LONDON – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson moved to limit parliament’s opportunity to derail Brexit by cutting the amount of time it sits between now and EU exit day on Oct. 31, infuriating opponents who accused him of leading a “very British coup”.

In his boldest move yet to take the country out of the European Union with or without a divorce deal, Johnson said he would set Oct. 14 for the Queen’s Speech – the formal state opening of a new session of parliament that is proceeded by a suspension of the House of Commons.

That would effectively shut parliament from mid-September for around a month. Raising the stakes in the constitutional crisis gripping Britain, it could also force Johnson’s opponents to up their own game by calling a no-confidence vote in the government, potentially leading to an election. The news sent the pound down sharply. The Church of England said a chaotic EU exit would hurt the poor and fail to bring reconciliation or peace in a fractured country. Asked in a broadcast interview if he was trying to block politicians from delaying Britain’s departure from the EU, Johnson replied: “That is completely untrue.(Reuters)…[+]

President Donald Trump called Puerto Rico “one of the most corrupt places on earth” in a swipe at the U.S. territory’s leaders as they prepared for Tropical Storm Dorian which became a hurricane on Wednesday and headed for the island.

Dorian gathered strength over the U.S. Virgin Islands to become a Category 1 hurricane, and is expected to hit eastern Puerto Rico with heavy wind and rain. Puerto Rico is still struggling to recover from back-to-back hurricanes in 2017, which killed about 3,000 people just months after it filed for bankruptcy.

Dorian is approaching Puerto Rico from the southeast although it is blowing winds considerably less powerful than when Hurricane Maria hit the island in September 2017. However, by the time Dorian hits Florida late on Sunday or Monday, it could be a major hurricane, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC). After approving an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico late on Tuesday, Trump took a swipe at the U.S. territory in a tweet this  morning.(Reuters)…[+]

MONTEGO BAY, St James — Pointing to statistics showing that four out of every five young girls lost their virginity to rape or molestation, Attorney General Marlene Malahoo Forte yesterday lamented that Jamaica has a serious problem with sexual abuse.

Malahoo Forte did not state the source of the data. At the same time, the former sexual offences prosecutor and judge said that women do not make suitable jurors in rape cases. “One of the things I learned as a prosecutor, in empanelling a jury, don’t choose women on a rape case, because women judge other women so harshly when it comes to sexual matters,” Malahoo Forte said in an address at the official launch of the Miss Montego Bay Pageant 2019 held at the Blue Beat in St James.

According to the attorney general, while people tend, at first, to believe a woman who has reported being raped, doubt creeps in once attempts are made to take the matter to court. “When we hear about the story outside of the courtroom, we believe it. But the minute we engage the formal process for the criminal to be brought to book, we start doubting the woman. And we start wondering if she had brought it on herself,” Malahoo Forte said.(Jamaica Observer)…[+]