Judge Blocks Alabama Law

A federal judge temporarily blocked the most restrictive anti-abortion law passed in the US this year from taking effect in Alabama. Back in May, Gov. Kay Ivey signed the Alabama legislation effectively outlawing abortion in the state and made doctors who performed the procedure at any point during a pregnancy criminally liable and punishable for up to 99 years in prison.

The federal judge said the law violated precedent set by the US Supreme Court, which determines the right to an abortion before a fetus reaches viability, which ranges from 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Top Ukraine Official Will Testify, Ukraine Officials Will Not

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council is testifying before the 3 House committees on Tuesday. He is expected to tell the committees that twice he reported concerns about Trumps tactics in dealing with Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials have stated that they will not testify in the ongoing impeachment inquiry. The nation’s foreign minister, Vadym Prystaiko, told reporters on Tuesday, “We don’t have anything to do with this at all. We won’t go there, we won’t comment.” The Lt. Col. was also on the call President Trump took with Ukrainian President Zelensky, to which the transcript has already been made to the public.

Kincade and Getty California Fires

Northern California’s Kincade Fire had grown to nearly 75,000 acres by Monday evening and was only 15 percent contained. The blaze has so far destroyed 123 structures, 57 of which are residential homes. Nearly 90,000 other structures are still being threatened in the area. Additional evacuation warnings remain in effect on the eastern side of Sonoma County and the west side of Lake County due to the blaze.

In Southern California, fire crews are battling the Getty Fire in the upscale communities in the hills above Los Angeles. The fire roared up a steep hillside near the J. Paul Getty Museum in the Brentwood section. It has destroyed at last eight homes and damaged at least six, forcing even Lebron James from his home.

Most of the blaze has been reduced to smoldering ruins and hot spots, but hot, dry Santa Ana winds are predicted to blow them to life and spread embers beginning Tuesday night. Red flag warnings of extreme fire danger were issued for much of Southern California into Thursday, with gusts up to 75 mph possible in some areas.

Activist Banned from Hong Kong Elections

The Hong Kong government banned high-profile pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong from running for office in upcoming local elections after an official said his calls for “self-determination” in the territory were inconsistent with the pledging an oath of allegiance to Hong Kong and it’s constitution. Wong had previously been arrested twice since the mass protests began in early summer and has thus far been the only candidate to be disqualified for his personal choice in politics.

What’s interesting is that other, more aggressive Hong Kong activists have advocated for complete separation from mainland China, while Wong instead has chosen a less confrontational approach by seeking greater protection of Hong Kong’s limited autonomy from mainland China. The “Demosisto” movement he belongs to “do not promote and support independence as an option of self determination.”

Wong, now 23, first emerged as an activist leader in a 2011 student-led movement opposing “moral and national education” curricula. Hong Kong residents felt that the curricula portrayed the Chinese Communist Party too positively and the movement had the curricula indefinitely shelved.

He later helped spearhead the 2014 pro-democracy “Umbrella Movement,” demanding direct elections for Hong Kong’s chief executive after Beijing decided to maintain its control over how candidates are selected. Earlier this year Wong was jailed for charges related to the 2014 protests, but he was released in June.

House Impeachment Vote

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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced on Monday that the House would take a vote on Thursday to formalize procedures of the impeachment inquiry, which will be the first time the House actually goes on record with its procedures. However, Democrats say that Thursday’s vote is not actually a formal authorization of the impeachment query. What it does do is signal that the Democrats are pushing forward with their investigation despite resistance from several witnesses inside the administration.

In using this “vote on procedures,” Democrats believe they will “eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives.”

It is not officially a vote to authorize the inquiry, Democrat sources say, although they will argue that the White House will have no grounds to resist their subpoenas after this vote establishes the procedures as they head into the next steps. Pelosi had previously stated that she didn’t need to hold a vote on the impeachment inquiry at all, saying it was a Republican talking point.

Democrats believe this vote will help push back on Republican arguments that Dems are running an illegitimate impeachment inquiry behind closed doors. This could also end up a benefit to the White House, giving them the ability to review the evidence that is gathered, have counsel present and cross-examine witnesses during depositions on Capitol Hill.