Category: Foreign

(FLOWERBUDNEWS) US Speaker Nancy Pelosi has released a “fact sheet” laying out the most compelling evidence against President Trump in their investigation of the president’s efforts to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate the Bidens.

“President Trump has betrayed his oath of office, betrayed our national security and betrayed the integrity of our elections for his own personal political gain,” the document states in laying out how Democrats are likely to try to make their case in the impeachment inquiry.

The four-page document divides the narrative into three categories: the “shakedown,” “the pressure campaign” and “the cover up.”

The document first cites the rough transcript released by the White House last month of the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In that call, Trump told Zelensky that he would have his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney General William Barr reach out to “get to the bottom” of “a lot of talk” about the business dealings of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.

The fact sheet then cites text messages that former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker provided to the House committees leading the impeachment inquiry that show discussion between diplomats about the Trump administration’s efforts to push for the investigation as evidence of a “pressure campaign.”

In one of those exchanges, William Taylor, the chargé d’affaires for Ukraine, said “I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

Taylor is slated to appear for testimony before the House committees on Tuesday.

The document from Pelosi then concludes that the intelligence community whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry details evidence of a “cover up” by White House officials to “lock down” records of the July 25 call between Trump and Zelensky by transferring the transcript to a separate electronic system used to handle particularly sensitive classified information.

Pelosi initially balked for months at an impeachment inquiry in the House, but formally announced the investigation following the whistleblower complaint about Trump’s dealings with Zelensky and the White House’s release of the partial transcript of the call.

(Flowerbudnews) Water outages may hit the Philippine capital again starting this week as supply in the main reservoir declined despite the rainy season.

Manila Water Co. Inc., a unit of Ayala Corp., said it may cut water supply in Manila and nearby Rizal province for up to nine hours starting Oct. 24 to ensure that supply will last through summer and the rest of next year.

Water level in Angat Dam, the capital’s main reservoir, has been declining since early October, according to government data. Manila Water said this is due to “minimal inflows.”

A British employers’ group criticised on Monday what it said would be the “beyond eye-watering” cost of the opposition Labour Party’s plans to return utilities, train companies and the Royal Mail to public ownership.

The Labour Party has moved sharply to the left under its leader Jeremy Corbyn, and although it lags the ruling Conservatives in opinion polls, Brexit turmoil and the likelihood of an early election could see it take power.

The Confederation of British Industry said Labour’s plans would have an upfront cost of 196 billion pounds (249 billion dollars), assuming Labour paid the full market value of companies involved – similar to a 176 billion-pound estimate made last year by the pro-privatization Centre for Policy Studies think tank.

“The price tag for Labour’s renationalization plans is beyond eye-watering,” CBI chief economist Rain Newton-Smith said.

“Firms want politicians to invest in major infrastructure projects rather than undermine confidence in our economy and waste time, energy and public money in a renationalization project with no clear benefits,” she added.

Labour described the CBI’s estimate as “incoherent scaremongering” and said it overvalued the assets of utilities owned by privately held companies by applying a 30 per cent premium to their book value.

“It is disappointing that the CBI seems incapable of having a grown-up conversation about public ownership – which is hugely popular, and common across Europe,” a party spokesperson said.

John McDonnell, the Labour legislator most likely to become finance minister if the party wins an election, has said nationalization would be cost-neutral as the companies’ profits would cover the cost of borrowing needed to finance it.

This view is broadly shared by the non-partisan Institute for Fiscal Studies, which said last week that focusing on the upfront cost of Labour’s plans was the wrong approach.

“Economically what matters is whether these assets would be better managed by the public or the private sector,” it said.

Opinion polls before the last national election in 2017 showed the public supported the type of nationalization proposed by Labour, despite the poor reputation some of the firms also held when they were last in public ownership.

The British government has reportedly accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of telling Prime Minister Boris Johnson by phone on Tuesday that she sees a Brexit deal as “overwhelmingly unlikely” unless London accepts new conditions.

A Downing Street source said that Merkel had “made clear a deal is overwhelmingly unlikely and she thinks the EU has a veto on (Britain) leaving the customs union,” Sky News and the BBC reported.

A Downing Street spokesperson confirmed that it had given a readout of the phone call but would not immediately share it.

In Berlin, the German government confirmed that the call took place but declined to give details of the “confidential conversation”.

The broadcasters quoted Downing Street as saying Merkel’s comments make a deal “essentially impossible”.

Keir Starmer, the opposition Labour party’s Brexit spokesman, accused Johnson’s Conservative government of trying to “sabotage the (Brexit) negotiations” through its remarks on the phone call.

