Papadopoulos says Sessions supported Putin campaign meeting, asks for most lenient sentence
CNN Digital Expansion 2018 Katelyn Polantz
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN
Updated 0725 GMT (1525 HKT) September 1, 2018
Papadopoulos' wife asks Trump to pardon him on CNN
BOCA RATON, FL - MARCH 21: Roger Stone, a longtime political adviser and friend to President Donald Trump, speaks before signing copies of his book "The Making of the President 2016" at the Boca Raton Marriott on March 21, 2017 in Boca Raton, Florida. The book delves into the 2016 presidential run by Donald Trump. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 30: Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and current lawyer for U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks to members of the media during a White House Sports and Fitness Day at the South Lawn of the White House May 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Trump hosted the event to encourage children to participate in sports and make youth sports more accessible to economically disadvantaged students. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 08: Robert S. Mueller III, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), speaks at the International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS) on August 8, 2013 in New York City. The ICCS, which is co-hosted by Fordham University and the FBI, is held every 18 months; more than 25 countries are represented at this year's conference. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 21: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives two thumbs up to the crowd during the evening session on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump received the number of votes needed to secure the party's nomination. An estimated 50,000 people are expected in Cleveland, including hundreds of protesters and members of the media. The four-day Republican National Convention kicked off on July 18. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort leaves Federal Court on December 11, 2017 in Washington, DC.
In October, Trump's one-time campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates were arrested on money laundering and tax-related charges. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
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NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 15: Don McGahn, general counsel for the Trump transition team, gets into an elevator in the lobby at Trump Tower, November 15, 2016 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump is in the process of choosing his presidential cabinet as he transitions from a candidate to the president-elect. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 9: Don McGahn, lawyer for Donald Trump and his campaign, leaves the Four Seasons Hotel after a meeting with Trump and Republican donors, June 9, 2016 in New York City.
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BOCA RATON, FL - MARCH 21: Roger Stone, a longtime political adviser and friend to President Donald Trump, speaks before signing copies of his book "The Making of the President 2016" at the Boca Raton Marriott on March 21, 2017 in Boca Raton, Florida. The book delves into the 2016 presidential run by Donald Trump. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 30: Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and current lawyer for U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks to members of the media during a White House Sports and Fitness Day at the South Lawn of the White House May 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Trump hosted the event to encourage children to participate in sports and make youth sports more accessible to economically disadvantaged students. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Trump legal team sends counteroffer to Mueller
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Burnett: Gates admits he conned alleged conman
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 08: Robert S. Mueller III, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), speaks at the International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS) on August 8, 2013 in New York City. The ICCS, which is co-hosted by Fordham University and the FBI, is held every 18 months; more than 25 countries are represented at this year's conference. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 21: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives two thumbs up to the crowd during the evening session on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump received the number of votes needed to secure the party's nomination. An estimated 50,000 people are expected in Cleveland, including hundreds of protesters and members of the media. The four-day Republican National Convention kicked off on July 18. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort leaves Federal Court on December 11, 2017 in Washington, DC.
In October, Trump's one-time campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates were arrested on money laundering and tax-related charges. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
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Giuliani: Truth isn't truth
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 15: Don McGahn, general counsel for the Trump transition team, gets into an elevator in the lobby at Trump Tower, November 15, 2016 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump is in the process of choosing his presidential cabinet as he transitions from a candidate to the president-elect. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 9: Don McGahn, lawyer for Donald Trump and his campaign, leaves the Four Seasons Hotel after a meeting with Trump and Republican donors, June 9, 2016 in New York City.
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(CNN)Convicted former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos has publicly contradicted Attorney General Jeff Sessions' sworn testimony to Congress, saying both Sessions and Donald Trump apparently supported his proposal that Trump meet with Vladimir Putin during the 2016 campaign, according to a court filing late Friday night.
"While some in the room rebuffed George's offer, Mr. Trump nodded with approval and deferred to Mr. Sessions who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it. George's giddiness over Mr. Trump's recognition was prominent during the days that followed," Papadopoulos' lawyers wrote in a court filing Friday. Papadopoulos' legal team said that he has shared with special counsel Robert Mueller his recollections of the March 31, 2016, meeting.
Sessions, when asked about that meeting under oath, said that he "pushed back" on the idea of the Putin summit. CNN previously reported that Trump "heard him out," according to another adviser in the room, when Papadopoulos proposed the idea and offered to help execute it.
The new description came in a criminal sentencing request Papadopoulos' legal team filed to a federal judge late Friday night -- the same day a lobbyist for Ukrainians admitted in court to criminal obstruction when he lied to Congress, and amid the President's intensifying public feud with Sessions.
Papadopoulos "was the first domino, and many have fallen in behind," his attorneys write Friday. "Despite the gravity of his offense, it is important to remember what Special Counsel said at George's plea of guilty: he was just a small part of a large-scale investigation."
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to one count of lying to investigators last October. He asked the judge to sentence him to only probation that he has already served during the year since his plea, effectively allowing him to go free after his sentencing next week.
