| Biggest Hong Kong Protest in Months Signals More Unrest in 2020 Posted: 08 Dec 2019 03:35 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong saw its biggest pro-democracy protest in months on Sunday, signaling more unrest to come in 2020 as the movement that began in June to fight China's increasing grip on the city shows its staying power.Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators flooded the city's major downtown boulevards, many waving U.S. flags, singing "Glory to Hong Kong" and chanting "Five demands, not one less." The protests were largely peaceful throughout the afternoon, though at night tensions emerged between riot police and some radical demonstrators. Some protesters also called for disrupting the commute on Monday morning.The rally was the first organized by the Civil Human Rights Front to get police approval since August, prompting many Hong Kongers who normally wouldn't risk joining an illegal assembly to hit the streets.The organizer said about 800,000 were at the rally, while police estimated 183,000 were at the peak of the protest. The show of force follows a landslide victory for pro-democracy forces in local elections last month."Yet another breathtaking display of Hong Kongers' political might," said Claudia Mo, a pro-democracy lawmaker who joined the march on Sunday. "By now it's obvious the Hong Kong fight will go on, we will soldier on," she said. "This may last for the generations to come."Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's leader backed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, has refused to give in to demands including an independent inquiry into police violence and meaningful elections for the city's top political positions. The demonstrations have maintained popular support even as the economy has slid into a recession."Should Carrie Lam or the Beijing regime continue to ignore the outcry, Hong Kongers will continue to resist the government by peaceful and not-so-peaceful means," said Fernando Cheung, another opposition lawmaker.Mass MarchesThe protesters have sought to pressure the government with a combination of peaceful mass marches, like the one on Sunday afternoon; and more violent actions like shutting down transport networks, vandalizing mainland-linked businesses and seizing universities. Police have made more than 6,000 arrests, while coming under fire for abuses in seeking to contain the demonstrations.Earlier on Sunday, police said they arrested 11 people while seizing a semi-automatic pistol, bullet-proof jackets, retractable batons and pepper spray in the raid. They suspected an "extreme" group of people would try to attack police or "create chaos" during the rally.While the protest was largely peaceful, the police said early Monday that some had blocked streets in the evening, spray-painted walls of the High Court and vandalized shops in the Causeway Bay shopping district, "seriously challenging the spirit of the rule of law.""We're very nervous," Li Kwai Wah, senior superintendent at the Organized Crime Triad Bureau, told reporters earlier. "I am urging the protesters today to pay extra attention to their surroundings and leave the scene and report to the police if there are signs of danger."MTR Corp., the city's subway operator, said it's adding more train captains for some services to ensure there aren't any foreign objects on the rail tracks. It also said rides on the East Rail Line will be longer than usual. Some trackside equipment was destroyed at the University Station and trains are expected to travel at a slower speed.Lam's government withdrew a bill allowing extraditions to the mainland that originally sparked the protests, and called for dialogue on the other demands. China has sought to portray the issues as largely economic in nature, while refusing to offer a political solution.The protesters on Sunday vowed to keep on fighting into 2020, when Hong Kong is scheduled to hold elections for the Legislative Council. Kelvin, a 30-year-old salesperson who declined to give his last name, also said the protesters were "building our own economics.""I know a lot of businesses take sides, so we are going for the side that supports democracy," he said. "Our government is not responding to any of them so that's why we are still here."Under PressureCompanies have got caught in the middle of the protests. Chinese retailers and branches of lenders like Bank of China Ltd. have been ransacked by vandals, while Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and the NBA have come under pressure from Beijing after employees supported the demonstrations.Over the weekend, the heads of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong were denied entry to Macau and sent back, with no explanation given."We hope that this is just an over reaction to current events and that international business can constructively forge ahead," the chamber said in a statement.On Saturday, hundreds of pro-government demonstrators gathered in Wan Chai waving China and Hong Kong flags while condemning the violent protests and vandalism of the past months. Organizers told local media Ming Pao that they think the vote for local district councils last month was unfair and called for actions to rebut the protesters' plans for a general strike on Monday.Sunday's large turnout showed that the government will be "living in a fantasy" if they believe the protests will die down early next year, particularly with the holidays of Christmas and Chinese New Year coming up, said Alvin Yeung, a lawmaker in the pro-democracy camp."People are still very eager to fight for what they have been fighting for," he said. "It's not the end yet -- it's far from the end."To contact the reporters on this story: Cathy Chan in Hong Kong at kchan14@bloomberg.net;Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.net;Aaron Mc Nicholas in Hong Kong at amcnicholas2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Stanley JamesFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| AP Interview: Warren says voters are ready for female ticket Posted: 08 Dec 2019 03:22 PM PST  Elizabeth Warren said Sunday she believes Americans are ready for a presidential ticket with two women at the top, rejecting concerns from some Democrats that a woman can't beat President Donald Trump. In the aftermath of Hillary Clinton's 2016 defeat, some Democrats have expressed hesitation about nominating another woman to take on Trump in 2020. Warren has said she'd consider tapping Harris as a running mate.
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| Schumer: Fed workers to get 12 weeks of paid parental leave Posted: 08 Dec 2019 03:09 PM PST  The Senate's top Democrat said Sunday that congressional leaders have reached a "real breakthrough" deal to give 12 weeks of paid parental leave to millions of federal workers as part of the annual defense policy bill. Sen. Charles Schumer said the agreement over the National Defense Authorization Act was reached late Friday night and a vote is expected later this week. The establishment of President Donald Trump's proposed Space Force is also included in the bill.
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| Johnson Returns to Key Brexit Message as Polls Put Him Ahead Posted: 08 Dec 2019 02:30 PM PST ![Johnson Returns to Key Brexit Message as Polls Put Him Ahead]( "Johnson Returns to Key Brexit Message as Polls Put Him Ahead") (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson will go into the final days of the U.K.'s election campaign returning to his key message: that only he can deliver Brexit.Polls show his Conservative Party on course to win a majority, which would mean Parliament voting to leave the European Union by Jan. 31. But in the 2017 election, those polls were wrong, and Johnson will urge supporters not to be complacent.On Monday, the prime minister is visiting Sunderland in Northeast England, one of the first places to declare in favor of leaving the European Union on the night of the 2016 referendum. He'll say that vote has been frustrated by members of parliament with "dither and delay, prevarication and procrastination, obfuscation and obstruction," according to his office.Johnson himself was part of that parliament and a leader of the Conservative rebellion that stopped Britain from leaving the EU in March. But the signs are that voters aren't going to punish him for this in Thursday's election.Polls in the Sunday newspapers all put the Conservatives in the lead. There were some signs that Jeremy Corbyn's opposition Labour Party was closing the gap, but not by enough yet to keep the Conservatives out of power."No one can rule out a surprise, especially after the surprise of 2017, but on the face of it, Johnson is headed for victory," said Anthony Wells of polling firm YouGov. "There's a spread in the polling, but it's between polls that show Johnson getting a big majority, polls that show a medium majority and polls showing it's touch-and-go for a majority."One possible catalyst for a Tory upset would be if opponents of Brexit manage to persuade people to vote "tactically" for the candidate most likely to defeat the Conservatives. The difficulty is that in tight races, it's not always clear which party that is.Labour CampaignLabour, too, will return to its core message, with Treasury spokesman John McDonnell telling voters that the party will put "money in your pockets" and "power in your hands" by increasing government spending and setting up new bodies that will regenerate the U.K. outside London.But the party is struggling. McDonnell acknowledged on the BBC on Sunday that the emergence of a strain of anti-Semitism in the party under Corbyn's leadership was hurting Labour in the election. "I worry that this has had its effect," he said.Johnson on Sunday strove to brush off issues about his Brexit deal, denying that products traveling between Northern Ireland and Great Britain would need to undergo inspections. "There won't be checks," he told Sky News. "There's no question of there being checks on goods."Johnson Sows Confusion Over Northern Irish Trade After BrexitThe prime minister's campaign message of the final weekend was that he will curtail immigration. Even so, the details of his "Australian-style points-based immigration system" suggest its workings will change little from the U.K.'s existing points-based system.Both offer a smooth pathway into the country to the highly skilled and the rich and a route to citizenship for those who have skills that are needed. The new plan expands an existing third route for temporary unskilled workers, which is currently restricted because it's easy for employers to get unskilled workers from the EU.For its part, Labour said it would introduce free care for all elderly people. It's an increasing problem in the U.K. that parties have struggled to solve as the cost of looking after an aging population rises.Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson will try to mitigate the damage done by her pledge to simply revoke Brexit -- something critics view as undemocratic -- by saying her party has legislation drafted for a second referendum. On Sunday, she said that if there's another hung parliament, she'd be willing to put Labour in power, but not Corbyn.To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net;Greg Ritchie in London at gritchie10@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Tony CzuczkaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Brexit versus public services: Rival British leaders make final campaign push Posted: 08 Dec 2019 02:30 PM PST ![Brexit versus public services: Rival British leaders make final campaign push]( "Brexit versus public services: Rival British leaders make final campaign push") Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to the heartlands of Brexit Britain in a final campaign blitz ahead of Thursday's election, as he seeks to secure the parliamentary majority he needs to take the country out of the European Union. "We have just three days to make that a reality, three days to break the deadlock and avoid a hung parliament ... three days to get Brexit done," he will say on Monday during a visit to Sunderland in the northeast of England. The city was one of the first places to declare its residents had voted for Brexit after a referendum in 2016.
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| Trump warns Kim has 'everything' to lose through hostility Posted: 08 Dec 2019 02:04 PM PST  President Donald Trump warned Sunday that North Korea's Kim Jong Un had "everything" to lose through hostility towards the United States, after Pyongyang said it had carried out a major new weapons test. "Kim Jong Un is too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way," Trump tweeted in response to the unspecified test at the Sohae space launch center. The announcement of Saturday's test came just hours after Trump said he would be "surprised" by any hostile action from the North, emphasizing his "very good relationship" with Kim.
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| Father: Navy victim shot standing watch fresh from boot camp Posted: 08 Dec 2019 01:06 PM PST  Fresh out of boot camp, Cameron Walters proudly told his father in Georgia during their nightly video chat that he had passed the exam qualifying him to stand watch and help secure building entrances at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. When news broke the next morning of shots being fired on the base, Shane Walters called his son's cellphone repeatedly throughout the day. Shane Walters told The Associated Press on Sunday that his son died standing watch at the classroom building where the shooter opened fire.
