| UN marks 75th anniversary year in world of distrust, shifting power Posted: 01 Feb 2020 05:47 PM PST  As the United Nations enters its 75th year, the world is still rife with mistrust: the United States remains the dominant superpower but is on the wane, while Asian power is growing in the face of an increasingly fractured Europe, with an explosive Middle East sandwiched in between. In the New York headquarters of the United Nations, the Cold War never really ended, as demonstrated by a scene recently observed in its hallowed hallways: a US diplomat spotted hiding behind a wall to listen in on what the Chinese ambassador was telling a group of journalists. "We see this trust deficit in streets across the world, as people vent their frustrations and voice their feeling that political establishments are out of touch, incapable or unwilling to deliver," Guterres said earlier in January during a debate on the UN Charter.
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| Venezuela’s Guaido Rallies Supporters, Meets Rubio in Miami Posted: 01 Feb 2020 05:01 PM PST ![Venezuela's Guaido Rallies Supporters, Meets Rubio in Miami]( "Venezuela's Guaido Rallies Supporters, Meets Rubio in Miami") (Bloomberg) -- Juan Guaido, Venezuela's opposition leader, rallied supporters in Miami on Saturday and met with U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, who's played a key role in shaping U.S. policy on the South American country. It's likely to be one of his last stops in a two-week global tour aimed at building support to oust his rival, President Nicolas Maduro."We have a strategy, and the support of the world," Guaido said in Spanish at the rally. "We're not alone." He asked the crowd to imagine a day when the millions of Venezuelans living abroad could return home.Guaido is recognized by the U.S. and some 60 countries as Venezuela's head of state, even as he's struggled to translate that support into concrete gains against Maduro.Rubio met with Guaidó "to discuss the ongoing efforts to restore democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela," the Florida senator's office said in a statement Saturday night. Rubio, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, is "committed to highlighting the Maduro regime's egregious violations of human rights against its citizens," his office said. Representative Mario Díaz-Balart of Florida, a Republican, and Carlos Vecchio, Guaido's ambassador in the U.S., also attended the meeting. Hastily-Arranged EventEarlier, Guaido held the hastily-arranged gathering at a convention center near Miami's airport to avoid Super Bowl weekend activities and traffic in the city's downtown, which has seen other widely-attended pro-Venezuelan rallies in recent years.Many of those attending the rally wore the "tri-colored" hat now typical of protest rallies while others sang the national anthem and chanted anti-Maduro slogans.Over the past two weeks Guaido met world leaders including Britain's Boris Johnson, Germany's Angela Merkel, France's Emmanuel Macron and Canada's Justin Trudeau.After just missing Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Guaido's been angling for a meeting with the president in South Florida.Trump Meeting?While Guaido pulled together a rally including Venezuelan exiles at the last minute, the White House hasn't confirmed any talks. Trump is spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, just an hour's drive up the coast, where he golfed earlier on Saturday."Stay tuned," Guaido said when asked if he'd meet with Trump before returning to Venezuela. He later said that he thought Trump's stance on Venezuela had been "firm and determined."Rubio spoke at length with Vice President Mike Pence on Friday, said a person familiar with the matter.Guaido was joined in Miami by Florida lawmakers including Republican Senator Rick Scott and Diaz-Balart, and Representatives Donna Shalala and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, both Democrats.Guaido's press office said that he met with James Story, chargé d'affaires for the Venezuela Affairs Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, at the convention center ahead of the rally.(Updates with Rubio meeting in fifth paragraph.)To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Bartenstein in New York at bbartenstei3@bloomberg.net;Nathan Crooks in Miami at ncrooks@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Carolina Wilson at cwilson166@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Ian FisherFor 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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| Sanders calls for unity, but his supporters have other ideas Posted: 01 Feb 2020 05:01 PM PST  When Bernie Sanders addresses throngs of supporters who gather at his rallies, the divisions that plague the Democratic Party can feel far away. Speaking at a concert for Sanders on Friday night, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., led sustained booing from the stage at the mention of Hillary Clinton, his rival in the 2016 primary. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat who has campaigned for Sanders across Iowa, says the Democratic establishment should conform to the progressive movement, not the other way around.
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| China reports 304 virus deaths, fires officials for poor job Posted: 01 Feb 2020 04:27 PM PST  China's death toll from a new virus increased to 304 on Sunday amid warnings from the World Health Organization that other countries need to prepare in the event the disease spreads among their populations as more nations report local infections. Meanwhile, six officials in the city of Huanggang, neighboring the epicenter of Wuhan in Hubei province, have been fired over "poor performance" in handling the outbreak, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Figures from the National Health Commission showed an increase of 45 in the death toll and 2,590 in the number of cases for a total of 14,380, well above the number of those infected in in the 2002-03 outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, which broke out in southern China before spreading worldwide.
