Mexican president bizarrely mocks Biden by playing pop song ‘Ooh So Scared’ at press conference

Graeme Massie and María Luisa Arredondo
Wed, July 20, 2022 


(AFP via Getty Images)

The president of Mexico bizarrely mocked Joe Biden this week by getting staff to play a song entitled “Ooo, so scared” during a press conference after the US demanded trade dispute talks over the country’s energy policies.

The move, which could lead to US tariffs against Mexico, was laughed off by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who played the song “Uy, qué miedo” by Tabasco singer Chico Che.

"They are going [to give us a call] so that we can explain the energy policy of our country. Let’s see if you can find my countryman Chico Che, the one with "Uy, qué miedo" [song]... we have to keep going, there is still time," said the country’s populist president during the conference.

The incident took place after the Biden administration requested dispute settlement talks with Mexico under the T-MEC for policies that it considers harmful to US companies in the energy sector and that favor the CFE (Federal Electricity Commission) and PEMEX (Petróleos Mexicanos).

In making the announcement, the United States trade representative, Katherine Tai, pointed out that the Mexican government has implemented changes in its energy policies that are contrary to the T-MEC because "they affect the economic interests of the United States in multiple sectors and discourage the investment of clean energy providers and companies that seek to buy clean energy and confiable".

Ms Tai specified that Mexico’s actions include amendments to the electricity law that give priority to the distribution of energy generated by the CFE, over renewable energy sources such as wind and solar provided by the private sector. The official added that the Mexican government has also delayed, denied and even revoked the capacities of US companies to operate in the energy sector in Mexico.

Ms Tai stressed in a statement that if attempts to resolve the dispute are unsuccessful, the Biden administration could implement punitive tariffs for Mexico.

López Obrador stated that the request for dispute resolution stems from “disagreement promoted by some businessmen,” whom he described as being more conservative and to the right than former President Donald Trump.

"Now there is a disagreement promoted by some businessmen, more than anything from our country, more than from the United States and Canadians about our energy policy. Yesterday it was formally announced that a review is going to be requested, a clarification about our policy in energy matters because it supposedly affects the treaty we have with Canada and the United States,” he added.

"They are already talking about that now yes, as if celebrating that we are sanctioned for our energy policy, well, they are more conservative, they are more to the right, although it seems incredible, I am referring to this group, Iberdrola is also there and others, that Trump himself, although it seems incredible," he said.

AMLO recalled that when the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada was negotiated, the government of his predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto, agreed to one of the chapters to a policy that he claims is "in violation of our sovereignty in energy matters.”

"And since we were observers, I was the president elect, I said that we did not accept it and that it would not be approved in the Senate if that chapter was sustained. The talks stopped for about a week, 10 days, pressure of all kinds from the Mexican government because they had already accepted,” continued López Obrador.

"[The person in charge of] Economy, in the previous administration, and other public servants, with this whole group and we said no. President Peña spoke to me like twice, very worried that the negotiations were going to come to a halt, and that we were heading towards great devaluation and a serious crisis. Well no, we cannot do this; how are we going to compromise our sovereignty?”

Obrador went on to say that talks ultimately broke down because no one “wanted to inform President Trump of what was happening.”

“They decided to inform him, (...) and President Trump said ‘see what they want in Mexico’ and we wrote the chapter and there were two paragraphs that have to do with the nation’s dominance over our energy policy," he explained.

China just put foreign banks on notice: Creating an internal Communist Party committee could be the cost of doing business


Geovien So—SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Yvonne Lau
Thu, July 21, 2022

One of the world’s biggest banks, and Europe’s second-largest lender, is showing that it’s playing by China’s rules.

London-headquartered HSBC has become the first international bank to establish a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) committee, according to a new Financial Times report. China’s companies law requires firms to set up CCP committees, but this rule has been loosely enforced among global financial institutions—until now.

HSBC’s move could pave the path for other global lenders to follow suit, and underscores the delicate line that China-based foreign banks are now toeing between Beijing and the West.

The first, but probably not the last

HSBC’s China investment bank, known as HSBC Qianhai Securities, recently formed the CCP committee, as per the FT report that cited two people familiar with the decision.

In China, company employees can initiate CCP committees, which are typically made up of three or more staff. The committees have two functions: to act as a workers’ union, and to facilitate installing a party representative to a company’s top ranks.