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| U.K. Conservatives Widen Lead Over Labour in Latest BMG Poll Posted: 08 Dec 2019 12:42 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Boris Johnson's Conservatives hold a 9-percentage-point lead over opposition Labour ahead of Thursday's U.K. general election, a BMG poll for The Independent found.The poll showed the Tories with 41%, up 2 percentage points from the previous BMG poll on Nov. 30. Labour had 32%, down one point.The Liberal Democrats had 14%, up one point, and the Brexit Party was unchanged at 4%. The Greens had 4%, down one point.The poll surveyed 1,542 adults online Dec. 4-6.Robert Struthers, BMG's head of polling, told the newspaper that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had to "continue the squeeze on the Remain side," referring to voters who opposed Brexit."This week, our polling suggests -- as do figures of other pollsters -- that Labour has stalled on this front," the newspaper quoted Struthers as saying. "Now, with four days left before polling day, there is little time for Labour to shift the dial."To contact the reporter on this story: Erin McClam in New York at emcclam@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Sebastian Tong at stong41@bloomberg.net, Steve GeimannFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump warns Kim Jong-un over denuclearisation after North Korea touts ‘important test’ at rocket launch site Posted: 08 Dec 2019 12:35 PM PST  North Korea has claimed it carried out a "very important test" this weekend at a long-range rocket launch site that was partially dismantled at the start of denuclearisation talks last year.As hopes of new negotiations between North Korea and the US have dimmed, Pyongyang has threatened to seek "a new way" forward if it cannot make progress with talks.
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| Bipartisan questions raised about U.S.-Saudi relationship while Trump appears committed to MBS in wake of shooting Posted: 08 Dec 2019 11:30 AM PST ![Bipartisan questions raised about U.S.-Saudi relationship while Trump appears committed to MBS in wake of shooting]( "Bipartisan questions raised about U.S.-Saudi relationship while Trump appears committed to MBS in wake of shooting") The shooting -- which is now being considered an act of terrorism -- that resulted in three deaths at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Pensacola, Florida, on Friday has placed the United States' relationship with Saudi Arabia under a microscope.The suspected shooter, identified as Saudi Royal Air Force 2nd Lt. Mohammad Saeed Alshamrani, was an aviation student at the base. The killing has led some people to question whether the partnership should continue, especially considering there have long been doubts about the alliance for a variety of reasons, most notably accusations of human rights abuses in Yemen and the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.But President Trump seems committed to U.S. policy toward Saudi Arabia, especially as his administration remains wary of Iran's influence in the Middle East. Trump said he spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman after the shooting, who offered his condolences to family and friends of the deceased. There didn't, however, seem to be much in the way of rethinking the alliance.That doesn't mean others haven't. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who is aiming to challenge Trump as the next Democratic nominee, called the U.S. partnership with Saudi Arabia "unacceptable."> "The fact that this president seems, in a very transactional way, doubling down on (the U.S.-Saudi relationship), and telling us it's because of just financial interests, is unacceptable," Sen. Cory Booker says in light of the Pensacola naval base shooting https://t.co/xFq8aFsaKL pic.twitter.com/SHikA0aSNA> > -- This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 8, 2019Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a supporter of Trump, said he was assured by Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud that Saudi Arabia would not interfere with the investigation into the matter, unless requested. But he still said that Friday's shooting "has to inform" the U.S.-Saudi relationship. > "There is a special kind of grief when the bravest, most patriotic Americans are putting themselves in harms way to train people from other countries ... and then they kill us." > > Rep. Gaetz says shooting at naval base "has to inform" U.S.-Saudi relations. https://t.co/xFq8aFsaKL pic.twitter.com/1HXQJwQ3Js> > -- This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 8, 2019More stories from theweek.com Trump's pathological obsession with being laughed at The most important day of the impeachment inquiry Jerry Falwell Jr.'s false gospel of memes
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| North Dakota county may become US's 1st to bar new refugees Posted: 08 Dec 2019 10:53 AM PST  Reuben Panchol was forced to leave war-torn Sudan decades ago as a child, embarking on an odyssey that eventually brought him to the American Midwest and left him eternally grateful to the country that took him in. "I am an American citizen, a North Dakotan," said Panchol, a 38-year-old father of four. If they vote to bar refugees, as expected, Burleigh County — home to about 95,000 people and the capital city of Bismarck — could become the first local government to do so since President Donald Trump issued an executive order making it possible.
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| Ukraine crowds protest over Russia summit Posted: 08 Dec 2019 10:46 AM PST  Some 5,000 Ukrainians rallied in Kiev on Sunday warning President Volodymyr Zelensky to resist pressure from Russia's Vladimir Putin when the two men meet on Monday for talks on the conflict in Ukraine's east. Protesters held placards with slogans such as "No to capitulation", "Stay away from Moscow" and "Russian gas is a noose around our necks" during the rally, led by Zelensky's political opponents. The two leaders are due to meet for the first time since Zelensky's election in April at the talks in Paris, mediated by French and German leaders Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel.
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| Merkel’s Partner Hit by Weak Polls as New Leaders Take Over Posted: 08 Dec 2019 10:25 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Germany's Social Democrats, fresh from electing a leadership critical of Chancellor Angela Merkel, got a first taste of the challenge of returning the party to strength.Support for Merkel's junior coalition partner fell to 11% in a weekly Forsa poll, matching an all-time low reached in June. Another poll gave the SPD a 1-percentage-point bump.The surveys follow a week dominated by the SPD's attempt to revive its fortunes. Delegates backed a new tandem of leaders and endorsed policy demands that would ease years of fiscal discipline under Merkel. After initial speculation that the SPD might leave the government and trigger a political crisis, the party stepped back from the brink at a convention on Friday."We will talk and if there is a willingness to talk, there's always the chance to keep going" with the coalition, SPD co-chairwoman Saskia Esken told broadcaster ARD on Sunday.Merkel's governing Christian Democrat-led bloc rose 1 percentage point to 28% in the Forsa poll, while the opposition Green party was unchanged in second place at 22%. The nationalist Alternative for Germany party, which rose 1 point to 14%, polled third.The SPD rose 1 point to 16% and Merkel's bloc was unchanged at 28% in a Nov. 27-Dec. 4 Emnid poll for Bild am Sonntag newspaper, published Sunday.As the Social Democrats weigh their tactics, Merkel's Christian Democratic Union over the weekend drove home its stance that the policy pact underpinning her coalition isn't up for negotiation."I strongly advise against renegotiation," Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner, a deputy national leader of the CDU, told Funke newspaper. "The government cannot and will not follow the SPD's leftist course.""I would have appreciated a really clear signal from the SPD convention to continue the grand coalition," CDU chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told Bild am Sonntag.Merkel's coalition with the Social Democrats is her third since she took office in 2005, but it's been the most fraught. The 65-year-old German leader has said she won't run again after completing her fourth term, which ends in 2021.(Updates with SPD co-leader's comments in fourth paragraph)\--With assistance from Patrick Henry.To contact the reporter on this story: Jan-Patrick Barnert in Frankfurt at jbarnert3@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Beth Mellor at bmellor@bloomberg.net, Tony Czuczka, Sara MarleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| America’s influence, once so dominant, waning under Trump Posted: 08 Dec 2019 10:16 AM PST  It's whispered in NATO meeting rooms and celebrated in China's halls of power. It's lamented in the capital cities of key U.S. allies and welcomed in the Kremlin. Three years into Donald Trump's presidency, America's global influence is waning.
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| Iraqi state forces, militia man checkpoints after bloodshed Posted: 08 Dec 2019 09:21 AM PST  Iraqi security forces on Sunday set up checkpoints and manned them alongside unarmed members of a militia group, Iraqi police officials said, to protect anti-government protesters in central Baghdad plazas, two days after a deadly attack by unknown gunmen. The militia group, Saraya Salam or Peace Brigades, are linked to influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and have been present in Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Iraq's protest movement, where they have offered protection for hundreds of peaceful demonstrators.
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| For Trump, Instinct After Florida Killings Is Simple: Protect Saudis Posted: 08 Dec 2019 09:04 AM PST  FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- When a Saudi Air Force officer opened fire on his classmates at a naval base in Pensacola, Florida, on Friday, he killed three, wounded eight and exposed anew the strange dynamic between President Donald Trump and the Saudi leadership: The president's first instinct was to tamp down on any suggestion that the Saudi government needed to be held to account.Hours later, Trump announced on Twitter that he had received a condolence call from King Salman of Saudi Arabia, who clearly sought to ensure that the episode did not further fracture their relationship. On Saturday, leaving the White House for a trip here for a Republican fundraiser and a speech on Israeli-American relations, Trump told reporters that "they are devastated in Saudi Arabia," noting that "the king will be involved in taking care of families and loved ones." He never used the word "terrorism."What was missing was any assurance that the Saudis would aid in the investigation, help identify the suspect's motives, or answer the many questions about the vetting process for a coveted slot at one of the country's premier schools for training allied officers. Or, more broadly, why the United States continues to train members of the Saudi military even as that same military faces credible accusations of repeated human rights abuses in Yemen, including the dropping of munitions that maximize civilian casualties."The attack is a disaster for an already deeply strained relationship," Bruce Riedel, a scholar at the Brookings Institution and a former CIA officer who has dealt with generations of Saudi leaders, said Saturday. It "focuses attention on Americans training Saudi Air Force officers who are engaged in numerous bombings of innocents in Yemen, which is the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world," he said, noting that the Trump administration had long been fighting Congress as it seeks to end U.S. support for that war.But even stranger, said Riedel, was "the president's parroting of the Saudi line" before learning the results of an investigation into whether the gunman acted alone, or had allegiances to al-Qaida or terrorist groups.For the White House, the calculus is simple: Saudi Arabia is not only critical to world oil supplies -- though no longer critical to the United States' -- it is the only regional power able to counter Iran. The result, former members of the Trump administration say, has been a dismissal of any critiques that could weaken that bond.Trump was so quick and so eager to assure the Saudis that the relationship would continue before anyone knew how to categorize the shooting that it raised questions about how the administration would have responded if the suspect had been an Iranian, or an immigrant from Mexico. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump often cited the killing of a young woman in California by an undocumented immigrant as a reason to crack down on immigration and build a wall along the southern border."Had an attack been carried out by any country on his Muslim ban, his reaction would have been very different," said Aaron David Miller, a longtime Middle East negotiator and now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace."But when it comes to Saudi, the default position is to defend," he said, "Driven by oil, money, weapons sales, a good deal of Saudi feting and flattery, Trump has created a virtually impenetrable zone of immunity for Saudi Arabia."It was hardly the first time Trump had shown such tendencies. After the brutal killing in Istanbul of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident and a legal American resident, Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo played down U.S. intelligence findings that closely tied Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to the matter. The findings suggested he had connections to the members of the hit team sent to Turkey -- and almost certainly played a role in ordering them to bring Khashoggi back to the country by force.Trump's and Pompeo's initial promises to follow the evidence wherever it led dissipated. Over the past year, Pompeo has expressed deep annoyance whenever the topic is raised. The United States was awaiting the results of a Saudi investigation, he often said, as if he expected that to offer a full accounting. And he told members of Congress that no matter the truth of what unfolded, the relationship between the kingdom and Washington was too important to be held hostage to one vicious, ill-thought-out act.No U.S. assessment of what the Saudi leadership knew has ever been made public.Before the shooting Friday, the White House was already fighting efforts in Congress to cut military aid to the Saudis, a reflection of anger over the Khashoggi murder and continuing war in Yemen. But the Pensacola attack underlined the continuing instinct to protect the relationship."If Trump wants to convey condolences from Saudi King Salman, fine," Miller wrote on Twitter after the shooting. "But you don't do it on day -- Americans are killed -- untethered from a message of ironclad assurances from King to provide" whatever cooperation is necessary to understand the gunman and his motives. "Otherwise Trump sounds like what he has become -- a Saudi apologist."After Pompeo announced that he had spoken with the Saudi foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, about the shooting, Martin Indyk, a former American ambassador to Israel and longtime Middle East negotiator, tweeted: "Isn't it interesting how quick Trump and Pompeo are to broadcast Saudi government condolences for the murder of three Americans and how slow they were to criticize the Saudi government's murder" of Khashoggi.Still, the bond between the countries is weakening, as the erosion of support in Congress shows. A negotiation over providing nuclear technology to the Saudis, a huge push early in the administration, has stalled. The chances that the military support will remain at current levels appear slim."The U.S.-Saudi relationship is on life support," Riedel said, noting that it would be in jeopardy if a Democrat were to win the 2020 election. "Even Joe Biden is calling the Kingdom a 'pariah' that needs to be punished," he said, referring to the former vice president, who had for decades supported a strong relationship with the Saudis.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Bosnian capital of Sarajevo hit by dangerous air pollution Posted: 08 Dec 2019 09:01 AM PST  SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Authorities say air pollution in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo has reached dangerous levels in recent days, prompting officials to ban freight vehicles from the roads, cancel all outdoor public events and warn citizens to remain indoors. Situated in a deep valley and surrounded by high mountains, Sarajevo has historically suffered from high concentrations of fog, smog and dust. According to a recent report by the U.N. Environment Program, Sarajevo residents are exposed to some of the highest concentrations of air pollution in Europe.
