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Labour’s U.K. Manifesto Launch: What We Know and What We Expect

(Bloomberg) — Sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, follow us @Brexit and subscribe to our podcast.Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will launch his party’s manifesto on Thursday, promising a reckoning for the U.K.’s bankers and billionaires if he wins the Dec. 1…

U.K. Budget Deficit Widens Before Election Spending Bonanza

U.K. Budget Deficit Widens Before Election Spending Bonanza(Bloomberg) — Explore what’s moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast. Subscribe via Apple Podcast, Spotify or Pocket Cast.U.K. government borrowing is on the rise even before the winner of next month’s election opens up the spending taps.The budget deficit in the first seven months of the fiscal year totalled 46.3 billion pounds ($60 billion), 10% higher than a year earlier. The shortfall in October alone widened to a larger-than-forecast 11.2 billion pounds, the most for the month since 2014.The increase reflects tax and spending giveaways announced last year, primarily extra resources for the National Health Service, as the government ends the budget cuts that have reduced the deficit from over 10% of GDP in the aftermath of the financial crisis.Britain will step up spending next year whoever wins the Dec. 12 election, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn vie for votes with promises of tens of billions of additional pounds for austerity-ravaged public services and infrastructure.A simple extrapolation from the year to date suggests the deficit in 2019-20 will come in around 45.6 billion pounds, overshooting Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts.More BorrowingBritain has greater freedom to borrow than in recent years, when the target was to get the deficit below 2% of GDP next year and balance the books by the mid-2020s.Johnson’s Conservatives are now prepared to run a deficit of 3% of GDP to fund spending on infrastructure, meaning an extra 22 billion pounds of borrowing a year. Corbyn’s Labour Party is promising to boost investment by 55 billion pounds a year in its first term, more than doubling current levels of capital spending.Johnson also promised big tax cuts during the Tory leadership campaign, though his scope appears to be constrained by new fiscal rules requiring revenue and non-investment spending to be in balance within three years.Spending rose 3.4% between April and October, outstripping revenue growth of 2.4%, the figures from the Office for National Statistics Thursday show. However, economists say spending may have been front-loaded and the pace of growth could slow in the second half.In October, spending rose 2.6% from a year earlier, possibly the result of government departments preparing for a no-deal Brexit ahead of the now-postponed Oct. 31 deadline. Staff costs jumped almost 10% to the highest on record and purchases of goods and services rose 8.1%. Debt-interest costs fell 6.5%.Receipts barely rose, with taxes on production stagnating for the first time in 11 years amid falling revenue from tobacco and stamp duty, while VAT receipts increased. There were also declines in revenue from income tax, possibly reflecting a weaker labor market, and corporation tax.To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Atkinson in London at a.atkinson@bloomberg.net;David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O’Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Andrew AtkinsonFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

UPDATE 3-‘Radical and ambitious’: UK’s Labour unveils socialist plan for Britain

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn unveiled his opposition party’s election manifesto on Thursday, setting out his “radical” plans to transform Britain with public sector pay rises, higher taxes on companies and a sweeping nationalisation of infrastructure. …

IS claims attack in Egypt’s Sinai that killed officer

The Islamic State group has claimed an attack this week in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula that killed an officer and wounded three others. A statement by the extremist group released late on Wednesday on a militant-linked website says its fighters ha…

3 Iraqi protesters killed in clashes with security forces

Iraqi officials say three anti-government protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces overnight in Baghdad. The security and hospital officials said on Thursday that one protester was killed when security forces used live rounds to rep…

Iran Says Arrested Foreign-Backed Protest ‘Ringleaders’

(Bloomberg) — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards said several alleged ringleaders of the recent unrest in the country have been arrested by intelligence services.The unidentified individuals had links to foreign security services, the Guard’s officia…

Aung San Suu Kyi to defend Myanmar against charges of Rohingya genocide at top UN court

