The law came into effect in Hong Kong in the lead-up to July 1 -- the 23rd anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from British rule to China -- and dramatically broadens the powers of both local and mainland authorities to investigate, prosecute and punish dissenters.
In vague language, the law criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign powers. People who are convicted of such crimes can face sentences up to life in prison.
On Wednesday, Hong Kong police said they had arrested a man for carrying an independence flag -- the first such arrest under the national security law.
The night before, police commanders were told in a training session that anybody seen waving an independence flag or chanting for independence will be arrested, a police source said. In addition, the source said anybody searched and found to have independence flags in their possession will be arrested.
Despite a heavy police presence and threat of stricter penalties, hundreds of people turned out in the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay on Wednesday, handing out flyers and waving posters. Riot police fired pepper spray into the crowd at one point, and unfurled a purple flag warning protesters of being in violation of the new law.
July 1 is traditionally a day of protests in the city but for the first time since handover, police did not give permission to protesters to hold peaceful demonstrations.
Speaking after the annual flag raising ceremony on Wednesday, Hong Kong's top official, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, said the law is a "crucial step to ending chaos and violence that has occurred over the past few months" in the city.
"The national security law is the most important development in securing ties between China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since the handover," she said, framing criticism of the law as "vicious attacks."
The stringent new legislation and its 66 articles were kept secret from the public until the law went into effect and appear to offer the government, courts, police and authorities a roadmap to quash any hint of the mass anti-government protests that rocked the city last year.
Here are some of the key takeaways of the law, according to a translation from Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
The law establishes four new offenses of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign powers. The maximum penalty for each is life imprisonment.
The Chinese central government will establish its own law enforcement presence in Hong Kong, labeled the "Office for Safeguarding National Security."
A secretive national security committee for Hong Kong will also be established, comprised of Hong Kong government officials and an adviser appointed by the Chinese central government. According to a summary published by the Hong Kong government, this group's work "shall not be disclosed to the public," and "decisions by the Committee shall not be amenable to judicial review."
Activities such as damaging public transport and public services "in order to pursue political agenda" can be considered terrorism -- a provision that appears to target protesters who last year disrupted traffic and the city's infrastructure.
A terrorism charge can also include the vaguely worded provision of "other dangerous activities which seriously jeopardize public health, safety or security."
The law targets perceived foreign interference in Hong Kong. Throughout the protests, the Chinese government blamed "foreign forces" for interfering in the city's affairs. The law states that anyone who "steals, spies, obtains with payment, or unlawfully provides state secrets or intelligence" to a foreign country, institution, organization or individual will be guilty of an offense under collusion with foreign powers.
The law also makes it an offense for people to call on a foreign country, institution, organization or individual to impose sanctions or blockades on Hong Kong. The US said it would impose visa restrictions on current and former Chinese officials over Hong Kong.
Working with a foreign government, institution, organization or individual to incite hatred against the Hong Kong or Chinese Central government is now a offense.
The law can also be applied to non-permanent residents in Hong Kong and those who are in violation of the law will be deported, regardless of conviction. It also applies to non residents overseas who violate the national security law while abroad. This raises the prospect of foreign nationals being charged for suspected crimes committed while overseas should they visit the territory.
Those convicted of a national security crime in court cannot stand for elections or hold public office.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive now has the power to appoint judges to handle cases related to national security. National security cases involving state secrets can be tried without a jury.
Hong Kong courts will oversee national security cases but Beijing can take over prosecution in certain circumstances, applying Chinese law and prosecution standards.
In these cases, Beijing can choose which prosecuting body will hear the case and which court it will be heard in, meaning that cases could potentially be held in the mainland. The anti-government protests last year were sparked over a proposed law that would allow extradition to mainland China.
Trials will be held in an open court but when the case involves "state secrets or public order" it can be moved behind closed doors.
A new national security unit will be set up in the Hong Kong Police Force that will have the power to search properties, intercept information and perform covert surveillance without a warrant. It can also recruit members from outside of Hong Kong -- potentially allowing mainland officers to operate in the city.
The law also directs the Hong Kong government, along with the new commission, to strengthen its management over foreign news agencies and non-government organizations.
Ultimately, the national security law trumps local laws: the new legislation states that if there is a conflict with existing Hong Kong law, the national security law will prevail.
The legislation has been widely criticized by opposition lawmakers in Hong Kong, human rights groups and politicians worldwide. Many worry it will be used to target political dissidents, activists, human rights lawyers and journalists amid the central government's continuing crackdown on civil society under Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Opponents of the law say it marks the end of the "one country, two systems" -- a principle by which Hong Kong has retained limited democracy and civil liberties since coming under Chinese control.
Crucially, those freedoms include the right to assembly, a free press, and an independent judiciary, rights that are not enjoyed on the Chinese mainland.
On Wednesday, the Chinese government staunchly defended the law, calling it a perfect embodiment of the "one country, two system" policy.
"If we want to implement 'one country, one system,' things would have been much simpler," said Zhang Xiaoming, executive deputy director of China's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office. "We could have directly applied Chinese criminal code, prosecution law and national security law to Hong Kong. Why would we go to such lengths to tailor-make a national security law for Hong Kong?"
Despite the quick passage of the law, officials said it was carefully written, and took into consideration opinions and feedback from Hong Kong. They also brushed aside concerns and fears over the law's impact on freedom of speech, judicial independence and political diversity, reiterating that it targets only a tiny minority of people who intend to do real harm to Hong Kong.
