| US moves 2 British IS members known as 'Beatles' from Syria Posted: 09 Oct 2019 05:36 PM PDT  Two British militants believed to be part of an Islamic State group that beheaded hostages and was known as "The Beatles" have been moved out of a detention center in Syria and are in American custody, U.S. officials said Wednesday. President Donald Trump said earlier Wednesday that the U.S. has moved some of the Islamic State prisoners amid fears some could escape custody as Turkey invades northeast Syria. In 2014 and 2015, the militants held more than 20 Western hostages in Syria and tortured many of them.
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| Turkey begins offensive against Kurdish fighters in Syria Posted: 09 Oct 2019 05:26 PM PDT  Turkey launched airstrikes, fired artillery and began a ground offensive against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria on Wednesday after U.S. troops pulled back from the area, paving the way for an assault on forces that have long been allied with the United States. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of the campaign, which followed the abrupt decision Sunday by U.S. President Donald Trump to essentially abandon the Syrian Kurdish fighters, leaving them vulnerable to a Turkish offensive that was widely condemned around the world. It also marked a stark change in rhetoric by Trump, who during a press conference in New York last year vowed to stand by the Kurds, who have been America's only allies in Syria fighting the Islamic State group .
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| The Latest: US takes 2 militants tied to beheadings in Syria Posted: 09 Oct 2019 04:37 PM PDT  U.S. officials say two captive British militants believed to be part of an Islamic State group that beheaded hostages have been taken into American custody and moved out of Syria. President Donald Trump said earlier Wednesday that the U.S. had transferred some Islamic State prisoners amid fears they could escape custody as Turkish troops invade northeastern Syria. Officials say they took El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Amon Kotey out of Syria to an undisclosed location.
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| Bipartisan Senate bill would halt arms sales to Turkey Posted: 09 Oct 2019 04:33 PM PDT  A bipartisan Senate bill would halt U.S. military assistance to NATO ally Turkey and clamp sanctions on the U.S. assets of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan because of his country's invasion Wednesday of northern Syria. The measure effectively rebukes President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to pull U.S. troops from the region. Soon after their withdrawal, Erdogan commenced air and ground assaults on Syrian Kurdish fighters who've been helping the U.S. battle Islamic State extremists there, which numerous lawmakers and others had warned would happen.
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| Analysis: Trump's Syria move gets quick, negative results Posted: 09 Oct 2019 04:27 PM PDT  The U.S. must escape the "Endless Wars" in the Middle East, President Donald Trump repeatedly declares. When on Wednesday Turkey attacked the Kurds, America's longtime battlefield allies, U.S. troops had evacuated from harm's way. From Iran to North Korea, China, Iraq, Afghanistan and Venezuela, nearly all of Trump's foreign policy priorities remain works in progress nearly three years into his presidency.
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| Turkey Launches Ground Incursion Into Syria as U.S. Stands Aside Posted: 09 Oct 2019 03:36 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Turkey launched a military ground incursion into northeastern Syria to force U.S.-backed Kurdish militants controlling the border area away from the region, the Defense Ministry said, after President Donald Trump ordered U.S. forces to stand aside.Turkish armored vehicles and tanks crossed into Syria after Turkish F-16s and artillery units targeted positions of Kurdish YPG militants earlier Wednesday. The Turkish military carried out the incursion together with allied Syrian rebels in an effort to seize areas to the south of the frontier towns.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier announced the start of the operation, code-named "Peace Spring," on Twitter and said it would also target Islamic State. Russia, Iran and some top European officials urged Turkey to act with restraint. The conflict has sparked concerns that renewed chaos in Syria could lead to a jihadist resurgence and push the Kurds -- America's allies in the fight against IS -- into the arms of President Bashar al-Assad.Turkey has battled Kurdish separatists for years and had repeatedly warned it would not allow the creation of a Kurdish proto-state on its immediate border. Once it seizes the area, Turkey plans to resettle 2 million Syrian refugees, most of them Arabs, in the border zone, further complicating a combustible situation.A small forward group of Turkish forces first entered Syria early Wednesday at two points close to the towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, according to a Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Turkish planes and shells pounded the towns as the incursion began. Residents fled though Kurdish forces had vacated positions before the attack, which is expected to involve tens of thousands of soldiers backed by tanks and armored personnel carriers from NATO's second-largest army.The Turkish lira weakened as the conflict started.Turkey's advance followed a dramatic reversal of U.S. policy. Trump told Erdogan in a phone call on Sunday that dozens of American troops who'd been working closely with Kurdish forces in the fight against Islamic State would pull back, effectively clearing the way for a Turkish incursion.Asked by reporters Wednesday at the White House what he'd do if Erdogan wipes out the Kurds, Trump said: "I will wipe out his economy if that happens," adding that he hopes the Turkish leader "will act rationally."Trump's announcement Sunday appeared to surprise allies at home and abroad. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, normally a staunch Trump ally on Capitol Hill was among several Republicans angered by the move. He tweeted Wednesday: "Pray for our Kurdish allies who have been shamelessly abandoned by the Trump Administration. This move ensures the reemergence of ISIS."Graham also introduced a bipartisan measure, with Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, that would trigger sanctions unless the Trump administration "certifies to Congress -- every 90 days" that Turkey is not operating in Syrian territoryThe Kurdish-led SDF said they would defend their "own people," potentially relegating the battle against Islamic State.The Kurdish YPG militia that forms the backbone of the SDF has been one of America's closest partners in the fight against Islamic State and is holding thousands of jihadist fighters and their families in camps and detention centers in northeastern Syria.The head of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi, wrote Trump on Wednesday and implored him to intervene."We still hope that you will prevent the coming catastrophe against the Kurdish people and other peoples in the region as a result of the Turkish invasion," Abdi wrote in the letter, which praised earlier cooperation between the SDF and U.S. forces.While Trump said Turkey would become responsible for the detainees, who include foreign fighters from Europe, it was not clear if there was a mechanism in place to transfer them to Turkish custody. Trump was criticized at home for a decision that could see Islamic State fighters escape or regroup.Analysts said a U.S. pullback could ultimately play into the hands of Russia, whose military intervention helped turn the tide of the Syrian civil war in favor of Assad. As the Turkish offensive got underway, the Associated Press reported that the YPG had asked Russia to mediate talks between them and the Assad government.Trump Whipsaws on Turkey as Threat Follows Green Light on SyriaTurkey sees the YPG as a threat due to its link to the separatist PKK, another Kurdish group the Turkish government been battling for decades. It's considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union.Its offensive into northern Syria first aims to surround towns in a strip of border territory, before pushing further south in an effort to dismantle any chance of a Kurdish state emerging on its doorstep, according to two Turkish officials, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive military planning.Trump's Confounding Syria Moves Again Spur Policy ConfusionThe first targets will be the Syrian towns of Kobani, Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, all held by the YPG and located along the former Berlin-Baghdad railway that for hundreds of miles forms the frontier with Turkey, according to the officials.The military aims to penetrate at least 30 kilometers (19 miles) deep into Syrian territory and secure the M-4 highway that runs parallel to the frontier all the way to Iraq in the east, they said. Erdogan was keen to act before winter set in and made it difficult for tanks to operate in muddy terrain."What aggravates the operational risks is the deep-running mistrust between Turkey and the U.S.," said Nihat Ali Ozcan, a strategist at the Economic Policy Research Foundation in Ankara. "Turkey is very much worried about whether the U.S. will share intelligence with the YPG over Turkish troop positions to help them defend themselves."Who Are the Syrian Kurds the U.S. Is Abandoning?: QuickTakeTurkish commanders expect to be confronted by a sophisticated foe after the battle-hardened YPG were armed by the U.S. and other Western militaries to help fight Islamic State, they said. Erdogan has chastised Washington for backing the Kurds, but he only pushed ahead with the operation after Trump reversed years of U.S. policy."YPG militants have two options: They can defect or we will have to stop them from disrupting our counter-ISIS efforts," Fahrettin Altun, Erdogan's chief of communications, wrote on Twitter early Wednesday.(Updates with Graham introducing measure, in paragraph.)\--With assistance from Lin Noueihed, Taylan Bilgic, Glen Carey and Tony Capaccio.To contact the reporters on this story: Onur Ant in Istanbul at oant@bloomberg.net;Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara at shacaoglu@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, ;Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, ;Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu, Bill FariesFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Shooting latest indication of increasing anti-Semitism Posted: 09 Oct 2019 03:35 PM PDT  The shooting that left two dead and several injured in Halle, Germany, on Wednesday — when Jews celebrated Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for their faith — has shined a spotlight on the worldwide rise of anti-Semitic incidents. The attack in Germany, where investigators are pursuing anti-Semitic motives after the assailant reportedly shot at the door of a synagogue in an attempt to gain entry, drew swift condemnation from United Nations Secretary General António Guterres and renewed calls from Jewish groups in the U.S. to step up cooperation in combating anti-Semitism. "We have been saying for several years that anti-Semitism is real, it's resurgent, it's lethal and it's multi-sourced," American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris said in an interview.
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| Merkel joins solidarity vigil at synagogue after Halle shooting Posted: 09 Oct 2019 03:20 PM PDT  Chancellor Angela Merkel joined people gathered at Berlin's main synagogue late Wednesday for a silent vigil, showing solidarity with the victims of a deadly gun attack in Halle and saying "no to antisemitism". Offering words of encouragement for New Synagogue rabbi Gesa Ederberg on a Yom Kippur holiday tainted by violence, Merkel said: "Unfortunately, on your holy day today, we've witnessed something horrible.
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| 2 dead in attack targeting German synagogue on Yom Kippur Posted: 09 Oct 2019 03:13 PM PDT  A heavily armed assailant ranting about Jews tried to force his way into a synagogue in Germany on Yom Kippur, Judaism's holiest day, then shot two people to death nearby in an attack Wednesday that was livestreamed on a popular gaming site. The attacker shot at the door of the synagogue in the eastern city of Halle but did not get in as 70 to 80 people inside were observing the holy day. The gunman shouted that Jews were "the root" of "problems" such as feminism and "mass immigration," according to a group that tracks online extremism.
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| 'Mr. Kurd' says Trump has abandoned US allies in Middle East Posted: 09 Oct 2019 02:44 PM PDT  Mr. Kurd feels betrayed. A year ago, Kurdish journalist Rahim Rashidi stood up at a news conference and listened to President Donald Trump praise his people. Trump professed respect for the "great" U.S. allies, even inadvertently giving Rashidi the nickname "Mr. Kurd" as he called on him to ask a question.
