| Deal nears in talks with US, say Taliban Posted: 27 Aug 2019 09:59 AM PDT  US and Taliban negotiators held productive talks Tuesday, the insurgent group said, as potentially decisive discussions to enable Washington to draw down its deployment to Afghanistan entered their fifth day. Despite the Taliban's upbeat assessment, the ninth round of talks in Qatar appeared to have lost some of its earlier momentum as negotiators wrangled over individual words and phrases in a draft deal. "We have progress in this round so we are finalising the remaining points," Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told journalists outside the up-market Doha members' club where the talks are taking place.
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| Bolsonaro says Macron must take back 'insults' for Brazil to accept G7 Amazon aid Posted: 27 Aug 2019 11:30 AM PDT  Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president, has said he may accept the $22 million (£18 million) of aid offered by G7 countries to help combat forest fires in the Amazon, providing that French president Emmanuel Macron apologises for calling him a "liar". Mr Bolsonaro initially rejected the $22 million, showing concern that the offer of aid was a veiled attempt to undermine Brazil's sovereignty in the region. This sentiment is shared by farmers associations and regional governments, who fear that France is trying to sabotage Brazilian agribusiness. Mr Bolsonaro's chief of staff Onyx Lorenzoni was also dismissive of the aid, saying it would be better used to "reforest Europe". "Mr Macron can't even avoid a foreseeable fire in a church … what is he trying to teach our country?", Mr Lorenzoni said, referring to the blaze at the Notre Dame cathedral in April. G7 nations announced that $22 million would be made available to help combat the wave of forest fires which have been devastating the Amazon region since the beginning of August. Official statistics show that the number of fires in the Amazon has increased by over 83 per cent since 2018, reaching the highest level since 2012, when records were first collected. Last Friday, Mr Macron declared that Mr Bolsonaro had "lied to him" at the G20 conference in Osaka in June, when the Brazilian president promised to respect climate commitments. "First of all, Macron has to withdraw his insults. He called me a liar. Before we talk or accept anything from France ... he must withdraw these words then we can talk," Mr Bolsonaro told reporters in Brasilia. "First he withdraws, then offers (aid), then I will answer." The hostility shown by the Brazilian government toward Mr Macron is partly fuelled by a long-held nationalist fear that foreign interests intend to "steal" the Amazon from Brazil. The Amazon is ablaze in Brazil Much of this backlash was sparked by Mr Macron's first statement on the forest fires, in which he referred to the Amazon rainforest as "our house". On Monday, the French president spoke of the need to create an international statute to govern over the Amazon rainforest, which the Bolsonaro administration saw as a threat to Brazil's sovereignty. "There is a clear effort to extrapolate real environmental problems into a fabricated 'crisis', as a pretext to introduce external control mechanisms in the Amazon," said Ernesto Araujo, Brazil's foreign minister. Mauro Mendes, governor of Brazil's leading grain-producing state Mato Grosso, said that Mr Macron's comments about the Amazon were intended to "create a negative climate for Brazil and support French producers". Race to save the rainforest | Mass deforestation in the Amazon Jair Bolsonaro was elected in 2018 thanks in part to the support of Brazil's huge agribusiness industry. Despite growing pressure from abroad, farmers' associations have stuck by the far-right president. Wellington Andrade, the executive director of the Soy and Corn Farmers' Association in Mato Grosso (Aprosoja), agrees with Mr Bolsonaro's stance toward the forest fires, but warned that Brazilian producers run the risk of "facing trade barriers which are dressed up as environmental barriers". There have been about 75,000 fires in the Amazon this year alone, being largely blamed on loggers and farmers taking advantage of decreased environmental regulations in the region. While the number of fires has increased 83 per cent this year, the number of fines handed out by the national environmental protection agency has fallen 29.4 per cent. Preliminary data from satellites put in place to measure deforestation suggest Brazil has lost over 1,100 sq km of Amazon forest since the beginning of August. If confirmed, this would be the highest deforestation level for August ever recorded. Last week, Mr Bolsonaro sent military troops to the Amazonian states of Rondonia and Roraima, with firefighter planes being deployed to try and extinguish the flames.
