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November 18 (GmT) – November 19 (AeST), 2018

AUSTRALIA + NEW ZEALANDEUROPENORTH AMERICA

Trump tours wildfire damage

From the ashes of a mobile home and RV park, President Donald Trump said he had to come to the heart of California’s killer wildfire to fully grasp the scale of the desolation wrought on the landscape. “We’re going to have to work quickly. ... Hopefully this is going to be the last of these because this was a really, really bad one,” said the president, who pledged that improved forest management practices would diminish future risks.

Report on Khashoggi days away

President Donald Trump says his administration will release a full report in the next two days about the death of a Saudi journalist, which has created a diplomatic conundrum for the president: How to admonish Riyadh for the killing yet maintain strong ties with a close ally in the Middle East. “We’ll be having a very full report over the next two days, probably Monday or Tuesday,” Trump said. That will include “who did it,” he said.

‘Progress in Pacific’ – Morrison

China and the US are escalating tensions in the Pacific over trade and security but Scott Morrison insists progress is being made. At an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Port Moresby, Morrison played down suggestions relations in the Pacific were fractured. “I think that overly exaggerates the situation,” he said. “There is a lot more pragmatism going on here than people have been prepared to acknowledge.”

May takes swipe at Tory critics

Theresa May took a swipe at Tory rivals threatening to unseat her as party leader as she warned the next seven days would be “critical” to achieving a successful Brexit. In an interview with Sky’s Ridge On Sunday, the Prime Minister warned that a change of leadership would not make it easier to get a deal past parliament or the EU, after furious Brexiteer backbenchers started moves to remove her.

Brexit poll ‘option for future’

Jeremy Corbyn has poured cold water over calls for Labour to back a second referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU – saying it is “an option for the future” but “not an option for today”. The Labour leader also revealed that if there was another referendum he did not know how he would vote. Corbyn, in an interview with Sky News, also told how his party “couldn’t stop” Brexit because of the parliamentary arithmetic.

PM steers clear of Pacific dispute

New Zealand appears determined to steer a middle course in the growing competition for influence in the Pacific region between the world’s two biggest economies and superpowers. The US and China clashed at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Papua New Guinea. But PM Jacinda Ardern has steered clear of the dispute, saying New Zealand would maintain its special relationship with the Island nations.

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AUSTRALIA + NEW ZEALANDREST OF THE WORLDNORTH AMERICA

Cool reception for migrants

Many of the nearly 3000 Central American migrants who have reached the Mexican border with California via caravan say they do not feel welcome in Tijuana, where hundreds more migrants are headed after more than a month on the road. The vast majority were camped at an outdoor sports complex, sleeping on a dirt baseball field with a view of the steel walls topped by barbed wire at the newly reinforced US-Mexico border.

Pence and Xi chat on sidelines

US Vice President Mike Pence and Chinese President Xi Jinping have chatted on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, hours after making speeches that attacked each country’s trade and other policies. Leaders of 21 Pacific Rim nations at the meeting were gathering for a group photo in the APEC summit’s signature colourful shirts when the encounter happened.

Bank bosses to face the music

Royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne is expected to “apply a blowtorch” to bank bosses over the widespread misconduct in the financial services industry. The CEOs of the big four banks and AMP are among those appearing at the commission’s final public hearing, along with the heads of regulators criticised by Hayne for letting much of the misconduct go unpunished. They will have to be armed with more than apologies.

Leaders fail to reach consensus

An acrimonious meeting of world leaders in Papua New Guinea failed to agree on a final communique, highlighting widening divisions between global powers the US and China. The 21 nations at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Port Moresby struggled to bridge differences on the role of the World Trade Organization. A statement would be issued by Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill instead.

Bainimarama wins majority

Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has held onto power in a general election, with his party winning a razor-thin majority. The Pacific nation went to the polls for only the second time since Bainimarama seized control in a military coup in 2006. A final count put his fijifirst party on 50.02 per cent of the total vote, with the Social Democratic Liberal Party, led by former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka, second on 39.85 per cent.

Call to apologise for Pike River

The Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-Entry Andrew Little says the government should make a public apology for its failures at the mine. The government’s independent adviser on the mine recovery operation, Rob fyfe, has called for such an apology to the families of the 29 men who died in the mine explosions in 2010. Little said there were several failures in the aftermath of the disaster.

