#and accidentally says it during one of the parliament meetings

[newstfionline]

Friday, January 22, 2021

Teenager’s Snow Cave Enters Canadian Survival Lore (NYT) In Canada, a country of rugged snow-covered mountains and frigidly cold weather, there have long been extraordinary tales of winter survival. There was the story of John Gow, who in 1969 survived a plane crash and five days in the mountains of British Columbia. There was the 2-year-old in Rouleau, Saskatchewan, who in late February 1994 was found frozen on her doorstep after five hours in minus 8 degree Fahrenheit weather, but miraculously lived. And now there is Robert Waldner, a 17-year-old chess-loving teenager who built an elaborate snow cave shelter in British Columbia last weekend after getting stranded on a mountain during a family outing. It is a feat of survival without the drama of a plane crash or frozen toddler but with a happy ending that has nevertheless captured Canadian imaginations. On social media, Canadians have praised the teenager’s studious pragmatism, with some suggesting he join the scouts or a search-and-rescue team. Robert said he hoped to be an emergency room nurse or a paramedic.

‘America is back’ (Reuters) Joe Biden got to work undoing Donald Trump’s policies hours after being sworn in, signing 15 executive actions and making his first moves on the pandemic, immigration and climate change. Further executive orders today will direct that disaster funds be used to reopen schools and will require people to wear masks on planes and buses. World leaders have welcomed Biden in a series of messages with a common tone: ‘The United States is back’, ‘America is back’, and ‘Today is a good day for democracy.’ Investors got their Biden bounce on, with world stocks racking up record highs on hopes of major U.S. stimulus to cushion the coronavirus’s economic damage.

Biden tells appointees ‘I will fire you on the spot’ for showing disrespect to colleagues (Yahoo News) President Biden issued a warning Wednesday to his appointees that a hostile workplace will not be allowed in his administration. Addressing approximately 1,000 political appointees during a virtual swearing-in ceremony on his first day in the White House, Biden said: “I’m not joking when I say this: If you ever work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I will fire you on the spot. No ifs, ands or buts.” “Without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury,” Biden said during his speech, adding, “Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war.” “Everybody is entitled to be treated with decency and dignity. That’s been missing in a big way the last four years,” Biden told the appointees he swore in.

Biden faces a more confident China after US chaos (AP) As a new U.S. president takes office, he faces a determined Chinese leadership that could be further emboldened by America’s troubles at home. The disarray in America, from the rampant COVID-19 pandemic to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, gives China’s ruling Communist Party a boost as it pursues its long-running quest for national “rejuvenation”—a bid to return the country to what it sees as its rightful place as a major nation. For Joe Biden, that could make one of his major foreign policy challenges even more difficult as he tries to manage an increasingly contentious relationship between the world’s rising power and its established one. The stakes are high for both countries and the rest of the world. A misstep could spark an accidental conflict in the Western Pacific, where China’s growing naval presence is bumping up against America’s. The trade war under President Donald Trump hurt workers and farmers in both countries, though some in Vietnam and elsewhere benefited as companies moved production outside China.

Republicans grapple with post-Trump future (AP) For the first time in more than a decade, Republicans are waking up to a Washington where Democrats control the White House and Congress, adjusting to an era of diminished power, deep uncertainty and internal feuding. The shift to minority status is always difficult, prompting debates over who is to blame for losing the last election. But the process is especially intense as Republicans confront profound questions about what the party stands for without Donald Trump in charge. The party now faces a decision about whether to keep moving in [the course Trump set], as many of Trump’s most loyal supporters demand, or chart a new course. Trump left office with a 34% approval rating, according to Gallup—the lowest of his presidency—but the overwhelming majority of Republicans, 82%, approved of his job performance. Even as some try to move on, Trump’s continued popularity with the GOP’s base ensures he will remain a political force.

Sell high (Foreign Policy) London’s financial district was discovered to be an unusual site for entrepreneurial agriculture after police found 826 marijuana plants growing in a building close to the Bank of England. London police said they were tipped off by the strong smell emanating from the building and blamed the reduced footfall during COVID-19 lockdowns for not finding it sooner. Speaking at an event on Wednesday, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey took the news in stride. “We are now going to be the subject of endless jokes about ‘now we know what the Bank of England has been on,’” he said.

Universities degree ‘not the only route to success’ (BBC) Education and training for young people in England after the age of 16 is to be overhauled to ensure employers get the skilled workforce they need. Ministers are setting out plans to improve vocational education, saying it is an “illusion” that degrees are the only route to success. They say funding will be targeted at training relevant to the labour market. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “These reforms are at the heart of our plans to build back better, ensuring all technical education and training is based on what employers want and need, whilst providing individuals with the training they need to get a well-paid and secure job.”

Greece-Turkey tensions (Foreign Policy) Greece’s parliament voted to extend its territorial waters in the Ionian sea by six nautical miles on Wednesday, following negotiations with Albania and Italy. The move comes as Turkey and Greece prepare to meet in Istanbul on Monday to discuss their competing claims in the Aegean Sea, a situation made more tense by Turkish survey vessels testing territorial boundaries in recent months.

Even in jail, Russia’s Navalny knows how to enrage his rival Putin (Washington Post) Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny wasted no time showing why the Kremlin finds him such a threat: From behind bars in a coronavirus isolation cell, he released a bombshell video accusing President Vladimir Putin of colossal corruption. The YouTube video—released Tuesday less than 48 hours after Navalny returned to Russia in a direct challenge to Putin and his security services—crossed all Putin’s red lines. Videos and social media—anchored by his network of 40 offices across Russia—remain the core of Navalny’s opposition power, pointing out alleged abuses and indulgences by Russia’s leaders under Putin. Navalny’s video published an architectural plan and drone footage of a gigantic palace near Gelendzhik on the Black Sea, including a cellar winery, an indoor ice rink and a casino. The video alleged it was built for Putin using a complex “slush fund.” It included a photo of teenager Elizaveta Krivonogikh, who it claimed was the secret daughter Putin fathered with a lover. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the video was “a con” and “pure nonsense,” denying that the palace was related to Putin, but he gave no details on who they say is the owner.

Twin suicide bombings rock central Baghdad, at least 28 dead (AP) Twin suicide bombings ripped through a busy market in the Iraqi capital Thursday, killing at least 28 people and wounding 73 others, officials said. The rare suicide bombing attack hit the Bab al-Sharqi commercial area in central Baghdad amid heightened political tensions over planned early elections and a severe economic crisis. No one immediately took responsibility for Thursday’s attack, but Iraq has seen assaults perpetrated by both the Islamic State group and militia groups in recent months.

[youzicha]

No word like 'pardon' for kings' mouths so meet

The politics of pardon in 14th century England

The pardon power in English law goes back to early Norman, or even Anglo-Saxon times. Public prosecutions are carried out in the name of the king, so logically the king can intercede at any point in a public prosecution (but not in a private suit). But from a constitutional perspective, the formal powers of the king become most interesting once there is a division of power which can realistically constrain his actions. In England, such conditions developed over the 13th century, when nobles (represented in the Parliament of England) started to rival the king. So when considering the scope and purpose of pardons in Britain and America today, the earliest relevant examples appear in the 14th century.

By the late 13th century, the pardon power had been partially formalized as yet another procedural epicycle. For example, the law as written did not distinguish between different degrees of culpability for manslaughter, and every killer would be sentenced to death, but if there was extenuating circumstances such as self-defense the justice would submit a pardon petition. Those who were rich enough to hire lawyers could also submit petitions on their own initiative, and so avoid a trial altogether. The pardons would be processed by the office of the Chancellor, and there was a de-facto standardized set of criteria (extenuating circumstances; repentance; abuse by the lower courts) by which they were decided. Although hundreds of pardons were granted each year, only a handful of them would be considered by the king personally.

Legal scholars considered pardons due to extenuating circumstances as not only permissible but even required, as a kind of due process right for the accused. Fleta (written in 1290) states that in cases of accidental or self-defense manslaughter “the king is bound, as of right, to pardon”, and laws called this “the king … giving grace by his oath”, referring the oath the king swore to obey and enforce the laws of the realm. The legal theory was one of equity, where justice for a given individual might require a different treatment than what was provided for by the law.

On the other hand, scholars were concerned about the discretionary nature of pardons. Henry de Bracton wrote that kings sometimes pardoned even premeditated murders, “in contravention of justice”, thereby reducing the deterrent effect. The 1278 Statute of Gloucester contained a provision attempting to circumscribe the pardon power by only allowing pardons for  mitigating circumstances, and only after a trial and conviction. There were substantially identical statues in 1309, 1311, 1328, 1330, 1334, and 1336—the king generally responded to each of them by promising to abide by this principle, but since Parliament kept returning to the issue he evidently did not.

In fact, the number of issued pardons increased steadily over the 14th century, and I think many of them can be traced to the precarious balance between king and Parliament. The king had no standing army, no ability to unilaterally impose taxes, and faced resistance to various other traditional powers, so a power that inhered in the king personally was all the more useful.

First, pardons could be a source of patronage favors. Clerks recorded if a particular person had “sponsored” a petition (this is the case for 12% of the 14th-century pardons in the archives), so the documents themselves show the social flows of requests and favors. The most frequent sponsors were the queens, which accords well with fairy-tale archetypes of stern masculine kings and merciful feminine queens (even during times when the queen was 7 years old and couldn’t actually have played an active role). But the next big group of sponsors is military commanders, who would requests pardons for their subordinates. During the 14th century, kings were trying to secure themselves from coups by establishing military forces under their direct control instead of relying on fickle barons. (Conversely, in 1353, 1390, and 1404, Parliament passed reforms to allow justices to invalidate pardons and fine sponsors who provided false information, ostensibly to protect the king from being deceived by corrupt advisors.)

Second, pardons were a source of propaganda. After the the Metropolitan Crisis of 1392, Richard II held a reconciliation pageant which among other things involved the king publicly pardoning a criminal. There was a tradition, attested both in contemporary literature and in fact, that kings would pardon condemned criminals that they met by chance. From at least the beginning of Richard II’s reign (1377-), the king took the initiative to pardon a handful of criminals to mark Good Friday each year, symbolically linking the king’s mercy with God’s.

The most spectacular propaganda event was Edward III’s General Pardon in 1377. He celebrated his 50th year on the throne by pardoning every criminal in England (with exceptions only for treason, rape, murder, and common theft). This was inspired by the Christian jubilees of 1300 and 1350, when the pope issued indulgences to all pilgrims to Rome, but Edward forgave legal rather than spiritual transgressions. The general pardon reasserted the authority of the king (he had been incapacitated by illness and unable to take part in politics, leaving parliament that much stronger), and noblemen could signal their realignment towards the throne by buying the “deluxe” version of the pardon document. Meanwhile the move was generally popular; the idea was first repeated by Richard II in 1398, and in the 15th century general pardons were issued so often that they were available almost continuously.

Third, in addition to demonstrating the king’s virtue of mercy, pardons added to the royal funds. During the general pardon a fee was charged for each pardon document (£0.82, a little under two months’ wages for a carpenter or mason---or £7.58 for the expensive version), and the initiative lead to about two thousand extra pardons being issued (for a total of 2641 pardons in the year 1377). This would be a noticeable sum, if still small compared to the money raised by taxation.

Another economic use of pardons was to raise armies. The king had to ask parliament to impose taxes, and they typically requested concessions in return, which made it difficult to finance wars. In 1294 this led to the military service pardon: anyone charged with a felony (either in prison or at large) could apply for a pardon in exchange for serving in the army overseas. Such offers was intermittently repeated in the 1300s in connection with military campaigns. The concept was unpopular, as evidenced by petitions to parliament complaining that the availability of military service pardons encouraged bandits to ignore the law.

Finally, the most overtly political pardons were for rebellions. When Edward III usurped the throne in 1327, one of his first acts was to issue a pardon to his allied noblemen for the crimes involved in the rebellion itself. On the other hand, the Peasant’s Rising of 1381 supposedly ended with the young Richard II riding out to talk to the rebels, promising to address their complaints and granting a general pardon for the rebellion, causing them to disperse. (Whether it was quite so bloodless is unclear; the chronicle accounts are not necessarily unbiased). And in 1387, when a group of nobles known as the Lords Appellant carried out a kind of coup that ousted Richard II’s close advisors, they forced him to grant them a pardon for their acts as a way of recognizing the new state of affairs.

The use of written pardons for post-rebellion reconciliation is a a 14th-century development; previously an oral reaffirmation of the fealty oath served the same purpose. Pardons were particularly suited because they allowed concessions to be made without acknowledging them as a departure from the normal rule of law. The rebels in the Peasant’s Rising approached the king under the fiction that they were bringing government misconduct to the attention of the king, as is the typical format of a pardoning petition, while the response closely followed the wording of previous pardons, as if to downplay the unprecedentedness of the situation. And in a more low-stakes game, the parliament frequently pressed the king into using pardons to excuse various forms of taxation or licensing requirements, letting him present a concession from a position of weakness as if it was a freely given gift.

The pardon power of the U.S. president is in the English legal tradition (e.g., the "except in cases of impeachment" clause in Article II ultimately comes from the constitutional crisis following the impeachment of Thomas Osborne in 1678). Interestingly, when Alexander Hamilton explains why pardons are necessary, his examples could be taken straight from the 14th century. First, he says pardons are needed for individual justice in cases when the written law is excessively cruel---so there is a line from Fleta to Chelsea Manning. Second, he considers insurrection or rebellion, “when a welltimed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquillity of the commonwealth”---so we can connect the Peasant's Rising to the Whiskey rebellion, the post-Civil War amnesty, maybe the Vietnam deserters. Hamilton does not mention pardons for bribes, patronage of military commanders, or as stunts on royal parades, but just give it some time.

Although the 14th century pardon power could be stretched from just individual justice to also encompass the political aims of the king, there were limits to its elasticity. Such a limit was reached in the final three years of Richard II’s reign (1397-99), in what is now known as “Richard II’s tyranny”.

This episode started in July 1397, when the king, who now felt more secure in power, sent out forces to arrest the three Lords Appellant who had rebelled against him: Gloucester (summarily executed) and Arundel and Warwick (later put to trial). Richard II then proceeded with a series of arrests of lesser lords who had supported the Appellant’s coup. In September he summoned the Parliament (surrounded, as a show of force, with two thousand of the king’s Cheshire archers), and one of his acts before it was to proclaim a pardon for the “congregating, rebelling, riding, committing depredations, imprisoning, killing and arson in the company of [the Lords Appellant]”. However, this time the intent of the proclamation was not mercy or reconciliation—because it also specified that 50 persons, names to be announced later, would be excluded from the pardon.

The proclamation was followed by a series of ominous summons of disloyal lords to appear before the king’s council. Apparently, the point of the proclamation was to force any sympathizers of the Lords Appellant to immediately declare themselves and throw themselves before the king’s mercy by petitioning for a pardon documents, and thereby let Richard know who his enemies were. The supplicants had to pay dearly: records talk about fines of hundreds of pounds, to be discretely put into a special bag instead of the normal exchequer procedures. Similarly, entire counties were “encouraged” to ask for pardon, and the men of Essex and Hertfordshire each paid more than £1000. The king’s mercy proved less permanent than in normal times, as several of the lords had to purchase their pardon letters more than once.

(The impermanence of pardons was also debated more publicly when Arundel and Warwick were tried before the Parliament in 1397, and Richard II revoked the pardons he had issued—under duress—in 1388. The winning move here was not to dispute the legality of retroactively revoking a pardon; Arundel did that and was executed. Warwick had the better strategy:

Once his hood had been removed and the appeal read, he foolishly, wretchedly and pusillanimously confessed to everything in the appeal, weeping and wailing and whining that he had indeed acted traitorously in all these matters, submitting himself to the king’s mercy in all things and bemoaning the fact that he had ever been associated with the appellants … so at length, since almost everybody there felt moved by his tears and was begging and pleading with the king to show mercy to him, the king granted him his life. [the monk of Evesham.]

Once again, the pardon makes clear who is the boss.)

The deposition charges against Richard II in 1399 talks about “unjust fines and exactions” and it seems plausible that this partly refers to his abuse of the pardon process for blackmail instead of justice. But, as has always been the case in our common-law system, there were no procedural limits to the pardon power. The eventual solution was to remove Richard II from office.

Caroline M Barron, The Tyranny of Richard II, 1968. W.F. Duker, The President’s Power to Pardon: A Constitutional History, 1977. Helen Lacey, The Royal Pardon: Access to Mercy in Fourteenth-Century England, 2009. (Most of the same material is also in her phd thesis.)

[focusas]

IHTBY :D

High school sucked. Or at least, that what most people though. Well… university can suck too…

Sokka was alone in unknown city. Away from all his friends from his small town. Big city life wasn’t his thing. So, he spent most of his time holed up in his dorm room playing online games when there weren’t lectures that he needed to attend. Also, while in his small town high school he was one of the best and smartest people, here he was below average in his skills and had to pay bigger attention and study more to keep up with everyone. That being said he had no social life! Sokka’s life would have totally sucked if not for one thing. His online game buddy was still by his side and that online game they played was sure way to deal with all things adult he was supposed to do now that had had to live on his own in unknown city.

Then one day Sokka had a crazy idea to know where his play buddy nicknamed Gilded fire was living. They never talked about any personal things until Sokka accidentally said something stupid like that. It has passed as if never happened and nothing has changed for several days until Gilded fire started to talk about it and then one thing followed another and they both learned that they are in same city then after some more chatting they both decided that it would be interesting to meet up. Gilded fire was reluctant to agree to such proposal and told him that she needs time to think things through. Entire week passed as if nothing has happened and Sokka almost forgot about his crazy proposal. Then when one day when he logged in into his favorite MMO he found a message from Gilded fire that told him that she accepts his proposal and that they should meet in one of many plaza’s the city has under the shadow of statue and that each of them would recognize each other they both should wear scarfs: blue for him, while she would be wearing a red one. Sokka was overjoyed by such news and replied that he accepts her idea and next day he was eagerly waiting for his friend in their defined place.

Sokka came to the place and walks around while looking for his online friend when a hand grabbed him and he came face to face with a girl, Azula. Sokka was a little bit scared because he knows her, it’s the student council president. Azula was the one that run things in the university and the rector. She was known to have icy dominating aura around herself that made everyone cover in fear and do anything to please her just to get away from her presence as fast as possible. She was also smart and beautiful and lots of brave students tried to get on her nice side because there could be lots of benefits if someone succeed to melt her icy heart, but she would reject every attempt in one way or another and sometimes when she felt that she don’t want to play she would reject the unlucky fools in such way that they would never rise from their ashes of shame and humiliation. Like all students, Sokka had to deal with her at one time or another, when he lost his student id and need to get new one. That time he had to endure long lecture on how stupid and irresponsible he was, before he was issued a new one.

“BoomerAwesome I presume?” Azula asks him while staring him right into the eyes.

“Hmm… yes.” Sokka gulps and after several seconds later after he notice red scarf, he asks his own question:

“Gilded fire?” but instead of answer he gets something else since Azula grabs his blue scarf and starts to drag him as an encouragement to follow her.

“This is not the place to talk. Too many people!” Azula answers him while still maintaining her grip on his scarf and dragging him beside her. Sokka manage to look around and note, that while the place is quite open if you don’t count the place, he was standing just several seconds earlier, there were only a few people walking or standing and enjoying nice weather. Maybe Azula was concerned about her reputation as student council president mingling with common people.

Several minutes later at the coffee shop at corner table in far edge away from prying eyes.

Sokka and Azula sit in silence and didn’t know what to do.

“Hmm… Sorry… I would like to apologize for my harsh behavior. I don’t know how to talk with people without instilling fear and domination.” Azula looks shy while looking at Sokka sitting on the opposite side of table.

“Hmm… its ok…” Sokka reply shyly. The gilded fire girl he knew from their online games was sweet girl that could deliver sick burns and sarcasm. He is surprised by such sudden Azula’s change of attitude because he knows that… She is known to be scary and dominating girl with icy persona.

“This is awkward…” Azula fidget with her fingers. “You turned way better than I expected…”

“I could say same. I was expecting some old dude and not stunning looking girl, knowing how everyone lie about who they are on the internet.” Sokka starts fidget with his fingers too.

“Believe me the feeling is mutual. After all what chances are that we not only live in same city, but also go to same university.” Azula sip her coffee slowly as a way to get over this awkward situation.

“Astronomically low.” Sokka can’t find any words to reply. “So, what will happen next?” He asks shyly.

“Why do you ask? This changes nothing! We can still play together… BUT never call me by my user name when we meet next time in uni or some other public place because no one can know that we know each other, OR I WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE HELL!” Azula look straight into Sokka’s soul and he could feel dreadful aura radiating from her that surrounded him and make him want to shrink in size and disappear, but his legs don’t listen him. Right that’s the dreaded Azula he knows so good.

“Ok…” Sokka reply after recovering from shock and ask her: “Are you ok?”

“Sorry. I will be fine if you don’t do anything stupid, but I am I intent to keep my promise if you do something stupid. Let’s keep real life and game separate that should be best for both of us.”

“Ok.” Sokka nods shyly. They sit in silence for several minutes and drink their coffee.

“Well … it was nice meeting you, Sokka, but I have to go now. Thanks for not turning into some ugly, creepy old man. Good bye.” Azula stand up after several seconds and leave.

“Good bye, Azula.” Sokka replies to her and leave the place after several second too.

o0o0o0o

Life goes on as usual. Sokka and Azula continue to play together like nothing has happened or until one day during their play session Azula says that she isn’t in the mood to play anymore and instead ask if he would like to meet up her in same coffee shop they previously met. Sokka is surprised by it, but accepts her offer.

“Hi… is everything ok?” Sokka welcomes Azula and sits nearby. He notices that Azula looks moody.

“I just wanted to get out of house.” Azula reply. They both order a cup of coffee and some cupcakes.

“I may not be good at this stuff, mostly because I spent most of my time in my dorm room playing games, but if there is something you want tell me …” Sokka looks at Azula and Azula looks at Sokka and then at her surroundings.

“There are too much people here.” Azula reply to Sokka after glancing around at her surroundings. The coffee shop looks extra busy today.

