Germany's Ursula von der Leyen nominated to lead EU Commission - BBC News

EU leaders have picked German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen for the top post of European Commission chief, after a marathon three-day summit.

The nomination of Ms Von der Leyen, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, came as a surprise after the main front-runners were rejected.

If approved by the European Parliament she will become the first female Commission president.

IMF head Christine Lagarde has been nominated for the head of the ECB.

The European Central Bank role is currently filled by Mario Draghi, who was widely credited with saving the euro during the eurozone debt crisis.

In all, EU leaders were tasked with nominating five people for the top jobs.

"We have agreed the whole package before the first session of the European Parliament," said European Council President Donald Tusk.

He said Germany had abstained on Ms Von der Leyen's nomination over coalition issues but said Mrs Merkel had backed her. He praised the "perfect gender balance".

Belgian liberal Prime Minister Charles Michel is nominated to replace Mr Tusk while Spain's Josep Borell is proposed as foreign policy chief.

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2019-07-02 17:26:15Z
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What to Know About Hong Kong’s Evolving Protest Movement - The New York Times

HONG KONG — The protests in Hong Kong, leaderless but well coordinated, took a destructive turn on Monday, complicating what had been a mostly cohesive movement.

Scenes of protesters shattering glass to break into the Legislative Council building, followed by demonstrators scrawling graffiti on the walls inside and damaging furniture, caused some residents to question some of the tactics used. But many protesters defended the escalation by saying nothing else has worked, and that they were left with no choice if their demands — including the full withdrawal of a despised extradition bill — were to be met.

The resolution to the growing conflict could affect Hong Kong’s standing as an international business hub and its status as a foothold of democracy in China. Hong Kong is a semiautonomous Chinese territory with its own system of government separate from the mainland, which has mostly watched the unrest at arm’s length.

Here are the main takeaways from the recent protests, and a look at why they took a destructive turn on Monday.

[Need a primer? Read up on the basics of Hong Kong’s extradition bill, which sparked the protests.]

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Protesters inside the Legislative Council chamber on Monday night.CreditLam Yik Fei for The New York Times

A leaderless, digital movement is called into question

There is no single leader or group deciding on or steering the strategy, tactics and goals of the movement. Instead, protesters have used forums and messaging apps to decide next steps.

Anyone can suggest a course of action, and others then vote on whether they support it. The most popular ideas rise to the top, and then people rally to make them happen.

At its best, this structure has empowered many people to participate and have their voices heard. Protesters say it keeps them all safe by not allowing the government to target specific leaders. Their success in halting the extradition bill, which was shelved by the territory’s chief executive, speaks to the movement’s power.

But that same leaderless structure’s weaknesses were on display on Monday. Such a system makes little distinction between the thousands of people who marched peacefully, the scores who vandalized the Legislative Council building, and the dozens who physically forced a path in. It also does not allow for a forceful leader who can discourage such violence. Though many aided those attacking the legislature by moving supplies through the crowd, other protesters disapproved of the destruction, driving a wedge between residents who broadly share a common ideology.

“Not too many Hong Kong citizens are able to differentiate between the radical protesters who barged into the Legislative Council and the general protesters whose agenda is peaceful and rational,” said Willy Lam, a political scientist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Despite the lack of a clear leader, protesters have shown extensive coordination at the demonstrations, having planned the specifics online beforehand. Supply stations are set up to distribute water, snacks, gloves, umbrellas and shields made of cardboard. Volunteer first aid workers wear brightly colored vests. People form assembly lines to pass supplies across long distances, with protesters communicating what they need through a series of predetermined hand signals. Anyone walking in dangerous areas without a helmet or a mask is quickly offered one.

Still, no individual can speak on behalf of the protesters, which makes negotiations difficult, if not impossible. Mr. Lam called the lack of a leader a potential “fatal weakness” of the movement, allowing a small group of destructive protesters to set the tone for the entire group.

