Bardstown

World powers in Berlin to seek elusive Libya peace

World leaders will gather in Berlin on Sunday to make a fresh push for peace in Libya, in a desperate bid to stop the conflict-wracked nation from disintegrating into a "second Syria". The presidents of Russia, Turkey and France are due for talks from around 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) held under the auspices of the United Nations, which wants to get foreign powers wielding influence in the region to stop interfering in the war, through the provision of weapons, troops or financing. Leaders of both warring factions -- strongman Khalifa Haftar and the head of Tripoli's UN-recognised government Fayez al-Sarraj -- are also expected at the first such gathering since 2018.

Argentines remember prosecutor killed while probing attack on Jews

Argentines paid tribute Saturday to a prosecutor on the fifth anniversary of his unsolved death while probing the bombing of a Jewish community center -- an attack in which he alleged a presidential cover-up to shield Iran in exchange for trade. Prosecutor Alberto Nisman led the probe of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association headquarters, which left 85 dead and 300 wounded. In 2015, his body was found in his Buenos Aires apartment with a gunshot wound to the head, delivered at close range from a handgun found at his side.

ICE ups ante in standoff with NYC: 'This is not a request'

Federal authorities are turning to a new tactic in the escalating conflict over New York City's so-called sanctuary policies, issuing four “immigration subpoenas” to the city for information about inmates wanted for deportation. “This is not a request — it's a demand,” Henry Lucero, a senior U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, told The Associated Press. Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration said Saturday the city would review the subpoenas.

Welcome to ‘Peak Decade,’ From Globalization to Central Banks

(Bloomberg) -- Amid the Alpine peaks of the Swiss resort of Davos in the week ahead, politicians, investors and executives will be busy debating whether we are witnessing peaks in key drivers of the world economy.From oil demand, car production and the proportion of young people as a share of the population, to less-measurable themes like globalization, inequality and central banking power, there’s an argument each will ebb in the 2020’s.Strategists at Bank of America Corp. are already telling clients to brace for a “ground-breaking ‘peak decade’” that will disrupt business and investing. Ian Bremmer, a delegate at the World Economy Forum’s annual meeting and founder of Eurasia Group, describes this year as a “tipping point.”The theme is captured throughout the Davos program, which contains multiple panels on “stakeholder capitalism” and tackling inequality. Participants will also discuss the future of globalization and whether central banks are out of ammunition.Here are the hot talking points:PEAK GLOBALIZATION?The era of people, goods and money flowing increasingly unchecked around the world may have past its high point as governments pursue protectionism and erect more obstacles to migration. Already there are around 77 physical barriers delineating international borders compared with 15 in 1989 after the fall of the Berlin Wall, according to Bank of America. The World Trade Organization calculates the pace of growth in international commerce fell below the rate of economic expansion in 2019 for the fifth time since the financial crisis. Foreign direct investment inflows have been on the decline since 2015, says the United Nations.The U.S.-China trade war is at the center of the shift. But even with the signing of an interim deal, the Peterson Institute for International Economics reckons the average U.S. tariff on imports from China is still 19.3% versus 3.1% at the start of 2018.Away from Beijing, Trump is also seeking to remodel the World Trade Organization and potentially clamp down on European auto exports. The U.K. still needs to strike a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union.Still, the continued development of the digital economy, rising tourism and mounting reliance of companies on revenues generated outside their home market provide room for confidence globalization is evolving rather than ending.PEAK CAPITALISM?JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon and BlackRock Inc. Founder Laurence Fink, both of whom will be in Davos, are among those who have entered the debate over whether companies should better weigh stakeholders such as customers and employees, a departure from the decades-old shareholder-first mindset.Behind the shift: the rise of populism, concern wages aren’t keeping up with assets such as equities and fears over climate change.The maturing millennial generation are a driving force too. When making investment decisions, 87% of those born between 1981 and 1996 believe environmental, social and governance factors are important, according to Bank of America.PEAK INEQUALITY?The pressure to reduce inequality will become more urgent this decade as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals approach their 2030 deadline. 193 governments have signed up to 17 goals, 169 targets and 304 indicators on how to end poverty, clean up the environment and share prosperity for all.There has already been some progress. Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, last year’s winners of the Nobel Prize for economics, estimate the average income of the world’s bottom 50% of earners also almost doubled since 1980.But William Gale of the Brookings Institution notes the 400 richest Americans owned 3.26% of wealth in 2018, up from 0.93% in 1982. The top 1% also paid about a third of their income in tax in both 1979 and 2019, he says. Expect such numbers to be bandied about ahead of the U.S. election in November, with some Democrat candidates promoting higher corporate and wealth taxes.PEAK YOUTH?For the first time, there are now more seniors than children in the world and that trend is set to escalate, according to the UN.The global fertility rate already halved from 5 children per woman in 1955 and the average life expectancy has increased from 31 in 1900 to 72 today and is tipped to reach 83 by the end of this century.While another 1 billion people are expected on the planet by 2030, the demographic mix will be starkly different. For starters, the number of those aged 65 or older will outnumber children under the age of 5.The growth of the working age population is also set to slow, straining pensions and healthcare resources. In a recent paper, Stanford University Professor Charles Jones said there is a “distinct possibility” that global population will decline rather than stabilize in the long run, threatening economic growth.PEAK CLIMATE CHANGE?The world faces a sweeping series of climate-related tipping points -- from melting ice caps to droughts and dying coral reefs. Nature magazine in November collated the risks, which they described as a climate emergency that will compel political and economic actions on emissions. 21 of the hottest years on record came in the last quarter century.“We argue that the intervention time left to prevent tipping could already have shrunk towards zero, whereas the reaction time to achieve net zero emissions is 30 years at best,” the article’s authors wrote.The international effort to rein in fossil fuel pollution took a knock in December after marathon UN talks watered down language on issues they had agreed on in previous years.PEAK OIL DEMAND?Hotter temperatures have put new scrutiny on the world’s energy mix.This means renewable energy like solar and wind, plus electric vehicles are going to soar up the policy agenda at the cost of fossil fuel gurgling vehicles. Big Oil executives believe that peak oil demand is increasingly likely in the late 2030s.For example, Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer and the most profitable company in the planet, said on its initial public offering prospectus that oil demand may peak around 2035, with demand “leveling off.”PEAK CARS?The 1.3 billion vehicles on the roads today are probably the most there will ever be. Megacities will house around two thirds of the global population by mid-century, cutting back on the need for expensive cars.Evolving urban architecture will also increasingly constrain car usage. The shift is already underway in mature markets. Only 26% of U.S. 16-year-olds earned a driver’s license in 2017 compared with almost half just 36 years ago, according to Sivak Applied Research. Even if overall car sales remain robust, cheaper technology such as robotaxis and developments such as ride-sharing stand to take the shine off their attractiveness.PEAK CENTRAL BANKS?Central banks may have rescued the world from depression in the wake of the financial crisis, but their ability to turnaround their economies from here is limited after what Bank of America estimates is more than 700 interest rate cuts and around $12 trillion in quantitative easing since 2009.Negative interest rates are already being blamed for hurting banks, while demographic shifts, record debt levels, technological disruption and bank deleveraging all sap the potency of monetary policy. That leaves politicians under pressure to loosen fiscal policy the next time trouble hits the world economy.\--With assistance from Zoe Schneeweiss.To contact the reporter on this story: Enda Curran in Hong Kong at ecurran8@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Kennedy at skennedy4@bloomberg.net, Malcolm ScottFor 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.

