Minggu, 24 November 2019

The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry: Live updates - CNN International

Photo by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images
Photo by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images

The House Intelligence Committee wrapped its testimonies in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump this week.

Here's a breakdown of who spoke on what days and what each person had to say:

Tuesday, Nov. 19: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Mike Pence, Kurt Volker, former US special envoy to Ukraine, and Tim Morrison, former National Security Council aide

  • Vindman and Williams described the July 25 call: They said the July 25 call between President Trump and the Ukrainian leader was not “perfect.” The President was acting on his own in the July call in asking for the investigations and was provided with no talking points to back that up.
  • What Volker admitted: He told lawmakers that he drew a “sharp distinction” between Burisma and Biden, but admits that he was wrong to view them separately. “In hindsight, I now understand that others saw the idea of investigating possible corruption involving the Ukrainian company, “Burisma,” as equivalent to investigating former Vice President Biden. I saw them as very different. The former being appropriate and unremarkable, the latter being unacceptable,” Volker said in his opening statement. “In retrospect, I should have seen that connection differently, and had I done so, I would have raised my own objections.”

Wednesday, Nov. 20: US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, and David Hale, the under secretary of State for political affairs

  • Sondland pressed Ukraine at Trump's direction: In his opening statement and throughout his testimony, Sondland said he was working with Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine matters at the "express direction of the President of the United States." Sondland recounted several conversations between himself and Trump about Ukraine opening two investigations: one into Burisma, a company where former Vice President Joe Biden's son was on the board, and another into conspiracies about Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 US election.
  • Sondland implicated Pence, Pompeo and Mulvaney: Republicans have argued that Giuliani could have been running a shadow foreign policy without the involvement or knowledge of other senior White House and State Department officials, but Sondland contradicted that several times in his testimony. He said "everyone" in the State Department was aware. He also implicated key White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who also directs the Office of Management and Budget.
  • Cooper showed Ukraine knew about aide issues in July: She testified that Ukrainian officials knew as early as July 25 that there was an issue with US aid to the country. This undercuts a key Republican rebuttal to accusations of a "quid pro quo" linking the aid to investigations into President Trump's political rivals. In their defense of Trump, Republicans have alleged that no bribery could exist if the Ukrainians weren't aware the aid was being held.

Thursday, Nov. 21: Fiona Hill, the former White House Russia expert, and David Holmes, the counselor for political affairs at the US Embassy in Ukraine

  • Pressure on Ukraine: Holmes undercut the GOP's defense that there was no pressure on Ukraine. He testified that the Ukrainians felt pressure to move ahead with probes. He said the Ukrainians want to keep White House happy because “they still need us now.” 
  • "Not credible": Hill said she found Ambassador Gordon Sondland’s testimony “not credible” when he claimed that it took him many months to connect the Ukrainian energy company Burisma to former Vice President Joe Biden. Both Holmes and Hill make clear it was obvious Burisma was about the Bidens. Sondland and Kurt Volker, the former US special envoy to Ukraine, claimed to be clueless and uncurious about why this was the one company the President wanted investigated.

CNN's Phil Mattingly, Lauren Fox, Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb contributed to this report.

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2019-11-24 12:45:00Z
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Hong Kong Voters Turn Out For Biggest Election In City's History - NPR

Long lines of voters waited to vote in Hong Kong's district council elections Sunday. Emily Feng/NPR hide caption

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Emily Feng/NPR

Millions of people turned out to vote in Hong Kong's district elections Sunday — a peaceful action nonetheless seen by many as an act of protest.

Normally low-key affairs, this year's elections for district councilors — akin to community representatives — have been widely seen as a referendum on popular support for ongoing anti-government protests that are now in their sixth month.

Long lines of voters snaked around voting booths in each of Hong Kong's 18 districts Sunday morning as voters rushed to cast their ballots in case booths were closed later on.

By early evening, the city reported more than 2.4 million people had voted — exceeding the 2.2 million total votes cast in the 2016 legislative elections.

"Since the civil unrest and protest movement began in June, today is the only institution and method to express our discontent to Beijing," pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong told NPR.

Wong was disqualified from running for a district seat himself after election regulators declared his candidacy in violation of the city's Basic Law, or constitution, because Wong has previously advocated for Hong Kong's "self-determination," a stance Beijing has sought to cast as separatism.

Ongoing anti-government protests have roiled the city since June, after furor over an extradition bill that could have sent suspected criminals to mainland China drew millions into the streets in peaceful protest.

