World News Briefs For Sunday, 25 August 2019
Howdy Australia!! - The Western order faces a test of its "unity and solidarity" with Trump and Boris - Prince Andrew explains his controversial relationship with a pedophile - Human nature finally made it into Space - And more in your CareerSpot Global News Briefs:
There are dark clouds hanging over the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Biarritz, France as a once unified Western world order frays along national lines. UL Prime Minister Boris Johnson is arguing with France President Emmanuel Macron over who is leading the continent to a no deal Brexit, and most of the leaders will be trying to keep a lid on Donald Trump's worst instincts before he blows up another opportunity to lead. Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan will also try to get Trump to slow his trade war with China which is impacting other economies. European Council President Donald Tusk said this year's meeting will be "a difficult test of the unity and solidarity of the free world and its leaders".
While the other G7 leaders will seek to put pressure on Brazil to prioritize extinguishing the Amazon wildfires, Donald Trump said he called President Jair Bolsonaro and bragged about their "future trade prospects". Trump did offer US help in putting out the fires in the "lungs of the world", but the US State Department says no such formal request for help has been made. Bolsonaro, a long-time climate change-denier who has frequently expressed his wish to open the rainforest to agriculture and resource development, now claims he's sending in the military to help battle the blazes.
Thousands marched through Dresden, Germany to protest protest against racism and discrimination, a week ahead of two state elections in the country's east in which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expected to make gains. The former East Germany has become fertile ground for far-right recruitment three decades after the Cold War ended and promised capitalist prosperity never quite arrived.
Riot-ready police clashed with Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters, and more demonstrations are expected on Sunday. So far, Hong Kong authorities have managed to retain control over the situation as China's paramilitary People's Armed Police (PAP) have yet to break camp a sports stadium just over the border from Hong Kong, where they remain poised to crackdown with Beijing's iron first if called upon.
Prince Andrew is distancing himself from Jeffrey Epstein, the rich guy/pedophile who died of apparent suicide in a New York City jail cell earlier this month. The Prince has come under intense criticism for hanging out with a guy convicted of child sex offenses, and who was accused of acting as a pimp for underage prostitutes. "During the time I knew him, I saw him infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year," the 59-year-old Prince said in a statement. "I have stayed in a number of his residences," he continued, "At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction." Well, that sure clears up everything! Prince Andrew was friends with Epstein from 1999 until his conviction in 2008 - but was also photographed at Epstein's New York home after he was released on parole in 2010.
NASA is investigating the first complaint of crime in space. Astronaut Anne McClain has admitted to logging into her estranged wife Summer Worden's bank account while orbiting the Earth in the International Space Station (ISS), after Worden filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). "She strenuously denies that she did anything improper," said McClain's lawyer, noting his client is "totally co-operating". McClain and Worden were married from 2014 through 2018, and McClain claims she was just trying to make sure the bills were being paid prior to the split.