your daily top 12 stories from frank news

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JUNE 28 (GMT) – JUNE 29 (AEST), 2019

AUSTRALIAEUROPENORTH AMERICA

Trump tells Putin not to meddle

President Donald Trump came face to face with Russia’s Vladimir Putin for the first time since the special counsel found extensive evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 US election. When asked if he would warn Russia not to meddle in the next election, Trump wore a bit of a smile, pointed his finger at Putin and dryly said: “Don’t meddle in the election, please.”

Democrats debate party’s future

Bernie Sanders slapped back at his party’s centrist candidates in a presidential debate that underscored deep ideological divisions that are starting to shape the party’s winding search for a nominee to take on President Donald Trump. The Vermont senator, a self-described democratic socialist, admitted that his plans for universal health care and free college would require a tax increase on America’s middle class.

Cuts top new parliament agenda

Income tax cuts will be at the top of the re-elected Morrison government’s agenda after pomp and ceremony mark the start of a new parliament. Australia’s 46th parliament will spring into life in Canberra’s cold winter, with 151 MPs and 42 of the country’s 76 senators to be sworn in after a welcome to country ceremony next week. New governor-general David Hurley will address a joint sitting of parliament after he officially becomes head of state next week.

May condemns Putin at meeting

Theresa May condemned Vladimir Putin’s “irresponsible” actions in a frosty meeting between the two leaders dominated by exchanges about the Salisbury nerve agent attack. The prime minister was stony faced as she shook hands with the Russian president before talks in which she told him the use of the Novichok nerve agent in the Wiltshire city was a “truly despicable act”.

Bridge demolished after collapse

A spectacular planned explosion has knocked down the remaining spans and supporting pillars of the Italian bridge that collapsed last year with the loss of 43 lives. The blast in Genoa triggered a huge cloud of grayish dust as the pillars and roadbed leaned inward, then crumbled like a sandcastle. Minutes before the blast, sirens sounded a final warning. Some 3500 people who live nearby had been evacuated as a precaution.

Kiwibuild deemed ‘unfair’

An Auckland property developer says he doesn’t believe change at the top will make any difference to the KiwiBuild programme, because there’s not one “solution” for the housing sector. In a Cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took the housing portfolio away from Phil Twyford, and the load will now be shared among five ministers headed by Megan Woods.

NEW ZEALANDEUROPENORTH AMERICA

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AUSTRALIAUKREST OF THE WORLD

G20 leaders clash over values

World leaders attending a Group of 20 summit in Japan are clashing over the values that have served for decades as the foundation of their cooperation as they face calls to fend off threats to economic growth. “A free and open economy is the basis for peace and prosperity,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said as leaders grapple with profound tensions over trade, globalization and the collapsing nuclear deal with Iran.

Eruption displaces thousands

Fifteen thousand people have been displaced by the eruption of Mt Ulawun, the governor of Papua New Guinea’s West New Britain province says. Villages and plantations that surround the mountain have been coated in ash, killing crops and contaminating water supplies, as well as forcing local villagers to flee. The governor, Francis Maneke, said ash had spread as far as the provincial capital Kimbe, some 200km away.

Australia urged to pressure Iran

Scott Morrison has described suggestions Australia could join the United States in potential military action against Iran as premature. President Donald Trump has not asked for a commitment from Australia on joining an attack against Tehran as heightened tensions between the US and Iran threaten to spill into a full-blown conflict. Morrison confirmed he discussed the nuclear deal at the heart of the dispute during a meeting with Trump.

May excited for backbench move

Theresa May has said she is looking forward to returning to the backbenches after leaving Number 10 for the final time next month. She said it had been a “huge privilege” to be prime minister but she was hoping to be able to devote more time to her work as MP for Maidenhead.May stepped up her call for her successor to seek to get a Brexit deal through the Commons in response to Boris Johnson suggesting it would be a “folly” to rule out suspending Parliament.

Ministers: Rule out no-deal

The first ministers of Scotland and Wales have joined forces to demand the new prime minister rule out a “disastrous” no-deal Brexit. With Boris Johnson battling Jeremy Hunt to win the keys to Number 10, Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford said they were both “increasingly alarmed” by the “hardline rhetoric” that had emerged in the leadership contest. Johnson has already pledged to take the UK out of the EU by October 31 “do or die”.

Investor gifts park to public

An 860-hectare mountain bike park worth about $22 million was gifted to the New Zealand public. The land south of Nelson has been transferred to the Department of Conservation under a 40-year lease arrangement by international investor Ken Dart through his not-for-profit foundation RHL New Zealand. The park in the Wairoa Gorge has always been a bit of a mystery to anyone other than skilled mountain bike riders.

