Russia may attempt to fill the vacuum created by a U.S. embargo on F-35 exports to Turkey with an export variant of its Su-57 advanced fighter.
I don't think anyone would claim it came as a surprise, but nonetheless, the U.S. deciding to hold back NATO ally Turkey's F-35 order and potentially curtailing its industrial involvement in the program is a major development. It's also one that is nearly certain to push Turkey further into Moscow's orbit and could offer Russia a unique and much-needed opportunity to export their Su-57 advanced fighter.
The U.S. has suspended the delivery of parts and program materials to Turkey that it needs for standing up a key $12 billion jet fighter program there. The U.S. Defense Department says deliveries will not resume unless Ankara abandons its planned acquisition of a Russian missile defense system.
It's the latest slap in an escalating showdown between two longtime NATO allies whose ties have become increasingly strained in recent years.
At issue are two big arms deals being pursued by Ankara. Turkey wants to buy 100 F-35s, Lockheed Martin Corp.'s latest generation of stealth jet fighters. Turkey also intends to install Russia's advanced S-400 air-defense missile system.
U.S. officials have told Turkey that it cannot have both.
An Australian member of Islamic State (IS) has begged to come home, describing "rivers of blood" flowing inside the group's self-proclaimed caliphate and a life of horror and misery.
Mahir Absar Alam, who was born in Sydney and went to high school in Loxton in country South Australia, urged Muslims around the world not to believe IS's propaganda and to stay in their home countries.
He was captured with his Syrian wife and two children in March by Kurdish-led forces outside the village of Baghouz, the last hold-out of IS militants.
WNU Editor: ISIS survivors say the worse offenders were the foreign fighters. In this context I believe the victims far more than the foreigners who are now saying that they were not fighters, hate ISIS, and only worked as nurses in the hospital.
* China's official economic figures point to a bad year. Beijing has only one real way out of the slump – it needs to end the trade war with Washington. Vice-Premier Liu He, who visits the US this week, should hammer out a deal soon
Deal or no deal, the ongoing US-China trade war has already taken its toll on the Chinese economy. The latest evidence is the decline in profits in China's export-oriented manufacturing industry. In the first two months of the year, Chinese industrial firms' profits fell 14 per cent year on year, to 708 billion yuan (US$105 billion), according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics. It is the sharpest contraction since 2009.
Obviously, the trade war with the United States has dealt a severe blow to China, the world's second-largest economy, and weighed on Chinese factory activity, corporate earnings, business and consumption.
LONDON (Reuters) - Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Theresa May had not moved far enough in a first round of crisis talks aimed at breaking the domestic deadlock over Britain's exit from the European Union.
The United Kingdom was supposed to leave the EU last Friday but, nearly three years after it voted by 52 percent to 48 for Brexit in a referendum, it is still unclear how, when or even whether it will quit the bloc it joined in 1973.
After her EU withdrawal deal was rejected three times by lawmakers, the Conservative prime minister invited Corbyn, a veteran socialist, to talks in parliament to try to plot a way out of the crisis.
A poster of the Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar is seen on a building destroyed by the war in the city of Benghazi [File: Esam Omran Al-Fetori/Reuters]
The military media office of the self-styled army in eastern Libya, which is under the command of Khalifa Haftar, has announced that the forces have started advancing on western Libyan cities and districts in order to "purge the remaining terrorist groups in the region."
The media office published a video on Wednesday showing a convoy of armored vehicles and pickup trucks mounted with heavy guns on the road, which appeared to be Benghazi's coastline.
The Corps took delivery of its first CH-53 King Stallion on May 16, 2018, at the New River Air Station in Jacksonville, North Carolina. (Sgt. Matthew Callahan/Marine Corps)
* Navy sees need to delay initial combat capability to late 2021 * List of unresolved flaws grows to 102 from 94 in December
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s $31 billion King Stallion helicopter program for the U.S. Marines may miss its first key milestone by more than 19 months because of a growing checklist of flaws discovered in development testing.