Hong Kong's chief executive, Carrie Lam, later permanently withdrew the bill after three months of steadily more violent protest, an action demonstrators said was too little, too late. They are now demanding direct elections for the city's next chief executive and an independent inquiry into police tactics used to suppress demonstrations.

Against this backdrop, the district elections have taken on an outsize significance, and voters have mobilized in unprecedented fashion. Government voter registration statistics show that more than 4.1 million people are registered to vote Sunday in a city of around 7.4 million, the highest level ever recorded. For the first time ever, all 452 elected district councilor seats are being contested as many first-time, pan-democratic candidates run for office.

Hong Kong's 452 elected councilors normally concern themselves with more mundane tasks, such as overseeing garbage disposal policies and street lighting. They have advisory functions and control over how some of the city's finances are disbursed locally, but possess no lawmaking abilities.

"They do not listen to our opinions actually. They can do whatever they want, and we cannot monitor them," said Philip Wong, 40, who was preparing to cast his ballot Sunday morning for first-time candidate Isaac Ho, a founding member of the pan-democratic group Community March.

But this year, Wong says his vote mattered more: "Whether or not [this election] makes a change, it is a reflection of the Hong Kong people's voice. We can use the vote to express our discontent and dissatisfaction with the current government and the police brutality."

And district councilors are not entirely powerless. About a quarter of them, 117, also sit on the 1,200-member council that elects the city's chief executive. District councilors also are allocated six seats on the city's 70-person Legislative Council, which sets policy. Pan-democrats are hoping that by electing a majority in the district councils, they may be able to tip Hong Kong's historically pro-Beijing lawmaking bodies in their favor.

Kelvin Lam, a pan-democratic candidate, is running in lieu of activist Joshua Wong, who was disqualified in October. "We want a more transparent structure for all the meetings," he says. Emily Feng/NPR hide caption

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Emily Feng/NPR

But Kelvin Lam, a district candidate running in lieu of Joshua Wong, cautioned that the councilors' first tasks would start with fairly modest goals, such as livestreaming council meetings to the public: "We will start the reform at the fairly low level first ... we want a more transparent structure for all the meetings."

Only steps away from Lam, supporters of incumbent Judy Chan waved flyers and shook hands with voters. Chan, a protégé of prominent pro-Beijing lawmaker Regina Ip, promised to restore order to a city she said had been shaken by protests.

"For the past six months, a lot of violence has happened in Hong Kong and many people are not happy," said Chan, referring to the current anti-government protests. "We feel we even lost our freedom of saying how we think, and I am hoping this election the result will come out good and hopefully it will send a message to everyone as saying that the Hong Kong people will really want a peaceful community all around."

Judy Chan, the pro-Beijing incumbent from the New People's Party, is running against Kelvin Lam. She promised to restore order to a city she said had been shaken by protests. Emily Feng/NPR hide caption

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Emily Feng/NPR

The Hong Kong government had repeatedly warned it might delay the district elections, held every four years, over concerns of violence. But the two days leading up to Sunday's elections were quiet as protesters dialed back activities so as not to justify a delay.

However, acts of intimidation have overshadowed the elections. Three political parties who lean more pro-Beijing say more than 100 of their district councilors' offices and facilities have been graffitied or broken-into in the run-up to Sunday. At least four pan-democratic candidates have been physically attacked while campaigning.

Fears over potential meddling from Beijing were also running high Sunday. Residents shared photos on social media of men allegedly from outside of Hong Kong who were clustered outside various voting stations, filming voters with mobile phones throughout the day. One such group of men, when approached by this NPR reporter, refused to answer questions, walking in circles before disappearing into a metro station.

But the alleged intimidation did not keep voters away. Voting booths close at 10:30 p.m. Sunday and election results are expected to be announced Monday morning.

"This is the first time that many people have been woke up to their responsibility to vote," said Isabel Long, 23, a first-time voter herself. She vowed to vote in the next elections, regardless of how protests ended.

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2019-11-24 11:26:00Z
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Pope urges abolition of nuclear weapons during Japan visit - BBC News

Pope Francis has made an impassioned appeal for the abolition of nuclear weapons during a visit to Nagasaki, one of the two Japanese cities targeted by atomic bombs during World War Two.

He decried the "unspeakable horror" of nuclear weapons and insisted they were "not the answer" for global peace.

At least 74,000 were killed in Nagasaki by the attack by US forces in 1945.

Two survivors of the bombing, now both in their 80s, presented the pontiff a wreath during the Sunday service.

Pope France arrived from Thailand on Saturday for a four-day visit, which is only the second papal visit to Japan.

Hundreds of people gathered in the pouring rain to hear him in Nagasaki. The Pope then attended a meeting at the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, the site of the other atomic attack.

