north america uk australia + new zealand€¦ · the big sky state in his crusade to unseat...

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OctOber 18 (GMt) – OctOber 19 (AeSt), 2018

AUSTRALIA + NEW ZEALANDUKNORTH AMERICA

Trump’s priorities questioned

President Donald Trump’s refusal to put public pressure on Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is raising a question that has dogged his foreign policy. In dealing with Russia, across Asia and, this week, in the Mideast, Trump has often appeared comfortable downplaying concerns about rights abuses and dismissing the importance of US moral leadership.

Trump pushes border security

More than 2000 Honduran migrants traveling en masse through Guatemala have resumed their journey towards the US, as President Donald Trump sought to turn the caravan into a political issue three weeks before midterm elections. A day after saying anyone entering the US illegally would be arrested and deported, Trump turned his sights on Democrats and urged Republican allies to campaign on border security.

Morrison hails jobless rate

Australia’s unemployment rate has hit a six-year low because the federal government is focused on what matters and not the “Canberra bubble”, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared. “This is what we want to talk about because this matters,” Morrison told parliament of the jobs data. The latest figures by the Australian Bureau of Statistics put the jobless rate at 5 per cent in September.

Loss of wealth, jobs behind vote

Decades of seeing wealth, jobs and opportunities “sucked out” of communities drove people to vote for Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn has said. The opposition leader said that despite campaigning “for remain and reform” he understood what had motivated people to back Leave in former coal mining and other areas. Corbyn was speaking ahead of a visit to three areas that voted for Brexit in 2016.

Phones interrupting dinners

The majority of Britons can not make it through dinner at home without checking their phone, such is our addiction to technology, YouGov research claims. Fifty-five per cent of those surveyed said they checked their phone during dinner, while 53 per cent said they look at their phone even when dining out. More than half (54 per cent) said they could not go more than two days without their device before it bothered them.

Three dead in helicopter crash

Department of Conservation (DOC) staff were on board a helicopter that crashed near Wanaka, leaving no survivors. The helicopter crashed shortly after take-off, killing the pilot and two DOC staff on board. It has been confirmed Nick Wallis, the youngest son of Sir Tim Wallis, was piloting the helicopter. One of his older brothers, Matthew, died when his helicopter crashed into Lake Wanaka only three months ago.

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AUSTRALIA + NEW ZEALANDEUROPENORTH AMERICA

Money flows in Montana race

Outside groups and individual donors have poured more than $45 million into Montana’s US Senate race as President Donald Trump prepares a third trip to the Big sky state in his crusade to unseat two-term Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. The expensive contest has been driven by Trump’s apparent personal interest in Tester’s defeat and his efforts to ensure Republicans keep power in the Senate.

Clinton van crashes in garage

Hillary Clinton appears to have been unharmed when the Secret Service vehicle she was riding in was involved in a crash. The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate was headed to a fundraiser for us sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey in Jersey City when the vehicle pulled into a parking garage, made a left turn and hit a concrete crossbeam.

Employee ‘did not see’ memo

A former Dreamworld official in charge of operations staff was unaware of a memo instructing the use of an emergency button on a ride that killed four people. Andrew fyfe was attractions and entertainment manager before leaving in March. fyfe has told an inquest on the Gold Coast into the deaths caused when the Thunder River Rapids ride failed in 2016 that he had not seen the directive before the tragedy.

Plan to beef up EU borders

european Union leaders are set to push ahead with plans to boost co-operation with North African countries and beef up the bloc’s borders in an effort to stop migrants entering europe. A draft statement prepared for their summit emphasises the need to step up co-operation with countries that people leave and transit through to seek shelter or better lives in europe. Well over one million migrants entered europe in 2015.

Khan hits out at May, Brexit

As discussions on Brexit at the european Council in Brussels concluded without a breakthrough, London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “This summit was supposed to be the final chance to agree a Brexit deal – but due to the appalling incompetence and infighting of Theresa May’s Government there is still a huge risk of no deal at all. The options on the table are now limited to Theresa May’s proposed bad deal … or no deal at all.”

Teacher shortage to get worse

The demand for teachers will ease in primary schools in the next three years but get much worse in secondary schools, a new forecast from the education Ministry shows. The ministry has announced results from a new system for estimating future teacher supply and demand. The forecast projected enrolments in secondary schools would increase from about 2021 to exceed 300,000 students by 2024.

