of a US surveillance drone, Trump also said he was “not looking for war,” but added that if the United States went to war with Iran, “it’ll be obliteration like you’ve never seen before.”
He added: “But I’m not looking to do that.”
Certain people are pushing him that way, though.
Trump said that he was willing to meet with Iran’s leaders without preconditions, saying: “Here it is. Look, you can’t have nuclear weapons. And if you want to talk about it, good. Otherwise you can live in a shattered economy for a long time to come.”
Says he is willing to meet without preconditions, then he sets out a precondition.
I swear, he's been hanging around Israelis too much.
The president’s remarks were part of a wide-ranging interview that was recorded on Friday and broadcast on Sunday. Trump also falsely blamed former President Obama for his policy of separating families at the border, lashed out at his Federal Reserve chairman, and said the biggest mistake of his presidency was selecting Jeff Sessions to be attorney general.
Yeah, I saw that.
Trump also said he might not raise the issue of election interference when he meets with President Vladimir Putin of Russia this week, and he complained that the “fake news” media misreported whether he would accept help from Russia or China during his reelection campaign.
During the interview, Trump repeatedly refused to take responsibility for desperate conditions at the border, where migrant children are being detained in dirty, disease-ridden conditions because of a surge of people fleeing violence and poverty in Central America.
Instead, the president once again falsely blamed his predecessor. Trump has repeatedly made that assertion, which is not true. Obama’s administration — like others before it — only separated children from their parents at the border on a case-by-case basis when they feared abuse by the parent or there was a question of parentage.
The Trump administration last year began a policy of routinely separating all migrant children from their parents at the border so the adults could be criminally prosecuted for crossing the border. Trump ended the policy only after it was condemned as inhumane.
Trump also told Todd that the biggest mistake of his presidency was his selection of Sessions to be attorney general. The president did not elaborate, but in the past he has complained bitterly that Sessions did not stop the Russia investigation from proceeding.
Trump continued to criticize Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, for raising interest rates too quickly, but he denied a report that he might demote Powell from the chairman’s position.....
You do something like that and they remove your head for you.
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Related: Trump Stopped World War III
Says he can start it at any moment:
"New sanctions coming on Iran, but Trump would be happy to talk" by Mark Niquette Bloomberg News, June 23, 2019
President Trump’s comments were echoed by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, who on Sunday referenced a ‘‘significant set of new sanctions’’ to come on Monday as he prepared to visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for talks to rally ‘‘a global coalition to push back against Iran.’’
That's what they do when they are planning an invasion and regime change.
Some 80 percent of the Iranian economy is already sanctioned, and the new ones will be a further effort to ensure that Tehran’s ability to grow its economy.
Grow?
We have been told it is shrinking!
At the same time, Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s ‘‘Meet the Press’’ that he thinks Iranian leaders want to negotiate and he’s willing to talk with no preconditions except that outcome must be Iran acquiring no nuclear weapons. Trump said the proposed discussions have ‘‘nothing to do with oil.’’
‘‘Here it is. Look, you can’t have nuclear weapons,’’ Trump said on NBC. ‘‘And if you want to talk about it, good. Otherwise you can live in a shattered economy for a long time to come.’’
So only Israel is going to be allowed to have them, huh?
While Trump said he thinks Iran wants to make a deal, Iranian leaders earlier this month rebuffed a similar offer by Pompeo.
Vice President Mike Pence said on CNN’s ‘‘State of the Union’’ on Sunday that he’s not aware of any outreach by Iran since Trump called off the attack. The president made the decision after he was given more specific projections about likely casualties, and because he had doubts that the drone attack was authorized at the highest levels in Iran, Pence said.
What Pence is describing is likely what happened within the U.S. administration, and Trump is taking the fall.
