| Jihadists on motorbikes kill 35 civilians in Burkina Faso raid Posted: 24 Dec 2019 04:40 PM PST  An attack by militants in northern Burkina Faso has killed 35 civilians, almost all of them women, the president said, one of the deadliest assaults in nearly five years of jihadist violence in the West African nation. Seven soldiers and 80 jihadists were also killed in the double attack on a military base and the town of Arbinda in Soum province. The morning raid was carried out by dozens of jihadists on motorbikes and lasted several hours before armed forces backed by the air force drove the militants back, the army said. "A large group of terrorists simultaneously attacked the military base and the civilian population in Arbinda," the army chief of staff said in a statement. "This barbaric attack resulted in the deaths of 35 civilian victims, most of them women," President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said on Twitter, praising the "bravery and commitment" of the defence and security forces. Remis Dandjinou, the communications minister and government spokesman, later said that 31 of the civilian victims were women. The president has declared 48 hours of national mourning. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but jihadist violence in Burkina Faso has been blamed on militants linked to both al-Qaeda and Islamic State groups. Burkina Faso, which borders, Mali and Niger, has endured regular jihadist attacks which have left hundreds dead since the start of 2015 when militant violence began to spread across the Sahel region. More than 700 people have been killed and around 560,000 internally displaced by the violence, according to the United Nations. Attacks have targeted mostly the north and east of the country, though the capital Ouagadougou has been hit three times.
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| Bloomberg axes company using prisoners for campaign calls Posted: 24 Dec 2019 04:12 PM PST  Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg cut ties with a contractor that used prisoners to make calls for his presidential campaign, he said in a statement Tuesday. Earlier Tuesday, online news site The Intercept reported that Bloomberg's campaign contracted a New Jersey-based call center company that, in at least one instance, used Oklahoma inmates to make calls on behalf of the billionaire's campaign. "We only learned about this when the reporter called us, but as soon as we discovered which vendor's subcontractor had done this, we immediately ended our relationship with the company and the people who hired them," Bloomberg said in the statement.
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| Pope marks joyful Christmas Eve after less-than-joyful year Posted: 24 Dec 2019 01:38 PM PST  Pope Francis assured the faithful on Christmas Eve that God loves everyone — "even the worst of us" — as he celebrated the joyous birth of Christ after a less-than-joyful year of scandals and opposition. With a choir singing the classic Christmas hymn "The First Noel," Francis processed down the center aisle of St. Peter's Basilica late Tuesday and unveiled a statue of the newborn Jesus lying in a nativity scene at the foot of the altar.
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| Sudan inks peace deal with rebel faction, paves way for more Posted: 24 Dec 2019 11:01 AM PST  Sudan's transitional authorities and a rebel faction reached a peace deal on Tuesday, part of government efforts to end the country's decadeslong civil wars. The deal was signed between the Sudanese government and a faction of the Sudan Revolutionary Front known as the "Center Track," according to a statement by Sudan's transitional authorities. The deal could pave the way for peace agreements with more factions of the SRF, as well as other rebel groups.
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| Donald Trump spends Christmas Eve railing against impeachment Posted: 24 Dec 2019 10:33 AM PST  * President claims Democrats 'in real doubt' about evidence * Trump tells troops he has yet to buy a present for MelaniaDonald Trump has launched fresh attacks on the congressional architects of his impeachment, even as the standoff intensified between Democrats in the US House and Republicans in the Senate over the president's impending trial, and appeared set to last well into the new year.And on a less grave note, Trump revealed in a video conference with US troops to deliver Christmas greetings that, despite it being the morning of 24 December, he had not yet bought his wife her Christmas present.And as for North Korea's warning of a "Christmas gift" for America amid stalled nuclear weapons talks, Trump said the US would "deal with it".Then he left for his golf course.On Tuesday, Christmas Eve, Trump accused the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, of uncertainty over the articles of impeachment, voted on in Washington last week, that charge the president with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.On Monday House lawyers signaled in court filings that they were mulling an additional article of impeachment against Trump relating to obstruction of justice during the Trump-Russia investigation. They demanded that the former White House counsel Don McGahn testify and requested the release of grand jury material from the investigation.The current articles of impeachment center on Trump pressuring Ukraine to investigate the president's US political rivals, chiefly 2020 candidate Joe Biden, in return for crucial US military aid to the former Soviet republic."Everything we're seeing … suggests that they're in real doubt about the evidence they've brought forth so far not being good enough, and are very, very urgently seeking a way to find some more evidence," the president tweeted early on Tuesday.Trump continued: "The only way to make this work is to ... mount some kind of public pressure to demand witnesses, but McConnell has the votes and he can run this trial anyway he wants to."Trump's effort to recapture the conversation came after Pelosi last week triggered a showdown with the Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, by delaying the official delivery of the two impeachment articles from the House to the Senate in an attempt to negotiate terms for the resulting congressional trial. McConnell has already declared that he has no intention of being an "impartial juror".Speaking to reporters in Florida on Tuesday, Trump said of Pelosi: "She's doing a tremendous disservice to the country" and claimed Democrats "had no evidence at all" about presidential misconduct.Other Republicans protested about possible moves for additional articles of impeachment."Democrats are treating impeachment as an open bar tab, tweeted the South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham. "Time to cut them off, take their car keys away (put GOP in control of the House), and end this insanity."Article 1 of the United States constitution gives the House of Representatives the sole power to initiate impeachment and the Senate the sole power to try impeachments of the president. A president can be impeached if they are judged to have committed "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" – although the US Constitution does not specify what "high crimes and misdemeanors" are. The formal process starts with the House of Representatives passing articles of impeachment, the equivalent of congressional charges. A simple majority of members need to vote in favour of impeachment for it to pass to the next stage. Democrats currently control the House.The chief justice of the US Supreme Court then presides over proceedings in the Senate. The president is tried, with senators acting as the jury. For the president to be found guilty two-thirds of senators must vote to convict. Republicans currently control the Senate.Two presidents have previously been impeached, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Andrew Johnson in 1868, though neither was removed from office as a result. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before there was a formal vote to impeach him.Martin BelamAt the weekend, Schumer said that emails released on Friday showing that military aid to Ukraine was suspended 90 minutes after Trump demanded "a favor" from Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy only strengthened his party's demands for more documentation.With Congress out of action until early January, there is no sign of a resolution to the impeachment impasse or a date for the trial."We'll find out when we come back in session where we are," McConnell said. . On Monday, he told Fox News the delay in sending the articles to the Senate was "absurd" and predicted Pelosi would back down "sooner or later". He added he had "not ruled out" calling witnesses to the eventual trial.Meanwhile, on Tuesday morning, Trump spoke by video link from his Mar-a-Lago resort with US troops stationed around the world, calling them "tremendous warriors". He at first joked that they could decline a pay rise due to them in January, before adding: "You've earned it."When one soldier asked Trump what he had bought first lady Melania Trump for Christmas, the president revealed that he is behind on his shopping."That's a tough question," he said. "I got her a beautiful card … A lot of love. We love our family, and we love each other. We've had a great relationship, hopefully like you do with your spouses." Then he added: "I'm still working on a Christmas present. There's a little time left. Not much, but a little time left."Pool reporters were invited into Mar-a-Lago to watch the video address and ask questions.Trump said Democrats "ought to look back on the last year to see how they've hurt this country". He added: "If you just go by what you see in the papers, it's incredible what's going on. We had dirty cops. We had people spying on my campaign. They did terrible things…it's very sad."This despite the report earlier this month of the Department of Justice watchdog Michael Horowitz that said that despite some serious errors along the way, his principal conclusion was that the FBI's initiation of the Trump-Russia investigation was justified and was not motivated by political bias against Trump, nor involved what the Trump administration has called "illegal spying".And the president said that in the face of any action over Christmas by North Korea, the US would "deal with it very successfully", while joking that maybe any such gift would be "a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test".Later, for the third day in a row, Trump travelled by presidential motorcade to the nearby Trump International Golf Club.