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| Another resignation shakes LGBT Republican group after Trump endorsement Posted: 27 Aug 2019 10:49 AM PDT  The first female executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans resigned this week following the group's endorsement of President Trump's reelection, the second official to step down in as many weeks.
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| Couple wanted for murder in Arizona escape from guards during transport Posted: 27 Aug 2019 04:13 PM PDT  Blane Barksdale, 56, and Susan Barksdale, 59, broke free on Monday evening from two guards in Blanding, a rural town in southeast Utah, the Tucson Police Department said in a statement. The couple later obtained a GMC Sierra pickup truck and drove off, Tucson police spokesman Pete Dugan said. "Investigators have information that they are possibly traveling through Arizona," Tucson police said in a statement.
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| Biden has another blunder when he can't remember the Department of Health and Human Services Posted: 28 Aug 2019 04:39 AM PDT  Joe Biden's campaign is on defense again after another campaign trail blunder.
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| UK alone will be to blame for no-deal Brexit: EU tells Johnson Posted: 27 Aug 2019 10:40 AM PDT  Britain will be solely to blame if it crashes out of the EU in a chaotic "no-deal" Brexit, the bloc told Prime Minister Boris Johnson Tuesday in the latest clash between Brussels and London. With the clock ticking and Johnson adamant the EU must accept significant changes to the existing withdrawal agreement, fears are growing that Britain could leave without a deal, causing major economic turmoil. Days after Johnson and EU Council President Donald Tusk traded jibes over who would be responsible if Britain leaves the bloc on October 31 without an agreement, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker waded into the row.
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| Federal judge blocks Missouri's 8-week abortion ban Posted: 27 Aug 2019 02:34 PM PDT  A new Missouri ban on abortions at or after eight weeks of pregnancy won't take effect Wednesday after a federal judge temporarily blocked it from being implemented. U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs put a pause on the law as a legal challenge against it plays out in court, which could take months. Missouri already has some of the nation's most restrictive abortion regulations.
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| Trump claims 'radical left' spread rumors of bedbugs at Florida club Posted: 27 Aug 2019 08:51 AM PDT  President Trump blamed "Radical Left Democrats" for spreading reports that there were bedbugs at a golf resort he owns in Miami, the same one he pitched as the venue for next year's G-7 meeting.
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| Palestinian Harvard student denied entry to US because 'friends posted anti-American statements' Posted: 27 Aug 2019 09:47 AM PDT  A Palestinian Harvard student claims that he has been denied entry into the US because his friends had posted anti-American statements on social media. Ismail Ajjawi, 17, who is due to begin his studies at the prestigious university next Tuesday, said he was detained when he arrived at Boston's Logan International Airport on Friday night. Mr Ajjawai told the Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper, that immigration officers subjected him to hours of questioning and demanded access to his phone and computer. Mr Ajjawai, who lives in Lebanon, said he was asked about his religious beliefs and practices before officers trawled through his technology devices. The teenager said that after five hours an officer called him into a room and "started screaming" at him. "She said that she found people posting political points of view that oppose the US on my friend[s] list," he said. Mr Ajjawi said he stressed to the officer that he had not made any political posts himself and that he should not be held responsible for others' posts. "I have no single post on my timeline discussing politics," he added. However he claimed that the officer cancelled his visa and informed him that he would be deported back to Lebanon. A spokesman for Harvard University told The Telegraph that the university is working closely with Mr Ajjawi's family "and appropriate authorities to resolve this matter so that he can join his classmates in the coming days". US immigration officials have refused to divulge the specifics of Mr Ajjawi's case or why he was denied entry into the country but confirmed that the Customs and Border Protection agency found him "inadmissible". "Applicants must demonstrate they are admissible into the US by overcoming all grounds of inadmissibility including health-related grounds, criminality, security reasons, public charge, labour certification, illegal entrants and immigration violations, documentation requirements, and miscellaneous grounds," a spokesman for the CBP told the Crimson in a statement. "This individual was deemed inadmissible to the United States based on information discovered during the CBP inspection." Mr Ajjawi, who was granted a scholarship by the Washington-based Amideast non-profit organisation, said that he is receiving assistance from an immigration lawyer and hopes to resolve his visa issues in time for the start of classes next week.