In a long narrative about his experiences, Papadopoulos' attorneys attempt in the sentencing memo to portray Papadopoulos as a young and eager Trump campaign staffer who found himself unaware of the broad investigation into Russian interference in the election when he lied to the FBI last year.
"Mr. Papadopoulos is ashamed and remorseful," Papadopoulos' attorneys wrote Friday. "His motives for lying to the FBI were wrongheaded indeed but far from the sinister spin the government suggests."
The Trump-Putin idea
Papadopoulos goes into specifics for the first time about how he floated the idea of a meeting between Trump and Putin at a campaign roundtable at the Trump International Hotel in March 2016. Donald Trump, then-Sen. Jeff Sessions and others attended the meeting.
About a month later, Papadopoulos learned that the Russians had "dirt" on Trump's opposition, Hillary Clinton, in "thousands of emails."
A Trump-Putin get-together never happened during the campaign.
Seeking probation
Prosecutors previously asked the judge to imprison Papadopoulos for up to six months, after he thwarted their early attempts to question a foreigner who may have known about Russian interference in the presidential campaign. The prosecutors' sentencing request focused more on the repeated lies Papadopoulos told about his contact with foreigners when he spoke to the FBI last year, and less about his interactions inside the Trump campaign.
In the filing Friday, Papadopoulos' lawyers lay out the image of an intellectually curious, successful and worldly man. They describe his scholarly work on energy policy in foreign countries and his interest in working for Trump in 2016.
Papadopoulos had "no experience with US and Russian diplomacy" when he started with Trump's campaign in 2016 -- yet eventually became one of the future president's foreign policy advisers.
In March that year, Papadopoulos met Joseph Mifsud, a European professor working in London who claimed to have connections to the Russian government, Papadopoulos's lawyers said. "Professor Mifsud paid young George little attention until learning of his position as one of Trump's foreign policy advisers," they write.
Mueller's team wants George Papadopoulos to spend 6 months in jail, says lying impeded investigation
Mueller's team wants George Papadopoulos to spend 6 months in jail, says lying impeded investigation
Papadopoulos' defense team also describes the first time he spoke to the FBI, months before the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel. Papadopoulos thought the FBI agents who came to his mother's house while he showered in early 2017 wanted to speak with him about Russian businessman Sergei Millian -- then enmeshed in the Trump dossier news coverage, the filing says. Millian at one point had pitched Papadopoulos "an opportunity," the lawyers write, giving few other details.
Media reports around that time identified Millian as a source of information in the dossier, though CNN has not confirmed his involvement nor many of the details in the dossier about alleged Trump-Russia collusion.
Millian has denied being a source for the dossier and says he does not have any compromising information about Trump.
Papadopoulos also spoke to the FBI investigators at that time about another foreign policy adviser for Trump with Russia connections, Carter Page, and about Mifsud and others.
Papadopoulos admits to lying to the FBI about his knowledge of the hacked Clinton emails.
"Out of loyalty to the new president and his desire to be part of the administration, he hoisted himself upon his own petard," Papadopoulos' attorneys write.
Papadopoulos is scheduled to be sentenced on September 7 by federal district judge Randy Moss in DC.
Saturday, September 1, 2018
Poll by sinking poll, Trump inches closer toward being impeached - Independent ( source : Washington Post )
September 1, 2018.
Poll by sinking poll, Trump inches closer toward being impeached
In middle of Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon's poll numbers on impeachment were better than President Trump's today
Megan McArdle
President Trump has lashed out against social media giants like Facebook and Google in recent statements
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By any metric, Donald Trump is in trouble.
A poll out from The Post and ABC on Friday shows that 60 per cent of voters disapprove of the job he's doing as president, a new low. But that's just one poll; the polling average at statistician Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight shows Mr Trump with a mere 53.4 per cent disapproval rating, which is better than its 56.8 per cent peak last December.
But a presidency is not in good shape when the best spin on the new poll is "It's an outlier! Only 53 per cent of the country thinks the president is terrible." The poll is especially ugly for Republicans with midterms looming in two months.
Majority of Americans back Trump's impeachment, finds new poll
FiveThirtyEight's forecast for the mid-terms puts the likelihood of Democrats taking the House at more than 70 per cent. Their chances of taking the Senate are lower, but Republicans are hardly a lock despite a very favourable map for them. And if Democrats manage to eke out a majority in both houses of Congress, here is the poll's really bad news for Mr Trump: Half the country wants him impeached.
To put that in perspective: In January 1974, well into the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon's poll numbers on impeachment were better than President Trump's are now. Earlier, less disastrous polls for Mr Trump still showed him veering dangerously close to what we might call "the Nixon ceiling."
Most worrying for Mr Trump is that three-quarters of Democrats say they want Congress to impeach him. If Democrats gain control, they will be under immense pressure from their base to deliver.
That doesn't mean they'll do it. It takes a two-thirds super-majority in the Senate to actually remove a president from office. The best that Democrats can possibly manage in 2018 is a narrow majority; they would need more than a handful of Republican senators to support removal. The leaders of a Democrat-controlled House might well decide they'd rather not force their Senate brethren to take a hard and futile vote.