The Naval Air Systems Command acknowledged that the helicopter designed to carry heavy cargo won't meet its December target date for initial combat capability. The roster of unresolved technical deficiencies has grown to 106 items from about 94 logged in December, according to Navy documents.
A proposed new date -- between July and September 2021 -- "has not been finalized and is pending the final decision" on a request before Congress to shift $158 million into the testing program to pay for fixes and more test flights, Greg Kuntz, a spokesman for the command, said in an email.
The RAF has been deployed to stop Russian Blackjack bombers (one pictured on Friday during previous incident) entering UK airspace for the second time in four days
* Two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 long range bombers entered international airspace * Typhoons were deployed from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland to monitor them * RAF spokesman claims 'at no point did they enter UK territorial airspace'
The RAF has been deployed to stop Russian Blackjack bombers entering UK airspace for the second time in four days.
The two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 long range bombers flew inside international airspace off the northeastern coast of Scotland before being escorted back northwards again.
The RAF sent two of its Typhoons from its base in Lossiemouth, which were accompanied by a refuelling tank from its Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire.
Officials have confirmed that 'at no point' did the Russians manage to infiltrate British airspace.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization warned the U.S. Congress on Wednesday of the threat posed by "a more assertive Russia," including a massive military buildup, threats to sovereign states, the use of nerve agents and cyberattacks.
"We must overcome our differences now because we will need our alliance even more in the future. We face unprecedented challenges - challenges no one nation can face alone," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
Saying "time is running out," Stoltenberg also called on Russia to return to compliance with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, from which U.S. President Donald Trump plans to withdraw the United States this summer.
The U.S. military has revealed it believes Iran has helped kill 608 U.S. troops in Iraq since 2003, according to newly revealed and formerly-classified numbers.
"In Iraq, I can announce today, based on declassified U.S. military reports, that Iran is responsible for the deaths of at least 608 American service members," Brian Hook, U.S. Special Representative for Iran, said during a State Department briefing Tuesday.
"This accounts for 17 percent of all deaths of U.S. personnel in Iraq from 2003 to 2011. This death toll is in addition to the many thousands of Iraqis killed by the IRGC's proxies." Since 2003, more than 4,400 U.S. service members have been killed in Iraq.
* In a post showing the Taiwanese leader giving orders on the phone, President Tsai Ing-wen condemned the incursions as an "outright provocation of regional security and stability." * According to risk consultancy Stratfor, the incident on Sunday is "one of the most serious incursions by People's Liberation Army Air Force fighter jets on the Taiwanese side of the maritime border this century."
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has called for Chinese warplanes that cross a maritime line separating the two sides to be "forcefully expelled."
Her comments in a Facebook post on Monday came after two Chinese fighter jets crossed a maritime line separating mainland China from the self-ruled island of Taiwan on Sunday.
In a post showing the Taiwanese leader giving orders on the phone, Tsai condemned the incursions as an "outright provocation of regional security and stability."
China's President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a state dinner at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, November 9, 2017. Thomas Peter, Reuters
* US president recalls remark on eve of resumption of talks seeking a deal to end the US-China trade war * China is unlikely to take Trump's rhetoric 'too seriously' expert says
US President Donald Trump has said he called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "king" during a visit to China 18 months ago, and said his Chinese host "liked it".
Speaking at a Republican fundraising dinner in Washington on Tuesday, Trump shared the episode with guests, apparently to underline his friendly relationship with the Chinese leader.
The revelation came a day before negotiators from the United States and China began another round of highly anticipated talks in Washington to try to end their months-long trade war. Read more ....
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday sought to quell a crisis that threatens his chances of re-election, expelling from party ranks two former Cabinet members he said had undermined the ruling Liberals.
Trudeau said former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and former Treasury Board chief Jane Philpott would no longer be allowed to sit as Liberal legislators. They were also barred from running for the party in the federal election this October.
The Liberals have been in turmoil since Wilson-Raybould said in February that officials had inappropriately pressured her last year while she was justice minister to ensure that construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc escape a corruption trial.
WNU Editor: This is not going to end the scandal. Many Canadians do want to know the details on why did Prime Minister Trudeau decide to intervene in a criminal case that the Attorney General said was closed, and was she removed because of her refusal to do so.