Related:
"President Trump says he hesitated to back a possible 2024 presidential run by Vice President Mike Pence because he was caught off-guard by the question. Given a chance at a do-over, however, Trump still did not endorse his loyal lieutenant. ‘‘You can’t put me in that position,’’ Trump said June 14 when a host of Fox News Channel’s ‘‘Fox and Friends’’ asked him about endorsing Pence should the vice president seek to succeed Trump in 2024. Pence hasn’t explicitly said he’ll run in 2024, but is widely expected to. Offered a chance to explain, Trump told NBC News he hesitated ‘‘because it was a surprise question.’’ ‘‘I’m not even thinking of it. It’s so far out. I mean, It’s so far out,’’ Trump told ‘‘Meet the Press’’ in a wide-ranging interview taped Friday and broadcast Sunday. ‘‘Now what happens in 2024? I don’t know that Mike is going to run. I don’t know who’s running or anything else.’’ For his part, Pence glossed over the flap that Trump’s comments caused, telling CNN’s ‘‘State of the Union’’ on Sunday that Trump’s comment reflected ‘‘the fact that the only election he and I are focused on is 2020.’’ Trump formally announced his 2020 reelection bid last week with Pence at his side. The interview was airing locally Sunday as Trump arrived at his golf club in Sterling, Va., by helicopter from the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, where he spent part of the weekend. Trump also returned to the White House on the helicopter instead of by motorcade, his usual means of travel to and from the club. White House officials did not respond to requests for comment on the change in the president’s mode of travel (Associated Press)."
Some are praying for a Pence presidency even as Trump says he may not leave.
In doing so, Trump brushed off the views of some of his more hawkish advisers and lawmakers such as Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, who said on ‘‘Fox News Sunday’’ that a retaliatory strike would have been warranted.
‘‘The president is clearly trying to navigate a fine line to show that you cannot attack Americans and American military equipment without having a response,’’ Representative Mac Thornberry of Texas, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said Sunday on ABC’s ‘‘This Week.’’ ‘‘At the same time, he’s very conscious of not getting on an escalatory ladder that leads to a military conflict that neither side wants.’’
Echoing comments that National Security Adviser John Bolton made this weekend in Jerusalem, Pence said on CNN that ‘‘Iran should not mistake restraint for lack of resolve’’ and ‘‘all options remain on the table’’ as Iran steps up its attacks.
“Iran’s economy is literally crumbling,’’ Pence said. ‘‘We’ve isolated them economically and diplomatically, and they’ve lashed out.’’
If the administration’s goal is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, it’s puzzling why Trump would pull out of the deal negotiated by former President Obama — while pursuing a ‘‘maximum pressure’’ campaign that only backs the Islamic Republic into a corner and causes it to lash out, said Representative Adam Smith, a Washington Democrat and the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
“Even though we knew they were going to do it, we didn’t know how to respond, and it’s not getting them to the negotiating table,’’ Smith said on CBS. ‘‘They’re not there.’’
Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran, told reporters Sunday in Kuwait that while many nations have offered to help diplomatically, there’s currently no back channel operating.
That is where my print copy closed the door.
Sanctions are punishment for an ‘‘outlaw regime’’ and have succeeded in weakening Iranian proxy groups around the region, he said.
Still, Smith said there’s no clear policy being articulated by the administration, with Bolton and other hawks backing military action and the president clearly conflicted about the correct response to Iran’s provocations.
Regarding some of his more hawkish advisers, Trump said that having people on both sides of the debate is important, but ‘‘the only one that matters is me.’’
‘‘We’ll see with Iran,’’ Trump said Saturday. ‘‘Everyone was saying I’m a warmonger and now they’re saying I’m a dove.’’ Instead, Trump offered, he is ‘‘a man with common sense.’’
Echoing the types of comments he’s made about North Korea, Trump said he hoped he could ‘‘make Iran great again’’ over time. ‘‘Iran right now is an economic mess,’’ he said.
Won't that conflict with Making Israel Great Again?
Separately, Trump last week ordered a cyber attack against Iranian targets, The Washington Post reported. The cyber strikes against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were carried out by US Cyber Command in coordination with US Central Command, the newspaper said.
The ground component of the now called off air raid.
On Sunday the United States, Britain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates released a joint statement of concern over Iran’s activities, including an attack this month on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman that’s been blamed on Tehran, and called for diplomatic solutions to deescalate tensions.....