What did the Pope say?

In a sombre ceremony, the Pope unequivocally condemned the use of nuclear weapons.

"This place makes us deeply aware of the pain and horror that we human beings are capable of inflicting upon one another," he said at the event in Nagasaki.

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During his speech, Pope Francis also took aim at their use as a deterrent and insisted peace is incompatible with the "fear of mutual destruction or the threat of total annihilation."

He also criticised the money "squandered" on the weapons around the world and mentioned a "climate of distrust" hindering contemporary non-proliferation and arms control efforts.

Sakue Shimohira, 85, and Shigemi Fukahori, 89, were two survivors who met with the Pope during the visit.

"My mother and older sister were killed, charred," Ms Shimohira was quoted by AFP news agency as saying. "Even if you survived, you couldn't live like a human or die like a human... It's the horror of nuclear weapons."

There are about 536,000 Catholics in Japan, according to Vatican News. The number makes up less than only 0.5% of the population - where Buddhism and Shintoism are the most popular religions.

Nagasaki is known for being home to so-called "hidden Christians" who practiced their faith underground when it was banned during the 17th Century.

What happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

The first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima by a US warplane on 6 August 1945.

The US hoped the bombing, which came after Japan rejected an earlier ultimatum for peace, would force a quick surrender without risking US causalities on the ground.

The first bomb killed an estimated 140,000 people in Hiroshima - about half of which are thought to have died on its initial impact.

The attack was the first use of nuclear weapons, which had just been developed, during a war. US President Harry Truman only announced their existence after the first bomb was dropped.

When no immediate surrender came from the Japanese, US forces dropped a second bomb three days later.

Nagasaki was actually not the initial target of the attack, but was only chosen after bad weather obscured the main target city of Kokura.

Japan surrendered six days later and officially brought about the end of World War Two.

The necessity of the bombs, and their devastating and lasting impact on civilians, has been contested since.

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2019-11-24 10:33:14Z
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Hong Kong vote hits record amid calls for democracy - CNBC

A candidate campaigns outside a shopping mall ahead of the Hong Kong District Council elections on November 23, 2019 in Hong Kong, China.

Chris McGrath | Getty Images News | Getty Images

A record number of Hong Kong people voted on Sunday in district elections viewed as a barometer of support for city leader Carrie Lam, who has been besieged by nearly six months of often violent anti-government protests.

Government data showed 1,524,675 people had cast their vote by 1.30 p.m., with nine hours still left until polling stations closed. That surpassed the 1,467,229 voters in the last district elections four years ago.

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2019-11-24 09:42:00Z
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Sabtu, 23 November 2019

Pence makes surprise trip to Iraq to meet U.S. troops and Kurd leader - The Washington Post

Pence did not meet in person with either Mahdi or the Iraqi president, both of whom are facing pressure for their heavy-handed response to weeks-long anti-government demonstrations in which more than 320 Iraqis have died.

The Pences, along with the vice president’s chief of staff, Marc Short, and national security adviser, Keith Kellogg, visited a dining facility at the air base. There the vice president and Karen Pence helped serve Thanksgiving meals to about 150 U.S. troops, who greeted them with chants of “U.S.A.”

In remarks, Pence thanked the service members for their work, but he also blamed “partisan politics and endless investigations” for a delay in the defense authorization bill that is hung up in Congress. He in turn pledged that “our administration will never stop fighting until we get you, our troops, the resources you need to accomplish your mission and defend this nation, so help me God.”

The vice president did not make any specific comment on the impeachment hearings looming over the Trump administration, or any reference to the complexities facing U.S. policies and soldiers in the Middle East following the U.S. withdrawal of troops from northeastern Syria last month.

Pence did not announce the trip in advance because of security reasons, a common practice for U.S. leaders traveling to areas of active military engagement. U.S. forces are currently stationed in Iraq to assist in combating Islamic State militants. It is also common for troops in combat zones to receive presidential visits during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. The vice president previously visited American troops based in Afghanistan in December 2017, while President Trump visited the same base in December 2018.

Iraq also has been in turmoil since October, with anti-government demonstrations across the country, spurred by discontent with the sectarian and corrupt political establishment set up over a decade ago in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion. On Friday four protesters died in clashes with Iraqi security forces.

Pence told the small group of reporters accompanying him on the trip that he and Mahdi had discussed the protests during their phone conversation and that the Iraqi prime minister told him that “they were working to avoid the violence, or the kind of oppression that we see taking place.”

Pence in turn told Mahdi to “listen to those who are protesting in their calls for reforms,” he said.

