TRUMP INDICTED

Donald Trump is to become the first former US president to face criminal charges after being indicted by a New York grand jury yesterday.

A Manhattan jury decided that the former president should face “what sources said were more than 30 counts related to business fraud” over hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, reported CNN’s White House reporter Stephen Collinson.

Trump, who is alleged to have had an adulterous relationship with Daniels, has denied any wrongdoing and claims to be the victim of “political persecution and election interference” ahead of his 2024 bid.

The indictment is “the latest stunning barrier shattered by the nation’s most unruly president,” said Collinson. But some pundits claim that being prosecuted could ultimately boost Trump’s bid for a second stint in the White House.  (The Week, 3/31/2023)

————————————————-

The attack on Netanyahu’s right to govern –  The true agenda of Israel’s mass protests has been laid bare

Whatever one thinks about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, any true Israeli patriot will surely react viscerally to US President Joe Biden’s outrageous attack on Israel’s right to govern itself without foreign interference.

On Monday, Netanyahu announced he was suspending his coalition’s judicial reform legislation in order to negotiate a compromise with the opposition.

The next day, Biden told Netanyahu to “walk away” from the legislation, saying he was “very concerned” about the health of Israeli democracy.  Warning that Israel “cannot continue down this road,” he added for good measure that he wouldn’t be inviting Netanyahu to the White House “in the near term.”

It is deeply disturbing that the US should brazenly and insultingly interfere in the internal affairs of another country and tell its prime minister how to behave.  Biden was supposedly speaking as Israel’s friend, but he sounded like a colonial administrator barking at the natives to fall into line.

While Likud politicians hit the roof, left-wing and centrist politicians and commentators got behind Biden and kicked Netanyahu even more viciously in the head.

After three months of mass protests, incitement to hysteria and ludicrous hyperbole about the end of democracy that have caused Israel untold social, financial and reputational damage, those who shared responsibility for the crisis took their cue from Biden and blamed Netanyahu instead.  (Melanie Phillips, 3/31/2023)

—————————————————

This Sunday, Finnish voters will choose the party and prime minister who will lead the nation in its historic step into NATO membership.

This is a big moment for Finland. For decades, its leaders tried to safeguard its security by remaining officially neutral in conflicts between giant neighbor Russia and the West. A clear majority of Finns considered that the more prudent choice. Since the end of the Cold War, Finland has drawn closer to NATO but remained outside the alliance to avoid provoking the Kremlin.

Then Russia invaded Ukraine, and Finnish minds quickly changed. Polls say nearly 80% of Finns support full NATO membership, and the alliance is eager to welcome a valuable new partner.

Finland’s application cleared its one remaining hurdle on Thursday as lawmakers in Turkey, the last NATO member needed to make it official, approved Finland’s bid. Nothing left now but paperwork.

And this Sunday, voters in Finland will choose the party and prime minister who will lead the nation in this historic step. At stake are all 200 seats in Finland’s parliament, which are now divided among nine different parties.

Current Prime Minister Sanna Marin hopes her center-left Social Democrats will win enough seats to lead the next government, allowing her to finish the NATO process she pushed into motion last year. Polls suggest the race will be close because the center-right National Coalition Party and the far-right Finns Party both appear strong. (Gzero Signal, 3/31/2023)

_________________________________

FRENCH RIOTS SHOW NO SIGNS OF ENDING

More than one million protestors took to the streets in France on March 24, 2023, in response to President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed pension reforms, which would raise the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64. This was the 10th day of national mobilization since January 19, 2023, and the demonstrations show no sign of stopping. After Macron’s government lost its absolute majority in the National Assembly in the 2022 legislative elections — leaving it unable to pass the law through a simple majority — the government decided to use a constitutional tool called Article 49.3, which allows it to pass a law in parliament without a vote on the text. The decision resulted in the government facing two votes of no confidence, which it didn’t lose — but the main one, pushed by a centrist minister of parliament, fell short by only nine votes, indicating how volatile the political situation in France is right now. Macron has said that he will not back down, though there is precedent for the government using Article 49.3 and then later withdrawing the law in response to massive and continuous public protests. (Tara Varmar, Brookings, 3/31/2023)

Last week, Uganda’s parliament passed legislation that criminalizes identifying as LGBTQ, which puts individuals at risk of life imprisonment, or in some cases, even death. Similarly, draconian legislation over identifying as LGBTQ is under consideration in Ghana, and VP Kamala Harris’s visit to Zambia this week – for a summit celebrating democracy – is stoking anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. As of 2023, many parts of the world are still unsafe for the LGBTQ community, as same-sex acts are deemed illegal in 65 countries, from Latin America to Oceania. The death penalty is a possibility in 11 countries worldwide.  (Gzero Signal, 3/31/2023)

TO THE POINT

• KING CHARLES ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO GERMANY.  King Charles III was due to visit France and Germany last month, to try to put things right following Brexit.  By putting these two countries first, England hoped to show it remained deeply committed to Europe.   Sadly, the French trip was canceled by France due to ongoing rioting in the country.   The visit to Germany was highly successful.   The audience was surprised when Charles spoke German half the time during a speech to the Bundestag.   It should be remembered that Charles has many relatives in Germany and visited the country over thirty times before becoming king.

• SCOTLAND’S FIRST MINISTER — A replacement has been found for Nicola Sturgeon.   Scotland’s new First Minister will be Humza Yousaf, an Indian national from the Punjab.  His appointment comes just a few weeks after Rishi Sunak became British Prime Minister.  Mr. Sunak is also of Indian descent.  Kate Forbes, an earlier and more competent candidate was not successful due to her conservative and Christian stance on sex outside of marriage.

• NEWQUAY DEMO — A small demonstration continues in Newquay, Cornwall, against asylum seekers who have been given a local hotel to stay in while their cases are heard. 

• INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION FOLLOWS LATEST SCHOOL SHOOTING – There have been so many school shootings, it was a surprise last week following the shootings in Nashville to see condemnation of the US in the international press.   How can the world’s premier nation possibly allow this to happen?  How can the US lead the western world when it can’t even keep its schoolchildren safe?  A few more and we may find these shootings have international ramifications.

FINAL THOUGHT

Philippians 2:12 – Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.