More News On Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau Expelling Two Former Cabinet Ministers In A Bid To End Scandal
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, and the leader of opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn attend an Armistice remembrance service at St Margaret's Church, in London, Britain November 6, 2018. John Stillwell/Pool via REUTERS
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May will meet opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn at 1330 GMT on Wednesday, her spokesman said, adding that further talks could probably be arranged if necessary.
The two are meeting to discuss a way forward on Brexit. May's spokesman said she would need to tell the EU of any new plan on leaving the European Union promptly, ahead of a summit in Brussels on April 10.
Banners displaying the NATO logo are placed at the entrance of new NATO headquarters during the move to the new building, in Brussels, Belgium April 19, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Turkey remains an important NATO ally and partner to the United States despite concerns over its plans to buy missile defense systems from Russia, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday, a day before the start of a NATO meeting in Washington.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to preview the meeting of NATO foreign ministers, said the gathering would discuss all elements of the military threat posed by Russia, including in the Black Sea, as well as the Afghan peace process and members' budget contributions to the alliance.
The official said the NATO allies would seek to agree on a package of measures to bolster NATO's military presence in the Black Sea, which has become a flashpoint with Moscow over its seizure of Ukrainian ships last year.
A demonstrator takes part in a protest against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, March 31. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Venezuelans have been suffering one calamity after the next, but in recent weeks, much of Venezuela has had to go long stretches without electricity.
New York Times journalist Nicholas Casey was in Maracaibo, Venezuela, in March when the country was hit by a six-day blackout, considered at the time the worst in Venezuela's history. He says people initially assumed that the outage had been planned and that power would be restored after a few hours. But as hours stretched into days, the country fell into chaos.
"By the fourth day of the power outage, that was when you started to hear shots getting fired in the street," Casey says. "People were beginning to loot, and the store owners were coming out to defend their stores."
As Andes bureau chief for the Times, Casey has been covering the deepening economic and political chaos in Venezuela. He says the current crisis in the country is "almost unimaginable."
WNU Editor: These two paragraphs from the above post sum up why the current migrant crisis in Latin America and Venezuela's part in it is becoming very dangerous to everyone ....
.... On one end, these countries are trying to pressure [President] Maduro now to step down, because they know that this migrant crisis is going to get even worse the more politically unstable the country gets. Countries like Colombia understand that Venezuela used to be a country that took their immigrants, especially during the darkest days of the paramilitaries and the guerrilla fighting, but at the same time, they understand they can't take every Venezuelan that comes.
And not only that, because of this crisis that's getting worse and worse, because of lack of medicine mainly, people are coming into these countries with diseases that should be controlled in Venezuela — diseases like diphtheria, malaria, tuberculosis have made a huge comeback in Venezuela. So if you're a neighboring country like Brazil or Colombia or a country like Ecuador or Peru, who are farther away but are also taking immigrants, this is a very scary situation that's right on your doorstep.
Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers, as part of a cooperation program, arrived, after delivering humanitarian supplies, to one of Venezuelan military facilities. pic.twitter.com/HwZ9Ee67d0
— Sukhoi Su-57 frazor🇷🇺🇮🇳 (@I30mki) April 1, 2019
It doesn't appear last Friday's strong warning from national security adviser John Bolton for countries "external to the Western Hemisphere" to keep their militaries out of Venezuela had the intended effect. Bolton's and other White House statements saying "Russia has to get out" came following Russian Air Force planes landing in Caracas with about 100 troops, which the Kremlin said were there as "specialists" servicing existing defense equipment contracts.
And now according to Al-Masdar News, citing defense analyst photographs and local reports, "more than 120 soldiers from the Chinese People's Liberation Army arrived at Venezuela's Margarita Island to deliver humanitarian and military supplies to the government forces."
WNU Editor: Chinese state media is still focusing much of the blame for the mess that Venezuela is currently in on the U.S. and on the opposition .... Is there a way out of Venezuela's multiple crisis? (Jiang Shixue, China.org.cn).
