| Hong Kong Protesters Could Face a Year in Jail for Wearing a Mask: SCMP Posted: 03 Oct 2019 06:22 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong is expected to ban face masks for protesters on Friday in a bid to quell months of violent unrest, invoking emergency rule for the first time since the city came under Chinese control in 1997.Violators of the ban, which will incl exemptions, could get a jail term of as much as one year or a fine of HK$25,000 ($3,190), the South China Morning Post reported, citing people it didn't identify. The former British colony is also studying extending the detention period of suspects beyond 48 hours, given the manpower needed to handle the large volume of protest arrests, the Oriental Daily reported.Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of China's Global Times newspaper backed by the Communist Party, said in a tweet that Western countries shouldn't apply "nasty double standards" when reacting to the ban while noting that Canada and the U.S. state of New York were reported to have similar laws."There's strong demand in Hong Kong calling for anti-mask law," Hu said. "Most of the violent activities in Hong Kong were committed by masked rioters." Hong Kong to Enact Rare Emergency Rule for Mask Ban, Reports SayThe move is likely to trigger intense clashes this weekend, with protesters already calling for mass demonstrations to oppose the law. The face mask has become a symbol of resistance among protesters who fear retribution if they are identified: China has already applied pressure to businesses such as Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. to fire employees who have participated in demonstrations.Police fired tear gas and pepper spray at protesters in the residential area of Tai Koo Thursday night as demonstrations erupted in 11 sites and shopping centers across the city following the reports, the SCMP said. There were also calls for a protest in the Central business district at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. First passed by the British government in 1922 to quell a seamen's strike in Hong Kong's harbor, the emergency law was last used by the colonial administration to help put down riots that rocked the trading hub in 1967. Denounced by protest leaders as a form of martial law, it could give the government greater leeway to arrest citizens, censor publications, shut off communications networks and search premises without warrants, among other measures.The move would come shortly after a protester was shot in violent demonstrations that once again shook the city on Oct. 1, as President Xi Jinping celebrated 70 years of Communist party rule in Beijing. Hong Kong stocks briefly jumped on the reports in afternoon trade on Thursday, rapidly erasing an earlier decline.A spokesman for Chief Executive Carrie Lam's office wasn't immediately able to comment on the reports when reached by phone Thursday afternoon.The law would be difficult to enforce, the Post reported, and could spur court challenges as a rights violation. One police inspector, who requested anonymity, told the Post that the move would stir up more trouble. It could also fuel further international condemnation of Lam's government. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, called for the U.S. to stand up to China in Hong Kong. She also urged America to stop exports of police gear to the city and provide temporary protected status to its residents. "Getting China right takes more than bellicose tweets coupled with fawning summits—and more than uncoordinated and often counterproductive tariffs that burden ordinary Americans," she wrote in a Foreign Policy magazine opinion piece outlining her plan for addressing issues in the city. (Updates with reports of Thursday clashes in sixth paragraph)\--With assistance from Melissa Cheok, Chua Baizhen and Chelsea Mes.To contact the reporters on this story: Dominic Lau in Hong Kong at dlau92@bloomberg.net;Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Oct 4 Posted: 03 Oct 2019 05:41 PM PDT ![PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Oct 4]( "PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Oct 4") - The European Union leaders said they have deep concerns about British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's new Brexit proposals as Johnson insisted he had made a "genuine attempt to bridge the chasm" between the two sides. - U.S. digital money transfer platform PayPal Holdings Inc is on the verge of leaving Facebook Inc's Libra project after having pulled out of a key meeting in Washington on Thursday. - The United States and the United Kingdom signed bilateral data access agreement on Thursday allowing each government to seek information around serious crimes directly from U.S. based technology companies.
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| UN: 14,000 `grave violations’ against Afghan kids in 4 years Posted: 03 Oct 2019 05:35 PM PDT  Deteriorating security across Afghanistan the past four years led to over 14,000 "grave violations" against children, including nearly 3,500 youngsters killed and over 9,000 injured, according to a U.N. report circulated Thursday. Of serious concern, he said, is that the nearly 12,600 children verified to have been killed or injured in 2015-2018 represented almost a third of all civilian casualties.
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| US, UK and Australia urge Facebook to create backdoor access to encrypted messages Posted: 03 Oct 2019 04:37 PM PDT  Facebook says it opposes calls for backdoors that would 'undermine the privacy and security of people everywhere'Mark Zuckerberg on Capitol Hill in Washington last month. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/ReutersThe United States, United Kingdom and Australia plan to pressure Facebook to create a backdoor into its encrypted messaging apps that would allow governments to access the content of private communications, according to an open letter from top government officials to Mark Zuckerberg obtained by the Guardian.The open letter, dated 4 October, is jointly signed by the UK home secretary, Priti Patel; the US attorney general, William Barr; the US acting secretary of homeland security, Kevin McAleenan; and the Australian minister for home affairs, Peter Dutton, and is expected to be released Friday.It will call on Facebook not to "proceed with its plan to implement end-to-end encryption across its messaging services without ensuring that there is no reduction to user safety and without including a means for lawful access to the content of communications to protect our citizens".Also on Friday, the US and UK announced the signing of a "world-first" data access agreement that will allow law enforcement agencies to demand certain data directly from the other country's tech firms without going through their governments first. The agreement is designed to facilitate investigations related to terrorism, child abuse and exploitation, and other serious crimes.Prior to the agreement, requests for data from foreign technology companies were submitted to governments and frequently took between six months to two years. The new bilateral agreement is expected to speed this process significantly, to weeks or even days.The draft open letter was first reported by BuzzFeed News. The governments' request will reignite a longstanding debate over how to balance privacy with public safety.Zuckerberg defended his decision to encrypt the company's messaging services despite concerns about its impact on child exploitation and other criminal activity.Zuckerberg, speaking Thursday in a livestreamed version of the company's weekly internal Q&A session, said child exploitation risks weighed "most heavily" on him when he was making the decision and pledged steps to minimize harm.Also on Thursday, a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement: "We strongly oppose government attempts to build backdoors because they would undermine the privacy and security of people everywhere." What are Facebook's planned changes?Facebook's messaging app WhatsApp already employs end-to-end encryption, shielding the content of its 1.5bn users' messages from the company itself. In March 2019, Zuckerberg announced plans to integrate Facebook's other messaging apps, Facebook Messenger and Instagram, with WhatsApp and incorporate end-to-end encryption across the entire service. Facebook's move to expand the use of encryption followed a year in which the company came under global criticism for its failure to protect the data of its users, and it was branded as a pivot toward a "privacy-focused communications platform".Facebook has announced end-to-end encryption for all its messaging apps. Photograph: Phil Noble/ReutersBut law enforcement agencies have long looked askance at encrypted communications, which they argue protect criminals and terrorists while stymying investigators."Security enhancements to the virtual world should not make us more vulnerable in the physical world," the open letter reads. "We must find a way to balance the need to secure data with public safety and the need for law enforcement to access the information they need to safeguard the public, investigate crimes, and prevent future criminal activity. Not doing so hinders our law enforcement agencies' ability to stop criminals and abusers in their tracks."The letter specifically focuses on the threat of child sexual exploitation and abuse, noting that Facebook's combination of encrypted messaging and open profiles could provide "unique routes for prospective offenders to identify and groom our children"."In 2018, Facebook made 16.8 million reports to the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) – more than 90% of the 18.4 million total reports that year," the letter states. "NCMEC estimates that 70% of Facebook's reporting – 12 million reports globally – would be lost [if Facebook implements encryption as planned]." Privacy v public safetyThe letter asserts that the governments "support strong encryption" while also demanding "a means for lawful access to the content of communications" – an apparent reference to a so-called "backdoor" into the encrypted communications.Governments have often proposed such backdoors as a compromise measure, but security experts argue that it is impossible to provide limited access to encrypted communication without weakening privacy overall."We believe people have the right to have a private conversation online, wherever they are in the world," the Facebook spokesperson said. "Ahead of our plans to bring more security and privacy to our messaging apps, we are consulting closely with child safety experts, governments and technology companies and devoting new teams and sophisticated technology so we can use all the information available to us to help keep people safe."The debate over encryption last flared up in 2016, when the FBI attempted to force Apple to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the killers in the San Bernardino, California, mass shooting. Advocates for civil liberties rallied around Apple against the US government, but the standoff fizzled out when the FBI broke into the phone by other means.A rash of lynchings fueled by misinformation in India provided an illustration of one of the downsides of encrypted mass communications in 2018, as neither the government nor Facebook nor civil society groups were able to monitor the spread of the false rumors fueling violent mobs.But privacy advocates pushed back on the idea that a government backdoor was needed to keep people safe."When a door opens for the United States, Australia, or Britain, it also opens for North Korea, Iran, and hackers that want to steal our information," said Neema Singh Guliani, the senior legislative counsel for the ACLU. "Companies should resist these repeated attempts to weaken encryption that reliably protects consumers' sensitive data from identity thieves, credit card fraud, and human rights abusers.""The UK, United States, and Australian authorities are once again falling into a false dichotomy between security and encryption," said Guillermo Beltra, the policy director of the digital rights organization Access Now. "The reality is that encryption is an essential technology that strengthens the security of the internet's infrastructure and enables users to enjoy their civil and political rights and express themselves freely."The whistleblower Edward Snowden criticized the governments' request on Twitter, saying: "If Facebook agrees, it may be the largest overnight violation of privacy in history."Stephanie Kirchgaessner contributed reporting
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| Saudi man sentenced to more than 12 years for visa fraud Posted: 03 Oct 2019 03:14 PM PDT ![Saudi man sentenced to more than 12 years for visa fraud]( "Saudi man sentenced to more than 12 years for visa fraud") A Saudi man has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to not disclosing he had attended an al-Qaida terrorist training camp in Afghanistan before entering the U.S. Federal court records indicate 35-year-old Naif Abdulaziz Alfallaj of Weatherford, Oklahoma, was sentenced Thursday in Oklahoma City. Alfallaj pleaded guilty in December to obtaining a visa by fraud and lying to the FBI during its investigation of him.
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| UN calls for calm in Haiti as new protest looms Posted: 03 Oct 2019 01:56 PM PDT  The United Nations called Thursday for calm in crisis-wracked Haiti, eight days before the end of its police mission in the country. For more than a year, Haiti has been roiled by violent anti-corruption protests as the country sinks deeper into political crisis. "We encourage all actors to refrain from violence, respect human rights, and allow the normal functioning of hospitals and emergency services, as well as the work of the humanitarians who are assisting the most vulnerable populations," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric during his daily press conference.
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| Egypt decreases fuel prices for the first time in decades Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:44 PM PDT  Egypt's government announced a decrease in fuel prices Thursday for the first time in decades, a cut that comes after a series of hikes in recent years amid an ambitious program aimed at overhauling the country's ailing economy. The Petroleum Ministry said in a statement that the new prices would go into effect Friday, and would be reviewed after three months, partly based on international oil prices. The price for 92-octane gasoline is being lowered to 7.75 Egyptian pounds a liter from 8 pounds, while the cost of 80-octane gas drops to 6.50 Egyptian from 6.75 pounds, the statement said.
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| Security Council expected to hold talks on N.Korea test Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:38 PM PDT  The UN Security Council is expected to hold-closed door talks on North Korea's test of a sea-launched missile, as European powers push for the world body to keep up the pressure on Pyongyang, diplomats said Thursday. North Korea claimed to have entered a new phase in its defense capability with the test Wednesday of a submarine-launched ballistic missile -- the most provocative since Pyongyang began a dialogue with Washington in 2018. The demand for closed-door talks was made by Britain, France and Germany, as the United States and North Korea prepare to resume nuclear talks this week.
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| Libya’s coast guard intercepts 102 Europe-bound migrants Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:19 PM PDT ![Libya's coast guard intercepts 102 Europe-bound migrants]( "Libya's coast guard intercepts 102 Europe-bound migrants") Libya's coast guard says it has intercepted more than 100 Europe-bound migrants off the country's Mediterranean coast. Thursday's statement from spokesman Ayoub Gassim says a rubber boat with 102 African migrants, including three women and a child, was stopped on Tuesday near the capital, Tripoli. Libya has emerged as a major transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty to Europe.