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| UN reports deadly violence by armed groups in Nigeria Posted: 24 Dec 2019 10:20 AM PST ![UN reports deadly violence by armed groups in Nigeria]( "UN reports deadly violence by armed groups in Nigeria") Armed groups in northern Nigeria reportedly executed many civilians and abducted many others in a state where Boko Haram is active, the United Nations said Tuesday. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters the executions and abductions happened Monday in northern Borno state on the Damaturu-Biu road linking Yobe and Borno states. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners condemned the violent incidents and urged Nigerian authorities to do their utmost to prevent further violence and protect civilians.
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| Trump belittles fears of North Korea 'Christmas present' by saying it could be 'a beautiful vase' Posted: 24 Dec 2019 10:13 AM PST  Donald Trump said he would deal with a surprise teased by North Korea "very successfully" while suggesting the tough talk from Pyongyang might actually be just that rather than another controversial missile test.Speaking to members of the Armed Services on Christmas Eve, the president addressed recent comments made by the North, which said its "Christmas gift" to the US will depend on Washington's actions.
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| Germany rejects EU calls to accept children from Greek migrant camps Posted: 24 Dec 2019 09:38 AM PST  Germany has rejected calls from the European Commission asking the country to take in more unaccompanied migrant children from overcrowded refugee camps in Greece. Horst Seehofer, the interior minister, on Christmas Eve said while he was concerned about the plight of the migrants, doing so without a concerted European strategy would only encourage people smugglers. "A solo act by Germany would lead to a pull effect," he said. German Development Minister Gerd Mueller said that the most effective course of action was to help the migrant children where they are, rather than bringing them to Germany. Mr Seehofer said Germany was already doing a considerable amount to assist in the crisis, sending 57 trucks with supplies for more than 10,000 people. Germany has also taken in 10,200 refugees as part of a campaign in the region by the UNHCR in 2018 and 2019. "It's not only important to keep order, but we must act in a humanitarian fashion," he said. "We must not abandon Greece." Frozen Christmas | The teenage migrants trapped in Bosnia's bleak forests Brussels said in a statement that the situation on the ground was "very challenging" with more than 5,000 unaccompanied minors in camps across Greece and its islands, criticising the "limited response of member states". Greece has also been critical of other EU member states for failing to properly assist despite continued calls for help. An estimated nine per cent of the minors are under 14, while 92 per cent are male. "The Commission has repeatedly called upon the member states to continue relocations from Greece on a voluntary basis, with funds provided by the Commission," the European Commission told the German Press Agency. "The Commission is concerned about the difficult situation for unaccompanied minors on the ground in Greece notably as concerns the situation on the heavily overcrowded islands." German Greens leader Robert Habeck said that Germany had a responsibility to "get the children out" of conditions which he described as intolerable. Migrant and refugee numbers are rising across Europe Mr Seehofer hit back, saying that Mr Habeck was not acting honestly. "This is dishonest politics… (that Habeck) comes at this transparent time with this unhelpful proposal," Mr Seehofer said. Asylum policy has become an increasingly controversial political topic in Germany in recent years after Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision in 2015 to welcome refugees fleeing the Syrian Civil War. The German Office of Migrants and Refugees registered 890,000 refugees in 2015 at the height of the refugee 'crisis', with numbers dropping to 280,000 in 2016 and 186,000 in 2017.
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| Israeli army: Civilian deaths unexpected in Gaza airstrike Posted: 24 Dec 2019 09:33 AM PST  The Israeli military on Tuesday said it has wrapped up an investigation into an airstrike that killed nine members of a Palestinian family in the Gaza Strip. The report claims the targeted house had been used by Islamic militants but also admitted it didn't expect the strike to result in civilian casualties. The Nov. 14 airstrike in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah came in the closing hours of a fierce two-day burst of fighting between Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group.
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| Iraq's parliament approves new election law amid protests Posted: 24 Dec 2019 09:16 AM PST  Iraq's parliament approved a new election law on Tuesday aimed at giving political independents a better chance of winning seats in parliament. The new law changes each of the country's 18 provinces into several electoral districts, with one legislator elected per 100,000 people. It also prevents parties from running on unified lists, which in the past have helped them easily sweep all the seats in a specific province.
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| Colombia's conflict spills over to museum of memory Posted: 24 Dec 2019 08:33 AM PST  On a vacant grassy lot squeezed between several smoggy highways lies the property where Colombia's government hopes to build a large museum paying homage to victims of the country's long civil conflict. In recent weeks, the future of the Museum of Memory has become a public feud because of the director overseeing it. President Iván Duque's appointee – history professor Darío Acevedo – is a conservative who has expressed a view of the conflict that critics say could excuse the state of much of its responsibility for the violence.
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| Amid fears of a missile test, Trump jokes Kim Jong Un's Christmas gift to him could be a 'beautiful vase' Posted: 24 Dec 2019 08:30 AM PST  Top analysts are warning that North Korea seems poised for its first long-range missile test in over two years.
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| Trump Says U.S. Will ‘Deal With’ a North Korea Missile Test Posted: 24 Dec 2019 08:00 AM PST ![Trump Says U.S. Will 'Deal With' a North Korea Missile Test]( "Trump Says U.S. Will 'Deal With' a North Korea Missile Test") (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said that if North Korea tests intercontinental ballistic missiles, the U.S. will "deal with it.""I handle them as they come along," Trump Tuesday told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.North Korea had long suggested it would use the end-of-year holiday season to deliver a "Christmas gift" to the U.S. after demanding Washington make additional concessions as part of long-stalled nuclear talks between the two sides. Earlier this year, Kim Jong Un's regime set a Dec. 31 deadline for a breakthrough that has long seemed elusive.Trump suggested that Kim's threat might turn out to be a "nice present" on Christmas rather than a missile test, which would deliver another blow to his effort to broker a landmark nuclear pact with North Korea."Maybe it's a nice present. Maybe it's a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test, right? I may get a vase. I may get a nice present from him. You don't know. You never know," Trump told reporters.North Korea has added a structure to a factory linked to the production of intercontinental ballistic missiles, NBC News reported, raising concerns the reclusive country will resume testing weapons that can reach the U.S.The commercial satellite images from Planet Labs show a temporary structure added to the site that can accommodate the raising of a launcher arm for such long-range missiles, according to NBC. The news report cited an analysis by Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.Trump has long touted his outreach to Pyongyang -- and his personal ties to Kim -- as one of his key foreign policy triumphs. Kim and Trump have met face-to-face three times -- a first for any sitting American president -- and the two regularly praise each other.Whatever comes next, Trump may have lost some of the leverage he once gained from talking tough. In 2017, he threatened "fire and fury" and officials talked of a "bloody nose" strike against North Korea. But since then, Trump has shown a distaste for conflict, pulling troops from northeast Syria and calling off a strike against Iran after it shot down a U.S. drone.(Updates with nuclear talks in third paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Jordan Fabian in Palm Beach, Florida at jfabian6@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Jon MorganFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump speculates on 'Christmas gift' from North Korea: 'I may get a vase' Posted: 24 Dec 2019 07:50 AM PST  President Trump likes to believe the best of his foreign dictator friends.In a teleconference to U.S. military members on Tuesday, Trump was asked about the "Christmas gift" that North Korean officials threatened the U.S. with ahead of year-end nuclear talks. And despite the foreboding nature of the comments and North Korea's history of timing nuclear missile launches with holidays, Trump only had positive things to say about the potential gift."Maybe it's a nice present," Trump said. "Maybe it's a present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test."> !! Trump on options for NKorea if it's a long-range test? "We'll see what happens. Maybe it's a nice present. Maybe it's present where he sends me a beautiful vase as opposed to a missile test. I may get a vase. I may get a nice present from him. You don't know. You never know." https://t.co/piF5BCoYh5> > — Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) December 24, 2019North Korea's Ri Thae Song said earlier this month that "it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get." The comments came amid increasing frustrations over a lack of a breakthrough in nuclear talks between the two countries.During the Christmas Eve conference, Trump went on to say the U.S. will deal with the surprise, whatever it may be, "very successfully," adding that "everybody" has "surprises" for him and that he "handles them as they come along."Trump also revealed during the teleconference that he has yet to get a gift for first lady Melania Trump. Perhaps he could get her some flowers for the vase.More stories from theweek.com How a 'legislative terrorist' conquered the Republican Party Queen Elizabeth acknowledges 2019 was a 'bumpy' year Bernie Sanders and the socialist Christmas spirit
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| Trump says North Korea may be planning nice 'Christmas gift' Posted: 24 Dec 2019 07:47 AM PST  President Donald Trump said Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may be planning to give him "a nice present" such as a "beautiful vase" for Christmas rather than a missile launch. The president was asked what he will do if North Korea does conduct a long-range missile test. The North has threatened to take unspecified action if sanctions are not eased by the end of the year, and speculation has centered on the possibility of a new missile test, possibly of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
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| Trump says he and Xi will sign China trade deal Posted: 24 Dec 2019 07:39 AM PST  U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a signing ceremony to sign the first phase of the U.S.-China trade deal agreed to this month. "We will be having a signing ceremony, yes," Trump told reporters. United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Dec. 13 that representatives from both countries would sign the Phase 1 trade deal agreement in the first week of January.
