The draft legislation, likely to be submitted to parliament on Friday, has come under attack from both the opposition and members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s party, but business leaders say it is desperately needed. Source: NDTV
Immigration
He spoke a day after Austria said it would follow the United States and Hungary in backing out of the UN pact over concerns that it would blur the line between legal and illegal migration. A minister in Poland’s arch-conservative government has also recommended his country quit the agreement. Source: Cyprus Mail
President Trump said Wednesday that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if billionaire philanthropist George Soros or someone else is funding the caravan of Central American migrants moving toward the U.S.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Trump told reporters outside the White House when asked if “someone” is paying for the caravan. Source The Hill
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States could send as many as 15,000 troops to the border with Mexico, as he hardens his stance against a caravan of migrants fleeing violence and poverty in Central America. Source: Reuters
Visiting Berlin for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s African business summit, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi spoke to DW about political turmoil in his country, migration issues, and when a leader should step down. Source: Deutsche Welle
Austria will not sign on to a landmark UN pact regulating global migration. The right-wing government of Sebastian Kurz is following in the footsteps of leaders from the United States and Hungary. Source: Deutsche Welle
The United States said on Monday it will send over 5,200 troops to help secure the border with Mexico, a far larger-than-expected deployment as President Donald Trump hardens his stance on immigration ahead of Nov. 6 mid-term elections. Source: Reuters
Police in northwest Bosnia are raiding homes in search of migrants and refugees, following a controversial decision to relocate them outside towns in a new camp near the Croatian border. Source Balkan Insight
The investigating judge today arrested, interrogated and formally suspected Dries Van Langenhove, who was elected to parliament for Vlaams Belang. He was subsequently released under certain conditions. One of those conditions is that Van Langenhove makes a guided visit to the Dossinkazerne in Mechelen. Source HLN
Russia will reinforce its troops at the country’s western border as a response to US plan to send additional troops to Poland, Vladimir Dzhabarov, the deputy chairman of the Russian upper house’s foreign affairs committee said on Monday. Source: Sputnik News
The Italian deputy prime minister, who began nurturing relations with Trump during his presidential election campaign, said that while other countries have “chosen different paths”, Italy wanted to return to being the “most important partner in continental Europe for the biggest western democracy”. Source: The Guardian
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has strongly supported the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who’ve opposed Lam’s “evil bill” to allow extraditions from Hong Kong to the mainland for the first time. And her government didn’t like that Lam used a grisly murder in Taiwan to justify the move. Source: Bloomberg
The first group of residents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR) have received Russian passports issued under a fast-track procedure in accordance with the Russian president’s decree. A passport ceremony took place in Russia’s Rostov region, where over 60 Donbass residents had arrived on Friday morning. Source: Tass
Commercials portraying “harmful gender stereotypes” will be banned from Friday in the UK. The nation’s advertising watchdog introduced the ban because it found evidence suggesting that adverse stereotypes could “restrict the choices, aspirations and opportunities of children, young people and adults and these stereotypes can be reinforced by some advertising, which plays a part in unequal gender outcomes.” Source: Deutsche Welle
will ask if he has more effective ideas for paying debts to families and businesses”. The Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, said this. “That is a measure unanimously approved by Parliament. As a minister, I do not say if I like it or dislike it, but if Parliament asks me to do it,” he added. Source: TG Com 24
Huawei Technologies Co seems to be moving very fast to prepare for the launch of its self-developed operating system, as the Chinese tech giant has reportedly shipped 1 million smartphones with the software onboard for testing. The move is part of Huawei’s broader effort to offset the fallout of the US administration’s ban on the world’s second-largest smartphone vendor and the world’s largest telecom equipment maker. Source: China Daily
An unexploded device, believed to be a limpet mine, was spotted on the side of one of two oil tankers attacked on Thursday in the Gulf of Oman, a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
If confirmed, then the method of attack would be the same as the one that the United States believes was used last month when four other tankers were struck off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. Source: Reuters
Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity plans to roll out Chinese classes in schools, by signing an agreement with the Confucius Institute in Beijing on importing professional Chinese language teachers. Source: Balkan Insight
Construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has been completed for 58.7% of its total length, the Russian gas holding said on Monday. “Construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline continues. 1,441 km of the gas pipeline were laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea by now – 58.7% of its total length,” Gazprom says. Source Tass.
Germany’s economy “should shrink slightly” in the second quarter of 2019, the country’s central bank Bundesbank said in its monthly report published here on Monday. “Special effects that contributed to a noticeable rise in gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter (of the current year) are either expiring or being reversed,” the report said. Source Xnhuanet
Deutsche Bank is planning to overhaul its trading operations by creating a so-called bad bank to hold tens of billions of euros of non-core assets, a source close to the matter said on Monday. Source: Reuters
The Japanese owner of a tanker attacked in the Gulf of Oman claimed Friday that it was struck by a flying projectile, contradicting reports by U.S. officials and the military on the source of the blast. Source: NBC
Reports from Russian media indicate that before the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum representatives from Huawei have met with the Minister of digital development and communications of Russia to discuss the possibility of using Aurora OS on future Huawei smartphones.
Aurora OS is a version of Sailfish OS in majority ownership by Russian state telecom Rostelecom and designated for the Russian market. Aurora OS is the only officially approved OS in Russia for use by government agencies and Russia plans to replace all other devices used by the state with 8 million Aurora-running smartphones in the future. Source: Nokiamob
Two Turkish fighter jets entered Greek air space above the islet of Kinaros on Tuesday morning, according to the state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency. Source: Ekathimerini
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was considering sanctions over Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project and warned Germany against being dependent on Russia for the fuel. Source: Reuters
Washington is disappointed the Netherlands allowed Dutch companies to participate in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which Washington deems a threat to European security, U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters
Germany today sold medium-term government bonds, or Bunds, at the lowest yield on record as the stalling European economy drove investors towards the safe assets. Europe’s biggest economy sold 10-year Bunds – IOUs which will pay out in 10 years time – with a yield of minus 0.24 per cent. It means investors holding them until they mature would lose money. Source: City
Philippe told lawmakers that the government would cut income tax for middle-class workers and would completely scrap a housing tax. Philippe said unemployment benefits for the highest earners would gradually decrease to encourage the jobless to get back to work more quickly. On the highly sensitive subject of pension reform, Philippe said the government would create incentives for the French to stay on the job longer than the current minimum legal retirement age of 62. Source: France 24
Italy’s coalition parties have pushed back against criticism of proposals to issue special government bonds to help pay state debts, highlighting growing tensions within the heart of the cabinet. Source: Reuters