Libya oil exports blocked, raising stakes for Berlin peace summit

Forces loyal to Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar blocked oil exports from the war-ravaged country's main ports Saturday, raising the stakes on the eve of an international summit aimed at bringing peace to the North African nation. The move to cripple the country's main income source was a protest against Turkey's decision to send troops to shore up Haftar's rival, the head of Tripoli's UN-recognised government Fayez al-Sarraj. It comes ahead of Sunday's conference in Berlin that will see the United Nations try to extract a pledge from world leaders to stop meddling in the Libyan conflict -- be it through supplying troops, weapons or financing.

Trump team, House managers trade sharp views on impeachment

President Donald Trump's legal team issued a fiery response ahead of opening arguments in his impeachment trial Saturday while House Democrats laid out their case in forceful fashion, saying the president had betrayed public trust with behavior that was the “worst nightmare" of the founding fathers. The dueling statements previewed arguments both sides intend to make once Trump's impeachment trial begins in earnest on Tuesday. The House’s 111-page brief pulled together the private and public testimony of a dozen witnesses -- ambassadors and national security officials at high levels of government -- who raised concerns about the president's actions with Ukraine.

Boy arrested after shooting that killed 4 in small Utah town

A boy armed with a gun killed three children and a woman inside a Utah home, then accompanied a fifth victim to a hospital, where he was arrested, police said Saturday. Police were still trying to piece together who's who and what happened leading up to Friday night's shooting in Grantsville. “We're trying to make certain that we verify people's relationships among the deceased and the survivor,” Grantsville Police Cpl.

Biden rips Sanders campaign for Social Security attacks

Joe Biden has called for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign to “disown” what he calls “doctored video” that some Sanders supporters say shows the former vice president endorsing Republican calls to cut Social Security and Medicare. “There’s a little doctored video going around ... put out by one of Bernie’s people,” Biden told supporters Saturday in Indianola, Iowa, referring to a 2018 speech in which Biden discussed then-House Speaker Paul Ryan saying rising deficit demanded action on the popular entitlement programs.

Discovery of unused disaster supplies angers Puerto Rico

People in a southern Puerto Rico city discovered a warehouse filled with water, cots and other unused emergency supplies, then set off a social media uproar Saturday when they broke in to retrieve goods as the area struggles to recover from a strong earthquake. With anger spreading in the U.S. territory after video of the event in Ponce appeared on Facebook, Gov. Wanda Vázquez quickly fired the director of the island's emergency management agency. The governor said she had ordered an investigation after learning the emergency supplies had been piled in the warehouse since Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico in September 2017.

Countdown to death: Trump details Soleimani's end

Cameras "miles in the sky", a countdown and then "boom": US President Donald Trump has recounted the final moments of Iran's powerful General Qasem Soleimani in an American drone strike. Trump delivered the account Friday night to Republican Party donors gathered at his Florida residence Mar-a-Lago for a fundraising dinner, US media said. It killed the Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander and members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, a paramilitary force with close ties to Iran.

Thousands gather for Women's March rallies across the US

Hundreds showed up in New York City and thousands in Washington, D.C. for the rallies, which aim to harness the political power of women, although crowds were noticeably smaller than in previous years. The first marches in 2017 drew hundreds of thousands of people to rallies in cities across the country on the day after President Donald Trump was inaugurated.

Facing Senate trial crunch, Dems blitzing Iowa, early states

As a winter storm barreled down on Iowa, Elizabeth Warren’s campaign team struggled with whether to scrap a town hall scheduled at the old Maytag headquarters. For the Democratic presidential candidate, the event was probably one of her last chances to make a face-to-face appeal to voters in Iowa before the Feb. 3 caucus. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, is soon to be marooned in the Senate as a juror in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

The Trump Administration Moved To Roll Back Michelle Obama’s School Lunch Program On Her Birthday

In a continuation of their dedication to deregulation, the Trump administration recently moved to ease restrictions placed on school nutrition programs put in place as part of Michelle Obama’s push to reduce childhood obesity. The administration claims it was not intentional, but the move came on the same day as Obama’s birthday, the New York Times reports.Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue released a statement explaining the decision. “Schools and school districts continue to tell us that there is still too much food waste and that more common-sense flexibility is needed to provide students nutritious and appetizing meals,” said Perdue. “We listened and now we’re getting to work.”The new proposed rule from the Department of Agriculture would ease restrictions on how much fruit schools were required to offer during breakfast, what types of vegetables needed to be included in meals, and would also broaden what foods could be counted as a snack. Nutritionists are concerned that the deregulation of what constitutes a snack will lead to schools offering cheap but unhealthy options at every meal. In addition, the loosening of restrictions on what vegetables need to be offered could lead to a return of starchy potatoes overtaking healthier options such as leafy greens in school meals. Colin Schwartz, the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s deputy director of legislative affairs, released a statement saying that the proposal would create a loophole that encourages unhealthy eating habits. “[It] would create a huge loophole in school nutrition guidelines, paving the way for children to choose pizza, burgers, french fries, and other foods high in calories, saturated fat, or sodium in place of balanced school meals every day,” Schwartz said.The School Nutrition Association, a trade union of school food-service manufacturers and school food professionals, were in support of the easing of restrictions. SNA’s president, Gay Anderson, said that the organization would study the new proposals further, but noted that a few of the requirements of Obama’s nutritional guidelines under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 contributed to reduced lunch participation, high costs, and food waste, The Washington Post reports. Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign for improving school nutrition and encouraging a healthier lifestyle for children came as a reaction to childhood obesity statistics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 13.7 million children and adolescents aged two to 19 are currently considered obese. Many Democrats reacted negatively to the proposals from the USDA. Rep. Ayanna Presley of Massachusetts spoke out about the proposed rule and called it more evidence that Trump’s administration is intentionally being cruel with their policies. “Egregious. The Occupant is trying to play petty with the food our babies eat. Add it to the list affirming that the cruelty is the point with this White House,” tweeted Presley. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?Jared Kushner Takes A Tacky Dig At Monica LewinskyWill The Iran Attack Affect Trump's Impeachment?Warren & Sanders Fight May Break Their Peace Pact

