US Dials Back Iran Rhetoric and Seeks 'Peaceful Resolution' over Saudi Attack

THE GUARDIAN: Mike Pompeo says goal is to ‘get back on the diplomatic path’ following Trump’s remarks that the US was ‘locked and loaded’

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has said Washington and its allies were seeking a “peaceful resolution” with Iran in the wake of the attack on Saudi oil facilities, making clear that Washington would limit its initial response to further sanctions.

Pompeo’s remarks, made on his return trip to Washington after visits to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, mark a significant cooling of rhetoric after Donald Trump had warned the US was “locked and loaded” and Pompeo had said the attack, which he blamed on Iran, was “an act of war”.

The Pentagon said its goal was “to deter conflict and get back on the diplomatic path” and stopped short of definitively blaming Tehran for the air strikes which knocked out half Saudi Arabia’s oil production, deferring to Riyadh to make that assessment. » | Julian Burger in Washington | Thursday, September 19, 2019

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Iran Foreign Minister: US Strike Would Trigger 'All Out War'

Iran Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tells CNN's Nick Paton Walsh that a US or Saudi strike on its territory would trigger an "all out war." Zarif added that Iran hopes to avoid a military confrontation.

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Should Trump Have the Power to Take Us to War?

Tensions between Iran and the United States are growing thanks to President Trump. But does Trump have the ability to take us to war?

Only Congress can authorize a war. It’s right there in the Constitution. It requires a majority vote of both the House and the Senate to authorize war, and any war that is not authorized by Congress is illegal. The president does not have the power to start a war; that power is exclusively given to Congress. The Founders did this because they did not want any president to ever acquire the king-like power of war-making: they believed it was too much power in the hands of one person, and thus could lead to disaster.

If Donald Trump tries to take us into war with Iran, Congress and massive public opinion must stop him. Call your member of the House and both your senators today.

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Bettel's Anger Highlights a Bleak Truth: The EU27 Just Wants Britain to Go

THE GUARDIAN: Luxembourg PM’s exasperation is shared by EU officials and national leaders

It was, by any standards, an unusual spectacle: the leader of the European Union’s second-smallest country deciding to empty-chair the British prime minister at what was supposed to have been a joint press conference after their meeting.

Ostensibly, logistics were the problem: No 10 was concerned by the small but very noisy protest awaiting Boris Johnson outside; Luxembourg government officials said there was no room big enough to move the event inside.

Whatever the reason, the press conference that Xavier Bettel ended up giving alone – gesturing to the lectern where his counterpart should have stood – served as a striking symbol of EU leaders’ mounting frustration with the Brexit process.

The Luxembourg prime minister did not hold back. The leave campaign had been built on lies, he said. Johnson’s oft-repeated claims of progress in the talks were baseless. London had come up with nothing to replace the backstop.

Above all, the UK – not the EU – was to blame for the impasse. “I just want to repeat and remind that Theresa May accepted the withdrawal agreement,” he said. Britain’s “homemade” problems were causing “general problems” for the whole of the EU. » | Jon Henley | Monday, September 16, 2019

Xavier Bettel on Brexit, mocks Boris Johnson »

Incredible Sulk Morphs from Green to Yellow as He Is Bested by Bettel

THE GUARDIAN: PM implodes under weight of his own narcissism as Luxembourg leader lets rip

Exit the Incredible Sulk. It was bad enough getting owned on Twitter by the actor who played the Incredible Hulk – comparing yourself to a comic book hero with anger management issues was always asking for trouble when you’ve got form with the Camberwell police. Classic Dom.

But Boris Johnson’s day just got a whole lot worse when he was completely owned by about 50 unthreatening protesters – this was Luxembourg, where crime waves are measured in the number of people not paying parking fines – and Xavier Bettel, the country’s prime minister.

Faced with a handful of people shouting: “We don’t like you very much,” Johnson imploded under the weight of his own narcissism. The Incredible Bulk morphed from green to yellow and fled sobbing indoors. He’d been in some tricky situations before where the future of the world had been at risk from super-soldiers powered by gamma radiation. But nothing as dangerous as this.

He begged Bettel to move their joint press conference somewhere less noisy. Preferably somewhere no one would ask him any difficult questions. Bettel demurred. The lecterns were set up, the journalists were in place and he’d go ahead without him. Johnson was about to be humiliated by the second smallest country in the EU. Taking back control by losing control. Classic Dom. » | Johnn Crace | Monday, September 16, 2019

Will the Attacks on Saudi Oil Facilities Cripple Global Supplies? | Inside Story

Oil prices soar as Saudi Arabia tries to reassure market.

Saudi Arabia is trying to reassure the world that it will quickly recover from Saturday's attacks on its oil plants. However, the reassurance failed to stop oil prices soaring 19 percent - their highest-ever increase in a day.

Prices have since eased, but concerns remain about the 50 percent cut for the world's biggest crude exporter.

Houthi fighters in Yemen are vowing more attacks to cripple the Saudi economy. President Donald Trump warned that the US is 'locked and loaded' to respond, and ready to release emergency oil reserves if needed.

