Thursday, August 30, 2018

Panasonic to move Europe headquarters from UK to Amsterdam - BBC News

August 30, 2018.

Panasonic to move Europe headquarters from UK to Amsterdam

Panasonic will move its European headquarters from the UK to Amsterdam in October as Brexit approaches.

The aim is to avoid potential tax issues linked to the UK's decision to leave the EU, said Panasonic Europe's chief executive Laurent Abadie.

In the run-up to March 2019, a number of multinational firms have said they plan to move jobs out of the UK.

Several Japanese financial companies have said they intend to move their main EU bases away from London.

Panasonic's decision was driven by a fear that Japan could start considering the UK a tax haven if it cuts corporate tax rates to attract business, Mr Abadie told the Nikkei Asian Review newspaper.

If Panasonic ends up paying less tax in the UK, that could render it liable for a bigger tax bill in Japan.

Brexit: Key dates and potential hurdles
At-a-glance: the UK's four Brexit options
Mr Abadie told the Nikkei Asian Review that Panasonic had been considering the move for 15 months, because of Brexit-related concerns such as access to free flow of goods and people.

The newspaper said employees dealing with auditing and financial operations would move, but those dealing with investor relations would stay in the UK.

Up to 20 people could be affected out of a staff of 30.

A spokesperson confirmed to the BBC that the registration of Panasonic's European headquarters would move in October.

However, the spokesperson said the firm could not comment on the numbers of people who would have to move to Amsterdam.

In 2016, the UK government pledged to cut corporation tax to encourage businesses to continue investing in the UK after the Brexit referendum.

Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016, but with less than a year to go, the UK and the EU are struggling to reach consensus on the terms of the exit.

Japan is a major investor in the UK, where more than 800 Japanese companies employ more than 100,000 people.

However, financial firms including Nomura, Sumitomo Mitsui and Daiwa have already said they will no longer maintain their EU headquarters in London.

Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 Maneuvering Is Getting Even More Aggressive - Daily Intelligencer ( New York Magazine )

August 30, 2018.

Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 Maneuvering Is Getting Even More Aggressive
By Gabriel Debenedetti

Warren hasn’t announced anything, of course, but it certainly looks like she’s setting up a presidential run.
Elizabeth Warren’s had a deceptively busy last few weeks. She dropped one longshot policy proposal that would try to remake corporate America, then another that aims to actually drain the Washington swamp. She put restrictions on her own fundraising practices and opened her financial books, and bid two staffers farewell as they shipped up to new jobs in New Hampshire.

Let’s play a game of connect the dots.

Alone, each dot can be read as an incremental, progressive political move. The overall picture, however, is yet more evidence that the Massachusetts senator is prepping for a 2020 presidential run – and moving significantly more aggressively than is widely recognized, by pundits and her potential opponents alike.

The late summer series of public-facing maneuvers comes with the 2020 race set to hit center stage in fewer than 70 days, as soon as the midterms pass. Warren’s fellow top-tier Democratic primary contenders Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are both planning to make politically resonant Labor Day appearances — Biden in Pittsburgh and Sanders in Manchester, New Hampshire — and her fellow Massachusetts hopeful, former governor Deval Patrick, on Wednesday launched a PAC intended to help him back allied candidates around the country.

But the potential front-runner’s moves stand out largely because they break beyond the serious groundwork she’s already laid — from raising gobs of campaign cash and ordering up waves of self-research to strengthening her ties to party power brokers and working to minimize her vulnerability on the touchy issue of her disputed Native American ancestry — further muscling her ahead of the rest of the potential field in terms of political preparation. The effort has also opened Warren to months of extra scrutiny from Republicans eager to define her for American voters before a potential general election matchup against Donald Trump, who used his “Pocahontas” nickname for her yet again in passing during a speech in Ohio last week.

“I would put her in the category of a few candidates — people who are, without running, doing whatever they can to be running in practical terms,” said leading party strategist Dan Kanninen, a Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaign veteran. “This last two weeks may put her at the front of that pack.”

The new push began in earnest two weeks back, when Warren announced new corporate accountability legislation — which would force large companies to consider stakeholders in top-level decisions, limit execs’ ability to sell their shares, and require the organizations to get shareholder and board approval for political spending — to some fanfare. One week later, she summoned the Washington media to the National Press Club for the unveiling of another bill, which she called “the most ambitious anti-corruption legislation proposed in Congress since Watergate,” proposing to ban members of Congress, the Cabinet, and the federal judiciary from owning or trading individual stocks, to ban foreign lobbying and lobbyist donations to campaigns, and to prohibit former members of Congress, ex-presidents and onetime agency heads from lobbying themselves.

