SPAIN

The amnesty law comes into force after being published in the BOE: now it’s up to the judges: {Translation, summary}
– The Organic Law on amnesty for institutional, political and social normalisation in Catalonia, approved on 30 May by the majority in Congress, comes into force this Tuesday after being published in the Official State Gazette (BOE).
– From now on, its application is in the hands of the judges and courts that have on the table cases linked to the ‘procés’, these are the Supreme Court, the National High Court, the Court of Auditors and more than 300 cases in the courts and tribunals of Catalonia.
– The law establishes that the precautionary measures and arrest warrants in force will be suspended immediately, but there are discrepancies between the jurists and the prosecutors of the Supreme Court, who have questioned whether this can be done automatically.
– Moreover, the Supreme Court prosecutors informed the state attorney general, Álvaro García Ortiz, that they are opposed to amnesty for the crime of embezzlement because the law itself excludes it and, moreover, “affects the financial interests of the European Union (EU)”, which concerns the former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras and the ex-consellers Raul Romeva, Jordi Turull and Dolors Bassa, convicted of embezzlement.
– It also affects three of the fugitives, namely the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and the former ministers Toní Comín and Lluis Puig, prosecuted for embezzlement and disobedience. Source, Spanish: https://andaluciainformacion.es/andalucia/1683991/la-ley-de-amnistia-entra-en-vigor-tras-ser-publicada-en-el-boe-turno-para-los-jueces/

UPDATE- The Supreme Court maintains the arrest warrant against Puigdemont after the publication of the amnesty law: {Translation, summary}
– The Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena has given five days to the parties involved in the case of the procés in that judicial body to give their opinion on the possible application of the amnesty law, for the defendants Carles Puigdemont {pic}, Toni Comín, Lluís Puig and Marta Rovira – those who still have their case pending because they are on the run from justice, and on the relevance of maintaining or modifying the precautionary measures agreed against them. However, he has informed the police that the national arrest warrants against all of them remain in force. Source, Spanish: https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/5482177/0/supremo-mantiene-orden-detencion-puigdemont-publicacion-amnistia/ 

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A Badajoz judge charges Pedro Sánchez’s brother with crimes: {Translation}
– The head of the Court of Instruction number 3 of Badajoz, Beatriz Biedma, has charged David Sánchez {pic}, brother of the President of the Government Pedro Sánchez, following the complaint filed by the trade union Manos Limpias.
– Legal sources consulted by Libertad Digital affirm that “the Court has opened investigation proceedings for alleged crimes against the Public Administration, the Public Treasury, embezzlement, prevarication and influence peddling against the president of the Provincial Council of Badajoz and two other workers of this administration. It has been agreed that evidence will be taken, including the referral of the contract of one of those under investigation”.
– In addition to Sánchez’s brother, the legal proceedings also include the president of the Badajoz Provincial Council, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, who is also secretary general of the PSOE in Extremadura, and Alejandro José Cardenal, head of the corporation’s legal and human resources departments. The first of them, David Sánchez’s direct boss, was the one who authorised his hiring with a public salary -which as of today is 55,760 euros per year, a fact that happened just after Sánchez won the PSOE’s general secretary’s office in 2017.
– David Sánchez becomes the second member of the prime minister’s family currently under investigation in a judicial process. His wife Begoña Gómez is charged with crimes of influence peddling and corruption between private individuals in the 41st Court of Instruction in Madrid.
– The complaint by Manos Limpias against Pedro Sánchez’s brother recounted the details and conditions of his work as “coordinator of Activities of the Music Conservatories of the Department of Culture, Youth and Welfare of the Provincial Council of Badajoz”. Manos Limpias drew attention to the fact that “in the seven years that David Azagra – David Sánchez Pérez-Castejón’s stage name – has held the post of conductor of the orchestra of the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Badajoz, he has never conducted it, given the extensive calendar of events that they advertise”.
– “But if it is serious to see that he does not conduct the Badajoz symphony orchestra, it is even more so to learn that he does not attend his job at the Badajoz Provincial Council, except on rare occasions,” it added.
– The union insisted that there have been other conductors at the head of the orchestra “when it is a post exclusively for the person appointed to that position”. Source, Spanish:
https://www.libertaddigital.com/espana/2024-06-10/juez-badajoz-imputa-hermano-pedro-sanchez-7135976/ 

ANDALUCÍA

Experts warn of ‘huge increase’ in number of cockroaches this summer:
– The arrival of warm weather always means an increase in the population of various insects in Spain. This proliferation can sometimes be so high that they end up becoming problematic pests. This has been seen in Andalucía in recent years with tiger mosquitoes, processionary caterpillars and ticks. However, this summer there is one insect that could increase its presence much more than the others: the cockroach.
– “There are more and more arthropods in general due to climate change, which gives them more time throughout the year to reproduce,” Jorge Galván, director general of the Asociación Nacional de Empresas de Sanidad Ambiental (Anecpla) , told SUR’s sister newspaper Ideal. The summers are getting longer, which means that the populations of these insects are increasing. In the case of cockroaches, this situation is compounded by the fact that they are becoming resistant to biocides. Full article: https://www.surinenglish.com/andalucia/experts-warn-huge-increase-cockroaches-andalusian-homes-20240610081535-nt.html 

