Rescuers scour waters for survivors after Danube boat disaster leaves 7 dead, 21 missing - The Washington Post

BUDAPEST — Rescue divers and boats using spotlights and radar scanners made a last-ditch attempt to find survivors on Thursday after a sightseeing boat sank on the River Danube in the Hungarian capital during an evening downpour, leaving seven people confirmed dead and 21 missing.

The dead and 19 of the missing were South Korean tourists who were not wearing life jackets, officials said. The boat collided with a larger cruise ship during a rainstorm, before overturning and sinking, police reported.

A video presented by police showed the Hableany (Mermaid), a 89-foot double-decker cruise boat, heading north next to the much larger Sigyn, from cruise line operator Viking, when the two collided Wednesday night.

Police said the smaller vessel swerved into the larger one, was struck, turned on its side and then sank in seconds. They have opened a criminal investigation into the incident, which took place just after 9 p.m.

Viking said no one aboard its ship was injured and that it is cooperating with authorities. The company, with offices in Switzerland and California, provided no further details.

The ship is now anchored nearby. The collision took place in the heart of Budapest near the ornate parliament building.

Officials in Seoul confirmed that seven South Korean tourists are dead and 19 others are missing. Two Hungarian crew members are also listed as missing.

South Korea’s government said it was sending a team of 33 emergency rescue workers, military experts and officials to Hungary to help with the rescue effort.

“What’s most important is speed,” President Moon Jae-in said at an emergency government meeting. He instructed officials to use “all available resources to help.”

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry and the Very Good Tour Agency, which organized the trip, said 30 South Korean tourists, two tour guides and a photographer, as well two Hungarian crew members, were aboard the boat when it sank. 

Seven people were rescued from the water and have been hospitalized, said Pal Gyorfi, a spokesman for Hungary’s National Ambulance Service, according to the Associated Press. They were suffering from hypothermia but stable. Four have since been released and returned to their hotels. Gyorfi expressed doubt that many more survivors would be found.

Water temperatures were between 50 and 54 degrees Fahrenheit (10 and 12 Celsius).

Most of the tourists were traveling with their families, and the group included a 6-year-old girl whose name did not appear on the list of survivors provided by the tour agency, the AP reported. The survivors included six women and one man between the ages of 31 and 66, the news agency said.

With rain continuing, currents swirling and the river flowing fast, rescuers were searching several miles downstream from the accident.

The National Directorate General for Disaster Management said it will be a complex operation to raise the stricken boat from where it sank near the Margit Bridge that connects the two halves of the capital — the twin cities of Buda and Pest — and will likely involve the construction of a pontoon bridge.

Denyer reported from Tokyo.

Read more:

After ferry disaster, a Katrina-like reckoning in South Korea

South Korea starts lifting Sewol ferry, almost three years after disaster

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2019-05-30 11:00:04Z
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White House Military Office, Navy officials emailed about moving USS John McCain before Trump Japan visit - CNN

"There were emails between lower-level officers, but once leadership heard about it, they said knock it off," a senior Navy official tells CNN. The White House Military Office provides military support for White House functions, including food service, presidential transportation, medical support and emergency medical services and hospitality services.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday the conversations about moving the ship, which was first named for the late US senator's father and grandfather. Trump spoke to troops at a Memorial Day event aboard the USS Wasp in Yokosuka, Japan.

Trump said he had not been made aware of any plans concerning the ship, tweeting Wednesday night: "I was not informed about anything having to do with the Navy Ship USS John S. McCain during my recent visit to Japan. Nevertheless, @FLOTUS and I loved being with our great Military Men and Women - what a spectacular job they do!"

Navy Cmdr. Clay Doss, a US Seventh Fleet spokesman, told CNN that "all ships remained in normal configuration during POTUS' visit."

Trump and McCain, who was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, were frequently at odds before and during Trump's presidency, up to McCain's death. In 2015, Trump attacked McCain -- who had been a prisoner of war in Vietnam -- as "not a war hero" and again criticized the senator from Arizona after he died of brain cancer last August.

The Journal reported Wednesday that a tarp was put in place to cover the ship's name since it could not be moved due to repairs. Three Navy officials pushed back on this claim and told CNN there was no tarp covering the ship's name when Trump was there. 

