British Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers a speech at 10 Downing Street on September 2, 2019 in London, England.
Chris J Ratcliffe | Getty Images
Sterling fell below $1.20 on Tuesday morning, reaching levels not seen since October 2016 as Britain's constitutional crisis over Brexit threatens to come to a head.
At around 7:30 a.m. London time, sterling was trading down at around $1.1997.
U.K. lawmakers return from summer recess on Tuesday afternoon, with a cross-party group of lawmakers expected to apply for an emergency debate and seize control of the agenda of the House of Commons, in a first effort to stop a no-deal Brexit.
This would be subject to a vote, which if passed, would tie Prime Minister Boris Johnson's hands ahead of the suspension of parliament from September 9 until October 14.
Johnson has vowed to leave the European Union on October 31 with or without a deal in place, and reiterated this pledge in a speech Monday evening. He also insisted that the chances of striking a new withdrawal agreement have increased.
However, government officials have said that if parliament votes in favor of the opposition's amendment to the terms of emergency debate in order to allow it to go ahead, the prime minister will call a snap general election for October 14.
In order for the vote to pass, a number of rebel lawmakers from within Johnson's ruling Conservative Party must flout his orders and join forces with the opposition, with several indicating already that they plan to do so. The prime minister has this week threatened to expel Conservative lawmakers who vote against him.
A "no-deal" Brexit is widely seen as a "cliff-edge" scenario to be avoided at all costs, resulting in Britain leaving the bloc with no transition period for legal and trading arrangements. Such an event is expected to cause food and medicine shortages along with significant border and travel disruption, according to the government's own contingency plans.
Hong Kong — Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong continued Monday with a general strike and a school boycott. It was the start of a new semester for students in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory, but protest organizers told CBS News correspondent Ramy Inocencio that as many as 10,000 students from 200 schools were skipping class.
High school students at one rally told CBS News they were grateful for the support they've received from other Hong Kongers. But the demonstrations over China's perceived efforts to curtail the city's unique freedoms come after a weekend of chaos.
Thousands of protesters swarmed Hong Kong's airport Sunday in an effort to shut it down again, and force the world to pay attention to their demands.
This time they were prevented from entering the terminal buildings because of a court injunction, so they blocked traffic instead, and threw objects onto the airport link's rails, shutting down the service.
Hong Kong protesters clash with police in vicious fight after defying ban
Protesters built barricades to block the airport rail service just one stop away from the airport itself. The action forced many travelers to make the 45 minute trek to the airport from that point on foot.
Riot police gathered down the road, and it looked like things were heading for a confrontation. In the end there was no clash, and although about two-dozen flights were cancelled, the airport managed to remain open and operational.
Saturday was more violent, with protesters assaulting government headquarters. They threw bricks and fire bombs. Police fired back with tear gas and water cannon that were tinted with blue dye, so those hit could be easily identified later.
Undercover police were attacked by protesters, and again they fired warning shots. In the subway, the police beat and pepper sprayed screaming passengers.
Thousands of Hong Kong protesters defy police ban to march for 13th week of protests
Inocencio says Hong Kong's police, once so respected, are now distrusted…even feared.
On Monday an editorial in Chinese state media warned "the end is coming for those attempting to disrupt Hong Kong."
It didn't give detail on any specific upcoming action, but it could be referring to a potential crackdown by Chinese troops, who have massed both inside Hong Kong territory, and just across the border in southern China.
Boris Johnson is considering seeking an early general election if MPs seeking to block a no-deal Brexit defeat the government this week.
The BBC understands "live discussions" are going on in No 10 about asking Parliament to approve a snap poll.
Political editor Laura Kuenssberg said it could happen as soon as Wednesday but no final decision had been taken.
Tory ex-ministers are joining forces with Labour to stop the UK leaving the EU on 31 October without a deal.
Amid mounting speculation about an election, Mr Johnson is due to hold an unscheduled cabinet meeting at 17.00 BST on Monday and will also speak to Conservative MPs.
The prime minister has said the UK must leave the EU on 31 October, with or without a deal, prompting a number of MPs to unite to try to prevent the UK leaving without an agreement.
They are expected to put forward legislation on Tuesday to stop no deal under "SO24" or Standing Order 24 - the rule allowing MPs to ask for a debate on a "specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration".
Tory rebels have been warned those who support the move would be expelled from the party and deselected.
A No 10 spokesman said it was treating this week's Brexit votes as an issue of confidence, which traditionally trigger a general election if the government loses.
But leading figures, including ex-cabinet minister David Gauke, have insisted that despite the threat of expulsion, they will press ahead with efforts to pass legislation requiring the PM to seek another Brexit extension if he cannot get a deal.
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There is not scheduled to be another general election until 2022.