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| Canada's Trudeau to visit Africa next week, his office says Posted: 01 Feb 2020 03:31 PM PST  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heads to Africa next Thursday, aiming to tighten relations as the country campaigns for a United Nations Security Council seat, his office said on Saturday. Trudeau is to visit Ethiopia and Senegal, as well as Germany, before his trip ends on February 14. In Addis Ababa he is to meet Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner appointed after several years of anti-government protests, and Sahle-Work Zewde, the country's first female president.
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| Innovative Brexit Coin Marks Historic 'Brexit' of the UK From the EU Posted: 01 Feb 2020 02:21 PM PST  Asset Marketing Services announces a coin to mark the end of an era – the world's first "Break-it Brexit" legal tender coin is now available to those wishing to commemorate the United Kingdom's "Brexit" from the rest of the European Union.
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| China death toll reaches 259; WHO warns countries to prepare Posted: 01 Feb 2020 01:37 PM PST  China's death toll from a new virus rose to 259 on Saturday and a World Health Organization official said other governments need to prepare for"domestic outbreak control" if the disease spreads in their countries. Beijing criticized Washington's order barring entry to most foreigners who visited China in the past two weeks. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced similar measures Saturday, following Japan and Singapore.
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| Police: 2 dead, 2 wounded in shooting after Florida funeral Posted: 01 Feb 2020 01:26 PM PST  Gunfire erupted after a funeral Saturday in Florida, killing a teenager and a man and leaving two other people wounded, police said. Riviera Beach police said in a statement that the shooting happened near the Victory City Church shortly after 2:30 p.m. They said a 15-year-old boy and the man died at the scene. Police said listening devices in the area that detect the sound of gunshots counted 13 rounds fired.
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| Emails show the fallout from Trump's claims about Dorian Posted: 01 Feb 2020 12:09 PM PST  A flurry of newly released emails from scientists and top officials at the federal agency responsible for weather forecasting clearly illustrates the consternation and outright alarm caused by President Donald Trump's false claim that Hurricane Dorian could hit Alabama. What the scientists and officials found even more troubling was a statement later issued by an unnamed NOAA spokesman that supported Trump's claim and repudiated the agency's own forecasters. The emails, released late Friday in response to Freedom of Information Act requests from The Associated Press and others, give an inside picture of the scramble to respond to the president and the turmoil it caused inside the federal agency.
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| `Zombie' campaigns could pick up support in Iowa caucuses Posted: 01 Feb 2020 11:44 AM PST  The Iowa caucuses could feature an attack of the "zombie" candidates. As some Democrats prepare for Monday's contest, they say they're planning to side with candidates who have been out of the race for weeks, even months. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, voters say they want to establish a record that those who bowed out early did indeed have supporters.
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| Protesters march in Lebanon to reject new government Posted: 01 Feb 2020 10:35 AM PST  Hundreds of Lebanese marched on Saturday through the streets of the capital and the main northern city to reject a new government named to deal with an economic crisis, which they say lacks a popular mandate. The new government named in January came after weeks of political stalemate and amid nationwide protests while Lebanon grappled with an unprecedented economic crisis. Backed by the two main blocs in parliament, the government is awaiting a vote of confidence, which it is likely to get.
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| Democrats focus on unity as tensions from 2016 linger Posted: 01 Feb 2020 10:13 AM PST  Democratic presidential candidates promised voters in Iowa on Saturday they would unify the party to take on President Donald Trump even as they kept up their criticism of each other and navigated the lingering divides from the 2016 campaign. "I'm confident Americans, Republican voters, Democratic voters and independent voters want us to come together," former Vice President Joe Biden said in North Liberty. About 20 miles away in Cedar Rapids, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren updated her stump speech to include a more explicit call for unity.
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| Analysis: GOP sends message that Trump’s actions were OK Posted: 01 Feb 2020 09:45 AM PST  Republicans have decided it was OK. With their expected vote this coming week to acquit President Donald Trump of abusing power and obstructing Congress, GOP senators are giving their express approval to the conduct that landed Trump at the center of the fourth impeachment case in American history. It's the same message that House Republicans sent late last year with their unanimous votes against sending the case to trial.
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| Yemen sources: US drone destroyed building housing al-Qaida Posted: 01 Feb 2020 09:41 AM PST ![Yemen sources: US drone destroyed building housing al-Qaida]( "Yemen sources: US drone destroyed building housing al-Qaida") Tribal leaders said Saturday a suspected U.S. drone strike destroyed a building housing al-Qaida militants last week in eastern Yemen. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, retweeted several tweets and media reports that seemed to offer confirmation the Jan. 25 strike killed top al-Qaida leader Qassim al-Rimi. The tribal leaders said the drone strike took place in the Wadi Ubaidah area in the eastern province of Marib.
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| Trump State of the Union won't be 1st delivered amid turmoil Posted: 01 Feb 2020 09:38 AM PST  Two decades ago, President Bill Clinton addressed a nation transfixed by impeachment. Now, President Donald Trump prepares to address the nation under similar circumstances, with the added pressure of a looming presidential election thrown into the mix. Trump is hardly the first president to deliver a State of the Union address in a time of turmoil.
