…And the World:

We begin today in South Africa, where an inquiry has been opened after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir defied a court order and left the country as judges determined whether he should be arrested. The Sudanese leader has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes related to Darfur.

Times is running out for Greece to reach a deal with European officials over its debt with European governments being told to brace for Greece’s default.

Britain celebrates the 800^th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta, though some historians these days are poo-pooing the venerable document.

Elsewhere in the UK, the Labour leadership contest is heating up with Jeremy Corbyn being certified to get on the ballot. Some view Corbyn, a solidly leftwing member of the Labour party as way to make Andy Burnham, the left’s erstwhile preferred candidate look more moderate. He might also split the leftwing vote to the benefit of the other two candidates in the race Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall.

British officials are also under pressure to explain allegations anonymously fed to the press from Downing Street and elsewhere that both Russia and China got access to the documents Edward Snowden absconded with in 2013.

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan gives his Justice & Development Party (AKP), which lost its majority is last week’s elections, but still won the largest share of the seats in Parliament, a chance to form a coalition government. The oppposition Republican People’s Party would have a chance to form a government if the AKP failed, but, elections would ensue if the second round were unsuccessful.

Israel releases a report justifying its actions in last year’s war in Gaza (Operation Protective Edge), but at least some observers in Israel are less than impressed by the defensive document.

The Mexican Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage, but to actually wed, couples still face a labyrinthine process among the lower courts.

The Feds:

In the POTUS race, Jeb announces today, complete with explanation point. Meanwhile Martin O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland, pins his hopes to best Hillary Clinton on the Iowa caucuses. Speaking of Clinton, her big kickoff on Roosevelt Island in New York has largely gotten positive reviews and, according to Power Post, dominated the news coverage for a whole day. Politco Magazine’s Glenn Thrush has some more, written before Saturday, on the making of that kickoff and Clinton’s platform. Vox chimes in by noting that Clinton has long been to her party’s left on economic issues, including that of her former boss and colleague, one Barack Obama.

While the press continues to criticize Clinton’s media relations (see below), she did grant interviews with local outlets, The Des Moine Register and Iowa radio.

The Boston Globe’s Matt Viser scores an interview with Secretary of State John Kerry, recuperating at home in Boston from leg surgery after fracturing his femur during a bicycling accident in the Alps. Definitely worth a read.

The New York Times does an in-depth review of the events leading up to and after the death of Staten Island resident Eric Garner, who died after being put into a chokehold the Medical Examiner ruled, allegedly by an NYPD officer.

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy released a plan to scale back the tax increases included in the new budget set to begin July 1. While some debate the actual nature of the state’s favorable/unfavorable business climate, accusations are now flying among legislators including the Senate chair of appropriations about what led to this situation. For what it is worth, The Hartford Courant editorial board, while bashing the tax increases, slaps down Republicans hard for attacking Malloy’s plans to visit Aer Lingus officials in Dublin and the Paris Air Show to promote Connecticut business.

Appointed San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor won a full term this weekend after a bloody race in the Texas city. Though the race is nonpartisan, Taylor was viewed as the conservative choice. Her opponent Letitia Van de Putte is a former Democratic state senator. Taylor had been serving as the City Council’s appointed replacement for ex-mayor Julian Castro, who was appointed US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development last year.

The State of Things:

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court sides with the state Senate and its president Stanley Rosenberg in the dispute over the change in income tax policy included in the state budget. The House of Representatives had included tweaks to the film tax credit and the Senate took that as an invitation to freeze the income tax to pay for an expanded earned income tax credit. House Speaker Robert DeLeo decried the move and asked the SJC to declare the Senate’s move (in an advisory opinion) invalid. Advantage Rosenberg.

If you’re ambitious, the full opinion is here (in PDF).

The wife of former Easthampton Mayor Michael Tautznik died after falling down while at a recent charity event. She was 60.

The long-awaited reopening of the Willamanset Bridge linking downtown Holyoke and Chicopee happened last week.

Holyoke City Councilors who voted to establish a Polish Historical District in the city were honored at the annual banquet of the Friends of Mater Dolorosa church. The closed church lies within the borders of the not-to-be historic district.

The Fourth Estatements:

The Sunday Times in London is under scrutiny after it dropped five words from a story about allegation’s Edward Snowden’s documents were obtained by China and Russia. The Times claimed, in words now scrubbed from its article, that David Miranda, the partner of Glenn Greenwald, one the journalists who broke the Snowden story, had met with Snowden in Russia. This allegedly happened just before Miranda was detained by British officials while changing planes at Heathrow Airport.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s publisher is out and on his way to The Union-Leader of New Hampshire. This comes amid further doubts about the former paper’s future after its most recent sale.

Some uber-beltway inside baseball here with complaints among the press about pool reporters. For those who don’t know. Pool reporters, often one for print, TV and radio each, will write produce reports at events where attendance by the full press corp would simply be impractical. The reporters’ likel media then share when writing about the event. One complaint was about the exclusion of a British publication’s reporter and another was over the placement of a pool reporter at one event. Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill’s response, summed up, is the pools are a work in progress.

City Slickers:

The City Council’s review/approval of the budget begins today in Springfield.

Both historic preservation and a labor contract will confront the Council at its regular meeting tonight.

In a blow for Mason Square, Q Smoking Good Food closes.

ICYMI: Our editorial on MGM’s slower timeline to build its casino.

Twitter Chatter:

With so much in the world near and far to consider this week, it seems hard to pick just one thing to zero in on in the Twitterverse. However, Matt Viser’s interview with Kerry stands out because of the background of international events to which John Kerry still must and plans to attend. Iran is at the top of the list, but in isolating one of Kerry’s quotes about managing the non-relationship between the United States and Iran, Viser perhaps distills the essence of both why these talks matter and why they are so difficult.

Kerry on Iran: “It’s hard…We haven’t talked to each other in 35 years. There’s huge suspicion. And huge stakes.” http://t.co/Dj6RMjrFlW

— Matt Viser (@mviser) June 15, 2015