| U.K. Starts No-Deal Brexit Meetings as It's Now a Real Prospect Posted: 28 Jul 2019 04:01 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Follow @Brexit on Twitter, join our Facebook group and sign up to our Brexit Bulletin.U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's high-level Brexit cabinet holds its first meeting Monday, and will gather every day to ensure the country leaves the European Union on Oct. 31.Michael Gove, named to a job that makes him Johnson's top aide, will lead the sessions as the government steps up preparations for a no-deal Brexit, the premier's office said Sunday in a statement. Unless the EU agrees to re-open negotiations, that's the most likely outcome, he said."We still hope they will change their minds, but must operate on the assumption that they will not," Gove wrote in the Sunday Times. "No deal is now a very real prospect, and we must make sure we are ready."Johnson's special cabinet of six senior ministers will oversee the revamped exit preparations. They will meet weekdays and weekends until ties with the EU are cut.Dominic Cummings, a key leader in the 2016 Brexit campaign, called advisers to the prime minister's residence Friday night and told them Brexit will happen "by any means necessary," the Times said. Cummings said Johnson is prepared to suspend Parliament or hold an election to thwart those who may seek to block a no-deal Brexit.Johnson's war cabinet are all Brexiteers who support no deal, the Times reported. It includes Gove, Chancellor Sajid Javid, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox.Leaving without alternative arrangements would dominate British politics for decades to come, the Institute for Government said.Javid is ready to release more than 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) for planning a no-deal exit, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, noting the new funds add to the 4.2 billion pounds set aside by his predecessor, Philip Hammond.There's not a clear majority in Parliament for no deal and lawmakers have said they will try to block it. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said he's ready for a general election at any time.A new poll showed the Conservatives with a slim statistical lead over Labour, according to the Sunday Express. The July 24-25 ComRes survey is the first to show a Tory lead since early March and gives the Brexit Party its lowest projected vote share since they were included in the survey in May, ComRes said.Another poll in the Mail on Sunday put support for the Conservatives at 30% to 25% for Labour, but support would flip to a 6 percentage-point edge for Labour if the party ousted Corbyn.A majority in the Express poll, 55%, said Johnson will make a terrible prime minister, with 64% saying he would be better than Corbyn. But 72% said he should be given a chance to deliver Brexit before new elections are called or the government is toppled.'Pretty Hopeless'Speaking to Sky News Sunday, Corbyn wouldn't say when he might call a vote of no confidence in the government to trigger an election. If Labour were to win power, he reiterated that he'd try to reopen Brexit negotiations with the EU himself."He's pretty hopeless," said Jo Swinson, the newly elected head of the Liberal Democrats. "There are millions crying out for leadership in opposition to Boris Johnson and Brexit, and they're not getting it from Jeremy Corbyn."As the new head of the Treasury, Javid said "all necessary funding" will be available help cope with no deal, including adding extra border control forces and launching one of the "biggest ever" public information campaigns, he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.In a separate development, May's former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, met with Labour Party Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer and they agreed to work on plan to block leaving the EU without a deal, the Observer reported.Johnson is traveling to Scotland on Monday to announce 330 million pounds of new funding for local communities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the government said.\--With assistance from Steve Geimann and Adam O. Manzor.To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Swint in London at bswint@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Davis at abdavis@bloomberg.net, Steve GeimannFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| China to Brief on Hong Kong Unrest After Weekend of Protests Posted: 28 Jul 2019 03:54 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- China's top office for Hong Kong affairs plans a briefing on the city's unrest, after a weekend of demonstrations illustrated the challenge of quelling a protest movement that's leaderless, unpredictable and widespread.Police deployed tear gas and rubber bullets throughout downtown Hong Kong Sunday to clear thousands of protesters who gathered to air their grievances for the eighth straight weekend. Demonstrators marched east through the city's central business district, then west, before splitting in two. The tactics seemed to catch police off guard as demonstrators again focused their anger at officers following a day of clashes in Yuen Long near the mainland Chinese border.The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, which reports to China's cabinet, scheduled a news conference at 3 p.m. Monday in Beijing, which the South China Morning Post newspaper said was a first since the end of British colonial rule in 1997.By Sunday night, clouds of tear gas hovered over the normally buzzing downtown area of Sai Ying Pun, which also hosts the Chinese government's main office in Hong Kong. Protesters vandalized the building last week, drawing stern warnings from Beijing and sparking fears that China's military would be called in to restore order.At least 49 people were arrested following Sunday's unrest, where bricks, glass bottles and paint bombs were hurled at police officers, and traffic signs were removed."The radical protesters' acts were getting increasingly violent," according to a government statement early Monday, adding that the crowd had "obviously deviated from the principle of expressing opinions in a peaceful manner."The chaotic weekend also showed that Hong Kong's protesters are sustaining momentum for a protracted fight against embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam and her supporters in Beijing, drawing comparisons with France's Yellow Vests movement. The question now is whether she -- or Chinese President Xi Jinping -- can make any more concessions to deflate the uprising, which threatens to paralyze policy making and scare away businesses from the financial hub.Fear of Fatalities"I don't know how it's going to end," said opposition lawmaker Fernando Cheung, who stood with a group of protesters in the central shopping area of Causeway Bay, which remained peaceful. "The only solution is for the government to back down. Otherwise, I think we would be going toward more casualties and I am afraid even fatalities."With demonstrators dispersed across four separate districts over the weekend, it was hard to tell how many took part compared with previous weeks. Protesters said thousands joined the airport sit-in, and about 300,000 people took part in Saturday's march through Yuen Long, where train commuters, including a lawmaker, were attacked last weekend. Police wouldn't estimate crowd sizes because all but one protest lacked a permit. Injuries -- some serious -- were reported among demonstrators and police.Financial HitThe protests are increasingly hurting the city's reputation as a stable environment for business. Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Paul Chan said in a blog post Sunday that many local retail and catering businesses had experienced a "sharp decline" in business, warning that small and medium-sized enterprises will face more pressure the longer they go on. The sprawling Sogo department store in Causeway Bay, owned by Lifestyle International Holdings Ltd., was closed on Sunday.Chan and other officials are grappling with the longer term implications of Hong Kong's biggest political crisis since its return to Chinese rule. What began eight weeks ago as a mass movement to stop the passage of legislation that would ease extraditions to mainland China has since widened to include calls for Lam's resignation and an investigation into the force used by police as they've dispersed crowds."Even Carrie Lam's resignation and universal suffrage aren't going to resolve the crisis in Hong Kong," said Oscar Cheung, an office worker in his twenties, as he gathered in a downtown area. "The truth is China is having a tighter and tighter grip on Hong Kong and our rights."Several protesters carried American flags as they marched, threatening to further stoke tensions between China and the U.S. even as high-level trade talks restart on Monday. Beijing this week said Washington should remove its "black hand" from Hong Kong's protests, some of its most pointed criticism yet against what it says is American interference in the city's affairs. The U.S. denies backing the protests.China's complaints have increased as the U.S. issues statements urging it to respect the rights of protesters who oppose its increasing control over the city. Xi has so far maintained support for Lam in part to avoid setting a precedent in which popular demonstrations initiate political change.Riot police on Sunday carried shields, marched in rows and were backed by police vehicles with flashing lights as they engaged in a tense hours-long standoff with demonstrators, eventually charging at them and forcibly wrestling some people to the ground to arrest them. Protesters wore masks and hard hats, occupying a main thoroughfare in the neighborhood. As violence kicked off, some used street signs as shields.'Liberate' Hong KongEarlier in the day, demonstrators marched from a central gathering point without a definite plan toward the Admiralty, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay areas that were ground zero for previous mass rallies. They chanted slogans including "liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time," "shame on police who beat people" and "return us the right to demonstrate.""Sadly and shamefully, the leaders in Beijing now do not address all these demands," said Kwok Ka-ki, a lawmaker in a pro-democracy party. "They just use police, use all the forces, use the tear gas, use the rubber bullets just to force the people away. It doesn't help at all. We all know you can't deal with a political issue by using force."'\--With assistance from Brendan Scott.To contact the reporters on this story: Shawna Kwan in Hong Kong at wkwan35@bloomberg.net;Fion Li in Hong Kong at fli59@bloomberg.net;Owen Franks in Hong Kong at ofranks@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Edward JohnsonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| UK trade minister Truss says NHS will not be put up for sale -The Telegraph Posted: 28 Jul 2019 03:37 PM PDT ![UK trade minister Truss says NHS will not be put up for sale -The Telegraph]( "UK trade minister Truss says NHS will not be put up for sale -The Telegraph") Britain's trade minister Liz Truss has said the National Health Service (NHS) would not be put up for sale, as she prepares to discuss a free-trade deal with the U.S. in the next few weeks. "My main priority now will be agreeing a free-trade deal with the U.S., building on the successful phone call between the Prime Minister and President Trump," she wrote in a Telegraph column late on Sunday. U.S President Donald Trump had said in June that Britain's public health service should be on the table in talks about a trade deal between the two countries after Brexit but later backtracked on his comments.
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| Dan Coats, intelligence chief who clashed with Donald Trump, 'to step down' Posted: 28 Jul 2019 01:05 PM PDT  Dan Coats, the US director of national intelligence who clashed repeatedly with Donald Trump, is reportedly to step down from his position within days. Mr Coats, 76, had disagreements with the president over Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Brexit. Mr Trump was said to be considering replacing him with John Ratcliffe, a Republican congressman who has been a staunch loyalist, according to the New York Times. Mr Ratcliffe sits on the House judiciary committee, and Mr Trump was said to have been impressed by his recent aggressive questioning of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Coats, who was appointed by Mr Trump, has served in the role since March 2017. He clashed with Mr Trump early on, taking a hard line toward Russia that sharply contrasted with the conciliatory approach the president pursued with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. Earlier this year Mr Coats told Congress that North Korea was unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons, contradicting Mr Trump's statement that Pyongyang no longer posed a threat. He also told Congress that Iran had continued to comply with a nuclear deal that Trump abandoned. Mr Coats, a former Republican senator, served in Mr Trump's cabinet. He was previously US ambassador to Germany under George W Bush. The role he holds was created after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, and he has overseen the work of America's 17 intelligence agencies. Mr Coats was also out of step with Mr Trump on Brexit. In January Mr Coats made clear his opposition to a no-deal Brexit. He said: "The possibility of a no-deal Brexit, in which the UK exits the EU without an agreement, remains. This would cause economic disruptions that could substantially weaken the UK and Europe."
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| Iran Took Advantage of the Royal Navy's Weakness Posted: 28 Jul 2019 12:46 PM PDT  Great Britain once had a marvelous navy, its warships boasting names like Courageous, Dauntless, Indefatigable, and Ultimatum. Her fleets were more than a source of national pride—they manifested it, a physical assurance that Britain had the ability to see to its national interests.In the early 1980s, not too long after Margaret Thatcher became prime minister, the Royal Navy sailed sixty-four surface combatants and sixteen submarines. Today, the British fleet has dwindled to a mere nineteen surface ships, half of which are in maintenance, and only ten submarines. This is the result of serial underinvestment in defense, a condition witnessed throughout most of Europe and even in the United States.The consequence of this underinvestment is that Britain and other Western nations today are minimally able to protect their own interests, with almost no ability to deter bad behavior of the sort we have recently seen in the Gulf from the perennially thuggish Iran.In reality, although it sounds harsh, Britain has only itself to blame for the seizure of its oil tankers. It has chosen to become a soft target—as has most of Europe—which encourages bad behavior by those willing to take what they want.Iran's recent attacks on oil tankers would be surprising were it not for its forty-year pattern of problematic behavior enabled, even incentivized, by the West's tolerance, apathy, occasional complicity, and self-imposed weakness to do anything about it. Ever since the mullahs seized power in 1979, the odious regime in Tehran has consistently employed violence and the threat of violence to maintain power at home and extend its influence across the Middle East.
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| Dan Coats expected to step down as Trump director of national intelligence Posted: 28 Jul 2019 12:43 PM PDT  * Axios and New York Times predict latest White House departure * Texas congressman John Ratcliffe in frame as replacementDan Coats testifies on Capitol Hill in January. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/ReutersUS director of national intelligence Dan Coats is expected to step down and be replaced by Texas congressman John Ratcliffe, according to multiple reports on Sunday.Coats is a former Republican representative and senator from Indiana who has also been ambassador to Germany.He has been director of national intelligence since the start of the Trump presidency in 2017. He has reportedly clashed with Donald Trump on several issues.For example, Coats publicly criticised the president's relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin and told a Senate panel he considered it unlikely North Korea would give up nuclear arms.According to Axios, Trump could still change his mind. But the website and the New York Times both reported that Ratcliffe was his likely replacement.Coats did not immediately comment on Sunday. He dismissed earlier reports of his likely exit as "frustrating".Reuters said a "person with direct knowledge of that matter" said Coats had advised Trump "he planned to step down fairly soon" and offered thoughts on who might succeed him.Earlier this month, Politico reported that the president had met with California representative and key supporter Devin Nunes.But the Texan reportedly won Trump's approval with his aggressive questioning of former special counsel Robert Mueller during hearings on Capitol Hill this week."I agree with Chairman Nadler this morning when he said Donald Trump is not above the law," Ratcliffe said during the judiciary committee session."But he damn sure should not be below the law, which is where volume two of this report puts him."Coats did not immediately comment on Sunday. He dismissed earlier reports of his likely exit as "frustrating".