Shen Chunyao, director of legislative affairs commission of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, China's top lawmaking body that passed the new law, said only under "very rare" circumstances would Chinese state security agents and judicial authorities get involved in Hong Kong cases.
"We don't want to see (such occurrences), but we must set up a system that take such risks and factors into consideration," he said.
But Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong media tycoon known for his outspoken support of the city's pro-democracy movement, said the law "spells a death knell to Hong Kong because it supersedes our law and our rule of law."
Rights group Amnesty International said the legislation "represents the greatest threat to human rights in the city's recent history."
On Wednesday, Canada updated its travel advice for Hong Kong, warning its citizens that they "may be at increased risk of arbitrary detention on national security grounds and possible extradition to mainland China."
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it was a "sad day for Hong Kong, and for freedom-loving people across China" with the imposition of the national security legislation in Hong Kong.
He said the law "destroys the territory's autonomy and one of China's greatest achievements."
CNN's Steven Jiang, James Griffiths, Roger Clark, Karina Tsui, Jadyn Sham, Vanesse Chan, Chermaine Lee, Kylie Atwood, Philip Wang contributed.
Each day during the sports pause stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, NESN.com will publish a diary full of random thoughts, opinions, takeaways, and other cool tidbits we’ve stumbled across in the absence of actual games. Because why not? We’re all in this together.
After spending two months believing the New England Patriots were actually going to ride with a quarterback room of Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer, news broke Sunday to illustrate that wouldn’t be the case.
The reported signing of Newton has been followed up by reports indicating it has nothing to do with the performance of Stidham, who enters his second season. I do, however, believe it relates to the Patriots’ confidence — both short term and long term — in Stidham, but it’s important to differentiate the two entities.
The signing of Newton does indicate something about Stidham’s current position. The Patriots simply are saying they’re interested in the potential upside brought on by the 2015 NFL MVP, and that a 2019 fourth-rounder should not just be handed the starting job because he’s there.
The strange offseason may have aided that decision by head coach Bill Belichick. After all, Stidham had been impacted by an unprecedented offseason, to no fault of his own. But the fact is he may not be able to make the full second-year leap others have in the past because the opportunities were not been there during the virtual offseason. If Newton enters the offseason competition healthy, Stidham shouldn’t feel slighted if he loses the position battle to a bigger, stronger and more experienced quarterback. If healthy, Newton is a top 10 QB in the NFL.
Where I draw the line, however, is in regards to this signing meaning the Patriots aren’t confident in Stidham long term. I don’t believe this deal means that is the case.
Newton’s one-year contract means the Patriots can wipe their hands of him after 2020. They have no long-term ties to Newton, specifically regarding guaranteed money. This decision was not the same as going out and signing a quarterback (i.e. Teddy Bridgewater) to a long-term deal, or using a high-end draft pick on a player at the position (i.e. Jordan Love). Those would show less confidence in Stidham’s future.
Essentially, what the Patriots are doing is making their quarterback room better in 2020, still giving Stidham a chance to compete for the job, while also keeping the door open that it will be his down the road. Worst case scenario is Stidham watches Newton during the 2020 season, and that’s not a bad case at all. It gives him another year to develop in the Patriots’ system.
And if the Patriots get the most out of Newton and he revitalizes his career, well they got great quarterback play in 2020 while not making a major financial commitment. It also would likely mean Newton lands a big contract elsewhere in free agency, and guess who’s still in New England with two years left on a rookie contract to make his case why he should be the next franchise quarterback?
Anyway, here are some other random thoughts from Tuesday:
— Julian Edelman had quite the day on Instagram.
The Patriots receiver posted a welcome message for the organization’s new quarterback, and it garnered some responses. Among them, Tom Brady made an eye-opening comment (jealous much?) while Newton shared a simple response of his own.
— Antonio Brown rumors heated back up Tuesday, and it was Brady’s new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were involved.
It took place as former NFL executive and league insider Mike Lombardi hinted at the possible reunion during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.” However, ESPN’s Dianna Russini debunked that thought while reporting the Buccaneers are “not interested” in Brown.
— The Pawtucket Red Sox were dealt a tough blow Tuesday as Minor League Baseball released a statement noting the 2020 season has been cancelled due to COVID-19.
While all minor league teams were impacted by the decision, the fact the PawSox were getting to set to play their final season in Pawtucket, prior to moving to Worcester, Mass., likely makes the news a bit tougher to swallow. It means they’ve played their last game in Pawtucket.
Stat of the Day Lionel Messi joined a pretty decent club Tuesday.
With a penalty kick, Lionel Messi joined "The 700 Club." He has scored 630 goals for Barcelona and 70 playing for Argentina. pic.twitter.com/uy942hqbv7
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Watch Now:Webb Simpson Returns After A Week Hiatus (2:06)
Nate Lashley dominated the Rocket Mortgage Classic a year ago, pulling out a six-stroke victory. Lashley returns to defend his title at the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic starting on Thursday at the Detroit Golf Club, but is 150-1 to repeat in the latest 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic odds from William Hill. Unlike last year's version, the Rocket Mortgage Classic 2020 features a world-class field that includes all five of the current FedEx Cup points leaders.