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CCOO and UGT health worker unions criticise the SAS for warning that it will have 16% less staff this summer- “It is the height of incompetence”: {Translation, summary}
– The Andalusian Regional Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs, Catalina García, warned on Tuesday that the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) will have “16% less” staff this summer than at the same time last year, in reference to the 500 Resident Internal Medicine (MIR) quotas that are not covered in the region due to a lack of professionals and the 489 retirements that will take place in 2024. In addition, there are 5,281 primary care professionals who “have to go on holiday”.
– For Antonio Macías, from UGT, “it is the height of incompetence that we can afford to say that we are going to have 16% fewer professionals than last summer. When we most need a brave policy and excellent management we find ourselves with “this unfortunate situation. The centers and services are on the verge of collapse, they are laying off 5,000 employees, they are not complying with what they agree to, the stock market is not working…..and now 16% less recognized. We don’t know what they are waiting for to stop it.” .
– Catalina García confirmed that on 14 June the Ministry of Health has called a new Interterritorial Council in which, however, “nothing is on the agenda” related to a proposal – promoted by the communities governed by the PP – to be able to hire this summer the MIRs who will finish their training next September, instead of in May, as usual – an exceptional situation resulting from the pandemic. I hope this is not a new dissuasion manoeuvre by the Ministry, because we have a serious problem in the public system. All communities, not just Andalusia”, clarified the Regional Minister of Health, who days ago warned of the possible closure of health centres this summer as a result of the lack of doctors in primary care. “Nobody is asking to break the law. No one wants the MIRs to finish their training early”, stressed Catalina García.
– According to the Regional Minister, “we have proposals that can allow these MIRs to work without the supervision of their instructors, but with the supervision of a specialist doctor at the health centre where they work, which does not have to be the one where they trained”, explained García.
“We are going to use all the resources at our disposal to avoid the extreme of closing health centres this summer, but it is true that we are in a very exceptional situation”. Source, Spanish: https://www.europapress.es/andalucia/noticia-ccoo-ugt-afean-sas-avise-tendra-verano-16-menos-plantilla-colmo-incompetencia-20240611163125.html

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Moreno affirms that Sánchez must call general elections “as soon as possible”- “It is the only way out left for him”: {Translation}
– The president of the PP of Andalusia and of the Junta, Juanma Moreno, has considered this Tuesday that the head of the Spanish Executive, Pedro Sánchez, must call general elections “as soon as possible”, this “autumn”, because it is the only “way out he has left”.
– Speaking to journalists in Madrid on the occasion of his attendance at the National Executive Committee of the PP, Juanma Moreno said that an “obvious reason” why Sánchez should call general elections is because “he has lost all the elections he has stood in practically the last two years” and because “he does not have a sufficient majority to be able to manage the public interests of the Spanish people with guarantees”.
– He added that, in fact, he has not been able to pass any other law apart from the Amnesty Law and, at a time when Spain faces very difficult challenges, “very important and far-reaching reforms are needed”. He pointed out that, furthermore, “given the situation that is being experienced in the Catalan Parliament”, the only “way out left for Sánchez is to call elections as soon as possible and let the Spanish people decide”.
– Moreno added that, in other European countries, their presidents have “called elections for lesser circumstances than those that Sánchez is going through”: “His government is not viable and is absolutely and completely paralysed” and the only “objective is to survive every week and every day”. “I think the reasonable thing to do, given this situation, is to call elections, for the Spanish people to decide whether they think that Mr Sánchez should continue to be president”, said Moreno, for whom this would be the “reasonable and sensible option” and to do so “as soon as possible, this autumn”.
– For Moreno, it is essential to go to the polls and for the “citizens to be the ones to clarify the present and the future of Spain” and to get out of the “mess” that Pedro Sánchez has got us into “by artificially holding on to power for a year, as he has been doing since the last elections on 23 July (2023), which he lost to Alberto Núñez Feijóo”.
– Regarding whether Feijóo should propose a motion of censure against Pedro Sánchez if he does not call general elections, Moreno has indicated that this is a “decision that is up to” the PP president, who, together with his team, will be “assessing all the options”. “The motion is always an alternative, but as long as it is viable, and today it seems that it is not possible”, said Moreno, for whom if Sánchez has any “sense of state left, he should call elections, let the Spanish people speak and let Spain get back to work”.
– For Moreno, Spain cannot be “paralysed” and he alluded to the “problem” for fundamental public services posed by the fact that the General State Budget (PGE) for this year has not been presented. Photo of Moreno & wife: SUR.es. Source, Spanish: https://www.europapress.es/andalucia/noticia-moreno-afirma-sanchez-debe-convocar-elecciones-generales-cuanto-antes-unica-salida-le-queda-20240611123639.html 

