Monday, 30 October 2017

Trump adviser George Papadopoulos lied about Russian links

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An adviser to Donald Trump during his election campaign has admitted seeking to set up a meeting between the campaign and Russian officials.

Foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty earlier this month to having lied to the FBI over when he met go-betweens.

He said he had been told the Russians possessed "dirt" on Hillary Clinton.

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has been charged with tax fraud in an unrelated case.

The 12 charges brought against Mr Manafort and one of his business associates, Rick Gates, include conspiracy to launder money.

They do not relate to Mr Trump's campaign but to the pair's Ukrainian business dealings up to 2015.

An investigation headed by special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into any links between Russia and the Trump campaign. Both sides deny any collusion

How does the Papadopoulos case affect Trump?

It has the potential to damage the US leader because it relates directly to his campaign.

According to a justice department statement, Mr Trump's former foreign policy adviser admitted on 5 October to having impeded the FBI's investigation into alleged collusion with Russia.

When he was interviewed by the FBI this January, he falsely claimed that he had met two figures with Russian connections before joining the Trump campaign in March 2016. In fact, he met them after joining the campaign.

One was an unnamed Russian woman who, Mr Papadopoulos believed, had connections to Russian government officials.

He admitted seeking to use her connections in an effort to arrange a meeting "between the Campaign and Russian government officials".

The other person was an unnamed, London-based professor who was said to have "substantial connections to Russian government officials".

The professor only took an interest in Mr Papadopoulos because of his status within the Trump campaign, the statement says.

Russian "dirt" on Mrs Clinton, in the form of "thousands of emails", was allegedly mentioned by the professor at a breakfast meeting in a London hotel on or around 26 April 2016.

The professor said he had been informed about the compromising emails when he met senior Russian government officials on a recent trip to Moscow.

What are the charges against Manafort and Gates?

The indictment against the two men looks at their links to pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine between 2006 and 2015.

It says they acted as "unregistered agents" of Ukrainian politician Viktor Yanukovych and his party, both in opposition and government.

Mr Yanukovych was deposed as president in 2014 amid mass unrest over his pro-Russian policies.

Mr Manafort is accused of having laundered more than $18m (£14m) through offshore bank accounts, using it to buy property, goods and services in transactions concealed from the US authorities.

He is said to have "used his hidden overseas wealth to enjoy a lavish lifestyle" in America.

Altogether, at least $75m in payments from Ukraine flowed through the accounts, the indictment says.

Mr Gates is accused of having transferred more than $3m from the offshore accounts to other accounts he controlled.

No immediate comment from lawyers for Mr Manafort and Mr Gates was reported after the charges were revealed.

The good news for Mr Trump is that the charges stem from Mr Manafort's past business dealings, not his campaign efforts, the BBC's Anthony Zurcher reports from Washington.

However, Mr Manafort will be under growing pressure to co-operate with the Mueller investigation into his work for the Trump campaign, our correspondent adds.

Responding to news of the charges, Mr Trump tweeted to point out that they did not concern his campaign and asked why "the focus" was not on alleged wrongdoing involving Mrs Clinton instead.

Why did Trump bring up Clinton?

On Friday, Mr Trump accused Mrs Clinton of links with Moscow.

Republican lawmakers have alleged that a uranium deal with a Russian company in 2010, when Mrs Clinton was secretary of state, was sealed in exchange for donations to her husband's charity.

A Congressional investigation has been opened into the case. Democrats say it is an attempt to divert attention from the alleged ties between Russia and Mr Trump.

Audience: The audience of this article is pointed towards the Russian Government Force, and the people involved in the trump campaign. Also it is pointed toward many other people in the Government force.

Bias: The Author bias of this article is that the Russian Government officials were lairs, about the files and emails that were leaked out. This article is also saying that all of Trumps advisers, have had a bad history of working in other things, and getting caught for bad and almost e legal things.

Reader's Bias: I think this article is saying that Trump has some bad advisers, and as for the Russian Government, did they have a right to leak those email and files out? No they did not. And Trumps adviser George should get punished in some way, and should have gotten himself in the mess.

Tuesday, 24 October 2017

Japan PM Shinzo Abe promises to handle North Korea threat

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised strong "counter-measures" against North Korea, after winning a decisive victory in Sunday's election.

Mr Abe had called an early election for a greater mandate to deal with "crises", including the growing threat from Pyongyang, which has fired missiles over Japan in recent months.

His ruling coalition has retained a two-thirds majority in parliament.

This paves the way for Mr Abe to amend Japan's post-war pacifist constitution.

The prime minister has previously called for the existence of the country's armed forces to be formalised, a controversial move which he says is needed to strengthen Japan's defense but which critics say is a step towards re-militarisation.

Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, Mr Abe said his coalition's win was a "vote of confidence" from the public, and based on that "we would dramatically show counter-measures against the North Korea threat".

He said he would discuss these measures with US President Donald Trump, who is visiting Japan next month, as well as with other world powers such as Russia and China.

He said they would exert "stronger pressure" on North Korea, adding: "I will make sure the Japanese public is safe, and safeguard our nation."

Mr Abe saw his popularity plummet in recent months while embroiled in political scandals, but enjoyed a sudden recovery after North Korea fired two missiles over the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo says Mr Abe's pledge of tough diplomacy with North Korea is rhetoric that would play well with the Japanese public, but it is unclear what it means in concrete terms.

Tokyo has no diplomatic or economic relations with North Korea, and has poor relations with Pyongyang's closest ally China, so the most Mr Abe can do is strengthen Japan's defences and stick closely to the US, our correspondent adds.

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Mr Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) coalition with the Komeito party has won 313 of the 465 seats in the lower house of Japan's parliamentary Diet - which gives them the power to table a revision to the constitution.