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| AP EXPLAINS: Iraq unrest comes at critical moment in region Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:12 PM PDT  Fed up with an Iraqi political elite they blame for their many grievances, they agreed on a mass demonstration on Oct. 1. The response to the unrest has triggered ongoing confrontations with protesters across the country and has claimed the lives of more than 30 people in three days. The turmoil in Iraq, a country central to Americas Middle East policy, comes at a critical moment in the region amid soaring tensions between Iran and the United States _ both allies of the Iraqi government.
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| 'He tried to have his cake and eat it': how Trump's Ukraine envoy lost his big gamble Posted: 03 Oct 2019 12:06 PM PDT  Before abruptly resigning Kurt Volker gambled that acting as a go-between for Rudy Giuliani could secure military aid for KyivKurt Volker, a former special envoy to Ukraine, arrives for a closed-door interview with House of Representatives investigators, at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/APWhen Kurt Volker agreed to work for the Trump administration in 2017, he told colleagues he hoped to navigate the president's mercurial nature and his evident attachment to Vladimir Putin, and still pursue a traditional US policy of upholding Ukrainian independence and pushing back against Moscow.Many were sceptical and predicted a clash between the two approaches, but even they did not expect the spectacular collision of the past few weeks.In the end Volker, as special envoy on Ukraine, did not collide with Donald Trump ideologically, but found himself at the wrong end of the president's personal agenda.Volker resigned last week and now finds himself giving testimony to Congress as the first witness in the rapidly evolving impeachment scandal. By agreeing to set up a meeting between Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and an Ukrainian presidential aide, he thought he could stop Trump cutting off ties with the new government of Volodymyr Zelenskiy and keep US military aid flowing,It was a calculated gambit, but it did not come off. Volker is now fighting to defend his reputation against the impression – enthusiastically conveyed by Giuliani – that Volker was an integral part of Trump's parallel policy, which centered on digging for compromising material on former vice-president Joe Biden and his son Hunter."He really tried to have his cake and eat it, thinking he could operate inside the administration with one foot outside, that would give him some flexibility. But those two things were incompatible," a former official said.A dapper, mild-mannered former ambassador to Nato, Volker's role as special envoy was unpaid and part time. He remained head of the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University. The name alone would have normally been enough for Trump to veto his appointment. The institute is named after the late Arizona senator, John McCain, a traditional Republican foreign policy hawk who Trump despised, even after his death from cancer.However, Volker was hired by former secretary of state Rex Tillerson at a time when Tillerson still had some autonomy and the appointment appears to have gone below Trump's personal radar."Volker was honestly trying to see if he could help move things along in terms of peace negotiations to get the Russians to move on Ukraine," said Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia, now at Georgetown University, who has known Volker for many years. "He never signed a never-Trump letter, because I think precisely he didn't want to be the position where if somebody needed his expertise, he couldn't give it."Obviously, I'm sure he would never have believed at the beginning that it would have involved brokering meetings for the president's personal lawyer with individuals in Ukraine."Steven Pifer, a former ambassador to Ukraine, said: "Giuliani playing on the sidelines made the job much more difficult, with two policies, one in the US national interest, and the other aimed at promoting Trump's re-election prospects."Further complicating the picture, Volker had remained a senior international adviser to a Washington lobbying group, BGR. BGR and the McCain Institute had financial ties to Raytheon Co, which makes the Javelin anti-tank missile that the US supplied to Ukraine. BGR has said he had recused himself from any issues related to the company's work on Ukraine.Ultimately it was not conflict of interest questions that brought Volker down, but the incompatibility of seeking to pursue conventional Republican foreign policy in the midst of the chaos of the Trump administration, where at least two policies were being pursued on Ukraine."You had Kurt Volker going everywhere saying we have to be tough on Russia and help the Ukrainians, and the president saying we should have nothing to do with the Ukrainians [because] they are so corrupt," a European diplomat in Washington said. "This is a bigger issue. There are traditional diplomats who are considering the role of their country in a traditional way, and the higher levels of the administration that are not really engaged.
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| Trump calls on China to investigate Biden in extraordinary demand Posted: 03 Oct 2019 11:55 AM PDT  * 'If they don't do what we want, we have tremendous power' * Impeachment inquiry concerns similar behavior with Ukraine * Trump calls on China to investigate Biden – liveDonald Trump has called for China to investigate his leading political rival, in defiance of impeachment proceedings in Congress, where he stands accused of abusing his office to put similar pressure on Ukraine.At the same time as calling for an investigation of the former vice-president and frontrunner in the Democratic primary, Joe Biden, and his son Hunter, Trump noted that the US was in trade talks with China and "if they don't do what we want, we have tremendous, tremendous power".Asked if he had already asked China's leader, Xi Jinping, to start an investigation, the president said: "I haven't, but it's certainly something we can start thinking about."Later on Thursday, CNN reported Trump had brought up Biden in a June phone call with Xi, mentioning the former vice-president's political prospects, as well as those of Senator Elizabeth Warren. Trump also told Xi he would remain quiet on the unfolding Hong Kong protests as long as trade talks between the US and China progressed, CNN said. The White House record of the June call was reportedly stored in the top restricted database that also contained the call between Trump and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.Trump spoke on Thursday as his former special envoy on Ukraine, Kurt Volker, was giving evidence to House committees about what he knew about parallel contacts with Kyiv conducted by Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and aimed exclusively at obtaining compromising material on the Bidens.According to ABC News, among the materials Volker provided to Congress was a text message from the acting US ambassador to Kyiv, Bill Taylor, saying: "I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign."Another ambassador, Gordon Sondland, a Trump mega-donor and the current envoy to the European Union, disagreed, saying the president had made it "crystal clear no quid pro quo of any kind", and then texted to suggest they take the discussion off-line.Hunter Biden was on the board of an energy company in the eastern European country, where Joe Biden, as vice-president, pressed for the dismissal of the chief prosecutor. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by father or son.> What happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine> > Donald TrumpTrump has insisted he did nothing wrong in his dealings with the Ukrainian president, and has even accused an intelligence whistleblower of treason for providing evidence that the president used the power of his office – the withholding of military aid and a summit meeting – for his own political ends.However, Trump appeared to do just that in front of the cameras on the White House lawn on Thursday, when he openly called for Ukraine and China to investigate the Bidens."If they were honest about it, they would start a major investigation into the Bidens," Trump said. "Likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens. Because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine."On a 2013 trip to China, the then vice-president took his son with him on his official plane. The younger Biden was in the process of setting up a private equity fund, BHR, with money coming in part from Chinese investors.Hunter Biden later acknowledged having met a prospective partner during the trip, though a spokesperson told NBC News it was a social encounter.There is no evidence the Bidens did anything illegal.On Thursday, Trump also noted that Chinese negotiators are due in Washington for the latest round of high-stakes trade talks, and threatened negative consequences if Chinese leaders did not make concessions."The Chinese are coming in next week," he said. "We're going to have a meeting with them, we'll see, but we're doing very well. I have a lot of options on China. But if they don't do what we want, we have tremendous, tremendous power."Beijing has shown itself to be sensitive to Trump family dynamics.In 2018, Ivanka Trump's fashion and homewares business received initial Chinese approval for trademark applications days before her father announced a reversal in policy, dropping a US ban against ZTE, a Chinese telecoms firm that admitted breaking US sanctions on Iran and North Korea.Trump's China comments seemed likely to broaden the impeachment inquiry, which is already at fever pitch in Congress.> He feels he can do anything with impunity> > Adam SchiffEarlier on Thursday, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy sent a letter to speaker Nancy Pelosi, demanding she suspend the inquiry until more "transparent and equitable rules and procedures" are established.The letter read: "Unfortunately, you have given no clear indication as to how your impeachment inquiry will proceed – including whether key historical precedents or basic standards of due process will be observed."But the inquiry continued and journalists lined a spiral staircase that descended to a secure room in the bowels of the Capitol where Volker was testifying in closed session before members of three committees.The session ran well into the afternoon. Democrats emerging from the room refused to comment. Mike Turner, a Republican from Ohio, issued a statement targeted at the Democratic chairman of the intelligence committee, Adam Schiff.Volker's testimony has not "advanced Schiff's impeachment agenda", Turner said.Adam Schiff speaks to reporters as Kurt Volker, Donald Trump's former envoy to Ukraine, is interviewed in nearby offices. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ReutersEmerging from the hearing after several hours, Schiff declined to comment on Volker's testimony. But he called Trump's remarks on the White House lawn "repugnant" and a "fundamental breach of the president's oath of office"."Once again," he said, "having the president of the United States suggesting, urging a foreign country to interfere in our presidential elections is an illustration that if this president has learned anything from the two years of the Mueller investigation is that he feels he can do anything with impunity."On a visit to Arizona, Vice-President Mike Pence defended Trump's call with Zelenskiy – even as his aides sought to distance him from the rapidly unfolding scandal. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Pence's top national security adviser, Keith Kellogg, listened in on the call from the Situation Room.Pence told reporters: "As more facts come out of this, as people take time to read the transcript of the president's call and reflect on these facts, they'll come to realise this is more of the same of what we've seen from Democrats in the last two and a half years."Echoing Trump, he insisted that the real wrongdoing was on the part of Biden."I think the American people have a right to know if the vice-president of the United States and his family profited off of his position," he said.
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| WRAPUP 2-EU and Ireland sceptical of a Brexit breakthrough after UK PM Johnson's offer Posted: 03 Oct 2019 11:32 AM PDT ![WRAPUP 2-EU and Ireland sceptical of a Brexit breakthrough after UK PM Johnson's offer]( "WRAPUP 2-EU and Ireland sceptical of a Brexit breakthrough after UK PM Johnson's offer") DUBLIN/BRUSSELS Oct 3 (Reuters) - The European Union and Ireland said on Thursday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit proposals were unlikely to yield a deal, with Dublin bluntly warning that Britain was heading towards a no-deal exit unless it made more concessions. The European Union said it fully backed Ireland and that while it was open to discussions, it was still unconvinced about Johnson's plan - cast by British officials as the final offer to avert a no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31.