Bryson DeChambeau, who transformed his physique and has three straight top-10s, is the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic favorite at 7-1. Webb Simpson, who skipped last week's event due to coronavirus concerns but is the points leader, is 11-1 entering Thursday's 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic tee times. Before locking in any 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic picks or entering any PGA DFS tournaments on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's prediction model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has nailed two of the last three majors entering the weekend. It predicted Gary Woodland's first career major championship at the U.S. Open even though he wasn't the favorite entering the weekend. The result: Woodland held off a late charge from Brooks Koepka and won by three strokes. The model also called Koepka's historic victory at the 2019 PGA Championship, predicting he'd hold his lead in the home stretch.
In all, their advanced computer model has nailed a whopping six majors entering the weekend. And already this season, the model called Justin Thomas (15-2) winning the CJ Cup, Rory McIlroy (11-2) taking down the WGC-HSBC Champions and Viktor Hovland (11-1) earning his first career PGA Tour victory at the Puerto Rico Open.
McClure also returned a whopping +788 during the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge, including nailing top-five bets on Xander Schauffele +650 and Collin Morikawa +900. Additionally, the model was extremely high on 30-1 long shot winner Webb Simpson at the RBC Heritage. The model had him in the top five from the start and McClure's best bets included Simpson winning outright. Those who followed that advice saw a whopping +3000 return. Anyone who has followed his golf picks has seen huge returns.
The model's top 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic predictions
One huge shocker the model is calling for at the Rocket Mortgage Classic 2020: Tyrell Hatton, a five-time professional champion and one of the top Vegas favorites, stumbles big-time and doesn't even crack the top five. He comes into this week with momentum after a strong recent performance at the RBC Heritage (third). He also won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.
That win was his only PGA Tour victory, with his other successes coming internationally. He also ranks just 87th on tour in average driving distance (298.8 yards) and 60th in driving accuracy percentage (64.64). The model has factored those numbers in and is fading him this week, making him one of 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic favorites to avoid in this loaded field.
Another surprise: Tony Finau, a massive 33-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. He has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. Finau has recorded 10 straight under-par rounds since the PGA Tour reboot.
He has three top-10s this season, with a second place at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a sixth at the Farmers Insurance Open and a ninth at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Although Finau has only won once on tour, the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, he is ranked 17th in the world due to his consistent play. With plenty of game and an excellent stretch of golf, Finau is due for a strong week and should be considered in your 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic bets.
How to make 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic picks
Also, the model says three other golfers with odds of 25-1 or longer will make a strong run at the title, including an astronomical long shot going off higher than 35-1. Anyone who backs these underdogs could hit it big. You can only see them here.
2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic odds (via William Hill)
Bryson DeChambeau 7-1
Webb Simpson 11-1
Patrick Reed 16-1
Tyrrell Hatton 16-1
Hideki Matsuyama 18-1
Viktor Hovland 20-1
Sungjae Im 25-1
Rickie Fowler 30-1
Tony Finau 33-1
Kevin Na 35-1
Scottie Scheffler 40-1
J.T. Poston 40-1
Doc Redman 45-1
Harris English 50-1
Rory Sabbatini 50-1
Bubba Watson 50-1
Brian Harman 60-1
Erik Van Rooyen 60-1
Adam Hadwin 60-1
Jason Day 60-1
Brandt Snedeker 60-1
Lucas Glover 66-1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 70-1
Alex Noren 70-1
Branden Grace 70-1
Brendon Todd 70-1
Maverick McNealy 70-1
Kevin Kisner 70-1
Keegan Bradley 80-1
Will Gordon 80-1
Harold Varner 80-1
Rafa Cabrera Bello 80-1
Kyle Stanley 80-1
Chris Kirk 80-1
Patrick Rodgers 90-1
Seung-Yul Noh 100-1
Michael Thompson 100-1
Tyler Duncan 100-1
Matthew Wolff 100-1
Wes Roach 100-1
Scott Stallings 100-1
Joseph Bramlett 100-1
Brian Stuard 100-1
Mark Hubbard 125-1
Sebastian Munoz 125-1
Emiliano Grillo 125-1
Tom Hoge 125-1
Lanto Griffin 125-1
Jason Dufner 125-1
Aaron Wise 125-1
Tom Lewis 125-1
Ryan Armour 125-1
Si-Woo Kim 125-1
Luke List 125-1
Chesson Hadley 125-1
Nate Lashley 150-1
Harry Higgs 150-1
C.T. Pan 150-1
Wesley Bryan 150-1
Danny Willett 150-1
Sam Burns 150-1
Peter Uihlein 150-1
Ben Martin 150-1
Beau Hossler 150-1
Andrew Putnam 150-1
Matt Wallace 150-1
Charl Schwartzel 150-1
Pat Perez 150-1
Russell Knox 150-1
Patton Kizzire 150-1
Shawn Stefani 150-1
Jamie Lovemark 200-1
Talor Gooch 200-1
Chris Stroud 200-1
Richy Werenski 200-1
Wyndham Clark 200-1
Kevin Tway 200-1
Troy Merritt 200-1
Cameron Davis 200-1
Matt Jones 200-1
Sam Ryder 200-1
Luke Donald 200-1
Kristoffer Ventura 200-1
Sepp Straka 200-1
Kevin Chappell 200-1
Jimmy Walker 200-1
Henrik Norlander 200-1
Cameron Tringale 200-1
Brandon Hagy 200-1
Bill Haas 250-1
Ted Potter 250-1
Vincent Whaley 250-1
Zac Blair 250-1
Chase Seiffert 250-1
Hudson Swafford 250-1
J.J. Spaun 250-1
Lucas Bjerregaard 250-1
Adam Schenk 250-1
Kyoung-Hoon Lee 250-1
Ryan Blaum 250-1
James Hahn 250-1
Austin Cook 250-1
Stewart Cink 250-1
Grayson Murray 250-1
Steve Stricker 250-1
Josh Teater 250-1
Tyler McCumber 250-1
