Lebanon's Hariri resigns after nearly two weeks of nationwide protests - CNN

The three-time prime minister has led a national unity government, which included some of his political adversaries, for less than two years. In recent months, the country saw rapid economic deterioration, ballooning debt and rising prices.

On October 17, the government proposed imposing a tax on Whatsapp calls, along with other austerity measures, sparking nationwide protests that paralyzed the country.

Lebanon has been under lock-down since the protests began. Banks and schools have been closed for 12 days, while protesters blocked major routes throughout the tiny eastern Mediterranean nation.

"I can't hide this from you. I have reached a dead-end," Hariri said in his resignation speech.

"To all my political peers, our responsibility today is how to protect Lebanon and to uplift the economy," he added. "Today, there is a serious opportunity and we should not waste it."

Scores of protesters in downtown Beirut cheered as Hariri announced his departure. At their peak, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest government corruption on Sunday.

Over the last week, protests have dwindled in number, concentrating on road closures on the country's main routes as the economic crisis has deepened.

Chaos in downtown Beirut

Hariri's announcement came hours after chaos broke out in downtown Beirut when a mob stormed into the capital's main protest site, setting parts of it alight and tearing up tents on Tuesday afternoon.

Shouting "Shia, Shia" and singing chants in support of Hezbollah and Amal -- another Lebanese political party -- hundreds of men wielding sticks poured into the site, breaking up protest road closures and attacking demonstrators. Police fired dozens of rounds of tear gas to disperse the crowds.

The military was deployed to the streets of downtown Beirut on Tuesday, and many anti-government protesters have cleared the site. Earlier, female protesters tried to form a human chain trying to separate the demonstrators from the mobs.

Hezbollah's media office could not be reached for comment.

Calls had grown in recent days for Hariri and his government to resign. The Prime Minister's cabinet includes his political adversaries, including Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant and political group.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last week said the protests were part of an international conspiracy aimed at toppling the group.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/29/middleeast/lebanon-saad-hariri-resigns-intl/index.html

2019-10-29 14:42:11Z
52780421634074

Britain looks set for an early election in attempt to break Brexit deadlock - NBC News

LONDON — The United Kingdom looks to be heading for an early general election days before Christmas, the latest attempt to break the country's Brexit deadlock.

The House of Commons is set to vote Tuesday night on whether to hold an early ballot in mid-December — which would be the country's first general election in that month in almost 100 years.

Leading in the polls, Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants an early election but does not have enough parliamentary power to sign off on this alone.

Hours before the pivotal vote in Parliament, the opposition Labour Party said it would be supporting the bill, meaning it looks very likely to pass.

Oct. 28, 201902:46

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.

"We will now launch the most ambitious and radical campaign for real change our country has ever seen," Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told a meeting of senior lawmakers, according to a party statement.

Whether an election will be enough to break the paralysis, chaos and uncertainty that is gripping British politics remains to be seen. What's clear is the central campaign issue will be Brexit.

The prime minister says he wants to leave the E.U. as soon as possible and has negotiated his own divorce deal with European negotiators. However many people — including some within his own party — fear his plan is too hard-line.

He was forced to make a major concession this week after failing to pass his deal in Parliament. This meant he broke his promise to leave the E.U. by the deadline of Oct. 31, instead having to ask for an extension of three months.

Johnson's Conservative Party leads the polls by as much as 16 percentage points.

The Labour Party says it wants to negotiate its own deal and put this back to the people in a second referendum. Corbyn had previously resisted calls for an early election because he said it would allow Johnson to leave Europe without a deal — an extreme scenario that could trigger severe economic pain. The extension scenario means this "no deal" Brexit can't happen until next year at least.

Others such as the Liberal Democrats and Scottish Nationalist Party want to cancel Brexit altogether.

If the Conservatives or Labour were to secure a decisive enough victory, this would in theory give them the green light to push ahead with their agenda on Brexit and other issues. However, another possibility is that the election would return a Parliament just as deadlocked as this one.

If no party wins more than 50 percent of seats, this is known as a "hung Parliament." It's what happened in 2017 and 2010 and usually means parties have to form coalitions in order to govern.

British elections are usually held every five years and in the spring. If approved, this election would be the second inside three years, and the first held in December since 1923.

Alexander Smith

Alexander Smith is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital based in London.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/britain-looks-set-early-election-attempt-break-brexit-deadlock-n1073201

2019-10-29 12:28:00Z
52780420866456

Britain looks set for an early election in attempt to break Brexit deadlock - NBC News

LONDON — The United Kingdom looks to be heading for an early general election days before Christmas, the latest attempt to break the country's Brexit deadlock.