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| Trump Says China’s Xi Should Start Investigating the Bidens Posted: 03 Oct 2019 11:30 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said Thursday that China's Xi Jinping should consider investigating Joe Biden and his son after again calling on Ukraine's president to re-open an investigation into one of his top political rivals."China should start an investigation into the Bidens," Trump told reporters Thursday as he left the White House. "Because what happened in China was just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine."Trump's remarks came after he reiterated his call for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to start an investigation of the Bidens. Trump's allegation that Joe Biden, as vice president, tried to shield his son Hunter from a Ukrainian investigation of a company that employed him, has been discredited.The U.S. House has begun an inquiry into impeaching Trump over his conduct in a July 25 telephone call with Zelenskiy. After freezing military aid to Ukraine, which is battling a Russia-backed insurgency, the U.S. president asked Zelenskiy to investigate Biden, and encouraged him to work on the matter with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney General William Barr."I would say that President Zelenskiy, if it were me, I would recommend that they start an investigation into the Bidens," Trump said Thursday. "Because nobody has any doubts that they weren't crooked."Biden's campaign dismissed Trump's remarks as without merit."Donald Trump is flailing and melting down on national television, desperately clutching for conspiracy theories that have been debunked and dismissed by independent, credible news organizations," said Biden Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield in a statement. "It could not be more transparent: Donald Trump is terrified that Joe Biden will beat him like a drum."Also Thursday, Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat who is chair of the Federal Election Commission, retweeted a statement she originally made in June about electoral intervention from foreign governments."Let me make something 100% clear to the American public and anyone running for public office: It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election," she said.On China, Trump suggested that the Bidens may be the reason Beijing "has such a sweetheart deal, that for so many years they've been ripping off our country." Trump didn't elaborate but often says China is "ripping off" the U.S. in trade -- the predicate for his ongoing trade war with Beijing.Speaking to the media in September, Trump alluded to his suspicions about Biden and China: "When Biden's son walks out of China with $1.5 billion in a fund, and the biggest funds in the world can't get money out of China, and he's there for one quick meeting and he flies in on Air Force Two, I think that's a horrible thing."Implicit in Trump's statements is that Joe Biden used his position to encourage Chinese officials to benefit his son's business dealings involving a private-equity venture in the country. Not only has no evidence emerged of the vice president's intervention, but it's unclear whether Hunter Biden derived any financial benefit from the venture in the first place.Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday backed Trump's comments on China and the Bidens."The American people have a right to know if the vice president of the United States or his family profited from his position as vice president during the last administration," Pence told reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona. "There are legitimate questions that ought to be asked and we're going to continue to ask them."Trump's assertions about China appear to originate from a 2018 book, "Secret Empires," by the conservative author Peter Schweizer.The book highlights how then-Vice President Biden took his son on a diplomatic trip to China in December 2013, and that around the same time, major Chinese companies formed a private-equity venture with which Hunter Biden was affiliated. The private-equity firm, known as Bohai Harvest RST, originally planned to raise $1 billion and later aimed for $1.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2014. This appears to be the amount of money the firm planned to invest on behalf of clients, not the value of the firm itself.Hunter Biden was on the board of BHR from the outset, but he did not own an equity stake in the company until October 2017, after his father had left office, George Mesires, a lawyer for Hunter Biden, told Politifact. Mesires said Hunter Biden's capital commitment in the venture is $420,000 and he has not received any earnings from the investment. He also said Hunter Biden was not paid for his service as a board member.Corporate records retrieved in China in May showed BHR had paid-in capital of about $4 million.(Updates with Pence comments starting in 13th paragraph.)\--With assistance from Josh Wingrove.To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Zachary R. Mider in New York at zmider1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Joshua GalluFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Read Trump’s Lips: He Wants Foreign Help in 2020 Posted: 03 Oct 2019 11:10 AM PDT ![Read Trump's Lips: He Wants Foreign Help in 2020]( "Read Trump's Lips: He Wants Foreign Help in 2020") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- On July 25, just a day after former Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress and essentially concluded his investigation of President Donald Trump's various intersections with Russia, Trump asked Ukraine's leader to find dirt on a political opponent – indulging in some of the very behavior that Mueller had been investigating but couldn't prove.In other words, Trump escaped Mueller's probe and then turned right around and hit a self-destruct button. After all, that July 25 request of Volodymyr Zelenskiy to knee-cap former Vice President Joe Biden led to a whistleblower's complaint and, of course, the impeachment inquiry that's engulfed Trump and imperiled his presidency.Not satisfied with that bit of artofthedealmaking, Trump took to the south lawn of the White House on Thursday and told reporters on live television that he wanted Ukraine and China to investigate Biden and his son for corruption. "What happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine," he advised, slinging another glop of unsubstantiated tar at the Bidens.Mud-slinging aside, Trump was yet again confirming – in an openly recorded setting – that he likes to solicit foreign powers to interfere in U.S. elections. That, as he must have learned during the two years Mueller investigated him, is a crime.When he first began addressing reporters, Trump responded to a question on trade negotiations with China by pointing out his belief that he has plenty of leverage over the country. "I have a lot of options on China, but if they don't do what we want, we have tremendous, tremendous power," he said.Trump also upped the ante, suggesting without evidence that China's leader, Xi Jinping, forged a "sweetheart deal" on trade with the U.S. because of the Bidens – and wouldn't want a bribery investigation to tarnish him or his country. "I'm sure President Xi does not like being under that kind of scrutiny where billions of dollars is taken out of his country," by Biden's son, Trump threatened. "You know what they call that, they call that a payoff."Given how thorny the Mueller probe was, one might have expected Trump not to go there with China. Given that one of the key elements of the impeachment inquiry revolves around whether Trump threatened to withhold military aid from Ukraine unless Zelenskiy did his bidding, one might have expected Trump not to use such similar and muscular language with China. Given all of this, one might expect the president of the United States not to keep saying the quiet things out loud. But he wouldn't be Donald Trump if he paid attention to any of those things.Trump's statements on Thursday prompted quick responses from lots of informed observers. Joyce White Vance, a lawyer and the former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, pointed this out on Twitter: "Trump just committed a felony violation of law by soliciting something of value in connection with a US election from a foreign gov't on national TV. 52 U.S. Code § 30121. Violating the law isn't necessary for Impeachment but it certainly warrants it….After the Mueller investigation, there's no way Trump was unaware this violates the law."Ellen Weintraub, the chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission, reposted a tweet from June that included a "Statement Regarding Illegal Contributions From Foreign Governments." Her statement noted that it "is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election." The statement points out that this concept is not "novel" and is deeply rooted in the Constitution. "Anyone who solicits or accepts foreign assistance risks being on the wrong end of a federal investigation."Laurence Tribe, a professor at the Harvard Law School and a leading constitutional scholar, told me that he sees some method in Trump's madness on the White House lawn. "He obviously believes that if he commits his felonies in broad daylight and out in the open that he hasn't done anything wrong -- and that no one would think he's stupid enough to commit an impeachable offense in front of everyone," he said.If Trump is muddying the waters by giving Democrats too many impeachable acts to track, Tribe suggests that they focus solely on building their case around two articles of impeachment that involve his Ukraine and Russia dealings: betrayal of country and stonewalling Congress. Trump's comments Thursday about China can inform those charges, Tribe says, but he thinks it would be a strategic mistake for it to be turned into a standalone article of impeachment.The president is undoubtedly under stress, as his recent, somnambulant speech at the United Nations and a pair of unhinged press briefings on Wednesday demonstrated. So perhaps his recklessness is dialed up a notch because he's fighting for his political survival. But as I noted in a recent column, Trump openly flaunted lawlessness long before he became president – even going back to his earliest days as a casino operator in Atlantic City.The difference now is that the stakes are much higher, the world is watching, and the president apparently can't stop himself.To contact the author of this story: Timothy L. O'Brien at tobrien46@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Mike Nizza at mnizza3@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Timothy L. O'Brien is the executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion. He has been an editor and writer for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, HuffPost and Talk magazine. His books include "TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald."For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Read Trump’s Lips: He Wants Foreign Help in 2020 Posted: 03 Oct 2019 11:10 AM PDT ![Read Trump's Lips: He Wants Foreign Help in 2020]( "Read Trump's Lips: He Wants Foreign Help in 2020") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- On July 25, just a day after former Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress and essentially concluded his investigation of President Donald Trump's various intersections with Russia, Trump asked Ukraine's leader to find dirt on a political opponent – indulging in some of the very behavior that Mueller had been investigating but couldn't prove.In other words, Trump escaped Mueller's probe and then turned right around and hit a self-destruct button. After all, that July 25 request of Volodymyr Zelenskiy to knee-cap former Vice President Joe Biden led to a whistleblower's complaint and, of course, the impeachment inquiry that's engulfed Trump and imperiled his presidency.Not satisfied with that bit of artofthedealmaking, Trump took to the south lawn of the White House on Thursday and told reporters on live television that he wanted Ukraine and China to investigate Biden and his son for corruption. "What happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine," he advised, slinging another glop of unsubstantiated tar at the Bidens.Mud-slinging aside, Trump was yet again confirming – in an openly recorded setting – that he likes to solicit foreign powers to interfere in U.S. elections. That, as he must have learned during the two years Mueller investigated him, is a crime.When he first began addressing reporters, Trump responded to a question on trade negotiations with China by pointing out his belief that he has plenty of leverage over the country. "I have a lot of options on China, but if they don't do what we want, we have tremendous, tremendous power," he said.Trump also upped the ante, suggesting without evidence that China's leader, Xi Jinping, forged a "sweetheart deal" on trade with the U.S. because of the Bidens – and wouldn't want a bribery investigation to tarnish him or his country. "I'm sure President Xi does not like being under that kind of scrutiny where billions of dollars is taken out of his country," by Biden's son, Trump threatened. "You know what they call that, they call that a payoff."Given how thorny the Mueller probe was, one might have expected Trump not to go there with China. Given that one of the key elements of the impeachment inquiry revolves around whether Trump threatened to withhold military aid from Ukraine unless Zelenskiy did his bidding, one might have expected Trump not to use such similar and muscular language with China. Given all of this, one might expect the president of the United States not to keep saying the quiet things out loud. But he wouldn't be Donald Trump if he paid attention to any of those things.Trump's statements on Thursday prompted quick responses from lots of informed observers. Joyce White Vance, a lawyer and the former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, pointed this out on Twitter: "Trump just committed a felony violation of law by soliciting something of value in connection with a US election from a foreign gov't on national TV. 52 U.S. Code § 30121. Violating the law isn't necessary for Impeachment but it certainly warrants it….After the Mueller investigation, there's no way Trump was unaware this violates the law."Ellen Weintraub, the chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission, reposted a tweet from June that included a "Statement Regarding Illegal Contributions From Foreign Governments." Her statement noted that it "is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election." The statement points out that this concept is not "novel" and is deeply rooted in the Constitution. "Anyone who solicits or accepts foreign assistance risks being on the wrong end of a federal investigation."Laurence Tribe, a professor at the Harvard Law School and a leading constitutional scholar, told me that he sees some method in Trump's madness on the White House lawn. "He obviously believes that if he commits his felonies in broad daylight and out in the open that he hasn't done anything wrong -- and that no one would think he's stupid enough to commit an impeachable offense in front of everyone," he said.If Trump is muddying the waters by giving Democrats too many impeachable acts to track, Tribe suggests that they focus solely on building their case around two articles of impeachment that involve his Ukraine and Russia dealings: betrayal of country and stonewalling Congress. Trump's comments Thursday about China can inform those charges, Tribe says, but he thinks it would be a strategic mistake for it to be turned into a standalone article of impeachment.The president is undoubtedly under stress, as his recent, somnambulant speech at the United Nations and a pair of unhinged press briefings on Wednesday demonstrated. So perhaps his recklessness is dialed up a notch because he's fighting for his political survival. But as I noted in a recent column, Trump openly flaunted lawlessness long before he became president – even going back to his earliest days as a casino operator in Atlantic City.The difference now is that the stakes are much higher, the world is watching, and the president apparently can't stop himself.To contact the author of this story: Timothy L. O'Brien at tobrien46@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Mike Nizza at mnizza3@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Timothy L. O'Brien is the executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion. He has been an editor and writer for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, HuffPost and Talk magazine. His books include "TrumpNation: The Art of Being The Donald."For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| UN Security Council to meet Tuesday on North Korea launches Posted: 03 Oct 2019 10:57 AM PDT  The U.N. Security Council will hold closed consultations Tuesday on North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches, diplomats said Thursday. Britain, France and Germany called for a council meeting following the recent series of missile launches, which are a violation of U.N. sanctions. The council session will take place following Saturday's meeting of U.S. and North Korean officials in Stockholm.