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| Wall Street Journal Corrects ‘Bombshell’ Report On North Korea Nukes Posted: 28 Jul 2019 12:43 PM PDT  The Wall Street Journal quietly added a massive correction to a story that, if accurate, would have had significant implications for nuclear talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.On Thursday, the newspaper reported that analysts with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) believe that North Korea may have developed as many as 12 nuclear weapons since the historic Trump-Kim summit in Singapore June 12, 2018."Analysts at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency say North Korea's scientists may have produced 12 nuclear weapons since the first Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore last year. In total, Pyongyang could currently possess between 20 and 60 nuclear bombs, according to estimates by various security analysts," the newspaper reported.If true, the assessment would undercut the basis for ongoing nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang. Trump has said he believes Kim has adhered to an agreement to curtail the development of nuclear weapons, but Trump's critics have accused him of being naive in trusting the North Korean dictator.
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| Iran to restart activities at Arak nuclear facility, says official Posted: 28 Jul 2019 10:36 AM PDT  Iran is to restart activities at its controversial Arak heavy-water reactor, the head of the country's nuclear agency announced on Sunday. Heavy water can be used to make plutonium, an important ingredient in the construction of nuclear weapons. Under the terms of the landmark 2015 nuclear accord, Tehran agreed to repurpose the facility towards research and medicine. But in the latest escalation over the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, told lawmakers on Sunday that it would renege on the commitment, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. Tehran has been gradually reducing its compliance with the nuclear deal signed with global powers after President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the agreement last year. The Arak announcement came as Iranian officials met with the remaining signatories to the JCPOA, including the UK, France and Germany, in Vienna to try and salvage the painstakingly agreed accord. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said earlier this month that unless European states provided more effective relief from US sanctions, Tehran would take steps to restart the reactor to "the condition you say is dangerous and can produce plutonium." Iran was required to destroy key components of the reactor as part of the deal, although Mr Salehi told Iranian television in January that Iran had secretly ordered replacements. Iran's decision to restart the Arak reactor is part of its strategy of "maximum pressure pushback", Dr Sanam Vakil, senior research fellow in the Middle East North Africa programme at Chatham House, told the Telegraph. Analysts believe that Iran may be seeking leverage in the diplomacy with European nations and ahead of a US deadline on Thursday as to whether it will extend sanctions waivers to foreign companies working on Iran's civilian nuclear regime. An Iranian official told Reuters that all steps taken so far are "reversible" if other parties to the deal fulfilled their pledges. "Other parties should accelerate their efforts, otherwise Iran will take a third step," he said. Iran nuclear deal | Key details Sunday's nuclear deal meeting was significant because "the symbolism of the diplomacy is really important for Iran," said Ms Vakil. However, she expressed doubts over whether it would provide a solution for the ailing deal. A statement issued by the EU after the meeting contained little to suggest a breakthrough had been found. Instead, it "reaffirmed" the participants' "continued commitment to preserving the JCPOA" and "their strong support and collective responsibility" for projects including that at Arak. Tensions between Iran and other signatories, particularly the UK, are high following the seizure of an Iranian-flagged tanker off Gibraltar in early July and the seizure by Iranian Revolutionary Guards of a British-flagged tanker two weeks later. Prior to the meeting in Vienna, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the seizure of the Iranian tanker a "breach of the JCPOA" in comments carried by state TV, while a government spokesman described a plan for a European-led mission to ensure safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as "provocative". Rising tensions between UK, US and Iran Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duncan arrived in the Gulf Sunday to provide support for frigate HMS Montrose, which operates in the region, until she comes off duty in late August. "Merchant ships must be free to travel lawfully and trade safely, anywhere in the world," said recently appointed Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. "While we continue to push for a diplomatic resolution that will make this possible again without military accompaniment, the Royal Navy will continue to provide a safeguard for UK vessels until this is the reality."
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| German soldiers offered free travel in uniform to 'boost army visibility' Posted: 28 Jul 2019 10:34 AM PDT  German soldiers will be encouraged to travel on the country's rail network in uniform as part of a plan by the new defence minister to make the armed forces "more visible". Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a favourite of Chancellor Angela Merkel, has pledged to push for increased military spending as she tries to strengthen the bond between Germans and their armed forces. She told the German Bundestag last week that politicians needed to do more to highlight the sacrifices made by men and women in uniform. A proposal, leaked to Bild newspaper, to provide free train tickets to the country's 180,000 soldiers as long as they are dressed in their khakis has met with approval; a survey published on Sunday showed that three quarters of Germans were in favour of the initiative. But Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer faces an uphill struggle in a country still scarred by its aggressive early 20th century militarism. Politicians often avoid being photographed next to military hardware for fear of the damage it could do to their public image. Awarding soldiers medals for bravery, a policy which was reintroduced a decade ago, is also politically contentious. This difficult relationship has contributed to chronic under-funding in the armed forces, a state of affairs which led Mrs Merkel's former top military adviser to warn that the army would be helpless in the face of a Russian invasion. Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer, who leads Mrs Merkel's center-right Christian Democrat (CDU) party, has laid out plans to increase the military budget to two per cent of GDP in order to meet a pledge made by Nato members in 2014. This proposal has already met serious resistance from coalition partners the Social Democrats. Germany's military spending is expected to hit 1.35 per cent of GDP this year, compared with 1.23 per cent in 2018, according to AP. Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer took over from Mrs Merkel as CDU leader at the end of last year and is the veteran Chancellor's preferred choice to take over when she retires. But the CDU have stagnated in polling and now faces competition from the Greens for the mantle of Germany's most popular party. Since Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer joined the government last week, polling has shown no improvement in their fortunes.
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| Iran says European fleet in Gulf would be 'provocative' Posted: 28 Jul 2019 09:43 AM PDT  Iran on Sunday slammed as "provocative" a British proposal for a European-led naval mission to escort tankers in the Gulf, amid soaring tensions over the seizure of ships. "We heard that they intend to send a European fleet to the Persian Gulf which naturally carries a hostile message, is provocative and will increase tensions," said government spokesman Ali Rabiei. Britain said on Monday it was planning a European-led force to escort tankers through the world's busiest oil shipping lane, the Strait of Hormuz, in response to Iran's seizure of a UK-flagged vessel on July 19.
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| Israel, US test long-range missile defense system in Alaska Posted: 28 Jul 2019 09:26 AM PDT ![Israel, US test long-range missile defense system in Alaska]( "Israel, US test long-range missile defense system in Alaska") Israel and the United States completed a series of tests of the new long-range missile defense system in Alaska. The tests were conducted at Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska in Kodiak. MDA Director Vice Adm. Jon Hill says the success in Kodiak helps with confidence in Israel's ability to defeat the developing threats in its home region.