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| Al Haynes, pilot of United Flight 232 and reluctant hero, dies 30 years after deadly crash in Iowa Posted: 27 Aug 2019 04:24 AM PDT  Flight 232 pilot Al Haynes deflected the title "hero" and focused attention on the crew and unprecedented rescue coordination after the 1989 crash.
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| Russia, Turkey discuss supply of Russian warplanes: RIA Posted: 28 Aug 2019 01:17 AM PDT  Russia and Turkey are discussing the possibility of deliveries of the Russian-made Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter jet and Su-35 aircraft to Turkey, the RIA news agency cited a Russian official as saying on Wednesday. Russia began delivering S-400 missile systems to Turkey this year, in a step that strained ties with Ankara's NATO allies and prompted Washington to begin removing Turkey from its program for manufacturing F-35 jets, which Turkey also planned to buy. The head of Russia's Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation said he planned to discuss the S-400 missile defense system with a Turkish colleague later on Wednesday as well as "possibly deliveries of the Su-35 or Su-57".
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| Black man forced to kneel in boxers at gunpoint outside his home after police refuse to believe he is not a burglar Posted: 26 Aug 2019 11:00 AM PDT  An African American man was forced by police to kneel in his boxer shorts outside his own home after officers refused to believe he was not a burglar.Kazeem Oyeneyin, a 31-year-old resident of Raleigh, North Carolina, was held at gunpoint on August 17 by a white police officer after a false burglar alarm in his home went off for 15 minutes while he was sleeping.
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| TS Dorian expected to strengthen, could hit Puerto Rico Posted: 27 Aug 2019 08:53 PM PDT  Tropical Storm Dorian made a last-minute shift in its path on Tuesday, threatening Puerto Rico with a direct hit as forecasters said it could reach near-hurricane strength in its approach to the U.S. territory. The storm is expected to pass over or near western and central Puerto Rico on Wednesday as authorities warned of landslides, widespread flooding and power outages. President Donald Trump declared an emergency Tuesday night and ordered federal assistance for local authorities.
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| US approves $3.3bn sale of anti-ballistic missiles to Japan Posted: 27 Aug 2019 02:46 PM PDT  Washington approved the $3.3 billion sale of anti-ballistic missiles to Japan Tuesday, following close behind a series of new ballistic missile tests by North Korea that could threaten the US ally. Japan will buy up to 73 of the Raytheon-made SM-3 Block IIA missiles, which are designed to be fired by the ship-board Aegis system to intercept incoming ballistic missiles, the Pentagon said. The sale came as North Korea is expanding its offensive missile capabilities, having proven over the past two years the ability to launch medium- and long-range ballistic missiles, potentially nuclear-tipped, that could hit both Japan and the United States.
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| This Exoplanet Has the Weirdest Orbit We've Ever Seen Posted: 27 Aug 2019 09:00 AM PDT  There's no circular orbit for this giant world.
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| Trump pitches his country club for G-7 meeting but claims he's losing money as president Posted: 26 Aug 2019 11:16 AM PDT  The president defends a plan to hold a G-7 meeting at his private golf club.
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| Two Children Were Left Alone For Eight Days After ICE Arrested Their Parents During Mississippi Raids Posted: 26 Aug 2019 02:45 PM PDT  Two children were left alone for eight days after both their parents were arrested by ICE during sweeping workplace raids in Mississippi.
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| 'Fair maps': Barack Obama launches new initiative to help take on partisan gerrymandering Posted: 26 Aug 2019 07:49 PM PDT  Former President Barack Obama said gerrymandering is an issue he has made a top priority from his "2008 campaign until now." But the Supreme Court recently ruled maps that resulted from partisan redistricting are constitutional.
