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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) decision to sign a controversial six-week abortion ban into law has put him in the middle of rough political terrain that Democrats and some Republicans say could undermine his White House ambitions in 2024.

DeSantis signed off on the measure Thursday hours after it won final approval from his state’s Republican-dominated House. In doing so, DeSantis further endeared himself to anti-abortion activists and hardline conservatives, who are certain to play a pivotal role in determining the GOP’s 2024 presidential nominee.

But the move could also carry potentially damning political consequences for DeSantis among a broader swath of the electorate that has repeatedly rejected rigid new restrictions on abortion in the months since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that defined abortion rights in the U.S. for decades.

“I can’t understand what DeSantis’s political calculus is here,” said Jackson Peel, a spokesperson for Florida state House Democrats. “Once this ball started rolling, he couldn’t stop it. He either loses the primary or he loses the general over this issue.” 

While DeSantis touted the legislation as a win for the anti-abortion rights movement, there were also signs that the Florida governor is keenly aware of just how tricky abortion politics have become for the GOP. 

After praising the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade last summer, he largely went quiet on the issue, offering little beyond vague pledges to “expand pro-life protections.” And though he had said prior to the six-week ban’s passage that he would sign the legislation, he did so with little fanfare in a small ceremony Thursday night.

“We are proud to support life and family in the state of Florida,” he said in a statement. “I applaud the Legislature for passing the Heartbeat Protection Act that expands pro-life protections and provides additional resources for young mothers and families.”

The precarious nature of abortion politics was put into stark relief in last year’s midterm elections, when Democrats seized on protecting abortion rights as a central theme of their campaigns and hammered Republicans for pushing new restrictions following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling ending national abortion protections.

Following the midterms, former President Trump blamed the GOP’s lackluster performance squarely on the “abortion issue,” saying that it was “poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of Rape, Incest or Life of the Mother, that lost large numbers of Voters.”

The new law in Florida creates new exceptions for rape and incest up to 15 weeks of pregnancy and still allows exemptions for abortions deemed necessary for the health of the mother up to 15 weeks. And when — or whether — the new law goes into effect depends on how the state Supreme Court rules in a challenge to an earlier 15-week abortion ban signed into law last year.

Still, DeSantis has “been backed into a very difficult corner,” said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist, adding that, to an extent, DeSantis and every other GOP presidential hopeful is at the mercy of Republican-led state legislatures, who have sought to curb abortion access after the Dobbs decision.

“This may not hurt him in the primary, but clearly this puts Republicans in a position they wouldn’t want to be in in a general, and it makes it even harder to define Democrats as extremists on this issue,” Heye said.

“The Dobbs decision turned an issue in theory to an issue in practice,” he added. “So they’re having legislatures, whether in their states or other states, putting this issue out front.” 

As he moves toward a likely 2024 presidential campaign, the six-week ban could give DeSantis a leg up when it comes to courting anti-abortion activists and evangelicals, who remain deeply influential in Republican politics. Yet in a primary that many Republicans say should be about selecting the candidate most likely to win in 2024, the new abortion ban in Florida could open DeSantis up to new attacks.

“This isn’t a winning electoral messaging [for DeSantis],” one Republican pollster said. “It’s a given that you tack right to win the primary, but Republican voters are, I think, looking first and foremost at who can win; who can bring in those voters we lost last time around. And a lot of those voters have already said, ‘no, we don’t want more abortion bans.’”

Former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), a moderate Republican who lost reelection in 2018, also warned that the new law could cost the GOP many of the suburban women voters that the party is hoping to win back after suffering defections to Democrats in recent years.

“You’re perhaps seeing Republicans overreach on a number of issues,” Curbelo said. “Especially with abortion, I’ve been hearing from a lot of suburban women here in Miami lately and they think Republicans are going too far.”

DeSantis is in a unique position among 2024 Republican presidential hopefuls. As a sitting governor, he’s in a position to actively push and sign legislation, while most other declared or prospective contenders — Trump and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, for instance — sit on the sidelines. 

Yet it puts DeSantis squarely at the center of a debate that many other Republican presidential hopefuls have sought to navigate delicately. During a stop in Iowa this week, for example, Haley reiterated that she is “pro-life,” but that she doesn’t “judge anyone who is pro-choice,” noting the deeply personal nature of the issue.