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| Brexit Hangover Kicks In for EU Leaders Debating Budget Gap Posted: 01 Feb 2020 09:31 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. Twelve hours after the U.K. formally left the European Union, the bloc's poorer members gathered in an old Franciscan convent in southern Portugal to rally against a looming budgetary shortfall that's partly due to the loss of British contributions.Brexit is deepening the rift between richer and poorer EU states as they clash on the bloc's trillion-euro ($1.1 trillion) budget for the next seven years. Poorer members are fighting to keep the hole created by Britain's departure from being filled by cuts to development funds."This meeting is happening on a very special day as it's the first day in which the EU has just 27 members," Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Saturday in Beja. "It's important to give the clear message that the union will remain cohesive."Saturday's meeting of the "Friends of Cohesion" group, which brought together 17 eastern and southern nations, will be followed by a Feb. 20 summit of all EU countries that will tackle stalled negotiations about the budget.Budget ShortfallThe seven-year budget is a cornerstone of EU policy that allots funding to help farmers compete against imports from the developing world and underpins projects that bind the union together. But agreeing on the amount of contributions and how to spend it is a regular source of tension between the net contributors, like the U.K. was, and those who get more than they put in.The poorer nations, which see the so-called cohesion policy as a key tool to help them catch up with wealthier countries, now want their richer peers to contribute more money to make up for the U.K.'s withdrawal.The Friends of Cohesion group reaffirmed on Saturday that the EU needs to keep cohesion policy funding at the current level, in real terms, according to a statement distributed by the Portuguese government.Agreement on the size of contributions is needed before decisions can be taken on what they should spend it on, and the conditions attached to the disbursements. EU spending amounts to about 1% of the bloc's gross domestic product.In the discussion about the next budget, positions are very far apart, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told reporters on Saturday. "We need not just days but months to make an agreement that could be accepted by everybody."(Adds comments from Hungarian prime minister in final paragraph.)\--With assistance from Nikos Chrysoloras.To contact the reporter on this story: Joao Lima in Lisbon at jlima1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Richard Bravo, Sara MarleyFor 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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| Brexit no detour for migrants hoping to cross Channel to UK Posted: 01 Feb 2020 08:13 AM PST  Migrants and refugees waiting by the French side of the English Channel say Brexit hasn't derailed their determination to cross over to pursue better lives in Britain. Mingled alongside police officers in the French port of Calais, hundreds of people live in squalid conditions and watch for a boat or truck to carry them to their dreams as stowaways. Many of them came to Calais from former French colonies such as Ivory Coast and Niger, only to have their asylum requests rejected by French authorities.
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| Damascus rations subsidised food with smart cards Posted: 01 Feb 2020 07:54 AM PST  Syria's government Saturday started rationing subsidised food like rice and sugar with smart cards, a ministry said, in the latest measure to address an economic crisis in the war-torn country. The value of the Syrian pound against the dollar has plummeted on the black market in recent months, sparking price hikes on key food items. Subsidies are key for Syrians living in government-held areas in a country where the United Nations says war has compounded poverty.
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| Iraqi blocs select new PM-designate after weeks of jockeying Posted: 01 Feb 2020 07:09 AM PST  Former communications minister Mohammed Allawi was named prime minister-designate by rival Iraqi factions Saturday after weeks of political deadlock. The choice comes as the country weathers troubled times, including ongoing anti-government protests and the constant threat of being ensnared by festering U.S.-Iran tensions. The selection of Allawi, 66, to replace outgoing Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi was the product of many back-room talks over months between rival parties.
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| Polling: Americans dissatisfied with the state of the union Posted: 01 Feb 2020 06:57 AM PST  The turbulence of impeachment, a contentious presidential campaign and a global virus health threat confront President Donald Trump as he prepares to deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday night. Approval of Trump has stayed persistently in negative territory, and the country is more polarized now than it has been under any other president in recent history. The Republican-controlled Senate, which is conducting the trial, narrowly rejected Democratic demands Friday to summon witnesses, all but ensuring Trump's acquittal.
