| PRESS DIGEST- British Business - Aug 27 Posted: 26 Aug 2019 05:48 PM PDT ![PRESS DIGEST- British Business - Aug 27]( "PRESS DIGEST- British Business - Aug 27") The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. - The Daily Mail and General Trust has agreed to sell its energy information company Genscape to the owner of Wood Mackenzie, an oil industry consultancy, for $364 million. - A survey conducted by the Confederation of British Industry has found that uncertainties over Brexit have stifled Britain's services sector, with confidence and profits falling.
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| PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Aug. 27 Posted: 26 Aug 2019 05:41 PM PDT ![PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Aug. 27]( "PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Aug. 27") British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "marginally more optimistic" about striking a new Brexit deal with the European Union but added that talks with the bloc could go on until the Oct.31 deadline. Graham Peters, chair of UKspace, the trade body that represents satellite operators and manufacturers, called on the government to commit 150 million pounds ($184.16 million) a year to a national space innovation fund to help commercialise research. Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $572 million by an Oklahoma judge on Monday, after the company was found responsible for bills related to the state's opioid crisis.
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| Hezbollah says explosives found in Beirut crashed drone Posted: 26 Aug 2019 05:21 PM PDT  The Lebanese Hezbollah movement on Tuesday said a drone that crashed in its Beirut stronghold at the weekend contained an explosive device weighing more than five kilogrammes (11 pounds). The Iran-backed Shiite group had previously said an Israeli reconnaissance drone had flown over the south of Beirut before crashing, and that a second armed drone had then "hit a specific area" before dawn on Sunday. The latest discovery, Hezbollah said, confirms that Sunday's drone attack involved not one but two explosive-rigged drones -- one which exploded and the other that did not because of a technical failure.
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| UN secretary-general confident businesses will do what Trump will not on climate: G7 Summit Posted: 26 Aug 2019 04:44 PM PDT ![UN secretary-general confident businesses will do what Trump will not on climate: G7 Summit]( "UN secretary-general confident businesses will do what Trump will not on climate: G7 Summit") "If you look at the U.S. society today, you see states, you see cities [and] you see businesses that are really leading in relation to climate action, the U.N. Secretary-General said.
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| Iraq coalition calls Israeli strikes a 'declaration of war' Posted: 26 Aug 2019 04:12 PM PDT  A powerful bloc in Iraq's parliament called on Monday for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, following a series of airstrikes targeting Iran-backed Shiite militias in the country that have been blamed on Israel. The Fatah Coalition said it holds the United States fully responsible for the alleged Israeli aggression, "which we consider to be a declaration of war on Iraq and its people." The coalition is a parliament bloc representing Iran-backed paramilitary militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.
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| Lebanon: Israeli air force hits Palestinian base in Lebanon Posted: 26 Aug 2019 04:04 PM PDT  Israeli drones bombed a Palestinian base in eastern Lebanon near the border with Syria early Monday, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency and a Palestinian official said, further raising tensions in the Middle East. The strike came a day after an alleged Israeli drone crashed in a stronghold of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in southern Beirut while another exploded and crashed nearby. Hezbollah said its explosive experts found that one drone was laden with highly explosive materials, suggesting the aerial vehicles were designed to carry out attacks.
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| Trump Shifts Tone on China But Not Tactics as Deal Grows Distant Posted: 26 Aug 2019 04:01 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump left the G-7 summit on Monday taking a softer tone toward China, just days after spooking financial markets with another escalation in their trade war. Yet amid all the soothing words, Trump made it clear that he wasn't abandoning his rough and tumble tactics to force a trade deal on China.After spending a weekend listening to fellow Group of Seven leaders urging him to ease tensions with China, Trump pointed to recent calls and an amiable speech by China's top negotiator as signs Beijing wanted a deal. He shrugged off, however, the uncertainty his trade war has caused and showed no signs of backing down in an increasingly bitter trade dispute that's chipping away at global economic growth and sending world markets tumbling."It's the way I negotiate. It's done very well for me over the years. And it's doing even better for the country," Trump told reporters. Those clamoring for a deal lacked his "guts" and "wisdom," he added.While markets seized on Trump's positive signals Monday, the doubling down on methods that have yielded little progress after more than two years of steady escalation might have been the better one to focus on. On Friday, Trump announced additional tariffs on China in response to Beijing's plans to retaliate against U.S. goods.Going into the traditional Labor Day end of the U.S. summer, the prospects of a peaceful resolution to a trade war that has roiled financial markets and helped slow the global economy seem far lower than they were on Memorial Day -- and are growing more distant week by week."The likelihood of any sort of sustainable deal was already a long-shot a week ago. And now the political terrain on which you could create a deal is just so infinitesimal," said Jude Blanchette, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.People familiar with the state of talks say little progress has been made in recent weeks and that any perceived advances Trump sees may have more to do with his mood than what is actually happening. The administration also appears to lack a clear plan over what to do next.U.S. and Chinese officials have held working-level calls and are due to hold more in the coming days. But China seems reluctant to resume talks focused on what they see as an onerous 150-page draft text that was left behind when talks broke down in May, people briefed on the discussions said.Both sides have talked about holding face-to-face talks in Washington in September, but China has so far stopped short of committing to those negotiations and some U.S. officials have been reluctant to hold another round if nothing of substance can be achieved."Nothing substantive has happened," said Derek Scissors, a China expert at the American Enterprise Institute who has advised the administration. "They can have as many happy phone calls as they like. But eventually something has to come out of talks."Trump also appears to be misinterpreting the messages coming out of a Chinese leadership that is both facing a political crisis in Hong Kong and growing increasingly frustrated by what they see as an unreliable interlocutor in Trump.In a news conference Monday, the president focused on what he called a conciliatory message sent by Vice Premier Liu He, the lead Chinese negotiator, in a speech earlier in the day.Opening the "Smart China Expo" in the western city of Chongqing, Liu said China was "willing to solve the problem through consultation and cooperation with a calm attitude," according to Chinese media reports. "We firmly oppose the escalation of the trade war," he added.People familiar with the matter said Liu's statement had seemed especially significant to the president. But China experts said it also appeared to be a repetition of boilerplate language used by Chinese officials in recent months as they have publicly called for an end to tariffs and sought to portray themselves as the rational actors in the fight."It should have not been interpreted as China giving ground," said Blanchette.Worse, said Blanchette, Trump seemed to believe that Liu was the second-highest-ranking official in China, calling him "vice chairman" during his news conference and lauding him as second only to Xi Jinping in the Chinese leadership."The vice chairman of China -- you get higher than that other than President Xi? The vice president -- the vice chairman -- it's like the vice president," Trump told reporters. "The vice chairman made the statement that he wants to make a deal, that he wants to see a calm atmosphere."While Liu serves on China's Politburo and the more important State Council, he is one of four vice premiers under Premier Li Keqiang, who is widely seen as Xi's de-facto deputy.Trump's positive tone Monday came after a concerted charm campaign by his fellow G-7 leaders as they urged him to find a peace with China."Our deep wish is for an agreement to be found between the United States and China concerning trade because I think that would be something positive for everyone," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters, pointing to "lengthy discussions" over China during a meeting on the world economy Sunday.Dial DownEuropean G-7 leaders met in private ahead of the summit to coordinate their messaging and to make sure they were speaking in one voice. The thinking going in was, according to a German official, that they must try and soften Trump a bit to ensure he would be more responsive to their top concern: the trade war.One obvious way of doing that was not to hit him hard on the topic. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Trump's new best friend on the world stage, on Saturday raised what he called "faint, sheep-like" objections to the hammering of tariffs and asked the president if he wouldn't mind "dialing it down a beat."But if you listened carefully it wasn't hard to identify the vast distance between Trump and his fellow G-7 leaders when it came to China.As Macron stood on the stage with Trump on Monday he offered that neither the U.S. nor China were "economically or industrially naive." "There has to be a balanced agreement that will be good for everyone," the French president said.A few minutes later, with Macron having left the stage, Trump expressed frustration that Xi was meeting every escalation that he deployed with one of his own. "Now, when I raise and he raises, I raise and he raises, we can never catch up," Trump said."'We're down on the floor, lower than the floor. We can't make a 50-50 deal. This has to be a deal that's better for us," Trump said. "And if it's not better, let's not do business together. I don't want to do business."\--With assistance from Nancy Moran, Flavia Krause-Jackson and Saleha Mohsin.To contact the reporters on this story: Shawn Donnan in Washington at sdonnan@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Jacobs in Biarritz, France at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Josh Wingrove in Biarritz, France at jwingrove4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Kennedy at skennedy4@bloomberg.net, Sarah McGregor, Robert JamesonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Boris Johnson’s Morning Dip in the Atlantic Offers Visions of Brexit Deal Posted: 26 Aug 2019 04:00 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Follow @Brexit, sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, and tell us your Brexit story. At 7 a.m. on Sunday, Boris Johnson pulled on his swimming trunks and stepped into the Atlantic, striking out for a rock off the beach in Biarritz, accompanied by what he described as "special detachments of swimming police."Preparing for talks with Group of Seven leaders, the U.K. prime minister was thinking, like most days, about his apparently intractable differences with the European Union over Brexit.Out in the ocean, the prime minister found reasons for optimism."I swam round that rock this morning,'' he told ITV. "From here you cannot tell there is a gigantic hole in that rock. There is a way through. My point to the EU is that there is a way through, but you can't find the way through if you just sit on the beach."While Brexit remains another rock on the not-so distant horizon, the prime minister appeared to have gone down well with his G-7 counterparts.He found a broad range of international issues he could agree on with his main Brexit antagonist, European Council President Donald Tusk, reinforced his bond with U.S. President Donald Trump, and made French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife laugh -- in a good way.Breakfast With TrumpJust over an hour after his swim, Johnson was tucking into veal sausages, croissants and mixed fruit opposite Trump. Each man had eight officials in tow as they sat down for a working breakfast to discuss security, Iran and one of the great prizes of Brexit for Johnson: the prospect of a trade deal with the U.S."This is a person that's going to be a great prime minister in my opinion," Trump told reporters. "He needs no advice, he's the right man for the job. I've been saying that for a long time." A day later, he told a packed press conference "it's the right time for Boris."There was also a promise from Trump of a "very big trade deal" once the U.K. has shed the "anchor" of EU membership. Johnson later told broadcasters that the U.S. wants to do the deal in a year -- a potential timeframe also endorsed for a U.K.-Australia trade deal by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.Mindful of domestic criticism that he's in Trump's pocket, Johnson also tried to show he'll stand up to the U.S. president. He told Trump the National Health Service and animal welfare standards were out of bounds in trade talks and urged the president to open up U.S. markets to British meats and shipping companies. There was also a dig at the the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China, as he called on the two nations to "dial it down a beat."Joking Before DinnerAt a European coordination meeting later in the day, he joined in with Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in laughing as European Council President Donald Tusk pointed at the EU flag and cracked a joke that elicited the response "no no no" from the U.K. premier.On his arrival at Sunday's formal dinner, he headed off in the wrong direction before suddenly pivoting and pointing his fingers at Macron and his wife as they waited to greet him. The French first couple's faces creased with laughter.If the Trump meeting was the most anticipated of the summit, the one most likely to cause sparks was his bilateral with Tusk on Sunday afternoon. Before the summit, Tusk said Johnson risked going down in history as "Mr. No Deal." Johnson had retorted that that's what Tusk would be known as if the EU didn't offer concessions on Brexit.But both U.K. and EU officials characterized Johnson's meeting with Tusk as positive, the international agenda offering a counterpoint to the Brexit discussion."So far in this G-7 I think it would be fair to say, Donald, you and I have spent most of the conversations in completely glutinous agreement on most of the issues that have been raised," Johnson told Tusk.Donald Tusk replied: "I couldn't agree more."An EU official later said Johnson was constructive and aligned with the Europeans on issues like Iran, China, trade, Russia. A German official agreed with that sentiment.On his return to London, it's back to the Brexit grind with rival political forces gathering to block a no-deal Brexit. Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn will host a cross-party meeting to discuss options in his office at 11 a.m. Later on Tuesday, some opposition lawmakers will meet to discuss ways to stop Johnson from suspending parliament. Johnson is sounding a little less upbeat about the chances of getting Brexit done and dusted by Oct. 31: "I think it's going to be touch and go."On Monday morning, Johnson went back to the ocean to test his theory -- and this time he swam through the gap in the rocks.(Updates with comments from Trump, Morrison, Johnson, starting in eighth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Arne Delfs, Ian Wishart, Josh Wingrove, Helene Fouquet and Jennifer Jacobs.To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Flavia Krause-JacksonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson says Russia denied him a visa Posted: 26 Aug 2019 03:03 PM PDT  A U.S. senator from Wisconsin who has publicly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia has denied him a visa to visit as part of a congressional delegation. Ron Johnson said he had planned to speak with government officials, American businesses and others during his trip. The Republican is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation.