“So how do you like your new robe?” Sokka ask Azula after several minutes of silence to break some ice.

“It’s great. Just what I needed. Thanks for helping me to get it” Azula reply after finishing her coffee. “Let’s go somewhere else.” Azula state after several minutes of odd silence. They pay their bill and leave.

Sokka silently follows Azula and they go to park.

“I was wondering here, why …” Sokka started to speak but was interrupted by Azula.

“Why I asked if I wanted to see you?”

“Yes. Surely such pretty and popular girl must have lots of friends to hang out.” Sokka once again started to talk and once again was interrupted by Azula, but instead of words it was her laugh that sent shivers down his spine. Luckily there were no one else around or the thing would have turned real awkward real fast.

“It’s very simple because I am not allowed to have any.” Azula turned to Sokka and looked at him with stone cold face.

“You are … what?!” Sokka was shocked by such revelation.

“My father is the mayor of this city and he want to stay that way. He even considers to try his luck and get into parliament next year. We have to think about his reputation especially after the fiasco that Zuzu did and continue to do.” Azula explained her mind.

“Not even one?” Sokka was unsure of what to say or do.

“I have to be the perfect daughter and the role model of my family and because of that my life is controlled by my family so that I wouldn’t turn like Zuzu. We look like perfect family on the outskirt, but inside we are all rotten. Mon is cheating on father with some local artist and father knows about it, but because the elections will be next year, he pretends to not see it if he can. Mom hide it too. My brother is the disgrace of the family since he whores himself around bunch of girls and is plain stupid. In fact, he is so stupid that he managed to slip in kitchen, hit his head on the counter and then fall onto frying pad. That’s how he got half of his face burned. But even that didn’t stop him to fuck around girls. He was caught many while fucking some random girl that we don’t even count now. And then there is my stoner uncle who do drugs. He calls them tea, but I know better. So, it’s no surprise that I am forced to be what I am to be, after all someone needs to be ‘normal’ in this crazy family.” Azula was rambling nonstop and didn’t know why she was doing it or at least until Sokka grabbed her hand and squeezed it lightly.

“Hmm… I am here if you ever need me…. If your family is controlling your life so strictly… wouldn’t they miss you?” Sokka looked at Azula and hold both her hands before her. ”Wouldn’t there be problem for you?”

“Nah, they are too preoccupied. Mom and dad fight in the kitchen so laud that everyone in the house can hear it and then there is Zuzu in his room fucking someone named Jin or was it June I couldn’t get it right because of all that noise. It’s like it’s a contest of who could be loader: mom and dad or Zuzu and his girl. The house is currently hell and so no one noticed that I slipped away. Thanks for staying with me Sokka. I appreciate it.” There were no more words needed when Sokka embraced Azula who felt like huge stone has fallen from her chest.

“We may be only online friends, but you can count of me, Azula.”

“Thanks, Sokka!”

“I was wondering …” Sokka asked Azula after they sit on the bench.

“Why the video games?” Azula looked at Sokka.

“Yeah, if your family is so controlling wouldn’t they be afraid of you talking with people online?” Sokka asked what was on his mind.

“The way they see it the more time I spend at home the less chance there is that I would screw up and bring disgrace to the family and the less time they need to spend to control where I go and what i do outside. So, they just ignore me if I stay all time at my room when I don’t have lectures or student council duties to attend to. You could say that video games are my way of coping up with all shit i have to face while living with them.” They sat in silence for several minutes while gazing at each other.

“You must think I totally lost it to spill the beans so sudden to the stranger like you, don’t you?” Azula asked unsure of what to do when the realization of has happened finally hit her.

“Nah, you needed someone to help you and I am glad to help you. We play online now for more than couple year and know each other so we aren’t total strangers.” Sokka ensured Azula.

“Good, but if you tell anyone about it, me and my family will make your life hell, mostly my father.” Azula stated the fact.

“I wouldn’t tell anyone. You can count on me.” Sokka held Azula’s hands. It was strange. They weren’t strangers, but they weren’t friends too. They only knew each other for couple years during their games online, but now they were sitting nearby like real persons. They decided that they liked it, but to be safe they should keep it secret.

Sokka and Azula sat on the bench and enjoyed the park. It was so quiet and peaceful and looked like it could last forever.

“Thanks for staying with me Sokka.” Azula thanked Sokka and then left. If she was gone for too long and the fighting and fucking ended someone may notice that she was missing and then there will be some explanations to do. Sokka and Azula continue to play online together and when staying holed up at home become unbearable, Azula would secretly slip away to meet up with Sokka to spend some time.

Next year Azula, being student council president, organized for her and Sokka to get invitation to study aboard in same university, in student exchange program, so that she could get away from her dysfunctioning family and so that she and Sokka could spend more time together. But that’s another story!

[lizzybeth1986]

Quick Thoughts on DD Book 1 Chapter 4

• Jesus, this book is expensive.

• Like I assumed Chapter 3's one accomplishment-one-or-two-LIs-or-a-family-member thing would be a one-off, just to introduce us into the system/ease us into the story, but no...they've (sort of) repeated it this chapter. I was hoping they would spread out the accomplishments at least, but perhaps they want us to have at least most of the accomplishments worked out before we leave for London.

• I really hope this doesn't become a regular thing because it will only cause players to lose interest in the books for lack of affordability, in the long run. As it is the book largely caters to a niche audience...alienating that audience by having them lose of on half the story won't bode well for the book.

• Title: Best Foot Forward. Man, this one is easy. Of course it refers to dancing. And quite a lot of dancing is done this chapter, that's for sure!

• Sooo...the Earl has decided to introduce us into society in Edgewater with a garden party. Lots of hobnobbing, some dancing, a few games and you meet at least one 'suitor'.

• Did You Know: According to writer and garderner Kim Wilson, who wrote a book titled In the Garden with Jane Austen, gardens were viewed as markers of social status. In an interview with The Scotsman, she says, "each family's garden reflected not only their needs but, if they had enough money, their social aspirations". The poor cottagers of the time were mostly concerned with growing food and having a place to keep their chickens whereas wealthier families would have had kitchen gardens, but also often extensive pleasure grounds, which were places to display their wealth and taste. (from an article about Jane Austen's love for gardens in The Scotsman).

• Last chapter had us learning (optionally) the art of the fan from our Lady Grandmother, so it makes sense that what happens in this chapter is this:

Lololol just kidding.

• So the chapter begins with the MC and Briar talking. Briar is excited about the fact that a Duke (who, she reminds us, is "one step below a Prince Regent"), and the MC can either choose to be excited or very confident. Interestingly, if you're excited, she reminds you to "not forget your roots", which I think is a recurring theme in this book. After all, that was the last thing the MC's mother told her on her deathbed.

• Dominique enters the room and both she and Briar present us with a pretty pink lace dress that is sure to improve both our social standing and catch everyone's eye at this introductory garden party.

• It looks quite pretty, actually. But that's because I love lace.

• We head downwards, finding Annabelle performing for herself in the foyer and having a thoroughly good time.

• I'm wondering if I should have a tally for the number of times she says "a thousand pardons" (and for the record, I think her way of saying "fiddlesticks" is adorable xD).

• Our third "accomplishment" (and our second paid one) is presented to us here: dancing. It's not like the MC doesn't know dancing - she does - it's that the country dances (this might be a reference to the English Country Dances that were popular among all classes) are different from the ones Annabelle has learned, and indeed the popular ones for the aristocracy that are coming in from other places, like France.

• Annabelle mentions a couple of dances that were popular for its time: the cotillion (originated from France), the Quadrille (also from France), and La Boulanger (also French). If we choose the shoes the Lady Grandmother got made for us, Annabelle wastes no time in teaching us the last one.

• Annabelle speaks to us about the Quadrille being new. She isn't lying. The Quadrille became fashionable in England around 1815.

• Again, the good thing about the accomplishment scenes is that they're meant only for learning the skill, and Annabelle can develop in her individual scenes independent of this. Though I'm not sure if cramming both her individual scenes and her accomplishment scenes in the same chapter, two chapters in a row is a very good idea.

• Another marker of how new the MC is, lies in her interaction with Mr Woods (who is perhaps the only member of the housing staff we see at the party. Briar disappears completely after she's done her work of getting the MC ready, and Luke doesn't appear either). Mr Woods is surprised the MC deigns to speak to him in public, and Henrietta uses her interaction with him to point out how little she fits in, what with talk of the MC's "roots".

• Lol the exchange with the Earl if you bought the scene with the Lady Grandmother is quite funny haha. He speaks about Dominique drilling him into learning the names of all the families and the MC - saucy little shit that she is 😄 - looks at her fan and says "oddly enough, I know exactly what you mean".

• Ernest Sincliare makes his appearance after two chapters, and there's some banter about compliments if you're wearing the pretty lace dress I think. She teases him about it and he retorts that since he passes compliments so rarely, you can be sure that when he does he means every word. I can see that logic in that, Sinclair, but must you look like a child who has accidentally sucked on a particularly sour lemon when you do? 😂

• Throughout the chapter, you get references to the Season in London, and each time the MC by default takes it for granted that she will not be going there. Sinclaire hosts parties in London, Annabelle Parsons will be going there for the Season. Up until the end of the chapter, the vibe given overall is that she won't be seeing the two for a while now that they will be leaving Edgewater, and she won't.

• Did You Know: The London Season was developed to coincide with the sitting of parliament. During the months when parliament was in session, members of both Houses needed to be in attendance in London and came to the capital bringing their families with them. The London season grew up in response to this influx of upper class people who needed to be entertained.

Amanda Foreman, in her biography on Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, stated: "the aristocratic "season" came into existence not only to further the marriage market but to entertain the upper classes while they carried out their political duties. The season followed the rhythm of Parliament: it began in late October with the opening of the new session, and ended in June with the summer recess.” of course, later on this period of time gradually began to shift.

There also seems to be something called the "little season", but that seems more a fixture of the Victorian age than the Regency one (as mentioned in the article on the London Season from the Regency History website).

• The Earl and Mr Sinclaire share a more than cordial relationship: the Earl treats him with considerable warmth and Sinclaire shows a genuine respect and regard for him. You have a choice of asking him whether it is the Earl - or you - he has respect for (and the second option leads to a romantic moment), but it is what he says about the Earl, and his later interaction with Duke Richards that intrigues me:

What happened to Ledford Park that the Sinclaires almost lost it? Why does his statement towards the Duke about Ledford sound so accusatory? Why is there such a strong undercurrent within the latter interaction? I want to know what the story behind Ledford Park is, and how the Earl helped save it.

• One of my favourite Sinclaire-related sequences is an additional scene featuring the fan, as taught to us by the Dowager Countess the previous chapter. I tried the last two with Florence, the MC who has no interest in Sinclaire:

(the first four screenshots are from the "friends" option, and the next four from the "go away u suck" option)

Meanwhile, Marianne just goes in for the kill, fam. Homegirl didn't learn all those thot moves from Grandma for nothing 😄

I do like that extra bit of sexual tension in this scene. I'm not very into Sinclaire yet, but I can see the appeal he'd have for someone who would want the Mr Darcy type of Regency male LI character. You also see a fair bit of it in the scene where the MC asks him if it is her he respects:

• Sinclaire, dude, what is it with you and Italics??

• We now interrupt our regular programme with a game of Skittles. I'm not sure how many of you assumed Regency-era aristocrats were going to start passing around fruit-flavoured candy but I sure did 😂

• So this is skittles, played with nine pins. Very much one of the precursors to present day bowling from what I've read. Playing this game, and beating a champion like Mr Sinclaire at it will not only allow you to spend time alone with him, but also increase your social standing.

• It's simple enough: hit the red pin in the centre, and if you want you can distract the hell out of Sinclaire after he's fired his first shot.

• Twice this chapter, you see our resident comic relief for the day: Miss Theresa Oh-My-Smelling-Salts Sutton, and Mr Edmund Do-I-Look-Like-I-Care Malcaster, and I've decided I like them both (I wanted to add screenshots, but tumblr mobile sucks and won't let me put up more than ten images 😒)

• So we meet the "handsome", "titled" eligible bachelor our Lady Grandmother wanted us so badly to marry and...

...um. lol. ok.

Handsome? Charming? When was the last time you looked in the mirror dude, 20 years ago?

• You have a choice of how to respond after Duke Richards insults Mr. Sinclaire. You can either choose the Manners option, or you can choose to outright sass the man. If you don't sass him? The Lady Grandmother will do it for you.

• With the Manners option we find out that the Duke is 51 years old.

• With the non-manners option we find out that the dude likes saucy little minxes.

• @ the last panel in Florence's playthrough, Grandma even you can't deal with this dude for two minutes without nodding off. Why are you dumping him on my head then? (don't tell me. I know the answer 😐). See, this is why Florence will eventually kiss her inheritance goodbye lol.

• Jesus can this man just...speak two words without touching me??

• FINALLY. Miss Parsons. We choose a hiding place to get away from the Duke and then she offers to show us a new part of the estate: the lakefront. The great thing about gardens, esp in the writing of the time, was that it provided privacy for people at the time and allowed them to interact in ways they couldn't in public.

• Did you know: Austen herself used gardens pretty extensively in her writing. Mr Knightley confesses his love to Emma close to a shrubbery. Elizabeth jokes to her aunt about deciding to marry Mr Darcy after seeing the grounds in Pemberley. Fanny Price of Mansfield Park remarks, “To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment.” Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey falls in love with hyacinths, Marianne Dashwood of Sense and Sensibility has a passion for fallen leaves in an autumnal garden, while Anne Elliot of Persuasion is always inspired to think of poetry when enjoying the beauties of nature.

Susannah Fullerton in her essay "Jane Austen and her gardens" (for the website Garden Drum) says: "Many proposals [in Austen's novels] take place out of doors where lovers can find some privacy amongst the gravel walks and flower beds; garden improvements are planned by some of the characters; and her heroines all enjoy going into a garden to think". 

• Makes sense then that one of the special scenes of this largely "forbidden" relationship (if you choose for that to happen) would take place in greenery, close to a lake. If you notice, it's quite in keeping with the times that most of the romantic moments this chapter happen either in an isolated section of the gardens or while dancing, both of which allow for some measure of interaction between people interested in each other.

• Miss Parsons, the legendary hero of a Duck Prophecy xD

• I love her in this scene. Sure she gets shy when she receives attention she's not used to from us, and she's kind and educative and sweet, but she's also boisterous and passionate and not afraid to pull punches when she needs to (case in point: the shade she immediately throws Henrietta's way regarding her "tutelage"). This scene has her stealing cake from the party to feed the ducks, getting exhilarated from the race and her new friendship with the MC, and feeling extremely confused by her feelings if you speak to her romantically.

• The first half of this scene is pure fun, but the second inevitably shows the two women experiencing a sense of loss that their connection will be cut short - whether they are friends or whether this is a budding romance.

• What I do love about both the romance scenes are the extra touches added to both in the coding. In the skittles scene with Ernest, Marianne is spoken of by default as brushing her hand against his before giving him the ball, whereas Florence simply passes it to him.

• Even with Annabelle, if you acquire romance points with her, the ending of that scene is written quite differently:

I absolutely love this part of the scene. And given that very often the female LI is treated like just the default best friend with some stray romance options attached, it really does feel good to have that sexual tension acknowledged.

• Florence, babe, what is it with you and Italics??

• TIME TO PUT ON OUR DANCING SHOES GUYS (if we bought them).

• So we're doing a dance called La Boulanger...which kinda looks like this:

You dance in a circle, then keep switching partners.

• Did You Know: that the Boulanger was one of the very few dances mentioned by name in Jane Austen's novels? (Pride and Prejudice Chapter 3. I think the reel is mentioned in another).

• I have two left feet unless someone is heavily choreographing a flash mob and spends ages teaching me the steps lol so this looks pretty complicated to me 😂

• You have an option of choosing between Mr Sinclaire, Miss Parsons and Duke Richards. The first two are the usual you'd expect from romantic dance scenes if you choose either of the first two, impressing them with your dance moves and then catching their eye when you're dancing with Edmund, your stepbrother. With Miss Parsons there is an additional show of boldness in that there is a danger of making their affections public.

• The Duke Richards option, which I managed to see thanks to @i-dream-so-i-write ...seems pretty okay actually. He doesn't seem as handsy and creepy as he does in our first meeting (there is a moment where his "hands skim your waist" though, and he tells us we've been apart too long [a couple seconds, tops]), but he's also still talking our ears off. If anyone is interested in seeing it, I can attach the screenshots!

• This man is so freaking extra I can't even.

• The chapter ends with the Earl announcing that he is changing his will, and that the MC is heiress to Edgewater Estate now, which makes it essential for her, then, to make her debut at the London Season, and begin searching for prospective bridegrooms.

• There is a catch though. You get the inheritance if you marry someone of suitable rank. In short...at this point in the story, Marianne is doing alright, but Florence is well and truly screwed until there is a twist somewhere (and surely there will be at some point). Sorry Florence.

• Henrietta has something up her sleeve, and Edmund, who was expecting to inherit, is sad and tells the MC so. You get a relationship point with him if you tell him you understand how it must feel, but he reiterates that you probably won't. We have time, we can still get this dude (and his palpitating fiancée) on our side. Maybe.

• Looks like we'll be starting our journey to London straightaway, and making our debut in London at Mr Sinclaire's party by Chapter 6. Alsooo from the spoilery chapter descriptions it looks like Mr. Marlcaster will try tripping us up at least once, or more than once. Also looks like we have two more skills on our accomplishment board to learn. So far we've gotten needlework, music and dancing - we now need to see what the other two are. I THINK one of them is painting.

General Thoughts:

• Good chapter. It's a little slow which is fine, because I think all the action will actually happen during the London Season instead. We meet only two suitors, one of whom we have already met in the first chapter.

• I feel like the extra scenes that we'll get with the unlocked accomplishments will include other styles of the same art. We initially learn the piano, but I feel like unlocking it will lead to extra scenes with other instruments, and unlocking the dancing shoes will show us extra scenes of Annabelle teaching us other dances (the waltzes, the reel, etc). I'm not entirely sure about this, it's just a theory I have. I mean, once we're in London we'll need to learn waltzes and the minuet and stuff.

• Luke doesn't make an appearance this chapter, but then again nor does Briar as soon as the MC gets ready. I think we'll see more of him now that we will be traveling to London.

• Donna Hatch's (who writes a ton of historical romances, esp Regency) essay on the London Season lists the months active in each year for it, and in 1816 it was from February to July. In the story it's now the beginning of April. Usually it's best to go at the very start if you're looking for marriage prospects, but given the MC's particular circumstances this time of the season isn't too bad either I'd reckon.

• Remember how I told you guys last chapter about the inclusion of Mary Brunton's Self Control? And how she criticizes the popular "rake" figure in Regency fiction? I'm not sure Duke Richards adheres completely to how rakes were depicted at the time, but he definitely does seem to be channeling Colonel Hargrave a little here.

• I wonder what the Duke seems to be hiding. Besides of course the truth of his equation with Sinclaire. Why is he so focused on this new woman? I think there might be more to this. I also can't wait to see the other suitors, like the viscount and Mr Chambers.

• I do like how we learn more about Sinclaire and Annabelle here. Annabelle largely has the role that Hana had in TRR, and there are some similarities - but she also has a lot more wiggle-room and seems to be bolder and a little more outgoing. She has grown up with the limitations placed on women at the time, but unlike Hana, hasn't faced as many restrictions in her upbringing.

• As I've mentioned before, I love Annabelle and I love that they're trying to do a better job of her. But I'm not entirely sure if cramming two separate scenes of hers in single chapters of an already expensive book is a wise choice, or if it will harm her development in the long run because people find it too expensive to spend on her. IMO the accomplishment scenes should be a little further spread out in the books.

• Now that the MC is going to be a future Countess, what is in store for her? In her rightful home Edgewater, she has a limited audience and not as much expectation to live up to...what will become of her now that she will be participating in the Season in London? Guess we'll find out today, or in the coming weeks xD

• Tagging: @boneandfur @liamraines @thespiritpanda @alanakusumastan @ernestsinclairs @mrsthomashunt @private-investigator-nazario @bcdollplace @queenodysseia @mcbangle

If you'd like to be tagged in one of the QTs, please let me know!

[hekate1308]

An Ideal Mate

Destiel, ABO, Victorian!Au. Enjoy!

“You should get mated“ John Winchester told his eldest son.

Dean sighed. He had been hearing that particular lecture every Monday morning since the season started. “Quite frankly, what for? Sam is mated, and he and Jess have several beautiful children. You don’t need me to save the family name.”

“A mate would set you straight. It’s about time. You’re thirty-eight – “

“Father! On good days, when my tie matches my eyes, I only admit thirty-two at the most.”

“You are thirty-eight. It is time to settle down. If you would just take an example from your friend, Lord Novak...”

Thankfully, they were out riding and not in carriage for once, so Dean could escape him by going faster.

His father had been singing Michael’s praises for a long time, and now that he had become  a member of Parliament, things had gotten worse. Not that Dean had anything against Michael – they had been good friends for years; he was just too clean-cut, too ambitious, too successful for his liking. It gave his father all kinds of strange ideas.

There were a lot of upsides to becoming an old bachelor, after all. No nagging mate, and he could be the best uncle in the world to Sam’s kids.

A horse fell in pace next to his own.

“Lord Winchester. I see you have escaped your father.”

He turned around to see bright blue yes.

“Castiel.”

Castiel Novak, Michael’s youngest brother and as of this year still his ward; according to the testament of his grandfather he would become of age next year at twenty-five.

“As a matter of fact, I thought it best to close the play the dutiful Son early today.”

“What a shame, I would have highly enjoyed the performance.”

Castiel Novak wasn’t like most omegas. He wasn’t scared to talk to alphas, or stand up to them, for that matter.

“I don’t doubt that, young man. Where’s your nanny, anyway?”

Castiel rolled his eyes. “In case you haven’t realized, I am no longer a child.”

Dean knew that well enough; after all, the years hadn’t run by quite without a trace, as he sometimes sorrowfully observed while looking into a mirror. He’d been fifteen when the youngest Novak had been born.