But as Republicans found in the 1990s, these things have a way of taking on unexpected momentum. A former Republican congressional staffer who was close to that process tells me that the day after the bruising 1998 mid-terms, Newt Gingrich - who would shortly step down as House speaker - said, "impeachment is over, that's one thing the election clearly meant." Five weeks later, with Mr Gingrich out of the way, House Republicans impeached Bill Clinton. Then he was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate.
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"The activist base of the party was committed to the idea, and that made it impossible for the elected officials to change course," the former staffer says, "even though they knew impeachment wasn't what the broader public wanted."
It's all too easy to imagine a similar scenario for Democrats intent on impeaching Mr Trump as they come up short looking for Republicans to help them make it across the finish line. But it's not entirely impossible to picture a few Republicans going along. If Democrats do manage to start impeachment hearings, it would be because - unlike Republicans in 1998 – they would be coming off a huge mid-term win. Public support for impeaching Mr Trump, even taking into account his more favourable polls, would be higher than it ever was for impeaching Mr Clinton.
Mr Trump is in a very unusual situation for an American president. Members of his die-hard base are loyal, but at his peak they were barely a plurality of the party. The rest of his support is purely expedient, interested in getting judges appointed and keeping Democrats out of power. Republicans in Congress are loyal, for now, but only because they're afraid of his voters.
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But by the time Mr Trump faced a Senate trial, that would mean the political calculus had shifted radically. He would have cost them the Congress; there would be no hope of more judges; the 2020 election would seem already lost. And he'd have no reservoir of goodwill in the party, for at every turn he has made a point of attacking and humiliating any Republican he deemed insufficiently obsequious. Just how long will the Coalition of the Unwilling stand by a president who was never really their man?
But even if Republicans hold the party line, what Mr Trump faces in this scenario is bad enough: a public trial that he can't avoid by firing the investigators, nor distract from with more Twitter blasts. One senses that public humiliation, especially at the hands of an establishment that has always looked down on him, is the thing that Mr Trump fears most. Though far from certain, that humiliation is growing more likely.
Yes, the president is clearly in trouble. But does Mr Trump, hunkered down with deferential staffers and screens blaring Fox News, realise it? Or might he learn it only when Congress calls him to account – and he finds no one standing behind him?
The Washington Post
Poll by sinking poll, Trump inches closer toward being impeached
In middle of Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon's poll numbers on impeachment were better than President Trump's today
Megan McArdle
President Trump has lashed out against social media giants like Facebook and Google in recent statements
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By any metric, Donald Trump is in trouble.
A poll out from The Post and ABC on Friday shows that 60 per cent of voters disapprove of the job he's doing as president, a new low. But that's just one poll; the polling average at statistician Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight shows Mr Trump with a mere 53.4 per cent disapproval rating, which is better than its 56.8 per cent peak last December.
But a presidency is not in good shape when the best spin on the new poll is "It's an outlier! Only 53 per cent of the country thinks the president is terrible." The poll is especially ugly for Republicans with midterms looming in two months.
Majority of Americans back Trump's impeachment, finds new poll
FiveThirtyEight's forecast for the mid-terms puts the likelihood of Democrats taking the House at more than 70 per cent. Their chances of taking the Senate are lower, but Republicans are hardly a lock despite a very favourable map for them. And if Democrats manage to eke out a majority in both houses of Congress, here is the poll's really bad news for Mr Trump: Half the country wants him impeached.
To put that in perspective: In January 1974, well into the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon's poll numbers on impeachment were better than President Trump's are now. Earlier, less disastrous polls for Mr Trump still showed him veering dangerously close to what we might call "the Nixon ceiling."
Most worrying for Mr Trump is that three-quarters of Democrats say they want Congress to impeach him. If Democrats gain control, they will be under immense pressure from their base to deliver.
That doesn't mean they'll do it. It takes a two-thirds super-majority in the Senate to actually remove a president from office. The best that Democrats can possibly manage in 2018 is a narrow majority; they would need more than a handful of Republican senators to support removal. The leaders of a Democrat-controlled House might well decide they'd rather not force their Senate brethren to take a hard and futile vote.
But as Republicans found in the 1990s, these things have a way of taking on unexpected momentum. A former Republican congressional staffer who was close to that process tells me that the day after the bruising 1998 mid-terms, Newt Gingrich - who would shortly step down as House speaker - said, "impeachment is over, that's one thing the election clearly meant." Five weeks later, with Mr Gingrich out of the way, House Republicans impeached Bill Clinton. Then he was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate.
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"The activist base of the party was committed to the idea, and that made it impossible for the elected officials to change course," the former staffer says, "even though they knew impeachment wasn't what the broader public wanted."
It's all too easy to imagine a similar scenario for Democrats intent on impeaching Mr Trump as they come up short looking for Republicans to help them make it across the finish line. But it's not entirely impossible to picture a few Republicans going along. If Democrats do manage to start impeachment hearings, it would be because - unlike Republicans in 1998 – they would be coming off a huge mid-term win. Public support for impeaching Mr Trump, even taking into account his more favourable polls, would be higher than it ever was for impeaching Mr Clinton.