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| UPDATE 1-Merkel's party blasts SPD before coalition talks Posted: 08 Dec 2019 08:59 AM PST ![UPDATE 1-Merkel's party blasts SPD before coalition talks]( "UPDATE 1-Merkel's party blasts SPD before coalition talks") The leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives sharply criticised attempts by the Social Democrats (SPD) to push their ruling coalition to the left, accusing her partners of thinking of themselves more than Germany. The parties will decide in the next few weeks whether their centrist alliance has a future after the SPD chose a more leftist leadership duo, who have demanded new policies on climate, investment and the minimum wage. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a Merkel protege and head of her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), attacked the SPD for failing to commit to the coalition but stopped short of ruling out all their demands.
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| Saudi gunman tweeted against US before naval base shooting Posted: 08 Dec 2019 08:59 AM PST  The Saudi gunman who killed three people at the Pensacola naval base had apparently gone on Twitter shortly before the shooting to blast U.S. support of Israel and accuse America of being anti-Muslim, a U.S. official said Sunday as the FBI confirmed it is operating on the assumption the attack was an act of terrorism. Investigators are also trying to establish whether the killer, 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, 21, of the Royal Saudi Air Force, acted alone or was part of a larger plot.
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| Ukrainians Are Sick of Trump, Impeachment and Being Talked About Posted: 08 Dec 2019 08:58 AM PST ![Ukrainians Are Sick of Trump, Impeachment and Being Talked About]( "Ukrainians Are Sick of Trump, Impeachment and Being Talked About") (Bloomberg) -- Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy is getting used to being peppered with questions about Donald Trump.At a briefing during a recent tour of the Baltic region, he interrupted an interpreter relaying a question from a reporter."Even without knowing your beautiful language, I understood," he said. "We're in Estonia now, but unfortunately everyone's interested in what's happening with Trump. I'm interested in relations between our countries. Honestly, I don't like to comment on this story."Zelenskiy may bat the frequent queries away, but that doesn't mean it's a comfortable situation for a political neophyte who is still getting to grips with his job.Every day comes a reminder that Ukraine is at the center of the U.S. impeachment investigation into its president. Not only is the country, or Zelenskiy, frequently name-checked -- Trump did so 12 times last week on Twitter-- but correspondents from Washington have descended en masse on Kyiv, desperate to break the next chapter of the scandal.Ukraine, until now better known internationally for tangling with Russia in 2014 in a war where President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea, is portrayed on American television screens and by some lawmakers as a hotbed of corruption and dodgy dealings. A curiosity. A parody, even. Zelenskiy's prior career as a comedian is a frequent talking point.There's no sign it will stop, either.Read more: Trump Energy Adviser Leaving White House After Ukraine SubpoenaThe House Intelligence Committee on the Democrats' months-long investigation concluded last week that Trump abused his power, compromised national security and then tried to cover it up. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put the wheels in motion for a historic vote to impeach Trump on a rapid timetable that could bring things to a conclusion before the Christmas holiday.At the heart of the inquiry is Trump's attempt during a July 25 phone call with Zelenskiy to leverage the promise of a White House meeting and the release of nearly $400 million in U.S. aid to get Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a rival for Trump in the 2020 presidential race. On Sunday Trump again posted claims on Twitter about Biden's son and his work on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. Trump has said the arrangement was corrupt, though no evidence of wrongdoing has emerged.Turn on a television in the former Soviet republic and the subject of Trump and impeachment barely gets a mention. Same for the local papers and weekly news magazines. There's no great discussion in popular social media forums. The feeling is one of stoic nonchalance.A recent survey on attitudes toward Zelenskiy contained 25 questions -- on topics from the conflict in eastern Ukraine to privatization. There was even one on a dispute with Poland dating back to World War II. The impeachment inquiry wasn't broached.Read more: House Panel Defends Impeachment Evidence After Trump Complaints"People don't care much," said Iryna Bekeshkina, who heads the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation in Kyiv. "And space for questions is limited."Despite Ukraine getting more attention in U.S. media "than any other country could possibly imagine," American firms operating in the eastern European nation are thriving, according to Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kyiv.Even so, it's a tiresome distraction for politicians.Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, whose work in Ukraine is at the heart of the impeachment proceedings, turned up in Kyiv last week. While Zelenskiy and his top officials avoided seeing him, social media showed Giuliani meeting with current and previous political figures as part of a cable news documentary that's critical of the impeachment inquiry.And there are potential ramifications. Ukraine is locked in a proxy war with Russia, with U.S. help key to beating Moscow back. Undermining Trump could backfire if he is re-elected. Backing him too overtly could be ill-advised if he is not.Zelenskiy is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in person for the first time for detailed talks this week in Paris, alongside the leaders of France and Germany. They'll discuss the Donbas region, where pro-Russian separatists are still facing off against Ukrainian troops. Meanwhile a deal to ensure vital supplies of Russian natural gas are piped across Ukraine into Europe is due to expire on Dec. 31.Zelenskiy's ratings have taken a tumble since the now-infamous call with Trump. That is driven more by concerns about his economic agenda than his dealings with the U.S. president. But a leader constantly being bombarded about Trump is someone less able to devote time and attention to pressing matters at home.Weekly newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli, perhaps on a hopeful note, has said fatigue could be setting in in the U.S. -- even among Trump's opponents -- as the impeachment bus rolls on."It seems Americans are tired of the political developments that are unfolding," the paper wrote.Zelenskiy, for one, can empathize.(Updates with latest Trump Tweet in 10th paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Langley in London at alangley1@bloomberg.net;Daryna Krasnolutska in Kiev at dkrasnolutsk@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net;Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Thousands form human chain in Brussels in climate change demo Posted: 08 Dec 2019 08:55 AM PST ![Thousands form human chain in Brussels in climate change demo]( "Thousands form human chain in Brussels in climate change demo") Thousands of people holding hands formed a human chain in central Brussels on Sunday to draw public attention to the need for urgent, joint action against climate change. Some 2,400 people took part in the peaceful demonstration, police said, which encircled the Belgian federal parliament and the Royal Palace. The two-hour demonstration took place as policy-makers from around the world gather in Madrid for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
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| Performance artist devours $120,000 banana at Miami beach gallery Posted: 08 Dec 2019 08:36 AM PST  Art is said to be in the eye of the beholder, but in the case of David Datuna, it moved rather rapidly from his mouth to his stomach. The object in question was a banana, taped to a wall at a gallery in Miami by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, whose previous creations include the 18-carat gold lavatory which was ripped out of Blenheim Palace in September. This was no ordinary banana, but part of an artwork which had already been sold for $120,000 (£91,400). This banana symbolised global trade according to Emmanuel Perrotin the founder of At Gallery Basel, which hosted the exhibition. It was just another example of how Cattelan turned everyday items into "vehicles of both delight and critique." View this post on Instagram "Hungry Artist" Art performance by me �� I love Maurizio Cattelan artwork and I really love this installation It's very delicious �� artbasel artbaselmiamibeach daviddatuna Eatingabanana Mauriziocattelan Hungryartist A post shared by David Datuna (@david_datuna) on Dec 7, 2019 at 11:38am PST However David Datuna a New York-based artist of some distinction in his own right decided to enhance the experience by eating the banana in front of an audience of gallery visitors. "Art performance. Hungry artist" he said as he munched the banana which, it has to be said, was turning brown. This was not an act of artistic vandalism, he said, insisting it was a gesture of respect. His performance was captured for posterity by a crowd which had grown to over 20 by the time the banana had been devoured. Peggy Leboeuf, the gallery director was not amused by the unauthorised improvisation by Mr Datuna, whose portrait of Vladimir Putin constructed from miniature images of the Mona Lisa, fetched $269,000 in 2011. "He was not arrested. But we asked him to leave the booth and leave the fair. "We have his contact and everything. We can go further, but I don't think we will." The installation was removed on Sunday. All is not lost, however. The piece, entitled "Comedian' has retained its value thanks to a certificate of authenticity and the owner is free to replace the banana - and duct tape.
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| Main Lebanon PM candidate withdraws from consideration Posted: 08 Dec 2019 08:13 AM PST  A possible candidate for prime minister of Lebanon said Sunday he is withdrawing from consideration for the post, prolonging the country's political crisis. Samir Khatib said the country's top Sunni religious authority told him the community supports the re-appointment of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned Oct. 29 under fire from anti-government protesters. Under Lebanon's sectarian-based political system, the prime minister comes from the Sunni Muslim community, while the president is chosen from the Maronite Christian community.