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3


NORTH AMERICA

Honduran migrants board the bed of a truck in Zacapa, Guatemala. - AP

President turns sights on Democrats over migrantsMore than 2000 Honduran migrants traveling en masse through Guatemala have resumed their journey towards the United States, as President Donald Trump sought to turn the caravan into a political issue three weeks before midterm elections.

A day after warning Central American governments they risked losing US aid if they didn’t do something and saying anyone entering the US illegally would be arrested and deported, Trump turned his sights on Democrats and urged Republican allies to campaign on border security.

“Hard to believe that with thousands of people from south of the border, walking unimpeded toward our country in the form of large caravans, that the Democrats won’t approve legislation that will allow laws for the protection of our country. Great midterm issue for Republicans,” Trump said.

“Republicans must make the horrendous, weak and outdated immigration laws, and the border, a part of the midterms,” he added.

In Guatemala, the migrants headed for Zacapa, the next city on their route. Overcast skies and a light drizzle took the edge off the sweltering heat and humidity, making the trek more bearable.

The migrants are fleeing widespread poverty and violence, with many blaming Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez for what they call unlivable conditions at home.

The previous day, the migrants advanced about 30 miles (40km) from the Honduras-Guatemala border to arrive at the city of Chiquimula.

That was a tiny portion of the almost 1350 miles (2200km) they would have to travel to reach the closest US border.

The caravan has snowballed since about 160 migrants departed from the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, with many people joining spontaneously while carrying just a few belongings. estimates of their numbers ranged up to 3000.

Three weeks before the US elections, the caravan was bound to draw Trump’s ire. ■

President Donald Trump. - AP

NORTH AMERICA

Questions raised over Trump’s prioritiesPresident Donald Trump’s refusal to put public pressure on Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is raising a question that has dogged his foreign policy.

In dealing with Russia, across Asia and, this week, in the Mideast, Trump has often appeared comfortable downplaying concerns about rights abuses and dismissing the importance of US moral leadership.

Trump this week repeated the Saudi royals’ denials of any involvement in Khashoggi’s apparent killing and suggested he trusted them. “I spoke to the crown prince, so you have that. He said he and his father knew nothing about it. And that was very important,” Trump said.

Not many us leaders would cast saudi Arabia as innocent. Saudi Arabia is engaged in a bloody civil war in Yemen that has killed thousands of civilians and exacerbated a famine that has killed many more. Domestically, the absolute monarchy strictly regulates speech and dress.

Trump has shown no interest in calling out the kingdom over Khashoggi – or calling out russian president Vladimir putin on assassinations, or North Korea leader Kim Jong un on political prisoners.

Where past presidents in both parties used their office to promote us values and ideals – even when their action didn’t align – Trump has rarely seized the chance. Instead, he says what others would not, openly embracing the compromises he justifies as best for the American bottom line.

“We’re not going to walk away from Saudi Arabia. I don’t want to do that,” he said.

White House aides have suggested that while Trump is reluctant to criticize certain world leaders publicly – most notably when he did not upbraid Putin at their Helsinki summit – he has been willing to deliver tough messages behind closed doors. They have pointed to his discipline with Kim and egypt’s Abdel fattah el-Sisi, two authoritarian leaders who eventually released Americans held in their custody. ■

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UK

- PA

Phones interrupting family dinnersThe majority of Britons can not make it through dinner at home without checking their phone, such is our addiction to technology, new research from YouGov claims.

According to the report, 55 per cent of those surveyed said they checked their phone during dinner, while 53 per cent said they look at their phone even when dining out with friends or family.

More than half (54 per cent) said they could not go more than two days without their device before it bothered them.

Both google and Apple have responded to the growing debate about the impact of mobile phone use on public health by introducing usage tracking tools and screen time limiting features to their devices in an effort to improve digital well-being.

National campaigns such as scroll Free september have also been introduced in an attempt to raise awareness of the issue and help users cut down on their mobile device use.

The research was carried out to mark YouGov’s partnership with the new The Future starts Here exhibition at the V&A Museum, which examines Britain’s increasing addiction to mobile devices and how it is changing human interaction.