YOUR DAILY TOP 12 STORIES fROM FRanK news

fULL STORIES START ON PAGE 6

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NORTH AMERICA

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. - AP

President promises full report on KhashoggiPresident Donald Trump says his administration will release a full report in the next two days about the death of a saudi journalist, which has created a diplomatic conundrum for the president: How to admonish Riyadh for the killing yet maintain strong ties with a close ally in the Middle east.

“We’ll be having a very full report over the next two days, probably Monday or Tuesday,” Trump said. That will include “who did it,” he said.

Reporters asked Trump about the death of Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post who was slain inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat has said the crown prince had “absolutely” nothing to do with it.

American intelligence agencies have concluded that the crown prince ordered the killing in the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, according to a US official familiar with the assessment. The official was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Others familiar with the case caution that while it’s likely that the crown prince was involved in the death, there continue to be questions about what role he played.

“The United States government is determined to hold all those responsible for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi accountable,” the State Department said in a statement.

“Recent reports indicating that the U.S. government has made a final conclusion are inaccurate. There remain numerous unanswered questions with respect to the murder of Mr Khashoggi.”

The statement added: “The U.S. government has taken decisive measures against the individuals responsible, including visa and sanctions actions. We will continue to explore additional measures to hold those accountable who planned, led and were connected to the murder. And, we will do that while maintaining the important strategic relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.” ■

President Donald Trump talks to Mayor Jody Jones in Paradise, California. - AP

NORTH AMERICA

Trump tours California’s fire-devastated areasFrom the ashes of a mobile home and RV park, President Donald Trump said he had to come to the heart of California’s killer wildfire to fully grasp the scale of the desolation wrought on the landscape.

“We’re going to have to work quickly. ... Hopefully this is going to be the last of these because this was a really, really bad one,” said the president, who pledged that improved forest management practices would diminish future risks.

“I think everybody’s seen the light and I don’t think we’ll have this again to this extent,” Trump said in Paradise, the town largely destroyed by a wildfire ignited that he called “this monster.”

At least 76 people have died across Northern California, and authorities are trying to locate more than 1000 people, though not all are believed missing. More than 5500 fire personnel were battling the blaze that covered 590 square km and was about 50 per cent contained, officials said.

“It’s going to work out well, but right now we want to take care of the people that are so badly hurt,” Trump said from what remained of the Skyway Villa Mobile Home and RV Park. He noted “there are areas you can’t even get to them yet” and the sheer number of people unaccounted for.

“I think people have to see this really to understand it,” Trump said.

Several burned-out cars were nearby. Trees were burned, their leaves gone. Homes were totally gone; some foundations and twisted steel remained, as did a chimney. The fire was reported to have moved through the area at 130km/h.

The president later toured an operation centres, met response commanders and praised the work of firefighters, law enforcement and representatives of the federal Emergency Management Agency.

“We’ve never seen anything like this in California,” Trump said. ■

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EUROPE

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. - PA

Brexit referendum ‘option for future’Jeremy Corbyn has poured cold water over calls for Labour to back a second referendum on the UK’s membership of the eU – saying it is “an option for the future” but “not an option for today”.

The Labour leader also revealed that if there was another referendum he did not know how he would vote.

Corbyn, in an interview with Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, also told how his party “couldn’t stop” Brexit because of the parliamentary arithmetic.

“We couldn’t stop it because we don’t have the votes in Parliament to do so,” he said.

“There was a referendum in 2016, a majority voted to leave the EU, there are many reasons why people voted. I don’t think you call a referendum and then say you don’t like the result and go away from it, you’ve got to understand why people voted and negotiate the best deal you can.”

Asked about calls for a second referendum Corbyn said: “It’s an option for the future but it’s not an option for today, if there was a referendum tomorrow what’s it going to be on, what’s the question going to be?”

Corbyn, on which way he would vote in such a referendum, said: “I don’t know how I am going to vote, what the options would be at that time.”

The Labour leader also trashed Theresa May’s Brexit deal, telling Sky News that it was a “one-way agreement” in which the EU “calls all the shots”.

“We’ll vote against this deal because it doesn’t meet our tests,” he said. “We don’t believe it serves the interest of this country, therefore the Government have to go back to the EU and renegotiate rapidly.

“There’s 500 pages in this document much of which is quite vague, where’s the guarantee on environmental protections, where’s the guarantee on consumer protections, where’s the guarantee on workers’ rights?”