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| Iran unveils 'budget of resistance' backed by $5bn Russian loan Posted: 08 Dec 2019 08:10 AM PST  Iran's President Hassan Rouhani announced Sunday a "budget of resistance" against US sanctions targeting the country's vital oil sector, backed by a $5 billion Russian investment. Rouhani said the aim was to reduce "hardships" in Iran where a shock fuel price hike last month triggered nationwide demonstrations that turned deadly. After unilaterally withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May last year, the US began imposing sanctions on Tehran, including on oil exports, which it aims to squeeze to zero in a campaign of "maximum pressure". Iran has suffered a sharp economic downturn, with a plummeting currency sending inflation skyrocketing. Rouhani told parliament that the budget of 4,845 trillion rials, or $36 billion at the current street rate, was devised to help Iran's people overcome difficulty. "We know that under the situation of sanctions and pressure, people are in hardship. We know people's purchasing power has declined," he said. The budget would benefit from a $5 billion "investment" from Russia which was still being finalised, said Rouhani. "We hope that $5 billion in capital will enter the country, either through plans that have already been finalised or which will be finalised next year," he said. Iran and Russia have strengthened ties in recent years, with both backing President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war. Rouhani told lawmakers the budget, which includes a 15-percent public sector wage hike, "is a budget of resistance and perseverance against sanctions". He said the fiscal plan came in response to the "maximum pressure and continuation of America's sanctions" and vowed it would signal "to the world that, despite sanctions, we will manage the country, especially in terms of oil". Iran, a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, sits on the world's fourth-biggest oil reserves and second-largest gas reserves. Rouhani said that despite the US sanctions, his government expected to earn almost 455 trillion rials ($3.4 billion) from oil exports. But he also said Iran's non-oil economy would "be positive" in the next year. "Our exports, our imports, the transfer of money, our foreign exchange encounter a lot of problems," he said. "We all know that we encounter problems in exporting oil. Yet at the same time, we endeavour to reduce the difficulty of people's livelihood. "Contrary to what the Americans thought, that with the pressure of sanctions our country's economy would encounter problems, thank God we have chosen the correct path... and we are moving forward." The budget announcement comes after petrol price hikes and rationing in mid-November sparked demonstrations across Iran that turned violent before being quelled by security forces amid an internet blackout. Iran has yet to give an overall death toll for the unrest in which petrol pumps and police stations were torched and shops looted. London-based human rights group Amnesty International said at least 208 people were killed in the crackdown. Iran has dismissed such figures as "utter lies". US President Donald Trump began applying punitive measures in 2018, after withdrawing from an accord that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for limits on its nuclear programme. Iran's economy has been battered, with the International Monetary Fund forecasting it will contract by 9.5 percent this year. The sharp downturn has seen the rial nose-dive and inflation run at around 35 percent. The IMF's figures show Iran's crude oil exports running at below 600,000 barrels per day this year, down over 70 percent compared to 2016, the year after the nuclear deal came into force. In his speech, Rouhani only touched on a few areas of the budget for the financial year starting late March 2020, which must be scrutinised and voted on by parliament. "All our efforts are geared towards reducing these hardships to some extent so it can be more tolerable," he said.
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| Trump accused of pushing anti-Semitic stereotypes in controversial speech to Israeli American Council Posted: 08 Dec 2019 08:08 AM PST ![Trump accused of pushing anti-Semitic stereotypes in controversial speech to Israeli American Council]( "Trump accused of pushing anti-Semitic stereotypes in controversial speech to Israeli American Council") President Trump may have gotten a good response from his audience, but his latest speech offended many others.Trump delivered a 45-minute speech to the Israeli American Council in Hollywood, Florida, on Saturday evening. Trump spoke about his administration's decisions to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2017, move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, and eliminate funding for the Palestinian Authority as he urged those in attendance to vote for him while he runs for a second term in the Oval Office. Trump was reportedly regularly interrupted by the crowd's chants of "four more years" during the speech.But the speech was not without controversy, with several observers noting that his words played into anti-Semitic tropes about wealth and loyalty, Haaretz reports. During the speech, Trump said there are Jewish people in the U.S. who don't love Israel enough, and added that if someone like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) gets elected to the presidency, instead, the people in the room would "be out of business in 15 minutes."> Trump, speaking to the Israeli American Council: "You're not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me. You have no choice. You're not going to vote for Pocahontas, I can tell you that. You're not going to vote for the wealth tax!" pic.twitter.com/IXoaVUw6MU> > — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 8, 2019Read more at Haaretz and The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com Trump's pathological obsession with being laughed at The most important day of the impeachment inquiry Jerry Falwell Jr.'s false gospel of memes
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| Rouhani Says Iran Budget to Counter U.S. ‘Maximum Pressure’ Posted: 08 Dec 2019 08:07 AM PST ![Rouhani Says Iran Budget to Counter U.S. 'Maximum Pressure']( "Rouhani Says Iran Budget to Counter U.S. 'Maximum Pressure'") (Bloomberg) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani submitted a draft budget for the coming fiscal year designed to offset the impact of Washington's "maximum pressure" policy on the Islamic Republic.U.S. sanctions have led to record-low oil exports for Iran -- traditionally the country's largest source of foreign exchange earnings. Bureaucrats in Tehran are earmarking steep increases in revenue from taxes, fees and penalties to try to compensate for the loss of crude earnings and faster inflation in the aftermath of protests around the country.The "endurance and counter-sanctions budget," which covers the 12 months ending March 2021, comes to around 4.8 quadrillion rials, or around $115 billion based on the fixed government exchange rate and about $37 billion based on the unregulated exchange rate, according to state media.Last year, before the U.S. ended sanctions waivers on imports of Iranian oil, the government's share of the budget amounted to around $97 billion, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. Inflation hit 47.2% in October according to figures published by Iran's statistics center.Rouhani's budget came weeks after a heavily criticized increase in gasoline prices sparked some of Iran's bloodiest protests since the 1979 revolution. Unrest was seen in cities throughout the country as mostly young, working-class men took to the streets, clashing with security forces.Earlier this week Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh defended the gasoline hike, saying it had already saved around 22 million liters of petrol a day, holding off Iran's need to import fuel by several years.Rouhani said the next budget will still include projected income from oil, condensate and gas, though it will be a third of the $32.6 billion allocated in this year's spending bill and is projected to amount to just $10.8 billion, based on the fixed, official exchange rate. A $5 billion loan from Russia for previously agreed power plant developments is also included the bill, according to a live broadcast on the website of the official parliamentary news service, ICANA.Rouhani said he expects parliament to approve a final budget bill in early February.To contact the reporter on this story: Arsalan Shahla in Tehran at ashahla@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Sara Marley, Amy TeibelFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Brexit advocate calls it ‘the battle for our independence’ Posted: 08 Dec 2019 07:57 AM PST ![Brexit advocate calls it 'the battle for our independence']( "Brexit advocate calls it 'the battle for our independence'") Nigel Farage says the only question now is what form Brexit will take.
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| Merkel allies wary as coalition partner seeks concessions Posted: 08 Dec 2019 07:49 AM PST  Chancellor Angela Merkel's party on Sunday reacted coolly to concessions sought by the new, leftist leaders of the Social Democrats in return for keeping their fragile coalition afloat. "It's bad for Germany when every important decision depends on how the SPD is feeling at that moment," Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, leader of Merkel's CDU conservatives, told the Bild am Sonntag daily. At a crunch party congress this weekend, the ailing SPD voted against an immediate exit from the government.
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| Trump Downplays North Korea Missile Tests, Says Kim ‘Too Smart’ Posted: 08 Dec 2019 07:47 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump downplayed Pyongyang's latest actions, including missile tests, saying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "is too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually" if he acts in a hostile way toward the U.S.Still, Trump said on Twitter that North Korea "must denuclearize as promised," a day after its envoy to the UN said in a pointed statement that such a move was off the table. Trump said Kim signed a "strong Denuclearization Agreement" when the pair met in Singapore in 2018, although steps toward North Korea giving up its nuclear ambitions were never formalized.North Korea said it conducted a "very important test" at its long-range projectile launch site on Saturday. The outcome of the test was "successful" and will play a key part in changing North Korea's strategic position in the near future, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a statement Sunday, citing a spokesman at the Academy of the National Defense Science. It didn't elaborate or say what was tested.Not Dismantled?The Sohae Launch Facility, which Kim once said he dismantled in a concession to Trump, was being monitored for possible missile or engine tests since a satellite image from Thursday showed new activity. A South Korean presidential official was reported as saying Sunday that the country is "closely watching" the situation after the test was announced.The statement suggests that "it's likely a test of a solid-fuel engine for intercontinental ballistic missiles," said Kim Dong-yub, head of the research at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.The latest provocation follows launches of a score of missiles this year alone, including two short-range ballistic missiles in late November. Kim has refrained from tests of nuclear bombs and missiles capable of carrying them to the U.S. for more than two years as he pursued unprecedented talks with Trump.'New Path'But in recent months, he has warned that he would find a "new path" if the U.S. doesn't ease up on sanctions and other policies that Pyongyang views as hostile. The Trump administration has called for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons before it can receive rewards, a move Pyongyang sees as political suicide.'Diplomatic Solution'"We keep a close eye on North Korea all the time," Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California. "The best path forward with regard to North Korea is a diplomatic solution, a political agreement, that gets us to a denuclearized peninsula. That's all in everybody's interest."The two sides revived a war of words last week with Trump calling Kim a "Rocket Man" again, and a North Korean official bringing back the "dotard" nickname for Trump.Pyongyang imposed a year-end deadline for the U.S. to propose a plan it would be satisfied with in return for its abandonment of a nuclear arsenal. Washington's decision will determine what "Christmas gift" it will get from Kim and could prompt the North to take a "new path" from 2020, it warned.Just a TrickNorth Korea's envoy to the United Nations said in a statement on Saturday that the "sustained and substantial dialogue" sought by the U.S. with Pyongyang was a "trick" done to suit its domestic political agenda."We do not need to have lengthy talks with the U.S. now and denuclearization is already gone out of the negotiating table," Ambassador Kim Song said.Trump abruptly ended a summit with Kim in Hanoi in February after the president said the North Korean leader asked for all U.S. sanctions to be lifted in exchange for the dismantling of the country's main nuclear facility.When new images showed that the North was rebuilding a long-range rocket site at the Sohae facility, just days after the summit collapse, Trump said he'd be very disappointed in Kim if it's true.\--With assistance from Glen Carey and Jihye Lee.To contact the reporter on this story: Kanga Kong in Seoul at kkong50@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Ros KrasnyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Chuck Todd Laces Into Ted Cruz for Saying Ukraine Meddled in 2016 Election Posted: 08 Dec 2019 07:45 AM PST  A week after Meet the Press host Chuck Todd accused Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) of pushing Russian propaganda on Ukraine, the NBC News anchor forcefully confronted GOP Sen. Ted Cruz over the Texas lawmaker's belief that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election.With the House of Representatives heading towards an impeachment vote, Cruz argued on Sunday that Democrats haven't yet proven that the president violated any laws, insisting that Trump was just concerned about "investigating corruption" when he pressured Ukraine to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden."What I don't understand is why do you believe that if an American is committing corruption we should have a foreign government to announce an investigation," Todd wondered aloud. "Is that appropriate or do you go to American authorities?""So, I believe any president, any Justice Department has the authority to investigate corruption," Crus responded. "In this case, there was serious evidence on the face of corruption. The reason Hunter Biden got that position is because his daddy was vice president."Fiona Hill Blasts GOP 'Alternate Narrative' on UkraineTodd, meanwhile, pressed forward and asked the conservative senator whether or not he believed that Ukraine meddled in the election—a talking point that has gained more traction among Republicans lately."I do. And I think there is considerable evidence," Cruz replied."You do?" Todd shot back, expressing shock. "You do?!"Earlier this fall, the intelligence community briefed senators and their aides that Russia has spent the past year attempting to frame Ukraine for Russia's 2016 election interference. During an impeachment hearing last month, former White House Russia expert Fiona Hill also criticized Republicans for pushing a "fictional narrative" on Ukraine meddling, adding that it likely came from a Russian disinformation campaign.Todd went on to remind Cruz about the president's own smear campaign against him during the 2016 GOP presidential primary when they were both fighting for the Republican nomination."Senator, this sort of strikes me as odd because you went through a primary campaign with this president," the Meet the Press anchor noted. "He launched a birtherism campaign against you. He went after your faith; he threatened to quote 'spill the beans' about your wife about something. He pushed a National Enquirer story, which we now know he had a real relationship with the editors.""I appreciate you dragging up all that garbage, that's very kind of you," Cruz snarked back."Let me ask you this," Todd continued. "Is it not possible that this president is capable of creating a false narrative about somebody in order to help him politically?"Cruz laughed off Todd's questions, asserting "that's not what happened" and that the transcript of Trump's July phone call with the Ukrainian president shows nothing wrong. He then claimed that while he does believe Russia interfered in the last election he doesn't think that means Ukraine didn't.The two would go back-and-forth over the evidence that the Ukraine government interfered in the election, with Cruz pointing to a 2016 op-ed by the Ukrainian ambassador criticizing Trump's stance on Russian aggression against Ukraine as proof."That's the difference? What you are saying—you are saying a pickpocket, which essentially is a Hill op-ed, compared to Bernie Madoff and Vladimir Putin," Todd snapped back. "You are trying to equate—make them both seem equal. I don't understand that."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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| Lebanese-born donor of Hitler items welcomed in Israel Posted: 08 Dec 2019 07:27 AM PST  Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday welcomed a Lebanese-born Swiss real estate mogul who purchased Nazi memorabilia at a German auction and is donating the items to Israel. Chatila, a Lebanese Christian who has lived in Switzerland for decades, paid some 600,000 euros ($660,000) for the items at the Munich auction last month, intending to destroy them after reading of Jewish groups' objections to the sale. Among the items he bought were Adolf Hitler's top hat, a silver-plated edition of Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and a typewriter used by the dictator's secretary.