Aung San Suu Kyi to defend Myanmar against charges of Rohingya genocide at top UN courtMyanmar’s civilian leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi will head up a delegation to the UN’s top court to defend a case accusing the mainly Buddhist country of genocide against Rohingya Muslims, the government said Wednesday, a decision that blind-sided observers. West African nation Gambia is due to open its case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December on behalf of the 57 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The complaint accuses Myanmar of breaching the 1948 UN Genocide Convention through its brutal military campaign in 2017, which targeted the Rohingya minority in Rakhine state. In the opening hearings, the small, majority-Muslim African country is expected to ask the court to make an emergency injunction to protect the Rohingya, pending a decision on whether to deal with the wider case. But Ms Suu Kyi will personally lead a team to The Hague to “defend the national interest of Myanmar,” her office said. Myanmar has also retained prominent international lawyers, it added. Rohingya refugee crisis | Key facts The country has repeatedly justified the crackdown on the Rohingya as necessary to stamp out militants and insists its own committees are adequate to investigate allegations of abuse. Some 740,000 Rohingya were forced to flee into sprawling camps in Bangladesh after the brutal 2017 military crackdown, in violence that United Nations investigators concluded amounted to genocide. The case will be the first international legal attempt to bring Myanmar to justice over the Rohingya crisis, and is a rare example of a country suing another over an issue to which it is not directly a party. The ICJ was set up in 1946 after the Second World War to adjudicate in disputes between UN member states. Gambia’s effort is one of several legal challenges mounting against Myanmar. The International Criminal Court – another Hague-based court set up in 2002 to probe war crimes – last week authorised its chief prosecutor to launch a full investigation into the persecution of the Rohingya. Myanmar has not signed up to the ICC and therefore rejects its authority. Telegraph photographer Heathcliff O’Malley’s pictures of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh But the probe says it can be held responsible for crimes that affect neighbouring Bangladesh, which has signed up to the court. Rights groups have meanwhile filed a separate lawsuit over the Rohingya in Argentina in which Myanmar’s former democracy icon Ms Suu Kyi was personally named. This is under “universal jurisdiction”, a legal principle which holds that some crimes are so horrific, they can be tried anywhere. Independent Yangon-based analyst David Mathieson said the decision for Ms Suu Kyi to lead the defence team personally was certainly a shock but he thought it “could potentially be positive”. “(She) should use the trip to absorb this information, not just denounce accountability measures as undue pressure on Myanmar,” he said. The former rights champion, widely condemned in the West for failing to stand up for the Rohingya, still enjoys overwhelming support at home where many buy the official line that the Rohingya are illegal immigrants.

Boris Johnson Is Getting a Free Pass on Brexit

(Bloomberg Opinion) — To understand what’s so very odd about this British election campaign, it’s worth recalling where we were a month ago in the Brexit saga. Prime Minister Boris Johnson had returned from Brussels triumphant with a new withdrawal de…