Russell feldman, director of digital, media and technology research at YouGov said: “It will have escaped no-one’s notice that smartphones are taking over our lives. Across the land, the sight of heads bowed over small screens is now ubiquitous.

“But what our research shows is just how attached to our mobile phones we really are – and perhaps without even realising it.”

The research also indicated that two thirds of mobile phone users (65 per cent) check their phones while in bed despite sleep issues having been linked to the blue light emitted by phone screens and other devices.

Some hardware manufacturers have introduced night light features to lower the amount of blue light emitted by devices in an effort to reduce the impact of late night usage. ■

Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn. - PA

UK

Loss of wealth, jobs behind Brexit voteDecades of seeing wealth, jobs and opportunities “sucked out” of communities drove people to vote for Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn has said.

The opposition leader said that despite campaigning “for remain and reform” he understood what had motivated people to back Leave in former coal mining and other areas.

speaking ahead of a visit to three areas that voted for Brexit in 2016, he warned that the Conservatives would not use Brexit to rebuild the country in the way they wanted.

He said: “I campaigned for remain and reform in the referendum of 2016. But I fully understand why many people in former coalfield and other communities voted to leave after decades of wealth, jobs and opportunities had been sucked out of these communities.

“Why would anyone who hasn’t had a pay rise in 10 years, can’t get a proper bus service in the evening or worries about sending their kids to university because of years of crunching debt, listen to politicians saying nothing really needs to change?

“But the Tories aren’t going to use Brexit to rebuild Britain. They want to use it to slash rights and protections and turbocharge their bankers-first market free-for-all.

“We are leaving the eU, but we will not support a deal cobbled together by a divided and chaotic Tory government if it’s going to make life tougher for millions of people.”

Corbyn will go to businesses in three east Midlands constituencies – North east Derbyshire, Bolsover and Ashfield – which voted 62.8 per cent, 70.8 per cent and 69.8 per cent respectively in favour of Brexit.

The opposition reiterated labour’s proposals for Brexit – “a new deal with the single market” and a new customs union that avoids a hard border in Ireland.

He went on: “But, even more important, labour government has a plan for a post-Brexit Britain where we use the powers available to kick start the economy and rebuild our industry, infrastructure and public services in all regions and nations of the UK.” ■

5


AUSTRALIA + NEW ZEALAND

- 123Rf

Three dead in helicopter crash near WanakaDepartment of Conservation (DOC) staff were on board a helicopter that crashed near Wanaka, leaving no survivors.

The helicopter crashed shortly after take-off, killing the pilot and two DOC staff on board.

It has been confirmed Nick Wallis, the youngest son of sir Tim Wallis, was piloting the helicopter.

One of his older brothers, Matthew, died when his helicopter crashed into Lake Wanaka only three months ago.

police have confirmed there were no survivors.DOC confirmed the staff on board were on their way to

undertake tahr control in the Haast area when it crashed.DOC’s Director General Lou Sanson said he was devastated

by the news.He said the accident is a tragedy and will have a profound

impact on DOC staff who are like a family.A close friend of the pilot and chair of the local rescue

helicopter trust, Jules Tapper, said he couldn’t understand how the crash happened.

“The weather here is … beautiful … there should be no weather-related reason why the action had occurred, so I’m at a loss to understand how such a catastrophe could have happened,” he said.

“All I can say is there’s a lot of very concerned people here who would do anything to assist the family, but they can’t bring back the lad.”

A fire and emergency spokesperson said the crash happened about 1.5km north of Wanaka Airport’s aerodrome, between the Clutha river and state Highway 6, shortly before 11am.

A St John spokesperson said three ambulances and a rescue helicopter were called to the scene, but were stood down with no passengers transported.

A Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) spokesperson said the helicopter involved appeared to be a Hughes 500. A TAIC investigation has been launched. ■

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. - AAP


Jobless rate ‘shows we’re delivering’ – MorrisonAustralia’s unemployment rate has hit a six-year low because the federal government is focused on what matters and not the “Canberra bubble”, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared.

“This is what we want to talk about because this matters,” Morrison told parliament of the jobs data.

“This makes a difference outside the Canberra bubble.”He said the coalition’s support of small and medium-sized

businesses has contributed to the milestone.“We are able to deliver because we’re getting things done,

because we are focusing on making our economy strong,” he said.