Russia's Putin says he opposes unlimited presidential term

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that he opposes the idea of an unlimited term in office for the country's leader like the system that existed in the Soviet Union. Putin's comment at a meeting with World War II veterans in St. Petersburg came days after he called for constitutional changes that could help him remain in power once his presidential term ends in 2024. There has been uncertainty about Russia's future political course since Putin suggested in his Wednesday state-of-the-nation address amending the constitution to allow lawmakers to name prime ministers and Cabinet members.

Riots in Lebanon's capital leave more than 150 injured

Police fired volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets in Lebanon's capital Saturday to disperse thousands of protesters amid some of the worst rioting since demonstrations against the country's ruling elite erupted three months ago. Thick white smoke covered the downtown Beirut area near Parliament as police and protesters engaged in confrontations that saw groups of young men hurl stones and firecrackers at police who responded with water cannons and tear gas. Some protesters were seen vomiting on the street from inhaling the gas.

Putin Says He Doesn’t Want Return to Soviet-Era Lifetime Leaders

(Bloomberg) -- Sign up here to receive the Davos Diary, a special daily newsletter that will run from Jan. 20-24.Russian President Vladimir Putin said he favors keeping term limits in place, arguing against a return to the Soviet-era practice of lifetime leaders.Asked by a World War II veteran if he backed ending a ban on more than two presidential terms -- which would allow Putin to continue ruling after 2024, when he will be 71 -- the president said this would make it impossible to ensure an orderly transition of power.“It would be very worrying to return to the situation in the mid-1980s, when heads of state stayed in power until the end of their days, one after another,” Putin said on a visit to St. Petersburg to mark the 77th anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad, according to the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta.Putin proposed sweeping changes to the Russian constitution on Wednesday that would limit the powers of his successor as president by giving more authority to Parliament and the State Council, an advisory body, potentially allowing him to keep control of the country in another role. He also put forward a plan to tighten term limits by barring more than two mandates in total rather than two consecutive terms as now. Putin used that loophole to return to the Kremlin in 2012 after serving four years as prime minister.Under the Russian leader’s shake-up, he replaced his long-serving prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, who stood in for him as president from 2008-2012, with the little-known head of the tax service, Mikhail Mishustin.To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Brian Wingfield, 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.

LGBT activists say new bills target transgender youth

At the urging of conservative advocacy groups, Republican legislators in more than a dozen states are promoting bills that focus on transgender young people. One batch of bills would bar doctors from providing them certain gender-related medical treatment; another batch would bar trans students from participating on school sports teams of the gender they identify with. The proposed laws, if enacted, “would bring devastating harms to the transgender community,” said Chase Strangio, a transgender-rights lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Iran to send flight recorders from downed jet to Ukraine

Iran will send the black box flight recorders from the Ukrainian jetliner that it accidentally shot down last week to Ukraine for further analysis, an Iranian official said Saturday. Hassan Rezaeifer, the head of accident investigations for the civil aviation department, said it was not possible to read the black boxes in Iran, without elaborating.

Trump Says Soleimani Strike Followed General Saying ‘Bad Things’

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump gave a new justification for killing Qassem Soleimani, telling a gathering of Republican donors that the top Iranian general was “saying bad things about our country.”“How much are we going to listen to?” Trump said Friday, according to remarks from a fundraiser obtained by CNN. He also used a vulgar expression to describe the nature of Soleimani’s comments.Trump spoke amid a brewing controversy in Washington, where some lawmakers, especially Democrats, have said the White House has repeatedly shifted its justification for the Jan. 3 strike, which pushed Washington and Tehran to the brink of war.The drone strike in Baghdad that killed Soleimani came days after a violent protest by Iranian-backed protesters at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and a rocket attack that killed an American contractor at a facility in Iraq.‘Imminent Attack’Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has said Soleimani was planning an imminent attack on Americans and working “to build out a network of campaign activities that were going to lead, potentially, to the death of many more Americans.” But he’s also acknowledged that the administration didn’t necessarily know when and where future attacks were being planned.Trump told Fox News on Jan. 10 that he believed Soleimani was planning attacks on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and three other U.S. embassies in the region. Two days later, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CBS News that he “didn’t see” intelligence suggesting the specific threat Trump described.“What the President said was, he believed it probably could have been,” Esper said in a separate interview with CNN. “He didn’t cite intelligence.”How U.S.-Iran Enmity Grew for Decades, Burst in Days: QuickTakeTrump on Monday said his administration has been “totally consistent” in its explanation of the intelligence that justified the strike.“Here’s what’s been consistent: We killed Soleimani, the number-one terrorist in the world by every account,” Trump said. “Bad person.”At Friday’s fundraiser, held at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump described the attack on Soleimani in vivid detail, according to the recording obtained by CNN. He said military officials counted down the last minutes of the Iranian general’s life as they watched the strike from “cameras that are miles in the sky.”The president also erroneously claimed -- as he has before -- that Soleimani was meeting “the head of Hezbollah” while in Baghdad.Soleimani was met at the airport by Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the leader of Kata’ib Hezbollah. That’s a paramilitary group separate from the more prominent Lebanese militant organization, which also receives backing from Iran.About 100 people attended Friday’s fund-raiser, according to the president’s re-election campaign. The event was expected to raise $10 million.In addition to his fundraising remarks, Trump tweeted publicly about Iran on Friday evening, saying that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “should be very careful with his words!” and that the people of Iran “deserve a government that’s more interested in helping them achieve their dreams than killing them for demanding respect.”Earlier in the day, Khamenei said Iran had delivered a “slap to the U.S.’s image as a superpower” in a rare appearance leading Friday prayer in Tehran, the capital.To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Sink in Palm Beach, Florida at jsink1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Steve GeimannFor 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.