Warren knows neither proposal is likely to become law anytime soon, but each could easily help form the backbone of an eventual nationwide platform, and introducing them to the party’s national conversation early effectively grants Warren ownership of the ideas, which other potential White House contenders may eventually embrace. Her timing could hardly have been luckier: just hours after she was done explaining her corruption legislation, Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance law violations and tax fraud, implicating the president, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted in his financial fraud trial, and Congressman Duncan Hunter was indicted for his own alleged improper use of campaign funds.

Yet it was a little-noticed passage of her reveal that may have presented the clearest signs that she’s stepping toward a run. Warren — who is up for re-election in November, but who is unlikely to face anything close to a real challenge — publicly said for the first time that she has now formally stopped taking not just corporate political action committee money — as other likely 2020 contenders and down-ballot candidates have done — but all PAC money, as well as funds from federal lobbyists. (This is a new policy for her.) Two days later, she pushed on, complying with one of her new proposals by publishing her tax returns — ten years’ worth — a move that provides a clear contrast with Trump, whose taxes remain shrouded in mystery, and also with Sanders, whose own tax returns were briefly a point of contention during 2016’s primary fight.

Warren’s recent moves haven’t been restricted to Washington. While the senator continues avoiding trips to the important presidential nominating states of New Hampshire and Iowa, turning down repeated invitations, according to local officials, two of her aides in recent weeks decamped to New Hampshire for new jobs with the state’s Democratic Party committee — one as its new communications director, and another as its political director. It’s a classic move for potential presidential hopefuls whose staffers are eager for facetime and connections in early-voting states. “If she decided to run in New Hampshire, it would be good to have access to people with New Hampshire experience,” explained Kathy Sullivan, a former chair of the state party. “It’s not an unusual thing for us to see people who may have been associated with candidates, in both parties, who come up to New Hampshire in the midterms” before a presidential race.

Warren has also recently stepped up her endorsements and fundraising for House and gubernatorial candidates across the country, including in some long-shot races where she has little obvious connection to the candidate: she raised eyebrows in Washington this summer for popping up at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee breakfast, and her list of endorsees — some of who could turn into powerful, and grateful, supporters next year — stretches into the dozens. Sometimes, she helps candidates far from the public eye. In July, for example, she headlined a D.C. fundraiser for New Mexico congressional candidate Deb Haaland, who is likely to become Capitol Hill’s first Native American congresswoman. But sometimes, Warren jumps into the center of the House news cycle: almost immediately after Hunter’s indictment this month, she started sending fundraising emails for his Democratic challenger.

The growing collection of dots are accumulating after months of preparation that’s already seen Warren actively work to build her political capabilities, strengthen her party connections in Washington and around the country, shore up her biggest weaknesses, and burnish her national profile.

Warren has yet to announce she’s running, of course, and she continues stumping in Massachusetts for her re-election bid with frequent town hall events. But add her recent flurry to her team’s previous work, and you unmistakably have the seeds of a national campaign that could spring together if Warren ultimately decides to say “go.”

And that’s been enough for Republican campaigners who’ve been working to solidify her as a phony in the public’s mind before she can introduce herself on her own terms.

National GOP leaders still point to their pre-2016 campaign work of poisoning Clinton’s image as a model for what they’re trying to do to Warren. That work has sped up in the last few weeks: Republican researchers have been combing through Warren’s newly released tax returns searching for new issues to which they didn’t previously have access in recent days.

“In her attempt to position herself, she’s brought herself to the forefront, and we’re happy to make the public aware of her record,” said Sarah Dolan of the GOP opposition research group America Rising, which has been tracking Warren for well over a year. “We know she’s running.”

After surprise primary victory, can Andrew Gillum win the Florida governor's race? - MSNBC News


After surprise primary victory, can Andrew Gillum win the Florida governor's race?
He claimed victory in the primary — but the question facing both parties now is whether a Florida candidate who favors legalizing marijuana and impeaching Trump can repeat the result in the general election.
by Alex Seitz-Wald / Aug.30.2018 / 6:30 PM ET
Image: Andrew Gillum holds son, Jackson
Gillum is looking to become the first Democrat elected governor in Florida in nearly a quarter of a century.Steve Cannon / AP
WASHINGTON — It took just 12 hours and one word for the nation’s newly minted marquee governor’s race to devolve into accusations of racism and socialism.