"We didn't do anything to obstruct the name of the ship. The Wall Street Journal piece refers to a photo of a tarp covering the ship, that photo was taken Friday, May 24, the tarp was removed the following day," a third US Navy official told CNN.

The official said they had not seen the emails in question, but was adamant nothing had been done to obscure the ship.

Doss told CNN that he could confirm "that the picture of the Tarp is from Friday and it was taken down on Saturday. Paint barge was also removed ahead of the visit." And Joe Buccino, a spokesman for acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, told CNN that the secretary "was not aware of the directive to move the USS John S McCain nor was he aware of the concern precipitating the directive."

Officials pushed back on the Journal's reporting that a barge had been moved so as to obscure the name of the ship. One official said "the barge had been there regularly. At one angle, you might not have seen the ship's name, but the name was visible at all times."

The US Navy's chief of information, Rear Adm. Charlie Brown, also tweeted Wednesday night that the name had been visible.

"The name of USS John S. McCain was not obscured during the POTUS visit to Yokosuka on Memorial Day," Brown said in a tweet. "The Navy is proud of that ship, its crew, its namesake and its heritage."

Officials also told CNN sailors from both the USS McCain and the USS Stethem had all been given four-day Memorial Day weekend passes. Not everyone was invited to participate in the reception on the USS Wasp with Trump because there wasn't enough room.

Despite the President's tweet that he "was not informed about anything having to do with the Navy Ship USS John S. McCain," McCain's daughter Meghan McCain reacted on Twitter Wednesday to the Journal's reporting, calling Trump "a child who will always be deeply threatened by the greatness of my dads incredible life."

"There is a lot of criticism of how much I speak about my dad, but nine months since he passed, Trump won't let him RIP. So I have to stand up for him. It makes my grief unbearable," she wrote.

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2019-05-30 09:07:00Z
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Opinion | Netanyahu Won the Election. Why Is Israel Doing It Over? - The New York Times

TEL AVIV — In early April, Benjamin Netanyahu won an election that was supposed to send him to an unprecedented 11th consecutive year as Israel’s prime minister. There was only one small obstacle in his way: forming a government.

The day after the election I predicted that “the coalition that he forms will probably have little more than the minimum 61 seats behind it.” I was wrong by one. Mr. Netanyahu was able to bring together 60 seats out of the Knesset’s 120 — and not a single one more.

At midnight on Wednesday, his deadline to form a government expired. He has only one, costly option now: sending Israeli voters back to the polls and starting over. It looks as if we’ll be voting again in mid-September.

How did this happen?

To really understand it, you have to go back many decades.

In Israel, all citizens are supposed to serve in the military or perform another type of national service. But one group has been relieved of this duty since the state was established: the ultra-Orthodox, known here as Haredim, who make up about 10 percent of the population. Thanks to their high birthrate, the Haredim double in number every 10 to 15 years. When deferment began in 1948 there were about 400 Haredim eligible for it. Today there are more than 50,000. According to Israel’s bureau of statistics, as much as a third of Israel’s population will be Haredi by 2065.

Young Haredi men study the Torah instead of wearing a uniform. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a vast majority of Israelis believe this is unfair.

The Supreme Court doesn’t like the arrangement either. In 2017, the court declared it unconstitutional and demanded new legislation that could withstand judicial review. Since then, the court agreed to grant the government a few postponements, but now the deadline is near. The new government, when formed, must pass a new law to continue the Haredim’s national service exemption. If it fails to do so, the court could decide that the arrangement is void, and prompt a political and social crisis by in essence ordering the state to draft many thousands of reluctant, disobedient, Haredim.

And here’s the problem. The political parties representing the ultra-Orthodox in the Knesset (currently, with 16 seats) have a lot of clout because they have been crucial in propping up coalitions like Mr. Netanyahu’s. In return for their support, the governments — in recent decades most of them have been right-wing — have put aside the issue of Haredi military service. That was the plan, once again, for the next Knesset.

Then one person decided to ruin the plan. Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, represents mostly voters of Russian and Eastern European origin. His voters, like him, are on the right. They are also secular and don’t have much love for the ultra-Orthodox parties and their political power to institute religiously coercive policies.

For years, Yisrael Beiteinu and the Haredi parties were in an uneasy alliance, along with the Likud party. No longer. During the last few weeks of negotiation over forming the new government, Mr. Lieberman has decided to insist on passing a version of a bill on military service that the Haredi parties oppose.

