DOJ to safeguard women who seek abortion in Texas
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Monday that it will not tolerate violence against anyone who is trying to obtain an abortion in Texas as federal officials explore options to challenge a new state law that bans most abortions.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department would “protect those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services” under a federal law known as the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
Garland said federal prosecutors are still exploring options to challenge the Texas law. He said the Justice Department would enforce the federal law “in order to protect the constitutional rights of women and other persons, including access to an abortion.”
The federal law, commonly known as the FACE Act, prohibits physically obstructing or using the threat of force to intimidate or interfere with a person seeking reproductive health services. The law also prohibits damaging property at abortion clinics and other reproductive health centers.
The new Texas law prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, usually around six weeks — before some women know they’re pregnant. Courts have blocked other states from imposing similar restrictions, but Texas’ law differs significantly because it leaves enforcement up to private citizens through lawsuits instead of criminal prosecutors.
Justice Department officials have also been in contact with U.S. attorneys in Texas and the FBI field offices in the state to discuss enforcing the federal provisions.
“The department will provide support from federal law enforcement when an abortion clinic or reproductive health center is under attack,” Garland said. “We will not tolerate violence against those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services, physical obstruction or property damage in violation of the FACE Act.”
Prison escape: Israel launched a massive manhunt in the country’s north and the occupied West Bank early Monday after six Palestinian prisoners tunneled out of their cell and escaped from a high-security facility in the biggest prison break of its kind in decades.
Israel’s Army Radio said 400 prisoners are being moved as a protective measure against any additional escape attempts.
The radio said the prisoners escaped through a tunnel from the Gilboa prison, just north of the West Bank, which is supposed to be one of Israel’s most secure facilities.
The escape marks an embarrassing security breach.
Palestinians consider prisoners held by Israel to be heroes of their national cause, and many celebrated the escape on social media.
Israeli officials said they have erected roadblocks and are conducting patrols in the area.
It appeared to be the biggest Palestinian escape from an Israeli prison since 1987.
German data: Germany has protested to Russia over attempts to steal data from lawmakers in what it suspects may have been preparation to spread
disinformation before the upcoming German election, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said Monday.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Andrea Sasse said that a hacker outfit called Ghostwriter has been “combining conventional cyberattacks with disinformation and influence operations,” and that activities targeting Germany have been observed “for some time.”
She said that, ahead of Germany’s parliamentary election on Sept. 26, there have been attempts — using phishing emails, among other things — to get hold of personal login details of federal and state lawmakers,
with the aim of identity theft.
In the Sept. 26 vote, Germany will elect a new parliament that will determine who succeeds Chancellor Angela Merkel. She is not seeking another term after nearly 16 years in charge.
The outcome is wide open, with polls showing the main parties fairly close together.
Greek composer: Hundreds of people, some carrying flowers, gathered Monday at Athens Cathedral to pay their final respects to Greek composer and politician Mikis Theodorakis, who was an integral part of the
Greek political and musical scene for decades.
Theodorakis, who died Thursday at 96, is lying in state in a cathedral chapel for three days ahead of his burial on the southern island of Crete. His body arrived Monday after a nearly two-hour delay amid a dispute over burial details.
Over the weekend, his family reportedly lifted their objections to him being buried on Crete in accordance with his last wishes. A court had temporarily halted burial plans pending a resolution of the dispute.
Theodorakis was also well-known in Greece for his political activism as for his
musical career. He penned a wide range of work, from somber symphonies to popular TV and film scores, including for “Serpico” and “Zorba the Greek.”
He is also remembered for his opposition to the military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974, a time during which he was persecuted and jailed and his music outlawed.
Greece’s Communist Party said over the weekend that Theodorakis’ body will lie in state beginning Monday, and a “farewell ceremony” will be held Wednesday, before the late composer is flown to Crete.
The church service and burial will be Thursday.