The first of two 747-8is marked to become the next Air Force One aircraft has been flown to Kelly Field Annex in San Antonio to begin conversion.
In a follow-up piece to our recent article on the ballooning costs of the Air Force One replacement program, we have exclusive photos of the first of the two 747-8i airframes slated to be converted into new Air Force One aircraft—designated VC-25Bs—taking to the air for the first time since being stored in Victorville, California. In our previous piece, we noted that there was action around this aircraft, indicating that a flight may be near.
Bangkok’s famed Khaosan Road—which draws huge numbers of tourists during the annual Songkran celebrations—might be a little more subdued this year, with the area canceling the usual festivities to allow for preparations for the King’s coronation, Reuters reports.
Songkran, Thailand’s new year, is celebrated from Apr. 13 to 15 with what is known as the world’s biggest water fight. Traditionally, revelers splash water over each other to confer blessings and symbolize a fresh start, the custom being a welcome respite from the heat during the hottest month of the year.
In the tourist mecca of Khaosan Road, businesses normally provide vats of water and an assortment of water guns and receptacles for the annual celebrations, but with the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn set for next month, the world-famous party has been called off.
“We are located right in the middle of areas involved, so if we organize the usual Songkran festival, it could be chaotic,” Piyabutr Jiwaramonaikun, chairman of the Khaosan Road Business Association, told Reuters.
In preparation for the coronation, authorities have been busy hurrying refurbishments near and along Khaosan Road, including repainting buildings and rebuilding pavements.
“There will be fewer people this year for Songkran, but the coronation is a major event for the Thai people and we all must make sacrifices,” Piyabutr said.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn was set to become Thailand’s new monarch following the death of his father King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 2016. The elaborate three-day coronation will begin on May 4 and is expected to cost about $31.5 million.
The Japanese government is giving the country an extra-long holiday to commemorate the coronation of the country’s new emperor, but the move has drawn mixed reactions with the country’s famously hardworking citizens fretting over everything from the potentially negative effects on business to a lack of activities with which to occupy their out-of-school children.
A poll in the Asahi newspaper, cited by the Guardian, found that 45% of respondents “felt unhappy” about the long vacation, compared to 35% who said they “felt happy.”
Last year, Japanese lawmakers approved a bill to designate April 30, May 1 and May 2 as national holidays to mark the accession of Crown Prince Naruhito.
Since April 29, Showa Day, is already a public holiday, and May 3 to 6 is the country’s traditional “Golden Week” holiday period—spanning Constitution memorial Day, the so-called Citizen’s Holiday and Children’s Day—the new holidays mean that Japan’s workers are in for a 10-day break, inclusive of a weekend.
But the extended vacation time has many in the financial sector worried about possible market disruption and the increased volatility of stocks and currency that may result. One trader told Reuters that it was “horrifying” that companies will not be able to trade for six business days.
Meanwhile, contract workers, who are paid by the hour or day, say they fear the resultant loss in income. Parents are also anxious that they won’t be able to keep their children occupied, with day-care centers and nurseries shut during the break.
It isn’t all doom and gloom, however. The Guardian reports that amid these concerns, the travel industry is seeing a significant increase in bookings for overseas trips, signaling that some Japanese, at least, are keen to take advantage of the holiday.
Crown Prince Naruhito will take the throne on May 1, succeeding Emperor Akihito and ushering in a new imperial era known as the Reiwa era.
(WELLINGTON, New Zealand) — The man accused of carrying out the Christchurch mosque attacks will face 50 murder charges and 39 attempted murder charges when he makes his second court appearance, New Zealand police said Thursday.
Police had earlier filed a single, representative murder charge against 28-year-old Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant. He is due to appear via video link during a brief hearing on Friday, and won’t be required to enter a plea.
Fifty people died in the March 15 attacks on two mosques and another 50 were injured.
Police said in a brief statement that they were considering filing more charges against Tarrant but couldn’t comment further as the case was before the court.
