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• Green Party manifesto 2019: key policies, at a glance
• House approves $738bn military bill with money for Trump's Space Force
• Trump signs order targeting college anti-Semitism
• Impeachment trial: Trump wants drama, but GOP wants it over
• U.K. Housing Market in Limbo Ahead of Election, RICS Says
• Judiciary panel takes first steps toward impeachment vote
• Houses passes bill establishing Space Force, paid parental leave for federal workers
• U.K. Election: An Hour-by-Hour Guide to How the Results Come In
• Britain heads into charged Brexit election
• Report: Weinstein reaches tentative $25M deal with accusers
• Iranian scientists' charges dismissed after prisoner swap
• Spain’s King Felipe Asks Pedro Sanchez to Attempt to Form Government
• Ukrainians: Trump Just Sent Us ‘a Terrible Signal’
• Merkel to Meet With New Leaders of Social Democrats on Thursday
• US warns N.Korea of consequences of missile test
• China's U.N. envoy says 'imperative' Security Council ease sanctions on North Korea
• Pompeo is being sued for records of Trump’s meetings with Putin. A judge will hear the case.
• UPDATE 2-U.S. tells U.N. it is ready to be flexible in North Korea talks, warns against provocations
• Turkey and Russia Judged Bigger Risk Than Islamic State for U.S. Troops in Syria
• U.S. ready to be flexible with N.Korea, warns against provocations - Trump's U.N. envoy
• Klobuchar: I'll repair damage by Trump on US foreign policy
• US considers leaving smaller number of troops in Afghanistan
• UN: Targeted killings continue against Iraq protesters
• US: NKorea missile tests are 'deeply counterproductive'
• At 16, Greta Thunberg Is The Youngest TIME Person Of The Year Ever
• Nikki Haley Faces Protests at Goldman After Confederate Flag Comments
• French pair held in Iran to face Revolutionary Court: report
• Another Iraqi activist killed as UN accuses 'militias'
• Aung San Suu Kyi Defends Myanmar Military Against Genocide Charges
• Russian Artist Puts $150,000 Banana to Shame
• Diplomats to Lebanon: Expect no aid before government formed
• Bougainville votes for independence from Papua New Guinea to become world's newest nation
• UPDATE 3-U.S. imposes new sanctions on Iran airline over proliferation
• Activists kicked out of UN climate talks after protest
• US hits Iran with new sanctions, hopes for prisoner dialogue
• Watchdog caught in political crossfire on his Russia report
• U.S. sanctions Iran's largest shipping company, airline over weapons smuggling
• Millions of Pro-EU Voters Are Wavering
• Millions of Pro-EU Voters Are Wavering
• US hopeful for Iran prisoner talks but imposes new sanctions
• Europe Set for Move to Expand Trade Arsenal With Focus on Trump
• UPDATE 4-Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg is Time's Person of the Year
• UPDATE 1-UK PM Johnson heads for Brexit election win in tightening race
• Algeria election may bring new era or continued protests
• U.S. slaps sanctions on Iranian airline over proliferation
• Johnson and Corbyn in Final Push as Poll Gap Narrows: U.K. Votes
• Ship run by Chinese firm under U.S. sanctions spurns Malaysian checks - agency
• Greta Thunberg is Time's 2019 person of the year
• Egypt urges decisive action against states backing 'terror'

Green Party manifesto 2019: key policies, at a glance Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:01 PM PST The Green Party has revealed the details of its general election manifesto, titled If Not Now, When? The party has announced 10 new laws that would be ready to be implemented if co-leaders Sian Berry and Jonathan Bartley won an against-the-odds majority on Dec 12. Here is an at-a-glance look at what is in the 89-page manifesto. Environment The manifesto pledges a £100million-per-year investment plan to deliver a Green New Deal over the next 10 years. It would look to totally overhaul the use of fossil fuels by switching transport and industry to renewable energy sources, while upgrading household heating systems and planting 700 million trees within a decade. The party wants to use the measures to create a net-zero carbon economy by 2030. Brexit The pro-European Union party has re-committed itself to a second referendum and to campaign for Remain. It says staying in the bloc would help "lead the fight against the climate emergency". General Election 2019 | Key questions, answered Crime Restorative justice would be expanded to allow those affected by crimes to meet offenders as part of a bid to cut the prison population by 50%. Misogyny would be made a hate crime under a Green-led administration and the personal use of drugs, including some Class A substances, would be de-criminalised. Heroin would be available on prescription and cannabis clubs would be permitted, allowing marijuana to be grown and consumed by adults. Welfare The Greens would introduce a universal basic income, providing every UK citizen with £89 per week in state funding. It would provide a boost to those in work and leave no-one on benefits worse off, according to the manifesto. Health Party leaders have promised to increase funding for the NHS by at least £6 billion each year until 2030 - a 4.5% increase on the 2018/19 budget. Privatisation in the NHS would also be abolished, while mental health care would be put on an "equal footing" with physical care. Education The party pledges to boost education funding by at least £4 billion per year and to lay down a long-term aim of reducing classes to 20 pupils and below. Ofsted would be replaced with a "collaborative system of assessing" schools and a new law would put onus on teaching children about climate change. In higher education, tuition fees would be scrapped and those who paid £9,000 a year to study would have their debt wiped. General election 2019 | Manifestos

House approves $738bn military bill with money for Trump's Space Force Posted: 11 Dec 2019 04:38 PM PST * Measure is expected to be passed by Senate * Bill increases defense spending by 2.8%, or $20bnThe US House of Representatives approved on Wednesday a $738bn military spending bill setting policy for the Department of Defense on everything from family leave to fighter jets – and the creation of a "Space Force" that has been a priority for Donald Trump.The count in the Democratic-controlled chamber was 377-48, enough to send the legislation on the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, to the Senate, where a vote is expected by the end of next week. Trump has promised to sign the legislation as soon as it passes Congress.A handful of mostly left-leaning House Democrats opposed the bill because it did not include policy planks including a ban on support for Saudi Arabia's air campaign in Yemen and a measure barring Trump from using military funds to build a wall on the border with Mexico.Those had been included in a version of the NDAA the House passed in October, but not in the version passed by the Republican-controlled Senate. They were removed during several months of negotiations with Senate Republicans and Trump administration officials.The fiscal 2020 NDAA increases defense spending by about $20bn, or about 2.8%, and creates a Space Force as a new branch of the US military dedicated to fighting international wars in space, both Trump priorities.It increases pay for the troops by 3.1% and mandates 12 weeks' paid leave so federal workers can care for their families.And it includes foreign policy provisions including sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of a Russian missile defense system, and a tough response to North Korea's efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

Trump signs order targeting college anti-Semitism Posted: 11 Dec 2019 04:05 PM PST President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday targeting what his administration describes as a growing problem with anti-Semitic harassment on college campuses. Trump has sought to closely align himself with Israel, a move that appeals to many evangelical voters, too. Under the order, the Department of Education will consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism — which can include criticism of Israel — when evaluating discrimination complaints under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

Impeachment trial: Trump wants drama, but GOP wants it over Posted: 11 Dec 2019 04:04 PM PST Donald Trump wants more than acquittal. With impeachment by the House appearing certain, the president has made clear that he views the next step, a trial in the GOP-controlled Senate, as his focus. The president sees the senators not just as a jury deciding his fate, but as partners in a campaign to discredit and punish his Democratic opponents.

U.K. Housing Market in Limbo Ahead of Election, RICS Says Posted: 11 Dec 2019 04:01 PM PST (Bloomberg) -- Uncertainty surrounding the U.K.'s general election and Brexit are paralyzing the housing market, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.The persistent lack of clarity has deterred both buyers and sellers, RICS said in the results for its November survey published Thursday. The headline index for prices fell to the lowest since April."Whatever happens in the general election today, it is important that the new government provides reassurance both over the stewardship of the economy and the ongoing challenges around Brexit," said Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist. Those issues are "in a disproportionate number of remarks made by respondents," he said.New buyer enquiries slipped for a third month and there was a dip in transactions, RICS said. Average stock levels on estate agents' books are close to record lows.Still, sales expectations over the next three months look more stable, RICS said, as do expectations for the next year.Here are comments from some of the real estate agents surveyed:Simon Bainbridge, Savills in Darlington"Brexit, general election, Christmas, rain. Need one say more."James Brown, Norman F Brown in Richmond, Yorkshire"Of course we're all just waiting for the election result now which will dictate which way the housing market goes in 2020."Alastair Boulton, Robert Bell & Company in Horncastle, Lincoln"The housing market is more price sensitive than 12-18 months ago. The lower end of the market continues to move where pricing is accurate. Vendors at the upper end of the market are less willing to adjust their pricing, leading to fewer sales."Chris Charlton, Savills in Nottingham"Surprising levels of new instructions but sales low which is to be expected in the new era of uncertainty. Roll on 2020."Stephen Gadsby, Gadsby Nichols in Derbyshire"Very much a fluctuating market. Still Brexit uncertainty but lower priced properties still attracting interest."Tom Barter, Philip Laney & Jolly in Great Malvern"It is hard to determine the likely effect on house prices in the next 3 months due to the unknown outcome of the election. A decisive outcome could help to stimulate activity in the New Year, a hung parliament is likely to mean status quo."James Perris, De Villiers in London"Whilst there continues to be reasonably strong underlying demand, buyers are reluctant to commit in any great numbers until the dual hurdles of an election and Brexit are resolved."To contact the reporter on this story: Jill Ward in London at jward98@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint, Zoe SchneeweissFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Judiciary panel takes first steps toward impeachment vote Posted: 11 Dec 2019 03:53 PM PST The House Judiciary Committee took the first steps Wednesday evening toward voting on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, beginning a marathon two-day session to consider the historic charges. The Judiciary meeting is to mark up, or amend, the two articles of impeachment that Democrats introduced Tuesday. The articles aren't expected to be changed, though, as Democrats are unlikely to accept any amendments proposed by Republicans unified against Trump's impeachment.