The latest figures by the Australian Bureau of statistics put the jobless rate at 5 per cent in September, on a seasonally adjusted basis, down 0.3 percentage points on the previous month. That was better than what economists had expected, with the consensus being that the rate would remain unchanged at 5.3 per cent. The last time the unemployment rate was this low was April 2012 and the last time it was lower was June 2011’s 4.9 per cent.

But the latest data hasn’t been all good news, with fewer people in part-time work pushing down the participation rate.

The overall number of people with a job increased by 5600 on seasonally adjusted estimates but the participation rate dipped 0.3 per cent from August to 65.4 per cent.

Treasurer Josh frydenberg said the numbers were a cause to celebrate nonetheless, with the participation rate “strong”.

“The participation rate is a near record high. More women are in the workforce, more seniors are in the workforce,” he told reporters.

Labor welcomed the data but remains concerned about stubbornly high underemployment and stagnant wages growth.

frydenberg said he would like to see wages grow faster but he said the reserve Bank expected real wages to increase over time. ■

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NORTH AMERICA

Hillary Clinton. - ePA

Clinton van crashes in parking garageHillary Clinton appears to have been unharmed when the Secret Service vehicle she was riding in was involved in a crash.

The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate was headed to a fundraiser for us sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey in Jersey City when the vehicle pulled into a parking garage, made a left turn and hit a concrete crossbeam.

Clinton emerged from the van and walked to the fundraiser, where she was the featured guest.

The Secret Service said no injuries were reported, and the Jersey City Police Department was investigating.

In its accident report, police said the driver told them she drove into the garage and struck a concrete crossbeam that was not marked with its height. All passengers refused medical attention. ■

Republican Senate candidate Matt Rosendale in Montana. - AP

NORTH AMERICA

Money flows in Montana for US Senate raceOutside groups and individual donors have poured more than $45 million into Montana’s US Senate race as President Donald Trump prepares a third trip to the Big Sky state in his crusade to unseat two-term Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.

The contest is on pace to be the most expensive in Montana history, and it’s been driven by Trump’s apparent personal interest in Tester’s defeat and his efforts to ensure republicans keep power in the Senate.

Republican challenger and Trump loyalist Matt Rosendale is far behind in fundraising. But he’s stayed competitive with $14 million spent by deep-pocketed conservative groups on his behalf, largely on ads attacking Tester on guns, immigration and taxes, according to an Associated Press review of spending reports.

Tester said it was a case of outside interests trying to influence Montana politics. But he also has out-of-state backers: political committees representing conservation groups, hospitals and banks.

Trump targeted Tester for defeat after the Democrat in April made allegations public that derailed the president’s Veteran Affairs nominee ronny Jackson, who has denied the accusations.

Trump tweeted Tester had made “vicious and totally false statements” about Jackson and that the Democrat “looks to be in big trouble in the great state of Montana”.

Trump was expected to again go on the attack against Tester during a campaign rally for Rosendale at the Missoula airport. It will be the latest in a parade of White House visits to Montana that have included Vice president Mike pence and the president’s son, Donald Trump, Jr.

Montana voters backed Trump by 20 percentage points in 2016. rosendale, currently serving as state auditor and insurance commissioner, has staked his campaign on a bet that those voters will come out for him in November. ■

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EUROPE

London Mayor Sadiq Khan. - PA

Khan hits out at May, Brexit amid discussionsAs discussions on Brexit at the European Council in Brussels concluded without a breakthrough, London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “This summit was supposed to be the final chance to agree a Brexit deal – but due to the appalling incompetence and infighting of Theresa May’s Government there is still a huge risk of no deal at all.

“The options on the table are now limited to Theresa May’s proposed bad deal for Britain or no deal at all – both of which would be disastrous for London’s economy and would limit opportunities for the next generation.”

Khan said he had been seeking a meeting with Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab to discuss the capital’s needs in negotiations, but added: “extremely disappointingly and despite being in the role for three months, he has so far failed to meet me.”

Khan said: “The ongoing chaos, infighting and ineptitude shows exactly why it’s so crucial that the British public get the opportunity to have their say on the final deal – which is what thousands of people will call for this weekend as they march through the streets of London.”

Following the discussions on Brexit at the european Council, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and french President emmanuel Macron were spotted with Belgian pM Charles Michel and luxembourg’s pM Xavier Bettel at a bar on Brussels’ Grand Place.