Impeachment lands Sen. Collins in familiar spot: crosshairs

Facing perhaps her toughest reelection fight, veteran Sen. Susan Collins has parachuted into familiar terrain — the heart of a hot-button issue, this time President Donald Trump's impeachment. With Senate trial proceedings starting Tuesday, the moderate Maine Republican says she'll probably support a motion to call witnesses, aligning herself with Democrats. Collins, 67, has embraced that approach for nearly 24 years in the Senate, even as compromise has grown increasingly scarce and politically perilous in the age of the retaliation-prone Trump.

Libya's eastern-based forces move to halt oil exports

A move by Libya's east-based forces to choke off oil exports from its territory threatens to throttle much of the country’s oil production, the national oil corporation said Saturday, escalating tensions ahead of an international peace summit to end the civil war. Powerful tribal groups loyal to Gen. Khalifa Hifter, whose forces control eastern Libya and much of the south, seized several large export terminals Friday along the eastern coast as well as southern oil fields. It marked a major challenge to the rival U.N.-backed government based in Tripoli, which collects revenues from oil production.

Venezuelan theater becomes Plan B in lawmakers' turf battle

Venezuelan opposition lawmakers are expected in the coming days to make their third attempt to get inside the legislative chamber in downtown Caracas, after twice this month being blocked by forces loyal to President Nicolás Maduro. The losing turf battle recently drove the lawmakers to a covered amphitheater in El Hatillo, a normally quiet community in the hilly outskirts of the capital that's popular for its souvenir shops, restaurants and visitors strolling around the colonial square. It’s unclear whether the National Assembly led by U.S.-backed Juan Guaidó will be forced on Tuesday to retreat again to El Hatillo, or perhaps the office of The Nation newspaper — where they also met in early January — or scramble for yet another safe meeting place.

Records reveal concerns of deceased GOP redistricting expert

Behind the scenes, GOP consultant Thomas Hofeller was worried that Democrats were far ahead of Republicans in collecting data that could help them draw districts in their favor following the next round of redistricting that will occur after the 2020 census. Hofeller died in August 2018 after a battle with cancer. Stephanie Hofeller did not respond to a request for comment sent through her lawyer.

Justices taking up bans on state money to religious schools

A Supreme Court that seems more favorable to religion-based discrimination claims is set to hear a case that could make it easier to use public money to pay for religious schooling in many states. The justices will hear arguments Wednesday in a dispute over a Montana scholarship program for private K-12 education that also makes donors eligible for up to $150 in state tax credits. Advocates on both sides say the outcome could be momentous because it could lead to efforts in other states to funnel taxpayer money to religious schools.

Gun-rights activists gear up for show of force in Virginia

Police are scouring the internet for clues about plans for mayhem, workers are putting up chain link holding pens around Virginia's picturesque Capitol Square, and one lawmaker even plans to hide in a safe house in advance of what's expected to be an unprecedented show of force by gun-rights activists. What is provoking their anger in this once reliably conservative state is the new Democratic majority leadership and its plans to enact a slew of gun restrictions. This clash of old and new has made Virginia - determined to prevent a replay of the Charlottesville violence in 2017 - ground zero in the nation's raging debate over gun control.

Putin's moves leave Russian opposition with few options

Russian President Vladimir Putin played it differently this time. Instead of openly declaring plans to extend his rule like he did in 2011, Putin proposed constitutional amendments to appear to give more power to Russia's parliament. Putin announced what many see as a strategy for staying in power well past the end of his term in 2024.

Impeachment: is Trump set to survive and win a second term?

As Democrats marched the articles to the Senate, the president basked in policy success. Many think re-election is comingIt was, the White House tweeted on Friday, “an incredible week” for Donald Trump. On that, no one could disagree. But what kind of incredible depended on which end of Pennsylvania Avenue you were standing.At the Capitol, the third impeachment trial of a US president got under way in hushed solemnity as senators contemplated the ultimate sanction, removing Trump from office. It was a day his most ardent critics had long awaited and some thought inevitable.Yet the White House, less than two miles away, might have been in a different cosmos. The president held a boisterous ceremony to sign a trade agreement with China, “the biggest deal anybody has ever seen”, and celebrated as Congress passed another deal with Canada and Mexico. He toasted stock market records, low unemployment and a sustained fall in illegal crossings at the southern border.It had the makings of an election year narrative of “promises made, promises kept” that Trump’s campaign hopes will resonate more than a Senate litigation of his dealings with Ukraine which, in any case, appears certain to lead to his acquittal.“He seems determined to check as many boxes as he can,” said Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington. “If you look at the three pillars of the distinct outlook he brought with him to the White House – getting tough on immigrants, leaning hard against unbalanced trade relationships and an ‘America first’ foreign policy – you’d have to say over recent months he’s gone three for three.”To be sure, there was plenty of bad news for Trump. Democrats from the House of Representatives marched funereally through the Capitol to transfer the articles of impeachment, for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, to their Senate counterparts. The entrance of Chief Justice John Roberts injected sudden grandeur and gravity. Chuck Schumer, Democratic minority leader in the Senate, said: “When the chief justice walked in, you could feel the weight of the moment. I saw members on both sides of the aisle visibly gulp.”Moreover, as senators prepare to weigh evidence that Trump improperly pressured Ukraine to investigate a political rival, a federal watchdog concluded that he broke the law when he froze military aid to the country last year. And Lev Parnas, a close associate of Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, tossed in another hand grenade with a TV interview that directly implicated the president in efforts to pressure Ukraine. “President Trump knew exactly what was going on,” Parnas told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.For most viewers of that network, and millions of liberals across America, it was yet another nail in the coffin of a man who has long been beyond redemption and whose re-election is unthinkable.> I think there’s an element of genuine incomprehension. He thinks he’s the greatest president of all time> > Bill GalstonBut not the first time, there was a profound disconnection with Trumpworld, a place where the sun is always shining. Here, in meetings, ceremonies and rallies, the president basks in constant affirmation from fervent supporters and sycophantic staff. Such is the bubble of self-congratulation, it is perhaps not surprising Trump is baffled by the contempt and derision he glimpses outside it. He frequently asks bemusedly how a president with his record could be impeached.Galston said: “I think there’s an element of genuine incomprehension. He thinks he’s the greatest president of all time and his protestations of injured innocence I take seriously as a representation of his inner state.” ‘Clinton was more disciplined’On Wednesday, as dozens of reporters craned their necks beneath the crystal chandeliers of the ornate East Room, Trump stood with with Chinese vice-premier Liu He for the signing of the US-China phase one trade agreement. Before they put pen to paper, the president spent the best part of an hour giving shout-outs to his favourite officials and members of Congress. Senator Lindsey Graham, for example, was a “much better golfer than people would understand”.Amid the applause, adulation and levity, it was hard to believe the existential threat of impeachment was unfolding up the road. That was just one more laugh line. “Kevin McCarthy, as you know, left for the hoax,” Trump said of the Republican minority leader, prompting chuckles. Then he added darkly: “Well, we have to do that, otherwise it becomes a more serious hoax.”On Thursday, the paradox continued. Senators passed Trump’s United States-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, or USMCA, with an 89-10 vote, then were sworn in as jurors for an impeachment trial certain to be far more divisive. Galston added: “To have the Senate vote with nearly 90 in favour of the trade deal and be split down the middle on impeachment on the same day is stunning.”But Galston, a former deputy assistant to Bill Clinton for domestic policy, recalled that the last impeachment had its own dichotomies. “As Clinton careened towards a Senate trial in late 1998, Democrats won a big victory in the midterm elections and Newt Gingrich, the speaker of the House, felt compelled to resign. Talk about a split screen. I’ve seen this movie before.“But President Clinton was more disciplined. When he had ceremonies at the White House he never talked about the other side of the screen. President Trump is obliterating the line.” ‘Not paying attention’In what would normally be a week of crisis, Trump was claiming other perceived victories. A caravan of about 2,000 Hondurans, reminiscent of those the president demonised in 2018, was on the move but looked unlikely to reach the US-Mexico border this time, in part because of new asylum agreements with Central American countries. The number of people crossing the border has fallen for seven months in a row.> A big bowl of cold oatmeal> > Van Jones on the Democratic debateTrump even seems to have got away with his biggest, most impulsive gamble in foreign policy, the assassination of Iran’s top general, Qassem Suleimani, as the threat of all war apparently receded. “Trump Wins His Standoff with Iran”, proclaimed a Washington Post headline above a column by Marc Thiessen, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former chief speechwriter for George W Bush.The president’s final boost of the week may have come at the Democratic debate in Iowa where, in the eyes of some critics, no one claimed the mantle of Trump-slayer.“I came away feeling worried for the Democratic party,” political analyst Van Jones said on CNN, comparing it to “a big bowl of cold oatmeal” and warning: “There was nothing I saw tonight that would be able to take Donald Trump out, and I want to see a Democrat in the White House as soon as possible.”Trump has, in fact, failed to keep many promises: making Mexico pay for a border wall; growing the economy at 4% a year; repealing and replacing Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act; passing a $1tn infrastructure bill. Even his China trade deal has been condemned as a surrender. None of that has stopped his campaign ads portraying him as a man of action and touting a list of achievements in contrast to “do nothing” Democrats obsessed with the arcane business of impeachment.Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution thinktank at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, said: “The trial does not feature Trump himself and could turn out to be intensely boring. A lot of viewers are not paying attention. It doesn’t affect their lives. That’s what I find when I travel.”And the president, who has already raised millions of donor dollars off impeachment, will try to turn it to his political advantage. Whalen added: “Since he first started running for president, he realised he could get very far by making it an ‘us versus them’ mentality. In a swaggering way, he makes himself a victim. He’s not suffering but he just makes you believe he’s being persecuted.”