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| AP FACT CHECK: Trump's mistold tale of Obama and Iran Posted: 26 Aug 2019 02:39 PM PDT  President Donald Trump on Monday assailed the Obama administration for being hoodwinked by Iran, making his case with a frequently told and false story about the U.S. giving billions of dollars to Tehran. In an extended news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron and other remarks at the G-7 summit, Trump also asserted inaccurately that the U.S. has the cleanest air, as well as energy riches that only he brought to life. Many countries outperform the U.S. on measures of air quality.
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| Feds seek death penalty in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre Posted: 26 Aug 2019 02:05 PM PDT  A man charged with killing 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue should face the death penalty if convicted, federal prosecutors said in a court filing Monday. The U.S. attorney's office in Pittsburgh filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against 46-year-old Robert Bowers in last year's attack. The government filing said justification for a death sentence included allegations of substantial planning and premeditation, the vulnerability and number of victims, and a motivation of religious hostility.
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| UPDATE 5-Trump, Iran's president talk of possible meeting to solve nuclear impasse Posted: 26 Aug 2019 01:54 PM PDT  U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would meet Iran's president under the right circumstances to end a confrontation over a 2015 nuclear deal and that talks were underway to see how countries could open credit lines to keep Iran's economy afloat.
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| Trump Lowers the Bar for a Deal With Iran Posted: 26 Aug 2019 01:40 PM PDT ![Trump Lowers the Bar for a Deal With Iran]( "Trump Lowers the Bar for a Deal With Iran") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- When President Donald Trump finally followed through on his threats and withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, it looked like he was after something far more ambitious. Shortly after the announcement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined 12 conditions for the U.S. to lift the sanctions Trump had just reimposed, including an end to threats against Israel, a withdrawal of Iranian forces from Syria and the release of all U.S. citizens Iran was detaining.Today, at a press conference at the Group of Seven summit in France, Trump whittled down those conditions to just three. "We're looking for: no nuclear weapons, no ballistic missiles and a longer period of time," he said, referring to the expiration of many conditions of the last deal in 2030. "Very simple, we can have it done in a very short period of time."Trump was speaking on a podium with French President Emanuel Macron, who had invited Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to the summit over the weekend. Macron is one of many intermediaries seeking to arrange a meeting between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Trump said he would be open to such a meeting if the Iranians were "good players" and "if the circumstances were correct."This is not a particularly new position for the president. He has frequently said he is interested in talks with Iran and has stressed that his goal is not an end to Iran's regime, but rather a better deal.The news is that Trump is making this gesture now. Iran has not made any significant changes to its rhetoric, policy or behavior; just last weekend, for example, it imposed sanctions on a Washington think tank, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. While it's unclear what impact this may have, a state news agency indicated that actions "against the FDD and their Iranian and non-Iranian accomplices will be considered legitimate." Iran has a long history of extrajudicial assassinations and threats to individuals in the West, from novelist Salman Rushdie to Kurdish opposition figures exiled in Europe. The think tank's president, Cliff May, told me that the FDD is taking extra precautions. The episode helps illustrate why Pompeo's initial demands are so important. Of course it's paramount that Iran's quest to obtain nuclear weapons be stopped. But any deal with the regime would also have to address the totality of its behavior. One of the reasons so many Republicans opposed the deal in the first place is because it provided Iran with considerable economic relief without addressing its regional predations.Now Trump appears to be willing to negotiate a second version of his predecessor's narrow nuclear deal. It's not a bargain the president should make, nor is it one that supporters of an open society for Iran should accept.To contact the author of this story: Eli Lake at elake1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump Lowers the Bar for a Deal With Iran Posted: 26 Aug 2019 01:40 PM PDT ![Trump Lowers the Bar for a Deal With Iran]( "Trump Lowers the Bar for a Deal With Iran") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- When President Donald Trump finally followed through on his threats and withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, it looked like he was after something far more ambitious. Shortly after the announcement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined 12 conditions for the U.S. to lift the sanctions Trump had just reimposed, including an end to threats against Israel, a withdrawal of Iranian forces from Syria and the release of all U.S. citizens Iran was detaining.Today, at a press conference at the Group of Seven summit in France, Trump whittled down those conditions to just three. "We're looking for: no nuclear weapons, no ballistic missiles and a longer period of time," he said, referring to the expiration of many conditions of the last deal in 2030. "Very simple, we can have it done in a very short period of time."Trump was speaking on a podium with French President Emanuel Macron, who had invited Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to the summit over the weekend. Macron is one of many intermediaries seeking to arrange a meeting between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Trump said he would be open to such a meeting if the Iranians were "good players" and "if the circumstances were correct."This is not a particularly new position for the president. He has frequently said he is interested in talks with Iran and has stressed that his goal is not an end to Iran's regime, but rather a better deal.The news is that Trump is making this gesture now. Iran has not made any significant changes to its rhetoric, policy or behavior; just last weekend, for example, it imposed sanctions on a Washington think tank, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. While it's unclear what impact this may have, a state news agency indicated that actions "against the FDD and their Iranian and non-Iranian accomplices will be considered legitimate." Iran has a long history of extrajudicial assassinations and threats to individuals in the West, from novelist Salman Rushdie to Kurdish opposition figures exiled in Europe. The think tank's president, Cliff May, told me that the FDD is taking extra precautions. The episode helps illustrate why Pompeo's initial demands are so important. Of course it's paramount that Iran's quest to obtain nuclear weapons be stopped. But any deal with the regime would also have to address the totality of its behavior. One of the reasons so many Republicans opposed the deal in the first place is because it provided Iran with considerable economic relief without addressing its regional predations.Now Trump appears to be willing to negotiate a second version of his predecessor's narrow nuclear deal. It's not a bargain the president should make, nor is it one that supporters of an open society for Iran should accept.To contact the author of this story: Eli Lake at elake1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Israel bans cameras at Arab polling stations in next vote Posted: 26 Aug 2019 01:05 PM PDT ![Israel bans cameras at Arab polling stations in next vote]( "Israel bans cameras at Arab polling stations in next vote") Israel's elections committee has ruled against a plan by the prime minister's party to have cameras at polling stations in Arab communities during parliamentary elections next month. During April's vote, Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party deployed activists with cameras at polls in Arab communities. Israel faces an unprecedented repeat election after Netanyahu's party failed to form a government after April's elections, then dissolved parliament.