The House of Commons is set to vote Tuesday night on whether to hold an early ballot in mid-December — which would be the country's first general election in that month in almost 100 years.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants an early election but does not have enough parliamentary power to sign off on this alone. Hours before the pivotal vote in Parliament, the the opposition Labour Party said it would be supporting the bill, meaning it looks very likely to pass.

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.

Oct. 28, 201902:46

"We will now launch the most ambitious and radical campaign for real change our country has ever seen," Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told a meeting of senior lawmakers, according to a party statement.

Whether an election will be enough to break the paralysis, chaos and uncertainty that is gripping British politics remains to be seen. What's clear is the central campaign issue will be Brexit.

The prime minister says he wants to leave the E.U. as soon as possible and has negotiated his own divorce deal with European negotiators. However many lawmakers — including some within his own party — fear his plan is too hardline.

He was forced into a major concession this week after failing to pass his deal in Parliament by Oct. 31. He was forced to ask for an extension to the deadline, which has now been pushed back three months.

Johnson's Conservative Party leads the polls by as much as 16 percentage points.

The Labour Party says it wants to negotiate its own deal and put this back to the people in a second referendum. Others such as the Liberal Democrats and Scottish Nationalist Party want to cancel Brexit altogether.

British elections are usually held every five years and in the spring. If approved this election would be the second inside three years, and the first held in December since 1923.

Alexander Smith

Alexander Smith is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital based in London.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/britain-looks-set-early-election-attempt-break-brexit-deadlock-n1073201

2019-10-29 11:29:00Z
52780420866456

US military envisions broad defence of Syrian oilfields - Al Jazeera English

The United States will repel any attempt to take Syria's oilfields away with "overwhelming force" whether the challenger is Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) or forces backed by Russia or Syria, the Pentagon has warned.

The US military announced last week it was reinforcing its position in Syria with additional assets, including mechanised forces, to prevent oilfields from being taken over by ISIL remnants or other armed groups.

US defence chief Mark Esper offered some of his most detailed remarks to date about the mission at a news briefing on Monday.

"US troops will remain positioned in this strategic area to deny ISIS access those vital resources. And we will respond with overwhelming military force against any group that threatens the safety of our forces there," Esper told reporters.

More:

Pressed on whether the US military mission included denying any Russian or Syrian government forces access to the oilfields, Esper said: "The short answer is yes, it presently does."

He noted the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) relied on that oil income to fund its fighters, including the ones guarding prisons that hold captured ISIL soldiers.

"We want to make sure that SDF does have access to resources in order to guard the prisons, in order to arm their own troops, in order to assist us with the defeat-ISIS mission," he said.

"So that's our mission, to secure the oilfields."

'We're keeping the oil'

President Donald Trump recently proposed hiring an American oil company to begin repairing Syria's oil infrastructure, which has been devastated by years of war. Repeated US air strikes against facilities for oil storage, transport, processing and refining starting in 2015 inflicted heavy damage.

Esper said last week that a "mechanised" force would reinforce US positions in the oil region, meaning a force equipped with tanks or Bradley infantry carriers. On Monday he provided no details about the makeup of the force.

He referred to "multiple state and non-state" forces vying for control of Syrian territory and resources, including the oil. He said while the main US military mission is to ensure the "enduring defeat" of ISIL, that now will include denying oil income for the group.

Is Russia the new power broker in Middle East?

"The United States will retain control of oil fields in northeast Syria," Esper said, adding at the height of now-deceased ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's rule, those oil fields provided the bulk of his group's income.

Esper's remarks echoed Trump's focus on the oil in Syria.

"We're keeping the oil," Trump said during a speech in Chicago. "Remember that, I've always said that. Keep the oil. We want to keep the oil - $45m a month - keep the oil. We've secured the oil."

Confrontation?

The area has been the scene of unusual confrontations with US forces, such as a one-sided battle in February 2018 in which a pro-Syrian government force - reported to be mainly private Russian mercenaries - unleashed an artillery barrage near a small US military outpost.

As then-defence chief James Mattis recounted the episode in congressional testimony two months later, he ordered the attacking force to be "annihilated - and it was after Russian authorities insisted the attackers were not their troops.

Esper said on Monday he has seen no sign of Syrian or Russian forces challenging US control of the oilfields.

In recent days, however, US officials detected what they considered to be a significant massing of Syrian and Russian forces on the western side of the Euphrates River near Deir Az Zor, a US official said.