Mr Abe had previously announced he wanted to revise a clause which renounces war, known as Article 9, to formally recognise Japan's military, which is known as the "self-defence forces".

He had set a deadline of 2020 to achieve this highly contentious task. But on Monday he appeared to ditch this target, saying it was "not set in a concrete schedule".

He said he hoped to "form a strong agreement" on the issue among parties in parliament, and "gain trust" from the Japanese public.

Even if an amendment to the constitution is passed and approved by both houses in the Diet - which Mr Abe's coalition controls - it still needs to be put to a public vote in a referendum.

Mr Abe two years ago successfully managed to push for a re-interpretation of the constitution to allow troops to fight overseas under certain circumstances, which attracted widespread protests.

Toothless tiger: Japan Self-Defence Forces

Our correspondent says Mr Abe's victory is also in large part due to the chaos of Japan's opposition parties.

In the lead-up to the snap election, all eyes were on the recently-formed conservative Party of Hope led by the charismatic Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike, with some speculating that it would make significant gains.

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But in the end it was overtaken by the centre-left Constitutional Democratic Party which emerged as the biggest opposition party, and which opposes Mr Abe's plan to amend Article 9.

Ms Koike, who was in Paris for a business trip during the election, told reporters she was personally taking responsibility for the result. Japanese media quoted her as saying her "words and deeds" had caused "displeasure" to voters.

Mr Abe's election win also raises his chances of securing a third three-year-term as leader of the LDP when the party votes next September.

That would give him the opportunity to become Japan's longest serving prime minister, having been elected in 2012.

Article Response.

Audience: The Audience of this article is pointed out toward the Japanese mostly, because of the election they had, also to there surrounding countries, like Korea, and China. It is also pointed to the rest of the world.

Bias: This article is talking about Japan getting mad, at Korea and it missiles. Japan just had an election, and there leader promised to give Japan what it wanted, protection form North Korea. The Bias in this is that japan is seen as something more then it really is. And the author is saying North Korea is a huge threat, and it should be taken down.

Tuesday, 17 October 2017

Iraqi invade and kurds flee.

Iraqi forces enter Kirkuk as Kurds flee

Iraqi government forces have entered central Kirkuk after taking key installations outside the disputed city from Kurdish fighters.

Thousands of people fled the city ahead of the Iraqi advance.

The Iraqi military moved into Kirkuk three weeks after the Kurdistan Region held a controversial independence referendum.

They are aiming to retake areas under Kurdish control since Islamic State militants swept through the region.

Residents of Kurdish-controlled areas, including Kirkuk, overwhelmingly backed secession from Iraq in a 25 September vote.

While Kirkuk is outside Iraqi Kurdistan, Kurdish voters in the city were allowed to take part.

Iraq's prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, had denounced the vote as unconstitutional. But the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) insisted it was legitimate.

US officials said they were "engaged with all parties in Iraq to de-escalate tension".

Mr Abadi said in a statement on Monday that the operation in Kirkuk was necessary to "protect the unity of the country, which was in danger of partition" because of the referendum.

"We call upon all citizens to co-operate with our heroic armed forces, which are committed to our strict directives to protect civilians in the first place, and to impose security and order, and to protect state installations and institutions," he added.

On Monday, the Iraqi military said its units had taken control of the K1 military base, the Baba Gurgur oil and gas field, and a state-owned oil company's offices.

The government in Baghdad said the Peshmerga had withdrawn "without fighting". However, clashes were reported to the south, and the sound of gunfire was caught by a BBC cameraman as a team filmed near a checkpoint.

By afternoon, as thousands of people fled the city fearing impending clashes between the two sides, Iraqi military vehicles were rolling into the heart of Kirkuk. A picture shared on social media appeared to show Iraqi forces sitting in the governor's office.

Forces pulled down the Kurdish flag which had been flying alongside the national flag, according to Reuters.

Mr Abadi had ordered the flag to fly over all disputed territories.

While some celebrated in the streets, the Peshmerga General Command said Iraq's actions on Monday amounted to a "declaration of war" on the Kurdish people.Meanwhile Turkey, which fears Kurdish independence in Iraq could lead to similar calls from its own Kurdish minority, praised Baghdad, saying it was "ready for any form of co-operation with the Iraqi government in order to end the PKK presence in Iraqi territory".

The PKK - or Kurdistan Workers' Party - is a Turkish-Kurdish rebel group which has been fighting for autonomy since the 1980s. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey as well as by the EU and US.

Why is Kirkuk disputed?

Kirkuk is an oil-rich province claimed by both the Kurds and the central government. It is thought to have a Kurdish majority, but its provincial capital has large Arab and Turkmen populations.

Image copImage Kurdish Peshmerga forces took control of much of the province in 2014, when Islamic State (IS) militants swept across northern Iraq and the Iraq army collapsed.The Iraqi parliament asked Mr Abadi to deploy troops to Kirkuk and other disputed areas after the referendum result was announced, but he said last week that he would accept them being governed by a "joint administration" and that he did not want an armed confrontation.

On Sunday, his cabinet accused the KRG of deploying non-Peshmerga fighters in Kirkuk, including members of the PKK, which it said was tantamount to a "declaration of war". But KRG officials denied this.

Audience: the audience of this article is pointed towards Kurdistan, mainly, also towards the Iraqi, but also towards the outside world looking in on this sad news.

Author's Bias: I think this article is implying that the Iraqi troops are supposed to be there, and that they are supposed to take control over this area. I think the Kurds have no claim over what land they have, and can be controlled, but other forces.

reader's Bias: I think this article is, saying that the Kurds have no control over wow comes into thee line of defense,and they don't have all the power like most of the Iraqi's do. And Also Kurkuk fighters are trying to fight back and keep the Iraqi soldiers out of the country.