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| G7 summit: last rites of old order as Trump's theater looms next year Posted: 26 Aug 2019 12:43 PM PDT  Leaders put on a show of common endeavor with awareness that meeting could be a lot worse next year when Trump will be circus masterDonald Trump at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, on 26 August. Photograph: Carlos Barría/ReutersIf next year's G7 summit turns out to be a branding event at a Trump golf resort in Florida, with Vladimir Putin as de-facto co-chair, the old guard among America's allies will look back on this year's meeting in Biarritz with some nostalgia.Not much was achieved, truth be told, but that is nothing new. To avoid the embarrassment of the previous year in Quebec – when Trump disowned the carefully-crafted joint communiqué soon after boarding Air Force One – Emmanuel Macron, the host in Biarritz, had the wheeze of doing away with the traditional statement altogether. If there was no document, there was nothing to refuse to sign.The downside was that the meeting left little trace it had ever happened, apart from the enduring resentment of Biarritz, which was cordoned off for three days, and its residents forced to wear violet identity badges to get past the police cordons.But at least the leaders of the world's larger industrialised democracies – loosely described as the west – put on a show of common endeavour. They put out a "declaration" with a handful of aspiration thoughts about trade, Iran, Ukraine, Libya and Hong Kong, which was thinner than the single page it was printed on.There were well-meaning statements on the need to prevent Iran to acquire nuclear weapons and some trade tensions were eased. A vow was also made to do something about the burning Amazon, with a combined down-payment of €20m, significantly less than the cost of the summit, and a particularly paltry sum in view of what was generally agreed to be an existential threat to the planet.Looming over the whole affair however, was an awareness that everything could become a lot worse next year when Trump will be the circus master, making a fat margin on food and lodging at his golf resort outside Miami airport. He will then be in the middle of his campaign for re-election – and therefore even less engaged or willing to compromise than he was in Biarritz.The conceit of the G7 is that it represented a club or family of like-minded nations. Next year, they could find themselves to be more little more than Trump's paying customers.Fittingly, there was an end of epoque feel to the venue. Biarritz is old-world glamour, overlooking the Bay of Biscay, with gentle breezes and golden evening light on its neatly-raked beaches. It evokes a grandeur from another age when Europe was the centre of the world, and it could assume that its values would be at least admired if not emulated.One by one, surrounded by their entourages, the leaders took the morning air, strolling from their quarters at the imposing Hotel du Palais, past the art deco casino where the one-armed bandits and blackjack tables were silent for the long weekend, and up a steeply rising path to the meeting rooms at the Bellevue. There sense of importance combined with their evident impotence was reminiscent of Europe's ruling dynasties on the eve of world war one, utterly oblivious to the fact their world was going to end.Boris Johnson, with his calculated disheveled and absent-minded demeanor, came across in particular as a character actor in an Edwardian period drama, literally making his small splash by swimming out from the deserted beach to a rock with a broad opening in it, returning to declare it a metaphor for Brexit.None of the cast had a sense of theatre to match the master of ceremonies, President Macron. From the start he tried to shake the dullness and sense of futility out of the proceedings with the occasional stunt. He corralled Trump immediately on the US president's arrival, ushering him out on to the hotel terrace where an outside table had been prepared with white linen and places set for two. It was a gambit to get to the man by himself, away from his aides. The American later declared it to have been their best meeting, but there was enough of a meeting of minds to clear the way for Macron's second theatrical coup, flying in Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, for talks across the road from the summit, thereby creating a buzz of anticipation of a diplomatic breakthrough between Tehran and Washington at a time when they seem to be drifting towards war.At the final closing conference with Trump, Macron also had a surprise, declaring himself confident that Trump could meet his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, in the coming weeks. Trump, always keen on a photo-op, did not rule it out. But there was no sign, as the delegations went their own way on Monday morning that the US was prepared to take the requisite first step towards dialogue and relaxing its punishing oil embargo. Without that, the Macron initiative is doomed to remain a piece of performance hard.Again and again, Macron's efforts at projecting progressive modernity were belied by the turgid underlying realities. There were sessions on gender equality but when it came for the group photo of the expanded guest list as the sun set outside the Hotel du Palais, there were 24 men on the dais, and one woman, Angela Merkel, in the twilight of her political career.If there was a moment that sounded the death knell of the old order, it came at dinner in Biarritz's antique lighthouse. The leaders were served Basque specialities and spoke about the pressing matters of the day.But the mood turned sour when Trump interrupted the flow of conversation to press the case for admitting Vladimir Putin back in to the club, to make it the G8 once more. The Europeans, with the exception of the Italians, were outraged. Putin had been booted out in 2014 for breaking all the rules of the postwar world, ignoring borders and annexing Crimea. Since then he has shown no sign of reversing his land grab.Furthermore, Putin's regime was becoming more and more repressive. Whatever hopes there might have been that he would take a turn towards economic and political form had long since dissipated.The G7, the Europeans insisted, was a family of liberal democracies or it was nothing. Trump did not seem to care, the phrase "liberal democracy" meant nothing to him. His nominal allies were stunned by his indifference to what they held sacred and his determination to act on Putin's behalf.Macron passed the baton to Trump on Monday with a hug and a show of camaraderie. But there was a distinct sense of the established order being given its last rites – not to be replaced by anything fresh, but by a reversion to something even older and more visceral.In the new order, the aspirational talk of a fairer and greener future will be dispensed with to be replaced by the pursuit of profit, and the division of the world by a handful of powerful men.
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| Israel 'strikes inside Lebanon' amid rising tensions in region Posted: 26 Aug 2019 12:08 PM PDT  Israeli jets reportedly struck a Palestinian fighter base in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley early Monday, as the Lebanese president described earlier Israeli drone strikes as a "declaration of war". Local officials confirmed three rockets struck a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine base in the village of Qusaya on the Lebanese border, causing damage but no fatalities. The area is known to have a network of cross-border underground tunnels often used by Iran-backed groups. The strike came amid heightened tensions after two drones crashed in the Hizbollah-dominated Beirut suburb of Dahieh on Sunday morning. One exploded, causing severe damage to Hizbollah's media centre and wounding three party members. Hizbollah says it has identified the drones as Israeli. Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah gave a theatrical speech on Sunday night, warning: "From tonight, I tell the Israeli army on the border, wait for our response, which may take place at any time on the border and beyond the border. Be prepared and wait for us." If Israel is responsible, the attacks mark the most serious Israeli incursion into Lebanese territory since the 2006 war between the two countries, in which 1,200 Lebanese and 158 Israelis were killed. "What happened was similar to a declaration of war which allows us to resort to our right to defending our sovereignty," said Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Twitter. He met with Lebanon's UN Special Coordinator on Monday to discuss the situation. Other Lebanese leaders, however, seem keen to find a diplomatic resolution. "The Lebanese government sees it best to avoid any sliding of the situation towards a dangerous escalation," Prime Minister Saad Hariri told ambassadors of the UN Security Council. A source inside the Lebanese Armed Forces told The Telegraph there would be no official statement as it is their judgement that the strike took place in Syria. Qusaya lies directly on Lebanon's border with Syria; the army's assessment that the attack was in Syrian territory may be a further attempt to de-escalate the situation. A spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Forces did not confirm either strike, saying "Israel does not comment on foreign reports." The United Nations called for "maximum restraint" by all parties. Experts in the region say Monday's border strike fits Israel's pattern. While the group attacked was Palestinian, the strike appears to be part of Israel's escalating conflict with Iran. This branch of the PLFP, General Command, is a splinter group which has been controlled by Iran since 2014. The group has since been used to run operations and facilitate arms transfers for Iran-backed Hizbollah in Syria. "This particular base has been used as a training camp before, and Hizbollah dominates this area; it's little Hizbollistan," said Phillip Smyth, a specialist on Iranian proxy groups. Some experts argue Israel is trying to goad Hizbollah into conflict, forcing them to fight on multiple fronts in both Syria and Lebanon. "My theory is that the Israelis are trying to goad Hizbollah into making a mistake and overreacting, so they can deal them a crippling blow," said David Daoud, a research analyst on Lebanon and Hizbollah. "The Israelis traditionally have always needed some kind of justification to bring to America to say they need to go to war. Right now a war with Israel is not ideal timing for Hizbollah." "You get a lot of floral language, but the thing to remember about Hizbollah and the Iranians is their all about building up, they're all about patience," Mr Smyth said. "For them it's about hitting at the right time and the right place, when they're ready."
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| Environmental campaigners dismiss G7 pledge of £16 million for Amazon fires as ‘inadequate’ Posted: 26 Aug 2019 11:57 AM PDT  Environmental groups on Monday dismissed a G7 pledge of £16 million to fight fires engulfing vast expanses of the Amazon as "inadequate". Emmanuel Macron, the French president, who hosted a three-day summit of the world's seven major industrialised countries in the coastal resort of Biarritz, said the world's largest rainforest was the "lung" of the Earth. "We must respond to the call of the forest which is burning today in the Amazon," he said. The emergency aid is to go mainly towards fire-fighting planes, but Greenpeace France said: "The response is inadequate given the urgency and magnitude of this environmental disaster." The package was agreed a day after Boris Johnson announced that Britain alone would give £10 million towards the longer-term restoration of the world's biggest rainforest - a much larger contribution in relative terms. An environmental group headed by Leonardo di Caprio, the Hollywood star, has also pledged $5 million (£4.1 million). Clément Sénéchal of Greenpeace France said: "No global vision on the struggle against climate change came out of this summit of the world's most powerful heads of state." A statement by the group described Mr Macron's promises to tackle climate change as "smoke and mirrors". It was unclear on Monday night if Brazil would cooperate with the G7's move, even as hundreds of new fires were reportedly breaking out. After it was announced, Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president, accused rich countries of treating the region like a "colony or no-man's land". NASA Earth Observatory map shows active fire detections in South America Credit: AFP In a social media tirade, he said that respecting national sovereignty "is the least one can expect in a civilised world". Satellites have spotted more than 77,000 fires in the Amazon since January, an 85 per cent increase from last year. Experts have blamed Mr Bolsonaro for allowing farmers and ranchers to clear forest for crops or grazing. The approval rating of his eight-month-old government has plunged to 29.4 per cent in August from 38.9 per cent in February, according to a poll released on Monday. Disapproval of his personal performance as president rose to 53.7 per cent from 28.2 per cent. Donald Trump, the US president, left his chair empty at the climate session where the aid package was agreed, although it was a priority issue for the summit. Mr Macron said Mr Trump agreed on the initiative but could not attend because of bilateral meeting engagements. Mr Macron said he hoped to defuse escalating tension with Iran over its nuclear programme by brokering a meeting between Mr Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, "in the coming weeks". French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump Credit: REUTERS Mr Trump caused consternation among his European allies by pulling out of a 2015 international agreement placing limits on Tehran's nuclear activities in return for trade and investment. Mr Macron expressed optimism that a new agreement could be reached, and Mr Trump said he might be willing to meet Mr Rouhani. "If the circumstances were correct, I would certainly agree to that but in the meantime they [the Iranians] have to be good players," he said. Mr Trump said Mr Macron had informed him in advance that he was going to hold talks with Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, who made a surprise visit to Biarritz on Saturday. Mr Macron said the talks had laid the groundwork for a Trump-Rouhani meeting. He and Mr Trump emphasised that the G7 leaders shared the common goal of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. There is "great unity", Mr Trump said. "We've come to a conclusion, more or less." Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, was less upbeat about the prospects of a diplomatic breakthrough. "We all have a big interest in a peaceful solution to the Iran situation, but it won't be easy," she said. U.S. President Donald Trump meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel for bilateral talks during the G7 summit in Biarritz Credit: REUTERS Mr Trump campaigned at the summit to host the 2020 G7 at one of his golf resorts, the Trump National Doral in Florida. He denied accusations that he was seeking to divert taxpayers' cash into his own coffers. "I'm not going to make any money. I don't want to make money," he told a press conference as the summit closed. France and the US also reached a deal on the sidelines of the summit to end a bitter dispute over a French tax on digital giants such as Google and Facebook, Mr Macron said. Mr Trump had threatened to hit back by imposing tariffs on French wine. Mr Macron said companies that pay the tax would be able to deduct the amount once a new international deal on how to tax internet companies is found next year. Mr Trump appeared to soften his tone on his trade war with China during the summit, saying he was ready to return to the negotiating table. "I think they [the Chinese] want to make a deal very badly."