Houses passes bill establishing Space Force, paid parental leave for federal workers Posted: 11 Dec 2019 03:51 PM PST With a 377-48 vote, the House on Wednesday passed a $738 billion defense policy bill that authorizes the creation of a Space Force as the sixth branch of the military and gives federal workers 12 weeks of paid parental leave.The bill also gives troops a three percent pay raise. The House passed a version of the bill in July, and negotiators spent the last several months working out details and making concessions. The compromise bill does not include any provisions related to President Trump's border wall, and also drops several items touted by progressive Democrats, including blocking Trump from taking military action against Iran and banning the sale of certain munitions to Saudi Arabia.The bill still has to pass in the Senate. Trump tweeted that he will sign it "immediately."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

U.K. Election: An Hour-by-Hour Guide to How the Results Come In Posted: 11 Dec 2019 03:09 PM PST (Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, follow us @Brexit and subscribe to our podcast.The U.K. votes on Thursday to determine whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson gets the mandate he wants to "get Brexit done," or Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn replaces him in 10 Downing Street to pursue his "radical agenda" of wealth redistribution and nationalizations.British general elections are decided by separate races in 650 districts, with each assigned a seat in the House of Commons. Most won't change hands: just 70 did in 2017, with 111 doing so two years earlier.But it's the ones that do that determine who governs.The key to interpreting the results is the concept of swing -- the shift in votes from one party to another compared with the previous election.A party needs 326 out of 650 seats for a majority in the House of Commons, though in practice, about 320 will suffice because the speaker and three deputies don't vote, and Northern Ireland's Sinn Fein chooses not to sit in the Westminster parliament.Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, won 317 seats two years ago. In theory, it means that with a uniform 0.54% swing among voters to the Conservatives from Labour, the Tories could take the nine seats it needs from Jeremy Corbyn's party to secure a majority. A swing of just over 3% would see Johnson's party take about 30 seats off the opposition, delivering a majority of around 40.But in reality, it's a much more complicated calculation because voter swings are not consistent nationwide due to the presence of smaller parties, tactical voting and the blurring of support due to Brexit. Johnson will probably need to win seats in the north and midlands to offset potential losses in pro-European districts in southern England and Scotland, where growing support for independence is also bolstering the Scottish National Party.The polls have consistently pointed to a Tory win, though the margin has narrowed and according to YouGov, everything from a Tory landslide to a hung Parliament -- where no party holds a majority -- remains within the margin of error. A small change in voter mood could swing the election in either direction.Below is a list of some key results to watch for and when.10 p.m.Voting ends and broadcasters release their exit poll. Last time, it predicted 314 seats for the Tories and 266 for Labour -- close to the final result of 317 to 262. Once enough results are in later in the night, psephologists employed by TV stations will announce their projections for the final result.11 p.m.The northeastern cities of Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne, with 3 seats each, are vying to be first to announce their results between 11 p.m. and midnight.The last time any Sunderland seat returned a Tory Member of Parliament was in 1959; Newcastle hasn't done so since 1983. If Labour loses any of these seats, it suggests they're set for a bad night. A swing in Brexit-supporting Sunderland in particular could point to Tory gains later in the night in marginal Labour seats that voted to leave the European Union in 2016.1 a.m.With most of the early reporting seats having safe majorities, the first rumblings of change may come now.The Tories have targeted a type of voter they dubbed "Workington Man," defined as "a typically older, white, non-graduate male" from a northern town. Brexit-backing Workington, on the west coast, could be the first indication of whether Johnson's party has broken through Labour's "red wall" of seats in central and northern England. They need a 4.7% swing to overturn a majority of almost 4,000.North of the border, there could be more Labour misery with Rutherglen & Hamilton West expected to be the first Scottish seat to declare. The Scottish National Party are targeting Labour's 265-vote majority.1:30 a.m.Darlington -- 35th on the Tory target list of Labour-held seats -- is due to announce. If Johnson's party can overturn Labour's 3,280-vote majority on a 3.7% swing, a 60-seat majority could be on the cards.2 a.m.The pace picks up with more than 75 results expected. The Tories could pick up "red wall" Labour seats including Great Grimsby, Bury North and Bury South.Wrexham, in north Wales, is another to watch, as well as two strongly Labour-held pro-Brexit seats in West Bromwich. None has ever voted Conservative, but polls suggest they're in play.Hartlepool is one of the stronger seats for Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, though polls suggest it's unlikely to win. In Lanark & Hamilton East, just 360 votes separated the winning SNP from the Tories and Labour last time.Battersea and Putney should provide insight into how Johnson's pro-Brexit message is faring in Remain-backing London seats.3 a.m.Results will be coming in at about six per minute by now. If the Tories are on a roll, they could take Sedgefield -- former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair's seat until 2007 -- as well as Labour seats including Bedford, Bishop Auckland, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Blackpool South and Birmingham Northfield. A win in Don Valley, Labour-held since 1922, could be a sign the Tories' "Get Brexit Done" slogan has cut through -- even though Caroline Flint, the Labour incumbent, supported Johnson's deal.In North Wales, a battle in Ynys Mon between the Tories, Labour and the Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru could go the ruling party's way for the first time since 1983, while Alyn & Deeside and Delyn are also in Conservative sights.But if Labour are confounding expectations -- as they did two years ago -- they could pick up Bolton West and Norwich North from the Tories. Holding Peterborough, which voted 63% to leave the EU, would suggest Labour's plan to hold a second referendum hasn't damaged its prospects. A big scalp could come in London, where Labour are mounting a strong challenge to former Tory leader and prominent Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith in Chingford & Woodford Green.A Labour revival also requires picking up seats in Scotland, its former stronghold. They need tiny swings to capture Glasgow East and Glasgow South West from the SNP, and a 1.6% swing to capture Glasgow North.Corbyn is expected to broadcast comments after his very safe Islington North seat declares. Liberal Democrat Leader Jo Swinson is also likely to speak when Dunbartonshire East seat announces. She's defending a majority of 5,339.Elsewhere in Scotland, the SNP aim to overturn Tory majorities in the district of Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock, and in Stirling.Key Liberal Democrat targets include the Cities of London & Westminster, where Labour defector Chuka Umunna is their candidate, Guildford, and Esher & Walton, where polls suggest they have a chance of overturning Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab's huge majority.In Belfast North, the Democratic Unionist Party's Westminster leader Nigel Dodds faces a challenge from Sinn Fein. And former Attorney General Dominic Grieve, who was ejected from the Tory Party over Brexit, is running as an independent in Beaconsfield to try to overturn the majority of more than 24,000 he won for the Conservatives in 2017.3:30 a.m.Close to half of the results should be in by now. If the Tories are doing well, they could defeat former Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron in Westmorland & Lonsdale, or overturn the SNP's 21-vote majority in Perth & North Perthshire. Labour is eyeing an opportunity to take former Home Secretary Amber Rudd's old seat of Hastings & Rye, where the Tory majority is 346.4 a.m.Even with 180-odd seats still to report, the direction of travel should be clear.A tiny swing from Labour would be expected to give the Conservatives Crewe & Nantwich, and Canterbury, which Labour won in 2017 for the first time. A swing of just under 5% to the Tories would win them Bassetlaw for the first time since 1910; Ipswich, Lincoln, Wakefield and Warrington South require much less than that.Results are also due in two Liberal Democrat target seats held by the Tories: Cheltenham and St. Albans.4:30 a.m.More than 500 seats should have declared and unless it's really close, the winner should be clear. Johnson will be expected to speak after the declaration at his Uxbridge & South Ruislip seat, where Labour is targeting his majority of 5,034.Tory targets include Weaver Vale and Kensington -- which Labour took for the first time in 2017 by just 20 votes. Though the Tories only won Mansfield for the first time in 2017, Labour regaining it would be a surprise and a sign they're doing better than expected.5 a.m.If the election is still too close to call, it's because Labour is picking up seats. Five of the party's 10 most-winnable Tory-held targets report: Southampton Itchen, Stoke-on-Trent South, Pudsey, Calder Valley and Broxtowe, where former Tory Anna Soubry is running and may cannibalize the Tory vote.Tory targets include Bolsover, where a 5.7% swing would see them defeat Labour's Dennis Skinner, an MP since 1970. That would truly indicate the "red wall" has crumbled. Another big -- if unlikely -- scalp for the Tories would be Labour education spokeswoman Angela Rayner in Ashton-under-Lyne.Tory wins in Ashfield, Colne Valley, Dewsbury, Dudley North and Derby North, and two seats in Stoke-on-Trent, would suggest they're heading for a majority.The Liberal Democrats will be hoping to pick up Cheadle from the Conservatives, and the SNP are targeting Tory-held Gordon -- the former seat of their one-time leader Alex Salmond.5:30 a.m.Barrow & Furness is the Tories' 6th most-winnable Labour-held seat; Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers is trying to hold off a Labour challenge in Chipping Barnet, where her majority was whittled to just 353 in 2017. Either could change hands.6 a.m.Only about 20 seats should be left -- barring recounts. If the result is clear, expect Johnson or Corbyn to make a victory speech over the next few hours.In Richmond Park in southwest London, the Liberal Democrats hope to eject Tory Environment Minister Zac Goldsmith for the second time in three years. They're also looking to re-establish themselves in southwest England, where St. Ives is their best chance to do so after a narrow loss in 2017.The last results are due at 10 a.m. If one party has a majority, the focus will switch to cabinet announcements. But if it's a hung parliament, it's all about potential coalitions or backroom deals to prop up a minority administration.21 Seats to Watch(Updates with Bolton West in 3 a.m. section. An earlier version of this story was corrected to show Bedford is a Tory target.)\--With assistance from Greg Ritchie.To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Thomas PennyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Britain heads into charged Brexit election Posted: 11 Dec 2019 02:35 PM PST Johnson, who took office in July, has spent the campaign stressing his "Get Brexit Done" message aimed solely at winning a majority that could let him get his renegotiated deal passed by the end of next month. The YouGov study projected that the Conservatives were on course for a 28-seat majority in the 650-seat House of Commons under Britain's first-past-the-post system. "A Conservative majority is the most likely outcome but a hung parliament remains entirely plausible," said University of Kent professor Matthew Goodwin.