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| Johnson in the Lead as U.K. Election Campaign Enters Final Days Posted: 08 Dec 2019 07:26 AM PST ![Johnson in the Lead as U.K. Election Campaign Enters Final Days]( "Johnson in the Lead as U.K. Election Campaign Enters Final Days") (Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, follow us @Brexit and subscribe to our podcast.With four days until the U.K. goes to the polls in a general election that will determine its relationship with the European Union, polls suggest that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is on course to win a majority -- unless Brexit opponents can find a way to coordinate votes against him.Polls in the Sunday newspapers all put Johnson's Conservatives in the lead. There were some signs that Jeremy Corbyn's opposition Labour Party was closing the gap, but not by enough yet to keep the Conservatives out of power."No one can rule out a surprise, especially after the surprise of 2017, but on the face of it, Johnson is headed for victory," said Anthony Wells of polling firm YouGov. "There's a spread in the polling, but it's between polls that show Johnson getting a big majority, polls that show a medium majority and polls showing it's touch-and-go for a majority."One possible catalyst for a Tory upset: If opponents of Brexit manage to persuade people to vote "tactically" for the candidate most likely to defeat the Conservatives. But that's made more difficult because in tight races, it's not always clear which party has the best chance of beating the Conservatives.That's far from being Labour's only problem. Treasury spokesman John McDonnell acknowledged on the BBC that the emergence of a strain of anti-Semitism in the party under Corbyn's leadership was hurting the party in the election. "I worry that this has had its effect," he said.Johnson strove to brush off issues about his Brexit deal, denying that products traveling between Northern Ireland and Great Britain would need to undergo inspections. "There won't be checks," he told Sky News. "There's no question of there being checks on goods."Johnson Sows Confusion Over Northern Irish Trade After BrexitThe prime minister's campaign message of the final weekend was that he will curtail immigration. But the details of his "Australian-style points-based immigration system" suggest its workings will change little from the U.K.'s existing points-based system. Both involve offering a smooth pathway into the country to the highly skilled and the rich and a route to citizenship for those who have skills that are needed.The new plan expands an existing third route for temporary unskilled workers, which is currently restricted because it's easy for employers to get unskilled workers from the EU.Labour meanwhile said it would introduce free care for all elderly people. This is an increasing problem in the U.K., but one that parties have struggled to solve as costs of looking after the aging population rise.To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net;Greg Ritchie in London at gritchie10@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Cecile Gutscher, Patrick HenryFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Protesters in Belarus against deeper ties with Moscow Posted: 08 Dec 2019 07:12 AM PST  Several hundred protesters have braved the repressive climate in Belarus to hold a demonstration against deepening the country's ties with Russia. The Sunday protest by about 500 people in the capital of Minsk was the second consecutive day of protest in a country that usually stifles dissidents. The demonstrations were sparked by a Saturday meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in the Russian resort of Sochi.
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| 10 things you need to know today: December 8, 2019 Posted: 08 Dec 2019 07:01 AM PST ![10 things you need to know today: December 8, 2019]( "10 things you need to know today: December 8, 2019") 1.Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is expected to release a report Monday rejecting President Trump's assertions that the investigation into 2016 Russian election interference was illegitimate due to political bias. The report is expected to conclude that there was adequate legal basis for opening the investigation, though it is also like to document multiple errors throughout the process. While Trump and his allies may focus on some of those, the White House will likely turn most of its focus toward a separate internal investigation into the origins of the Russia probe led by John Durham, a U.S. attorney, and overseen by U.S. Attorney General William Barr. [The Associated Press, The Hill] 2.North Korean state media reported Sunday that Pyongyang conducted a "successful test of a great significance" Saturday at a rocket testing ground, but did not reveal what was tested. U.S. officials have said North Korea promised to close the testing ground, but it appears that won't be the case any longer as Pyongyang's year-end deadline to reach a denuclearization agreement nears. Missile experts said its possible North Korea tested a solid fuel rocket engine, which could allow the country to field intercontinental ballistic missiles that are easier to hide and faster to deploy. "If it is indeed a static engine test for a new solid or liquid fuel missile, it is yet another loud signal that the door for diplomacy is quickly slamming," said Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [BBC, Reuters] 3.The suspected Saudi Arabian gunman — identified as Second Lt. Mohammad Saeed Alshamrani, an aviation student at the base who served in the Royal Saudi Air Force — who killed three people in a shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Pensacola, Florida, on Friday reportedly hosted a dinner party with three other students earlier this week, where they watched videos of mass shooting. A U.S. official said one of those students reportedly videotaped the building where the shooting was taking place, while the other two watched from a car. As of now, investigators are still determining the suspected shooter's motive and if there was anyone else involved. The case may be treated as an international terrorism investigation, although a senior U.S. official said the suspect does not have any apparent ties to international terrorist groups. [The Associated Press, The New York Times] 4.The House Judiciary Committee released a report Saturday geared toward defining what the Constitution's framers considered an impeachable offense. The report comes after four legal experts testified about the subject Wednesday in the committee's initial hearing in President Trump's impeachment inquiry. The report, which traces impeachment's origins to monarchical England, doesn't conclude that Trump should be impeached, leaving that decision up to the House as a whole. Still, there's seemingly some hints at what future articles of impeachment — which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asked committee chairs to draft — might look like in the report, including abuse of power, betraying national security interests, and corrupting domestic elections for personal gain. [The New York Times, USA Today] 5.As Hong Kong's anti-government, pro-democracy protests near their sixth-month mark, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered in the city's streets Sunday, in one of the biggest rallies in months. The protests were largely peaceful throughout the day, though tensions escalated in the evening between riot police and some radical demonstrators leading to a standoff at a road junction beyond the approved end point of the procession. The rally was the first Civil Human Rights Front-planned demonstration to receive approval since August, which reportedly encouraged many Hong Kong residents, who had been remaining away from the rallies, to join the crowd. The protest appears to be a sign that the movement will continue with fervor in 2020. [Bloomberg, The South China Morning Post] 6.President Trump gave a 45-minute speech to the Israeli American Council in Hollywood, Florida, on Saturday evening. Trump spoke about his administration's decisions to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2017, move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, and eliminate funding for the Palestine Authority as he urged those in attendance to vote for him as he runs for a second term in the Oval Office. Trump was reportedly regularly interrupted by the crowd's chants of "four more years" during the speech. The speech was not without controversy. Trump said there are Jewish people in the U.S. who don't love Israel enough, and said that if someone like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) gets elected to the presidency, instead, the people in the room would "be out of business in 15 minutes." [Haaretz, The Washington Post] 7.A fire broke out in a five-story factory in New Delhi, India, early Sunday, killing at least 43 people. Laborers and factory workers were reportedly sleeping inside the building as the fire blazed and some died as a result of asphyxiation. Investigators are reportedly looking into whether the manufacturing unit was operating illegally. New Delhi's Deputy Chief Fire Officer Sunil Choudhary said "the problem was the smoke" and that no one could get out since all the doors and windows were closed. "It had become a toxic chamber," he said. Rescue work has been completed, and 16 people are still in the hospital. The cause of the fire remains unknown but it was reportedly aggravated by materials within the factory including plastic packing pouches and bags. [CNN, Al Jazeera] 8.Pearl Harbor commemorated Saturday the 78th anniversary of the surprise Japanese attack on the Hawaii naval base in 1941 that vaulted the United States into World War II. The event was attended by more than 2,000 people, including about a dozen men in their 90s who survived the event, and included a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., when the attack began 78 years ago. The silence was eventually broken by a flyover of Air Force fighter jets in missing man formation. The memorial was even more somber this year, as those in attendance also honored the two people —Vincent Kapoi Jr. and Roldan Agustin — who were shot and killed while working at the base Wednesday. [Fox News, The Washington Post] 9.NASA announced that SpaceX's Dragon capsule, which was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday successfully docked with the International Space Station early Sunday morning, carrying with it 5,700 pounds of cargo. The cargo included supplies for the station's crew, pest-killing worms, and a robot. Research supplies will help support a number of experiments, such as one geared toward understanding how fire behaves in space. Sunday's docking was the 19th successful cargo flight to the space station conducted by SpaceX, and the company is preparing to launch more resupply missions at least through 2024, while also preparing to fly astronauts in the company's first ever-crewed mission. [CNN, CNBC] 10.The College Football Playoff picture rounded into shape Saturday, and will be formally announced Sunday afternoon. LSU, Ohio State, and Clemson look like sure bets to take three of the four spots after winning the SEC, Big Ten, and ACC championships, respectively, to secure undefeated seasons. The fourth spot is still up for grabs, though it looks like Oklahoma has the best opportunity to claim it after defeating co-contender Baylor in the Big 12 championship. The Sooners chances were also helped by the fact that Oregon defeated fellow one-loss Utah in the Pac 12 title game on Friday night, likely knocking the Utes out of contention. [ESPN, Sports Illustrated]More stories from theweek.com Trump's pathological obsession with being laughed at The most important day of the impeachment inquiry Jerry Falwell Jr.'s false gospel of memes
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| Hong Kong protests mark 6-month mark with massive rally Posted: 08 Dec 2019 06:56 AM PST  Almost hidden among the throngs of demonstrators who marched in Hong Kong on Sunday was one woman who crawled, literally on hands and knees on the rough road surface — an apt metaphor for the arduous path traveled by Hong Kong's protest movement in the past six months. Dragging bricks and empty soda cans on pieces of string behind her, the young woman elicited shouts of encouragement from fellow protesters. Chanting "Fight for freedom" and "Stand with Hong Kong," the sea of protesters formed a huge human snake winding for blocks on Hong Kong Island, from the Causeway Bay shopping district to the Central business zone, a distance of more than 2 kilometers (1 1/4 miles).