Corbyn said Labour would focus on negotiating a permanent customs arrangement with the EU. ■

British Prime Minister Theresa May. - PA

EUROPE

May takes swipe at Tory critics over BrexitTheresa May took a swipe at Tory rivals threatening to unseat her as party leader as she warned the next seven days would be “critical” to achieving a successful Brexit.

The Prime Minister warned that a change of leadership would not make it easier to get a deal past parliament or the EU, after furious Brexiteer backbenchers started moves to remove her.

She told Sky’s Ridge On Sunday that as far as she knew the 48-letter threshold for letters of no confidence needed to start a leadership battle had yet to be reached.

In a message to those plotting her downfall, including members of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic MPs, she said she had not considered quitting.

“A change of leadership at this point isn’t going to make the negotiations any easier and it isn’t going to change the parliamentary arithmetic,” she said.

“What it will do is bring in a degree of uncertainty. That is uncertainty for people and their jobs. What it will do is mean that it is a risk that we delay the negotiations and that is a risk that Brexit gets delayed or frustrated.”

May’s interview came after former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, whose resignation last week was a key point in one of her most brutal weeks as Prime Minister, suggested she had failed to stand up to a bullying European Union.

There were also continuing reports of a plan by senior Cabinet ministers who remain in Government to try to alter the withdrawal agreement at the 11th hour.

Asked if she had considered stepping down she said: “No I haven’t. Of course it has been a tough week, actually these negotiations have been tough right from the start, but they were always going to get even more difficult right toward the end when we are coming to that conclusion.”

She added that the next seven days “are going to be critical”, and said she would be travelling back to Brussels to talk with key figures including Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president ahead of an emergency European Council summit on November 25. ■

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AUSTRALIA + NEW ZEALAND

Jacinda Ardern meets produce sellers at Gordon’s Market in Port Moresby. – RNZ

Ardern steers clear of Pacific disputenew Zealand appears determined to steer a middle course in the growing competition for influence in the Pacific region between the world’s two biggest economies and superpowers.

The United States and China clashed at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Papua New Guinea, with US Vice President Mike Pence tackling China head on.

“Know that the United States offers a better option. We don’t drown our partners in a sea of debt, we don’t coerce, compromise your independence,” Pence told the APEC summit.

“We do not offer a constricting belt or a one-way road. When you partner with us, we partner with you and we all prosper.”

But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has steered clear of the dispute, saying Pacific nations are free to choose their own paths but New Zealand would maintain its special relationship with the Island nations.

“New Zealand’s relationship with the Pacific is long and enduring. We’ve been here a long time, we’ll stay here a long time, because our relationship is unique and it won’t be determined by any other nation, nor should it be.”

New Zealand and Australia have increased their participation in the region although Ardern was reluctant to say the trans-Tasman neighbours were aligning themselves with the United States and other countries in a sort of Western alliance to counter growing Chinese influence in the region.

However, foreign Minister Winston Peters was a little more forthcoming, saying Australia’s renewed focus on the Pacific was welcome and not too late.

“I’m seriously encouraged by it, we need seriously in-depth conversations as to what it all means ... I am seriously encouraged by its refocus and by the United States refocus. So the game has changed, and I think we have coming the potential for far more partnerships than we’ve ever had,” he said. ■

Australian Prime Minster Scott Morrison and US Vice President Mike Pence. - AP


‘Progress in Pacific’ despite tension – PMChina and the United states are escalating tensions in the Pacific over trade and security but scott Morrison insists progress is being made.

Australia and the US will jointly host a naval base on Manus Island, creating a new staging point into the contested South China Sea.

The two nations have also joined with New Zealand and Japan to fund a huge electrification project in Papua New Guinea, in competition with China’s development goals in the nation.

But at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Port Moresby, Morrison played down suggestions relations in the Pacific were fractured.

“I think that overly exaggerates the situation,” the prime minister told reporters.

“I think there is a lot more pragmatism going on here than people have been prepared to acknowledge in the commentary. There’s a lot of movement under the water.”

Morrison would not confirm how much the expanded Lombrum naval base would cost, but said Australia was there at the invitation of the PNG government.

He had a brief but “warm” meeting with President Xi Jinping on Saturday night, but the naval base did not come up.

“We were focused on our relationship and what we were doing together,” Morrison said.

China and the US traded verbal blows on Saturday in keynote speeches, with the US urging countries not to sign up for huge foreign debts, and China promising there was no hidden agenda with its infrastructure program.