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| Syria activists: Strikes kill 4, including woman, her child Posted: 26 Aug 2019 11:30 AM PDT  Airstrikes targeted Syria's last major rebel stronghold in the northwestern province of Idlib on Monday, killing at least four people, including a woman and her child, opposition activists said. The attacks come as Syrian government forces turn their focus on another rebel-held town in Idlib, Maaret al-Numan, following gains they made last week. Syrian troops have been on the offensive since April 30, and have also captured all rebel-held areas in the adjoining Hama province, as well as the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib.
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| Trump Again Blames Obama For Russia's Illegal Annexation Of Crimea Posted: 26 Aug 2019 11:26 AM PDT  President Trump insisted that Vladimir Putin was ousted from the G-8 "because of Obama," ignoring that Russia violated international law.
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| Trump and Rouhani suggest they could meet to resolve US-Iran crisis Posted: 26 Aug 2019 11:07 AM PDT  Donald Trump and Iran's president Hassan Rouhani have suggested they would be willing to sit down to hammer out their country's differences.The two leaders may meet at the United Nations General Assembly session next month – and could cool down fears of a broader war in the Middle East.
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| Trump says he's open to Macron-proposed meeting with Iran's President Rouhani Posted: 26 Aug 2019 11:05 AM PDT  Trump says he's open to Macron-proposed meeting with Iran's President Rouhani originally appeared on abcnews.go.comPresident Donald Trump on Monday said he would be open to a meeting with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron.After Macron said he hoped to arrange such a meeting in the "coming weeks," Trump said, "If the circumstances were correct or right, I would certainly agree with that." NEW: Pres. Trump says he would meet with Iranian Pres. Rouhani "if the circumstances were correct.""But in the meantime, they have to be good players." https://t. ...
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| Trump says he's open to Macron-proposed meeting with Iran's President Rouhani Posted: 26 Aug 2019 11:05 AM PDT  Trump says he's open to Macron-proposed meeting with Iran's President Rouhani originally appeared on abcnews.go.comPresident Donald Trump on Monday said he would be open to a meeting with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron.After Macron said he hoped to arrange such a meeting in the "coming weeks," Trump said, "If the circumstances were correct or right, I would certainly agree with that." NEW: Pres. Trump says he would meet with Iranian Pres. Rouhani "if the circumstances were correct.""But in the meantime, they have to be good players." https://t. ...
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| Trump Says He’d Meet Rouhani Under ‘Correct’ Circumstances Posted: 26 Aug 2019 10:30 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump said Monday he'd be willing to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani under the "correct" circumstances to discuss their standoff over the 2015 nuclear deal the U.S. president abandoned.French President Emmanuel Macron said during a joint news conference with Trump in Biarritz, France, that he hoped to arrange a meeting between the two leaders within weeks. The American president was more cautious about a move that would signal a dramatic shift in almost a half century of broken diplomatic ties between Tehran and Washington.Speaking at the conclusion of the Group of Seven meeting on Monday, Trump said he would meet with Rouhani "if the circumstances were correct or were right.""I don't know the gentleman," Trump said. "I think he's going to want to meet."Trump also said he'd support extending what he called a "letter of credit" to Iran, secured by oil, to help the country meet short-term financial obligations, another Macron proposal. "It would be from numerous countries," Trump said, and "it would be paid back immediately."The talk of allowing even limited crude sales would be a sharp shift in what has been an ever tightening series of U.S. economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, including restrictions on the country's oil sales. The comments followed televised remarks by Rouhani, who reiterated previous statements that he's willing to talk."We must make use of any means for the interest of our country," Rouhani said. "If I know that going to a meeting, meeting someone will lead to the progress of my country and resolve the problems of the people, I will not hold back. The principle is the national interest of our people."Though any actual summit is likely a long ways off, the back-and-forth between two leaders of countries which have considered the other an enemy for decades signaled there may be an opportunity to strike a deal.Iran was a central part of the discussions at the G-7, whose European leaders are trying to hold together the nuclear deal with Tehran that Trump exited last year. Iran also generated the summit's biggest surprise, when Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif flew to Biarritz on Sunday with most world leaders having little or no advanced notice of the trip.Zarif's arrival and his day of meetings in the mayor's office in Biarritz prompted speculation Trump might leave the summit altogether. But the American president didn't let Zarif's arrival upend his plans, even though his administration has ramped up sanctions on Iran and threatened retaliation if the Islamic Republic continues to violate the 2015 agreement. Trump said Macron had told him in advance about the Zarif visit.Underscoring the message that France can act as a mediator on improvements to the 2015 nuclear accord, Macron accurately noted that French negotiators "hesitated most to sign this agreement" because it had "drawbacks and compromises."(Adds comments from Rouhani starting in seventh paragraph.)\--With assistance from Arsalan Shahla.To contact the reporters on this story: Josh Wingrove in Washington at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net;Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Bill Faries, Justin BlumFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump blames Obama, not Putin, for Russia seizing Crimea Posted: 26 Aug 2019 10:20 AM PDT  President Trump blamed the last U.S. president for Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, praising President Vladimir Putin for outsmarting President Obama and saying he thought Russia should be welcomed back into the annual meeting of the leaders of the world's largest economic powers.
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| 'He was outsmarted': Trump mocks Obama on world stage Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:55 AM PDT !['He was outsmarted': Trump mocks Obama on world stage]( "'He was outsmarted': Trump mocks Obama on world stage") The president alleged his predecessor was embarrassed by Russia's Vladimir Putin.
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| Trump Pitches Luxury Miami Property for Next G-7: His Own Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:48 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he doesn't expect to make money if the U.S. hosts next year's Group of Seven summit at his Trump Doral golf resort, even as he delivered an extended sales pitch to hold the meeting at his Miami property."Each country can have their own villa, or their own bungalow" if the meeting is at Doral, Trump said Monday at the end of the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France. The U.S. is next in the rotation to host the annual meeting of world leaders, which will occur in the middle of the 2020 presidential campaign."I don't want to make any money," said Trump, who also said that he's losing $3 billion to $5 billion just by serving as president.Earlier in the day, Trump ticked off advantages of holding a global summit in the Sunshine State of Florida. "It's very big," and it's Miami, "so it's a great area." He told German Chancellor Angela Merkel, sitting next to him, that she'd have just a three-minute helicopter ride from the airport to the site."People are really liking it," Trump said.The president already has run afoul of ethics experts and faced multiple lawsuits over his continued involvement with some of his private business holdings, such as the Trump International Hotel in Washington. Locating a global summit on one of his properties would open him up to a slew of new allegations that he's mixing his private financial gain with his public position as commander-in-chief.The Trump Organization has donated profit from foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury, part of a bid to counter criticism that Trump may be violating the U.S. Constitution's emoluments clauses by accepting payments from foreign governments.Still, Doral would benefit in other ways from hosting a summit of world leaders. The resort would get free publicity that could boost future profit.The president placed his business holdings in a revocable trust that lets him continue to profit from his company's activities. His sons Eric and Donald Jr. run the Trump Organization. Democrats and watchdog groups have repeatedly criticized Trump for maintaining his business while in public office.Doral is built more for play than work, and its website boasts that it's only eight miles (13 kilometers) from the Miami airport. It's 800 acres, boasts four golf courses and 643 rooms, plus more than 100,000 square feet of event space -- including the Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom.Doral may have fallen on hard times financially. Trump's financial disclosure showed the property had $74.8 million in 2018 income, down from about $115.9 million.A number of high-profile companies and industry groups have held meetings there since Trump took office, including private prison operator Geo Group Inc., a major beneficiary of Trump's immigration policies. Separately, the Community Financial Services Association of America, a payday lenders' trade group, held an event there in March amid efforts to roll back consumer protections in the industry.Regardless of the location, hosting the summit offers Trump the opportunity to stand center-stage among world leaders, brandishing the power of the U.S. presidency shortly before voters decide whether he should have another four years in office.Trump won't be the first to host the gathering during an election year. Former President Barack Obama hosted leaders of the Group of Eight, which included Russia, in 2012 at Camp David as he ran for re-election. George W. Bush gathered leaders in Sea Island, Georgia, in 2004 as he sought a second term.\--With assistance from Jonathan Levin and Bill Faries.To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Biarritz, France at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Josh Wingrove in Biarritz, France at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net;Jonathan Levin in Miami at jlevin20@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Gordon at cgordon39@bloomberg.net, ;Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net, ;Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu, Justin BlumFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump says there's a 'good chance' he meets with Iran's Rouhani Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:45 AM PDT ![Trump says there's a 'good chance' he meets with Iran's Rouhani]( "Trump says there's a 'good chance' he meets with Iran's Rouhani") Trump told reporters at the G7 he could be open to renegotiating a nuclear deal with Iran.