Turkey's Erdogan: Europe must back Libyan govt in Tripoli

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the European Union to support the internationally recognized Libyan government in Tripoli ahead of a summit in Berlin. In an article published on the Politico website Saturday, Erdogan said European leaders “ought to talk a little less and focus on taking concrete steps” in the conflict-torn North African nation. A truce sponsored by Turkey and Russia was imposed a week ago, although there have been reports of continued fighting.

Trump’s on Trial While in Iran, Fallout is Fierce: Weekend Reads

(Bloomberg) -- Want to receive this post in your inbox every day? Sign up for the Balance of Power newsletter, and follow Bloomberg Politics on Twitter and Facebook for more.For only the third time in America’s history, a president is about to go on trial. Donald Trump’s impeachment case — in which he faces charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — got underway Thursday with a show of pageantry in the Senate.It came a day after the U.S. and China signed a phase-one deal that’s aimed at stemming the damage from their bruising trade war.In Tehran, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave his first Friday sermon in eight years, seeking to rally Iranians around an embattled establishment after a furious domestic backlash over the government’s attempts to cover up the unintentional downing of a passenger jet.Dig deeper into these and other topics and click here for Bloomberg’s most compelling political images from the past week.Xi’s Wider Fight With U.S. Only Just Beginning After Trade DealIn a letter read out during Wednesday’s trade deal signing at the White House, Chinese leader Xi Jinping asked Trump to take steps to “enhance mutual trust and cooperation between us.” But as Bloomberg News reports, that won’t be easy.With Iowa Looming, Bernie Sanders Is Poised for an UpsetThe cantankerous senator’s campaign appears to have taken off at just the right time, Joshua Green reports. But it will take more than just his hardcore supporters for Bernie Sanders to win the Democratic nomination.The Tokyo Job: Inside Carlos Ghosn’s Escape to BeirutDespite being under intense surveillance, with a camera trained on his front door and undercover agents tailing him when he left his house, Ghosn somehow made it to Lebanon. Matthew Campbell reports on the elite extraction team that spirited the former CEO out of Japan.Fury at Air Crash Cover-Up Puts Iran’s Leaders Back on DefensiveThe admission by authorities in Tehran that they accidentally shot down a passenger jet packed with Iranian students last week shattered a brief moment of unity, Marc Champion, Arsalan Shahla and Golnar Motevalli write.Strength in Weakness: Why Iran Fights the Way It DoesThe pinpoint accuracy of Iran’s response to the killing of commander Qassem Soleimani, striking two U.S. bases in Iraq while avoiding causing casualties, has signaled Tehran’s capacity to harm American assets. As Marc Champion reports, it’s also shown the limitations on Iran’s freedom to openly do so.Trump Bailout Means Farmers Emerge Optimistic From Trade WarDonald Trump is boasting that he’s made farmers “really happy.” He’s not wrong, Mike Dorning reports, but it’s not just the trade deal that’s left farmers optimistic for 2020.The European Union Is Going to Miss the U.K. When It’s GoneWith one foot inside and one foot out, the U.K. was never sure which way to turn — and the European Union never seemed to know how to make it more comfortable. Now, the overriding feeling among the EU’s political elite remains one of regret, Ian Wishart writes.How Putin Was Thrown Off Course by a Furious Libyan GeneralKhalifa Haftar was expecting the Kremlin red carpet. Instead he was cooped up in the Russian Foreign Ministry hoping for an audience with President Vladimir Putin, Samer Al-Atrush, Ilya Arkhipov and Selcan Hacaoglu write. In the end, the Libyan commander stormed out.No Soul Searching for Xi After Taiwan Rebuffs China in ElectionIn a democracy, two resounding election defeats in a matter of months might prompt some soul searching in the losing camp. But as Samson Ellis and Peter Martin report, in China a snub at the polls in places it claims is more a minor setback rather than a sign of a flawed strategy.Bloody Mutiny in Sudan Casts Shadow Over Drive for DemocracyWhen disgruntled Sudanese spies took up arms and gunfire rang out across Khartoum, even members of the most powerful pro-government militia were startled, Mohammed Alamin and Samuel Gebre report.Drones Target Polluters in One of Europe’s Smoggiest PlacesKrakow was one of the most choked-up urban areas on the continent, James M Gomez and Dorota Bartyzel write. Then the Polish city became ruthless in its fight for clean air.And finally ... Whenever somebody on Twitter takes issue with the network’s policies, they almost always resort to the same strategy: They send a tweet to @jack. But while Dorsey is the company’s public face, the taxing job of creating and enforcing Twitter’s rules don’t actually land on the CEO’s shoulders. Instead, that falls to Twitter’s top lawyer, Vijaya Gadde, Kurt Wagner writes. \--With assistance from Kathleen Hunter.To contact the author of this story: Ruth Pollard in New Delhi at rpollard2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@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.