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"Don’t underestimate Trump’s foreign policy" by Niall Ferguson June 24, 2019
No journalist I know takes seriously Jared Kushner’s Middle East peace initiative, the first part of which will be unveiled at a conference in Bahrain next week. “Dead before arrival” is the conventional wisdom, but I take a contrarian view.
When you reflect on the changes in the region since his father-in-law’s inauguration, two things leap out at you. The first is that Israel is no longer beleaguered, surrounded by foes. It has become part of an American-led Arab-Israeli coalition against Iran. The second is that the Palestinians, whose status as victims was once so useful to both Arab nationalists and Islamists, have been marginalized.
Yes, the Palestinians have been marginalized and no one cares, while Israel can no longer play the victimhood card.
Previous peace initiatives put the big constitutional and territorial questions first. Big, but insoluble. Kushner’s goal is to begin with the small matter of money, which in reality is not so small. Large-scale investment in the West Bank and Gaza, funded in part by the oil-rich Gulf states, stands a chance of weaning at least some Palestinians away from Hamas. The lesson of the Arab revolutions was that there is a constituency of small-business owners who are as sick of the rackets run by terrorists as they are of the extortions of corrupt governments.
The unforeseen hitch has been the failure of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to form a new coalition.....
The rest of the article can best be summed up in a single world: shrinkage.
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A regime change operation could really sink his reelection prospects, and never underestimate the opponent:
"President Trump said Sunday that he’d prefer to run for reelection against Joe Biden, suggesting that the former vice president won’t be the ‘‘great candidate’’ Hillary Clinton was in 2016. Trump told NBC’s ‘‘Meet the Press’’ that Clinton was ‘‘very smart. She was very tough. She was ruthless and vicious.’’ Asked if he’d rather face Clinton again, the president said, ‘‘I would actually rather run against Biden’’ because ‘‘Sleepy Joe. He’s sleepy. She was not sleepy.’’ That’s a nickname the president has attempted to hang on Biden for weeks, and Trump has also previously suggested that he’d prefer to face the former vice president in next year’s election. He told reporters before flying to Iowa earlier this month that Biden is ‘‘the weakest mentally and I like running against people that are weak mentally.’’ Biden leads early polls in the crowded field of Democrats seeking their party’s presidential nomination. He has largely shrugged off Trump’s insults so far....."
Be careful what you wish for because the Democrats wanted Reagan in 1980, and God forbid Clinton is encouraged by what he said.
As for the campaign coverage:
"Major media coverage of a presidential campaign breaks down into four parts: the preprimary season, the primary season, the summer conventions, and the general election season (including the debates and the expensive election night broadcast). What happens every four years, without fail, is that major media organizations blow through their preprimary budgets. In the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, they have already begun eating into the budget for primary coverage. By the time the Iowa caucus results are reported and the campaign caravan decamps to New Hampshire, the CFOs of the various news organizations (and their parent companies) are apoplectic, muttering darkly about “wild overspending.” Word quickly comes down from on high: It has to stop, and stop it does. After New Hampshire, the coverage of many candidates becomes the coverage of two (maybe three, but probably not). Costs are cut by relying on affiliates and local news outlets to provide video and text from “the campaign trail,” which is then stitched together by producers and editors in New York. The real campaign plays out in Manhattan and Washington television studios. Because of budget concerns, the pressure to anoint a winner increases as the early March Super Tuesday primaries near. We saw this in 2016. Hillary Clinton was declared the winner long before she actually won the nomination. This time, California will be deemed decisive. Whoever wins there, it will be said, wins the nomination....."
The op-ed was penned by a former Globe columnist, and yes, he is the cousin of the Bushes who was instrumental in stealing the 2000 election for W.
Why would the Globe conceal that?
Related:
"The avowed white supremacist who plowed his car into counterdemonstrators opposing a white nationalist rally in Virginia two years ago, killing one person and injuring dozens, has asked a judge for mercy and a sentence shorter than life in prison....."