Scott Brown 300-1
Zack Sucher 300-1
Robert Streb 300-1
Peter Malnati 300-1
Cameron Percy 300-1
Bronson Burgoon 300-1
Robby Shelton 300-1
Hank Lebioda 300-1
Brian Gay 300-1
Johnson Wagner 300-1
Aaron Baddeley 300-1
Roberto Castro 300-1
Kramer Hickok 300-1
Sahith Theegala 300-1
Chris Baker 300-1
Ryan Brehm 400-1
David Hearn 400-1
Doug Ghim 400-1
Rob Oppenheim 400-1
Mark Anderson 400-1
Ricky Barnes 400-1
Seamus Power 400-1
Rhein Gibson 400-1
D.J. Trahan 400-1
Tim Wilkinson 400-1
Fabian Gomez 400-1
Jonathan Byrd 400-1
Xinjun Zhang 400-1
Bo Hoag 400-1
Dominic Bozzelli 500-1
Greg Chalmers 500-1
Arjun Atwal 500-1
Michael Gligic 500-1
Roger Sloan 500-1
Martin Trainer 500-1
Michael Kim 500-1
James Nicholas 500-1
Scott Harrington 500-1
Michael Gellerman 500-1
Nelson Ledesma 500-1
Bo Van Pelt 500-1
Peter Kuest 500-1
Sebastian Cappelen 500-1
Ben Taylor 500-1
Matt Every 500-1
Vijay Singh 500-1
John Senden 500-1
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U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said in a statement Tuesday night that while the Pentagon has “no corroborating evidence” to support the explosive report last week that the Russian military was offering Taliban-linked militants bounties to kill American troops, he will continue to make sure any potential threat is taken seriously.
He said the Defense Department chain of command “and I are fully committed to ensuring American forces in the field have the best intelligence, weapons, equipment, protective gear, tactics, and all necessary authorities to deal with any threats they might face in order to ensure their safety and mission success.”
The New York Times, citing unnamed officials, reported Friday that it is believed that some “Islamist militants” or “criminal elements” collected payouts. The report pointed out that 20 Americans were killed there in 2019. It was not clear if any of those deaths were the result of a bounty.
President Trump has denied any knowledge of the intelligence.
“Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP. Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @NYTimesbnooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad,” he tweeted Sunday.
Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, said Tuesday that Trump is the “most informed person on planet Earth” about the threats the U.S. faces.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., told Fox News Radio Tuesday that it is unlikely Trump was briefed on the intelligence.
"What I do know is that whether or not the president was briefed, frankly, is irrelevant because the intelligence agencies could not yet agree on this," Kinzinger, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who attended a White House briefing on the matter, said. "If this is something, you need to have large agreement or at least [agreement] to a point of significant confidence to be able to take action. Otherwise, in theory, if it's not true and you're reacting against the Russians, think of the damage of that."
Rep. Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, was one of the Democrats who attended a briefing on the matter Tuesday. He said it was “inexplicable” why Trump won’t say publicly that he is working to get to the bottom of the issue and why he won’t call out Vladimir Putin. He said Trump’s defense that he hadn’t been briefed was inexcusable.
Pedestrians walks past a government-sponsored advertisement promoting a new national security law on June 30, 2020 in Hong Kong, China.
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BEIJING — The central Chinese government passed a sweeping new security law for Hong Kong that took effect just hours before the 23rd anniversary of the city's handover from the U.K to China on Wednesday.
The National Security Law strengthens Beijing's control on Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous region with greater democratic freedoms and alignment with international business standards than the mainland. That special status has made Hong Kong an attractive hub for many international companies wanting to tap the Greater China market.
Under the new legislation, many of the activities carried out by protesters in Hong Kong over the last year become punishable by law. What began as largely peaceful mass protests against a controversial extradition bill more than 12 months ago turned into violent clashes with police.
An official English translation of the new law stipulates that a person who acts with a view to "undermining national unification" of Hong Kong with the mainland faces punishment of up to lifetime, depending on the severity of the offense. Financial support for such activities is also a crime.
The security law also laid out in broad strokes what could be deemed offenses by "terrorist organizations" and those who collude with foreign entities.
The text also says those who are not permanent Hong Kong residents can be deported if they break the law.
Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing's decision to move ahead with the law comes despite strong criticism from Europe and the U.S.
EU Council President Charles Michel said Tuesday that "We deplore the decision," according to a Reuters report.
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has also taken steps toward eliminating Hong Kong's special trading status with the world's largest economy, beginning with restrictions on defense exports and access to high technology products.
Other aspects of the law indicated how Beijing would strengthen its hand in Hong Kong's affairs.
A national security advisor designated by the central government will sit in on meetings of a Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the law said.
Hong Kong will also promote national security education through schools and media, according to the law.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Virginia five-star defensive back of Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Va., has committed to North Carolina.