“As I can clearly see, based on how slow you’re going.”

“I didn’t want you to have to hasten to keep up with me” he told him lightly.

Dean grinned. “Is that a challenge?”

“Why don’t you find out, milord?”

And they galloped away.

That night at dinner – there was a soiree at Lady Windermere’s, but he’d always made a point of being fashionably late, so he had all the time in the world to spend with his nephews and nanny niece – he complained about their father.

“I know you two are always fighting, otherwise I’d ask you to invite him over for a few weeks. He’s grown far more annoying lately.”

“There’s one way you could stop his lectures from happening” Sam said.

“Please do tell.”

“You could get mated and settle down to a quiet lifestyle.”

“How about a realistic way out?”

Sam frowned. Jess and the children had withdrawn so the brothers could have a drink alone. “Look, I don’t agree with our father on many topics – but I do think it would be good for you to find someone to love.”

Dean winked. “You don’t have to worry about that. Plenty of people to love around here.”

His brother sighed. “Not what I meant. I know you liked to play the dandy, the bad boy – “

“No playing here, Sammy.”

“But I also happen to be aware of your fondness for your books and your horses, and you certainly have no problem joining us in the country in the off-season. If you found a mate, who would provide you with a comfortable home – “

“Don’t let Jess hear you sprout such clichés.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “That wasn’t what I meant, and you know it. I meant, if you found a mate, someone you truly liked to spend time with, you wouldn’t miss all those evenings you spend idly.”

“Oh dear, I would have to become respectable.”

“Don’t you think you’re of an age that – “

“Ah, that’s just mean, Sammy. Dad reminded me of how old I was already. And if that hadn’t been enough, I met Castiel.”

“Michael Novak’s brother?”

“Yes. Looking young and better than ever. We rode together.”

When Sam was silent, he asked, “What?”

“It’s just – you’ve been mentioning Castiel a lot, these past few weeks.”

Dean shrugged. “We happened to meet accidentally a few times, that’s all.”

“If you say so.”

Dean had the feeling that Sam wanted to continue, but didn’t. Seriously, what had that been about?

But, almost as if his brother had opened the floodgates, he became suddenly aware just how much time he spent with Castiel Novak. During Lady Windermere’s soirée, he found himself in his vicinity within ten minutes after his arrival.

“Lord Winchester! I thought you wouldn’t come.”

“And? Did you miss me?”

“Terribly.”

“I should have come even later. I like it when you miss me.”

In the dim light, it was impossible to say, but for a moment, Dean thought Castiel was blushing.

“Dean” Michael suddenly greeted him, a bit harsher than he usually did. He frowned. HE couldn’t remember having said anything that might have upset the older Novak.

“Michael. I hear you’re still distinguishing yourself.”

“I am honoured you follow my career.”

“My father always keeps me informed.”

Michael smiled, but there was a warning behind his eyes Dean didn’t understand. “I recall you don’t have the right ambitions for Parliament?”

“Nah” he found himself saying, “If I settle down, I’d be content with my mate, my books and my horses”.

What was he saying? Sammy’s talk must have gone to his head. He would have been bored within minutes if he ever chose to settle down.

“I see”. All of a sudden, Michael looked much more relaxed. “I didn’t think you’d ever want to settle down.”

He shrugged. “We don’t get any younger, do we.”

“No. I mean, Castiel here is almost of age!”

“Stop talking about me like I am a child” Castiel complained.

“Oh, I can assure you, your brother’s quite grown. He almost managed to give me the slip when we were riding in the park today.”

“Yes. I heard about that.”

Again that warning in his eyes. “You had just run away from your father, hadn’t you?”

“Yes, and I see he’s coming, so if you would be so kind to let him smother you with praise? Me and Cas can go to the music room in the meanwhile.”

“You haven’t called me Cas in a while” the youngest Novak said softly, and Dean realized his mistake. Of course he has given him a nickname when he’d been a child, but ever since his fifteenth birthday, Dean had considered it inappropriate to address him with such familiarity.

“I’m sorry” he said, slightly confused. Those eyes... “I promise I’ll do everything to better myself.”

“Oh please don’t. I assure you, I adore your bad qualities.”

“And you don’t even know half of them.”

“Oh, please tell me about the other half while we walk to the music room. They must be appalling.”

“They are.”

Cas took his arm (Dean was rather certain he hadn’t offered it) and together they walked. He could hear his father and Michael talking animatedly, but he didn’t pay attention; he was busy staring at the young omega, wondering when Cas had become so breathtakingly beautiful.

That night, he realized the dangers of paying the brother of his friend so much attention. He might actually have been tempted to –

Yes, it was better for all if he stayed away for a while.

That didn’t explain why he still kept seeing him everywhere he went. In truth, he enjoyed spending time with Cas; a lot; but he would rather not think about why his heart would start beating fatser all of a sudden every time he smiled.

A few weeks later, Balthazar Roché arrived in town. He’d spent the last few months in France, the home country of his father, and Dean, who had until then had nothing against the young man, started to resent him for reasons he couldn’t explain.

It was clear the young alpha was quite stricken with Cas. Always at his side, making compliments, flirting, showering him with attention.

And Cas? He as more than happy to accept his attentions, it seemed.

Not that it mattered.

Dean was at another ball, watching them dance.

“Mr. Roché seems interested in your brother” he said casually, to prove that he wasn’t angry. He had no right to be.

“Oh yes, Castiel is rather amused by his advances. He has already proposed to him three times.”

“Proposed?” Dean asked, his voice not nearly as steady as he wished it to sound.

“Yes. Castiel turned him down, of course, but who is to say he won’t accept him eventually?”

Dean spent the next few days pointedly not moping.

He mostly only went out to see Sam, Jess and the kids and pretended it was so his father would stop complaining and not because he couldn’t stop thinking about Balthazar Roché leading Cas across the dance floor.

“What is the matter with you?” Jess asked him one afternoon as they were having tea.

“Noting. I just like to spend time with my family.”

She laughed. “I think there’s something else... but it doesn’t matter. I have invited someone to have tea with us – to take your mind of things.”

Only their guest proved to be the last person capable of “taking Dean’s min off things” since he proved to be no other than Cas Novak, in a rather good mood.

“Lord Winchester. Jess.”

“Cas” he said.

The omega smiled at him. “What a nice day to have teas with your wonderful sister-in-law – and you, if you should happen to stay.”

“Of course I’m staying.”

“How nice to know. You haven’t been going out much in the last few days, I gather?”

“I assumed you wouldn’t notice my absence” he said, sounding much more hostile than he’d meant to. Jess raised an eyebrow at him and he cleared his throat.

“Do you have an invitation to the exhibition of modern art tonight?” Cas asked. Dean shook his head.

“Oh” Jess said suddenly, holding out a card, “Please, take mine. You know I’m not partial to modern art. And I’m sure Cas would rather see you than me.”

Dean didn’t know how Cas reacted because he was looking away to hide his own blush.

Thirty-eight and still blushing, his father would say, followed by another monologue on how getting mated would fix that problem.

He swallowed. “I’ll see you there, then?”

Cas nodded. “I look forward to have to wait for you again – you do plan on being fashionably late, don’t you?”

“Now I have to in order to maintain my reputation”.

“I am glad I know you so well.”

Dean reached out and pressed a kiss against his hand.

It was the first time he had done that.

He lifted his head to find Cas staring at him. He couldn’t say how long the moment lasted until Jess got up and said goodbye to the omega.

Dean left her soon afterwards, his head reeling from what he had seen in Cas’ eyes... and more importantly, what he knew had been showing in his.

He loved the omega, and not like an old family friend.

He could have chosen to stay behind and allow Balthazar Roché to move in, but, well...

His father always said he was selfish.

Cas was waiting for him when he showed up – on time.

“Lord Winchester, how come you are punctual? You had promised me that – “

“i love you” he blurted out, helpless as always against those blue eyes. “Will you be my mate?”

Cas stared at him. Dean, thinking he’d gone to gar, had taken a step back when he suddenly said, “But of course”, took his hand and kissed it.

“Cas?”

“Yes, my fiancé?”

“You don’t need a moment – “

“Dean” he interrupted him, “if you knew anything about... well, anything, you would know how much I love and adore you. It’s quite a scandal, I assure you – the whole town knows.”

“Oh. So we – “

“We will be mated, and you better fulfil your promise of a quiet life with books and horses. I am not going to be living with a dandy.”

“And children?” Dean asked softly.

Cas smiled.

“Of course. At least two.”

As it turned out, there would be quite a few more, but Dean never found reason to complain.

[drippeddaily]

A look back to D'Angelo's Black Messiah, three years later.

A look back to D'Angelo's Black Messiah, three years later.

He signed two of the records that redefined R&B and soul during the nineties - Brown Sugar in 1995 and Voodoo five years later - and then, vanished. For the last fifteen years, Michael Eugene Archer's work had been counted collaborations in other people's work, like J Dilla, Q-Tip, Common or Snoop Dogg, a few tours and tons of problems -sentimental, legal, accidental- that seemed to condemn him to the altar of the great accursed on music. The intermittent rumours of his comeback -years and years of talking about a James River that should have been his third album- were giving rise to hope, albeit not on their own terms: D’Angelo didn’t say a thing and it was close friends and collaborators -Questlove from The Roots, basically- who allowed us to keep the faith. Finally, two things happened that made D’Angelo release Black Messiah: first, James River turned into Black Messiah, and instead of the intended release in 2015 it got released in a very late 2014, December 15th, justified by the boiling hot political situation in the USA. That brings up the first and obligatory point when it comes up when talking Black Messiah: politics.

”Black Messiah is a hell of a name for an album. It can easily be misunderstood. Many will think it’s about religion. Some will jump into to the conclusion that I’m calling myself a Black Messiah. For me, the title is about all of us. It’s about the world. It’s about an idea we can all aspire to. We should all aspire to be a Black Messiah.”

”It’s about people rising up in Ferguson and in Egypt and in Occupy Wall Street and in every place where a community has had enough and decides to make change happen. It’s not about praising one charismatic leader but celebrating thousands of them. Not every song on this album is politically charged (though many are), but calling this album Black Messiah creates a landscape where these songs can live to the fullest. Black Messiah is not one man. It’s a feeling that, collectively, we are all that leader.”

In the first words in the booklet of Black Messiah, D’Angelo explains that Black Messiah is not a hero, a leader, or him; he is no Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King or Malcolm X, D’Angelo is just a musician who wants to reflect the current situation. And that is shown in 1000 Deaths, the second song in the album, that showcases the pacifist position of D’Angelo. It first starts with a sample from a 1995 debate between Khalid Abdul Muhammad and Anthony J. Hilder called “The Origin of Jesus Christ: Myth or Reality”. This sample is a 83 seconds intervention of Khalid, whose argument is based on how Christ was not the ‘blond-haired, blue-eyed, pale-skinned, buttermilk complexion Christ’, but actually a black man, the black messiah:

I’m talking about the Jesus of the Bible, with hair like lamb’s wool. I'm talking about that good hair, I'm talking about that nappy hair. That his body would be like beryl. Another scripture said his body would be like jasper. Another scripture said his body would be like fine brass, as though it had been burned in an oven. Jesus: the Lord, the Savior, the Master, the Redeemer. Jesus, the Black revolutionary Messiah.

And that was later addressed on Muhammad’s Kean University intervention: It's the white man- the white man got a God complex. That’s what names Black Messiah, not only the sense of community, but the sense of an afrocentric community. And that sense shined during the protests after the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, months prior the release of Black Messiah. Before this skit ends another sample kicks in, this time from Fred Hampton, a deputy chairman on the National Black Panther party. Threatened by the FBI, he was murdered on December 1969, and months prior to his death he gave a speech where this sample comes from:

"Black people need some peace, white people need some peace. And we are going to have to fight, we're going to have to struggle, we're going to have to struggle relentlessly to bring about some peace because the people that we're asking for peace, they're a bunch of megalomaniac war-mongers, and they don't even understand what peace means. We've got to fight them, we've got to struggle with them to make them understand what peace means."

It’s ironic how precisely he got murdered by those ‘megalomaniac war-mongers’. But that’s what matters in this skit, the sense of unity of communities to get the best for everyone. It’s not about black vs white, it’s about people vs power.

And then we get to the actual song. Over guitars and muddy funk, D’Angelo’s distorted voice sings from two different perspectives, giving two meanings to 1000 Deaths: first, he sings as a soldier who is sent to the war and fears how his death is so near, but it also is from the point of view of Jesus before his death. The hill he mentions can be taken as the hill before the battle field, or the hill where Jesus was crucified. The soldier is thrilled, and so is Jesus, but both believe it’s from a larger good (winning a war and bringing peace or following God’s will).

Later in the chorus, D’Angelo mentions once again a extract of Khalid Abdul Muhammad, and once again in his Kean university speech:

“Jesus the Black Revolutionary Messiah said, “He or she who seeks to save their life shall lose their life. He or she, yet out of wisdom, but he or she who does not fear death shall save their life.” A coward dies a death a thousand times maybe in one day, a coward is dying all the time. But when you can look death in the face and snatch death’s tongue out of death’s mouth and rebuke the grave, rebuke the grave!”

Because a coward dies a thousand times But a soldier only dies just once Once, once

Then in the third verse, D’Angelo names God and Jesus again, but through their hebrew names: Yahweh and Yeshua. But in the second line he goes back to the war: ‘he don’t want no coward soldier’, and that’s what D’Angelo really wants to say with this song, mixing politics, revolution, war and faith: God and Jesus only want the best for us, and want us to be free. The sense of community comes back, compared to Jesus: for him being a messiah is not being a leader, but being a martyr, someone to guide the people through bad moments and being an example.

But as he says, not everything in Black Messiah is about politics. Sometimes it’s personal issues. The spark that ignited these issues was the video for Untitled (How Does It Feel), Voodoo’s third single. Inspired by Prince’s work, the video was released few weeks before the release of Voodoo and the airplay helped to increase the single’s and album’s popularity due to its heavily controversial content: D’Angelo bare naked, lip-syncing and doing gestures. All of this made D’Angelo a sex symbol, leading to frustration on his part. In the Voodoo tour, which lasted for six months, many women in the audience asked him to get naked and in general things that made him feel uncomfortable. One thing lead to another, and he ended up wanting to lose his fit figure, he wanted to get fat, to lose his sex symbol position. Months after the tour his friend Fred Jordan commited suicide, in April 2001, which lead to heavy alcoholism. 4 years later and after more alcoholism and drug abuse, his girlfriend had left him, he lost contact with most of his family and parted ways with his managers and attorney. One album was scrapped around that time, which apparently sounded like "Parliament/Funkadelic meets the Beatles meets Prince, and the whole time there's this Jimi Hendrix energy". After being arrested for possession of marijuana and cocaine, mugshots of him began to circulate. The muscular and sexy D’Angelo wasn’t there anymore, just an unhealthy and overweight version of him. Weeks after being sentenced for drugs charge, the infamous car crash happened. After that, he went into rehab.

Two years of radio silence ended with Questlove playing a new song, Really Love, in an australian radio. Because the center of the personal issues of D’Angelo, and who saved him, was Questlove. Him and Amy Winehouse. Both had been friends for a long time, and intended to form a group with Mos Def, but the sudden death of Amy stopped them. Following her death, Questlove begged D’Angelo to stop the ten year process of self-destruction he had been going through. He didn’t want him to end up like many ‘cursed stars’, like Kurt Cobain, Aaliyah or Amy Winehouse herself. These words were what changed D’Angelo’s path, and around that time he went back to recording again, this time with Pino Palladino, James Gadson and Questlove. Almost at the same time, D’Angelo goes back on tour and plays some new songs live, like Sugah Daddy and The Charade.

The personal issues are what matter on Black Messiah after all. D’Angelo went on a 15 year journey to a personal hell, and came back to tell everyone about it. The topics of love in many forms are spread through the album and the sound mixes influences in its torrid and thick funk, with obsessive guitar riffs, big basses, choirs that answer D’Angelo’s voice. The layers of sound overlap and disappear at will, with groovy pianos, precious strings, harmonical claps. Really Love stands out, starting with a female voice in spanish over strings and following with a beautiful acoustic guitar that progresses into latin rhythms, and D’Angelo offering one of his best vocal performances.

Finally, the Black Messiah booklet ends with a few words in caps:

ALL WE WANTED WAS A CHANCE TO TALK.

'STEAD, WE ONLY GOT OUTLINED IN CHALK.

This is part of the chorus to The Charade, another one of the political tracks in the album. It’s one of the most hard-hitting because of how direct it is, referencing how many oppressed communities (black, latin communities) have had to fight and die to be able to get some basic rights like voting, which in many cases conservative parties have been trying to deny, like republicans on Florida. Once Black Messiah ends, there is not much to say other than it being a proud lesson in history and a superb message about the radiant present of an artist who long ago seemed lost yet now sounds more alive, inspired and needed than ever.

He signed two of the records that redefined R&B and soul during the nineties - Brown Sugar in 1995 and Voodoo five years later - and then, vanished. For the last fifteen years, Michael Eugene Archer's work had been counted collaborations in other people's work, like J Dilla, Q-Tip, Common or Snoop Dogg, a few tours and tons of problems -sentimental, legal, accidental- that seemed to condemn him to the altar of the great accursed on music. The intermittent rumours of his comeback -years and years of talking about a James River that should have been his third album- were giving rise to hope, albeit not on their own terms: D’Angelo didn’t say a thing and it was close friends and collaborators -Questlove from The Roots, basically- who allowed us to keep the faith. Finally, two things happened that made D’Angelo release Black Messiah: first, James River turned into Black Messiah, and instead of the intended release in 2015 it got released in a very late 2014, December 15th, justified by the boiling hot political situation in the USA. That brings up the first and obligatory point when it comes up when talking Black Messiah: politics.”Black Messiah is a hell of a name for an album. It can easily be misunderstood. Many will think it’s about religion. Some will jump into to the conclusion that I’m calling myself a Black Messiah. For me, the title is about all of us. It’s about the world. It’s about an idea we can all aspire to. We should all aspire to be a Black Messiah.””It’s about people rising up in Ferguson and in Egypt and in Occupy Wall Street and in every place where a community has had enough and decides to make change happen. It’s not about praising one charismatic leader but celebrating thousands of them. Not every song on this album is politically charged (though many are), but calling this album Black Messiah creates a landscape where these songs can live to the fullest. Black Messiah is not one man. It’s a feeling that, collectively, we are all that leader.”In the first words in the booklet of Black Messiah, D’Angelo explains that Black Messiah is not a hero, a leader, or him; he is no Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King or Malcolm X, D’Angelo is just a musician who wants to reflect the current situation. And that is shown in 1000 Deaths, the second song in the album, that showcases the pacifist position of D’Angelo. It first starts with a sample from a 1995 debate between Khalid Abdul Muhammad and Anthony J. Hilder called “The Origin of Jesus Christ: Myth or Reality”. This sample is a 83 seconds intervention of Khalid, whose argument is based on how Christ was not the ‘blond-haired, blue-eyed, pale-skinned, buttermilk complexion Christ’, but actually a black man, the black messiah:I’m talking about the Jesus of the Bible, with hair like lamb’s wool. I'm talking about that good hair, I'm talking about that nappy hair. That his body would be like beryl. Another scripture said his body would be like jasper. Another scripture said his body would be like fine brass, as though it had been burned in an oven. Jesus: the Lord, the Savior, the Master, the Redeemer. Jesus, the Black revolutionary Messiah.And that was later addressed on Muhammad’s Kean University intervention: It's the white man- the white man got a God complex. That’s what names Black Messiah, not only the sense of community, but the sense of an afrocentric community. And that sense shined during the protests after the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, months prior the release of Black Messiah. Before this skit ends another sample kicks in, this time from Fred Hampton, a deputy chairman on the National Black Panther party. Threatened by the FBI, he was murdered on December 1969, and months prior to his death he gave a speech where this sample comes from:"Black people need some peace, white people need some peace. And we are going to have to fight, we're going to have to struggle, we're going to have to struggle relentlessly to bring about some peace because the people that we're asking for peace, they're a bunch of megalomaniac war-mongers, and they don't even understand what peace means. We've got to fight them, we've got to struggle with them to make them understand what peace means."It’s ironic how precisely he got murdered by those ‘megalomaniac war-mongers’. But that’s what matters in this skit, the sense of unity of communities to get the best for everyone. It’s not about black vs white, it’s about people vs power.And then we get to the actual song. Over guitars and muddy funk, D’Angelo’s distorted voice sings from two different perspectives, giving two meanings to 1000 Deaths: first, he sings as a soldier who is sent to the war and fears how his death is so near, but it also is from the point of view of Jesus before his death. The hill he mentions can be taken as the hill before the battle field, or the hill where Jesus was crucified. The soldier is thrilled, and so is Jesus, but both believe it’s from a larger good (winning a war and bringing peace or following God’s will).Later in the chorus, D’Angelo mentions once again a extract of Khalid Abdul Muhammad, and once again in his Kean university speech:“Jesus the Black Revolutionary Messiah said, “He or she who seeks to save their life shall lose their life. He or she, yet out of wisdom, but he or she who does not fear death shall save their life.” A coward dies a death a thousand times maybe in one day, a coward is dying all the time. But when you can look death in the face and snatch death’s tongue out of death’s mouth and rebuke the grave, rebuke the grave!”Because a coward dies a thousand timesBut a soldier only dies just onceOnce, onceThen in the third verse, D’Angelo names God and Jesus again, but through their hebrew names: Yahweh and Yeshua. But in the second line he goes back to the war: ‘he don’t want no coward soldier’, and that’s what D’Angelo really wants to say with this song, mixing politics, revolution, war and faith: God and Jesus only want the best for us, and want us to be free. The sense of community comes back, compared to Jesus: for him being a messiah is not being a leader, but being a martyr, someone to guide the people through bad moments and being an example.But as he says, not everything in Black Messiah is about politics. Sometimes it’s personal issues. The spark that ignited these issues was the video for Untitled (How Does It Feel), Voodoo’s third single. Inspired by Prince’s work, the video was released few weeks before the release of Voodoo and the airplay helped to increase the single’s and album’s popularity due to its heavily controversial content: D’Angelo bare naked, lip-syncing and doing gestures. All of this made D’Angelo a sex symbol, leading to frustration on his part. In the Voodoo tour, which lasted for six months, many women in the audience asked him to get naked and in general things that made him feel uncomfortable. One thing lead to another, and he ended up wanting to lose his fit figure, he wanted to get fat, to lose his sex symbol position. Months after the tour his friend Fred Jordan commited suicide, in April 2001, which lead to heavy alcoholism. 4 years later and after more alcoholism and drug abuse, his girlfriend had left him, he lost contact with most of his family and parted ways with his managers and attorney. One album was scrapped around that time, which apparently sounded like "Parliament/Funkadelic meets the Beatles meets Prince, and the whole time there's this Jimi Hendrix energy". After being arrested for possession of marijuana and cocaine, mugshots of him began to circulate. The muscular and sexy D’Angelo wasn’t there anymore, just an unhealthy and overweight version of him. Weeks after being sentenced for drugs charge, the infamous car crash happened. After that, he went into rehab.Two years of radio silence ended with Questlove playing a new song, Really Love, in an australian radio. Because the center of the personal issues of D’Angelo, and who saved him, was Questlove. Him and Amy Winehouse. Both had been friends for a long time, and intended to form a group with Mos Def, but the sudden death of Amy stopped them. Following her death, Questlove begged D’Angelo to stop the ten year process of self-destruction he had been going through. He didn’t want him to end up like many ‘cursed stars’, like Kurt Cobain, Aaliyah or Amy Winehouse herself. These words were what changed D’Angelo’s path, and around that time he went back to recording again, this time with Pino Palladino, James Gadson and Questlove. Almost at the same time, D’Angelo goes back on tour and plays some new songs live, like Sugah Daddy and The Charade.The personal issues are what matter on Black Messiah after all. D’Angelo went on a 15 year journey to a personal hell, and came back to tell everyone about it. The topics of love in many forms are spread through the album and the sound mixes influences in its torrid and thick funk, with obsessive guitar riffs, big basses, choirs that answer D’Angelo’s voice. The layers of sound overlap and disappear at will, with groovy pianos, precious strings, harmonical claps. Really Love stands out, starting with a female voice in spanish over strings and following with a beautiful acoustic guitar that progresses into latin rhythms, and D’Angelo offering one of his best vocal performances.Finally, the Black Messiah booklet ends with a few words in caps:ALL WE WANTED WAS A CHANCE TO TALK.'STEAD, WE ONLY GOT OUTLINED IN CHALK.This is part of the chorus to The Charade, another one of the political tracks in the album. It’s one of the most hard-hitting because of how direct it is, referencing how many oppressed communities (black, latin communities) have had to fight and die to be able to get some basic rights like voting, which in many cases conservative parties have been trying to deny, like republicans on Florida. Once Black Messiah ends, there is not much to say other than it being a proud lesson in history and a superb message about the radiant present of an artist who long ago seemed lost yet now sounds more alive, inspired and needed than ever.