His lawyers say it is because of his age, a traumatic childhood, and a history of mental illness, which is why prosecutors countered that he is an avowed anti-Semite and Adolf Hitler admirer.
Member of armed border group charged with impersonation
He was impersonating a US officer or employee.
Buttigieg to seek outside probes of police shooting
Former congressman kicks off presidential campaign
Speaking of campaigns:
"Front-runner to be UK prime minister is under scrutiny amid private-life turmoil" by Lucy Meakin and Kitty Donaldson Bloomberg News, June 23, 2019
LONDON — Boris Johnson faced fresh pressure in his bid to become UK prime minister amid calls for him to answer questions about a spat with his partner that brought the police to his London home and signs he may be losing some public support.
Johnson needs to show that his is willing to answer difficult questions, rival Jeremy Hunt said in a Sky News interview Sunday, a day after the pair made their opening appeals to grass-roots Conservative Party members at a hustings, or political roadshow, that focused attention on the front-runner’s character. Hunt’s comments were echoed by Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary and a Hunt supporter.
‘‘It’s always easier to just give an explanation,’’ Fox told the BBC’s “Andrew Marr Show.” ‘‘The key thing is then how you get on to the issues. What we can’t have is the distraction from explanations about wider policy.’’
However, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss, who backs Johnson, told the BBC’s Radio 5 Live that the public is more concerned about his track record than his private matters.
The two candidates are crisscrossing Britain seeking to become party leader before a Tory membership ballot in July that’ll point the way to Prime Minister Theresa May’s replacement.
While Johnson drew cheers Saturday as he dodged questions about the domestic incident, polling Sunday found that, among the general public, Hunt has now overtaken his rival. Among those who identified as Conservative supporters, Johnson’s lead had decreased since Thursday, one poll said.
They are going to rig the election so that a pro-E.U. politician assumes office!
Police were called to the home Johnson shares with Carrie Symonds early Friday, hours after his confirmation as front-runner in the race to succeed May, who is also Tory party leader. On Saturday, he arrived to whoops and cheers from supporters in the hall at Birmingham. The host, journalist Iain Dale, soon asked him about the incident. When Johnson dodged and then said he wouldn’t discuss the matter, some Tory activists in the audience booed the host.
Johnson, who opened the event saying he’s ‘‘the right man to unleash’’ on European Union negotiators, sought to steer the discussion back to the United Kingdom’s exit from the bloc.
Hunt, the UK foreign secretary, presented himself as a safer choice to negotiate Brexit.
‘‘If we send the wrong person, catastrophe awaits,’’ he told the audience. ‘‘If we send the wrong person, there will be no negotiation, no trust, possibly no deal, and maybe no Brexit if Parliament stops it.’’
The latest polls weren’t all positive for Hunt.....
Yeah, 61 percent of the party still intend to vote for Johnson.
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Trying to paint Johnson as a wimp while Hunt eats his supper.
Time to abort the attempt:
"UK court says mentally disabled woman must have abortion" by Yonette Joseph New York Times,June 23, 2019, 6:12 p.m.
LONDON — A British court has ordered an abortion for a mentally disabled woman against her and her mother’s wishes, with the judge calling the decision “heartbreaking” but in the best interests of the woman, who is 22 weeks pregnant.
The unidentified woman, who lives in London, is in her 20s and has the mental capacity of a 6- to 9-year-old child, according to evidence presented Friday at the court in London. The circumstances of the pregnancy were unclear, the court was told, and a police investigation was underway, according to news reports.
The decision was first revealed by the Press Association and other British news outlets, including The Catholic News Agency. The woman and her family were not identified, and neither her family nor her lawyers could be reached for comment, but a spokesman for the court confirmed public details of the case by e-mail Sunday.
The British charity Life, which says its mission is to create a society that “has the utmost respect for all human life from fertilization,” said in a Facebook post that the decision was “truly horrendous.” Commentators on the site described it as “terrible” and “devastating.”
“That is wrong on every level; doesn’t mean baby will have learning difficulties,” another person wrote on the Facebook page of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.