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| Nissan Gives Cold Comfort to Brexit-Threatened Sunderland Plant Posted: 09 Oct 2019 02:35 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co. is set to unveil a revamped production line in the English town of Sunderland, where the Japanese manufacturer operates Britain's biggest auto plant.Yet the fanfare Thursday surrounding the updated Juke crossover model may prove to be no more than a stay of execution for a factory whose future will be on the line in the event of a no-deal Brexit.The launch of the face-lift model will be accompanied by the loss of one of Sunderland's five daily work shifts as staff transfer between the site's two assembly lines, a move that may be a precursor of further cuts to come.Carmakers have been increasingly vocal in opposing a British split from the European Union without a deal, warning of a potentially devastating impact on the industry. Export tariffs would make locally-built autos uncompetitive when sold in mainland Europe and customs checks and red tape would disrupt ultra-efficient just-in-time supply lines, they say.Nissan, which made Britain its European manufacturing base in 1986, has said it's "waiting for clarity" on the implications of Brexit. It has already scrapped plans to build its X-Trail sport-utility vehicle at Sunderland, which has a workforce of 6,500 people, and ended production of the luxury Infiniti brand there in July. Production of the larger Qashqai SUV could be moved to Spain.The latest iteration of the 10-year-old Juke goes on sale without a mention of a hybrid or electric version, in an industry where many new models come to market with options beyond traditional combustion engines.Jobs at the plant appear safe in the short term, with overall headcount set to remain the same despite the lost shift as manufacturing staff are redeployed to the site's Line Two to support production of Juke, according to an emailed statement from the company.But Nissan could find it relatively easy to shift Juke assembly across the Channel if a hard Brexit was to prove too ruinous. The company and partner Renault SA already build multiple models on identical platforms. The Juke's Common Module Family B platform is architecture being used by Renault to assemble the latest versions of the Clio supermini and Captur crossover.Priced from 17,395 pounds ($21,274), Nissan will begin delivering the Juke next month, days after the Oct. 31 date for Britain to leave the EU. While Parliament has taken steps to force Boris Johnson to seek an extension to the U.K.'s membership of the block in the absence of a deal, the prime minister has pledged to stick to the deadline.More than 1 million Jukes have been built in Sunderland since the car was launched in 2010. Almost 80,000 were churned out last year, equivalent to almost a fifth of the plant's total production of 442,000 autos, with about a third sold in the U.K.'Serious Implications'The facility in northeast England helped propel Britain to record auto output and sales in 2016, before concerns about Brexit and a government campaign against diesel motors began to weigh on demand.Nissan has said friction-less trade has been key to Sunderland's success and that a sudden change from current arrangements will have "serious implications" for the industry. The site also makes the all-electric Leaf hatchback.Nissan's confidence in the U.K. has wavered since Greg Clark, former business secretary, wrote to the company soon after the 2016 Brexit referendum setting out four key assurances, including a pledge to seek tariff-free access to the EU.Nissan won a 61 million-pound government regional development grant last year to boost productivity in Sunderland, though its aims included securing new production of the now-cancelled X-Trail model. Following the cancellation, Clark told the House of Commons that "Nissan will be invited to resubmit an application in the light of its changed investment."The Business Department didn't have an update on the situation.\--With assistance from Alex Morales and Ania Nussbaum.To contact the reporter on this story: Siddharth Philip in London at sphilip3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tara Patel at tpatel2@bloomberg.net, Christopher JasperFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| U.K.’s Corbyn Says ‘Ready and Champing at the Bit’ for Election Posted: 09 Oct 2019 02:30 PM PDT ![U.K.'s Corbyn Says 'Ready and Champing at the Bit' for Election]( "U.K.'s Corbyn Says 'Ready and Champing at the Bit' for Election") (Bloomberg) -- The Labour Party is ready and "champing at the bit" for an early U.K. election, its leader Jeremy Corbyn will say Thursday, while accusing Prime Minister Boris Johnson of "using the Queen" to win support.Johnson suspended Parliament to set out a new program for government, which will be announced by Queen Elizabeth II on Oct. 14. But Corbyn will say Johnson's minority government is unlikely to get Parliament to approve any legislative plan, and the event will be a "cynical stunt" probably just weeks before a national vote."On Monday, we will be treated to the farce of Boris Johnson's Conservative government, amid full pomp and ceremony, setting out an agenda to Parliament that it has no intention or means of delivering," Corbyn will say in a speech in central England. "Johnson is using the Queen to deliver a pre-election party political broadcast for the Conservative Party."With Parliament deadlocked and Brexit talks at stalemate, political parties are gearing up for an early election, though none is scheduled before 2022. Johnson has announced an array of spending pledges in recent weeks, and Corbyn will use his speech Thursday to reinforce commitments to raise the minimum wage, ban fracking, and offer a second referendum on Brexit.Johnson has twice tried and failed to persuade Parliament to vote for an early election. Opposition parties say they don't trust him to obey a law intended to stop the U.K. crashing out of the EU without a deal on Oct. 31 and won't back a national vote until an extension to Brexit has been secured from the European Union."Prime minister, we can't trust you not to break the law because you've got form," Corbyn will say, according to extracts of his speech released by his office. "So it's simple: obey the law, take no deal off the table and then let's have the election. We're ready and champing at the bit."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, Thomas Penny, Robert JamesonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Shooter Kills Two Near German Synagogue in Anti-Jewish Attack Posted: 09 Oct 2019 02:04 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- A heavily armed man attempted to storm a synagogue in eastern Germany on the Yom Kippur holiday and killed two people in a suspected anti-Semitic attack that authorities blamed on the far right.The assailant, identified by Der Spiegel as a 27-year-old German man, failed to enter the synagogue in the city of Halle, filled with about 80 worshipers on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. He gunned down a woman nearby and a man during a subsequent attack on a Turkish restaurant, German media reported."We have to assume that this was at the least an anti-Semitic attack," Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said in a statement. "In the assessment of the Federal Prosecutor, there is sufficient evidence for a possible right-wing extremist background."The attack on Wednesday coincides with growing political polarization in Germany. Anti-Semitic crimes, including vandalism of tombstones and synagogues, have been rising and while many are perpetrated by neo-Nazis, people of Arabic or Turkish background are blamed for an increasing number of assaults.Hundreds of people late on Wednesday joined spontaneous acts of solidarity with the victims and against anti-Semitism in Halle and Berlin, including Chancellor Angela Merkel who attended a vigil at a synagogue in the nation's capital."The attack in Halle on Yom Kippur, the most important Jewish holiday, leaves us all with immense pain and with fear," Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said on the group's website. "We are devastated."In June, the murder of a local politician in Merkel's Christian Democratic party rocked the country's political establishment.German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said he was "appalled and shocked" by the Halle violence and "tired of being appalled and shocked again and again.""When will this stop?" he said in a statement. "Why is this happening in our country?"Video footage went viral showing a man dressed in full combat gear, including fatigues and helmet, firing repeatedly from what appeared to be a shotgun or pump-action shotgun. The attack was live-streamed on Twitch, CNBC reported.In the video, the suspected attacker spoke English with a German accent, described himself as a Holocaust denier and blamed Jews for mass migration and low birth rates, German public broadcaster ARD reported on its website.Police said earlier they took a suspect in custody but were in pursuit of suspected accomplices as far away as Leipzig, 27 miles (45 kilometers) to the east, where a dragnet was set up.(Updates with Merkel vigil in fifth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Alexander Michael Pearson.To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net;Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Raymond Colitt, Tony CzuczkaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Johnson and Varadkar to Meet in Last-Ditch Bid for Brexit Deal Posted: 09 Oct 2019 02:00 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- It's the lunch that is set to seal the fate of Brexit.On Thursday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold private talks with his Irish counterpart, Leo Varadkar, to explore whether the two sides can find room to compromise.With just three weeks left until the U.K. is due to leave the European Union, negotiations have stalled and the time for striking an orderly separation agreement is almost up.The stakes for the meeting, at a secret location in north-west England, could hardly be higher. The two leaders will need to find common cause if talks are not to collapse entirely. The atmosphere surrounding the negotiations has turned sour in recent days as the two sides blamed each other for their failure to make progress."I'm still cautiously, cautiously optimistic," Johnson said as he described the negotiations he's had with Britain's "friends and partners in the EU."Despite the premier's soothing tone, European politicians continued to react strongly to what they see as the "blame game" initiated by Johnson's officials, who have accused Germany's Angela Merkel of making a deal essentially impossible."We are not accepting this blame game which started in London -- we are not to be blamed," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday.As has been the case for much of the past three years, the key hurdle has been how to ensure there are no customs checkpoints at Ireland's land border with the U.K.In his latest plan, Johnson proposed limited customs checks away from the frontier, but Varadkar insists any such inspections will threaten peace in the region, which suffered decades of terrorism.The EU's remaining 27 member states will be guided by Ireland's position. If Johnson can convince Varadkar to move, there is a chance a deal could be outlined ahead of the crucial summit of EU leaders Oct. 17-18.'It's Possible'The biggest area of dispute relates to customs arrangements on the Irish border. On Wednesday, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier rejected the U.K.'s proposal to work out the mechanism for customs checks during a post-Brexit transition period. Putting these decisions off would risk leading to "no checks whatsoever," and that would damage the EU's single market, Barnier said."We're not really in a position where we're able to find an agreement," Barnier said. It's possible "if there's goodwill on both sides."Barnier also criticized the U.K.'s plan to give the Northern Ireland Assembly a veto over the deal. Johnson's team say it's vital to allow the region's community to give "consent" for the future arrangements on the border.But for the EU, allowing a veto for Northern Irish politicians would undermine the point of a long-term guarantee against a hard border going up at the frontier.Both sides want clarity on the status of the negotiations by the end of the week. If the talks do break down in the days ahead, the U.K. will either be headed for a no-deal split or a humiliating third delay to the divorce, an outcome Johnson himself has vowed never to permit but which the EU is ready to grant.Under legislation passed by Parliament against Johnson's will, he's required to seek a three-month delay to Brexit if he hasn't gained approval for a new deal by Oct. 19. It's something he's vowed publicly he won't do, though the government's lawyers have told the courts he will. On Wednesday, Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom told ITV it would be "reasonable" for Johnson to send a second letter to the EU saying that he personally doesn't want a delay.Leadsom also said no version of a deal that includes the Irish backstop -- a fallback provision guaranteeing no hard border after Brexit -- would be acceptable, even if the EU agreed to put a time limit on it.In other developments on Wednesday:The British Parliament scheduled an emergency sitting for Oct. 19 to discuss the outcome of the EU summit. It will be the first weekend session of the House of Commons since the Falklands War in 1982.Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay is planning to meet Barnier in Brussels, on Friday.Scottish judges postponed a decision on whether they need to send a letter demanding a delay to Brexit if Johnson doesn't.The Times reported that the EU is ready to offer the Northern Ireland Assembly a vote to exit the so-called backstop arrangements hated by Brexiteers. The Democratic Unionist Party moved swiftly to oppose the plan.Former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC the EU risks making "a catastrophic failure in statecraft" if they fail to compromise with Johnson, saying "they haven't really understood what's happening in British politics right now"(Adds Leadsom in final two paragraphs before bullet points; Hunt in bullets.)\--With assistance from Alex Morales, Kitty Donaldson, Dara Doyle, Nikos Chrysoloras and Patrick Donahue.To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Ross in London at tross54@bloomberg.net;Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny, Alex MoralesFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Two killed in anti-Semitic attack in Germany Posted: 09 Oct 2019 01:50 PM PDT  At least two people were shot dead in the German city of Halle on Wednesday in an anti-Semitic attack as Jews marked the holy day of Yom Kippur, with the gunman filming the assault and posting a video online. The suspect has been captured, police said, as security was ramped up at synagogues and other Jewish sites across Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the deadly shooting, her spokesman said, adding an expression of "solidarity for all Jews on the holy day of Yom Kippur".
