| Russia Seeks To Help Bernie Sanders And Donald Trump. Only Trump Is Helping Russia. Posted: 21 Feb 2020 05:15 PM PST  "My message to Putin is clear: stay out of American elections," Sanders said on Friday after news surfaced of new Russian interference.
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| EU budget summit ends with no deal Posted: 21 Feb 2020 04:40 PM PST  An EU summit called to set the bloc's next seven-year budget ended in impasse late Friday, riven by competing groups among the 27 member states and pressure to fill a funding gap left by Brexit. Differences were "still too great to reach an agreement," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters at the end of the two days of talks in Brussels. "Unfortunately we have observed it was not possible to reach an agreement, we observed we need more time," said European Council President Charles Michel, who had called the extraordinary summit and stewarded the talks.
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| Bernie Sanders Tells Russia to ‘Stay Out’ After Briefing on Meddling Posted: 21 Feb 2020 03:49 PM PST |
| Sanders condemns Russian interference in 2020 elections Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:58 PM PST |
| Counting Starts in Iran Election Likely Dominated by Hardliners Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:55 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Iranians voted Friday in an election that's expected to hand control of parliament to hard-line conservatives empowered by the country's turbulent and economically damaging standoff with the U.S.Voting ended at midnight and the counting of ballots started almost immediately, according to state television.While official turnout hasn't been announced it's expected to be lower than in previous years because of the hundreds of moderates and reformists who were barred from running, as well as reports this week of a rapid surge in coronavirus cases in the country.The semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency reported that by 3 p.m. local time, some 11 million people had voted nationwide, equivalent to 19% of roughly 58 million eligible voters.Earlier on Friday, state television provided round-the-clock coverage from a select number of large, busy polling stations. Several others visited by Bloomberg News in both affluent and working-class neighborhoods of the capital were largely empty.Given the vacuum among moderate candidates, conservative factions loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and generally opposed to engaging with the West are widely expected to prevail.Soleimani's KillingRecent military exchanges, in particular the killing of General Qassem Soleimani by the U.S., and highly-charged rhetoric that's punctuated the confrontation with Washington, have also energized Khamenei's base.Still, for Mohammad, a 29-year-old voting in Tehran, a shift in the balance of power won't make much difference. "They're all cut from the same cloth," he said of the country's politicians, withholding his last name due to the sensitivities of talking to the foreign media in Iran. "I don't really think there's much to set them apart."If arch-conservatives emerge victorious they'll control most branches of the state for the first time since the end of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency in 2013.Incumbent Hassan Rouhani, who delivered on his promise to end Iran's long-running nuclear standoff with global powers but was unable to build a new era of prosperity when faced with President Donald Trump's economic offensive, will be largely sidelined.Black ListIn a timely reminder of how hardliners can influence economic policy, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force announced on Friday that Iran's banking system will be returned to its so-called black list of countries after failing to ratify legislation required to bring the sector in line with its counter-terrorism financing and anti-money-laundering standards.Hardliners, currently a minority in Iran's parliament, have for several years fiercely opposed and effectively stalled the pro-FATF legislation that Rouhani promoted and struggled to ratify, and which would have effectively seen Iran adopt the United Nations' Palermo Convention against organized crime.Some 7,200 candidates vied for 290 seats on Friday. About 75 current lawmakers were barred from running again by the powerful Guardian Council, tipping the field heavily in favor of conservatives wedded to the theocratic ideals of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.Friday's election also had significant potential consequences for the Iranian economy and the wider Middle East region -- including any hopes Iran will renegotiate its landmark 2015 nuclear settlement, hollowed out by the Trump administration's withdrawal in 2018.Looking Ahead"The crux of this vote is whether it will indicate the outcome for the next presidential elections, which will be more significant," said Ellie Geranmayeh, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations."If the Rouhani opposition does take over parliament, they will see this as ammunition that galvanizes them, and they won't want him to have any foreign policy success in his last year," she said.Some prominent conservative politicians are using the election to stage a comeback and a potential springboard to compete in the 2021 presidential poll, when Rouhani will be ineligible to stand for a third term.They include the former mayor of Tehran, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who's also a former general with the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Firebrand cleric Hamid Rasaei, who campaigned against the nuclear deal as it was being negotiated, is also hoping to re-enter parliament.Threats to MinistersAmid concerns of a low turnout, the commander of Iran's IRGC on Thursday urged citizens to vote in a show of show defiance to the U.S. "Every vote by the people is a slap in the face of an enemy," the semi-official Tasnim news reported the commander as saying.If the new chamber does decisively swing in favor of conservatives, Rouhani may struggle to ratify any key legislation during his final year in office, including efforts to bring Iran's banks within international anti-terrorism financing standards. Ongoing attempts to impeach some key ministers, including Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, are also likely to escalate.Rouhani's credibility was already battered by the failure of the nuclear deal to deliver the economic relief he'd promised after a decade of international sanctions.From the get-go, foreign businesses were afraid to sign deals, fearful of running afoul of remaining U.S. sanctions. Any lingering hopes evaporated after the U.S. quit the accord and began imposing fresh sanctions, which have since clobbered the economy. The International Monetary Fund estimates Iran's economy shrank by 9.5% last year.Conservatives want Iran to abandon Rouhani's push to open up to Western investment and trade, and focus instead on increasing self-reliance. While oil exports, down 80%, show no sign of recovering, construction, steel production and exports for cash to immediate neighbors are doing well.A crisis budget released in December boosts handouts for the poor and defense spending, though it's based on ambitious growth and oil export assumptions.(Updates with polls closing, ballot counting, and FATF decision.)To contact the reporters on this story: Golnar Motevalli in London at gmotevalli@bloomberg.net;Arsalan Shahla in Tehran at ashahla@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Benjamin Harvey at bharvey11@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Linus ChuaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Merkel Party Clears Way to Ease Political Crisis Over Far Right Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:49 PM PST |
| A recurring Biden campaign story about being arrested in South Africa is full of inconsistencies Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:40 PM PST  Former Vice President Joe Biden has a pretty good tale to share — but it may be a little tall.Biden, who is running for president, has been spicing up his recent campaign stump speeches with a story of how he was arrested while in South Africa trying to see Nelson Mandela, The New York Times reports. But that recollection of events has only recently come to light, and it was reportedly omitted from Biden's 2007 memoir that detailed his escapades in the country around that time.During recent campaign speeches, Biden says he "had the great honor" of meeting Mandela and "of being arrested with our U.N. ambassador on the streets of Soweto." As Miami Herald reporter Alex Daugherty points out, Soweto is a ways away from Robben Island, where Mandela's maximum security prison was located.> Adding to @katieglueck's story is Biden's quote doesn't make geographical sense. "I had the great honor of being arrested with our U.N. ambassador on the streets of Soweto trying to get to see him on Robbens Island." Soweto is almost 900 miles away from Robben Island https://t.co/WtlZMdkexq> > — Alex Daugherty (@alextdaugherty) February 21, 2020The arrest, which has seemingly only been brought up publicly by Biden in the last few weeks, was not found referenced anywhere by readily available news outlets, per the Times.The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. from 1977 to 1979 was Andrew Young. While Young reportedly acknowledged going to South Africa with Biden, he said he was never arrested in the country, and he told the Times he didn't think Biden had been arrested there either."I don't think there was ever a situation where congressmen were arrested in South Africa," Young told the Times, although he did say some people were being arrested in Washington.The story, which was seemingly nonexistent before a few weeks ago, has been told three times on the trail as Biden heads into Nevada and South Carolina, where he needs to pull in big numbers in order to counteract a lackluster showing in Iowa and New Hampshire.Word of advice: there are other ways to make yourself look tough to voters that don't include broadcasting a trip to the slammer.More stories from theweek.com Bernie Sanders' subtle warning to the Democratic Party How much will Medicare-for-all save Americans? A lot. Bloomberg says he'll release women from NDAs
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| Intelligence officials reportedly told Sanders that Russia is attempting to aid his campaign Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:31 PM PST  U.S. officials told Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that Russia is interfering in the 2020 campaign to help him win the presidency, people familiar with the matter tell The Washington Post.President Trump and other lawmakers are also reportedly aware of the assistance, which is an apparent "effort to interfere with the Democratic contest," the Post writes. The Post didn't learn what kind of interference Russia was undertaking, but Russia did try to aid Sanders' 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton via social media.Sanders denounced Russian interference on anyone's behalf in a statement to the Post, saying "I don't care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president. My message to Putin is clear: Stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do."Trump and the House Intelligence Committee reportedly learned earlier this week that Russia was interfering in the 2020 election to aid Trump's re-election. Read more at The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com Bernie Sanders' subtle warning to the Democratic Party How much will Medicare-for-all save Americans? A lot. Bloomberg says he'll release women from NDAs
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| Michael Bloomberg Has A Communism Problem Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:08 PM PST  He defends his personal fortune by defending Xi Jinping.