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| Trump's push for China to investigate Bidens is his new 'Russia, if you're listening' moment, Biden campaign says Posted: 03 Oct 2019 10:10 AM PDT ![Trump's push for China to investigate Bidens is his new 'Russia, if you're listening' moment, Biden campaign says]( "Trump's push for China to investigate Bidens is his new 'Russia, if you're listening' moment, Biden campaign says") Former Vice President Joe Biden sees something beyond legal uncertainty in President Trump's continued calls to investigate him.Like he did in a July phone call with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump on Thursday again called for Zelensky -- and for China's Xi Jinping -- to start an investigation into the Biden family. But Biden's campaign says it doesn't see Trump's fixation as a threat. It's just another step in Trump's "ongoing abuse of power," Biden's 2020 Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said in a Thursday statement.Trump's latest call "was this election's equivalent of his infamous 'Russia, if you're listening' moment from 2016," Biden's campaign said, alluding to how Trump called for Russia to "find" Hillary Clinton's missing emails. (They apparently did look, by the way). It's also a sign that, "with his administration in free-fall," Trump is "desperately clutching for conspiracy theories that have been debunked," the statement continues.> Joe Biden's deputy campaign manager @KBeds: "What Donald Trump just said on the South Lawn of the White House was this election's equivalent of his infamous 'Russia, if you're listening' moment from 2016 -- a grotesque choice of lies over truth and self over the country." pic.twitter.com/n29jK5TGA5> > -- Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 3, 2019House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who has become Trump's chief antagonist in his Ukraine scandal, had a more direct response. > The President cannot use the power of his office to pressure foreign leaders to investigate his political opponents. > > His rant this morning reinforces the urgency of our work. > > America is a Republic, if we can keep it. https://t.co/9KDCx1hVjs> > -- Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) October 3, 2019
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| Siberian shaman with plan to 'banish Putin' found insane: lawyers Posted: 03 Oct 2019 10:02 AM PDT  A Siberian shaman who set off to walk across Russia to drive out President Vladimir Putin, whom he called a demon, has been found mentally unfit to stand trial, defence lawyers said Thursday. "Experts found that the shaman Alexander Gabyshev is not of sound mind," a human rights group representing him said on Telegram, a messaging app, citing the FSB security force. The human rights advocacy group, Pravozashchita Otkrytki, took issue with the expert assessment conducted after Gabyshev was detained last month, suggesting it was not possible to reliably assess his mental capacity in a short period of time.
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| Tories Unite Behind Johnson’s Plan But EU Balks: Brexit Update Posted: 03 Oct 2019 10:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Follow @Brexit and sign up to our Brexit Bulletin. Boris Johnson is winning the battle for Conservative support after outlining his new Brexit proposals in Parliament. The prime minister said he has been encouraged by constructive conversations he has had with European Union leaders -- but a deal is still some way away.Tory members of Parliament on both sides of the Brexit debate gave their backing to Johnson. If the deal can get through the U.K.'s ruling party, there is a chance it could pass a vote in the House of Commons.But that does not mean it will be acceptable to the EU. European ambassadors will discuss the proposals this afternoon and officials warn that major stumbling blocks remain.Key Developments:Rival factions of Tory party back Johnson's approachIrish premier Leo Varadkar says U.K. plan creates "a real difficulty that's going to be very hard to reconcile"EU Parliament's Brexit committee has "grave concerns" over Johnson's proposalJohnson to talk to Donald Tusk later on ThursdayMust read: Currency Traders Doubt Johnson's DeadlineJohnson May Visit European Leaders on Weekend (5.55 p.m.)The prime minister may travel to various European capital cities this weekend to speak with counterparts about his Brexit proposals, according to two officials.The premier is also expected to hold more telephone calls with EU leaders over the coming days, a spokeswoman for Johnson said. On Wednesday he spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.DUP's Foster Attacks Coveney, Warns Stormont Consent is Vital (4.15 p.m.)DUP leader Arlene Foster attacked Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney, accusing him of rejecting a "reasonable offer" and "paving the way for a no-deal Brexit."Earlier, (see 12.30 p.m.) Coveney said his government could never accept any proposal which gives Northern Ireland's assembly and executive an effective veto over measures needed to avoid a hard border in Ireland.But Foster warned Northern Ireland would not be "trapped at the whim of Dublin or the EU" and maintained the region will leave the "EU, customs union and single market alongside the rest of the U.K."EU's Tusk Criticizes U.K. Plan (3:30 p.m.)European Council President Donald Tusk said he's "unconvinced" by Johnson's proposals. After speaking separately to Johnson and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar this afternoon, Tusk tweeted that he stands "fully behind Ireland.""My message to PM Boris Johnson: We remain open but unconvinced," he said.Some Labour MPs May Back Deal (3 p.m.)With Johnson's Tories rallying behind his proposals, there are signs also that some Labour MPs may be prepared to support the deal."If I'm confronted between this deal and a no-deal Brexit, then I will vote for a deal," Melanie Onn told ITV's "Peston" show late on Wednesday. Ruth Smeeth tweeted that she wants a deal that protects her constituents and the peace process in Northern Ireland, adding that "if the EU 27 support it then so will I."Meanwhile, Stephen Kinnock, who's been coordinating Labour MPs who want to back a deal, told the BBC that to earn his support, the political declaration part of the deal must be changed. He wants promises on workers' rights and the environment in line with those negotiated in May between former Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour.On Kinnock's point, Johnson's spokesman, James Slack on Thursday was at pains to point out that with the U.K. free to set its own standards after Brexit, "this gives us an opportunity to have higher standards than the EU."Veto a Problem in Brexit Plan, Irish PM Says (2:23 p.m.)Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar laid out the two key problems with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's proposal to break the Brexit logjam. Speaking to reporters in Stockholm, he suggested the idea of giving the power-sharing assembly in Northern Ireland a say over rule alignment with the EU risked giving one party a veto over the measures needed to avoid a hard border in Ireland after Brexit.He also said he didn't understand how border checks could be avoided if Northern Ireland left the customs union. Standing alongside him, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said a deal was possible, but "question marks" remained around the U.K.'s plan.The Northern Irish Veto That Could Torpedo Johnson's Brexit PlanEU Parliament Slams Johnson's Plan (2:15 p.m.)The Brexit committee of the European Parliament "has grave concerns about the U.K. proposal as tabled," it said in a statement. The measures "do not match even remotely what was agreed as a sufficient compromise in the backstop."The committee's view is significant because it reflects opinions across the political spectrum of the assembly, which has a veto over the final deal. The committee is also in constant contact with EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and his team, so it's fair to assume that its view largely sums up what the bloc currently thinks.Tories Uniting Behind Johnson Plan (12:55 p.m.)In a positive sign for the prime minister, Conservatives on both sides of the Brexit debate gave his plan -- and his softer tone -- a warm welcome.Steve Baker and John Baron are both staunch Brexit campaigners who opposed the previous withdrawal agreement negotiated by Theresa May. On Thursday, they welcomed Johnson's proposal.Baker said the plan offered a "glimpse" of the possibility of a "tolerable" deal. Baron said Johnson had produced "improved proposals."On the other side, pro-EU former ministers Stephen Hammond and Greg Clark -- who were ejected from the Tory party after voting against Johnson's orders last month -- also backed the prime minister.Hammond said he "warmly" welcomed the fact Johnson had put forward proposals, as well as his "constructive tone." If the deal can get through the Tory party, and with the DUP on board, there is a chance it could pass a vote in Parliament. But that does not mean it will be acceptable to the EU.Intense Negotiations Are Under Way (12:51 p.m.)This afternoon, Johnson will speak to European Council President Donald Tusk in the latest sign that a round of frantic diplomacy is under way to try to reach a deal, under serious time constraints. Over the next 10 days, there will be intense negotiations between both sides, a U.K. spokesman told reporters in London. Johnson's own Europe adviser will speak to his counterpart in Brussels over the next 24 hours.Ireland Says Can't Accept Stormont Veto (12:30 p.m.)Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said his government could never accept any proposal which gives Northern Ireland's Assembly and Executive an effective veto over measures needed to avoid a hard border in Ireland.Speaking in parliament in Dublin, he said there's "no point" in having proposals that one side, even a minority, can veto. Under current rules, a third of the members in Northern Ireland's 90-strong power-sharing assembly can effectively block a measure they don't like.SNP Vows to Bring Johnson Down (12:02 p.m.)The Scottish National Party stands prepared to force Prime Minister Boris Johnson from office if he chooses to ignore the law that requires him to delay Brexit if he hasn't got a deal by Oct. 19."Be warned, secure an extension or resign," the party's Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, told the Commons. "If not, the SNP stand ready to bring this government down."Johnson: Now Is Time for Rapid Negotiations (11:40 a.m.)Updating Parliament, Johnson stressed that he believed his blueprint represents "a compromise" from the U.K. government and urged the EU to agree to engage in "rapid negotiations" for a deal. But while talks with EU leaders have been constructive, an agreement is still "some way" away, he said."We have made a genuine attempt to bridge the chasm, to reconcile the apparently irreconcilable -- and to go the extra mile as time runs short," Johnson told the House of Commons.Johnson said the U.K. had already made a "guarantee" that it will never conduct checks on goods crossing the Irish border -- a key issue in the negotiations. "And we believe that the EU should do the same," he said."Our proposals should now provide the basis for rapid negotiations towards a solution in the short time that remains."The prime minister's tone was moderate, emphasizing that he wants to do a deal with the EU. But he repeated his warning that Britain is "ready" to leave the bloc without one if European leaders don't meet him half-way.Johnson's Five Principles in His Bid to Break Brexit DeadlockWhen Juncker and Varadkar speak (11:23 a.m.)European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will have a telephone conversation with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Thursday afternoon, a commission spokeswoman said.The EU is "analyzing" but already has "many questions" on Johnson's Brexit plan,"spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told reporters in Brussels.Cox Says Can Obey Law, Leave With No Deal (10:20 a.m.)Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said the government won't break the law as it seeks to take the country out of the EU with or without a deal on Oct. 31."The government will obey the law, the government is subject to the law and this government will comply with it," Cox told the House of Commons when asked whether the government will obey the law requiring Prime Minister Boris Johnson to seek to delay Brexit if he hasn't got a deal past Parliament by Oct. 19. Asked whether the government can both comply with the law and leave the EU without a deal on Oct. 31, he simply said "yes."Barclay Says EU Negotiations to Start By Weekend (8:25 a.m.)Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay said he expects negotiations with the U.K.'s EU counterparts to start by the weekend."We need to move forward at pace, intensively," he told BBC radio in an interview.Barclay also pointed to a major concession by the U.K. that may rile some anti-EU backbench Members of Parliament in Johnson's Conservatives: The continued influence of the European Court of Justice after Brexit."There is a continued role for the ECJ in terms of the regulatory zone as part of these proposals and that is one of the areas that we have been willing to be creative and flexible on," Barclay said. "But it is crucially with the consent of the community in Northern Ireland. The concern with the backstop was this aspect of laws applying over which people had no say."Ireland Says 'Huge Issues' Remain (Earlier)The U.K. proposals to break the Brexit impasse form the basis for more talks, but not a deal, junior Irish finance minister Patrick O'Donovan said on Thursday in an RTE Radio interview. "Huge issues" remain on the question of customs checks, which he said were "unacceptable," and questioned how the Northern Irish power-sharing assembly might exercise consent over the rule alignment needed to avoid a hard border.Earlier:Boris Johnson Is Running Out of Time: Brexit BulletinWhat Boris Johnson Didn't Say in His U.K. Tory Conference SpeechJohnson's Brexit Plan: The Sticking Points for the U.K. and EUJohnson's Five Principles in His Bid to Break Brexit DeadlockWill Johnson's Irish Border Plans End Brexit Impasse?: QuickTake\--With assistance from Tiago Ramos Alfaro, Ian Wishart, Jessica Shankleman, Dara Doyle and Peter Flanagan.To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net;Tim Ross in London at tross54@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Alex MoralesFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump publicly calls for China to investigate Bidens Posted: 03 Oct 2019 09:56 AM PDT  Donald Trump has publicly suggested China should open an investigation into his Democratic political rival Joe Biden. The US president made the suggestion just as he is facing an impeachment investigation whether he abused his power to ask another foreign country to interfere in the 2020 election. The Democrats announced last week that Congress would begin impeachment proceedings after it emerged Mr Trump had pushed Ukraine's president to launch an inquiry into Mr Biden and his son Hunter during a July phone call. In an extraordinary press conference outside the White House on Thursday, Mr Trump publicly called on China to do the same. The demand represents a fierce push back by Mr Trump against critics who have accused the president of seeking foreign interference in the presidential election. Here's the video: Trump is now openly urging the leaders of Ukraine and China to investigate one of his political rivals. Via CSPAN pic.twitter.com/xKOSRosyck— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 3, 2019 Mr Trump said he had not directly asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to investigate Mr Biden but said it's "certainly something we could start thinking about." Mr Trump's recent comments on China come as he publicly acknowledged that his message to his Ukrainian counterpart was to "investigate the Bidens". "China should start an investigation into the Bidens because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened in Ukraine," Mr Trump told reporters. "I would recommend they start an investigation". A spokeswoman for Mr Biden said: "What Donald Trump just said on the South Lawn of the White House was... a grotesque choice of lies over truth and self over the country. The White House itself has admitted that Donald Trump tried to bully a foreign country into lying about the domestic opponent he's afraid to look in the eye next November." Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has previously called an allegation that a government business gave Hunter Biden $1.5 billion "totally groundless." The allegation dates back to an official visit to China by Mr Biden in 2013, where he met with Mr Xi and others senior figures. Hunter Biden and his daughter accompanied the vice-president on the trip and the younger Mr Biden met a Chinese banker, Jonathan Li. Mr Li later founded a private equity fund and Hunter became business partner. A lawyer for Hunter said the pair did not discuss any business during the trip and he was also not an equity owner in the fund while his father was vice-president. Hunter has also denied meeting any Chinese officials about the business. Joe Biden is the front runner in the Democratic 2020 race Credit: Bloomberg The president's comments came just as the first witness in the impeachment inquiry was testifying in the US Capitol. In response Adam Schiff, the Democrat congressman leading one of the investigations into Mr Trump, said: "The President cannot use the power of his office to pressure foreign leaders to investigate his political opponents. "His rant this morning reinforces the urgency of our work." Mr Trump has rebuked criticism of his conversation with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy, calling it a "perfect" phone call. He has repeatedly raised questions about Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine, where he served on the board of one of a gas company at the same time his father was serving as Barack Obama's Vice President. There is no evidence of any wrongdoing by either of the Bidens and Mr Biden has denied his son's business dealings impacted his policy decisions. Mr Trump's comments come just as the US and China are due to meet for a fresh round of negotiations to settle the ongoing trade war between the two countries. The president also suggested that China had a "sweetheart deal" on trade with the US because of the Bidens. "You know what they call that," Mr Trump said. "They call that a payoff." Mr Trump also brought up the trade talks in a warning to the Chinese - a move likely to be seized on by Democrats as further evidence of the president exerting pressure on foreign countries to investigate his rivals. "The Chinese are coming in next week," he said. "We're going to have a meeting with them, we'll see, but we're doing very well. I have a lot of options on China. But if they don't do what we want, we have tremendous, tremendous power."