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Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, during an early morning news conference on Tuesday.CreditAnthony Kwan/Getty Images

One major victory, but additional demands

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, had plenty of political support in the territory’s pro-Beijing legislature to pass a bill that would allow extraditions to mainland China. The legislators were set to begin discussing the bill in early June, and intended to vote on it just weeks later.

Instead, hundreds of thousands of people marched through the city’s streets in protest on June 9, and three days later, protesters blocked the entrance to the council building. As a group of protesters tried to beak into the building, the police responded with batons, pepper spray and tear gas to disperse tens of thousands of people.

After a June 16 protest saw the largest turnout yet, Ms. Lam made a major concession: She postponed the bill, at least temporarily.

It was an undeniable victory for the protesters — but it did little to quell the unrest. Since the bill could later be reintroduced, protesters felt they remained in danger.

The police tactics to break up the demonstrations on June 12, including the use of more than 150 tear gas canisters to push protesters far away from the government office, created a new set of demands from the protesters. Now, instead of just calling for the withdrawal of the bill and Ms. Lam’s resignation, they said they wouldn’t be content unless there was an independent investigation of officers’ conduct. They also wanted the release of protesters arrested on June 12, and for the government to rescind its description of the demonstrations as a “riot,” a designation that carries legal significance.

None of that has happened. Many analysts say Ms. Lam is unlikely to step down, nor would Beijing accept her resignation if she offered it. She has more wiggle room on the other demands, but has not indicated any willingness to budge.

It sets the stage for a protracted conflict.

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The police used tear gas against protesters outside the Legislative Council building early Tuesday morning.CreditLam Yik Fei for The New York Times

China is reluctant to get too involved

Just a few minutes’ walk away from the Legislative Council building, the People’s Liberation Army, China’s military, has an outpost with thousands of combat-ready soldiers ready to do Beijing’s bidding. But they have remained on the sidelines, even as the extended protests have turned violent and pose a political threat to President Xi Jinping.

Ivan Choy, a political scientist at Chinese University of Hong Kong, said deploying the army would be a last resort and a worst-case scenario for Mr. Xi. It would be widely seen as China reneging on the autonomy Beijing promised when Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997.

“If the P.L.A. came out last night, it would seriously undermine confidence in ‘one country, two systems’ of the Hong Kong people and also the international community,” Mr. Choy said on Tuesday.

Mr. Xi still prefers to let Hong Kong officials handle the situation, he said. Hong Kong’s successful self-governance is important for China’s international image, and its failure would be a major black eye for the president.

But some in the Chinese government could use Monday’s escalation to justify tightening Hong Kong policies. They could also argue against making the concessions protesters seek, painting them as radicals who won’t be satisfied.

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Protesters lowered the Hong Kong flag and raised their own outside the Legislative Council building on Monday.CreditLam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Businesses are watching, but haven’t flinched

The international business community that has made Hong Kong such a crucial economic center did not bat an eye at Monday’s protests. Hong Kong’s stock market was up on Tuesday, indicating little concern that the protests have crossed a worrisome red line.

A collapse of Hong Kong’s autonomy — or a lack of confidence that law and order could be upheld — would cause businesses to scramble for a new home in Asia. Several business groups spoke out against the extradition bill, while more expressed concern privately.

Most have had little to say about the protests. But the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong condemned the protesters’ behavior in a statement on Tuesday.

“We believe the violent protests of recent days do not reflect how the majority of people in this dynamic and advanced economy would choose to be heard,” it said. “We sincerely hope that Hong Kong will find ways for communication and collaboration between the government and the public in order to bring out the best of what Hong Kong has to offer as a premier business and financial hub.”

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/world/asia/hong-kong-protest-explained.html

2019-07-02 13:53:47Z
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Fox walks 76 days: Scientists "speechless" after Arctic fox makes 76-day trek from Norway to Canada, walking more than 2,000 miles near the North Pole - CBS News

A 1-year-old explorer made an epic journey from Norway to Canada, covering 2,176 miles in 76 days. That young explorer was an Arctic fox. 

