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OCTOBER 6 (GMT) – OCTOBER 7 (AEST), 2019

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Trump fires back at critics

President Donald Trump is seething over an impeachment inquiry into his conduct after Democrats subpoenaed the White House about contacts with Ukraine and he signaled his administration would not cooperate. In a series of tweets sent as the presidential motorcade ferried him to his Virginia golf course, Trump defended his comments and lashed out at critics, including a past foil, Senator Mitt Romney. “This is a fraud against the American people!” he tweeted.

Pompeo blasts Ukraine critics

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended the Trump administration’s approach to Ukraine, which is driving an impeachment inquiry in Congress, calling it typical of the transactional way countries deal with one another in the real world. Pompeo supported the administration’s demand that Ukraine open inquiries into alleged corruption that could target Vice President Joe Biden’s son and alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

PM walks tricky line on China

As Scott Morrison walked a tightrope between the United States and China, Beijing academics casually suggested Australia would be the first sacrificed in a war between the super powers. The prime minister has long maintained Australia doesn’t have to pick sides, that it can manage to stand by both friend and customer, even as they whack each other with harsher tariffs.

Accept our deal, Boris urges EU

Boris Johnson has urged Brussels to “grasp the opportunity” his new Brexit proposal provides, as he repeated his vow not to delay the UK’s departure from the EU. The Prime Minister insisted Britain will pack its bags and walk out on October 31, but said it remains to be seen whether Europe will “cheerily wave us off” with a deal.

Cameron backs Brexit efforts

Boris Johnson’s attempts to secure a deal with Brussels have won the backing of former prime minister David Cameron. The ex-premier said he “completely supports” the incumbent’s efforts to get a deal in Europe and take it through the Commons, adding: “That’s the best thing that could possibly happen.” Cameron, who was speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, said he thought there was a “good chance” of Johnson’s efforts succeeding.

Government ‘acting on drought’

Drought Minister David Littleproud insists the federal government is acting on a major drought report that the opposition wants released. Littleproud has resisted calls to make Drought Coordinator Stephen Day’s report public because it’s headed to cabinet for consideration. Senior ministers are yet to see it, with Littleproud agreeing to wait until the National Farmers’ Federation finalises its drought strategy before sending it to cabinet.

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OCTOBER 6 (GMT) – OCTOBER 7 (AEST), 2019

AUSTRALIAREST OF THE WORLDNORTH AMERICA

McConnell to fight impeachment

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vows to stop any Democratic push for impeachment in a social media campaign ad that he’s using as a platform to raise campaign funds off the inquiry of President Donald Trump. In the brief Facebook video, McConnell makes it clear that the Republican-controlled Senate with him in charge will be a firewall against efforts to remove Trump from office.

Department ‘will follow law’

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says his department intends to follow the law in the House impeachment investigation and vigorously defended Donald Trump, dismissing questions about the president’s attempts to push Ukraine and China to investigate a Democratic political rival. The Trump administration and House Democrats often disagree about what the law requires, leaving open the question of how Pompeo may interpret Democrats’ demands for key information.

Australia mum on prisoner swap

Australia’s attorney general has refused to comment whether a prisoner swap was behind the release of two Australians from Iran in exchange for an Iranian student who was facing extradition to the United States. The blogging couple, Jolie King and Mark Firkin, returned to Australia after all charges against them were dropped. They spent almost three months in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison after they were arrested for flying a drone near a military zone without a license.

Bid to block mask ban rejected

Thousands of protesters shouting “Wearing masks is not a crime” braved the rain to march in central Hong Kong as a court rejected a second legal attempt to block a ban on masks at pro-democracy rallies. The ban, aimed at quashing violence during four months of protests, came into force on the weekend, triggering more clashes and destruction. A teenage protester was shot in the thigh when an off-duty police officer fired his pistol in self-defence.

Elephants drown in raging river

A herd of wild elephants has been swept away by raging waters in Thailand’s national park, drowning six, while rangers helped steer two animals out of a deep ravine. Staff at Khao Yai National Park discovered the two struggling elephants and the carcasses near the infamous Haew Narok waterfall. The two elephants were trying to reach a dead calf, park officials said.

Health sector nurses hits high

The government says the record number of nurses working in New Zealand is thanks to its initiatives and funding increases. Health Minister David Clark said there were now almost 1500 more nurses employed since the government took office in late 2017. “Unfortunately, nursing was among a number of key health workforces which the previous government did not support enough to keep pace with increasing population and demand for services,” Clark said.