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| Boris Johnson Presses Trump on Diplomat Crash Case Posted: 09 Oct 2019 01:35 PM PDT ![Boris Johnson Presses Trump on Diplomat Crash Case]( "Boris Johnson Presses Trump on Diplomat Crash Case") (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson, eager to cultivate closer relations with President Donald Trump as he pursues Brexit, nevertheless used a phone call between the two leaders to raise the thorny issues of tariffs and the case of an American diplomat's wife who left the U.K. following a fatal accident.In the call on Wednesday, Johnson pressed Trump not to impose tariffs on a number of products, including Scotch, after the U.S. announced them in retaliation for Europe's illegal government aid to Airbus SE.He also mentioned the case of Harry Dunn, a British teenager who died following a crash near a U.S. airbase involving an American woman with diplomatic immunity who has since left the country. The U.S. Embassy issued a statement saying immunity is "rarely waived.""The prime minister urged the president to reconsider the U.S. position so the individual involved can return to the U.K., cooperate with police and allow Harry's family to receive justice," Johnson's office said in an emailed statement about the call. "The president said he was fully aware of the case and deeply saddened by what has happened, and he expressed his condolences to Harry's parents. The leaders agreed to work together to find a way forward as soon as possible."The nature of the call illustrates the balance the British leader is trying to strike. As the the U.K. prepares to leave the European Union, Johnson is eager to burnish ties -- both diplomatic and trade -- with the world's largest economy.But at the same time, with a possible general election looming, he's trying to avoid being seen as being in the pocket of the U.S. -- an image opposition Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn is keen to propagate.By broaching the subject of Dunn with Trump, Johnson was following through on a pledge made earlier in the week to raise it "personally with the White House."Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also issued a statement on the case, saying: "We will use every avenue and opportunity open to us to try to right the wrong and allow the justice system to follow its natural course."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, Thomas Penny, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Note to Republicans: Trump will betray you just like he betrayed the Kurds Posted: 09 Oct 2019 01:08 PM PDT ![Note to Republicans: Trump will betray you just like he betrayed the Kurds]( "Note to Republicans: Trump will betray you just like he betrayed the Kurds") In The Art of the Deal, Trump presents his deal making -- by which he means his avarice and swindling -- as an artistic enterprise. "Deals are my art form," he writes in his best-selling book that he didn't write. "Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals."Trump's forte is con artistry. He sells books he doesn't write to people who don't read. He failed as a businessman but succeeded as a fake businessman on TV. The supreme irony of his life is that he poses as a dealmaker when he is the opposite. Trump doesn't make deals. He breaks them.Trump's perfidy has global consequences. His decision this week to withdraw troops from northern Syria, reportedly made after a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan, surprised and infuriated lawmakers, including Republicans. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) called it "a catastrophic mistake," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called it "a grave mistake that will have implications far beyond Syria," and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called it "a betrayal." Trump's abandonment of the Kurds, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, sends "the most dangerous signal possible -- America is an unreliable ally." America is an unreliable ally because its president is an unreliable person.If there's a constant in Trump's life, it's betrayal. He has betrayed his business partners, his customers, his employees, his friends, his wives, and his voters. A man who is willing to betray those closest to him will not hesitate to turn his back on foreigners thousands of miles away.In addition to abandoning the Kurds, the Trump administration is withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty. Its most glaring defect is that it's a treaty. Trump opposes treaties because he loathes any agreement that redounds to other people's benefit. Moreover, treaties, like all reciprocal transactions, impose obligations on the signatories. To Trump, doing stuff for other people is for wimps and losers.Since becoming president, Trump has extricated the United States from a host of international agreements. He pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership ("a terrible deal"), the Paris Agreement ("a deal that punishes the United States"), the Iran nuclear deal ("the worst deal ever"), and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. He did so despite not knowing what any of them were. He also threatened to leave the World Trade Organization ("a disaster for the United States"; "they have been screwing us for years"), questioned the utility and fairness of NATO ("very unfair to the United States!"), and renegotiated NAFTA ("one of the worst trade deals ever") and the U.S.-South Korea Trade Agreement ("a horrible deal made by Hillary").Thanks to Trump, the world no longer trusts the United States to honor its commitments. According to a Pew survey conducted last year, 82 percent of Europeans had no confidence in Trump's handling of international issues. Seventy-five percent of Canadians and 91 percent of Mexicans don't trust the president to do the right thing regarding world affairs. His numbers are bad even in Russia.After Trump promised to send "an armada, very powerful" to deter North Korea in 2017, South Korean presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo said, "If that was a lie, then during Trump's term, South Korea will not trust whatever Trump says." It was a lie. The U.S. Navy posted a photograph six days later of the fleet heading in the opposite direction.Lesson: So long as Trump is president, the United States cannot be trusted.Trump's foreign policy mirrors his personal behavior. It is erratic, unreliable, duplicitous, greedy, shortsighted, self-destructive, easily manipulated, unprincipled, and callous. The key to understanding it is understanding him. Lacking a coherent worldview, Trump mines his own insecurities for material and projects them onto the United States, which he casts as a perennial victim of other countries' cunning and conniving. "The U.S. is always the 'sucker,'" tweeted the man who fell in love with Kim Jong Un.When Trump talks about America, he's really talking about himself. The world is laughing at us (me). America (me) first! "Nobody ever wants to work with the United States," he said. Just as nobody ever wants to work with Trump, and for good reason: Just as he breaks laws and betrays his friends, America under his stewardship neglects its responsibilities and deserts its allies.Last week, Trump blamed his phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who dutifully accepted responsibility.Trump demands loyalty from those he inevitably betrays. "We could use some more loyalty," Trump said in 2017. Eight hours later, he berated Attorney General Jeff Sessions as "VERY weak" for behaving ethically. Betraying people while demanding their loyalty is like divorcing your wife because you cheated on her.Note to Republicans: Trump will do to you what he did to the Kurds.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.
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| UNICEF now takes bitcoin and ether donations Posted: 09 Oct 2019 01:04 PM PDT  UNICEF, the United Nations' charity that helps underserved children around the world, now accepts donations in bitcoin and ether. As the first UN organization to embrace cryptocurrencies, UNICEF and the recipients of its funding will benefit from the lack of fees that that result from money being transferred overseas. Plus, donors will presumably be able to see how their contributions are disbursed to various initiatives.
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| Trump-Ukraine impeachment scandal: timeline of key events Posted: 09 Oct 2019 12:32 PM PDT  A sequence of events that began with Russia annexing Ukraine picked up pace when Nancy Pelosi announced a formal inquiryUkraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy listens to his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly in New York on 25 September. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ReutersNancy Pelosi, the House of Representatives speaker and the most powerful Democrat in Congress, announced an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump on 24 September, setting off a fast-moving chain of events. Here are the key players, and here's a timeline of the key moments in the scandal so far: 2014Russia annexes Crimea, a peninsula in southern Ukraine. The military occupation, denounced by western powers, sparks the biggest east-west crisis since the cold war.A popular uprising in Ukraine prompts the ouster of the Russian-backed president, Viktor Yanukovych.Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden (then vice-president of the US under Barack Obama, and instrumental in US-Ukraine policy) joins the board of the scandal-plagued Ukrainian energy company Burisma. 2016Paul Manafort, chairman of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, resigns less than four months before the US election, after Ukraine's anti-corruption agency reveals he had been promised millions of dollars for undeclared consulting work for Kremlin-backed Yanukovych.Manafort is later indicted for failing to register as a foreign agent and numerous financial offenses, and jailed. Trump has since pushed an unsubstantiated theory that the campaign of his 2016 political opponent, Hillary Clinton, played a role in the Ukraine-Manafort revelations. 20197 April Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer and former New York mayor, voices unsubstantiated allegations on Fox News that Joe Biden pressed for the dismissal of Viktor Shokin, a top Ukrainian prosecutor, in order to block a corruption investigation into Burisma. (The investigation into Burisma was dormant by the time the US, along with other western powers, called for Shokin to resign.)22 April Volodymyr Zelenskiy, an actor and comedian with no political experience except for playing the president in a TV series, is elected Ukraine's leader. Trump congratulates him in a phone call.25 April Joe Biden announces his 2020 presidential campaign.1 May The New York Times reports that Giuliani has been urging Ukraine to conduct a new investigation into the activities of Joe and Hunter Biden. "Giuliani called Mr Trump excitedly to brief him on his findings," the paper says.18 July Trump issues instructions to withhold $392m in military aid from Ukraine, citing concerns over whether the money needed to be spent, according to reports.25 July Trump and Zelenskiy speak on the phone.12 August A whistleblower complaint is filed.13 September Adam Schiff, Democratic congressman and chairman of the House intelligence committee, issues a subpoena for the complaint after Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, a Trump appointee, refuses to hand it over.Days later, reports emerge that Trump asked Zelenskiy during the 25 July phone call to investigate Joe Biden and the candidate's son, Hunter. Trump admits that he did, but denies wrongdoing. He denies that withholding aid had amounted to a quid pro quo. The aid funds were released on 11 September.19 September Giuliani is interviewed on CNN and in a heated exchange at first denies that he asked Ukraine to investigate Biden. About 30 seconds later, he reverses himself. "Of course I did," he says.24 September The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, announces a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump's actions.25 September White House releases a partial "transcript" of the 25 July call, hours before Trump's first face-to-face meeting with Zelenskiy at the United Nations. "I don't want to be involved in democratic elections of the USA," Zelenskiy said. "Nobody pushed me."26 September The whistleblower complaint is released. It alleges the White House tried to cover up the Trump-Ukraine call.27 September Kurt Volker, Trump's former special envoy to Ukraine, resigns.4 October The House congressional committees holding impeachment hearings release Whatsapp messages from US diplomats, handed over by Volker, which show a prestigious invitation for Zelenskiy to visit the White House was dependent on him stating publicly that Ukraine would investigate the Bidens and a supposed Ukrainian role in the 2016 US election, a theory advanced in far-right conspiracy circles.6 October Lawyers for the first whistleblower say they are now representing a second.8 October The state department prevents Gordon Sondland, US ambassador to the EU and a Trump donor, from testifying to a congressional impeachment hearing.The White House releases a letter refusing to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry, and accusing Democrats of trying to reverse the result of the 2016 election.
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| Israelis Watch U.S. Abandon Kurds, and Worry: Who's Next? Posted: 09 Oct 2019 11:48 AM PDT  JERUSALEM -- Israel's national security does not immediately depend on who controls the border of Turkey and northern Syria, more than 500 miles from its own territory.Yet President Donald Trump's abrupt order to withdraw U.S. troops there and abandon Kurdish forces, who have been stalwart U.S. allies against the Islamic State, set off clanging alarm bells among officials in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.And for a simple reason: If such a betrayal could befall the Kurds, Israelis from across the political spectrum are suddenly asking, what prevents the same from befalling another staunch U.S. ally?"A knife in our back," screamed the headline over a column by Shimon Shiffer in Yediot Ahronot, Israel's biggest mainstream paper. "The conclusion we draw needs to be unequivocal: Trump has become unreliable for Israel. He can no longer be trusted," the column read.Trump has insisted that the withdrawal is not a betrayal. On Tuesday morning, he tweeted, "We may be in the process of leaving Syria, but in no way have we Abandoned the Kurds, who are special people and wonderful fighters."But in Israel, many see America's withdrawal, which could expose the Kurds to a Turkish attack, as desertion."I feel like a Kurd today," Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and top foreign-policy official under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said in an interview.Israeli fears have nothing to do with Turkey, and everything to do with Iran.Israel under Netanyahu has depended heavily on the Trump administration's support in confronting Tehran over its nuclear ambitions and over its expansionist moves in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Israel believes Iran's long-term strategy is to base missiles in those countries that can threaten Israel, as a deterrent to a pre-emptive strike -- whether by Israel or the United States -- on an Iranian nuclear weapons project.The White House came through for Netanyahu when Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, which President Barack Obama had negotiated over Netanyahu's loud protests.The White House appeared reliable as long as the United States was imposing economic sanctions on Iran, and threatening the country with retaliation if it resorted to violence in response.But the White House has not been quite so dependable more recently, Israelis say.The Trump administration's failure to hit back at Iran after repeated strikes on oil tankers and Saudi oil fields that were widely, if not undeniably, attributed to Tehran has undermined the credibility of U.S. military threats, Israeli analysts said.Trump's openness to talks with Iran has reinforced the idea that he is averse to a new conflict in the region. And his pullout of troops from Kurdish territory has only reinforced the broader perception among Israelis that he wants to withdraw from the Middle East, even at the expense of U.S. influence."There's a growing sense that Trump is backing away from his commitments to allies," said Emily B. Landau, an arms-control expert at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. "I'm not sure Israel's in the same category as Saudi Arabia and the Kurds. At least I'm hoping that we're not in the same category. But expectations were forged through Trump's rhetoric and his behavior, and some of his policy decisions. And the question is, to what degree will he follow through with it, if Israel really needs the United States?"That American dependability is even being questioned by Israelis could embolden Iran at a particularly dangerous time, Israeli analysts said."We are already in a highly volatile period, with Iran attacking U.S. allies," like Saudi