Andrew Gillum won a surprise victory in crowded Democratic primary in Florida Tuesday. But before he had a chance to celebrate, he was mixing it up with the President of the United States on Twitter and responding to what the Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman called “racist dog whistles” and he called a “full bullhorn” from his Republican opponent.

It’s just a taste of what it will take for him to win what is already the most expensive race governor's race in history and become Florida’s first black governor in what’s shaping up to be a bruising base-on-base contest.


Racism & Polarization: Florida governor's race becomes most consequential of 2018
AUG.30.201808:40
Republicans say Gillum has no idea what he’s in for, while allies say his usual coalition of people of color, white progressives and billionaires can carry the day — though they acknowledge it won't be easy.

“We now have a very tough contest before us,” said Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., who is black and called Gillum’s win an “Obama moment.”

The Tallahassee mayor’s first day as his party’s nominee started with Trump blasting him on Twitter as a “failed Socialist Mayor.” Gillum responded with a taunt: “@ me next time.”


Andrew Gillum

@AndrewGillum
 What our state and country needs is decency, hope, and leadership. If you agree, join us at http://AndrewGillum.com . Also, @ me next time, @realDonaldTrump.

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump
Not only did Congressman Ron DeSantis easily win the Republican Primary, but his opponent in November is his biggest dream....a failed Socialist Mayor named Andrew Gillum who has allowed crime & many other problems to flourish in his city. This is not what Florida wants or needs!

10:13 PM - Aug 29, 2018

Then his opponent, Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., a Trump ally who won his own primary Tuesday, used a Fox News interview to warn Floridians not to “monkey this up” by electing Gillum. He also called Gillum “articulate.”

Republicans, like everyone else, expected to be running against Gwen Graham, the politically moderate daughter of former governor and senator Bob Graham. They were thrilled to instead get Gillum, a Bernie Sanders-backed progressive who has been unable to shake associations to an FBI investigation in Tallahassee city government.

“Floridians do not want socialism, we do not want to abolish ICE, we do not want single payer [health care], we do not want Andrew Gillum and his radicalism,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany said on Fox News.

“So we are very excited about the results last night. Well done, Democrats,” McEnany added.

Even some Democrats have privately wondered if Gillum got lucky in the crowded primary and is in for a surprise in the general. His deep-pocketed opponents didn't attack him directly, and he won a narrow plurality.

But Gillum allies say he’ll beat the odds precisely because he’s willing to take bold stands, like offering support for legalizing marijuana, expanding Medicaid, and impeaching Trump.

“Andrew's whole life has been a test,” said Kevin Cate, a Gillum advisor who has known him for years. “Every odd and obstacle that could be placed in front of Mayor Gillum, from the time he was growing up in Richmond Heights in Gainesville, he's overcome.”

“He made history last night because he's authentic,” Cate added. “That's the same formula that we're going to use to win the general.”


Caputo: Dems taking a page out of GOP book for base politics in Florida
AUG.30.201802:45
Gillum was the fifth of seven children born to a construction worker and school bus driver who became the first person in his working-class family to graduate from college.

In high school, his potential political talent shone so bright that the Gainesville Sun profiled him as an “outstanding leader” and predicted a bright future. Now, he's hoping to become only the third black governor in history.

Both major party gubernatorial candidates are 39, but where Gillum’s resume tells a story of pluck, DeSantis’s is all polish.

Bernie Sanders-backed Democrat Gillum to take on Trump-endorsed Republican DeSantis in Florida gov race, NBC News projects
The congressman has degrees from Yale and Harvard, a Bronze Star for his service in the Navy as a legal adviser to the SEALs, and some local celebrity from playing for a team that went to the Little League World Series.

Trump, a known fan of Ivy League pedigrees, has touted DeSantis’s education three times on Twitter — including back in 2012, when DeSantis was making his first run for Congress. “Yale, Harvard Law,” Trump tweeted six years ago. “Very impressive.”

But Patrick Murphy, a Democrat who was elected to Congress the same year as DeSantis, said DeSantis can come off as “too cool for school.”

“He's one of the most arrogant members of Congress, and that's saying a lot,” said Murphy, who is no longer in Congress after losing his 2016 Senate bid. “The first time you meet him, I almost promise he will tell you where he went to college and what baseball team he played on within 10 minutes.”

