north america uk australia + new zealand...sep 19, 2018 · that “really bad things” at the fbi...

1

september 19 (Gmt) – september 20 (Aest), 2018

AUSTRALIA + NEW ZEALANDUKNORTH AMERICA

Probe papers ‘expose bad things’

US President Donald Trump is flexing his executive power to declassify secret documents in the Russia investigation, an extraordinary move he says will ensure that “really bad things” at the FBI are exposed. But the decision, made against the backdrop of Trump’s spiralling outrage at the special counsel’s investigation, may expose sensitive sources and methods and brush up against privacy law protections, experts say.

Van caught in floodwater

Authorities confirmed two men drowned when a van was swept away in rising flood waters in South Carolina. Horry County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Brooke Holden said a sheriff’s office van was carrying two detainees and two deputies from Conway to Darlington when it was overtaken by flood waters.

Inquiry finds Dutton had link

A Labor-dominated committee has found Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton misled parliament when he said he had no personal connections to the employer of an au pair to whom he granted a visa. He now faces a no confidence vote in the lower house and a possible censure motion in the Senate. The committee also found Dutton only found out about two detained au pairs due to personal connections who contacted his office.

Woman tells of Salisbury panic

A woman has told how she and her husband fell ill at a Salisbury restaurant, sparking fears they had fallen victim to Novichok poisoning. Russian-born Anna Shapiro, 30, said she had been dining at the Prezzo Italian restaurant with partner Alex King, 42, when he began to feel unwell towards the end of the meal. She said her husband went to the bathroom and she grew concerned when he did not return after 15 minutes.

Birmingham cinema gutted by fire

A large fire has torn through an empty Art Deco cinema in Birmingham. West Midlands Fire and Rescue service (WMFRS) said about 50 firefighters had been tackling the “severe” blaze that engulfed the Royalty Cinema in Harborne in the early hours of the morning. Images showed smoke pouring from the roof of the building, which opened as a cinema in the 1930s.

MPs refuse to make emails public

Government ministers have defied a pointed request from the Speaker of the House to bring emails from former minister Clare Curran to question time. But senior minister Grant Robertson did lay out details of emails between Curran and tech entrepreneur Derek Handley – communications that have become the focus of ongoing scrutiny by the opposition.

YoUR DAILY ToP 12 SToRIeS FRoM FRANK NEWS

FULL SToRIeS START oN PAGe 3

2


AUSTRALIA + NEW ZEALANDEUROPEASIA

Villagers ‘refused advice to flee’

A Philippine police officer who tried to persuade residents of a mining camp to move to safety as a powerful typhoon approached said they refused to leave, and a day later the storm triggered a huge landslide that buried dozens of people. Police Senior Inspector Heherson Zambale said he was stunned after learning that the massive landslide had covered a chapel and bunkhouses in the mountain village.

Kim agrees to dismantle nuke site

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to permanently dismantle his main nuclear complex at Nyongbyon if the United States takes corresponding measures, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said, after the two leaders held summit talks in Pyongyang to try to sustain nuclear diplomacy with Washington, which has been pushing hard for stronger disarmament moves from the North.

PM sets national drought summit

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will host a national drought summit. Morrison said at a meeting, where he received an update on drought-related activities, it remained his top priority to deal with not just immediate relief but ensuring communities could recover and rebuild. “That (summit) will provide an opportunity to get a status update on everything that is being done both at the state and commonwealth level,” Morrison said.

Greece moving refugees off island

About 2000 asylum-seekers will be moved out of a severely overcrowded migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos this month, a Greek official says, as charities slammed conditions at the camp, which has raw sewage running out of its main entrance. Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said those being moved out of the Moria camp would be sent to the mainland so their asylum claims could be examined.

Ireland collects billions off Apple

Ireland has fully recovered 13.1 billion euros ($A21.2 billion) in disputed taxes from Apple plus interest of 1.2 billion which it will hold in an escrow fund pending its appeal against an eU tax ruling, Ireland’s finance minister says. The european Commission ruled in August 2016 that Apple had received unfair tax incentives. Both Apple and Dublin are appealing against the original ruling.