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| EU 'unconvinced' by UK Brexit proposals Posted: 03 Oct 2019 09:53 AM PDT  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he hopes so, as he moves to execute his vow to take his country out of the EU on October 31, deal or no deal. European diplomats were equally sceptical. The focus of attention was UK proposals for Northern Ireland, the British territory whose hard-won Good Friday peace deal is threatened by a no-deal Brexit, and which shares a border with EU member Ireland.
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| North Korea Hails Sub-Based Missile That Raises Security Stakes Posted: 03 Oct 2019 09:52 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- North Korea called the first test of its new submarine-launched ballistic missile a major boost for its national security, saying it strengthens its hand to defend itself against adversaries.The Thursday report from the official Korean Central News Agency also said that leader Kim Jong Un was absent from the test of its Pukguksong-3 missile a day earlier, a possible indicator that wants to distance himself personally from the move, which came just days before his state is set to resume long-delayed nuclear talks with the U.S.U.S. and North Korea to Resume Stalled Nuclear Talks This WeekThe missile was fired in waters of North Korea's eastern Wonsan Bay, state media said, releasing photos that showed it emerging from the sea."It ushered in a new phase in containing the outside forces' threat to the DPRK and further bolstering its military muscle for self-defense," the report said, referring to the country by its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.The South Korean military said the missile was fired near Wonsan just after 7 a.m. Wednesday and flew 910 kilometers (565 miles) in a lofted trajectory into space before falling into the sea. It was the longest-range weapon Kim's regime has tested since his last intercontinental ballistic missile test in November 2017 -- a move that may be designed to increase its bargaining leverage ahead of Saturday's working-level negotiations.The first launch of a submarine-based missile in roughly three years also demonstrates Kim's progress toward a two-pronged nuclear deterrent capable of quick strikes on the U.S. and its allies from mobile launchers on land and hard-to-track submarines. North Korea's antiquated, meager air force isn't regarded as a threat in a region that contains the technologically-advanced warplanes of the U.S., Japan and South Korea."It creates new complications, and while allied anti-submarine warfare capabilities are robust, the prospect of nuclear weapons flushed out to sea during a crisis could raise the stakes considerably," said Ankit Panda, a weapons expert at the Federation of American Scientists. Kim's sitting out this test "suggests a degree of concern about his image or perhaps an attempt to calibrate how provocative this looks to the United States," he said.North Korea Tests Trump's Limits With Submarine Missile LaunchPentagon officials on Thursday cast doubt on whether the missile really was launched from a submarine, saying the U.S. analysis suggests it was fired from a sea-based platform.North Korea has lauded what it says is a special chemistry between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump, who have met three times since June 2018. Despite their historic meetings that have included smiles and handshakes, there has been almost nothing to show in terms of North Korea's denuclearization.Kim has typically been on hand as North Korea has fired off at least 20 missiles in 11 different military tests since breaking a testing freeze in May. Up until Wednesday, all of the missiles have been short range -- tests Trump has brushed off as routine and said don't violate the promise Kim made to him to halt tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear devices.But the Pukguksong-3 is estimated to have a range of about 1,900 kilometers, making it an intermediate-range ballistic missile that raises the threat of an attack from a submarine on U.S. military assets in Japan and perhaps even the U.S. territory of Guam, which lies about 3,300 kilometers from Wonsan.To contact the reporter on this story: Jon Herskovitz in Tokyo at jherskovitz@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Mia Farrow visits Chad to promote new approach to hunger Posted: 03 Oct 2019 09:49 AM PDT  DAKAR, Senegal (AP) Groups of women had traveled for days to find care for their starving children in Chad, blankly staring in exhaustion and with little hope. In an interview with The Associated Press, actress Mia Farrow recounted the scene during her visit to the Central African nations Mangalme area as an envoy for the International Rescue Committee. UNICEF provides a fortified peanut butter treatment to children with severe acute malnutrition, while the World Food Program, another United Nations agency, provides a blended flours treatment to children with moderate acute malnutrition.
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| DUP leader Foster says latest UK Brexit proposal will not be amended Posted: 03 Oct 2019 09:42 AM PDT ![DUP leader Foster says latest UK Brexit proposal will not be amended]( "DUP leader Foster says latest UK Brexit proposal will not be amended") The leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said on Thursday British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit proposal would not be amended and that the Irish government's negative reaction was making a no-deal EU divorce more likely. "The proposal won't be amended," Arlene Foster told BBC TV, saying Johnson's plan would get the support of the British parliament. "I hope that other European Union leaders will prevail upon the Irish government to look at this proposal in a sensible and serious way - to date they haven't done that.
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| EXPLAINER-Why the UK's Brexit proposal falls short for the EU Posted: 03 Oct 2019 09:39 AM PDT ![EXPLAINER-Why the UK's Brexit proposal falls short for the EU]( "EXPLAINER-Why the UK's Brexit proposal falls short for the EU") Britain's latest proposal for an agreement on the terms of its divorce from the European Union has been widely rebuffed in Brussels because it does not meet the objectives of the so-called Irish border backstop. Now, there are no border checks or infrastructure between the UK province of Northern Ireland and Ireland as both are in the EU's single market customs and regulatory arrangements. The backstop in the 2018 Brexit deal was designed to prevent a hard border being introduced on the island of Ireland when Britain leaves the EU - whatever trade deal was eventually agreed between London and Brussels.
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| On the Irish border, Britain's new Brexit plan fails to lift mood Posted: 03 Oct 2019 08:54 AM PDT  In Middletown, Northern Ireland, opinions on Brexit vary, but most people can agree on one thing: London's latest Brexit plans do nothing to quell fears of a return to a hard border. "It's going to be hard on everybody who lives along the border. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson published his government's long-awaited proposals for a deal to leave the European Union on Wednesday before an October 31 deadline.
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| UPDATE 1-Gulf military chiefs say attacks on Saudi flew through GCC airspace Posted: 03 Oct 2019 08:23 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Gulf military chiefs say attacks on Saudi flew through GCC airspace]( "UPDATE 1-Gulf military chiefs say attacks on Saudi flew through GCC airspace") Gulf military leaders on Thursday condemned the use of their countries' airspace to carry out attacks last month against a Saudi crude processing plant, a statement that indicated oblique backing for a U.S./Saudi account blaming Iran for the attack. Attacks on Sept. 14 hit major oil processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco, causing a spike in oil prices, fires and damage that halved the crude output of the world's top oil exporter. Yemen's Houthi group claimed responsibility for the attacks but a U.S. official said they originated from southwestern Iran and Riyadh blamed Tehran.
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| Trump just publicly suggested China start investigating the Bidens Posted: 03 Oct 2019 08:08 AM PDT ![Trump just publicly suggested China start investigating the Bidens]( "Trump just publicly suggested China start investigating the Bidens") Who needs whistleblowers anyway?President Trump literally said the quiet part out loud and in public on Thursday when, after being asked what he thinks Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky should do after their phone call, said "I would recommend that they start an investigation into the Bidens." And then he added another doozy, suggesting for some reason that China's Xi Jinping should consider investigating the Bidens too.Just as a whistleblower report alleged, a phone call between Trump and Zelensky released last week revealed Trump pushed the Ukrainian leader to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden regarding Hunter's business dealings in Ukraine. Trump doubled down on that request on Thursday and then unexpectedly said "Likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens." When asked if Trump had already told Xi to do so, he said "I haven't, but it's certainly something we should start thinking about." > President Trump: "China should start an investigation into the Bidens because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine. So, I would say that President Zelensky, if it were me, I would recommend that they start an investigation into the Bidens." pic.twitter.com/Xia8vLUVT2> > -- CSPAN (@cspan) October 3, 2019
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| WRAPUP 1-EU and Ireland sceptical of a Brexit breakthrough after UK PM Johnson's offer Posted: 03 Oct 2019 08:01 AM PDT ![WRAPUP 1-EU and Ireland sceptical of a Brexit breakthrough after UK PM Johnson's offer]( "WRAPUP 1-EU and Ireland sceptical of a Brexit breakthrough after UK PM Johnson's offer") DUBLIN/BRUSSELS Oct 3 (Reuters) - The European Union and Ireland said on Thursday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit proposals were unlikely to yield a deal, with Dublin bluntly warning that Britain was heading towards a no-deal exit unless it made more concessions. The European Union said it fully backed Ireland and that while it was open to discussions, it was still unconvinced about Johnson's plan - cast by British officials as the final offer to avert a no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31.
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| Putin followed Trump’s lead and criticized 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg Posted: 03 Oct 2019 07:54 AM PDT  Russian President Vladimir Putin is the latest world leader to criticize climate activist Greta Thunberg following her speech at the UN Climate Action Summit.
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| Iran nuclear deal can be saved by goodwill not sanctions - Slovakia's IAEA hopeful says Posted: 03 Oct 2019 07:50 AM PDT ![Iran nuclear deal can be saved by goodwill not sanctions - Slovakia's IAEA hopeful says]( "Iran nuclear deal can be saved by goodwill not sanctions - Slovakia's IAEA hopeful says") The 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the remaining signatories can still be saved after the U.S. withdrawal but Iran must return to the full implementation of its commitments and in return be offered some goodwill instead of sanctions, the Slovak candidate to head the United Nation's nuclear agency said on Thursday. "The remaining parties, so-called E3+2 countries including China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom, that are still committed to the deal should find a way to help Iran in this difficult situation (to show) that deals should be honoured," Marta Ziakova, who is running for the post of International Atomic Energy Agency (IEAE) chief, told Reuters. "Iran hasn't got much for keeping its part of the deal so far but it has to return to the full implementation of its commitments under the deal," she added.