Russian officials were contacted by phone, and the US was given assurances the staged forces would not move east, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/military-envisions-broad-defence-syrian-oilfields-191029093044989.html

2019-10-29 09:44:00Z
52780420190780

Corbyn's backing means election is on - BBC News

Now it is on.

The Labour leader has just issued a statement pressing the button on his election campaign.

In a couple of sentences, giving Boris Johnson the election he craves.

There may still be wrangling about the dates.

• Labour to back an early general election

Labour and the smaller opposition parties might still have a battle with the government in Parliament this afternoon over when the best or worst time is to ask all of us to go to the ballot boxes.

But Labour has, against the wishes of many of its MPs, shifted to supporting a December election and with that, it means we are on for the first December general election in decades.

The prime minister hopes this will give him a victory at the polls that would allow him rapidly to get his Brexit deal through Parliament and the UK out of the EU.

The Labour leader hopes for a souped-up version of his move forward at the 2017 election that would mean, contrary to the view of many of his own MPs, his project can continue and build.

The Lib Dems and SNP hope for a chance to stop Brexit happening, and expand their own political positions at a junction for the country.

But none of the parties can be remotely sure of what will happen next.

An election at this time of year is unusual and surprising.

The results, when they finally come in in several weeks time, may be the same.

Take a breath though, and don't put this in your diary until the votes in Parliament to back the election have actually been counted too.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-50221556

2019-10-29 11:04:20Z
52780420866456

Pro-democracy Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong barred from election - Fox News

Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday barred high-profile pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong from participating in the Chinese territory’s upcoming district council elections, a decision likely to sow further discord within the city wracked by nearly five months of political protests.

Wong, 23, said he was the only person among a pool of 1,100 candidates prevented from participating in the upcoming district council elections on Nov. 24, posting a copy of the letter he received to his Twitter page that said his nomination was no longer valid. 

He slammed the decision made by returning officer Laura Aron, who abruptly replaced another election official last week, as proof that Beijing is manipulating the election through political censorship and screening. Wong is the secretary general of Hong Kong's pro-democracy Demosisto party.

NBA 'ACTING LIKE A WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF CHINA,' PENCE SAYS AMID CONTROVERSY OVER HONG KONG TWEET

The government confirmed Wong's disqualification, without identifying him. It indicated the problem was related to a candidate advocating "self-determination" for Hong Kong, which it said conflicts with the requirement for candidates to declare they'll pledge allegiance to the city and uphold its constitution.

Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets since June, originally due to a since-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong nationals to be sent to mainland China to be tried in Communist party-controlled court. The protests evolved into calls for political reforms, police accountability and democratic elections in the Chinese territory, representing the largest populist challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012, Reuters reported.

MURDER SUSPECT WHO SPARKED HONG KONG PROTESTS RELEASED FROM PRISON

In this Sept. 11, 2019, file photo, Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong addresses the media during a press conference in Berlin, Germany. (AP)

Wong became known as the young face of Hong Kong's "Umbrella Movement" that peacefully occupied streets for 79 days in 2014, and he has since been repeatedly arrested and jailed. He has been less important to the current protest movement, which has been leaderless and whose participants have sought to remain anonymous. In a message on his Facebook page posted Saturday, Wong said he was against Hong Kong independence but supported a non-binding referendum for citizens to have influence over the territory’s future, Reuters reported.

His activities have nonetheless made him a target of China's communist leaders, who have used him to accuse foreign powers of colluding with anti-China separatists to foment unrest. Wong’s disqualification comes as Hong Kong's leader, Carrie Lam, ruled out finding a political resolution before ending protest violence. She also warned that the Asian financial hub was on the brink of an economic recession.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

"For the government to resort to measures that will appease the violent rioters, I don't think that is the solution," she told reporters. "Until and unless we tackle the violence and put an end to it, it is very difficult to continue the political dialogue we have done."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.foxnews.com/world/hong-kong-joshua-wong-disqualified-district-elections-democracy

2019-10-29 08:50:56Z
52780420755878

Trump Officials Had No Clue Where He Got 'Whimpering' Detail in His Baghdadi Raid Account - The Daily Beast

The killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi marked a significant win for the United States in the war against the terror group and a major achievement for Donald Trump’s national security policy. But within 24 hours of the raid being announced, the president’s penchant for embellishment had complicated the victory lap he was hoping to take. 