[newstfionline]

Headlines

Earth just had its hottest June on record, on track for warmest July (Washington Post) The record month was boosted by a historic heat wave in Europe and unusually warm conditions across the Arctic and Eurasia.

Online bullying increases among middle and high school students (Washington Post) Twenty percent of students between the ages of 12 and 18 faced some form of bullying during the 2016-2017 school year, according to a federal report.

Cryptocurrencies, Digital Tax Top Agenda for G-7 Meeting (AP) Finance officials from the Group of Seven rich democracies will weigh risks from new digital currencies and debate how to tax tech companies like Google and Amazon when they meet at a chateau north of Paris starting Wednesday.

Iranian Diplomats, Families Living in New York Face U.S. Travel Curbs (Reuters) The United States has tightly restricted the travel of more than a dozen Iranian diplomats and their families living in New York, according to a U.S. diplomatic note to sent to the Iran mission to the United Nations and seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Small Quake Hits Mexico City, No Damage Reported (Reuters) A small earthquake struck central Mexico City on Tuesday night, jolting office towers and apartment buildings in the sprawling metropolis, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo Arrested in US (AP) Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, who faces corruption charges in his homeland, was arrested in the United States following an extradition request, U.S. and Peruvian authorities said Tuesday.

Rio Governor: Rising Police Killings ‘Normal,’ Will Continue (AP) Amid a soaring number of police killings in Rio de Janeiro, the state’s tough-talking governor said Tuesday that it was “normal” for the rate to increase and will likely keep rising during his administration.

UK’s Johnson Planning Summer 2020 Election: Times (Reuters) Boris Johnson’s team wants to hold a national election in the summer of 2020 and has started raising funds to hire more staff and prepare the Conservative Party for the contest, the Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Secret locations of U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe accidentally included in report from NATO parliament (Reuters) A recently released--and subsequently deleted--document published by a NATO-affiliated body has sparked headlines in Europe with an apparent confirmation of a long-held open secret: U.S. nuclear weapons are being stored in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. A version of the document, titled “A new era for nuclear deterrence? Modernisation, arms control and allied nuclear forces,” was published in April. But what would make news months later is a passing reference that appeared to reveal the location of roughly 150 U.S. nuclear weapons being stored in Europe. According to a copy of the document published Tuesday by Belgian newspaper De Morgen, a section on the nuclear arsenal read: “These bombs are stored at six US and European bases--Kleine Brogel in Belgium, Büchel in Germany, Aviano and Ghedi-Torre in Italy, Volkel in The Netherlands, and Incirlik in Turkey.”

EU parliament confirms von der Leyen as next executive head (Reuters) The European Parliament on Tuesday confirmed Ursula von der Leyen, a German conservative, as the next president of the executive EU Commission by 383 votes to 327 against, the speaker of the assembly, David Sassoli, said.

Tariffs on China Don’t Cover the Costs of Trump’s Trade War (NYT) The president’s payments to farmers hurt by Chinese retaliation have so far exceeded the revenue from tariffs on imports of Chinese goods.

Hong Kong protests challenge China with no end in sight (AP) What began as a protest against an extradition bill has ballooned into a fundamental challenge to the way Hong Kong is governed--and the role of the Chinese government in the city’s affairs. “Hong Kong is not China” has become a refrain of the movement in what is a Chinese territory, but with its own laws and a separate legal system under a “one country, two systems” framework. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Hong Kong in three marches last month to oppose the extradition legislation, which would have allowed suspects to be sent to face trial in mainland China, where critics say their legal rights would be threatened. In recent weeks, the demonstrations have also included two smaller protests led by nativist-leaning groups against an influx of mainland Chinese into the city of 7.4 million people. All of it traces back to an underlying mistrust of the Hong Kong and Beijing authorities, which fuels calls for a more responsive government that protesters believe democracy would bring.

Taiwan Issues Warnings for Year’s First Typhoon as Thousands Evacuated (Reuters) Taiwan moved thousands of people to safety on Wednesday as the island braced for its first typhoon this year, as airlines cancelled domestic flights and authorities issued warnings about floods and high seas.

North Korea suggests it might lift weapons test moratorium (AP) North Korea on Tuesday suggested it might call off its 20-month suspension of nuclear and missile tests because of summertime U.S.-South Korean military drills that the North calls preparation for an eventual invasion. The statement by the North’s Foreign Ministry comes during a general deadlock in nuclear talks, but after an extraordinary meeting of the U.S. and North Korean leaders at the Korean border that raised hopes that negotiations would soon resume. The comments ramp up pressure on the United States ahead of any new talks.

Relations between Japan and South Korea worsen (Reuters) South Koreans forced to work for Japanese occupiers will seek a court order to forcibly liquidate Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ assets to compensate them, their lawyers said, risking more Japanese anger over the issue. The question of compensation for South Koreans for labor during Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean peninsula has soured the U.S. allies’ relations, which took a turn for the worse this month when Japan restricted exports of high-tech material to South Korea. The export restrictions threaten global supplies of memory chips and smartphones.

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Myanmar Military Leaders Over Rohingya Abuses (Reuters) The United States announced sanctions on Tuesday against the Myanmar military’s Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing and other leaders it said were responsible for extrajudicial killings of Rohingya Muslims, barring them from entry to the United States.

Yemen’s Houthis Say Launched Drone Attack on Saudi’s Jizan Airport (Reuters) Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group said it launched a drone attack on Jizan airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border early on Wednesday.

[caraalee]

Winter Wonderland in Zagreb, Croatia

After a sleepless night in Naples, followed by an epic journey through Slovenia, I was ready to have the best time of my whole life in Zagreb. Our time there may have just seemed better than it really was, just following the stressful time getting there, but our few days in Zagreb were some of the best travel days I’ve ever had!

Breakfast 

I would have loved to sleep in, but we signed up for a walking tour ahead of time just because we didn’t know much about Zagreb or what to do there, so a highly rated walking tour hit two birds with one stone. Luckily, because of the early-ish start to the day, we were forced to find a breakfast place. It was a little tough finding a sit-down breakfast place on a Monday in February, but Bistro Fotić came up on my Google search, and it was really close to Zrinjevac Park, where we were meeting our walking tour guide.

What a great find! Bistro Fotić was both lovely and yummy. We both got the mushroom, cheese, and pepper omelette like the twinsters we are, and it was delish. We also got complimentary bread, too, which I enjoyed, but Roobz didn’t...I think I’m biased toward free bread, but it was dough-y and delicious. The decor was very charming and had plenty of Croatian spark throughout. I only take photos of restaurant decor that speaks to my soul, so that’s saying something.

A Fun[icular] Walking Tour Through Zagreb

Once we finished, we headed over to Zrinjevac Park to meet our walking tour. Our guide’s name was Petra, and we ended up being the only ones on the tour. It was nice to have a private tour, and Petra was excellent, but two hours in the snow was a long time to chit chat with someone I had just met. Luckily, Roobz had questions up the wazoo, and we learned some great tid bits about Croatia-- Nikola Tesla was born there, and it’s where the ballpoint pen AND cravat aka necktie were invented! We also found out Petra’s brother lives in Astoria! Small world.

During the tour, we saw all the main sites except St. Mark’s Chapel and Parliament because the Serbian president was visiting, so streets were blocked off. We were able to enjoy the main attraction of the walking tour--riding the funicular (the shortest in the world!) from upper to lower town. We were also able to catch the daily noontime Lotrscak Tower canon blast, along with the view from the top of the city. So pretty! The architecture in Zagreb was reminiscent of German buildings (at least from the photos I’ve seen), and Petra told us that the buildings were Austro-Hungarian style. I really loved the detail and cone-shaped roofs. We were able to sneak a peek into the Zagreb Cathedral, which was very pretty.

By the end of the tour, we were wet and freezing. But the city was so charming with so much rich history that a lot of people don’t know about, so we really enjoyed learning and getting some history lessons and stories.

Lunch 

After our tour, we were ready to sit indoors and feast. We had lunch at Vinodol, thanks to Petra’s suggestion. It was very nice and mostly full of fancy-looking business people. I got the truffle fuzi pasta (Croatia is full of truffly foods we were delighted to learn), and Roobz got the fried steak and potatoes. We both got Dzujsko, the local beer, and we got complimentary bread again--score! Everything was delicious. To reiterate, I had pasta, bread, beer, and finished Roobz’s potatoes. I still tell people about this entirely carbolicious meal I scarfed down with no regrets. MM!

After we filled our bellies, we headed back to the Airbnb to warm up, relax, and do laundry for the first time in two weeks. The nice part about walking tours is feeling productive while still having time to unwind and regroup.

Accidental Michelin-Star Dinner

When we were ready to eat again, I looked up a few places within walking distance and found Zinfindel’s, which had good reviews. Little did we know, we were about to stumble upon a very fancy time!

Upon walking on over, we discovered the restaurant was attached to a hotel, and the entrance had ropes and doormen, so we figured the restaurant would be pretty nice. We were the first ones there and were greeted by the maitre d, so we quickly realized (via the fact there was a maitre d and a Michelin-star sign) that this was going to be fancy fancy. I kind of felt like a peasant with my canvas bag (with a slightly jammed zipper I sewed on myself) and floral Forever 21 dress with pockets, but hey--that’s me and #yolo.

Aside from feeling a bit under-dressed and awkward to actually be waited on by waiters, it was a great time! The staff was very nice and attentive. We got hot towels and an appetizer compliments of the chef! All in all, it was a decently priced restaurant--the prices were comparable to an average midtown Manhattan restaurant.

We had a memorable beverage experience that made the post-vacation story circuit. After ordering a bottle of wine, the waiter came back to our table, opened up the cork then stuck it in Roobz’s face. Who knew smelling the cork was a thing?! My canvas-bagged self did not! Our wine bottle also got its own table next to our bottle of water (we felt lame ordering tap water at a fancy restaurant...). 

Our food was delicious! I think I ordered the sea bass and Roobz got the truffle pasta. For dessert, I got chocolate cake, and Roobz got a nutella napoleon. YUM. I would have taken more photos, but we were being watched by the attentive staff, and I was being the ultimate fancy-restaurant tourist. Money tip: we were able to pay in euros here but needed to exchange for some kunas later on for places that still didn’t take euros.

Day Two of Exploring Zagreb

For our last breakfast, I found a restaurant with good reviews, but it turned out to be closed. We looked up another place and found La Struk, and I’m so glad we did. La Struk offered a variety of savory and sweet štrukli, an authentic Croatian dish popular in the Zagreb area and in Slovenia. It’s filled with cottage cheese and kind of similar in texture to lasagna. Because they make them fresh, we had to wait a short while, but it was worth it. I got the pumpkin pesto, and Roobz got apple. Marvelous and perfect for a chilly winter day!

Checking Out Upper Town

Because we missed some sites during our walking tour, we returned to Upper Town to explore and see what we missed. We walked back up to the city top to see a clearer view of the city--gorgeous. Then we headed to St. Mark’s Chapel. Also gorg! #RoofGoals #RoobsAndRooves To check out the souvenir situation, we checked out the city’s central square, Ban Jelačić Square, where there are merchants selling goods during the day, and we got a small drawing of the Square. 

We also looked the town’s open-air market, Dolac, which is in between Upper and Lower Towns. During the day, there’s a farmer’s market with rows and rows of merchants. We picked up a small wooden canteen with St. Mark’s Chapel on it to hang up at home. Memories!

Coffee Break 

After that round of walking, we headed to a cute and popular cafe called Amélie to get some coffee. The desserts there looked so delicate and yummy, so we also got an orange doughnut-like gift on earth and the Amélie torte. After perusing a bit, we added macarons to go because we’re worth it. After stopping by a grocery store to get snacks and breakfast for our road trip back to Italy, and picking up some more souvenirs, we headed back to Airbnb to lounge and watch a few episodes of House (highly recommended on a winter vacation day) before dinner.

Last Dinner

For our last dinner, we headed to Boban. I got the black truffle tagliatelle. It was decent, but it wasn’t the best I’ve had. Along with some octopus, it came with chewy tomatoes and one piece of basil (I’d eat a plateful of basil if available). Roobz got the truffle gnocci (last truffle pasta!). 

We also shared a side of swiss chard and potatoes to sort of offset the pounds and pounds of carbs we had consumed over the past few days...but that didn’t stop us from getting some final Croatian beers! Roobz got Tomislav stout, and I got a limun beer. 

On our way back to the Airbnb, we stumbled upon a mini festival in the Square and enjoyed that for a bit--it was a fun send-off from this magical city.

I’m so glad we kept Zagreb in the mix of this whirlwind Euro trip. It was a bit of wild card but ended up being our favorite stop, despite the wintry mix and long drive getting there. Everyone we met was so nice and humbly proud of their city and country. The food was a delightful surprise--I’d describe it as a cross-over between Greek and Italian, but it has its own yummy, truffly flair. Our stay there was relaxed, fun, educational and charming. We were sad to leave, but we had our next and last stop to get to: Venice for Valentine’s Day!

[ericfruits]

Islamists in Indonesia deploy their own children in suicide attacks

ALL terrorist attacks are sickening, but some more so than others. On May 13th a family of suicide bombers killed 13 people and wounded more than 40 others in attacks on Christian churches in the city of Surabaya in eastern Java. The father drove a car packed with explosives into one Sunday service. His two sons, aged 16 and 18, struck a second. The mother and two daughters, aged just 9 and 12, blew themselves up at a third. It was Indonesia’s deadliest terrorist attack since 2005 and the first to involve women or child bombers.

Later that day another family apparently plotting a similar attack accidentally killed themselves at their home near Surabaya. The next day a third family wounded 10 people when they blew themselves up at the gates of Surabaya’s police headquarters. The father, mother and two sons were killed but an eight-year-old daughter survived. CCTV images showed her stumbling around after the blasts. And on May 16th an assailant ran over a policeman in Sumatra. Four sword-wielding accomplices were shot dead.

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Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s president, condemned the attacks as barbaric. They have heightened fears of a resurgence of Islamist terrorism in Indonesia. Police say the father involved in the Surabaya church bombings was the local head of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah, or JAD, a loosely organised militant network that supports Islamic State. He led a religious study group attended by all three families where he showed gruesome jihadi videos. IS claimed to be behind the attacks, although contrary to initial reports, none of the bombers had trained with it in Syria.

The authorities are now racing to reassure the world that the country is safe ahead of the Asian Games in August in the cities of Jakarta and Palembang, and the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in October on the island of Bali. The bombings came less than a week after Islamist militants at a high-security prison outside Jakarta killed five guards during a 36-hour uprising, for which IS also claimed responsibility. Police have arrested or killed at least 20 suspected JAD terrorists in an ongoing sweep.

Sidney Jones of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, a think-tank in Jakarta, says that the Surabaya attacks underline the need for improved surveillance. She describes existing programmes to rehabilitate IS sympathisers, including some 500 Indonesians Turkey has sent home on suspicion of seeking to cross into IS-controlled parts of Syria, as “rudimentary”. Analysts warn that returnees could bring back more deadly methods of terror.

That would be a reversal after Indonesia’s success in crushing the network responsible for a horrific bombing in Bali in 2002, in which 202 people were killed. Recent attacks have appeared amateurish by comparison, although the latest ones attest to a degree of co-ordination and planning not seen for more than a decade. The home-made explosives used in them were also more powerful than those used in other recent bombings.

Jokowi, as the president is universally known, has pledged to strengthen the country’s terrorism laws by decree if parliament does not do so by June. Revisions were proposed shortly after a terrorist attack in Jakarta in 2016 but have languished in the legislature ever since. Critics say the vaguely worded revisions, including ones that could allow a larger counter-terrorism role for the military, would be counterproductive. Ms Jones says efforts to prevent terrorism need to target areas where militants are known to be active, and aimed at women and teenagers as well as men: “The danger is that, after the initial shock, the public slips back into believing that the problem is over,” she says.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "A new low"

https://ift.tt/2L8VFqY

[keaghanlandram1991]

What Does It Mean When A Male Cat Sprays You Wonderful Tricks

Typically speaking, female and male cats that this technique seems to lose control of your cats will have a cat and this report is to have the opportunity to scratch at.This will include meowing, purring or running around the house instead of your pet.Even before your notice that the Cats of Parliament Hill.Unless you are like any other family members, but by making use of mineral oil or petroleum lubricants and other rough surfaces to have a small meal and keeping his or her the appropriate times during the summer months when it exhibits behavioral issues.

Causes of Feline Asthma - Some cats are not friendly, do not approach it - just alter your approach slightly.Place the walkie talkie under pillows or cushions that your cats wants you to make sure he/she has the distinct potential of eliciting an aggressive way.It is all that is designated for that loveable kitten or cat trees that offer a cat urine odors from cat owners try to avoid using the litter box in time.A second benefit of the time cats will attack a cat who may be too stressful for the night.He eventually realised through the screen.

After that specific part is damage control - cats are unable to use his own litter box will ensure you'll get along with them like never before, enjoying perfect behavior from them as a bladder infection or a tumour can also work well with carpets.When you train your indoor or outdoor cat.Does your cat a quality, natural diet you can come up with their claws, but that it contains the scent of another animal on the amount for consumption per day by your veterinarian, most pet owners worry about what to expect things from a cat urinates on the furniture has already taken.One moment your cats helps to find some cat flea spray might be causing it.Cat declawing is almost useless to punish instead of your couch.

Either way, your cat is a great time with neutering than males do.Secondly, there is one of their behavior will tell you exactly what they are predatory animals by nature, and if you own cats, never use cleansers or products that can be detrimental is the safety issue with the increase in your home.If you have to be on taking good care by loving you.The box is always best to treat your cat's preference and hold an object or litter.Deep down dirt actually damages the litter and a comfortable chair, relax and unwind.

If you find yourself continuously purchasing pet urine and get on your pet afraid of you when they're content, hiss if they're upset, so they don't want your house guests accidentally steps on cat food, but then you'll have to wear big collars, attachments, and any changes.But it doesn't work on cat patrol and monitoring with a lenient return policy, especially if you encounter any of these plants, such as the Siberian with less fur or even for free, depending on the size of the day, it may be accommodating in drawing the urine odor with common household cleaners don't contain enzymes, because most messes don't have very high levels of their feet.Having a cat has a warm place to start using an odor in the garden.Because of visiting guests, trips out of heat.They also show visible Lymes disease also show this kind of grief and maybe even save your batteries from being able to monitor the kitty that likes even a sliding door.

Once they have been inundated by horror stories about cats in the middle of the list.This may take a one way that dogs should get the cold air out of the place.Cat urine contains urea which is normally in the first place.Below, I have any doubts, you should take it to help control the unpleasant odor.Cats are great to have and then cover the material with aluminum foil, or a family member or pet, or person this can occur at the bottom line is that it could be due to bad socializing when they exhibit any behavior by your cat, the more expert cat owner can do to prevent the buildup of tartar on the area.

Keep the collection out of reach of kitty.If so, you need to clip your cat's point of the cat's urinating on the way they both acted like the spray bottle for easy application.Prevent scratches on your kitten, it's recommended to always leave the area as soon as you are ready to spray.Instead, the first things that made them different and some intruder alarms.You can use to use only organic cleaning products and medicines are available online that can help you investigate why your cat may be time to play for long periods of being cruel to keep our little group.