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| Donald Trump says he still hasn't bought Melania a Christmas gift Posted: 24 Dec 2019 07:36 AM PST  With less than 24 hours before Christmas Day, Donald Trump has admitted he is "still working" on getting the first lady a holiday gift – but he said he at least got her a card.The president participated in a video conference call with members of the US military stationed overseas during the holiday season on Tuesday, in which he discussed everything from North Korea's nuclear threat to gift shopping for Melania Trump.
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| Key Countries Huawei Products Aren't Allowed In Posted: 24 Dec 2019 07:25 AM PST ![Key Countries Huawei Products Aren't Allowed In]( "Key Countries Huawei Products Aren't Allowed In") U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien warned the U.K. allowing China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd into its 5G telecommunications networks would pose a risk to UK's secret intelligence services, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. On May 15, the Trump administration added Huawei to a list of companies that U.S. firms can no longer trade with unless they have a license. In July, Trump surprised markets by promising Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan that he would allow U.S. companies to sell products to Huawei Technologies, reported Reuters.
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| Trumps attend music-filled church service on Christmas Eve Posted: 24 Dec 2019 06:40 AM PST |
| Melania Trump silently forges path through impeachment Posted: 24 Dec 2019 06:29 AM PST  Hillary Clinton spent the morning of her husband's impeachment visiting Capitol Hill to rally Democrats to his side. Pat Nixon kept assuring reporters her husband wouldn't quit — right up until he did. Eliza Johnson, frail from tuberculosis, kept watch over her husband during his impeachment while sitting in a room across from his White House office.
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| China, Japan, South Korea agree to push for North Korea dialogue Posted: 24 Dec 2019 06:21 AM PST  China, Japan, and South Korea have agreed to jointly promote dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday after a summit in China, Reuters reports.North Korea has threatened a "Christmas gift" − which experts say could include missile tests or a new hardline policy toward Washington − if the U.S. doesn't meet Pyongyang's year-end deadline to end what it calls a policy of hostility. President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have met three times in a push to get North Korea to curb its nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief, but talks have stalled.New satellite imagery raised concerns that North Korea is expanding a factory that makes military equipment involved in launching long-range missiles, which one expert said would be "big news."More stories from theweek.com How a 'legislative terrorist' conquered the Republican Party Queen Elizabeth acknowledges 2019 was a 'bumpy' year Bernie Sanders and the socialist Christmas spirit
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| Putin rebuffs Western criticism of 1939 Stalin-Hitler pact Posted: 24 Dec 2019 06:13 AM PST  Russian President Vladimir Putin countered European criticism of a 1939 Soviet pact with Nazi Germany on Tuesday, charging that collusion with Adolf Hitler by Western powers paved the way for World War II. Two weeks after Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east.
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| Trump lashes out as impeachment trial stuck in limbo Posted: 24 Dec 2019 05:49 AM PST  President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday as his Senate impeachment trial remains at an impasse, with Republican and Democratic leaders at odds over its format and whether witnesses should be called. Speaking at his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, after a teleconference call with troops stationed across the globe, Trump singled out Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is indefinitely holding up sending the articles of impeachment the House passed last week to the Republican-controlled Senate. Trump has long seen a Senate trial, where he is almost certain to be acquitted, as an opportunity for vindication after he became the third president in the nation's history to be impeached by the House.
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| Democrats test whether voters will shrug off impeachment Posted: 24 Dec 2019 05:30 AM PST  Rep. Cindy Axne happily talked about trade, health care and agriculture with about three dozen constituents who gathered in a farm bureau office the weekend before Christmas. Missing from the Iowa Democrat's talking points: her recent vote to impeach President Donald Trump. It was a stark difference from one of the last times Axne was back in her congressional district, which stretches from the state capital Des Moines across rural, southwestern Iowa.
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| 10 things you need to know today: December 24, 2019 Posted: 24 Dec 2019 05:24 AM PST ![10 things you need to know today: December 24, 2019]( "10 things you need to know today: December 24, 2019") 1.House Judiciary Committee lawyers on Monday told a federal appeals court that the panel might consider recommending "new articles of impeachment" against President Trump if former White House counsel Don McGahn testifies and provides fresh evidence. Democrats who lead the committee have been fighting in court to enforce a subpoena for McGahn to provide testimony. They say he has information "central" to parts of their impeachment investigation. The inquiry is ongoing even though the Democratic-led House approved two articles of impeachment accusing Trump of abusing his power to pressure Ukraine into investigating Democrats and obstruction of Congress. The Democrats' filing came after Justice Department lawyers told the court the House's approval of two articles of impeachment left no justification for enforcing McGahn's subpoena quickly. [CNBC, The Washington Post] 2.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Monday that he was not ruling out testimony from new witnesses in Trump's impeachment trial, as a dispute over the rules delays preparations for the trial. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants witnesses who refused to appear during House impeachment hearings to testify in the Senate. McConnell has declined, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has responded by delaying sending the Senate two articles of impeachment the House approved last week. "We haven't ruled out witnesses," McConnell told Fox and Friends. "We've said let's handle this case just like we did with President Clinton." Some witnesses testified in that trial, but Republicans have the votes to block anyone requested by Democrats. [The Associated Press] 3.China, Japan, and South Korea have agreed to jointly promote dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday after a summit in China. North Korea has threatened a "Christmas gift" − which experts say could include missile tests or a new hardline policy toward Washington − if the U.S. doesn't meet Pyongyang's year-end deadline to end what it calls a policy of hostility. President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have met three times in a push to get North Korea to curb its nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief, but talks have stalled. New satellite imagery raised concerns that North Korea is expanding a factory that makes military equipment involved in launching long-range missiles, which one expert said would be "big news." [The Associated Press, Reuters] 4.Many Christmas travelers in France will be stranded as rail workers continue their strike over a government proposal to reform the country's generous pension system. Striking workers marched through Paris' Gare de Lyon train station on Monday, trailed by riot police as travelers awaited late trains. "Usually, 15 of us get together for Christmas, but this year it's just going to be my wife and me," said Florian Cercea, whose train was delayed by several hours Monday at the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris. "It's going to be a sad Christmas. It means, even if we have presents, we can't give them to the children. I guess we'll give them next year after the strike is over." President Emmanuel Macron called for a holiday "truce" in the three-week general strike but there was no sign of a deal. [The New York Times] 5.Boeing has fired CEO Dennis Muilenburg as the aircraft maker's best-selling 737 Max plane remains grounded after two fatal crashes that killed a total of 346 people. Ten-year board member David Calhoun will take over. "A change in leadership was necessary to restore confidence in the company moving forward as it works to repair relationships with regulators, customers, and all other stakeholders," the company said Monday in a news release. Regulators around the world grounded the 737 Max jet in March, and the plane's return to operation has been delayed several times as the company developed and tested a fix to a flight control system linked to the accidents. The crisis has cost Boeing billions of dollars, and recently forced it to announce that it would soon suspend production of the 737 Max. [The New York Times, CNN] 6.Authorities at five U.S. airports have said that travelers with measles have passed through this month, possibly exposing an undetermined number of passengers to the highly infectious disease. Chicago's Department of Public Health said one infected person traveled through two O'Hare International Airport terminals in mid-December. Virginia authorities said another person with measles passed through Richmond International Airport on Dec. 17. On the same day, another infected