Arabia, said Ofer Zalzberg, an Israeli analyst for International Crisis Group. "The Israelis are bracing against an Iranian attack. The defense establishment believes Iran will strike within two months. The Israeli reaction would be very different from the Saudi nonreaction, and Iran knows that. But it's very dangerous to encourage Iran to feel safer and to give Iran more courage in its decisions."Beyond what lessons Iran might take from Trump's actions, Israeli officials are also watching how they will be interpreted in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, which already has shown signs of interest in reducing tensions with Iran."The big concern in Israel," Zalzberg said, "is that if the Saudis feel exposed to Iranian attacks, they will shift from the current camp" -- that of Israel and the United States, which have sought to deny Iran nuclear weapons altogether -- "to the camp that says the most we can do is to diplomatically contain Iran's nuclear ambitions, even if only partly."That has enormous potential implications for Israel, which has sought to leverage its opposition to Iran into a diplomatic breakthrough with countries in the Persian Gulf, said Michael B. Oren, a former deputy minister under Netanyahu and ambassador to the United States during the Obama administration."Take that away, and how amenable are the Gulf states going to be to do anything with Israel?" he said."Trump's ability to even advance a peace process with the Palestinians was predicated on his ability to stand up to the Iranians," Oren added. Unless he does, that process will be at risk, Oren said."Why would the Saudis be on board with a peace process? Why would the Emiratis?" he said. "Nobody's connecting the dots. If you're in favor of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, you've got to be in favor of a strong U.S. policy toward Iran."As weighty as the stakes are, Netanyahu himself has kept quiet so far -- highlighting a key limitation of his longstanding policy of bear-hugging Trump.That practice produced political dividends like American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and helped persuade Trump to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. It was so central to Netanyahu's domestic image as a diplomatic maestro that he ran huge billboards showing him grinning alongside Trump in two reelection campaigns this year.Yet it has also constrained Netanyahu from applying public pressure when he believes the president is making bad decisions.The result is that Netanyahu's leverage with Trump has reached a new low -- and yet, "He can't admit it publicly," Zalzberg said. "He's given Trump a sense of immunity, in effect, from criticism by the Israeli prime minister -- something that U.S. presidents always took seriously. And with someone as unpredictable as Trump, this is really dangerous."The hand-wringing by Israelis over Trump's decision on the Kurds was only intensified by the fact that Tuesday was the eve of Yom Kippur, when Israelis not only observe the somber Jewish Day of Atonement but recall the 1973 Yom Kippur war, a national trauma that nearly resulted in Israel's defeat.Oren, a historian before he became a diplomat, noted that when Israel turned to the United States for help in that war, President Richard Nixon was beleaguered by the Watergate scandal that led to his impeachment and resignation. "And Israel's enemies knew it," Oren said.Now, pointing to the impeachment inquiry against Trump, and to Netanyahu's likely indictment on corruption charges, he added, "It's happening here."Oren recalled that in Obama's last meeting with Netanyahu -- despite their friction -- the president said that "if Israel ever got into a serious war, of course the U.S. would intervene, because that's what the American people expect.""I don't think Israel can bank on that today," Oren said. "I don't know now. And it's enough to say I don't know."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Donald Trump, the President Who Would Be King, Just Got Slapped by the Courts Posted: 09 Oct 2019 11:01 AM PDT  From the looks of things, the 45th president's campaign to avoid impeachment is failing, his bid to self-coronate turning to dust. The mist of prosecution is in the air. As the Supreme Court returns from its summer vacation, Donald Trump was rudely reminded that he is neither king nor sovereign, and that a sitting president is not immune from criminal investigation. Rather, he who dwells in the White House simply sits atop a co-equal branch of government, and is expected to obey the law. Apparently, l'état, ce n'est pas lui.Just as the American public has swung solidly behind the House's impeachment inquiry, the president ordered Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the EU, not to testify before Congress. All this after a federal district judge—Victor Marrero, a 78-year-old native of Puerto Rico—on Monday ruled that Trump's claim of blanket immunity in the face of a grand jury subpoena was "repugnant to the nation's governmental structure and constitutional values."Judge Throws the Book at Trump's 'I'm Above the Law' DefenseMarrero ordered that Trump's accountants deliver eight years of his federal tax returns to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in response to a grand jury subpoena. Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff aren't The Donald's only headaches: Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who appears determined to see this fight through after letting the Trumps off the hook before, is his newest nightmare.A review of Judge Marrero's decision reveals that American history was something to be ignored by Trump's legal eagles. The fact that Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton were subject to criminal investigation mattered little to Trump, and that Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew, was prosecuted while still in office was no big deal. Likewise, that Nixon had to turn over the infamous Watergate tapes didn't seem to register. All that stuff was so not "modern presidential" and too inconvenient to be bothered with.Rather, as the House of Trump saw things, a "domain" existed where "not only the President, but, derivatively, relatives and persons and business entities associated with him in potentially unlawful private activities, are in fact above the law." That sounds like the legal theory of a mob crime family. Fortunately, the court was having none of it. Instead, Judge Marrero labeled Trump's position one that the "Founders rejected at the inception of the Republic, and that the Supreme Court has since unequivocally repudiated." At this moment, Trump must be experiencing a serious bout of Putin and Erdogan envy.To be sure, this is not the first time Trump has tried to shroud himself in an invisibility cloak. Indeed, from the looks of things, Trump has a problem keeping his arguments coherent. According to William Consovoy, Trump's lawyer, Congress is barred from investigating the president because that is a proper function of law enforcement, not Congress, and in turn, law enforcement may not investigate President Trump because he is immune from prosecution. Let that sink in.Last spring, Consovoy told a different federal judge that Congress was powerless to hold the president's feet to the fire, and that Watergate and Whitewater were examples of congressional overreach. As for a congressional oversight committee's subpoena to Trump's accountants, it was stepping over a line.Who cares if the Constitution gives Congress pride of place and enumerates its powers in Article I? In Trumpworld numbers don't matter unless Trump says they do, until he doesn't. Then and now, a court has rejected Trump's arguments. As for Trump's beef with Congress' subpoena, we await an appellate decision. As for DA Vance's investigation, within minutes of Trump's latest loss, his lawyers had filed an emergency appeal with the Second Circuit. The song remains the same, yet this is all brand new terrain.Prior presidents tussled with Congress and prosecutors, and claimed executive privilege, not wholesale immunity from scrutiny. In the end, they understood that America and the Constitution were far larger than them.On Sunday night, Trump also branded Speaker Pelosi treasonous. We have seen this movie before. In Gladiator, Commodus jailed his opponents in the Senate. Suffice to say, we were not entertained.Right now, the issue of whether a sitting president can be prosecuted in a state court is unanswered and unresolved. Vance isn't Bill Barr, the current U.S. attorney general and the second coming of Roy Cohn. Trump has reason to be scared. New York State is not bound by the internal Justice Department opinion that tied Robert Mueller's hands. And Schiff has announced that Ambassador Sondland's no-show would be considered an act of obstruction and that Sondland was withholding personal texts of interest. Trump's life just got even more complicated. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Britain and EU to hold last-ditch Brexit talks as deadline looms Posted: 09 Oct 2019 10:38 AM PDT  Britain and the European Union on Wednesday agreed to hold last-ditch talks aimed at securing a Brexit deal with just days left to thrash out an agreement, as the two sides accuse each other of failing to compromise. Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay will meet his EU counterpart Michel Barnier in Brussels in an attempt to break the impasse before an October 17-18 summit. Now it's time for the EU to do the same," Barclay tweeted.
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| Countdown to divorce: the meetings that will decide Brexit Posted: 09 Oct 2019 10:07 AM PDT ![Countdown to divorce: the meetings that will decide Brexit]( "Countdown to divorce: the meetings that will decide Brexit") The following events over the next three weeks will determine whether Britain exits the European Union as planned on Oct. 31 or the three-year-old Brexit saga takes another twist. Oct 10 – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets his Irish counterpart, Leo Varadkar, in northwest England in what is billed as a last chance for them to clear the biggest hurdle to an agreed Brexit: future arrangements for the border between EU-member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland. Oct 13 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron meet at the Elysee Palace to prepare for upcoming summits where Brexit will top the agenda.
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| Johnson to Meet Varadkar in Bid to Break Impasse: Brexit Update Posted: 09 Oct 2019 09:56 AM PDT ![Johnson to Meet Varadkar in Bid to Break Impasse: Brexit Update]( "Johnson to Meet Varadkar in Bid to Break Impasse: Brexit Update") (Bloomberg) -- Follow @Brexit, sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, and tell us your Brexit story. Boris Johnson will meet Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Thursday as the U.K. and European Union seek a breakthrough in stalled talks to reach a Brexit deal. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned the two sides are in no position to reach an accord, but said that with "goodwill" there's still the possibility of doing so. Johnson said he is "cautiously optimistic."Johnson has also scheduled an emergency sitting of Parliament for Oct. 19, the day after he returns from a summit of EU leaders in Brussels. The crisis session will give MPs the chance to debate the way forward. A rare Saturday session in the House of Commons, it's set to be fraught as politicians weigh their options: delaying Brexit, crashing out with no deal, or trying to bring down the government.Key Developments:Johnson and Varadkar to Meet in northwest England on ThursdayParliament to sit on Saturday Oct. 19 after crunch EU summit. Parliament has only met four times on a Saturday since 1939.Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay to hold talks with EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier on ThursdayBarnier: a deal is "very difficult, but possible"Johnson's DUP allies reject mooted European compromise plan for Irish borderBrexit Talks Go On Hold as Leaders Focus on Pinning BlameJohnson Says He's 'Cautiously Optimistic' (5:45 p.m.)Boris Johnson posted a campaign video on Twitter summing up his week so far, including announcements on hospitals and police, a reference to Extinction Rebellion protests in London and -- inevitably -- a reference to Brexit."We've been also negotiating with our friends and partners in the EU about Brexit," Johnson said. "I'm still cautiously, cautiously optimistic."U.K. Banks to Help Companies With Brexit Loans (5:25 p.m.)U.K.'s banks signed up to a government-backed program designed to ensure small and medium-sized companies have access to the cash they need to prepare for Brexit.The government's British Business Bank will make 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) available to lenders to enable them to help SMEs invest in capital, increase export capabilities and manage cash flow, the Business Department said in an emailed statement.The program was finalized at a meeting of the government's Business Finance Council, co-chaired by Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom and Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen. Banks signed up include Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and Santander.Johnson and Varadkar to Meet On Thursday (5:05 p.m.)The British and Irish leaders will meet over lunchtime on Thursday for what looks likely to be a make-or-break conversation for the chances of getting a Brexit deal by the Oct. 31 deadline. Boris Johnson is hosting Leo Varadkar in northwestern England for the private talks, along with members of their senior teams, according to statements released by both sides."This will be a private meeting to allow both leaders and their teams to have detailed discussions about the process for securing agreement for a Brexit deal," the Irish government said in a statement.Barnier Aims For Moral High Ground (4:50 p.m.)The EU's chief Brexit negotiator distanced himself from some of the more inflammatory rhetoric that emerged on Tuesday, saying the bloc would remain "calm, vigilant, constructive and respectful of the United Kingdom and those who govern it."Michel Barnier told European lawmakers that while the two sides were still far apart, there was the possibility of an agreement -- as long as there's "goodwill." But, with negotiations at an impasse, he didn't show any sign that the EU is ready to give ground.He spelled out some of the more serious issues of disagreement, describing Brexit as "something that's long-term" and "creating specific serious problems, first and foremost for Ireland."The biggest area of dispute relates to customs arrangements on the Irish border. Barnier rejected the U.K.'s bid to work those out during a post-Brexit transition period because if that didn't end up happening it would lead to "no checks whatsoever," which would damage the EU's single market.He also criticized the U.K.'s plan to give the Northern Ireland assembly a veto over the deal and the government's request to remove the so-called level playing field commitments, agreed by Johnson's predecessor Theresa May -- which would prevent the U.K. undercutting the EU on issues such as taxation, environmental standards and social protection. That was about "a basic sense of fairness and loyalty," he said.Barnier: No Position at Moment to Get Brexit Deal ( 4:15 p.m.)EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told the European Parliament that "time is pressing" to get a Brexit deal, but the sides aren't in a position to reach an agreement yet.Among disagreements is the issue of customs checks on the Irish border, he says. "We need to have proper rigorous checks all along our external border," he said.EU's Juncker Says Don't Blame EU (4:00 p.m.)EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says he doesn't "exclude a deal" on Brexit."We are not accepting this blame game which started in London -- we are not to be blamed," he told the European Parliament in Brussels.Ireland Holds Out For Brexit Solution (2 p.m.)Ireland needs a solution to the border with Northern Ireland that "can be sustained into the future" after Brexit, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said in a Bloomberg TV interview in Dublin. Ireland still requires a deal that preserves "the principles behind the backstop," he said.Any proposal to seek the consent of Northern Ireland tied must "respect the role" of the two communities of Northern Ireland, Donohoe added. The U.K. plan in its current form could give an effective veto to just one political party in the region.Merkel Not Breaking Code of Silence (1:30 p.m.)Angela Merkel's chief spokesman, Steffen Seibert, kept getting pressed about the now-famous morning phone call. The U.K. side have given their take on it but Germans are not, but one can try and read between the lines.Here is what he said to reporters in Berlin:"We have no new position on Brexit, neither the chancellor nor the government. This is what we've always said. The government will work to find a solution until the last possible moment, so that we can have an orderly U.K. exit out of the EU and avoid the scenario of a no-deal or disorderly exit, because that is the worst-case scenario for all involved."Asked more pointedly whether the chancellor said what the British press (or Downing Street) said she said: "A private conversation is a private conversation." He went on to say, again, that Germany's position hasn't changed.Barnier: Deal Is 'Difficult But Possible' (12:15 p.m.)Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, said a deal with the U.K. is "very difficult but possible" as he prepared to meet with Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay on Thursday."The EU will remain calm, vigilant, respectful and constructive. The technical talks continue and I'm invited for working lunch with Steve Barclay tomorrow," Barnier told reporters on Wednesday. "I think a deal is possible, very difficult but possible."Irish Backstop Can't Have time limit, EU Says (12 p.m.)EU Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said he and his European Commission colleagues had discussed Brexit and all agreed the latest British proposal was inadequate. The Irish backstop can't have a time limit, Oettinger told reporters in Brussels.Boris Johnson Has a Plan B for Brexit If the EU Rejects His DealReported EU Plan Non-Runner, DUP Says (11:35 a.m.)The DUP moved quickly to kill off a reported move by the EU to break the deadlock by giving the Northern Ireland Assembly a say over how long EU customs rules last (see 11:20 a.m.). Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson said this would allow Sinn Fein keep the region bound to the EU indefinitely."This is worse than Mrs May's deal, which at least contained the pretense of these arrangements only being used as an insurance policy," he said in a statement. "This proposal confirms the intended permanency of keeping Northern Ireland in the EU and removing us from the United Kingdom."Scottish Court Delays Decision on Extension (11:25 a.m.)Scottish judges held off intervening in the Brexit furor by postponing a decision on whether they need to commit to sending a letter requesting an extension, giving Boris Johnson a temporary legal victory.The judges ruled that Johnson hadn't acted unlawfully but left the door open to a new case if he fails to reach a deal with the EU and refuses to request an extension by Oct. 19, as he would be required to by law. Under a power peculiar to Scottish law, known as nobile officium, Scottish courts can intervene in any way they see fit to fix an outcome.At the hearing in Edinburgh, Johnson's lawyers promised he will obey the law and request an extension from the EU, while also arguing that there's nothing to stop the prime minister continuing to say he intends to leave on Oct. 31.Potential Backstop Offer Floated (11:20 a.m.)The EU may be willing to make a major concession to Boris Johnson over the Irish border by giving the Northern Ireland Assembly a say over how long EU customs rules last in the province, the Times newspaper reported.In an attempt to break the deadlock, the bloc is dangling the prospect of the assembly in Belfast being able to pull Northern Ireland out of the so-called backstop mechanism, aimed at preventing a hard Irish border, but it would need to vote at some point after a few years with a double majority, an EU official said.This would mean it would need to be approved by both nationalist and unionist politicians, something that was immediately rejected by Sammy Wilson, Brexit spokesman for the DUP. Sinn Fein also appeared to reject the idea.It would also need Johnson to agree to keep Northern Ireland in the EU's customs union until then, and possibly forever, something he's said he's not willing to do.The idea is not an official EU position and would need the approval of the Irish government, but officials say it is seen as a potential compromise and that has been made clear to U.K. negotiators. Bloomberg reported last week that the EU was considering offering to time-limit the backstop linked to the assembly's consent.Barclay and Barnier to Meet on Thursday (11 a.m.)Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay will travel to Brussels for talks with European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Thursday.The meeting is being seen as a stock-take, rather than an indication of a breakthrough -- or breakdown -- in negotiations, according to British officials.Parliament Set For Emergency Saturday Sitting (Earlier)MPs will sit in emergency session in London on Saturday Oct. 19, just 12 days before Britain is set to leave the EU, the day after a crunch summit of EU leaders in Brussels.If Boris Johnson strikes a deal with the EU, it will be a chance for politicians to vote on it, but if he doesn't, it could also present an opportunity for the premier to ask Parliament to sanction a no-deal Brexit.Parliament has already passed a law requiring Johnson to ask for an extension to negotiations if no deal is reached by Oct. 19, but he could use the debate as an opportunity to set out ways he plans to get around the so-called Benn Act and deliver on his promise leave the EU on Oct. 31.It will be the first time the House of Commons has met at a weekend since 1982, when MPs debated the Falklands War.Denmark Increases Support for SMEs (Earlier)Just two days after Boris Johnson called Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to discuss Brexit, the Business Ministry in Copenhagen announced it is spending an extra 50 million kroner ($7.4 million) to help the country's small and medium-sized companies deal with the fallout from the U.K.'s departure from the EU."A no-deal Brexit continues to be a high-risk scenario and that's why we need to step up preparations," Business Minister Simon Kollerup told reporters. "Denmark will be hit really hard by a no-deal Brexit, especially if we are not prepared enough."Earlier:Brexit Talks Go On Hold as Leaders Focus on Pinning BlameBanks Warned Over Failure to Move Employees in Time for BrexitBOE Warns U.K. May Face Economic Turmoil in No-Deal Brexit\--With assistance from Morten Buttler, Kitty Donaldson, Patrick Donahue, Anna Edwards, Jonathan Stearns, Rodney Jefferson and Dara Doyle.To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Ross in London at tross54@bloomberg.net;Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.net;Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Thomas PennyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| No more rebates in EU budget after Brexit, Commission urges Posted: 09 Oct 2019 09:24 AM PDT  The European Commission on Wednesday urged EU states to drop the system of asking for rebates from their budget contributions if and when the UK leaves under Brexit. The request was part of a general message from the EU's executive telling member states to quickly sort out the bloc's 2021-2027 long-term budget plan so its contours are fixed by the end of the year. Similar refunds were also offered to other wealthier EU states, resulting in complicated budget haggling and calculations.
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| Russian and North Korean state media join forces to fight 'fake news' Posted: 09 Oct 2019 09:20 AM PDT  North Korea and Russian state media have joined forces to fight "fake news" about topics including Pyongyang's contentious relationship with Washington. Wearing loyalty badges of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, the directors of the Korean Central News Agency and the TASS news agency signed a cooperation agreement on Tuesday during a visit to Pyongyang by a Russian delegation that also included the head of Channel One state television. "We increasingly often see misrepresentation of information in the news environment, and we must counter the dissemination of such fake news," said central news agency director Kim Chan Gwang. "I believe that KCNA and TASS news agencies must join efforts towards this goal." While he didn't specify what "fake news" he meant, the head of the North Korean foreign ministry's information department on Monday praised TASS and Channel One for "fairly and objectively" reporting the "principal positions of the leadership of the people's republic in Korean-American relations". An attempt to resume stalled denuclearisation talks between the United States and North Korea collapsed in Stockholm on Saturday. Kim Jong-un's regime launched a ballistic missile off of its coast last week. The KCNA's propaganda-heavy coverage suggests that almost any statement that differs from the Pyongyang line would be considered fake news. An article on Wednesday about Korean War commemorations south of the border thundered that "the South Korean authorities' rhetoric about reconciliation and peace only prove that they are false trumpeting to cover up their dark intention of escalating confrontation". Students dance on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of Kim Jong-il's election as general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea Credit: Kim Won Jin/AFP via Getty Four of the 10 "top news" items on the KCNA website were stories about Kim receiving gifts, greetings and floral baskets on the 74th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea. Russian state media similarly accuses the West often of hypocrisy and hostile plots. After the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 by a Russian missile in eastern Ukraine, state media deflected blame with a raft of wild conspiracy theories, and they portrayed the Salisbury poisoning accusations as a groundless "provocation" against Moscow. Only Turkmenistan ranked lower than North Korea in the Reporters Without Borders 2019 press freedom index, while Russia came in at 149. While AP and AFP have Pyongyang bureaus, government minders severely limit their reporters' movements and contacts. An Australian student who had posted photographs and written articles about the North Korean food and culture was expelled from the country in June on spying accusations. TASS, which has been granted two written interviews with Kim Jong-un, said on Wednesday it hopes to expand its bureau in the country to include a photography desk. The Russian delegation also attended a "Country of the People" patriotic gymnastics show performed by 30,000 North Koreans and were informed by top officials that Pyongyang fully supported Vladimir Putin's "policies for defending the sovereignty of Russia". Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un toast during the first meeting in Vladivostok in April Credit: Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP Mr Putin hosted Kim in Vladivostok in April. Keen to be seen as a power broker in the Asian region, Moscow has demanded that the United States provide security guarantees in exchange for Pyongyang ramping down its nuclear missile programme. Russia has been accused of secretly transferring fuel to North Korea at sea to help it dodge international sanctions. Thousands of North Koreans work in Russia in what the United Nations has called "slave-like" conditions. Despite the warm relations, Russian border guards detained hundreds of North Korean fishermen on accusations of poaching last month.
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| Ukraine’s Leader to Outdo Putin With All-Day Press ‘Marathon’ Posted: 09 Oct 2019 08:54 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Having already topped Vladimir Putin's legendary approval rating, Ukraine's new leader is taking aim at his Russian counterpart's hours-long press conferences.Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office announced that he'll speak to journalists for the entire day on Thursday, starting at 10 a.m. in a Kyiv food court. Reporters, who've complained that the president hasn't held a news conference since his inauguration in May, will question him in groups changing every half hour.It may be more than a stunt by the former TV comic, who has plenty to discuss.The world continues to hang on developments in the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, which stems from a phone call back in July with Zelenskiy. On top of that, there's controversy at home over the latest efforts to end the war in Ukraine's east. And there are lingering suspicions about the president's ties to a local billionaire.The time could fly by.\--With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska.To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Langley in London at alangley1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Balazs PenzFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Measles outbreak kills more than 4,000 in Congo this year Posted: 09 Oct 2019 08:48 AM PDT ![Measles outbreak kills more than 4,000 in Congo this year]( "Measles outbreak kills more than 4,000 in Congo this year") More than 4,000 people have died in Congo this year in the world's largest measles outbreak, the United Nations children's agency said Wednesday. The Central African nation is also battling an Ebola outbreak that has killed about half that number since August 2018. Since January, more than 200,000 cases of measles have been reported across Congo, UNICEF said.
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| Trump: US doesn't 'endorse' Turkey's assault on Syria Posted: 09 Oct 2019 07:34 AM PDT  Trump's written statement was issued hours after Turkey, a NATO ally, launched an offensive against Kurdish fighters in Syria, who have helped the U.S. against the Islamic State but are viewed by Turkey as terrorists. Trump's recent decision to pull back U.S. troops leaves those fighters vulnerable.
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| EXPLAINER-How the British courts may decide the fate of Brexit Posted: 09 Oct 2019 07:11 AM PDT ![EXPLAINER-How the British courts may decide the fate of Brexit]( "EXPLAINER-How the British courts may decide the fate of Brexit") Scotland's highest court on Wednesday said it would wait before deciding whether to take action to force Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask for a Brexit delay if he has failed to secure a divorce deal with the European Union by Oct. 19. Johnson has repeatedly said he would not seek any extension and Britain would leave as scheduled on Oct. 31, "do or die", despite legislation which compels him to ask for a delay if he fails to reach a deal. With politicians deadlocked, the issue of whether Britain delays Brexit could now be one for judges to decide.
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| Greta Thunberg, favourite to win Nobel peace prize, honoured at Standing Rock Posted: 09 Oct 2019 06:47 AM PDT  Swedish activist, 16, visits North and South Dakota in solidarity with indigenous groups fighting Dakota Access oil pipelineThunberg is congratulated after speaking at a youth panel at the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota. Photograph: Jim Urquhart/ReutersGreta Thunberg has been honoured by tribal leaders at Standing Rock in North Dakota, the scene of fierce environmental protests, as the teenage climate activist became odds-on favourite for another garland – the Nobel peace prize.Thunberg has been visiting Native American activists who have opposed the Dakota Access pipeline, a major oil project they say will contaminate their drinking water. The Standing Rock Sioux reservation was the scene of a major protest encampment that was dispersed following a severe police crackdown in 2017.Tokata Iron Eyes, an environmental activist, invited Thunberg, a fellow 16-year-old, to her homelands on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, after befriending her. On Tuesday the duo spoke at the Standing Rock high school about the burgeoning youth-led climate movement that has seen millions of people strike from school and protest against fossil-fuel projects around the world."This is a global fight; this is not just in my home country in Sweden," Thunberg said. "We as teenagers shouldn't be the ones taking responsibility. It should be the ones in power."Iron Eyes said that indigenous culture was inherently linked to the health of the environment. "No 16-year-old should have to travel the world in the first place sharing a message about having something as simple as clean water and fresh air to breathe," she said.In a closing ceremony, Thunberg was gifted with a Lakota Native American name, Maphiyata echiyatan hin win, which translates as "woman who came from the heavens".Thunberg with Iron Eyes at an event on the Pine Ridge reservation. Photograph: Jim Urquhart/ReutersThunberg has also become the favourite with British betting companies to receive this year's Nobel. She is considered the most likely winner of the peace prize, to be awarded on Friday, ahead of the Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, indigenous Brazilian leader Raoni Metuktire and Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand.The prize would cap an extraordinary past year for Thunberg, which began with her making solo protests against inaction by the Swedish government on the climate crisis. Her stand her morphed into a mass global movement, with students around the world skipping school on Fridays to call for leaders to do more to address the crisis.North Dakota is the latest, plane-free, trip taken by Thunberg since she arrived in the US in September on a solar-powered yacht. Last month she addressed the United Nations in New York, telling world leaders: "You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words."