NEW ZEALANDUKREST OF THE WORLD

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NORTH AMERICA

Democratic presidential candidates take the stage during the second night of the first

Democratic presidential debate. - AP

Democrats candidates debate party’s futureBernie Sanders slapped back at his party’s centrist candidates in a presidential debate that underscored deep ideological divisions that are starting to shape the party’s winding search for a nominee to take on President Donald Trump.

The Vermont senator, a self-described democratic socialist, admitted that his plans for universal health care and free college would require a tax increase on America’s middle class. But he insisted that fundamental change is needed to address growing inequality across America. His critics warned that such an approach would leave the party open to attacks from Republicans who call them socialists.

“We think it is time for change, real change,” Sanders declared.

While the tone was mostly civil, just beneath the surface a debate was simmering about the party’s future – and what kind of candidate should lead it. A generation divide was displayed early on as younger candidates called on 76-year-old Joe Biden, their party’s early front-runner, to pass the torch.

Some candidates want to fight fire with fire in the age of Trump. They’re embracing Sanders’ call for a revolution that would transform the private health care system into a government-financed one and mandate a redistribution of wealth – even as Republicans attack them as socialists. A smaller group, led by Biden, favors a far more pragmatic approach to address the nation’s problems within the current framework. They emphasize bipartisanship and moderation, hardly an exciting concept for liberal activists crying for dramatic change after years of Trump.

A day after the first wave of 10 Democrats debated, the second 10 faced each other and the nation for the first time in a prime-time confrontation that gave many voters their first peek inside the Democratic Party’s unruly 2020 presidential campaign.

At the start, Biden downplayed his establishment leanings. ■

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. - AP

NORTH AMERICA

Trump to Putin: Don’t meddle in US electionPresident Donald Trump came face to face with Russia’s Vladimir Putin for the first time since the special counsel found extensive evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 US election. When asked if he would warn Russia not to meddle in the next election, Trump wore a bit of a smile, pointed his finger at Putin and dryly said: “Don’t meddle in the election, please.”

The tone of the president’s comments were immediately open to interpretation but would seem to do little to silence questions about Trump’s relationship with Russia in the aftermath of special counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusion that his campaign did not collude with Russia in 2016. Their meeting in Japan was the first time the two sat together publicly since their summit in Helsinki nearly a year ago in which Trump pointedly did not admonish Putin over election interference and did not side with US intelligence services over his Russian counterpart.

The leaders traded brief remarks about issues they planned to discuss when a reporter shouted if the president would tell Putin “not to meddle” in the 2020 election. The president answered “Of course I will,” before he turned to Putin and said, “Don’t meddle in the election, please.” He playfully repeated request.

The meeting with Putin, which came amid a gauntlet of negotiations on international crises, trade wars and a growing global to-do list, was the main event on Trump’s agenda at the G20 summit in Osaka.

Trump had said in advance of his meeting with Putin that he expected a “very good conversation” with the Russian leader but told reporters that “what I say to him is none of your business.”

His aides had grown worried that Trump could use the meeting to once again attack the Russia probe on the world stage, particularly since Mueller recently agreed to testify before Congress next month, he did not utter the special counsel’s name. ■

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EUROPE

A cloud of dust rises as the remaining spans of the Morandi bridge are demolished in a

planned explosion in Genoa, Italy. - AP

Remains of collapsed bridge demolishedA spectacular planned explosion has knocked down the remaining spans and supporting pillars of the Italian bridge that collapsed last year with the loss of 43 lives.

The blast in Genoa triggered a huge cloud of grayish dust as the pillars and roadbed leaned inward, then crumbled like a sandcastle.

In a few seconds, the Morandi Bridge was history, with debris falling into the riverbed under what had been a key link between the high-speed highway leading to the French Riviera and another highway linking Genoa, a major port city, to Milan.

Minutes before the blast, sirens sounded a final warning. Some 3500 people who live nearby had been evacuated as a precaution. Before leaving, many had covered windows and doors with plastic sheeting in a bid to prevent dust from infiltrating their homes.

Other homes, directly beneath one of the bridge’s spans, had been evacuated immediately after the deadly collapse on August 14, 2018. Those apartment buildings will be eliminated as part of the replacement bridge’s construction.

Ahead of the planned blast, fire hoses sprayed water to reduce dust triggered by the blast. Still, the cloud of dust and debris seemed to darken the sunny sky. Frightened dogs barked at the noise.

Prosecutors are considering possible design flaws or poor maintenance as they search for the cause of the deadly collapse during heavy vacation holiday traffic.