Mr. Lieberman is known to be cunning, so many Israelis suspect that his real motivations are hidden — maybe a personal vendetta against Mr. Netanyahu or a cynical ploy to gain more seats in the Knesset in a new election. But sometimes it is useful to take politicians at face value: Mr. Lieberman, who was defense minister when that bill was written, is committed to passing it and sees no reason make it acceptable to Haredi parties.

But why he is doing this now, rather than during the last government, may have to do with larger changes to Israel’s political landscape, in particular the opportunity to redraw the map of political rivalries.

For many years, the left has been the usual punching bag for right-wing politicians who wanted to galvanize their base. The truth is that leftists, known in Hebrew as smolanim, are disliked by most of the Israeli public. They are associated with a failed peace process, with weaker security policies, with naïveté. In Israeli politics, “smolani” is often synonymous with untrustworthy and unpatriotic.

That trick is getting old. The Israeli left is defeated and marginalized. The public long ago moved rightward. The last election was predominantly fought between Likud and an upstart center-center-right party called Blue and White. The old parties of the left collectively took only 10 seats. Yes, “smolani” is still hurled as an insult at potential rivals, but with less passion. The right dislikes leftists — but there is not much left to dislike.

Maybe this is why Mr. Lieberman has decided to shift gears and go after the Haredi parties.

In fact, the Haredim are even more disliked than leftists: According to polling from the Jewish People Policy Institute, where I work, just 20 percent of Jewish Israelis say that they make a “very positive contribution” to Israel, while almost half say their contribution to Israel is “negative.”

Haredim are disliked not only because they don’t serve in the military and because their politicians hold the government coalition hostage, but also because their participation in the work force is low and they pay less in taxes than other communities. And, of course, because they are different. They wear black hats and live in segregated neighborhoods, and seem radical, outdated and sometimes just plain weird.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr. Lieberman said: “I am not against the ultra-Orthodox public. I am for the State of Israel.” He added, “I am for a Jewish state but against a religiously coercive state.” As he tries to convince voters that he has stymied coalition talks out of principle, not self-interest, he is now bringing up other issues that relate to the ultra-Orthodox beyond military service: closing stores on the Sabbath, Haredi boycotts of factories that operate on the Sabbath and the rabbinical use of DNA tests to verify the Jewishness of Russian immigrants, and more. These are precisely the policy areas where the Haredim have exercised their political power — and where they are unpopular with much of the public.

By sabotaging a right-Haredi coalition and prompting a new election, Mr. Lieberman is presenting voters on the right with a question: Whom do they dislike more, the smolanim or the Haredim? Mr. Netanyahu’s bet is on the old fight, against the left; Mr. Lieberman decided to bet on a political fight against the ultra-Orthodox.

He might be on to something. There’s no reason for Israelis to worry about the left anymore. But there is good reason to be concerned about how the ultra-Orthodox can misuse their power. The time has come for someone with political clout to make that point and to try to rein in the ultra-Orthodox pull on Israeli public life and politics. It remains to be seen if it’s a winning political strategy.

Shmuel Rosner is the political editor at The Jewish Journal, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and a contributing opinion writer. @rosnersdomain

In Defeat for Netanyahu, Israel Moves to Hold New Election

May 29, 2019

Opinion | Shmuel Rosner

Why Israel Still Loves Netanyahu

April 10, 2019

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.

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2019-05-30 08:15:26Z
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Opinion | Why Is Israel Going to Have Another Election? - The New York Times

TEL AVIV — In early April, Benjamin Netanyahu won an election that was supposed to send him to an unprecedented 11th consecutive year as Israel’s prime minister. There was only one small obstacle in his way: forming a government.

The day after the election I predicted that “the coalition that he forms will probably have little more than the minimum 61 seats behind it.” I was wrong by one. Mr. Netanyahu was able to bring together 60 seats out of the Knesset’s 120 — and not a single one more.

At midnight on Wednesday, his deadline to form a government expired. He has only one, costly option now: sending Israeli voters back to the polls and starting over. It looks as if we’ll be voting again in mid-September.

How did this happen?

To really understand it, you have to go back many decades.