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| Brazil to Woo Tesla During Bolsonaro’s Trip to U.S. in March Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:04 PM PST |
| AP Exclusive: DEA agent accused of conspiring with cartel Posted: 21 Feb 2020 01:49 PM PST  A once-standout U.S. federal narcotics agent known for spending lavishly on luxury cars and Tiffany jewelry has been arrested on charges of conspiring to launder money with the same Colombian drug cartel he was supposed to be fighting. Jose Irizarry and his wife were arrested Friday at their home near San Juan, Puerto Rico, as part of a 19-count federal indictment that accused the 46-year-old Irizarry of "secretly using his position and his special access to information" to divert millions in drug proceeds from control of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "It's a black eye for the DEA to have one of its own engaged in such a high level of corruption," said Mike Vigil, the DEA's former Chief of International Operations.
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| Your Evening Briefing Posted: 21 Feb 2020 01:30 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- U.S. intelligence experts say Russia is once again trying to manipulate a presidential election in President Donald Trump's favor. Meanwhile, former Goldman Sachs Chairman Lloyd Blankfein said that if the Democratic Party's nominee is Senator Bernie Sanders, he may choose Trump. Sanders has a history of excoriating Blankfein and his bank for, among other things, the massive taxpayer bailout it raked in during the financial crisis. In response to previous attacks by Blankfein, Sanders has quoted President Franklin Roosevelt, asking to be judged "by the enemies I have made." Here are today's top storiesBlankfein explained that "at least Trump cares about the economy." On Thursday, however, the White House admitted that Trump's trade war on China has depressed the U.S. economy. On Friday, Trump (in all caps on Twitter) floated the possibility of another bailout for farmers hurt by tariffs, on top of the $26 billion taxpayers have already paid them. The reason? Purchases of crops agreed to by China have yet to materialize. While China still accounts for the vast majority of coronavirus cases, infections may be spreading more rapidly in other Asian countries.The World Health Organization is worried about a jump in coronavirus cases in Iran, since they have no direct link to China. Some two-thirds of cases exported from China may still be undetected, a study showed.There's a pistachio war being waged between the U.S. and Iran, Bloomberg Businessweek reports, and the nation of Georgia may be part of the fight.The world is headed toward the warmest winter ever recorded as a strange mix of weather patterns at the top of the world combines with accelerating climate change.Senator Amy Klobuchar, who gained momentum after her performance in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, may have hit a wall.What's Luke Kawa thinking about? The Bloomberg cross-asset reporter contends the exceptionalism in U.S. Treasuries stands out as the most curious dynamic in financial markets right now. Since the coronavirus became a part of the picture, there has been no divergence between U.S. and German yields. In fact, the spread between the two has marginally narrowed. It's a testament, Luke says, to the preeminence of Treasuries as a destination for global money in search of safety. This is because nothing about the data suggests that the spread between U.S. and German yields should be narrowing now. What you'll need to know tomorrowBoeing's deadly 737 Max is still causing trouble for the planemaker. Warren Buffett will address his missed deals and growing cash pile. For average Americans, middle class life is now out of reach. ECB economist sees a euro-area rebound from coronavirus fallout. Bloomberg Opinion: Democrats need to attack Sanders head on. Bloomberg Opinion: How to make trucking safer for everyone. Is there such a thing as a guilt-free engagement ring?What you'll want to read in Bloomberg PursuitsIn 1981, Milton Bradley released what may be the most Generation X board game ever. The Dark Tower was a fantasy adventure with flashing lights and sound effects emanating from a titular plastic tower. Four decades later, Gen Xers are entering middle age, with children whose hands seem welded to smartphones. Perhaps out of nostalgia or a last-ditch effort to engage their offspring, parents are now looking back to a time when fun didn't require a glowing screen. To contact the author of this story: David Rovella in New York at drovella@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump mocks intel finding Russia helping his reelection as Democratic 'disinformation' Posted: 21 Feb 2020 01:23 PM PST  "I was told a week ago -- they said, 'you know they're trying to start a rumor,'" Trump said at one of his "Keep America Great" rallies in Las Vegas. "It's disinformation -- that's the only thing they're good at, they're not good at anything else, the get-nothing, the do-nothing Democrats -- that Putin wants to make sure I get elected," he said. Trump went on to recycle an argument he's made in the past -- that Russian President Vladimir Putin would rather see a Democrat in the White House, specifically Sen. Bernie Sanders, who calls himself a socialist democrat.
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| Bloomberg says 3 women can be released from NDAs Posted: 21 Feb 2020 01:14 PM PST  Mike Bloomberg said Friday he'd free three women from confidentiality agreements that bar them from speaking publicly about sexual harassment or discrimination suits filed against him over the last three decades. Warren hammered Bloomberg over the issue in the recent debate, his first time facing his rivals. Bloomberg didn't automatically revoke the agreements, but told the women to contact the company if they would like to be released.
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| Conservatives seen tightening grip as Iran votes for parliament Posted: 21 Feb 2020 01:14 PM PST  Iranians took to the polls Friday in an election expected to see conservatives tighten their grip on parliament, amid voter apathy after the disqualification of thousands of candidates. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had urged all Iranians to take part as he cast the first ballot in the election, saying that doing so would "guarantee the country's national interests". The 11th parliamentary election since the 1979 Islamic Revolution comes after a surge in tensions between Tehran and Washington, and Iran's accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner that sparked anti-government protests.
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| Watchdog sanctions Iran over lax terror financing laws Posted: 21 Feb 2020 01:08 PM PST  A multinational financial crimes watchdog on Friday faulted Iran for not doing enough to counter a "terrorist financing risk" and announced the reinstatement of punitive measures against the country. In a statement issued after a meeting in Paris, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said it was rescinding a suspension of the measures, granted in 2016, to give Tehran time to work on reforms. The FATF "fully lifts the suspension of counter-measures" it said, citing Iran's failure to enact the UN's 2001 Palermo Convention against organised crime and the Terrorist Financing Convention.
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| Democrats big money pledges give way to reality of 2020 race Posted: 21 Feb 2020 01:04 PM PST  Many Democratic presidential candidates launched their campaigns last year with bold pledges to reject help from super PACs and dark money groups. Elizabeth Warren, one of the fiercest critics of money in politics, was the latest White House hopeful this week to accept help from a big money organization that can raise and spend unlimited amounts on behalf of political candidates. Former Vice President Joe Biden, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders have done much the same.
