Joe Biden's son Hunter says he is under investigation over taxes - BBC News

Reuters

US President-elect Joe Biden's son Hunter has said his tax affairs are under investigation.

The investigation is being conducted by federal prosecutors in Delaware.

Hunter Biden said he took the case "very seriously" but was confident an "objective review" would show he had handled his affairs "legally and appropriately".

The Biden-Harris transition team said the president-elect was "deeply proud of his son".

A statement from the team said Hunter had "fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months, only to emerge stronger".

Hunter said he learned of the investigation on Tuesday. He did not disclose any further details.

Hunter, 50, was a frequent target of Republican criticism during the 2020 election campaign.

His presence on the board of a Ukrainian energy firm while his father was vice-president came under scrutiny during the impeachment trial against Donald Trump earlier this year.

Mr Trump was accused of pressing Ukraine to probe what the Bidens were doing in the country, and using military aid as a bargaining chip. He was impeached by the House, where the Democratic Party has a majority, but cleared by the Republican-dominated Senate.

The investigation into Hunter's tax affairs comes as the president-elect assembles his Cabinet. If the case is still ongoing when Mr Biden is sworn into office next month, his pick for attorney general could have oversight of the investigation, AP news agency notes.

The spotlight stays on Hunter

The presidential election is over, but it seems President-elect Joe Biden's son Hunter - a regular target of Republican attacks during the campaign - is going to stay in the news.

The revelation that Hunter is under tax investigation is not entirely surprising. There have been hints of such an inquiry for months. With official confirmation, however, comes further scrutiny - and potential political headaches for the president-elect.

If Republicans maintain control of the US Senate, hearings into Hunter's finances - and any ties to President Biden - are a foregone conclusion. And if the investigation turns into formal charges, political concerns for the Biden family could turn into very real legal ones.

While Donald Trump's critics will be quick to accuse the outgoing president of orchestrating this investigation as political reprisal, the US attorney behind it - David Weiss of Delaware - is a veteran prosecutor. Although he was appointed by the current president, Weiss also worked as a deputy in the office, and as interim US attorney, during Democrat Barack Obama's presidency.

Hunter Biden, in a statement, says he acted "legally and appropriately". If so, this matter will eventually fade from view. Being under the federal criminal microscope, however, is never a pleasant affair.

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2020-12-09 21:47:00Z
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Latest news on the Trump-Biden transition: Live updates - CNN International

Sen. Ron Johnson speaks during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing in April 2019. Alex Edelman/Getty Images

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson would not rule out being a senator who challenges the election results on Jan. 6 when Congress meets in a joint session to accept the votes of the Electoral College.

Under the rules, any member of Congress can join with a senator to raise objection to a state’s Electoral College results. Doing so would spark debate and votes. The expectation isn’t that anyone could overturn the results of the election, but it would be a political spectacle. 

Johnson said he will hold a hearing as chair of the Senate Homeland Security committee to understand more before he makes a decision.

“I would say it depends what we find out,” Johnson said, when asked whether he would not be a senator who tries to challenge the results on the Senate floor.

“I need more information, the American people need more information. I’m not ready to just close, slam the book on this thing,” he added. “At minimum we have to explore these issues, these irregularities, even if it doesn’t have an impact on this year’s election so that we can correct them and initiate controls, so we don’t have these same issues, same irregularities, same suspicions in the next election.”

The Wisconsin Republican said that he has not talked to President Trump about playing that role. 

Johnson said he met Tuesday with a group of House members, including Rep. Jim Jordan, to talk about the outcome of the election and election security. As a result of those talks, Johnson is planning to hold a hearing on the topic.

He said in a statement about that hearing:

“Today I gave notice for a hearing for next Wednesday titled ‘Examining Irregularities in the 2020 election.’ I am mindful that many of the issues that have been raised have been, and will continue to be, appropriately resolved in the courts. But the fact remains that a large percentage of the American public does not view the 2020 election result as legitimate because of apparent irregularities that have not been fully examined. That is not a sustainable state of affairs for our country. The only way to resolve suspicions is with full transparency and public awareness. That will be the goal of the hearing.” 