Tarrant’s first appearance was on the day after the attacks in the Christchurch District Court. His case has now been moved to the High Court due to the seriousness of the charges. Tarrant has reportedly been moved to a high-security prison in Auckland, which is why he’ll appear via video link.
During the scheduled court hearing, media photographs won’t be allowed and reporting on the proceedings will be severely restricted under New Zealand law. The intent of the law is to avoid the possibility the reporting and images would taint the views of potential jurors before they hear evidence in court.
Judge Cameron Mander said in a note that the brief hearing will mainly be about the accused gunman’s legal representation.
Tarrant earlier dismissed lawyer Richard Peters, who was assigned to represent him during his district court appearance. Peters said Tarrant told him that he wants to represent himself. Many worry that Tarrant will try to use his trial as a soapbox to push his white supremacist views.
The judge said he had received applications from 25 media organizations to take film, photographs or audio recordings of Friday’s hearing but had denied all of them. He said reporters could remain throughout and take notes, although would be restricted in what they could report.
He said media could still use pixelated images of Tarrant which the district court judge had allowed. The pixilation obscured his face.
Retired law professor Bill Hodge said the idea behind obscuring his image was that the prosecution might need a witness to be sure he saw the gunman at the mosque rather than recognizing him from media stories.
Hodge said New Zealand and Australia were trying to preserve the ancient common-law approach to a fair trial, but that it seemed quaint in an era where people could easily find more information or images on the internet.
New Zealand’s Department of Corrections said in an email they wouldn’t answer questions such as where Tarrant was being held due to operational security reasons. They said that despite some restrictions, he was being managed in accordance with New Zealand and international laws regarding the treatment of prisoners.
“At this time, he has no access to television, radio or newspapers and no approved visitors,” the department said.
Kim Jong Un has visited his father’s birthplace, something he traditionally does before making big decisions, the KoreaTimes reported on Thursday.
The North Korean leader traveled to Samjiyon County, in the northern part of the country bordering China, according to the Times. Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, is said to have been born in the county, which is near Mount Paektu, the highest point on the Korean Peninsula.
The younger dictator visited the area before major developments in recent years, leading some to wonder if a major development may be coming.
His visit in November 2013 came about a month before the execution of his uncle and apparent political rival Jang Song Thaek. He paid another visit in late 2014, just a few months before announcing his intention to hold a summit with South Korea.
He also visited after his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore, and before his third summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, says the Times.
Kim has pushed for development of Samjiyon County, and he made his latest visit under the guise of an inspection “to learn about how the construction is now underway,” the north’s Korean Central News Agency reportedly said.
The latest trip comes before the pariah state holds the first session of its Supreme People’s Assembly on Apr. 11, where Kim is expected to announce his domestic and foreign policy plans and appoint several new officials.
Kim said in mid-March that he was considering ending nuclear talks with the U.S. and resuming nuclear and missile testing. The remarks came just a few weeks after Trump and Kim’s second second summit in Hanoi ended abruptly without an agreement.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry says that Reiwa, the name of the country’s new imperial era, means “beautiful harmony” and not “command” or “order” as many have suggested.
“We felt the need to let the world know that nobody (in the government) thinks like that,” Hiroatsu Satake, a foreign ministry official, told the Japan Times after a controversy broke out over the name announced earlier this week.
Social media users were quick to point out that while the second character could be translated as “peace,” the first, rei, had the opposite connotation, suggesting strict command or control.
Militarism is a sensitive topic in Japan, which passed reforms in 2015 to expand the role of its defense forces despite vehement protests inside and outside the legislature.
“If you look up [rei] in dictionaries, I believe a meaning like this does show up, but it has multiple other meanings too,” Satake told the Times, referring to the lesser known interpretation of rei as “good” or “beautiful.”
The names of imperial eras, called gengo, are widely used in Japan and feature on currency and official documents.
The country’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said earlier that the name Reiwa was inspired by the 7th century poetry collection Manyoshu, where rei appears in the word reigetsu—an auspicious month—in a poem that describes an early spring breeze.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe elaborated on the name in a statement: “In this auspicious month of early spring, the weather is fine and the wind gentle.”