Announcing Baghdadi’s death, Trump claimed that the ISIS leader was “whimpering” and likened him to a “dog” in his attempt to escape U.S. forces. Five senior Trump administration officials who watched in real time as the president spoke on Sunday morning each told The Daily Beast that they had no idea where the president got the “whimpering and crying and screaming” detail. Two officials recounted how after they heard that on Sunday, they immediately began messaging each other questions and comments like, “uh where is he getting that?”

The comments confused officials in the Pentagon as well, some of who told The Daily Beast that there was no way Trump could have heard Baghdadi’s voice on the Situation Room live stream Saturday night because it did not have audio. Two senior officials said while President Trump could have spoken to commandos on the ground who carried out the raid but said that has not often been the case in past operations.

And on Monday, questions about where the president got his information continued to make its way to administration officials. At a press briefing Monday afternoon reporter peppered acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley with questions about Trump’s remarks about Baghdadi “whimpering” and “crying”. Asked whether he too had heard the whimpering and crying from Bagdadi, Esper said: “I don’t have those details.” Milley said the president had planned to talk to unit members involved in the raid but that he didn’t know the source of the Baghdadi description Trump used.

Baghdadi had commanded forces from hideouts in both Syria and Iraq and was responsible for the killing of thousands of individuals in both those countries. He also inspired the kidnapping and killing of American aid workers and journalists as well as spectacular attacks overseas. His death was celebrated as a major breakthrough in a years-long effort to limit ISIS’ reach and operational capacity; and, as such, questions over the validity of Trump’s account of the raid mounted were dismissed by his supporters and Republican operatives as the gripings of a press corps determined to find superficial ways to ding him. 

But if history is any guide, those questions could pose real headaches in the weeks and months ahead. In 2011 then-Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan told reporters Osama bin Laden was armed during a U.S. special operations raid. When White House press secretary Jay Carney later had to reverse that account the Obama administration was criticized with trying to embellish the specifics of that similarly historic raid.

Trump has made similar overstatements before. Two people close to the president say that when they heard about his comments on the “crying” late ISIS leader, it reminded them of how Trump privately, as well as publicly, enjoys reflexively insulting his enemies in situations much less weighty than an anti-Islamic State raid. “Whether they’re actually crying or not, [Trump] will very often accuse some person he’s in a fight with, like a celebrity or a politician, of being weak and just crying all over the place,” one of the sources said. “It’s a favorite insult of his.”

When it came to Baghdadi’s death, the president wasn’t the only one who seemed to get over his skis. On Sunday, President Barack Obama’s White House photographer Pete Souza suggested that a picture from the situation room featuring Trump had been staged after the attack had concluded based on an erroneous belief of when the raid took place. Souza wasn’t alone either. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) retweeted a tweet declaring that the picture was taken 95 minutes after the raid. 

But Trump wasn’t hampered on Monday by a fondness for hyperbole alone. He also seemed incapable of stopping himself from quickly veering back into the familiar territories of personal and cultural grievance. In his first visit to Chicago since he was sworn in as president, Trump delivered a speech on Monday blasting the city as a national embarrassment for its gang violence, crime stats, and immigration policies.

“It’s embarrassing to us as a nation,” Trump said at a convention for police chiefs. “All over the world they’re talking about Chicago. Afghanistan is a safe place by comparison.”

During the speech, the president took a shot at Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor who Chicago police said faked a violent hate crime on himself and then tried to pin it on nameless Trump supporters.

Eddie Johnson, the city’s police superintendent, made a point of boycotting Trump’s speech, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot posted to Twitter on Monday: “Rather than belittle Chicago’s communities with hateful and dishonest rhetoric, he needs to go back to D.C. and face his fate” during the ongoing impeachment inquiry.

Right after trashing Chicago within its city limits, President Trump headed back to D.C. to attend a Halloween event for trick-or-treaters at the White House. He also resumed a preferred pastime: hate-posting on Twitter.

“Can you believe that Shifty Adam Schiff, the biggest leaker in D.C., and a corrupt politician, is upset that we didn’t inform him before we raided and killed the #1 terrorist in the WORLD!? Wouldn’t be surprised if the Do Nothing Democrats Impeach me over that! DRAIN THE SWAMP!!” he tweeted on Monday evening.

That was sent minutes after he retweeted a December 2015 post by “Steph,” detailing why she called herself a devoted Trump follower: “I'm an American citizen, sick of being pillaged & endangered by my government for every faction, race, religion and cause other than my own.”

—With additional reporting by Sam Stein

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-officials-had-no-clue-where-he-got-whimpering-detail-in-his-baghdadi-raid-account

2019-10-29 08:32:00Z
52780420190780