In Brussels, European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted to Johnson that “what’s at stake is not winning some stupid blame game”.

“At stake is the future of Europe and the UK as well as the security and interests of our people,” Tusk wrote.

“You don’t want a deal, you don’t want an extension, you don’t want to revoke, quo vadis?, he added, using the Latin for “Where are you going?”

European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva stressed that the Brussels is still “working for a deal” and technical talks are continuing.

Pro-EU Labour lawmaker Hillary Benn, who instigated new legislation designed to prevent Johnson taking Britain out of the EU without a deal on Oct. 31, told the BBC that the Downing Street statement was “about blaming Angela Merkel for something that is from Boris Johnson.”

“This is yet another cynical attempt by [Downing Street] to sabotage the negotiations,” Starmer tweeted.

“Boris Johnson will never take responsibility for his own failure to put forward a credible deal.

“His strategy from day one has been for a no-deal Brexit,” he added.

But Steve Baker, an influential pro-Brexit Conservative lawmaker, responded to Tusk by defending Johnson.

“We’d like a deal. We’d like to end up in a relationship of the character the EU offered us last year.

“For the whole UK,” Baker tweeted, referring to key sticking points on how to handle the post-Brexit Irish border.

He added that the EU “has been encouraged by our weak and incompetent parliament to think Northern Ireland is the price.

“That’s wrong. Boris is right to defend our Union,” Baker said.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said it was “hard to disagree” with Tusk.

Tusk’s statement “reflects the frustration across EU and the enormity of what’s at stake for us all,” Coveney tweeted.

Merkel met with European Parliament President David Sassoli in Berlin on Tuesday to discuss Brexit.

They did not comment on the Brexit showdown before their closed-door meeting.

Merkel was also due to meet Tusk later Tuesday, while Johnson was scheduled to meet Sassoli in London.

Johnson has insisted that Britain must leave the EU on Oct. 31, with or without an exit deal.

(FLOWERBUDNEWS) U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to “totally destroy and obliterate” the Turkish economy if Turkey takes any action he considered “off-limits” following his decision to withdraw American forces from northeastern Syria.

“As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider being off limits.

“ I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!)” Trump posted on Twitter, referring to sanctions of 2018.

Trump stressed that Turkey and European nations would be responsible for a prison camp in north-east Syria where thousands of Islamic State fighters and families are held.

“It is time now for others in the region, some of great wealth, to protect their own territory.”

The president is facing pushback in Congress over his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from the border area.

The White House had announced that Turkey would move ahead with its “long-planned operation” in Syria and that the U.S. would not be involved.

Similarly, the U.S. Senate will seek to sanction Turkey and even suspend the country from NATO if it invades north-eastern Syria and attacks Kurdish forces, Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Monday, as he lambasted Trump.

“We will introduce bipartisan sanctions against Turkey if they invade Syria and will call for their suspension from NATO if they attack Kurdish forces, who assisted the U.S. in the destruction of the ISIS Caliphate,” Graham, a Republican, said on Twitter.

Graham, a hawk who is often a vocal supporter of Trump, said he was working with Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen on the bill and was hoping for a “veto-proof” majority in the upper chamber.

“Congress must make it clear that Turkey will pay a heavy price if they attack the Syrian Kurds,” Van Hollen said, denouncing “Trump’s decision to betray” the Kurds.

Members of both parties have blasted the president over his decision to allow Turkey to enter northern Syria and attack the Kurdish-led forces who have been the main partner for Washington in the fight against Islamic State.

Republican Senator Mitt Romney warned the decision would be seen as “a betrayal” of the Kurds and set up the U.S. as “an unreliable ally.”

Chris Murphy, a Democrat, called Trump’s move “positively sinister,” noting that just this month the U.S. convinced the Kurds to remove military fortifications against Turkey, under an apparent promise to continue to defend them.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, a left-wing progressive running in the 2020 Democratic presidential race, slammed Trump’s “abrupt announcement,” saying the U.S. ” must responsibly end our military interventions in the Middle East.” (dpa/NAN)

Apple is the latest in a series of foreign companies and organisations to have come under fire in China for their alleged support of Hong Kong protesters.

Chinese state-run newspaper People’s Daily on Wednesday accused the US tech giant of helping Hong Kong protesters engage in more violence through a transport app.

“This mobile app claims to provide transportation information for the convenience of the public, but is actually used to identify the whereabouts of the police, allowing the rioters in Hong Kong to go on violent acts.

“Apple’s approval for the app obviously helps rioters. What was its true intention?’’ the paper said.

