woRLd Uk AUSTRALIA...buyers continues to edge up as they take advantage of cheap mortgage rates at...

1

november 19 (GmT) – november 20 (AeST), 2019

AUSTRALIAUkwoRLd

Lebanese parliament halted

Thousands of protesters rallying against the Lebanese political elite have blocked roads in central Beirut, preventing lawmakers from reaching the parliament and forcing the postponement of a legislative session. The session had been scheduled even though the country is still without a Cabinet following the prime minister’s resignation amid unprecedented demonstrations that have gripped Lebanon since mid-October.

Russia repatriates IS children

Russia says it has repatriated another 32 children of members of the Islamic State group from Iraq. Russia’s state TV showed footage of the children arriving at Zhukovsky airport outside Moscow. It said the children aged between one and nine will undergo extensive medical check-ups before relatives take them home.

Jetstar threatens Xmas strike

Australians planning to fly home for Christmas could see their plans disrupted as Jetstar pilots threaten to strike in mid-December. The Fair Work Commission has authorised the pilots union to hold a ballot vote to determine whether they’ll be moving further with their actions, which would include work stoppages of up to 24 hours.

Johnson not ‘shortest-serving PM’

Boris Johnson is about to avoid the dubious honour of being the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister. November 19 marks the 119th day of Johnson’s premiership. This is the same number of days clocked up as prime minister by George Canning in 1827, before he died in office.

More first-time home buyers

More first-time buyers got on the property ladder in September than a year earlier, mortgage lending figures from a trade association show. But the number of properties being bought by landlords to rent out was down annually. Some 29,100 new first-time buyer mortgages were handed out in September – 1.6 per cent higher than in September 2018, UK Finance said.

Deal on Afghan firing ranges

The Defence Force has agreed a deal to clear unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan after revelations seven children were killed by unexploded devices left there. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern directed the Defence Force to speed up the process after a Stuff Circuit investigation revealed 17 civilians were either killed or injured by ordnance, which the United Nations attributed to ranges where New Zealand troops operated.

NEw ZEALANdUkwoRLd

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIeS FROM FRANk NEwS

FULL STORIeS START ON PAGe 3

2


AUSTRALIAwoRLdNoRTH AMERICA

Bernie ‘has 4 million donors’

Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign says that it has received contributions from 4 million donors. In Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, he didn’t reach that number of contributors until after winning the New Hampshire primary. That’s when the Vermont senator was rising from virtual unknown nationally to credible challenger of Hillary Clinton, the eventual Democratic nominee.

diplomat ‘remembers’ call

The phone call State Department official David Holmes overheard between President Donald Trump and Ambassador Gordon Sondland lasted just two minutes. But it won’t be easily forgotten. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Holmes told Trump impeachment investigators. “Someone calling the President from a mobile phone at a restaurant, and then having a conversation of this level of candour, colourful language.”

NASA ice robot test

An underwater NASA robot that could be a precursor for technology used to search for life on distant moons will undergo trials in Antarctica. Scientists from the space agency will travel to Australia’s Casey Research Station to begin weeks of tests on the buoyant rover.

Israel ‘intercepts rockets’

The Israeli military said it has intercepted four incoming rockets from Syria and explosions were heard shortly after that in Damascus, a week after another Israeli strike targeted a top Palestinian militant in the Syrian capital. Israeli air defence systems captured the projectiles, the military said, and no harm was caused to Israeli communities in the Golan Heights after warning sirens awoke residents there early in the morning.

US, Skorea cut short meeting

US and South Korean officials have publicly acknowledged the allies remain far apart in negotiations for increasing South Korea’s contributions to the costs for maintaining the American military presence on its soil. US negotiator James DeHart said the US side decided to cut short a meeting that lasted less than two hours, because Seoul’s proposals “were not responsive to our request for fair and equitable burden sharing”.

Port flunks environmental report

Increasing log traffic and poor stormwater management have been blamed for Port Taranaki flunking its latest environmental monitoring report.One incident in March this year caused the swim stage of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Triathlon to be cancelled after e coli and enterococci bacteria levels were discovered many hundred times over allowable limits.

NEw ZEALANdwoRLdNoRTH AMERICA

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIeS FROM FRANk NEwS

FULL STORIeS START ON PAGe 6

3


world

Russian officials arrive with children at Zhukovsky airport outside Moscow. - AP

Russia repatriates 32 children of IS membersRussia says it has repatriated another 32 children of members of the Islamic State group from Iraq.