A spokeswoman for the British group Abortion Rights, which she said campaigned “to keep options open for the many women who willingly choose to end their pregnancies,” described the case in a telephone call on Sunday as “really sad and complex.”
The group’s chairwoman, Kerry Abel, said in an e-mailed statement: “As heartbreaking as this case is, it is opportunistic for anti-choice organizations to use it to attack a woman’s right to choose. One in three women will have an abortion in the U.K. for many, many individual reasons, and we shouldn’t undermine free, safe, legal abortion based on one difficult case.”
What does this have to do with safe and legal abortions when the relevant parties don't want it?
They are being forced to, which is a complete flip from the Handmaid's Tale narrative that has been pushed on us.
The woman was under the care of a National Health Service trust, which sought the court’s permission for doctors to perform the abortion, the court was told. The council that employs the social worker had also asked for a decision.
In the name of eugenics, no doubt.
Both the woman and her mother, identified by news reports as a former midwife from Nigeria, are against terminating the pregnancy, with the older woman offering to care for the child, according to the court and news media reports. The woman’s lawyers and a social worker also objected to terminating the pregnancy.
It was not immediately clear whether the woman and her lawyers had the option of appealing the decision.
That is where my print pre$$ stopped the operation.
Under Britain’s 1967 Abortion Act, abortions can be performed up to the 24th week of pregnancy. A section of the abortion act allows the termination of a pregnancy if there is a significant risk of the baby’s being born seriously disabled. Otherwise, abortions must take place during the first six months of pregnancy.
The Disability Rights Commission denounced that portion of the act in 2001, calling it discriminatory and “offensive to many people.”
According to the latest statistics from Britain’s Department of Health and Social Care, there were 200,608 abortions by residents in England and Wales last year, a 4 percent rise compared with 2017, the highest number on record. (The figure rose to 205,295 when nonresidents were counted.)
Last year, the British government announced that women in England would for the first time be legally allowed to take an abortion pill at home to terminate pregnancies, following in the footsteps of Scotland and Wales.
The judge in the Court of Protection said she made her decision based on consideration of the abortion law, the 2005 Mental Capacity Act, and evidence presented at the hearing. There was no evidence in this case that the woman’s fetus is impaired, but the court was told that the woman had been given a diagnosis of a “moderately severe” learning disorder and a mood disorder.
The jurist said that though she was aware that the woman wanted to keep the baby, she was not sure the woman had any sense of what having a baby “meant.”
“I think she would like to have a baby in the same way she would like to have a nice doll,” the judge was quoted by British news outlets as saying.
Either way, it's dead.
The judge noted the risks posed by the woman’s behavioral and psychological problems, and suggested that the grandmother, who vowed to care for the child, might have to leave the mother and the home at some point.
She also said she thought the woman would suffer more if the baby was brought to term and taken away to foster care or for adoption than if pregnancy was terminated.
The woman “would suffer greater trauma from having a baby removed,” the judge said, adding, “It would at that stage be a real baby.”
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{@@##$$%%^^&&}
"Southeast Asian leaders on Sunday pressed their call for self-restraint in the disputed South China Sea and renewed their alarm over the US-China trade war, with one leader warning it may spiral out of control. The long-raging territorial conflicts and the protracted dispute between the two global economic powerhouses are high on the agenda in the final of two days of meetings of leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It’s an annual summit steeped in diplomacy, protocol, and cultural color in the Thai capital. Facing regional predicaments such as the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar, the leaders took the stage and clasped their hands together in a trademark ASEAN handshake to project unity. Founded in 1967 in Bangkok in the Cold War era, the diverse 10-nation bloc lumps together an absolute monarchy and constitutional monarchies, along with socialist republics and fledgling democracies. This year’s host, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, opened the summit with a call for regional unity and a push for the bloc to conclude a massive free trade pact with China and five other Asia-Pacific nations to cushion any impact from America’s trade conflicts with China. ‘‘The winds of protectionism that are battering the multilateral system remind us that we must hang on ever stronger to one another,’’ Prayuth said. Officials from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam will be at the G-20 summit later this month in Japan, where Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet, and express the region’s concerns....."