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| Iran unveils budget of 'resistance' against US sanctions Posted: 08 Dec 2019 06:40 AM PST  Iran's President Hassan Rouhani announced Sunday a "budget of resistance" against US sanctions targeting the country's vital oil sector, backed by a $5 billion Russian investment. Rouhani said the aim was to reduce "hardships" in Iran where a shock fuel price hike last month triggered nationwide demonstrations that turned deadly. After unilaterally withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May last year, the US began imposing sanctions on Tehran, including on oil exports, which it aims to squeeze to zero in a campaign of "maximum pressure".
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| Macron's Moscow strategy faces first test as Ukraine leader meets Putin in Paris Posted: 08 Dec 2019 06:28 AM PST  Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, faces a formidable test as he tries to negotiate an end to the war with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine at a summit with Vladimir Putin in Paris on Monday. Few expect a breakthrough and many Ukrainians fear their comedian-turned-president may give away too much in his first face-to-face talks with the veteran Kremlin leader since he took office in May. The meeting at the Élysée Palace, mediated by Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, aims to revive efforts to resolve the five-year conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people and displaced millions. France and Germany brokered agreements calling for a ceasefire in 2015 but they were never implemented and talks between Ukraine and Russia stalled under Mr Zelenskiy's predecessor, Petro Poroshenko. Mr Zelenskiy argues that negotiations with Russia are the only way to resolve the conflict. He hopes to reach agreement with Mr Putin on a ceasefire and an exchange of all prisoners, but thousands of people joined an opposition rally in Kiev on Sunday demanding that he uphold the country's interests. "We don't need peace at any cost under Russian conditions," said Tamara Lukashuk, 52. The determination of Ukraine's allies to check Russian aggression now has to compete with Donald Trump's admiration for Mr Putin and Mr Macron's drive to reset Europe's relations with Moscow. Why Emmanuel Macron's attempt to reset relations with Russia will alienate his Nato allies The French president pushed hard for the four way "Normandy format" summit. It is seen as a test of his efforts to bring Moscow back in from the cold after five years of sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union over Russia's actions in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin Credit: GETTY But Kyiv is wary of Mr Macron's overtures to Moscow and also fears that the construction of a controversial natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany will strengthen Russian influence in Europe. The summit comes amid tensions between Germany and Russia over a murder in Berlin. Relations between Paris and Moscow have also been strained by reports that Russian spies used the French Alps as a base to plot killings around Europe, possibly including the poisoning of defector Sergei Skripal in Salisbury last year. Germany expelled two Russian diplomats last week after prosecutors said the killing of a Georgian man on the streets of Berlin in August appeared to have been ordered by the Russian authorities. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Ms Merkel's defence minister and the leader of her party, told a German Sunday newspaper: "Now the Russian side must finally make its contribution to clearing up this crime. And we will have to discuss and decide on further reactions in the German government." Ms Merkel will hold bilateral talks with Mr Putin on the sidelines of the summit.
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| Protesters: Ukraine's leader must defend nation at summit Posted: 08 Dec 2019 06:16 AM PST  Several thousand people rallied Sunday in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv to demand that the president defend the country's interests in this week's summit with Russia, Germany and France on ending the war in eastern Ukraine. Many Ukrainians are concerned that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political novice, could be out-maneuvered by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit on Monday in Paris. Zelenskiy is eager to make progress on ending the war with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed some 14,000 people since 2014.
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| North Korea conducts ‘important test’ at once-dismantled site Posted: 08 Dec 2019 05:39 AM PST  President Donald Trump reacted to the development by saying that North Korea "must denuclearize."
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| Russia Could Create Problems In this Important Eastern European Country Posted: 08 Dec 2019 05:30 AM PST  Put will Putin pull the trigger?
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| Merkel's party blasts SPD before coalition talks Posted: 08 Dec 2019 05:25 AM PST ![Merkel's party blasts SPD before coalition talks]( "Merkel's party blasts SPD before coalition talks") The leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives sharply criticised attempts by the Social Democrats (SPD) to push their ruling coalition to the left, accusing her partners of thinking of themselves more than Germany. The two parties will decide in the next few weeks whether the centrist alliance has a future after the SPD chose a more leftist leadership duo, who have demanded new policies on climate, investment and the minimum wage. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a Merkel protege and head of her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), attacked the SPD for failing to make clear its commitment to the coalition, though she stopped short of ruling out all their demands.
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| Missile experts suspect North Korea's latest secretive test spells bad news for U.S. negotiations Posted: 08 Dec 2019 05:09 AM PST ![Missile experts suspect North Korea's latest secretive test spells bad news for U.S. negotiations]( "Missile experts suspect North Korea's latest secretive test spells bad news for U.S. negotiations") North Korea is at it again. But this time no one is exactly sure about what they're up to.North Korean state media reported Sunday that Pyongyang conducted a "successful test of a great significance" Saturday at its Sohae satellite launch site, a rocket testing ground, but did not reveal what was tested. U.S. officials have said North Korea promised to close the testing ground, but it appears that won't be the case any longer as Pyongyang's year-end deadline to reach a denuclearization agreement with Washington nears after talks stalled earlier this year.It likely wasn't a missile launch, since Japan and South Korea can usually detect those. Instead, missile experts said it's possible North Korea tested a solid fuel rocket engine, which could allow the country to field intercontinental ballistic missiles that are easier to hide and faster to deploy. "If it is indeed a static engine test for a new solid or liquid fuel missile, it is yet another loud signal that the door for diplomacy is quickly slamming, if it isn't already," said Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "This could be a very credible signal of what might await the world after the New Year."North Korea has promised to adopt a "new path" if the U.S. does not offer sanctions relief, which analysts believe could include launching a satellite that would allow Pyongyang to continue testing missiles more covertly. Read more at BBC and Reuters.More stories from theweek.com Trump's pathological obsession with being laughed at The most important day of the impeachment inquiry Jerry Falwell Jr.'s false gospel of memes
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| Watchdog expected to find Russia probe valid, despite flaws Posted: 08 Dec 2019 04:44 AM PST  The Justice Department's internal watchdog will release a highly anticipated report Monday that is expected to reject President Donald Trump's claims that the Russia investigation was illegitimate and tainted by political bias from FBI leaders. The report, as described by people familiar with its findings, is expected to conclude there was an adequate basis for opening one of the most politically sensitive investigations in FBI history and one that Trump has denounced as a witch hunt. It began in secret during Trump's 2016 presidential run and was ultimately taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller.
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| Egyptian officials say policeman, militant killed in Sinai Posted: 08 Dec 2019 02:39 AM PST ![Egyptian officials say policeman, militant killed in Sinai]( "Egyptian officials say policeman, militant killed in Sinai") EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Egyptian officials say a militant attack has killed a police conscript in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula. The officials say that the militants attacked a police checkpoint in the town of Rafah early on Sunday, wounding another two conscripts who were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of an Islamic State group affiliate based in northern Sinai.