Ardern raises refugee quota

New Zealand’s refugee quota will rise from 1000 to 1500 within the next two years, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed. Ardern said the change would happen within the current coalition government’s term because it was “the right thing to do”. She said the quota increase would take place from July 2020.

YoUR DAILY ToP 12 SToRIeS FRoM FRANK NEWS

FULL SToRIeS START oN PAGe 6

3


NORTH AMERICA

- AP

Van caught in rising floodwater, two killedAuthorities confirmed two men drowned when a van was swept away in rising flood waters in South Carolina.

Horry County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Brooke Holden said a sheriff’s office van was carrying two detainees and two deputies from Conway to Darlington when it was overtaken by flood waters. officials said the van was traveling near the Little Pee Dee River, one of the bodies of water officials in South Carolina are watching closely as water continues to poor into the state from upriver in North Carolina following the heavy rains of Florence.

Marion County Coroner Jerry Richardson confirmed that two women died in the incident.

Holden said the deputies tried to get the men out but couldn’t open the doors. High-water rescue teams plucked the deputies from the top of the van.

The incident is being investigated by the State Law enforcement Division.

Forecasters predict some rivers in the northeastern area of the state might not reach their highest levels until later this week or next week.

Meanwhile, North Carolina’s governor is pleading with thousands of Hurricane Florence evacuees to be patient and not return home just yet.

Wilmington is still mostly an island surrounded by floodwaters, and people are waiting for hours for handouts of necessities like food.

Governor Roy Cooper said it was hard for residents to leave home, and it’s even harder for them to wait to go back. But Cooper said many roads are dangerous and new hazards are possible as floodwaters fall.

officials said about 10,000 people are in shelters, and a new one is opening in one hard-hit county.

Aides said President Donald Trump will visit North Carolina to see the damage. ■

President Donald Trump. - AP

NORTH AMERICA

Probe papers ‘expose bad things’US President Donald Trump is flexing his executive power to declassify secret documents in the Russia investigation, an extraordinary move he says will ensure that “really bad things” at the FBI are exposed.

But the decision, made against the backdrop of Trump’s spiralling outrage at the special counsel’s Russia investigation, may expose sensitive sources and methods and brush up against privacy law protections, experts say.

The order was likely to further divide the president from the intelligence agencies he oversees and raises new concerns Trump is disclosing government secrets for political gain. Critics of the move say the president has a clear conflict by trying to discredit an investigation in which he is a subject.

“This radical policy choice is not being made on traditional policy grounds. It’s being made on conflicted grounds,” said David Kris, a former Justice Department national security division head. “That’s problematic”.

The Justice Department said it had begun complying with the order, though it was not clear when the documents might be released. It was also unclear if the multi-agency review might find ways to try to withhold certain information or limit whatever damage, such as outing sources or scaring off would-be ones, that may arise from the release.

Trump and Republican supporters want the records out in hopes they’ll reveal law enforcement bias in the early stage of the Russia investigation and prove the probe was opened without good reason.

The documents the president ordered declassified include a portion of a secret surveillance application for a former Trump campaign adviser, materials by default treated as highly secret and withheld from public view.

Trump appeared unconcerned by the national security implications of the order, tweeting about a supportive congressman and saying: “Really bad things were happening, but they are now being exposed. Big stuff!” ■

4


UK

Flames leap from the roof of the empty Art Deco cinema in Birmingham. - PA

Birmingham cinema gutted by blazeA large fire has torn through an empty Art Deco cinema in Birmingham.

West Midlands Fire and Rescue service (WMFRS) said about 50 firefighters had been tackling the “severe” blaze that engulfed the Royalty Cinema in Harborne in the early hours of the morning.

Images showed smoke pouring from the roof of the building, which opened as a cinema in the 1930s.

WMFRS said it had a number of crews to the scene before raising the number of pumps to eight.

The fire service said that the fire had been brought under control, but warned locals that there was still a lot of smoke and advised them to keep windows and doors closed.

The High Street in Harborne was closed while crews worked at the scene.

A group campaigning for the “beautiful” building to be renovated said they hoped it could still be saved.