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| Trump Mad That Democrats Got Spy Agency to Say Russia Favors Him Posted: 21 Feb 2020 01:02 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump felt blindsided when he learned belatedly that intelligence officials briefed House lawmakers that Russia is continuing to interfere in U.S. elections -- and that Democrats elicited their view that the Russians favor Trump's re-election, according to people familiar with the situation.Trump blamed Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, for the episode and the failure to inform him. On Wednesday, the president announced that he was replacing Maguire, a veteran intelligence official, with Ric Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany and a staunch Trump supporter.The chain of events underscores the continued tensions between Trump and intelligence officials that he and his supporters often depict as part of a "deep state" undermining his presidency.The classified briefing on Feb. 13 was delivered by Shelby Pierson, the intelligence official charged with monitoring issues related to election security. Among those attending were Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who led the House Democrats who impeached Trump, and the panel's top Republican, Representative Devin Nunes of California.In response to questions from Democrats, lawmakers were told that Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, prefer Trump over his Democratic challengers and is still actively interfering in this year's election, according to the people. But little information has emerged on any specific or ongoing interference by Russia detailed in the briefing last week.'It's Disinformation'Trump said at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Friday that he was told last week that Democrats were promulgating "a rumor" that Russia sought his re-election."I was told it was happening, I was told a week ago," he said. "They said, 'You know they're trying to start a rumor.' It's disinformation -- that Putin wants to make sure I get re-elected."He added: "Doesn't he want to see who the Democrat's going to be? Doesn't he want to see Bernie, who honeymooned in Moscow? These people are crazy." Sanders has said he has visited Moscow but didn't honeymoon there.Trump has sought to cultivate a relationship with Putin, regarded by most U.S. lawmakers as an adversary. Trump acknowledged at his rally: "We want to get along with Russia. We want to get along with China."The information provided to the House committee was described by one official as more of a general assessment. Democrats asked leading questions to obtain the analysis that Russia favors Trump's re-election, according to a U.S. official and another person familiar with the matter.The White House suspects Democrats hoped the intelligence analysis would be leaked, an official said.Schiff's RoleAnother official said Pierson was challenged by Republicans during the briefing about the raw intelligence behind the claim, and weren't given specifics. The same officials said Trump's anger at Maguire focused on the role that Schiff -- who Trump considers a prime nemesis -- allegedly played.The president expressed his frustration to Maguire in an Oval Office meeting the day after the House briefing, according to officials. Trump was told that Pierson, who delivered the briefing, felt her comments were being misrepresented and that she could only say that the Russians were continuing to interfere in U.S. politics -- not that they were putting a finger on the scale to help Trump.Trump's ire over the intelligence briefing was reported earlier by the New York Times.Schiff tweeted that "we count on the intelligence community to inform Congress of any threat of foreign interference in our elections." At the same time, Schiff seemed to hedge on what information, exactly, had been provided to him and other House members."If reports are true and the President is interfering with that, he is again jeopardizing our efforts to stop foreign meddling," Schiff said.Democrats have blasted Trump for replacing Maguire with Grenell, who has little experience in intelligence-gathering or analysis, and several key Republicans have remained silent on the decision.'Inviting' Interference"By firing Acting DNI Maguire because his staff provided the candid conclusions of the Intelligence Community to Congress regarding Russian meddling in the 2020 Presidential election, the President is not only refusing to defend against foreign interference, he's inviting it," House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi complained in a statement.On Friday, Maguire's deputy Andrew Hallman said he was stepping down as the DNI's principal executive, offering praise for his former boss, who he called a "lifelong patriot and public servant.""As I prepare to depart, I have complete confidence in the IC workforce and the enduring qualities of the community — stability, integrity, and relentless dedication to serving the nation," Hallman said in a statement, referring to the intelligence community. "These qualities will guide the IC through this next chapter and the uncertainties that come with change."Grenell is expected to fill the senior DNI role on a short-term basis. Trump tweeted on Friday that he has four candidates under consideration to be nominated for the job. But one potential candidate who Trump floated as a potential nominee late on Thursday -- Georgia Representative Doug Collins -- said he wasn't interested.Collins called Trump's comments "humbling" and "amazing," but said he wants to stick with plans to challenge Senator Kelly Loeffler for the Georgia seat this fall, even though Loeffler is backed by the much of the Republican establishment including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.Earlier, Trump was close to nominating Representative Chris Stewart, a Utah Republican, as director of national intelligence, according to two people familiar with the deliberations. But that idea was scrapped when Trump learned of a 2016 video clip in which Stewart said "Donald Trump does not represent Republican ideals, he is our Mussolini."(Updates with Trump comments beginning in sixth paragraph)\--With assistance from Josh Wingrove.To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Jacobs in Washington at jjacobs68@bloomberg.net;Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net;Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert, Alex WayneFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Uniting Trumpers, Never Trumpers and Democrats With a New Deputy at the State Dept. Posted: 21 Feb 2020 12:08 PM PST  WASHINGTON -- When Stephen E. Biegun was sworn in as deputy secretary of state, it was in front of an unusual crowd at the State Department -- one that included loyalists to President Donald Trump, but also a mix of Never Trumpers and Democrats.Denis R. McDonough, President Barack Obama's White House chief of staff and deputy national security adviser, was there that day in December. So was John D. Negroponte, a former director of national intelligence under President George W. Bush who in 2016 refused to vote for Trump. There were career diplomats, congressional officials and national security experts from both parties who had worked with Biegun in his various roles in the Senate, the National Security Council and Ford Motor.Which gave rise to some crucial questions: How had Biegun navigated Trump world to land such a senior position, No. 2 at the State Department? Could he calm a simmering revolt among career State Department employees who have accused Biegun's immediate boss, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, of abandoning veteran diplomats and letting the president's personal political agenda infect foreign policy?More to the point, would he even survive?The job is a risk -- Washington is full of people who have catapulted from the Trump administration with reputations diminished -- but friends say they are betting on Biegun."If anyone can figure out how to navigate it, I think it can be Steve," said Stephen J. Hadley, Bush's second national security adviser.It helps, friends say, that Biegun has the even temperament of a man who thrives in the background. Never one to upstage the boss, be it the president or secretary of state, Biegun is mild-mannered and deferential, the anti-Pompeo.While Pompeo is prone to profanity-laced rants, Biegun is a Republican of another era who projects calm. "He listens," said McDonough, who was Biegun's Democratic counterpart when the two men served as the chief foreign policy advisers to their parties' Senate leaders in the mid-2000s.While Pompeo has sought to bring back "swagger" to diplomacy, Biegun is described as a careful negotiator. And while Pompeo allowed a shadow foreign policy campaign to undermine the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, Biegun has insisted that, in diplomacy, "politics best stop at the water's edge."John R. Beyrle, who was one of Obama's ambassadors to Moscow, said that Pompeo most likely viewed Biegun as "somebody who could help ameliorate that almost toxic situation" at the State Department."So if there is that vacuum or deficit of trust, which I think there is, Steve is well placed to fill it," said Beyrle, who worked with Biegun on the board of the U.S.-Russia Foundation, which promotes entrepreneurship and education with Moscow.Notably, Biegun has described Marie L. Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador in Kyiv who was ordered back to Washington and accused of being disloyal to Trump, as "a very capable foreign-service officer."Since first meeting Yovanovitch years ago, when they were both working on Russia policy, "my esteem has done nothing but grown for her," Biegun told senators at his confirmation hearing in November.Colleagues say the secret to Biegun's success, so far, is that he gained the trust of Trump by enabling the president's bromance with Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader. Officials said the president twice considered appointing Biegun as national security adviser, but made him the chief envoy to North Korea instead. In that job Biegun has tried to move talks between Trump and Kim forward when other administration officials wanted to shut them down.Biegun also declined to join the so-called Never Trumper movement in 2016, putting him among a relatively small number of Republicans with high-level foreign policy experience who were not blacklisted by the White House after Trump won the presidential election."He's friends with Republicans and Democrats, he treats people well, he knows how to operate in Washington, he knows the think tanks, he knows the press, he knows the diplomatic community," said John B. Bellinger III, the State Department's former top lawyer who worked with Biegun on Bush's National Security Council.Born in Detroit to a large family -- more than 30 relatives attended his December swearing-in ceremony -- Biegun was in high school in Pontiac, Michigan, when a history teacher wrote the word "czar" on the chalkboard in the Cyrillic alphabet. He was immediately fascinated and went on to study Russian at the University of Michigan.Biegun lived in Moscow in the early 1990s, when he worked for the International Republican Institute, which promotes democracy with some funding from the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development. But he mostly developed his national security credentials on Capitol Hill -- first as a top Republican staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and later to Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, then the majority leader -- and at the White House as a top aide to Condoleezza Rice, who was the first national security adviser in the Bush administration.He traveled to Russia as a vice president at Ford, negotiating new business ventures, but also took time off to briefly advise Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2008. That position, according to colleagues, revealed his ability to maintain patience under pressure and to avoid a condescending tone -- even when having to explain the most basic foreign policy axioms to his boss.In his new job, Biegun will also remain the lead negotiator with North Korea -- a dual role, he has said, that elevates "the priority on North Korea to the deputy secretary position, and I think that's very important."But the diplomacy has fizzled since Trump and Kim abruptly left a summit meeting in Vietnam a year ago, unable to agree on a path for denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Critics say the Trump administration was too willing to keep the talks going -- and the president too eager to meet with Kim -- even as North Korea was busily building up its arsenal.Biegun was not only trying to negotiate with the North Koreans, but he was also engaged in a behind-the-scenes fight with Trump's national security adviser at the time, John R. Bolton, who believed Biegun was pursuing a useless mission."This idea that they can be coaxed into giving up" their nuclear program "was flawed from the start," Bolton said on Monday in remarks at Duke University.Still, Joseph Y. Yun, a career diplomat who negotiated with North Korean officials until he retired in March 2018, said Biegun's new status could convince Pyongyang that the United States was serious enough about restarting the discussions that it had promoted one of its most senior officials to devote to the details."It's a very good signal to North Korea,'' said Yun, who retired in part out of frustration with the State Department's diminished role in the talks. "This will elevate the negotiations."Biegun's greatest challenge, however, is the diplomatic morass of Russia and Ukraine.No one senior official has run the policy since Bolton left the White House as national security adviser in September, and few have been eager to embrace the portfolio.But Biegun has told colleagues he is eager to try to resolve Russia's undeclared war in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. The conflict has killed more than 13,000 Ukrainian troops and civilians and threatened Kyiv's sovereignty since it began in 2014, the same year that Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.Ukrainian officials have anxiously looked to Washington for more help as Kyiv broadens talks with President Vladimir Putin of Russia to ratchet back tensions. Pompeo visited Kyiv last month to signal continued U.S. commitment to Ukraine. But the country's leaders have not yet been invited to meet with Trump at the White House, even though the president has been acquitted of impeachment charges that he demanded that Ukraine announce an investigation into his political rivals before releasing security aid for Donbas.Eric Rubin, a former ambassador to Bulgaria who is now president of the union that represents career diplomats, noted that during his Senate confirmation hearing, Biegun committed to work "to bridge whatever divides may exist" at the State Department."This is not an easy time for our country or our profession," Rubin said. "We wish him well."Biegun faces another source of tension with the 2011 New START arms control treaty with Russia, which drove U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals to their lowest levels in nearly 60 years. The treaty is set to expire in February 2021, and people who have spoken to Biegun believe he wants to extend it. But Trump and his aides have signaled repeatedly that they intend to let the treaty expire unless it can be broadened to include other nations with strategic weapons, chiefly China -- and the Chinese are not interested.In his confirmation hearing, Biegun summed up his approach in a single line that somehow conveyed both optimism for diplomacy and clear-eyed realism about the Trump administration's view of the world, given its "Make America Great Again" mantra."I've long thought America was great," Biegun said.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company
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| Post-Brexit Budget Impasse Exposes Europe’s Divisions at Summit Posted: 21 Feb 2020 12:05 PM PST  (Bloomberg) -- The European Union's first post-Brexit summit descended into acrimony as squabbling over the bloc's trillion-euro budget exposed the fault lines holding back its geopolitical ambition.After a 28-hour gathering in Brussels, EU leaders conceded it was impossible to agree on a seven-year fiscal plan amid differences over spending. They'll have to reconvene sometime before the end-2020 deadline."Unfortunately today we've observed that it wasn't possible to reach an agreement," European Council President Charles Michel said Friday. "We've worked very hard but we need more time."The budget is a cornerstone of EU policy that lets farmers compete against imports from the developing world, helps poorer states catch up with the rich ones and underpins projects that bind the union together.But it's also a lightning rod for tensions. After three years of uncharacteristic unity during the Brexit negotiations, passions among the 27 member states are once again running high.Leaders spent the much of the summit in different groups as they sought to strike alliances over the budget's size and fine print. Meanwhile, technical officials from each country were on standby, armed with laptops and notepads to sift through new proposals.But for all their ambition to project an image of the EU as a united global superpower, its leaders spent the better part of two days bickering over fractions of a percentage point of the bloc's output."I've heard enough of red lines today," Angela Merkel said after the meeting, voicing her frustration over the manner in which negotiations were conducted.When it's eventually sealed, the final accord will signal whether Europe is prepared to spend more collectively to further its goals, whether it wants to prioritize innovation over handouts to traditional industries and whether it will wield its financial muscle to force member-states like Hungary and Poland to respect the rule-of-law.The scrap for cash to fund agriculture and regional development -- as well as newer issues like climate change and migration -- was further complicated by the U.K.'s departure, which leaves a hole of as much as 75 billion euros ($80 billion).Two CampsThe EU split into two camps: net beneficiaries in the south and east seeking higher spending, and net payers in the north wary of a backlash at home for agreeing to chip in more.The Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden, known as the "Frugal Four," were joined by Germany in arguing to keep the spending ceiling at 1% of the bloc's gross national income. They also pushed for a permanent system of rebates granted for the largest net contributors.On the other side, a group of around 16 southern and eastern nations see regional funding as key to helping them catch up with wealthier neighbors and want rebates phased out or abolished. They sought an expenditure ceiling nearer the 1.1% put forward by the European Commission. Some even clung to the European Parliament's 1.3% proposal."It was disappointing," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, echoing sentiments voiced by many leaders. "We need a balance between national interests and those of the union. We can't present a vision that's not backed by budgetary commitments and you can't do that on 1%."A deal needs to be struck before year-end to avoid a freeze in some spending for 2021 -- including funding for poorer regions."We now have to let the dust settle," EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahntold reporters. "Then we have to look into the figures and see what has to be done."\--With assistance from Katharina Rosskopf, Irina Vilcu, Nikos Chrysoloras, John Follain, Jonathan Stearns, Ania Nussbaum, Lyubov Pronina, Ian Wishart and Maria Tadeo.To contact the reporters on this story: Viktoria Dendrinou in Brussels at vdendrinou@bloomberg.net;Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.net;Jasmina Kuzmanovic in Zagreb at jkuzmanovic@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Andrew Langley, Richard BravoFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 2016 again? Russia back to stirring chaos in U.S. election Posted: 21 Feb 2020 11:34 AM PST  Just weeks into this year's election cycle, Russia already is actively interfering in the U.S. presidential campaign in hopes of reelecting President Donald Trump, and is also trying to help the candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side, intelligence officials have concluded. The Russian efforts are aimed at undermining public confidence in the integrity of U.S. elections and stirring general chaos in American politics, intelligence experts say. Lawmakers were told in a classified briefing last week that Russia is taking steps that would help Trump, according to officials familiar with the briefing.