After visiting with the troops, the vice president flew to Irbil, where he met with Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan region.

In Irbil, Pence told Barzani that it was a “great honor” to visit and praised the “enduring bond that exists between the Kurdish people and the people of the United States.”

“I also welcome the opportunity on behalf of President Donald Trump to reiterate the strong bonds forged in the fires of war between the people of the United States and the Kurdish people across this region,” the vice president said.

U.S. relations with Kurds in the region have been tense since October, when Trump announced the withdrawal of American troops from northern Syria, where they had been helping to keep an uneasy truce among competing groups united in the fight against the Islamic State.

The sudden change in policy was a particular blow to Syria’s Kurds, a U.S. ally and critical force in the battlefield defeat of the Islamic State. Syrian Kurds had relied on U.S. troops to keep back neighboring Turkey from attacking the semiautonomous Kurdish government they had established in Syria.

Turkey soon after did indeed cross the border and attack. After several days of fighting, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo helped to secure a cease-fire between Turkey and Syrian Kurdish fighters.

Washington re-stationed some of the U.S. troops from Syria to Iraq and elsewhere in the region. A small contingent of American service members, however, remain in Syria. The Trump administration said it’s to help secure oil wells, though they’ve released little information on these missions.

In remarks to reporters on the trip Saturday, a senior administration official said that Pence had requested the visit with Barzani in part to reassure Americans that “we’re not anti-Kurd.”

The official, noted that “you can’t lump” all Kurds together, said that the U.S. has a “strong affinity for this group of Kurds” in Iraq because “they protect our troops.”

Read more:

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2019-11-23 16:47:00Z
CAIiEIG-lUeV_Xwhr4sxAFbpskIqGAgEKg8IACoHCAowjtSUCjC30XQwn6G5AQ

Trump unloads on Fox News as impeachment inquiry enters new phase - ABC News

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2019-11-23 14:35:36Z
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Hong Kong protesters hope poll will send message to China - BBC News

Pro-democracy protest groups in Hong Kong are urging people not to disrupt Sunday's local elections in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

They hope the polls will send a message to the government in Beijing after five months of political unrest.

The authorities have threatened to suspend voting if there is serious disruption at polling stations.

More than 400 councillors are due to be elected to Hong Kong's district council.

Pro-democracy campaigners hope they will be able to increase their representation on the council, which traditionally has some influence in choosing the city's chief executive.

Pro-Beijing candidates are urging voters to support them in order to express frustration at the upheaval caused by continuous clashes between protesters and police.

What's happening?

Sunday's district elections will take place with a record 4.1 million people in the city registered to vote.

More than 1,000 candidates are running for 452 district council seats which, for the first time, are being contested. (A further 27 seats are allocated to representatives of rural districts.)

Currently, pro-Beijing parties hold the majority of these seats.

Why are these elections important?

District councils themselves have very little actual power, so usually these elections take place on a very local level.

But this election is different.

Election officials empty ballot boxes to count votes in Hong Kong (2011)

Getty

Hong Kong district elections
  • 452seats across 18 districts

  • 1,090 candidates - all seats being contested for the first time

  • 4.13mregistered voters - the highest number ever

  • 117councillors sit on committee that elects chief executive

Source: Hong Kong government

They're the first elections since anti-government protests started in June, so will act as a litmus test, reflecting how much support there is for the current government.

"People in Hong Kong have begun to see this election as an additional way to articulate and express their views on the state of Hong Kong in general and the government of Carrie Lam," Kenneth Chan, associate professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, told news agency Reuters.

Then there's the issue of Hong Kong's chief executive.

Under Hong Kong's electoral system, 117 of the district councillors will also sit on the committee that votes for the chief executive.

So a pro-democracy district win could translate eventually to a bigger share, and say, in who becomes the city's next leader.

Who is running?

There are some notable names running in the elections.

Pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho - one of the most controversial politicians in the city - is among them.

Mr Ho was stabbed earlier this month by a man pretending to be a supporter.

The lawmaker has openly voiced his support for Hong Kong's police force on multiple occasions. He was in July filmed shaking hands with a group of men - suspected of being triad gangsters - who later assaulted pro-democracy protesters.

Jimmy Sham, a political activist who has recently rose to prominence as the leader of the Civil Human Rights Front - a campaign group responsible for organising some of the mass protest marches - is running for the first time.

Mr Sham has also been attacked twice, once apparently with hammers. Photographs showed him lying on the street covered in blood.

Who isn't running is also notable. Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong was barred from running in the elections, a move he referred to as "political screening".

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2019-11-23 14:23:50Z
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