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| Trump at G7 Blames Everybody but Putin for Crimea Annexation Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:37 AM PDT  CNNPresident Donald Trump on Monday concluded his G7 trip by repeating Russian propaganda, claiming once again that it had been kicked out of the Group of 7 in 2014 because Russian President Vladimir Putin had "outsmarted" and "embarrassed" President Barack Obama by annexing Crimea from Ukraine.During the solo portion of his press conference in Biarritz, the president was asked by PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor why he felt it was appropriate to invite Russia to rejoin the G7 considering they meddled in the United States' 2016 presidential election."Are you worried that if Russia does come to the G7 that it might hurt you politically because it's only going to be a couple of months before the 2020 election?" Alcindor added.Claiming he doesn't care about the political consequences, Trump went on to say that having Russia in the group "is better than having them outside" the G7. The president then pivoted to blasting his predecessor while praising an adversarial leader.Stating that there were a "lot of bad things" that happened between Obama and Putin, Trump said that Obama's "red line" warning to Syria—a Russian ally—over the use of chemical weapons was one of the reasons Russia wasn't in the G7. He then pivoted to the annexation of Crimea."And the other [reason] was in Ukraine, having to do with a certain section of Ukraine that you know very well, where it was sort of taken away from President Obama," Trump declared. "Not taken away from President Trump, taken away from President Obama. President Obama was not happy that this happened because it was embarrassing to him, right? It was very embarrassing to him."He continued: "And he wanted Russia to be out of the—what was called the G8. That was his determination. He was outsmarted by Putin. He was outsmarted. President Putin outsmarted President Obama. And I can understand how President Obama would feel. He wasn't happy. And they're not in for that reason."Alcindor, meanwhile, pushed back, confronting the president for repeating his baseless claim that Putin was pushed out of the then-G8 for embarrassing Obama, noting that the other countries said they booted Russia because of its illegal invasion and annexation of Crimea."I know you like President Obama," Trump snapped back, adding: "If it was during my term, I would say sorry, folks, I made a mistake."The president then claimed Obama "was helping Ukraine" and Russia took Crimea during Obama's tenure, placing all of the blame for Russia's actions on the former U.S. president."President Obama was pure and simply outsmarted," Trump concluded. "They took Crimea during his term. That was not a good thing. It could have been stopped with the right whatever. It could have been stopped. But President Obama was unable to stop it and it's too bad."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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| Iraq government chiefs, Hashed top brass discuss drone attacks Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:31 AM PDT  Iraq's top government officials met with leading members of the Hashed al-Shaabi on Monday after a purported Israeli strike on the paramilitary force that risks throwing the country into a proxy war. Sunday's attack struck a position held by Brigade 45, a Hashed al-Shaabi unit based near Iraq's desertic western border with Syria, killing one fighter and severely wounding a second. A string of suspicious incidents at Hashed bases over the last month have sparked concern of a possible confrontation between Iran, the US, and Israel on Iraqi soil -- or in its airspace.
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| Trump Says China Badly Wants Deal, U.S. Open to Calm Negotiation Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:23 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. U.S. President Donald Trump said China wants to make a deal as he praised comments by the country's chief negotiator for trade, offering a more conciliatory tone after escalating tensions in recent days."They want to make a deal very badly," Trump said during a press conference from the Group of Seven meeting in Biarritz, France. "The tariffs have hit them very hard."Trump also noted remarks made earlier Monday by China's top trade negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He. "He wants to see a deal made, he wants it to be made under calm conditions," Trump said. "He used the word 'calm,' I agree with him."U.S. stocks rallied Monday after optimistic remarks at the G-7 from Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, who said he saw a willingness for a U.S.-China trade deal. The dollar strengthened and 10-year Treasury yields held close to a three-year low.Liu said at the opening ceremony of the 2019 Smart China Expo in Chongqing: "We are willing to solve the problem through consultation and cooperation with a calm attitude," according to a Caixin report. "We firmly oppose the escalation of the trade war," he said, adding that it "is not conducive to China, the U.S. and the interests of people all over the world."While Trump mostly struck a conciliatory tone in his press conference, he also insisted that any deal would have to address the imbalance in trade. If it didn't, he said, the U.S. would stop doing business with China."This has to be a deal that's better for us," he told reporters. "And if it's not better I don't want to do business."Prospects for DealEarlier Monday Trump said the prospects for a deal with China are better now than at any time since negotiations began last year, even as a top state-media editor in Beijing questioned his version of events.He said China last night called "our trade people and said let's get back to the table." He also lauded President Xi Jinping as a "great leader" and said "anything's possible" when asked if he would delay tariff increases on China."You can say we're having very meaningful talks, much more meaningful than I would say at any time frankly," Trump said while meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday. "Maybe I'm wrong but we're in a stronger position now to do a deal, a fair deal for everyone," he added.Phone CallsStill, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry wasn't able to immediately confirm the details of the phone calls on Monday. Later, Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of China's Global Times newspaper, said in a tweet that top trade negotiators hadn't spoken by phone in recent days and that Trump was exaggerating the significance of the trade contacts.At the press conference, Trump answered questions on the discrepancy insisting that there had been "numerous calls" over the past two days including with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.Mnuchin, also in Biarritz, said earlier Monday "there were discussions that went back and forth and let's just leave it at that."Trump's comments mark the latest twist in months of negotiations that have seen moments of optimism give way to even greater escalation. While the two sides have at times appeared close to a deal, China has balked at U.S. demands for market-based reforms in areas like state-run enterprises that could jeopardize the Communist Party's grip on power.The developments came after a weekend of tit-for-tat tariffs had rocked financial markets and fueled fears that the standoff would drag the global economy into recession.Beijing's retaliation on Friday to an earlier U.S. tariff hike led to yet another increase from Trump, who said that existing 25% tariffs on some $250 billion in imports from China would rise to 30% come Oct. 1, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Morgan Stanley warned that the spiral of trade measures could result in a global downturn within nine months.China has consistently agreed to engage in talks even with tariff escalations taking place. A round of negotiations that had been planned for September had not formally been called off after Trump pivoted to further tariff increases even after an apparent detente between the two sides in Shanghai last month.Trump tweeted over the weekend that the U.S. "would be far better off" without China, and claimed he could order U.S. businesses to withdraw from the country.China will follow through with retaliatory measures announced Friday and fight the trade war to the end, after the U.S. failed to keep its promises, the Communist Party flagship newspaper People's Daily wrote in a Saturday editorial. Later, the Editor-in-Chief of the nationalist Global Times, Hu Xijin, said on Twitter that the U.S. is "starting to lose China."Trump's comments from Biarritz were met with skepticism in Beijing."Trump pays great attention to the stock market's performance," said Gai Xinzhe, non-resident research fellow at the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. "Trump may want to use a vague description of the call to stabilize the market sentiment and ease pressure. We will see what happens next."(Updates with Trump comments from press conference on calls.)\--With assistance from Jeff Kearns and Shawn Donnan.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Miao Han in Beijing at mhan22@bloomberg.net;Josh Wingrove in Biarritz, France at jwingrove4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, ;Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, Scott LanmanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Brexit can go down to the very last minute, British PM Johnson says Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:22 AM PDT ![Brexit can go down to the very last minute, British PM Johnson says]( "Brexit can go down to the very last minute, British PM Johnson says") British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was prepared to take Brexit talks with the European Union down to the very last minute before the Oct. 31 exit deadline and if necessary to take a decision to leave without a deal on that day.
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| The G7 Summit Serves Its Purpose Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:21 AM PDT  It is becoming increasingly clear that the Group of Seven (G7) no longer serves as the coordinator center for the world's leading industrial democracies. While I would argue that the conclave continues to have value as a venue for collective and bilateral interaction among a group of important leaders, it is no closer—and arguable more distant—from any aspiration that it functions as a de facto nucleus of any sort of democratic community.It is easy to blame to personality and quirks of President Donald Trump for this development, and it is quite true that his bluster and abrasiveness did not contribute to the smooth functioning of the meeting in Biarritz, just as in Canada the year previously. Yet it bears recalling that President Barack Obama's decidedly more diplomatic finesse, while it might have contributed to the perception of more smoothly-running summits, could also not fill in the growing chasm among the members.Two of the seven—the United States and Japan—believe that the West's actions have facilitated the rise of China as a capable competitor seeking to challenge the post–Cold War order, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. These countries believe that such actions pose a direct threat to their national interests. Four of the seven—Japan, Italy, France and Germany—are looking for ways to improve relations with Russia and to find possible compromises with Moscow on its demands for revisions to the post–Cold War order as it stands in the Eurasian space. All of them are dealing with political movements in their own countries that view the economic competition with other members of the group as a greater danger than the challenge posed by the "axis of authoritarians" to the international order. Indeed, several members of the group see one of the main authoritarian challengers—China—as a guarantor of some of the existing rules that the United States hopes to modify or change.Perhaps a President Hillary Clinton would have preserved more of the facade of unity and cooperation in Biarritz, and certainly, the United States would, in all likelihood, still be a party to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran, and so the arrival of the Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif on the sidelines of the G7 would not have raised tensions as it did with members of the Trump administration delegation. Yet to not recognize that strains have been building among the G7 members independent of who occupies the White House (or the Elysee palace) would be to ignore reality.What this meeting of the G7 failed to achieve was a workable consensus that can serve as the basis for coordinated, joint action among the members. There may be a growing recognition that the West is dealing with the consequences of a major imbalance between its economic integration with Russia and China and the security risks this imposes given Russia's and China's interests in revising the current global order, but no agreement on which tools of compellence and deterrence should be used. The United States, despite whatever Trump's personal feelings on the matter may be, is increasing sanctions pressure on Russia at a time when the consensus in Europe has shifted away from imposing new penalties on Moscow and is debating a prospective softening of existing sanctions and gradually restoring the pre-2014 relationship. It is notable that Ukrainian diplomat and analyst Roman Bezsmertnyi has been publicly warning that Ukraine may have to deal with a major weakening of European sanctions on Russia come 2020. At the same time, the United States will need to decide to what extent it will impose third-party sanctions on its European and Japanese allies for their dealings with Russia.A G7 consensus on Russia could emerge after Russia's incursion into Ukraine in 2014 because there was the prospect of improved relations with Iran. Now, an energy self-sufficient United States is placing restrictions on the ability of its allies to obtain vital sources of energy, first from Iran, then from Venezuela, and now perhaps even from Russia. While, in theory, the United States could source some of those energy needs, it does so at a higher price point and there is no political will in the United States to subsidize American energy exports to make them more attractive; it is expected that U.S. allies should purchase more U.S.-produced (and Canadian-produced) energy and to absorb any price differences as part of intra-alliance solidarity. Needless to say, Germany—one of the world's leading export economy whose surpluses sustain the European Union—is less enthusiastic about this prospect, especially given the tariffs placed on its goods by the United States on national-security grounds.Similarly, when it comes to China, there is no basis for common action. The Trump administration is pursuing a strategy of rapid-force decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese economies, arguing that Western security is being undermined by the economic tools being delivered into Chinese hands. Japan and Canada might share similar views, but those will be much more circumspect given their own dependence on bilateral trade with Beijing. But for Europe, China's push to revise rules in East Asia does not pose an immediate or pressing security concern. So, even before the summit, as Ash Jain noted during a talk at the Carnegie Council:One of the strategic challenges we face is to come up with a new strategic approach to China, not just run by the United States or initiated, but very much in conjunction with our democratic allies as the community of democratic nations because a strategy with China can only succeed if it's coordinated and if it has buy-in and support from a number of other influential countries, and I think part of it has to involve decoupling, limiting, or constraining how much dependence we have in terms of our economic engagement with China. There is skepticism about the core values of U.S. policy from both sides, says Ash Jain of the Atlantic Council, and the international order is under siege as never before. The Atlantic Council has launched an initiative aimed at revitalizing the rules-based democratic order and rebuilding bipartisan support among policymakers and the broader public.One cannot argue that any sort of consensus has emerged from the G7 meeting. At any rate, even the possibility that the G7 might come to a more common position on China appears to have been one of the incentives for Beijing to offer to restart trade talks.There was no joint communique or plan of action adopted at the multinational meeting. But also, no one has been willing to throw in the towel and make the case that the forum has no value. Meeting next year at the Doral golf course may not lead to major breakthroughs, but it will continue to force the national security and international economic establishments of each country to keep talking. The G7 will live to fight another day.Nikolas K. Gvosdev is a contributing editor at the National Interest.Image: Reuters
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| G7 summit statement issued on trade, Iran, Libya, Ukraine and Hong Kong Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:15 AM PDT ![G7 summit statement issued on trade, Iran, Libya, Ukraine and Hong Kong]( "G7 summit statement issued on trade, Iran, Libya, Ukraine and Hong Kong") The issues were trade, Iran, Libya, Ukraine and Hong Kong. The statement said the seven industrialized nations were committed to open and fair world trade and to global economic stability. It said they wanted significant changes to the World Trade Organization to make it more efficient in protecting intellectual property, resolving disputes more quickly and eradicating unfair trade practices.