person visited Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas, and three unvaccinated children who tested possible for the highly contagious viral disease traveled through airports in Denver and Los Angeles. "A small number of cases are capable of quickly producing epidemics," Dr. Mark Escott, medical director for Austin Public Health, said in a statement. [ABC News] 7.Defense Secretary Mark Esper is considering proposals to significantly reduce the number of U.S. forces in West Africa, The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing officials familiar with the matter. The options on the table reportedly include a total pullout, as well as the abandoning of a new $110 million drone base in Niger. The deliberations are part of the first phase of a review of U.S. military deployments around the world. A decision on West Africa troop strength is expected in January, and a similar move in Latin America reportedly could come next. The U.S. also is expected to follow through with expected drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Trump took office in 2017 vowing to wrap up "endless wars." About 200,000 American service members are stationed abroad currently. [The New York Times] 8.Christianity Today has followed up its controversial editorial criticizing President Trump with a second editorial urging fellow Christians to stop being loyal to Trump. The magazine's president, Timothy Dalrymple, asked Christians in the new editorial "to consider whether they have given to Caesar what belongs only to God: their unconditional loyalty." He said embracing Trump means being tied to his "corruption" and "race-baiting." The first editorial by the magazine, which was founded by the late Rev. Billy Graham, accused Trump of "profoundly immoral" conduct and called for his impeachment. A group of more than 100 conservative evangelical Christians responded Monday with a letter calling the magazine's position offensive, saying it questioned the "spiritual integrity" of tens of millions of Christian Trump supporters. [Reuters, Christianity Today] 9.U.S. stock index futures edged higher early Tuesday, adding to gains that lifted Wall Street to the latest in a string of record highs. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq all were up by 0.1 percent or less in the hours before the opening bell for a shortened Christmas Eve trading session. All three of the main U.S. indexes closed at record highs on Monday after the news that China will cut import tariffs on more than 850 products eased concerns about the U.S.-China trade war. Boeing shares surged 2.9 percent higher after the aircraft maker announced it had ousted CEO Dennis Muilenburg to help restore confidence in the company as it struggles to resolve its 737 Max jet crisis. [CNBC] 10.Advance Auto Parts has bought the DieHard brand from Sears-owner Transformco for $200 million, the companies announced Monday in a joint news release. Sears stores will continue to sell DieHard car batteries. Advance Auto Parts also will sell DieHard products at its more than 4,800 auto supply stores. Advance Auto Parts is considering expanding DieHard into more "battery categories, such as marine and recreational vehicles," said its president and CEO, Tom Greco. The sale came after Transformco closed hundreds of Sears and Kmart stores in 2019. Sears and Kmart have shut down more than 3,500 stores over 15 years − 182 will remain after the next closures in February. The company dodged total liquidation in February with a sale to former CEO Eddie Lampert. [USA Today]More stories from theweek.com How a 'legislative terrorist' conquered the Republican Party Queen Elizabeth acknowledges 2019 was a 'bumpy' year Bernie Sanders and the socialist Christmas spirit
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| Putin says Russia is leading world in hypersonic weapons Posted: 24 Dec 2019 05:18 AM PST  President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia has got a strong edge in designing new weapons and that it has become the only country in the world to deploy hypersonic weapons. Speaking at a meeting with top military brass, Putin said that for the first time in history Russia is now leading the world in developing an entire new class of weapons unlike in the past when it was catching up with the United States. The Russian leader noted that during Cold War times, the Soviet Union was behind the United States in designing the atomic bomb and building strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
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| Operation Holiday Express brings gifts to US troops in Syria Posted: 24 Dec 2019 05:11 AM PST  Hundreds of American troops based in Syria have received Christmas gifts thanks to Operation Holiday Express, launched by U.S.-led coalition forces from across the border in neighboring Iraq. In addition to the presents, Christmas tunes were provided by a military band from the 1st Infantry Division, flown in from Fort Riley, Kansas. Most were donated by military support organizations in the U.S., as well as churches and charity organizations, coalition spokesman Col. Myles Caggins said.
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| Thousands mark Christmas in West Bank town of Bethlehem Posted: 24 Dec 2019 04:02 AM PST  Visitors converged on the town's large Christmas tree in Manger Square, near the spot believed to mark Jesus' birthplace. Roger Hoagland, a Christian educator and missionary from Louisville, Kentucky, said he had come to lead a Baptist choir for a fourth time and described his visit as the experience of a lifetime. While Bethlehem is in the Palestinian-administered area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israel's imposing separation barrier encloses parts of the city and is a constant reminder of the complex political reality.
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| Leader of Iran's Islamic mystics, known as Sufis, dies at 92 Posted: 24 Dec 2019 03:56 AM PST ![Leader of Iran's Islamic mystics, known as Sufis, dies at 92]( "Leader of Iran's Islamic mystics, known as Sufis, dies at 92") The leader of Iran's Sufis, followers of the teachings of an ancient form of Islamic mysticism, died on Tuesday at the age of 92, nearly three decades after taking the leadership post in the movement in conservative Iran. Nourali Tabandeh had been suffering from several illness and was hospitalized in central Tehran in recent weeks, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported. Tabandeh, who held a doctorate in law from Paris University from 1957, served briefly as a deputy minister of culture following the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamic clerics to power.
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| Life After Corbyn? The Politicians Vying to Become Labour Leader Posted: 24 Dec 2019 03:52 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, follow us @Brexit and subscribe to our podcast.The U.K. Labour Party is looking for a new leader after Jeremy Corbyn announced his plan to resign in the wake of the heavy election defeat on Dec. 12.The process is expected to begin in January, with his successor given the task of trying to unite a party that has become bitterly divided over Corbyn's socialist policies and accusations of antisemitism. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair -- the only person to lead Labour to an election victory in 45 years -- has urged a wholesale change of approach.Despite Corbyn's failure to win at a national level, his popularity among Labour members will be critical in deciding who follows him. Here are some of the potential candidates:Rebecca Long-Bailey, 40: The Chosen OneIf you were going to build a new Labour leader from scratch, Rebecca Long-Bailey would probably tick most of the boxes: she's a young and media-savvy woman hailing from a northern constituency with a safe majority.Crucially, she's also loyal to the current leadership, even standing in for Corbyn at Prime Minister's Questions in June. With the party's membership still remaining firmly to the left of Labour's MPs, this could prove crucial in gaining her the support needed to win the contest.Long-Bailey is close friends with fellow leadership hopeful Angela Rayner, and there have been suggestions they could be the party's next power duo, akin to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.Angela Rayner, 39: The One With the Back StoryRayner was at the forefront of the party's election campaign, regularly facing the cameras and leading rallies across the country. Known for her no-nonsense interview style, her backers think she will appeal to traditional supporters Labour has lost in recent years.In her shadow cabinet role, she spearheaded Labour's National Education Service, which the party hoped would do for education what the National Health Service did for health. She also has a back story unlike almost any other British politician serving today, leaving school at the age of 16 while pregnant.Given she's on good terms with the leadership but also not a fully fledged member of the hard-left faction of the party, she might be a compromise candidate who can unite Labour's ideological wings. However, there's one factor that might deter Rayner from putting her hat in the ring: she's a friend and flatmate of fellow leadership front-runner Long-Bailey, so may go for deputy instead. Labour contests have a habit of tearing apart close friendships, and even family. Just ask the Miliband brothers, David and Ed.Jess Phillips, 38: The Corbyn CriticKnown for her blunt and witty speeches, 38-year-old Jess Phillips has said she may put her name forward. Despite sharing many of the same left-leaning views as Corbyn, she's been a vocal critic of the leader, saying he wasn't capable of winning a majority for Labour. For that reason she's proved divisive -- hated by many Corbyn supporters who saw her as undermining his efforts.Phillips, from Birmingham in