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| 10 things you need to know today: February 1, 2020 Posted: 01 Feb 2020 06:33 AM PST ![10 things you need to know today: February 1, 2020]( "10 things you need to know today: February 1, 2020") 1.The Senate on Friday evening voted against a motion to bring in further witnesses and documents in President Trump's impeachment trial. The 51-49 vote was largely along party lines, but Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) voted with Democrats in favor of calling further witnesses. Now that the vote has failed to move forward, the trial will move to its final phase, with both House impeachment managers and Trump's legal team expected to make closing statements next week. The Senate voted Friday night to push a vote on Trump's removal until Wednesday at 4 p.m. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) then introduced a series of amendments subpoenaing a variety of Trump officials, including former National Security Adviser John Bolton. Senate Republicans voted to table the amendments, though Collins and Romney defected again on Bolton. [The Washington Post, CNN] 2.As the Wuhan coronavirus continues to spread, Delta, American, and United airlines suspended all flights between the U.S. and China on Friday. The U.S. also announced its temporarily denying entry to noncitizens who recently traveled from China, exempting family members of American citizens and permanent residents. The coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China, last month, and Chinese officials say there are around 12,000 confirmed cases, with the death toll rising past 250. The World Health Organization has declared the Wuhan coronavirus a global emergency. There are six cases of Wuhan coronavirus in the United States, including the first to be passed from person to person. The State Department told U.S. citizens in China to "consider departing using commercial means," and requested "all non-essential U.S. government personnel defer travel to China." [The New York Times, The Associated Press] 3.The United Kingdom officially exited the European Union at 11 p.m. GMT Friday, three years after its narrow vote for Brexit. Prime Minister Boris Johnson released a video statement lauding this "moment" many people "thought would never come," and promised to "turn this opportunity into a stunning success." Johnson guaranteed a vote in favor of Brexit after he ordered an election late last year, which his Conservative party won handily. Still, Britain is sharply divided on the issue, with larger cities, Northern Ireland, and especially Scotland still in favor of remaining in the EU. Britain and the EU have agreed the U.K. will retain all EU rules for 11 months while the two sides hammer out a new trade agreement and other guidelines for their new relationship. [The Guardian, The Associated Press] 4.The Los Angeles Lakers paid tribute Friday night to franchise legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people who died in a helicopter crash Sunday in the Los Angeles area. It was the Lakers' first game since Bryant's death, and the Staples Center crowd was emotional. Before the game against the Portland Trail Blazers began, players took to the court for warmups wearing Bryant's jerseys, R&B artist Usher and cellist Ben Hong performed, and a 24.2 seconds moment of silence was held in a nod to the numbers worn by both Bryants. The celebration of Bryant's life was capped by a speech from current Lakers' star LeBron James, who went off script to honor his friend. [ESPN, Bleacher Report] 5.The Trump administration announced Friday a new wave in its blanket bans on people from certain countries. President Trump's original travel ban was one of his first acts in office, blocking people from several countries, most of which were majority Muslim, from coming to the U.S. altogether. This newest iteration explicitly bans people from Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania from receiving immigration visas, but doesn't touch those who are just visiting temporarily. That leaves 13 total countries on the travel ban list. Nigerian immigrants are among the most likely immigrants to receive college degrees once they come to the U.S — an estimated 60 percent of Nigerian immigrants to the U.S. have college degrees, as opposed to 33 percent of Americans who do, Census data has shown. [The New York Times, The Week] 6.Australia's bushfires remain dangerous, as some residents in the country's capital, Canberra, were warned Saturday that it was "too late to leave" and were told to seek shelter from the blazes. Six fires in the Australian Capital Territory, which declared a state of emergency Friday, and parts of nearby New South Wales were burning out of control, officials said, as hot and windy conditions are expected to last through the weekend. Water is reportedly being used to fight the fires faster than it can be replenished. New South Wales received a bit of positive news in some parts, however, when only one out of five emergency warnings for fires across the state remained at the highest level by Saturday evening. [The Guardian, BBC] 7.Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch is retiring from her role in the State Department, sources familiar with her decision confirmed. Yovanovitch enjoyed a 33-year career in the foreign service, but she recently played a central role in President Trump's impeachment inquiry and provided testimony about Trump's dealings with Ukraine during the House's investigation last year. Yovanovitch accused the Trump administration, namely Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, of launching a smear campaign against her because she disagreed with his efforts to reshape diplomacy with Kyiv through what she described as an "irregular channel." She testified she was told to "watch my back" in the days before she was recalled from her post in May. Trump allegedly pushed for her firing, as well. Since then, Yovanovitch had remained on State Department payroll as a fellow at Georgetown University. [NPR, The Hill] 8.Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney announced Friday he's ending his 2020 campaign. Delaney, who in 2017 became the first Democrat to declare his candidacy for president, said he's dropping out of the race so as not to hurt other moderate candidates ahead of the Iowa caucuses. "My support is sufficient enough to take from other, more moderate candidates, and I just don't want to do that," Delaney told CNN's New Day. Delaney did not endorse another candidate but suggested to CNN his supporters could caucus for former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), or former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, arguing they have a better chance against President Trump than Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). [The Washington Post, CNN] 9.Netflix has announced The Crown will end after its fifth season, which will introduce Imelda Staunton in the role of Queen Elizabeth II. Showrunner Peter Morgan told The Hollywood Reporter on Friday he previously envisioned a six-season run for the drama series, but "now that we have begun work on the stories for season five it has become clear to me that this is the perfect time and place to stop." Staunton, who will take over the lead role after a fourth season again starring Olivia Colman, said Friday she is "genuinely honored to be joining such an exceptional creative team and to be taking The Crown to its conclusion." [The Hollywood Reporter, Variety] 10.U.S. tennis player Sofia Kenin took home the Australian Open women's singles title Saturday, defeating Spain's Garbine Muguruza in comeback fashion, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. It was the 21-year-old's first Grand Slam title, and she became the youngest women's singles champion in Melbourne since Maria Sharapova in 2008. The match was tightly contested from start to finish, with both Kenin and Muguruza playing at a high intensity level. "It was such a battle and it was very physical," Kenin said. It's another example of women's professional tennis entering a new era in which unpredictability reigns. For years, Serena Williams dominated the scene, but now eight of the past 12 Grand Slam winners have been first-time champions. [NBC News, The Wall Street Journal]More stories from theweek.com Mitch McConnell's rare blunder John Bolton just vindicated Nancy Pelosi All the president's turncoats
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| AP FACT CHECK: Trump on Democrats, impeachment and cows Posted: 01 Feb 2020 05:45 AM PST  Contrary to a statement by President Donald Trump, Democrats are not aiming to kill cows, Iowa farmers or you. Trump's fictional take on murderous Democrats, which he played for laughs at an Iowa rally, came during a week dominated by the Senate impeachment trial and the multitude of distortions it produced.