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| Turkey Begins Offensive in Syria After U.S. Stands Aside Posted: 09 Oct 2019 06:27 AM PDT (Bloomberg) -- Turkey has begun its military offensive into northeastern Syria to force back Kurdish militants controlling the border area, days after President Donald Trump said the U.S. wouldn't stand in the way.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of the operation, code-named Spring of Peace, on Twitter and said it would also target Islamic State. Russia, Iran and a top EU official urged Turkey to act with restraint amid concerns that renewed chaos in Syria would lead to a jihadist resurgence and push the Kurds, America's allies in the fight against IS, into the arms of President Bashar al-Assad.Turkey has battled Kurdish separatists for years and had repeatedly warned it would not allow the creation of a Kurdish proto-state on its immediate border. Once it seizes the area, Turkey plans to resettle 2 million Syrian refugees, most of them Arabs, in the border zone, further complicating a combustible situation.A small forward group of Turkish forces first entered Syria early Wednesday at two points close to the Syrian towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, according to a Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Turkish planes and shells pounded the towns as the incursion began. Residents fled though Kurdish forces had vacated positions before the attack, which is expected to involve tens of thousands of soldiers backed by tanks and armored personnel carriers from NATO's second-largest army.The Turkish lira weakened on the news, nearing a low for the day.Turkey's advance follows a dramatic reversal of U.S. policy. Trump told Erdogan in a phone call on Sunday that dozens of American troops who'd been working closely with Kurdish forces in the fight against Islamic State would pull back, effectively clearing the way for a Turkish incursion.The White House statement appeared to surprise allies at home and abroad. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said they would defend their "own people," potentially relegating the battle against Islamic State.The Kurdish YPG militia that forms the backbone of the SDF has been one of America's closest partners in the fight against Islamic State and is holding thousands of jihadist fighters and their families in camps and detention centers in northeastern Syria.While Trump said Turkey would become responsible for the detainees, who include foreign fighters from Europe, it was not clear if there was a mechanism in place to transfer them to Turkish custody. Trump was criticized at home for a decision that could see Islamic State fighters escape or regroup.A number of Trump allies, including Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, said the move was "a shot in the arm for the bad guys." Analysts said a U.S. pullback could ultimately play into the hands of Russia, whose military intervention helped turn the tide of the Syrian civil war in favor of Assad. As the Turkish offensive got underway, the Associated Press reported that the YPG had asked Russia to mediate talks between them and the Assad government.Trump Whipsaws on Turkey as Threat Follows Green Light on SyriaTurkey sees the YPG as a threat due to its link to the separatist PKK, another Kurdish group the Turkish government been battling for decades. It's considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union.Its offensive into northern Syria first aims to surround towns in a strip of border territory, before pushing further south in an effort to dismantle any chance of a Kurdish state emerging on its doorstep, according to two Turkish officials, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive military planning.Trump's Confounding Syria Moves Again Spur Policy ConfusionThe first targets will be the Syrian towns of Kobani, Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, all held by the YPG and located along the former Berlin-Baghdad railway that for hundreds of miles forms the frontier with Turkey, according to the officials.The military aims to penetrate at least 30 kilometers (19 miles) deep into Syrian territory and secure the M-4 highway that runs parallel to the frontier all the way to Iraq in the east, they said. Erdogan was keen to act before winter set in and made it difficult for tanks to operate in muddy terrain."What aggravates the operational risks is the deep-running mistrust between Turkey and the U.S.," said Nihat Ali Ozcan, a strategist at the Economic Policy Research Foundation in Ankara. "Turkey is very much worried about whether the U.S. will share intelligence with the YPG over Turkish troop positions to help them defend themselves."Who Are the Syrian Kurds the U.S. Is Abandoning?: QuickTakeTurkish commanders expect to be confronted by a sophisticated foe after the battle-hardened YPG were armed by the U.S. and other Western militaries to help fight Islamic State, they said. Erdogan has chastised Washington for backing the Kurds, but he only pushed ahead with the operation after Trump reversed years of U.S. policy."YPG militants have two options: They can defect or we will have to stop them from disrupting our counter-ISIS efforts," Fahrettin Altun, Erdogan's chief of communications, wrote on Twitter early Wednesday.(Updates with Erdogan's announcement that the operation began.)\--With assistance from Lin Noueihed and Taylan Bilgic.To contact the reporters on this story: Onur Ant in Istanbul at oant@bloomberg.net;Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara at shacaoglu@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net;Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Mike Pompeo says Iran lied to the UK over oil delivery to Syria Posted: 09 Oct 2019 06:22 AM PDT  The United States has demanded European countries hold Iran accountable for breaking EU sanctions over oil supplies to Syria after a tanker off loaded crude at a Syrian port. Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said it was now clear that Iran "lied to UK" over the destination of an oil tanker that had been seized by Royal Marines off Gibraltar this summer. "Oil from the Adrian Darya 1 has been offloaded in Syria, proving that Iran lied to the UK and Gibraltar. This terrorist oil will fund Assad's war and Iran's sectarian violence. EU members should condemn this action, uphold the rule of law, and hold Iran accountable," he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. The Tweet accompanied surveillance pictures purporting to show the tanker transferring oil to another vessel called the Jasmine on October 2. A second picture purported to show the Jasmine moored at an oil discharge area near the Baniyas oil refinery on the Syrian coast on October 4. Oil from the AdrianDarya1 has been offloaded in Syria, proving that Iran lied to the UK and Gibraltar. This terrorist oil will fund Assad's war and Iran's sectarian violence. EU members should condemn this action, uphold the rule of law, and hold Iran accountable. pic.twitter.com/4GPZpdYU8b— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) October 9, 2019 The Adrian Darya 1, then sailing under the name Grace 1, was seized by British forces in July on suspicion of delivering oil to Syria, which would have breached EU sanctions applicable in Gibraltar's waters. It was released by a court in Gibraltar in August following Iranian assurances that Syria was not the destination, but was reported to have off loaded its cargo of about two million barrels of crude oil at the Syrian port of Tartus in early September. Britain at the time accused Iran of showing "complete disregard for its own assurances" and summoned the Iranian ambassador to complain of a breach of trust. Iran had promised Gibraltar that the ship was not headed to Syria in order to secure its release from detention in Gibraltar two weeks previously. It was not immediately clear if last month's reports of an oil delivery were mistaken or if the claims made by Secretary Pompeo on Wednesday referred to a fresh transfer. Europe and the United States have been divided over Iran policy since Donald Trump's administration quit a deal, also backed by the EU, Russia, and China, designed to curtail Iran's nuclear ambitions in 2018. Since then the United States has pursued a "maximum pressure" policy of punishing sanctions in a bid to force Iran to accept tighter nuclear restrictions, end military support for armed groups like Hizbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, and cut its missile program. European countries, including the UK, have resisted US pressure to follow suit and have attempted to persuade Iran to stick to its nuclear deal commitments.
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| Save the Children warns of cholera spike in Yemen's north Posted: 09 Oct 2019 05:52 AM PDT ![Save the Children warns of cholera spike in Yemen's north]( "Save the Children warns of cholera spike in Yemen's north") A children's advocacy group is warning of a spike in cholera cases in northern Yemen affecting hundreds of thousands of children and their families as a result of an increase in fuel shortages. Save the Children said Wednesday that fuel shortages have resulted in a jump in food prices and, as a result, a deepening health crisis. The group says fuel prices have hiked 100% over the past 40 days as the internationally recognized government imposed customs duties in the interim capital Aden.
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| Brexit Update: Scottish Court Delays Decision On Extension, EU Negotiator Says Deal 'Difficult But Possible' Posted: 09 Oct 2019 05:43 AM PDT ![Brexit Update: Scottish Court Delays Decision On Extension, EU Negotiator Says Deal 'Difficult But Possible']( "Brexit Update: Scottish Court Delays Decision On Extension, EU Negotiator Says Deal 'Difficult But Possible'") Brexit dscussions between the European Union and the United Kingdom are intensifying with 22 days to go before the U.K. is due to depart from the EU. The Scottish Court of Session delayed a decision on whether to sign a letter requesting a Brexit extension if Prime Minister Boris Johnson refuses to do so, the BBC reported. The U.K. Parliament is set to meet Saturday, Oct. 19 following an EU summit.
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| British PM Johnson "still cautiously optimistic" on Brexit deal Posted: 09 Oct 2019 05:39 AM PDT ![British PM Johnson "still cautiously optimistic" on Brexit deal]( "British PM Johnson \"still cautiously optimistic\" on Brexit deal") British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that he was still cautiously optimistic about a Brexit deal. "We've been also negotiating with our friends and partners in the EU about Brexit and you know I'm still cautiously, cautiously optimistic," Johnson, with his hair ruffled, said in a film posted on Twitter.
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| Top Secret Russian Unit Seeks to Destabilize Europe, Security Officials Say Posted: 09 Oct 2019 05:18 AM PDT  First came a destabilization campaign in Moldova, followed by the poisoning of an arms dealer in Bulgaria and then a thwarted coup in Montenegro. Last year, there was an attempt to assassinate a former Russian spy in Britain using a nerve agent. Though the operations bore the fingerprints of Russia's intelligence services, authorities initially saw them as isolated, unconnected attacks.Western security officials have now concluded that these operations, and potentially many others, are part of a coordinated and ongoing campaign to destabilize Europe, executed by an elite unit inside the Russian intelligence system skilled in subversion, sabotage and assassination.The group, known as Unit 29155, has operated for at least a decade, yet Western officials only recently discovered it. Intelligence officials in four Western countries say it is unclear how often the unit is mobilized and warn that it is impossible to know when and where its operatives will strike.The purpose of Unit 29155, which has not been previously reported, underscores the degree to which Russian President Vladimir Putin is actively fighting the West with his brand of so-called hybrid warfare -- a blend of propaganda, hacking attacks and disinformation -- as well as open military confrontation."I think we had forgotten how organically ruthless the Russians could be," said Peter Zwack, a retired military intelligence officer and former defense attache at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, who said he was not aware of the unit's existence.In a text message, Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, directed questions about the unit to the Russian Defense Ministry. The ministry did not respond to requests for comment.Hidden behind concrete walls at the headquarters of the 161st Special Purpose Specialist Training Center in eastern Moscow, the unit sits within the command hierarchy of the Russian military intelligence agency, widely known as the GRU.Though much about GRU operations remains a mystery, Western intelligence agencies have begun to get a clearer picture of its underlying architecture. In the months before the 2016 presidential election, U.S. officials say two GRU cyber units, known as 26165 and 74455, hacked into the servers of the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign, and then published embarrassing internal communications.Last year, Robert Mueller, the special counsel overseeing the inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 elections, indicted more than a dozen officers from those units, though all still remain at large. The hacking teams mostly operate from Moscow, thousands of miles from their targets.By contrast, officers from Unit 29155 travel to and from European countries. Some are decorated veterans of Russia's bloodiest wars, including in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Ukraine. Its operations are so secret, according to assessments by Western intelligence services, that the unit's existence is most likely unknown even to other GRU operatives.The unit appears to be a tight-knit community. A photograph taken in 2017 shows the unit's commander, Maj. Gen. Andrei V. Averyanov, at his daughter's wedding in a gray suit and bow tie. He is posing with Col. Anatoly V. Chepiga, one of two officers indicted in Britain over the poisoning of a former spy, Sergei Skripal."This is a unit of the GRU that has been active over the years across Europe," said one European security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe classified intelligence matters. "It's been a surprise that the Russians, the GRU, this unit, have felt free to go ahead and carry out this extreme malign activity in friendly countries. That's been a shock."To varying degrees, each of the four operations linked to the unit attracted public attention, even as it took time for authorities to confirm that they were connected. Western intelligence agencies first identified the unit after the failed 2016 coup in Montenegro, which involved a plot by two unit officers to kill the country's prime minister and seize the parliament building.But officials began to grasp the unit's specific agenda of disruption only after the March 2018 poisoning of Skripal, a former GRU officer who had betrayed Russia by spying for the British. Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, fell grievously ill after exposure to a highly toxic nerve agent, but survived.The poisoning led to a geopolitical standoff, with more than 20 nations, including the United States, expelling 150 Russian diplomats in a show of solidarity with Britain.Ultimately, British authorities exposed two suspects, who had traveled under aliases but were later identified by the investigative site Bellingcat as Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin. Six months after the poisoning, British prosecutors charged both men with transporting the nerve agent to Skripal's home in Salisbury, England, and smearing it on his front door.But the operation was more complex than officials revealed at the time.Exactly a year before the poisoning, three Unit 29155 operatives traveled to Britain, possibly for a practice run, two European officials said. One was Mishkin. A second man used the alias Sergei Pavlov. Intelligence officials believe the third operative, who used the alias Sergei Fedotov, oversaw the mission.Soon, officials established that two of these officers -- the men using the names Fedotov and Pavlov -- had been part of a team that attempted to poison Bulgarian arms dealer Emilian Gebrev in 2015. (The other operatives, also known only by their aliases, according to European intelligence officials, were Ivan Lebedev, Nikolai Kononikhin, Alexey Nikitin and Danil Stepanov.)The team would twice try to kill Gebrev, once in Sofia, the capital, and again a month later at his home on the Black Sea.Speaking to reporters in February at the Munich Security Conference, Alex Younger, the chief of MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service, spoke out against the growing Russian threat and hinted at coordination, without mentioning a specific unit."You can see there is a concerted program of activity -- and, yes, it does often involve the same people," Younger said, pointing specifically to the Skripal poisoning and the Montenegro coup attempt. He added: "We assess there is a standing threat from the GRU and the other Russian intelligence services and that very little is off limits."The Kremlin sees Russia as being at war with a Western liberal order that it views as an existential threat.At a ceremony in November for the GRU's centenary, Putin stood beneath a glowing backdrop of the agency's logo -- a red carnation and an exploding grenade -- and described it as "legendary." A former intelligence officer himself, Putin drew a direct line between the Red Army spies who helped defeat the Nazis in World War II and officers of the GRU, whose "unique capabilities" are now deployed against a different kind of enemy."Unfortunately, the potential for conflict is on the rise in the world," Putin said during the ceremony. "Provocations and outright lies are being used and attempts are being made to disrupt strategic parity."In 2006, Putin signed a law legalizing targeted killings abroad, the same year a team of Russian assassins used a radioactive isotope to murder Alexander V. Litvinenko, another former Russian spy, in London.Unit 29155 is not the only group authorized to carry out such operations, officials said. British authorities have attributed Litvinenko's killing to the Federal Security Service, the intelligence agency once headed by Putin that often competes with the GRU.Although little is known about Unit 29155 itself, there are clues in public Russian records that suggest links to the Kremlin's broader hybrid strategy.A 2012 directive from the Russian Defense Ministry assigned bonuses to three units for "special achievements in military service." One was Unit 29155. Another was Unit 74455, which was later involved in the 2016 election interference. The third was Unit 99450, whose officers are believed to have been involved in the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.A retired GRU officer with knowledge of Unit 29155 said that it specialized in preparing for "diversionary" missions, "in groups or individually -- bombings, murders, anything.""They were serious guys who served there," the retired officer said. "They were officers who worked undercover and as international agents."Photographs of the unit's dilapidated former headquarters, which has since been abandoned, show myriad gun racks with labels for an assortment of weapons, including Belgian FN-30 sniper rifles, German G3A3s, Austrian Steyr AUGs and American M16s. There was also a form outlining a training regimen, including exercises for hand-to-hand combat. The retired GRU officer confirmed the authenticity of the photographs, which were published by a Russian blogger.The current commander, Averyanov, graduated in 1988 from the Tashkent Military Academy in what was then the Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan. It is likely that he would have fought in both the first and second Chechen wars, and he was awarded a Hero of Russia medal, the country's highest honor, in January 2015. The two officers charged with the Skripal poisoning also received the same award.Though an elite force, the unit appears to operate on a shoestring budget. According to Russian records, Averyanov lives in a rundown Soviet-era building a few blocks from the unit's headquarters and drives a 1996 VAZ 21053, a rattletrap Russia-made sedan. Operatives often share cheap accommodation to economize while on the road. British investigators say the suspects in the Skripal poisoning stayed in a low-cost hotel in Bow, a downtrodden neighborhood in East London.But European security officials are also perplexed by the apparent sloppiness in the unit's operations. Skripal survived the assassination attempt, as did Gebrev, the Bulgarian arms dealer. The attempted coup in Montenegro drew an enormous amount of attention, but ultimately failed. A year later, Montenegro joined NATO. It is possible, security officials say, that they have yet to discover other, more successful operations.It is difficult to know if the messiness has bothered the Kremlin. Perhaps, intelligence experts say, it is part of the point."That kind of intelligence operation has become part of the psychological warfare," said Eerik-Niiles Kross, a former intelligence chief in Estonia. "It's not that they have become that much more aggressive. They want to be felt. It's part of the game."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Pentagon says U.S. won't intervene if ISIS prisoners escape during Turkish invasion Posted: 09 Oct 2019 05:16 AM PDT ![Pentagon says U.S. won't intervene if ISIS prisoners escape during Turkish invasion]( "Pentagon says U.S. won't intervene if ISIS prisoners escape during Turkish invasion") Turkish troops started crossing into Syria early Wednesday, in what appears to be the beginning of a threatened invasion of an area controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, The Associated Press reports. The SDF, the main U.S. ally in the regional fight against the Islamic State, guards about 11,000 ISIS prisoners in more than 20 makeshift prison camps, and U.S. officials told The Washington Post that if the Kurds abandon the prisons to defend their territory from Turkey's invasion, the U.S. doesn't have the forces or mandate to intervene if ISIS militants escape.Turkey's incursion was preceded by President Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. forces from the reason late Sunday night, essentially giving Turkey a green light, though Trump later reacted to the swift condemnation of his pullback by saying he would "totally destroy and obliterate" Turkey's economy if it crossed some unspecified line. Navy Cmdr. Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman, told the Post that Turkey would be "responsible for freeing thousands of ISIS fighters" if it invaded.Turkey's presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun said in a Washington Post op-ed Wednesday that Ankara plans to "neutralize" the Syrian Kurds, which it calls terrorist. Meanwhile, ISIS militants staged a small attack on SDF posts in Raqqa, ISIS's former capital, and Iran announced surprise special operations military drills near the Iranian-Turkish border. The Washington Post's David Ignatius said Tuesday that the "Turkish attack appears coordinated with the Russians, and "Russian-backed forces are mobilizing to invade the Kurdish area from the south."Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Washington of playing a "very dangerous game" with the Syrian Kurds. "Such reckless attitude to this highly sensitive subject can set fire to the entire region, and we have to avoid it at any cost," he said.
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| U.S. Secretary of State calls for EU to condemn Iran over tanker Posted: 09 Oct 2019 05:05 AM PDT ![U.S. Secretary of State calls for EU to condemn Iran over tanker]( "U.S. Secretary of State calls for EU to condemn Iran over tanker") U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday called on the European Union to condemn Iran and hold Tehran accountable after he said oil from Iranian tanker Adrian Darya had been offloaded in Syria. "Oil from the #AdrianDarya1 has been offloaded in Syria, proving that Iran lied to the UK and Gibraltar ... EU members should condemn this action, uphold the rule of law, and hold Iran accountable," Pompeo wrote in a post on Twitter.
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| America Never Had a Syria Solution Posted: 09 Oct 2019 05:05 AM PDT  Most countries, including Turkey, Iran and Russia, do not train and equip locals only to then leave them to be attacked.
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| Donald Trump's Syria Withdrawal: Are We Asking the Right Questions? Posted: 09 Oct 2019 05:00 AM PDT  Critics of the decision to withdraw seldom address the long-term question of how their recommended course of action ends. The vision seems to be a permanent U.S. protectorate of a Kurdish-controlled part of a still-divided Syria, with a never-ending American troop presence that doesn't really leverage anyone but instead functions as a trip-wire that raises the risk of war with Russia, Iran, or even fellow NATO member Turkey.
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| Brexiters and Russians Abuse Their World War II Glory Posted: 09 Oct 2019 04:37 AM PDT ![Brexiters and Russians Abuse Their World War II Glory]( "Brexiters and Russians Abuse Their World War II Glory") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- When the U.K.'s Leave.EU campaign posted a meme on Tuesday calling German Chancellor Angela Merkel a "Kraut" who shouldn't be allowed to "push around" the winners of two world wars, I couldn't help but think of the lasting trauma winning World War II has inflicted on some nations. Britain and my native Russia are prime examples.Leave.EU and its founder, the Brexit campaign funder Arron Banks, apologized and took down the tweet after it was condemned as racist, including by cabinet minister Michael Gove, a leading Brexiter. But the use of the word "Kraut" wasn't the only problem with it; the invocation of the war victories was equally egregious.In 2002, an anti-euro campaign in the U.K. ran a commercial featuring comedian Rik Mayall as Hitler agitating for "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Euro" ("One people, one empire, one euro"). It was roundly criticized as tasteless, but it found a defender in a Conservative backbencher named Boris Johnson. He wrote a column in the Daily Telegraph insisting the ad was "harmless" and "light-hearted" — and he claimed Hitler had "everything to do with the euro" because he wanted the occupied countries of Europe to function as an economic union.There's not much ideological distance between that column and declaring that the U.K. won't be "pushed around by a Kraut." There's a direct line from it to Conservative legislator Mark Francois's recent promise not to "submit to bullying by any German" because his father, a World War II veteran, never did, and to former Brexit Secretary David Davis's assertion that the British civil service "can easily cope with" Brexit because it coped with World War II. Attempts by Johnson's allies to blame Merkel for the likely collapse of the Brexit deal talks are part of the same cultural framework. As a Russian, it's all quite familiar. After Europe's leaders, led by Merkel, condemned the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and imposed sanctions, a piece of graffiti left by a nameless Russian soldier on Berlin's Reichstag — "We Could Do It Again" — became a popular sticker in Moscow. A pro-Kremlin commentator described this as a "defensive reaction to the external pressure Russia is facing."To boost the patriotic "Crimea consensus," President Vladimir Putin's propaganda machine stepped up its promotion of the cult of the World War II victory. Putin's opponents have described it as "pobedobesiye", or victory madness. As the winner of World War II, the thinking goes, Russia saved Europe and the world. Last month, as Europe commemorated the beginning of World War II and the Russian occupation of parts of eastern Europe, the Russian Foreign ministry tweeted:In Britain and Russia the references to war glories are used to justify disastrous actions by modern leaders, such as Brexit or Crimea. It's as if linking them to 1945 makes them smart by association.One could argue that the victory represents the last flash of true historic greatness for both nations. Both have seen their empires disintegrate, both have been stripped of superpower status, both have "lost the peace." That makes it natural to want to reach back to the uplifting memories of 1945 — and to look with apprehension at Germany's return as the central force in the European Union. Margaret Thatcher's British government fought against the country's reunification to prevent this resurgence; Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, with whom she sought to ally on this, needed German money for the collapsing Soviet economy, and the humiliation of accepting that money wasn't lost on nationalistic Russians.Memory is a potent factor in politics. Deep-seated resentments can't just be waved away. They are impervious to logic and pragmatic considerations.But even from a purely emotional point of view, there's an important flaw in the Russian and British appeals to the World War II experience. Neither country won the conflict by itself. They won as part of an alliance. The glory was shared, and, until ideological differences interfered, the allies celebrated and set up the current global system of rules and governance together.The problem is when you try to claim all the glory for one country and ignore the role of teamwork, of overcoming major differences to fight a common enemy, of accommodating partners and allies and treating them as equals. The victory was not about going it alone.That, paradoxically, is what Germany has learned well as a loser. Instead of pushing for leadership, it has consistently sought multilateral compromises and joint positions. Modern Germany is capable of going against its economic interests to look out for allies. That's something Britain's Brexiter politicians constantly fail to understand about Merkel's position on the U.K.'s departure, and that's what Putin underestimated when the Europeans united to sanction Russia.Winning big wars can, in the long run, hurt countries. Losing them can help. Once the physical wounds of a war are healed, learning the right lessons becomes more important than the historical outcome.To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: James Boxell at jboxell@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion's Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Brexiters and Russians Abuse Their World War II Glory Posted: 09 Oct 2019 04:37 AM PDT ![Brexiters and Russians Abuse Their World War II Glory]( "Brexiters and Russians Abuse Their World War II Glory") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- When the U.K.'s Leave.EU campaign posted a meme on Tuesday calling German Chancellor Angela Merkel a "Kraut" who shouldn't be allowed to "push around" the winners of two world wars, I couldn't help but think of the lasting trauma winning World War II has inflicted on some nations. Britain and my native Russia are prime examples.Leave.EU and its founder, the Brexit campaign funder Arron Banks, apologized and took down the tweet after it was condemned as racist, including by cabinet minister Michael Gove, a leading Brexiter. But the use of the word "Kraut" wasn't the only problem with it; the invocation of the war victories was equally egregious.In 2002, an anti-euro campaign in the U.K. ran a commercial featuring comedian Rik Mayall as Hitler agitating for "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Euro" ("One people, one empire, one euro"). It was roundly criticized as tasteless, but it found a defender in a Conservative backbencher named Boris Johnson. He wrote a column in the Daily Telegraph insisting the ad was "harmless" and "light-hearted" — and he claimed Hitler had "everything to do with the euro" because he wanted the occupied countries of Europe to function as an economic union.There's not much ideological distance between that column and declaring that the U.K. won't be "pushed around by a Kraut." There's a direct line from it to Conservative legislator Mark Francois's recent promise not to "submit to bullying by any German" because his father, a World War II veteran, never did, and to former Brexit Secretary David