Chinese officials also reportedly stormed into PNG foreign Minister Rimbink Pato’s office on Saturday demanding he change the wording of an official communique, which he refused to change.

Morrison said the trade war between China and US was hurting global economic growth, but he believed both sides wanted to find a resolution. ■

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NORTH AMERICA

Mike Pence and Xi Jinping exchange glares at the APEC Summit. - AP

Pence and Xi chat on summit sidelinesUs Vice President Mike Pence and Chinese President Xi Jinping have chatted on the sidelines of the asia-Pacific economic Cooperation meeting, hours after making speeches that attacked each country’s trade and other policies.

Leaders of 21 Pacific Rim nations at the meeting were gathering for a group photo in the APEC summit’s signature colourful shirts when the encounter happened.

Pence was talking animatedly with Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when Xi arrived in the room.

Xi greeted other leaders and stopped to talk with Pence, an interpreter showing up as the conversation began.

Neither side has commented on what was discussed.In his speech, Pence said there would be no let-up in

US President Donald Trump’s policy of combating China’s mercantilist trade policy and intellectual property theft that has erupted into a tit-for-tat tariff war between the two world powers this year.

Pence has also met with the head of Taiwan’s delegation to the APEC meeting.

The US doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province, but is obliged by an act of Congress to help with the island’s military defence.

A US official told the media pool travelling with Pence that the vice-president had a “pull-aside” meeting with Morris Chang, the octogenarian founder of a Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing giant. The official didn’t give other details.

Taiwan is a member of the 21-nation APEC. ■

Hundreds of migrants are staying at a sports complex in Tijuana. - AP

NORTH AMERICA

Cool reception for caravan migrantsMany of the nearly 3000 Central american migrants who have reached the Mexican border with California via caravan say they do not feel welcome in Tijuana, where hundreds more migrants are headed after more than a month on the road.

The vast majority were camped at an outdoor sports complex, sleeping on a dirt baseball field and under bleachers with a view of the steel walls topped by barbed wire at the newly reinforced US-Mexico border.

The city opened the complex after other shelters were filled to capacity. Church groups provided portable showers, bathrooms and sinks. The federal government estimates the migrant crowd in Tijuana could soon swell to 10,000.

Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum has called the migrants’ arrival an “avalanche” that the city is ill-prepared to handle, calculating that they will be in Tijuana for at least six months as they wait to file asylum claims.

US border inspectors are processing only about 100 asylum claims a day at Tijuana’s main crossing to San Diego. Asylum seekers register their names in a tattered notebook managed by migrants themselves that had more than 3000 names even before the caravan arrived.

While many in Tijuana are sympathetic to the migrants’ plight and trying to assist, some locals have shouted insults, hurled rocks and even thrown punches at the migrants.

It’s a stark contrast to the many Mexican communities that welcomed the caravan with signs, music and donations of clothing after it entered Mexico nearly a month ago. Countless residents of rural areas pressed fruit and bags of water into the migrants’ hands as they passed through southern Mexico, wishing them safe journeys.

Alden Rivera, the Honduran ambassador in Mexico, visited the outdoor sports complex. Rivera expects the migrants will need to be sheltered for eight months or more, and said he is working with Mexico to get more funds to feed and care for them. ■

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REST OF THE WORLD

fiji Prime Minister frank Bainimarama. - AAP

Fiji’s Bainimarama wins narrow majorityFiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has held onto power in a general election, with his party winning a razor-thin majority.

The Pacific nation this week went to the polls for only the second time since Bainimarama seized control in a military coup in 2006.

A final count put his fijifirst party on 50.02 per cent of the total vote, with the Social Democratic Liberal Party, led by former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka, second on 39.85 per cent. The National federation Party received 7.38 per cent.

The outcome is expected to give fijifirst a narrow but outright majority in the country’s 51-seat parliament and Bainimarama a second term, but is significantly tighter than the last election in 2014, when the party won almost 60 per cent.

“I’m proud to become your prime minister once again,” Bainimarama told fBC News from New Zealand.

Opposition members are considering challenging the result, local media have reported.

While an interim Multinational Observer Group report has called the election process credible, a row broke out between opposition parties and electoral authorities over the weekend about the release of results, which have trickled in since the vote on Wednesday.

The fijian Elections Office has strongly denied the claims of impropriety and rejected a call to halt counting after complaints by four party leaders they had been prevented from verifying results.

