EU WARNS UK'S BREXIT BILL WOULD BREAK INTERNATIONAL LAW
The European Union Wednesday warned Britain that any breach, even the most
minor detail, of the withdrawal treaty both sides had signed would break
international law and undermine the little trust that is left between both
sides in negotiating a future post-Brexit trade agreement. The warning came
as the British government introduced legislation that intentionally breached
the treaty, amid an increasingly messy countdown to a full Brexit divorce.
Britain announced draft legislation that explicitly acknowledged that some
of its provisions would break international law "in a very specific and
limited way," according to a copy seen by Reuters.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen insisted that the age-old
diplomatic cornerstone of "agreements must be kept" continues to apply and
called the principle "the foundation of prosperous future relations," saying
that if the U.K. followed through on indications that it was prepared to
break an international agreement on EU-British relations, it "would break
international law and undermine trust."
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the government's
plans to pass a bill breaking a treaty on the withdrawal from the EU.
Johnson insisted the bill was about "protecting jobs, protecting growth,
ensuring the fluidity and safety of our U.K. internal market."
"My job is to uphold the integrity of the U.K. but also to protect the
Northern Ireland peace process and the Good Friday Agreement," he added,
calling the new bill a "legal safety net" if the EU made an "irrational
interpretation" of post-Brexit arrangements.
The government maintains its new U.K. Internal Market Bill is needed to
smooth trade between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and to
help power recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, once a post-Brexit
transition ends this year.
But under its EU Withdrawal Treaty, Britain is meant to liaise with Brussels
on any arrangements for Northern Ireland, which saw three decades of
bloodshed until the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and will become the U.K.'s
only land border with the EU.
Scottish nationalist MP Ian Blackford argued the new bill was a power-grab
by London from the devolved administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and
Belfast, and he gave a withering assessment after Northern Ireland Secretary
Brandon Lewis had conceded the changes did "break international law in a
very specific and limited way."
"The prime minister and his friends, a parcel of rogues, are creating a
rogue state," he told the Westminster parliament.
Critics accused Johnson's government of engaging in bad-faith diversionary
tactics as it battles Brussels on key issues such as state subsidies and
fishing rights.
According to them, the bill - if approved - would give ministers the power
to ignore parts of the protocol by modifying the form of export declarations
and other exit procedures. It will be debated in both chambers of Parliament
and require their approval before becoming law.
UNITED STATES FORMALLY ANNOUNCES TROOP REDUCTION IN IRAQ
The United States military on Wednesday announced that it would be reducing
its presence in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 troops this month, formalizing a
move that had been long expected.
Last month, Reuters reported that the United States was expected to reduce
its troops presence in Iraq by about a third.
The United States has around 5,200 troops that were deployed in Iraq to
fight the Islamic State militant group. Officials in the U.S.-led coalition
say Iraqi forces are now mostly able to handle the remnants of Islamic State
on their own.
"We are continuing to expand on our partner capacity programs that enable
Iraqi forces and allow us to reduce our footprint in Iraq," Marine General
Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, said during a visit to
Iraq.
A senior administration official had said on Tuesday that President Donald
Trump would be announcing a reduction of U.S. troops from Iraq.
NORWEGIAN LAWMAKER NOMINATES DONALD TRUMP FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
A Norwegian lawmaker has nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize
for 2021 for helping broker a deal between Israel and the United Arab
Emirates, the second time he has put forward the U.S. president for the
honour.
Thousands of people are eligible to nominate candidates for the Nobel Peace
Prize, including members of parliaments and governments, university
professors and past laureates.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which decides on the award, declined to
comment.
"It is for his contribution for peace between Israel and the UAE. It is a
unique deal," Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a member of parliament for the
right-wing Progress Party, told Reuters.
Mr. Tybring-Gjedde, who nominated Trump for the 2019 award for his
diplomatic efforts with North Korea, said he also nominated him this year
because of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.
Last year Mr. Trump said he deserved to be awarded the Peace Prize for his
work on North Korea and Syria, but he complained he probably would never get
the honour. Former President Barack Obama, a nemesis of Trump, won the prize
in 2009 just months into his first term in office.
Nominations for this year's award closed on Jan. 31 and the winner will be
announced on Oct. 9 in Oslo.