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| Macron to Present French Award in London on Post-Brexit Visit Posted: 01 Feb 2020 05:21 AM PST ![Macron to Present French Award in London on Post-Brexit Visit]( "Macron to Present French Award in London on Post-Brexit Visit") (Bloomberg) -- French President Emmanuel Macron plans to travel to London to award the city with France's highest award, the Legion d'Honneur, on the 80th anniversary of General Charles de Gaulle's June 18, 1940, appeal to the French Resistance from the U.K. capital."I am coming to London in June to award the city the Legion d'Honneur, in tribute to the immense courage of a whole country and people" during World War II, Macron said in a letter to "British Friends" released on social networks on Saturday.The U.K. yesterday left the European Union after almost half a century of membership and Macron stressed that Brexit won't spoil the close historical ties between the long-time allies and assured the U.K. of the ongoing friendship of the French people."Dear British friends, you are leaving the European Union but you are not leaving Europe," he wrote. "The Channel has never managed to separate our destinies; Brexit will not do so, either."To contact the reporter on this story: Geraldine Amiel in Paris at gamiel@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, James Amott, Helen NyamburaFor 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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| 3 European countries say they will refuse UK extradition requests now Brexit has happened Posted: 01 Feb 2020 05:00 AM PST  Austria, Germany, and Slovenia say they will no longer extradite their citizens to the UK if they commit crimes in the country after Brexit.
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| Trump’s Middle East Plan Unlikely to Achieve Peace: Arab League Posted: 01 Feb 2020 04:46 AM PST ![Trump's Middle East Plan Unlikely to Achieve Peace: Arab League]( "Trump's Middle East Plan Unlikely to Achieve Peace: Arab League") (Bloomberg) -- The Arab League should adopt a united stance toward U.S. President Donald Trump's Mideast plan, which is unlikely to achieve peace and stability for Israel and Palestine, its Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said."Today's meeting is a message that the Palestinians are not alone," Gheit said on Saturday at the start of an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers to review the proposed road map. The current situation is setting the stage "for another hundred years of conflict in the region," he said.Speaking at the meeting in Cairo, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas urged the United Nations' Security Council to reject the blueprint, which he said would take away 30% of the West Bank.The plan that gives Israel tacit approval to annex settlements in the West Bank and control over Jerusalem as an undivided capital was drawn up without Palestinian involvement. Palestinians claim all of the West Bank for a future state and reject Trump's offer as being worse than what they've received in previous failed negotiations.While no Arab state has expressed outright approval of the proposal to solve the decades-old dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, regional powers Egypt and Saudi Arabia have refrained from criticizing it, and the United Arab Emirates has said the plan is a "serious initiative" and a starting point for negotiations.Critics say the offer for a fragmented nation-like Palestinian state years in the future is a non-starter aimed chiefly at domestic political audiences in the U.S. and Israel, where Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are both locked in legal wrangling ahead of elections.To contact the reporter on this story: Abdel Latif Wahba in Cairo at alatifwahba@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Gunn at mgunn14@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura, James AmottFor 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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| Egypt weighs 37 death sentences that include militant leader Posted: 01 Feb 2020 02:55 AM PST ![Egypt weighs 37 death sentences that include militant leader]( "Egypt weighs 37 death sentences that include militant leader") An Egyptian court on Saturday referred the death sentences of 37 defendants, including one of the country's most high-profile militants, to Egypt's top religious authority for a non-binding opinion on whether they can be executed on terrorism-related charges. Customarily all death sentences in Egypt are sent to the Grand Mufti for his office's advice on whether the ruling is consistent with religious law. The Cairo Criminal Court said the defendants were charged with belonging to a local affiliate of the Islamic State group spearheading an insurgency in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
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| Abbas threatens to cut security ties with Israel, US Posted: 01 Feb 2020 01:26 AM PST  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened Saturday to cut security ties with both Israel and the U.S. in a speech at an Arab League meeting in which he denounced the White House plan for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The U.S. plan would grant the Palestinians limited self-rule in parts of the occupied West Bank, while allowing Israel to annex all its settlements there and keep nearly all of east Jerusalem.