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| Media and Democrats lead response to Trump’s racist Cummings attack Posted: 28 Jul 2019 09:02 AM PDT  * Baltimore Sun: 'Better to have some vermin than to be one' * Mulvaney insists Trump not racist, just fighting back * David Simon: Trump is a 'simplistic, racist moron'In its response to Donald Trump's racist attack on congressman Elijah Cummings, the editorial board of the Baltimore Sun said it "would not sink to name-calling in the Trumpian manner".But it did enumerate some of the president's failings in office and liken him to a creature he said "infested" Cummings' congressional district: a rat."We," the board wrote, "would tell the most dishonest man to ever occupy the Oval Office, the mocker of war heroes, the gleeful grabber of women's private parts, the serial bankrupter of businesses, the useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and the guy who insisted there are 'good people' among murderous neo-Nazis that he's still not fooling most Americans into believing he's even slightly competent in his current post. Or that he possesses a scintilla of integrity."Better to have some vermin living in your neighborhood than to be one."The editorial was one of a number of powerful and widely shared responses to Trump's attack on Cummings, including an emotional address to camera by Victor Blackwell, a weekend CNN anchor.> Fox News rang the bell, the president salivated and his thumbs moved across his cellphone into action> > The Baltimore SunTrump attacked the House oversight chairman, a powerful political foe, early on Saturday morning. Without offering evidence, he accused him of neglecting his district, Maryland's seventh, and of unspecified corruption which the president said should be investigated.He returned to the theme on Sunday, broadening the attack to House speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California representative but also a Maryland native.Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney took the fight to the Sunday talk shows, telling Fox News Sunday the president's comments were not racist. They were merely responses, he said, to Cummings' criticism of conditions, widely reported and condemned, at migrant detention centres at the southern border."When the president hears lies like that, he's going to fight back," Mulvaney told Fox News Sunday. "It has absolutely zero to do with race. This is what the president does. He fights, and he's not wrong to do so."However, Trump's attack on Cummings, who is African American, struck a familiar note two weeks after the president told four non-white Democratic congresswomen to "go back" to the places they came from, regardless of the fact three were born in the US and all are American citizens.Debate triggered by that attack has raged since, particularly over how Democrats and the media should respond to presidential tactics meant to incite Trump's white working class base and perhaps force opponents to rally round progressives with policy priorities he thinks will not be popular at the polls next year.On Saturday, again, Republicans largely remained silent, seemingly loathe to anger their master.Will Hurd of Texas, the only Republican of colour in the House, was a rare voice who condemned the attacks on the four congresswomen. On Sunday, he refused to go so far again."Of course he shouldn't [have attacked Cummings]," he told ABC's This Week, adding only: "I don't think they're going to invite him to throw out the first pitch at a baseball game any time soon."Among Democrats, ahead of the second presidential debate on Wednesday in Detroit, a more practiced response emerged. From Pelosi to 2020 candidates such as California senator Kamala Harris and Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, senior politicians defended Cummings and denounced Trump as racist.House judiciary chairman Jerrold Nadler told ABC Trump was "disgusting and racist" and said a House resolution condemning Trump, like that passed after his attack on the congresswomen, "wouldn't be a bad idea".> The president says about Cummings' district no human would want to live there. You know who did, Mr President? I did> > Victor BlackwellIn the media, forceful condemnation accompanied straight news coverage. Like other outlets, the Sun pointed out that Trump's vision of Cummings' district as some sort of urban hell showed an ignorance of its true boundaries, which extend into suburbs and rural areas outside the city of Baltimore. In fact Trump's own housing secretary, Ben Carson, has a house in the district.The paper pointed out that as oversight chairman of a Democrat-held House, with impeachment in the air, Cummings is by definition a "a thorn in this president's side"."Mr Trump," the editorial said, "sees attacking African American members of Congress as good politics, as it both warms the cockles of the white supremacists who love him and causes so many of the thoughtful people who don't to scream."It also enumerated Baltimore's many strengths and rubbished Trump's attempt to compare conditions in the city unfavourably to those at the southern border.In familiar fashion, Trump tweeted immediately after a segment on the Fox & Friends TV show made the same points. That prompted the Sun to compare Trump to a dog."Slamming Baltimore must have been irresistible in a Pavlovian way," the paper wrote. "Fox News rang the bell, the president salivated and his thumbs moved across his cellphone into action."Released on Saturday evening, the editorial rippled across social media. So did something else, released earlier in the day.In a near-three minute segment straight to camera, CNN host Blackwell, who is African American, detailed previous instances of Trump using the word "infested" in attacks on non-white targets, including those on the Squad.Then, growing emotional, he revealed his own connection to the story."The president says about congressman Cummings' district that no human would want to live there," he said. "You know who did, Mr President? I did. From the day I was brought home from the hospital to the day I left for college. And a lot of people I care about still do."There are challenges no doubt. But people are proud of their community. I don't want to sound self-righteous, but people get up and go to work there, they care for their families there, they love their children who pledge allegiance to the flag just like children do in districts of congressmen who support you, sir. They are Americans too."We'll be right back."
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| Diplomats recommit to saving Iran deal, oppose US sanctions Posted: 28 Jul 2019 08:50 AM PDT  Diplomats from Iran and five world powers recommitted Sunday to salvaging a major nuclear deal amid mounting tensions between the West and Tehran since the U.S. withdrew from the accord and reimposed sanctions. Representatives of Iran, Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and the European Union met in Vienna to discuss the 2015 agreement that restricts the Iranian nuclear program. Fu Cong, the head of Chinese delegation, said that while there were "some tense moments" during the meeting, "on the whole the atmosphere was very good.
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| Libyan officials: Airstrike hits field hospital, 5 killed Posted: 28 Jul 2019 08:35 AM PDT ![Libyan officials: Airstrike hits field hospital, 5 killed]( "Libyan officials: Airstrike hits field hospital, 5 killed") Libyan health authorities say an airstrike hit a field hospital south of the capital, Tripoli, killing at least four doctors and a paramedic. Health authorities did not say which side was behind the airstrike, which wounded eight health workers. The Tripoli-based government blamed the airstrike on the self-styled Libyan National Army, led by commander Khalifa Hifter.
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| Syria keeps up deadly bombardment of rebel-held town Posted: 28 Jul 2019 08:24 AM PDT  Syrian opposition activists and a war monitor say five people have been killed in airstrikes on a town in the country's northwest as the government keeps up its deadly air campaign against the rebel-controlled region. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said two of the five civilians killed on Sunday were members of the same family. The opposition-affiliated first responders known as the White Helmets said 21 people were wounded the town of Ariha.
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| 1,400 arrested at Moscow election protest: monitor Posted: 28 Jul 2019 08:00 AM PDT  Russian police arrested nearly 1,400 people as they gathered in Moscow at the weekend to demand free and fair elections, a monitor said Sunday, the biggest such crackdown in years. The rally comes amid wider public frustration over declining living standards that has hit President Vladimir Putin's approval ratings. Top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was jailed for 30 days for calling the fresh protest.
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| Lawyer: Cyprus will free 7 Israelis detained in rape case Posted: 28 Jul 2019 07:48 AM PDT  Seven Israeli teenagers were freed from custody in Cyprus on Sunday after a 19-year-old British woman admitted her report of being raped by a dozen people was untrue, a lawyer and Cypriot officials said. A lawyer for two of the Israelis said the woman was arrested and faces a public nuisance charge. Investigators concluded the accuser's allegations "didn't stand to reason," lawyer Yiannis Habaris said.