Report: Weinstein reaches tentative $25M deal with accusers Posted: 11 Dec 2019 02:16 PM PST Harvey Weinstein and his former film studio's board have reached a tentative $25 million settlement that would end nearly every sexual misconduct lawsuit brought against him and his company, The New York Times reported Wednesday. More than 30 actresses and former Weinstein employees, who have sued the movie mogul for accusations ranging from sexual misconduct to rape, have agreed to the deal, according to the lawyers. Insurance companies representing the Weinstein Company would cover the settlement's cost, the Times reported.

Iranian scientists' charges dismissed after prisoner swap Posted: 11 Dec 2019 01:57 PM PST After an Iranian scientist was released over the weekend as part of a prisoner exchange, federal prosecutors on Wednesday dismissed charges against two of his former students who were accused along with him of violating trade sanctions. Iranian officials on Saturday handed over Chinese-American graduate student Xiyue Wang, who had been held on widely criticized espionage charges, in exchange for Iranian scientist Masoud Soleimani. Soleimani had faced federal charges in Georgia accusing him of violating sanctions by trying to have biological material brought from the U.S. to Iran.

Spain’s King Felipe Asks Pedro Sanchez to Attempt to Form Government Posted: 11 Dec 2019 01:08 PM PST (Bloomberg) -- Spain's King Felipe VI invited acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to attempt to form a government and end the country's prolonged political gridlock.Parliament speaker Meritxell Batet announced the monarch's decision in a televised statement. In a news conference, Sanchez said he'd accept Felipe's invitation "with honor and enormous gratitude.""We need the legislature to get going because there are many challenges we have to tackle as a country," Sanchez said. "There's no time to lose."In elections held last month, Sanchez's Socialists again emerged as the biggest party in Spain's 350-seat parliament but well short of an overall majority. Sanchez has already sealed a pact with the anti-austerity group Podemos and is in talks with the Catalan separatist party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya to line up the support he needs to stay on as prime minister.Sanchez says Spain needs a government to safeguard economic growth and press on with the progressive political agenda that he says the majority of voters want. The country has been without a majority government since 2015 and has held four elections in as many years.Last month, the European Commission cut its 2019 growth outlook for Spain to 1.9% from 2.3%. While that still far exceeds the euro zone as a whole, momentum is fading as job growth slows and Brexit uncertainty and trade tensions weigh on companies.Talks with ERC have so far proved inconclusive after three rounds of consultations. Sanchez said he'd meet the leaders of the opposition People's Party and Ciudadanos next week. His party will also reach out to all parties in parliament to canvass support for his bid to form a government.After being invited to form a government, Sanchez still has time to shore up support before seeking a date for an investiture vote. Following elections in April, Felipe asked Sanchez to form a government on June 6, but the first vote in parliament didn't take place for more than six weeks.To contact the reporter on this story: Charles Penty in Madrid at cpenty@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Ben Sills, Robert JamesonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Ukrainians: Trump Just Sent Us ‘a Terrible Signal’ Posted: 11 Dec 2019 01:04 PM PST Ukrainian officials spent last weekend glued to Trump's Twitter feed. People working closely with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have been in contact with Trump administration officials over the past several weeks discussing the relationship between the two presidents, according to four people with knowledge of the talks. Based on those conversations, Ukrainian officials came to expect that President Donald Trump would make a statement of support before Zelensky met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in France for peace talks. A statement might even come via Twitter, they said they were told. "Through all the signals we got, we firmly believed there would be a statement," a senior Zelensky administration official told The Daily Beast. But as Saturday and Sunday ticked by, there was only silence from the White House. Even as Ukrainian officials have publicly been loath to criticize Trump's pressure campaign on their country, frustrations with Washington have quietly percolated. And last weekend, they were especially acute. On Monday, Zelensky and Putin met in Normandy, France for face-to-face negotiations on the war in eastern Ukraine. Russia had seized Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014, and has ever since backed separatists in the eastern part of the country. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were on hand for the talks. Putin and Zelensky agreed to exchange "all known prisoners," according to The Washington Post. Another round of talks is expected in several months. Words of support from the United States in the lead-up to the Normandy talks could have given the Ukrainian president more leverage with Putin, according to the Zelensky administration official and two additional people close to his administration. Instead, Trump spent the weekend on Twitter tweeting about Fox News pundits, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and CNN. It was a particularly busy weekend of social media for him, with more than 100 tweets and retweets by Politico's count. But no word on Normandy.And the next week put salt in the wound. On Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and made an appearance at the White House. Russia's Top Diplomat: We're Ready to Publish Our Correspondence With U.S. on Election Meddling AllegationsOne of the people close to the Zelensky administration said the silence from White House—combined with Lavrov's photo-friendly visit to Washington—sent "a terrible signal" and was "most unfortunate." According to a read-out of Trump's meeting with Lavrov, the president "urged Russia to resolve the conflict with Ukraine." The Ukrainian official called the episode "frustrating." Ukrainians say they view the coupling of Trump's pre-Normandy silence and the administration's decision to welcome Lavrov as a signal in an of itself—and not a good one. Zelensky administration officials are now reconsidering their strategy on communication with and about the Trump administration, the official said. Thus far, Zelensky administration officials have stayed in line with the Trump administration's narrative on the president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani's Ukraine activity and the focuses of the impeachment inquiry. But they say they have little to show for it, and may take a different public relations strategy in the future. A Time interview published earlier this week captured Kyiv's willingness to publicly bolster Trump's version of events. Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Zelensky, contradicted a key assertion that European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland made in congressional testimony last month. Sondland had said he pulled Yermak aside during an event in Warsaw and urged him to have Kyiv announce Trump-friendly investigations. Yermak, meanwhile, told Time that no such conversation happened. The statement was a body blow to a key impeachment witness's testimony, though Sondland's lawyer said he stood by his description of events. In a separate interview, Zelensky said he did not speak to Trump in terms of "you give me this, I give you that." Trump tweeted out a link to the interview and thanked Zelensky for the comment. Trump's relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was a key focus of Democrats' impeachment inquiry. The inquiry began after an anonymous Intelligence Committee official filed a whistleblower complaint in August alleging that Trump pressured Zelensky to announce investigations of a company linked to the Bidens and of alleged Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election. The complaint said that Trump was withholding military aid from Ukraine until those investigations were announced. Trump has vehemently denied allegations that withholding the military aid—which happened for a short time at his orders—was part of a pressure campaign. Sondland, meanwhile, told Congress that the administration was explicit that it refused to arrange a White House meeting between Trump and Zelensky until Kyiv announced the two investigations. After weeks of closed-door depositions and hearings, Pelosi announced the introduction of two articles of impeachment based on Trump's pressure on Ukraine. House Democrats are expected to vote on those articles as soon as next week. If they pass—which is extremely likely—then they will be referred to the Senate for a trial.  —with additional reporting by Erin BancoRead 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. 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Merkel to Meet With New Leaders of Social Democrats on Thursday Posted: 11 Dec 2019 01:03 PM PST (Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel is to meet with the new leaders of Germany's Social Democrats on Thursday, nearly a week after her junior coalition partner set out demands to remain in government.Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken, who were confirmed as the SPD's leaders last Friday, are to meet Merkel for breakfast on Thursday, RND media network reported.The SPD is demanding a series of concessions from the Merkel administration, including increased government spending for infrastructure and social welfare.Next week the SPD's leftist leaders are to meet with the chief of Merkel's Christian Democrats, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and with the head of its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, RND reported. Formal discussions within the coalition are only to occur in January, according to RND.To contact the reporter on this story: Raymond Colitt in Berlin at rcolitt@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

US warns N.Korea of consequences of missile test Posted: 11 Dec 2019 12:47 PM PST The United States on Wednesday warned North Korea of consequences if it makes good on threats of a spectacular missile test in the New Year, while offering flexibility if it stays in talks. Frustrated by the lack of sanctions relief after three summits with US President Donald Trump, North Korea has warned of a New Year's surprise if the United States does not come up with concessions by the end of the year.

China's U.N. envoy says 'imperative' Security Council ease sanctions on North Korea Posted: 11 Dec 2019 12:32 PM PST China's U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun said it is "imperative" that the United Nations Security Council ease sanctions on North Korea in a bid to support talks between Pyongyang and the United States and "head off a dramatic reversal" of the situation. "It is imperative that this council take action and invoke the reversible provisions in the DPRK-related resolutions as soon as possible in the light of the evolving situation on the peninsula and make necessary adjustments to the sanctions measures," Zhang told the council.

Pompeo is being sued for records of Trump’s meetings with Putin. A judge will hear the case. Posted: 11 Dec 2019 12:19 PM PST Mike Pompeo is being sued over allegedly failing to preserve official notes of Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin. A judge ruled the case can move forward.

UPDATE 2-U.S. tells U.N. it is ready to be flexible in North Korea talks, warns against provocations Posted: 11 Dec 2019 12:18 PM PST The United States is ready "to simultaneously take concrete steps" toward a deal aimed at getting North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile programs, but the Security Council must be prepared to respond to any provocations, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations said on Wednesday. The 15-member Security Council met on Wednesday at the request of the United States as concerns grow internationally that North Korea could resume nuclear or long-range missile testing - suspended since 2017 - because denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington have stalled.