World-famed architect Renzo Piano, a Genoa native, has designed a replacement bridge, that will feature 43 lamps dotting the span in tribute to those who lost their lives when a stretch of roadbed gave way, plunging into the dry riverbed below, during a fierce thunderstorm. Traffic on the bridge was very heavy that day, the eve of Italy’s chief summer holiday, Ferragosto. ■

British Prime Minister Theresa May with Russian President Vladimir Putin. - PA

EUROPE

May condemns Putin during frosty meetingTheresa May condemned Vladimir Putin’s “irresponsible” actions in a frosty meeting between the two leaders dominated by exchanges about the Salisbury nerve agent attack.

The prime minister was stony faced as she shook hands with the Russian president before talks in which she told him the use of the Novichok nerve agent in the Wiltshire city was a “truly despicable act”.

She said the UK had “irrefutable” evidence that Russia was behind the attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March 2018.

Both survived the poisoning in Salisbury, but in July 2018 Dawn Sturgess died after coming into contact with Novichok which is believed to have been in a perfume bottle.

May held her first formal meeting with Putin since the Novichok attack in the margins of the G20 summit in Osaka.

“She told the president that there cannot be a normalisation of our bilateral relationship until Russia stops the irresponsible and destabilising activity that threatens the UK and its allies – including hostile interventions in other countries, disinformation and cyber attacks – which undermine Russia’s standing in the world,” a Downing Street spokesman said.

“The prime minister said that the use of a deadly nerve agent on the streets of Salisbury formed part of a wider pattern of unacceptable behaviour and was a truly despicable act that led to the death of a British citizen, Dawn Sturgess.”

The UK authorities have named two Russians from the GRU military intelligence agency – known by the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov – as suspects.

Online investigation group Bellingcat said Boshirov is actually the highly decorated Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, and Petrov is a military doctor called Alexander Mishkin.

Downing Street said May was “clear that the UK has irrefutable evidence that Russia was behind the attack – based on painstaking investigations and co-operation with our allies. ■

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NEW ZEALAND

- RNZ / Tess Brunton

Developer deems Kiwibuild ‘unfair’An Auckland property developer says he doesn’t believe change at the top will make any difference to the KiwiBuild programme, because there’s not one “solution” for the housing sector.

In a Cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took the housing portfolio away from Phil Twyford, and the load will now be shared among five ministers headed by Megan Woods.

Matthew Horncastle, managing director of Williams Corporation, said he had no confidence that the changes would improve the outcome for KiwiBuild.

He said his company sells 20 houses a month in Christchurch and Auckland with 170 under construction at present. Since Labour had come to power it had delivered 88 houses while the private sector had built 45,000 houses.

While it sounded easy to ease shortages by just going out and building more houses, the government’s approach was too simplistic.

“There are hundreds and hundreds of little issues that block the private sector from doing their job. It’s not just one thing, it’s not just the Resource Management Act, it’s not just the building consent process, it’s not just the planning rules … it’s everything is an issue and everything causes delays and everything causes inefficiencies,” Horncatle said.

He said hopefully the ministers are seeing all these little problems first-hand. “I’d love to see them now roll up their sleeves, get deep into the housing industry and start writing some policy that can make it more efficient for everyone to operate.”

Horncastle said he refused to be part of the KiwiBuild programme because he knew it would be slow-going and the private sector is always more efficient. He saw a report recently that said KiwiBuild’s overheads per home produced were $300,000.

“That’s horribly inefficient and unfair on the New Zealand taxpayer to be fronting that sort of bill.” ■

Newly elected MPs pose for photographs during a new Members’ Seminar in the House of

Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra. - AP

AUSTRALIA

Tax cuts top agenda for new parliamentIncome tax cuts will be at the top of the re-elected Morrison government’s agenda after pomp and ceremony mark the start of a new parliament.

Australia’s 46th parliament will spring into life in Canberra’s cold winter, with 151 MPs and 42 of the country’s 76 senators to be sworn in after a welcome to country ceremony next week.

New governor-general David Hurley will address a joint sitting of parliament in the afternoon after he officially becomes head of state.

Condolences for Labor prime minister Bob Hawke will be the sole item of business before parliament moves to legislation.

That’s when $158 billion in personal tax cuts are expected to dominate proceedings in the Senate.

Labor’s caucus is expected to endorse the shadow cabinet’s decision to allow the first stage to pass and bring forward the second stage of the tax plan.

But the opposition has reserved its position on the third and final stage of the cuts, which won’t come into effect until 2024-25.