In a state the size of Florida, however, just a fraction of voters will have a chance to actually meet either man. Many more will learn about them through TV ads.

Republicans are planning to hit Gillum hard and fast right out of the gate, hoping to define him early as a radical leftist with a mayoral record that saw rising crime rates and ethics issues.

To respond, Gillum will need money, and lots of it. He was was vastly outspent in the Democratic primary — $6.6 million, compared to a combined $96 million from the four other main candidates — but will have some help from liberal billionaires Tom Steyer and George Soros, who have taken unusual interest in the race.


Florida congressman facing backlash for 'monkey this up' comment about black opponent
AUG.30.201801:55
Small online donations are sure to pour in, too. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who held a rally for Gillum, took the rare step of tapping his massive online fundraising list Wednesday to ask supports to donate to Gillum. “We could not have done it without you, senator,” Gillum said on Twitter.

A Democrat hasn’t been elected governor in Florida since Lawton Chiles in 1994, and Gillum's approach looks and sounds nothing like his, nor that of the party’s 2014 gubernatorial nominee, former Republican Charlie Crist.

Democrats say they are encouraged by the turnout in Tuesday’s primary, which was up up almost 60 percent over the 2014 midterm showing.

But the state remains divided stubbornly 50-50, which means Democrats need to both energize their base and win over swing voters, said Steve Schale, a Florida Democratic strategist who backed Graham.

“It's still a state that is very evenly balanced,” said Schale — who, like Graham, quickly got behind Gillum. “Democrats that think Andrew's not going to be able to connect with suburban white women, and typical swing voters aren't paying attention to what's happening around the country.”

Gillum overwhelmingly won the mayorship in Tallahassee, which is about 57 percent white, 35 percent black, and 7 percent Latino. Statewide, however, whites are even larger majority at 77 percent, and midterm electorates tend to be whiter than the overall population.

"We are ready to double down, and Andrew Gillum is the path to getting there," said Maria Urbina, the political director for the liberal group Indivisible.

Trump, Angered by Growing Legal Troubles, Finds Ways to Make Them Even Worse - Daily Intelligencer ( New York Magazine )

August 30, 2018.

Trump, Angered by Growing Legal Troubles, Finds Ways to Make Them Even Worse
By Margaret Hartmann@MargHartmann

If you can’t beat ‘em, why not fire Sessions? Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Faced with his former campaign manager’s conviction, his former fixer implicating him in a federal crime, and the prospect of investigations by a Democratic Congress, President Trump should probably to find some top-notch lawyers and avoid making any more legal missteps. But of course, that’s not Trump’s style. Instead, he’s responded by hastening the departure of White House Counsel Don McGahn, and laying the groundwork to finally fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions – two moves likely to intensify the brewing legal storm, and ensure he’s ill-equipped to fight it.

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Trump’s advisers and allies have been warning him that he needs to fortify his legal team and strategy for responding to Special Counsel Robert Mueller. They’ve even broached the topic of impeachment with Trump, though he calls it “the i-word” and sometimes dismisses the prospect angrily.

“We’ve talked a lot about impeachment at different times,” said Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani. “It’s the only thing that hangs out there. They can’t [criminally] charge him.” Trump’s attorneys claim Mueller told them he’ll follow Justice Department protocols, which say the president can’t be indicted in office.

Though Giuliani added that he doesn’t know if Trump has thought about impeachment “in depth yet,” but McGahn and other aides reportedly invoked the possibility to keep the president from doing something rash, like firing Sessions or Mueller. (And when that strategy failed, McGahn just refused to carry out Trump’s order to dismiss the special counsel.)

McGahn, who has been working diligently to confirm more conservative federal judges, distanced himself from the Russia probe, and his relationship with Trump has grown increasingly strained, according to Politico. It was not helped by the controversy earlier this month over McGahn’s extensive cooperation with Mueller, but supposedly that wasn’t the final straw for Trump. The New York Times reports that Trump “blindsided” McGahn with a tweet announcing his imminent departure on Wednesday in response to an Axios story that said he’d leave after Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination:

Mr. Trump had grown tired of seeing reports that Mr. McGahn might leave, according to people familiar with his thinking, and decided to take away any wiggle room he might have. Allies of Mr. McGahn said on Wednesday that he believed the story was planted by his critics to force the president’s hand and hasten the timeline of announcing his departure.