central England, is characteristically a lone wolf and something of a contrarian. While backing a second Brexit referendum, she declined to join the People's Vote campaign, and she's on friendly terms with Conservative Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg.Lisa Nandy, 40: Cheerleader for TownsLisa Nandy is emerging as one of the "soft-left" front-runners, telling the BBC she's "seriously" thinking about running because Labour's "shattering defeat" left towns like Wigan, where she's been the MP since 2010, feel like "the earth was quaking."A former charity worker, Nandy is media-friendly and her northern roots will be seen as an advantage as Labour seeks to re-engage with traditional voters who abandoned the party in the general election. She co-founded the Centre for Towns, a think tank that aims to revive smaller urban areas.A Corbyn opponent, Nandy quit as Labour's energy spokeswoman in 2016 to join an attempt to overthrow him, and served as co-chair in Owen Smith's failed leadership campaign. She campaigned against Brexit in the 2016 referendum, but since then has argued the EU divorce must be delivered and voted for Johnson's deal in October. She voted against it when it was put before Parliament again in December, because she says Johnson's no longer interested in making cross-party compromises to improve the bill.Keir Starmer, 57: The Arch RemainerCorbyn's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said he is "seriously considering" running for the leadership. He hasn't always been loyal to the current leader -- particularly when it comes to the question of the U.K.'s relationship with the European Union. Starmer backed Corbyn's rivals in the 2015 and 2016 leadership contests and is one of the party's most vocal Remainers.While he has been accused of being out of touch with working class Leave voters in northern England, he's arguably closer to them than Corbyn, who was privately educated.He also has an impressive career behind him. As a young lawyer, he advised two environmental activists in the long-running "McLibel" case after they distributed a fact-sheet critical of the McDonald's burger chain. While McDonald's won the suit, Starmer represented the activists in a subsequent successful case against the U.K. government in the European Court of Human Rights. He went on to be Director of Public Prosecutions, for which he was knighted.He has positioned himself as a middle-ground candidate who is neither a Corbynite or a Blairite. "I don't need someone else's name, some past leader, tattooed to my head to make decisions," he said in a BBC radio interview. Starmer also warned the party not to "oversteer" as a result of the election defeat, arguing that Labour should "build on" Corbyn's anti-austerity message and radical agenda.Emily Thornberry, 59: Corbyn's NeighborEmily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, was the first to publicly state her intention to run for leader. Writing in the Guardian newspaper, she underlined one of her key strengths: the fact she has a direct record against Boris Johnson. Describing her time opposite Johnson as his shadow while he was foreign secretary, Thornberry said she "took the fight to him every day and pummeled him every week... He hated it, especially coming from a woman."A strong media performer with experience in both Ed Miliband's and Corbyn's senior leadership teams, Thornberry pushed hard for Labour to back holding a second referendum on Brexit.Old gaffes may come to haunt her, however. She was forced to resign her shadow cabinet post in 2014 after tweeting a picture of a white van and English flags which was seen as mocking working-class voters -- the very people Labour needs to win back.She represents Islington South, neighboring Corbyn's own Islington North and members may question whether another Londoner is the right choice to win back support for Labour across the country. Thornberry said members shouldn't judge candidates on "where they live in our country" but instead on whether they have the "political nous and strategic vision" needed.Yvette Cooper, 50: The InquisitorAfter Jeremy Corbyn's election as leader in 2015, Yvette Cooper stepped back from front-line politics for the first time in nearly 17 years. But the decision didn't keep her away from the spotlight as she won a vote of MPs and became chairwoman of the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, where her forensic scrutiny gained plaudits from both sides of the aisle.In the chamber, too, Cooper has distinguished herself with eloquent contributions testing the government. She tabled what became known as the "Cooper Amendment" in January, depriving the Treasury of tools in the event of a no-deal Brexit, and inflicting an embarrassing defeat on Theresa May's government.One of the many Labour MPs who arrived in Westminster after the party's 1997 victory, she held senior positions in the governments of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. But a record of experience is a record to scrutinize, and members may see Cooper as being too aligned with the 'New Labour' period of the party's history, which Corbyn railed against. Cooper argues Labour needs to take an entirely new path, telling the BBC "both the left and right of this party are seen as internationalist, not patriotic," and this is losing them support, particularly among older voters.David Lammy, 47: The InfluencerA Member of Parliament since 2000, David Lammy has grown in prominence as a key voice for justice for victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. The 2017 disaster claimed the lives of 72 people, including his friend Khadija Saye, an artist, and he has been an outspoken critic of the government response. Also a staunch proponent of the U.K. remaining in the EU, Lammy stood unsuccessfully to be Labour's candidate in the 2016 London mayoral elections.Lammy's social media influence is unparalleled among the leadership hopefuls. Of the current batch of MPs, only the leaders of the two main parties and their immediate predecessors have more Twitter followers than the north London lawmaker. Part of the reason for his strong online following is his combative style, which has seen him take on everyone from TV presenters to U.S. President Donald Trump.Lammy said after the election he was "thinking about" running for leader. He has since written an article for the Observer newspaper calling for "civic nationalism" to counter what he called Boris Johnson's "ethnic nationalism."Clive Lewis, 48: Loyal SoldierShadow cabinet minister Clive Lewis was the second Labour MP to officially declare he's running for leader, announcing in the Guardian newspaper his pitch of giving the party's membership more say over Labour's policies and selection of election candidates.On the left of the party, Lewis said in his 2015 victory speech that the ideology of former prime minister Tony Blair was "dead and buried, and it needs to stay that way." Later that year, Corbyn credited Lewis for getting his nomination for the leadership "off the ground," the New Statesman magazine reported. He quit Corbyn's frontbench team in early 2017 over the party's Brexit policy, before being welcomed back a year later.Before becoming an MP, Lewis worked as a BBC journalist and served as a soldier in Afghanistan for three months.Lewis will likely face scrutiny for several elements of his past when the leadership race officially kicks off. At the 2017 party conference, he was criticized for using a misogynistic phrase. He later apologized for his "unacceptable" language. (An earlier version corrected details about the 'McLibel' court case in 14th paragraph)To contact the reporters on this story: Greg Ritchie in London at gritchie10@bloomberg.net;Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.net;Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny, Stuart BiggsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Aid groups halt work in south Yemen after targeted bombings Posted: 24 Dec 2019 03:44 AM PST  A dozen humanitarian organizations in war-torn southern Yemen suspended their operations following a string of targeted attacks, the United Nations said, while the country's rebel-led health ministry announced on Tuesday that severe outbreaks of swine flu and dengue fever have killed close to 200 people since October. The suspension of aid work came after unknown assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades at three aid organizations in the southwestern province of Dhale over the weekend, according to the U.N. Humanitarian Office in Yemen, wounding a security guard and damaging several office buildings.
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| Syrian army captures village, missile kills 8 civilians Posted: 24 Dec 2019 03:19 AM PST  A missile struck a school building in northwestern Syria on Tuesday morning, killing eight civilians, opposition activists said, as government forces captured a key village held by al-Qaida insurgents in the war-torn country's last rebel stronghold. Syrian government troops also surrounded a Turkish observation post in the area, the activists said. Syrian forces launched a wide ground offensive last week into the northwestern province of Idlib, which is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants.
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| No Christmas at Notre Dame, as fire forces Mass into exile Posted: 24 Dec 2019 03:15 AM PST  Notre Dame Cathedral is unable to host Christmas services for the first time since the French Revolution, because the Paris landmark was too deeply damaged by this year's fire. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services will be held in the Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois church, once used for French royalty. Notre Dame's rector, Monsignor Patrick Chauvet, will celebrate Mass there Wednesday for Notre Dame's faithful, accompanied by song from some of Notre Dame's now-itinerant choir.