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OCTOBER 6 (GMT) – OCTOBER 7 (AEST), 2019

NORTH AMERICA

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. - AP

Pompeo defends Trump over Ukraine criticismUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended the Trump administration’s approach to Ukraine, which is driving an impeachment inquiry in Congress, calling it typical of the transactional way countries deal with one another in the real world.

Pompeo supported the administration’s demand that Ukraine open inquiries into alleged corruption that could target Vice President Joe Biden’s son and alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election as reasonable, responsible and necessary to target graft, ensure aid is spent properly, and protect America’s democracy.

Lawmakers have made President Donald Trump’s request last summer that Ukraine investigate the Bidens the centerpiece of an impeachment probe. A whistleblower complaint said that Trump sought to use military assistance for Ukraine as leverage to push President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate the 2020 Democratic hopeful.

Pompeo told an audience in Athens that the focus from the media and commentators on Trump and Ukraine is “wrong” because it doesn’t “impact real people’s lives.”

“Instead they get caught up in some silly gotcha game,” he said, responding to a question from a Greek reporter after Pompeo delivered a speech on US-Greece relations.

He then launched into a full-throated defense of the administration’s campaign to get Ukraine’s president to agree to a corruption investigation in return for a trip to Washington and the release of military aid.

“We know exactly what we were doing there,” Pompeo said. “We were trying to create a situation where there wouldn’t be a corrupt government. We wanted to make sure that they didn’t interfere in our election in 2016. We wanted to make sure that if we underwrote Javelin missile systems, something that the previous administration refused to do, we wanted to make sure we were doing this with a government that was straight up and would use that money for the things that it said it would use that money for.” ■

President Donald Trump. - AP

NORTH AMERICA

Trump fires back over impeachmentPresident Donald Trump is seething over an impeachment inquiry into his conduct after Democrats subpoenaed the White House about contacts with Ukraine and he signaled his administration would not cooperate.

In a series of tweets sent as the presidential motorcade ferried him to his Virginia golf course, Trump defended his comments and lashed out at critics, including a past foil, Senator Mitt Romney.

“This is a fraud against the American people!” he tweeted.The inquiry reached deeper into the White House when

the House sent a letter to Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, informing him that the White House was being subpoenaed for documents it had refused to produce. The move capped a tumultuous week that widened the constitutional battle between the executive branch and Congress and heightened the political standoff with more witnesses, testimony and documents to come.

Trump received support from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who dismissed questions about Trump’s attempts to push Ukraine and China to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden as a “silly gotcha game.”

“The president has every right to have these set of conversations,” Pompeo told reporters while traveling in Greece. He insisted the administration’s foreign efforts were reasonable, responsible and necessary to target graft, ensure aid is spent properly and protect American democracy.

“There has been some suggestion somehow that it would be inappropriate for the United States government to engage in that activity and I see it just precisely the opposite,” he said.

It is illegal to solicit campaign help from a foreign government.

“I really believe that they’re going to pay a tremendous price at the polls,” Trump said. ■

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OCTOBER 6 (GMT) – OCTOBER 7 (AEST), 2019

UK

Former prime minister David Cameron. - PA

Cameron backs prime minister’s Brexit effortsBoris Johnson’s attempts to secure a deal with Brussels have won the backing of former prime minister David Cameron.

The ex-premier said he “completely supports” the incumbent’s efforts to get a deal in Europe and take it through the Commons, adding: “That’s the best thing that could possibly happen.”

Cameron, who was speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, said he thought there was a “good chance” of Johnson’s efforts succeeding.

He added: “It is difficult but I think it is far better than a no-deal outcome, which I don’t think is a good outcome and not something I would recommend.”

He suggested British politics would be “stuck” until Brexit is resolved, telling the festival: “If I can be perfectly frank about this and we can’t get a deal and we can’t all be stuck and I recognise my fair share of the responsibility for that fact we are stuck.

“We had a referendum and I lost that referendum and we found it very difficult to charge a way forward. We’ve had three years where we have not been able to resolve it and if you can’t resolve it with a deal, which is the right answer, there are only really three answers.

“You can have a deal; you can have a general election and try and change the arithmetic in the House of Commons; or you can have a second referendum and take it back to the people.”

Cameron’s support came after Brussels dealt a heavy blow to the PM’s new Brexit proposals, and anticipated weekend talks between the two sides were called off.