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| Merkel warns against racism on anniversary of German reunification Posted: 03 Oct 2019 07:33 AM PDT ![Merkel warns against racism on anniversary of German reunification]( "Merkel warns against racism on anniversary of German reunification") Chancellor Angela Merkel made a veiled attack on the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on the 29th anniversary of German reunification on Thursday, saying economic grievances in the east were no excuse for racism. In a speech marking the anniversary, Merkel cited a government-commissioned report that found economic discrepancies between the eastern and western parts of Germany and which said people in the east feel like second-class citizens.
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| Scotland says U.S. tariff move shows UK's Brexit pipe dream Posted: 03 Oct 2019 06:24 AM PDT  The Scottish government said on Thursday that the imposition of U.S. tariffs on various goods including Scottish whisky indicated that the United Kingdom could not offset the damage from Brexit by striking a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump. "When Scotland's food and drink businesses are facing the potential impact of a 'no deal' Brexit, the last thing they need is the further uncertainty of increased tariffs on exports to U.S.," a Scottish government spokesman said.
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| I Negotiated with North Korea for 13 Years. Here Is What I Learned. Posted: 03 Oct 2019 06:24 AM PDT  These are important lessons that can help guide negotiators through the thicket of obstacles they will confront in achieving U.S. goals with North Korea.
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| First Barr, Now Pompeo: Italy Is Hub of Impeachment Intrigue for Trump Officials Posted: 03 Oct 2019 05:50 AM PDT  ROME -- The "ancestral homeland" in Italy's Abruzzo region that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was looking forward to visiting on Thursday barely had enough notice to organize a welcoming ceremony."It all happened so fast," said Guido Angelilli, the mayor of Pacentro, adding, "They asked us to keep a low profile."At least the mayor could acknowledge the visit was happening at all, a small consolation in these times of highflying intrigue.As Washington seethes amid accusations of quid pro quos, conspiracy theories and abuses of power, Italy, with its brilliant early autumn light and amenable political leaders, has become a recent destination for two central officials in the Trump administration who are in the thick of the impeachment inquiry.Their comings and goings have provoked some consternation, and more than a little speculation, in the Italian media. The Italian government has so far refused to say a word about a trip to the capital last week by Attorney General William Barr to meet with Italian intelligence officers as part of President Donald Trump's efforts to discredit the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.On Wednesday, Pompeo confirmed in a news conference in Rome that "I was on the phone call" between Trump and the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that is at the heart of an impeachment inquiry into Trump. But he also said "I am looking forward to meeting all my cousins" during his visit to Pacentro on Thursday.Pompeo's trip to Italy, which includes a meeting with Pope Francis on Thursday, has been on his official calendar for weeks, and it has focused on tariffs, Libya and Iran sanctions.But Pompeo could not escape the impeachment inquiry consuming Washington as he dashed off an angry letter to House Democrats who had issued subpoenas on an expedited timetable to State Department officials involved with Ukraine. ("That's unacceptable," he said Wednesday.)The visit, however, could also serve as a welcome getaway from the impeachment inquiry, at least for a day.Pompeo has carved out time to drive east to Pacentro, his great-grandfather's hometown, where Angelilli said the Trump official is the second most famous export after Gaetano Ciccone, the paternal grandfather of Madonna.Pompeo's maternal side traces back to nearby Caramanico Terme, which in 2017 seized on his elevation to director of the CIA to enlist his help in solving the great cold case of 1950."Unknown thieves stole the ancient statue of Our Lady of the Assumption," the then-mayor wrote to Pompeo, imploring his assistance. "We hope you will not find our request inappropriate or strange."An altogether different, and much more recent, Italian mystery has drawn the intense interest of the Trump administration.In his efforts to discredit the Russia report of former special counsel Robert Mueller, Trump sent Barr in search of a little-known, long-missing, Maltese professor who has figured prominently in unsubstantiated theories about how the Russia investigation got started.Joseph Mifsud, a former political science faculty member at Link Campus University, a school in Rome, is best known for telling a Trump campaign adviser that the Russians had "thousands" of emails belonging to Hillary Clinton. The tip, when relayed to Australia's top diplomat in London, and eventually to the FBI, helped plant the seeds for Mueller's investigation.Trump, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, many Fox News commentators and House Republicans have spread the theory that Mifsud is not a professor with links to Russia, as reported in the Mueller inquiry, but that he is an asset of Western intelligence, and possibly the CIA, planted by the Obama administration to trap the Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos."Mifsud was an Italian operative handled by the CIA," Papadopoulos wrote on Twitter on Sept. 27, the day Barr was in Italy. "Italy holds the keys to the kingdom. Right government, right time."The Italian prime minister is Giuseppe Conte, whom Trump has called "my friend Giuseppe." In August, Trump endorsed Conte in a tweet, albeit one that misspelled his name, amid an Italian government crisis.Asked whether Trump personally asked for Conte's help on the Mifsud matter, Conte's spokesman, Rocco Casalino, did not respond.While the Italian government has gone officially silent on the issue, Conte seemed to be helping out, according to reports in the Italian news media.Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper reported that Conte, who oversees the country's intelligence services, authorized Barr and John H. Durham, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, to receive full access to the upper echelon of Italy's intelligence agencies during their visits to Rome. Durham is leading the Justice Department inquiry into the origins of the Mueller investigation.The attorney general pressed the agencies, according to the Corriere, on whether they had helped Mifsud vanish. The Daily Beast reported that Barr and Durham had holed up in the U.S. Embassy listening to a tape of a deposition Mifsud made when he applied for Italian police protection. Italian officials have refused to confirm the existence of such a tape.Present and former officials in Italy's intelligence services said they knew of no connections between the agency and Mifsud.Mifsud has not been seen since October 2017, though il Foglio, an Italian newspaper, discovered that he had been living in university housing until summer 2018. On Tuesday, it published a photo of him in Switzerland with a May 21, 2018, copy of Zurichsee-Zeitung, a Swiss newspaper, on a table in front of him for proof of life.At Link University on Wednesday morning, the school's president, Vincenzo Scotti, a former Italian interior and foreign affairs minister, shook his head at all the intrigue surrounding his school and Mifsud."He's a chatterbox," he said disparagingly of Mifsud, adding that the investigation by Barr and the Trump administration seemed to be grasping at straws. "Do they have no other arm with which to defend themselves?"For Pompeo, Italy seemed to offer at least some relief from the pressures of the impeachment inquiry. Advisors said his meetings with the Italians were full of goodwill, and even the protesters came bearing gifts.On Tuesday, as he met with the prime minister, a personality on a satirical program on Italian TV burst forth to present him with a chunk of Parmesan cheese to protest American tariffs."Excuse me, Mr. Pompeo," she said to the secretary of state, who looked part bewildered, part appreciative. "An Italian present."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Freitas do Amaral, a ‘father’ of Portuguese democracy, dies Posted: 03 Oct 2019 05:50 AM PDT  LISBON, Portugal (AP) Diogo Freitas do Amaral, a conservative Portuguese politician who played a leading role in cementing the countrys democracy after its 1974 Carnation Revolution and later became president of the U.N. General Assembly, has died at 78. The Portuguese government announced his death Thursday without providing further details. Freitas do Amaral was a co-founder and the first leader of the Christian Democratic Party, which was formed barely three months after the Portuguese army coup on April 25, 1974.
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| UPDATE 2-Ireland says if UK's Brexit proposals are final, there will be no deal Posted: 03 Oct 2019 05:29 AM PDT ![UPDATE 2-Ireland says if UK's Brexit proposals are final, there will be no deal]( "UPDATE 2-Ireland says if UK's Brexit proposals are final, there will be no deal") If Britain's latest proposals for an agreement on leaving the European Union are its final offer, then a no-deal Brexit lies ahead, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Thursday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday announced proposals which focus on how to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. A number of European Union officials have expressed doubt the plan can yield an agreement before an Oct. 31 deadline.
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| Egypt releases 3 foreigners arrested over protests Posted: 03 Oct 2019 05:21 AM PDT  CAIRO (AP) Two Jordanians and a Sudanese arrested in Cairo amid the recent crackdown that followed anti-government protests demanding Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi step down were released and flown back to their home countries, airport officials said Thursday. Recent mass arrests followed scattered protests that erupted Sept. 20 in Cairo and several provinces in the wake of corruption allegations leveled by an Egyptian businessman living in self-imposed exile against the president and the military. Last Friday, police barricaded bridges and roads leading to Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the pro-democracy uprising that drove longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011, to pre-empt calls for a second wave of protests.
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| The daily business briefing: October 3, 2019 Posted: 03 Oct 2019 05:20 AM PDT ![The daily business briefing: October 3, 2019]( "The daily business briefing: October 3, 2019") 1.The Trump administration said Wednesday it would impose 10 percent tariffs on European-made Airbus planes in response to illegal EU aircraft subsidies. The U.S. also announced 25 percent duties on French wine, Scotch and Irish whiskies, and European cheese. The move followed World Trade Organization approval for the tariffs, which cover $7.5 billion worth of EU goods annually. The levies take effect Oct. 18, but exempt parts from an Airbus assembly plant in Alabama, and parts used by U.S. aircraft maker Boeing. The transatlantic trade tensions have been ongoing but overshadowed by the tit-for-tat tariffs exchanged between the U.S. and China in their trade war. [Reuters] 2.U.S. businesses added just 135,000 jobs in September, according to data released Wednesday by ADP, the biggest American processor of paychecks. Economists polled by Econoday had expected a 152,000-job gain. ADP also cut its estimate of job gains in August from 195,000 down to 157,000, adding to evidence of slowing hiring. "Businesses have turned more cautious in their hiring," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, which produces the report with ADP. "Small businesses have become especially hesitant. If businesses pull back any further, unemployment will begin to rise." The federal government's monthly jobs report, which also covers public-sector workers, will be released Friday morning. [MarketWatch] 3.Britain presented the European Union with a revised Brexit deal, with the U.K.'s scheduled departure from the trading bloc less than a month away. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a letter to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that if the two sides couldn't agree on divorce terms it would be "a failure of statecraft for which we would all be responsible." On Thursday, Johnson brings his new plan to Parliament, which rejected the Brexit deal proposed by his predecessor, former Prime Minister Theresa May. Johnson has vowed to lead Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a deal, but Parliament has passed a law requiring him to get an extension to avoid a no-deal Brexit. [The Associated Press] 4.U.S. stock index futures edged up by 0.2 percent early Thursday after two days of heavy selling. The three main U.S. indexes dropped sharply on Wednesday in a second day of losses driven by evidence that manufacturing activity is slowing down due to the U.S.-China trade war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 1.9 percent, and the broader S&P 500 lost 1.8 percent, its worst day in more than a month. The Nasdaq closed down by 1.6 percent. European stocks also fell. "There's no question that the global economy is slowing and that's beginning to show up in U.S. data," said Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist at private bank Brown Brothers Harriman. The U.S. and China are due to hold fresh high-level trade talks next week. [MarketWatch, The New York Times] 5.Microsoft at an event Wednesday officially announced the new dual-screen foldable Android smartphone, the Surface Duo, which essentially looks like a smaller version of the Surface Neo, another dual-screen foldable device Microsoft also announced. Each display on the Duo is 5.6 inches. This long-rumored re-entry into the smartphone arena comes two years after Microsoft officially killed its Windows Phone operating system, and Engadget writes that the last time Microsoft made its own smartphone was with the "underwhelming" Lumia 950 and 950 XL in 2015. This is also Microsoft's first Android phone. The company said the phones will be on sale by the end of 2020. [The Verge]
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| Merkel: German reunification is an ongoing process Posted: 03 Oct 2019 05:10 AM PDT  German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that even nearly three decades after the country was reunited, there's still work to be done to bring the people of the former East and West together. Merkel told the crowd marking the 29th anniversary of reunification in the northern city of Kiel that German unity is an ongoing process and a constant mission, the dpa news agency reported Thursday. Merkel herself is from the former East Germany, but recent polls indicate many residents there today see themselves as underrepresented in German politics and businesses, contributing to an overall feeling that their voices are often not heard.