The Reiwa era will begin on May 1, when Crown Prince Naruhito takes the throne and Emperor Akihito steps down, marking the end of his 30-year Heisei era.
In a recently released trailer for PM Narendra Modi, a biopic of the Indian prime minister, actor Vivek Oberoi, playing the Indian leader, stares angrily into the camera and declares: “I am a warning Pakistan: if you dare raise your hand against us again, we will chop it off.”
That would be inflammatory at the best of times, but this comes just weeks after tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors escalated to alarming levels, following a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on Feb. 14 that killed 40 Indian military personnel. It was purportedly carried out by the same Pakistan-based terrorist outfit responsible for a 2016 attack on an Indian Army brigade that killed 17.
The 2016 attack (and a subsequent retaliatory operation by India) was the subject of its own Bollywood release on Jan. 11, Uri: The Surgical Strike, which also featured a fictionalized portrayal of Modi. Such films, coming so soon before India’s general election begins on Apr. 11, have drawn fire from opposition politicians, who say they are little more than propaganda. While PM Narendra Modi, which releases on Apr. 5, has no reported financial ties to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Oberoi is a staunch Modi supporter, and BJP leaders also attended promotional events for the film.
“They are doing hagiographical portrayals of real-life characters without looking at the subtler nuances of politics,” Namrata Joshi, a film critic with Indian newspaper The Hindu, tells TIME.
Uri, the highest grossing Bollywood film so far in 2019, certainly sparked a wave of jingoism across the country. “How’s the josh?”—a popular exhortation from the film (josh means passion or zeal)—went viral on social media and has been uttered by Modi and other senior ministers at public events. References to the film were also made in the wake of the Kashmir attack, when the cinematic image of Modi as a strong patriarch, able to take on India’s enemies, found resonance among the many who called for stern action against Pakistan.
There have been films attacking Modi’s political enemies as well. The Accidental Prime Minister, released on the same day as Uri, was a damning depiction of the 2004 to 2014 tenure of India’s former Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh of the Indian National Congress. It also took a dig at Modi’s primary political rival, current Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who was portrayed as confused and lacking confidence. Unsurprisingly, the film was enthusiastically talked-up by the BJP.
Riveting tale of how a family held the country to ransom for 10 long years. Was Dr Singh just a regent who was holding on to the PM’s chair till the time heir was ready? Watch the official trailer of #TheAccidentalPrimeMinister, based on an insider’s account, releasing on 11 Jan! pic.twitter.com/ToliKa8xaH
Experts say such films can play a role in changing public perception among India’s large numbers of illiterate adults, who are voracious consumers of television and movies.
Not to be outdone, supporters of opposition leader Gandhi will be flocking to his biopic, My Name is RaGa, which is expected to release sometime in April. The trailer shows the fictionalized Gandhi invoking the memories of his father and grandmother, both former prime ministers and both assassinated, calling them martyrs who gave their lives for the country.
“Bollywood is not just a form of entertainment but also a parallel form of information which serves as a form of visual literacy for people from the lower and lower-middle class,” Rajinder Dudrah, professor of cultural studies at Birmingham University in the U.K., tells TIME.
The movie industry plays such a central role in popular Indian culture that several prominent actors have even found a place in temples, where they are literally idolized and worshiped. Many actors have also parlayed their on-screen reputations into successful, real-life political careers. Some call this a form of exploitation.
“It is all about working the optics and colonizing the minds of the audience,” Shubhra Gupta, a film critic with The Indian Express, tells TIME. “A narrative is being built clearly, smartly and very insidiously.”
(LONDON) — A Brexit-related vote in Britain’s House of Commons has ended in a tie, the first time that has happened in a quarter-century.
In an illustration of politicians’ deadlock over Britain’s exit from the European Union, Wednesday’s vote ended in a 310-310 draw.
Under Parliament’s rules, the speaker of the House has tie-breaking power. Speaker John Bercow cast his vote with the noes. He said that was in keeping with the principle that “it is not for the chair to create a majority that otherwise doesn’t exist.”
The result means lawmakers have rejected the idea of holding a third day of voting on alternative Brexit options Monday.