Mr Trump is in a very unusual situation for an American president. Members of his die-hard base are loyal, but at his peak they were barely a plurality of the party. The rest of his support is purely expedient, interested in getting judges appointed and keeping Democrats out of power. Republicans in Congress are loyal, for now, but only because they're afraid of his voters.
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But by the time Mr Trump faced a Senate trial, that would mean the political calculus had shifted radically. He would have cost them the Congress; there would be no hope of more judges; the 2020 election would seem already lost. And he'd have no reservoir of goodwill in the party, for at every turn he has made a point of attacking and humiliating any Republican he deemed insufficiently obsequious. Just how long will the Coalition of the Unwilling stand by a president who was never really their man?
But even if Republicans hold the party line, what Mr Trump faces in this scenario is bad enough: a public trial that he can't avoid by firing the investigators, nor distract from with more Twitter blasts. One senses that public humiliation, especially at the hands of an establishment that has always looked down on him, is the thing that Mr Trump fears most. Though far from certain, that humiliation is growing more likely.
Yes, the president is clearly in trouble. But does Mr Trump, hunkered down with deferential staffers and screens blaring Fox News, realise it? Or might he learn it only when Congress calls him to account – and he finds no one standing behind him?
The Washington Post
Mahathir, China and neo-colonialism - Nikkei Asian Review
Mahathir, China and neo-colonialism
Beijing will not forget Malaysian premier's barbed attack on Belt and Road
Richard McGregor
August 30, 2018 14:00 JST
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad did not mince his words in referring to a new form of colonialism during his recent visit to China. © VCG/Getty Images
In time, it may be seen as a turning point in China's relations with its neighbors.
At the end of a trip to China in August, during which the red carpet had been laid out for him at every turn, Mahathir Mohamed, Malaysia's newly elected prime minister, stood at a press conference in Beijing alongside Li Keqiang, China's premier.
Foreign leaders are used to minding their words in China, more so than at other diplomatic stops, lest they offend their often prickly hosts on anything from Taiwan to Beijing's multiple territorial disputes.
But Mahathir has never been a leader to bite his tongue, as many of his Western counterparts have found out to their discomfort. Prodded by Li on stage to offer public support for free trade, Mahathir delivered a very different message.
"We should always remember that the level of development of countries are not all the same," Mahathir said. "We do not want a situation where there is a new version of colonialism happening because poor countries are unable to compete with rich countries, therefore we need fair trade."
Mahathir was referring specifically to a number of large Chinese-backed infrastructure programs in Malaysia being developed under the banner of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, the billion-dollar plan to anchor Beijing at the heart of new commercial empire.
Although he focused on BRI, Mahathir was also amplifying the largely private complaints of many regional leaders who welcome Chinese investment but increasingly worry it will leave them in Beijing's debt, financially and politically.
Critics, including some political leaders, have warned about the dangers of Chinese debt as far afield as Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia and the Pacific islands.
As much as it resents his comments, Beijing will not ignore Mahathir's message, and China is already showing signs of trying to recalibrate the project to make it more politically and financially palatable for target countries.
There is a crowning irony in Mahathir's evocation of neo-colonialism, as this was precisely the charge that he used to lay against the West and Western investment when he was at the height of his powers in his first period in office in the 1980s and 1990s.
His remarks are even more remarkable when compared with the starkly different tone struck only two years earlier by his predecessor, Najib Razak, when visiting China in late 2016.
Around that time, Najib, once seen by Washington and other Western nations as a potential partner in Southeast Asia, had been caught up in the U.S. Department of Justice's investigations into the looting of Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB.
Najib wrote an article for the People's Daily, the ruling Chinese Communist Party's official mouthpiece, pointedly pushing back against the U.S. and, by implications, the West generally.
Former colonial powers should not lecture nations that they once exploited, he said, a statement which carried with it an implied threat. If the U.S. was going to go after him, Najib would throw Malaysia's lot in with China in response.
Then came the Malaysian elections in May 2018, when voters got to have their own say about the 1MDB scandal. They ejected Najib from office and elected Mahathir to replace him, decades after the regional elder statesman had stepped down.
For the 93-year-old Mahathir, now back in power, to make exactly the same charge against China that both he and Najib made against the West, is incendiary on many levels.
China, after all, is used to playing the anti-colonialism card itself. To have it played back against them must have been galling but Beijing, for the moment, is holding its fire. At a time when its foreign relationships are fraying on many fronts, Beijing needs all the friends it can get.
Mahathir went further than just insulting his hosts. He has also put on ice a number of the BRI investments, including a railway in east Malaysia, which is one of the largest projects being developed under the initiative's banner.
In a bid to reassure countries like Malaysia, Chinese leaders say their investments will be based on "extensive consultation, joint contributions, and shared benefits."
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who emerged in recent weeks from the party's midsummer conclave, held a meeting of the leadership in late August in Beijing in which he started the process of recalibrating the initiative's sale pitch.