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| Iran has opportunity to come back into nuclear deal - UK's Johnson Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:08 AM PDT ![Iran has opportunity to come back into nuclear deal - UK's Johnson]( "Iran has opportunity to come back into nuclear deal - UK's Johnson") Iran has an opportunity to come back into compliance with the nuclear deal and resume dialogue about its nuclear activities, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier he would meet Iran's president under the right circumstances to end a confrontation over a 2015 nuclear deal. Trump has pulled the United States out of the pact although European powers still support it.
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| Rwandan spies 'informing' on refugee community in Australia Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:08 AM PDT  Rwandan spies in Australia are informing on refugees from the east African nation, according to a local media investigation. The revelation comes as the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) this weekend warned that interference from foreign agents had reached an "unprecedented scale". The Australia Broadcasting Corpropation (ABC) uncovered a covert recording of an alleged Rwandan spy filmed in a carpark in Queensland late last year. The man can be heard detailing how the Rwandan government runs secret missions from its embassies and high commissions. One Rwandan refugee and government critic told the broadcaster he had been threatened by a countryman upon his arrival in Australia. He said Queensland police urged him to stay out of south Brisbane, where they believed Rwandan operatives worked. The man further claimed that spies were planted in the country on student visas, as these were easier to obtain. A government advisor on African-Australian relations, Dr Nadine Shema, told the broadcaster she warned Canberra of the rising threat of intimidation of Rwandan dissenters. ABC also found evidence that then foreign-minister Julie Bishop had been warned in 2017 that the Rwandan High Commissioner to Singapore had threatened to kill a Rwanda-born resident of New South Wales. "The Ambassador has diplomatic immunity in Australia," a police statement read. Guillaume Kavarugand a did not comment when approached by ABC. Senior intelligence sources have told the ABC that China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, North Korea and Malaysia were known to monitor their diaspora in Australia, while also seeking to silence dissenters who might speak out against their former governments. "Refugees who flee often have family connections remaining with (their) home country," explained Professor John Blaxland from the Australian National University. "The (foreign) government can choose to exercise that power over the minds of the residents in Australia concerning safety and wellbeing of relatives back home, and that can be a very difficult pressure to resist." He said expats could be compelled or coerced into "gathering information to pass back to the home country" or "conducting illegal acts that are not in the interest of the company they are working for or Australia more broadly — effectively hostile acts". ASIO has cautioned that "both espionage and foreign interference can inflict economic damage…and threaten the safety of Australians." Espionage by "malicious insiders" is a crime in Australia, punishable by up to 25 years imprisonment.
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| In a divided US community, Syrian refugee family settles in Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:07 AM PDT  Hussam Alhallak and his wife kept thinking that the war in Syria would end, or that at least conditions would improve. The family fled as refugees to Turkey and two years later to the United States, where they are rebuilding a life for themselves far away from war-torn Syria, in the small, working-class city of Rutland, Vermont. The family has made great strides in a short time.
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| Want to Beat Traffic in Tehran? Hire an Ambulance—Just Remember, It's Illegal Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:02 AM PDT  Iran's capital city is seeing a rise in wealthy citizens using emergency vehicles to shorten their commutes.
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| Trump Says Having Putin at G-7 Is Better Than Excluding Him Posted: 26 Aug 2019 08:46 AM PDT ![Trump Says Having Putin at G-7 Is Better Than Excluding Him]( "Trump Says Having Putin at G-7 Is Better Than Excluding Him") (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said he wants to invite Russia's Vladimir Putin to next year's Group of Seven summit because having the country "in the room is better than having them outside.""My inclination is to say, 'Yes, they should be in,'" Trump said Monday in Biarritz, France, at the conclusion of this year's G-7 meetings.Trump has previously called for fully readmitting Russia into what was once the G-8. The bloc's other members have balked at welcoming back Russia, which was kicked out over its hostilities in Ukraine five years ago.On Monday, Trump again blamed his predecessor, Barack Obama, over Russia's annexation of Crimea."President Obama was pure and simply outsmarted," Trump said. "It could have been stopped with the right whatever."The U.S. will host next year's G-7. Trump recently polled his cabinet on whether the U.S. should invite Russia to those meetings, an idea that his team voted against, according to a person familiar with the matter.Putin already has said at a news conference that if an invitation comes, he will be sure to consider it, RIA Novosti reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.The G-8 meetings had become the G-7 since 2014, when Russia was excluded from the group. Countries regularly attend the G-7 as observers, without being full members. Spain, Australia, India and Chile are among the guests in Biarritz, for example.The U.K., Germany, France and Canada all have dismissed the idea of re-introducing Russia as a full member, unless Putin makes concessions on the continuing hostilities in Ukraine.(Updates with Trump comments starting in second paragraph)\--With assistance from Saleha Mohsin.To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Josh Wingrove in Washington at jwingrove4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Michael ShepardFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump says not open to compensation for Iran, could be credit lines Posted: 26 Aug 2019 08:20 AM PDT ![Trump says not open to compensation for Iran, could be credit lines]( "Trump says not open to compensation for Iran, could be credit lines") U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he was not open to giving Iran compensation for sanctions on its economy imposed by Washington since Washington pulled out of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. "But they may need some money to get them over a very rough patch and if they do need money, and it would be secured by oil, which to me is great security, and they have a lot of oil, but it is secured by oil, so we are really talking about a letter of credit.
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| Russian authorities seek to take children of stroller-pushing protesters into care Posted: 26 Aug 2019 08:05 AM PDT  State prosecutors are seeking to take a newborn and a toddler into state custody after their parents were filmed with them at a street protest, the second such case as huge demonstrations for free elections have shaken the Russian capital this summer. Authorities have responded to the peaceful protests, which were sparked by the disqualification of independent candidates from September's city council elections on technicalities, by bringing criminal cases and other forms of pressure against those filmed or arrested there. Prosecutor Yana Starovoitova filed a complaint to strip Pyotr and Yelena Khomsky of their parental rights, alleging that they brought their three-month-old and three-year-old daughters to a protest on August 3 "to prevent their own possible arrest by police officers". A court will begin hearing the case next week. The complaint reports by the REN TV channel that showed the two parents wheeling the girls in strollers away from a line of advancing riot police. The channel bizarrely claimed that the couple had "pushed law enforcement with their backs" and falsely described the father as the bodyguard of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Speaking with the Telegraph, Mr Khomsky denied the prosecutor's allegations and said the family had not been yelling slogans or carrying signs. Police detain a man during the July 27 protest Credit: Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters "What law are we violating?" he asked. "We're endangering our kids? You're endangering our kids!" "They want to make a show trial out of us, accuse us of putting our children at risk, accuse of us of all sorts of sins and take away our kids so that others won't go to demonstrations with children," he added. "They want to intimidate protesters." On Wednesday, a court will hear a state prosecutor's motion to strip another couple of parental rights after they were filmed with their young child at a demonstration on July 27, even though the national children's rights ombudswoman has criticised the case. State television accused protesters of exploiting the infant as a "human shield" after father Dmitry Prokazov was seen handing the child to his wife's cousin near police. The relative now faces up to eight years in prison on charges of participating in mass riots. Mr Prokazov said the young family and the cousin had simply been walking in the city centre when they were caught up in a cat-and-mouse game between protesters and police, who forced crowds down various side streets and arrested more than 1,300 people. The children's ombudswoman said she was looking into the case against the Khomskys and that taking a child away from parents should be a "last resort". The Moscow children's rights ombudsman called the prosecutor's complaint "political blackmail". "Only in rare cases when nothing helps does the question of removing parental rights arise. In these two cases this state policy is being completely destroyed," Yevgeny Bunimovich told Interfax news agency. "This worries me. It's a signal for everyone. Every family will feel unsafe if these things happen." As part of the "Moscow case" opened after the July 27 protest, a dozen people face prison time on charges of mass rioting and fighting with police, accusations that look dubious given the nonviolent nature of the demonstrations. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny after what he said may have been a poisoning attempt in jail Credit: AFP/Getty/Navalny.com On Monday, guards refused to let press or relatives into court hearings involving a defendant charged with attacking a national guard soldier at the protests and another accused of tweeting about a movement to "de-anonymise" riot police by publishing their names and personal details. Other people arrested at the protests have suddenly come under official scrutiny for outstanding debts or dodging Russia's universal military conscription, a widespread practice. Several independent candidates have been jailed for weeks as Moscow has seen the biggest protests since the 2011-12 movement against a fraudulent parliamentary elections and Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency. Mr Navalny spent a month in jail and was briefly hospitalised after what he said may have been a poisoning attempt.
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| The U.S. Navy SEALs Have Special Ops Jet Skis Posted: 26 Aug 2019 07:51 AM PDT  The SEALs and potential adversaries Iran and Russia both use personal watercraft.