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| Oman In Talks With ‘All Parties’ to Restore Hormuz Stability Posted: 28 Jul 2019 07:20 AM PDT ![Oman In Talks With 'All Parties' to Restore Hormuz Stability]( "Oman In Talks With 'All Parties' to Restore Hormuz Stability") (Bloomberg) -- Omani officials are in talks with "all parties" to restore stability to the Strait of Hormuz after recent threats to oil tankers and the freedom of navigation, Foreign Minister Yousef Bin Alawi said after discussions with Iranian officials in Tehran."We don't mediate, but in this case we are more concerned than others to ensure the stability of navigation, and that's why we are in touch with all parties," he said in remarks aired by state-run television on Sunday."We have a responsibility when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz."Attacks against oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, a major transit point for global oil supplies, have fueled concerns the region was sliding into war as the U.S. tightens sanctions on Iran following the Trump administration's decision to exit the 2015 nuclear accord with the Islamic Republic.Tensions flared even further after Iran seized a British tanker this month in an apparent retaliation to the U.K.'s move to hold an Iranian vessel near Gibraltar early this month for violating sanctions against Syria.The Omani minister held talks with top Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif during his trip.The U.K. said on Sunday it deployed one of its Type 45 warships to help escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The frigate, HMS Duncan, will operate alongside the Royal Navy's HMS Montrose Type 23 to shepherd British-flagged ships.To contact the reporter on this story: Vivian Nereim in Riyadh at vnereim@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net, Alaa Shahine, Amy TeibelFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| UPDATE 2-Iran says meeting with parties to nuclear deal "constructive" Posted: 28 Jul 2019 06:10 AM PDT ![UPDATE 2-Iran says meeting with parties to nuclear deal "constructive"]( "UPDATE 2-Iran says meeting with parties to nuclear deal \"constructive\"") An emergency meeting with parties to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal was constructive but there are unresolved issues and Tehran will continue to reduce its nuclear commitments if Europeans fail to salvage the pact, Iranian official Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday. "The atmosphere was constructive.
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| China says all parties at Vienna nuclear meeting aim to safeguard nuclear deal Posted: 28 Jul 2019 06:07 AM PDT ![China says all parties at Vienna nuclear meeting aim to safeguard nuclear deal]( "China says all parties at Vienna nuclear meeting aim to safeguard nuclear deal") All parties to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran want to safeguard the accord and strongly oppose Washington's decision to unilaterally re-impose sanctions on Tehran, the head of the Chinese delegation said after a meeting of the pact members. The remaining parties to the deal - Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, the EU and Iran - met for emergency talks in Vienna called in response to an escalation in tensions between Iran and the West in the past month that included confrontations at sea and Tehran's breaches of the accord. "All sides have expressed their commitment to safeguard the JCPOA and to continue to implement the JCPOA in a balanced manner," Fu Cong, director general of the Department of Arms Control at China's Foreign Ministry told journalists after the meeting in Vienna.
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| ‘Doomsday prepper’ held twin daughters captive and sexually abused them for years, police say Posted: 28 Jul 2019 05:53 AM PDT  A Florida couple described as "doomsday preppers" allegedly abused their adopted twin daughters, subjecting them to beatings, sexual assaults and a restricted food intake, police said.Mirko and Regina Ceska were arrested on 12 July for charges including sexual assault and neglect.Their 22-year-old daughters escaped from the family's home in Wakulla County on 28 June 2019 after 11 years of suspected abuse.The women were adopted from the foster case system in 2008 at the age of 11.They told police officers they had been used as unpaid farm labourers on the family property since their childhood, according to The Tallahassee Democrat.Both women said their adoptive father had sexually abused them, sometimes "with the support" of their mother, a spokesperson for Wakulla County Sheriff's Office said.They also said they were photographed and videotaped while naked and subjected to severe punishments.A spokesperson said the women "described a variety of punishments including verbal abuse, restricting their food intake, and beatings.""The most recent beating was reportedly done to by Mirko Ceska with a metal rod. Detectives noted marks and bruises on the female's back and arm."Both sisters said they escaped after the beating, on 30 June.They left the house while their parents slept, with the help of a friend."[They] they had been trained to raise pigs, raise sheep, grow various fruits and vegetables, sheer sheep, utilise a loom, and sew," the sheriff's office said."The females reported they were not allowed to go anywhere, couldn't have friends, couldn't have cell phones, nor talk to people in public places."Mirko and Regina Ceska are "doomsday preppers" who own multiple "getaway properties" across the US, the sisters alleged.Police officers searching the Ceska property found large quantities of food rations and survivalist gear.Detectives also seized dozens of high quality firearms and many cases of ammunition.A police spokesperson said that some guns were hidden behind false walls.A homemade video was also uncovered "which depicted an event wherein Mirko had his face very close to both females' faces and was screaming that they had stolen food," the spokesperson added."Detectives also executed a search warrant upon a cell phone belonging to Mirko Ceska. A file containing an internet search history for an incestuous video was located."Police officers arrested Mirko Ceska and charged him with sexual battery, sexual assault, abuse and neglect on 12 July.Regina Ceska was arrested and charged with two counts of neglect and two counts of failure to report abuse.The investigation is ongoing and the twin sisters are being cared for by authorities in a secure location.The pair's defence attorney attempted to dismiss the girls' suggestion that the Ceskas were "doomsday preppers"."They were 'preppers' but not the doomsday variety," he said. "They were prepared for a hurricane or a nuclear attack from North Korea."Additional reporting by agencies
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| Hong Kong Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters in Residential Area Posted: 28 Jul 2019 05:34 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong demonstrators and police clashed for a second straight day as the city's China-backed government struggles to quell growing discontent and amid violent clashes that have marred the historic movement in recent weeks.Riot police fired volleys of tear gas at hundreds of black-shirted protesters and wrestled some people to the ground to make arrests Sunday in Sai Ying Pun, a residential and business area where the Chinese government's liaison office is located. Protesters vandalized the building last week, drawing stern warnings from Beijing and sparking fears that China's military would be called in to restore order.A number of stores in the neighborhood were closed ahead of the tense standoff, as riot police carrying shields marched in rows down a main street. Police said they used tear gas to disperse protesters who hurled bricks at officers, in a situation that was "drastically deteriorating." MTR Corp., Hong Kong's urban rail operator, said service had been suspended between Sai Ying Pun and Kennedy Town.Thousands of people initially gathered at centrally-located Chater Garden and marched without a definite plan toward the Admiralty, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay areas that were ground zero for previous mass rallies. They had chanted slogans including "liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time," "shame on police who beat people" and "return us the right to demonstrate."The sprawling Sogo department store in Causeway Bay, owned by Lifestyle International Holdings, was closed