That is when the printed Globe got up and walked out.
"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told other leaders on Saturday that the trade conflict between Washington and Beijing ‘‘is creating uncertainty. It is taking a toll on global growth and it could hinder the ongoing processes of economic integration.’’ ‘‘The US and China must both take the high road and resolve their differences before the situation spirals out of control,’’ the usually blunt Duterte said. In their public communiques, the leaders have avoided naming the United States and China or specific nations embroiled in controversial issues in a show of their conservative protocols. The leaders, however, could raise thorny issues in a closed-door and informal session. Duterte has said he would raise the territorial conflicts in the South China Sea following the June 9 ramming of an anchored Philippine boat by a larger Chinese fishing vessel in the disputed Reed Bank. The incident sparked an outcry and condemnations in the Philippines after the Chinese crew sailed away while the fishing boat sank at night. Its Filipino crew was rescued by a Vietnamese vessel. Known for his close ties with China, Duterte has backed Beijing’s initial assertion that the collision was accidental. He mocked calls for him to immediately take drastic actions and agreed to a joint investigation with China, which critics have opposed.
No wonder Trump likes him.
In a statement outlining their regional policies, the leaders on Sunday renewed their call for countries involved in the territorial spats to ‘‘exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities and avoid actions that may further complicate the situation, and pursue the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law.’’ Four ASEAN states — the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei — along with Taiwan and China are locked in disputes over the strategic waterway. ASEAN has been in talks with China to negotiate a nonaggression pact called the ‘‘code of conduct’’ to prevent major armed clashes in the offshore region, which has long been regarded as a potential Asian flashpoint. Southeast Asian diplomats have said that the first of three rounds of talks on the proposed pact was expected to be completed this year. The more difficult aspects, including whether the pact should be legally binding and cover the entire disputed region, have been relegated to the final rounds so as not to stall the talks early on. While China has praised the negotiations as a show of Asian nations’ ability to manage their conflicts peacefully, critics doubt if such a code of behavior can make a difference given Beijing’s increasingly aggressive assertion of its claims in the strategic waters. They cite China’s construction of islands on seven disputed reefs in recent years despite it being a party to a 2002 nonbinding regional agreement discouraging such actions. China initially claimed some of the islands would serve as storm shelters for fishermen but Beijing instead installed defensive missile systems there and its naval forces shoo away and warn ships and aircraft that stray near. Stepping back from the heavy issues, Prayuth told a news conference after the summit that ASEAN leaders backed the desire of the region, where football is popular, to submit a joint bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2034....."
Related:
North Korea says Kim received ‘excellent’ letter from Trump
That was two days after President Xi Jinping of China wrapped up a visit to the North.
At least 18 dead as building collapses in Cambodian city
The collapse early Saturday of the seven-story building highlighted the danger of unregulated construction as the city has been transformed by a flood of Chinese investment, but the deaths are not considered suspicious.
This is:
"Ethiopia’s military chief was shot to death by his bodyguard amid a failed coup attempt against a regional government north of the capital, Addis Ababa, the prime minister said Sunday. The abortive coup Saturday in the Amhara region was led by a high-ranking military officer and others in the armed forces, said Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who addressed the nation on state TV at 2 a.m. while wearing fatigues....."
"Addis Ababa was peaceful on Sunday as soldiers stood guard in Meskel Square and set up roadblocks throughout the city. Ethiopia’s Internet appeared to be shut down. The attempted coup was the latest challenge to Abiy, who was elected last year. The 42-year-old Abiy has captured the imagination of many with his political and economic reforms, including the surprise acceptance of a peace agreement with Eritrea, the opening of major state-owned sectors to private investment, and the release of thousands of prisoners, including opposition figures once sentenced to death. Last June, a grenade meant for Abiy wounded many people at a big rally. Nine police officials were arrested, state media reported. In October, rebellious soldiers protested over pay and invaded Abiy’s office, but the prime minister was able to defuse the situation. Ethiopia is a key regional ally of the United States in the restive Horn of Africa region. Tibor Nagy, US assistant secretary of state for Africa, said the latest violence was a ‘‘shock, but it could have turned out so much worse,’’ adding: ‘‘Thankfully Prime Minister Abiy escaped this attempt, because there are many, many more people in Ethiopia who support his reforms than those who are opposed to them.’’ Speaking in South Africa, Nagy said ‘‘there are vestiges of the old regime’’ who are opposed to Abiy. ‘‘I wish I could say that this is will be the last of these attempts, but no one can be certain,’’ Nagy said. In Addis Ababa, politicians and government officials went to the home of the slain army chief to offer condolences to his family....."