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| Trump misses climate meeting and says he’ll invite Putin to next G7 amid erratic behaviour at summit Posted: 26 Aug 2019 07:40 AM PDT  Donald Trump has skipped a meeting about climate change and biodiversity attended by other world leaders at the G7 on Monday, in the latest sign that the American government does not view the global threat as a priority.Separately, meeting German chancellor Angela Merkel, the US president claimed there was "great unity" on how to deal with the Iran crisis. Ms Merkel, however, said there was a long way to go on the issue, which has created considerable headache as tensions have flared between Tehran and Washington.
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| Stage being set for Iran-U.S. summit to find deal - Macron Posted: 26 Aug 2019 07:39 AM PDT ![Stage being set for Iran-U.S. summit to find deal - Macron]( "Stage being set for Iran-U.S. summit to find deal - Macron") French President Emannuel Macron said on Monday that preparations were under way for a meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and U.S. President Donald Trump in the coming weeks to find a solution to the nuclear standoff. "Two things are very important for us: Iran must never have nuclear weapons, and this situation should never threaten regional stability," he told a news conference at the end of a meeting of G7 leaders in Biarritz, France.
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| Israel Is America's Unlikely Ally in the Trade War with China Posted: 26 Aug 2019 07:28 AM PDT  The trade war between the United States and China has grabbed headlines, rattled markets and sparked a heated beltway debate on the future of Sino-American relations. U.S. policy is shifting rapidly, forcing U.S. allies to shift, as well. Now, an unlikely Middle Eastern ally is working overtime to address this challenge: Israel.The United States and Israel are close allies on issues ranging from Iran to cyber security to the war on terror. But China has periodically been a fly in the ointment. Each time, Israel responded quickly to U.S. concerns. We're at another such inflection point today, and Israel is once again moving quickly.In the late 1990s, Washington called out Israel over selling sensitive weapons technologies to China. Israel had agreed to supply China with an advanced PHALCON airborne early warning and control (AEWC) system to the tune of $1 billion. After the Clinton administration threatened to withhold multi-billion dollar aid packages, Israel cancelled the deal. Israel later paid China reparations for scuttling the deal.The second bout of turbulence occurred in 2005, when Israel planned to upgrade China's Harpy drone system. In response, the United States temporarily suspended Israel from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Additionally, the Pentagon called for the resignation of the director general of the Israeli ministry of defense for greenlighting the deal.With a better grasp of American concerns, Israel passed its 2007 Export Control Law, increasing U.S. oversight over defense and dual-use technology bound for China and elsewhere.Of course, this mechanism has not stopped China and Israel from doing business altogether. In recent years, China has been particularly interested in the "start-up nation" for its cutting edge tech scene. Tech giants such as Alibaba, Baidu, and Huawei are plowing cash into China-Israel innovation campuses. These campuses seek to spur innovation in artificial intelligence, data science, machine learning, and the internet of things.Israel has warily enjoyed this cooperation; China has helped Israeli innovation. But in recent years, as the United States has raised concerns over Chinese espionage and theft of intellectual property, Washington has asked Israel to pump the breaks. Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, under fire for sharing data with the Chinese government, acquired two small Israeli start-ups, HexaTier Technologies and Toga Networks, in 2016. Their technology bolstered Huawei's capability to monitor network traffic, a prime U.S. concern surrounding Huawei.Israel has since taken steps to halt Huawei from building 5G network infrastructure in the country, and Huawei phones are just 3 percent of the Israeli market. Israel has vowed to follow the lead of the Five Eyes (United States, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) when it comes to the Chinese tech giant. Israel's restrictions are actually tougher than those in the UK and Canada, and more in line with Australia and New Zealand.Tech isn't China's only avenue of Foreign Direct Investment, however. China's state-run companies have won tenders for massive infrastructure deals in recent years. These companies are involved in port construction at Haifa and Ashdod; construction and maintenance of the Tel Aviv light rail system; and more. Beijing sees these infrastructure projects as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, and the broader effort of making China the center of global trade.U.S. officials have warned Israel, both publicly and privately, about these investments. Haifa is a frequent port call for the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet. But the actual intelligence risks involved remain unclear. Israeli officials indicate that the two sides have now reached an understanding, but no specifics have been provided.The real concern for Israel might actually be China's construction of the light rail system, projected to provide daily transportation for five hundred thousand people. If Israel doesn't take precautions, then the Chinese government could gain unrestricted access to closed circuit surveillance feeds, Wi-Fi networks, radio signals and other communications networks. China's long history of cyber espionage and intellectual property theft cannot be ignored. Until recently, Israel lacked the bureaucracy to mitigate the risks associated with Chinese investment. Indeed, Israel does not have an analog to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The Israelis are now setting up their own investment oversight committee to weigh the benefits of foreign investment while mitigating possible national-security risks.There will undoubtedly be some challenges ahead, as Israel looks to disentangle from some of its Chinese business initiatives, while maintaining course with others. Fortunately, the United States and Israel have a good relationship. When all is said and done, what Israel does now will serve as a roadmap for other U.S. allies navigating the rising tensions between Beijing and Washington. Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president at Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Owen Helman is a master of arts candidate at the Elliott School of International Affairs.Image: Reuters
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| How to Prepare for Gray-Zone Competition Posted: 26 Aug 2019 07:22 AM PDT  "Under present-day U.S. posture in the region, most American and allied bases and forward-deployed ships, troops and aircraft would struggle to survive a PLA salvo attack, and would be initially forced to focus on damage limitation rather than blunting the thrust of a Chinese offensive."This rather ominous-sounding assertion from the newly released Averting Crisis study is not a new revelation. It has been the normal state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula from 1950, as well as a compelling state of affairs in Europe and other places during the Cold War. It is a new threat to Japan, where we are still deployed and organized much as we were during the Korean conflict. The fighting then was on the peninsula, and Japan was a sanctuary. Since the end of the Cold War we've become very comfortable with the luxury of bases as sanctuaries, complete with Baskin Robbins thirty-one flavors and weekly surf-and-turf dinners.Moving out of range is not an option. We should have learned, from our 9/11 attack, if not from Pearl Harbor in 1941, that this gambit is highly dubious. Nothing is "out of range." Today weapons have global reach and have forward-deployed presence in every domain of conflict. More important is that our allies cannot change their geography. As a Japanese general reminded a Council of Foreign Relations audience a few years ago, "Japan is already under the Chinese [anti-access, aerial-denial] umbrella." And Seoul, the capital of South Korea and one of the world's largest mega-cities, is within range of a massive arsenal of rocket and tube artillery in North Korea's Kaesong Heights, a clear and present danger. Our forces there, and the South Korean forces of course, maintain a "fight tonight" posture and readiness condition for good reason.China and North Korea have developed abilities to project power well beyond the confines of their geography, ensuring that any renewed Korean conflict will not be confined to Korea. This power projection plays a key role in today's "gray zone" competition as a powerful instrument of coercion and cost-imposition. North Korea continues its missile and nuclear programs, regularly demonstrating their missile achievements in clear violation of UN sanctions. China continues to expand its comprehensive power projection with their Maritime Militia, state-controlled mercantilism, armed fishing vessels, PLA ships and aircraft and other means penetrating the sea and air space of their neighbors on a daily basis. China celebrates their "Guam killer" and "carrier killer" missiles. Surveillance is pervasive and ubiquitous, and weapons are accurate at distance.Bases are hardly obsolete. Our bases in Korea, Japan and elsewhere serve vital political and military objectives long before the master arming switch is turned on. They show our commitment to our allies and friends in a very profound way. As many know from practical experience, the presence of our forces in allied countries requires constant compromise on the principles of sovereignty on the part of both parties. This is hardly theoretical, and is more accurately a daily, even hourly, engagement. Policy and strategy of both countries have to align at the top, of course. But it's equally essential that the continuous contact between our servicemembers and the local communities be productive and welcomed. Bases also are the only cost-effective way to develop, maintain and train forces in a forward-deployed posture. Bases also provide a cost-effective way to develop and expand alliance combined capabilities. This capability development within our alliance forces is critical if we are to integrate, in real time, the fires and maneuver of our forces in defense of Japan, Korea, and the First Island Chain.We are not obligated to fight from our bases, but we can. We practice operations under attack from air bases, and we're adept at rapid runway repair and other necessary functions. An attack, even a surprise attack, is not necessarily the end of the issue. Readers of a certain age will recall our massive aerial campaign against North Vietnam and its forces. The result should relieve any panic that even a sudden salvo attack will force us or our allies to surrender.The study does make a strong point. Unexamined doctrine becomes dogma, no longer relevant to the problem. As technology advances, military doctrine and organization must change, or suffer the fate of the combatants in World War I. In that unlikely conflict triggered by a single assassin, the nations of Europe marched to conflict seemingly unaware of the cumulative combat effects of early twentieth century technology. Inconclusive stalemate, massive carnage, and the collapse of four empires followed, and war returned around the globe in a couple decades. The technology of our era brings more changes more frequently, even adding more combat domains to the familiar air, land and sea battlefields. Adaptation is critical.Advances in surveillance, weapons accurate at distance and other factors led Defense Secretary Robert Gates to call for our forces to adopt a "widely distributed, politically sustainable, operationally resilient" posture. Defense Secretary James Mattis expanded this concept in our National Defense Strategy, describing our needed operational force posture in four layers: contact, blunt, surge and war-winning. Contact forces are widely distributed continuously in execution of our "engagement" operations, competing in the growing "gray zone" competition. Blunt forces "delay, degrade or deny adversary aggression." Given intelligence warning time and competent decisionmaking, these forces would assume a widely distributed posture across air, land and sea.The power of the air and sea threat means that we can no longer allow forces on the ground to await the arrival of the enemy. Battles will not be sequential. They must be integral to the fight for air and sea control. Ground forces deployed in compact, agile and mobile "company task force" elements, equipped with weapons capable of reaching out at distance, would integrate their fires and in support of air and naval elements in the fight to maintain air and sea control. These concepts and more are embedded in various emerging service doctrines. These include the Marines' "Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations"—EABO in the inevitable acronym. This name was deliberately chosen to emphasize a return to the Marine Corps' role in combat ashore within naval campaigns. The U.S. Army is rapidly developing "cross domain" and "multi domain" operational concepts in pursuit of similar goals.Much work remains to be done to bring these concepts to operational deployment. Distributed operations require distributed logistics, but emerging technology helps here, too. In Afghanistan Marines employed the K-Max twin-rotor cargo helicopter, originally built for the logging industry in logistics support. The single pilot was replaced with autonomous systems. Only one example, for sure, but it is an indicator of things to come. The journey to update our doctrine and organization has begun, but Mattis and others are gone, and every bureaucracy and organization tends to resist change. We can't let that happen.Wallace C. Gregson, a retired Marine and former assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (2009–11), is currently a senior advisor at Avascent International and senior director for China and the Pacific at the Center for the National Interest.Image: Reuters