“We’re devastated to hear of the fire at the Royalty during the night,” the Royalty Harborne group said.

“We want to thank the fire services for their hard work and hope the damage is not too extensive.” ■

A police officer stands outside a Prezzo restaurant in Salisbury. - PA

UK

Woman tells of Salisbury panicA woman has told how she and her husband fell ill at a Salisbury restaurant, sparking fears they had fallen victim to Novichok poisoning.

Russian-born Anna Shapiro, 30, said she had been dining at the Prezzo Italian restaurant with partner Alex King, 42, when he began to feel unwell towards the end of the meal.

She said her husband went to the bathroom and she grew concerned when he did not return after 15 minutes.

“I headed up and saw him lying on the floor near the sinks,” she said.

“I ran downstairs for help. I was panicked.”Soon after when Shapiro went to raise the alarm, she too

began to feel unwell.emergency services were called to the restaurant at 6.45pm

and the pair were taken to Salisbury District Hospital.Wiltshire Police said inquiries were ongoing into what

caused them to become unwell, although they have ruled out exposure to Novichok or a similar poison.

“Tests have confirmed that the two patients who fell ill in Prezzo restaurant in Salisbury on Sunday evening were not exposed to any kind of nerve agent,” the force said.

“Following test results, at this stage, this is not being treated as suspicious.

“Therefore, at this stage, we are not linking their illness to the recent poisonings in Salisbury and Amesbury.”

The incident came amid heightened tensions in Salisbury in the wake of the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in March.

The Prezzo is a short walk from Queen elizabeth Gardens, which was until recently closed off after 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess was fatally poisoned by the nerve agent in June. ■

5


AUSTRALIA + NEW ZEALAND

Clare Curran. - RNZ / Richard Tindiller

Ministers refuse to make emails publicGovernment ministers have defied a pointed request from the Speaker of the House to bring emails from former minister Clare Curran to question time.

But senior minister Grant Robertson did lay out details of emails between Curran and tech entrepreneur Derek Handley – communications that have become the focus of ongoing scrutiny by the opposition.

Curran was stripped of the Government Digital Services role after it was revealed she used personal emails and did not properly record a meeting with Handley, who was applying for the position of Chief Technology officer.

He was paid out $100,000 after he got the job, only to have the offer retracted by the government.

earlier in the House, Speaker Trevor Mallard made it clear he would like to see the emails, held by Archives New Zealand, brought to Parliament by State Services Minister Chris Hipkins.

The Speaker has no authority to order a minister or MP to bring any document to the House, except when a minister quotes an official document.

Robertson was subbing in for Hipkins.on his way into question time Robertson said he would not

be making the emails themselves public.once in the House Robertson gave the details of three

interactions between Curran and Handley.“The first on the 11th of August where Derek Handley emails

Clare Curran about the CTo position and questions about the role …including resourcing for the role and potential conflicts of interest. on the 14th of August Clare Curran replies to the email, confirming a call to discuss these matters.”

He then described two further exchanges, one on 19 August where they discussed logistics of the job, including the contents of any public statements, contract discussions with Internal Affairs and the management of conflicts of interest.

The third exchange was two days later when Curran emailed details about the work plan to Handley, which he acknowledged. ■

Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton. - AAP


Inquiry finds Dutton had au pair linkA Labor-dominated Senate committee has found Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton misled parliament when he said he had no personal connections to the employer of an au pair to whom he granted a visa.

He now faces a no confidence vote in the lower house and a possible censure motion in the Senate.

The committee also found Dutton only found out about two detained au pairs due to personal connections who contacted his office.

“There is no basis for the minister to be able to say that he had no personal connection, when the very genesis for this request came through his office because of his personal connections,” committee chair Senator Louise Pratt said.

But Liberal senators on the committee said it was a “shambolic” inquiry that had failed to land a killer blow.

“The extensive hearings show that not only is there no smoking gun, there is, in fact no gun,” Senator Jim Molan said, Dutton said the inquiry was politically motivated and predicted it would find him to be a “bad person.”

Internal emails show Dutton’s office demanded an au pair detained at Brisbane airport be given urgent consideration for a visa, preferably within an hour.

