Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 19 June 2019

Boris Johnson builds lead in race to be UK prime minister

By JILL LAWLESS Javid, the son of Pakistani
Associated Press immigrants, says he offers a
LONDON (AP) — Former common-man alternative
Foreign Secretary Boris to private school-educat-
Johnson increased his lead ed rivals like Johnson and
in the race to become Brit- Stewart, although he was
ain’s next prime minister a highly paid investment
Tuesday in a Conservative banker before entering
Party vote that eliminated politics.
one of his rivals and en- Stewart has the most mo-
abled upstart candidate mentum, almost doubling
Rory Stewart to defy ex- his first-round tally, while
pectations by remaining in Hunt and Gove barely in-
the contest. creased their totals.
Johnson, a flamboyant for- Stewart, Britain’s minister for
mer foreign secretary, won British Conservative Party leadership contender Boris Johnson arrives for a live TV debate in central international development,
126 of the 313 votes cast London Tuesday, June 18, 2019. calls himself the “anti-Bo-
by Conservative lawmak- Associated Press ris,” the pragmatist rival to
ers in their second-round tious televised debate. debate there would be a favorite to become Brit- populist Johnson. He has
of balloting. The vote left Johnson was accused of “catastrophic loss of con- ain’s next leader, some in energized the contest with
five contenders vying to trying to dodge scrutiny fidence in politics” if Brexit the party still have doubts a combination of plain-
be the Tory leader who after he skipped an earlier was delayed any further. about him. He is admired speaking and quirkiness.
will succeed Theresa May debate and a question ses- The withdrawal, original- by many Conservatives for A former diplomat who
as prime minister, and all sion with journalists. ly set for March 29, was his ability to connect with once walked across Af-
but guaranteed Johnson Tory lawmakers will vote pushed back after May voters, but others mistrust ghanistan and was a dep-
would be one of the two again Wednesday and sought two extensions from him for his long record of uty provincial governor in
candidates competing in Thursday, eliminating at the EU. misleading and false state- Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led
a runoff decided by rank- least one candidate each The EU says it won’t reopen ments, verbal blunders and invasion, Stewart is also
and-file party members as time. The final two contend- the Brexit agreement it erratic performance in high the only contender regu-
well as elected politicians. ers will go to a postal ballot struck with May’s govern- office. larly asked whether he has
Jeremy Hunt, who followed of all 160,000 Conservative ment, which has been During the country’s 2016 been a British spy. He de-
Johnson as foreign secre- Party members nationwide. rejected three times by EU membership refer- nies it — but notes that for-
tary in May’s government, The winner who will re- Britain’s Parliament. Many endum, Johnson cam- mer spies are barred by law
had the next-highest num- place May is due to be an- economists and businesses paigned on the inaccurate from disclosing their covert
ber of votes. nounced in late July. May say a no-deal exit would claim that Britain sends the pasts.
Hunt Environment Secre- stepped down as party cause economic turmoil EU 350 million pounds ($444 Stewart claimed to be the
tary Michael Gove, Home leader earlier this month by ripping up the rules that million) a week. Last year only candidate facing up
Secretary Sajid Javid and after failing to secure Par- govern trade between Brit- he faced criticism for com- to political reality, arguing
Stewart all trailed far be- liament’s approval for her ain and the EU. paring Muslim women who the only way to leave the
hind in what is now effec- Brexit deal. She is leading Johnson and Javid both wear face-covering veils to EU was to get Parliament to
tively a race for second the government until her said they would opt to “letter boxes.” approve May’s unpopular
place. successor is picked. leave the EU without an Pressed about his language Brexit deal.
Ex-Brexit Secretary Domi- All the contenders vow agreement rather than during Tuesday’s debate, “We are in a room with a
nic Raab got only 30 votes, they will succeed where delay Brexit beyond Oct. he said “insofar as my door, and the door is called
three short of the threshold May failed and lead Britain 31. Gove and Hunt both words have given offense Parliament,” he said. “And
needed to go through to out of the European Union, said they would support over the last 20 or 30 years I am the only one trying to
the next round. though they differ about another postponement if ... I am sorry for the offense find the key to that door.
After lawmakers’ votes how to break the country’s needed to secure a deal, that they have caused.” Everybody else is staring at
were counted, Johnson Brexit deadlock. but only for a short time. Hunt and Gove are both the walls yelling ‘Believe in
and the other remaining Johnson insists the U.K. must Stewart said “there would considered experienced Britain.”
candidates traded barbs leave the bloc on the re- never be no-deal” if he and competent ministers, Retorted Gove: “We’ve run
about Brexit and their plans scheduled date of Oct. 31, were prime minister be- but unexciting. Gove seems into that door three times
for the economy, the wel- with or without a divorce cause it would be too dam- to have shrugged off the already, Rory. We’ve got
fare system and the envi- deal to smooth the way. aging to the economy. revelation that he used co- to have a different route
ronment in a messy, frac- He said during the BBC While Johnson is odds-on caine two decades ago. out.”q
UN launches plan to combat escalating hate speech

Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is launching a plan to
combat hate speech and counter what he calls “a groundswell of xenophobia, racism
and intolerance, violent misogyny, anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred” around the
world.
The U.N. chief told diplomats at Tuesday’s launch that “over the past 75 years, hate
speech has been a precursor to atrocity crimes, including genocide, from Rwanda to
Bosnia to Cambodia.”
But in the digital era, he said, “hate-filled content is reaching new audiences at lightning
speed and has been linked with violence and killings from Sri Lanka to New Zealand and
the United States.”
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses
the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Guterres said the plan aims to coordinate efforts across the U.N.’s far-flung system to
Russia, Friday, June 7, 2019. confront hate speech and includes ways to engage governments, business, civil society
Associated Press and others to take action. q