In Israel, all citizens are supposed to serve in the military or perform another type of national service. But one group has been relieved of this duty since the state was established: the ultra-Orthodox, known here as Haredim, who make up about 10 percent of the population. Thanks to their high birthrate, the Haredim double in number every 10 to 15 years. When deferment began in 1948 there were about 400 Haredim eligible for it. Today there are more than 50,000. According to Israel’s bureau of statistics, as much as a third of Israel’s population will be Haredi by 2065.

Young Haredi men study the Torah instead of wearing a uniform. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a vast majority of Israelis believe this is unfair.

The Supreme Court doesn’t like the arrangement either. In 2017, the court declared it unconstitutional and demanded new legislation that could withstand judicial review. Since then, the court agreed to grant the government a few postponements, but now the deadline is near. The new government, when formed, must pass a new law to continue the Haredim’s national service exemption. If it fails to do so, the court could decide that the arrangement is void, and prompt a political and social crisis by in essence ordering the state to draft many thousands of reluctant, disobedient, Haredim.

And here’s the problem. The political parties representing the ultra-Orthodox in the Knesset (currently, with 16 seats) have a lot of clout because they have been crucial in propping up coalitions like Mr. Netanyahu’s. In return for their support, the governments — in recent decades most of them have been right-wing — have put aside the issue of Haredi military service. That was the plan, once again, for the next Knesset.

Then one person decided to ruin the plan. Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, represents mostly voters of Russian and Eastern European origin. His voters, like him, are on the right. They are also secular and don’t have much love for the ultra-Orthodox parties and their political power to institute religiously coercive policies.

For years, Yisrael Beiteinu and the Haredi parties were in an uneasy alliance, along with the Likud party. No longer. During the last few weeks of negotiation over forming the new government, Mr. Lieberman has decided to insist on passing a version of a bill on military service that the Haredi parties oppose.

Mr. Lieberman is known to be cunning, so many Israelis suspect that his real motivations are hidden — maybe a personal vendetta against Mr. Netanyahu or a cynical ploy to gain more seats in the Knesset in a new election. But sometimes it is useful to take politicians at face value: Mr. Lieberman, who was defense minister when that bill was written, is committed to passing it and sees no reason make it acceptable to Haredi parties.

But why he is doing this now, rather than during the last government, may have to do with larger changes to Israel’s political landscape, in particular the opportunity to redraw the map of political rivalries.

For many years, the left has been the usual punching bag for right-wing politicians who wanted to galvanize their base. The truth is that leftists, known in Hebrew as smolanim, are disliked by most of the Israeli public. They are associated with a failed peace process, with weaker security policies, with naïveté. In Israeli politics, “smolani” is often synonymous with untrustworthy and unpatriotic.

That trick is getting old. The Israeli left is defeated and marginalized. The public long ago moved rightward. The last election was predominantly fought between Likud and an upstart center-center-right party called Blue and White. The old parties of the left collectively took only 10 seats. Yes, “smolani” is still hurled as an insult at potential rivals, but with less passion. The right dislikes leftists — but there is not much left to dislike.

Maybe this is why Mr. Lieberman has decided to shift gears and go after the Haredi parties.

In fact, the Haredim are even more disliked than leftists: According to polling from the Jewish People Policy Institute, where I work, just 20 percent of Jewish Israelis say that they make a “very positive contribution” to Israel, while almost half say their contribution to Israel is “negative.”

Haredim are disliked not only because they don’t serve in the military and because their politicians hold the government coalition hostage, but also because their participation in the work force is low and they pay less in taxes than other communities. And, of course, because they are different. They wear black hats and live in segregated neighborhoods, and seem radical, outdated and sometimes just plain weird.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr. Lieberman said: “I am not against the ultra-Orthodox public. I am for the State of Israel.” He added, “I am for a Jewish state but against a religiously coercive state.” As he tries to convince voters that he has stymied coalition talks out of principle, not self-interest, he is now bringing up other issues that relate to the ultra-Orthodox beyond military service: closing stores on the Sabbath, Haredi boycotts of factories that operate on the Sabbath and the rabbinical use of DNA tests to verify the Jewishness of Russian immigrants, and more. These are precisely the policy areas where the Haredim have exercised their political power — and where they are unpopular with much of the public.

By sabotaging a right-Haredi coalition and prompting a new election, Mr. Lieberman is presenting voters on the right with a question: Whom do they dislike more, the smolanim or the Haredim? Mr. Netanyahu’s bet is on the old fight, against the left; Mr. Lieberman decided to bet on a political fight against the ultra-Orthodox.