HSBC is unlikely to offer its CCP committee any management role in the company, unlike China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which are mandated to appoint a party secretary to serve as board chairman. SOEs must also establish CCP committees to facilitate party activities and advance government policies.

Following the report, HSBC released a statement noting that CCP committees are “common” in mainland China-based companies. “Management has no role in establishing such groups” and these committees exert zero influence on the direction of the business, nor hold any formal role in the business’s day-to-day operations, it added. The bank did not confirm whether its China investment bank had set up the committee. HSBC did not respond to a Fortune request for comment.

HSBC’s actions could pave the way for other foreign lenders in China to do the same. In the last two years, global lenders have begun taking full ownership of their mainland operations, leading them to explore whether they must abide by the law to initiate a CCP committee, according to the FT. “There was an internal email that said we might need to do something, but for the time being…it’s not yet compulsory,” the Asia head of one global bank told the publication.

In 2020, China scrapped foreign ownership limits for financial institutions. Previously, foreign financial firms were only allowed to hold a 51% stake in their Chinese joint ventures (JV). HSBC increased its stake in its China brokerage JV to 90% from 51% in April. Six other global lenders control their investment banking operations in the mainland, including U.S. banks Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley, alongside European lenders UBS, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank.

HSBC is on the “right side” in setting up the CCP committee, a person with knowledge of its decision told the FT. “You don’t second-guess the authorities in China. Any American bank who isn’t doing the same is playing a dangerous game.”

East vs. West

Though headquartered in London, HSBC’s focus is largely on Asia. The region, especially China and Hong Kong, accounts for the majority of the bank’s profits.

Last year, the British lender shifted the heart of its operations to Asia, when it moved four senior executives leading its commercial banking, personal banking, and asset management divisions, from London to Hong Kong. These departments account for nearly all of the bank’s revenues.

Asia-Pacific is “central to [our] future growth, investment, and innovation. I want more of our global executive team to be located in key growth regions,” including China, Southeast Asia, and India, HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said at the time.

Yet as HSBC doubles down on its Asia strategy—it’s investing an additional $6 billion in the region until 2026—it has become increasingly ensnared in the geopolitical crossfire between China and the West.

In the last couple of years, HSBC has weathered a barrage of criticism from U.S. and U.K. lawmakers over its public support for Beijing’s enactment of the national security law in Hong Kong—a response to the city’s mass pro-democracy protests that began in 2019. HSBC said at the time that it “respect[s] and support[s] laws and regulations that will enable Hong Kong to recover and rebuild the economy.” Western policymakers accuse HSBC of freezing the accounts of Hong Kong activists and have asked the bank to justify its actions—and whether it did so at the behest of Hong Kong or Beijing.

This May, China’s largest insurer, state-run Ping An—HSBC’s biggest shareholder—called for the bank to be split into “east” and “west” units. Ping An’s suggestion highlighted HSBC’s vulnerability at being caught between Beijing and Washington. One source close to HSBC told the FT that such a move could allow HSBC more breathing room by creating a “China-friendly bank in Asia, and a U.S.-friendly bank everywhere else.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

Germany Bails Out Uniper in Fallout From Russian Gas Squeeze


Vanessa Dezem, Arne Delfs and Kati Pohjanpalo
Fri, July 22, 2022 

(Bloomberg) -- Germany hammered out a rescue package for Uniper SE to prevent the collapse of a linchpin in the country’s energy network in the wake of Russia’s moves to slash gas supplies.

The government will get about 30% in Uniper, a holding big enough to give it veto rights on important strategic decisions, Uniper said in a statement on Friday. Fortum Oyj, Uniper’s main shareholder, will retain a majority.

The package includes an expanded credit line of 9 billion euros ($9.1 billion) from state-owned lender KfW and mandatory convertible securities of 7.7 billion. The total package is worth more than four times the company’s current market value.

Uniper became the first major corporate casualty of Europe’s unfolding gas crisis when it asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s administration for a bailout earlier this month. Germany’s biggest buyer of Russian gas was pushed to the brink as President Vladimir Putin squeezed supplies in retaliation over European sanctions against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Before I go into this specific case and its consequences, I would like to speak about the principles we are following in the face of this challenge for our country, for Europe and for the whole world: You will never walk alone,” Scholz told reporters on Friday. “We will overcome the difficult times together.”