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| United Airlines moving its Boeing 737 MAX jets to short-term storage in Arizona Posted: 28 Aug 2019 05:27 AM PDT  United Airlines is starting to move its 14 Boeing 737 MAX jets to short-term storage in Phoenix, Arizona, which has better weather for stored aircraft and where it will be easier to prepare them for commercial flight again, the carrier said on Wednesday. Boeing Co's 737 MAX fleet was grounded worldwide in March after two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed a total of 346 people within five months. The aircraft maker is working on a fix for the software at the center of both crashes and is aiming to get the jet back in the air as soon as October, Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg told Reuters on Tuesday.
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| 245 rescued from burning ferry in Philippine waters, 3 dead Posted: 28 Aug 2019 03:54 AM PDT  Fishing boats and passing ships rescued 245 people from a ferry that burned overnight in choppy waters in the southern Philippines but at least three people perished, including a child, coast guard officials said Wednesday. Survivors described how they feared being killed by either the fire or waves while waiting for hours to be rescued as bright-orange flames engulfed much of the vessel, the M/V Lite Ferry 16, off Dapitan city in Zamboanga del Norte province. The fire apparently started in the engine room, coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo said.
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| Pound dives on increased no-deal Brexit prospect Posted: 28 Aug 2019 06:40 AM PDT  The pound fell versus the dollar and euro Wednesday as Britain's government moved to extend the suspension of parliament, increasing the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit.
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| Biden campaign does damage control after electability takes hit in recent poll Posted: 27 Aug 2019 02:24 PM PDT  Two new polls do show Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden back on top, but is the damage already done? Reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'
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| Trump suggested using bombs to fight hurricanes. These 4 graphics show why that would never work. Posted: 27 Aug 2019 12:19 PM PDT  President Trump has suggested hitting hurricanes with nuclear weapons. But no nuclear bomb is powerful enough to continuously disrupt a hurricane.
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| Balkan Rift Deepens With Some Unexpected Help From... Togo Posted: 28 Aug 2019 01:59 AM PDT ![Balkan Rift Deepens With Some Unexpected Help From... Togo]( "Balkan Rift Deepens With Some Unexpected Help From... Togo") (Bloomberg) -- The biggest territorial dispute in the Balkans, which has hampered Serbia's and Kosovo's integration with the European Union, has gone global instead of moving closer to resolution.While publicly stating that it wants to resume EU-mediated talks, Serbia has been campaigning to persuade nations not to recognize Kosovo's 2008 unilateral declaration of independence.Vowing never to accept the Western-backed split of Kosovo, Serbia is working to reduce the number of countries that recognized Europe's newest state after the total peaked at 116 of 193 United Nations members.In the latest twist to the diplomatic saga, Serbia's Deputy Premier Ivica Dacic said this week he persuaded Togo to revoke its recognition made in 2014, making the west Africa nation 15th in the world to switch sides in the dispute and back Serbia's stance. Previous Serb wins include Grenada, Suriname, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, Guinea-Bissau, Burundi, Papua New Guinea and Lesotho, he said.Serbia aims to reduce the number of states recognizing Kosovo to at least half of all UN members to make sure the latter never joins the organization, not even as an observer, according to Serbia's foreign minister. The biggest former Yugoslav republic also relies on the backing from Russia, China, India and five EU states that have not recognized Kosovo.The diplomatic dispute, which has intensified in the past three years, has stirred another wave of unease in Kosovo, with the Foreign Ministry saying on Facebook it has faced "an unprecedented diplomatic and propaganda campaign by Serbia with the support of Russia and other countries to hinder Kosovo's integration into the international community."The government is working with the U.S. and other western allies to counter the campaign by Serbs who use "bribes, corrupt affairs, arms sales and visa waiver agreements" to win nations over, the ministry said.Serbia and Kosovo fought a war that only stopped in 1999 when NATO bombed Serbia. The Balkan neighbors signed in 2013 an EU-brokered framework deal to mend ties but the efforts stalled last year when Serbia blocked Kosovo from joining Interpol, triggering a retaliatory 100% tax on Serb imports.The trade barrier will remain until Serbia accepts Kosovo's statehood, said Premier Ramush Haradinaj who has made the tariff a key theme of his campaign ahead of Oct. 6 snap vote in the landlocked nation of 1.9 million people.The U.S., France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. have urged the Balkan neighbors to sit and talk rather than use resources to battle it out globally."For Kosovo, that means suspending the tariffs imposed on Serbia," the western nations said in a joint statement in mid August. "For Serbia, that means suspending the de-recognition campaign against Kosovo."Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic dismissed this, saying that under the 2013 deal signed in Brussels both sides were to halt the hunt for allies at the time when the total of countries accepting Kosovo as a country was just over 80.Kosovo "never accepted this, and since they didn't, we just did our job" to seek reversals, Vucic said after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week.The next showdown may be in October when Interpol holds its conference in Chile and Serbia will again seek to block Kosovo from the organization, Foreign Minister Dacic said.(Updates with Serb plan to block Kosovo from Interpol in last paragraph.)\--With assistance from Gordana Filipovic and Jasmina Kuzmanovic.To contact the reporter on this story: Misha Savic in Belgrade at msavic2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, ;Irina Vilcu at isavu@bloomberg.net, Alan CrawfordFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Israel's shadow war with Iran bursts into the open Posted: 27 Aug 2019 09:43 AM PDT  The long shadow war between Israel and Iran has burst into the open in recent days, with Israel allegedly striking Iran-linked targets as far away as Iraq and crash-landing two drones in Hezbollah-dominated southern Beirut. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking to project strength three weeks before national elections, while Iran has taken a series of provocative actions in recent months aimed at pressuring European nations to provide relief from crippling U.S. sanctions. Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, vowed to retaliate after a drone crashed on the militant group's Beirut media office and another exploded midair early Sunday.
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| UPDATE 3-At least 25 killed in 'horrendous' arson attack on bar in Mexico Posted: 28 Aug 2019 02:28 AM PDT ![UPDATE 3-At least 25 killed in 'horrendous' arson attack on bar in Mexico]( "UPDATE 3-At least 25 killed in 'horrendous' arson attack on bar in Mexico") At least 25 people were killed in an arson attack by suspected gang members on a bar in the southeastern Mexican port of Coatzacoalcos late on Tuesday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said, in a fresh blow to his efforts to curb violence. Calling the attack "horrendous," Lopez Obrador told a regular morning news conference on Wednesday that the deaths occurred after the suspected gangsters closed the emergency exits of the bar in Coatzacoalcos and set fire to it. Lopez Obrador said 25 people had died so far and that initial investigations indicated that some suspects behind the attack had been in custody this year and were later released.
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| America's first mass shooting: 70 years ago, a WWII veteran killed 13 of his neighbors Posted: 28 Aug 2019 05:25 AM PDT  Howard Unruh displayed the same temperament reflected in many of his modern counterparts — rigid, angry and blaming.
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| Tehran ex-mayor who killed wife free on bail: lawyer Posted: 28 Aug 2019 04:54 AM PDT  A former mayor of Tehran who murdered his wife has been released on bail, his lawyer said Wednesday, two weeks after her family spared him from the death sentence. Mohammad Ali Najafi, 67, was sentenced to death last month after being convicted of shooting dead his second wife Mitra Ostad at their home in the Iranian capital on May 28. Ostad's family had originally appealed for "qesas" -- the Islamic law of retribution -- to be applied, which would have seen the death penalty served.
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| The U.S. Navy’s Mine-Hunting Drone Is Ready To Go Posted: 27 Aug 2019 03:00 PM PDT  The Knifefish UUV is designed to search for, identify, and chart underwater minefields.
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| Trump news – live: President mocks journalist over 'bedbugs infestation' then attacks Puerto Rico mayor as Tropical Storm Dorian approaches Posted: 28 Aug 2019 05:22 AM PDT  Donald Trump has joined in the mockery of a New York Times columnist Bret Stephens – driven from Twitter after objecting to being called a "bedbug" – and launched into a fresh attack on Puerto Rico mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz as Storm Dorian heads for the island.The president is also facing questions after allegedly promising officials he would pardon them if they found themselves having to break laws in order to get his US-Mexico border wall completed in time for the 2020 election, according to a Washington Post report.