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| Merkel Coalition Partners Stuck in Doldrums After Shift to Left Posted: 24 Dec 2019 03:13 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The new leftist leaders of Germany's Social Democrats have failed to give Angela Merkel's junior coalition partners a lift in the polls.The SPD were stuck on 13% in the final Insa survey of the year for Bild newspaper, the same as the previous week and down from 20.5% in the most recent general election in 2017. Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc gained one point to 28%, while the SPD again trailed the Greens and the far-right Alternative for Germany, stable on 21% and 15% respectively.In an attempt to revive their fortunes, the Social Democrats this month picked Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken as co-leaders, scuppering a rival bid by Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz.The new team endorsed policy demands as a condition to remain in government that would ease years of fiscal discipline under Merkel and Scholz, boost infrastructure spending, lift the minimum wage and step up efforts to tackle climate change.But the shift to the left has apparently failed to win back the voters who have abandoned the party in droves over the past decade as the Greens and AfD gained support.Insa head Hermann Binkert suggested that, as things stand, there's little point in the SPD putting forward a candidate to take over from Merkel when she finishes her term in 2021 -- if her government survives that long.\--With assistance from Chris Reiter.To contact the reporter on this story: Iain Rogers in Berlin at irogers11@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Andrew Blackman, Raymond ColittFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Japan, South Korea Tone Down Feud At Summit Yet Disputes Remain Posted: 24 Dec 2019 02:21 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- In a landmark summit, the leaders of Japan and South Korea signaled they wouldn't let relations spin out of control even as they made little progress in resolving disputes that have plunged relations to new depths.South Korean President Moon Jae-in told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that cooperation was crucial in the face of regional security threats as the two began their 45-minute meeting on the sidelines of a trilateral summit hosted by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Chengdu. Abe agreed, and said he also hoped to improve the relationship."In the current difficult security situation in East Asia, relations between Japan and South Korea are extremely important. South Korea is an important neighbor," Abe told reporters after the meeting.Disputes rooted in disagreement over whether Japan has shown sufficient contrition for its history have hurt trade and hindered cooperation between the two U.S. allies on dealing with North Korea. The leaders' meeting came after Pyongyang signaled it may fire a long-range missile as nuclear talks with the Trump administration stall ahead of a year-end deadline for progress set by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.No breakthroughs were made and the two aired grievances but Abe and Moon indicated they wouldn't let their relations spin out of control. Their simmering feud has raised concerns about whether their fight would hurt global supply chains and if they could cooperate with Washington as it seeks to put a check on China's military expansion in the region and curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions.Japan and South Korea "are geographically, historically and culturally the closest neighbors as well as the most important, mutually beneficial partners in terms of human exchanges," Moon told Abe. "Our relationship is one that cannot be made distant, even if there is temporarily an uncomfortable issue."Moon went on to urge Japan to reverse the tighter trade controls it had placed on South Korea, his spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said after the meeting. Abe said trade officials would discuss the issue. For his part, Abe called on Seoul to resolve a disagreement over South Korean court rulings holding Japanese companies liable for cases of forced labor during the 1910-1945 colonization.Positive SignThe talks had been seen as a positive step that could make it easier for the two nations to bridge differences on simmering disputes that include Japan's export curbs on goods vital to South Korea's massive technology sector, part of which was eased last week.The standoff has damaged trade and tourism ties, with the number of South Koreans visiting Japan in November falling by almost two thirds on the previous year, while Japan's beer exports to its neighbor collapsed to virtually zero in October.Under pressure from the U.S., however, South Korea last month suspended its plan to withdraw from a military information-sharing pact with Japan. Since then, there have been hints of a potential thaw in ties.After the two countries' trade officials met last week, Japan was reported to have relaxed some of the stricter export controls it had placed on goods sold to South Korea.South Korea's presidential office, however, said in a statement the measures did not resolve the problem, while Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Monday the changes in procedures didn't amount to a relaxation of controls.While an improvement in relations could benefit both countries, public opinion poses a barrier to compromise. The two leaders have lost support recently, and Moon faces parliamentary elections in April.An opinion poll published this week by Japan's Nikkei newspaper found 70% of respondents said there was no need to hurry to improve ties with South Korea. A poll by Seoul-based Realmeter published in late November showed South Korean participation in a boycott of Japanese goods had increased to 72% from 66% two months earlier.\--With assistance from Emi Urabe, Jihye Lee, Takashi Hirokawa, Emi Nobuhiro and Shinhye Kang.To contact the reporters on this story: Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo at ireynolds1@bloomberg.net;Sharon Chen in Beijing at schen462@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| For British Politics, 2019 Meant Three Funerals and a Wedding Posted: 23 Dec 2019 11:00 PM PST  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- "I wish I could skip to the end of the book to know what happens," a colleague said in passing, during one of those late evenings of drawn-out parliamentary debate that ended, like the bags of popcorn I consumed, without satisfaction. Now at least Part I of the Brexit saga has been written.Like Brexit or lament it, there is a new degree of certainty: Britain is severing its 46-year link to the European Union. Parliament voted for that decisively on Friday. What the new relationship with Europe will look like is a subject for next year. But looking back on 2019, there's a good case to be made that where we are is partly the result of three projects that failed and one that didn't. Think of it as three funerals and a wedding. The Independents came, saw and didn't conquer. They were briefly called Labour's Magnificent Seven, a group of defectors rejecting their party's radicalism and hoping to form a new and more moderate alternative. Then they became eight and three Tories joined as well. But this breakaway ended like a previous one in 1981 — in failure. The group struggled from the start in deciding on a name, a leader and a platform. They never reached critical mass; they all lost their parliamentary seats or stood down.I wrote at the time that "the split highlights Labour's transition to a hard-left, take-it-or-leave-it socialist party from the inclusive, centrist ground it occupied under former leader Tony Blair. That is a place where many moderate voters won't go and other Labour lawmakers may find increasingly intolerable." The flood of resignations that briefly looked possible didn't materialize. The Labour machine was too strong and many MPs thought that the party, based on its 2017 performance, still had game. But the defections hurt Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. They underscored his lack of support in the parliamentary party, his unwillingness (or inability, if we're being charitable) to tackle anti-Semitism and his incoherent Brexit policy. At the same time, they strengthened the hand of the Brexiters; only three Tory MPs joined the new grouping, which never gained traction with the public. It wasn't going to pose a major threat.The Remain alliance came undone. In mid-January, former Prime Minister Theresa May offered lawmakers a challenge: They were prepared to say what they didn't want, she said. Now it was time to specify what they wanted. That became the leitmotif for the rest of the year.Polls showed a small majority of voters would favor remaining in the EU if the Brexit vote were held again. But not even the parliamentary Remainers could agree on whether to hold a second referendum; many recoiled from the idea and with good reason. If Remain won, Brexiters would feel betrayed and consider it undemocratic. If Leave won, it would offer the worst kind of confirmation for many referendum proponents who were ardent Remainers. There would never be agreement on the all-important details either: What would the question be? How could the timing work?The longer the Remain alliance's indecision and division persisted, the less faith voters had that Parliament could offer any kind of solution. The deathblow came when Boris Johnson expelled 21 Conservative MPs for trying to block a no-deal exit. The orphaned group proved powerless; many of the big names left Parliament for good.Theresa May's deal died in a ditch. May's time in office was characterized by her flaws as a politician — the inability to build alliances, to persuade — but also by the denial stage of Brexit. Neither Brexiters nor Remainers could accept that their preferred route would entail losses. Thus everyone hated May's deal which, to borrow a phrase from the financial crisis, socialized the losses. Remainers would have to accept losing access to the EU's single market, while Leavers would have to accept lingering obligations toward Europe to avoid a hard border with Ireland.With the Brexit deadline looming, May tried a final gambit to break the impasse. She calculated that the opposition would avoid a no-deal exit and hardliners in her own party would intervene if they thought Brexit might be canceled altogether. She was both right and wrong. Although the opposition did avoid no-deal by forcing May to seek an extension, that didn't get her agreement across the line. And while the hardliners did vote for a deal out of fear there might be no Brexit, in the end that wasn't enough either; her deal was