U.S. REVISES ITS TRAVEL ADVISORY FOR PAKISTAN, PLACES IT AT LEVEL 3
The United States has revised its travel advisory for Pakistan, bringing it
down to Level 3 category of 'reconsider travel' from the previous Level 4 of
'do not travel' category.
India, which was placed in the Level 4 category on August 6 due to the
increased cases of the novel coronavirus, continues to be in the "do not
travel" advisory of the State Department.
"Reconsider travel to Pakistan due to COVID-19 and terrorism," the State
Department said in its latest travel advisory on Tuesday, replacing the
August 10 travel advisory that had placed Pakistan in the highest Level 4
category.
It urged the U.S. citizens not to travel to Balochistan and Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) provinces due to terrorism and kidnapping, and the
immediate vicinity of the Line of Control due to terrorism and the potential
for armed conflict. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has
issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for Pakistan due to COVID-19, it said.
The Pakistan government has lifted stay-at-home orders and allowed the
resumption of intercity domestic travel and mass transit services in most
cities, it said.
DONALD TRUMP KNEW ABOUT CORONAVIRUS' SEVERITY IN JANUARY, REVEALS BOOK
US President Donald Trump knew of the severity of the coronavirus even
before the first case hit the country, revealed a book.
According to news agency Associated Press, a book titled "Rage" written by
journalist Bob Woodward has revealed that Trump had "surprising level of
details" about the threat of the virus than previously known.
The revelations assume significance because Trump, during the course of
pandemic, has repeatedly played down the lethality of the virus in public,
at times insisting that the virus is going to "disappear" and "all (will)
work out fine".
"Trump never did seem willing to fully mobilize the federal government and
continually seemed to push problems off on the states," Woodward writes.
"There was no real management theory of the case or how to organize a
massive enterprise to deal with one of the most complex emergencies the
United States had ever faced."
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president's words to
the public were designed to express confidence and calm at a time of
insurmountable challenges.
"The president has never lied to the American public on Covid. The president
was expressing calm and his actions reflect that," McEnany said.
In his book, Woodward held a series of 18 interviews with the US president
from December to July. The book also covers race relations, diplomacy with
North Korea and a range of other issues that have arisen during the past two
years.
"This is a deadly stuff." "Pretty amazing." The coronavirus maybe "five
times more deadly than flu". These were some of Trump's reactions on
coronavirus quoted in Woodward's book.
Trump not only knew about the virus but also admitted that he kept the
knowledge (about the virus) hidden from the public.
"I wanted to always play it down," Trump told Woodward on March 19, the CNN
report said. Trump justified his action saying that he did not want to
create a panic.
PALESTINIAN FM URGES ARAB STATES TO DISMISS ISRAEL-UAE DEAL
The Palestinian foreign minister has called on Arab states to dismiss a deal
between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalise relations,
describing the agreement scheduled to be finalised next week as "an
earthquake".
The Palestinians have repeatedly voiced their rejection of the US-brokered
Israel-UAE deal as trading away one of the few cards they have in moribund
peace talks with Israel to establish their own independent state -- the Arab
boycott of Israel.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki told the Arab League in
Wednesday's meeting that the Palestinian Authority called for an emergency
meeting following the announcement of the UAE-Israeli deal.
He said one Arab League member opposed a Palestinian request to add an item
to the meeting agenda, an apparent reference to a Palestinian-introduced
draft resolution on the deal.
Al-Malki did not name the country. The meeting was held online because of
the coronavirus pandemic.
Al-Malki described the deal between the UAE and Israel as "an earthquake"
that hit the Arab consensus over the Palestinian cause and he urged Arab
foreign ministers to reject the deal, "otherwise our meeting will be
considered a blessing or collusion with it, or a cover for it".
Hossam Zaki, the Arab League's deputy secretary general, told a news
conference in Cairo that the foreign ministers failed to reach a compromise
on a resolution on the UAE-Israeli deal because of differences between the
Palestinians and Emirates on the wording of the Palestinian-introduced
draft.
"A draft resolution needs more time and extensive consultations... we hope
in the future to reach an agreed form," he said.
'SUBSTANTIAL CHANCE' RUSSIAN OFFICIALS BEHIND NAVALNY POISONING: POMPEO
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday there was a "substantial
chance" that the suspected poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was
ordered by senior Russian officials.
"There is a substantial chance that this actually came from senior Russian
officials," Pompeo told the Ben Shapiro radio program, according to a
transcript released by the state department.