Dutton told parliament he did not know the people she was planning to work for.

It was later revealed her intended employer was an old Queensland Police colleague of Dutton’s, Russell Keag, who emailed his office to say it had been a “long time between calls” but he needed help.

Dutton said he had not spoken to Keag in 20 years before he was approached for help with the visa.

He intervened after AFL boss Gillon McLachlan had his office contact Dutton’s office to ask for help.

Dutton pushed ahead with it anyway, and his ministerial decision had to be backdated after he missed signing it in time.

The committee recommended the Senate censure Dutton. ■

6


ASIA

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. - AP

Kim agrees to dismantle nuke siteNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to permanently dismantle his main nuclear complex at Nyongbyon if the United States takes corresponding measures, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said, after the two leaders held summit talks in Pyongyang to try to sustain nuclear diplomacy with Washington, which has been pushing hard for stronger disarmament moves from the North.

The Korean leaders also said the North would dismantle a missile engine test site and launchpad in the presence of outside inspectors, and would seek to host the 2032 Summer olympics together.

Moon also said Kim would try to visit Seoul sometime this year.

Washington wants North Korea to outline the entirety of its nuclear program.

While the declaration appears to fall short of what Washington wants, President Donald Trump has maintained he and Kim have a solid relationship and both leaders have expressed interest in meeting again after their June summit in Singapore.

North Korea has been demanding a declaration formally ending the Korean War, which was stopped in 1953 by a ceasefire, but neither leader mentioned it as they read the joint statement.

“We have agreed to make the Korean Peninsula a land of peace that is free from nuclear weapons and nuclear threat,” Kim said as he stood by Moon’s side.

“The road to our future will not always be smooth and we may face challenges and trials we can’t anticipate. But we aren’t afraid of headwinds because our strength will grow as we overcome each trial based on the strength of our nation.”

Kim and Moon had earlier smiled and chatted as they walked down a hallway and into a meeting room to finalize the joint statement, which also said the leaders would push for a Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons and to “eliminate all the danger of war”. ■

Police officers talk to a group of miners as Typhoon Mangkhut approaches. - AP

ASIA

Villagers ‘refused advice to flee storm’A Philippine police officer who tried to persuade residents of a mining camp to move to safety as a powerful typhoon approached said they refused to leave, and a day later the storm triggered a huge landslide that buried dozens of people.

Police Senior Inspector Heherson Zambale said he was stunned after learning that the massive landslide had covered a chapel and bunkhouses in the mountain village where he and other officials had met with some of the victims a day before the tragedy struck.

Typhoon Mangkhut, the most powerful storm to hit the Philippines this year, left at least 81 people dead and 70 missing, mostly in the avalanche in the gold-mining town of Itogon in Benguet province. The storm later blew on to Hong Kong and southern China, where it caused more deaths and damage.

Zambale said he and other local officials tried to convince the villagers, mostly small-scale miners and their families, to move to a safer evacuation center as the typhoon approached.

A villager officer who accompanied Zambale used a megaphone to warn people that Mangkhut was extraordinarily powerful and everybody should leave, he said.

The villagers told the policemen that they thought the chapel and nearby bunkhouses were on stable ground, and that they would only move away if the storm became severe, he said.

Zambale said he saw about 15 villagers outside the chapel and bunkhouses.

Police photographs showed the officers in hard hats and light green raincoats talking with the villagers outside of what appears to be the concrete chapel and nearby bunkhouse, with piles of sandbags nearby. Some villagers heeded the warnings and left before the typhoon struck.

Rescuers have recovered 14 bodies from the avalanche and at least 58 other people remain missing, he said. Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan it was unlikely any of the missing are still alive, although rescuers continued to search. ■

7


EUROPE

- AP

Ireland collects billions off AppleIreland has fully recovered 13.1 billion euros ($A21.2 billion) in disputed taxes from Apple plus interest of 1.2 billion which it will hold in an escrow fund pending its appeal against an EU tax ruling, Ireland’s finance minister says.