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| Eastern Ukraine Isn’t Really That Separatist Posted: 28 Aug 2019 05:09 AM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy consolidates power after his party gained a majority in parliament, there's a sense in Europe that conditions might be ripe for productive talks on resolving the festering conflict in eastern Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron says there'll be a France-Germany-Ukraine-Russia summit on the subject next month, the first since 2016. Meanwhile, John Bolton, national security adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, is asking Zelenskiy to take his time: the Europeans may not "have a solution that is readily apparent."As ever, the Europeans want the war to end on any terms acceptable to the parties, and the Americans are worried about any possible concessions to Russia. But all this activity around a possible resolution goes right over the heads of the most important stakeholders: The people of eastern Ukraine who live on both sides of the front line – a total of about 6.2 million people, of which about 3.7 million are in the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, the DNR and LNR respectively.The Berlin-based Center for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) has just published a report on how sentiment in both Ukrainian and separatist-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine has evolved in the last three years – coincidentally, the period without "Normandy format" meetings like the one Macron has announced. The report is based on in-person interviews with 1,200 residents of the Kyiv-controlled part of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and telephone interviews with 1,200 people in the unrecognized "people's republics" kept alive by Russian support. In that, the survey is unique – few researchers dare conduct any kind of field work in the DNR and LNR.The results show a remarkable diversity of opinion, but they indicate a path toward a reasonable settlement that all parties should aim to follow.The first, most striking result of this survey is that on both sides of the border, "Ukrainian citizen" isn't the primary self-identification. In the Kyiv-controlled areas, only 26% of respondents identified primarily as Ukrainian citizens, down from 53% in 2016. But then, the "people's republics" don't inspire much enthusiasm, either. No identity dominates on either side of the separation line.That's an important finding. The lack of a strong affiliation with Russia, Ukraine or even the home region, the Donbas, means, on the one hand, that none of the major players in the conflict have managed to offer anything attractive to the population. On the other hand, it shows that there should be a lot of flexibility in resolving the conflict – and not much entrenched, identity-based resistance of the kind one finds in the Balkans.Another important positive finding for Ukraine is that people in the "people's republics" have been crossing the line into the Kyiv-controlled part of the country more often than in 2016: The percentage who do it once a month, for example, has increased to 14.8% from 7.9%. Residents of the Ukrainian-controlled part almost never travel to the DNR and LNR; a higher percentage of people in the separatist areas say they have friends and relatives across the line than the other way round.The direction and frequency of the traffic means the separatist experiment hasn't succeeded in cutting off parts of the Donbas, even though almost 56% of the "people's republics'" residents still say they never cross the line. The two parts of the Donbas have been subjected to conflicting propaganda streams since the war started, and their ideas about the region's future have diverged accordingly. In the Kyiv-controlled parts, even though they voted for the pro-Russian opposition in this year's elections, about two thirds of residents believe the "people's republics" should rejoin Ukraine without any special status, and that proportion hasn't changed much since 2016. In the DNR and LNR, only about a quarter agree – slightly more than in 2016, indicating that some people are tired of the uncertainty. At the same time, the share of those who want their region to become part of Russia also has increased, to 18.3% from 11.4%, another sign people want the conflict to end one way or another.And yet these differences don't present a particularly daunting challenge to Ukraine. People in the separatist areas haven't acquired a belief in their separate statehood, and only a minority wants them to join Russia. Autonomy or not, the people's republics have a pro-Ukrainian majority, if the ZOiS survey is accurate. Based on the German think tank's findings, Zelenskiy's strategy in any negotiations going forward should be to insist on a popular vote, ideally in both parts of eastern Ukraine, arranged and observed by a credible international organization, such as the United Nations or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Based on the ZOiS findings and the population distribution between the Kyiv-controlled and the separatist-held areas, such a referendum should return a plurality (about 40%) for the region's reunification within Ukraine without any special autonomous status; the second most popular result (with about 31%) would be autonomy within Ukraine.That latter option wouldn't necessarily