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| 3 additional Iranian students challenge removal from country Posted: 21 Feb 2020 11:06 AM PST |
| UN chief calls for immediate cease-fire in Syria's northwest Posted: 21 Feb 2020 11:01 AM PST |
| Syrian war pulls in major foreign actors, increasing tension Posted: 21 Feb 2020 10:34 AM PST  In northern Syria, heavy exchanges between Syrian and Turkish troops are erupting with more frequency, threatening to escalate into full-blown conflict. U.S. troops even have had a deadly clash with Syrian gunmen at a checkpoint. Syria's civil war long has provided a free-for-all battlefield for proxy fighters.
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| Judge seeks more info before ruling against Libyan commander Posted: 21 Feb 2020 10:19 AM PST  A federal magistrate in Virginia wants more information before issuing a judgment against a Libyan-American who once lived in northern Virginia and now commands an army in his home country. Khalifa Hifter, who leads the self-styled Libyan National Army, was sued last year by families who say their loved ones were killed in his military campaigns. If the lawsuit succeeds, the families may be able to claim property Hifter owned from his decades living in Virginia.
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| Despite strong start, Buttigieg seeks $13 million for Mar. 3 Posted: 21 Feb 2020 10:13 AM PST  Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg says he needs to raise $13 million to stay competitive through the 14-state Super Tuesday contests on March 3, despite strong finishes in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. The tricky financial picture for one of the surprise candidates of 2020 comes as the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, reported Thursday that he spent more than twice as much as he brought in during January, even as he was simultaneously ramping up for the Iowa and New Hampshire contests. Buttigieg ended with a near-tie in Iowa with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has fielded a strong organization and fundraising this cycle after competing strongly against Hillary Clinton for the 2016 presidential nomination.
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| Venezuela's Maduro taps DC firm to fight US sanctions Posted: 21 Feb 2020 09:38 AM PST  A top official for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's government has hired a Washington law firm that also represents Turkey, taking over from another legal team that backed out last month following an outcry from critics who accused it of collaborating with a repressive regime. Lawyer Bob Amsterdam declined to comment on the nature of work for Maduro's Inspector General Reinaldo Muñoz, other than saying it would focus on sanctions and human rights issues.
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| AP-NORC Poll: Democrats feel mixed about nomination process Posted: 21 Feb 2020 09:34 AM PST  Democratic voters feel generally positive about all of their top candidates running for president, but they have only moderate confidence that their party's nomination process is fair, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. U.S. voters from across the political spectrum have mixed confidence in the fairness of either party's system for picking a candidate, but Democrats are especially likely to have doubts about their own party's process. Among Democratic voters, 41% say they have a great deal or quite a bit of confidence in the Democratic Party's nomination process, while 34% have moderate confidence and 25% have little to no confidence.
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| Russia’s Old ‘Trojan Horse’ Plays East Against West Posted: 21 Feb 2020 08:04 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Hidden away from the holiday resorts and quietly rundown villages on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast lies what locals refer to as "The Russian Complex."The 200 million-euro ($217 million) development was the pet project of former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov for kids and athletes. Called Kamchia after the river nearby, it has a hotel, theaters, a cinema and a TV studio. It caters to 35 sports and includes an Olympic-sized swimming pool. There's a school with a planetarium and a tribute to the Russian space program, replete with a giant mural of astronaut Yuri Gagarin.What the complex can't do, however, is "host a spy headquarters," managing director Nikolai Nedyalkov joked on a visit this month.Kamchia has fallen on hard times since Western sanctions hit Moscow's finances. One man, though, has his eye on it—Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. His interest says more about geopolitics than wellness as Russian influence endures in Bulgaria, a country torn between loyalty toward its historical ally and its more recent status as a member of NATO and the European Union.Lavrov said in December that Kamchia is "unique," the "ideal model of soft power," and proposed taking it under Kremlin control. The government in Sofia said there was no official request to change its status, yet that didn't stop some Bulgarians from jumping on the idea that it could be used for training operatives.Whatever happens next, Kamchia shows that Bulgaria remains a critical outpost at a time of heightened tension over espionage, energy security and corruption. That historical role has become more precarious in recent months as Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, flex their muscles in Europe's most volatile region.The problem for the U.S. and Western Europe is that Bulgaria chooses to remain Russia's biggest foothold in Putin's orbit because that serves the interests of the people who run the country, said Ilian Vassilev, former ambassador to Russia from 2000 to 2006."The main channels of Russian influence are a legacy of a Soviet-style power structure and corruption, which is the glue that holds Russian society together and Bulgaria's too," said Vassilev, 63, who was barred by Russia in response to sanctions over Moscow's involvement in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. "Bulgaria has never had more geopolitical importance than today."Bonded by the Cyrillic alphabet, a similar spoken language and the Orthodox religion, Bulgaria has long been Russophile.The nation was freed from Ottoman rule in 1878 in the Russo-Turkish war, an event marked by a national holiday every March 3. It was the closest ally of the Soviet Union during communism, nicknamed the 16th republic under former dictator Todor Zhivkov. Russia's ambassador to the EU in 2006, the year before Bulgaria joined the bloc, notoriously said that it would be useful to have a "Trojan horse" inside the alliance.Indeed, Russia's tentacles are everywhere. Bulgaria imports just about all of its gas through a contract with Gazprom that runs until 2022. About one-third of Bulgaria's gross power demand is met by a nuclear plant fed by Russian fuel, and the country wants to build a second plant with Russian reactors it already owns. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, the former firefighter who has run Bulgaria on and off for the past 11 years, joined Putin and Erdogan at a ceremony on Jan. 8 to turn on the TurkStream pipeline that brings Russian gas under the Black Sea to Turkey and then connects with Bulgaria and Serbia.The Kremlin's Foreign Intelligence Service blames the U.S. for actively trying to discredit public figures in eastern Europe who want good relations with Russia, Sergey Ivanov, head of its press office, told state-owned TASS news agency in an article published on Friday. "Bulgaria became the epicenter of this campaign in the Balkans," he said. Borissov has tried to juggle Bulgaria's interests in both energy security and foreign policy. The government last May started building a pipeline to link its gas grid with Greece in the hope of gaining American liquefied gas and supplies from Azerbaijan. Borissov, who worked as former communist kingpin Zhivkov's private bodyguard in the 1990s, has been keen to portray himself as the man who can unite the Balkans behind the EU. He also reached a deal to buy $1.3 billion of U.S. F-16 fighter jets and agreed to host a NATO maritime coordination center on the Black Sea near Varna, less than 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Kamchia.The country declined to join most EU states in expelling Russian diplomats after the poisoning of spy Sergei Skripal in the U.K. Then, less than two weeks after the TurkStream ceremony, prosecutors charged three Russians with the attempted murder of an arms dealer as part of a probe linked to the Skripal case. A day later, Bulgaria also kicked out two Russian envoys accused of espionage (though former envoy Vassilev said that was just for show). On Thursday, Borissov was asked by Bulgarian reporters in Brussels whether the Russians were building a military base at Kamchia. He replied that he remembered when it was a camp for children and veterans and wasn't aware of anything changing. Bulgaria, though, would continue to balance its interests with Russia and Turkey and the west, he said."Look, one thing is the 'pragmatic policy' and we've been applying it," he said. "Another thing is Euro-Atlanticism, toward which we've oriented, swore, signed agreements, contracts and everything else."Borissov has effectively played the "good European," said Ruslan Stefanov, director of the economic program at the Center for the Study of Democracy, a research group in Sofia. The concern is that oligarchs control critical assets and that leaves the country at the whim of a narrow group of people—what he and his colleagues call a "captured state.""If they change their allegiance, it changes the whole orientation of the country," said Stefanov, who co-authored a study entitled "The Kremlin Playbook in Southeast Europe" published this year.That, as ever, depends on money. Germany overtook Russia as Bulgaria's biggest trading partner in the 1990s, but Russian oil giant Lukoil's refinery in Burgas remains the biggest company in Bulgaria.The most pressing issue is that Bulgaria's system of power can be easily