The Dusseldorf-based company’s shares climbed as much as 11% after the deal was announced. The stock has still tumbled more than 70% this year, valuing the company at about 4 billion euros. Main owner Fortum gained as much as 13% after trading in Helsinki resumed, the most since 2008.

The German government will introduce a mechanism for all gas importers to pass through the replacement costs for missing Russian gas as of Oct. 1, meaning Uniper will be allowed to pass on higher energy costs to consumers.

Fortum agreed to see its stake diluted to 56% from about 80% as part of the bailout plan. The Finland-based company will now have the option to convert its existing 4 billion-euro loan made to Uniper against a portion of maximum 70% of the mandatory convertible instruments subscribed by the German state, ensuring its ability to retain its position as the majority shareholder, it said in a statement.

Uniper -- setup in 2016 from the former fossil-fuel assets of E.ON SE -- emerged as the weakest link in the energy system that powers Europe’s largest economy. Its extensive contracts with state-owned Gazprom PJSC made the German energy company vulnerable to supply cuts and forced it to cover shortfalls at high prices on the spot market.

As it burned through cash, Uniper had already drawn a 2 billion-euro credit line from KfW and started talks about additional funds after getting 8 billion euros in financing earlier this year from Fortum.

Germany couldn’t afford to let Uniper fail as the fallout would ripple through the economy, hitting industrial companies and local utilities served by Uniper. While flows on a key gas link with Russia have resumed after 10-day maintenance, deliveries remain significantly reduced and storage levels are low.

On Thursday, Germany raised its targets for gas storage, reflecting growing concern about having enough energy to heat homes and keep factories running through the winter. The move increases the likelihood that the government will intervene in managing reserves.

Germany’s gas storage hasn’t increased since Tuesday and currently stands at about 65%. To reach the 95% level targeted for Nov. 1, the country would need nearly three months at the average fill rates in the week before the Nord Stream pipeline was halted.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck has warned that Russia’s gas squeeze posed the risk of Lehman Brothers-like contagion with Uniper’s failure potentially spilling over to the wider economy. The International Monetary fund estimated that the country is at risk of losing almost 5% of economic output if Russia shuts off gas supplies.

EU lawmaker calls for ban on payment for order flow

 

A key EU lawmaker is set to back calls for a formal ban on brokers selling customers’ share trades to market intermediaries, adding to momentum in favour of clamping down on the practice.

Danuta Hübner, a senior lawmaker in the European Parliament, said in a draft statement seen by the Financial Times that the concerns around the practice known as payment for order flow are “symptomatic of a broader issue” of national EU regulators interpreting rules differently.

In her note she said “the rapporteur maintains the initial proposal” of the European Commission, which is to ban the practice.

The draft highlights the growing resistance in Europe to payment for order flow even before it has become popular in the region. US brokerages earn billions of dollars a year on the process, collecting a record $3.8bn during last year’s retail trading boom. Payment for order flow is also lucrative for high-speed trading firms that profit on the difference in their own purchase price for a share and the price at which they pass it on to clients.

Brokers say the practice helps them keep fees low — many in the US offer free trading — and market makers are also obliged to provide clients the best price available on the broader market. But critics worry about potential conflicts of interest because brokers may be incentivised to sell their customers’ orders to the highest bidding wholesaler.

Hübner called on more transparency in the EU around the way in which best execution for retail orders is defined, on top of a ban, adding that this would lead to “a harmonised approach to best execution, more transparency and a level playing field across Europe, to the benefits of end-investors”.

Payment for order flow is not legally banned in Europe but rules on inducement to clients and requirements to find the best price means it is often tough to implement in practice.

Hübner’s position represents a blow to Germany, where some regional exchanges often only have a single market maker and a single broker.

However, many other countries in Europe have been pushing hard for a formal ban. Regulators in the Netherlands and Spain have both conducted in-depth studies that found investors got a worse price if their orders were sold to intermediaries before trading on an exchange.

Hübner’s report also recommended scrapping the limit on the amount of business that can be executed in dark pools — off-exchange venues that fund managers use to buy and sell large blocks of shares without disturbing the price on the market.