voted down a third and final time.By the time Johnson became prime minister, Brexiters were willing to give ground in one crucial area. His deal established what was unthinkable under May: a de facto customs and regulatory border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. There are some who argue that Johnson might've gotten his plan through from the start; I highly doubt it. Timing isn't everything in politics, but sometimes it's the only thing.A new Conservative coalition is born. Now for the wedding. As the pollster and analyst Matt Singh has noted, the roots of the new Conservative majority have been growing for a while. But with uncommon charisma and personal branding, Johnson was able to cut through in a way May never could. His campaign was ruthlessly targeted toward exactly the voters he needed to win a majority. The Tories have always been good at reinventing themselves for electoral gain. This year, they did so yet again.The first step was making Johnson leader. After he won the leadership contest, his success seemed likely to rest on three premises I described as "shaky" — and it turns out all three held up. The first was that Europe would renegotiate after repeatedly vowing not to. It did, and while Johnson had to sell out Northern Ireland's unionists to secure the EU's support for a new deal, he could nonetheless claim victory. Second, Johnson had to convince everyone that a no-deal threat was credible. He did. Finally, he had to sell a no-deal outcome to the public — in fact, polls were moving that way when Johnson clinched his agreement and made the point moot.Johnson is unquestionably a defining figure. He has now won two mayoral campaigns, a Brexit referendum, a leadership contest, and a decisive majority in a general election; his political instincts and popular appeal can't be doubted. Nor can his propensity to say anything that he feels will help his cause.Now comes the hard part. For one thing, Johnson has repeatedly misled voters about the challenges and costs of Brexit, the promise of future trade agreements, and even the terms of his own deal. At some point, all that will come home to roost. He's also borrowed from the populist playbook (at times shamefully, with digs at immigrants and prisoner rehabilitation), and won by attracting voters who will demand policies that many traditional Conservatives regard as profligate. He'll have to deliver to keep them.***Looking back on some of the 100-plus Brexit-related columns I wrote in 2019, I found plenty of reminders that pundits don't have crystal balls; that we sometimes mistake noise for signal, and the other way around.I didn't expect Johnson to emerge from a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in October having secured the outlines of a breakthrough deal, for instance. Johnson's pivot after his fist-thumping no-deal rhetoric was a reminder of something we'd do well to bear in mind for 2020: He's not tied to any one position or principle.Then there were the moments that seemed significant but proved not to be. Supreme Court Justice Brenda Hale's cool, eloquent rebuke of the government's decision to prorogue Parliament in September captured the attention of the world. And yet, as with the carnival-like Brexit protests on the streets of London, it didn't move policy much. Legal niceties aside, Johnson won that round handily within his party and in the court of public opinion. Now he's launching a review of the role of the courts.During the Tory leadership race, Rory Stewart had a brief moment of fame. He was Johnson's opposite in many ways, as I wrote at the time. But he wasn't a match for him politically, however much he won the race on Twitter. Nor was Jo Swinson the Liberal Democrat savior many had hoped when she emerged as the party's new leader (here's a catalog of what went wrong there).At the start of 2019, on the other side of the world, the British tennis star Andy Murray tearfully announced he was stepping back from the game; hobbled by injury, he'd lost his crown as the world's top player. I noted that his trajectory from triumphant 2016 Wimbledon champion to serial loser seemed to follow the arc of Britain's own path since the Brexit vote.Well, an update is required: Murray underwent major reconstructive surgery and following a "Rocky"-like rehab he is now the professional tour's comeback player of the year. Boris Johnson would like that ending just fine.To contact the author of this story: Therese Raphael at traphael4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Timothy Lavin at tlavin1@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Therese Raphael writes editorials on European politics and economics for Bloomberg Opinion. She was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| For British Politics, 2019 Meant Three Funerals and a Wedding Posted: 23 Dec 2019 11:00 PM PST  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- "I wish I could skip to the end of the book to know what happens," a colleague said in passing, during one of those late evenings of drawn-out parliamentary debate that ended, like the bags of popcorn I consumed, without satisfaction. Now at least Part I of the Brexit saga has been written.Like Brexit or lament it, there is a new degree of certainty: Britain is severing its 46-year link to the European Union. Parliament voted for that decisively on Friday. What the new relationship with Europe will look like is a subject for next year. But looking back on 2019, there's a good case to be made that where we are is partly the result of three projects that failed and one that didn't. Think of it as three funerals and a wedding. The Independents came, saw and didn't conquer. They were briefly called Labour's Magnificent Seven, a group of defectors rejecting their party's radicalism and hoping to form a new and more moderate alternative. Then they became eight and three Tories joined as well. But this breakaway ended like a previous one in 1981 — in failure. The group struggled from the start in deciding on a name, a leader and a platform. They never reached critical mass; they all lost their parliamentary seats or stood down.I wrote at the time that "the split highlights Labour's transition to a hard-left, take-it-or-leave-it socialist party from the inclusive, centrist ground it occupied under former leader Tony Blair. That is a place where many moderate voters won't go and other Labour lawmakers may find increasingly intolerable." The flood of resignations that briefly looked possible didn't materialize. The Labour machine was too strong and many MPs thought that the party, based on its 2017 performance, still had game. But the defections hurt Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. They underscored his lack of support in the parliamentary party, his unwillingness (or inability, if we're being charitable) to tackle anti-Semitism and his incoherent Brexit policy. At the same time, they strengthened the hand of the Brexiters; only three Tory MPs joined the new grouping, which never gained traction with the public. It wasn't going to pose a major threat.The Remain alliance came undone. In mid-January, former Prime Minister Theresa May offered lawmakers a challenge: They were prepared to say what they didn't want, she said. Now it was time to specify what they wanted. That became the leitmotif for the rest of the year.Polls showed a small majority of voters would favor remaining in the EU if the Brexit vote were held again. But not even the parliamentary Remainers could agree on whether to hold a second referendum; many recoiled from the idea and with good reason. If Remain won, Brexiters would feel betrayed and consider it undemocratic. If Leave won, it would offer the worst kind of confirmation for many referendum proponents who were ardent Remainers. There would never be agreement on the all-important details either: What would the question be? How could the timing work?The longer the Remain alliance's indecision and division persisted, the less faith voters had that Parliament could offer any kind of solution. The deathblow came when Boris Johnson expelled 21 Conservative MPs for trying to block a no-deal exit. The orphaned group proved powerless; many of the big names left Parliament for good.Theresa May's deal died in a ditch. May's time in office was characterized by her flaws as a politician — the inability to build alliances, to persuade — but also by the denial stage of Brexit. Neither Brexiters nor Remainers could accept that their preferred route would entail losses. Thus everyone hated May's deal which, to borrow a phrase from the financial crisis, socialized the losses. Remainers would have to accept losing access to the EU's single market, while Leavers would have to accept lingering obligations toward Europe to avoid a hard border with Ireland.With the Brexit deadline looming, May tried a final gambit to break the impasse. She calculated that the opposition would avoid a no-deal exit and hardliners in her own party would intervene if they thought Brexit might be canceled altogether. She was both right and wrong. Although the opposition did avoid no-deal by forcing May to seek an extension, that didn't get her agreement across the line. And while the hardliners did vote for a deal out of fear there might be no Brexit, in the end that wasn't enough either; her deal was voted down a third and final time.By the time Johnson became prime minister, Brexiters were willing to give ground in one crucial area. His deal established what was unthinkable under May: a de facto customs and regulatory border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. There are some who argue that Johnson might've gotten his plan through from the start; I highly doubt it. Timing isn't everything in politics, but sometimes it's the only thing.A new Conservative coalition is born. Now for the wedding. As the pollster and analyst Matt Singh has noted, the roots of the new Conservative majority have been growing for a while. But with uncommon charisma and personal branding, Johnson was able to cut through in a way May never could. His campaign was ruthlessly targeted toward exactly the voters he needed to win a majority. The Tories have always been good at reinventing themselves for electoral gain. This year, they did so yet again.The first step was making Johnson leader. After he won the leadership contest, his success seemed likely to rest on three premises I described as "shaky" — and it turns out all three held up. The first was that Europe would renegotiate after repeatedly vowing not to. It did, and while Johnson had to sell out Northern Ireland's unionists to secure the EU's support for a new deal, he could nonetheless claim victory. Second, Johnson had to convince everyone that a no-deal threat was credible. He did. Finally, he had to sell a no-deal outcome to the public — in fact, polls were moving that way when Johnson clinched his agreement and made the point moot.Johnson is unquestionably a defining figure. He has now won two mayoral campaigns, a Brexit referendum, a leadership contest, and a decisive majority in a general election; his political instincts and popular appeal can't be doubted. Nor can his propensity to say anything that he feels will help his cause.Now comes the hard part. For one thing, Johnson has repeatedly misled voters about the challenges and costs of Brexit, the promise of future trade agreements, and even the terms of his own deal. At some point, all that will come home to roost. He's also borrowed from the populist playbook (at times shamefully, with digs at immigrants and prisoner rehabilitation), and won by attracting voters who will demand policies that many traditional Conservatives regard as profligate. He'll have to deliver to keep them.