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| Passenger plane skids off snowy runaway in Iran Posted: 31 Jan 2020 10:55 PM PST ![Passenger plane skids off snowy runaway in Iran]( "Passenger plane skids off snowy runaway in Iran") An Iranian jetliner skidded off a snowy runaway in the western city of Kermanshah due to low visibility on Saturday, Iran's state TV said. The Iran Air flight coming from the capital, Tehran, had not experienced any technical problems, it added. This is the second time in a week that a plane skidded off the runaway in Iran.
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| Yemen's Huthi rebels in possession of new arms: UN report Posted: 31 Jan 2020 07:42 PM PST  Yemen's Huthi rebels are in possession of new weapons similar to those produced in Iran, according to a UN report obtained by AFP on Friday, in potential violation of a UN arms embargo. The crisis in Yemen pits the Iranian-backed Huthi rebels against government forces supported by a Saudi-led military coalition. Some of the new weapons, which the rebels have possessed since 2019, "have technical characteristics similar to arms manufactured in the Islamic Republic of Iran," said the report, which was compiled by a panel of UN experts tasked with monitoring the embargo.
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| 'Optimism and regret': UK papers rejoice, mourn Brexit Day Posted: 31 Jan 2020 07:34 PM PST  Britain's partisan papers met Brexit with the same unbridled joy and tearful anguish that was felt across the streets and pubs of Britain on Friday night. "Rise and shine... it's a glorious new Britain," the right-wing Daily Express tabloid proclaimed on the day the divided country's 47-year stay in the European Union came to an end after three delays. "Muscles without Brussels," declared The Sun, a tabloid that campaigned tirelessly for Brexit in the 2016 EU membership referendum, above a video of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit Day address.
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| By denying witnesses, Republicans made clear even a smoking gun would not be enough Posted: 31 Jan 2020 07:12 PM PST  It was evident from the start of the day that evidence was unlikely to play a major part in the Republicans' deliberationsThe Senate chaplain, Barry Black, an African American rear admiral looking out on an overwhelmingly white chamber, opened the day's session with the words: "Lord help them to remember that they can't ignore you and get away with it. For we always reap what we sow."The prayer was greeted by silence but followed by the shared murmuring of the oath of allegiance, ending with the senators promising "..and justice for all".That was arguably not quite how things worked out in the Senate on Friday, when the chamber voted to stage the country's first impeachment trial without hearing witnesses.It turns out the Senate has overseen 15 previous impeachments – of judges mostly, but also a senator, a supreme court justice, a secretary of war, and of course two earlier presidents: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. In all those trials, an average of 33 witnesses were called. The trial of Donald J Trump will summon none.Monica Lewinsky, the intern who was the star witness in the 1999, took to Twitter to observe ruefully: "Gee, too bad I had to give that videoed witness testimony for the senate trial in the Clinton impeachment."Adam Schiff, the California congressman who has been the lead prosecutor in Trump's impeachment, said the vote would mean that the president "has a God-given right to abuse his power and there's nothing you can do about it. God help us if that argument succeeds."The argument succeeded. The 51-49 vote had been all but certain since 11pm the previous night, when the wobbliest Republican waverer, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, announced which way he would vote, by tweet.He conceded that the Democrats had proven their case that Donald Trump had used his office to try to bully Ukraine into investigating the president's political opponents. But Lamar explained while this was "inappropriate", it was not an impeachable high crime or misdemeanour. So why drag out impeachment?"So if you've got eight witnesses saying that you left the scene of an accident, you don't need nine," Alexander told National Public Radio on Friday, using a revealing parallel. Leaving the scene of an accident you cause is normally a crime, and this was of course no accident.On Friday morning the New York Times reported that John Bolton, the president's former national security adviser, had described a damning scene in his forthcoming memoir in which the president directly ordered him to commit the act at the heart of the impeachment case.Trump told Bolton to call the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and tell him to meet Trump's lawyer and fixer, Rudy Giuliani, with the aim of arranging investigations into the former vice-president Joe Biden and his son Hunter.It appeared to be the smoking gun the president's lawyers had long claimed did not exist. The Republican response was, in effect, that the president had every right to a recently fired weapon.It was plainly evident from the start of the day that evidence was unlikely to play a major part in the majority's deliberations. On each Democrat's wooden desk there was a bulky white binder, detailing the articles of impeachment presented by the House of Representatives. The 53 Republican desks in contrast, were tidy and empty.In the well of the Senate, the tables used in Clinton's impeachment had been dusted off and laid out for Schiff and the other Democrat managers, or prosecutors to make their case for witnesses. On the other side, the president's lawyers, sprung up to offer an array of counter-arguments.The lead counsel, Jay Sekulow, recited out a list of witnesses he would like to call, very slowly and deliberately, to emphasise what a boring experience it would be for all involved.In front of each speaker, a succession of stenographers stood tapping away at a machine, as if setting their words to music.When the vote came, the outcome was prosaic and expected, and the chamber adjourned for dinner and put off a final vote on Trump's acquittal until Wednesday. But Friday's decision ensured next week's denouement will be largely a display of party loyalty. By any substantive measure, the trial is already over.After that decision was taken, Trump left the White House without speaking to waiting journalists, on his way to his private resort in Florida, where members pay large amounts to dine and mingle close to the centre of power.At almost exactly the same time, the president's closest British ally, Nigel Farage, was celebrating Brexit and it was announced he would be on his way to the US within the month to address the largest gathering of the American right, the Conservative Political Action Conference (Cpac) in Maryland. Mitt Romney, one of only two Republican senators to vote to hear witnesses on Friday, has been disinvited, lest there be any doubt that fealty has now replaced ideology entirely.The right's hopes are high that Trump – having shrugged off impeachment – will coast to re-election buoyed by tides that for now, seem to be moving inexorably in his favour.