Under the terms of the Fixed Terms Parliament Act, Mr Johnson would require the backing of two-thirds of the UK's 650 MPs to trigger an early poll this autumn.
Should this happen, the prime minister would be able to recommend the date of the poll - likely to be a hugely contentious issue - to the Queen.
If Parliament were dissolved on Friday then the earliest possible date for an election would be Friday 11 October. With polls normally taking place on a Thursday, 17 October is potentially the more likely earliest opportunity.
HONG KONG — A senior Hong Kong official on Monday warned for the first time that “elements of terror” were seen among the city’s pro-democracy protesters, as riot police officers took up positions around schools and spread out across Hong Kong’s subway system after a weekend of demonstrations punctuated by violence and vandalism.
The Hong Kong authorities had previously rejected a mainland official’s description of “signs of terrorism” in characterizing acts of violence by some protesters. But John Lee, the territory’s secretary for security, changed that stance on Monday, as the local government escalated its criticism of the monthslong demonstrations.
“The extent of violence, danger and destruction have reached very serious conditions,” Mr. Lee said. “Radical people have escalated their violent and illegal acts, showing elements of terror.”
Mr. Lee cited increasing violence but offered little further explanation of how officials decided to employ the word “terror.”
His comments followed a weekend of intense protest. Tens of thousands of people defied a police ban and marched through several central neighborhoods on Saturday. Some clashed with riot police officers near the government headquarters, hurling rocks and bricks as officers responded with tear gas, pepper spray and water cannon.
The police said protesters threw as many as 100 firebombs over the weekend, and displayed one they seized — made from a Corona Extra beer bottle — at a news conference.
Monday was the start of the school year for many students in Hong Kong. Young people made up one of the largest groups of protesters in recent months, and their activism was likely to continue on campus, with strikes and demonstrations planned.
Despite a reasonably quiet day in the city, many students traveling to school on Monday passed riot police officers in subway stations and outside schools. It is a rare for officers to be in full riot armor when not responding directly to an active protest, and some students said they found the officers’ presence in peaceful areas intimidating.
“They are standing there and giving off the feeling that they want to catch the ‘black shirts’ and stop students from boycotting class,” said Queena Tung, a 17-year-old student.
Subway service was suspended across large parts of Hong Kong on Saturday evening because of clashes in stations, with three stations remaining closed for much of the next day.
At Prince Edward Station in the Kowloon district, protesters fought with a group of older men. Then, riot police charge into a car and hit four people with batons before dousing them in pepper spray. Their actions were criticized by human rights groups, who said those people were posing no threat.
The police arrested 63 people in the Prince Edward and the Mong Kok subway stations. They included a 13-year-old boy who was arrested with two gasoline bombs, Mr. Lee said. In total, 159 people were arrested between Friday and Sunday for suspected offenses including unlawful assembly, possession of offensive weapons and assaulting police officers.
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Travelers took to walking to get to and from Hong Kong’s airport after demonstrators shut down train traffic to the transportation hub on Sunday.CreditLam Yik Fei for The New York Times
Sixteen people between the ages of 18 and 42 we re charged with rioting, John Tse, chief superintendent of the Police Public Relations Branch, said on Monday. They had been arrested in the Causeway Bay neighborhood on Saturday. In total, 1,117 people have been arrested since the protests started in June, he added.
On Sunday, demonstrators rallied outside Hong Kong International Airport, snarling transportation and shutting down train service to the transport hub, forcing travelers to scramble to get to and from the airport and overwhelming the bus system. A nearby subway station was also closed after it was damaged by protesters.
As a result, many protesters were forced to walk for hours to return to the city. Some crammed onto buses, while others were picked up by drivers who had volunteered to help with the exodus. The police waited in some subway stations and ferry terminals, looking for black T-shirts, the unofficial uniform of the protests, and other signs people had joined unauthorized assemblies.
Hong Kong’s chief secretary, Matthew Cheung, the city’s No. 2 official, gave his “strongest condemnation” of this weekend’s protests. “If violence is continuing we must stop it, without further ado. No nonsense,” he said. “Society must go back to normal.”
Mr. Lee also criticized members of the public who supported the more extreme protesters.
“Rationalizing or tolerating these serious acts of violence will turn into approving of violence and encouraging violence, making the violence spread, pushing Hong Kong to the brink of malfunctioning,” he said. “Yet in society there are instances where society acquiesces to violence. So I urge Hong Kong civilians to collectively say no to violence, and safeguard Hong Kong’s order and rule of law.”
The protests began over a government proposal, since suspended, that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese control in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” model, with far greater civil rights protections than mainland China. But many people felt the extradition plan would undermine that.
The protesters’ demands have since grown to include an independent investigation into the police use of force, amnesty for arrested protesters and expanded direct elections.