though the situation in that area remained peaceful.Sunday's march came the day after thousands of protesters descended on the suburb of Yuen Long near the Chinese border to condemn a mob attack against train commuters and demonstrators that shocked the city last weekend. A Friday sit-in at Hong Kong's international airport also drew thousands and underscored the economic risk of continued unrest.Police on Saturday used batons, tear gas and pepper spray on people throwing stones and wielding metal rods. Thirteen people were arrested for their involvement in Yuen Long, Yolanda Yu, a senior superintendent at the Police Public Relations Branch, told reporters on Sunday. That march's organizer, Max Chung, had been taken into custody, she said."The police's job was to disperse protesters, not to vent their own anger on them," Joe Pang, a 65-year-old retired bank manager, said of Saturday's protests as he gathered in Chater Garden holding up a poster that read "Stop the violence."Nine people were hurt on Saturday, Hong Kong's RTHK reported, while police said four officers were injured.The government expressed "deep regret" over the march in Yuen Long, which went ahead despite the lack of a permit, and condemned "radical protesters" who charged police cordons, disrupting public peace and challenging the law. About 288,000 people took part in Saturday's protest, organizer Chung told reporters. Police, citing the lack of a permit, wouldn't estimate the size of the crowd.Police early Sunday said the protesters disregarded the personal safety of residents and the public. The demonstrators used metal poles and self-made shields to attack officers and charge the cordon line -- they even removed fences from roads to form road blocks, according to a police statement.The former British colony's government is reeling from its biggest political crisis since its return to Chinese rule in 1997. The movement to oppose a bill allowing extraditions to the mainland has expanded to include calls for genuine universal suffrage, an inquiry into excessive force by police and demands for Chief Executive Carrie Lam's resignation.The unrest has put pressure on Chinese President Xi Jinping to find a solution. Beijing has so far backed Lam's government, in part to avoid setting a precedent in which street protests lead to political change. His government has also accused the U.S. of supporting the demonstrations, a charge the Trump administration has denied."Even Carrie Lam's resignation and universal suffrage aren't going to resolve the crisis in Hong Kong. The truth is China is having a tighter and tighter grip on Hong Kong and our rights," said Oscar Cheung, an office worker in his twenties, as he stood in Chater Garden Sunday in a black shirt and sunglasses.Sales HitWith the unrest showing no signs of ending, the city's reputation among investors as a stable environment for business has taken a hit. Local retailers are bracing for poor sales figures as demonstrations keep tourists out of shops and ordinary residents seek to avoid major malls that have been targeted.Financial Secretary Paul Chan said in a blog post Sunday that many local retail and catering businesses had experienced a "sharp decline" in business, warning that the longer the historic protests go on, the more pressure they will pile on small and medium-sized enterprises.Crime SyndicatesAhead of the protest Saturday, fears grew that large groups of black-shirted activists would draw out the pro-establishment mob that had beaten the protesters with sticks on July 21. Police had said some of the assailants arrested later had links to the city's notorious organized crime syndicates, or triads, and denied a permit to the rally on Saturday due to fear of renewed clashes.Demonstrators on Saturday targeted the police as well as a village where the mob was believed to have originated. Police moved to clear the area late at night after some protesters packed into the narrow streets hurled stones at officers and vandalized a law-enforcement van with personnel inside. A few hundred people engaged in running street battles with officers, who pursued them inside a subway station.(Updates with details of protest in second paragraph.)\--With assistance from Justin Chin, Chloe Whiteaker, Annie Lee, Iain Marlow, Alfred Liu and Eric Lam.To contact the reporters on this story: Shawna Kwan in Hong Kong at wkwan35@bloomberg.net;Fion Li in Hong Kong at fli59@bloomberg.net;Owen Franks in Hong Kong at ofranks@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, ;Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Iran says meeting with parties to 2015 nuclear deal was "constructive" Posted: 28 Jul 2019 05:30 AM PDT ![Iran says meeting with parties to 2015 nuclear deal was "constructive"]( "Iran says meeting with parties to 2015 nuclear deal was \"constructive\"") An emergency meeting with parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was "constructive", the nation's senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said after the talks in Vienna. Discussions were good. The parties met in Vienna for talks called in response to an escalation in tensions between Iran and the West that included confrontations at sea and Tehran's breaches of the accord.
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| Macron to host Putin next month ahead of G-7 summit Posted: 28 Jul 2019 04:51 AM PDT  French President Emmanuel Macron says he will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month, days before hosting a Group of Seven summit with the leaders of rich democracies. Macron's office said Sunday the meeting with Putin will take place Aug. 19 at the Fort de Bregancon presidential retreat on the Mediterranean Sea. Macron then heads to the G-7 summit in the French city of Biarritz with U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders from Aug. 24-26.
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| Iran nuclear deal parties meet after month of friction Posted: 28 Jul 2019 04:12 AM PDT ![Iran nuclear deal parties meet after month of friction]( "Iran nuclear deal parties meet after month of friction") Parties to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal met in Vienna on Sunday for emergency talks called in response to an escalation in tensions between Iran and the West that included confrontations at sea and Tehran's breaches of the accord. Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran have been trying to salvage the pact since the United States withdrew from it in May 2018 and re-imposed and toughened sanctions on Iran, crippling an already weak economy. The European-led efforts to protect trade with Iran against the U.S. sanctions have yielded nothing concrete so far.
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| Putin leads Russian naval parade after crackdown in Moscow Posted: 28 Jul 2019 04:04 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin led Russia's first major naval parade in years on Sunday, the day after a violent police crackdown on anti-government protesters in Moscow. Putin on Sunday morning went aboard one of the vessels in the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland. Putin was spending the weekend away from Moscow, the Russian capital, where nearly 1,400 people were detained Saturday in a violent police crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
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| Diplomatic Drawdown: Why America Has an Ineffective Department of State Posted: 28 Jul 2019 03:24 AM PDT  Earlier this year the Trump administration, while stoking an atmosphere of crisis with Iran, withdrew "nonemergency" personnel from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. It is unclear what specific development, if any, triggered this move. Insofar as the administration was contemplating a military attack on Iran and given the certainty that in response to any such attack Iran would strike back at U.S. interests, it may have been prudent to evacuate Americans from the neighboring state of Iraq. But skepticism is appropriate regarding this White House's interpretation of security hazards in that part of the world. During violent disturbances last September in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, some mortar rounds striking in the neighborhood of the U.S. consulate were enough for National Security Advisor John Bolton to tell the Pentagon to draw up plans to attack Iran. The consulate was unharmed—the shells fell harmlessly in a vacant lot. It was the Iranian consulate in Basra that was set afire during the same disturbances.