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| 'Very depressing': No fans of Brexit on Calais-Dover crossing Posted: 31 Jan 2020 06:39 PM PST  There were no celebrations among the passengers as the clock struck midnight on one of the last ferries to leave the European mainland and make the 42-kilometre (26-mile) journey across the English Channel pre-Brexit. "It's very depressing what's happening today," said Alessio Bortone, an Italian who has lived in Britain for 10 years. Having lived and worked in the UK for a decade, and owning a house there, he says he now has to apply for a residence permit, and his wife is seeking Italian citizenship in order to have a European passport.
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| U.S. Officials Warn of ‘Real Security Consequences’ if Trump’s Acquitted Posted: 31 Jan 2020 06:18 PM PST  Late into Wednesday's session of the Senate impeachment trial, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) asked a question of President Trump's defense team: did they think foreign involvement in U.S. elections was illegal?The Trump team's reply: nope. "Mere information is not something that would violate the campaign finance laws," responded White House Deputy Counsel Patrick Philbin. "The idea that any information that happens to come from overseas is necessarily campaign interference is a mistake," Philbin calmly suggested.The question was asked with a focus on Trump's open encouragement of Russian help in the 2016 election. And it was answered against the backdrop of Trump's impeachment for abuse of power—his attempts to strong-arm Ukraine into investigating his political rival by withholding U.S. aid. The Government Accountability Office recently found that such withholding was illegal. And federal law prohibits U.S. political campaigns from taking a "contribution or donation of money or anything of value" from foreign entities. The information Trump sought in Ukraine would seem to be quite valuable indeed. To many senators listening, these arguments flung open the doors for Trump, or any future president or candidate for office, to engage in that kind of behavior again, knowing that it had been defended by White House lawyers on the Senate floor. Earlier that day, Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz had already gone even further, arguing that Trump could justify his actions with the reasonable belief that his re-election would be in the country's interest. "This trial," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), "may be seen as a vindication of those very dangerous ideas that foreign interference can be accepted… that the president can do anything as long as his motives are to re-elect himself, and he thinks it's in the public interest.""It's Orwellian, is what it is," added Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), a 2020 presidential candidate.That Trump would be acquitted at the end of this months-long impeachment process was never truly in doubt. Less clear, however, is what example that acquittal might set for his future conduct, and that of future presidents, on everything from their use of foreign aid to the way they conduct their campaigns. Some Republicans backed away from these expansive arguments, even if they thought they were not wrong. A vocal defender of the president's, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), said he thought Philbin had the legal case correct. "Does that mean you should accept [foreign help]?" Hawley asked. "No, I don't think so."But most Republicans shrugged, despite the fact that Trump administration officials are already warning about foreign powers such as Russia interfering in the 2020 U.S. elections. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee that investigated Moscow's election interference in 2016, said he had "no problem" with what Philbin said. It's not hard to imagine the Pandora's box that such an environment could unleash. Different countries could do battle with each other in the arena of U.S. politics, for example, arming different campaigns with weaponized dirt. "I hope that candidates would return to the high standard that we should have," said Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ). "But there may be those candidates in the future who say, I don't believe in unilateral disarmament—that at the end of the day, if they're going to do it, I should be able to do it.""Why does a foreign country ultimately get engaged in our domestic elections? Is it about the interests of the American people? Is it about the business of the American people?" asked Menendez. "No. It's about their interests and their business."But it's not only Capitol Hill Democrats that are preparing for a new reality. Whatever the White House says in the face of Trump's ultimate acquittal in the Senate, U.S. administration officials and foreign officials acknowledge Trump will increasingly manufacture his own foreign policy decisions, with his personal associates, without the input of his intelligence and national security agencies. That means Trump will more likely have the ability to run his personal political errands—and business agenda—with little, if any, scrutiny. And when that scheme falls apart, and Trump's personal associates turn on him, or decide to detail the behind-the-scenes shenanigans, the U.S. will lose credibility on the world stage."We've already seen this happen with [John] Bolton," one U.S. official with an extensive foreign policy portfolio, said, referring to the former national security adviser. "His own officials will go to conferences, or hold meetings, and we'll be blindsided by discussions the White House has had behind our backs. And how do you think this makes us look? Disorganized for one. But also that we're a country, or at least a government, divided."That new reality is one that's all but been approved by Republicans in the Senate