Russia’s state TV showed footage of the children arriving at Zhukovsky airport outside Moscow. It said the children aged between one and nine will undergo extensive medical check-ups before relatives take them home.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the children had been held in asylum centres in Iraq or in prisons with their mothers.

Their arrival represents the fourth group of Russian children to be repatriated from Iraq. The Foreign Ministry said a total of 122 children have been brought home.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that over 4000 Russian citizens and some 5000 citizens of other ex-Soviet nations have joined the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. ■

Anti-government protesters scuffle with riot police in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. - AP

world

Lebanese parliament halted by protestThousands of protesters rallying against the Lebanese political elite have blocked roads in central Beirut, preventing lawmakers from reaching the parliament and forcing the postponement of a legislative session.

The session had been scheduled even though the country is still without a Cabinet following the prime minister’s resignation amid unprecedented demonstrations that have gripped Lebanon since mid-October.

The protesters scuffled with riot police as they closed all roads leading to the parliament building in Beirut.

When one legislator headed toward the building and could not reach it and turned back, his bodyguards opened fire in the air to clear the way. No one was hurt in the shooting.

The protesters are questioning the constitutionality of a parliament session in the absence of a government. An earlier session was postponed amid the protests.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned his government on October 29 in response to the protests, which erupted over proposed new taxes but have since snowballed into calls for the government to resign and for the political elite that has ruled Lebanon since the end of its 1975-90 civil war to step aside.

The political deadlock comes as Lebanon is passing through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades. The country, which suffers from widespread corruption, has one of the highest debts in the world, standing at $86 billion, or 150 of the GDP.

Meanwhile, Lebanese banks reopened to customers after a week-long strike during which bank employees refused to come to work, fearing for their security amid random capital controls that have angered clients.

The Banks Association declared formal controls, limiting withdrawals to $1000 per week, and allowing transfers abroad only for “urgent matters”.

Heavy police and army reinforcements were deployed in downtown Beirut to cordon off the area around the parliament. ■

4


uk

More first-time home buyers than last yearMore first-time buyers got on the property ladder in September than a year earlier, mortgage lending figures from a trade association show.

But the number of properties being bought by landlords to rent out was down annually.

Some 29,100 new first-time buyer mortgages were handed out in September – 1.6 per cent higher than in September 2018, UK Finance said.

The number of existing home owners moving properties was also up year-on-year, with 29,050 home mover mortgages completed in September, 1.8 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier.

Meanwhile, 5500 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages were completed in September 2019, marking a 3.5 per cent fall compared with the same month last year.

The figures also show growing numbers of home owners borrowing extra amounts of cash.

There were 17,740 new re-mortgages with additional borrowing in September, 5.9 per cent more than in the same month in 2018. The average additional amount borrowed in September was £50,000.

There were also 19,140 new “pound-for-pound” re-mortgages with no additional borrowing in September, 8 per cent more than in September 2018.

Among landlords, re-mortgaging levels remained unchanged compared with a year earlier.

There were also 12,900 re-mortgages in the buy-to-let sector – the same amount as in September 2018.

Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “Encouragingly, the number of first-time buyers continues to edge up as they take advantage of cheap mortgage rates at high loan-to-values and the continued support of the bank of mum and dad.

“Re-mortgaging is also consistent with borrowers opting for cheap fixed rates in the main, as rates for five-year deals start from less than 1.5 per cent.” ■

British Prime Minster Boris Johnson . - PA

uk

Johnson about to pass ‘shortest-serving PM’Boris Johnson is about to avoid the dubious honour of being the Uk’s shortest-serving prime minister.

November 19 marks the 119th day of Johnson’s premiership.This is the same number of days clocked up as prime

minister by George Canning in 1827, before he died in office.Canning currently holds the record for being the shortest-

serving PM in UK history.Assuming Johnson makes it unscathed into his 120th day,

George Canning’s record will remain intact.If the Conservatives lose the General election on December

12, Johnson would become the prime minister with the second shortest time in office.

But if he continues as PM, he will overtake another of his Tory predecessors just three days later, on December 15.

On this date he will pass the 1st Viscount Goderich, who served as prime minister for 144 days in 1827-28. ■

5


NEw ZEAlANd

A boy in a village in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan. - RNZ

NZDF agrees deal on Afghan firing rangesThe defence Force has agreed a deal to clear unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan after revelations seven children were killed by unexploded devices left there.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern directed the Defence Force to speed up the process after a Stuff Circuit investigation revealed 17 civilians were either killed or injured by ordnance, which the United Nations attributed to ranges where New Zealand troops operated.