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| Israel, US successfully test ballistic missile interceptor Posted: 28 Jul 2019 03:21 AM PDT  Israel and the United States have successfully carried out tests of a ballistic missile interceptor that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday provides protection against potential threats from Iran. The tests of the Arrow-3 system were carried out in the US state of Alaska and it successfully intercepted targets above the atmosphere, Israel's defence ministry said in a statement. "The flight tests were conducted in Alaska in order to test capabilities that may not be tested in Israel," the statement said.
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| Fighting talk: Ireland raises stakes in Brexit showdown Posted: 28 Jul 2019 02:53 AM PDT  With the prospect of a no-deal Brexit becoming ever more likely under Boris Johnson, the remaining EU member state with most to lose -- Ireland -- is hardening its rhetoric. Ireland has a land border with Britain that it wants to keep free-flowing after Brexit and it fears massive economic disruption if Britain crashes out of the EU. Since Johnson took over on Wednesday, Irish leaders have warned his plans are unrealistic and could lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom and a united Ireland.
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| Iran invites Pompeo for interview by reporter once detained in US Posted: 28 Jul 2019 02:53 AM PDT  Iran on Sunday invited Mike Pompeo to be interviewed by a state television anchor who was once detained in America, after the top US diplomat said he was willing to talk to its people. Pompeo said Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg that he would "happily" go to Tehran and willingly appear on Iranian television to explain US reasoning behind its sanctions against the Islamic republic. "Our reporter Ms. Marzieh Hashemi can go and interview (Pompeo) so that he can say what he intends to say," government spokesman Ali Rabiei said, quoted by official news agency IRNA.
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| U.K. Opposition Leader Corbyn Says He’s Ready for an Election Posted: 28 Jul 2019 02:18 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Follow @Brexit on Twitter, join our Facebook group and sign up to our Brexit Bulletin.U.K. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said he's ready for a general election at any time as Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepares to take the country out of the European Union without a deal."We oppose no deal, and people should have a final say on it," Corbyn said on Sky News's Sophy Ridge program on Sunday. "In the event of a no-deal Brexit, we'll campaign to remain."Johnson's new government is ramping up preparations for leaving the EU without new arrangements in place. Corbyn stuck to his position that if Labour wins a general election before Brexit, which now has an Oct. 31 deadline, it will seek to reopen talks. He declined to say when he might call a vote of no confidence, saying the party would look at it when Parliament returns in September.When asked if he ultimately wanted to be a part of the EU, Corbyn said, "It's about investment, jobs, trade and equality, both in and out of the EU."Jo Swinson, the newly elected head of the Liberal Democrats, criticized Corbyn on Sky after the interview aired."He's pretty hopeless," she said. "There are millions crying out for leadership in opposition to Boris Johnson and Brexit, and they're not getting it from Jeremy Corbyn."To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Swint in London at bswint@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Sara Marley, Hilton ShoneFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Europe Is Getting America's Anti-Missile Aegis Ashore System but... Posted: 28 Jul 2019 02:00 AM PDT  The Aegis Ashore sites in Romania and Poland are land-based versions of the naval Aegis, each consisting of a powerful SPY-1 radar and twenty-four SM-3 interceptor rockets. Aegis Ashore is aimed at stopping short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. Iran has built an arsenal of ballistic missiles, including intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) that could—in theory—be armed with nuclear warheads if Iran develops them.America's missile defense umbrella is supposed to protect Europe from Iranian (and perhaps Russian) ballistic missiles.But vital tests haven't been performed, and there are delays in building missile defense sites in Poland. All of which means that the anti-missile shield over Europe may be leaky.The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has conducted only seven out of eleven planned tests in 2018, or just 64 percent, according to a Government Accountability Office study. At the same time, problems with contractors have delayed construction of an anti-missile system in Poland by eighteen months.(This first appeared in early July to 2019.)Begun by the Obama administration, the U.S. missile defense effort in Europe—the European Phased Adaptive Approach—has three parts. Phase I, completed in 2012, comprises a missile defense radar in Turkey and command center in Germany, supporting U.S. Navy ships equipped with the naval version of the Aegis missile defense system. Phase II was completed in 2016, when an Aegis Ashore site in Romania became operational. The delay has been in phase III, in which an Aegis Ashore site in Poland was supposed to be ready.
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| Britain ramps up preparations for "very real prospect" of no-deal Brexit Posted: 28 Jul 2019 01:33 AM PDT ![Britain ramps up preparations for "very real prospect" of no-deal Brexit]( "Britain ramps up preparations for \"very real prospect\" of no-deal Brexit") The British government is working on the assumption that the European Union will not renegotiate its Brexit deal and is ramping up preparations to leave the bloc on Oct. 31 without an agreement, senior ministers said on Sunday. Boris Johnson, who took over as British prime minister on Wednesday with a promise to deliver Brexit by the end of October "no ifs or buts", has said he plans to seek a new exit deal with the EU. The EU has said repeatedly that the deal cannot be reopened.
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| Iran intends to restart activities at Arak heavy water nuclear reactor - ISNA news agency Posted: 28 Jul 2019 12:13 AM PDT ![Iran intends to restart activities at Arak heavy water nuclear reactor - ISNA news agency]( "Iran intends to restart activities at Arak heavy water nuclear reactor - ISNA news agency") The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, told lawmakers on Sunday that Iran will restart activities at the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor, the ISNA news agency reported. ISNA cited a member of parliament who attended the meeting. Heavy water can be employed in reactors to produce plutonium, a fuel used in nuclear warheads.
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| SKoreans, Russians returned days after boat drifts to NKorea Posted: 28 Jul 2019 12:02 AM PDT  Two South Koreans and 15 Russians returned to South Korea on Sunday, about 10 days after their boat drifted into North Korean waters, Seoul officials said. The crew members were aboard a Russia-flagged fishing boat when it was detained by North Korea on July 17. The ship had been on its way to Russia after leaving South Korea's eastern Sokcho port.