With the government refusing to split the package, the coalition will need the help of four crossbench senators to secure the bill’s passage.

The possibility of a late-night sitting, which could possibly drag into the early hours of the next day, looms with government senators told to hold fire on travel plans.

The coalition’s other priorities are expected to include laws to force energy companies to drive down prices and ensure reliability, and tougher sanctions on rogue unions and union bosses.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised to urgently pursue measures to stop and control foreign fighters returning to Australia, and crack down on farm invaders during the election campaign. ■

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REST OF THE WORLD

A massive cloud of volcanic ash and steam rises during an earlier eruption from Mount

Ulawun. - AAP

PNG eruption leaves thousands homelessFifteen thousand people have been displaced by the eruption of Mt Ulawun, the governor of Papua New Guinea’s West New Britain province says.

Villages and plantations that surround the mountain have been coated in ash, killing crops and contaminating water supplies, as well as forcing local villagers to flee.

The governor, Francis Maneke, said ash had spread as far as the provincial capital Kimbe, some 200km away.

The displaced people desperately need supplies, but with the airport closed and the only access a dirt road, relief could be slow to arrive, Maneke said.

“The most urgent ones will be food, water and also medical support. And also maybe logistics, transport, in order to get the supplies to the area,” he said.

“That’s the problem now, we don’t have access to the provincial airport. It will not be cleared for some time.”

The governor said he was appealing to the national government to declare a State of Emergency. ■

World leaders pose for a group photo at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. - AP

REST OF THE WORLD

World leaders clash over values at G20 summit World leaders attending a Group of 20 summit in Japan are clashing over the values that have served for decades as the foundation of their cooperation as they face calls to fend off threats to economic growth.

“A free and open economy is the basis for peace and prosperity,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told his counterparts in opening the two-day G20 meeting, which comes as leaders grapple with profound tensions over trade, globalization and the collapsing nuclear deal with Iran.

While groups like the G20 endeavor to forge consensus on broad policy approaches and geopolitical issues, they also are divided on an array of issues.

Defying Chinese warnings not to bring up the issue of recent protests in Hong Kong, Abe told Chinese President Xi Jinping it was important for “a free and open Hong Kong to prosper under ‘one country, two systems’ policy,” Japanese officials said, referring to the arrangement for the former British colony’s autonomy when China took control in 1997.

They said Abe reminded Xi of the importance of guaranteeing freedom, human rights, the “rule of law” and other universal values in raising concern over proposed Hong Kong legislation that would allow some criminal suspects to be extradited for trial in mainland China. The bill, now shelved, prompted protests by hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents and minor demonstrations elsewhere in Asia, including Osaka.

Xi is not the only leader facing a pushback from his Western counterparts.

European Union Council President Donald Tusk blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for saying in an interview that liberalism was “obsolete” and conflicts with the “overwhelming majority” in many countries.

“We are here as Europeans also to firmly and unequivocally defend and promote liberal democracy,” Tusk said. “What I find really obsolete are: authoritarianism, personality cults, the rule of oligarchs. Even if sometimes they may seem effective.” ■

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UK

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. - PA

Ministers call on new PM to rule out no-dealThe first ministers of Scotland and Wales have joined forces to demand the new prime minister rule out a “disastrous” no-deal Brexit.

With Boris Johnson battling Jeremy Hunt to win the keys to Number 10, Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford said they were both “increasingly alarmed” by the “hardline rhetoric” that had emerged in the leadership contest.

Johnson has already pledged to take the UK out of the EU by October 31 “do or die”.

While the former London mayor insisted the chance of a no-deal Brexit was “a million to one against”, he left open the option of suspending Parliament if MPs tried to block this.

With political leaders from across the UK gathering for the last British Irish-Council meeting before the new prime minister is selected next month, the Scottish and Welsh first ministers called on Theresa May’s successor to change tack.

In a joint statement released before the Manchester meeting Sturgeon, the SNP leader, and Labour’s Drakeford said they were “becoming increasingly alarmed by the increase in hard-line rhetoric about a no-deal Brexit and a debate focused on policy proposals for leaving the EU which have no basis in reality”.

The two politicians said “severe economic damage” was already being done as a result of Brexit, highlighting job losses at British Steel, Ford, Honda, and elsewhere.

Leaving the EU without a deal could be “disastrous for the economies within these islands and for the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people”, Sturgeon and Drakeford said.

While the British-Irish Council was formed as part of the Good Friday Agreement, the first ministers warned: “A no-deal Brexit would deeply damage the reputation of the UK as a reliable international partner and undermine the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process on the island of Ireland.