Separately, the observers noted government ministers had handed out government grants during campaigning.

With a national history of military coups and two former military strongmen running (rival Rabuka himself led two coups in 1987) police earlier talked down concerns about tension after the vote.

The military – which holds significant power in the country’s constitution and has given Bainimarama its backing – during the run-up said it would respect the vote. ■

APEC leaders pose for the official family photograph in Port Moresby. - AP

REST OF THE WORLD

APEC leaders fail to reach consensusan acrimonious meeting of world leaders in Papua new Guinea failed to agree on a final communique, highlighting widening divisions between global powers the Us and China.

The 21 nations at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Port Moresby struggled to bridge differences on the role of the World Trade Organization, which governs international trade. A statement would be issued by the meeting’s chair, Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, instead.

“The entire world is worried” about tensions between China and the US, O’Neill told a mob of reporters that descended on him after he confirmed there was no communique from leaders.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters there were differences between several nations including China and the US. Draft versions of the communique seen by The Associated Press showed the US wanted strong language against unfair trade practices that it accuses of China of.

The two-day summit was punctuated by acrimony and underlined a rising rivalry between China and the West for influence in the usually neglected South Pacific.

US Vice President Mike Pence and China’s President Xi Jinping traded barbs in speeches on Saturday. Pence professed respect for Xi and China but also harshly criticized the world’s No. 2 economy for intellectual property theft, forced technology transfers and unfair trading practices.

The world, according to Xi, is facing a choice between cooperation and confrontation as protectionism and unilateralism grows. He said the rules of global institutions set up after World War II such as the World Trade Organisation should not be bent for selfish agendas.

Pence told reporters that during the weekend he had two “candid” conversations with Xi, who is expected to meet President Donald Trump at a Group of 20 summit at the end of this month in Buenos Aires. ■

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Call to apologise for Pike River failuresThe Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry andrew Little says the government should make a public apology for its failures at the mine.

The government’s independent adviser on the mine recovery operation, Rob fyfe, has called for such an apology to the families of the 29 men who died in the mine explosions in 2010.

Little said there were several failures in the aftermath of the disaster, including by the Department of Labour which was responsible for overall health and safety.

“It totally let down the families, the Pike River families, then in the aftermath of the tragedy, the failure to prosecute and the kind of dodgy buy-out that happened that the Supreme Court has now ruled that is unlawful,” he said.

“The promise made to the families to do everything possible but then not fulfilling that promise.”

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unlawful for WorkSafe to withdraw its prosecution of Pike River mine boss Peter Whittall in exchange for payments to the victims’ families.

WorkSafe New Zealand initially laid 12 health and safety charges against Whittall, but they were dropped after more than $3 million was paid to the victims’ families.

On Wednesday, the government said it would proceed with the re-entry of the Pike River Mine in february. ■


Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-Entry Andrew Little. - RNZ

Bank bosses to face the music at inquiryRoyal commissioner Kenneth Hayne is expected to “apply a blowtorch” to bank bosses over the widespread misconduct in the financial services industry.

The CEOs of the big four banks and AMP are among those appearing at the commission’s final public hearing, along with the heads of regulators criticised by Hayne for letting much of the misconduct go unpunished.

They will have to be armed with more than apologies when they appear, beginning on Monday with Commonwealth Bank of Australia CEO Matt Comyn and chairwoman Catherine Livingstone.

Consumer advocacy group Choice CEO Alan Kirkland said Hayne’s interim report raised questions about how the misconduct happened that had yet to be fully answered.

“I don’t think of any of them have got adequate answers so far,” Kirkland said. “I think that’s where he’ll be really applying a blowtorch to people like Matt Comyn and Catherine Livingstone from the CBA.”

Kirkland said Australia’s largest bank blamed pockets of poor culture for the misconduct in a submission at the start of the inquiry, but it was clear there were systemic problems across the industry.

He expects the CEOs to be grilled about how such big systemic problems happened on their watch and what they are doing to stop it happening again.

“The sheer dollars involved that they’ve already had to refund or set aside for refunds – these are not small mistakes, they’re massive systemic errors.”

The final public hearing will look at the causes of the misconduct, which the interim report blamed on greed and the pursuit of short-term profit at the expense of basic standards of honesty, and possible responses including regulatory reform.

Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh said the industry has already committed to tackling several key areas, recognising some issues demand immediate action. ■

Royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne. – AAP


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