Filibuster_HK 2018-9-23 14:34:36 Maldives president expected to cement grip on power in election

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-maldives-election/maldives-president-expected-to-cement-grip-on-power-in-election-idUSKCN1M20VA

MALE (Reuters) - Maldives President Abdulla Yameen is expected to cement his grip on power in an election on Sunday that opposition and international groups have criticised for a lack of transparency and the suppression of dissent.

The Indian Ocean nation of 400,000 people has become a theatre of rivalry between its traditional partner India and China, which has backed Yameen’s infrastructure drive, as well as the United States and European nations concerned about Beijing’s increasing influence.

Yameen’s government has jailed many of his main rivals on charges ranging from terrorism to corruption, and has introduced new vote-counting rules that observers say will prevent them from seeing ballots, raising doubts about the vote’s legitimacy.

More than a quarter of a million people are eligible to vote in the coral archipelago, which is best known for luxury resorts but has struggled with democracy. Yameen, 59, is seeking a second five-year term.

Transparency Maldives (TM), one of the few election monitors on the ground, said the final days of campaigning had shown people were looking forward to the vote, though it reiterated concerns about the fairness of the electoral rules.

Votes will be counted soon after polling stations close on Sunday and preliminary results are expected to be clear by midnight (1900 GMT).

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-23 14:37:22 UK PM May's team draw up contingency plans for November election

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-may-election/uk-pm-mays-team-draw-up-contingency-plans-for-november-election-idUSKCN1M20XJ

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May’s aides have begun contingency planning for a snap election in November to save both Brexit and her job, the Sunday Times reported.

The newspaper said that two senior members of May’s Downing Street political team began “wargaming” an autumn vote to win public backing for a new plan, after her Brexit proposals were criticised at a summit in Salzburg last week.

Downing Street was not immediately available to comment on the report.

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-23 14:41:49 Brexit: Labour 'would back members' on new vote, says leadership

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-45616308

Labour's leader and deputy leader say they would be ready to back another EU referendum if party members want one.

Leader Jeremy Corbyn told the Sunday Mirror he was not calling for a new vote but would "adhere to" any decision made at this week's party conference.

And deputy leader Tom Watson, speaking to the Observer, said the view of party members must be respected.

It comes as a poll for the newspaper suggests 86% of members want a vote on the outcome of Brexit negotiations.

The party has never formally rejected the option of a further vote but both Mr Corbyn and Mr Watson have indicated they would prefer the issue to be resolved by a general election.

The party has made several policy announcements ahead of its annual party conference - which begins in Liverpool later - including:

Plans to require businesses employing more than 250 people to reserve one-third of seats on boards for representatives of their workforce to help rein in a "reckless corporate culture"

A proposed new tax for the owners of second homes in England, based on the value of the property, with the money raised being used to tackle homelessness

Plans to make employers provide up to 10 days paid leave for victims of domestic violence

More on Labour conference 2018

Labour conference: what to expect in Liverpool

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/22/labour-conference-what-to-expect-liverpool-brexit

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-24 10:29:03 Maldives voters throw out China-backed strongman president

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/23/maldives-voters-throw-out-china-backed-strongman-president

Voters in the Maldives have thrown out the incumbent president, Abdulla Yameen, in an extraordinary rebuke to a leader who jailed political opponents and judges and drew his country closer to China during a tumultuous five-year term.

With more than 80% of the ballots counted on Sunday night, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, popularly known as Ibu, was ahead by an unassailable 17 points in an election viewed as a referendum on democracy in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Yameen, 59, is yet to concede but Solih has claimed victory in the capital, Male. “This is a moment of happiness, a moment of hope, a moment of history,” Solih told an audience of journalists and members of his campaign team. “For many of us this has been a difficult journey, a journey that has led to prison cells or exile.

“It’s been a journey that has ended at the ballot box. I must thank all those people who have struggled for this cause.”

A spokesman for Yameen declined to say if the strongman leader would be making any public statements in the next hours.

石田佐吉三成 2018-9-24 10:31:51 話說馬克龍最新民望插到2字頭

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https://m.dw.com/en/french-president-emmanuel-macrons-popularity-hits-record-low/a-45609995

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-24 10:38:48 佢選完兩個月已經disapproval 多過approval，近兩個月，保安打人，講野離地，又走咗幾個高民望的官員

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石田佐吉三成 2018-9-24 10:43:02 佢當初有班左翼支持，但因為偏經濟右翼、幫商人反工會，令原來支持者流失

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Filibuster_HK 2018-9-24 13:42:24 U.S., China impose fresh tariffs with no trade talks in sight

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china/u-s-china-impose-fresh-tariffs-with-no-trade-talks-in-sight-idUSKCN1M404F

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States and China imposed fresh tariffs on each other’s goods on Monday, as the world’s biggest economies showed no signs of backing down from an increasing bitter trade dispute that has rattled financial markets.