Hübner’s finding said the caps, brought into force with the 2018 Mifid II rules, were “set arbitrarily and had limited utility”. It would also bring it into line with the UK, which had committed to ending the policy.

Germany has told fellow EU capitals that it opposes a general ban on payment for forwarding client orders for execution in part because it fears it would damage retail investor participation in the markets. However diplomats say a majority of member states are in favour of a ban.

“Payment for order flow really does nothing to make the financial markets work better, it just maximises profits for brokers,” said one EU diplomat. “An EU-wide ban of payment for order flow services is key to increasing transparency and decreasing costs for regular people trying to invest some of their hard-earned savings.”

“Germany is not convinced of the commission’s proposal of a general ban on payment for order flow,” said a spokesperson for the country’s finance ministry, describing the measure as being premature and lacking empirical justification. 

The spokesperson added that it would not “sufficiently take into account the existing regulatory framework on best execution” and that it would “lead to a serious setback of the currently observed increased participation of retail investors in financial markets and hamper cross border competition between brokers and trading platforms.”

Wildfire near Yosemite National Park explodes in size

Sat, July 23, 2022

WAWONA, Calif. (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire near Yosemite National Park exploded in size Saturday and prompted evacuations even as firefighters made progress against an earlier blaze that burned to the edge of a grove of giant sequoias.

The Oak Fire, which began Friday afternoon southwest of the park near Midpines in Mariposa County, grew to 10.2 square miles (26.5 square kilometers) by Saturday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

“Explosive fire behavior is challenging firefighters,” Cal Fire said in a statement Saturday morning that described the fire activity as “extreme with frequent runs, spot fires and group torching.”

As of Saturday morning, the fire had destroyed 10 residential and commercial structures and damaged five more, the Mercury News reported. The fast-growing blaze prompted Caltrans to order numerous road closures, including a shutdown of Highway 140 between Carstens Road and Allred Road — blocking one of the main routes into Yosemite National Park.


Hot weather and bone dry vegetation caused by the worst drought in decades was fueling the blaze and challenging fire crews, said Daniel Patterson, a spokesman for the Sierra National Forest.

“The fire is moving quickly. This fire was throwing embers out in front of itself for up to 2 miles yesterday,” Patterson said. “These are exceptional fire conditions."

About 1,700 residents in the area were put under mandatory evacuation orders Friday night.

A shoeless older man attempting the flee crashed his sedan into a ditch in a closed area and was helped by firefighters. He was safely driven from the area and did not appear to suffer any injuries. Several other residents stayed in their homes Friday night as the fire continued to burn nearby.

There’s no immediate word on what sparked the fire.

Meanwhile, firefighters have made significant progress against a wildfire that began in Yosemite National Park and burned into the Sierra National Forest.

The Washburn Fire was 79% contained Friday after burning about 7.5 square miles (19.4 square kilometers) of forest.

The fire broke out July 7 and forced the closure of the southern entrance to Yosemite and evacuation of the community of Wawona as it burned on the edge of Mariposa Grove, home to hundreds of giant sequoias, the world's largest trees by volume.

Wawona Road is tentatively set to reopen on Saturday, according to the park website.

California Highway Patrol Officer Matthew Chance walks away from a car that crashed into a ditch while driving away from the Oak Fire in Mariposa County, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022. Chance gave the elderly driver a ride out of the fire evacuation zone. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M;LOANSHARKS
Discover Financial Plunges After Suspending Buybacks on Student-Loan Probe

Jenny Surane
Thu, July 21, 2022 


(Bloomberg) -- Discover Financial Services dropped the most in more than two years after the company suspended share repurchases, saying it started an internal investigation into compliance practices at the student-loan servicing business.

The board appointed an independent special committee to conduct the probe, Discover said in a statement late Wednesday. Chief Executive Officer Roger Hochschild said executives at the firm took the probe into account when they developed guidance for expenses for this year, and the company continues to expect costs to climb by a percentage in the mid-single digits.

“We can’t really give you anything to expect in timing,” Hochschild said on a call with analysts Thursday, noting the decision to pause buybacks was made by Discover. “As soon as we can, we hope to restart the buyback.”

Discover dropped 7.3% to $101.82 at 9:42 a.m. in New York, after falling 9.1% earlier Thursday, the biggest intraday decline since June 2020. The shares are down 12% this year compared with a 16% drop for the S&P 500 Financials Index.