Conservative former minister Nick Boles said any attempt to extend the transition period was a “desperate last move” and warned May was losing the confidence of the Tory party.

He said the eU was demanding “humiliating concessions” because the pM’s Brexit plans fail to fix the problem of the Irish border.

“It’s a classic of negotiations that she keeps on thinking that one more concession is going to somehow, with one bound and she’s free and she’s not going to be free, she’s getting ever more trapped,” he said. ■

european union leaders attend a round table meeting at an eu summit in Brussels. - Ap

EUROPE

EU leaders plan to beef up the bloc’s bordersEuropean Union leaders are set to push ahead with plans to boost co-operation with North African countries and beef up the bloc’s borders in an effort to stop migrants entering Europe.

A draft statement prepared for their summit emphasises the need to step up co-operation with countries that people leave and transit through to seek shelter or better lives in europe.

They said work with those countries on “investigating, apprehending and prosecuting smugglers and traffickers should be intensified.” They also called for a joint smuggling task force to be set up.

Well over one million migrants entered europe in 2015, most of them syrians and Iraqis fleeing conflict, but numbers have dropped significantly since the eu began outsourcing the challenge to Turkey. ■

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Teacher shortage tipped to get worseThe demand for teachers will ease in primary schools in the next three years but get much worse in secondary schools, a new forecast from the Education Ministry shows.

The ministry has announced results from a new system for estimating future teacher supply and demand.

The forecast projected primary school enrolments would stop increasing next year at more than 500,000 children, and the supply of primary teachers would meet demand by 2023.

But enrolments in secondary schools would increase from about 2021 to exceed 300,000 students by 2024.

The forecast said the increase would drive up the demand for secondary teachers from 26,040 this year to 28,550 by 2025, an increase of 2500.

Without government action, the supply of secondary teachers would remain unchanged and the gap between supply and demand would grow from a few hundred teachers to a shortfall of 2210 by 2025.

The ministry’s deputy secretary of early Learning and Student Achievement, ellen MacGregor-Reid, said the initiatives it was taking to increase the supply of teachers should be sufficient to avoid the shortage.

She said the measures included more help for schools recruiting teachers from overseas, and one recruitment agency had received more than 1000 expressions of interest from teachers based in other countries.

The ministry’s forecast said the supply of primary-school teachers would be 650 lower than demand in 2019 and the supply of secondary teachers would be 170 lower than demand next year.

In Auckland, the mismatch between supply and demand would leave the city’s primary schools short of 260 teachers next year, while its secondary schools would be short of 130 teachers. ■


- 123Rf

Dreamworld employee ‘did not see’ memoA former Dreamworld official in charge of operations staff was unaware of a memo instructing the use of an emergency button on a ride that killed four people.

Andrew fyfe began working at the adventure park as a seasonal ride operator in 2001 and rose to the role of attractions and entertainment manager before leaving in March.

fyfe has told an inquest on the Gold Coast into the deaths caused when the Thunder river rapids ride failed in 2016 that he had not seen the directive before the tragedy.

It was shared with staff a week before the incident and tells them to hit a button that would bring the ride to a halt in two seconds, only if the main control panel could not be reached.

They were to do this if there was a potential or immediate risk to the safety of guests or staff, operating conditions or the equipment. “I do not know, to this day, who authored these documents,” fyfe said. “I did not see either of these memorandums. I would have liked to have seen them.”

Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner roozi Araghi died after being thrown from a raft when the ride malfunctioned.

Multiple operational documents instructed staff on how to stop the ride but fyfe said they were overridden by a verbal directive to shut it down if they had doubts about its safety or saw a risk.

Police have previously told the inquest the rafts had collided and two passengers had already been flung out by the time a stop button on the main control panel was pushed.

They said the emergency button could have lessened the likelihood of death, even if it was pushed after the collision.

fyfe was tasked with reviewing operational procedure documents drafted by staff under him, ensuring they completed workplace health and safety inspections at least once a month, mitigated hazards and met their testing obligations.

The inquest continues. ■

former Dreamworld attractions and entertainment manager Andrew fyfe. - AAP


north america uk australia + new zealand€¦ · the big sky state in his crusade to unseat...

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