Turkey and Russia Judged Bigger Risk Than Islamic State for U.S. Troops in Syria Posted: 11 Dec 2019 12:15 PM PST WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration's rapidly shifting strategy in northern Syria has U.S. commanders there scrambling to protect their forces from an expected surge in actions by military units from Turkey, Russia, Iran and the Syrian government, as well as their proxy forces, according to Defense Department officials. U.S. commanders now see these armed groups as a greater danger than the Islamic State forces they were sent to fight.Commanders have requested guidance outlining how U.S. forces might deal with an attack from the assortment of armed groups, including Russian-backed Syrian government forces, that have, in the past, tried to seize territory held by the United States. But they have received muddled direction from the Pentagon, two Defense Department officials said.For now, the U.S. command heavily relies on the instincts of junior commanders on the ground, cautionary phone calls to officials from Russia and Turkey and overhead surveillance -- susceptible to failure in poor weather -- to help avoid close encounters with other forces in the Euphrates River Valley, where most U.S. troops are based."These forces are at risk without a clear understanding of what they are expected to achieve, and without the political support of their nation, if or more likely when, one of these American adversaries decided to attack them," said Jennifer Cafarella, the research director for the Institute for the Study of War in Washington. "These guys are deployed in one of the most risky, complex and rapidly evolving environments on the planet."These concerns are the result of President Donald Trump's order to withdraw 1,000 U.S. troops from the country, amid Turkey's invasion of northern Syria in October. Weeks later, Trump approved the Pentagon's plan to leave roughly 500 troops behind at several outposts around the city Deir el-Zour to go after the Islamic State, often known as ISIS.Though Trump said the U.S. presence there is "to protect the oil," the reality is that the Americans are continuing their earlier mission of pursuing remnants of the Islamic State, military officials say. The Americans continue to operate alongside allies in the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.As U.S. forces pulled back in early October, a U.S. military document circulated to forces in the region, warned of the coming difficulties. "Complexity" surrounding U.S. forces in northern Syria "has only increased in recent weeks as multiple opposing groups and actors have gradually increased their forces in surrounding areas," said the document, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. The warning was part of a flurry of situation reports, maps and communiques outlining the movements of Russian military forces around the Syrian city of Manbij and the start of Turkey's military operation along the Syria-Turkey border.Before Turkish-backed forces entered the area in northern Syria previously held by U.S. troops, the American and Russian militaries were responsible for coordinating military operations in that part of the country, and had done so for three years. Both militaries had relied on a "deconfliction" phone line and a separate planning group, using a map broken down into lettered and numbered sectors, known as a keypad, for reference. This allowed officials from both countries to determine where troops were operating.But the introduction of hundreds of Turkish-backed forces quickly strained this long-standing system, as shown by the accidental Turkish shelling close to a U.S. outpost near the Turkey-Syria border in early October. In one of the military documents obtained by The Times, U.S. officials wrote after that attack that they "cannot rule out" that Turkish military forces "will miscalculate U.S. force dispositions again."Speaking to lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that the situation in northern Syria has "generally stabilized," although he cautioned that Turkish-backed fighters remained a "wild card."Esper added that there currently are no plans to withdraw U.S. troops from the country."Right now there's no disposition plans that I'm tracking," Esper said.Turkish-backed fighters are often poorly managed by the Turkish military, said several Defense Department officials, who added that the Russian military is far more reliable in navigating the difficulties of such a contested battlefield.To underscore the fact that the battlefield in northern Syria is continuously changing, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head of the military's Central Command, said in a recent interview that protecting the oil fields might ultimately draw a larger challenge from Syrian army troops west of the Euphrates. "I'd expect at some point the regime will come forward to that ground," McKenzie said.But for now, McKenzie said, the remaining U.S. forces in northern Syria, working alongside several thousand allied militia members from the Syrian Democratic Forces, will be able to carry out "effective" counterterrorism missions against the Islamic State in that part of the country. Last month, the forces restarted operations against the terrorist group, after groups of Islamic State fighters began operating again in the chaos created by the Turkish incursion and U.S. retreat."We have enough to very capably, with our SDF partners, pursue a counterterrorism platform against ISIS," McKenzie said.He noted that the United States maintains a strong capability for reconnaissance and combat air power to protect U.S. forces and to carry out strike missions when necessary."We have everything we need," McKenzie said in the interview.The idea that Syrian troops could move to retake ground from the Americans is nothing new.In February 2018, about 500 Syrian troops and dozens of vehicles, backed by Russian contractors, attacked the Conoco gas plant near Deir el-Zour. U.S. commandos there, alongside Kurdish forces and backed by waves of U.S. aircraft, fought back, killing hundreds of the fighters.The hourslong battle was a clear message to other fighters in the region that the U.S. would protect their partner forces.But after months of political tumult in Washington and Trump's assent to the Turkish invasion in October, it remains unclear if U.S. forces, even with an addition of Bradley armored fighting vehicles, would stand and fight as they have in the past, the officials said.The Bradleys, the officials added, were sent only as a signal of resolve, not necessarily to fight the Syrian government's military.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company

U.S. ready to be flexible with N.Korea, warns against provocations - Trump's U.N. envoy Posted: 11 Dec 2019 12:01 PM PST The United States is "prepared to be flexible" in negotiations aimed at getting North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile programs, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft said on Wednesday, but Pyongyang must engage and avoid provocations. "We have not asked North Korea to do everything before we do anything," Craft told reporters ahead of a U.N. Security Council meeting on North Korea. The DPRK must do its part and it must avoid provocations.

Klobuchar: I'll repair damage by Trump on US foreign policy Posted: 11 Dec 2019 11:26 AM PST Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar pledged Wednesday to repair the damage she says President Donald Trump has done in the international community, saying that — if elected — she would negotiate a new nuclear agreement with Iran, rejoin a global climate pact and rebuild America's diplomatic corps and its relationships with U.S. allies. "The Trump administration's withdrawal from international agreements has been one of America's biggest foreign policy blunders," the three-term Minnesota senator said during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

US considers leaving smaller number of troops in Afghanistan Posted: 11 Dec 2019 10:45 AM PST The Pentagon is considering several options to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan, including one that would shift to a narrower counterterrorism mission, the top U.S. military officer told Congress on Wednesday. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, did not disclose any potential troop totals, but he agreed that leaving a minimal U.S. footprint in Afghanistan to battle terrorists is a potential move. The U.S. currently has about 13,000 troops in Afghanistan.

UN: Targeted killings continue against Iraq protesters Posted: 11 Dec 2019 10:39 AM PST Deliberate killings, abduction and arbitrary detention are among abuses that continue against Iraqi anti-government demonstrators by unknown groups, according to a U.N. report released Wednesday. The report comes amid a string of targeted assassinations and arrests of civil activists and journalists that have fostered fear among protesters. Meanwhile, violence resumed in central Baghdad as 31 protesters were wounded when security forces fired tear gas to disperse them from Wathba square, a central plaza in the capital, security and health officials said.

US: NKorea missile tests are 'deeply counterproductive' Posted: 11 Dec 2019 10:28 AM PST The United States warned North Korea Wednesday that its "deeply counterproductive" ballistic missile tests risk closing the door on prospects for negotiating peace but said it is "prepared to be flexible" and take concrete, parallel steps with Pyongyang toward an agreement. Negotiations faltered after the U.S. rejected North Korean demands for broad sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of the North's nuclear capabilities at Kim's second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump last February.

At 16, Greta Thunberg Is The Youngest TIME Person Of The Year Ever Posted: 11 Dec 2019 09:32 AM PST Greta Thunberg ignited a global movement when she decided to go on a climate strike in Sweden in August 2018. It's been a little over a year since that fateful movement started, and the 16-year-old environmental activist is now being recognized as TIME Magazine's 2019 Person of the Year. And she's the youngest person to ever receive this accolade. "Wow, this is unbelievable! I share this great honour with everyone in the FridaysForFuture movement and climate activists everywhere," Thunberg tweeted in response.After the year she's had, this recognition is not so unexpected — Thunberg was the force behind the largest climate demonstration in human history. And, she has met with some pretty powerful people global leaders to advocate for climate action, including a groundbreaking speech at the United Nations and a candid meeting with the Pope."She has succeeded in creating a global attitudinal shift, transforming millions of vague, middle-of-the-night anxieties into a worldwide movement calling for urgent change. She has offered a moral clarion call to those who are willing to act, and hurled shame on those who are not," TIME wrote on Greta.Despite all her recognition, and even refusal to accept accolades, Thunberg's initiative and goals are about advocacy and mobility more than anything else, with her protest tactic of choice being climate strikes. In August 2018, Thunberg skipped school to camp out in front of Swedish Parliament demanding climate action from legislators. One year later, in September 2019, she inspired 4 million people around the world to join a global climate strike. In fact, Collins Dictionary named "climate strike" as it's word of the year, citing increased usage due to Thunberg. She was also nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize this year, but lost to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.But this 16-year-old, who even uses her Asperger's as a "superpower," is still struggling to grapple with her newfound celebrité — Margaret Atwood once called her Joan of Arc. But with the foresight of someone wiser than her years, she still presses for the public to pay less attention to her and more attention to climate change. A self-described introvert, Thunberg was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome four years ago and also has selective mutism — a severe anxiety disorder in which a person is unable to speak in certain social situations. Thunberg credits both conditions for her tenacity as an activist. And for many members of Gen-Z, who love a good meme about anxiety, she is an inspiration.> Wow, this is unbelievable! I share this great honour with everyone in the FridaysForFuture movement and climate activists everywhere. climatestrike https://t.co/2t2JyA6AnM pic.twitter.com/u4JUD4cgCz> > — Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 11, 2019The other finalists for Time Magazine's 2019 Person of the Year were the Hong Kong protesters, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump. In an online reader poll, the Hong Kong Protesters received the most amount of votes, capturing over 30 percent of 27 million votes. Still, Thunberg inspired a global change that could not go unrecognized.Related Content:Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?Greta Thunberg & Gen Z's Quest To Save The WorldHere's Why Greta Thunberg Just Rejected An AwardGreta Thunberg Says Asperger's Is Her Superpower