The european Commission ruled in August 2016 that Apple had received unfair tax incentives. Both Apple and Dublin are appealing against the original ruling, saying the iPhone maker’s tax treatment was in line with Irish and european Union law.

While the 14.3 billion euros would be enough to fund the country’s health service for a year, the government says it has never given any company a special deal and that the appeal is important to preserve Ireland’s attractiveness for investment.

“While the government fundamentally disagrees with the Commission’s analysis and is seeking an annulment of that decision, as committed members of the european Union, we have always confirmed that we would recover the alleged State aid,” Paschal Donohoe said.

Ireland’s finance ministry, which began collecting the back taxes in a series of payments in May, estimated last year the total amount could have reached 15 billion euros including eU interest.

Ireland has appointed investment managers to oversee the disputed cash, whom Donohoe said would make low-risk investment decisions and the Irish taxpayer would be protected from any losses.

For its part, the Commission said it will scrap its lawsuit against Ireland which it initiated last year because of delays in recovering the money.

“In light of the full payment by Apple of the illegal state aid it had received from Ireland, Commissioner (Margrethe) Vestager will be proposing to the College of Commissioners the withdrawal of this court action,” Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso said. ■

The Moria refugee camp on the eastern Greek island of Lesbos. - AP

EUROPE

Greece moving refugees off islandAbout 2000 asylum-seekers will be moved out of a severely overcrowded migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos this month, a Greek official says, as charities slammed conditions at the camp, which has raw sewage running out of its main entrance.

Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said those being moved out of the Moria camp, which houses 9000 people in a facility built for 3100, would be sent to the mainland so their asylum claims could be examined.

“The situation in Moria is indeed difficult, it is indeed at the limit,” Tzanakopoulos said.

Regional governor Christina Kalogirou had threatened to shut down the facility unless the Greek government improves conditions at Moria.

Camp resident Ali Sajjad Faizy, a 19-year-old from Afghanistan, said conditions at Moria have steadily worsened and anyone who wants food has to stand in line for hours.

“It’s completely full,” he said.Doctors Without Borders has called for the emergency

evacuation of vulnerable people at the camp to the mainland and other european Union countries.

“This is the third year that (we) have been calling on the Greek authorities and the eU to take responsibility for their collective failures and to put in place sustainable solutions to avoid this catastrophic situation,” said Louise Roland-Gosselin, of Doctors without Borders.

Thousands of people fleeing violence and poverty at home are still arriving at Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast.

Under a 2016 deal between the eU and Turkey designed to halt the flow of refugees and migrants into europe, those arriving on Greek islands are held in detention camps there and face deportation back to Turkey unless their asylum applications are approved.

But the massive backlog of applications has led to severe overcrowding on the Greek island camps, even as authorities move hundreds of vulnerable people to the mainland. ■

8


Ardern raises refugee quota to 1500New Zealand’s refugee quota will rise from 1000 to 1500 within the next two years, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed.

Ardern said the change would happen within the current coalition government’s term because it was “the right thing to do”.

She said the quota increase would take place from July 2020.“In the meantime, we will work to increase the number and

spread of refugee resettlement and support services,” she said. “We need to make sure we’re prepared for this change in

policy.”The previous government increased the quota from 750 to

1000, with the change taking effect this year. ■


Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. -RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King

PM sets national drought summitPrime Minister Scott Morrison will host a national drought summit on October 26 in Canberra.

Morrison said at a meeting, where he received an update on drought-related activities, it remained his top priority to deal with not just immediate relief but ensuring communities could recover and rebuild.

“That (summit) will provide an opportunity to get a status update on everything that is being done both at the state and commonwealth level,” Morrison said.

He told the meeting federal funding given to local councils in drought-hit states for projects to keep towns viable was having a positive impact.

“We can’t make it rain but we can support those regional and local economies in those towns,” he said.

Morrison said while donations of tinned fruit and other items were welcome in struggling communities, the best support was to spend money locally.

The meeting included briefings from national drought co-ordinator Major General Stephen Day and special envoy Barnaby Joyce. ■

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, left, with Agriculture Minister David Littleproud. - AAP


north america uk australia + new zealand...sep 19, 2018 · that “really bad things” at the fbi...

Documents