How Trump's hatred of international cooperation weakened the China deal

The ink on President Trump's new trade deal with China is still drying, but worries are already growing about whether it can survive."Phase 1" of the agreement, which Trump signed Wednesday, only partially addresses the two sides' beefs with one another: It reduces some tariffs, commits China to purchase more American exports over two years, and includes some provisions to deal with intellectual property and other issues. But a large portion of the tariffs thrown up by both the U.S. and China, as well as American grievances with Chinese trade practices, remain unresolved.Moreover, it's not obvious to a lot of observers how the commitments that are spelled out in Phase 1 are even going to be enforced. And this missing piece reveals a much larger point about the Trump administration — namely, its deep hostility towards international cooperation.As Alex Pascal wrote in The Atlantic in 2019, the United States largely built the world of international institutions — the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, and more — that Trump is rebelling against. This approach is generally called "multilateralism," meaning deals that involve a whole bunch of countries at the same time. It's been enthusiastically embraced by much of the U.S. establishment in the last few decades, including President Obama and his administration. But Trump and his team prefer "unilateralism" or "bilateralism" — America going it alone, or making piecemeal deals with one other country at a time.Of course, multilateralism inherently requires every country to voluntary restrain itself and give up some sovereignty to that network of international institutions, who make decisions that bind all the member countries. "The United States had to follow the same rules as everyone else, even though it was the most powerful country," as Pascal put it. Champions of multilateralism argue binding enhances trust, and thus cooperation, which led to "an unprecedented era of relative global peace and prosperity."Trump and his White House don't agree with this calculus, needless to say. "Multilateralism regulates hubris," as former-President Obama once observed. And Trump certainly doesn't seem like a leader who appreciates having his hubris regulated. Less flippantly, the people who make up Trump's team are bound together by a vague agreement that multilateralism and its attendant constraints have not served American interests well.This gets us back to enforcement in the new trade deal with China. Enforcement of a deal, pretty much by definition, requires all parties to bind themselves to certain rules, and to submit to judgments imposed upon them. If one party is accused of violating the agreement — if, say, the U.S feels China isn't living up to its obligation to buy enough American exports — it's unlikely that both sides will agree there's a violation occurring. Thus there must be some process for adjudicating the dispute, and some final authority identified by the deal who can render a judgment the parties agree to submit themselves to. The new trade deal with China is unusual in that it lacks this piece.Instead, trade deal outlines a convoluted process by which, if one country has a complaint, they submit it to the other party. And if the other party doesn't agree the complaint is valid, there's a mechanism for sending the complaint higher up the chain of command. But ultimately, it's up to each countries' internal authorities to decide if the complaint has merit. If the country that issues the complaint can't get the other country to agree the complaint is valid, then the deal says the complaining country can start imposing tariffs. Of course, you'd expect the other side to retaliate with tariffs too, since they never thought the complaint was valid anyway. At that point, the deal is officially scrapped and the trade war is back on."The big story is that there is no neutral adjudication mechanism as part of this dispute procedure," Simon Lester wrote at the International Economic Law and Policy Blog. "I've never seen anything quite like this before." In other words, the China trade deal is much more similar to a casual relationship than a marriage: it's as ephemeral as both sides' moment-to-moment enthusiasm for it."As a result, I'm not sure how enforceable this deal is," Lester continued.This refusal to accept binding constraints or neutral adjudication has been a feature of the Trump administration's approach: They've treated major international bodies like the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the World Trade Organization with open contempt, and in a few instances threatened to deny funding or even to demur from agreements to provide allies with defense if they're attacked. The White House also ditched the Paris climate agreement, pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal with Iran.The new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (i.e. the revised NAFTA) that Trump is about to sign stands out as an interesting exception. In that case, the primary problem was that labor in Mexico was cheaper — due to lower pay and poor labor protections — which led to companies absconding from the U.S. to our southern neighbor. The goal was to bring Mexico's standards more in line with America's and Canada's. This caused a sticking point, as Mexico balked at the idea of allowing outside inspectors to check on its progress — exactly the same sort of prickliness about sovereignty the Trump administration evinces. But in that case, the enforcement was all aimed one way (at Mexico) with little need for equivalent enforcement against America or Canada. Which likely explains why Trump is happy to sign that deal.The broader question is whether the Trump administration's assessment of multilateralism is correct. Pascal makes a good case that it's not: In particular, a multilateral coalition would probably have had much more luck convincing China to seriously reform its trade practices. And preserving the international cooperation of the Iran deal would almost certainly have worked much better to restrain that country's nuclear program.Arguably, the real problem with multilateralism lies elsewhere: Not in whether its a better process for getting things done, but getting things done for whom? Countries are not monoliths. They contain all sorts of groups with different interests — in particular owners versus workers. As Pascal admits in passing, the binding rules of the multilateral status quo have worked out very well for wealthy owners and investors across the world, but they have not worked out so well for the working classes, particularly in the West.This really called for a different kind of multilateralism, focused on different goals and priorities, rather than the end of multilateralism entirely. But establishment elites were as interested as Trump in treating the choice before us as simply multilateralism-as-it-exists or no multilateralism at all. And that was the mistake that gave Trump his opening to start tearing down the system.More stories from theweek.com Trump is getting the band back together French officials warn of violence from subgroups in protest movement The Patriots only have one option

Israel's F-35i 'Adir' Stealth Fighter Is a Beast (And Now A Second Squadron Is Ready)

Iran, you might want to read this.