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| Two Firsts: How One Pilot Made History with F-16 and AIM-120 Amraam Kills Posted: 27 Jul 2019 11:30 PM PDT  One of the most famous clashes took place on Sunday, Dec. 27, 1992, when an Iraqi MiG-25 (NATO reporting name "Foxbat") fighter violated the no fly zone and entered airspace south of 33rd parallel.Operation Southern Watch (OSW) began on Aug. 27, 1992 with the stated purpose of ensuring Iraqi compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 688 (UNSCR 688) of Apr. 5, 1991, which barred fixed and rotary wing aircraft from airspace south of the 33rd parallel.However air operations conducted by Saddam Hussein's air force during '91-'92 showed he had no intention of complying with resolution 688. In fact as explained by Donald J. McCarthy, Jr. in his book "The Raptors All F-15 and F-16 aerial combat victories," countless military engagements between coalition forces and Iraqi command and control systems, anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) sites, radar sites, and surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites took place from the very end of the 1991 Gulf War until the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
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| Today’s World Leaders Are Walking Cliches Posted: 27 Jul 2019 11:00 PM PDT ![Today's World Leaders Are Walking Cliches]( "Today's World Leaders Are Walking Cliches") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- One of the most striking things about Boris Johnson, who became U.K. prime minister this week, is how precisely he fits the stereotype of the eccentric upper-class Brit. With his elevation, Britain joins several other major nations led by people who embody their national stereotypes, and not the best of them at that; it could be argued, however, that it's leaders defying such cliches who take their countries forward.In a paean to Johnson published on Quillette, his onetime Oxford schoolmate Toby Young recalled meeting the future prime minister: "It was as if I'd finally encountered the 'real' Oxford, the Platonic ideal. While the rest of us were works-in-progress, vainly trying on different personae, Boris was the finished article. He was an instantly recognizable character from the comic tradition in English letters: a pantomime toff." In other words, the likable decadent straight out of Evelyn Waugh and P.G. Wodehouse. But Johnson is also instantly recognizable to those who, unlike Young, despise the stereotypical toff, coming off as arrogant, airheaded and unreliable.In a similar way, Donald Trump fits an American, even a specifically New York stereotype: "the brash, vulgar-yet-successful businessman that so many imagine they might someday become," as Anne Applebaum put it in a Washington Post column.Obviously, there's a flip side to that stereotype, too. I once asked Milton Glaser, the designer of the "I heart NY" logo, if he considered Trump a New York symbol. "His is a certain kind of personality that thrives in New York, which is narcissistic and self-absorbed, very aggressive, determined to exploit every opportunity, take advantage of every situation, and profoundly uninterested in other people," replied Glaser, who once designed a vodka bottle for Trump. "Everybody is there to be taken, at their expense and to his benefit." Then there's Vladimir Putin, who at times appears consciously to play to the cliche of the close-fisted, calculating KGB man – and at other times to the Russian macho mythology, fishing and riding horses naked to the waist, romping with his dog in the snow. Both these stereotypes have their negative sides, too: The KGB man is a habitual liar and double-crosser, the macho a thug who only understand superior force.Angela Merkel, for her part, is the epitome of German moderation, caution and precision. (The flip side? Humorlessness, lack of charisma, an aversion to leading.) Significant numbers of Britons, Americans, Russians and Germans (this is not a complete list, of course) appear to buy the stereotypes whole, with the positives and the negatives. It's as if they're comfortable with a cartoon image of their supposed national character at the top. The mechanism behind this is perhaps the same one that makes us instinctively trust a pizzeria where waiters speak with an Italian accent. Who better to defend the national interest than a typical [fill in the nationality blank]?The opposite may be true, though. It's worth recalling the same countries' most recent transformative leaders; they didn't fit any national stereotype at all.Tony Blair has few fans in today's U.K., but he did bring the country into the 21st century, establishing it as a creative hub and --- after two decades of fustiness – a fashionable place again. He also contributed significantly to making the U.K. a country of immigration, a country that, for a while, wasn't institutionally hostile to foreigners. Regardless of what has followed, this was nevertheless a lasting change. The man who brought it about was a surprising character for the U.K.'s top echelons of power, a middle-class upstart and former rebellious youth who didn't really fit any of the traditional political, social or behavioral molds, who at times looked like an American import and who may have permanently broken Labour, the party that brought him to power, by abandoning its leftist roots.Barack Obama, Trump's predecessor, pulled the U.S. out of the global financial crisis and its international image out of the tailspin caused by George W. Bush's military adventures and backsliding on civil liberties. His eight scandal-free years at the White House and the way he treated people when he was president will keep many in the U.S. pining for him for a long time to come. And yet he doesn't fit any kind of U.S. stereotype; black, wonkish, born and raised in Hawaii outside of any church, he was a rare bird throughout his career.Mikhail Gorbachev, the man who did the impossible: Liberalizing Russia after 70 years of communism, then reluctantly overseing the collapse of the Soviet empire. The transformation he brought about remains momentous, despite Putin's efforts to revive the past. He, too, was a stereotype-defying figure. His obvious lack of interest in the oppressive kind of power, his easy gregariousness, his dyslexic torrents of unscripted speech and his highly untypical worship of his intellectual wife made him a maverick in the eyes of the Russian elite and the Russian public alike. Many fail to understand to this day how he managed to get to the top and stay there for more than six years.And in Germany, while some might argue that Merkel's long rule has been transformative enough, it doesn't rise to the high bar set by her mentor, Helmut Kohl, who unified the country 45 years after the last world war split it in two; he was also one of the masterminds behind the modern European Union. Margaret Thatcher famously, and unflatteringly, called him "so German" after he pulled one of his classic jokes on her, trying to feed her pig's stomach. But Kohl didn't quite fit many of the national stereotypes, especially those that apply to the country's meritocratic elite. A known glutton with an ever-growing belly, he often irritated his intense, perfectionist fellow citizens; the first in his family to go to university, he was also known for a dislike of careful preparation – a German who rarely did his homework.Great leadership, off course, doesn't lend itself to clear rules and patterns. Somehow I doubt, though, that in these precarious times conforming to national stereotypes is the right answer to very unusual challenges. Only a truly unusual leader could pull the U.K. out of its Brexit nosedive, the U.S. out of its exceptionalism trap, Russia out of its slide into irrelevance and Germany out of its provincial complacency. As it is, we have to make do with the cliches.To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion's Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Turkey Stockpiled F-16 Parts Ahead of Getting the Russian S-400 Anti-Air System Posted: 27 Jul 2019 08:30 PM PDT  NATO member Turkey is determined to acquire ballistic missile technology, and aims to co-produce the next generation of the S-400, the officials added, citing discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Erdogan said his country will take delivery of the S-400 within days.A Bloomberg report says Turkey has been stockpiling parts for F-16s and other military equipment in anticipation of a U.S. sanction for acquiring the Russian S-400 air defense system.Two anonymous officials from Turkey who spoke to the news outlet refused to clarify on what types of spares were accumulated, how much was acquired and how long they can last.Relations between the two countries deteriorated over the course of the Syrian civil war, when the U.S. armed a Kurdish militia that Turkey views as a terrorist group, and in the aftermath of a 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan that his government blames on a Turkish imam residing in the U.S.(This first appeared earlier in July 2019.)NATO member Turkey is determined to acquire ballistic missile technology, and aims to co-produce the next generation of the S-400, the officials added, citing discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Erdogan said his country will take delivery of the S-400 within days."The first batch of S-400s will be delivered in a week or 10 days," Haberturk newspaper cited him as saying in a report Monday. "I've clearly told this to Trump, Mr. Putin also said it."
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| Guatemalan activists protest migrant asylum pact with US Posted: 27 Jul 2019 06:39 PM PDT  Hundreds of Guatemalans gathered Saturday to protest an agreement that President Jimmy Morales' government signed with Washington to require migrants passing through the Central American country to seek asylum here, rather than pushing on to the U.S. The protesters also carried signs calling for Guatemala to maintain its sovereignty and expressing support for a United Nations-backed anti-corruption commission that Morales expelled from the country.
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