Scientists were left "speechless" by the fox's journey, Greenland's Sermitsiaq newspaper reports. Researchers from Norway's Polar Institute had been tracking the young female fox on a GPS, according to BBC News. They freed her into the wild on the east cost of Spitsbergen, the main island of the Svalbard archipelago of Norway.

The fox started her journey in March, at just under a year old. She walked nearly 1,000 miles from the archipelago near the North Pole to Greenland. She completed this leg in just 21 days, then began the second part of her trek. 

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The fox then walked about 1,242 miles farther to Canada's Ellesmere Island. The whole trek took her just 76 days, averaging about 28.4 miles a day. Some days, however, the ambitious fox walked over 96 miles.

Researchers believe the fox curled up in the snow to brave the weather, much like this arctic fox lying in its enclosure at Osnabrueck Zoo. Friso Gentsch

Eva Fuglei, a research scientists at the Polar Institute, spoke to Norway's NRK public broadcaster about the fox's unlikely journey. "We couldn't believe our eyes at first," she said. "We thought perhaps it was dead, or had been carried there on a boat, but there were no boats in the area. We were quite thunderstruck."

Fuglei has been tracking how foxes cope in with the dramatic changes of the Arctic seasons, BBC News reports. No fox has been recorded traveling that far, that fast before.

"There's enough food in the summer, but it gets difficult in winter," Fuglei told NRK. "This is when the Arctic fox often migrates to other geographical areas to find food to survive. But this fox went much further than most others we've tracked before - it just shows the exceptional capacity of this little creature." Researchers think the fox curled up in the snow to sit out the bad weather. 

The Polar Institute created a gif that shows the two parts of the fox's journey across Greenland. 

Researchers made a gif of the fox's travels across Greenland. She walked close to the North Pole for over 2,100 miles to Canada. Polar Institute

The fox could have traveled even farther, but scientists stopped tracking her when she reached Canada in February, because her transmitter stopped working, the Polar Institute said. 

The adventurous fox may have a hard time finding food in Canada, since she ate a mainly marine diet in Svalbard. Foxes in Canada's Ellesmere Island eat mostly lemmings, which are small rodents.

It may become difficult for Arctic foxes to maintain their lives in Svalbard, due to the shrinking polar ice pack. Fuglei said there is still hope, though. "Higher temperatures could mean more Svalbard reindeer, and the foxes scavenge off their carcasses," she said.

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2019-07-02 13:07:00Z
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Iran fires back at White House over claims it has been violating nuclear deal for years: 'Seriously?' - Fox News

Iran fired back at claims by the White House that the regime has been violating the 2015 nuclear accord for years with a terse one-word response, tweeting “seriously?”

Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif issued the short statement after the White House said: “There is little doubt that even before the deal’s existence, Iran was violating its terms.”

WHITE HOUSE: 'LITTLE DOUBT' IRAN WAS ENRICHING URANIUM UNDER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION'S WATCH

President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that Iran is “playing with fire” as it threatened to pursue weapons-grade uranium as soon as July 7.

Earlier in the day, the semi-official Fars news agency in Iran cited an unnamed source as saying that U.N. inspectors had recently weighed Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium.

According to the report, Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium was greater than the 660-pound limit set by the nuclear deal. The Trump administration withdrew the U.S. from the deal more than a year ago.

In a written statement Monday, the White House said the development should have been foreseeable to the Obama administration "even before the deal's existence."

“The Iranian regime took action today to increase its uranium enrichment,” the White House said in the statement. “It was a mistake under the Iran nuclear deal to allow Iran to enrich uranium at any level. There is little doubt that even before the deal’s existence, Iran was violating its terms.”

The White House also pledged to continue to exert "maximum pressure" on the regime in a bid to ensure that the country never obtains nuclear weapons, even as it worked to undo what it called the "mistake" of the previous administration.