***Looking back on some of the 100-plus Brexit-related columns I wrote in 2019, I found plenty of reminders that pundits don't have crystal balls; that we sometimes mistake noise for signal, and the other way around.I didn't expect Johnson to emerge from a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in October having secured the outlines of a breakthrough deal, for instance. Johnson's pivot after his fist-thumping no-deal rhetoric was a reminder of something we'd do well to bear in mind for 2020: He's not tied to any one position or principle.Then there were the moments that seemed significant but proved not to be. Supreme Court Justice Brenda Hale's cool, eloquent rebuke of the government's decision to prorogue Parliament in September captured the attention of the world. And yet, as with the carnival-like Brexit protests on the streets of London, it didn't move policy much. Legal niceties aside, Johnson won that round handily within his party and in the court of public opinion. Now he's launching a review of the role of the courts.During the Tory leadership race, Rory Stewart had a brief moment of fame. He was Johnson's opposite in many ways, as I wrote at the time. But he wasn't a match for him politically, however much he won the race on Twitter. Nor was Jo Swinson the Liberal Democrat savior many had hoped when she emerged as the party's new leader (here's a catalog of what went wrong there).At the start of 2019, on the other side of the world, the British tennis star Andy Murray tearfully announced he was stepping back from the game; hobbled by injury, he'd lost his crown as the world's top player. I noted that his trajectory from triumphant 2016 Wimbledon champion to serial loser seemed to follow the arc of Britain's own path since the Brexit vote.Well, an update is required: Murray underwent major reconstructive surgery and following a "Rocky"-like rehab he is now the professional tour's comeback player of the year. Boris Johnson would like that ending just fine.To contact the author of this story: Therese Raphael at traphael4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Timothy Lavin at tlavin1@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Therese Raphael writes editorials on European politics and economics for Bloomberg Opinion. She was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Nepalese police detain 122 Chinese nationals for alleged financial crimes after series of raids Posted: 23 Dec 2019 10:24 PM PST  Police in Nepal have detained 122 Chinese nationals in their biggest crackdown on crime by foreigners entering the country on tourist visas, officials said on Tuesday. The chief of police in Kathmandu said that the suspects were rounded up in raids on Monday following information that they were engaged in suspicious activities. The Chinese are suspected of carrying out cyber crime and hacking into bank cash machines, Uttam Subedi said, adding that they were being held in different police stations and their passports and laptop computers had been seized. "This is the first time that so many foreigners have been detained for suspected criminal activities," Mr Subedi said. Chinese embassy officials were not immediately available for comment but another senior police officer, Hobindra Bogati, said the embassy knew of the raids and had supported the detention of the suspects. Chinese people are regularly detained in Asian countries on suspicion of involvement in various illegal activities, often involving fraud in China. Last week, authorities in the Philippines arrested 342 Chinese workers in a raid on an unlicensed gambling operation. In September, police arrested five Chinese nationals on a charge of stealing money by hacking bank cash machines. Chinese citizens were also arrested with smuggled gold this year. Nepal and China signed a treaty on mutual assistance in criminal matters during a visit to Nepal by President Xi Jinping in October. China has been increasing its investment in Nepal in recent years in areas such as roads, power plants and hospitals. More than 134,000 Chinese tourists visited Nepal between January and October this year, up 9.2 per cent from the same period in 2018, according to Nepal Tourism Board data.
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| Taliban attack on Afghan army checkpoint kills 7 troops Posted: 23 Dec 2019 10:23 PM PST ![Taliban attack on Afghan army checkpoint kills 7 troops]( "Taliban attack on Afghan army checkpoint kills 7 troops") The Taliban targeted an army checkpoint in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing at least seven Afghan soldiers, the defense ministry and the insurgents said. The ministry said in a statement that the "enemy" attack in northern Balkh province, in the district of Dawlat Abad, also wounded six other members of the security forces — three soldiers and three intelligence agents. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack, saying also that the insurgents captured four Afghan troops and seized weapons and ammunition form the checkpoint.
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| 28 killed as bus plunges into ravine in Indonesia Posted: 23 Dec 2019 09:13 PM PST  A bus plunged into a ravine on Indonesia's Sumatra island after its brakes apparently malfunctioned, killing at least 28 people and injuring 13 others, police and rescuers said Tuesday. The accident occurred just before midnight Monday on a winding road in South Sumatra province's Pagaralam district. Palembang search and rescue operation chief Berty Kowaas said the bodies were taken to a hospital for identification, including that of a young boy who was pulled from a river near the crash site.
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| Why London’s Commercial Property Market Is Set for 2020 Revival Posted: 23 Dec 2019 09:00 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- London commercial real estate deals look set to pick up in 2020, with the political uncertainty that has plagued the market for more than three years finally starting to lift.U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has a commanding majority in Parliament after his Conservative Party's election triumph, allowing him to push through his Brexit deal and make good on his promise to take the country out of the European Union next month. That will give developers and investors greater confidence as they consider new deals, even though the prospect of a disorderly divorce remains if Johnson fails to deliver a trade deal by the end of next year."2019 will be the worst year," said Stephen Down, head of central London and international investment at broker Savills Plc. "We are still traveling with a certain degree of caution, but at least one element of the uncertainty has been taken off the table."Here are six charts that show how political risk shaped the market in 2019, and why next year could see an uptick in deals and prices for London offices.FundamentalsDemand for space usually sets the tone for the real estate market. In London, demand has been resilient, confounding forecasts around the time of the Brexit referendum in mid-2016 of a big decline if voters chose to take the country out of the EU.Such steady demand should have set the stage for rising rents and appetite from investors to buy buildings and start new projects, but that's not how things panned out. Uncertainty reigned as the U.K. missed Brexit deadlines and contested a general election to break the impasse. In this confusion, landlords postponed offering buildings for sale until the political dust settled.Developers have also been cautious, with new construction declining each year since the Brexit vote despite strong demand, according to research by Deloitte. London's largest real estate investment trusts have been notably reticent since they were subjected to a major sell-off in the 2016 referendum."It is quite surprising we have seen so little development in London in the last year," said Savills head of commercial research, Mat Oakley.The combination of hardy demand and muted development has resulted in modest vacancy rates. And as demand exceeds new supply, those rates are starting to fall.That has led to rising rents in London's largest business districts for the past two years. Oxford Economics forecasts that about 203,000 new office jobs will be created in London over the next five years, setting the scene for that upward trajectory to continue.The solid rental market has helped ensure prices for London offices haven't fallen, apart from a brief dip in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. But the impact of the uncertainty around the U.K.'s future relationship with the EU is most visible when you compare London with its European rivals. Yields -- rent as a proportion of the property value -- have dropped sharply in Berlin and Paris as investors pile into real estate in search of returns.That means London trades at a sizable discount, and as the election result "has already boosted investor confidence," both deal-making and prices could rise next year, said James Beckham, CBRE Group Inc.'s head of central London investment.To contact the reporter on this story: Jack Sidders in London at jsidders@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shelley Robinson at ssmith118@bloomberg.net, Patrick Henry, Chris BourkeFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| How North Korea Sunk a Warship in 2010 (And Could Have Restarted the Korean War) Posted: 23 Dec 2019 09:00 PM PST  In 2010, North Korea sank a South Korean warship and 40 sailors died tragically. Tensions have risen again.
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| China, Japan and South Korea meet as North Korean threat looms Posted: 23 Dec 2019 07:55 PM PST  North Korea has been seeking relief on sanctions and making threats about what will happen if it doesn't get it.
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