Facing pressure, Biden to sign order on abortion access
President Joe Biden will take executive action on to protect access to abortion, according to three people familiar with the matter, as he faces mounting pressure from Democrats to be more forceful on the subject after the Supreme Court ended a constitutional right to the procedure two weeks ago. He is expected to formalize instructions to the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to push back on efforts to limit the ability of women to access federally approved abortion medication or to travel across state lines to access clinical abortion services. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Biden’s actions before they were officially announced.
Democrats propose raising taxes on some high earners to bolster Medicare
Senate Democrats will push to raise taxes on some high-earning Americans and steer the money to improving the solvency of Medicare, according to officials briefed on the plan, as they cobble together a modest version of President Joe Biden’s stalled tax and spending package. The proposal is projected to raise $203 billion over a decade by imposing an additional 3.8% tax on income earned from owning a piece of what is known as a pass-through business, such as a law firm. The money that would be generated is estimated to be enough to extend the solvency of the Medicare trust fund that pays for hospital care until 2031.
Biden trip promotes budding Arab-Israeli security ties
Once-unthinkable coordination between Israeli and Arab militaries is coming into greater focus as Joe Biden heads into his first Middle East trip as president. The budding Arab-Israeli security alliance is heightening debates over whether the U.S.-backed initiative between former enemies strengthens regional defenses against Iran or risks plunging the region into greater war. The Israeli-Arab security overtures have multiplied since the 2020 Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and four Arab League nations. Biden defends his meeting next week with Saudi rulers he had once shunned by saying he is going in part at Israel’s request.
Texas governor orders state police to return migrants to border
Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday ordered the Texas National Guard and the state police to begin apprehending migrants who illegally cross the border from Mexico and taking them back to ports of entry, a move that could put the state into direct conflict with the federal government over immigration. The order, which expanded the potential activity of Guard troops and state police personnel along the border, came amid mounting pressure on Abbott from conservatives and Republicans to take more drastic action to address the record number of arrivals from Mexico. Federal agents recorded 240,000 crossings in May, the majority of those in Texas, an official said, citing internal data.
IRS asks inspector general to review audits of Comey and McCabe
The IRS said Thursday that its commissioner, Charles Rettig, had asked the inspector general who oversees tax matters to investigate how James Comey, the former FBI director, and his deputy, Andrew McCabe — both perceived enemies of former President Donald Trump — came to be faced with rare, exhaustive audits that the agency says are supposed to be random. The disclosure from the IRS came a day after The New York Times reported that Comey and McCabe had been the subjects of audits that target just several thousand Americans a year and are highly invasive. In response to the story, Democrats also called for an inspector general’s investigation.
Killer of George Floyd sentenced to 21 years for violating civil rights
Derek Chauvin, the white Minneapolis police officer whose murder of George Floyd, a Black man, touched off protests around the world, was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison Thursday. Chauvin was sentenced for using excessive force under color of law against both Floyd, who died in the encounter, and a 14-year-old boy, also Black, who was injured in an unrelated, though similar, incident. With time already served deducted, Chauvin’s sentence amounts to just over 20 years. In the federal plea agreement, Chauvin acknowledged using excessive force against Floyd and, in a similar incident in 2017, a teenager named John Pope, whose mother reported that he had assaulted her.
Boris Johnson quits amid latest scandal
Bowing to intense pressure from his own party, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain said Thursday that he would step down, ending a stormy three-year tenure that was marked by a landslide election victory and a successful drive to pull Britain out of the European Union, but collapsed under the weight of relentless scandals. Johnson insisted even Wednesday night that he would fight to remain in power. But only hours later, he gave way, overwhelmed by a mutiny in his Cabinet, a wave of government resignations and a devastating loss of party support — all prompted by his handling of the latest scandal to engulf his leadership.
Glacier tragedy shows reach of Europe’s new heat
Days before a glacier in the Italian Dolomites broke off with the force of a collapsing skyscraper, crushing at least 10 hikers, Carlo Budel heard water running under the ice. Budel recalled that when he first scaled the glacier at the end of summer, not even a decade ago, he hardly needed ropes, there was so much snow. A year after Greece lost lives, livestock and entire swaths of forest to wildfires, and deadly floods swept through Germany, the calamity in the Dolomites this week provided the latest evidence that almost no part of the continent can escape the effects of Europe’s new, intense summer heat.
By wire sources
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