Pompeo said the United States was evaluating how it would respond.
"We'll make sure we do our part to do whatever we can to reduce the risk
that things like this happen again," he said.
Navalny, who is being treated in a Berlin hospital, was airlifted to Germany
after falling ill on a Russian domestic flight last month.
Germany says he was poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent in an
attempt to murder him. Russia has said it has seen no evidence that Navalny
was poisoned.
"I think the world has matured and come to an understanding that this is not
how normal countries operate, and this will prove costly for the Russians,"
Pompeo said.
The Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers issued a statement on Tuesday
condemning the "confirmed poisoning" of Navalny.
KABUL BOMB TARGETS VICE-PRESIDENT, KILLS 10 CIVILIANS: AFGHAN OFFICIALS
A bombing in the Afghan capital on Wednesday targeted the convoy of the
country's first vice president, killing 10 people and wounding more than a
dozen others, including several of the vice president's bodyguards, the
Interior Ministry said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing and the Taliban
quickly denied they were behind the attack.
First Vice President Amrullah Saleh suffered minor burns in the blast.
Saleh, who is also Afghanistan's former intelligence chief, said in his
first television appearance immediately after the attack that he was fine
and had sustained only slight burns. He appeared in the TV footage with
bandages on one hand.
His spokesman, Razwan Murad, called the attack a "vicious terrorist attempt"
on Saleh's life. The roads in the vicinity of the bombing were closed off.
The Interior Ministry says the bomb went off as Saleh's convoy was passing
through a section of Kabul with shops that sell gas cylinders for use in
heating homes and cooking. The blast ignited a fire that set ablaze a number
of the shops.
The explosion left behind a scene of destruction.
The Interior Ministry's spokesman, Tariq Arian, confirmed to The Associated
Press earlier that the bombing targeted Saleh's convoy.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed was quick to deny the insurgents were
involved in any way, saying that "today's explosion in Kabul has nothing to
do with the Mujahedeen of the Islamic Emirate", as the Taliban call
themselves.
SRI LANKAN TEA KICKS UP A STORM IN LEBANON
Lebanon's President Michel Aoun has come under fire after it emerged that
tea donated by Sri Lanka for victims of the Beirut blast was distributed
instead to families of his presidential guards.
Critics see it as yet another example of official corruption in a country
reeling from the August 4 explosion that killed more than 190 people,
wounded thousands and ravaged central Beirut.
Sri Lanka, many of whose expat community in Lebanon work as housemaids, was
one of several nations that rushed to show support in the wake of Lebanon's
worst peace-time disaster.
The President's office on August 24 released a picture of Mr. Aoun receiving
the Sri Lankan Ambassador, and quoted her as saying Colombo had "donated
1,675 kg of Ceylon tea to those affected by the Beirut blast".
After Lebanese media and social media asked what happened to the donation,
it issued a second statement on Tuesday.
The presidency said Mr. Aoun had written to his Sri Lankan counterpart to
thank him for "a gift of Ceylon tea that had been received by the Army...
and distributed to the families of soldiers in the presidential guard".
Social media erupted in criticism, with the hashtags "tea thief" and "Ceylon
tea" trending on Twitter.
"The tea was sent to the Lebanese, particularly those affected by the
explosion. Of course it wasn't a present for those who don't need it," wrote
Paula Yacoubian, a former MP who resigned after the blast many blame on
official neglect.
"Distributing the aid to your entourage is shameful," she wrote.
NAWAZ SHARIF FILES REVIEW PETITION AGAINST IMMEDIATE RETURN TO PAKISTAN TO
FACE CORRUPTION CHARGES
Embattled former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday filed a
petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), stating that his health
condition would not allow him to return home from London and surrender in a
corruption case by September 10, according to a media report.
Last week, the IHC gave a "last chance" to the former premier to surrender
and appear before it on September 10 for hearing in the AL-Azizia corruption
case. The court had warned of legal action for absconding.
Sharif, 70, has been in London since November last year after the Lahore
High Court granted him permission to go abroad for four weeks for treating a
heart disease and an immune system disorder. The three-time premier was
sentenced to seven years in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case.
Nawaz's lawyer, Khawaja Haris Ahmed, filed the review petition on Wednesday
and submitted the former premier's latest medical files attested by
London-based consultant cardiothoracic surgeon Dr David Lawrence, The Dawn
newspaper reported.
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