win in a run-off either, depending on what kind of economic revival package Ukraine and its Western allies would be able to offer the people of the Donbas. Russia won't be offering any such package, at least not credibly. It's had its chance to pump the rebel republics full of infrastructure investment, as it did with Crimea, but the Kremlin decided against it.Even if a vote were held in the separatist areas only, an international effort to secure it and allow Zelenskiy to campaign there (his prowess at it is well-known by now) could end in Ukraine's favor, without the need to change the constitution to give the Donbas a special status. But even a vote for an autonomous status wouldn't be the end of the world. It would merely set the stage for more detailed negotiations on what autonomy should entail and exactly what constitutional change would be needed. Russian President Vladimir Putin's entire rhetoric since the conflict in eastern Ukraine began has been about protecting the country's Russian-speaking minority and, specifically, the residents of the "people's republics." Insistence on a fair, internationally recognized vote would defang that rhetoric and give Putin an honorable way out of the expensive mess. The Kremlin would, of course, bargain, put forward impossible conditions, demand security guarantees for its most active supporters and insist on autonomy for the Donbas as a condition of any progress. But a compromise could be reachable with an amnesty for all combatants.After five years of war and more than 13,000 deaths, it's finally time to ask the people of eastern Ukraine how they'd like to proceed. The ZOiS findings show they'll probably make a reasonable decision. Germany, France and the U.S. should help Ukraine and Russia agree on a democratic solution to the crisis.To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Baker at stebaker@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Leonid Bershidsky is Bloomberg Opinion's Europe columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Students rally in Pakistan-held Kashmir against India Posted: 27 Aug 2019 10:44 AM PDT  More than a thousand students rallied Tuesday in the capital of Pakistan-held Kashmir to denounce India's downgrading of the special status of the portion of the disputed region it controls. The demonstrators chanted "We want freedom" and denounced human rights violations in Indian-administrated Kashmir. Kashmir, which is split between two countries and claimed by both, has been the cause of two of wars between Pakistan and India since they won independence from British colonialists in 1947.
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| A Chinese-Australian author and former diplomat could face the death penalty in China over spying charges Posted: 27 Aug 2019 06:44 AM PDT  Australian officials have labelled the arrest politically motivated and have called for Yang Hengjun's release.
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| Exclusive: Boeing CEO eyes major aircraft order under any U.S.-China trade deal Posted: 27 Aug 2019 03:46 PM PDT  Boeing Co said on Tuesday that an aircraft order from China could result from any deal to end a yearlong trade war between the world's two largest economies. Speaking to Reuters at the planemaker's widebody aircraft factory in Everett, Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg cautioned that it was "tough to predict" the timing of a potential trade deal between the United States and China. Chicago-based Boeing calls itself the top U.S. exporter and has delivered more than one out of every four jetliners it made last year to customers in China, where it forecasts demand for 7,700 new airplanes over the next 20 years valued at $1.2 trillion.
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| Attorney: Dropping charges against dad of twins who died in hot car may raise awareness Posted: 27 Aug 2019 12:33 PM PDT  Juan Rodriguez's attorney said dismissing the case against him could help raise awareness of the disturbing phenomenon of children dying in hot cars.
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| Uganda launches national airline with flight to Kenya Posted: 27 Aug 2019 07:18 AM PDT  Uganda on Tuesday re-launched its national airline after two decades with an inaugural flight to Nairobi, becoming the latest East African nation seeking to revive their aviation industry. Uganda Airlines is launching into increasingly crowded East African skies, where both Rwanda and Tanzania have in recent years revived their national airlines in a bid to capture a slice of the booming market.
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| Tropical Storm Dorian tracking through Caribbean, expected to hit Florida Posted: 27 Aug 2019 08:34 PM PDT  Tropical Storm Dorian formed Sunday afternoon in the Atlantic, and it continues to strengthen.
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| Nearly 200 potential cases of vaping-related lung illness have been reported across the U.S. Vaping marijuana is still typically safer than smoking it. Posted: 27 Aug 2019 08:36 AM PDT  It's unclear how many cases are due to marijuana versus nicotine. For pot, vaping seems safer than smoking, but it can still be dangerous.
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| 65 Super Simple Last-Minute Appetizers Posted: 26 Aug 2019 01:54 PM PDT |
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