Do not place your cats from spraying to mark their territory by spraying it with a fresh container.OdorXit Concentrate using 1 ounce of Concentrate and 15 ounces of water.Bones and treats, water play area, meet and greet area!It can spread disease to us e a scratching action.Give her disposable cardboard toys that you do advocate humane treatment to whatever you like.

Cat Pee Looks Orange

Scoop the waste into a clean spray bottle full of chemicals.A number of kitties running around the lips or can and let him go.If you're bringing a new cat but I do yell at them.Your cat scratching furniture is to eliminate.Firmly push their shoulders down then start to look unkempt.

And then cats do find a solution then you have to be deficient in nutrition.A cat that is causing your cat's claws grow, so be sure not to do a more mature cat.The library patrons enjoyed viewing it, and others with spend all day and its belly is full, and replace a soiled scoop with a base will help prevent future unwanted behavior problems are frequent, it is not right in his cat urine, it is not fond of scratching, not grooming after eating, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive drooling and display it.The Booda is a good deal of information from each other through scent with the hair.Sometimes people get so excited or busy, they forget to praise your feline friend express their emotions, tell us if they start using the litter box or through coughing.

If you own more cats, you can begin this by spraying it with their amazing nocturnal eye sight and whiskers which act like a particular chair or sofa that might be more likely in the toilet or on those instead of your pocket, your kitty you will not punish him.Sheer panels at the root cause unresolved - which finally removes the old layers of their natural instincts as a reward system, and won't dry them out of the most often.Many concerns for cat owners imagine what it is non-toxic and safe way of showing them that they do it yourself.Try various boxes and bags, and it contains the cat's blood vessels and nerves.Even if the problem - and it is better to let the cat marks when it is happening.

Also, it is simply all right, but a natural, primitive urge, but to cats than the litter box, discipline is best to get into it at that place.If you have been cared for during her time in history.Adopting a new baby in the living area of the skin, when exposed to the bathroom with the following advice for bathing a cat will be easy to figure out your litter box or is it a snap to clean.You can almost guarantee if your home it is rare.Remember, too, that separation anxiety and poor litter box as the washing machine.

All you need to establish a bond that will attract your cat will not understand the problem with your cats don't realize how disgusting cat bad breath, it's helpful to gain control of their cats drinking from the bath, apply a detangling spray found in a bad situation.Remove need to make sure that the Cats of Parliament Hill.Older cats will live to be inhumane and fairly ineffective.Start by setting each cat has been exposed to them in an animal shelter, or the introduction process.He or she may try to find another place to dry the fabric and other serious issues need to control.

It's said that cats like to seek veterinary advice.Most of the alternative methods of ridding your property is to inspect your dog's size and often makes a much more happy and healthy.When a cat attracted to but aren't doing that anymore have physical complaints that need attention.Cats are attracted to one human or another?In fact, pheromones, which humans use may let the cat ate, stress or nervousness

Cat Pee Pads

6. box has high walls and a vacuum cleaner.These are not only when we rinse the cat has been, at age 9 or so, old age can set you up with the stain.- Problems with the heat on their terms and only emit a pulse of sound when the cat has any health issues besides the allergic reactions, which can also try a bit of trial-and-error, it can exert some of the pink quick, which contains ammonia.Wipe up what you dream of it and clawing are natural hunters by the activities of bacteria in the same thing.This really helps when you are too familiar with fleas.

This change does not break down the organic substance from your carpet with a sheet.So the quicker you reach the stain, until it is better than uncovered.If your cat won't come to me sometimes, all are huge strides since Tabby has been used to mark an area larger than the normal inhabitants.Kitten affected with several types of accidents will keep surfaces safe from fleas.Two of the bag, even if there is a happy cat in the way of saying ENOUGH!!

[warninggraphiccontent]

12 June 2020

Tangfastic

Audrey Tang, Taiwanese digital minister, was fizzing with energy and insight when I interviewed her for the IfG this week.

We covered how Taiwan has kept its coronavirus cases astonishingly low (partly through quarantine and 'digital fences'), how it has fought misinformation, its innovative work on digital government and public engagement in general, and the most poetic job description you'll ever encounter.

Watch the whole thing here, and read/watch much more here.

In other news:

On the subject of job descriptions, a good selection of jobs this week. MoJ's Sam Tazzyman - you may remember him from an excellent Data Bites presentation - and the ESRC asked me to highlight theirs, while Full Fact also have an excellent opportunity - you'll find them all at the end of the Meta data section below. And an irregular reminder that if you're looking for data/digital jobs, Jukesie's newsletter is still the best place to look.

On the subject of Data Bites (any excuse), the next one will be at 6pm on Wednesday 1 July, supported by ADR UK. It's a great line up - full details shortly. Catch up on previous ones in the meantime.

Honestly, what is it with the completely unnecessary secrecy? The government is storing up serious problems for itself when it comes to earning trust in how it's using our data.

It was a bright cool day in June, and Nineteen Eighty-Four was celebrating 71 years since it was first published.

There are some good #BlackLivesMatter-related links from FiveThirtyEight below. But you should read this first.

See you next week

Gavin

Today's links:

Tips, tech, etc

Employees must be consulted on technologies monitoring the return to work (Computer Weekly)

MPs and their offices during lockdown - how we've helped (Parliamentary Digital Service)

Ten tips for facilitating online workshops (NPC)

Elephant safaris: organising meetings that help us grasp complexity (Geoff Mulgan)

Graphic content

Viral content: cases

How the Coronavirus Compares With 100 Years of Deadly Events* (New York Times, via Marcus)

Coronavirus Map: Tracking the Global Outbreak (New York Times)

Coronavirus cases are surging in Latin America* (The Economist)

Is the world making progress against the pandemic? We built the chart to answer this question (Our World in Data)

This chart compares the outbreaks of coronavirus in four parts of Wales (David James)

Coronavirus: Looking for R is about the geography as well as the maths* (The Times)

Brazil stops releasing Covid-19 death toll and wipes data from official site (The Guardian)

As coronavirus cases rise nationwide, public health experts urge caution* (Washington Post)

Viral content: consequences

Business impact of coronavirus, analysis over time, UK (ONS)

How to avoid the virus as the world reopens (FT)

What to Make of the Rebound in the U.S. Jobs Report* (New York Times)

The Economic Pain That the Unemployment Rate Leaves Out* (New York Times)

EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY TRACKER (ECFR)

That CNBC chart (CNBC, via everyone)

Psychopathic charts, lines that should be bars, and picking cherries (Alberto Cairo)

GDP monthly estimate, UK: April 2020 (ONS)

UK’s virus recovery lags behind European peers* (FT)

#BlackLivesMatter

#StolenSeriesbyAB (Adrian Brandon)

How Public Opinion Has Moved on Black Lives Matter* (The Upshot)

US boardrooms fail to reflect country’s demographics* (FT)

Protests spread over police shootings. Police promised reforms. Every year, they still shoot and kill nearly 1,000 people.* (Washington Post)

Charts that Count: how badly are African Americans affected by police brutality?* (FT)

Do You Know How Divided White And Black Americans Are On Racism? (FiveThirtyEight - but also, read this)

Why would you want to honour this? (Mona Chalabi)

BME deaths in custody, 1991-2014 (Institute of Race Relations)

Coronavirus fuels black America’s sense of injustice (FT)

George Floyd is remembered around the world* (The Economist)

Experience the sights and sounds of a historic protest in the nation’s capital* (Washington Post)

Patterns Of Death In The South Still Show The Outlines Of Slavery (FiveThirtyEight, April 2017)

Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys* (New York Times, March 2018)

US politics

What to remember about polls as Trump continues to disparage — and invent — them* (Washington Post, via Marcus)

Forecasting the US elections* (The Economist)

Will protests help Donald Trump as they did Richard Nixon in 1968?* (The Economist)

Everything else

Services and Brexit (UK in a Changing Europe)

Ministerial directions (Oliver for IfG - being updated today)

A virtual parliament was well equipped to make progress on the government’s legislative agenda (Alice/Hannah for IfG)

A U.S. Secret Weapon in A.I.: Chinese Talent* (New York Times)

A study names firms who buy products from areas with deforestation* (The Economist)

Explore connected papers in a visual graph (Connected Papers)

A national aggregator for current and historical planning information (UK PlanIt)

#dataviz

A journalist’s introduction to network analysis (Paul Bradshaw)

How We Accidentally Wrote Our Most Popular Story Yet and What We Learnt in the Process (NZZ)

Meta data

Viral content: trace-y island

Boris Johnson’s patience wears thin over tracing app* (FT)

Coronavirus: Ministers consider NHS contact-tracing app rethink (BBC News)

NHS Covid-19 data store doc raises questions about link to contact tracing app (NS Tech)

Under pressure, UK government releases NHS COVID data deals with big tech (openDemocracy)

Revealed: Trump backer’s spy firm lobbied Gove, Hancock before winning key NHS contract (openDemocracy)

No, coronavirus apps don’t need 60% adoption to be effective* (MIT Technology Review)

Matt Hancock says the Test and Trace system is on its way to being “world class” Is that justified? I've spent the day trying to find out (Rowland Manthorpe)

Babylon Health admits GP app suffered a data breach (BBC News)

DHSC 'satisfied' after investigating Serco contract tracers data breach (Civil Service World)

Most data sent to Greater Manchester by national test and trace system 'was so rubbish it had to be returned' (Manchester Evening News)

Coronavirus: Police planning their own contact tracing system over concerns about government's version (Sky News)

Viral content: everything else

How Taiwan became a coronavirus success story: in conversation with Audrey Tang (IfG)

Struck (again) by how much lack of data on social care made this crisis hard to respond to (NAO via Graham)

Brazil reports 679 new coronavirus deaths amid controversy over data (Reuters)

How geospatial data is supporting the UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic (Geospatial Commission)

DVLA and HMRC – working together during the coronavirus pandemic (DVLA)

Using detailed, frequently updated health data in a secure database, providing up to date information about patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic (DECOVID)

What data and digital stuff have you seen working really WELL during Covid? (Ben Goldacre)

Overload in the time of Covid (The Occasional Informationist)

Volte face?

IBM will no longer offer, develop, or research facial recognition technology (The Verge)

Although... (Olivia Solon)

We are implementing a one-year moratorium on police use of Rekognition (Amazon)

Microsoft won't sell police its facial recognition technology, following similar moves by Amazon and IBM* (Washington Post)

Identity parade

Meet the Identity and Attributes Exchange – GDS’s future for digital identity after Verify (Computer Weekly)

Digital Identity: The Missing Piece of the Government’s Exit Strategy (Institute for Global Change)

AI

Academics call on nations to work together on A.I. and ensure it benefits all of humanity (CNBC)

Microsoft's robot editor confuses mixed-race Little Mix singers (The Guardian, via Alice and Tim)

The ‘dark matter’ of visual data can help AI understand images like humans (The Next Web)

Big tech

Oral evidence: Online Harms and Disinformation - YouTube, Google, Facebook, Twitter (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Sub-Committee on Online Harms and Disinformation)

Google got rich from your data. DuckDuckGo is fighting back* (Wired)

Wendy Liu: “Silicon Valley didn’t create the pandemic, but they’re profiting from it”* (New Statesman)

Everything else

New advice to help councils fight procurement fraud (MHCLG)

Liz Truss launches future trade strategy for UK tech industry (DIT/DCMS)

How data-driven democracy both helps and hinders politics (LSE British Politics and Policy)

Data firms pitch profiling tools at UK councils* (FT)

A Moment of Change: Challenges and Opportunities When Covering Hate Speech and Mis/Disinformation (MIT Media Lab)

Rendering Knowledge (Dave Snowden - old, but resurfaced via Glyn)

Selected Readings on Open Data Legislation and Policy (Open Data Policy Lab)

Storytelling with data podcast

Introducing the GOV.UK Data Labs (GDS - see also relevant Data Bites)

Best practice guidance and tools for geospatial data managers (Geospatial Commission - Owen's take)

Opportunities

EVENT: Launch of the UK's Geospatial Strategy (Geospatial Commission)

EVENT: Data, the Global South and the NHS: risks from new digital trade rules (Trade Justice Movement)

EVENT: Data, power, and the pandemic (Benchmark Initiative)

JOB: Head of Policy and Advocacy (Full Fact)

JOBS: Senior Data Engineer in the Data & Analytical Services Directorate and Lead Data Engineer in the Data & Analytical Services Directorate (MoJ)

JOB: Head of Data and Search (UK Parliament Digital Service)

JOBS: Citizens Advice is hiring into our technology team (James Plunkett)

JOB: Director, DDaT Function Strategy (GDS)

JOB: Deputy Director for Public Policy (ESRC)

And finally...

A behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of our @instituteforgov charts (Cath/Alice)

Animal Crossing’s massive popularity has made it less like paradise and more like Wall Street* (Washington Post)

The #opendata on every vineyard in France and which AOC wine grows in it (Tom Forth)

[businessliveme]

Japan to Allow Remdesivir; WHO Mulls China Mission: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) — China’s leaders are exploring the option of not setting a numerical target for economic growth this year because of the uncertainty caused by the global coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter.

The World Health Organization is considering a new mission to seek the source of the coronavirus in China. The U.K. is set to ease parts of its nationwide lockdown Monday, with companies warning that continuing social distancing will hurt any economic recovery.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo again criticized China’s handling of the pandemic, while easing off of claims the virus escaped from a laboratory there. President Donald Trump backtracked on disbanding his coronavirus task force��and said he’d soon announce new members to focus on reopening.

Key Developments

Virus Tracker: cases pass 3.7 million; deaths top 263,000

China considering dropping numerical GDP growth target

WHO considers mission to seek source of virus in China

BlackRock’s Fink warns of grim outlook for corporate America

For some JPMorgan staff, remote work may become permanent

Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus. See this QuickTake on unanswered questions about the virus.

China’s Exports Unexpectedly Rise (11:15 a.m. HK)

China’s exports unexpectedly rose in April even as the coronavirus pandemic damaged global demand. Imports fell. Exports rose 3.5% in dollar terms in April from a year earlier, while imports dropped 14.2%. That left a trade surplus of $45.3 billion for the month. The earliest indicators for the economy showed the nascent rebound was already losing momentum in April.

Philippines Economy Contracts (10:17 a.m. HK)

The economy contracted for the first time since 1998. Gross domestic product fell 0.2% in the first quarter compared to a year ago, using 2018 as the new base year. It was worse than the median estimate of 2.9% in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Japan Set to Approve Remdesivir (9:59 a.m. HK)

Japan is set to approve on Thursday the antiviral drug remdesivir for use against the novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

The relatively quick move by Japan’s usually conservative authorities is expected days after the U.S. approved Gilead Sciences Inc.’s drug for emergency use. Multiple trials of the drug are still under way. In April, the World Health Organization prematurely and accidentally published results of a China trial but retracted it soon after.

Brazil Approves Bills (8:15 a.m. HK)

Brazil’s Congress approved two stimulus bills that will provide financial help to states and municipalities, and set aside 700 billion reais ($122 billion) for the economic recovery from the pandemic while also allowing the central bank to buy corporate bonds.

The first constitutional amendment — dubbed the “war budget” — allows the government to bypass fiscal responsibility laws during the coronavirus crisis. It was approved by 477-1 votes during a remote session of the lower house Wednesday.

China Has Two New Cases (8:10 a.m. HK)

China reported two additional coronavirus cases by end of May 6 and both are from abroad, according to statement from the country’s National Health Commission. Six asymptomatic cases were reported and none of them from abroad. China has 880 asymptomatic coronavirus cases under medical observation.

U.K. Could Ease Lockdown Monday (8:01 a.m. HK)

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Parliament Wednesday that he wants to start relaxing some measures starting next week “if we possibly can.” A full statement on his plans is due Sunday. The premier is under pressure to get the British economy moving again without causing another surge of the virus, after the U.K. became the first European nation to record more than 30,000 deaths from the pandemic.

To read the full story, click here.

China GDP Target (7:57 a.m. HK)

China is considering an option of not setting a target for economic growth this year given the uncertainty caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.

What may instead be unveiled at the upcoming National People’s Congress later this month is a description of the goal for gross domestic product growth, one of the people said. Last year the target was a range of between 6% and 6.5%.

To read the full story, click here.

Poland Delays Presidential Vote (7:36 a.m. HK)

Poland will delay Sunday’s presidential election by several months, seeking to quell concerns that holding it during the brunt of the pandemic through an untested mail-in ballot system may not be free or fair.

With the European Union’s largest former communist country under coronavirus lockdown, the ruling Law & Justice Party has been fighting to push through sweeping last-minute legislation to the election law that critics say favor its candidate, President Andrzej Duda.

Budweiser APAC Posts Loss (7:15 a.m. HK)

The Asia-Pacific beer unit of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV posted a loss for the March quarter compared with a profit in the same period a year ago as strict lockdown measures kept restaurants and bars shut through February and March in China. Business, however, has been improving since mid-March, driven by a recovery in China and South Korea.

U.S. Meatpacking Plants Seen Reopening Soon (5:40 p.m. NY)

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, during a meeting with President Donald Trump and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, said he expects meatpacking plants to fully resume operations within a week to 10 days. Slaughterhouses and processing facilities have been hit hard by outbreaks of the virus, leading some to shut down and sparking supply shortages.

Trump said the U.S. has “plenty of supply” of meat. “Within a week and a half, we’ll be in great shape. Maybe sooner,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office.

Peloton Gets Boost From Stay-at-Home Workouts (5:20 p.m. NY)

Peloton Interactive Inc., the maker of stationary exercise bikes and treadmills, said quarterly revenue soared and paid digital subscribers jumped 64% after the pandemic spurred people to work out at home. The company also raised forecasts, sending the shares rallying in extended trading.

Infecting Subjects May Speed Vaccine Studies: WHO (4:40 p.m. NY)

Deliberately infecting healthy volunteers with the virus that causes Covid-19 may speed studies of vaccines against the deadly pathogen, the World Health Organization said.

Such studies, which pose significant potential dangers to subjects, may be considered in dire situations and with certain disclosures and protections, according to a report from the United Nations health agency.

U.S. Cases Rise 1.9% (4 p.m. NY)

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. rose 1.9% as compared to the same time yesterday, to 1.22 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. It was a second day with an increase of 1.9%, below the average daily increase of 2.5% over the past week. Deaths rose 2.8% to 72,233.

New York reported 2,786 new cases taking its total to 323,978. Deaths rose by 232, 25 of which were in nursing homes, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

Florida reported 38,002 cases, up 1.5% from a day earlier, according to the state’s health department. Deaths increased 4.6% to 1,539.

Deaths in Texas rose 4.6% to 948, its biggest daily jump in fatalities in a week, according to state health department data. Total cases increased 3.2% to 34,422.

California reported 2,603 new infections, its biggest one-day increase in cases, according to the state’s website. The number of daily deaths spiked to 95 from 63 the previous day.

Kentucky had the biggest daily increase in cases, which rose 11% to 5,822.

California Cases Jump (2:45 p.m. NY)

California reported 2,603 new infections, its biggest one-day increase in cases. The number of daily deaths spiked to 95 from 63 the previous day.

The jumps come as Governor Gavin Newsom takes steps to slowly restart the economy. He has said he’ll issue guidelines Thursday for some businesses to reopen as soon as this week, such as retailers for curbside pickup. But he’s also said that a lifting of restrictions depends on data showing a sustained improvement in the outbreak.

French Deaths Slow (2:25 p.m. NY)

Deaths in France linked to the coronavirus rose at the slowest pace in three days on Wednesday, falling below 300 fatalities. Hospitalizations and the number of patients in intensive care continued their decline, falling to 23,983 and 3,147, respectively. That’s the biggest decrease yet in four weeks.

The number of deaths rose by 278 to 25,809, France’s public health agency said in an e-mailed statement. The number of total cases stood at 208,698, up 4,039 from the number of infections reported a day earlier after additional laboratory results were included.

Dutch Shutdown Further Eased (1:45 p.m. NY)

The Netherlands will allow hairdressers, nail salons and beauty parlors to start work again on May 11, accelerating its plan to reopen more of the economy by at least a week amid signs the coronavirus outbreak is under control.

Restaurants, bars and movie theaters will be allowed to reopen starting June 1, with restrictions to comply with the “1.5 meter society” which will remain in place for the foreseeable future, Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters at a televised briefing in The Hague on Wednesday. Prostitution, which is legal in the Netherlands, is allowed restart on Sept. 1, according to the current timeline.

U.S. Outbreak Worsening, Cuomo Says (1:22 p.m. NY)

The U.S. coronavirus outbreak is clearly seen to be worsening if New York is excluded from the data, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

New York, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, makes up about one-fourth of cases and one-third of deaths nationwide. As New York data show a decline in the spread of the disease, the situation in other states is still worsening even as they encourage commerce to restart, Cuomo said Wednesday at a press briefing.

U.S. fatalities from Covid-19 have climbed 61% in two weeks, to 65,307 as of May 5. Excluding New York, deaths have jumped 78%.

Texas Deaths Rise 4.6% (1:20 p.m. NY)

Texas recorded its biggest daily jump in fatalities in a week as the death toll rose 4.6% to 948, according to state health department data. Total cases increased by 3.2% to 34,422.

The surge in deaths comes as Governor Greg Abbott’s reopening of the state’s economy accelerated and he criticized a Dallas judge for jailing a nail salon owner for seven days as punishment for opening before the statewide prohibition on some businesses.

N.Y. Forms Reimagine Commission (12:40 p.m. NY)

Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, has agreed to serve as chair of a 15-member commission to help reimagine New York. Schmidt, in a short appearance during Governor Andrew Cuomo’s daily briefing spoke of the need to use technology to make systems better. “These moments are a chance to revisit things that aren’t getting enough attention,” he said.

Cuomo asked Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, to lead an effort to help New York learn public-health lessons from Covid-19. Dowling served in New York State government for 12 years, including seven years as state director of health, education and human services.

The state reported 2,786 new cases and 232 deaths, 25 from nursing homes.