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2020-12-09 21:45:00Z
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India farmers protests: 'Delhi highways are our home for now' - BBC News - BBC News

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2020-12-09 17:07:12Z
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Erdogan: Threats of EU sanctions on Turkey ‘do not concern us’ - Aljazeera.com

President’s comments come as report suggests the EU will toughen sanctions over Turkish drilling at a summit on Thursday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the European Union of never acting honestly towards his country and said Ankara was not concerned by any economic sanctions the bloc might impose on it.

His comments on Wednesday came on the eve of an EU summit in which sanctions against Ankara will be considered.

EU foreign ministers said on Monday that Turkey had failed to help end a row with Greece and Cyprus over potential gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean, but they left a decision on sanctions for their Thursday meeting.

NATO member Turkey has been at odds with EU members Greece and Cyprus over the extent of their continental shelves in the east Mediterranean.

Tensions flared in August when Turkey sent its Oruc Reis survey vessel to waters claimed by Greece.

“The EU has never acted honestly, it has never kept its promises [towards Turkey]. But … we have always been patient. We are still being patient,” Erdogan told reporters ahead of a visit to Azerbaijan.

“Any sanctions decision that can be taken against Turkey do not concern us much,” Erdogan said, adding that Greece had “run” from negotiations with Turkey despite agreeing to resume talks over their conflicting maritime claims.

“On the eastern Mediterranean, we will continue to protect whatever our rights there are,” he said. “It is never possible for us to compromise here. But if Greece really acts honestly as a neighbour, we will continue to be available at the table.”

After withdrawing the Oruc Reis vessel for what it said was maintenance ahead of a previous EU summit in October, Ankara redeployed it shortly afterwards, citing unsatisfactory results from the summit. It withdrew the vessel again last week.

European Council President Charles Michel has warned Turkey not to play “cat and mouse” by withdrawing ships before EU summits, only to redeploy them afterwards.

France, with support from the European Parliament, is leading the EU push for sanctions. On Monday, Erdogan said Turkey would not “bow down to threats and blackmail”, though he also repeated his call for dialogue.

EU to toughen sanctions on Turkish drilling: draft statement

Reuters reported on Thursday that if agreed, the EU will “prepare additional listings” on the basis of a sanctions list already in place since 2019, and “if need be, work on the extension” of its scope, according to the draft statement seen by the news agency.

The EU created a sanctions programme last year to punish unauthorised exploration in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, freezing assets of people and companies accused of planning or participating in activities in Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone or on its continental shelf.

So far, only senior officials of Turkey’s state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation have been put on the sanctions list, but Cyprus proposed a list of more names earlier this year.

Negotiations over the two-page statement are still ongoing and Greece and Cyprus, which accuse Turkey of drilling for hydrocarbons off its continental shelf, believe the sanctions do not go far enough.

“We welcome additional listings,” a Cypriot diplomat said, according to Reuters. “We would like to see preparations for targeted sectoral measures at a later stage, in February or March, should Turkey’s behaviour not change.”

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2020-12-09 15:53:53Z
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Cyberattack hits EU medicines agency - Daily Mail

Cyberattack hits EU medicines agency, prompting fears vaccine data may have been stolen

• European Medicines Agency announced it had been attacked on Wednesday
• The agency is currently weighing up special approval on several vaccines 
•  It is not clear when or exactly how the attack took place or who did it 

By Isabella Nikolic For Mailonline

Published: 15:40 GMT, 9 December 2020 | Updated: 16:05 GMT, 9 December 2020

A cyberattack has been launched against the EU's medicines regulator amid fears coronavirus vaccine data may have been stolen. 

The European Medicines Agency, which is currently weighing up whether to give special approval for several coronavirus vaccines, said on Wednesday it had been the victim of a cyberattack.