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| UK's Brexit proposals offer possibility of "tolerable deal" -Conservative eurosceptic Posted: 03 Oct 2019 04:59 AM PDT ![UK's Brexit proposals offer possibility of "tolerable deal" -Conservative eurosceptic]( "UK's Brexit proposals offer possibility of \"tolerable deal\" -Conservative eurosceptic") The head of a group of eurosceptic lawmakers in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party said on Thursday the government's latest Brexit proposals offered the possibility of a "tolerable deal". Opposition from Steve Baker's European Research Group helped defeat former prime minister Theresa May's Brexit deal three times earlier this year. "We now glimpse the possibility of a tolerable deal," Baker said in parliament, joining several other pro-Brexit lawmakers who appeared supportive of Johnson's proposals.
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| Israeli Arabs go on strike to protest deadly crime wave Posted: 03 Oct 2019 04:28 AM PDT  JERUSALEM (AP) Arab citizens of Israel observed a general strike and held protests Thursday over a wave of deadly violence within the minority community. Schools and businesses in Arab towns and villages were closed following a call by Arab leaders, and newly elected Arab members of Israels parliament skipped the swearing-in out of solidarity. Police say there have been more than 70 killings in Arab communities this year, nearly as many as in each of the past two years, when Arabs made up more than half of all murder victims nationwide.
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| Down to Earth: Astronauts safely return after space mission Posted: 03 Oct 2019 04:21 AM PDT  An American, a Russian and the first person from the United Arab Emirates to fly into space landed safely on Thursday after a six-hour flight from the International Space Station. The capsule carrying Nick Hague, Alexey Ovchinin and Hazzaa al-Mansoori touched down on the steppe in Kazakhstan in Central Asia at 3:59 p.m. local time (1059 GMT), the impact sending a cloud of dust into the sky. Al-Mansoori, the first of two men chosen by the United Arab Emirates to fly to the space station, returned after an eight-day mission while space veteran Ovchinin and Hague, who was on his maiden flight, are back after spending six months at the station.
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| Turkey, EU discuss spike in migrants to Greece Posted: 03 Oct 2019 04:00 AM PDT  ANKARA, Turkey (AP) A top European Union official called Thursday for heightened efforts to stop migrants traveling from Turkey to Greece as a renewed spike in people making it to Greece by boat has overflowed refugee reception centers. EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos highlighted the trend before a meeting on migration policies in Turkeys capital with the interior ministers of Turkey and Germany. Irregular arrivals to Greece increased over the past weeks and months, Avramopoulos said.
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| Russians Praise Trump, Taunt Zelensky, as Ukraine Signs On to Peace-Plan Proposal Posted: 03 Oct 2019 03:49 AM PDT  VIA REUTERSExistential dread washed over the face of the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, as he sat next to the American president during their joint press conference on the sidelines of the UN. Donald Trump, as the face of Ukraine's most powerful ally in its struggle against Russian aggression, was telling him: "I really hope you and President Putin get together and can solve your problem."Having lost more than 13,000 people in an ongoing conflict with its belligerent neighbor, Ukraine was now being told to make a deal with the aggressor, because—according to President Trump—"President Putin would like to do something." Pompeo Pushed Out His Own Ukraine Rep to Squash a Growing ScandalDuring the same conference, Zelensky pleaded with Trump for help with returning the territories occupied and annexed by Russia, and, egged on by Trump—and contrary to the facts—complained that Europe wasn't doing as much as the United States to help Ukraine. In reality, European institutions spent nearly double the amount supplied by the United States: $425.2 million in 2016-2017, as compared to $204.4 million spent by the U.S.While that disclosure infuriated Ukraine's European allies, Trump in the now infamous July 25 phone call with Zelensky blamed Ukraine's troubles on the Obama administration, dismissively concluding "it's just one of those things" and directing Zelensky to ask for more help from Europe. Since the call's release, Ukrainians have nicknamed their president "Monica Zelensky," as a jab referring to his part in the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Trump.Backed into the corner and seeming to stand alone there, Zelensky made a step toward a deal with Putin by officially signing up Ukraine to the Steinmeier Formula. The agreement provides the pathway to a summit that would bring Zelensky face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Russia demanded written codification of the Steinmeier Formula by Ukraine as a key precondition to the next Normandy summit. It interprets the clauses of the Minsk "accords" (agreements between the Ukrainian authorities and Russia-backed separatists) in line with Russia's preferences and therefore enjoys the Kremlin's seal of approval.The formula further calls for elections to be conducted under the supervision of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the territories held by Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. It was signed on Oct. 1 by representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the separatist pseudo-republics of Luhansk and Donetsk (LPR and DPR), and the OSCE in Minsk.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the signing of the Steinmeier Formula agreement as a "positive" development. Senator Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Federation Council's foreign affairs committee, who is under U.S. sanctions for "worldwide malign activity," said the signing represents "without a doubt, a victory for common sense and an overall success." In stark contrast to Russia's jubilation, hundreds of Ukrainians in Kyiv have protested, demanding "no capitulation" to the Kremlin and its proxies.The most controversial aspect of the Steinmeier Formula is that it provides for local elections to take place in the occupied parts of Ukraine before Kyiv has control of the border and prior to the withdrawal of the Russian-backed forces. This condition doesn't seem to match up with Zelensky's understanding of the agreement. After signing on to the Steinmeier Formula, the Ukrainian president declared during a news conference that the elections would not be held "under the barrel of a gun" and would take place only when no troops remain in the separatist-held areas. "What Ukraine was so afraid of has happened… Zelensky doesn't understand what he signed," concluded Vladimir Soloviev, the host of the nightly The Evening With Vladimir Soloviev on Russian state television. The heads of Russia-backed separatist pseudo-republics in eastern Ukraine openly proclaimed in a public statement that "the Kyiv authorities won't get any control over the border" and vowed that LPR and DPR will make decisions "about integration with Russia" of their own accord. "Forget about controlling the border, once and for all," exclaimed political scientist Sergey Kurginyan, appearing on The Evening.During a panel discussion at the Russian Energy Week forum, Putin said that Zelensky "will have to decide how the relations between Ukraine and Donbas will develop," pointedly referring to Ukraine's own region as a separate geopolitical entity. Putin opined that Ukraine "did much better when it was a part of the Soviet Union, along with Russia."New Details Emerge on Ukraine's Trump Admin Lobbying BlitzAppearing on Russia's state television program 60 Minutes, Oleg Nilov, member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, asserted that Ukraine was "forced to sign" the Steinmeier Formula—and proceeded to threaten the country with "the Israeli formula" of taking all the land Russia wants, if Kyiv reneges on the deal. "Come back to the Soviet Union," urged Karen Shakhnazarov, CEO of Mosfilm Studio, appearing on The Evening. The talk-show host Soloviev concurred and reminded the guests that the USSR was originally formed by a treaty that united the Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Transcaucasian republics."Trump let Zelensky down. Three times he told him: 'Go meet with Putin,'" said Olga Skabeeva, the host of 60 Minutes. During the same program, Nikolai Platoshkin, head of the International Relations Department at Moscow University for the Humanities, predicted that once all the "formulas" have been exhausted, LPR and DPR will ultimately become a part of the Russian Federation. Skabeeva concurred: "The sooner the better."She surmised: "After his 'triumphant' meeting with the American president, Zelensky had no choice but to lie back and enjoy it… We know what happened in the United States. You have nowhere left to go." Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Brexitmageddon: The Boris Johnson vs. Nigel Farage Showdown that Could Blow Up Brexit Posted: 03 Oct 2019 03:35 AM PDT  Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMANCHESTER, England—The two biggest names in Brexit are headed for a ferocious general-election showdown that threatens to take down the entire project as collateral damage. If Prime Minister Boris Johnson is forced to request another extension from the EU later this month, he will go to the polls facing a fired up Nigel Farage ready to accuse him of selling out the Brexiteers and failing to deliver his signature promise of leaving by Halloween.The fallout could be devastating for the Conservative Party, and for Brexit.If a significant chunk of the Tory vote sides with the radical forces of the Brexit Party, that could allow a rainbow coalition of anti-Brexit parties to secure a majority in Parliament. With Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the nationalist parties from Scotland and Wales in control of events, a second referendum that could cancel Brexit would become all but inevitable.That's why Johnson uttered the phrase "get Brexit done" by Oct. 31 no fewer than eight times during his first speech as leader to the annual party conference in Manchester on Wednesday. If he secures Brexit first, polls and seat analysis suggest he would sweep to victory in an election. Unfortunately for Johnson, European Union officials are pouring cold water on the chances of a deal this month and Britain's Parliament has passed a law preventing him from forcing the country out without one.Johnson is backed into a corner and looking at increasingly unlikely solutions to escape. His premiership depends on it, and he is still almost two months short of avoiding a place in the history books as Britain's shortest serving prime minister.DrumbeatOn the eve of the Conservative Party conference last Friday, the hardline forces of Brexit gathered in central London to remind Johnson just how much pressure he is under from the right. Before an electrified crowd in Westminster, Farage taunted Johnson, who had tried to "out-Brexit the Brexit Party" in the belief that traditional Conservative voters would return to base."But here we are!" Farage bellowed. "The reason Brexit Party voters are not going to go back en masse is very simple—we just don't trust the Conservative Party!"The problem was exemplified by one of Johnson's former Conservative colleagues who was also on stage. Ann Widdecombe was a high-profile Conservative lawmaker for more than 20 years, but earlier this year she was elected as a member of the European Parliament for the Brexit Party during the stunning May elections in which the Euroskeptic party finished in first place—and the Conservatives fell back into fifth.She sent the crowd into raptures by threatening to repeat the trick at the coming election unless Johnson secures a hard Brexit by Oct. 31. "If he doesn't, then he is going to find that the next general election for him will be like leading the charge of the Light Brigade," she warned, recasting Lord Tennyson's epic poem about a disastrous cavalry charge.> Brexit to right of him, > > Brexit to left of him, > > Brexit in front of him, > > Volleying and thundering... The next line was drowned out by cheers, but Johnson is well aware of his predicament. When asked his week on the BBC about allegations of sexual misconduct, the prime minister invoked the very next line himself: "Stormed at with shot and shell."Backstage, Widdecombe explained that Johnson was partly to blame for the position he's found himself in. He made a "do or die" pledge to deliver Brexit by Halloween during the leadership race that saw him succeed Theresa May in July, and he's spent the last three months repeating the date over and over."If he asks for an extension, his standing would collapse completely," Widdecombe told The Daily Beast. "He's invested a huge amount of personal capital in this, he really has."The Brexit Party has made it clear that it would back Johnson, and even form an electoral pact, if he commits to a "No Deal" Brexit, which would instantly withdraw Britain from all of the institutions, trade deals, and reciprocal arrangements of the EU. Critics of this position point out that Britain would immediately have to begin negotiating its way back into similar relationships—from a position of weakness as the domestic economy readjusts. No. 10, which is now staffed by a host of Vote Leavers brought in as Johnson got the old Brexit team back together again, has rejected any suggestion of striking a deal with the Brexit Party. Farage and his acolytes were members of the rival Brexit group Leave.EU during the referendum and the acrimony between the two factions has shown little sign of easing. A Johnson spokesman said last month that Farage and Arron Banks, who bankrolled Leave.EU, were not "fit and proper persons and they should never be allowed anywhere near government."Richard Tice, the chairman of the Brexit Party, told The Daily Beast that Johnson would soon have to reconsider: "He's doomed, he'll be begging for our support."By Any Means NecessaryA few days later in the hubbub of the luxe Midland Hotel lobby in Manchester, lawmakers gathered during Conservative Party conference to sip $17 gin and tonics with party members and business leaders in expensive suits. Dominic Cummings shambled out of a side door and marched across the room in a crumpled shirt and three-stripe hoodie.This is not Cummings' world. The cutthroat Vote Leave alum will never fit in with the rest of his party, and yet this is the man entrusted by Johnson to lead his strategy at one of the most contentious moments in British political history.So long as you don't intend to quote them, party members, officials and lawmakers are all too happy to denigrate his plan and cast doubt on whether his huge gamble will come off.His aggressive, non-consensual pursuit of Brexit is regarded as "reckless" by party insiders who fear for their prospects at the election, which looms menacingly over conference, if Johnson fails to secure a deal.Even a local politician wearing a "Boris Boris Boris" T-shirt admitted that the prime minister's unswerving promise to deliver Brexit by the end of the month was "unnecessary."Johnson and his Downing Street team are well aware of the potential fallout from failing to deliver. They shut down Parliament last month in order to