"The BRI is an economic cooperation initiative, not a geopolitical or military alliance," Xi said. "It is an open and inclusive process, and not about creating exclusive circles or a China club."
It is hard, at the moment, to know if Xi's recalibration will just be rhetorical, or whether China will genuinely try to redo some projects, or even pull back altogether.
Unlike many Asian leaders, going to China had not been an immediate priority for Mahathir. As someone who had been in power when Japan was the leading Asian economy, and a beacon for the region, Mahathir's first overseas visit after the election was to Tokyo.
Japan is a card that Mahathir has to play against overreliance on China. Japan is China's only genuine rival in the region in terms of investment and infrastructure. It is also a country that Mahathir has long admired and cultivated.
Japan had its own colonial ambitions for Asia in the 1930s, which helped trigger the disastrous Pacific War. But few in Southeast Asia now consider Japan maintains any kind of a colonial mentality. It will anger China even more that this barb is now directed at Beijing instead.
Beijing will not forget Malaysian premier's barbed attack on Belt and Road
Richard McGregor
August 30, 2018 14:00 JST
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad did not mince his words in referring to a new form of colonialism during his recent visit to China. © VCG/Getty Images
In time, it may be seen as a turning point in China's relations with its neighbors.
At the end of a trip to China in August, during which the red carpet had been laid out for him at every turn, Mahathir Mohamed, Malaysia's newly elected prime minister, stood at a press conference in Beijing alongside Li Keqiang, China's premier.
Foreign leaders are used to minding their words in China, more so than at other diplomatic stops, lest they offend their often prickly hosts on anything from Taiwan to Beijing's multiple territorial disputes.
But Mahathir has never been a leader to bite his tongue, as many of his Western counterparts have found out to their discomfort. Prodded by Li on stage to offer public support for free trade, Mahathir delivered a very different message.
"We should always remember that the level of development of countries are not all the same," Mahathir said. "We do not want a situation where there is a new version of colonialism happening because poor countries are unable to compete with rich countries, therefore we need fair trade."
Mahathir was referring specifically to a number of large Chinese-backed infrastructure programs in Malaysia being developed under the banner of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, the billion-dollar plan to anchor Beijing at the heart of new commercial empire.
Although he focused on BRI, Mahathir was also amplifying the largely private complaints of many regional leaders who welcome Chinese investment but increasingly worry it will leave them in Beijing's debt, financially and politically.
Critics, including some political leaders, have warned about the dangers of Chinese debt as far afield as Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia and the Pacific islands.
As much as it resents his comments, Beijing will not ignore Mahathir's message, and China is already showing signs of trying to recalibrate the project to make it more politically and financially palatable for target countries.
There is a crowning irony in Mahathir's evocation of neo-colonialism, as this was precisely the charge that he used to lay against the West and Western investment when he was at the height of his powers in his first period in office in the 1980s and 1990s.
His remarks are even more remarkable when compared with the starkly different tone struck only two years earlier by his predecessor, Najib Razak, when visiting China in late 2016.
Around that time, Najib, once seen by Washington and other Western nations as a potential partner in Southeast Asia, had been caught up in the U.S. Department of Justice's investigations into the looting of Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB.
Najib wrote an article for the People's Daily, the ruling Chinese Communist Party's official mouthpiece, pointedly pushing back against the U.S. and, by implications, the West generally.
Former colonial powers should not lecture nations that they once exploited, he said, a statement which carried with it an implied threat. If the U.S. was going to go after him, Najib would throw Malaysia's lot in with China in response.
Then came the Malaysian elections in May 2018, when voters got to have their own say about the 1MDB scandal. They ejected Najib from office and elected Mahathir to replace him, decades after the regional elder statesman had stepped down.
For the 93-year-old Mahathir, now back in power, to make exactly the same charge against China that both he and Najib made against the West, is incendiary on many levels.
China, after all, is used to playing the anti-colonialism card itself. To have it played back against them must have been galling but Beijing, for the moment, is holding its fire. At a time when its foreign relationships are fraying on many fronts, Beijing needs all the friends it can get.
Mahathir went further than just insulting his hosts. He has also put on ice a number of the BRI investments, including a railway in east Malaysia, which is one of the largest projects being developed under the initiative's banner.
In a bid to reassure countries like Malaysia, Chinese leaders say their investments will be based on "extensive consultation, joint contributions, and shared benefits."
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who emerged in recent weeks from the party's midsummer conclave, held a meeting of the leadership in late August in Beijing in which he started the process of recalibrating the initiative's sale pitch.
"The BRI is an economic cooperation initiative, not a geopolitical or military alliance," Xi said. "It is an open and inclusive process, and not about creating exclusive circles or a China club."
It is hard, at the moment, to know if Xi's recalibration will just be rhetorical, or whether China will genuinely try to redo some projects, or even pull back altogether.
Unlike many Asian leaders, going to China had not been an immediate priority for Mahathir. As someone who had been in power when Japan was the leading Asian economy, and a beacon for the region, Mahathir's first overseas visit after the election was to Tokyo.