'EMA has been the subject of a cyberattack. The Agency has swiftly launched a full investigation, in close cooperation with law enforcement and other relevant entities,' the Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency said in a statement. 

The European Medicines Agency, which is currently weighing up whether to give special approval for several coronavirus vaccines, said on Wednesday it had been the victim of a cyberattack

It was not immediately clear when or how the attack took place, who was responsible or what, if any, data was compromised.

But hacking attempts against healthcare and medical organisations have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic as attackers ranging from state-backed spies to cyber criminals scramble to obtain the latest information about the outbreak.

Hackers linked to North Korea, Iran, Vietnam, China and Russia have on separate occasions been accused of trying to steal information about the virus and its potential treatments. 

'EMA has been the subject of a cyberattack. The Agency has swiftly launched a full investigation, in close cooperation with law enforcement and other relevant entities,' the Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency said in a statement

The EMA has said it will give a decision on conditional approval for Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine at a meeting that will be held by December 29 at the latest.

A ruling on Moderna's version should follow by January 12.

The regulator is also carrying out reviews of vaccines developed by Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine and Johnson & Johnson.

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2020-12-09 15:40:00Z
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Merkel calls for extension to Covid restrictions as deaths increase - Financial Times

Angela Merkel said Germany must go into a hard lockdown before Christmas to curb the spread of coronavirus, citing the “alarming” number of people being treated for Covid-19 in German intensive care wards and the surge in deaths from the disease.

In an unusually emotional speech in the Bundestag on Wednesday, Ms Merkel said the number of new infections was still too high, and there was an urgent need for all Germans to limit social contact over the holiday period.

“If we have too many contacts before Christmas and then it’s the last Christmas [we’ll ever spend] with our grandparents, then we will have failed,” she said.

Ms Merkel said she accepted the recommendations of the Leopoldina, Germany’s national academy of sciences, which said this week that all shops should be shut between December 24 and January 10. It also said that school holidays should start earlier than planned, on December 14, and be extended until January 10.

“The number of contacts is too high and the reduction in contacts is insufficient,” Ms Merkel told MPs. “We will not be able to vaccinate so many people in the first quarter of 2021 . . . that we will see a significant change.”

Germany was widely seen to have coped much better with the pandemic’s first wave than many of its neighbours, with relatively low infection rates achieved without resort to draconian curfews and business closures.

But the second wave has hit the country much harder, with authorities in many districts admitting they have lost control of the spread of the virus.

France is also struggling to control its “second wave” of coronavirus infections, in spite of a nationwide lockdown that was due to be further eased next week.

President Emmanuel Macron began relaxing the latest lockdown at the end of November, and said many remaining restrictions would be lifted from December 15 to allow families to spend Christmas together — but only if the number of new infections fell to 5,000 a day and the intensive care beds occupied by Covid-19 patients fell to 2,500-3,000.

While the second goal is within reach, the number of new infections is still running at more than 10,000 a day and Jérôme Salomon, director-general of health, said on Monday that it would very difficult to achieve Mr Macron’s target.

“Despite all our efforts, we are still faced with a high risk of a rebound of the epidemic,” he said. More than 56,000 people have been killed by the disease in France this year.

Faced with an exponential rise in new infections, the German government imposed a “lockdown-lite” at the start of November that saw restaurants, bars, theatres and gyms close but schools and businesses remain open.

But Ms Merkel said those measures had “failed to turn the tide”. She noted that the number of people being treated for Covid-19 in intensive care wards had risen from 352 at the end of September to 4,247 now, and the daily death toll had risen over that period from 12 to 590. On Wednesday the Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s public health authority, reported 20,815 new infections over the past 24 hours.

Ms Merkel was sharply critical of bars and cafés selling mulled wine and snacks, which people were consuming in large groups on the streets in contravention of the strict curbs on social contact introduced in November.

“Setting up mulled wine stands and waffle stalls is not compatible with what we agreed — that restaurants should only offer takeaway services,” she said. “It pains my heart to say this, but if the price we have to pay for that is 590 deaths in one way then in my view it’s just not acceptable.”