Nikki Haley Faces Protests at Goldman After Confederate Flag Comments Posted: 11 Dec 2019 09:17 AM PST (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. employees are complaining to executives over a scheduled appearance Wednesday by Nikki Haley at the firm's New York offices following the former South Carolina governor's recent comments on the Confederate flag.Several employees, including members of the firm's Black Network, have reached out to Goldman President John Waldron, among other senior managers, asking that the engagement be called off. Waldron is slated to interview Haley as part of the "Talks at GS" series in which Goldman executives interview prominent public personalities.Haley, who served as President Donald Trump's U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has faced criticism since telling conservative radio host Glenn Beck last week that the Confederate flag has long represented "service, sacrifice and heritage" for some people in her state. She said the symbol was hijacked by Dylann Roof, a white supremacist who opened fire in a predominantly black church in 2015, killing nine people.Goldman executives fielding the complaints have responded with assurances to employees that they intend to ask challenging questions."We are committed to using the Talks at GS platform to directly explore the views of our guests, particularly on difficult topics," the company wrote in an email to employees who raised the issue. "John Waldron will ask Ambassador Haley to address her recent comments on the Confederate flag and will share the sentiments of you and others in our community."A spokeswoman for Goldman confirmed the contents of the message. The "Talks at GS" series are unpaid appearances.Haley, 47, has been the subject of media speculation about her own presidential ambitions. She's known to be close to former Trump adviser and now Goldman investment banker Dina Powell, who was reported to be among nominees considered by Trump to replace Haley at the UN.The former governor has been on a speaking tour recently after the release of her book "With All Due Respect," including a talk at a Wells Fargo & Co. client event in New York last week before the backlash.\--With assistance from Hannah Levitt.To contact the reporter on this story: Sridhar Natarajan in New York at snatarajan15@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Alan Goldstein, Steve DicksonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

French pair held in Iran to face Revolutionary Court: report Posted: 11 Dec 2019 09:13 AM PST Two French academics detained in Iran for six months have lost a bid to be released on bail and their case will now go before the Revolutionary Court, Iranian media reported. Roland Marchal, a researcher at Sciences Po in Paris, was arrested in June together with Fariba Adelkhah, an academic at the same university. French President Emmanuel Macron had called on Tuesday for Iran to release the pair without delay, saying "their imprisonment is intolerable".

Another Iraqi activist killed as UN accuses 'militias' Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:58 AM PST A third anti-government activist has been murdered in Iraq in less than 10 days, police and medics said Wednesday, as the United Nations accused militias of killing and abducting demonstrators. Protesters have complained of an intensifying campaign of intimidation in a country where pro-Iranian armed groups integrated into the security forces wield growing influence. The body of 49-year-old father of five Ali al-Lami was found overnight with gunshot wounds to the head, according to his friends, who said he had arrived in Baghdad just days earlier to join the protests.

Aung San Suu Kyi Defends Myanmar Military Against Genocide Charges Posted: 11 Dec 2019 04:44 PM PST (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar's de facto leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi addressed the International Court of Justice on Wednesday to deny allegations the military had committed genocide against minority Rohingya Muslims.The small Muslim-majority nation of Gambia that brought the case against Myanmar had laid out a detailed and graphic case a day earlier, saying thousands of Rohingya Muslims were systematically raped and murdered at the hands of Myanmar's military. It is calling for temporary measures to protect the Rohingya community.But Suu Kyi dismissed Gambia's case as a half-truth, saying "the situation in Rakhine state is complicated and not easily fathomed." She attributed the exodus of more than 740,000 civilians to neighboring Bangladesh to an ongoing internal armed conflict with insurgents."Gambia has placed an incomplete and misleading picture of the factual situation in Rakhine state in Myanmar," she told the court. Still, she said the use of disproportionate force by members of the defense services "cannot be ruled out."'Genocidal Intent'Following multiple investigations, the United Nations directly accused Myanmar's military, known as Tatmadaw, of perpetrating atrocities against the ethnic minority with "genocidal intent" while accusing Suu Kyi of complicity. The violence against the Rohingya began in earnest in 2017, although the community has faced marginalization in Myanmar for years.Suu Kyi insisted any officers, civilians or soldiers found guilty of war crimes through Myanmar's independent inquiry would be held accountable and the country has made every effort to investigate the conflict."There is currently no other fact finding body in the world that has garnered relevant first hand information on what occurred in Rakhine in 2017 to the same extent as the independent commission of inquiry," she said. "They must be allowed to run their course."Following the speech, Global Justice Center President Akila Radhakrishnan said in a statement Suu Kyi's depiction of an internal military conflict "with no genocidal intent against the Rohingya is completely false.""Multiple independent agencies and experts, as well as Rohingya themselves, have documented mass killings, widespread rape, and wholesale destruction of land and property intentionally inflicted on innocent civilians," Radhakrishnan said. "This is genocide and it's precisely what the Genocide Convention set out to prevent."With close to one million Rohingya living in squalid refugee camps across the border in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazaar area, Suu Kyi told the court Myanmar was taking every step to ensure their safe and dignified repatriation, disputing claims by numerous rights groups."How can there be genocide when such concrete steps are being taken," she asked.(Updates with Suu Kyi comment in fourth paragraph. An earlier version corrected reference to Nobel laureate in first paragraph.)To contact the reporter on this story: Philip J. Heijmans in Singapore at pheijmans1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Muneeza NaqviFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Russian Artist Puts $150,000 Banana to Shame Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:27 AM PST (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Forget Maurizio Cattelan's $150,000 banana, duct-taped to the wall at Art Basel in Miami last week and eaten by a less well-known trickster artist. (The buyers of the artwork are fine with that — it came with a manual that prescribes replacing the fruit every week or so, anyway.) The best art of this type comes from Russia, because there, it actually means something.The art object that, as any responsible critic should recognize, eclipses Cattelan's headline-grabbing "Comedian," was sold online on Dec. 9 for 1.5 million rubles ($23,600). It was created by Artem Loskutov, an artist from Novosibirsk, Russia, who started the now nationwide tradition of "Monstrations," annual rallies where people carry nonsensical signs. ("We Can't be Knocked Off Course: We Don't Know Where We're Going," one said this year.) The object is a piece of canvas-covered cardboard with a steel plaque glued to it and Loskutov's signature, in marker, underneath. On the plaque, a woman named Nailya professes her love for a man named Andrey Kostin, in English, and tells him, "We are of the same blood," an apparent corruption of the line from Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book," "We be of one blood, ye and I."Loskutov's description of the materials used in creating the work says, "found object, stainless steel, 5X14 cm; marker, canvas on cardboard." But the plaque is, strictly speaking, a stolen object, not a "found" one. Until a few days ago, it was affixed to one of the 6,800 benches in New York City's Central Park "adopted" by donors to the Central Park Conservancy.It came from what's probably now the most famous of these benches: Earlier this month, it got a prominent mention in a 29-minute video by anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny, an arch-foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, that has been viewed more than 5 million times (and counting) on YouTube. The video is dedicated to the relationship between Andrey Kostin, the (married) president and chief executive officer of the state-owned bank VTB and state television anchor Nailya Asker-Zade. The state banker, according to Navalny, has showered Asker-Zade with expensive gifts, including prime real estate and the use of a yacht and a private plane. The cost of it all appears to be too high even for Kostin's significant legitimate income, Navalny wrote.Kostin hasn't commented on the video, nor has VTB, Russia's second biggest bank by assets. Asker-Zade, known for her fawning interviews with members of Putin's close circle, thanked Navalny on Instagram for the publicity.Navalny's made-for-YouTube investigations are political tools rather than journalistic endeavors, and much of the film's substance should probably be classed as opinion rather than fact. But when it comes to the Central Park plaque, Asker-Zade is mentioned in Central Park Conservancy's 2015 annual report among donors of between $10,000 and $24,999. Navalny specializes in exposing impossibly lavish lifestyles that embarrass Putin allies and scandalize the average Russian. Judging by his video's viral spread and the indignant comments it's spawned on social networks, he handily hit his mark here.To put his allegations in context, Navalny wrote in a separate post that by his count the total value of the gifts is comparable to the amount that's been raised by Rusfond, one of Russia's biggest charities dedicated to funding medical treatment for seriously ill children, over its 23-year history. That would be difficult to prove, but is important for what happened next.Suddenly, the plaque disappeared from the bench, an event Navalny was quick to report on Twitter. On Dec. 9, it resurfaced in Loskutov's possession. To turn it into art, Loskutov didn't just paste it on cardboard and scribble his name underneath. He promised to donate the proceeds from its sale to Rusfond. The same day, he announced the object had fetched 1.5 million rubles in an informal auction he had run online. (The original screws from the bench were offered as a bonus.) To complete the performance, proof of the transfer to Rusfond is still needed. But Loskutov's work has already garnered numerous comments to his tweets and Facebook posts — both accusing him of theft (even many Putin foes were uneasy about this) and praising him for his audacity.  One commentator summed the whole situation up like this: "They stole our money and we'll steal their memories." Although there's no proof Asker-Zade or Kostin engaged in theft.On Tuesday, Loskutov took to Facebook and Twitter again to post a quote attributed to a host of greats, most often to Pablo Picasso: "Good artists copy, great artists steal." It's unclear, though, if he meant himself or the bureaucrats and managers of state-owned companies whom Navalny often accuses of graft.The New York Times' art critic Jason Farago recently offered what he called "a reluctant defense" of Cattelan's banana on the basis of the artist's "willingness to implicate himself within the economic, social and discursive systems that structure how we see and what we value." If that defense is valid, Loskutov's action works on more levels than Cattelan's work. It's art as Robin Hood-style theft, art as tabloid journalism, art as political protest, art as social commentary, art as commerce and art as charity all rolled into one. It's not a case of art imitating life or the other way round, but art's bold intrusion into life as it plays out under one of the world's most dispiriting authoritarian regimes.Loskutov's performance, whatever its consequences for him, deserves a place among other audacious Russian art works such as Voina Art Group's 2010 depiction of a gigantic penis on a St. Petersburg drawbridge exactly opposite the secret police office or Petr Pavlensky nailing himself to the pavement on Moscow's Red Square in 2013. It's easy these days to be cynical about the value of art and to play tricks on audiences based on the amount of money some wealthy people are willing to pay for fatuous objects. It's much riskier, and much more meaningful, to challenge allegedly corrupt elites and the enforcers and benefactors of authoritarian nations. Where political opposition is feeble, art has a role to play.To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Melissa Pozsgay at mpozsgay@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion's Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Diplomats to Lebanon: Expect no aid before government formed Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:26 AM PST Lebanon cannot expect to receive international aid for its battered economy until a new government undertakes serious reforms, diplomats decided at a closed-door meeting in Paris on Wednesday. The international group, led by France and the United Nations, met to discuss conditions for helping ease turmoil in Lebanon, which is facing its worst financial crisis in decades and political uncertainty amid an ongoing protest movement. Lebanese businesses and households are growing increasingly desperate as cash supplies there have dwindled. Representatives from several countries, including the United States, and international financial institutions agreed on a set of principles Lebanon must meet before it can expect to receive foreign cash.