Rated as the nation’s top cornerback and No. 7 player, Grimes chose the Tar Heels over Ohio State, Georgia and Texas A&M. Head coach Mack Brown adds Grimes as his 17th commitment in a class that ranks fourth in the country and second in the ACC behind Clemson.
Not only is he the highest player to join the class, but he’s just the fourth recruit rated as a five-star to head to Chapel Hill, joining defensive tackle Marvin Austin and wide receiver Dwight Jones in 2007 along with defensive end Donte Moss in 2009. Had he chosen the Buckeyes, it would’ve been the second time in the past five years that OSU has landed the No. 1 cornerback in the country after doing so in 2017 with Jeff Okudah. They also landed the No. 2 cornerback in the country that year in Shaun Wade.
Grimes was one of six players from Virginia with an Ohio State offer and the third to come off the board. Five-star running back TreVeyon Henderson chose OSU despite never visiting the campus, while three-star linebacker Bryce Steele committed to South Carolina. The Buckeyes could still land another player out of the state in five-star offensive lineman Tristan Leigh, who listed OSU in his top 15 in May.
Ohio State will have another chance to get its class back to 19 commits on Friday when four-star cornerback Jamier Johnson makes his decision between OSU and six other schools.
Here’s a look at Ohio State’s 2021 recruiting class as it stands:
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The prime minister has set out £5bn worth of infrastructure spending that he says will mean the UK can "bounce back better".
Reality Check has taken a closer look at some of the announcements:
1. A New Deal
Boris Johnson said: "It sounds like a New Deal... because that is what the times demand."
In the early 1930s, President Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal programme increased the state's role in the economy and was designed to help the US recover from the Great Depression.
Comparisons between government programmes in different countries, 90 years apart, are very difficult to make.
Also, there are strong arguments that it was Roosevelt's structural reforms involving things like banking and social security that brought about the recovery.
Nonetheless, there have been a few valiant attempts at trying to get New Deal spending into some sort of modern context.
Remember that the New Deal ran over several years, with spending each year between about 5% and 7% of the total output of the economy (GDP) each year.
Boris Johnson's £5bn would be less than a quarter of one percent of GDP if it were spent in a single year (which is unlikely).
To get an idea of the scale of increased government spending in the 1930s, US federal government debt grew from 16% of GDP in 1929 to 44% of GDP in 1939.
2. Hospital spending
Before the speech, it was announced £1.5bn would be made available for hospital maintenance and construction, the removal of mental health dormitories and increasing A&E capacity.
It would be part of the pot of money known as the capital budget. This spending is the money we use to build new hospitals or fix existing ones. It is also spent on new equipment, such as MRI machines.
This spending was cut between 2010-11 - when the Conservatives entered power - and 2017-18 by about 7% in England, according to the Health Foundation. This was because the NHS was focusing its resources on day-to-day running of the health service, such as staff pay. However, recent announcements have seen spending refocus on capital projects.
In the Spring Budget 2020, the Department of Health and Social Care's capital budget increased by £1.1bn, taking the annual budget to £8.2bn.
The department has said that the £1.5bn announced on Tuesday is all on top of the earlier £1.1bn.
There is an existing backlog of £6.5bn already needed to fix problems in NHS buildings.
3. Road and rail projects
The government has pledged £100m this year for 29 projects to "get Britain moving", including:
bridge repairs in Sandwell, in the West Midlands
improving the A15 in the Humber region
£10m for ''unblocking the central Manchester bottleneck''
But this is a relatively small amount of money for a large number of projects.
And it is not new.
It has been allocated from the money set out in the Spring Budget for infrastructure investment.
4. Planning and housing
The prime minister said "we will build fantastic new homes on brownfield sites" and promised the "most radical reforms" of the planning system since World War Two.
The UK's planning system was effectively established in 1947, two years after the end of the war, with the Town and Country Planning Act.
There has been criticism in recent years of the amount of time it takes to get planning permission.
But it has also been pointed out that many developers secure planning permission and then don't immediately build. Homeless charity Shelter said 280,000 homes were given planning permission in England between 2011 and 2016 but were never built.
In 2017-18, 382,997 applications were granted, which would be more than enough to meet the government target of 300,000 new homes a year.
The government has also said that it would spend £12bn to build houses over the next eight years, something which had been announced previously.
5. Schools
The prime minister repeated Monday's pledge of £1bn for 50 school-building programmes starting in September 2021.
This is also the allocation of some of the infrastructure spending announced in the Spring Budget.
And there have been no details of which 50 schools will be given the money.
On Monday, Mr Johnson announced £200m for further education.
But this turned out to be just bringing forward some of the £1.5bn over five years promised in the Conservative manifesto for further education.
And on Tuesday, Mr Johnson made no mention of this £200m, referring to the whole £1.5bn instead.
6. Tree planting
The PM repeated a commitment to plant over 75,000 acres of trees (about 30,000 hectares) every year by 2025.
But Conservative-led governments over the past decade have consistently fallen short of targets for tree-planting set out in their election manifestos.
Tree-planting is a devolved issue in the UK, but England's tree-planting record is particularly poor compared with other European countries.
Government funding and support saw about 3.6 million trees newly planted in England in the two years from 2017 to 2019, covering an area of about 2,300 hectares.
That figure does not include trees planted to replace others that have been cut down.
