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Prime minister says Russian president’s gender a contributory factor to Ukraine invasion Boris Johnson has claimed that Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if he was a woman and believes that the war is a “perfect example of toxic masculinity”. In an interview with German media following the G7 summit in Schloss Elmau, the prime minister cited the Russian president’s gender as a contributory factor to the conflict. Johnson told broadcaster ZDF: “If Putin was a woman, which he obviously isn’t, if he were, I really don’t think he would have embarked on a crazy, macho war of invasion and violence in the way that he has. “If you want a perfect example of toxic masculinity, it’s what he is doing in Ukraine.” (more) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/29/boris-johnson-claims-putin-would-not-have-invaded-ukraine-if-he-was-a-woman

Sweden and Finland formally invited to join NATO as alliance tells Russia to withdraw from Ukraine 'immediately' NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg NATO has promised to "defend every inch" of its territory as it revealed a major overhaul of its strategy, with a "deterrence and defence posture" based on a mix of "nuclear, conventional and missile defence capabilities" NATO has confirmed that Sweden and Finland will be formally invited to join the military alliance as it announced a "new strategic concept". It also warned Russia that it must "immediately" withdraw from Ukraine, condemning the conflict in the "strongest possible terms". It added that Moscow's invasion of its neighbour "gravely undermines international security and stability" - and is a "blatant violation of international law". "Ukraine can count on us for as long as it takes," Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. (more) https://news.sky.com/story/nato-vows-to-defend-every-inch-of-its-territory-as-it-overhauls-strategy-and-warns-russia-to-withdraw-from-ukraine-12642490

1/6 Takeaways: Angry Trump, dire legal warnings and ketchup A former White House aide testified that Donald Trump knew there were weapons in the rally crowd and tried to pry the steering wheel from his limousine driver so he could join his supporters The House Jan. 6 committee held a surprise hearing Tuesday delivering alarming new testimony about Donald Trump's angry, defiant and vulgar actions as he ignored repeated warnings against summoning the mob to the Capitol and then refused to intervene to stop the deadly violence as rioters laid siege. Witness Cassidy Hutchinson, a lesser-known former White House aide, refused to join those in Trump's circle staying silent and provided first-hand knowledge of what she saw and heard in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, a proximity to power that gives stunning new details in the panel's year-long investigation. With calm, detailed recollections, Hutchinson testified that a defiant Trump was told there were guns and other weapons in the rally crowd at the White House, but sent his supporters to the Capitol anyway and even sought to physically pry the steering wheel from his presidential motorcade driver so he could join them. (more) https://www.startribune.com/1-6-takeaways-angry-trump-dire-legal-warnings-and-ketchup/600186032/

Aide: Trump dismissed Jan. 6 threats, wanted to join crowd She depicted a president flailing in anger and prone to violent outbursts WASHINGTON — Donald Trump rebuffed his own security's warnings about armed protesters in the Jan. 6 rally crowd and made desperate attempts to join his supporters as they marched to the Capitol, according to dramatic new testimony before the House committee investigating the 2021 insurrection. Cassidy Hutchinson, a little-known former White House aide, described an angry, defiant president who was trying that day to let armed protesters avoid security screenings at a rally that morning to protest his 2020 election defeat and who later grabbed at the steering wheel of the presidential SUV when the Secret Service refused to let him go to the Capitol. And when the events at the Capitol spiraled toward violence, with the crowd chanting to "Hang Mike Pence," she testified Tuesday that Trump declined to intervene. Trump "doesn't think they're doing anything wrong," Hutchinson recalled hearing from her boss, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. (more) https://www.startribune.com/aide-trump-dismissed-jan-6-threats-wanted-to-join-crowd/600185838/

A series of off-topic, diversionary posts focusing on the Russian invasion of Ukraine have been removed.