Bougainville votes for independence from Papua New Guinea to become world's newest nation Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:07 AM PST The South Pacific region of Bougainville voted overwhelmingly to become the world's newest nation by gaining independence from Papua New Guinea, results showed on Wednesday. Bougainville Referendum Commission Chairman Bertie Ahern was cheered when he announced that more than 98 per cent of valid ballots favored independence. The other option in the vote was greater autonomy from Papua New Guinea. The referendum is nonbinding, and independence will need to be negotiated between leaders from Bougainville and Papua New Guinea. The final say would then go to lawmakers in the Papua New Guinea Parliament. The process of becoming a separate nation could take years to achieve. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape's office said he was out of town and was not available for comment. Around 85 per cent of eligible voters cast more than 181,000 ballots in two weeks of voting. The referendum is a key part of a 2001 peace agreement that ended a civil war in which at least 15,000 people died in the cluster of islands to the east of the Papua New Guinea mainland. Residents hold a Bougainville flag at a polling station during voting in the non-binding referendum  Credit: Reuters The violence in Bougainville began in the late 1980s, triggered by conflict over an enormous opencast copper mine at Panguna. The mine was a huge export earner for Papua New Guinea, but many in Bougainville felt they received no benefit and resented the pollution and disruption of their traditional way of living. The mine has remained shut since the conflict. Some believe it could provide a revenue source for Bougainville should it become independent. Gianluca Rampolla, the United Nations resident coordinator in Papua New Guinea, congratulated national and provincial governments on the "inclusive and peaceful conduct of the Bougainville Referendum." "There are ways to go, and like all paths it may be neither smooth nor straight, but the United Nations will continue to be there as the two governments map their future, together," Rampolla said in a statement. Bougainville Referendum Commission Chairman Bertie Ahern (C) signs the referendum announcement - but some experts have sounded a note of caution about the path ahead Credit: Llane Munau/AFP David Sharma, an Australian government lawmaker who once lived in Bougainville as a diplomat and helped draft the 2001 peace agreement, said Australia would keep a close eye on developments in its nearest neighbors. "I'm pleased that the Bougainvilleans have expressed their view in such a clear way, but I would sound a note of caution that Bougainville is an island of about 200,000 people and countries of that sort of population often struggle to take on all the full attributes of a sovereign state," Sharmer told Australian Broadcasting Corp. "How this plays out will be a concern. The civil war that started all this in 1988 was initially over a big resource project  - the Panguna Copper Mine - but really because of Bougainvillean separatism or independence aspirations at the time, so obviously these issues have sparked serious civil conflict before and unrest, and so I think it is a time we need to tread cautiously and watch closely and do what we can to make sure the situation remains as calm as possible," he added.

UPDATE 3-U.S. imposes new sanctions on Iran airline over proliferation Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:58 AM PST The United States on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on Iran's biggest airline and its shipping network, accusing them of transporting lethal aid and weapons of mass destruction proliferation. The new sanctions come just days after a weekend prisoner swap between the historic foes, a rare act of cooperation since tensions escalated after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord. The U.S. State Department targeted Shanghai-based ESAIL Shipping Company, which U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said "knowingly transports illicit materials from Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization, which oversees all of Iran's missile industry" and has worked with Iranian organizations subject to U.N. sanctions.

Activists kicked out of UN climate talks after protest Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:43 AM PST Dozens of young campaigners and indigenous rights activists were thrown out of United Nations climate talks Wednesday after staging a protest demanding that nations commit to act now to avert catastrophic climate change. Several sources at the crunch negotiations told AFP that some 200 protestors were "debadged" -- their access permits were confiscated -- after security guards forced them out of the building and prevented them from leaving a car park. The demonstration saw hundreds of young people perform a cacerolazo -- a type of protest originally from Chile that involves banging on pots and pans -- right outside the plenary room where delegates from around the world were discussing the progress made in talks so far.

US hits Iran with new sanctions, hopes for prisoner dialogue Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:32 AM PST The Trump administration on Wednesday hit Iran with new sanctions that target several transportation firms as it continues its "maximum pressure campaign" against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The sanctions target Iran's state shipping line and a China-based company that has been involved in delivering missile parts to Iran. "Today's designations put the world on notice that those who engage in illicit transactions with these companies will risk exposure and sanctions themselves," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

Watchdog caught in political crossfire on his Russia report Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:11 AM PST The Justice Department's internal watchdog was caught in a political tug of war Wednesday as Republican and Democratic senators used his report on the origins of the Russia investigation involving Donald Trump's 2016 campaign to support their views that it was a legitimate probe or a badly bungled farce. Inspector General Michael Horowitz testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his findings that while the FBI had a legitimate basis to launch the investigation and was not motivated by political bias in doing so, there were major flaws in how that investigation was conducted. Horowitz himself tried to strike a balance.

U.S. sanctions Iran's largest shipping company, airline over weapons smuggling Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:07 AM PST The sanctions keep on coming.The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday announced sanctions on Iran's largest shipping company and airline in an attempt to stop the development and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the Financial Times reports.The shipping company, the Islamic Republican of Iran Shipping Lines, has been accused of smuggling weapons into Yemen on behalf the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; OFAC said the U.S. seized weapons on a small boat last month believed to be on their way to Houthi rebels. OFAC also said Mahan Air has aided the IRGC and has also "moved weapons and personnel for Hezbollah" and the Assad regime in Syria.> "The Iranian regime uses its aviation and shipping industries to supply its regional terrorist and militant groups with weapons, directly contributing to the devastating humanitarian crises in Syria and Yemen," says @stevenmnuchin1 in statement.> > — Steve Herman (@W7VOA) December 11, 2019Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. will continue a maximum pressure campaign of sanctions against Iran.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