Japan is a card that Mahathir has to play against overreliance on China. Japan is China's only genuine rival in the region in terms of investment and infrastructure. It is also a country that Mahathir has long admired and cultivated.
Japan had its own colonial ambitions for Asia in the 1930s, which helped trigger the disastrous Pacific War. But few in Southeast Asia now consider Japan maintains any kind of a colonial mentality. It will anger China even more that this barb is now directed at Beijing instead.
US ends aid to Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa - BBC News
September 1, 2018.
US ends aid to Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa
Unrwa provides critical services, including education and health care
The United States is ending all funding for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, the US State Department says.
It described the organisation, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa), as "irredeemably flawed".
The US administration has "carefully reviewed" the issue and "will not make additional contributions to Unrwa," spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas later said the move was an "assault" against his people.
"Such a punishment will not succeed to change the fact that the United States no longer has a role in the region and that it is not a part of the solution," Nabil Abu Rudeina told Reuters news agency.
He added that the decision was "a defiance of UN resolutions".
Palestinians fear cost of Trump's aid cut
UN alarm as US cuts aid to Palestinians
A spokesman for Unrwa, Chris Gunness, defended the agency in a series of tweets.
"We reject in the strongest possible terms the criticism that Unrwa's schools, health centres, and emergency assistance programs are 'irredeemably flawed'," he wrote.
3. These very programs have a proven track record in creating one of the most successful human development processes and results in the Middle East. The international state community, our donors and host countries have consistently praised UNRWA for its achievements and standards
9:00 AM - Sep 1, 2018
The latest move comes after the US announced back in January that it would withhold more than half of a tranche of funding for the agency.
What is Unrwa?
Unrwa was originally set up to take care of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
The agency says it currently supports more than five million Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, including providing health care, education and social services.
The US has been the largest single donor to Unrwa, providing $368m (£284m) in 2016 and funding almost 30% of its operations in the region.
The Trump administration had pledged $60m to Unrwa in January, but withheld another $65m.
The remaining payment of $65m is now expected to be cancelled.
Why is the US critical of Unrwa?
The US disagrees with Unrwa, and Palestinian officials, on a number of issues.
US President Donald Trump has previously complained that the US received "no appreciation or respect" for the large sums of aid it provided to the region.
Earlier this year, he threatened to cut aid to the Palestinians over what he called their unwillingness to negotiate with Israel.
The US has said Unrwa needs to become more accountable
The US and Israel also disagree with Unrwa on which Palestinians are refugees with a right to return to the homes they fled following the 1948 war.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said earlier this week that Unrwa exaggerated the number of Palestinian refugees, and needed to reform.
"You're looking at the fact that, yes, there's an endless number of refugees that continue to get assistance, but more importantly, the Palestinians continue to bash America," she said.
The state department says the US is contributing a "very disproportionate share of the burden of Unrwa's costs".
It complains of a business model and fiscal practices, linked to an "exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries", which is "unsustainable and has been in crisis mode for many years".
What does the Palestinian side say?
On Friday, the Palestinian ambassador to Washington, Hossam Zomlot, accused the US of "endorsing the most extreme Israeli narrative on all issues including the rights of more than five million Palestinian refugees".
The US "is damaging not only an already volatile situation but the prospects for future peace", he told AFP.
Nikki Haley has criticised Palestinian officials for "bashing America"
Palestinian officials have already accused the Trump administration of worsening tensions due to its pro-Israel stance.
In December, Mr Trump controversially recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, despite it being claimed by both sides.
His move overturned decades of US neutrality on the issue, attracted international criticism, and led to the Palestinian Authority cutting off dialogue in Washington.
Why Trump and Jerusalem was not about peace
Palestinian territories profile
In May, the US also opened an embassy in Jerusalem, a move described by Palestinian officials as a "blatant provocation".
What's the Israeli view?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously called for Unrwa's funding to be cut gradually and its responsibilities transferred to the UN's global refugee agency, the UNHCR, arguing that it "perpetuates the Palestinian problem".
However, he said that "every step taken also contains some risk".
Some Israelis have raised concerns that weakening Unrwa could cause regional instability and create more extremism in the region.
How has the international community reacted?
Earlier on Friday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said his country would increase its contributions to the agency because its funding crisis was fuelling uncertainty.
"The loss of this organisation could unleash an uncontrollable chain reaction," Mr Maas said.
Meanwhile, the UN's secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has said he has "full confidence" in Unrwa, and called on other countries "to help fill the remaining financial gap".
US ends aid to Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa
Unrwa provides critical services, including education and health care
The United States is ending all funding for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, the US State Department says.
It described the organisation, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa), as "irredeemably flawed".
The US administration has "carefully reviewed" the issue and "will not make additional contributions to Unrwa," spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas later said the move was an "assault" against his people.
"Such a punishment will not succeed to change the fact that the United States no longer has a role in the region and that it is not a part of the solution," Nabil Abu Rudeina told Reuters news agency.
He added that the decision was "a defiance of UN resolutions".
Palestinians fear cost of Trump's aid cut
UN alarm as US cuts aid to Palestinians
A spokesman for Unrwa, Chris Gunness, defended the agency in a series of tweets.