In the same period, Scotland planted 18,300 hectares - including 84% of all the new trees planted in the UK in 2018-19.
7. Deporting criminals
The prime minister spoke about wanting "to end the lunacy that stops us - for instance - deporting some violent offenders".
He didn't give any details, but the Conservative 2019 manifesto said: "We will use our new freedoms after Brexit to prevent more foreign national offenders entering our country. We will cut the number of foreign nationals in our prisons."
After the transition deal ends on 31 December, it will be easier to deport criminals who are EU citizens. Previously deportations of EU citizens had to be "proportionate" to the crime and after an assessment on the actual threat they present to the UK.
But after 31 December both EU and non-EU citizens will still be covered by human rights rules - these include whether someone might be tortured on return to their country of origin or if they had a close family link to the UK.
In 2019, 5,110 foreign national offenders were deported.
"These are unprecedented times for our country and our organization as this is the first time in our history that we've had a summer without minor-league baseball played," O'Conner said in a statement. "While this is a sad day for many, this announcement removes the uncertainty surrounding the 2020 season and allows our teams to begin planning for an exciting 2021 season of affordable family entertainment."
While the news was expected, that didn't lessen the general fear and uncertainty about the immediate future of professional baseball swelling below the level of Major League Baseball. The reason for the cancellation -- the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has gripped the globe for most of 2020 -- is beyond the control of officials at any level of the game. But as unfortunate as those circumstances would be even in normal times, for MiLB teams, the timing is especially fraught.
That building fight screeched to a halt when the coronavirus stole the spotlight, putting everything into months of limbo. Teams throughout the minors waited out the combative talks between MLB and the MLBPA regarding the season at the sport's highest level, all while holding out hope of salvaging at least part of a campaign of their own. Those hopes were abandoned with Tuesday's announcement.
The fallout from the minors' lost season will take months to untangle, even as the mostly dormant talks regarding a new PBA invariably resume. Still, let's try to take a snapshot of the current landscape of the minor leagues after Tuesday's sad news.
1. Why did this happen?
The pandemic was the reason, of course. From a more technical standpoint, however, it was this: To play baseball, you need to have players. Minor league teams weren't going to get them and were officially informed as such this week.
The structural foundation of the PBA is that minor league organizations provide the infrastructure -- the cities, teams, stadiums, leagues, umpires, etc. -- with which their Major League Baseball overlords can develop their future players. Thus big league clubs supply players to their affiliates and pick up the vast majority of the associated labor cost.
However, when MLB announced its own return last week, it was not a full resumption of operations. Teams have been announcing player pools of up to 60 players for the truncated big league season, but that's it. Players not on the active roster, which starts off at 30 players per team and decreases as the season progresses, are assigned to a taxi squad. The taxi squad players will include a number of high-level prospects who will receive some developmental work. However, this will be done through practice, simulated games and workouts as opposed to the normal competition of minor league games.
Simply put: Big league teams will not be assigning players to their affiliates. Thus minor league teams could not have conducted a season even if they wanted to.
2. What happens to the players?
As mentioned, many of the top prospects are being included in their organization's player pool, even if there are no plans to have them see big league competition this season. Those players will receive some much needed developmental repetitions. Some of those players, and other lesser prospects who would otherwise qualify as organizational depth, will indeed see action in the majors as teams try to navigate this unusual, 60-game season. The situation for those players is straightforward.
For others, it's also straightforward, but in a less encouraging way. Teams released scores of minor leaguers in recent weeks in advance of the season-resumption announcement. Many of those players would have been released at the end of spring training anyway, but according to Baseball America, the number of players released during that wave of transactions appears to outnumber similar moves in recent seasons.
However, there are also numerous players caught in between. They remain on their organization's reserved list but haven't been added to the 60-player-per-team pool. But with Tuesday's announcement, they have no place to play. On Monday, Baseball America's J.J. Cooper reported that if a player in this large class gains consent from his organization, he would be allowed to seek a spot in one of the independent minor leagues this summer. Some independent leagues, such as the American Association, plan to play in a reduced form. Others, such as the Frontier League, have already canceled their season.
Continued pay for minor leaguers has been a hot-button issue since the shutdown began, with each team's policy being scrutinized. There is still no uniform approach. Some teams, such as the Kansas City Royals, have pledged to pay players until the end of what would have been the regular minor league season. Others, such as Oakland and Washington, reversed initial decisions to stop paying their minor leaguers. As of Tuesday, every team was pledged to pay players a $400 weekly stipend at least through the end of June. Most teams have extended that at least through July.
One silver lining is that minor league players will receive service time credit even with the season being canceled. The minor league version of service time is crucial for the class of players beyond the top-prospect lists. It determines what level they can be assigned to, with the higher levels receiving higher pay. More importantly, it determines when they will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft, which forces their organization to either place them on the 40-man big league roster or expose them for selection by another club.
Rule 5 eligibility is a crucial benchmark in the career of a minor leaguer from both a competitive and financial standpoint. Luckily, for any minor leaguer who does not play this season but would otherwise have been Rule 5-eligible this winter, that will still be the case.
3. Will minor league teams survive this?
Teams at the Double-A and Triple-A level will survive, even though many have had to lay off or furlough staff in recent months. One thing that nearly all teams at those levels have is the certainty of being a high-level affiliate of a big league club next season and beyond, however the negotiations for a new PBA are resolved. They reside in larger municipalities than lower-level clubs and thus have more corporate support and a larger season-ticket base. Nevertheless, even for those clubs, the loss of an entire season is a major setback.