IRAN SURPASSES URANIUM STOCKPILE LIMIT SET BY NUCLEAR DEAL, STATE MEDIA SAYS

While uranium enriched to 3.67 percent is useable for nuclear power plants, enrichment closer to 90 percent is needed for atomic weaponry.

European powers expressed warnings over Iran breaching the 2015 nuclear deal, with the United Kingdom saying the situation was “extremely concerning.”

Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said she’s working with partners to decide what action should be taken, Sky News reported.

“We have been consistently clear that our commitment to the deal depends on Iran complying in full with the terms of the deal and we urge them to reverse this step.”

— Theresa May

“We have been consistently clear that our commitment to the deal depends on Iran complying in full with the terms of the deal and we urge them to reverse this step.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that he "took note with concern" of the violation and urged Iran to immediately reduce its stockpiles of low-enriched uranium and stick to the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

The violation of the deal comes as the tensions between the U.S. and Iran reached a fever pitch after the regime allegedly attacked two oil tankers in the region and shot down a U.S. drone, prompting the U.S. to consider a military strike.

The supposed strike was canceled last minute by Trump and the administration instead imposed another round of crippling sanctions that have sent Iran's economy into a tailspin.

Iran's oil exports have more than halved since sanctions were reinstated and imposed last year, and the rial has lost approximately 60 percent of its value against the dollar. Additionally, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said inflation in Iran hit 31 percent in 2018, and could continue to rise. The IMF said Iran's economy contracted by 3.9 percent in 2018, and in April forecast a massive economic contraction of as much as 6 percent this year.

The Iranian foreign minister stressed the country's decision to exceed stockpile limits on Monday was "reversible," but he pleaded again for European countries to work to reduce the sanctions.

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"Today, Iran has to stand against U.S. economic sanctions through domestic production and relying on national potentials," Zarif said on state-run media.

Fox News’ Gregg Re contributed to this report.

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2019-07-02 13:02:15Z
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Business fears for Hong Kong as protests turn violent - CNN

Hong Kong prides itself on being an international financial hub, a safe and stable place where foreign companies and investors can do business. Its status as Asia's top financial center and a link between China and global business is still valued highly, despite the rise of mainland cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen.

"We believe the violent protests of recent days do not reflect how the majority of people in this dynamic and advanced economy would choose to be heard," The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong said in a statement Tuesday.

The statement came just hours after protesters smashed the windows at Hong Kong's Legislative Council and made their way through the government complex, vandalizing rooms and spray painting the walls with expletives and slogans criticizing the government.

Monday's protests coincided with the 22nd anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China. Under the terms of the 1997 handover, Beijing promised to respect the semi-autonomous city's distinct political and legal system for 50 years.

An attempt in May by the Hong Kong government to push through a controversial bill that would have allowed suspects from the city to be extradited to China sparked weeks of protests.

Hong Kong's business community condemned the bill. They feared that if it passed, Beijing could reach into Hong Kong and pluck alleged offenders — including foreign executives — out of the city to face charges under China's opaque and politicized legal system.

Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam backed down last month and shelved the legislation, but protestors want it withdrawn completely and are calling on Lam to resign.

Some Hong Kong businesses supported last month's protests. More than 100 firms shut their doors before demonstrations on June 12 to allow employees to join a rally outside the legislature.

But Monday's escalation by some of the protesters could cost them support among the business community. One of the city's most influential business groups spoke out against Monday's violence, noting that it had been caused by a small number of extreme protesters.

"People have the right to express their views, but violence should not under any circumstances be condoned. We have to respect and uphold the rule of law," Aron Harilela, chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement Tuesday.

More dialogue needed

The American Chamber of Commerce urged more communication between the government and public "in order to bring out the best of what Hong Kong has to offer as a premier business and financial hub."

The city, which is run by a China-backed government as a special administrative region, is still hugely important to China and global business.