He might be on to something. There’s no reason for Israelis to worry about the left anymore. But there is good reason to be concerned about how the ultra-Orthodox can misuse their power. The time has come for someone with political clout to make that point and to try to rein in the ultra-Orthodox pull on Israeli public life and politics. It remains to be seen if it’s a winning political strategy.

Shmuel Rosner is the political editor at The Jewish Journal, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and a contributing opinion writer. @rosnersdomain

In Defeat for Netanyahu, Israel Moves to Hold New Election

May 29, 2019

Opinion | Shmuel Rosner

Why Israel Still Loves Netanyahu

April 10, 2019

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/opinion/israel-election-coalition-lieberman.html

2019-05-30 08:08:23Z
52780303530465

How Iran And Its Proxies Use Drone Warfare - NPR

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Iranian soldiers carry part of a target drone used in air-defense exercises. Iran is also turning some target drones into low-tech weapons for its proxies. Iranian Army via AP hide caption

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Iranian Army via AP

In January, a group of high-level military commanders gathered at an air base in Yemen. It was far from the frontlines of the country's ongoing civil war.

Then, without warning, a small drone appeared out of the sky and exploded, spraying the group with shrapnel. According to news reports, the blast killed several, including the Yemeni government's head of military intelligence.

"It's pretty scary because it's clear that these guys had no idea what had just happened," says Nick Waters, a researcher with the U.K.-based online investigative group Bellingcat who has been tracking the Yemen conflict.

Drones are nothing new in the Middle East. U.S. intelligence agencies and the military have been using unmanned aerial vehicles in the region for well over a decade. But smaller drones have begun proliferating, and they are increasingly finding a role on the battlefield. It's the clearest sign yet, Waters says, of a new era of drone warfare.

The weapon launched in January was sent by Houthi rebels, who control a large part of Yemen and are partnered with Iran. Waters says the drone was a glorified model airplane with an explosive on the front and a propeller on the back. It flew a preprogrammed route using GPS. "Although it's like relatively simple, it can be very effective," he says.

In recent weeks, Houthis have been stepping up attacks with these small drones. They've struck targets inside Saudi Arabia, including oil pipelines and air fields. On Sunday, Saudi state media reported it had successfully repelled the latest attack, which was attempted on an airport near the border with Yemen.

The small drones used by the Houthis pose some significant problems for conventional militaries, according to Nicholas Heras, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security. "They're difficult to stop because they're low profile," he says. "They don't give off a lot of radar signature, they fly relatively slowly." Moreover, using GPS, they can navigate through holes in air defenses.

According to the U.S. government and several independent researchers, at least some of the drone technology being used by the Houthis seems to come from their main sponsor in the region — Iran.

Iran started developing drones in the 1980s, says Gawdat Bahgat, a professor at the National Defense University. The work started in part because Iran was under various arms embargoes, and its air force was woefully out of date.

"Within this context, drones are perfect," Bahgat says. They provide air power for "a fraction of the cost of fighter jets."

So Iranian engineers began designing and building their own indigenous drones. Heras says those drones have ended up falling into two categories: advanced systems that are operated remotely by pilots on the ground, and simpler drones of the variety sent to the Houthis.

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A Houthi drone on display in Washington. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia say the technology comes from Iran. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Iran kept its technology to itself until a few years ago, when the rival Islamic State, or ISIS, started gaining territory nearby.

"The rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq was really the main driver behind Iran starting to deploy its drones outside of its borders," says Ariane Tabatabai, a political scientist at Rand Corp.

In fact, the Syrian civil war has been a drone testing ground for many sides in the conflict. Israel has sent drones to hunt Syrian air defenses. Russia has tried out its newest technology. Even ISIS used commercial drones to drop small explosives on its enemies.

Many of Iran's drones occupy a sort of middle ground between the advanced weapons of major powers and the off-the-shelf technology used by ISIS. Ali Vaez, an expert on Iran with the International Crisis Group, a conflict research organization, says taking cheap drones to the next level is exactly the kind of thing Iran is good at. "It is very much in line with Iranians' modus operandi," he says.