manipulated, said Kalin Slavov, head of Transparency International in Bulgaria since 2011. That was the year the country overtook Greece as the most corrupt member of the EU in the organization's annual Corruption Perceptions Index.In short, Bulgaria is effectively run by people who can do what they want, he said: The legal framework isn't strong enough to maintain rule of law, while membership of the EU and NATO hasn't done enough to move the country closer to western norms.Borissov says Bulgaria is a loyal member of the EU and NATO that has won praise for integrating while fighting corruption. The powerful chief prosecutor is currently pursuing gambling tycoon Vasil Bozhkov, among Bulgaria's richest men, on charges including attempted bribery and leading an organized crime group involved in money laundering. The Foreign Ministry said the country's geopolitical orientation was "clear and decisive, and it was made years ago." As a NATO member, Bulgaria is a "strongly committed and responsible ally" that also supports the organization's policy of dialog with Russia, it said on Friday in response to Bloomberg questions.Elsewhere, the focus is on doing business, the ministry said. "Our priorities in our relations with the Russian Federation are concentrated mainly in the commercial and economic sphere," it said by e-mail.The country has received more than 20 billion euros in EU aid since 2007 and all major political parties express support for deeper alignment, including joining the euro. The local currency, the lev, has been pegged to the deutschemark or the euro since 1997, after a financial crisis wiped out savings. Popular support for the EU is among the highest of any member state, above 60%.You can't change your past, though. A report published by Pew Research, which tracks global trends in national attitudes, this month found 73% of Bulgarians see Russia favorably, more than any of the other 32 countries surveyed. Putin had the support of 62% of Bulgarians, also the highest.Reconciling interests in east and west is in Bulgaria's veins, according to Mihail Gruev, a history professor and head of Bulgaria's national archive."The risk is a loss of the balance," Gruev said at his office on Moscow Street in Sofia. "Bulgaria needs to just accept the reality," he said as he brought out a box of Red October Russian chocolates with a laugh. "It would have been easier if Russia wasn't there, but it's the reality of history and geography."Back at Kamchia, with its fluttering Bulgarian and Russian flags, it's that delicate balance that management is now trying to strike.The school is running at about a quarter of its 1,000-student capacity and the complex is losing money across its facilities. Those financial difficulties affect the district of 16 villages and 9,000 people because it accounts for more than 90% of tax revenue, local mayor Emanuil Manolov said. The trouble is that "it wasn't built to make a profit," said Manolov, 41, a member of Borissov's party.Nedyalkov, the managing director at Kamchia, aims to change that. A former investment banker who lived in Russia for almost two decades, he was hired in July 2018 with the goal to make the complex commercially viable after Moscow stopped subsidizing it four years ago.The strategy, he said, is to use it as "a platform for building bridges between east and west." He has been expanding beyond Russian-speaking countries to include Turkey, Greece and other parts of Europe.His task was made harder by Lavrov's comment on Kamchia before the Russian Senate on Dec. 23. Nedyalkov started getting calls from tour operators asking if they would still be in business. It could cost "millions of euros" in cancellations, he said. The Russian Foreign Ministry said there's been no progress since Lavrov spoke."History has shown that this role is not the easiest," Nedyalkov said over coffee in an office at the school overlooking the sports complex.Emphasizing that he was speaking in an unofficial capacity, he added: "The Bulgarian prime minister is handling his job very well to demonstrate that there's no question Bulgaria is part of the EU, but still it's not an obstacle to doing business and interacting with countries outside the union."\--With assistance from Andrea Dudik, Ilya Arkhipov and Samuel Dodge.To contact the authors of this story: Rodney Jefferson in Edinburgh at r.jefferson@bloomberg.netSlav Okov in Sofia at sokov@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Sillitoe at psillitoe@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Case of missing children tied to doomsday beliefs, 3 deaths Posted: 21 Feb 2020 07:44 AM PST  Family members used to describe Lori Vallow as an attentive mother who had her kids' best interests at heart. Before her children went missing. Seven-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and his 17-year-old sister, Tylee Ryan, haven't been seen since September.
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| Plugging Europe’s Brexit Hole Turns Summit Into a Marathon Posted: 21 Feb 2020 07:20 AM PST (Bloomberg) -- European Union leaders meeting for a second day in Brussels sought to break a deadlock over the bloc's long-term budget amid wide divisions over how to fill a financing hole created by Brexit.All-night talks failed to resolve differences over spending levels and rebates, with leaders voicing pessimism over the prospects for a deal and indicating that another emergency summit may be needed to reach an accord."I'm prepared to stay the whole weekend, but no, I don't think we're going to reach an agreement," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Friday, adding that another summit would likely be needed next month.Since then, leaders have held a series of bilateral negotiations in an effort to move positions closer together. As of Friday afternoon, they were debating a compromise that would set a spending ceiling around 1.05% to 1.06% of the bloc's gross national income, according to diplomats familiar with the matter.Talks are "going in the right direction," Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said.The trillion-euro budget is a cornerstone of EU policy that lets farmers compete against imports from the developing world, helps poorer states catch up with the rich ones and underpins projects that bind the union together. But it's also a lightning rod for the tensions running through the bloc and after three years of uncharacteristic unity during the Brexit negotiations, passions are now running high.EU governments have been split into roughly two camps: those who want the bloc to spend more, and those who can see they'll get stuck with the bill.During the discussions, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden, also known as the "Frugal Four," together with Germany argued for keeping the spending ceiling at 1% of the EU's GNI. The countries -- all net payers -- are cognizant of the backlash they could face from taxpayers and opposition politicians over agreeing to pay more.They also pushed for establishing a permanent system of rebates -- corrections granted to countries that make the largest net contributions. Other countries want such arrangements to be phased out, or ditched altogether.On the other side were some 16 southern and eastern countries who see regional funding as a key tool to help them catch up with wealthier neighbors and countries like France who push against cuts in agricultural subsidies. They want a spending ceiling closer to the 1.1% proposed by the European Commission. The European Parliament has called for 1.3% and has threatened to derail any accord if it doesn't get it.Underscoring the divide, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban reiterated the 1.3% figure on Thursday. He said the gap between the two camps probably can't be bridged in an afternoon and another summit will likely be needed."Miracles are always in the air, especially in Brussels, but we're very far from a realistic possibility to make a deal," he said.Brexit HoleBudget talks are complicated further by Britain's departure from the EU, which leaves a hole of at least 60 billion euros ($65 billion) in the budget that needs to be plugged by either cutting spending or making others pay more.Member states are also weighing how to tie the disbursement of funds to adherence to rule-of-law norms, a particular flashpoint with Hungary and Poland, which have been accused by Brussels of rolling back democratic standards.A deal needs to be struck before year-end otherwise several spending plans for 2021 could be frozen, including funding for poorer regions.Despite the uphill battle, some were still holding out hope of an agreement."The summit is still going on so we cannot speak about the failure, but I have to admit that for the moment positions are not that close to be able to find solutions," Luxembourg Prime Minster Xavier Bettel said. "The problem is, if everyone just calculates what he pays and what he gets, then we will never come out."(Updates with Austrian, Hungarian leaders starting in fifth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Andrew Langley, Chris Reiter, Ian Wishart, Jonathan Stearns, Arne Delfs, Ania Nussbaum, Ewa Krukowska, John Follain, Lyubov Pronina, Jasmina Kuzmanovic and Nikos Chrysoloras.To contact the reporters on this story: Viktoria Dendrinou in Brussels at vdendrinou@bloomberg.net;Katharina Rosskopf in Brussels at krosskopf@bloomberg.net;Irina Vilcu in Bucharest at isavu@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Richard Bravo, Chris ReiterFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Historic Assange Trial to Hinge on Trump’s Political Motivations Posted: 21 Feb 2020 07:00 AM PST |
| Iranians pay tribute to 'martyr general' as they vote Posted: 21 Feb 2020 06:46 AM PST  In Iran, learning to be an anti-American soldier of the Islamic republic can start as early as 19 months of age -- at least for one family voting in Friday's general election. Mohammadi, a 47-year-old factory worker, also carried a placard, denouncing US President Donald Trump -- who unilaterally pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 and has since heaped sanctions on the country. "Oh gambler Trump, we are here to vote," it said.