McGahn’s exit exacerbates the shortage of competent lawyers advising Trump. The Post reports there are now about 25 lawyers serving in the Office of White House Counsel, down from 35 earlier in Trump’s presidency. Three of McGahn’s deputies have already departed for the private sector, and a fourth is leaving at the end of the week.

White House lawyer Emmet Flood, who represented President Clinton in his impeachment proceeding, is rumored to be the frontrunner to take over for McGahn, but that creates a key vacancy on the team handling Trump’s response to the Russia probe. The situation sparked talk among the president and his advisers of the need to bring on more attorneys experienced in white-collar defense and political scandals.

One name that’s come up is Abbe Lowell – though he’s already representing Trump’s son-in-law/adviser Jared Kushner. According to the Post, Trump has said he wishes he had competent attorneys, like those his advisers have been forced to hire:

“He wonders why he doesn’t have lawyers like that,” said one person who has discussed the matter with Trump.


Another adviser said Trump remarked this year, “I need a lawyer like Abbe.”

One explanation: Trump doesn’t seem to understand what he should be looking for in an attorney:

The president asked Rob Porter, then the staff secretary, several times last year if he would be willing to take over for Mr. McGahn, an idea supported by several of his aides and his children. But Mr. Porter told the president that he did not believe he was qualified for the role, felt it was the wrong fit for him and preferred focusing on policy, those briefed on the discussions said. He has since left the White House amid accusations of spousal abuse.

Another issue: many high-profile attorneys aren’t looking to get involved with a client known for ignoring his lawyers’ advice, then unceremoniously firing them via tweet.

Trump probably hasn’t helped matters by signaling in recent days that he’s gearing up to fire Sessions for refusing to help him thwart the Russia investigation. Politico reported that Trump spent the past ten days lobbying GOP senators on why they should support him if he fires Sessions. Some, like Senators Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham, signaled in recent days that they’re no longer opposed to confirming a new attorney general. Politico attributes this partly to Trump’s efforts, and partly to the senators’ annoyance over Sessions’s opposition to a criminal justice bill that they support.

Trump has also worn down what’s left of his legal team. Two Republicans close to the White House told Politico that they’re now convinced that Mueller has ample fuel to make a case for obstruction of justice, even Trump never goes through with firing Sessions.

“There’s the belief that if the president taking action with respect to Sessions is going to be an important part of the Mueller obstruction case, most of that case has already been made,” said one of the sources. “Things that the president has already done privately that have been reported, but also things that the president has done publicly that could be characterized as bullying or intimidating, all of that case is already there ready to be made, such that firing him is almost like an afterthought.”

If it’s too late for Trump’s lawyers to prevent him from committing impeachable offenses, why not have fun on the way out?

Vodafone in $11bn Australian merger - BBC News

August 30, 2018.

Vodafone in $11bn Australian merger

Vodafone's Australian operations will become part of a new telecoms giant.

Under a A$15bn ($11bn; £8bn) merger Vodafone Hutchison Australia and TPG Telecom will create a mobile, fixed-line and broadband provider with the scale to rival Telstra and Optus.

Vodafone Australia, owned by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison and Vodafone Group, will have a majority 50.1% stake.

TPG will hold the remainder of TPG Telecom Limited, which will be listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

"The combination of the two companies will create an organisation with the necessary scale, breadth and financial strength for the future," Vodafone Hutchison Australia's chief executive Inaki Berroeta said in a statement.

"The equal terms of the combination preserves the competitive strengths of the two businesses, meaning a sustainable long-term fixed/mobile competitor to Telstra and Optus."

Australia bans Huawei and ZTE 5G networks
Telstra to slash 8,000 jobs
Mr Berroeta will be the managing director and chief executive of the new merged group. David Teoh, who is currently the CEO and chairman of TPG, will become the new group's chairman.

TPG is one of Australia's largest internet service providers.

Vodafone Hutchison Australia is the country's third largest mobile operator which is jointly owned by Vodafone Group and Hutchinson Telecommunications Australia. It has a mobile customer base of approximately 6 million subscribers.

Shares in Hutchison Telecommunications Australia surged 44%. Stocks in TPG Telecom jumped 18%.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it will soon begin a public review of the proposed merger to identify any competition concerns.

Trump accuses China of stalling progress with North Korea - BBC News

August 30, 2018.