The company has faced regulatory scrutiny of its student-loan business for years. In 2015, it agreed to a consent order with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau linked to certain private student-loan servicing practices, and five years later it entered into an order resolving a CFPB investigation tied to the 2015 order. With the latest order, Discover was required to implement a compliance plan as well as shell out $35 million in penalties and redress for consumers.

“The only thing I can say is you’ve got both the consent orders and the investigation are in the areas of student-loan servicing,” Hochschild told analysts. “But beyond that, there really isn’t anything else I can add at this time.”

The probe overshadowed an otherwise rosy quarter, Sanjay Sakhrani, an analyst at Keefe Bruyette & Woods, said in a note to clients. Revenue for the quarter was $3.22 billion, topping the $3.19 billion average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg, aided by a 14% increase in net interest income.

“The solid results likely take a bit of a back seat,” Sakhrani said. “Clearly, we need to get more details on the size and scope of any inappropriate practices and the associated financial ramifications.”

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

As Snap melts down, its founders make sure to protect the people who matter: themselves

Therese Poletti - Yesterday

MARKETWATCH FIRST TAKE

Snap Inc. has never been an investor-friendly company — as long as those investors weren’t its founders, at least — and the parent company of the Snapchat app made that even clearer Thursday.

Related video: Snap's Sales Slump Prompts Social Media Stock Sellof

View on Watch

Amid a major slowdown in its digital advertising business, Snap’s board created a unique (as in we’ve never seen anything like this before) dividend meant to ensure that its founders maintain control of the company, even if they decide to sell their stock. The dividend would be in the form of a 2-for-1 stock split, offering every investor a fresh Class A share for every share they currently own, but it will only occur if shares hit $40 within the next 10 years.

Full earnings coverage: Snap stock plunges 25% as advertising slows down, executives decline to offer forecast

That would seem like an easy target to hit, considering Snap was trading for $40 a share as recently as January. But Snap’s stock has been under enormous pressure since late last year, when Snap blamed changes Apple Inc. had made to the iPhone’s ad tracking, and advertisers hurt by supply-chain woes, for a big disruption in its advertising revenue.

Since that October warning, when Snap’s shares were trading in the vicinity of $75, shares have fallen around 78%. The stock was tumbling sharply again in after-hours trading on Thursday, to around $12, after yet another troubling earnings report in which Snap’s founders couldn’t find it in themselves to even offer a financial forecast.

Since its inception, Snap has been built to please its founders, Chief Executive Evan Spiegel and Chief Technology Officer Bobby Murphy. When it went public in 2017, it offered only nonvoting shares, known as Class A shares, an at-the-time unheard-of move that hasn’t been copied in a major IPO since, and gave Spiegel a “CEO bonus” that amounted to 3% of a company of which he already owned a healthy percentage. The result is that Spiegel and Murphy own a whopping 99.5% voting control of the company.

From 2017: Snap IPO boils down to one question: do you really trust Evan Spiegel?

While other companies that have planned stock splits of late, such as Amazon.com Inc. and Tesla Inc. have pronounced that their moves were meant to help their employees better handle their stock compensation, Snap showed its hand by blatantly stating in a letter Thursday that the move was specifically for their founders’ benefit. It is a way to let the founders continue to donate or sell stock without diluting their voting control and ownership stake — receiving one Class A shares for every supervoting share they currently own gives them a chance at liquidity.

While the two executives have been involved in a lot of philanthropy in recent years, the move seems self-serving. Are the co-founders just making sure they have an easier path to make donations, or are they fiddling while Snap burns?

Clearly, a $40 stock price is a not something Snap is going to see in the near future, so that is probably why no analyst posed a question about the dividend plan on the company’s conference call Thursday. The more immediate problem for investors is the company’s deteriorating ad business, and whether it is symptomatic of the economy or something more problematic at Snap itself.

Snap’s top leaders also should have been focused on Snap’s serious issues, such as the widening quarterly loss and lower-than-expected revenue, or the fact that the company is still unprofitable and doesn’t seem headed toward profitability. Instead, they made sure to protect themselves.

If investors had forgotten how founder-focused Snap is, they got a big reminder on Thursday. And whether those founders are worth it or not, investors have no say in the matter.