She acknowledged that the rules on social distancing and the wearing of masks was “inhuman”, but she appealed for solidarity with those most at risk from Covid-19. The rules “are not totally destroying our lives”, she said.

“The most important key to successfully fighting the virus is when each individual behaves responsibly,” she said.

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2020-12-09 11:59:00Z
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Merkel warns EU is prepared to accept no-deal Brexit - Financial Times

Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that Britain and the EU must figure out a way to minimise the risk of unfair competition between their markets, warning that Brussels will accept a no-deal outcome in trade talks if this cannot be achieved.

The German chancellor set out a stark choice for Boris Johnson as Britain’s prime minister prepared to travel to Brussels for make-or-break talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, saying any deal with Britain must not undermine the EU’s single market.

Ms Merkel cautioned that the meeting may not provide the sought-after clarity ahead of a summit of EU leaders scheduled to begin in the Belgian capital early on Thursday afternoon.

“There is still the chance of an agreement. I don’t think we’ll know tomorrow if it will succeed or not, I can’t promise that,” the veteran leader told German MPs. “But . . . if there are conditions from the British side that we can’t accept, we are prepared to go down a path without a trade deal.” 

Ms Merkel said that coming up with a system to handle differences that could develop in areas such as environmental law and labour standards was “the really big question where we need a satisfactory answer”.

“We have to figure out how each side will react when the legal situation in the EU or the UK changes,” she said. “We can’t just say — let’s not talk about it.”

The German chancellor’s comments frame the terms of debate for Mr Johnson’s dinner tonight with Ms von der Leyen. Ms Merkel was clear that the EU would accept that the UK sets its own regulatory path, but also that a way must be found to preserve fair competition when it does.

The question of how to preserve a “level playing field” for business is one of the main sticking points that have dogged the negotiations along with the vexed issue of EU fishing rights in UK waters.

Earlier on Wednesday, a senior UK minister insisted it was “not right” to say that Brexit talks were tilting towards no deal ahead of this evening’s high-level dinner.

Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, said the talks on Wednesday were intended to “thrash out a way through”.

Mr Gove sounded a conciliatory note about the prospects for progress, but said there would have to be movement by the EU to get a deal.

With barely three weeks until Britain’s Brexit transition period ends, causing the UK’s exit from the EU’s single market, negotiations remain deadlocked.

Ms Merkel said: “We need a level playing field, not only for today, but also for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

“For that we need to agree an arrangement for how the other side should react when the other side changes its legal position. Otherwise we get unfair competition conditions.

“That’s the big, difficult question which is hanging over us, next to the issue of fish quotas too.”

One idea on the negotiating table is for an “evolution mechanism” that would allow either side to reduce access to its markets if rules in areas such as labour rights and environmental standards diverge over time. But the UK has rejected the idea as overly constraining on its regulatory freedom.

Mr Gove said Britain could accept a “non-regression clause” in any deal, committing the UK to uphold current regulatory levels in areas such as the environment, workers’ rights and state aid. He said this was common in trade deals.

But he said the UK could not accept what he claimed was a last-minute EU demand that “if the EU adopted new laws the UK would have to do the same or the EU would retaliate”.

Mr Gove also accepted that there would have to be a “staged process” for the gradual reduction of access for EU fishing boats to UK waters after the transition period ended on January 1.

One senior British official said a deal might not be possible but that Mr Johnson hoped the discussion with Ms von der Leyen would “inject some political impetus that would allow the negotiators to try and finish the job”.

The official added: “If we can make progress at a political level it may allow Lord Frost and his team to resume negotiations over the coming days.” David Frost, UK chief negotiator, and Michel Barnier, his EU counterpart, are expected to join the dinner.

On Wednesday, Mr Barnier is set to address the EU’s committee of the regions at 2:30pm Brussels time.

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2020-12-09 10:52:00Z
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