Vaez says these drones fit well with the nation's overall defense strategy: using asymmetric warfare and proxy groups to take on its enemies far from its own borders. He is not surprised by recent evidence that Iran is sharing not just its drones, but also drone technologies, so that partner groups, such as the Houthis in Yemen, can build their own drones.

"The Iranian mentality is generally that instead of giving fish to your partners and proxies in the region, you should teach them how to do fishing," he says.

Heras, with the Center for a New American Security in Washington, agrees: "These drones are meant to almost be the AK-47 of drones," he says. "They're easy to put together, they're easy to guide, and they have an effect on the battlefield. They're meant to sow terror in opponents and also to demonstrate that Iran and its proxy network can strike its opponents anywhere."

Heras worries that the drones could also be used in a conflict with U.S. forces. Although the drones are far too primitive to do much direct damage, they could be used to distract. A swarm of primitive drones, for example, could flood defensive systems, creating an opening for more powerful weapons like anti-ship and ballistic missiles.

"Iran wants to utilize drones in the Persian Gulf like a squid," he says. "They want to throw a lot of ink in the water, make it more difficult to see, more difficult to operate and to add more confusion."

Waters, who tracks weapons systems in Yemen and elsewhere, says low-tech drone warfare is here to stay. Small drones are showing up in conflict zones from Ukraine to the Philippines.

"These things are going to be around, simply because the capability they give is really, really useful, and they're not that expensive," he says. "If I wanted to start an insurgency, or start my own little militia, one of the first things I would do ... is to buy a drone."

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https://www.npr.org/2019/05/29/726760128/in-yemen-conflict-some-see-a-new-age-of-drone-warfare

2019-05-29 14:07:00Z
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Bolton looks on as Trump undercuts him in public - Editors Choice

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2019-05-29 13:26:15Z
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Boris Johnson Is Ordered To Face Accusations That He Lied To The Public - NPR

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Boris Johnson must appear in court to face accusations that he lied to the public about the costs of being in the European Union. He's seen here on Monday, arriving at his girlfriend's home in London. Peter Summers/Getty Images hide caption

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Peter Summers/Getty Images

A British court is ordering Boris Johnson to face accusations that while holding public office, he lied in order to sway voter opinion on Brexit. The case was brought by a "private prosecutor" who says Johnson abused the public's trust while holding official posts.

Johnson has quickly emerged as a front-runner to replace Prime Minister Theresa May, who is resigning next month. But with today's ruling, he must also face charges of misconduct in public office. The case was brought by Marcus Ball — who has raised more than $300,000 to fund his effort.

Ball says Johnson is guilty of "misleading the public by endorsing and making statements about the cost of European Union Membership, which he knew to be false."

Johnson is currently a member of Parliament. He resigned as the U.K's foreign secretary last summer, in a protest against May's plans to leave the European Union. He has also served as London's mayor.

Johnson has repeatedly made the false claim that Britain paid £350 million each week to be in the European Union. The claim was famously touted on a Vote Leave campaign bus during the run-up to the Brexit vote.

In 2017, the head of the U.K.'s Statistics Authority sent Johnson a letter expressing his disappointment and telling Johnson it was "a clear misuse of official statistics" to say leaving the EU would free up £350 million (more than $440 million) weekly to spend on national healthcare.

In 2018, Johnson acknowledged that the figure was inaccurate — but he said it was "grossly underestimated."

On his crowdfunding page, Ball stresses that he's not trying to stop Brexit from happening. Instead, he's targeting what he sees as the real threat facing society: lying, particularly the falsehoods that flow from those in power.

"Lying in politics is the biggest problem. It is far more important than Brexit and certainly a great deal older," Ball wrote. "Historically speaking, lying in politics has assisted in starting wars, misleading voters and destroying public trust in the systems of democracy and government."

He added, "When politicians lie, democracy dies."

Ball says he wants to set a precedent by making it illegal for an elected official to lie about financial matters. If he's successful, he says, the case could have a wide ripple effect.

"Because of how the English common law works it's possible that such a precedent could be internationally persuasive by influencing the law in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Canada and India."

In Britain's legal system, private prosecutions can be started by any person or company with the time and money to do so.

As the London-based law firm Edmonds Marshall McMahon (which was once involved in Ball's case) states, "Other than the fact the prosecution is brought by a private individual or company, for all other purposes they proceed in exactly the same way as if the prosecution had been brought by the Crown."

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2019-05-29 13:18:00Z
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