"We reject in the strongest possible terms the criticism that Unrwa's schools, health centres, and emergency assistance programs are 'irredeemably flawed'," he wrote.
3. These very programs have a proven track record in creating one of the most successful human development processes and results in the Middle East. The international state community, our donors and host countries have consistently praised UNRWA for its achievements and standards
9:00 AM - Sep 1, 2018
The latest move comes after the US announced back in January that it would withhold more than half of a tranche of funding for the agency.
What is Unrwa?
Unrwa was originally set up to take care of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
The agency says it currently supports more than five million Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, including providing health care, education and social services.
The US has been the largest single donor to Unrwa, providing $368m (£284m) in 2016 and funding almost 30% of its operations in the region.
The Trump administration had pledged $60m to Unrwa in January, but withheld another $65m.
The remaining payment of $65m is now expected to be cancelled.
Why is the US critical of Unrwa?
The US disagrees with Unrwa, and Palestinian officials, on a number of issues.
US President Donald Trump has previously complained that the US received "no appreciation or respect" for the large sums of aid it provided to the region.
Earlier this year, he threatened to cut aid to the Palestinians over what he called their unwillingness to negotiate with Israel.
The US has said Unrwa needs to become more accountable
The US and Israel also disagree with Unrwa on which Palestinians are refugees with a right to return to the homes they fled following the 1948 war.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said earlier this week that Unrwa exaggerated the number of Palestinian refugees, and needed to reform.
"You're looking at the fact that, yes, there's an endless number of refugees that continue to get assistance, but more importantly, the Palestinians continue to bash America," she said.
The state department says the US is contributing a "very disproportionate share of the burden of Unrwa's costs".
It complains of a business model and fiscal practices, linked to an "exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries", which is "unsustainable and has been in crisis mode for many years".
What does the Palestinian side say?
On Friday, the Palestinian ambassador to Washington, Hossam Zomlot, accused the US of "endorsing the most extreme Israeli narrative on all issues including the rights of more than five million Palestinian refugees".
The US "is damaging not only an already volatile situation but the prospects for future peace", he told AFP.
Nikki Haley has criticised Palestinian officials for "bashing America"
Palestinian officials have already accused the Trump administration of worsening tensions due to its pro-Israel stance.
In December, Mr Trump controversially recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, despite it being claimed by both sides.
His move overturned decades of US neutrality on the issue, attracted international criticism, and led to the Palestinian Authority cutting off dialogue in Washington.
Why Trump and Jerusalem was not about peace
Palestinian territories profile
In May, the US also opened an embassy in Jerusalem, a move described by Palestinian officials as a "blatant provocation".
What's the Israeli view?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously called for Unrwa's funding to be cut gradually and its responsibilities transferred to the UN's global refugee agency, the UNHCR, arguing that it "perpetuates the Palestinian problem".
However, he said that "every step taken also contains some risk".
Some Israelis have raised concerns that weakening Unrwa could cause regional instability and create more extremism in the region.
How has the international community reacted?
Earlier on Friday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said his country would increase its contributions to the agency because its funding crisis was fuelling uncertainty.
"The loss of this organisation could unleash an uncontrollable chain reaction," Mr Maas said.
Meanwhile, the UN's secretary general, Antonio Guterres, has said he has "full confidence" in Unrwa, and called on other countries "to help fill the remaining financial gap".
'Ghost ship' in Myanmar: Navy finds answers - BBC News
September, 1, 2018.
'Ghost ship' in Myanmar: Navy finds answers
The Sam Ratulangi PB 1600, built in 2001, is more than 177m long
Myanmar officials investigating a "ghost ship" found mysteriously drifting near the Yangon region this week have found the answer to its fate.
The large, empty and rusty container vessel, Sam Ratulangi PB 1600, had been discovered by fishermen off Myanmar's commercial capital.
The navy now say the freighter was being towed by a tugboat headed to a ship-breaking factory in Bangladesh.
However, the crew abandoned the ship after being caught up in bad weather.
Authorities and navy personnel had boarded the Sam Ratulangi PB 1600 on Thursday to search for clues after it ran aground on a beach.
Police and observers were baffled at how such a large ship, with no sailors or goods on board, had ended up in Myanmar.
Skeletons found on 'ghost ship' in Japan
Why do 'North Korea ghost boats' keep washing up?
The container ship was described as being in a working condition
The vessel, which was built in 2001, is more than 177 metres (580 ft) long, according to the Marine Traffic website, which logs the movements of ships around the world.
The ship's location was last recorded off the coast of Taiwan in 2009, and this was the first reported instance of an abandoned ship appearing in Myanmar's waters, according to the AFP news agency.
On Saturday, Myanmar's navy said it suspected the ship had been towed by another ship after "two cables... were found at its head".
They later found a tugboat, called Independence, about 80km (50 miles) off Myanmar's coast.
After questioning the 13 Indonesian crew members on board, they learned that the tugboat had been towing the vessel since 13 August, and intended to take it to a factory in Bangladesh that would dismantle and salvage the ship.