The Defence Force said the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) withdrew from Afghanistan in 2013 after clearing firing ranges in accordance with the standards of the time.

Chief of Army Major General John Boswell said it had taken too long to respond to new standards of ordnance clearance, which involved removing devices buried underground, as well as those visible on the surface.

He said the main reason for delay was demands by the United States’ that 219sq/km of land used by other coalition forces be cleared at a cost of about $46 million, which the Defence Force objected to.

New Zealand sent the PRT to the central Afghanistan province of Bamyan in 2003, on a “hearts and minds” mission after a US-led coalition dislodged the Taliban from power.

Stuff Circuit documentary Life and Limb found that the seven children, aged between five and 12, died in an explosion near the Beersheba Range in April 2014, a year after the Defence Force had left.

The Defence Force said the area was cleared of unexploded ordnance. However, a clearance certificate obtained by Stuff Circuit showed only 0.297sq/km of the range was cleared, whereas a survey in 2018 deemed 18sq/km of land remained unsafe. ■

AuSTrAlIA

Jetstar threatens Christmas strikeAustralians planning to fly home for Christmas could see their plans disrupted as Jetstar pilots threaten to strike in mid-december.

The Fair Work Commission has authorised the pilots union to hold a ballot vote to determine whether they’ll be moving further with their actions, which would include work stoppages of up to 24 hours.

Pay negotiations broke down after the company proposed a 3 per cent annual wage rise and the union asked for 15 per cent, the union reported. ■

6


NorTH AMErICA

State Department official David Holmes. - AP

Diplomat ‘remembers’ Ukraine/Trump callThe phone call State Department official David Holmes overheard between President donald Trump and Ambassador Gordon Sondland lasted just two minutes. But it won’t be easily forgotten.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Holmes told Trump impeachment investigators. “Someone calling the President from a mobile phone at a restaurant, and then having a conversation of this level of candour, colourful language. There’s just so much about the call that was so remarkable that I remember it vividly.”

Holmes’ first-hand account of the conversation heard over lunch in Kyiv provides a key piece of the impeachment inquiry. He is among the only witnesses testifying so far to show Trump personally seeking investigations into Democrats and his potential 2020 rival Joe Biden that are central to the probe.

A transcript of Holmes’ closed-door testimony has been released. Holmes, a political counselor at the US embassy in Ukraine, is scheduled to testify publicly.

The conversation between the president and the ambassador came one day after the July 25 call, when Trump asked Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a favour with the investigations.

At the time, the Trump administration was withholding $391 million in military aid to the ally in what Democrats say amounts to “bribery.” Trump says he did nothing wrong. A whistleblower’s complaint about it led the House to launch the impeachment inquiry.

Holmes joined Sondland and others during the lunch meeting and told investigators Trump was talking so loudly he could hear the president clearly on the ambassador’s phone.

“I then heard President Trump ask, quote, ‘So he’s going to do the investigation?’” Holmes testified. “Ambassador Sondland replied that ‘He’s going to do it,’ adding that President Zelensky will, quote, ‘do anything you ask him to’." ■

Bernie Sanders. - AP

NorTH AMErICA

Bernie campaign ‘hits 4 million donors’Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign says that it has received contributions from 4 million donors.

In Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, he didn’t reach that number of contributors until after winning the New Hampshire primary. That’s when the Vermont senator was rising from virtual unknown nationally to credible challenger of Hillary Clinton, the eventual Democratic nominee.

Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir says, “This is what momentum looks like.”

Last week, the Sanders campaign said it had made more than 7.75 million calls and sent more than 63 million text messages, mostly to voters in early states.

Sanders began running for president in February. ■

7


world

US negotiator James DeHart. - AP

US, South Korea cut short meetingUS and South Korean officials have publicly acknowledged the allies remain far apart in negotiations for increasing South korea’s contributions to the costs for maintaining the American military presence on its soil.

US negotiator James DeHart said the US side decided to cut short a meeting that lasted less than two hours, because Seoul’s proposals “were not responsive to our request for fair and equitable burden sharing”.

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry says Washington is calling for a “drastic increase” in South Korea’s contributions which the country finds unacceptable.

The turbulent negotiations come at a delicate time for the allies, which are also squabbling over Seoul’s declaration to terminate a 2016 military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan amid a bilateral row. ■

The damaged building targeted by Israeli missile strikes in the capital Damascus, Syria. - AP

world

Israel ‘intercepts rockets’ from SyriaThe Israeli military said it has intercepted four incoming rockets from Syria and explosions were heard shortly after that in damascus, a week after another Israeli strike targeted a top Palestinian militant in the Syrian capital.