MALAGA CITY

Four hooded men attack a chalet in Cerrado de Calderón (Malaga) with an elderly couple and their grandson inside: {Translation, summary}
– The State Security Forces and Corps are investigating a new assault on a house in the province with the residents inside. This time it happened in the Cerrado de Calderón neighbourhood {pic}, in Málaga city, where four hooded men intimidated a couple and their grandson, a minor, who was with them at the time.
– The incident took place at around 11 p.m. on Friday 7 June. The thieves broke through the outside wall surrounding the house and entered the house, where the family was staying. They apparently showed them a screwdriver to intimidate them and ordered them not to leave the living room of the house.
– Sources close to the case said that the thieves did not use physical violence against the residents and did not even tie them up, although they kept them in a room long enough to search the house and seize cash and jewellery. It has not been revealed how much loot was taken in the robbery.
– The robbery took place just 48 hours after the one suffered by a businessman from Rincón de la Victoria, who was robbed together with his wife and son in his house in the Cotomar urbanisation. Again, four hooded men – sources refused to speculate that it was the same gang – broke into the house minutes after midnight last Wednesday night and pinned him, his wife and 25-year-old son down. Source, Spanish: https://www.diariosur.es/sucesos/cuatro-encapuchados-asaltan-chale-cerrado-calderon-matrimonio-20240610212836-nt.html

USA

Hunter Biden guilty of felony gun charges, faces 25 years in prison:
– Hunter Biden became the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a crime Tuesday after a federal jury found him guilty on three counts related to lying about his drug use in order to buy a gun. The panel of six men and six women deliberated for three hours across two days before convicting the 54-year-old of making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed firearms dealer, and possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of or addict to a controlled substance.
– The government used witness testimony, Hunter’s own communications, data taken from his infamous laptop (Yes, after 4 years of lies and cover-ups by top officials colluding with their mainstream media puppets, the courts have determined, and the FBI / DOJ have finally admitted, that the abandoned Hunter Biden laptop and its abhorrent contents including images of drug use, sexual images of minors & prostitutes, and all the communications confirming corrupt business dealings with China involving Pres. Joe Biden, are in fact legit and permissible to use as evidence in courts! Ref: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/it-only-took-4-years-doj-finally-acknowledges-hunter-laptop-is-legitimate-for-first-time/ar-AA1ncGMI -Ed.) and excerpts from Hunter’s own book “Beautiful Things” to prove that he was using crack around the time he bought the firearm. Jurors heard a plethora of excerpts from the audiobook of Hunter’s memoir — narrated by the first son himself — describing his struggle with addiction and how he had a “superpower of finding crack cocaine anytime, anywhere.”
Full article: https://nypost.com/2024/06/11/us-news/hunter-biden-convicted-of-felony-gun-charges-faces-25-years/ 

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Russian warships conduct Atlantic drills en route to Cuba. New hypersonic missiles are on board:
– Russian warships conducted drills in the Atlantic, the military said Tuesday, as they were heading to visit Cuba, part of Moscow’s efforts to project power amid the tensions with the West over Ukraine.
– The Russian Defense Ministry said the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and the Kazan nuclear-powered submarine conducted the exercise that was intended to simulate a missile strike on a group of enemy ships. The Admiral Gorshkov {pic} is armed with new Zircon hypersonic missiles. The weapon has been designed to arm Russian cruisers, frigates and submarines and could be used against both enemy ships and ground targets.
– Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted Zircon as a potent weapon capable of penetrating any existing anti-missile defenses by flying nine times faster than the speed of sound at a range of more than 1,000 kilometers (over 620 miles).
– The Admiral Gorshkov and the Kazan are accompanied by two support vessels on their visit to Havana, which Cuban officials said reflected “historically friendly relations” between Russia and Cuba.
– It’s not the first time Russia has sent its warships to the Caribbean, but this week’s visit follows Putin’s warning that Moscow could respond to Ukraine’s Western allies allowing Kyiv to use their weapons to strike targets in Russia by giving similar weapons to adversaries of the West worldwide. Full article: https://apnews.com/article/russia-navy-warhips-cuba-caribbean-ukraine-12c2be0f94a5ce1fcb8c6fdc0101d450