who are set to sign off on the White House counsel's argument that President Trump has complete authority to make crucial national security decisions as he sees fit, even if it threatens American interests overseas or runs roughshod over a process his own deputies had put in place.A large portion of the Ukraine story has focused on how Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and other close confidants such as former Energy Secretary Rick Perry and E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland carried out a shadow diplomacy effort to run what Democrats have called a political errand. And it wasn't just Trump administration officials that played those roles. Republicans on Capitol Hill, too, engaged with figures who helped spark the Ukraine counter-narratives touted by the president's defenders to undermine the Ukraine case. As The Daily Beast reported, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), for one, met last May with a former Ukrainian diplomat—Andrii Telizchenko—who once spread the widely-debunked theory that Ukraine worked to assist Hillary Clinton in her 2016 campaign.Those backdoor, behind-the-scenes efforts have been hailed inside Trump's inner circle as effective and, despite criticism, appropriate. But career civil servants, including some of the administration's current and former top national security officials, have denounced those efforts in interviews with The Daily Beast, claiming it undermines the well-established interagency process—one that's meant to act as a safeguard against dangerous ideas and policies moving forward.National security officials aren't worried about Trump cutting them out of the foreign policy process because of their egos—thought that's exactly how the White House counsel described Trump's "subordinates" this week. They're genuinely concerned, they said, that the American political system will systematically be compromised by American adversaries and that the foundation of the country's democracy will be peeled away. And with rogue actors with practically zero experience running the foreign policy channels, off-book, without any oversight, then that scenario—one where the U.S. becomes something of an international cat's-paw, in a sense—is increasingly likely to happen."The acquittal will just be another reminder that that kind of behavior is OK," one senior U.S. official said. "And what's scary is that it will have real-time national security consequences."One could argue those are already happening. When the Ukrainians refused the demands of Trump's "three amigos," the White House withheld weapons meant to help Ukraine combat Russia on the battlefield. Moscow didn't pounce—this time. Who knows what might happen next? The Daily Beast reported this week in an interview with former top national security official for Ukraine Oleksandr Danylyuk that the Zelensky administration was in a "panic" when the aid froze. They worried not only that the U.S.-Ukraine relationship might be teetering, but also because the administration desperately needed that funding for its soldiers who are still fighting a violent war with Russia in the eastern part of the country. That assistance had been promised to Ukraine for years, ever since President Vladimir Putin moved to invade Crimea, and the notion that it was suddenly under a question mark only made Ukraine distrust the trajectory of its partnership with America, Danylyuk said. Perhaps even more concerning to Democrats and national security officials who spoke to The Daily Beast is Trump's reliance on conspiracy theories to form the basis of his foreign policy objectives. And acquittal, they said, would be a nod to Trump himself that his way of navigating relationships with foreign leaders and countries is not only appropriate, but preferred.In Ukraine, Trump leaned on Rudy Giuliani to dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, a possible opponent in 2020, and his son Hunter. The former New York mayor forged relationships with Ukrainian diplomats and officials who regularly propagate Russian conspiracy theories. For example, Andri Derkach, who met with Giuliani in December, and another member of parliament, Oleksandr Dubinsky, have claimed that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 election. U.S. intelligence agencies say this is the product of a Kremlin disinformation campaign.Yet this theory and others were propped up this week by the White House counsel and other Trump-backing Republican senators who, up until the end of the witness vote, raised the possibility publicly that that theory—the conspiracy theory—could be true. If Democrats held up Trump's acquittal as a possible enabler of future misdeeds, some Republicans pointed to the intensity of the impeachment investigation and the subsequent trial as a possible deterrent."Whatever we think this sets as a precedent going forward, I don't worry about it," said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), who is a staunch defender of the president. "The reason I don't worry about it is because I think what president, no matter what you think the boundaries are, would ever want to go through this ever again?" Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Jury foreman regrets convicting teen in girl's 2002 death Posted: 31 Jan 2020 04:05 PM PST  "I do feel badly," jury foreman Joe McLean told the AP. No gun, fingerprints or DNA were ever recovered, and the 2003 trial of Myon Burrell centered on the testimony of one teen rival who offered conflicting stories when identifying the triggerman, who was standing 120 feet away, mostly behind a wall. McLean said he and other jurors did the best they could with the evidence presented and were unaware of information turned up in the AP review of the case -- in part because his co-defendants were not allowed to take the stand.
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