Joe Biden turns impeachment to his advantage in fifth Democrat debate

Joe Biden turns impeachment to his advantage in fifth Democrat debateJoe Biden sought to turn Donald Trump’s impeachment to his own advantage at the fifth Democrat presidential debate, declaring it showed he was the candidate the president feared most. Mr Biden told the audience in Atlanta: “I’ve learned something from these impeachment trials – I’ve learned, number one, that Donald Trump doesn’t want me to be the nominee. Secondly, I found out Vladimir Putin doesn’t want me to be president.” The former vice president, who is no longer the clear frontrunner in polls, spoke on a day when a key witness told the impeachment inquiry Mr Trump had authorised a “quid pro quo” in an attempt to get the government of Ukraine to investigate Mr Biden. Asked if, as president, he would pursue a prosecution against an ex-president Trump, Mr Biden said: “I would not direct it, and I don’t think it’s a good idea that we mock, that we model ourselves after Trump and say ‘Lock him up,'” he said. Mr Biden’s performance was regarded as his strongest so far but was undermined by a late gaffe. He touted how he had been supported by the “only” black female US senator. Mr Biden appeared to momentarily forget that the second black woman elected to the Senate, Kamala Harris, was standing with him on the debate stage. Kamala Harris makes a point Credit: Getty Other candidates united with Mr Biden in backing the impeachment inquiry. Elizabeth Warren said she had already decided to convict Mr Trump in a Senate trial. She added: “We have to establish the principle that no one is above the law.” Ms Harris said there was a “criminal in the White House” and Bernie Sanders called the president a “pathological liar.” However, they once again argued over how to expand healthcare coverage for Americans, and Mrs Warren’s proposed “wealth tax” on billionaires. Pete Buttigieg, the young small town mayor, who recently shot into the lead in a poll in the early voting state of Iowa, was attacked by several other candidates for a lack of experience. Senator Amy Klobuchar, the author of a vast number of bills in Congress, referred to him as a “local official”. Mr Buttigieg responded that “Washington experience isn’t the only experience.” He added: “I know that from the perspective of Washington what goes on in my city might look small. But frankly, where we live, the infighting on Capitol Hill is what looks small.” Pete Buttigieg deflected attacks about a lack of experience Credit: Getty The Democratic debate came just 11 weeks before the first contest in Iowa on Feb. 3, raising the stakes for the 10 participants. The race recently appeared to crystalise into a a three-way battle between the moderate Mr Biden, and Mrs Warren and Mr Sanders on the left. Mrs Warren has seen some of her momentum fade over how she would pay for her government-run healthcare plan. Mr Biden said the “vast majority” of Democrats did not support it, and it could not be passed in Congress But Mr Sanders said: “Some of the people up here think we should not take on the insurance industry. I think now is the time.” A clash erupted between two candidates with relatively low polling who were looking for big moments. Ms Harris attacked congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who has criticised prominent Democrats including Hillary Clinton. “I think that it’s unfortunate that we have someone on the stage who is attempting to be the Democratic who during the Obama administration spent four years full time on Fox News criticising President Obama,” Ms Harris said. Ms Gabbard responded that she was “not going to put party interests first” over those of America.