Millions of Pro-EU Voters Are Wavering Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:05 AM PST (Bloomberg Opinion) -- As an election approaches, talk in the final days very often centers around undecided voters. And while those that haven't made up their minds could have a big impact on the outcome, there's an even bigger group that could impact tomorrow's result: the "decided" voters who are wavering.Boris Johnson's problem, much like Theresa May's, is not the Conservative poll rating – 43% is usually an election-winning vote share. Labour's vote share has been rising, reaching 33% in our Number Cruncher poll (exclusive to Bloomberg) across the period of Sunday through Tuesday, with some evidence in the data that it rose during that period. And there's potential for it to rise further. While almost all likely voters intending to vote Conservative have definitely decided to back Johnson, around one in three supporters of the Liberal Democrats (on 12% in our poll) and minor parties -- overwhelmingly anti-Brexit -- say they may change their minds – with Labour the likely beneficiary. Yet Labour's own vote is also much softer than that of the Conservatives. This creates unusual uncertainty over the Labour share, making the situation more fluid. A 10-point Tory lead is already within the margin of error of both a hung parliament and a big majority -- yet even if we knew the current state of the race with absolute certainty, a decisive break one way or the other by the pro-Remain wavers could change the story dramatically.It was clear when the campaign started, that the success or otherwise of Boris Johnson's quest for a majority in the House of Commons would depend on his ability to keep supporters of Brexit more united behind his Conservative Party than Jeremy Corbyn's opposition Labour Party could unite the anti-Brexit vote, as it did in 2017. Our poll shows that the Tories have united the Leave vote (with 67%) better than Labour has the Remain vote (46%). Since the U.K. voted by a margin of 52% to 48% to leave the European Union in 2016, demographic turnover, coupled with a consistent but glacial shift in opinion, has roughly reversed those proportions in the public's view on Brexit. While this has not translated into consistent majority support for another referendum, the division nevertheless has a pronounced effect on U.K. politics.For much of this year the total share of likely voters intending to back either the Conservatives or Nigel Farage's Brexit Party has hovered in the mid to high 40s. Support for the other parties -- each of which have slightly different positions on Brexit and all of which support a further referendum -- has accounted for the balance.This has essentially created two voting blocs, described by veteran pollster Peter Kellner as two islands, one pro- and the other anti-Brexit, with most vote-switching taking place within each bloc rather than between them.This post-Brexit realignment sheds some light on the changes in the U.K. electoral map, as a proportion of voters realign their party preferences with their Brexit view. Tuesday night's publication of YouGov's multilevel regression and post-stratification (or MRP) analysis pointed to Conservative advances in the sorts of places where it would once have been unthinkable. By the same token, Labour is challenging the Tories in areas once considered out of bounds for a left of center party, such as the London suburb of Chingford, held by arch Euroskeptic Iain Duncan Smith.But it would be a mistake to view this realignment solely through the lens of Brexit. Many of these trends had been in evidence for a decade or two before 2016. The Labour Party's traditional industrial heartlands have been trending disproportionately away from the party since the mid-2000s. London and its commuter towns have been shifting in its favor relative to the country since the 1990s. Surveys suggest that the traditional divide between blue- and white collar workers has not just disappeared, but it has possibly flipped in favor of the Conservatives.This has corresponded — and not coincidentally — to Labour's move, like many social democratic parties across the West, in a more socially liberal direction, while the Conservatives' pursuit of Brexit has made its support much more socially conservative.Much recent analysis has centered on the so-called "red wall," a swathe of Labour-held seats in northern and central England and North Wales that corresponds very closely to historic coal mining activity. Many such areas have been very loyal to Jeremy Corbyn's party since they were deindustrialized in the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher's governments to the extent that to vote for the Tories became taboo. Polling like YouGov's is showing the Conservatives are making greater inroads in these areas, in some cases for the first time ever.But the "Remain" side of the ledger matters just as much. The Conservatives lost many of their younger, more liberal and anti-Brexit votes in 2017, but they seem to have done a better job of holding onto those in the time since. Part of this may be explained by a desire from these voters' to "get Brexit done," to quote the party's slogan. At the same time, many Conservative Remainers are Conservatives first and Remainers second. They may have been content with the status quo in 2016 and happy to go along with David Cameron on the European question, but many will not be particularly passionate about it.Three months ago, I warned that calling an election would be a high-stakes move for Boris Johnson. As things stand, the odds continue to lean his way. It will be the waverers who decide whether his gamble pays off.To contact the author of this story: Matt Singh at matt@ncpolitics.ukTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Therese Raphael at traphael4@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Matt Singh runs Number Cruncher Politics, a nonpartisan polling and elections site that predicted the 2015 U.K. election polling failure.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Millions of Pro-EU Voters Are Wavering Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:05 AM PST (Bloomberg Opinion) -- As an election approaches, talk in the final days very often centers around undecided voters. And while those that haven't made up their minds could have a big impact on the outcome, there's an even bigger group that could impact tomorrow's result: the "decided" voters who are wavering.Boris Johnson's problem, much like Theresa May's, is not the Conservative poll rating – 43% is usually an election-winning vote share. Labour's vote share has been rising, reaching 33% in our Number Cruncher poll (exclusive to Bloomberg) across the period of Sunday through Tuesday, with some evidence in the data that it rose during that period. And there's potential for it to rise further. While almost all likely voters intending to vote Conservative have definitely decided to back Johnson, around one in three supporters of the Liberal Democrats (on 12% in our poll) and minor parties -- overwhelmingly anti-Brexit -- say they may change their minds – with Labour the likely beneficiary. Yet Labour's own vote is also much softer than that of the Conservatives. This creates unusual uncertainty over the Labour share, making the situation more fluid. A 10-point Tory lead is already within the margin of error of both a hung parliament and a big majority -- yet even if we knew the current state of the race with absolute certainty, a decisive break one way or the other by the pro-Remain wavers could change the story dramatically.It was clear when the campaign started, that the success or otherwise of Boris Johnson's quest for a majority in the House of Commons would depend on his ability to keep supporters of Brexit more united behind his Conservative Party than Jeremy Corbyn's opposition Labour Party could unite the anti-Brexit vote, as it did in 2017. Our poll shows that the Tories have united the Leave vote (with 67%) better than Labour has the Remain vote (46%). Since the U.K. voted by a margin of 52% to 48% to leave the European Union in 2016, demographic turnover, coupled with a consistent but glacial shift in opinion, has roughly reversed those proportions in the public's view on Brexit. While this has not translated into consistent majority support for another referendum, the division nevertheless has a pronounced effect on U.K. politics.For much of this year the total share of likely voters intending to back either the Conservatives or Nigel Farage's Brexit Party has hovered in the mid to high 40s. Support for the other parties -- each of which have slightly different positions on Brexit and all of which support a further referendum -- has accounted for the balance.This has essentially created two voting blocs, described by veteran pollster Peter Kellner as two islands, one pro- and the other anti-Brexit, with most vote-switching taking place within each bloc rather than between them.This post-Brexit realignment sheds some light on the changes in the U.K. electoral map, as a proportion of voters realign their party preferences with their Brexit view. Tuesday night's publication of YouGov's multilevel regression and post-stratification (or MRP) analysis pointed to Conservative advances in the sorts of places where it would once have been unthinkable. By the same token, Labour is challenging the Tories in areas once considered out of bounds for a left of center party, such as the London suburb of Chingford, held by arch Euroskeptic Iain Duncan Smith.But it would be a mistake to view this realignment solely through the lens of Brexit. Many of these trends had been in evidence for a decade or two before 2016. The Labour Party's traditional industrial heartlands have been trending disproportionately away from the party since the mid-2000s. London and its commuter towns have been shifting in its favor relative to the country since the 1990s. Surveys suggest that the traditional divide between blue- and white collar workers has not just disappeared, but it has possibly flipped in favor of the Conservatives.This has corresponded — and not coincidentally — to Labour's move, like many social democratic parties across the West, in a more socially liberal direction, while the Conservatives' pursuit of Brexit has made its support much more socially conservative.Much recent analysis has centered on the so-called "red wall," a swathe of Labour-held seats in northern and central England and North Wales that corresponds very closely to historic coal mining activity. Many such areas have been very loyal to Jeremy Corbyn's party since they were deindustrialized in the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher's governments to the extent that to vote for the Tories became taboo. Polling like YouGov's is showing the Conservatives are making greater inroads in these areas, in some cases for the first time ever.But the "Remain" side of the ledger matters just as much. The Conservatives lost many of their younger, more liberal and anti-Brexit votes in 2017, but they seem to have done a better job of holding onto those in the time since. Part of this may be explained by a desire from these voters' to "get Brexit done," to quote the party's slogan. At the same time, many Conservative Remainers are Conservatives first and Remainers second. They may have been content with the status quo in 2016 and happy to go along with David Cameron on the European question, but many will not be particularly passionate about it.Three months ago, I warned that calling an election would be a high-stakes move for Boris Johnson. As things stand, the odds continue to lean his way. It will be the waverers who decide whether his gamble pays off.To contact the author of this story: Matt Singh at matt@ncpolitics.ukTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Therese Raphael at traphael4@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Matt Singh runs Number Cruncher Politics, a nonpartisan polling and elections site that predicted the 2015 U.K. election polling failure.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

US hopeful for Iran prisoner talks but imposes new sanctions Posted: 11 Dec 2019 06:53 AM PST US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday he hoped for further dialogue with Iran to free prisoners but announced new sanctions as he vowed no let-up in pressure. Iran has also voiced a willingness for more prisoner swaps after the exchange Saturday of Xiyue Wang, a US scholar detained since 2016, for Massoud Soleimani, an Iranian scientist detained in the United States since last year. Pompeo said the United States will "follow every even tiny opening" to free the at least handful of Americans known to be in Iranian custody.

Europe Set for Move to Expand Trade Arsenal With Focus on Trump Posted: 11 Dec 2019 06:31 AM PST (Bloomberg) -- Explore what's moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast. Subscribe via Apple Podcast, Spotify or Pocket Cast.Europe is arming itself for a more lawless world of trade -- and the bloc's sights are on the U.S.European Union trade chief Phil Hogan on Thursday will seek an upgrade to EU legislation on enforcing international commercial rules. His proposal would allow the EU to impose sanctions against countries that illegally restrict commerce and simultaneously block the World Trade Organization's dispute-settlement process.The timing of the initiative in Brussels is no coincidence. On Wednesday, the WTO's much-prized appellate body ceased to be able to handle new cases because a U.S. veto of any appointments to the panel left it without the minimum three members required for verdicts.The body is the WTO's supreme authority, issuing binding decisions that give winning parties in disputes the right to apply trade penalties such as higher tariffs against law-breaking countries. Since before the Trump administration, the U.S. has accused the appeals panel of overstepping its mandate and has demanded changes to the body's practices.The EU is asserting itself more in a bid to prevent U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda and protectionism from undermining the rules-based global order to which Europe is committed.Over the past three years, Trump has angered Europe by hitting its steel and aluminum with tariffs based on controversial national-security grounds, dangled the threat of similar levies on foreign cars and drawn up plans to target French goods with levies as retaliation over a digital tax in France.The U.S. president has also sought to restrict European trade with Iran after pulling out of an international agreement to control the country's nuclear activities and backed out of a landmark United Nations accord to fight climate change.The U.S. steel and aluminum duties, introduced in 2018, prompted the EU to complain to the Geneva-based WTO. The bloc also scrambled to put its own trade defenses in place for steel to prevent the American levies from diverting global shipments to the European market and flooding it.The amended EU legislation that Hogan is putting forward comes less than two weeks after he took office as part of a new leadership team at the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, under President Ursula von der Leyen. The proposal, which requires the support of EU governments and the European Parliament in a process that will last into next year, has political momentum.At a scheduled Dec. 12-13 meeting in the Belgian capital, the bloc's national leaders will ask its legislative actors "to examine, as a matter of priority, the commission's proposal," according to a draft summit statement seen by Bloomberg.The government chiefs are also due to express support for a stopgap arbitration system that the commission is pursuing with EU trade partners such as Canada and China pending any revival of the WTO appellate body.Jacques Pelkmans, a trade expert and senior fellow at the CEPS think tank in Brussels, said the EU would likely be prudent about deploying any new sanctions tool in its policy arsenal."When it comes to partners, the approach will undoubtedly be based on the primacy of consultation and peer pressure," Pelkmans said. "In the extreme the EU might want to have the option of using it."To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Brussels at jstearns2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Zoe Schneeweiss, Brendan MurrayFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

UPDATE 4-Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg is Time's Person of the Year Posted: 11 Dec 2019 06:25 AM PST NEW YORK/MADRID, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swede who inspired millions of young people to take action against climate change, has been named Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2019. Thunberg launched a grassroots campaign aged 15 by skipping school every Friday to demonstrate outside Swedish parliament, pushing for her government to meet its ambitious goals to curb carbon emissions. "In the 16 months since (her protests began), she has addressed heads of state at the U.N., met with the Pope, sparred with the President of the United States and inspired 4 million people to join the global climate strike," the magazine said.

UPDATE 1-UK PM Johnson heads for Brexit election win in tightening race Posted: 11 Dec 2019 06:11 AM PST British Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks on course to win Thursday's election though the race has tightened markedly and he can no longer be sure of a majority, according to opinion polls published on the eve of the vote. The main opposition Labour Party promises a new referendum on Brexit as well as a renationalisation of utilities and railroads in its most left-wing platform for decades. YouGov, which accurately predicted the outcome of the last election two years ago with an elaborate survey that estimates the outcome in individual constituencies, cut its forecast for Johnson's likely parliamentary majority by more than half to 28 seats.