prevent lawmakers from coming up with a legally binding way to stop them from forcing through a "No Deal."The supreme court ruled that it had been unlawful to ask the Queen to "prorogue" Parliament in this way, but No. 10 had been too slow in any case, and lawmakers passed a bill to force Johnson to seek an extension unless a deal is reached with the EU for an orderly exit.The author of that bill, Hilary Benn, told The Daily Beast last week that Johnson would not be able to find a way around that legislation because the courts would step in to halt his plans for the second time in a few weeks.If he were to try another controversial maneuver, Johnson is also likely to come up against what President Trump would call "the deep state." The head of Britain's civil service union, the FDA, explained in Manchester this week that independent administration officials would refuse to go along with a Johnson plot to force through a "No Deal" Brexit if they believed that would mean breaking the law. "If we end up in a situation where genuinely a civil servant thinks they've been asked to break the law and they've received instruction on that, I think we will see people refusing to do that," said Dave Penman.Johnson and his allies have continued to hint darkly that they will find a way to get around the clearly expressed will of Parliament if they don't get their way.That may be the case, or it may simply be an act of political theater. If Johnson is forced to accept another Brexit extension, he's going to need the spin operation of his life to convince skeptical Brexiteers not to blame him.Leave Means LeaveThe "out-Brexiting the Brexit Party" plan is designed with one target in mind: There are more than 100 leave-voting seats, mainly in the Midlands and the North, that are held by the Labour party. With some refocusing of the party platform to bolster public spending and reinforce law and order, Johnson thinks he can turn a swath of them blue for the first time since the Second World War.By taking a more extreme position on Brexit than May's administration, the Conservatives have potentially chosen to sacrifice Remain-leaning seats in London, the South, and Scotland, which they are likely to lose to Labour or the Lib Dems, in favor of sweeping the North. If things go their way, the Brexit Party could even help them in traditional Labour areas where Leave voters want to avoid Labour's promise of a second referendum but couldn't stand to vote for the Conservatives. "There's no doubt about it, in Labour-held seats where there's a Leave majority the Brexit Party will do very well," Brexit campaigner Kate Hoey, who has been a Labour lawmaker for 30 years, told The Daily Beast. "It will cause Labour a major problem."Matthew Goodwin, an academic and author of National Populism, sounded a note of caution to Conservatives over this strategy at a fringe event in Manchester. He reminded delegates that May had essentially made a similar play at the last election, one year after the Brexit referendum, by appealing to the economic concerns of Labour leavers and hoping to sweep up Brexit voters. "It's worth remembering the 2017 campaign: How many pro-Brexit Labour seats did Theresa May win in the end?" he asked. "Six."Andrew Hawkins, a pollster at ComRes, said they had modeled three likely election scenarios based on their most recent five or six polls. The model suggests that if Brexit is in sight by polling day, the Conservatives will be the largest party, and if Brexit had already been secured, Johnson would romp home with a huge majority of 100-plus.If an extension is granted, however, the picture is totally different, with Jeremy Corbyn's Labour becoming the largest party. That would put Brexit in jeopardy, as the party has pledged to hold a second referendum within six months of being elected after it has negotiated a new, softer deal with Brussels.After a meeting of hardline Brexiteers at Manchester's Comedy Store this week, one particularly fervent heckler demonstrated the strength of feeling as she beseeched Owen Patterson, a member of the Conservative's pro-Brexit European Research Group (ERG), to make sure Brexit was secured this month. "If you don't, I'll shove you down them stairs," she told the surprised lawmaker.With tempers running high, Mark Francois, deputy chairman of the ERG, told The Daily Beast that the Conservatives had no choice: "If we kick the can down the road, we kick the bucket."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| UPDATE 1-UK economy flirting with recession after services shrink unexpectedly Posted: 03 Oct 2019 03:03 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-UK economy flirting with recession after services shrink unexpectedly]( "UPDATE 1-UK economy flirting with recession after services shrink unexpectedly") Britain's economy appears to have slipped into recession as firms brace for the risk of a disruptive Brexit in just a few weeks' time, according to a survey which showed the dominant services sector took an unexpectedly sharp downturn last month. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to take Britain out of the European Union by Oct. 31 come what may, despite parliament passing a law ordering him to seek a delay if he cannot secure a new transition deal to soften the economic blow. IHS Markit said the figures suggested Britain's economy shrank by 0.1% in the three months to September.
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| Hong Kong to Enact Rare Emergency Rule for Mask Ban, Reports Say Posted: 03 Oct 2019 03:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong will use an emergency ordinance for the first time in more than a half a century in order to ban face masks at public gatherings, according to local media outlets including the South China Morning Post and news channel TVB.The government will enact the Emergency Regulations Ordinance after a special meeting of the city's Executive Council on Friday, TVB reported, citing people it didn't identify. First passed by the British government in 1922 to quell a seamen's strike in Hong Kong's harbor, the law was last used by the colonial administration to help put down riots that rocked the trading hub in 1967.A spokesman for Chief Executive Carrie Lam's office wasn't immediately able to comment on the reports when reached by phone Thursday afternoon.The move would come shortly after a protester was shot in violent demonstrations that once again shook the city on Oct. 1, as President Xi Jinping celebrated 70 years of Communist party rule in Beijing. Some pro-China lawmakers in Hong Kong had called on Wednesday for a ban on wearing masks at public gatherings to stop protesters from hiding their identity from police officers.The government re-evaluated the situation after clashes in multiple districts on National Day, Cable TV reported, citing unidentified sources. Authorities believe the anti-mask law can help restore order, the report said, adding that it would only target occasions like certain rallies and marches. Details were still being studied, it said.Hong Kong stocks briefly jumped on the reports in afternoon trade, rapidly erasing an earlier decline."Now the anti-mask law at least gives investors some hope that it could be a way to cool down the protests," said Steven Leung, executive director at UOB Kay Hian Hong Kong Ltd. "Some people could be worried about being identified if they can't wear masks during protests. That's why we see local shares rallying, such as developers and retailers."Dramatic EscalationIf emergency powers were invoked, it would herald a dramatic escalation by Lam's government, which has struggled to control chaotic demonstrations that have raged for four months.The ordinance -- previously denounced by protest leaders as a form of martial law -- could give the government greater leeway to arrest citizens, censor publications, shut off communications networks and search premises without warrants, among other measures. It would also permit authorities to implement any new regulation the government believes would help end "an occasion of emergency or public danger.""Once the emergency regulations ordinance is invoked that would give a blank check to the chief executive," said opposition lawmaker Alvin Yeung. "The only logical conclusion is that the situation will escalate. And once the situation escalates, and since the chief executive already enjoys the powers of invoking the emergency regulations, the only logical conclusion is she might further introduce something else. What would that something else be? We don't know."Using the statute to crack down on pro-democracy protests risks bringing a fresh wave of international condemnation. U.S. lawmakers have already warned Lam that declaring emergency powers was "the wrong way to resolve the situation," while the U.K. and United Nations have criticized aggressive police tactics.Unrest began in June in opposition to a since-scrapped bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, but has since expanded to include calls for an independent inquiry into police violence and greater democratic accountability in the former British colony.Rumors of the impending use of the emergency law have persisted after Lam refused to rule out using the ordinance when asked directly about it at a late August press conference.What U.S. Congress Is and Isn't Doing About Hong Kong: QuickTake"All laws in Hong Kong -- if they can provide a legal means to stop violence and chaos -- the SAR government is responsible for looking into them," she said, referring to the special administrative region's formal name.Some lawmakers and political observers have suggested the emergency measures could also be used to delay the upcoming local district council elections, which are due in November."To impose an anti-mask law in the current social condition is to further infuriate the people and will definitely be met with escalating violence," said opposition lawmaker Fernando Cheung, who has often been at the scene of flashpoints trying to defuse tensions. "This is no different than adding fuel to fire. The result will be riots."(Updates with Fernando Cheung quote in final paragraph.)\--With assistance from Jeanny Yu and Natalie Lung.To contact the reporter on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Daniel Ten Kate, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| The 2020 White House Race is Already Getting Ugly Posted: 03 Oct 2019 03:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Want to receive this post in your inbox every day? Sign up for the Balance of Power newsletter, and follow Bloomberg Politics on Twitter and Facebook for more.All the president's "hatchet men" are coming under fire from Joe Biden.The Democratic presidential candidate lodged a searing counter-attack against Donald Trump last night that offered a window into what a potential one-on-one face-off could look like as the House's impeachment inquiry reshapes the contours of the 2020 race."You're not going to destroy me," Biden said during a rally in Reno, Nevada, as the president and his surrogates continue to promote discredited allegations that the former vice president tried to thwart a Ukrainian investigation into his son. "And you're not going to destroy my family."Biden, who once said that if he'd met Trump in high school, he'd have taken "him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him" for his treatment of women, has a history of colorful rhetoric that would make for a potentially hot-tempered showdown with Trump if Democrats choose him as their nominee.But with rival Elizabeth Warren threatening to eclipse Biden as the front-runner (she's statistically tied in several recent key state and national polls), there's a question of whether the cloud Trump's trying to cast over Biden could ultimately help deny them both a fight they're itching for.Global HeadlinesRare rule | Hong Kong will tomorrow enact an emergency ordinance for the first time in more than 50 years, forbidding face masks at public gatherings, local media report. It comes after a protester was shot in violent demonstrations this week, with some pro-China lawmakers calling for the mask ban to stop protesters hiding their identity from police. It could also mean they can't withstand the effects of tear gas.Brexit Plan | Boris Johnson's much-anticipated proposal to take the U.K. out of the European Union by Oct. 31 has been unveiled and, while it probably gets Conservative party euroskeptics on board, it falls short of what Brussels is willing to accept. The prospect of yet another extension rears its head, but Johnson seems dead set on the departure date. Does he have another option?New trade front | Prices for Scotch whisky and French cheese are set to rise in the U.S. with fresh tariffs slapped on billions of dollars of EU products. Trump got the go-ahead from the World Trade Organization to retaliate for illegal EU aid to plane-maker Airbus. The U.S. is already in a trade war with China, and a wider flareup of tit-for-tat levies with Europe could threaten a fragile global economy.Airbus was spared the full impact of U.S. import tariffs as Trump took steps to exempt planes built at its Alabama plant. Read more hereStaying the course | Indonesian President Joko Widodo says protests sweeping the country over his controversial legislative agenda won't derail reforms aimed at bolstering growth. In an interview with Bloomberg's Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait yesterday, Jokowi, as he is known, said he has the authority to push through changes to labor rules by the end of the year and open up more sectors of the economy to foreign investment.Meeting the general | Pakistan's already powerful military is taking an even greater role in running the country as the economy slows. Since early this year, army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa has privately met at least three top business leaders at heavily guarded military offices. The move appears to have the blessing of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Faseeh Mangi reports.What to WatchEuropean officials are increasingly grim about the outlook for Iran after failed efforts at the UN General Assembly last week to ease tensions between the U.S. and Tehran. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has halted his grueling campaign schedule "until further notice" after receiving medical care for a blocked artery. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi met a Taliban delegation today in a bid to revive peace talks in Afghanistan with the U.S. Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Special envoy for Afghanistan, plans to hold talks with Pakistani counterparts in Islamabad this week.Tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.And finally ... President Emmanuel Macron's government is poised to make France the first European country to use facial recognition technology to give citizens a secure digital identity whether they want it or not. France will join nations around the world rushing to provide secure access to everything from taxes to utility bills. But as Helene Fouquet reports, the program, dubbed Alicem, is facing a challenge in the nation's highest administrative court, and the data regulator says it breaches the rule of consent. \--With assistance from Muneeza Naqvi, Flavia Krause-Jackson and Ruth Pollard.To contact the author of this story: Kathleen Hunter in London at khunter9@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net, Karl MaierFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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