Trump accuses China of stalling progress with North Korea

'It's all China's fault' says Mr Trump
US President Donald Trump has lashed out at China for undermining its work with North Korea, as criticism over progress on denuclearisation mounts.

In a series of tweets he also said he saw no reason to resume the joint war games with South Korea that have angered North Korea.

Days ago his own defence secretary said military exercises might continue.

China has accused Mr Trump of "shifting blame" in his comments on its relations with North Korea.

A summit between Mr Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June ended with a pledge from the North to work towards "the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula". Soon after Mr Trump announced there was "no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea".

But since then many observers say North Korea is not moving fast enough to dismantle its nuclear or rocket sites.

What are the US-South Korea war games?
Mr Trump's tweets appear to place the blame for these challenges squarely on China, but he also goes on to praise his personal ties with the leaders of both North Korea and China.

The confusing blend of criticism, praise and veiled threat comes as Washington faces mounting pressure to deliver results following those unprecedented talks.

Problem solved - according to Mr Trump after his June summit with Kim Jong-un
N Korea 'making missiles' despite US thaw
Tears and joy as Korean families reunite
Just days ago, Washington called off a trip to North Korea by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with the president arguing that insufficient progress had been made in dismantling the North's nuclear programme.

Why take aim at China?
In his latest comments on Twitter, Mr Trump says North Korea was "under tremendous pressure from China because of our major trade disputes with the Chinese government".

Beijing is Pyongyang's only significant ally and is thought to have significant influence over its decisions. Beijing is also Washington's most powerful long-term strategic rival in the region.

The US and China are locked in an increasingly tense trade battle and each side has imposed tariffs on one another's goods.

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump
 STATEMENT FROM THE WHITE HOUSE

President Donald J. Trump feels strongly that North Korea is under tremendous pressure from China because of our major trade disputes with the Chinese Government. At the same time, we also know that China is providing North Korea with...

7:23 AM - Aug 30, 2018

Mr Trump has complained about the size of the US trade deficit with China and what Washington sees as other unfair trade practices.

Despite his strong words, Mr Trump's latest tweet concluded with some optimism, saying the trade issue could be resolved by himself and China's "great President Xi Jinping".

China has attacked Mr Trump's remarks as "irresponsible" and difficult to understand.

"To solve the problem, it should look at itself instead of shifting blame," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

China to respond 'resolutely' to US tariffs
US-China trade row: What has happened so far?
Why the US-China trade dispute has experts worried
What progress has been made on denuclearisation?
Since the June summit, North Korea has halted its missile tests, claimed to have dismantled a nuclear testing site and returned the remains of US soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.

But Mr Trump has called out Pyongyang for what he said was insufficient progress on their broad agreement on denuclearisation.

A recent report by Vox suggests that Pyongyang is reluctant to proceed because Mr Trump failed to live up to his alleged promise to Mr Kim that he would sign an official declaration to end the Korean War.

After a UN report found that North Korea was continuing to work on its nuclear programme, the US urged the international community to maintain sanctions and economic pressure on Pyongyang.

North Korea carried out a series of long-range missile tests in 2017
In his latest series of tweets, Mr Trump accused Beijing of providing North Korea with "considerable aid", suggesting China was softening the blow of sanctions.

"This is not helpful!" Mr Trump said.

Will war games resume?
The joint military exercises between Washington and Seoul have long angered Pyongyang.

Following the summit in June, Mr Trump made what has widely been seen as a concession to Kim Jong-un and agreed to cancel the drills.

In his latest tweets, US president insisted his personal relationship with Mr Kim remained "a very good and warm one" and that there was no reason to restart the "war games" with the South.

But he added that if they did restart, the exercises would be "bigger than ever".


US and South Korean troops practice a beach landing
Mr Trump's tweets appear to contradict his defence secretary, who on Tuesday said the suspension of several joint exercises was a "good faith measure" and that "we have no plans to suspend any more."

Since the end of the Korean war, when Washington fought alongside Seoul against the North, the US has had troops stationed in South Korea.

About 29,000 US soldiers are based in the South, under a security agreement reached after the war ended in 1953.

Rohingya crisis: Myanmar leader Suu Kyi 'should have resigned' - BBC News

August 30, 2018.

Rohingya crisis: Myanmar leader Suu Kyi 'should have resigned'

The Rohingya are one of many ethnic minorities in Myanmar
The outgoing UN human rights chief says Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi should have resigned over the military's violent campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority last year.

Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein told the BBC the Nobel Peace prize winner should have considered returning to house arrest rather than excusing the military.

A new UN report says Myanmar's military should be investigated for genocide.

Myanmar has rejected the report as one-sided.

The army of the Buddhist-majority nation - which has been accused of systematic ethnic cleansing - has previously cleared itself of wrongdoing.

The UN report, published on Monday, blamed Ms Suu Kyi, a long-term leader of the pro-democracy movement, for failing to prevent the violence.

Will we ever see Myanmar's military leaders in the dock?
What is genocide and why is the term so rarely used?
Seeing through the official story in Myanmar
"She was in a position to do something," Mr Hussein said in an interview with the BBC's Imogen Foulkes. "She could have stayed quiet - or even better, she could have resigned."

"There was no need for her to be the spokesperson of the Burmese military. She didn't have to say this was an iceberg of misinformation. These were fabrications," he said.

Ms Suu Ky, seen here in 2015, with Myanmar's commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing
"She could have said look, you know, I am prepared to be the nominal leader of the country but not under these conditions.

"Thank you very much, I will resign, I will go back into house arrest - I cannot be an adjunct accessory that others may think I am when it comes to these violations."

Between 1989 and 2010, Ms Suu Kyi, 73, spent about 16 years under house arrest by the military government.

On Wednesday, the Nobel committee said Ms Suu Kyi could not be stripped of the Peace Prize she was awarded in 1991.

What has Aung Sun Suu Kyi said?
While it is acknowledged that Ms Suu Kyi does not control the military, she has faced international pressure to condemn the army's alleged brutality.

For decades, she was hailed as the heroine of the human rights community - most notably for enduring house arrest for her pro-democracy activism during a brutal military dictatorship.

When communal violence broke out in 2012 and displaced more than 100,000 Rohingya people, Ms Suu Kyi sought to reassure the international community and pledged to "abide by our commitment to human rights and democratic values".

Aung San Suu Kyi: Then and now
What you need to know about the Rohingya crisis
How Suu Kyi sees the Rohingya crisis
"Muslims have been targeted but Buddhists have also been subjected to violence," she told the BBC at the time. "This fear is what is leading all the trouble."

She said that it was down to the government to bring an end to the violence, explaining: "This is the result of our suffering under a dictatorial regime."

What has Aung San Suu Kyi said about Rohingya Muslims?
In 2015, her National League for Democracy party won a landslide election victory and she became Myanmar's de-facto leader.

As the Rohingya crisis continued, Ms Suu Kyi's comments on the situation tended to play it down or suggest that people were exaggerating the severity of the violence.

The last time she spoke to the BBC in April 2017, she said: "I don't think there is ethnic cleansing going on. I think ethnic cleansing is too strong an expression to use for what is happening."

Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi
Could Aung San Suu Kyi face Rohingya genocide charges?
The Rohingya crisis: Why won't Aung San Suu Kyi act?
Since an outbreak of violence started in August 2017, Ms Suu Kyi has missed several opportunities to speak publicly about the issue, including the UN General Assembly in New York last September.

She later claimed the crisis was being distorted by a "huge iceberg of misinformation" - but then also said she felt "deeply" for the suffering of "all people" in the conflict.

Myanmar, she said, was "committed to a sustainable solution... for all communities in this state."

Harsh words and bitter criticism
Imogen Foulkes, BBC Geneva correspondent

Mr Zeid has been an outspoken critic of Ms Suu Kyi
Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein is known for his bluntness and his comments on Aung San Suu Kyi were no exception.

He bitterly criticised her attempts to excuse Myanmar's military. This week, UN investigators published evidence linking senior commanders to act of genocide.

His harsh words are another indication that Aung San Suu Kyi may now go down in history not as a Nobel Peace prize winner and pro-democracy leader, but as a woman who failed to act in the face of unspeakable human rights violations.

What is the Rohingya crisis?
The Rohingya are a Muslim minority in Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship and considered illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh despite calling the Rakhine state home for generations.

Rohingya girls in danger: The stories of three young women
The military launched a crackdown in Rakhine last year after Rohingya militants carried out deadly attacks on police posts.

Who are the Rohingya Muslims?
What next for Myanmar after damning report?
Thousands of people have died and more than 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since August 2017.

There have also been widespread allegations of human rights abuses against the Rohingya, including arbitrary killing, rape and burning of land over many years.