Algeria election may bring new era or continued protests Posted: 11 Dec 2019 06:05 AM PST Algeria's powerful army chief promises that a presidential election on Thursday will chart a new era for a nation where the highest office has stood vacant for eight months. The tenacious pro-democracy movement which forced leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign after 20 years in power doesn't believe the claim and is boycotting the vote. The situation is remarkable in a country where the previous presidents were generals or, like Bouteflika, have had the blessing of the army brass since Algeria gained independence from France in 1962 after a brutal seven-year war.

U.S. slaps sanctions on Iranian airline over proliferation Posted: 11 Dec 2019 06:02 AM PST The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on shipping and aviation industries over the transportation of lethal aid from Iran to Yemen and weapons of mass destruction proliferation, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Washington targeted three general sales agents of Mahan Air over the role the airline has played in weapons of mass destruction proliferation, he said, as well as an Iranian shipping network involved in smuggling lethal aid from Iran to Yemen.

Johnson and Corbyn in Final Push as Poll Gap Narrows: U.K. Votes Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:38 AM PST (Bloomberg) -- Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn began a whistle-stop tour of key districts, after a major opinion poll showed the Conservative Party's lead has narrowed ahead of Thursday's U.K. election.The YouGov survey of more than 100,000 voters put Johnson on course to win a majority of 28 seats, but that's down from 68 in a similar projection two weeks earlier -- and the pollster did not rule out a hung parliament. The pound fell.Must read: The Voting Tactics That Could Cost Boris Johnson His MajorityKey Developments:YouGov MRP House of Commons seat forecast: Conservatives 339, Labour 231, Scottish National Party 41, Liberal Democrats 15Johnson campaigns in northern and eastern England, while Corbyn travels to Scotland, northeastern England and the Midlands before ending the day in LondonEuropean Union officials privately say they want Johnson's Tories to win, to end the Brexit limboSterling fell as much as 0.3% against the dollar on Wednesday before erasing lossesBets on the pound weakening in the options market are at the highest since the 2016 Brexit referendumCorbyn Returns to NHS at Rally in North East (1:15 p.m.)Jeremy Corbyn held an outdoor rally in Middlesbrough, one of the marginal seats his Labour Party must regain or hold to deny Boris Johnson a majority. He cheered his chilly supporters by joking "I've not come here to deliver milk or to hide in a fridge" – a jibe at Johnson (see 11:15 a.m.). "I'm here to bring a message of hope," Corbyn said.Speaking without notes, the Labour leader came back to the National Health Service multiple times. When he was questioning the truth of Johnson's pledge to build new hospitals, a member of the crowd shouted "liar" about the prime minister. "Now, now we don't use bad language," Corbyn admonished her with a smile. He accused Johnson of "gutter" politics saying the Conservatives' use of fake news and dissembling had led to a "vague mirage" of facts.His supporters also changed the words to their habitual chant. Instead of "Oh Jeremy Corbyn," they sang "Prime Minister Corbyn," as the party seeks a last-minute push to deprive Johnson of a victory on Thursday. "A government for the many, not the few," Corbyn concluded.Johnson Criticized Over Ducking Questions (11:15 a.m.)Boris Johnson was criticized by Labour after he dodged questions from a reporter during an early morning photocall (see earlier). John McDonnell, the opposition party's economy spokesman, tweeted that the prime minister's behavior was "cowardly, undignified and pathetic" and "he is not fit to be prime minister."During the campaign Johnson has been dogged by claims he is ducking scrutiny by being the only party leader to refuse to be interviewed by Andrew Neil, one of the BBC's most forensic questioners. A reporter from the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror was barred from the Tory battle-bus and Johnson's team have also kept him away from ITV's Good Morning Britain, whose host Piers Morgan delights in being a controversialist.During Wednesday's live broadcast of the ITV breakfast show, an aide to Johnson seemed to swear live on air when approached by the show's reporter who pressed the Tory leader on whether he would appear on the program. Johnson, who was joining a morning delivery round, made for a walk-in fridge to avoid the reporter's questions.Sturgeon, Swinson Turn Fire on Tories (11 a.m.)Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon urged Labour supporters to vote for her party so Boris Johnson's Conservatives don't benefit from a split in support for remaining in the European Union."A Tory victory can be stopped and that means voting SNP," Sturgeon told reporters in Edinburgh. "The SNP is the main challenger to the Tories. Voting for other parties risks helping the Tories."Jo Swinson, leader of the Liberal Democrats, also launched an attack on the prime minister, saying the Tory leader has "run away from scrutiny." At a rally in Esher, southwest of London, she highlighted how Johnson tried to avoid looking at a photograph of a child receiving treatment on a hospital floor, instead pocketing the phone of the reporter who'd shown him the picture."He doesn't care about anyone other than himself, we have seen that time and time again," she said. Esher and Walton is currently held by Tory Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab – a key Brexiter – and on the Liberal Democrats' target list.Farage Says Johnson Will 'Sell Out' Brexit (10:30 a.m.)Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party, complained about "real nastiness" in British politics. Speaking at a rally in Doncaster, he said he doesn't trust Boris Johnson to deliver a proper split from the European Union."I don't want Brexit sold out, and I fear that Boris Johnson, if he gets a majority, that's what he'll do," Farage said.The Brexit Party leader also said he expects turn out to be low on Thursday as disenchanted voters switch off from politics. he called for "fundamental" reform of the U.K.'s political system.McDonnell: 'Good Chance of Small Labour Majority' (9:30 a.m.)Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said that just as in the 2017 general election, opinion polls have underestimated voters' shift toward Labour and that the party could still spring a surprise on Thursday."The trend has been toward Labour throughout this campaign," McDonnell told Bloomberg TV, referring to the YouGov poll published on Tuesday. "I actually think there's a good chance of a small Labour majority."McDonnell reiterated that Labour would not do deals with other parties or enter into a coalition in the event of a hung parliament, saying instead the party would seek to form a minority government. He also ruled out Labour jettisoning leader Jeremy Corbyn as leader to win the backing of other parties.Recriminations Dog Last Day of Campaigning (Earlier)As party leaders embark on a tour of key marginal districts, politicians' morning broadcast rounds were dominated by recriminations over how the parties' have conducted their campaigns."I just wish we have had the Conservatives being honest with us," Labour's economy spokesman John McDonnell told BBC Radio. "I just wish we hadn't been having this gutter politics, fake websites, lies and smears."The Fake News Election: U.K. Faces Overhaul of Campaign RulesAdam Price, leader of the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru, published a new draft law which would make lying by politicians a criminal offense.Boris Johnson's Tories -- and the other main parties -- have been accused of using tactics to mislead voters, but Cabinet minister Michael Gove insisted he was proud of the of the campaign his party has run. "I certainly think everyone should tell the truth, yes," he told BBC TV. "Whether or not we need a law, I don't know."Johnson: 'Real Risk' of a Hung Parliament (Earlier)Boris Johnson began the final day of campaigning with a customary photo op at a workplace, this time loading milk onto a delivery vehicle in West Yorkshire."I just say to everybody the risk is very real that we could tomorrow be going into another hung parliament," Johnson told broadcasters. "That's more drift, more dither, more delay, more paralysis for this country."Asked about the Conservatives' lead narrowing ahead of the vote, Johnson said the election "could not be more critical, it could not be tighter."Earlier:The Voting Tactics That Could Cost Boris Johnson His MajorityThe EU Hopes Boris Johnson Wins Big to Get Brexit Over WithThe Fake News Election: U.K. Faces Overhaul of Campaign RulesWhat Corbyn Stands For and Why He Spooks Markets: QuickTake\--With assistance from Anna Edwards, Robert Hutton and Thomas Penny.To contact the reporter on this story: Kitty Donaldson in London at kdonaldson1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Andrew AtkinsonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Ship run by Chinese firm under U.S. sanctions spurns Malaysian checks - agency Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:24 AM PST KUALA LUMPUR/SINGAPORE, Dec 11 (Reuters) - An oil tanker, which shipping data showed was managed by a Chinese company under U.S. sanctions, refused to allow an inspection by maritime authorities while anchored in Malaysian waters, Malaysia's maritime agency said. Silvana III's commercial manager is Kunlun Shipping Co Ltd, according to shipping transparency website Equasis.org. Kunlun is one of several firms placed under U.S. sanctions this year for alleged involvement in transporting oil from Iran.

Greta Thunberg is Time's 2019 person of the year Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:20 AM PST Time has selected 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg as its 2019 person of the year.Thunberg, who this year led a worldwide movement demanding action on climate change and delivered a scathing United Nations speech scolding world leaders for "failing us," is the youngest Time person of the year ever by almost a decade; the previous youngest was 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh in 1927."For sounding the alarm about humanity's predatory relationship with the only home we have, for bringing to a fragmented world a voice that transcends backgrounds and borders, for showing us all what it might look like when a new generation leads, Greta Thunberg is Time's 2019 Person of the Year," Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal said.> .@GretaThunberg is TIME's 2019 Person of the Year TIMEPOY https://t.co/YZ7U6Up76v pic.twitter.com/SWALBfeGl6> > — TIME (@TIME) December 11, 2019The four other final candidates considered for person of the year were President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the anonymous whistleblower whose complaint led to the impeachment inquiry, and the Hong Kong protesters.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

Egypt urges decisive action against states backing 'terror' Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:19 AM PST Egypt's president Wednesday called for "decisive" and "collective" action against countries supporting "terrorism" in an apparent reference to Turkey and Qatar, who back the Muslim Brotherhood group, which is outlawed in Egypt. The three countries also support opposing factions in the war-torn Libya. Addressing a two-day forum on peace in Africa in the southern city of Aswan, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi also said achieving sustainable development in Africa is needed, along with efforts to fight militant groups in Egypt and the Sahel region that stretches across Africa south of the Sahara Desert.

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