Unlike MLB, which has massive revenue streams from its broadcast and digital partners, nearly the entire revenue model of minor league baseball revolves around staging games in front of fans. Even most of their corporate sponsorships and merchandising endeavors are built around this dynamic. Teams have pivoted to creating as many new revenue streams as they can. One team turned its ballpark into an Airbnb. Others have screened movies, drive-in style.
Several Texas-based organizations joined a college wood-bat summer league, planning to stage those games in front of limited-capacity gatherings. While the full list of alternate-site locations for MLB taxi squads has not yet emerged, many of those sites will be those of nearby affiliates. While the taxi squads won't participate in games in front of fans, presumably MLB teams will have to compensate minor league clubs for the use of their facilities.
Still, even as minor league teams scramble to recover as much revenue as they can, the receipts will invariably be a drop in the bucket of a normal season's income. Last week, fifteen minor league teams filed a federal lawsuit against five insurance companies, claiming "action and inaction by federal and state governments" contributed to "catastrophic financial losses" for ballclubs.
This means that some clubs in the lower levels of the minors, many of which have been mentioned in conjunction with MLB's contraction proposal and thus lack certainty about future marketing efforts, will struggle to survive.
Compounding the issue, teams will have to reach out to season-ticket holders and corporate partners about contingency plans for monies already collected and, in most cases, already spent. Options could include simply rolling the commitment over to next season, or converting 2020 expenditures into gift cards, which would help teams preserve cash flow. Invariably, as many industries beyond baseball have struggled in recent months, some fans and companies will seek refunds, and it's possible that a few cash-strapped teams will not have the funds to make them.
All of this will be sorted out in the weeks to come, now that the season has been definitely called off.
4. How does this impact negotiations for a new Professional Baseball Agreement?
Recent talks between MLB and MiLB have been sporadic, as big league owners had their own season to worry about. Those talks should resume in earnest soon. When they do, MLB negotiators will proceed with the knowledge that many minor league clubs are operating in precarious terrain. That was true before the minor league season was called off, but now that it has been, MiLB's worst-case scenario has become reality.
To put it succinctly: Nearly every avenue minor league owners had to create leverage in their effort to stave off contraction has been blocked.
5. What will minor league baseball look like when it returns?
Before the pandemic, there was considerable public and political pressure building on MLB negotiators to reach an accord with MiLB that did not involve contraction. Jobs could be lost. Economic activity could be curtailed. But the coronavirus turned the heads of the politicians, who had to concern themselves with similar issues on a much larger scale.
Now, some of the clubs believed to be on the cut list might go out of business anyway, and MiLB owners everywhere are looking for any life raft they can grab. MLB negotiators hold all the cards. Its trump card is that if no agreement is reached, then MLB can simply walk away and create their own feeder system from scratch.
That's not likely to happen. Mostly, that's because of the expense that would come with setting up an entirely new minor league system. New teams, new venues, a new infrastructure and what would likely be a whole slew of litigation by MiLB owners and municipalities of contracted teams. Of course, the litigation could occur anyway unless MLB insists on that option being waived in the final PBA agreement.
The most likely outcome is that a new PBA will be agreed to, and it will be on MLB's terms. Given the terrain, desperate MiLB owners will latch onto pretty much anything that comes their way. Thus expect to see a reduced list of affiliated teams next season, a shuffling of affiliations, and a restructuring of the leagues themselves as Major League clubs seek greater geographic efficiency.
When the minor league season ended last summer, business was good, perhaps as good as it had ever been. Most teams were profitable, with more than 40 million fans clicking the turnstiles of minor league parks across the nation. When we next see affiliated baseball at the minor league level, we don't exactly know what the landscape will look like. We don't, in fact, know if we will even be able to recognize that landscape at all.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., told Fox News Radio Tuesday that it is unlikely President Trump was briefed on intelligence that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan due to the information's unverified nature.
"I don't think the president was briefed," Kinzinger told "The Brian Kilmeade Show." "The briefer made the decision when he -- keep in mind this is when the coronavirus pandemic is kicking off as well -- skipped over that issue to wait for more information."
The New York Times report on the intelligence sent shockwaves throughout Washington over the weekend. A senior U.S. official told Fox News Monday that the National Security Council recently met to come up with a "menu of responses" to Russian action in Afghanistan. However, a White House official said the president was not briefed on the matter until "after the NY Times reported on unverified intelligence" Friday.
"What I do know is that whether or not the president was briefed, frankly, is irrelevant because the intelligence agencies could not yet agree on this," explained Kinzinger, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who attended a White House briefing on the subject. "If this is something, you need to have large agreement or at least [agreement] to a point of significant confidence to be able to take action.
"Otherwise, in theory, if it's not true and you're reacting against the Russians, think of the damage of that."
Kinzinger added that the intelligence leak to the Times is more than likely going to "dry up any trails we have been pursuing to get more information on this," but urged lawmakers to resist politicizing the issue as they wait for more information.
"I think where we're at now, unfortunately, this has become a political issue," he said. "Republicans and Democrats should both agree that if Russia is doing this, there has to be harsh consequences. Instead, a lot of people have taken this as a moment to do politics with it and embarrass the president."