Putin Hunted for Scapegoats and Found Medvedev

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- When Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a radical overhaul of Russia’s governance system this week, he also ended the Medvedev era. Dmitry Medvedev was, at least formally, Putin’s closest sidekick, the politician with whom the strongman was most willing to share formal power.  Whether or not it’s time for Medvedev’s political obit, his stint near the top of Russia’s so-called power vertical will serve as an example of how the Putin system’s inertia can suffocate the best modernizing intentions.Medvedev abruptly resigned as prime minister on Wednesday, without giving advance notice to members of his government, who also had to tender their resignations. “We as the government must give our country’s president the opportunity to make all the necessary decisions,” Medvedev said, though it wasn’t clear how his continued occupancy of the top cabinet post could get in the way of Putin’s reform. Putin expressed rather tepid gratitude for the prime minister’s service. “Not everything has worked out, but then things never work out completely,” he said. Putin has always avoided firing close, trusted associates, but as prime minister since 2012, Medvedev presided over Russia’s longest run of declining real incomes during Putin’s 20-year rule. The government’s $400 billion “national projects” spending plan, designed to rectify things, hasn’t gotten off to a great start. The new job Putin has offered Medvedev didn’t even exist before — deputy chairman of the Security Council, an advisory body that includes Russia's mighty security chiefs. It’s formally headed by Putin but run by its secretary, former secret police chief Nikolai Patrushev. The council has been described, including by Kremlin propaganda outlets, as the closest Russia has to the Soviet Union's ruling Politburo. So the newly created post, with Putin as the direct supervisor, can be enormously influential — but perhaps not when filled by Medvedev, who has never really commanded the respect of the security bosses in the way Putin does, with his KGB record and training.Medvedev’s move means he isn’t likely to be Putin’s successor as president when the latter's term ends in 2024. Nor will he return to the prime ministerial post, now handed to a supremely skillful technocrat, former tax chief Mikhail Mishustin. His career has been launched on a downward trajectory — something he probably expected. For years, he has appeared bored and morose at official functions, time and again photographed with his eyes closed and seemingly asleep. Opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny posted one such photo taken as Putin delivered his Wednesday address, tweeting, “Only one thing in Russia is really stable and unshakable — Dmitry Medvedev, asleep during the president’s state of the nation speech.”During a recent award ceremony, Medvedev’s New Year’s greetings included this quotation from Anton Chekhov: “The newer the year, the closer you are to death, the wider your bald spot, the twistier your wrinkles, the older your wife, the more kids you have and the less money.” Some of the incredulous listeners couldn't help but recall Medvedev's most famous quote, his answer to a woman in Russian-annexed Crimea in 2016 who complained that her pension was too low: “There's just no money now. When we find the money, we'll raise pensions. You hang on in there, stay cheerful and healthy.”Medvedev may have been fatigued and depressed lately as his government failed to deliver on Putin's promises of a tangible improvement in living standards, but money isn't something he's lacked himself. During this snowless winter, the vast land plot around his residence in Central Russia is covered with artificial snow. Medvedev has never given a substantive answer to a long video produced by Navalny's team and watched more than 33 million times on YouTube, in which he was accused of accumulating vast wealth while working for the government.Medvedev's approval rating never recovered from that video's release, languishing below 40% in recent months, while Putin's remains close to 70%. Government spending cuts that began in 2015 and lasted through 2018 didn't help, and the government’s decision in June 2018 to raise the retirement age — made by Putin, but often ascribed to Medvedev because of his perceived insensitivity — dealt his popularity an especially crippling blow.The visibly bored, defeated Medvedev at the end of his prime ministership was a far cry from the hopeful, cheerful modernizer who started a four-year presidency in 2008 and charmed U.S. President Barack Obama and his aides into trying a reset of U.S.-Russia relations. Though many Putin opponents — myself included — never believed Medvedev could pursue an independent policy, so-called system liberals, believers in changing the system from within, vested serious hopes in the younger, more polished leader. They believed he could shake off Putin's conservative influence if he ran for a second term in 2012, and that Russia would then gradually become freer both economically and politically.Medvedev tried some promising things. He set up a large innovation center at Skolkovo near Moscow, trying to lure investors and entrepreneurs into a Russian version of Silicon Valley. He started reforms in the self-serving, thoroughly rotten law-enforcement agencies, and he modernized Russia's obsolete armed forces, starting an ambitious reorganization and rearmament. He removed some of the most entrenched, hidebound regional leaders, breaking up the corrupt monopolies that had sprung up around them.But the system liberals’ hopes were probably dashed in March 2011, when Medvedev ordered the Russian representative in the United Nations Security Council to abstain on a resolution authorizing the U.S. and its allies to use force against the regime of Muammar Qaddafi in Libya. Putin publicly criticized his protege for not ordering a "no" vote, likening the Western intervention in Libya to a “medieval crusade." In his book, “From Cold War to Hot Peace," Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia and a believer in Medvedev's liberal intentions, wrote that “U.S. military intervention in Libya, which helped topple Qaddafi, also inadvertently might have helped remove Medvedev from power in Russia."In September 2011, Putin and Medvedev announced they intended to switch jobs the following year, a development that bitterly disappointed the system liberals. Protests against a rigged parliamentary election, which broke out less than three months later, only served to convince Putin that the West was trying to undermine him and empower Medvedev instead. But, perhaps out of a sense of loyalty toward his temporary successor who hadn't tried to cling to power, Putin made no attempt to replace Medvedev as prime minister.The latter never really raised his head again. He avoided making major decisions or advocating big reforms; the cabinet ministers learned they needed Putin's approval for anything remotely controversial. In a way, that helped Russia build a protective economic wall after Putin annexed Crimea and, simultaneously, the oil price crashed in 2014. Amid Western sanctions and a tightening hold of Putin's cronies and enforcers on the economy, Russia's generally competent economic managers could only cut spending to insulate the budget from external shocks — and accumulate international reserves every time the price of oil edged up. Medvedev's tenure ended with these reserves at $554 billion, near the 2008 historic high of $569 billion.Putin's patience was sorely tested. Busy with geopolitical chess and with finding ways to retain power after 2024, he clearly wanted his hands free from domestic economic management. He wanted to set goals and let someone else get to them. Time after time, he told Medvedev that he wanted "results.” They failed to materialize.Meanwhile, Medvedev's work as the formal leader of the Kremlin's loyalist party, United Russia, also proved insufficient. The party's support melted away, and its legislative majorities and governorships have had to be obtained with increasing rigging efforts and administrative pressure. In December, only 29% of Russians were willing to cast a vote for United Russia in a national election, a threat to its parliamentary majority even in an unfair system. Putin needs a stronger party behind him post-2024, and an effort to build one on the basis of his broad support network, the United People's Front — or to reform United Russia — is to be expected.Putin’s legendary personal loyalty stretched far enough not to send Medvedev, who is only 54, into retirement. But then, it was Putin himself who backpedaled in 2011 instead of letting Medvedev pursue his cautiously reformist course. It was Putin who created a system that paralyzed any kind of economic liberalization and who launched Russia on military adventures that limited its ability to develop trade. Putin, who gave Medvedev the exhilarating hope of building a more modern Russia, then quickly took it away, leaving his former successor with little except the luxurious lifestyle enjoyed by the Russian elite.It was Putin's country to give and to take back.To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion's Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Mexico blocks hundreds of migrants from crossing border span