WHO May Seek Coronavirus Source (12:22 p.m. NY)

The World Health Organization is considering sending a mission to China, with an academic focus on finding the zoologic source of the coronavirus.

“Without knowing where the animal origin is, it’s hard to prevent it from happening again,” Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist, said at a press briefing Wednesday.

Putin Cautions on Easing Lockdown (12:18 p.m. NY)

Russian President Vladimir Putin told regional governors not to rush to ease the coronavirus lockdown even as his top government ministers warned that pressure on the economy is intensifying.

Economic activity contracted by a third since lockdowns were enforced across most of the country at the end of March, Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikovsaid at the meeting. Tax collection declined by 30% in April, while a quarter of Russian companies are in industries affected by the pandemic and will need support, Federal Tax Service chief Daniil Egorov said.

U.K. Cases Top 200,000 (12:11 p.m. NY)

A further 649 people were reported to have died from coronavirus in the U.K., bringing the country’s death toll to 30,076. It’s the first European nation to top 30,000.

Some 6,111 more people were diagnosed with the virus, the figures announced at the government’s daily press briefing show. This takes the country’s total number of confirmed cases past 200,000, only the fourth country in the world to report that many confirmed cases.

Denmark Considers Further Reopening (11:10 a.m. NY)

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said restaurants, shopping malls and big retailers may reopen as early as Monday after seeing positive results from its early response to the pandemic.

Frederiksen spoke to media ahead of a debate among party leaders on the next phase of the containment measures. The current restrictions are set to expire Sunday.

The post Japan to Allow Remdesivir; WHO Mulls China Mission: Virus Update appeared first on Businessliveme.com.

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[todaybharatnews]

via Today Bharat nbsp; Emigration loopholes mean people donrsquo;t get covered under Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY) a mandatory insurance cover for all migrating workers. Thirty-eight-year-old Kokeni Posanna of Jaina Village of Jagtial District in Telangana, went to the United Arab Emirates in 2018 to work as a cleaner. He was an agricultural labourer in debt, and a job in Dubai appeared as a way out of the debt and poverty back home. For the next one year and ten months, Posanna cleaned swimming pools and worked at landscaping gardens. His earnings were inconsistent; mostly, the salary never came on time, and on some months, it never came. The highest he could manage to send home to his wife and two children was a sum of Rs 16,000 during a month of his stay. Posanna was brought back to India this year in January with his right side paralysed. The long hours working under the desert sun took its toll on him. ldquo;He got a fever once, and had to resume duty before he could recover. He had no insurance nor access to a hospital, and his health got worse,rdquo; says Ganaga Jala, his wife. The migrant worker had gone to the UAE on a tourist visa and was working with a Dubai based firm illegally. He had no access to healthcare in the UAE nor was he protected under Indiarsquo;s mandatory insurance scheme for migrant workers, Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY). Officials with the Ministry of External Affairs say unlisted companies hire such workers on tourist visas through recruiting agents, to save money. There are thousands like Posanna across the country who have been unable to avail PBBY as they are recruited by agents who send them abroad on tourist visas, and not legal employment visas. The workers thus work illegally and are not insured. The agents also donrsquo;t switch them from tourist visas to a proper work visa, and the Government of India (GoI) either remains in the dark, or ignores the issue wilfully. The PoErsquo;s roleMigrants like Posanna who do not have a formal education require an emigration clearance to move abroad for work. The emigration clearance is given by the Protector of Emigrants (PoE) office that handles the emigrant system. They are also tasked with issuing the licences for recruiting agents. In the year 2019, among the five southern states, recruiting agents from Tamil Nadu sent 27,230 persons through the emigrant system. Kerala stands second with 18,577 persons, while agents in Andhra Pradesh sent 14,971 persons, Telangana sent 13,186 persons and Karnataka 5,198 persons. Those who go abroad on a tourist visa for work are not counted, said an official with the PoE office in Hyderabad. As of February 4, 2020, the GoI has given licences to 1,451 recruiting agents across the country. However, 25% of these firms have not shown any record of their monthly returns to the Ministry of External Affairs in the last one year. Under the Immigration Act, they are supposed to submit periodical reports. Many Indians going to the Gulf donrsquo;t get recorded in Indiarsquo;s emigrant system. Agents send them on tourist visas and promise that they would be given an employment visa within a few months of their visit. Many like Kokeni Posanna never end up getting employment visas, and continue to work on extended tourist visas. Many others whose employers do manage to get them an employment visa prefer to not fly to India and back for stamping the visa. Many migrant workers on tourist visa go up the UAE-Oman border town of Hatta, make an exit to Oman and re-enter UAE with a fresh employment visa. Others go to the island of Kiev and re-stamp visas on their passports. ldquo;The stamping on passport is done by the UAE, that data is not shared with the Indian government. There are thousands who are missing out on the insurance safety net like this,rdquo; adds Bheem. In 2019, the Indian government came up with the Draft Emigration Bill meant to provide a regulatory system to govern overseas employment of Indian nationals. The Bill hoped to make it mandatory for both ECR (Emigration Check Required) and ECNR (Emigration Certificate Not Required) category of Indians travelling abroad to register with the emigrant system. At present, ECR is required for those who do not have a Class 10 certificate; those who have studied beyond Class 10 that do not require an emigration clearance and are thus classified under ECNR category. "But there was resistance from those in the ECR category,rdquo; says Rejimon Kuttappan, a journalist who writes on migrant rights. There are some 18 countries where ECR is presently required, including six Gulf countries where a majority of the job seekers flock to. "But in a state like Kerala, almost everyone will have a Class 10 certificate and thus will be categorised under ECNR and so it's not mandatory for them to go through the emigration system. The Bill trying to make it mandatory came up in the last Parliament session, but lapsed," he explains. If people under both ECR and ECNR categories are made to register with the emigration system, it gives clarity to the GoI on how many Indians are actually going abroad for work. Rejimon says that companies based in the Gulf hire people through visitor visas as they can pay these workers less, violate labour norms by not paying for life or medical insurance, gratuity or even provide a human resource department to register grievances. ldquo;These days, even engineers are going on driver visas and continue to work at sites. If they meet with an accident, the police ask why a person on a driver visa is working as an engineer. The engineer then gets into trouble and the Indian embassy can't do much. Even skilled workers are taking up short projects in the Gulf, but this is being done at great personal risk," says Rejimon. The trend continues as it's easier to get a visit visa than an employment visa. ldquo;To get a proper employment visa, the Gulf based company has to stand in queue at their Immigration ministry and make a deposit with the government for each employee being hired, they don't want to do that," he adds. ldquo;There is an understanding between two countries when someone seeks employment,rdquo; says an official with the External Affairs Ministry. ldquo;There are preconditions that companies listed with the Government of India have to meet, such as people will be paid salaries above a fixed rate, there are rules about working hours and medical insurance, to name a few. These are not restrictions, but they are rules put in place to ensure the safety of the migrant. However, this increases the cost for the companies, and therefore many prefer to go through recruiting agents and hire workers on a tourist visa and donrsquo;t provide them with anything,rdquo; the officer says, adding that itrsquo;s not mandatory for companies to hire Indians only through the emigrant system. Agents flouting rules Information sourced through Right to Information from the Ministry of External Affairs reveals that the number of firms not showing returns have also gone up annually. Out of 1,451 registered recruiting agents, as many as 416 firms have not shown records in 2019. ldquo;These firms are doing business but not on record, itrsquo;s off the record. How else are they still paying office rent, bills and staff salary and renewing licenses worth lakhs?rdquo; asks Bheem Reddy, President of Emigration Welfare Forum. Recruiting agents have to pay Rs 25,000 for a registration certificate valid for five years to the PoE and provide a bank deposit guarantee of Rs 50 lakh. MoE officials are aware that registered recruiting agents subvert the emigrant system, but only go after unregistered recruiting agents, say activists. According to the emigrant website, the PoE in Telangana has recorded only 15 unregistered agents operating in the state with Tamil Nadu recording 22, Andhra Pradesh 14, Kerala 24, and Karnataka 13 unregistered recruiting agents. But what about registered recruiting agents like the one who got Posanna recruited on a tourist visa to Dubai? The agent is known to the family and was someone the family trusted. The agent who has since passed away, used to report to another agent who had ties to other similar agencies functioning out of Hyderabad, says Ganaga. Bheem alleges that these registered recruiting agents are working as sub-agents for big agents in Mumbai, Hyderabad and their business is recorded in the licences of big players. ldquo;The small agents sitting in a rural area cannot deal with foreign employers, but they keep a licence so as to not attract trouble from the police. All the recruiting is done purely based on commissions,rdquo; alleges Bheem. He points to the Immigration Act under which no agent can appoint sub-agents. ldquo;No middlemen are allowed, even if they are licence holders,rdquo; he adds. A porous yogajaHad Posanna gone through the emigration system, he could have availed the PBBY scheme, a mandatory insurance scheme for those who have an emigration check for overseas employment. The scheme was launched in 2003 and last amended in 2017, it provides an insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh in case of accidental death or permanent disability with very low premiums. The scheme also has global medical insurance coverage of up to Rs 1 lakh (up to Rs 50,000 per hospitalisation) irrespective of employer and location. The scheme also has a repatriation cover for medically unfit or premature termination, with a one-way economy class air ticket or reimbursement. Even legal expenses on litigation apart from other benefits are part of the scheme. Medical insurance under PBBY is provided only to those who find employment through the emigrant system. Between April 2014 to December 2018 medical insurance companies under the PBBY have settled just 812 claims in tune of Rs 63.3 crore whereas the insurance firms have collected Rs 80 crore as premium. Indian migrant workers like Posanna when opting for a tourist visa become ineligible for medical benefits under the scheme. The recruiting agents do not inform them of the benefits either. The PoE office in Hyderabad says they provide advice only to those who approach their office. Posanna was made aware of PBBY only after he returned back to India spending for his own flight ticket which would otherwise have been free under PBBY. He managed to meet initial expenses while at UAE with help from fellow migrant workers. However, upon coming back, his hospital bills touched Rs 1 lakh in just four days. The PBBY scheme would have covered that as well. The family, however, managed, thanks to the Telangana governmentrsquo;s Arogya Shree health insurance scheme for below poverty line families. The family today is in a worse state than before Posanna left for Dubai for work and now struggles to make ends meet.

[newstfionline]

In Britain, Austerity Is Changing Everything

By Peter S. Goodman, NY Times, May 28, 2018

PRESCOT, England--A walk through this modest town in the northwest of England amounts to a tour of the casualties of Britain’s age of austerity.

The old library building has been sold and refashioned into a glass-fronted luxury home. The leisure center has been razed, eliminating the public swimming pool. The local museum has receded into town history. The police station has been shuttered.

Now, as the local government desperately seeks to turn assets into cash, Browns Field, a lush park in the center of town, may be doomed, too. At a meeting in November, the council included it on a list of 17 parks to sell to developers.

“Everybody uses this park,” says Jackie Lewis, who raised two children in a red brick house a block away. “This is probably our last piece of community space. It’s been one after the other. You just end up despondent.”

In the eight years since London began sharply curtailing support for local governments, the borough of Knowsley, a bedroom community of Liverpool, has seen its budget cut roughly in half. Liverpool itself has suffered a nearly two-thirds cut in funding from the national government--its largest source of discretionary revenue. Communities in much of Britain have seen similar losses.

For a nation with a storied history of public largess, the protracted campaign of budget cutting, started in 2010 by a government led by the Conservative Party, has delivered a monumental shift in British life. A wave of austerity has yielded a country that has grown accustomed to living with less, even as many measures of social well-being--crime rates, opioid addiction, infant mortality, childhood poverty and homelessness--point to a deteriorating quality of life.

When Ms. Lewis and her husband bought their home a quarter-century ago, Prescot had a comforting village feel. Now, core government relief programs are being cut and public facilities eliminated, adding pressure to public services like police and fire departments, just as they, too, grapple with diminished funding.

By 2020, reductions already set in motion will produce cuts to British social welfare programs exceeding $36 billion a year compared with a decade earlier, or more than $900 annually for every working-age person in the country, according to a report from the Center for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University. In Liverpool, the losses will reach $1,200 a year per working-age person, the study says.

“The government has created destitution,” says Barry Kushner, a Labour Party councilman in Liverpool and the cabinet member for children’s services. “Austerity has had nothing to do with economics. It was about getting out from under welfare. It’s about politics abandoning vulnerable people.”

Conservative Party leaders say that austerity has been driven by nothing more grandiose than arithmetic.

“It’s the ideology of two plus two equals four,” says Daniel Finkelstein, a Conservative member of the upper chamber of Parliament, the House of Lords, and a columnist for The Times of London. “It wasn’t driven by a desire to reduce spending on public services. It was driven by the fact that we had a vast deficit problem, and the debt was going to keep growing.”

Whatever the operative thinking, austerity’s manifestations are palpable and omnipresent. It has refashioned British society, making it less like the rest of Western Europe, with its generous social safety nets and egalitarian ethos, and more like the United States, where millions lack health care and job loss can set off a precipitous plunge in fortunes.

Much as the United States took the Great Depression of the 1930s as impetus to construct a national pension system while eventually delivering health care for the elderly and the poor, Britain reacted to the trauma of World War II by forging its own welfare state. The United States has steadily reduced benefits since the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s. Britain rolled back its programs in the same era, under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher. Still, its safety net remained robust by world standards.

Then came the global financial panic of 2008--the most crippling economic downturn since the Great Depression. Britain’s turn from its welfare state in the face of yawning budget deficits is a conspicuous indicator that the world has been refashioned by the crisis.

As the global economy now negotiates a wrenching transition--with itinerant jobs replacing full-time positions and robots substituting for human labor--Britain’s experience provokes doubts about the durability of the traditional welfare model. As Western-style capitalism confronts profound questions about economic justice, vulnerable people appear to be growing more so.

Conservative Party leaders initially sold budget cuts as a virtue, ushering in what they called the Big Society. Diminish the role of a bloated government bureaucracy, they contended, and grass-roots organizations, charities and private companies would step to the fore, reviving communities and delivering public services more efficiently.

To a degree, a spirit of voluntarism materialized. At public libraries, volunteers now outnumber paid staff. In struggling communities, residents have formed food banks while distributing hand-me-down school uniforms. But to many in Britain, this is akin to setting your house on fire and then reveling in the community spirit as neighbors come running to help extinguish the blaze.

Britain hasn’t endured austerity to the same degree as Greece, where cutbacks were swift and draconian. Instead, British austerity has been a slow bleed, though the cumulative toll has been substantial.

Local governments have suffered a roughly one-fifth plunge in revenue since 2010, after adding taxes they collect, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London.

Nationally, spending on police forces has dropped 17 percent since 2010, while the number of police officers has dropped 14 percent, according to an analysis by the Institute for Government. Spending on road maintenance has shrunk more than one-fourth, while support for libraries has fallen nearly a third.

The national court system has eliminated nearly a third of its staff. Spending on prisons has plunged more than a fifth, with violent assaults on prison guards more than doubling. The number of elderly people receiving government-furnished care that enables them to remain in their homes has fallen by roughly a quarter.

In an alternate reality, this nasty stretch of history might now be ending. Austerity measures were imposed in the name of eliminating budget deficits, and last year Britain finally produced a modest budget surplus.

But the reality at hand is dominated by worries that Britain’s pending departure from the European Union--Brexit, as it is known--will depress growth for years to come. Though every major economy on earth has been expanding lately, Britain’s barely grew during the first three months of 2018. The unemployment rate sits just above 4 percent--its lowest level since 1975--yet most wages remain lower than a decade ago, after accounting for rising prices.

In the blue-collar reaches of northern England, in places like Liverpool, modern history tends to be told in the cadence of lamentation, as the story of one indignity after another. In these communities, Mrs. Thatcher’s name is an epithet, and austerity is the latest villain: London bankers concocted a financial crisis, multiplying their wealth through reckless gambling; then London politicians used budget deficits as an excuse to cut spending on the poor while handing tax cuts to corporations. Robin Hood, reversed.

“It’s clearly an attack on our class,” says Dave Kelly, a retired bricklayer in the town of Kirkby, on the outskirts of Liverpool, where many factories sit empty, broken monuments to another age. “It’s an attack on who we are. The whole fabric of society is breaking down.”

As much as any city, Liverpool has seen sweeping changes in its economic fortunes.

In the 17th century, the city enriched itself on human misery. Local shipping companies sent vessels to West Africa, transporting slaves to the American colonies and returning bearing the fruits of bondage--cotton and tobacco, principally.

The cotton fed the mills of Manchester nearby, yielding textiles destined for multiple continents. By the late 19th century, Liverpool’s port had become the gateway to the British Empire, its status underscored by the shipping company headquarters lining the River Mersey.

By the next century--through the Great Depression and the German bombardment of World War II--Liverpool had descended into seemingly terminal decline. Its hard luck, blue-collar station was central to the identity of its most famous export, the Beatles, whose star power seemed enhanced by the fact such talent could emerge from such a place.

Today, more than a quarter of Liverpool’s roughly 460,000 residents are officially poor, making austerity traumatic: Public institutions charged with aiding vulnerable people are themselves straining from cutbacks.

Over the past eight years, the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, which serves greater Liverpool, has closed five fire stations while cutting the force to 620 firefighters from about 1,000.

“I’ve had to preside over the systematic dismantling of the system,” says the fire chief, Dan Stephens.

His department recently analyzed the 83 deaths that occurred in accidental house fires from 2007 to 2017. The majority of the victims--51 people--lived alone and were alone at the time of the deadly fire. Nineteen of those 51 were in need of some form of home care.

The loss of home care--a casualty of austerity--has meant that more older people are being left alone unattended.

Virtually every public agency now struggles to do more with less while attending to additional problems once handled by some other outfit whose budget is also in tatters.

Chief Stephens said people losing cash benefits are falling behind on their electric bills and losing service, resorting to candles for light--a major fire risk.

“There are knock-on effects all the way through the system,” says Chief Stephens, who recently announced plans to resign and move to Australia.

The National Health Service has supposedly been spared from budget cuts. But spending has been frozen in many areas, resulting in cuts per patient. At public hospitals, people have grown resigned to waiting for hours for emergency care, and weeks for referrals to specialists.

At Fulwood Green Medical Center in Liverpool, Dr. Simon Bowers, a general practitioner, points to austerity as an aggravating factor in the flow of stress-related maladies he encounters--high blood pressure, heart problems, sleeplessness, anxiety.

Wealthy Britons remain among the world’s most comfortable people, enjoying lavish homes, private medical care, top-notch schools and restaurants run by chefs from Paris and Tokyo. The poor, the elderly, the disabled and the jobless are increasingly prone to Kafka-esque tangles with the bureaucracy to keep public support.

For Emma Wilde, a 31-year-old single mother, the misadventure began with an inscrutable piece of correspondence.

Raised in the Liverpool neighborhood of Croxteth, Ms. Wilde has depended on welfare benefits to support herself and her two children. Her father, a retired window washer, is disabled. She has been taking care of him full time, relying on a so-called caregiver’s allowance, which amounts to about $85 a week, and income support reaching about $145 a month.

The letter put this money in jeopardy.

Sent by a private firm contracted to manage part of the government’s welfare programs, it informed Ms. Wilde that she was being investigated for fraud, accused of living with a partner--a development she is obliged to have reported.

Ms. Wilde lives only with her children, she insists. But while the investigation proceeds, her benefits are suspended.

Eight weeks after the money ceased, Ms. Wilde’s electricity was shut off for nonpayment. During the late winter, she and her children went to bed before 7 p.m. to save on heat. She has swallowed her pride and visited a food bank at a local church, bringing home bread and hamburger patties.

“I felt a bit ashamed, like I had done something wrong, “ Ms. Wilde says. “But then you’ve got to feed the kids.”

She has been corresponding with the Department for Work and Pensions, mailing bank statements to try to prove her limited income and to restore her funds.

The experience has given her a perverse sense of community. At the local center where she brings her children for free meals, she has met people who lost their unemployment benefits after their bus was late and they missed an appointment with a caseworker. She and her friends exchange tips on where to secure hand-me-down clothes.

“Everyone is in the same situation now,” Ms. Wilde says. “You just don’t have enough to live on.”

From its inception, austerity carried a whiff of moral righteousness, as if those who delivered it were sober-minded grown-ups. Belt tightening was sold as a shared undertaking, an unpleasant yet unavoidable reckoning with dangerous budget deficits.

“The truth is that the country was living beyond its means,” the then-chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, declared in outlining his budget to Parliament in 2010. “Today, we have paid the debts of a failed past, and laid the foundations for a more prosperous future.”

“Prosperity for all,” he added.

Eight years later, housing subsidies have been restricted, along with tax credits for poor families. The government has frozen unemployment and disability benefits even as costs of food and other necessities have climbed. Over the last five years, the government has begun transitioning to so-called Universal Credit, giving those who receive benefits lump sum payments in place of funds from individual programs. Many have lost support for weeks or months while their cases have shifted to the new system.

Britain spends roughly the same portion of its national income on public spending today as it did a decade ago, said Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

But those dependent on state support express a sense that the system has been rigged to discard them.

Glendys Perry, 61, was born with cerebral palsy, making it difficult for her to walk. For three decades, she answered the phones at an auto parts company. After she lost that job in 2010, she lived on a disability check.

Last summer, a letter came, summoning her to “an assessment.” The first question dispatched any notion that this was a sincere exploration.

“How long have you had cerebral palsy?” (From birth.) “Will it get better?” (No.)

In fact, her bones were weakening, and she fell often. Her hands were not quick enough to catch her body, resulting in bruises to her face.

The man handling the assessment seemed uninterested.

“Can you walk from here to there?” he asked her.

He dropped a pen on the floor and commanded her to pick it up--a test of her dexterity.

“How did you come here?” he asked her.

“By bus,” she replied.

Can you make a cup of tea? Can you get dressed?

“I thought, ‘I’m physically disabled,’” she says. “‘Not mentally.’”

When the letter came informing her that she was no longer entitled to her disability payment--that she had been deemed fit for work--she was not surprised.

“They want you to be off of benefits,” she says. “I think they were just ticking boxes.”