The European Commission said EU member states had agreed the proposals “do not provide a basis for concluding an agreement”.

A spokesman said discussions between the two sides would not take place this weekend and instead the UK would be given “another opportunity to present its proposals in detail” next week. ■

Prime Minister Boris Johnson. - AP

UK

Accept our deal, Johnson urges EUBoris Johnson has urged Brussels to “grasp the opportunity” his new Brexit proposal provides, as he repeated his vow not to delay the UK’s departure from the EU.

The Prime Minister insisted Britain will pack its bags and walk out on October 31, but said it remains to be seen whether Europe will “cheerily wave us off” with a deal.

Describing his blueprint for an agreement as a “practical compromise that gives ground where necessary”, Johnson said it represents the UK “jumping to the island in the middle of the river”.

Writing in the Sun on Sunday, he added: “If we’re to leave with a deal, we now need the EU to jump over from its side and join us there, showing its own willingness to do a deal that the UK Parliament can support.”

But the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier poured scorn on the chances of the new proposal succeeding, reportedly telling an event in Paris: “If they do not change, I do not believe, on the basis of the mandate I have been given by the EU27, that we can advance.”

He also reiterated the EU’s claim that a no-deal outcome would “never be Europe’s choice … it would always be the UK’s choice, not ours”.

The PM, meanwhile, described Jeremy Corbyn as a “serial wannabe Brexit-wrecker”, but said he has been encouraged to discover not all MPs are “so recalcitrant” in backing the proposal.

“MPs from every wing of my own Conservative Party, from Northern Ireland’s DUP, even from Jeremy Corbyn’s own ranks, have said that our proposed deal looks like one they can get behind,” Johnson said.

“Where the previous Withdrawal Agreement, backstop and all, drove an almighty wedge through the heart of Parliament, I have heard positive noises from across the House.” ■

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OCTOBER 6 (GMT) – OCTOBER 7 (AEST), 2019

AUSTRALIA

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, orchard owner Dino Rizzato and Minister for Water Resources

David Littleproud in a dried up dam in Queensland. - AAP

Governemnt ‘acting on drought report’Drought Minister David Littleproud insists the federal government is acting on a major drought report that the opposition wants released.

Littleproud has resisted calls to make Drought Coordinator Stephen Day’s report public because it’s headed to cabinet for consideration.

Senior ministers are yet to see it, with Littleproud agreeing to wait until the National Farmers’ Federation finalises its drought strategy before sending it to cabinet.

“There is nothing in Major-General Day’s report that we are not already acting on,” he said.

But Labor has demanded it be released, while also criticising the government for lacking a national drought strategy.

Littleproud said the government’s Future Drought Fund, which will dole out $100 million a year for drought projects from 2020, was proof of long-term policy.

Additional support for farmers appears to be edging closer after Treasurer Josh Frydenberg spent three days with Littleproud in some of the worst-affected areas of NSW and Queensland last week.

“We understand this is going to cost more and the treasurer has been quite clear he accepts that,” the drought minister said said.

NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall launched an extraordinary attack on MrLittleproud after he toured through drought-ravaged Inverell last week.

“He flies in on his big aeroplane out to regions like Inverell in my electorate, offers nothing, blames everyone, hops back on the plane and flies somewhere else,” he told 2GB.

The federal government has been calling on the states to look at payroll tax and council rates in drought-hit communities, but praised NSW for planning to fund dam-building.

The savage criticism left Littleproud miffed. ■

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and President Donald Trump. - AAP

AUSTRALIA

Morrison walks tricky line between China, USAs Scott Morrison walked a tightrope between the United States and China, Beijing academics casually suggested Australia would be the first sacrificed in a war between the super powers.

The prime minister has long maintained Australia doesn’t have to pick sides, that it can manage to stand by both friend and customer, even as they whack each other with harsher tariffs.

On six different occasions during his recent week in the US, Morrison explained China was a “comprehensive strategic partner” of Australia.

That included while sitting alongside Donald Trump in the Oval Office, after the president told the world: “Scott has very strong opinions on China.”

Of course, while the different types of relationship mean something important in diplomatic terms, it can send a confusing message to the public.

One sounds like the mate you’d have over for a barbecue.The other sounds like that person at work with the fancy job

title, but you’re not exactly sure what it is they actually do.Morrison might be sticking to his line that Australia doesn’t

have to choose, but the contrast of the casual and the formal diplomatic language can give the impression we actually have picked a side.