'Real, real bad': Former top Trump White House aide testifies about Jan. 6 lead up Hutchinson’s testimony represents the committee’s strongest evidence yet about whether Trump intended to incite an insurrection WASHINGTON — Four days before Jan. 6, Rudy Giuliani said then-President Donald Trump planned to go to the Capitol with his supporters, Cassidy Hutchinson, a senior Trump White House aide, told the House Jan. 6 committee at a hearing Tuesday. Giuliani, the former New York Mayor and Trump confidant, had just left a meeting with then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. As Hutchinson walked Giuliani out of the White House, he asked if she was excited about Jan. 6, Hutchinson testified. “We’re going to the Capitol,” Hutchinson testified that Giuliani said. And then referring to Trump, he said, “The president is going to be there. He's going to look powerful.” Hutchinson said she relayed the discussion to Meadows. "Things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6th," Hutchinson testified that Meadows told her in response. (more) https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/jan-6-panel-looks-trump-white-house-cassidy-hutchinson-testimony-rcna35550

Cassidy Hutchinson, aide to former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee began a hastily called hearing into the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by then-President Donald Trump's supporters, summoning a former White House aide to testify and promising new evidence. The House of Representatives committee, investigating the first attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in U.S. history, was set to take testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Mark Meadows, then Trump's chief of staff. Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said new evidence was being presented on Tuesday "dealing with what was going on in the White House on Jan. 6 and the days prior" to the riot at the Capitol. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-capitol-riot-panel-promises-new-evidence-surprise-tuesday-hearing-2022-06-28/

Berlin (CNN) A 101-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard has been sentenced to five years in prison by a German court for aiding and abetting the murder of 3,518 people during the Holocaust. The man had been charged in 2021 with "knowingly and willfully" aiding and abetting the killing of prisoners at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienburg, north of Berlin, from January 1942 to February 1945, according to the prosecutor's office in Neuruppin, in the northeastern state of Brandenburg. He was sentenced by the Neuruppin Regional Court on Tuesday, court spokeswoman Iris le Claire told CNN. (more) https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/28/europe/nazi-holocaust-camp-guard-sentencing-intl/index.html

The Metropolitan Police has been placed in special measures after being hit by a series of scandals. The HM Inspectorate of Police announced it had decided to place the force under “additional scrutiny and support” after it was criticised for events including the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer and the strip search of a school girl in Hackney. In a statement, HM Inspectorate of Police said: “We can confirm that we are now monitoring the Met Police Service through our engagement process which provides additional scrutiny and support to help it make improvements.” Asked if this meant special measures, a spokesman said: “Yes.” (more) https://uk.news.yahoo.com/met-police-placed-special-measures-160219038.html

AG Garland: States can't ban FDA-approved abortion pills on safety grounds Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Friday, in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, that states cannot ban mifepristone, a medication that is used to bring about an abortion, based on disagreement with the federal government on its safety and efficacy. ... Already, almost half of U.S. states have banned or tightly restricted abortion pills — two medicines named mifepristone and misoprostol — and more could soon follow suit, Axios' Oriana Gonzalez, Ashley Gold and Jacque Schrag report. ... "And we stand ready to work with other arms of the federal government that seek to use their lawful authorities to protect and preserve access to reproductive care," [Garland] added. "In particular, the FDA has approved the use of the medication Mifepristone. States may not ban Mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA’s expert judgment about its safety and efficacy." (more) https://www.axios.com/2022/06/24/merrick-garland-fda-abortion-pills-state-bans

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland More abortion pills are expected to be ordered online and delivered through the mail after Friday's Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Driving the news: Abortion care through telemedicine is expected to increase, but with Roe overturned, the prescribed drugs that terminate pregnancies are likely to become the next major point of contention between abortion rights activists and opponents of abortion rights, Axios’ Jacob Knutson reports. The pills used to terminate a pregnancy — mifepristone and misoprostol — are FDA-approved for use in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy and are frequently prescribed online and mailed to patients. Lawmakers in at least 20 states have proposed restrictions or bans on the pills, per Pew's Stateline. (more) https://www.axios.com/2022/06/24/abortion-pills-order-online-roe-wade-decision

COVID vaccines reduced the potential global death toll during the pandemic by almost two-thirds in their first year, saving an estimated 19.8 million lives, according to a mathematical modeling study yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. An additional 600,000 lives could have been spared if a World Health Organization (WHO) goal of vaccinating 40% of the population of every country by the end of 2021 had been met, the authors of the study say. To estimate the impact of vaccination worldwide, researchers from Imperial College London used a proven model of COVID-19 spread using country-level data for official COVID deaths that occurred from Dec 8, 2020—when vaccines were first rolled out—to Dec 8, 2021. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/06/covid-19-vaccines-saved-estimated-20-million-lives-1-year