“The next prime minister must pull back from the brink of a no-deal Brexit and be honest with the public." ■

Prime Minister Theresa May. - PA

UK

May ‘looking forward’ to backbench movePrime Minister Theresa May has said she is looking forward to returning to the backbenches after leaving Number 10 for the final time next month.

She said it had been a “huge privilege” to be prime minister but she was hoping to be able to devote more time to her work as MP for Maidenhead.

May stepped up her call for her successor to seek to get a Brexit deal through the Commons in response to Boris Johnson suggesting it would be a “folly” to rule out suspending Parliament to ensure the UK’s exit from the European Union.

In a series of interviews at the G20 in Osaka – May’s final global summit as prime minister – she reflected on her imminent departure from Downing Street.

“It’s a huge privilege to be Prime Minister, it’s a huge honour, it’s a huge responsibility,” she said.

“I will look back on, yes, difficult and challenging times in relation to Brexit, but also some important decisions that have been taken under my premiership.

“One of the most recent of those of course is the target for net zero emissions by 2050 which is now in law in the UK; we are leading the way on that.

“I am proud of the work that we have done in the UK and I look forward to returning to the backbenches and (being) able to give my full time to my constituency.”

The new Tory leader will be announced on July 23 and will take over as prime minister the following day.

But until she leaves, she said her “mood is one of determination to carry on doing the job that I’m doing and to ensure that I get some very strong messages across to those I’m meeting”.

In accordance with Japanese traditions, May removed her shoes before the interviews in the Yamamoto Noh Theatre in Osaka. ■

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Investor gifts mountain bike park to publicAn 860-hectare mountain bike park worth about $22 million was gifted to the New Zealand public.

The land south of Nelson has been transferred to the Department of Conservation under a 40-year lease arrangement by international investor Ken Dart through his not-for-profit foundation RHL New Zealand.

The park in the Wairoa Gorge has always been a bit of a mystery to anyone other than skilled mountain bike riders.

Paul Jennings of the Nelson Mountain Bike Club said riders from around the country and overseas called it the best hand-made bike park in the world.

Jennings said the trails have been literally hand-made in a natural environment.

The park about 50 minutes’ drive from the centre of Nelson would be open to all.

RHL New Zealand’s sole director Paul Dorrance said the company’s global focus was to make conservation open to all.

“Sure, downhill mountain biking is the key recreational asset but there are amazing walks and amazing bush there,” Dorrance said.

“It’s so important that every person, no matter who you are, is welcome up in the gorge.”

The Department of Conservation said almost half the park contained forest of high ecological value.

A DOC operations director Roy Grose said it also contained a range of rare habitats for bird and insect species.

“It’s got something like 91 different species of plants and all the common, native birds that we tend to associate with natural bush blocks,” Grose said.

They included birds like the New Zealand falcon, shining cuckoo, kererū, tūī and bellbirds.

Grose said the land would now receive the same protection as the surrounding forest in the Mount Richmond Forest Park. ■

NEW ZEALAND

Scott Chasing trail with Brendan Fairclough and Andrew Neethling in Nelson. - RNZ / Sven

Martin

US urges Australia to pressure IranScott Morrison has described suggestions Australia could join the United States in potential military action against Iran as premature.

President Donald Trump has not asked for a commitment from Australia on joining an attack against Tehran as heightened tensions between the US and Iran threaten to spill into a full-blown conflict.

Morrison confirmed he discussed the nuclear deal at the heart of the dispute during a meeting with Trump, but said talks didn’t extend into what role Australia could play if the situation deteriorated.

“We are nowhere near that stage,” the prime minister said.“But there is a clear objective here from the US, which we will

support, and that is to get them (Iran) back to the table, to get a tighter set of controls and conditions in place.

“That is good for more peace and the stability of the region.”Morrison criticised the deal but avoided going as far as

Trump who has previous labelled the agreement “disastrous”.“I have had my reservations about that arrangement but,

frankly, it is better than anything else that is out there,” the Australian leader said.

“The greatest criticism is that it is quite limited in what it seeks to do and leaves open a lot of activity for Iran.”

Earlier, Morrison said he would consider any future request from the US “seriously and on its merits”.

The US is urging Australia to toughen its stance on Iran and play a key role in a new “global coalition” against the regime.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on Canberra to partner with the Trump administration to boost pressure on Tehran.

“I think Australia is an important player here,” Pompeo said.“I think they carry a lot of weight in the sense that they, like

many nations, suffer from the fact the world’s largest state sponsor of terror continues down the path of building its missile program in a way that threatens not only the Middle East but the entire world.” ■

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. - AAP

AUSTRALIA

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