This was reflected in the Newspoll finding this week that more than twice as many Australians think the government should prioritise its relationship with the US over that with China.

This has given rise to a polarised public debate.“You’ve got a group of panda huggers and you’ve got a group

of dragon slayers and I think neither of them are particularly right,” ANU Professor Brendan Taylor said.

For decades, the one consistent theme in Australia’s foreign policy has been pragmatism.

But this can leave the overall picture a bit muddled as decisions are made which don’t necessarily please one great and powerful friend or the other. ■

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OCTOBER 6 (GMT) – OCTOBER 7 (AEST), 2019

NORTH AMERICA

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. - AP

State department will follow law, Pompeo saysUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says his department intends to follow the law in the House impeachment investigation and vigorously defended Donald Trump, dismissing questions about the president’s attempts to push Ukraine and China to investigate a Democratic political rival.

The Trump administration and House Democrats often disagree about what the law requires, leaving open the question of how Pompeo may interpret Democrats’ demands for key information about Trump’s handling of Ukraine.

Pompeo said the State Department sent a letter to Congress last week as its initial response to the document request, and added: “We’ll obviously do all the things that we’re required to do by law.”

He is allowing Democrats to interview a series of witnesses next week, among them Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, who is another key figure in the probe.

The administration has struggled to come up with a unified response to the quickly progressing investigation. Democrats have warned that defying their demands will in itself be considered “evidence of obstruction” and a potentially impeachable offence.

Pompeo has become a key figure in the Democrats’ investigation.

He was on the line during the July phone call in which Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter – sparking a whistleblower complaint and now the impeachment inquiry.

Pompeo had initially tried to delay a handful of current and former officials’ co-operation with the inquiry and accused Democrats of trying to “bully” his staff.

Pompeo did not back off in his defence of Trump’s call with Ukraine.

“There has been some suggestion somehow that it would be inappropriate for the United States government to engage in that activity and I see it just precisely the opposite,” he said. ■

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. - AP

NORTH AMERICA

McConnell vows to stop impeachmentSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vows to stop any Democratic push for impeachment in a social media campaign ad that he’s using as a platform to raise campaign funds off the inquiry of President Donald Trump.

In the brief Facebook video, McConnell makes it clear that the Republican-controlled Senate with him in charge will be a firewall against efforts to remove Trump from office.

“All of you know your Constitution,” McConnell says in the video. “The way that impeachment stops is with a Senate majority with me as majority leader.”

The Senate leader, a steadfast Trump defender, avoided the impeachment issue during public appearances in his home state of Kentucky this past week.

But McConnell recently swatted down talk that the Senate could dodge considering articles of impeachment if the Democratic-led House approved charges against Trump.

“It’s a Senate rule related to impeachment, it would take 67 votes to change, so I would have no choice but to take it up,” McConnell said recently on CNBC. “How long you’re on it is a whole different matter.”

House Democrats began the impeachment inquiry after revelations that Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate his potential 2020 Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, and his family.

Foreign interference in elections has long been viewed as a threat to US sovereignty and the integrity of democracy, and soliciting foreign help in an election is illegal.

In his video, McConnell appears to predict that the matter of impeachment will reach the Senate. The Kentucky Republican says that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is “in the clutches of a left-wing mob that finally convinced her to impeach the president.”

Looking to capitalize on the polarizing issue, McConnell makes a fundraising plea at the end of the video, saying: “I need your help. Please contribute before the deadline.” ■

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OCTOBER 6 (GMT) – OCTOBER 7 (AEST), 2019

REST OF THE WORLD

- AP

Elephants drown in raging watersA herd of wild elephants has been swept away by raging waters in Thailand’s national park, drowning six, while rangers helped steer two animals out of a deep ravine.

Staff at Khao Yai National Park discovered the two struggling elephants and the carcasses near the infamous Haew Narok waterfall.

The two elephants were trying to reach a dead calf, park officials said.

Park rangers helped lead the two elephants from the ravine and said they will monitor their condition throughout the week. The waterfall was closed off to visitors while officials remove the carcasses.

“The two elephants right now are taking a rest. They are exhausted from trying to cross the stream,” said Chanaya Kanchanasaka, a veterinarian at the park, located 120km (80 miles) northeast of Bangkok.

The ravines usually fill up with gushing water during a rainy season. In 1992, eight elephants died after falling into the water.