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| America’s Problem of Empire Posted: 26 Aug 2019 07:18 AM PDT  America is an empire and President Donald Trump is an emperor, at least that is how both behave. Why shouldn't Washington swallow up the self-governing territory of Greenland with nary a nod to its people? Why shouldn't the president cancel a trip because a foreign leader dared refer to his idea as "absurd"?It is as if King George III still ruled. Indeed, anti-Federalists could claim vindication. It seems America eventually did end up with a monarchy. Although a term-limited, elected king, he is no less imperious than his British forebears. The latest, almost comedic example was Trump's public desire to buy a land not for sale and whiny decision to cancel his planned state visit when the Danes said no. Although his behavior was undiplomatic, some of his supporters were even more imperious, failing to even notice that there were some fifty-six thousand residents of Greenland who largely govern themselves.Those commentators who considered the Greenlanders assumed that they could be bought off with promises of more investment, subsidies, and tourism, as well as membership in America's "national family." Yet a similar offer made by another government to residents of, say, Alaska or Hawaii, would be viewed as highly insulting by most Americans.Moreover, why would Greenlanders want to submit themselves to the U.S. imperium? Today the island is governed rather like America's states once were: by locals with only a light national touch. Joining today's "national family" would mean submitting to the rules and regulations of Washington, DC. That would mean suffering through a painfully dysfunctional political system. One can love America while acknowledging its faults.Moreover, being absorbed by the United States would result in micromanagement of much of life that should be left to individuals, families and communities. Ironically, though Denmark and its Scandinavian brethren are often derided by Americans for being "socialist," these countries typically balance more extensive economic redistribution with more efficient, market-friendly regulation. Lightly populated Greenland might not like direct rule by Washington, DC.Perhaps even worse, when it comes to international affairs these days America's "national family" is a highly aggressive, brutal, sometimes almost Manson-like. As the president's contretemps with Copenhagen demonstrates, Uncle Sam does not like to be told no. Canceling a trip is a minor sanction, however. More seriously, Washington routinely initiates economic war against other governments which resist its dictates—currently Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela, most dramatically. These governments are malign, but no more so than many regimes backed by the United States. Moreover, average folks in these countries suffer the most from American sanctions. Washington even targets its allies to force them to adhere to Washington's policies, such as against Tehran.War is a blunter and more catastrophically counterproductive policy. Denmark once was a military power, but those unfortunate days are well behind it. Not so for America. Unfortunately, it took only a few decades after its founding for military power to become a dangerous temptation for Washington. The attack on Mexico and seizure of half that nation; the unjustified war against Spain and then the Filipino people, beginning an era of so-called salt water imperialism. The unconscionably stupid decision to enter World War I in an attempt by the arrogantly sanctimonious President Woodrow Wilson to reorder the globe. (In contrast, in 1914 the Danes had the good sense to stay out of the looming imperial slugfest, which killed as many as twenty million people, destroyed four kingdoms, and nearly bankrupted many of its other participants.) America's involvement led to an unbalanced peace agreement which helped trigger another, even greater war barely a generation later.More recently, the United States spent years, many lives, and enormous wealth unsuccessfully attempting to impose weak, incompetent, and corrupt governments on the peoples of Afghanistan and Vietnam. At horrendous cost to others, Washington pursued regime change in Iraq and Libya. To rebalance power in the Middle East American policymakers spent decades aiding if not formally endorsing the al-Saud family's misrule over the people of Saudi Arabia, Israeli oppression of Palestinians, successive brutal military dictatorships in Egypt, and even Saddam Hussein's bloody aggression against Iran. Perhaps madder still were interventions in horrid civil wars of little direct consequence to America: Lebanon, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. There is no good answer to the question, why are American lives and resources being wasted and the country's reputation being soiled in such conflicts?Also dangerous are tripwires with which Washington has littered the globe. World War II has been over for 74 years and democratic European states have raced past Russia in economic strength and population. Yet Americans remain the preferred sentinels for NATO members, especially the newest members. Exactly what Montenegro and Macedonia have to do with U.S. security is not obvious. Georgia and Ukraine would bring war with Russia into the transatlantic alliance. However, America's imperial capital is filled with advocates of making them all U.S. defense dependents.Yet the impact on Greenlanders should be the least important issue for Americans. There are bigger concerns. For example, why would those who believe in the best of the nation—that it is the "land of the free and home of the brave"—want to ever-enlarge it, incorporating peoples who may have very different visions of national life and purpose? That doesn't mean their views are bad, wrong or evil. Rather, there is no reason to yoke ever more people together politically, especially as the resulting entity loses human scale, leaving a vast chasm between ruled and rulers.Consider the ruthless, winner-take-all nature of American politics today. The common desire is not so much to be left alone, but to impose one's will. No doubt, the Electoral College and Senate have undemocratic impacts, yet their advocates not so unreasonably see such institutions as a last defense against mass mob rule. Rather than battling brutally, and likely futilely, over changing the rules, decentralizing power would be a better approach. And reducing, rather than aggrandizing, the mass being governed.Eloquent claims of "mystic chords of memory" are not enough to unite nearly 330 million people into a genuine "national family." Dramatic differences divide red and blue, rural and urban, coastal and inland, and rustbelt and suburban America. Rather than dreaming about adding more, vastly different members to what increasingly acts like a disconnected empire, policymakers should focus on fixing what already is.Too many Americans imagine a country very different than the one experienced by those on the receiving end of its attention elsewhere in the world. America's virtues are real and great, but so are its faults. If it enhanced the former and addressed the latter, it would find its influence increased and objectives advanced abroad. But that would require abandoning the imperial sanctimony and hypocrisy that has come to surround U.S. foreign policy. Instead of constantly looking for new grounds of aggrandizement, Americans should return to the earnest republicanism that characterized the nation's original vision.Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He is a former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan, the author of Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire.Image: Reuters
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| EU should not listen to lawmakers who want to stop Brexit - UK official Posted: 26 Aug 2019 06:59 AM PDT ![EU should not listen to lawmakers who want to stop Brexit - UK official]( "EU should not listen to lawmakers who want to stop Brexit - UK official") EU leaders should pay no heed to British lawmakers who say they can stop Brexit, a senior UK government source said on Monday, repeating Prime Minister Boris Johnson's line that Britain will leave the bloc on Oct. 31 with or without a deal. Britain has yet to agree a deal with the European Union on the terms of its departure, raising the prospect of an unmanaged exit which is forecast to disrupt the flow of goods and people at the British border. Fearful that a "no-deal exit" would trigger long-term and widespread economic damage, some UK lawmakers - including members of the ruling Conservative Party - have vowed to do whatever it takes to prevent one - much to Johnson's annoyance.
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| Trump Backs Off on Offer to Mediate Between India and Pakistan Posted: 26 Aug 2019 06:57 AM PDT ![Trump Backs Off on Offer to Mediate Between India and Pakistan]( "Trump Backs Off on Offer to Mediate Between India and Pakistan") (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump refrained from repeating his offer to mediate between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and said both countries can resolve differences bilaterally."I'm here. I have a good relations with both. If there's any reason, but I think that they can do it themselves. They've been doing it for a long time," Trump told reporters on the sidelines of Group of Seven leaders' summit in the French resort town of Biarrtiz when asked if the offer for mediation was on the table.The president offered no comment on India's decision to scrap autonomy in the state of Jammu and Kashmir where Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has imposed severe restrictions on movement and communications since Aug. 5. India had rebuffed President Trump's offer last month to intervene between the south Asian nations, which have long-running tensions centering on Kashmir, an area that's claimed in full -- and ruled in part -- by both."We spoke last night about Kashmir," Trump told reporters as he sat next to Modi. "The prime minister really feels he has it under control."Pakistan has tried to focus international attention on India's sudden move to scrap Kashmir's autonomy after detaining local political leaders. New Delhi has defended the move that's given the federal government complete control over the state's local police machinery as one of internal governance.India doesn't want to "trouble any nation" over issues with Pakistan, Modi said Monday. "I believe that India and Pakistan, which were one before 1947 can together discuss our problems and find solutions for them."In a televised speech on Monday evening, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed to raise India's actions internationaly. "India has played its last card, now it's our turn," Khan said, vowing to highlight the issue in his speech to the United Nations meeting on September 27, and with the world leaders as Kashmir's ambassador. "Not just the Kashmiris, but Muslims all over the world are looking at super powers for help," he said.(Updates with Pakistan PM comments in last paragraph.)\--With assistance from Ismail Dilawar.To contact the reporter on this story: Archana Chaudhary in New Delhi at achaudhary2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Unni KrishnanFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Pakistan's Imran Khan Vows to Raise Kashmir in All Global Forums Posted: 26 Aug 2019 06:50 AM PDT ![Pakistan's Imran Khan Vows to Raise Kashmir in All Global Forums]( "Pakistan's Imran Khan Vows to Raise Kashmir in All Global Forums") (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed to raise India's move to end the autonomy of Kashmir at all international forums including the United Nations."India has played its last card, now it's our turn," he said in a televised speech on Monday. Khan said he will highlight the issue in his speech to the United Nations on Sept. 27 and with world leaders as Kashmir's ambassador. "Not just the Kashmiris, but Muslims all over the world are looking at super powers for help," he said.Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise move this month to scrap seven decades of autonomy in India's only Muslim-majority state has raised tensions with its neighbor, Pakistan, which also lays claim to the northern Himalayan territory. The region has seen deadly skirmishes across the so-called Line of Control - the de facto border in Kashmir - between the two armies since the decision as world leaders including President Donald Trump called upon both sides to show restraint.Khan's administration has suspended bilateral trade with India and it is seeking global mediation over Kashmir. India wants to keep the longstanding dispute at a bilateral level. Both nuclear-armed nations claim the area, which has triggered two of the three wars they fought since the British left the subcontinent in 1947.To contact the reporters on this story: Kamran Haider in Islamabad at khaider2@bloomberg.net;Ismail Dilawar in Karachi at mdilawar@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Khalid Qayum, Abhay SinghFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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