Biden’s mission in Europe: Shore up alliance against Russia
President Joe Biden is aiming to sustain the global alliance punishing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as he embarks on a five-day trip to Europe. His trip comes as the 4-month-old war shows no sign of abating and its aftershocks to global food and energy supplies are only deepening. Biden first joins a meeting of the Group of Seven leading economic powers in the Bavarian Alps of Germany before traveling to Madrid for a NATO summit. The global coalition bolstering Ukraine and punishing Russia for its aggression has showed signs of fraying amid skyrocketing inflation in food and energy prices caused by the conflict.
How the House Jan. 6 panel has redefined the Congressional hearing
The typical congressional hearing features a pileup of long-winded statements — what some might consider bloviating. There are harsh partisan exchanges that can obscure the substance at hand. But the congressional hearing has been utterly, if perhaps temporarily, redefined over the past month by the House select committee investigating former President Donald Trump’s efforts to hold onto power. The five sessions the panel has produced so far resemble a tightly scripted television series. “For the first time since Trump became president, there is a clarity of message and a clear story that is being told,” said Michael Weisman, a longtime network and cable television producer and executive.
Agents are blocked from using discretion in deportation arrests
A Biden administration policy that prioritized the arrest of unauthorized immigrants who are considered a threat to public safety and national security has been suspended as of Saturday, rendering millions of people vulnerable to deportation. A federal judge in Texas had ruled the prioritization policy illegal on June 10, a ruling that took effect late Friday. The removal of the guidelines is likely to renew some of the fears that plagued immigrant communities during Donald Trump’s presidency, when nearly anyone without legal residence was subject to arrest, though the Biden administration has pledged to take a measured approach to enforcement even without a prioritization policy.
Pfizer says tweaked COVID-19 shots boost omicron protection
Pfizer says tweaking its COVID-19 vaccine to better target the omicron variant is safe and boosts protection. Saturday’s announcement comes just days before regulators debate whether to offer Americans updated booster shots this fall. The current COVID-19 vaccines still offer strong protection against hospitalization and death. But protection against infection has dropped markedly with the omicron variant, and now its even more transmissible relatives are spreading. Pfizer says either an omicron-targeted booster or a combination shot that mixes the original vaccine with omicron protection substantially increases protection. Rival Moderna hopes to offer a similar combination shot.
‘Mitt Romney Republican’ is now a potent GOP primary attack
Mitt Romney isn’t up for reelection this year, but his name is surfacing in Republican primaries throughout the nation. Candidates are using the label “Mitt Romney Republican” to frame opponents as insufficiently conservative and enemies of the Trump-era GOP. Candidates have employed the concept in attack ads and talking points in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In Romney’s home state Utah, Republican challengers taking on incumbent congressmen are using the attack, even though Romney won overwhelmingly only four years ago. The fact that Romney remains potent attack fodder reflects his singular position in politics and ongoing divisions within the Republican Party.
Norway mass shooting is being investigated as terrorism, police say
A 10-day Pride festival in Norway was cut short Saturday after an early-morning shooting left two people dead and at least 10 others seriously wounded in downtown Oslo. Police are investigating the attack as an act of terrorism. But the motive of the gunman, who the police said was detained within minutes, was still unclear Saturday afternoon, according to a lawyer for the Oslo police. Police were also investigating the attack as a hate crime because it occurred outside London Pub, a center of gay nightlife in Oslo. The man they detained, police said, was a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen originally from Iran and had a record of minor crimes.
More than 20 migrants die in effort to enter Spanish enclave in Africa
Moroccan officials said Saturday that at least 23 migrants had died and scores more had been injured after what authorities described as a stampede during an attempted mass crossing into the Spanish enclave of Melilla, in North Africa. But human rights organizations accused security forces of using indiscriminate force at the crossing and have called for an investigation. In a video that was shared by the Moroccan Association of Human Rights, dozens of bodies and injured men can be seen piled on top of one another along the border fence, surrounded by Moroccan security officers in riot gear.
French government says it supports enshrining abortion access in nation’s constitution
The French government expressed support Saturday for a bill enshrining the right to abortion in the nation’s constitution in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — a ruling that prompted broad condemnation in the country. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said President Emmanuel Macron’s government would “strongly support” such a bill. “For all women, for human rights, we must set this achievement in stone,” she wrote on Twitter. Abortion has been legal in France since 1975, and a law passed this year pushed the deadline to get one from the 12th to the 14th week of pregnancy. Abortions are covered by France’s social security system.
Pope hails families, blasts ‘culture of waste’ after Roe
Pope Francis is urging families to shun “selfish” decisions that are indifferent to life as he closed out a big Vatican family rally a day after the U.S. Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for abortion. Francis didn’t refer to the ruling or explicitly mention abortion in his homily Saturday. But he used the buzzwords he has throughout his papacy about the need to defend families and condemn the “culture of waste” that he believes is behind the societal acceptance of abortion.Francis has strongly upheld church teaching opposing abortion, equating it to “hiring a hitman to solve a problem.” At the same time, he has expressed sympathy for women who have had abortions and has made it easier for them to be absolved of the sin of abortion.