U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and retaliatory tariffs by Beijing on $60 billion worth of U.S. products took effect as of 0401 GMT.

The two countries have already slapped tariffs on $50 billion worth of each other’s goods earlier this year.

Chinese products hit with new U.S. duties include vacuum cleaners to internet-connected devices, while U.S. goods targeted by Beijing include liquefied natural gas and certain types of aircraft.

China’s state council will publish a white paper at 1 pm local time (0500 GMT) on the trade frictions with the United States, the official Xinhua news agency reported, without giving further details.

Though a senior White House official last week said the United States will continue to engage China for a “positive way forward,” neither side has signaled willingness to compromise.

Home modems, routers hit by U.S. China tariffs as 'smart' tech goods escape

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-tech/home-modems-routers-hit-by-u-s-china-tariffs-as-smart-tech-goods-escape-idUSKCN1M40E1

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. tariffs that hit some $200 billion worth of Chinese products on Monday spare many high-profile consumer technology items such as “smart” watches and speakers, but the less flashy home modems, routers and internet gateways that make them work weren’t so lucky.

Consumer tech industry officials and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency say they expect billions of dollars worth of these products, including those designed for home use, will be subject to the 10 percent tariffs activated on Monday.

The move will effectively create a two-tiered tariff structure for consumer internet, with many products, such as Fitbit (FIT.N) fitness trackers, Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) watch and Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O) Echo smart speaker being favored over routers and internet gateways from Arris International (ARRS.O), Netgear (NTGR.O), D-Link (2332.TW) and others.

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-24 19:40:56 EU sues Poland in top EU court for undermining independence of courts

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-poland/eu-sues-poland-in-top-eu-court-for-undermining-independence-of-courts-idUSKCN1M412Q

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union sued Poland on Monday in the EU’s highest court over its ruling party’s changes to the judiciary, which the bloc believes violates the independence of the courts.

“The European Commission maintains that the Polish law on the Supreme Court is incompatible with EU law as it undermines the principle of judicial independence, including the irremovability of judges,” the EU’s executive Commission said in announcing the move.

The new Polish law lowers the retirement age of Supreme Court judges from 70 to 65 years, putting 27 out of 72 sitting judges at risk of being forced to retire. The mandate of the head of the Supreme Court would be prematurely terminated.

The Commission asked the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice to suspend the application of the law until it reaches a verdict to prevent the forced retirement of the judges and the appointment of new ones in their place.

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-24 19:49:49 當時左派得翻Mélenchon揀，仲要佢已經攞唔少票，PS基本上俾Hollande敗晒，好多中間派尤其老一輩又唔想投Le Pen，就只可以選Macron，所以Macron個base其實好闊，咁情況下佢做咩都出時，仲要佢的最重的選舉承諾—經濟增長冇起息，自然就民望插水

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Filibuster_HK 2018-9-24 19:50:44 Exclusive: EU to agree new sanctions regime for chemical attacks

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chemicalweapons-eu-exclusive/exclusive-eu-to-agree-new-sanctions-regime-for-chemical-attacks-idUSKCN1M415W

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union envoys are set to agree a new mechanism to punish chemical weapons’ attacks by targeting people blamed for using banned munitions regardless of their nationality, diplomats said.

The legal regime, based on a French proposal to combat what Paris and London say is the repeated use of chemical weapons by Russia and Syria, would allow the EU to impose sanctions more quickly on specific individuals anywhere in the world, freezing their assets in the bloc and banning them from entry.

Ambassadors from the EU’s 28 governments are expected to approve the regime at their weekly meeting on Wednesday, without debate.

The EU already has sanctions lists for Syria and Russia, but under the current system individuals must be added to special country lists. These are complex to negotiate and difficult to expand because some EU governments are reluctant to criticize close partners, particularly Moscow.

y4t7sds12 2018-9-24 23:06:14 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/rod-rosenstein-who-had-been-overseeing-russia-probe-has-offered-to-resign/2018/09/24/d350477c-aad8-11e8-8a0c-70b618c98d3c_story.html?utm_term=.7f9caa66542c

ROD ROSENSTEIN RESIGNS

Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein has told White House officials he is willing to resign in the wake of revelations he once suggested secretly recording the president, but it’s unclear if the resignation has been accepted, according to people familiar with the matter.