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| Israel says cruise passenger flown home from Japan has virus Posted: 21 Feb 2020 06:37 AM PST  One of the 11 Israelis who were flown home after being quarantined on a cruise ship in Japan has tested positive for the new virus that emerged in China late last year, the first case to be reported inside Israel, officials said Friday. The Israeli cruise ship passengers, who had all initially tested negative for the new coronavirus, arrived on a charter plane overnight. Dr. Gili Regev-Yochay, director of the infectious disease unit at the hospital, said all 11 were tested again upon arrival.
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| Pompeo meets with Oman's new ruler amid US pressure on Iran Posted: 21 Feb 2020 06:16 AM PST  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Friday with the new ruler of Oman, a Gulf Arab country that has close ties with both Washington and Tehran and that has previously provided a back channel for talks between the adversaries. Pompeo's stop in Oman to meet Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said is the highest level U.S. visit to the country since he was selected successor to longtime ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who died Jan. 10 after 50 years in power. Oman supported the Obama administration's nuclear agreement with Iran and world powers, from which President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S.
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| This Could Be Iran's Next Ruler (Or King?) Posted: 21 Feb 2020 06:05 AM PST  Pahlavi has ideas for Iran.
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| Survivor: German shooter emptied magazine, calmly walked out Posted: 21 Feb 2020 05:56 AM PST  Piter Minnemann and his friends were eating when they heard shots fired outside the door of the snack bar in Hanau where they had gathered. Minnemann, 18, recalled that he had just got his pizza when the first shots were heard at the Arena Bar. The gunman shot two people before coming into the bar, where "he aimed right at us — he shot the first one in the head," Minnemann said.
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| First case of coronavirus confirmed in Lebanon: hospital source Posted: 21 Feb 2020 05:21 AM PST  The first case of coronavirus was confirmed in Lebanon on Friday after a woman arriving from Iran was found to be positive, a source at a Beirut hospital where the woman is being quarantined told Reuters. Lebanon's health minister was expected to hold a news conference on Friday to address the case.
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| Erdogan urges Putin to rein in Syria, end human crisis Posted: 21 Feb 2020 05:00 AM PST  Turkey's president urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone call Friday to "restrain" the Syrian government and halt the humanitarian crisis unfolding in northwestern Syria as Damascus wages a military offensive against the last rebel stronghold in the country. Recep Tayyip Erdogan also called for the full implementation of a 2018 Turkish-Russian cease-fire agreement for Idlib province, which collapsed following the Russia-backed Syrian government advance, a statement from Erdogan's office said.
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| Coronavirus has spread to several Iranian cities- health ministry official Posted: 21 Feb 2020 04:21 AM PST  The coronavirus has spread to several Iranian cities, a health ministry official said on Friday, according to the official IRNA news agency. Iran confirmed 13 new coronavirus cases on Friday, two of whom have died. "Based on existing reports, the spread of coronavirus started in Qom and with attention to people's travels has now reached several cities in the country including Tehran, Babol, Arak, Isfahan, Rasht and other cities and it's possible that it exists in all cities in Iran," health ministry official Minou Mohrez said.
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| US, Taliban truce takes effect, setting stage for peace deal Posted: 21 Feb 2020 03:48 AM PST  A temporary truce between the United States and the Taliban took effect on Friday, setting the stage for the two sides to sign a peace deal next week aimed at ending 18 years of war in Afghanistan and bringing U.S. troops home. If successfully implemented, the weeklong "reduction in violence" agreement, which came into force at midnight Friday local time (1930 GMT, 2:30 p.m. EST), will be followed by the signing of the peace accord on Feb. 29, wrapping up America's longest-running conflict and fulfilling one of President Donald Trump's main campaign promises. Friday's announcement of an agreement on terms for a peace deal follows months of negotiations between the two sides that have broken down before.
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| 10 things you need to know today: February 21, 2020 Posted: 21 Feb 2020 03:41 AM PST |
| Even Billions From Bezos Won’t Solve Climate Change Posted: 21 Feb 2020 03:24 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Like all great philanthropic gestures, it started with an Instagram post. "Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet," wrote Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos beneath a shot of Earth from space. "I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share." His budget: $10 billion. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jeff Bezos (@jeffbezos) on Feb 17, 2020 at 10:00am PSTIt's an astonishing number, but it pales in comparison to Bezos's recent earnings. He's added $15.6 billion to his net worth thus far in 2020. Even if the full value of the gift was immediately withdrawn from his savings account, he'd still be the richest person on the planet.And the size of the fund could be a problem. It is, as Gernot Wagner points out, "both a lot, and not much at all." When compared with other private climate funding, it's more than anyone else has been spending. But it's minuscule compared with the overall scope of the challenge. The U.S. government alone spends more than $2 billion per year on climate-related research funding, and any real global effort to address the problem will require trillions of dollars. Wagner suggests Bezos focus his spending on both political activists and innovation that will make fossil fuel alternatives cheaper. Still, with or without Bezos's billions, the shift to renewables is happening, thanks in large part to market forces. At least five of America's coal producers went bankrupt last year as fossil fuel prices plummeted 40% from their 2018 peak. But the dirtiest of fossil fuels isn't quite dead yet. In fact, its purveyors think coal might make a comeback. The nation's largest producers are hoarding cash, betting that prices will rise in the second half of 2020 as global consumption increases. (China's ongoing battle against coronavirus has cut CO2 emissions by about 100 million metric tons. When China, a huge coal consumer, recovers, so will coal prices, or so the thinking goes.)New research published this week in the journal Nature put any recovery by the coal industry in a much darker light: Fossil-fuel production may be responsible for far more atmospheric methane than previously thought. If the results are validated, the greenhouse gas will need to be managed even more tightly than was accounted for in the Paris Agreement. At least at the local level, many cities have begun to set individual targets to reduce emissions. Some are doing better than others. Finally, I leave you with this horrifying bit of news, courtesy of climate change: Locust swarms the size of cities are ravaging East Africa, destroying crops at an unprecedented clip. The United Nations has warned of a massive threat to food security in a region of the world where millions already go hungry. The inundation has been caused by rapidly warming seas, which in turn generate an increased number of cyclones, which produce the perfect breeding ground for the insects. The problem is only expected to increase. Josh Petri writes the Week in Green newsletter recapping the best reads and key news in climate change and green solutions. Sign up to receive the Green Daily newsletter in your inbox every weekday.To contact the author of this story: Josh Petri in Portland at jpetri4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: David Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Italy reports 1st virus death, cases more than quadruple Posted: 21 Feb 2020 03:18 AM PST  Italy reported its first death from the new virus from China early Saturday and the number of people infected more than quadrupled due to a cluster of cases that prompted officials to order schools, restaurants and businesses to close. State-run RAI television reported a 78-year-old man, one of two people in northern Veneto region to have been infected, died Friday. Italian news agencies ANSA and LaPresse also reported the death, citing the Veneto regional president, Luca Zaia.
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| Iran reports 2 more deaths, 13 new cases of new coronavirus Posted: 21 Feb 2020 03:18 AM PST  Iranian health authorities Friday reported two more deaths from the new virus that emerged in China and said the fatalities were from among 13 new confirmed cases of the virus in Iran. After authorities reported two earlier deaths this week, the death toll from COVID-19, the illness caused by virus, stands at four in Iran. The spokesman of the health ministry, Kianoush Jahanpour, said the newly detected cases are all linked with city of Qom where the first two elderly patients died on Wednesday.