Five takeaways from the latest Democratic 2020 presidential debate

Five takeaways from the latest Democratic 2020 presidential debate1) Everyone sought an impeachment bounce The debate began with impeachment, in a nod to the fact that Capitol Hill was where the day’s big news was coming from, and the candidates came prepared.  Elizabeth Warren latched on to the background of Gordon Sondland, the Trump donor turned diplomat whose testimony dominated Wednesday’s headlines, to boost her campaign.  She challenged others on the debate stage to match her promise not to give big donors plumb ambassadorships, thereby reinforcing her central theme of taking on the elites.  Joe Biden, the joint front-runner with Ms Warren, sought to flip Mr Trump’s attacks on him over Ukraine – which triggered the impeachment inquiry – by saying it showed the president wanted to stop him being the nominee.  Meanwhile Kamala Harris, the California senator, widened the debate by saying Mr Trump’s actions underscored the need to establish justice in America – the central message of her White House bid. The pivots showed an understanding for the country’s media dynamics which will come in handy if they end up battling Mr Trump, an arch media manipulator, for the White House.  Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden are the two front-runners in the race to take on Donald Trump in the November 2020 election Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP 2) Pete Buttigieg reaches out to black voters The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has been one of the stories of the campaign so far, dwarfed in terms of political experience by other rivals but building up steam.  Recent polls have put him in the lead in both Iowa and New Hampshire – the first two states to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate – meaning he is now a serious contender.  However throughout this year he has struggled to pick up support from African-Americans, stubbornly remaining in the low single digits on voting intentions among that group.    Pete Buttigieg, the South Bend mayor, has shot to a poll lead in the first two voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images Tackling the issue head on when challenged, Mr Buttigieg said that he not only wanted to talk about “what’s in my plan” to produce greater racial equality but “what’s in my heart”.  “I do have the experience of sometimes being a stranger in my own country,” Mr Buttigieg said, an apparent reference to his homosexuality and the challenge of coming out.  He also lent on his Christian faith, saying that he was taught to reach out and care for the “marginalised, caste aside and oppressed”. It was both a tacit acknowledgement of the political weakness and an attempt to fix it.  3) The ghosts at the Democratic feast Their names were barely mentioned, but the spectre of two new candidates and their disruptive potential hung over Wednesday night’s proceedings.  Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, has not yet formally fired the starting gun but has put his name down in states that had early deadlines and is on manoeuvres.  Deval Patrick, the African-American former governor of Massachusetts, announced his bid last week despite less than three months to go before the first votes are cast in Iowa.  Just 10 Democrats qualified for the fifth debate of the presidential primary campaign Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP Both men are unknown quantities and pose a threat especially to those candidates on the party’s moderate wing, seeking to defeat the left-wing Ms Warren and Bernie Sanders.  Mr Bloomberg certainly has the resources to upset the status quo and is set to use some of his billions on Super Tuesday, when 14 states vote, and avoid Iowa and New Hampshire. If either candidate builds momentum the loser could be the former vice president Mr Biden, 77, who has enjoyed a lead in national polls throughout the year but is seen as vulnerable.  4) Combative Tulsi Gabbard takes aim once again The congresswoman from Hawaii has been generating headlines and raising eyebrows for the wrong reasons in recent weeks – just what is her goal in this presidential campaign?  Her bid for the White House has followed path that has increasingly alarmed some Democrats, railing against the party’s structure while presenting an unusual policy platform.  On Wednesday, Ms Gabbard, 38, again showed her willingness to take on rivals on the stage and the Democratic Party itself with a vigour that few others displayed. Tulsi Gabbard, the congresswoman from Hawaii took swipes at Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg during a combative performance Credit: AP Photo/John Bazemore She accused Mr Buttigieg of wanting to send troops into Mexico to tackle drug cartels, saying that would be a reckless use of America’s military power.  “That is outlandish even by the standards of today’s politics,” he shot back, saying he would not invade Mexico and mentioning her infamous meeting with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.  Ms Gabbard and Ms Harris also clashed, with the latter accusing her of having “spent four years, full time on Fox News criticising President Obama”. She remains the race’s biggest wildcard.  5) Comedy shines through with familiarity For the 10 candidates on stage in Atlanta, Georgia, the debate setup has fast become routine. There have been five debates already this year, with another one next month. The familiarity has some downsides – the candidates are now so used to their policy pitches and ‘why I want to be president’ routines that they can sound staged.  But one feature which shone through on Wednesday was more humour than usual, perhaps as a result of the ease which candidate now have under the bright debate lights.  Andrew Yang joked his comments upon winning the presidency to Vladimir Putin would be “I’m sorry I beat your guy” Credit: Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images Andrew Yang, a tech entrepreneur who has shown surprising staying power in this race, was asked what he would tell Vladimir Putin if he became president.  “First I’d say ‘sorry I beat your guy’”, came the reply – a jibe at Russia’s attempt to tip the scales in Mr Trump’s favour in the 2016 presidential race which drew laughs.  When Mr Biden used a response about Kim Jong-un to note the North Korean leader wanted to beat him to death with a stick, Mr Sanders jumped in: “Other than that, you like him.”  And then there was Amy Klobuchar, the senator from Minnesota, who boasted about her proudest fundraising record yet: “I raised $17,000 from ex-boyfriends.”

Who is Fiona Hill and what can we expect from her impeachment testimony?

Hill, a top expert on Russia, expected to testify about her concerns of ‘shadow’ foreign policy run by Giuliani, Sondland and othersFiona Hill leaves the US Capitol on 4 November 2019. Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty ImagesA day aft…

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