ANTI ABORTION FETUS FETISHIST FANTASYLAND
GOP Candidate: Hypothetical 14-Year-Old Incest Victim Is 'Perfect Example' For Abortion Ban

Daniel Marans
Wed, July 20, 2022 at 3:35 PM·4 min read

Tudor Dixon, a leading Republican candidate for governor of Michigan, confirmed in a recent interview that her opposition to abortion rights extends even to a minor who is raped by a family member.

On an episode of Charlie LeDuff’s talk show, “The No BS Newshour,” that aired Friday, LeDuff pressed Dixon, a conservative commentator and former steel industry executive, on whether her support for a strict abortion ban would apply to the most extreme cases.

By way of example, LeDuff proposed the hypothetical case of a 14-year-old girl who becomes pregnant after her uncle rapes her.

“Yeah, perfect example,” Dixon interjected.

“You’re saying carry that?” LeDuff asked, finishing his question.

Dixon replied that she would expect that girl to carry the baby to term and that she only supports allowing an abortion when a mother’s life is in danger.

“I know people who are the product ― a life is a life for me. That’s how it is,” Dixon concluded.

The Michigan news outlet Heartland Signal first reported on the conversation on Wednesday morning, posting a video of the exchange that it pulled from the YouTube page of “The No BS Newshour.”

The Michigan Democratic Party immediately condemned Dixon’s remarks.

Dixon’s “callous remarks are the perfect example of how dangerous Tudor Dixon would be for Michigan families,” Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite said in a statement to the media.

Dixon’s support for an abortion ban that includes only an exception for cases when a mother’s life is danger is consistent with Michigan’s 1931 law banning abortion.

The Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, which made abortion a federal right, effectively overrode that old law.

But the high court’s June decision sending the issue of abortion rights back to the states would have triggered the 1931 ban had a Michigan judge not granted Planned Parenthood’s request for a temporary injunction blocking the law from taking effect on the grounds that it violates the state’s constitution.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), whom Dixon is challenging, has filed a second lawsuit challenging the restoration of the 1931 law in court.

Asked to clarify why Dixon thinks the case of a teenager who is raped is the “perfect example” of her belief that abortion should be illegal except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk, Dixon provided HuffPost a statement affirming her anti-abortion views and accusing Whitmer of holding extreme views in the opposite direction.

“Not everyone agrees with me that every life has value and we should have the courage, as [University of Michigan football coach] Jim Harbaugh put it, to let unborn children be born,” Dixon said in a statement. “I know that. I’m not hiding from it.”

“In contrast, Gretchen Whitmer won’t say if she has ANY limits on abortion because she supports abortion on demand for all, including minors (without their parents knowing),” Dixon added. “She just vetoed tens of millions of dollars to help pregnant women from the state budget. That is not pro-choice. It’s anti-Life. Big difference.”

Whitmer indeed employed a line-item veto last week to prevent public state funding from going to “crisis” pregnancy centers championed by abortion opponents. The pregnancy centers ― reviled by abortion rights advocates ― often pair counseling designed to discourage abortions with some basic resources that pregnant women seek.

The centers “purport to offer comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion, but don’t, preying on women at a vulnerable time in their lives,” Whitmer spokesperson Bobby Leddy told the Detroit Free Press.

In addition, if Whitmer succeeds in stopping the 1931 law from taking effect, the state will continue to have a number of abortion restrictions still on the books. Those restrictions include requiring a minor to obtain consent from a parent to receive an abortion, and a prohibition on abortions after the point of fetal viability.

Whitmer, who revealed during a 2013 abortion rights fight in the state legislature that she had survived a rape as a teenager, is running for reelection on a platform of strong support for abortion rights.

“Thanks to the work we’ve done together, abortion remains legal in Michigan,” she tweeted on Monday. “We’re fighting every damn day to keep it that way.”

A public poll last week showed Dixon holding a narrow lead over her rival Republicans for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. She had 19% support, compared with 15% for businessman Kevin Rinke and 13% for chiropractor Garrett Soldano.

The winner of the Republican primary on Aug. 2 will face Whitmer in the general election in November.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

PUTIN HAS DONE THIS TO JW'S & NGO'S

Israel aims to stop Russian move against Jewish nonprofit


Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid speaks during a cabinet meeting at the prime minster's office in Jerusalem, Sunday, July 17, 2022. 

(Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP) 

Thu, July 21, 2022

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister on Thursday said he would send a delegation to Moscow in hopes of halting a Russian order to shutter the operations of a major nonprofit organization that promotes Jewish immigration to Israel.

Yair Lapid’s decision came after a spokeswoman for a Moscow District Court was quoted as saying that Russia’s Justice Ministry aims to “shut down” the Russian branch of the Jewish Agency. A court hearing in the case is scheduled for July 28.

The Jewish Agency is a nonprofit that works closely with the Israeli government to bring Jewish immigrants from around the world to Israel. Under the country’s law of return, anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent is automatically eligible for Israeli citizenship.

The Jewish Agency has been active in Russia since 1989, according to the Interfax report. Well over 1 million immigrants have come to Israel from the former Soviet Union, and an estimated 150,000 Jews still live in Russia.

According to the agency, immigration has picked up since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, with 17,000 Russians taking Israeli citizenship and as many as 40,000 others coming to Israel and expected to apply. In comparison, some 7,700 Russian Jews immigrated to Israel last year.

Lapid’s office said the delegation heading to Russia would include representatives from his office, the Foreign Ministry and other government ministries.

“The Jewish community in Russia is deeply connected with Israel. Its importance arises in every diplomatic discussion with the Russian leadership,” Lapid said. “We will continue to act through diplomatic channels so that the Jewish Agency’s important activity will not cease.”

A Jewish Agency official said that Russia has accused the nonprofit of violating its privacy laws by collecting personal information of people who are interested in immigrating to Israel. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the pending court case, said it was not clear why Russia was cracking down on what he described as routine paperwork.

Russia and Israel have a close, if sometimes uneasy, relationship in Syria. Their two air forces maintain close communications to prevent clashes in Syrian skies — despite being on different sides of the civil war there. Russia has provided support to Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Israel often strikes what it says are enemy Iranian and Hezbollah targets aligned with Assad.

Lapid, who became Israel's interim prime minister this month after spending the past year as foreign minister, has been an outspoken critic of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Still, Israel has refrained from joining the United States and other Western countries in providing arms to Ukraine, apparently due to the sensitivities in Syria and concerns for the safety of Russia's Jewish community.

Lapid's predecessor, Naftali Bennett, was much more muted in his criticism of Russia and briefly attempted to serve as a mediator in the war.

ZIONIST ONLY STATE

Israel's Supreme Court rules 'disloyal' citizens can be stripped of status


Israel marks Independence Day, in Tel Aviv

Thu, July 21, 2022 

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the state can revoke the citizenship of people who carry out actions that constitute a breach of trust against the state, including terrorism, espionage or treason.

The ruling addressed a 2008 Citizenship Law in Israel that gives the state authority to revoke citizenship based on actions that constitute a "breach of loyalty".

It came following separate appeals in the cases of two Palestinian citizens of Israel who were convicted of carrying out attacks that killed Israeli citizens. The two were handed long sentences but the state sought to strip them of citizenship.

The Supreme Court denied the removal of citizenship in these two cases based on "serious procedural flaws" but ruled that the practice itself was constitutional, even if a person became stateless as a result. It said in such cases, the interior minister would have to grant permanent residency.

A joint statement in response to the ruling by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Adalah, an Arab rights group, called the law discriminatory and said it "will likely be used exclusively against Palestinian citizens of Israel".

"There are many cases of Jews in Israel who took part in terror and not even once has the interior ministry thought to appeal to revoke their citizenship," the ACRI's Oded Feller told Reuters. "The only cases that were submitted to the court were of Arab citizens."

While many countries have laws that allow revocation of citizenship, "leaving someone stateless, without any other citizenship, this is something else", Feller said, adding that the law can be applied whether a person was convicted or merely suspected of carrying out security-related offences.

In the court statement, the justices acknowledged that leaving a person stateless challenged international law standards, but the majority opinion was that "the difficulty in itself does not render the entire practice as unconstitutional".

Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's finance minister and head of far-right Yisrael Beitenu party, welcomed the ruling. "Finally, justice is served," he said in a tweet.

(Reporting by Henriette Chacar; Editing by Alison Williams)