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| Johnson Leads Polls as Election Enters Final Days: U.K. Votes Posted: 08 Dec 2019 02:28 AM PST ![Johnson Leads Polls as Election Enters Final Days: U.K. Votes]( "Johnson Leads Polls as Election Enters Final Days: U.K. Votes") (Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, follow us @Brexit and subscribe to our podcast.The U.K. is now in the final days of campaigning ahead of the Dec. 12 general election. Polls in Sunday's newspapers all give Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservatives a clear lead over Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party, though they differ by how much.Campaigners opposing Brexit are now urging voters who agree with them to vote "tactically" against the Tories -- essentially backing the candidate most likely to beat the Conservative in their area. This, along with complacency among his supporters, is now the main threat to Johnson.For more on the election visit ELEC.Key Developments:Johnson has insisted there won't be any border checks in the Irish SeaThe Conservatives have proposed a three-tier immigration systemBut Labour accused him of lying over how it would workAnti-Brexit campaigners urge tactical votingMcDonnell: I Don't Want to Overthrow Capitalism (10 a.m.)John McDonnell, Labour's shadow chancellor, rejected the idea he was going soft on his socialist principles as he said he doesn't want to end capitalism. Asked on the BBC whether he intended to overthrow capitalism and create a socialist state if his party were to win the election, McDonnell said he simply wanted to "transform" the British economy."I want to make sure our economy works for everybody," he said. "It means transforming capitalism into a new form and I think there's a real debate now happening -- not just here, across Europe and America itself -- about how our economy is failing the vast majority of our people. I think we can transform it in a way that meets the objective of having a much more equal, just economy, but also a much more successful one."McDonnell also said it would be "relatively cheap" for his government to borrow money, given low interest rates. This, alongside a "fair" tax system, which includes a rise in corporation tax, would fund Labour's spending plans.He acknowledged that the emergence of a strain of anti-Semitism in Labour under Corbyn's leadership was hurting the party in the election. "I worry that this has had its effect," he said. "We've done everything I think that we can possibly do."Sturgeon: I'll Never Put Johnson in Office (9:40 a.m.)Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland, told the BBC that her Scottish National Party would never vote to put Johnson into office. But she denied that Labour was right to say this means they wouldn't have to offer her a referendum on Scottish independence to get her support for Corbyn becoming prime minister instead.Lewis: No Threat to Judges From Conservatives (9:30 a.m.)Security Minister Brandon Lewis denied that a line in the Conservative manifesto that promised to change the way courts work was an attack on judges. The independence of the judiciary is "sacrosanct," Lewis told the BBC.Labour: Johnson Lying Over Immigration (9 a.m.)Jonathan Ashworth, Labour's health spokesman, said his party will give free personal social care to the elderly, no matter how wealthy they are. Labour will commit 10 billion pounds ($13 billion) to ensure "no one will have to pay anything for the care" they receive in their home.Ashworth also said Johnson was lying over his commitment to get immigration down. "When you look at the detail, he's going to hand over the details of who gets a visa to an independent committee," he said."So he's actually misleading people when he says he's bringing immigration down. There will be no democratic control, no accountability, over any decision any immigration minister makes. It will be handed over to a statutory independent committee. Again, Boris Johnson is lying to the British people."Johnson Insists: No Goods Checks in Irish Sea (8:30 a.m.)Johnson has insisted that, despite the statements of his ministers and internal work by officials in his own government, there will be no checks on goods traveling between Britain and Northern Ireland after Brexit.Labour on Friday revealed a leaked Treasury document showing that goods moving across the Irish Sea would be subject to paperwork and checks, something that would increase costs for Northern Irish businesses trading with the rest of the U.K."That's wrong because there won't be checks," Johnson told Sky News in an interview broadcast on Sunday. "There's no question of there being checks on goods going NI/GB or GB/NI. If you look at what the deal is, we're part of the same customs territory and it's very clear that there should be unfettered access between Northern Ireland and the rest of GB."The agreement that Johnson reached with the European Union in October outraged his allies in Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party. They say it creates a barrier between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. And while Johnson denies that, it's far from clear that's he's right.Tactical Voting Could Swing Election: Poll (Earlier)The Conservatives could be denied a majority in next week's election as both Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters prepare to vote tactically in their districts, according to a new poll. Without a majority, Johnson will struggle to find the votes to get his Brexit deal through Parliament in time for the Jan. 31 deadline.The poll -- which surveyed 10,000 people and was commissioned by anti-Brexit group Vote for a Final Say -- suggested 44% of Labour supporters who back remaining in the European Union were willing to vote for the Liberal Democrats where they are best-placed to beat the Conservatives. Meanwhile, 39% of Liberal Democrat supporters were prepared to do the same if Labour are best-placed.In an interview with The Observer newspaper, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson appeared to endorse tactical voting because of the way the U.K.'s electoral system works. "I understand tactical voting is part of our system, because it's a rubbish voting system," she said. "One way people can use that system to deliver more of what they want is to consider voting tactically."Johnson Immigration (Earlier)Low-skilled migrants will face new restrictions on moving to the U.K. under a new three-tier immigration system if the Conservatives win Thursday's election. What the party describes as an "Australian-style points-based system" sounds like it will more closely resemble the U.K.'s existing practice of offering a smooth pathway into the country to the highly skilled and the rich, and a route to citizenship for those who have skills that are needed.Immigration is a key issue among voters and was an important driver of the 2016 Brexit vote. The official Leave campaign led by Boris Johnson pledged to "take back control" of Britain's borders.The new plan will have three tiers of incoming migrants: those with "exceptional talent," who will be allowed in regardless of whether they have a job offer; skilled workers, who will require a job offer in addition to a specified number of points; and those in lower skilled sectors such as construction, who will only be allowed entry as a result of labor shortages in that sector.The Conservatives say the new system will be rolled out from Jan. 2021, immediately after the proposed end to the transition period with the EU.Polls Put Tories in the Lead (Earlier)Polls in the Sunday newspapers all put Johnson's Conservatives in the lead, although one projection suggested a huge Tory landslide is as possible as a hung Parliament.A projection by Datapraxis in the Sunday Times, in which a YouGov poll gave the Tories a 10-point lead, put the cushion at 38 seats. Its previous analysis put the majority at 48, and the organization warned that as many as 90 constituencies are still up for grabs.A Savanta ComRes poll for The Sunday Telegraph, showed that the Tories' lead fell to 8 percentage points, back to where it was shortly before the starting pistol was officially fired on the campaign. That would be enough for a parliamentary majority of 14, the report said.Earlier:U.K. Conservatives Lead in Polls With Campaign in Final Week (1)Johnson Is Heading for a Majority, Labour and Tory Officials SayTo contact the reporters on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net;Greg Ritchie in London at gritchie10@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, James Amott, Sara MarleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Kim Jong Un’s Ugly Christmas Surprise: A Return to Threats of War Posted: 08 Dec 2019 02:28 AM PST  SEOUL—North Korea appears to have tested an engine capable of propelling an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying a nuclear warhead to a distant target—that is, an American target.The move comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un mingles action with a return to insulting rhetoric and a hardened negotiating posture to get the U.S. to agree to his terms by the fast-approaching end of the year. North Korea's state media said Sunday the test had been "very important" and there is little reason to doubt that as Kim ratchets up the pressure. To Shake Up Trump, Kim Jong Un Gets All Mystical—Then Launches Missiles"If it is indeed a static engine test for a new solid or liquid fuel missile, it is yet another loud signal that the door for diplomacy is quickly slamming, if it hasn't already," said Vipin Narang, a nuclear affairs expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States. "This could be a very credible signal of what might await the world after the New Year."The North conducted its sixth, most recent, underground test of a nuclear warhead in September 2017, and its last ICBM test in November 2017, which showed it was at least theoretically capable of hitting any city in the United States. There was an explosion of rhetoric on both sides, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening "fire and fury" against "Rocket Man," and Kim discovering the word "dotard" to describe Trump as a doddering old man.But since the June 2018 Kim-Trump summit in Singapore, Trump has claimed his diplomatic efforts with Kim were a success—"problem solved"—pointing to the fact ICBM and nuclear tests were put on hold as proof of Kim's good faith. Kim, for his part, said even before the summit that he had achieved the nuclear deterrence he wanted, and few analysts have believed he would give that up.Now we are back to the days of the dotard, and North Korea rhetoric dramatizes fast-fading hopes for reconciliation despite a series of post-Singapore meetings Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have held with Kim to try to get him to abandon his nuclear program before there could be sanctions relief.Kim wants the relief to come first, or in stages, while holding on to his nukes, and after numerous warnings for the U.S. to knuckle under, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) claimed the latest test would "have an important effect on changing the strategic position of the DPRK"—the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name for Kim's country—"in the near future."While Trump Shrugs, North Korea's Building Better MissilesThe KCNA statement did not get into details, but the inference was plain: the test at the Sohae satellite launch site on the North's west coast was intended to show Kim intended to back up words with deeds."The Kim regime knows that U.S. surveillance flights and satellites are watching," said Leif-Eric Easley, professor at Ewha University in Seoul. "With the activity at Sohae, Pyongyang is also trying to raise international concerns that it may intensify provocations and walk away from denuclearization talks next year."The announcement of the test was clearly a studied affront to Trump, who has frequently talked up the great relationship he formed in three meetings with Kim. Trump eventually said they had such great "chemistry" that they "fell in love." But even before the engine test, Trump was getting the message the romance was over. Last week, he reverted to the harsh language that he used at the United Nations in September 2017 when he threatened to "totally destroy North Korea" while "rocket man" was "on a suicide mission." At a meeting of NATO leaders in London last week, Trump remarked almost whimsically about Kim, "He definitely likes sending rockets up, doesn't he" and "that's why I call him Rocket Man." The memory of that awful term prompted Choe Son Hui, the North's vice foreign minister and a key figure in dealings with the U.S., to suggest the American president was suffering once again "the dotage of a dotard."By the time Trump got back to Washington, the badinage was escalating, raising the specter again of war on the Korean peninsula. Yes, "there is a certain hostility, no question about it," Trump acknowledged, even though he said he believed he still had "a very good relationship with Kim," whom he last saw in a dramatic, almost impromptu, unscripted, rendezvous in the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas last June.The missile engine test and the escalating rhetoric are not the only factors in the rising tensions. Recently, Kim has showed off his macho instincts as a strong leader, a man of destiny—literally the man on a white horse—on two occasions when he rode on a strapping white stallion on the snow-covered slopes of Mount Paektu, Korea's tallest mountain, near the border with China.Kim's appearances on Paektu, the second time with eight or nine senior leaders also on white horses, drew on symbolism designed to appeal to the heart strings of his people, or at least reinforce his regime's mythology. Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, supposedly was born in a cabin on the slopes of Mt. Paektu, the proud heir of the dynasty's founder, Kim Il Sung. In fact, Kim Jong Il is known to have been born in a village near Khabarovsk in the Russian far east while his father was an officer in the Soviet Red Army, but such details shouldn't bother a man on a white horse.Now, it seems, Kim Jong Un has no desire to meet Trump again unless he's got some guarantee the U.S. will back down from its insistence that he give up the North's nuclear program. The day before the test at Sohae, North Korea's U.N. ambassador, Kim Song, ruled out another Kim-Trump summit, especially since their second summit in Hanoi at the end of February had ended disastrously when Trump walked out.Kim Song was responding to condemnation of the North's nuclear program by six NATO allies of the U.S., saying simply, "We do not need to have lengthy talks with the U.S. now." He added ominously but obviously, "Denuclearization is already gone out of the negotiating table."Earlier, Ri Thae Song, like Choe a vice foreign minister, called U.S. pleas for dialogue "nothing but a foolish trick" to use "in favor of the political situation and election in the U.S." It was, he said menacingly, "entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get."Trump, in Washington, sought to give the impression that he wouldn't come to terms just for the sake of the presidential election next year, or indeed the current impeachment hearings, and he thinks Kim understands. "He knows I have an election coming up," he said at the White House. "I don't think he wants to interfere with that.""There is no good reason to believe that Kim Jong Un ever intended to give up his nuclear weapons program," said David Straub, former political counsellor at the U.S. embassy in Seoul. There was, he said, "every reason to believe that he sought to make use of Donald Trump's ignorance and incompetence."Now, said Straub, Kim "is using vague but ominous threats in a further effort to prompt Trump to give him what he really seeks—an end to sanctions against his regime and the withdrawal of the United States from the Korean Peninsula while Kim keeps his nuclear weapons."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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| Russia, Ukraine to hold 1st major peace summit in years next week Posted: 08 Dec 2019 02:21 AM PST  Russia and Ukraine will hold peace talks at a summit in Paris on Monday, the first time in three years there have been high-level talks between the two countries focused on ending the war in eastern Ukraine. The talks are taking place in the so-called "Normandy Format," with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angel Merkel mediating the negotiations. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet for the first time at the summit.
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| Russia not an enemy? Macron's Moscow strategy faces first test Posted: 08 Dec 2019 02:16 AM PST  French President Emmanuel Macron this week faces the first major test of his policy of directly engaging with Russia that has disturbed some European allies, as he hosts a summit seeking progress in ending the Ukraine conflict. Joined by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Macron will bring together Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky for their first face-to-face meeting at an afternoon summit at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Monday. The stakes are high: this will be the first such summit in three years and while diplomats caution against expecting a major breakthrough, a failure to agree concrete confidence-building steps would be seen as a major blow to hopes for peace and also Macron's personal prestige.