Davis's assertion that the British civil service "can easily cope with" Brexit because it coped with World War II. Attempts by Johnson's allies to blame Merkel for the likely collapse of the Brexit deal talks are part of the same cultural framework. As a Russian, it's all quite familiar. After Europe's leaders, led by Merkel, condemned the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and imposed sanctions, a piece of graffiti left by a nameless Russian soldier on Berlin's Reichstag — "We Could Do It Again" — became a popular sticker in Moscow. A pro-Kremlin commentator described this as a "defensive reaction to the external pressure Russia is facing."To boost the patriotic "Crimea consensus," President Vladimir Putin's propaganda machine stepped up its promotion of the cult of the World War II victory. Putin's opponents have described it as "pobedobesiye", or victory madness. As the winner of World War II, the thinking goes, Russia saved Europe and the world. Last month, as Europe commemorated the beginning of World War II and the Russian occupation of parts of eastern Europe, the Russian Foreign ministry tweeted:In Britain and Russia the references to war glories are used to justify disastrous actions by modern leaders, such as Brexit or Crimea. It's as if linking them to 1945 makes them smart by association.One could argue that the victory represents the last flash of true historic greatness for both nations. Both have seen their empires disintegrate, both have been stripped of superpower status, both have "lost the peace." That makes it natural to want to reach back to the uplifting memories of 1945 — and to look with apprehension at Germany's return as the central force in the European Union. Margaret Thatcher's British government fought against the country's reunification to prevent this resurgence; Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, with whom she sought to ally on this, needed German money for the collapsing Soviet economy, and the humiliation of accepting that money wasn't lost on nationalistic Russians.Memory is a potent factor in politics. Deep-seated resentments can't just be waved away. They are impervious to logic and pragmatic considerations.But even from a purely emotional point of view, there's an important flaw in the Russian and British appeals to the World War II experience. Neither country won the conflict by itself. They won as part of an alliance. The glory was shared, and, until ideological differences interfered, the allies celebrated and set up the current global system of rules and governance together.The problem is when you try to claim all the glory for one country and ignore the role of teamwork, of overcoming major differences to fight a common enemy, of accommodating partners and allies and treating them as equals. The victory was not about going it alone.That, paradoxically, is what Germany has learned well as a loser. Instead of pushing for leadership, it has consistently sought multilateral compromises and joint positions. Modern Germany is capable of going against its economic interests to look out for allies. That's something Britain's Brexiter politicians constantly fail to understand about Merkel's position on the U.K.'s departure, and that's what Putin underestimated when the Europeans united to sanction Russia.Winning big wars can, in the long run, hurt countries. Losing them can help. Once the physical wounds of a war are healed, learning the right lessons becomes more important than the historical outcome.To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: James Boxell at jboxell@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion's Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Russia declares opposition leader Alexei Navalny's anti-corruption group 'foreign agent' Posted: 09 Oct 2019 04:36 AM PDT  Russia on Wednesday upped the pressure on opposition leader Alexei Navalny, declaring his organisation a "foreign agent" that will be subject to increased state monitoring. Mr Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which often publishes investigations into state officials, will now have to present itself as a "foreign agent" on official documents. Russia started a controversial list of foreign agent organisations, which in Russian implies spying for a foreign government, in 2012. This has led to many of the groups closing down. Mr Navalny called the move "absolutely illegal" and said it was "obviously a direct order from (President Vladimir) Putin." "FBK never received a single kopeck of foreign money," he wrote on Twitter. He demanded that the justice ministry publicly prove that the foundation received funds from outside Russia. FBK, which has often been raided by authorities, said the move was an attempt to curb its activity. Its director Ivan Zhdanov said it was "another attempt to suffocate" the foundation. He said the group, which seeks donations from the public, is funded "exclusively by Russian citizens." Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh wrote on Twitter that the decision was intended to "put pressure on us and attempt to stop our activity." While barred from mainstream politics, Navalny has kept trying to expose the lavish wealth of Russia's elites, broadcasting the findings of his investigations to millions of Russians on social media and YouTube. This has helped Mr Navalny, a Yale-educated lawyer, win a young fan base in the country. In August, Russian investigators launched a money-laundering probe into FBK, accusing it of taking money that was procured illegally. Last month, investigators raided dozens of Mr Navalny's regional offices, as well as the homes of his supporters following mass opposition protests in Moscow this summer. Mr Navalny blamed the raids on Kremlin "hysteria" sparked by the ruling party's losses in local elections last month. He said police searched more than 200 addresses in 41 cities across Russia. The charismatic anti-corruption campaigner instructed supporters to vote strategically to block pro-Kremlin candidates in Moscow's recent local election. Allies of Mr Putin suffered major losses in the Russian capital during the September vote. Mr Navalny organised the protests after popular opposition politicians were barred from standing in the Moscow parliament election. The 43-year-old missed several of the demonstrations while serving a 30-day jail term for organising previous unauthorised rallies. Since emerging as the Kremlin's chief critic and a highly effective campaigner and organiser, Mr Navalny has faced repeated legal action apparently aimed at hindering his activities. He has often been jailed and physically attacked, but has vowed to press ahead with his campaign to change Russia. He was barred from challenging Mr Putin on the ballot box in Russia's 2018 presidential election. He nonetheless toured Russia ahead of the vote in an American-style campaign to rally his supporters, and set up headquarters across the country. Mr Putin has refused to pronounce Mr Navalny's name in public.
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| Why Senate Republicans may decide impeaching Trump is actually the safer option Posted: 09 Oct 2019 04:23 AM PDT ![Why Senate Republicans may decide impeaching Trump is actually the safer option]( "Why Senate Republicans may decide impeaching Trump is actually the safer option") Impeachment momentum is building, both in the House and in the polls, but President Trump has an ace up his sleeve: Senate Republicans still control the upper chamber, which means that if the House does impeach Trump, Republicans will conduct and control the resulting trial that will decide his fate. If the House's impeachment process remains as chaotic and closed off as it has been so far under the direction of Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and especially if the House never allows for effective due process by formally authorizing an impeachment inquiry, Senate Republicans have no incentive to treat a resulting impeachment seriously, let alone consider removing Trump.Unless, that is, Trump manages to find a way to alienate Senate Republicans and convince them that it might be more dangerous to keep him in office than to show him the door. The president's sudden announcement that he would withdraw protection from Syrian Kurd allies as Turkey threatened to go to war with them may not rise to that level just yet, but it clearly rattled the people on whom Trump relies to get through this term in office.Trump's decision did not come entirely out of the blue. When he ran for office, he embraced the non-interventionist wing of the GOP. During the presidential primary debates, he castigated Jeb Bush for the 2003 decision of his brother, former President George Bush, to invade Iraq, stunning the other candidates but gaining credibility with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and others demanding full withdrawals from overseas theaters of war.After the election, Trump discovered just how difficult it would be to extricate the U.S. from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. His chief negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, has tried to get the Taliban to cooperate with little to show for it, despite the apparent bait of a Camp David meeting last month. As for Syria, the president ordered a full withdrawal in December, prompting then-Defense Secretary James Mattis to resign in protest. The backlash within his own party eventually forced Trump to retreat, ordering a drawdown of troops and materiel instead and biding his time for the next opportunity.The president apparently lost patience. Without consulting his allies on Capitol Hill -- or, reportedly, the Pentagon -- Trump agreed to withdraw protection from the Syrian Kurds as Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted that he needed to strike their positions. The Kurds, who were the front-line fighters against the ISIS "caliphate" over the past few years, found themselves without the protection that the U.S. promised, even as they struggle to deal with thousands of captured ISIS fighters and supporters.If anything, Trump chose the wrong theater of war from which to retreat. While America's strategic interests in Afghanistan are now limited at best, this isn't the case in Syria, where the U.S. has critical strategic interests, especially in containing Iran. The Kurds in Syria are not just the front line against ISIS, but also our partners in monitoring and frustrating Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias in the region. Iran's partnership with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad presents a considerable threat to Sunni Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, which just suffered a missile attack that originated in Iran.Add to that the existential threat that Iranian hegemony represents to our ally Israel, and it's easy to see why Trump's near-whimsical decision rattled Republicans, especially in the Senate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has spent most of the last three years defending Trump, but the Syria announcement drew his immediate criticism. "A precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria would only benefit Russia, Iran, and the Assad regime," McConnell responded in a prepared statement, and "would increase the risk that ISIS and other terrorist groups regroup."Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and one of Trump's biggest defenders in the impeachment fight, told Fox & Friends that the decision was "unnerving to its core." In unusually sharp language, Graham also called Trump's claim that he had defeated ISIS "the biggest lie being told" by his administration, warning that while the group's control of ground had been disrupted, it was still dangerous. "President Trump may be tired of fighting radical Islam," Graham later added on Twitter. "They are NOT tired of fighting us."And those were Trump's closest allies in the Senate Republican caucus. Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, a longtime critic, issued a joint statement with Connecticut Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy calling for hearings for the Trump administration to "explain how betraying an ally and ceding influence to terrorists and adversaries is not disastrous for our national security interests." Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called the decision "a grave mistake that will have implications far beyond Syria."This decision alone won't convince 20 Republicans to cross the aisle on a removal vote, of course. In part, that is because Trump tried this once before, and his impatience in Syria was well known. However, the seemingly capricious manner in which this decision was made and the damage it does to American credibility with needed partners in the fight against radical Islamist terrorism cannot help but raise doubts about Trump's leadership with the very people Trump needs to help him preserve it.Want more essential commentary and analysis like this delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for The Week's "Today's best articles" newsletter here.
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| UN says US strikes cause civilian casualties in Afghanistan Posted: 09 Oct 2019 04:14 AM PDT  A U.N. report released on Wednesday criticized American airstrikes earlier this year against alleged drug facilities in Afghanistan, saying they were unlawful and caused significant civilian casualties. The report, released simultaneously in Kabul and Geneva, said the U.N. verified 39 civilian casualties, including 14 children and a woman, from multiple airstrikes in May on more than 60 sites. The locations were identified by U.S. and Afghan forces as drug-production facilities in Bakwa district in western Farah province and in neighboring Delaram district in Nimroz province.
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| RPT-UPDATE 1-German cabinet approves climate protection measures Posted: 09 Oct 2019 04:03 AM PDT ![RPT-UPDATE 1-German cabinet approves climate protection measures]( "RPT-UPDATE 1-German cabinet approves climate protection measures") The German cabinet on Wednesday approved climate protection measures designed to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, keeping on track plans by Chancellor Angela Merkel to pass the landmark package this year. German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze took to Twitter to announce the approval of the measures, which would be enshrined in a Climate Protection Law. "Finally there are binding rules for climate protection - and that's a good thing.
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| Invasion of northeast Syria carries gain and risk for Turkey Posted: 09 Oct 2019 03:38 AM PDT  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long threatened to send troops into northeastern Syria to clear the border region of Syrian Kurdish fighters whom Turkey considers a serious security threat. A Turkish invasion looks more likely after President Donald Trump's sudden announcement that U.S. troops, who had fought alongside the Kurds against Islamic State group, would withdraw from the area. Here is a look at what Turkey wants to achieve in the area, and the risks and challenges it faces by getting even more deeply involved in the Syrian crisis.
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| UPDATE 3-Anti-Brexit campaigners claim victory as Scottish court delays decision on extension law Posted: 09 Oct 2019 03:32 AM PDT ![UPDATE 3-Anti-Brexit campaigners claim victory as Scottish court delays decision on extension law]( "UPDATE 3-Anti-Brexit campaigners claim victory as Scottish court delays decision on extension law") Anti-Brexit campaigners claimed victory after Scotland's highest court decided on Wednesday to wait before ruling whether to force Prime Minister Boris Johnson to seek a delay to Britain's EU divorce date if he has not struck a deal in the next 10 days. An alliance of rebels in Johnson's Conservative Party and opposition lawmakers voted through a law, known as the Benn Act, last month which requires him to ask for a Brexit delay if there is no deal in place by Oct. 19. The chances of any agreement with the European Union by next week appear slim at the moment with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar saying there were big gaps between the two sides.
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