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| Melting Pot Nevada May Shape Democratic Race Posted: 21 Feb 2020 03:12 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Bernie Sanders remains the candidate to beat in tomorrow's Nevada caucuses, the first test of how the Democratic presidential aspirants perform in a state with sizable minority populations.Nevada's demographics represent a critical comeback opportunity for one-time front-runner Joe Biden, who has shaped his candidacy around the idea he'd fare better with non-white voters but who performed poorly in Iowa and New Hampshire.The fact that half the state's population is non-white — 30% Latino, 10% black and 10% Asian-Pacific Islander — poses a challenge for Pete Buttigieg, who eked out a victory over Sanders in Iowa but has struggled to gain traction with the minority voters whose support will be critical to beating Donald Trump in November.The contest could represent a last stand for Elizabeth Warren, whose fourth-place finish in New Hampshire imperiled her candidacy.But it's been Michael Bloomberg, who isn't competing in Nevada, who has garnered the most attention heading into the contest, first for his rise in opinion polls and then for a widely panned performance in Wednesday's debate in Las Vegas.Bottom line: The Democratic field remains fluid. The Nevada results — in which 36 pledged delegates are up for grabs — will set the stage for the big prizes just around the corner: South Carolina and Super Tuesday.(Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)Global HeadlinesJust in: The U.S. and the Taliban plan to sign a peace agreement Feb. 29, the State Department says. Dangerous skirmishes | Continued violence in northwestern Syria underscores the risks of a broader conflict. Turkey has asked the U.S. to deploy two Patriot missile-defense batteries on its border to free it to punish any future attacks by Russian-backed Syrian troops. At least 15 Turkish soldiers have been killed in the Idlib area in recent weeks as forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad seek to crush the last major pocket of opposition to the president.Face time | YouTube's homepage is set to advertise just one candidate — Donald Trump — in the immediate run-up to election day. The president's campaign purchased the coveted advertising space atop the country's most-visited video website for early November, Mark Bergen and Joshua Brustein report.German chaos | Despite her characteristically steely demeanor, German Chancellor Angela Merkel realizes that she's all but lost any control she has over the power struggle within her Christian Democratic Union party. As Arne Delfs explains, since the fall of her chosen successor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, there's growing concern about who will step in to fill the void.Viral connection | Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has taken a soft approach over China's handling of the coronavirus, part of his long push to bolster relations with his giant neighbor. But as Isabel Reynolds and Dandan Li report, that's getting tougher with each new case in Japan. At the same time South Korea has seen infections more than triple in the past few days, raising worries the virus will put its citizens and economy at risk.Summer's over | Police have identified more than two dozen calls for marches next month in Chile as students return to campuses following Summer vacation. All eyes are on whether the government's promise to boost wages and reform pensions, health care and taxes will be enough to avert the sort of unrest that rocked the nation in October, killing about 30 people and injuring 3,800.What to WatchA court in Thailand has ordered the dissolution of the pro-democracy opposition party Future Forward that's become the highest-profile critic of the nation's military-backed government. European Union leaders have indicated that another emergency summit may be needed to agree on a budget because disputes over spending levels and rebates have increased the chances they won't reach an accord today. Iranian hard-liners look set to take control of parliament today in an election dominated by the country's turbulent standoff with the U.S. Trump is considering Republican ally Doug Collins as his nominee for director of national intelligence. That could simplify a Senate race in Georgia, where the congressman has challenged incumbent Kelly Loeffler.Pop quiz, readers (no cheating!). Among those Trump pardoned this week was former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, whose public corruption conviction stemmed in part from his efforts to fill the Senate seat Barack Obama vacated to become president. Who did Blagojevich appoint to that post? Send us your answers and tell us how we're doing or what we're missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net.And finally ... Apparently Trump's America First mantra extends to his taste in movies. At a campaign rally last night in Colorado, the president mocked the Academy Awards for honoring the movie "Parasite" as best picture. "A movie from South Korea, what the hell was that all about?," he said. "We got enough problems with South Korea with trade, on top of it they give them the best movie of the year? Was it good? I don't know." \--With assistance from Richard Bravo, Jon Herskovitz, Robert Hutton, Selcan Hacaoglu and Michael Winfrey.To contact the author of this story: Kathleen Hunter in London at khunter9@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Rosalind MathiesonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| We Have 10 Years Left To Save The World, Says Climate Expert Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:45 AM PST  Christiana Figueres, the lead U.N. negotiator of the Paris climate agreement, says the next decade is the most important in the history of humanity.
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| Iran confirms 13 more coronavirus cases, two deaths - Health Ministry Posted: 21 Feb 2020 02:20 AM PST |
| Coronavirus: WHO says response to call for US$675 million in funding to battle outbreak is falling short Posted: 21 Feb 2020 01:30 AM PST  The World Health Organisation on Thursday chided the international community for not stepping up enough to finance the battle to contain the novel coronavirus that has shut down many parts of China and killed more than 2,000 people.The United Nations health agency issued a call earlier this month for US$675 million "to implement priority public health measures in support of countries to prepare for and respond to" the spread of the new coronavirus that causes the potentially deadly respiratory illness known as Covid-19."Considering the urgency and considering that we're fighting a very dangerous enemy, we're surprised that the response is not really something that we would expect," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a press briefing on Thursday from Geneva."Because of the serious measures that China is taking, the number of cases in the rest of the world is small, but it doesn't mean that the small number of cases in the rest of the world will stay the same for long," Tedros said."It wasn't without reason some couple of weeks ago I said this virus is very dangerous and it's public enemy No 1," he added. "But it's not being treated as such, and one important indicator is the response, especially to financing the response."Tedros did not say how much funding has been committed since the appeal was issued. The WHO did not immediately respond a query about the amount of funding pledged so far.On February 7, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo pledged to spend up to US$100 million to assist China and other countries affected by the contagion.Pompeo noted at the time that his department had "facilitated the transportation of nearly 17.8 tons [16.1 tonnes] of donated medical supplies to the Chinese people, including masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials".Wang Chen, president of the China Academy of Medical Science, said on Wednesday that despite a recent drop in the rate of new cases and fatalities on the mainland, the world should be prepared for the possibility that Covid-19 " the official name of the illness caused by the coronavirus " was here to stay.Wang said the new coronavirus was different from the virus which caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which was both contagious and fatal."This new coronavirus may become a long-term disease that coexists with humans, just like flu," he told state broadcaster CCTV.Ukrainian law enforcement officers clear the way as demonstrators block a road during a protest against the arrival of a plane carrying evacuees from China's Hubei province. Photo: Reuters alt=Ukrainian law enforcement officers clear the way as demonstrators block a road during a protest against the arrival of a plane carrying evacuees from China's Hubei province. Photo: ReutersThat possibility is why part of the funds the WHO seeks will be earmarked to speed up research and development, and to provide for "the equitable availability of" treatments, vaccines and diagnostics. The agency is asking for US$4.7 million for this portion of its "strategic preparedness and response" plan."Our objective still is containment," Jaouad Mahjour, the WHO's deputy director general, said at Thursday's briefing.Mahjour added that "while hammering the outbreak now using the simple public health solutions, we have to also prepare for any eventualities or worse scenarios."That's why we need a vaccine."The WHO plan also calls for US$640 million to enhance response operations, including surveillance, laboratory, and emergency coordination capacity.Purchase the China AI Report 2020 brought to you by SCMP Research and enjoy a 20% discount (original price US$400). This 60-page all new intelligence report gives you first-hand insights and analysis into the latest industry developments and intelligence about China AI. Get exclusive access to our webinars for continuous learning, and interact with China AI executives in live Q&A.; Offer valid until 31 March 2020.This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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