“What I mean is this is a personal issue for women and for men,” she said. “It needs to be treated with the respect that it should.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who launched a presidential exploratory committee this week, told NBC News on Friday that he would “sign the most conservative, pro-life legislation that they can get through Congress,” though he declined to say what such legislation would actually look like. Trump, for his part, has sought to dodge the issue as much as possible.

Keith Naughton, a veteran Republican strategist, said that DeSantis’s decision to sign the new abortion ban showed an effort to safeguard his political standing among conservatives at a time when many Republicans are rallying around Trump in the wake of the former president’s criminal indictment in New York. Community college enrollment plunges nearly 40 percent in a decade Nearly all Congressional Democrats urge Supreme Court to block abortion pill restrictions

While the legislation “doesn’t help [DeSantis] in a general,” Naughton said, the GOP is still more than a year away from picking its presidential nominee, leaving DeSantis plenty of time to let the fallout from the abortion ban cool down. 

“Politically, I think this is defensive. And it’s soon enough that maybe he can just get away from it for the rest of the campaign. I mean, he’s not going to run on it,” Naughton said. “For DeSantis, it just means he’s got to win on other issues. If he can win on the economy, he can survive this.”

“It’s a challenge,” Naughton said. “I don’t think anyone’s going to get stricter on the issue. Maybe he can sort of hold his breath and get through it.” 

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Counter-terror police investigating second Kneecap video

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Counter-terror police investigating second Kneecap video

Counter-terror police are “assessing” a second video of a Kneecap performance – after it allegedly saw the rap trio calling for the death of Conservative MPs.

The footage is believed to have been taken during one of the Northern Irish band’s concerts in November 2023.

One member of the group is alleged to have said: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”

On Wednesday the Metropolitan Police revealed its counter-terror unit was investigating another clip of a Kneecap performance over claims it showed one member shouting: “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.

That video was from a Kneecap gig at London’s Kentish Town Forum last November.

Hamas and Hezbollah are both proscribed as terrorist groups in the UK. Under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, it is an offence to express “an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation”.

Commenting on the second clip, a Met Police spokesman said on Sunday: “We were made aware of a video on April 22, believed to be from an event in November 2024, and it has been referred to the counter-terrorism internet referral unit for assessment and to determine whether any further police investigation may be required.

“We have also been made aware of another video believed to be from an event in November 2023.”

He added that the internet referral unit is “assessing” both clips to “determine whether further police investigation is required”.

In their statement in response to the previous Met investigation, Kneecap described it as a “coordinated smear campaign”.

They said they “use their shows to call out the British and Irish governments’ complicity in war crimes” and that their fans “see through the lies”.

Read more from Sky News
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Two British MPs have been murdered in the past 10 years – Labour’s Jo Cox in 2016 and Conservative Sir David Amess in 2021.

A UK government spokesman commented: “We unequivocally condemn threatening remarks made towards any individual.

“Political intimidation and abuse must have no place in our society. We recognise the chilling effect that harassment and intimidation of elected representatives can have on our democracy.

“All reports of intimidation, harassment and threats are taken extremely seriously. We work with the police and Parliament to do everything in our power to crack down on threats to elected officials.”

Sky News has contacted Kneecap’s management for further comment.

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The cost of innovation — Regulations are Web3’s greatest asset

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The cost of innovation — Regulations are Web3’s greatest asset

The cost of innovation — Regulations are Web3’s greatest asset

Opinion by: Hedi Navazan, chief compliance officer at 1inch

Web3 needs a clear regulatory system that addresses innovation bottlenecks and user safety in decentralized finance (DeFi). A one-size-fits-all approach cannot be achieved to regulate DeFi. The industry needs custom, risk-based approaches that balance innovation, security and compliance.

DeFi’s challenges and rules

A common critique is that regulatory scrutiny leads to the death of innovation, tracing this situation back to the Biden administration. In 2022, uncertainty for crypto businesses increased following lawsuits against Coinbase, Binance and OpenSea for alleged violations of securities laws.

Under the US administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission agreed to dismiss the lawsuit against Coinbase, as the agency reversed the crypto stance, hinting at a path toward regulation with clear boundaries.