However, some of the cables attached to the boat broke in bad weather, and they decided to abandon the ship.
The authorities are investigating further.
The owner of the tugboat is thought to be from Malaysia, news site Eleven Myanmar reports.
Bangladesh has a large ship-breaking industry - with hundreds of old commercial vessels dismantled in Chittagong each year.
But the business is controversial - with critics saying the work is poorly regulated and dangerous to labourers.
'Ghost ship' in Myanmar: Navy finds answers
The Sam Ratulangi PB 1600, built in 2001, is more than 177m long
Myanmar officials investigating a "ghost ship" found mysteriously drifting near the Yangon region this week have found the answer to its fate.
The large, empty and rusty container vessel, Sam Ratulangi PB 1600, had been discovered by fishermen off Myanmar's commercial capital.
The navy now say the freighter was being towed by a tugboat headed to a ship-breaking factory in Bangladesh.
However, the crew abandoned the ship after being caught up in bad weather.
Authorities and navy personnel had boarded the Sam Ratulangi PB 1600 on Thursday to search for clues after it ran aground on a beach.
Police and observers were baffled at how such a large ship, with no sailors or goods on board, had ended up in Myanmar.
Skeletons found on 'ghost ship' in Japan
Why do 'North Korea ghost boats' keep washing up?
The container ship was described as being in a working condition
The vessel, which was built in 2001, is more than 177 metres (580 ft) long, according to the Marine Traffic website, which logs the movements of ships around the world.
The ship's location was last recorded off the coast of Taiwan in 2009, and this was the first reported instance of an abandoned ship appearing in Myanmar's waters, according to the AFP news agency.
On Saturday, Myanmar's navy said it suspected the ship had been towed by another ship after "two cables... were found at its head".
They later found a tugboat, called Independence, about 80km (50 miles) off Myanmar's coast.
After questioning the 13 Indonesian crew members on board, they learned that the tugboat had been towing the vessel since 13 August, and intended to take it to a factory in Bangladesh that would dismantle and salvage the ship.
However, some of the cables attached to the boat broke in bad weather, and they decided to abandon the ship.
The authorities are investigating further.
The owner of the tugboat is thought to be from Malaysia, news site Eleven Myanmar reports.
Bangladesh has a large ship-breaking industry - with hundreds of old commercial vessels dismantled in Chittagong each year.
But the business is controversial - with critics saying the work is poorly regulated and dangerous to labourers.
Russian air crash: Utair jet catches fire after landing at Sochi - BBC News
September 1, 2018.
Russian air crash: Utair jet catches fire after landing at Sochi
The plane's left engine caught fire after the aircraft left the runway
A passenger jet skidded off the runway and caught fire while landing in the Russian city of Sochi, injuring 18 people, officials have said.
Flight UT579, a Boeing 737-800 operated by the Utair airline, was carrying 164 passengers and six crew from Moscow.
Video shows fierce flames from the aircraft after it crashed through the airport fence and fell into a riverbed.
Some of the injured suffered burns, others carbon monoxide poisoning, officials said.
A spokesperson at Sochi airport said one airport employee had suffered a fatal heart attack during the rescue operation.
The jet was attempting to land in strong wind and heavy rain early on Saturday, Russian media reported.
Russia's NTV channel carried images and video of the incident.
A Utair Boeing 737-500 landing at Riga in Latvia. File image
The plane's undercarriage and a wing were damaged when it left the runway and a left engine then caught fire.
Three of the injured are children.
The fire has now been extinguished.
Russia's Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into the incident "on suspicion of inadequate services with a risk to clients' health".
Last month, a helicopter belonging to Utair crashed in north-western Siberia, killing 18 people.
The fatal crash of a Russian airliner at Moscow's Domodedovo airport in February again raised concern about national air safety.
It was the third major plane crash in the country since 2015.
Russian air crash: Utair jet catches fire after landing at Sochi
The plane's left engine caught fire after the aircraft left the runway
A passenger jet skidded off the runway and caught fire while landing in the Russian city of Sochi, injuring 18 people, officials have said.
Flight UT579, a Boeing 737-800 operated by the Utair airline, was carrying 164 passengers and six crew from Moscow.
Video shows fierce flames from the aircraft after it crashed through the airport fence and fell into a riverbed.
Some of the injured suffered burns, others carbon monoxide poisoning, officials said.
A spokesperson at Sochi airport said one airport employee had suffered a fatal heart attack during the rescue operation.
The jet was attempting to land in strong wind and heavy rain early on Saturday, Russian media reported.
Russia's NTV channel carried images and video of the incident.
A Utair Boeing 737-500 landing at Riga in Latvia. File image
The plane's undercarriage and a wing were damaged when it left the runway and a left engine then caught fire.
Three of the injured are children.
The fire has now been extinguished.
Russia's Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into the incident "on suspicion of inadequate services with a risk to clients' health".
Last month, a helicopter belonging to Utair crashed in north-western Siberia, killing 18 people.
The fatal crash of a Russian airliner at Moscow's Domodedovo airport in February again raised concern about national air safety.
It was the third major plane crash in the country since 2015.
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