Oh, the games people play:
"Encore Boston Harbor casino opens its doors" by Joshua Miller and Mark Arsenault Globe Staff, June 23, 2019
EVERETT — Greater Boston entered the casino era on Sunday with bursts of fireworks and a crush of patrons trading hundred-dollar bills for chips at the roulette wheel, eyeing their cards at the Texas hold ’em poker table, and pushing cash into whirring, glowing slot machines.
Encore Boston Harbor, the $2.6 billion hotel and casino on the Mystic River, is now open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Sunday’s grand opening marked a new chapter for a region founded, in part, by John Winthrop, who warned in 1630 against being seduced by “our pleasures and proffitts” — a place once known for banning objectionable novels and plays and where less than 40 years ago most stores could not open on Sundays.
Just after 10 a.m. Sunday, company executives and employees cut the ribbon for Encore and let loose a colorful blast of fireworks, while Frank Sinatra crooned through the loudspeakers.
Thousands of patrons streamed past the flower-encrusted carousel in the lobby to the 210,000-square-foot casino.
Others made a beeline for the 15 restaurants and lounges, slurping local oysters at the oyster bar, sipping cocktails at the Mystique Asian Restaurant & Lounge, and attacking crab legs at the buffet.....
They were also handing out free smoothies.
--more--"
I was told the patrons ‘don’t feel like they’re in Everett’ because “Boston is entering into a new era right now, one of being recognized as a global city.”
Related:
Bo$ton Globe's Island
Sunday Globe Reboot
Also see:
Eldorado Resorts is said to be buying Caesars in $18b deal
Women’s World Cup watch party being held at City Hall Plaza
At least that is free.
Massachusetts couple among seven victims killed in New Hampshire crash
A memorial for them is in the works.
Flying Wallendas safely cross Times Square on high wire
Hawaii crash claims 9 men, 2 women, most in their late 20s
It was a sky-diving plane that crashed.
"A third body has been found in the rubble of a burned-out mobile home in California, bringing to five the number of dead in a shooting and fire that began during an argument at a pitch-and-putt golf course, authorities said....."
There had been a longstanding feud between the two men and the shooter that boiled over Friday at the golf course, and a victim with life-threatening injuries was found dead in Rhode Island.
Council president pitches plan to overhaul BPS
Related:
"Boston’s approximately three dozen public high schools offer more than 1,900 courses, but the school system lacks a routine process for evaluating their rigor, resulting in courses with the same titles having wildly different syllabi, content, and quality, according to an internal School Department review. That holds true even for classes that the school system has identified as aligning with a set of courses prescribed by the state that aim to ensure college readiness. Consequently, the uneven quality creates confusion over whether transcripts and grade point averages accurately reflect what students should know, the review found....."
Adelaide M. Cromwell, BU scholar of Boston’s black upper class, dies at 99
Also see:
Healey, blasting oil barge industry, looks to protect Mass. tugboat escort law
A version of the boat that carried the Pilgrims from the Mayflower to the shore is getting a makeover
Tracking great white sharks off Cape Cod could help protect beachgoers
Check out these photos of ‘Jaws’ being filmed on Martha’s Vineyard that a resident recently fished out of his basement
How is the water out there?
Meanwhile, there was a birthday party out at Camp Hale with a roundtable of ‘Saturday Night Live’ women and actress Geena Davis as guests before they all headed over to Gillette Stadium for the concert.