Many would argue that the same risk is the same rule. Imposing traditional finance requirements on DeFi simply will not work from many aspects but the most technical challenges.

Openness, transparency, immutability, and automation are key parameters of DeFi. Without clear regulations, however, the prevalent issue of “Ponzi-like schemes” can divert focus from effective innovation use cases to conjuring a “deceptive perception” of blockchain technology. 

Guidance and clarity from regulatory bodies can reduce significant risks for retail users.

Policymakers should take time to understand DeFi’s architecture before introducing restrictive measures. DeFi needs risk-based regulatory models that understand its architecture and address illicit activity and consumer protection. 

Self-regulatory frameworks cultivate transparency and security in DeFi

The entire industry highly recommends implementing a self-regulatory framework that ensures continuous innovation while simultaneously ensuring consumer safety and financial transparency. 

Take the example of DeFi platforms that have taken a self-regulatory approach by implementing robust security measures, including transaction monitoring, wallet screening and implementing a blacklist mechanism that restricts a wallet of suspicion with illicit activity. 

Sound security measures would help DeFi projects monitor onchain activity and prevent system misuse. Self-regulation can help DeFi projects operate with greater legitimacy, yet it may not be the only solution.

Clear structure and governance are key

It’s no secret that institutional players are waiting for the regulatory green light. Adding to the list of regulatory frameworks, Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) sets stepping stones for future DeFi regulations that can lead to institutional adoption of DeFi. It provides businesses with regulatory clarity and a framework to operate.

Many crypto projects will struggle and die as a result of higher compliance costs associated with MiCA, which will enforce a more reliable ecosystem by requiring augmented transparency from issuers and quickly attract institutional capital for innovation. Clear regulations will lead to more investments in projects that support investor trust.

Anonymity in crypto is quickly disappearing. Blockchain analytics tools, regulators and companies can monitor suspicious activity while preserving user privacy to some extent. Future adaptations of MiCA regulations can enable compliance-focused DeFi solutions, such as compliant liquidity pools and blockchain-based identity verification.

Regulatory clarity can break barriers to DeFi integration

The banks’ iron gate has been another significant barrier. Compliance officers frequently witness banks erect walls to keep crypto out. Bank supervisors distance companies that are out of compliance, even if it’s indirect scrutiny or fines, slamming doors on crypto projects’ financial operations.

Clear regulations will address this issue and make compliance a facilitator, not a barrier, for DeFi and banking integration. In the future, traditional banks will integrate DeFi. Institutions will not replace banks but will merge DeFi’s efficiencies with TradFi’s structure.

Recent: Hester Peirce calls for SEC rulemaking to ‘bake in’ crypto regulation

The repeal of Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121 in January 2025 mitigated accounting burdens for banks to recognize crypto assets held for customers as both assets and liabilities on their balance sheets. The previous laws created hurdles of increased capital reserve requirements and other regulatory challenges.

SAB 122 aims to provide structured solutions from reactive compliance to proactive financial integration — a step toward creating DeFi and banking synergy. Crypto companies must still follow accounting principles and disclosure requirements to protect crypto assets.

Clear regulations can increase the frequency of banking use cases, such as custody, reserve backing, asset tokenization, stablecoin issuance and offering accounts to digital asset businesses.

Building bridges between regulators and innovators in DeFi

Experts pointing out concerns about DeFi’s over-regulation killing innovation can now address them using “regulatory sandboxes.” These dispense startups with a “secure zone” to test their products before committing to full-scale regulatory mandates. For example, startups in the United Kingdom under the Financial Conduct Authority are thriving using this “trial and error” method that has accelerated innovation.

These have enabled businesses to test innovation and business models in a real-world setting under regulator supervision. Sandboxes could be accessible to licensed entities, unregulated startups or companies outside the financial services sector.

Similarly, the European Union’s DLT Pilot Regime advances innovation and competition, encouraging market entry for startups by reducing upfront compliance costs through “gates” that align legal frameworks at each level while upgrading technological innovation.

Clear regulations can cultivate and support innovation through open dialogue between regulators and innovators.

Opinion by: Hedi Navazan, chief compliance officer at 1inch.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

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