Hong Kong has played a pivotal role in the opening up of China's markets by establishing connections with stock markets in Shanghai in 2014 and Shenzhen in 2016. Those links allow international investors to trade shares in both markets through brokers licensed by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. They also give Chinese investors a way to trade Hong Kong stocks.

Chinese tech giant Alibaba (BABA), which went public in the world's biggest ever IPO in New York in 2014, is now mulling a $20 billion secondary listing in Hong Kong, and beverage giant AB InBev (BUD) is looking to list its Asia Pacific business on the city's stock exchange later this month.

Andrew Stevens contributed to this report.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/02/business/protests-in-hong-kong-business/index.html

2019-07-02 10:53:00Z
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Protesters removed from HK parliament building - BBC News - BBC News

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2019-07-02 09:57:06Z
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'Seriously?': Zarif mocks US, insists Iran has not violated deal - Aljazeera.com

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said Tehran had not violated its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after its stockpiles of enriched uranium breached a limit set in the landmark accord.

Iran on Monday announced its reserves of enriched uranium had surpassed the 300kg cap and said its next step would be to enrich uranium above the 3.67 percent limit in the accord, unless European powers did more to protect the Iranian economy from harsh US sanctions.

Last year, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal, which imposed limits on Iran's nuclear activity in return for removing international sanctions on its economy. After leaving the accord, the US reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

In a statement on Monday, the White House said there was "little doubt that even before the deal's existence, Iran was violating its terms".

Making light of the US reaction on Tuesday, Zarif tweeted a screengrab of the statement, asking: "Seriously?"

Seriously? pic.twitter.com/oZApumVt2T

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) 2 July 2019

The foreign minister, who has been personally targeted in the latest round of US sanctions, said the Iranian move did not violate the accord, whose remaining signatories include China, Russia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

"We had previously announced this and were transparent in saying what we are going to do," he told reporters. "We consider it our right, reserved in the nuclear deal."

"Actions by the Europeans have not been enough, so we will move ahead with our plan," he said.

US President Donald Trump on Monday warned that Tehran was "playing with fire" by exceeding the limits on uranium reserves, drawing criticism from Iran's parliament speaker.

"Mr Trump should understand that when one uses bullying language against a civilised nation, they become more united," Ali Larijani said on Tuesday in remarks broadcast on state television.

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog confirmed that Tehran had breached the cap on enriched uranium reserves.

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A diplomat in Vienna, where the UN's nuclear watchdog is based, told AFP news agency that Iran had exceeded the limit by two kilogrammes.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Iran's move was a cause for "regret" but also "a natural consequence of recent events" and a result of the "unprecedented pressure" from the US.

"One mustn't dramatise the situation," Ryabkov, whose country is a close ally of Tehran, said in comments reported by Russian news agencies.

UK's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Twitter that London was "deeply worried" and urged Iran to "come back to compliance" with the nuclear deal.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said it was "essential" that Iran sticks to the deal.

Escalating tensions

The relationship between Washington and Tehran has been tense since the US withdrawal, with biting sanctions damaging Iran's oil exports and other key sectors of its slowing economy.

While the European powers have moved to create a trade mechanism to skirt the sanctions, known as INSTEX, Tehran has said it does not meet Iran's needs.

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On Friday, the European Union said that INSTEX, which was designed to allow European companies to trade with Iran effectively via a barter system, was operational and that the first transactions were being processed.

But "the Europeans' efforts were not enough, therefore Iran will go ahead with its announced measures", Zarif said.

INSTEX, which "is just the beginning" of their commitments, has not yet been fully implemented, he added.

Iran has also threatened to start enriching uranium above the agreed maximum purification level of 3.67 percent from July 7. That remains far short of the 90 percent purity required to build a weapon.

The latest tensions coincide with a buildup of US forces in the Gulf and a series of incidents, including Iran's shooting down of a US drone it claimed had entered its airspace.

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/zarif-mocks-insists-iran-violated-deal-190702072113379.html

2019-07-02 09:53:00Z
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