The publication also complained about the presence in the Apple Music store of a song advocating for Hong Kong’s independence from China.

“Nobody wants to drag Apple into the lingering unrest in Hong Kong.

“But people have reason to assume that Apple is mixing business with politics, and even illegal acts.

“Apple has to think about the consequences of its unwise and reckless decision,’’ the paper added.

Meanwhile, US lawmakers have criticised organisations including the NBA and video game developer Blizzard Entertainment for seemingly caving in to Beijing in exchange for market access.

Highlighting the ripple effects abroad of China’s clampdown on freedom of expression.

The State broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday suspended its broadcasts of NBA pre-season China games after the basketball league’s head defended the right of Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey to speak out in support of the protesters.

Morey found himself in the middle of a controversy on Friday after he tweeted a since-deleted message to Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong.

On Tuesday, Chinese active wear company Anta, which has endorsement deals with stars including Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, announced it would halt contract renewal negotiations with the NBA.

Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General says the organisation is facing a severe paucity of funds, the worst in nearly 10 years.

Guterres told Member States on Tuesday that the organisation “runs the risk of depleting its liquidity reserves by the end of the month and defaulting on payments to staff and vendors.”

He said only 70 per cent of the total budget assessment for 2019, amounting to 1.99 billion dollars, had been paid as at the end of September, leaving a balance of 1.3 billion dollars.

The current figure, according to him, is eight per cent lower than the 78 per cent payment recorded in the same period in 2018.

“Unless more Governments pay their annual dues, our work and our reforms are at risk”, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric quoted him as telling the budget-setting Fifth Committee of the General Assembly.

Dujarric told UN correspondents in New York that although 129 out of the 193 Member States had now paid their regular annual dues, others needed to pay “urgently and in full”.

“This is the only way to avoid a default that could risk disrupting operations globally.

“The Secretary-General further asked governments to address the underlying reasons for the crisis and agree on measures to put the United Nations on a sound financial footing,’’ he added.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the United States is missing on the list of Member States that have paid their regular budget assessments as published on the UN website.

Earlier in the year, President Donald Trump reportedly said the U.S. was bearing an “unfair burden” of the cost of the UN, and called on the organisation to reform its operations.

Guterres said on Tuesday that the financial shortage in October could have reached 600 million dollars had the organisation not “contained expenditures globally from the beginning of the year”.

He said the cost-saving measures enabled the UN to fund the General Assembly debate and the high-level meetings in September.

“To date, we have averted major disruptions to operations, but these measures are no longer enough.

“The Secretariat could face a default on salaries and payments for goods and services by the end of November unless more Member States pay their budget dues in full.”

“The Secretary-General noted that this is a recurrent problem that severely hampers the Secretariat’s ability to fulfill its obligations to the people we serve.

“We are now driven to prioritise our work on the basis of the availability of cash, thus undermining the implementation of mandates decided by inter-governmental bodies,’’ Dujarric said.

He said the UN chief expected Member States to resolve the structural issues responsible for the annual financial crisis without further delay.”

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General has presented a 2.94 billion dollars budget proposal for 2010, same as the 2019 estimates.

Guterres said the plan represented a “profound reflection on the path ahead and deep commitment to our shared work,” according to the spokesman.

The UN chief said budget implementation was no longer being driven by planning, but according to “the availability of cash at hand.”

With hiring and non-salary expenditure limited by liquidity, “this undermines mandate delivery and goes against our efforts to focus less on inputs and more on results,” he added.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi on Monday ordered that army troops be withdrawn from an eastern Baghdad suburb and be replaced with police following deadly clashes.

The Iraqi military said at least eight people were killed in clashes between Iraqi security forces and protesters in Sadr City on Sunday.

A security source told dpa that scores of people were wounded in the clashes.

The Iraqi military said in a statement that an `excessive force beyond the engagement rules’ was used in the clashes and measures to hold officers who committed such mistakes accountable have begun via investigating councils.

Thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets of several provinces in the oil-rich country to protest corruption, lack of job opportunities and poor services – in particular access to electricity and clean water.

More than 104 people, mainly demonstrators, have been killed and about 6,107 others injured in the protests.

On Sunday, Abdel-Mahdi discussed the protests in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The prime minister reviewed the latest developments and the return to normal life after a curfew was lifted and affirmed that security forces have controlled the situation, and stability has been restored.

He also asserted that his government has outlined a package of reforms and measures and would continue to provide more to respond to the protesters’ demands.

Pompeo expressed his trust in the Iraqi security forces and affirmed Washington’s support for Iraq and its government’s efforts to boost security and stability.