U.S. to announce purchase of medium- to long-range surface-to-air missile defense system for Ukraine (CNN) The US plans to announce as soon as this week that it has purchased an advanced, medium-to-long range surface-to-air missile defense system for Ukraine, a source familiar with the announcement tells CNN. President Joe Biden, who is currently meeting with G7 leaders in Germany for a summit primarily focused on Ukraine, announced recently that the US would provide Ukraine with "more advanced rocket systems and munitions" as its war with Russia grinds on. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is slated to virtually address Biden and other G7 leaders on Monday. In response to requests by Ukrainian forces, other military assistance is also likely to be announced this week, including additional artillery ammunition and counter-battery radars. Ukrainian officials have asked for the missile defense system, known as a NASAMS system, given the weapons can hit targets more than 100 miles away, though the Ukrainian forces will likely need to be trained on the systems, a source said. The NASMAS system the same one that protects Washington, DC, and the area around the nation's capital. (more) https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/26/politics/us-missile-defense-system-ukraine-coming-announcement/index.html

(CNN) White House officials are losing confidence that Ukraine will ever be able to take back all of the land it has lost to Russia over the past four months of war, US officials told CNN, even with the heavier and more sophisticated weaponry the US and its allies plan to send. Advisers to President Joe Biden have begun debating internally how and whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should shift his definition of a Ukrainian "victory" -- adjusting for the possibility that his country has shrunk irreversibly. US officials emphasized to CNN that this more pessimistic assessment does not mean the US plans to pressure Ukraine into making any formal territorial concessions to Russia in order to end the war. There is also hope that Ukrainian forces will be able to take back significant chunks of territory in a likely counteroffensive later this year. A congressional aide familiar with the deliberations told CNN that a smaller Ukrainian state is not inevitable. (more) https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/28/politics/white-house-ukraine-projection/index.html

MADRID — Vladimir Putin will dominate this week’s NATO summit from afar, as the alliance aims to rally together — and take steps to admit new members — in response to the Russian president’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. But another leader, one who will be in attendance in Madrid, will also demand outsized attention as the largest remaining roadblock to a historic NATO expansion that would nearly double the Western alliance’s border with Russia. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has steadfastly balked at a NATO plan to fast-track the admission of Finland and Sweden. The two strategically important northern European nations have pushed for admittance into the alliance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ... But in recent days, there have been growing signs that Turkey may be willing to deal in order to sign off on the nations’ accession, which requires the approval of all 30 NATO members. (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/there-s-a-strongman-holding-nato-hostage-and-it-s-not-putin/ar-AAYXjhW

Forty-six people were found dead and 16 others were taken to hospitals Monday after a tractor-trailer containing suspected migrants was found abandoned in a remote area of San Antonio, officials said, the latest tragedy claiming the lives of people attempting to cross the U.S. border from Mexico in recent decades. According to San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, a city worker heard a cry for help from the truck shortly before 6 p.m. Monday and discovered the gruesome scene. Hours later, body bags lay spread on the ground near the trailer as a grim symbol of the calamity. 16 people found inside the truck are being treated at a hospital, Fire Department Chief Charles Hood said, including 12 adults and four children, who he referred to as teenagers and young adults. None of those who died were children, Hood said. (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/nothing-short-of-a-horrific-human-tragedy-46-dead-16-hospitalized-after-abandoned-trailer-found-in-texas-officials-say/ar-AAYWnEx

Scotland's first minister has proposed 19 October 2023 as the date for another referendum on independence. Nicola Sturgeon said the question would be the same as in the last referendum in 2014: "Should Scotland be an independent country?". Ms Sturgeon said had written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask for formal consent for the vote to be held. She said she would press on with her plan if this was not granted by the UK government. (more) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-61968607

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The former Vice President and others are vowing to outlaw abortion across the country With the demise of Roe v Wade in a decision announced Friday morning by the US Supreme Court, Republicans like former Vice President Mike Pence have their sights set on another target: a national abortion ban. On Twitter, Mr Pence celebrated that the court had returned “the question of abortion to the states and to the people” and called on anti-abortion activists to continue working across the country to ban abortion in every state. “Now that Roe v. Wade has been consigned to the ash heap of history, a new arena in the cause of life has emerged and it is incumbent on all who cherish the sanctity of life to resolve that we will take the defense of the unborn... and support for women in crisis pregnancies to every state Capitol in America,” he wrote, before adding: “Having been given this second chance for Life, we must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land.” (more) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mike-pence-national-abortion-ban-b2108974.html