The park is home to about 300 wild elephants and is part of Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site. ■

Anti-government protesters wearing masks and holding umbrellas take part in a march in

Hong Kong. - AP

REST OF THE WORLD

Bid to block Hong Kong mask ban rejectedThousands of protesters shouting “Wearing masks is not a crime” braved the rain to march in central Hong Kong as a court rejected a second legal attempt to block a ban on masks at pro-democracy rallies.

The ban, aimed at quashing violence during four months of protests, came into force on the weekend, triggering more clashes and destruction.

A teenage protester was shot in the thigh when an off-duty police officer fired his pistol in self-defence.

Politician Dennis Kwok said the High Court had refused to grant an injunction on the masks ban, but it agreed to hear later this month an application by 24 legislators against Hong Long leader Carrie Lam’s use of emergency powers to impose the measure by circumventing the legislature.

The embattled leader has said the ban on masks, which allows radical protesters to conceal their identity, was needed to stop widespread violence that “semi-paralysed” the city.

It is also the biggest challenge for Chinese President Xi Jinping since the former British colonial returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Many malls, shops and the entire MTR network of subways and trains shut following the overnight rampage.

About half of the city’s 94 subway stations reopened in the morning but many malls, especially in the Causeway Bay shopping district, remained shuttered as thousands of protesters marched with umbrellas and most of them wearing masks in defiance.

Critics fear the use of the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, which gives Lam broad powers to implement any measures she deems necessary in an emergency, would pave the way for more draconian regulations.

The law was enacted by British colonial rulers in 1922 to quell a seamen’s strike and last used in 1967 to crush riots.

Lam has not ruled out further measures if violence continues. ■

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OCTOBER 6 (GMT) – OCTOBER 7 (AEST), 2019

Record number of nurses working in health sectorThe government says the record number of nurses working in New Zealand is thanks to its initiatives and funding increases.

Health Minister David Clark said there were now almost 1500 more nurses employed since the government took office in late 2017.

“Unfortunately, nursing was among a number of key health workforces which the previous government did not support enough to keep pace with increasing population and demand for services,” Clark said.

“As a result, our nurses came under increasing pressure including limited pay and unsafe conditions.”

He said increased government funding for DHBs has led to a boost in nurses’ pay and better investment in their training.

Clark said the impact of nine years of neglect from the National government will take longer to fix than one or two Budgets.

“This is a step along the way. It’s meaningful progress, but after years and years of underfunding, it will take a number of years to rebuild these workforces to a level that we think is sustainable in the long term.”

Clark visited Dunedin Hospital today to thank staff at the Southern DHB for their work and hear about new initiatives.

“That includes the DHB’s new enhanced training programme for theatre nurses, based on a similar programme at Auckland DHB, helping these graduate nurses get off to a great start in their careers,” he said.

Clark said there were now almost 600 more doctors, 100 additional midwives and 500 extra allied health workers employed in the health sector.

“Along with transforming our mental health services and our unprecedented investment in hospital buildings, our workforce development programme is a key part of our plan to ensure health services can deliver the high quality of care all New Zealanders deserve, now and into the future,” he said. ■

NEW ZEALAND

Health Minister David Clark. – RNZ / Dom Thomas

Australia quiet about possible prisoner swapAustralia’s attorney general has refused to comment whether a prisoner swap was behind the release of two Australians from Iran in exchange for an Iranian student who was facing extradition to the United States.

The blogging couple, Jolie King and Mark Firkin, returned to Australia after all charges against them were dropped. They spent almost three months in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison after they were arrested for flying a drone near a military zone without a license.

At the same time, Iran’s state TV reported that an Iranian scientist, Reza Dehbashi, who was detained for 13 months in Australia for purchasing a defence system for his country from the United States, had returned home.

Dehbashi had been a research student at the University of Queensland.

Attorney General Christian Porter confirmed that Dehbashi would not be extradited to the United States but refused to comment on an apparent swap.

“The Australian government does not comment on the details behind its consideration of particular cases,” he said.

“And while it is likely that because of Mr Dehbashi Kivi’s nationality some will speculate regarding this matter, consistent with prior practice I do not intend to comment further on the particular details of this case, particularly when any such response from me may diminish our government’s capacity to deal with future matters of this type in Australia’s best interests,” he said.

The US Embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Donald Rothwell, an Australian National University expert on international law, said the nature of the releases had the hallmarks of a quid pro quo. “It is the inevitable conclusion when one looks at the facts,” he said. ■

- AAP

AUSTRALIA