Bercow says the last time a vote in the Commons ended in a tie was in 1993.
(WARSAW, Poland) — A priest in northern Poland who led a public burning of books that included titles from the “Harry Potter” series and other items parishioners wanted destroyed has apologized, saying the ritual was not intended to condemn specific authors, religions or social groups.
The Rev. Rafal Jarosiewicz called the burning of objects thought to be connected to magic and the occult, and deemed by their owners to be an evil force, “unfortunate.” He published the apology late Tuesday on the Facebook page of a foundation he founded.
Jarosiewicz and other priests have drawn criticism for burning books, Buddhist figurines, an African mask, and other items Sunday outside a Catholic church in the city of Gdansk. They said they encouraged parishioners to bring in things that disturbed them so the priests could do away with bad influences.
Jarosiewicz was fined by city guards. An anti-smog group also contacted prosecutors about the illegal burning of waste in an open fire.
Images from the burning at the Parish of Our Lady Mother of the Church and St. Catherine of Sweden were posted on the SMS z Nieba (SMS from Heaven) foundation, which uses unconventional means to carry out religious work across Poland.
In the pictures, flames are consuming an African wooden mask, a small Buddhist figure, figurines of elephants and books on personality, magic and from J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series. Some Catholic faithful and priests think the “Harry Potter” books promote sorcery.
The book-burning attracted attention as Poland’s influential Catholic Church is grappling with revelations about the scale of child sex abuse allegedly committed by pedophile priests.
Last month, the country’s Catholic bishops’ conference, the Episcopal Conference of Poland, said it had recorded cases of 382 clergymen who have abused 625 minors since 1990.
Prosecutors in the eastern town of Zamosc said Wednesday they plan to send an indictment to the regional court charging a priest in his 30s who is accused of recording video of girls and women while they were in public changing rooms and toilets.
Prosecutor Artur Szykula told The Associated Press the priest admitted wrongdoing.
The priest was caught in August in Croatia while recording a girl in a changing room. That case is to be heard by a court in Split, Croatia, Szykula said.
(LONDON) — Britain’s Brexit drama went into overtime Wednesday as Prime Minister Theresa May and the country’s main opposition sought a compromise deal to prevent an abrupt British departure from the European Union at the end of next week.
In an about-face that left pro-Brexit members of May’s Conservative Party howling with outrage, May sought to forge an agreement with left-wing Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn after failing three times to win Parliament’s backing for her Brexit deal.
May also said she would ask the EU for a further delay to Britain’s departure date — postponed once already — to avert a chaotic and economically damaging no-deal Brexit on April 12.
“The country needs a solution, the country deserves a solution, and that’s what I’m working to find,” May told lawmakers before meeting with Corbyn for about two hours.
Afterward, both the government and Labour called the meeting “constructive” and said their teams would hold more in-depth talks Thursday.
May’s office said both sides had shown “flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close.”
Corbyn, more muted, said “the meeting was useful but inconclusive.”
“There hasn’t been as much change as I expected,” he said.
May’s change of direction left her caught between angry Conservatives who accuse her of throwing away Brexit, and Labour opponents mistrustful of her sudden change of heart.
Labour lawmaker Paul Sweeney said May’s outreach to his party “shows the desperation that she’s in.” He said May wanted Labour “to bail her out of a position she’s dug herself in.”
Pro-Brexit Conservatives, meanwhile, expressed outrage. Two junior ministers quit, and other lawmakers angrily accused May of putting the socialist Corbyn in the Brexit driver’s seat.
Her cross-party talks — after almost three years of seeking to push through her own version of a Brexit divorce deal — came amid EU warnings that a damaging withdrawal without a plan was growing more likely by the day.
After lawmakers three times rejected an agreement struck between the bloc and May late last year, the leaders of the EU’s 27 remaining countries postponed the original March 29 Brexit date and gave the U.K. until April 12 approve the divorce deal or come up with a new one.
So far the House of Commons has failed to find a majority for any alternative plan.