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and Kristin Fisher contributed to this report.
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At first glance, everything seems to be going to plan for the Kremlin. Back in March, Valentina Tereshkova, a Russian MP from the ruling United Russia party, called in a theatrically staged parliament session for a constitutional amendment that would allow Putin to run for president again after his current term ends in 2024.
It was a move laden with patriotic symbolism: Tereshkova, a former cosmonaut and the first woman to fly in space, is a living connection to the days of Soviet achievement.
Putin appeared in the parliament building just an hour and a half later to endorse the proposal, which then sailed through both houses and the country's constitutional court. But plans for a yes-or-no referendum on the constitutional amendments on April 22 were put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, and the rescheduled balloting is now going ahead, backed by a get-out-the-vote blitz.
But more is at stake than just a resetting of term limits. The vote has also become a referendum on the system that has been built around Putin during his two decades in power. As many observers of Russia note, Putin's system of "vertical power" makes him the final arbiter among elites, and their fortunes are, quite literally, tied to him remaining in charge.
Russia in 2020 is not a dictatorship in the classic sense: Putin depends on regular elections as a kind of plebiscite to lend legitimacy to his rule. To be sure, Russia's political system lacks checks and balances: The parliament is packed with loyalists and what Russians call a "pocket" (i.e. powerless) opposition; the president has wide latitude to hire and fire regional leadership; and the courts defer to executive power.
But Putin must follow the letter of the law: After all, he did leave the office to Dmitry Medvedev, staying in power behind the scenes during a four-year interregnum while the new president changed the constitution.
What followed is instructive today: Medvedev introduced a set of constitutional reforms that increased presidential terms to six from four years, and allowed Putin to run again. But widespread allegations of voting fraud that followed 2011 parliamentary elections led to a wave of pro-democracy protests that deeply worried the Kremlin.
Will Wednesday's referendum prompt the same challenge to Putin, or a new wave of street protests? That is difficult to predict, but members of the country's small and embattled opposition have already raised questions about tampering and irregularities in the referendum, which has been opened for early voting since last week, a measure cast by election officials as a coronavirus precaution to allow social distancing.
Some Russians have taken to social media to show their preference, posting NYET (no) on their profiles. Residents of Moscow and other large cities glued anti-Putin stickers next to pro-amendments posters. Others have taken note of a curious fact: Copies of the constitution recently went on sale in bookstores, with the amendments already included, something widely commented on in social media. That suggested to many Russians that the fix was in.
State-run pollster VTsIOM on Monday released early results from exit polling that suggest Putin will win approval for the amendments: According to those results, around 76% of respondents at 800 polling stations around Russia said they supported the constitutional changes.
Putin's popularity has taken a hit during coronavirus, but his approval ratings are still high. And the constitutional amendments include some provisions -- for instance, language that enshrines marriage as being solely between a man and a woman -- that will appeal to a segment of conservative voters.
There is little to suggest the result will not satisfy the Kremlin, but the apparatus of the state has been working overtime to increase the voter turnout to add legitimacy to controversial changes. A massive campaign for the vote launched by authorities on all levels has a range of appeals: TV ads promising great social benefits, billboards showing happy families that voted 'Yes' and brochures with recipes and crosswords plastered on the entrances to residential buildings. But the official ad campaign for the referendum does not highlight that the constitution could solidify Putin's reign until he is 84 and give him immunity from prosecution when he retires.
The same goes for Putin's own messaging. In a short video clip released Tuesday, Putin appears before a new monument to Soviet soldiers and urges Russians to vote for "stability, security, and prosperity," saying a new constitution means a future with good healthcare, education and an "effective government beholden to the public." He makes no mention of the resetting of his term limits.
Independent voting monitors have also raised questions about widespread reports of voting violations. Even before the vote kicked off last week, independent outlets and NGOs posted dozens of screenshots and audio messages suggesting forced voting by employers of big corporations and state-financed organizations.
"In the past few days we have also seen a large numbers of ballot stuffing, so it feels like at some stage it was clear to [the organizers] that the administrative resources to mobilize controlled electorate are running out, they may also be voting in a slightly different way compared to a desired one and they've resorted to good old ways of rigging," Stanislav Andreychuk, co-charman of the non-governmental group Golos, told CNN.
According to Andreychuk, this plebiscite is way less regulated than previous elections his organization monitored: Voting booths set up on park benches violate the secrecy of voting, the usual restrictions on releasing exit polls are not enforced and unregulated campaigning -- aided by raffles promising apartments to lure voters to stations -- muddy the voter's right to freely exercise their will.
Asked about anecdotal evidence of voting irregularities, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov questioned reports shared on local media about polling stations being set up in the trunks of cars or on park benches.
"The interest in voting is great, but it's too early to draw conclusions, wait, it's just begun," he said in response to questions on a conference call with reporters.
Putin has already signaled strongly that he will run, and that talk of stepping down from office is a needless distraction. In an interview that aired on state television in the run-up to the vote, Putin said he had "not ruled out" running for another term if voters approve the constitutional amendments.
"If this [constitutional change] does not happen, in two years -- I know this from my own experience -- instead of normal, steady work at various levels of power, everyone will start looking around for possible successors," he said. "We need to get on with work, not look for successors."
Still, the referendum has a chance to cast a cloud on Putin's potential re-election -- and theoretically, on his next two terms in office.
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