AOC recalls thanking God she had the choice to get an abortion when she took a pregnancy test after being raped Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday shared a personal sexual-assault story during an abortion-rights rally, saying she felt grateful she had the freedom to obtain an abortion if she needed one in that moment. "I myself, when I was about 22 or 23 years old, was raped while I was living here in New York City," she told a crowd in New York's City Union Square Park. "I was completely alone. I felt completely alone. In fact, I felt so alone that I had to take a pregnancy test in a public bathroom in midtown Manhattan." "When I sat there waiting for what the result would be, all I could think was thank God I have, at least, a choice," she continued. "Thank God I could, at least, have the freedom to choose my destiny." (more) https://www.businessinsider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-recalls-thanking-god-abortion-rape-2022-6

June 26 (UPI) -- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday said that members of the Supreme Court who misled Congress about their intentions to overturn Roe vs. Wade should face consequences including possible impeachment. Appearing on NBC News' Meet the Press, Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., cited comments from Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, that "several Supreme Court Justices misled them" about their stance on Roe vs. Wade during their confirmation hearings and the lead-up to their confirmation. ... "What makes it particularly dangerous is that it sends a blaring signal to all future nominees that they can now lie to duly elected members of the United States Senate in order to secure Supreme Court confirmations and seats on the Supreme Court," she continued. (more) https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/06/26/Ocasio-Cortez-SCOUTS-justices-consequences-misleading-Roe-testimony/6071656260529/

The expanding battle over abortion set off by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is moving to state courts and legislatures, with a Florida judge scheduled Monday to hear a challenge under state law to a ban taking effect this week and California lawmakers preparing to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to protect reproductive rights. In Florida, health care providers have asked a judge to temporarily block the state’s new ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a law signed this spring by Gov. Ron DeSantis and set to take effect Friday. The plaintiffs argue that the law violates the state constitution’s protection for individual privacy rights which, in previous rulings by the state Supreme Court, has been interpreted to include the right to abortion. ... In California, lawmakers are expected as soon as Monday to put a state constitutional amendment on the ballot that would explicitly protect reproductive rights. If approved, it would go before state voters in November for approval. (more) https://news.yahoo.com/florida-california-beyond-both-sides-115918012.html

Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of a former football coach for a high school in western Washington who lost his job after praying on the 50-yard-line after games. The court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines that the free exercise and free speech clauses of the First Amendment protect an individual engaging in religious expression. Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the opinion for the majority in the case, known as Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. "The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike," Gorsuch wrote. The dispute involving Joseph Kennedy, the former Bremerton High School assistant football coach, stood at the intersection of the First Amendment's establishment clause and the free speech and free exercise clauses, as lawyers for Kennedy argued the school district's punishment for his religious expression violated his constitutional rights. (more) https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/supreme-court-joe-kennedy-high-school-football-coach-school-prayer-case/

EAST LONDON, South Africa, June 27 (Reuters) - South African mourners expressed anger and despair on Monday at the death of 21 teenagers in a tavern over the weekend, as investigating authorities said the youths were probably accidentally poisoned by something they ate, drank or smoked. The still unexplained deaths of the teens, some of whom were celebrating the end of school exams and others a birthday party, have brought an outpouring of grief and shocked a nation accustomed to injuries linked to a binge drinking culture. Authorities ruled out an earlier-touted notion of a stampede. Residents of Scenery Park, on the edge of East London, said they had asked authorities to close Enyobeni Tavern down weeks ago because it was serving under-aged kids. The tavern's licence was revoked on Monday. (more) https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/safrica-says-21-teens-likely-killed-by-something-they-drank-ate-or-smoked-2022-06-27/

Ministers can no longer exploit “a well of goodwill which has totally run dry” to run the NHS, a British Medical Association leader will say, as he demands the Government reverse “brutal” pre-pandemic cuts to health services. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, in his final speech in the role, will warn the UK had 50,000 fewer doctors in England than the average among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) members, which include France, Germany, Canada and Japan, and said the Government “needs to wake up, open its eyes and realise that we can’t afford to lose a single doctor if patients aren’t to suffer more”. His comments come as experts warn the UK is fighting a fifth wave of Covid as infections soar, with fears that large summer events could see cases rise even higher. (more) https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/covid-news-–-live-nhs-goodwill-running-dry-as-experts-warn-of-fifth-wave/ar-AAYUzeV