Mexican authorities closed a border entry point in southern Mexico on Saturday after thousands of Central American migrants tried to push their way across a bridge spanning the Suchiate River between Mexico and Guatemala. Honduran migrants waved their country's flag and sang the national anthem as they approached the bridge. At the height of the confrontation, Guatemalan authorities estimated 2,500 migrants were on the bridge, or attempting to get on it.

Dominica Is the Fastest Growing Economy in Latin America and the Caribbean Region Thanks to Booming Tourism and Citizenship by Investment, UN ECLAC Report Finds

A new report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) from the United Nations indicates that the Commonwealth of Dominica was the fastest growing economy in the entire Latin America and the Caribbean region in 2019. The island's GDP is said to have jumped up by 9%, attributed to Citizenship by Investment (CBI), soaring tourism numbers and public sector construction.

Iran's supreme leader says Europe 'cannot be trusted' in rare Friday prayers address

Iran's Supreme Leader, in his first sermon in eight years, said yesterday that Britain and other European states who were party to a nuclear pact were “American lackeys” who "cannot be trusted". Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told thousands of worshippers gathered in Tehran that the UK, France and Germany were “weak”, after the co-signatories to the 2015 accord triggered a formal dispute mechanism in the agreement, which could lead to UN sanctions being reimposed. Iran has gradually scaled back its commitments under the pact in retaliation to US’s withdrawal in 2018 and its reimposition of sanctions that have crippled the country's economy. “I told you after US withdrawal that the E3 are just paying lip service, and telling lies,” he said. "I said I don't trust them. Now you see they're just pawns of the US. They're trying to bring Iran to its knees. US, which was your master, failed to do so, let alone you tiny ones.” Donald Trump responded on Twitter on Friday night, telling Khamenei to be “very careful with his words”. Iranians shout slogans against the government after a vigil held for the victims of the airplane of Ukrainian International Airlines  Credit: Anadolu “The so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ of Iran, who has not been so Supreme lately, had some nasty things to say about the United States and Europe,” Trump said. “Their economy is crashing, and their people are suffering. He should be very careful with his words!” Trump went on to urge Iran leaders to "abandon terror" and "Make Iran Great Again". The US has threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports of European cars if EU governments continue to back the nuclear deal, according to German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. Khamenei, who has held the country’s top office since 1989 and has the final say on all major decisions, addressed the nation following the US killing of celebrated Revolutionary Guard general Qassim Soleimani. Leading Friday prayers in the capital, which the ayatollah last did in 2012, is a symbolically significant act usually reserved for times when Iran's highest authority wishes to deliver an important message. Striking a defiant tone, he said Mr Trump was a “clown” who pretended to support the Iranian people but would push a poisonous dagger into their backs. He also accused Iran's "enemies", a term that usually refers to Washington and its allies, of trying to use Iran's accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner to overshadow a public show of grief following the death of Soleimani. He called the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner a "bitter" tragedy on Friday but said it should not overshadow the "sacrifice" of a top commander killed in a US drone strike. "The plane crash was a bitter accident, it burned through our heart," Khamenei said. "But some tried to... portray it in a way to forget the great martyrdom and sacrifice" of Major General Soleimani, the head of the foreign operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. "Our enemies were as happy about the plane crash as we were sad ... happy that they found something to question the Guards, the armed forces, the system." Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leading the main weekly Muslim prayers in Tehran. Credit: AFP Iran admitted last week it accidentally downed a Ukrainian airliner when it was high alert after strikes against US targets in Iraq in retaliation for Soleimani's killing. The tragedy killed 176 people, most of them Iranians and Canadians. Many Iranians in exile noted that Khameini did not offer any condolences to the victims of the crash, which they said showed a lack of respect. Praising Soleimani, Khamenei said his actions beyond Iran's borders were in the service of the "security" of the nation and that the people are in favour of "firmness" and "resistance" in the face of enemies. "The few hundred who insulted the picture of General Soleimani, are they the people of Iran? Or this million-strong crowd in the streets?" he said in an apparent reference to the reported tearing down of a portrait of the dead commander by protesters in Tehran a few days after hundreds of thousands turned out for his funeral.

Scientists seek rare species survivors amid Australia flames

Australia’s unprecedented wildfires season has so far charred 40,000 square miles (104,000 square kilometers) of brushland, rainforests, and national parks — killing by one estimate more than a billion wild animals. Where flames have subsided, biologists are starting to look for survivors, hoping they may find enough left of some rare and endangered species to rebuild populations. “I don’t think we’ve seen a single event in Australia that has destroyed so much habitat and pushed so many creatures to the very brink of extinction,” said Kingsley Dixon, an ecologist at Curtin University in Perth.

Rollback proposed for Michelle Obama school lunch guidelines

The Trump administration on Friday took another step toward dismantling Michelle Obama's school nutrition guidelines, proposing a new rule that could lead to more pizza and fries and less fruit and a smaller variety of vegetables on school menus. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who announced the rule changes on Obama’s birthday, said they were needed to give schools more flexibility and reduce waste while still providing nutritious and appetizing meals. “What a shameless, embarrassing capitulation to lobbyists at the expense of American children and their well-being,” said Sam Kass, who served as executive director of Obama's “Let's Move" campaign to combat child obesity.