So far, China’s leaders have not commented publicly on the violence over the weekend. The mainland Chinese news media, though, warned the protesters that the central government would not back down. On Sunday, People’s Daily, the main newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, said that the Hong Kong police were entirely justified in using force against the protesters.
“These rioters would be well advised that it would be childish to underestimate the capacity of the police to halt violence,” the paper said in an online article. “Standing by them are seven million Hong Kong residents, and the ‘police support squad’ of 1.4 billion Chinese people.”
Xinhua, China’s main state news agency, said the weekend mayhem proved that the protesters were determined to push Hong Kong into chaos, as part of what it said was a strategy of “color revolution” — the party’s term for Western-backed insurrection.
“Their true intentions are increasingly clear,” Xinhua said on Sunday. “By fomenting turmoil in Hong Kong, they are attempting to seize power from the special administrative region, to smash ‘one country, two systems,’ and infiltrate ‘color revolution’ into the Chinese mainland.”
A Hong Kong court also ruled Monday in favor of Agnes Chow, a pro-democracy activist whom the government barred from running for the territory’s legislature last year over accusations she supported Hong Kong independence. The ruling nullifies the election, which was won by Au Nok-hin, who was recruited by the pro-democracy camp after Ms. Chow’s disqualification.
Ms. Chow described the ruling as a “tragic victory,” because it upheld the power of electoral officers to determine candidates political stances.
FILE PHOTO: A combination of file photos showing French President Emmanuel Macron attending a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 23, 2017, and Iran President Hassan Rouhani looking on at the Campidoglio palace in Rome, Italy, January 25, 2016. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/Alessandro Bianchi/File Photos
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran and France’s views have become closer over Tehran’s nuclear deal, mainly after phone calls between President Hassan Rouhani and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Iran’s government spokesman said on Monday.
“Fortunately the points of views have become closer on many issues and now technical discussions are being held on ways to carry out the Europeans’ commitments (in the nuclear deal),” the spokesman, Ali Rabiei, said in remarks carried by state television, without giving details.
Since the United States pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal last year, European parties to the pact have been trying to convince Iran to remain compliant by promising to shield its economic interests from U.S. sanctions.
Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Peter Graff
CIA Director Gina Haspel has raised logistical concerns about the plan with other administration officials, emphasising that the agency operatives — who marshal the militias to hunt Taliban, al-Qaida and Islamic State militants — largely depend on the military for airstrikes, overhead surveillance, medical support and bomb technicians. (AP)
Written by Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Julian E Barnes, Matthew Rosenberg and John Ismay
Senior White House advisers have proposed secretly expanding the CIA’s presence in Afghanistan if international forces begin to withdraw from the country, according to US officials. But CIA and military officials have expressed reservations, prompting a debate in the administration that could complicate negotiations with the Taliban to end the war.
Some administration officials want CIA-backed militia forces in Afghanistan to serve as part of a counterterrorism force that would prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State or al-Qaida as US military troops prepare to leave — in effect, an insurance policy.
But others are skeptical that the shadowy militias, many of which face accusations of brutality, can serve as a bulwark against terrorism without the support of the US military.
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CIA Director Gina Haspel has raised logistical concerns about the plan with other administration officials, emphasising that the agency operatives — who marshal the militias to hunt Taliban, al-Qaida and Islamic State militants — largely depend on the military for airstrikes, overhead surveillance, medical support and bomb technicians.
Skeptics have also noted that US intelligence agencies do not believe the Islamic State’s presence in Afghanistan justifies a vast increase in resources given limited budgets. The Islamic State’s affiliate there is not an immediate threat to the West, despite its regular attacks on Afghan civilians and continuing fight with the Taliban, according to intelligence officials.
The disagreement about the future of the CIA in Afghanistan underscores the fault lines within the administration between those who want a final withdrawal and those who fear it would expose the United States to terrorist threats. This article is based on interviews with a half-dozen current or former officials briefed on the administration’s discussions. The CIA declined to comment, and the White House declined to respond on the record to a request for comment.
The issue could pose an obstacle as US and Taliban negotiators seek a deal to end the longest war in United States history. The Taliban have made clear that they see little difference between US military troops and CIA officers, and they have insisted in the current peace talks in Qatar that the CIA must leave along with international military forces in the coming months or over the next few years.
The top US negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, said over the weekend that the two sides were on “the threshold of an agreement” after the latest round of negotiations. They have broadly covered the fate of the Afghan security forces but have not dealt directly with the militia groups, or US support for them, said a person familiar with the negotiations.
The Afghan government is not part of the negotiations, but the deal is expected to open a path for talks between the government and the Taliban.
Supporters of the plan to expand CIA support for the militias believe it could address the most potent critique of the peace talks: that a withdrawal of US forces would leave the United States with little ability to prevent terrorist groups from once again using Afghanistan as a base of operations.