One Justice Department official said Rosenstein is preparing to be fired.

Rosenstein had been overseeing the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is probing Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether any Trump associates conspired with those efforts. It wasn’t immediately clear what Rosenstein’s departure might mean for that investigation, or who now would oversee it, though that role could naturally fall to Solicitor General Noel Francisco.

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-24 23:15:33 U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein resigns: Axios

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-rosenstein/u-s-deputy-attorney-general-rosenstein-resigns-axios-idUSKCN1M41RY?il=0

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the special counsel investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election, has verbally resigned in anticipation of being fired by President Donald Trump, Axios news site reported.

Rosenstein, the No. 2 Justice Department official, verbally resigned to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, the report said, citing an unidentified source with knowledge of the matter.

A second source told Axios that Rosenstein is “expecting to be fired” so he plans to step down.

There was widespread speculation that Trump would fire Rosenstein after a New York Times report on Friday said in 2017 he had suggested secretly recording Trump and recruiting Cabinet members to invoke a constitutional amendment to remove him from the office.

The Times said none of those proposals came to fruition. Rosenstein denied the report as “inaccurate and factually incorrect.”

MSBNC and CNN reported Rosenstein was summoned for a meeting at the White House on Monday.

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-24 23:52:31 What happens if Trump fires Rosenstein?

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/13/what-happens-if-trump-fires-rosenstein-522069

// Figuring out whether or when President Donald Trump will try to fire special counsel Robert Mueller is Washington’s favorite parlor game of the moment.

The easiest way for Trump to fire Mueller is to order someone else to do it — and the most obvious person to start with is Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who stepped in to oversee the federal probe into the Trump campaign’s ties with Russia after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself last year.//

// If Trump decides to fire Rosenstein despite the existential risk to his presidency, the resulting vacuum in oversight of the Trump-Russia probe could be filled in different ways.

1. Trump could dump Sessions, too

2. Trump could override the established succession plan to replace Rosenstein

3. Trump could also just follow the Justice Department’s own succession plan.

// Any of these moves would almost certainly guarantee an immediate political backlash, and Trump would likely face a legal imbroglio if Mueller or others challenge his dismissal in court.

Even without Mueller, the Russia investigation and prosecutions could continue, through other Justice Department channels — including the Southern District of New York, which oversaw the Cohen raid this week.

If Trump managed to shut down those investigations, state attorneys general like New York’s Eric Schneiderman might reactivate their currently dormant inquiries into the actions of Trump and his associates.

A removal of Mueller could also spur Congress to act, possibly through legislation aimed at restoring him to his post, although that, too, would face legal uncertainty. Or Trump could face the worst-case scenario: impeachment. That, in turn, might prompt him to again follow in Nixon’s footsteps and choose resignation. //

通街都係處 2018-9-25 01:08:01 炒咗Rod rosenstein 對侵侵應該係好事？
見有報導話佢反骨想郁侵侵

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書桓 2018-9-25 13:59:03 星期四先知咩事

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Filibuster_HK 2018-9-25 14:31:45 North Korea: Trump expects second Kim summit soon

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45630256

US President Donald Trump has said he expects to have a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the "not too distant future".

"A lot of progress" was being made, he said, speaking alongside South Korean President Moon Jae-in in New York.

"The relationship is very good and in some ways... extraordinary," he added.

Just a year ago, the US and North Korea were publicly speaking of a nuclear confrontation but Mr Trump had historic first talks with Mr Kim in June.

Speaking earlier, at UN headquarters in New York, he said that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would arrange the next summit "in the immediate future".

No decision had yet been taken as to the venue, he said.

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-25 14:43:46 Trump's Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh rejects 'false accusations'

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-kavanaugh-trump/trumps-supreme-court-nominee-kavanaugh-rejects-false-accusations-idUSKCN1M41JU

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh said on Monday he would not step aside after a second woman accused him of sexual misconduct decades ago, with President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans showing no signs of relenting in their push for his Senate confirmation.

“The truth is I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone, in high school or otherwise,” Kavanaugh said in an interview on Fox News Channel’s “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” to air on Monday evening.

The allegations, dating back to the 1980s, have put in jeopardy Kavanaugh’s chances of winning confirmation to the top U.S. court in a Senate narrowly controlled by Trump’s party, with high-stakes congressional elections just weeks away.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing for Thursday for Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who last week accused him of sexual assault in 1982.

Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California, said Kavanaugh attacked her and tried to remove her clothing while he was drunk at a party when he was 17 years old and she was 15 when they were high school students in Maryland.

A second woman, Deborah Ramirez, accused Kavanaugh in an article published in the New Yorker magazine on Sunday of sexual misconduct during the 1983-84 academic year when both attended Yale University.

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-25 14:44:32 China says hard to proceed on trade with U.S. putting 'knife to its neck'

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-talks/china-says-hard-to-proceed-on-trade-with-u-s-putting-knife-to-its-neck-idUSKCN1M509S

BEIJING (Reuters) - A senior Chinese official said on Tuesday that it is difficult to proceed with trade talks with the United States while Washington is putting “a knife to China’s neck”, a day after both sides heaped fresh tariffs on each other’s goods.

When the talks can restart would depend on the “will” of the United States, Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said at a news conference.

Separately, the Chinese government’s top diplomat told businesspeople at a meeting in New York that talks could not take place against the backdrop of “threats and pressure”, the Foreign Ministry said.

Certain forces in the United States have also been making groundless criticisms against China about trade and security issues, which has poisoned the atmosphere for Sino-U.S. ties and is highly irresponsible, State Councillor Wang Yi was quoted as saying, without naming anyone.

“If this continues, it will destroy in an instant the gains of the last four decades of China-U.S. relations,” Wang told members of the U.S.-China Business Council and National Committee on United States-China Relations.

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-25 16:52:28 Swedish PM Lofven ousted in no confidence vote
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45637386

Sweden's prime minister Stefan Lofven will have to stand down after losing the support of parliament.

The nationalist Sweden Democrats (SD) backed the vote to remove him, weeks after a general election that delivered a hung parliament.

In Tuesday's dramatic vote, 204 MPs voted against Mr Lofven while 142 voted in favour.

Parliament's speaker will now propose a new leader - a process that could take weeks.

Neither of the main blocs intends to govern with the nationalist SD, the third-largest party in the new parliament.

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-26 08:59:31 House Republicans prepare subpoena for McCabe memos

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/25/mccabe-memos-rosenstein-comey-841961

House Republicans have initiated the process to issue a subpoena to the Justice Department for memos drafted by former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, according to a Judiciary Committee source.

The memos have become the centerpiece of recent news reports suggesting that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein last year sought to secretly record President Donald Trump, following his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte has faced pressure from conservatives in the House to call Rosenstein in to testify. He's required under committee rules to provide Democrats with at least two days notice for issuing any subpoenas — notice that he provided late Tuesday.

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-26 09:01:52 Senate panel schedules Kavanaugh vote for Friday

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/25/white-house-lashes-out-feinstein-838942

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court on Friday morning, less than 24 hours after Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford appear before the panel to discuss Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than 30 years ago.

According to committee rules, Judiciary must schedule a committee vote three days in advance. But the committee said the vote will only proceed if a "majority of the members" of the 21-member committee are ready to vote on Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) can bring Kavanaugh to the floor whether the nominee gets a favorable or unfavorable recommendation. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is undecided on Kavanaugh's nomination and is the key swing vote on the panel; Flake has not voted in the Senate this week and has not commented on his current thinking about Kavanaugh.

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-26 09:12:06 May - No-deal Brexit better than current EU offer

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-may/may-no-deal-brexit-better-than-current-eu-offer-idUSKCN1M525R

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May signalled on Tuesday that she would prefer a ‘no-deal’ Brexit to the offer currently put forward by the European Union, stressing that Britain needs to see counter-proposals from the EU to move Brexit negotiations forward.

May last week issued an angry edict to Brussels when a summit of EU leaders which had been billed as a chance to generate momentum towards a deal in October or November ended in a blunt dismissal of British proposals.

Her spokesman said later that May was specifically referring to the type of deal the EU is currently offering on future trade, which Britain believes will split England, Wales and Scotland from Northern Ireland by insisting Northern Ireland adhere to different customs rules.

Her position also effectively rules out alternative Brexit proposals put forward by rebel eurosceptic members of her own party, which are based on a wide-ranging free trade agreement similar to that agreed between the EU and Canada.

Filibuster_HK 2018-9-26 09:56:09 🇨🇳 Xinjiang: The story Beijing doesn't want reported | The Listening Post


On The Listening Post this week: A two-part special on media in China: Under-reporting of the state's treatment of Uighur Muslims, and the tale of the Southern Media Group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j3izkMHXtE