“A no deal on 12 April at midnight looks more and more likely,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday, adding that would bring disruption for EU citizens and businesses, but much worse economic damage for Britain.
EU Economy Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said a “no-deal” Brexit would mean long lines at borders and paperwork headaches for customs checks on the 11,000 vehicles entering and leaving Britain each day.
“I prefer strict controls at the price of a few lines of trucks to a health crisis or illegal trafficking,” he said. “The security of Europeans will be our top priority.”
May’s pivot toward Labour points Britain toward a softer Brexit than the one she has championed since British voters decided in June 2016 to leave the EU. Labour wants the U.K. to remain in the EU’s customs union — a trading area that sets common tariffs on goods coming into the bloc while allowing free trade in goods moving between member states.
May has always ruled that out, saying it would limit Britain’s ability to forge an independent trade policy.
May’s decision to negotiate with Corbyn is risky for both the Conservatives and Labour, and could widen divisions over Brexit that run through both parties.
Labour is formally committed to enacting the voters’ decision to leave the EU, but many of the party’s lawmakers want a new referendum that could keep Britain in the bloc. They will be angry if the party actively helps bring about the U.K.’s departure.
Meanwhile, May’s move infuriated pro-Brexit Conservatives who say Britain must make a clean break with the EU in order to take control of its laws and trade policy.
Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Brexit “is becoming soft to the point of disintegration.” Ex-Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said he was “absolutely appalled” by May’s talks with Corbyn.
Junior Wales Minister Nigel Adams quit his post, criticizing May for seeking a deal with “a Marxist who has never once in his political life out British interests first” — a reference to the left-wing Corbyn.
He was followed by junior Brexit minister Chris Heaton-Harris, who said in his resignation letter that the government “should have honored the result of the 2016 referendum” and left the EU on March 29.
Meanwhile, pro-EU lawmakers were not banking on talks between May and Corbyn succeeding.
They sought a legal lock to ensure May could not go back on her promise to seek a delay to Brexit rather than let Britain tumble out of the bloc.
A bill being debated Wednesday would compel May to seek to extend the Brexit process beyond April 12 in order to prevent a no-deal departure. Its backers hope to push the bill through into law before May attends an April 10 summit in Brussels where EU leaders expect to hear details of Britain’s new Brexit plan.
EU leaders, weary of the whole Brexit circus, gave a cautious welcome to May’s attempt at rapprochement.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would work “until the last hour” to secure an orderly Brexit, but stressed that “these solutions have to be reached above all in Britain itself.”
Britain’s televised political melodrama over Brexit — with its weeks of passionate debates, narrow votes and seemingly endless crises — has left EU leaders exasperated, but also fascinated.
The EU’s Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, joked that “the sessions in the House of Commons have become more popular than the matches in the Premier League.”
“The trouble is that it is always a draw in the House of Commons,” he said.
(Bloomberg) — Pilots on the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed last month followed protocol set by planemaker Boeing Co. to manually disable an automated anti-stall system as they tried to save the Boeing Co. 737 Max jet, a person familiar with the situation said.
The Manuevering Characteristics Augmentation System turned itself on numerous times during the short flight, the person said. MCAS, which is programmed to push down a plane’s nose to help prevent aerodynamic stalls in some situations, is a focus of concern by regulators and lawmakers after 346 people died in crashes of Boeing’s newest version of the 737 flown by Ethiopian and Lion Air less than five months apart.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the pilots on the deadly flight initially followed the emergency procedures laid out by Boeing, cutting power to electric motors driven by the automated system. The newspaper said pilots turned electric power back on after cranking a manual wheel that turned the same movable surfaces on the plane’s tail that MCAs had affected.
A Boeing representative in Singapore said she wasn’t able to comment, adding that the accident is under investigation and questions should be directed to the investigators in charge. An Ethiopian transport ministry spokesman didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A preliminary report into the Ethiopian Airlines crash is nearing release but the exact timing is uncertain. The two disasters have rocked the credibility of Boeing as well as U.S. regulators who approved the new plane. Regulators around the world grounded the 737 Max, Boeing’s fastest-selling plane ever, before the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority followed suit.
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