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| Ukraine’s Fate Hangs in the Balance at Paris Peace Talks: What You Have to Know Posted: 08 Dec 2019 02:10 AM PST  Amid the tumult surrounding impeachment proceedings against U.S. President Donald J. Trump, which center on his actions with regard to Ukraine, an unnoticed headline is what's happening to Ukraine's own President Volodymyr Zelensky. He's seen an abrupt 20 percent plunge in his approval rating. But Trump is only one of his problems, and far from the most significant. Resentment is growing among many patriotic and civically minded citizens about what they view as peace on Russian terms after almost six years of war over the Ukraine-Russia border region of Donbas.And in this case, perception really is everything. Even elements of America's foreign policy establishment are worried: "Western partners might hand control of Ukraine to Putin under the guise of a 'special status' for Russian-occupied Donbas," as Michael Carpenter at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy wrote last week. "Under the pretense of diplomatic progress, such a deal could prove deadly to Ukraine's sovereign statehood."Ukrainians Blame Trump for 'Capitulation' in the War With RussiaNevertheless, leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany will reconvene on Monday what's called the Normandy Four heads of state negotiating format to resolve the Donbas conflict. Talks have been stalled since 2016, when Ukraine under previous leadership—and supported by the United States—rejected an element of this peace process known as the Steinmeier formula. Since Zelensky's April election, Ukraine has met all of Russia's preconditions for this meeting, but the Russians haven't reciprocated. Ukrainian soldiers continue to die nearly every day, and Russia retains control over the disputed border. Hence, proud veterans and nationalists equate this entire peace process, known as the Minsk agreements, with surrender. As they have ever since 2014-15, when Russia coerced Ukraine to sign Minsk from a position of strategic weakness, defeat, and vulnerability.Yet over the last few months, more progress has been made toward peace than in almost six years of war. Prisoners have been swapped and ceasefire observers verify initial disengagement of forces in three trial zones.Zelensky was elected in a landslide to end this war–but not on all terms, say nationalist activists who have already twice ousted regimes they accuse of treason and betraying Ukraine to Russia: the 2004-05 Orange Revolution and 2013-14 Euro-Maidan uprising. Today's new protests are called "No Surrender." Peace is a good thing, they say, but not if it also means conceding the same pro-Russian separatist demands that started the war in the first place.* * *You Say You Want a Revolution?* * *This No Surrender movement has built on the vestiges of Zelensky predecessor Petro Poroshenko's bloc, close allies of the West who were wiped out in the 2019 elections by Zelensky's 73 percent presidential win and near supermajority in Ukraine's parliament. These sore losers are now back in the streets to denounce Ukraine's October 1 signing of the Steinmeier formula as the "Putin formula."This is important because these patriotic forces ruled Ukraine for the last five years and benefited from Western train-and-assist programs. Now in opposition, some threaten Zelensky with what essentially amounts to a right-wing coup. Parties representing activist remnants of Poroshenko's government have made three core demands ahead of Normandy: no federalization, an unaltered course toward closer ties with NATO and the European Union, and the de-occupation and return of Crimea - the strategic peninsula held by Russia and annexed by Moscow when the conflict began in early 2014.Ukraine's Anti-Russia Azov Battalion: 'Minutemen' or Neo-Nazi Terrorists?Readings of the Minsk agreement vary from workable to catastrophic depending on how the conflict is framed: Russian invasion and assault on Ukrainian sovereignty; or grassroots civil war against the 2014 ouster of democratically elected yet disgraced ex-president Viktor Yanukovych. Protesters in a dozen cities have condemned the Steinmeier formula; eight regional and city councils, too. Resistance to benign interpretations of it could drive the country into a third revolution. And any Western support for that would be swiftly recast as anti-democratic because of Zelensky's huge voter mandate.Other unrest sharpens the situation: Zelensky is also launching a toxic land reform at IMF behest that will allow sale to foreign investors; Yanukovych cronies are persecuting political enemies; exiles are returning to reclaim the proceeds of corruption lost to rival oligarch/president Poroshenko during his term; and Nord Stream 2 will strip Ukraine of revenue from Russian gas transit. Underground paramilitary nationalists have waited years for such a confluence of misfortunes to exploit.* * *Ukrainians Aren't Beggars* * *In a recent joint interview with Time, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, and Gazeta Wyborcza, Zelensky was asked if Ukraine would ever regain control of its Donbas border with Russia. The new president answered that he disagrees with how Minsk resolved this issue, and Ukrainians generally want restored border control first–and only then, elections: "Unfortunately, we have a contradiction there. ... According to Minsk, elections come first; then control over the border."Another blurry, unmet Ukrainian precondition for peace is full withdrawal of all illegal gunmen, as Zelensky described Russian-led separatists in the same interview. But he offered a caveat that can also be understood to address Ukrainian militias, some of which have attracted neo-Nazis. Zelensky tacitly called for them to disarm too: "Complete withdrawal of all illegal military units–of any kind, uniform, or weapon." This is an olive branch both to Russians brainwashed by state media about Ukrainian fascists, and any Ukrainians who have been alienated from their state by unanswered questions about such groups' role in the last revolution and five years of bad governance that led to Zelensky's blowout of the ancien régime.In the interview, Zelensky again denied any quid pro quo to release U.S. military aid in exchange for an official public statement that former Vice President Joe Biden engaged in corruption in Ukraine: "I didn't talk to Trump in this way... I don't want us to act like beggars. We are at war and our strategic U.S. partner shouldn't be an obstacle. It's about fairness; not quid pro quo."Impeachment also encourages the world to associate Ukraine with corruption, which is neither a fair nor accurate rendering of daily life for most common folks, but is certainly music to Russian ears. In Zelensky's interview, he said, "Everyone hears that signal: investors, banks, stakeholders, American and European companies that have international capital in Ukraine. It's a signal to them that says 'Be careful; don't invest!' Or 'Get out of there.' It's not that corruption doesn't exist; it does–but all branches of government were corrupted over many years and we are working hard to clean it up."* * *Impeachment and 'The Steinmeier Formula'* * *German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier was foreign minister in 2016 when he introduced his formula to build confidence and good faith for direct negotiations with separatists. The U.S. and Ukraine rejected it because it sequences local elections and special status before restoration of the border. Zelensky made a dramatic reversal by signing it. Protesters say the special status at its heart is what's wrong with Minsk. Separatists brag it's their victory, fostering perceptions of a double standard privileging rebel Donbas over Ukraine's 24 remaining, loyal regions.The next annual vote on special status is imminent at the end of 2019. Parliament has provisionally approved it every year since the war began, yet it's always fraught with tension: during a 2015 riot against the second vote, a radical from the far-right Svoboda party's Sich volunteer battalion killed four members of Ukraine's National Guard with a grenade. The perpetrator was jailed but became an icon to Ukraine's new right, who lionize him as a "defender of the constitution.Nationalists think Minsk rewards attempted secession with increased sovereignty–they didn't fight a war against Russia for all these years just to let Donbas become the next Crimea. Assuming first that safe, free, and fair local elections can even be held under Ukrainian law and then certified by OSCE observers, subsequent special status as written in the Minsk agreements and Steinmeier formula would grant insurgents their original demands: Russian language gains, autonomy such as Crimea had before it was carved off, amnesty, and a local police independent of national law enforcement–perhaps even formed from rebel groups.It is a deal so bad that the U.S. diplomat sent to resolve Ukraine's crisis, former special representative Kurt Volker, said in 2015 before he took his position that Minsk would lead to the country's partition. He only changed his tune when implementing that bad peace became his job two years later. On October 1, four days after Volker resigned and 20 days after Trump released military aid, Ukraine signed the Steinmeier formula. Then protests in major cities erupted.* * *Ukrainian Veterans Won't Consent to Russian Terms* * *Hundreds of Ukrainians have told me over the past four years that the country can't implement Minsk–nationalists won't accept Ukraine's political obligations, nor will national revolutionaries tolerate democratic processes that rehabilitate politicians sympathetic to Russia.In 2017, far-right Azov movement leader and then-MP Andriy Biletskiy said "Minsk means Ukraine's federalization and collapse." In 2015 on the floor of parliament, he threatened to overthrow the government. His mentor, ex-chairman of parliament and social-nationalist founder Andriy Parubiy, calls Minsk an attempt to dismantle the state. He led both of Ukraine's prior revolutions.After Ukraine signed Steinmeier, shells kept falling–and when Zelensky met with Azov at one of three frontline disengagement zones to ask them to withdraw, they at first defied him. Ukraine's general staff subsequently sided with the president. What happens next will have lasting consequences for democracy and the rule of law in Ukraine.To Zelensky's credit, he seems to have internalized the risk to his rule that patriotic groups pose, already conceding that Ukraine's new draft law on special status will not include amnesty or take effect before separatists disarm, withdraw, and restore the border to Kyiv. He also told civic, veteran, nationalist, and far-right groups that they will all be consulted on the new law. Zelensky also publicly reassured them that, "Elections will not be held at gunpoint…There will be no capitulation."Assuming Russia doesn't really invade, Zelensky's sober approach seems to be working–so far, the only reaction has been big, angry parades because initial disengagement in the three trial areas has been no big deal: Ukraine withdrew only 42 troops from Petrivske; 50 from Zolote; and 56 from Stanytsya Luhanska. Both sides fell back one kilometer, to create two-kilometer demilitarized zones.* * *Zelensky's Majority Might Not Mean a Mandate* * *But Ukrainians who led the Maidan Revolution of Dignity and Donbas Anti-Terrorist Operation will not end it by granting the demands of separatists dating back to 2014. Zelensky said so himself: "Poroshenko is against withdrawal and thinks he can spearhead another Maidan."By signing Steinmeier in its unchanged form just to get the Normandy meeting–without first restoring control of Ukraine's border, or reaching a full ceasefire and withdrawal–Zelensky is crossing red lines that Western-backed civil society threatens will incite a third Maidan. Zelensky criticized this maximalism in his interview with leading Western outlets:"I know there are a lot of hotheads at rallies saying 'Let's go fight and win back Donbas!' But at what cost? I won't do it–and if that doesn't satisfy society, then a new leader will come to satisfy those demands. But not me–I cannot send troops there. How many will die? Hundreds of thousands–and then an all-out war; both in Ukraine as well as across Europe."Zelensky obliterated his opponents on a peace platform and then consolidated further control with a sweep of parliamentary elections too. After those stunning upsets, the unpopular post-Maidan government's Western backers were right to abandon it. Any extra-parliamentary or sub-state methods now to reignite protests against Zelensky's new initiatives would be a departure from democratic norms. Unproven suspicions that he is latently pro-Russian don't rationalize anything.Street politics fuel Russian propaganda, mischaracterize Ukraine as illiberal or ungovernable, and cast the West as enablers of the far right. What does Russia want in Ukraine? Among other things the chance to say I told you so: chaos and fascists vindicate years of smears against Ukrainian independence.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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