Israeli air defence systems captured the projectiles, the military said, and no harm was caused to Israeli communities in the Golan Heights after warning sirens awoke residents there early in the morning.

There was no immediate official comment from Syria but the SANA state news agency reported explosions were heard near Damascus International Airport, indicating a potential Israeli retaliatory strike.

The Israeli military would not comment on the explosions in Syria, but Defence Minister Naftali Bennett was convening the top military brass in Tel Aviv to discuss the latest developments.

Speaking on Israel Army Radio, Foreign Minister Israel Katz was equally vague, saying only that “Israel will act in the way it sees fit”.

The rare rocket fire comes a week after an Israeli airstrike against a top Palestinian militant based in Syria. Akram al-Ajouri, a member of the leadership of the militant Islamic Jihad group who is living in exile, survived the attack but his son and granddaughter were killed.

Israel frequently strikes Iranian interests in Syria. But last week’s airstrike appeared to be a rare assassination attempt of a Palestinian militant in the Syrian capital. It came the same day as another Israeli airstrike killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza, settling off the fiercest round of fighting there in years. ■

8


Port Taranaki flunks environmental reportIncreasing log traffic and poor stormwater management have been blamed for Port Taranaki flunking its latest environmental monitoring report.

One incident in March this year caused the swim stage of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Triathlon to be cancelled after e coli and enterococci bacteria levels were discovered many hundred times over allowable limits.

A Taranaki Regional Council port industries environmental report for 2018-2019 concluded that it was unclear whether the contamination – which started in a stormwater pipe clogged with stock feed – had the potential to cause illness or not.

The report said no trace of human contamination was found, but bird and rodent faeces could have contributed to high bacteria counts and potential health risks.

During routine testing on March 13, 20 and 25 enterococci counts of 9100, 3000 and 480cfu/100 ml were recorded respectively. The action level for enterococci is two consecutive measures of 280 cfu/100 ml.

A Weetabix Tryathon event involving hundreds of Taranaki school children went ahead on March 26 after a New Plymouth lab returned three results below the action level.

But by March 29 the Taranaki Medical Officer of Health advised the secondary school competitors to stay out of the water after a string of results of 5000cfu/100ml or more.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Cup went ahead on March 31 after the all-clear was given, although the swim stage was in the balance.

The council report said stormwater controls at Port Taranaki had not kept pace with its expansion in particular to accommodate logs. ■

NEw ZEAlANd

Warning sign at Ngāmotu Beach near Port Taranaki. - RNZ / Robin Martin

NASA ice robot test to be trialed in AntarcticaAn underwater NASA robot that could be a precursor for technology used to search for life on distant moons will undergo trials in Antarctica.

Scientists from the space agency will travel to Australia’s Casey Research Station to begin weeks of tests on the buoyant rover.

The device is designed to travel on the underside of ice sheets, something that is hoped can one day be done on Jupiter’s icy moon europa.

NASA scientist Kevin Hand said late 1990s missions found strong evidence of a salty ocean beneath europa’s icy crust.

The interface between the ice and the water is where life is most likely to exist, he added.

The robot, which has already been tested in the Arctic and Alaska, has two independent wheels and is more energy efficient than similar-sized submarines.

“We’ll trial the endurance of the rover, particularly how long the batteries can last in extreme conditions and how it handles a variety of terrain,” NASA engineer Andy Klesh said.

But any search for life near Jupiter is decades away.Scientists will have to first figure out how to transport

necessary equipment which can operate hundreds of degrees below zero to the planet’s moon and drill through ice 10km thick.

Until then, the underwater robot could be used to gather information about the conditions of sea ice and ice sheets on earth.

“We hope to some day leave it out for an entire winter or perhaps an entire year so it can serve as a robot vehicle constantly collecting data,” NASA scientist Dr Kevin Hand said.

“By studying earth’s ice-water interface we can being to understand the dynamics that make life possible at that interface.”

NASA is planning a mission in 2025 to fly past Europa and collect data about potential landing sites. ■

A rover with two independent wheels to manoeuvre along the underside of ice. - AAP

AuSTrAlIA

woRLd Uk AUSTRALIA...buyers continues to edge up as they take advantage of cheap mortgage rates at...

Documents

Transcript of woRLd Uk AUSTRALIA...buyers continues to edge up as they take advantage of cheap mortgage rates at...