TECH

Elon Musk Threatens to Seize iPhones and Store Them in a Faraday Cage at His Companies:
– Apple is finally making big moves in the generative AI space, and Elon Musk isn’t happy.
– On Monday, Apple turned heads with a splashy announcement: a partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its operating system.
– And it was this that Musk took particular issue with. His response, which he shared on X, was to excoriate the new big tech team-up – and to threaten prohibiting any and all forms of Apple hardware from the workplace at his various companies. “If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies,” Musk raged. “That is an unacceptable security violation.” “And visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage,” he added.
– An incensed Musk also took his complaints directly to the top. In a reply to Apple CEO Tim Cook’s announcement tweet, he reiterated his threat to ban the company’s tech, and demanded Apple to “stop this creepy spyware.” “Apple using the words ‘protect your privacy’ while handing your data over to a third-party AI that they don’t understand and can’t themselves create is *not* protecting privacy at all!” he wrote elsewhere on the platform.
-Musk, however, is calling the kettle black, let’s be clear: big tech companies deserve all the crap they can get over their horrendous privacy track records. But this is rich coming from Musk, whose own chatbot, Grok, is allegedly trained with less-than-scrupulously sourced data: per an update to X’s policy, everyone’s public tweets are fair game for being ingested by the AI model. Even more egregiously, under Musk’s stewardship, X has also reportedly continued its practice of selling user data to surveillance firms that are contracted by the US government.
– You’re probably getting the sense that Musk isn’t just upset about privacy concerns here. And you’d be right: he has a longstanding grudge against OpenAI, a company he cofounded in 2015 but left just three years later after disagreements over its direction. Musk has consistently been critical about OpenAI’s bald-faced pivot to money-making after starting as a nonprofit. In March, he sued the startup on those grounds, and has continued to raise billions of dollars for his rival firm xAI. It must be all the more infuriating, then, to see his colleagues-turned-rivals court not just Microsoft, but now Apple. Full article: https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-seize-iphones-faraday-cage 

FROM THE “WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY THINKING” DEPARTMENT

The Guardia Civil also succumbs to transgender drift and deletes the word “woman” from its regulations: {Translation}
– Since the implementation of the Trans Law came into force, the erasure of the word “woman” has been imposed in many areas. Yet a few months ago it was feminist associations who complained to RNE for starting to call women “menstruating people” so as not to offend the trans community. Now it is the women of the Guardia Civil themselves who denounce that the Guardia Civil has taken “the first step to erase the word WOMAN in its internal regulations”. They thus refer to the modification of Order PCI/349/2019, which establishes the model and regulatory rules of the academic record of the personnel.
– “The Civil Guard replaces the phrase ‘special attention will be paid to the protection of women who are in the period of pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum’ with ‘special attention will be paid to the protection of situations related to pregnancy’,” explains the AUGC, who has already shown its “disagreement” in the respective working groups held during the months of March and April, and will denounce it again this Thursday in front of the Director General of the Civil Guard.
– “The Administration has not given us a convincing explanation to justify this deletion of the term ‘pregnant woman’ in a text that already included it as such. This is a denial of biological reality such as the sex of people and where to date only women have the capacity to gestate and give birth, although not all of them do”. The AUGC also denounces the changes that are intended to be introduced in the Draft Royal Decree on Temporary Incapacity for Corps personnel, which will regulate leave due to incapacitating menstruation so that, as has been done with other female workers, it will not be treated as leave due to common illness, which would cause them to lose performance incentives. “But beware, they do not do so by mentioning the word WOMAN,” stresses the AUGC, which warns that this is only the first step: “Later we will regret reading in our legislation ‘menstruating person’, ‘uterus-bearing person’ or ‘pregnant person'”.
– The modifications planned in the heat of the controversial Trans Law have thus caused deep unease among the women of the Guardia Civil, who denounce that, after 36 years in the force, there are those who want to erase “with the stroke of a pen” the many “small steps” the female members have taken forward. “And hopefully the next anniversary that you celebrate to commemorate the entry of women into the Civil Guard, no woman appears and you have to do it with ‘non-menstruating people’,” they say with a touch of irony.
– Last October, numerous women and feminist organisations from different parts of Spain also joined together to send dozens of letters to RTVE’s Audience Ombudsman, María Escario, to denounce a report on RNE that referred to women as “menstruating people”. After asking for explanations, the public broadcaster reacted with an angry reply, advising them to get better information: “It turns out that ‘trans men’ also have periods”.
– For the Alliance Against the Erasure of Women, the tone of the commentary was not only “disrespectful”, but also demonstrated a “misogyny” and a “militant journalism” that, they denounced, “responds exclusively to the interests of activists who confront science and despise the name of women”. Proof of this, they insisted, is their double standards: “They do not dare to call men ‘ejaculators'”. Source, Spanish: https://www.libertaddigital.com/espana/politica/2024-06-11/la-guardia-civil-tambien-sucumbe-a-la-deriva-trans-y-borra-la-palabra-mujer-de-su-normativa-7136058/