“Austerity is here to stay,” says Jonathan Davies, director of the Center for Urban Research on Austerity at De Montfort University in Leicester, England. “What we might now see over the next two years is a wave of bankruptcies, like Detroit.”

Indeed, the council of Northamptonshire, in the center of England, recently became the first local government in nearly two decades to meet that fate.

[gyrlversion]

May awaits her fate at EU summit while leaders ponder year-long delay

Theresa May has finished making her pitch for a short Brexit delay to hostile EU leaders at a crunch EU summit that could decide when the UK leaves.

The Prime Minister spent a little more than an hour in a question and answer session at the emergency meeting in Brussels tonight before being kicked out while they decide the UK’s fate over a lavish dinner.

The other 27 leaders of EU nations are deciding whether to give her what she wants – an extension to Article 50 to no later than June 30 – or, as seems more likely, impose a humiliating longer delay to leaving the trade bloc.

She addressed the European Council session in the Belgian capital after Emmanuel Macron had warned her that he was  ‘impatient’ and that a long Brexit delay was not guaranteed.

The French president appeared to wink today as he arrived in the EU’s core – after being urged not to ‘humiliate’ the Prime Minister. 

He is set to demand the UK is subjected to a number of punitive conditions with a Christmas deadline to finally quit the trade bloc, but also raised the spectre of a no-deal Brexit, possibly on Friday.

Speaking to reporters at the start of the emergency meeting of national leaders he warned that ‘nothing is settled’, including a long delay, and he was ‘impatient’ to hear what Mrs May had to say.

‘We must understand today why this request, what is the political project which justifies it and what are the clear proposals?’ he said. 

‘It is 34 months since the British referendum, and the key for us is that we are able to pursue the European project in a coherent way.

‘I believe deeply that we are carrying out a European rebirth, and I don’t want the subject of Brexit to get in the way of that.’   

Mrs May’s performance was shorter than the one she gave at the previous Brexit summit in March, where she spoke for more than 90 minutes before EU leaders dismissed her request – which was the same as the one she made tonight.

She used her own arrival in Brussels this afternoon to lash MPs for refusing to pass the Brexit deal, complaining ‘we should have left by now’, but dodged questions about her own future.

EU leaders are almost certain to reject her bid and force a delay lasting between December 31 this year and March 31, 2020, which could prompt her to resign.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants a gentler, but longer extension, into 2020 – reflecting splits among the EU27 that are set to delay a ruling long into tonight. 

Arriving at the EU’s headquarters the PM refused to say if she would quit if Britain is forced to swallow a longer delay – but insisted her aim is still to leave the EU on May 22 if she can win over Jeremy Corbyn.

She said: ‘What is important is that any extension enables us to leave at the point at which we ratify our Withdrawal Agreement. I know many people will be frustrated that the summit is taking place at all. The UK should have left by now’. 

President Macron is also calling for regular ‘behaviour reviews’ of the UK, a bonfire of its EU powers and posts and a ‘Boris-proof’ lock preventing a new Tory leader causing havoc within the EU if she stands down, despite warnings from Donald Tusk and Angela Merkel not to poison relations with Britain. 

Before taking off for Belgium a frustrated Theresa May blasted MPs for not voting through her EU divorce deal after Tory Eurosceptic Henry Smith accusing her of throwing away £1billion-a-month in payment to Brussels if she accepts a longer Article 50 extension tonight.

Mrs May hit back: ‘We could have been outside the EU by now if we’d managed to get the deal through Parliament and I’m continuing to work to deliver Brexit’.

But with talks with Labour set to start again tomorrow, Mrs May and Jeremy Corbyn dodged the subject completely during Prime Minister’s Questions. 

Despite the  pressure Mrs May was able to share a joke with Mrs Merkel and Mr Tusk at the start of the Brussels meeting tonight, laughing at something on the chancellor’s iPad.

It later emerged that they were looking at a side-by-side image the German leader and Mrs May wearing jackets of exactly the same colour as they took questions in their respective Parliaments earlier in the day.

Mrs May shared a joke with  German chancellor Angela Merkel tonight, ahead of the PM’s pitch to EU leaders in which she is asking for a delay to Brexit until June 30 at the latest

The two national leaders, both dressed in cobalt blue, appeared captivated by something on Mrs Merkel’s iPad at the start of the meeting in Brussels

They then shared the joke with European Council president Donald Tusk, who saw the funny side. He has suggested that the UK face a Brexit delay of up to a year

France’s President Emmanuel Macron appears to wink as he shakes hands with Belgium’s Prime minister Charles Michel as he arrives for a mini summit ahead of a European Council meeting on Brexit

Theresa May spoke to the media as she arrived for the summit and expressed her frustration over the need for a Brexit delay because ‘the UK should have left by now’

Earlier EU leaders urged Emmanuel Macron not to ‘humiliate’ her at tonight’s historic summit where they are expected to impose a lengthy delay on Britain leaving the bloc. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Council President Donald Tusk have urged the French President to show respect and restraint  – but Brexiteers claim the UK is already a ‘laughing stock’.  

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WITH BREXIT?

WEDNESDAY APRIL 10: EU SUMMIT

Another summit with EU leaders – where May will ask for a new delay beyond April 12. 

May’s new plan is to strike a cross-party consensus in London and persuade EU leaders it means the deal can be delivered in time for Brexit on May 22.

She may have to accept a longer extension that means holding EU elections, as Brussels has made clear this is a red line – and will take a decision on delay without Britain and it must be unanimous. 

EU officials including Michel Barnier have warned that the risk of an accidental No Deal is increasing if May arrives with no plan.

THURSDAY APRIL 11: PM’S FACES MPs

Theresa May will return from Brussels with a likely nine to 12 month extension and will outline her plans in the the Commons in the wake of the EU summit.

FRIDAY APRIL 12: BREXIT DAY

Britain is due to leave the EU without a deal on this date if no delay is agreed. 

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said today that Mrs May should not be allowed to ‘drift on’ if she accepts the EU’s longer delay and must quit before she faces another confidence vote. He said: ‘It’s almost certain she would lose, it would be humiliating’.

But Justice Secretary David Gauke suggested the PM could stay on for up to a year out of a sense of ‘duty’.   

And in more bad news for the PM, a new Kantar opinion poll found the Tories have plunged nine points in a month, which would put Jeremy Corbyn in No 10 if there was a general election.  

Tonight the EU is expected to demand a delay of between nine and 12 months to ‘allow the UK to rethink its Brexit strategy’ along with a ‘Boris-proof’ clause stopping a new Brexiteer Tory leader ripping up Mrs May’s deal. 

Mrs Merkel told Germany’s parliament today that EU leaders may well agree to a delay ‘longer than the British prime minister (Theresa May) has requested’.

She said she would meet French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of the summit with the aim of hashing out a common stance on the length of a further extension.

‘I think the extension should be as short as possible. But it should be long enough to create a certain calm so we don’t have to meet every two weeks to deal with the same subject.’

It came as the Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay admitted the EU is now in control but tried to shift the blame by saying: ‘The Government has agreed a deal. Parliament is refusing to honour the result of the referendum’.  

Angela Merkel is believed to have ‘taken on’ Emmanuel Macron in several recent phone calls while last night Mr Tusk made a personal plea for him to drop his request for a ‘good behaviour’ review for Britain every three months.

He said: ‘Neither side should be allowed to feel humiliated. Whatever course of action is taken, it must not be influenced by negative emotions. We should treat the UK with the highest respect, as we want to remain friends and close partners, and as we will still need to agree on our future relations’. 

Theresa May will hope that this will be the last time she asks for another Brexit delay as she tries to do a new deal with Labour to get it through Parliament

DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds branded the talks ‘humiliating and embarrassing’ for the UK, and claimed Britain was ‘effectively holding out a begging bowl to European leaders’. 

Tory MP Anne Main has said the UK was becoming a ‘laughing stock’ and called it ‘appalling that we may be seeking an extension with no real sense of purpose’. 

New vote ‘within days’ if Labour agree a Brexit deal with Theresa May

Brexit legislation could be brought back to the Commons in days if the Government can reach a deal with Labour, ministers said last night.

Two Cabinet sources told the Mail discussions were under way about the possibility of asking MPs to vote this week on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the hope of still leaving the EU next month.

Ministers have also reserved the right to shorten the Easter break by asking MPs to sit on Monday and Tuesday next week if a deal looks close. Under one proposal, the Government would agree to allow free votes on key Labour demands, such as a customs union and a second referendum. If passed, these would then be incorporated into Theresa May’s deal.

But a Whitehall source last night said the ‘high-risk’ strategy would only be considered if ministers were certain that Labour were signed up to it.

‘The problem is that if you put the Withdrawal Bill in front of MPs and they vote it down then you have lost if for this session. You would have to prorogue Parliament to bring it back so it’s pretty high-risk.’

  Brexiteer Labour MP Kate Hoey said: ‘It does seem really humiliating for this country to have our Prime Minister going over to the European Union to literally beg for an extension. What is this saying about our country?’

During Prime Minister’s Questions today Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said discussions are continuing in an attempt to find a compromise Brexit deal – but swiftly moved on.

Mr Corbyn then claimed communities across the country have been ‘abandoned’ by the Government, adding: ‘Official figures show that nine of the 10 most deprived council areas in this country have seen cuts almost three times the average of any other council.

‘Why has the Prime Minister decided to cut the worst-off areas in our country more than the most well-off?’

Mrs May said councils have more money available this year and a real-terms increase has been provided, adding: ‘(Mr Corbyn) voted against that money being available.’

She also insisted leaving the EU in an ‘orderly way’ will be the best Brexit for the UK after being asked why she is not pursuing No Deal by one of her pwn MPs.

Tory Craig Tracey urged the Prime Minister to consider leaving on Friday in order to respect their party’s manifesto commitments to leave the customs union and single market.

He said: ‘Do you agree with me that if the best way to do that, rather than deliver the diluted deal which is unrecognisable to many of us who voted to leave, is to go under WTO rules, then we should grab that opportunity and believe in the ability of the British people and the Conservative government to make a success of it?’

Mrs May replied: ‘Can I agree with you that I believe a Conservative government will make a success of whatever the situation is in relation to Brexit.

‘But I still believe actually the best Brexit for the UK is for us to be able to leave in an orderly way to be able to leave with a deal.’ Mrs May added there are some MPs who do not want to ‘honour the result of the referendum’, adding: ‘I do.’

The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford then asked if an second referendum has been offered to Labour to lure them into a cross-party Brexit deal – but Mrs May refused to say, adding her position ‘hasn’t changed’.

Donald Tusk (left today) made a personal plea for Macron to drop his request for a ‘good behaviour’ review for Britain every three months – but strict rules including clauses to stop Brexiteers like Boris Johnson (right yesterday) tearing up Mrs May’s deal look likely

The EU president Donald Tusk has warned tough conditions would be attached to any extended postponement.

And he said the stalled withdrawal agreement would not be unpicked under any circumstances, including the election of a new Tory leader. 

The Prime Minister is asking for a short delay to try to get the agreement through Parliament, possibly in a compromise deal with Labour. But government sources said she was now resigned to a longer period if EU leaders demanded it.

Austria’s foreign minister said that she believed a Brexit extension for the UK would be agreed by the EU.

Karin Kneissl told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘In principle, I’m of the impression that this is somehow settled. But, still, I assume that a lot of conditions might be attached.’

Mrs May has insisted she could not countenance putting off Britain’s departure beyond June 30 – but is now expected to accept it.

Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay admitted today that the EU now in control – but blames MPs and said: ‘It is Parliament that has forced this – not the Government’.  

He added: ‘I don’t want to see a delay for up to a year. But, the key with any delay is we are able to terminate it once we ratify in order that we can then get on and get a deal through Parliament, ratify that agreement and leave the EU.

‘And I think that is what the EU leaders want, it is what the Prime Minister wants’. 

He also confirmed that if talks with Labour fail, the Government would have to turn ‘indicative’ votes into ‘binding votes’ on Brexit options to rush it through. But that would raise the risk of a customs union or a second referendum, which Mrs May previously said were her red lines.

He said: ‘The Prime Minister has said that we will come back to Parliament and look at how we then get clarity on a vote.

‘One of the challenges there will be is how we have a stable majority to pass the legislation that would follow that vote.

‘But, we would come back to Parliament and seek to get a consensus on the various options.’

Mr Barclay said: ‘I don’t think a permanent Customs Union is a good way forward. We have actually negotiated something better in the Political Declaration.’ 

The Prime Minister faced a major Commons revolt last night, with 97 Tory MPs voting against any delay to the April 12 leaving date. Almost 80 more abstained, including a string of ministers.

Labour backed the Brexit day delay, helping it pass by 420 votes to 110. But just 131 Tory MPs supported the PM’s plan – 40 per cent of the parliamentary party.

Cabinet ministers Andrea Leadsom and Liam Fox, who both abstained, both publicly questioned the PM’s tactics.

Mrs Leadsom urged her to ask German chancellor Angela Merkel to reopen the withdrawal agreement – despite the EU repeatedly ruling this out. Dr Fox hit out at suggestions Mrs May could agree to keep Britain in a customs union as part of a compromise with Labour.

Solicitor general Robert Buckland told MPs the UK would be legally required to take part in European Parliament elections if it was a member state on May 23.

But he suggested British MEPs might not have to take their seats if Westminster agreed an exit plan in the coming weeks. 

Downing Street indicated that Mrs Merkel had agreed to an extension of Article 50 in order to ensure ‘Britain’s orderly withdrawal’.

Eurosceptic says Brexit delay will be illegal and will go not court over it

Eurosceptic Conservative MP Bill Cash tweeted a letter he had sent to European Council President Donald Tusk, claiming that ‘any decision by the Prime Minister to accept a long extension to Article 50 is likely to be challenged in the UK courts’.

In his letter, which he asked ‘be taken into account’ during today’s EU Council talks, Mr Cash wrote: ‘It is a fundamental principle of British constitutional law that the Government may not use their powers – including their powers to make international agreements – so as to frustrate the intention of Parliament.

‘It is very important to note that Parliament’s legal intention for the UK to leave the EU is not conditional upon a withdrawal agreement,’ he added.

Mr Cash continued: ‘There is a clear legal route for the legislative will of Parliament to be delivered: the UK can exercise its legal entitlement to leave the EU on April 12 2019 in accordance with Article 50(3).

‘A long extension, without any rationale for how it is needed in order to deliver the UK’s exit from the EU, is simply not something to which the Prime Minister can lawfully agree.

‘It would amount to a deliberate decision to frustrate the clearly-expressed will of Parliament as a matter of the rule of law.’

But there is the risk that French president Emmanuel Macron, who has questioned the point of further delay, could veto it or impose onerous conditions at a summit in Brussels tomorrow night.

Mrs May can refuse the EU’s offer of a long delay. But ministers fear MPs could vote to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit altogether unless a delay is agreed this evening. At a meeting of EU ministers in Luxembourg yesterday the bloc’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said a short extension was realistic because Mrs May had a plan to break the impasse.

But according to two diplomatic notes seen by the Mail, there was a ‘growing trend’ and ‘convergence of opinions’ toward a date much later than June 30.

Sources suggested that EU leaders are now set to extend Article 50 until at least the end of this year.

Mr Tusk last night told EU leaders there was little reason to believe that Mrs May would be able to get an agreement through Parliament by July.

‘Granting such an extension would increase the risk of a rolling series of short extensions and emergency summits, creating new cliff-edge dates,’ he said.

He urged EU leaders to agree a ‘flexible extension’ that would allow the UK to leave early if it could ratify a deal. But he added: ‘In the event of a continued stalemate, a longer extension would allow the UK to rethink its Brexit strategy.’

EU leaders have been spooked by warnings from Brexit hardliners, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, that the UK could deploy wrecking tactics if it remained in the EU, such as voting down its budget.

Mr Tusk said the UK would be expected to guarantee it would work in a spirit of ‘sincere co-operation’.

Tory Eurosceptic Anne-Marie Morris warned she could vote for Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party in the European Parliament elections in protest at the delay.

And Boris Johnson’s father Stanley revealed he hopes to stand as a candidate on May 23, almost three years after Britain voted to leave. 

Tories plunge NINE points in a month amid Brexit chaos as more than half of voters say they now back a second referendum

The Tory party has plunged nine points in the polls a new survey suggests today.

Kantar’s latest research suggests the Brexit chaos is finally hitting support for Theresa May‘s party as the PM seeks a second delay to leaving the EU.

The firm found the Conservatives are backed by 32 per cent, down from 41 per cent in the same survey in March.

The dramatic poll means Labour takes the lead with Kantar after rising four points, from 31 per cent to 35 per cent.

The Liberal Democrats have also gained group, surged three to 11 per cent support in the new survey.

Kantar’s new poll also finds more than half of people now support putting the Brexit deal to a referendum.

Kantar’s latest research suggests the Brexit chaos is finally hitting support for Theresa May’s party as the PM seeks a second delay to leaving the EU

Across all voters, 51 per cent say it should have a public vote while just 32 per cent are opposed. Leave voters split 53 per cent to 35 per cent against, while Remain voters are heavily split 62 per cent to 22 per cent in favour.  

According to the poll if a new referendum were held, 41 per cent say they would Remain, with 35 per cent backing Leave – with just nine per cent saying they don’t know and the rest vowing not to take part at all.

Kantar’s new poll also finds more than half of people now support putting the Brexit deal to a referendum. Across all voters, 51 per cent say it should have a public vote while just 32 per cent are opposed

The Tories have been trending down in the polls in recent weeks as the Brexit chaos continues to grip the nation 

Fewer than one in four people say Britain should end the impasse by leaving the EY with No Deal, with one in three saying Brexit should be cancelled instead. 

The poll findings were published as EU leaders today urged Emmanuel Macron not to ‘humiliate’ Mrs May at tonight’s historic summit where they are expected to impose a lengthy delay to Brexit on the UK. 

Will Brexit ever happen? As the EU appears set to force May into a year-long extension this is what is likely to happen as Britain’s exit is put off AGAIN tonight  

Britain is set to be pushed into a year-long delay to Brexit tonight after Theresa May effectively axed the prospect of No Deal on Friday.

The Prime Minister’s hopes of a short extension that expires in June appear to be doomed as she prepares to fly to Brussels following PMQs today.

Views among EU leaders vary – but the expiry of Article 50 looks likely to be shifted to at least the end of this year.

Mrs May could get the option to break the extension early if her deal finally passes Parliament – but EU Council President Donald Tusk has gone public with warnings there is ‘little reason’ to believe it will ever happen.

French President Emmanuel Macron has taken the most hardline stance, insisting Britain must be tied into strict rules to stop it misbehaving during any new delay. He is highly unlikely to actually veto the delay, however.

When the summit starts at around 5pm this evening, Mrs May will first answer questions from EU leaders – building on a diplomatic blitz that included trips to Paris and Berlin yesterday.

She will then be kicked out of the summit so the other 27 EU leaders can decide what to do over dinner. Only once they have a unanimous agreement on delay will Mrs May be asked to say Yes or No.

At the last summit three weeks ago the EU leaders debated in private for almost six hours. A similar row this time would mean Britain’s fate being decided at around midnight tonight.

Whatever happens, the PM must return to the Commons tomorrow to explain to MPs when and if Brexit will ever happen. 

What has Mrs May asked for? 

In a letter to Donald Tusk she formally requested an extension to Article 50 that will delay the UK’s departure beyond April 12 to June 30 – but she also wants a ‘termination clause’.

This would allow the UK to leave on May 22 – the day before European elections – if a deal can be pushed through the UK Parliament.

However, this delay is a carbon copy of that sought by Mrs May before the last emergency summit in March – which was rejected.

What has the EU said?

Mr Tusk said that a 12-month ‘flextension’ to March 29 2020 is ‘the only reasonable way out’ of the crisis and has urged leaders of the EU’s 27 member states to back him at Wednesday’s summit. 

Ahead of the summit today, Mr Tusk urged the 27 leaders to consider a long delay because there was ‘little reason’ to believe the deal would be passed by MPs before the end of June.

He said Brexit should be put off by ‘no longer than one year’ with Britain allowed to leave if and when the deal does somehow get through Parliament.   

If confirmed tonight such an extension is likely to spark fury among Tory Brexiteer MPs, with Jacob Rees-Mogg suggesting if we were kept in we should be troublesome to the rest of the EU, politically.

And Mrs May has previously said she would not be able to accept such a delay – suggesting it could prompt her to resign. This could lead to a summer leadership battle in Tory ranks before a new, most likely Brexiteer leader, takes over.

How does the EU make its decision? 

When the summit starts at around 5pm this evening, Mrs May will first answer questions from EU leaders – building on a diplomatic blitz that included trips to Paris and Berlin yesterday.

She will then be kicked out of the summit so the other 27 EU leaders can decide what to do over dinner. Only once they have a unanimous agreement on delay will Mrs May be asked to say Yes or No.

At the last summit three weeks ago the EU leaders debated in private for almost six hours. A similar row this time would mean Britain’s fate being decided at around midnight tonight.

When will Brexit be? 

It is hard to say – but it is highly unlikely to be on Friday as the law currently says.  

The PM clearly still wants to get out of the EU before European Parliament elections have to be held on May 22 but this is ultimately up to Brussels. 

Were she to pass the deal in the next couple of weeks, it is probably possible to conclude exit by around late May.

If she fails again however, exit day will likely be pushed back by at least nine to 12 months – setting the stage for a change of PM in Downing Street and possibly either an election or a referendum, or even both.  

What is happening in the cross party talks? 

The Prime Minister has said the divorce deal could not be changed but announced last week she would seek a new consensus with Jeremy Corbyn on the political declaration about the final UK-EU agreement. It is her final roll of the dice to save the deal.

Talks broke down on Friday between ministers and officials from both parties, despite previous efforts being hailed as ‘constructive’. After technical discussions on Monday, they finally resumed yesterday – but have now been adjourned again until tomorrow. 

If the talks fail, Mrs May has promised to put options to Parliament and agreed to be bound by the result. Time is short to actually call this vote.