“The high-end forces, including CIA-supported forces, are not going to win any war for you, but they may degrade the capability of terrorist groups,” said Seth G. Jones, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former adviser to the commanding general of US Special Operations forces in Afghanistan.
But like other former officials, Jones said that ramping up the operations of the militias while drawing down the US military would be impractical and ineffective.
A peace deal that pulls out US forces but does not disarm the Taliban would give it control of larger parts of Afghanistan, effectively creating a haven for terrorist groups that no increase in CIA support to the militias could counter, Jones warned.
CIA-supported militias operate across Afghanistan and are used by the United States and the Afghan government to target terrorist and insurgent cells.
These militias have taken on increasingly dangerous missions in Afghanistan in the past year, seeking out hard-to-find and well-defended terrorist leaders, a former senior Defense Department official said.
They trace their roots to the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when the CIA began assembling a patchwork alliance of warlord-led fighting groups to topple the Taliban and pursue al-Qaida fighters.
After the fall of the Taliban and the establishment of a new Afghan government, the CIA’s shadowy paramilitary arm, known as Ground Branch, began transforming the fighting groups. Some developed into large, well-trained and equipped militias that initially worked outside the auspices of the Afghan government. The militias were used for sensitive and covert missions, including pursuing terrorist leaders across the border into Pakistan’s lawless frontier territory.
In more recent years, the agency’s hold over militant groups and other regional counterterrorism forces and strike teams has waned some, former officials said. Many of the militias now fall under the command of Afghanistan’s own intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security. But there is little doubt they are still advised, and often directed, by the CIA.
The Taliban’s disdain for the CIA’s Afghan counterpart has been apparent in recent months. In July, a bomb targeting the Afghan covert service killed eight members and six civilians, and wounded hundreds more. In January, Taliban fighters infiltrated an Afghan intelligence base in Wardak province, killing dozens in one of the deadliest attacks on the service during the nearly 18-year war.
Fighting in Afghanistan has increased since peace discussions began as both sides try to strengthen their positions. Taliban fighters mounted two attacks over the weekend, including one in the northern city of Kunduz that killed the top police spokesman and wounded the police chief, according to local officials.
In a Fox News interview last week, President Donald Trump alluded to keeping US forces, and perhaps the CIA, in Afghanistan after any deal with the Taliban is reached. “We are reducing that presence very substantially and we’re going to always have a presence and we’re going to have high intelligence,” he said.
Trump said that the troop level in the country would be reduced to 8,600, down from roughly 14,000. The military has pushed a plan to gradually draw down forces, but administration officials have fiercely debated the precise timeline.
The president has been vague about his preferred outcome on the current peace proposal or the plan to expand the CIA role, and Haspel has also withheld her opinion in meetings. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been driving the peace negotiations forward. John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, opposes the current peace deal, largely on worries about whether Afghanistan can keep terrorists at bay on its own.
Senior military leaders are divided. Some believe the peace talks are worth trying, but many remain worried that a troop drawdown that moves too quickly will lead to a collapse of the country.
Increasing the CIA’s role in Afghanistan as troop numbers decrease is not a new idea. In 2014, as the Obama administration considered withdrawing all US troops from the country by 2016, policymakers weighed using the agency-sponsored militias as an Afghan counterterrorism force.
But the CIA-backed militias are deeply controversial within the wider Afghan population. Afghans have charged that they are responsible for attacks that left many civilians dead and use brutal tactics that have turned large swaths of Afghans against the forces. Last month, tribal elders said that a raid by the Afghan-intelligence-backed forces killed 11 civilians in Paktia province, prompting the Afghan government to begin investigating.
While the CIA’s precise footprint in Afghanistan is unclear, the agency invested more resources into the country at the start of the Trump administration in an effort to pursue Taliban fighters. Now, agency paramilitary officers — working often from an annex near the US Embassy in Kabul — team up with militias and other small Afghan intelligence teams across the country to go after al-Qaida, the Islamic State, the Haqqani network and often various factions within the Taliban, current and former officials said.
But small groups of the US military’s Special Operations troops also provide critical support and training for the militias. (CIA teams supported by US commandos, long known as Omega Teams, are now mostly composed of soldiers drawn from the Army’s elite Ranger regiment.)
For the CIA militias to serve as an effective counterterrorism force, those US military teams would need to remain, even if only with a few dozen people, in different parts of the country, current and former officials said.
The exact size and nature of the agency’s presence in Afghanistan are closely guarded secrets, and details about the militia groups the CIA advises are also murky.
Even with continued military support, expanding the agency’s work would mean extending one of the deadliest missions in the agency’s history.
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At least 20 CIA members have been killed in Afghanistan during the war, according to current and former officials. In July, an Army bomb disposal technician was severely wounded during a CIA-led mission, and an agency contractor was killed over Memorial Day weekend.