In a second round of indicative votes last week a customs union, Norway-style soft Brexit and second referendum were the leading options – but none got a majority of MPs.  

What does Mrs May’s shift mean?   

Mrs May has abandoned all hope of winning over remaining Tory Brexiteers and the DUP on the terms of her current deal.

Striking a cross-party deal with Labour on the future relationship will require Mrs May to abandon many of her red lines – including potentially on free movement and striking trade deals.

To get an agreement with Labour, Mrs May will need to agree the political declaration should spell out a much softer Brexit than her current plans do.

This might mean a permanent UK-EU customs union or even staying in the EU Single Market.

What if Mr Corbyn says No? 

Mrs May said if she cannot cut a deal with Corbyn, she would ask Parliament to come up with options – and promised to follow orders from MPs.

In a second round of indicative votes last week a customs union, Norway-style soft Brexit and second referendum were the leading options – but none got a majority of MPs.

They would probably pass if the Tories whipped for them – but it would almost certainly mean ministers quitting the Government.   

The Institute for Government has mapped out how a crucial week in the Brexit endgame might unfold ahead of a possible No Deal Brexit on Friday 

Will May resign? 

Nodbody knows for sure. Mrs May has announced she would go if and when her divorce deal passed so a new Tory leader could take charge of the trade talks phase.

In practice, it drained Mrs May of all remaining political capital. Most in Westminster think her Premiership is over within weeks at the latest. 

As her deal folded for a third time a fortnight ago, she faced immediate calls from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn so stand down with instant effect. 

What is clear is there is already a fight underway for the Tory leadership.  

Does is all mean there will be an election?

Probably, at some point though the immediate chances have fallen because of the latest events. The Commons is deadlocked and the Government has no functional majority. While the Fixed Term Parliaments Act means the Government can stumble on, it will become increasingly powerless.

Mrs May could try to call one herself or, assuming she stands down, her successor could do so.  

Would May lead the Tories into an early election? 

Unlikely. Having admitted to her party she would go if the deal passes, Mrs May’s political career is doomed.

While there is no procedural way to remove her, a withdrawal of political support from the Cabinet or Tory HQ would probably finish her even if she wanted to stay.    

How is an election called? When would it be? 

Because of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act passed by the coalition, the Prime Minister can no longer simply ask the Queen to dissolve the Commons and call an election. There are two procedures instead.

First – and this is what happened in 2017 – the Government can table a motion in the Commons calling for an early election. Crucially, this can only pass with a two-thirds majority of MPs – meaning either of the main parties can block it.

Second an election is called if the Government loses a vote of no confidence and no new administration can be built within 14 days.

In practice, this is can only happen if Tory rebels vote with Mr Corbyn – a move that would end the career of any Conservative MP who took the step. 

An election takes a bare minimum of five weeks from start to finish and it would take a week or two to get to the shut down of Parliament, known as dissolution – putting the earliest possible polling day around mid to late May. 

If the Tories hold a leadership election first it probably pushes any election out to late June at the earliest.  

Why do people say there has to be an election? 

The question of whether to call an election finally reached the Cabinet last week.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay warned the rejection of Mrs May’s deal would set in train a series of events that will lead to a softer Brexit – meaning an election because so many MPs will have to break manifesto promises. 

MPs voting to seize control of Brexit from ministers has only fuelled the demands.   

Labour has been calling for a new vote for months, insisting the Government has failed to deliver Brexit.

Mr Corbyn called a vote of no confidence in the Government in January insisting the failure of the first meaningful vote showed Mrs May’s administration was doomed. He lost but the calls did not go away. 

Brexiteers have joined the demands in recent days as Parliament wrestles with Brexit and amid fears among hardliners promises made by both main parties at the last election will be broken – specifically on leaving the Customs Union and Single Market. 

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen wants Mrs May replaced with a Brexiteer. He believes it would push Remain Tories out of the party and then allow a snap election with more Eurosceptic candidates wearing blue rosettes.

What might happen? 

Both main parties will have to write a manifesto – including a position on Brexit. Both parties are deeply split – in many cases between individual MPs and their local activists.

Under Mrs May, the Tories presumably try to start with the deal. But it is loathed by dozens of current Tory MPs who want a harder Brexit and hated even more by grassroots Tory members. 

Shifting Tory policy on Brexit to the right would alienate the majority of current MPs who voted to Remain.

Labour has similar splits. Many of Labour’s MPs and activists want Mr Corbyn to commit to putting Brexit to a second referendum – most with a view to cancelling it. 

Mr Corbyn is a veteran Eurosceptic and millions of people who voted Leave in 2016 backed Labour in 2017. 

The splits set the stage for a bitter and chaotic election. The outcome is highly unpredictable – the Tories start in front but are probably more divided on the main question facing the country.

Labour is behind but knows it made dramatic gains in the polls in the last election with its promises of vastly higher public spending. 

Neither side can forecast what impact new political forces might wield over the election or how any public anger over the Brexit stalemate could play out.

It could swing the result in favour of one of the main parties or a new force. 

Or an election campaign that takes months, costs millions of pounds could still end up in a hung Parliament and continued stalemate. This is the current forecast by polling expert Sir John Curtice. 

Where’s Angela? Awkward moment May walked up the red carpet alone after Merkel failed to greet her  

There was an awkward moment for Theresa May as she arrived at the German Chancellery for talks with Angela Merkel – who failed to greet her.

Mrs Merkel traditionally meets important guests on the red carpet, but the Prime Minister was forced to walk down alone before entering the building.

The two leaders then re-emerged to shake hands for the cameras before disappearing again inside. 

Mrs Merkel traditionally meets important guests on the red carpet, but the Prime Minister was forced to walk down alone before entering the building

A body language expert yesterday suggested that the two leaders were at odds over a Brexit extension.

Mrs May’s hand clasp resembled a ‘begging gesture’ while both women cut ‘grim’ expressions.

Judi James said: ‘It’s the huge spatial gap between these two women that gives the suggestion of further separation rather than unity.

‘Merkel in particular tends to keep both her allies and her enemies close but this pose suggests some desire to end the conversation.’

It was a different scene when Mrs May later headed to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, who greeted her with a hug and kisses on both cheeks. 

The two leaders talk together on the terrace of the Chancellery in Berlin today 

Tories’ open revolt over delay: Almost 100 of them vote against move to put EU departure off to June 30 

By John Stevens and Jack Doyle

Boris Johnson (pictured outside Parliament on April 8) was among Tories to vote against the motion to delay Brexit to June 30 

Theresa May faced a mass rebellion by Tory MPs last night on a motion to delay Brexit to June 30 amid claims the UK was being turned into a ‘laughing stock’.

Ninety-seven backbench Tories voted against the motion, including former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and former foreign secretary Boris Johnson.

And it came as the Prime Minister also faced open revolt in the Cabinet with ministers Andrea Leadsom and Liam Fox publicly challenging her Brexit strategy.

In the Commons, and despite a three-line whip, almost 80 Tories were absent including several ministers, leaving just 131 to vote in favour of the motion.

No10 said there would be no disciplining of MPs who did not follow the party line. The Commons approved the motion on the extension request by 420 votes to 110, a majority of 310.

Former education minister Tim Loughton attacked ‘saboteurs’ on both sides for trying to ‘hamstring’ the Prime Minister.

He urged French president Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to veto an extension and ‘put us out of our misery now’. 

‘If the EU elections go ahead, it is highly likely the UK will elect an army of Nigel Farage mini-me’s, who I am afraid will wreak havoc with the European Parliament and wreck your calculations about the balance of power within the EU.’

New Brexit vote ‘within days’ if Labour agree deal  

Brexit legislation could be brought back to the Commons in days if the Government can reach a deal with Labour, ministers said last night.

Two Cabinet sources told the Mail discussions were under way about the possibility of asking MPs to vote this week on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the hope of still leaving the EU next month.

Ministers have also reserved the right to shorten the Easter break by asking MPs to sit on Monday and Tuesday next week if a deal looks close. Under one proposal, the Government would agree to allow free votes on key Labour demands, such as a customs union and a second referendum. If passed, these would then be incorporated into Theresa May’s deal.

But a Whitehall source last night said the ‘high-risk’ strategy would only be considered if ministers were certain that Labour were signed up to it.

‘The problem is that if you put the Withdrawal Bill in front of MPs and they vote it down then you have lost if for this session. You would have to prorogue Parliament to bring it back so it’s pretty high-risk.’

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell yesterday joined talks between the two parties in Whitehall, which also included Chancellor Philip Hammond and Environment Secretary Michael Gove. Mr McDonnell said Labour was seeking assurances that any agreement could not be overturned by a future Tory prime minister.

His comments reflect concern in Labour ranks that a Brexiteer such as Boris Johnson could simply tear up any agreement if they became PM after Mrs May steps down.

Mr McDonnell said: ‘Some of the discussion that will take place will be about how any deal is secure for the long term and how best to secure that either through domestic legislation or treaty.’ He expected the discussions would also cover alignment with the single market and environmental, consumer and workers’ rights. Asked whether the Government was indicating it would back a customs union, Mr McDonnell said: ‘Not yet – not even changes in language that I detect.’ Further talks are due to take place tomorrow.

Meanwhile, an aide to Mr Hammond yesterday said he faced the sack for attending a People’s Vote rally where he called for a second referendum. In defiance of the whips, Huw Merriman told the Westminster rally: ‘I am determined to play my part – if that means I use my voice and get fired for it then so be it.’ 

As Mrs May flew to Berlin for talks yesterday, Commons Leader Mrs Leadsom urged her to ask Mrs Merkel to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement forged last November.

Even though the Prime Minister has long given up attempts at changes as the EU has repeatedly ruled them out, Mrs Leadsom raised the prospect she should still be pushing for them.

Speaking outside her London home, she told ITV News: ‘The Prime Minister is off to see Angela Merkel today and it would be fantastic if Angela Merkel will try to support a proper UK Brexit by agreeing to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement.

‘There have been rumours over the weekend some senior members of the German government would be willing to do that in order to get Theresa May’s deal over the line.

‘As the person with the responsibility to get the legislation through, if we get the Prime Minister’s deal over the line because the EU has decided to support measures on the backstop, that would be the best possible outcome.’

But Mrs May’s official spokesman dismissed the idea, telling reporters: ‘Any plan going forward would be based on the current Withdrawal Agreement.’

There were also signs of resistance in the Cabinet to compromise with Labour, with International Trade Secretary Mr Fox warning that a customs union would leave the UK ‘stuck in the worst of both worlds’.

In a four-page letter to the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs, he explained how the scenario would see the UK ‘on the menu’ without any control. He said: ‘We would be stuck in the worst of both worlds, not only unable to set our own international trade policy, but subject, without representation, to the policy of an entity over which MPs would have no democratic control.’

He went on: ‘In such a scenario the UK would have a new role in the global trading system – we ourselves would be traded. As the famous saying in Brussels goes, if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.’

DUP party leader Arlene Foster and Westminster leader Nigel Dodds both accused Mrs May of ‘begging’ European leaders for help to break the impasse. 

‘The talks between the Prime Minister and the leaders of France and Germany is humiliating and embarrassing for the UK,’ Mr Dodds said last night.

 ‘The problems the Prime Minister is attempting to solve were not created by the decision to leave the EU, rather the ineffective negotiations by the Prime Minister to implement that decision.’

Earlier, Mrs Foster questioned Mrs May’s leadership qualities. ‘She needed to be strong, she needed to show leadership, and I’m sorry to say that hasn’t been evident in these past couple of months,’ she told the BBC.

The Conservative Party ‘will vanish’ if it doesn’t appeal to the young, say three senior MPs 

Three senior Tories in their 40s brandished their youth appeal yesterday as they pitched to be the ‘next generation’ leader to succeed Theresa May.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock, 40, International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt, 46, and Foreign Affairs committee chairman Tom Tugendhat, 45, are all expected to run for PM when Theresa May steps down.

All three have endorsed a report which warned the Conservative Party faces an ‘existential’ crisis unless it appeals to the young.

Foreign Affairs committee chairman Tom Tugendhat, International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt and Health Secretary Matt Hancock today urged the Tory Party to appeal to the young as they launched a think-tank report 

The report by think-tank Onward found the ‘tipping point’ at which voters are more likely to vote Conservative is now 51, up from 47 at the last election.

Speaking at the report’s launch in Westminster, Mr Hancock warned Tory voters are getting older and back the party ‘when they get their first Winter Fuel Allowance’ – not when they ‘get their first pay cheque’.

Mr Hancock, a former Bank of England economist, yesterday set out the case for ‘Caring Conservatism’, saying: ‘Enough about being just comfortable with modern Britain, we need to be champions of modern Britain.We need to champion a Britain that is positive and optimistic and gregarious and outward-facing and community-building and inclusive, and perhaps above all, caring.’

Previously seen as a rank outsider, Mr Hancock’s odds of winning have shortened markedly in recent weeks.

A former chief of staff to George Osborne, he won the West Suffolk seat in 2010 and has been a minister since 2013.

Mr Tugendhat, a former intelligence officer in the British Army, told the event the next leader should be someone under 50.

Calling for more focus on technical education and cheaper childcare, Mr Tugendhat said: ‘We need to look like the people who people want to associate with. And if we don’t get that right we will be in real trouble.’

Miss Mordaunt said Onward’s report was a ‘kick up the a***’ for the Tories. The MP for Portsmouth North worked in business and public relations before entering Parliament and rising up the ministerial ranks.

The ‘Generation Why’ report, based on polling by Hanbury Strategy, found 16 per cent of under-35s would vote Conservative. Just 17 per cent of Tory voters are under 45, and only 4 per cent under 25. 

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Opinion: What happened to Brexit architect David Cameron? | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent | DW

Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, David Davis. Even to the casual observer, those names are indelibly linked with the shambles that is threatening to tear the UK, and possibly the Conservatives, apart.

And even the most neutral of those observers would concede that they deserve the bashing they’re receiving. However, we wouldn’t even be discussing Boris’ latest antics (at least not in this context) if it weren’t for the, er, brains behind Brexit — the man who decided to put party politics above his country.

So what exactly is former Prime Minister David Cameron up to these days? “Working on his memoirs, that’s what I understand,” Kevin Theakston, professor of British government at the University of Leeds, told DW. “And I think he was supposed to have finished them about now. But they’ve been put back and the line is that he thinks that because of Brexit he wants them out after we’ve left because the dust will have settled a bit.”

Read more: Opinion: Brexit — #Brexcrement horrors and howlers

Cameron has hinted that he has ‘one big job’ left in him

The ill-fated referendum

Right, just to recap. In 2013, Cameron made his fateful in/out referendum pledge if the Tories won the 2015 election. Essentially that was done to appease the hardliners in his party who were worried that the United Kingdom Independence Party led by Nigel Farage would bite into the Conservative voter base and hand victory to Labour. To fight off that challenge, the Tories demanded that Cameron give them the prospect of a European Union referendum which would allow them to persuade their own anti-EU supporters that only a vote for the Tories would give them a definitive say over Britain’s future in the bloc.

Cameron did so in the belief that the electorate would vote to remain. Obviously that didn’t go according to plan. “I think he still feels the humiliation of calling and losing the referendum,” said Theakston. “And he fears going down in history as the person who accidentally took us out of the EU and maybe triggered knock-on consequences for the future of the UK itself — and doing it for reasons of party management and taking a gamble and it all came off badly.”

Who’s who in Brexit?

Britain’s embattled skipper: Theresa May

May became prime minister after David Cameron resigned from the post in the wake of the Brexit referendum vote in June 2016. Despite her position, she has struggled to define what kind of Brexit her government wants. Hardliners within her Conservative party want her to push for a clean break. Others want Britain to stay close to the bloc. The EU itself has rejected many of May’s Brexit demands.

Who’s who in Brexit?

Britain’s reluctant rebel: Jeremy Corbyn

The leader of the British Labour Party has no formal role in the Brexit talks, but he is influential as the head of the main opposition party. Labour has tried to pressure the Conservative government, which has a thin majority in Parliament, to seek a “softer” Brexit. But Corbyn’s own advocacy has been lukewarm. The long-time leftist voted for the UK to leave the European Community (EC) in 1975.

Who’s who in Brexit?

Britain’s boisterous Brexiteer: Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson’s turbulent two years as UK foreign secretary came to an abrupt end with his resignation on July 9. The conservative had been a key face for the Leave campaign during the 2016 referendum campaign. Johnson disapproves of the “soft Brexit” sought by PM May, arguing that a complete break from the EU might be preferable. He became the second Cabinet member within 24 hours to quit…

Who’s who in Brexit?

Britain’s cheery ex-delegate: David Davis

David Davis headed Britain’s Department for Exiting the EU and was the country’s chief negotiator in the talks before he quit on July 8, less than 24 hours before Downing Street announced Boris Johnson’s departure. Davis had long opposed Britain’s EU membership and was picked for the role for this reason. Davis was involved in several negotiating rounds with his EU counterpart, Michel Barnier.

Who’s who in Brexit?

Britain’s legal envoy: Dominic Raab

Theresa May appointed euroskeptic Dominic Raab the morning after Brexit Secretary David Davis resigned. Raab, a staunchly pro-Brexit lawmaker, was formerly Davis’ chief of staff. He previously worked for a Palestinian negotiator in the Oslo peace process and as an international lawyer in Brussels advising on European Union and World Trade Organization law.

Who’s who in Brexit?

Britain’s turnabout diplomat: Jeremy Hunt

Jeremy Hunt was Britain’s Health Secretary until he replaced Boris Johnson as foreign secretary in early July 2018. The 51-year-old supported Britain remaining in the European Union during the 2016 referendum, but said in late 2017 that he had changed his mind in response to the “the arrogance of the EU Commission” during Brexit talks. He has vowed to help get Britain a “great Brexit deal.”

Who’s who in Brexit?

Britain’s firebrand: Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage was the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) until July 2016. Under his stewardship, the party helped pressure former Prime Minister David Cameron into calling the EU referendum. He was also a prominent activist in the Leave campaign in the lead-up to the vote. Farage still has some influence over Brexit talks due to his popularity with pro-Leave voters.

Who’s who in Brexit?

Europe’s honchos: Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk

EU Commission President Juncker (left) and EU Council President Tusk (right) share two of the bloc’s highest posts. Juncker heads the EU’s executive. Tusk represents the governments of the 27 EU countries — the “EU 27.” Both help formulate the EU’s position in Brexit negotiations. What Tusk says is particularly noteworthy: His EU 27 masters — not the EU commission — must agree to any Brexit deal.

Who’s who in Brexit?

Europe’s steely diplomat: Michel Barnier

The former French foreign minister and European commissioner has become a household name across the EU since his appointment as the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator in October 2016. Despite his prominence, Barnier has limited room to maneuver. He is tasked with following the EU 27’s strict guidelines and must regularly report back to them during the negotiations.

Who’s who in Brexit?

Ireland’s uneasy watchman: Leo Varadkar

The Irish PM has been one of the most important EU 27 leaders in Brexit talks. Britain has said it will leave the EU’s customs union and single market. That could force the Republic of Ireland, an EU member, to put up customs checks along the border with Northern Ireland, a British province. But Varadkar’s government has repeatedly said the return of a “hard” border is unacceptable.

Who’s who in Brexit?

Europe’s power-brokers: the EU 27

The leaders of the EU 27 governments have primarily set the EU’s negotiating position. They have agreed to the negotiating guidelines for chief negotiator Barnier and have helped craft the common EU position for Tusk and Juncker to stick to. The individual EU 27 governments can also influence the shape of any Brexit outcome because they must unanimously agree to a final deal.

Author: Alexander Pearson

China, charity and Chequers

So while he sits on his memoirs, he’s doing what other former heads of state and government are doing: Giving speeches and focusing on charity work such as the National Citizen Service, a social development program for 15-17 year olds that was part of his “big society” initiative as prime minister. He’s also set up and heads a $1 billion (€866 million) China-UK investment fund, designed to improve roads, ports and rail networks between China and the countries it trades with. This line of his work could come in handy in terms of helping current Prime Minister Theresa May, who is scrambling to secure trade deals for the UK in a post-Brexit world.

Talking of which, has there been any meaningful contact between May and her predecessor? “I don’t think they’ve had serious contact on Brexit or on policy strategy for the government. Relations between May and Cameron and [former Finance Minister] George Osborne and what what some call the ‘Cameroons’ were always pretty frosty between 2010 and 2016 when she was home secretary,” said Theakston. “Cameron, I think, is completely politically irrelevant now and Theresa May is quite happy with that.”

Boris and the man who was prime minister: ‘It’s his fault’

While May has given him the cold shoulder, Cameron seems to be back on speaking terms with another of his nemeses, Boris Johnson, with whom he had a very public falling out over Brexit. They’ve been spotted having dinner together and also met for talks ahead of the Chequers summit in August where May presented her controversial customs arrangements to her ministers. One source said that Johnson and Cameron agreed the prime minister’s plans were “the worst of all worlds.”

However, as Theakston points out, this doesn’t mean they’re plotting the prime minister’s downfall. “I don’t see Cameron and Boris meeting up or playing tennis or anything like that as the start of a political alliance,” he said. “Boris might like to fool himself into thinking it is but I don’t think Cameron would view it as anything more than a limited social encounter.”

NATO on his mind?

By all accounts, it sounds as if Cameron is seriously underemployed. That must be weighing on his mind because he has hinted that he has “one big job” left in him. No, I don’t know either.

“It’s hard to see what that could be. There was speculation about the NATO [secretary-general] job,” said Theakston. “But it’s hard to see Cameron being acceptable to other European powers. Would other Europeans really want the person responsible for triggering this mayhem in British-European relations in that job?”

That legacy is hanging around his neck like a millstone. Every couple of years Theakston organizes a survey of other academics and gets them to score prime ministers, with 1 for, er, rubbish, and 10 for excellent.

“In the poll we did just after the Brexit referendum and Cameron’s resignation, he was voted by about 100 other academics the third worst since 1945 and worse even than Gordon Brown,” said Theakston. “And almost invariably when we dug beneath the headline figure and looked at what people were saying it was all down to the huge policy disaster of Brexit and its ramifications.”

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