Will the attack force us to rethink our reliance on oil?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra | Guests: Jawad Anani - Former Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan; Cornelia Meyer - Oil and gas specialist, Meyer Resources financial advisory firm; Bill Law - Journalist and Gulf affairs analyst

Johnson Humiliated by Luxembourg PM at 'Empty Chair' Press Conference

THE GUARDIAN: Xavier Bettel gesticulates at empty podium as British PM skips press conference amid loud protests

Boris Johnson has been left humiliated after being forced by anti-Brexit protesters to cancel an appearance at a press conference, leaving Luxembourg’s prime minister to lecture and gesticulate at an empty podium about the dangers of the UK prime minister playing politics with people’s lives.

Johnson was booed and jeered as he left a working lunch in Luxembourgwith the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, before being forced to abandon plans to speak alongside the country’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel.

The cancellation left Johnson scuttling past the waiting lecterns in a courtyard outside the prime minister’s office to chants by British protesters a few metres away.

Bettel did not mince his words as he took the lectern next to the one left empty by the British prime minister’s no-show, with the union flag still in position. » | Daniel Boffey in Luxembourg | Monday, September 16, 2019

Lib Dems Pledge to Cancel Brexit If They Win General Election

BBC: The Liberal Democrats have pledged to cancel Brexit if they come to power at the next general election.

Members voted for the new policy at their party conference in Bournemouth by an overwhelming majority.

Previously, the party has backed another referendum or "People's Vote", saying they would campaign to Remain.

After the vote, their leader Jo Swinson, said: "We will do all we can to fight for our place in Europe, and to stop Brexit altogether."

The commitment only comes into force if the party wins the election as a majority government. » | Sunday, September 15, 2019

How Will Saudi Arabia Respond to Attacks on Oil Facilities? | Inside Story

Drone attacks force world's largest oil exporter to halve output. It's being described as an unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply.

Oil prices are expected to rise after Saudi Arabia was forced to cut production in half. Houthi rebels in Yemen say their latest drone attacks knocked out the world's largest crude processing plant.

Iran is dismissing US accusations that it was responsible. Is the possibility of a war between Iran and the Saudis increasing?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra | Guests: Hussain Al Bukhaiti - Yemeni affairs specialist; Simon Mabon - Director, Richardson Institute for Peace Studies, Lancaster University; Josh Young - Portfolio Manager, Bison Interests energy investment firm

Trump Is Seriously, Frighteningly Unstable – The World Is In Danger

THE GUARDIAN: It is almost too late for impeachment. The 25th amendment is untested. The ballot box offers our only remaining hope

In retrospect, what’s most disturbing about “Sharpiegate” isn’t Trump’s clumsy effort to doctor a National Weather Service map or even his brazen move to get the same agency to lie on his behalf.

It’s how utterly petty his motive was. We’ve had presidents trying to cover up a sexual liaison with an intern and a botched burglary, but never have we had one who went to such lengths to cover up an inaccurate weather forecast. Alabama being hit by a hurricane? Friends, this is not rational behavior.

Trump also cancelled a meeting with the Taliban at Camp David. The meeting was to have been secret. It was scheduled for the week of the anniversary of 9/11. He cancelled it by tweet.

Does any of this strike you as even remotely rational? » | Robert Reich | Sunday, September 15, 2019

‘Johnson Is a Liar Who Only Backed Leave to Help His Career’ – David Cameron

THE OBSERVER: Former PM vents fury in his memoirs at his old colleagues over their stance on Brexit and compares Leave campaign to racist Tory electioneering in 1964

Boris Johnson is a liar who only backed the Leave campaign to help his career and Michael Gove was a “foam-flecked Faragist” whose “one quality” was disloyalty, David Cameron writes in his memoirs.

The former prime minister poured vituperation on both his former colleagues Priti Patel, the current home secretary, and Dominic Cummings, the No 10 adviser, in extracts from the book published on Sunday.

In what may be Cameron’s most explosive allegation yet, he effectively accused Boris Johnson of mounting a racist election campaign by focusing on Turkey and its possible accession to the EU.

“It didn’t take long to figure out Leave’s obsession,” he writes. “Why focus on a country that wasn’t an EU member?

“The answer was that it was a Muslim country, which piqued fears about Islamism, mass migration and the transformation of communities. It was blatant.” » | Michael Savage and Emma Graham-Harrison | Sunday, September 15, 2019

Fareed Zakaria: Trump's Foreign Policy Is In Shambles

President Donald Trump claimed he was a great dealmaker, but after the collapse of deals with Iran, North Korea and the Taliban, has that claim been proven otherwise?

EU Officials Reject Boris Johnson Claim of 'Huge Progress' in Brexit Talks

THE GUARDIAN: PM’s upbeat account dismissed as Jean-Claude Juncker warns time is running out

EU officials have rejected Boris Johnson’s claim that “a huge amount of progress” is being made in Brexit talks, as Jean-Claude Juncker warned that time is running out.

Juncker, who will stand down as European commission president on 31 October, is expected to ask Johnson to spell out his ideas for replacing the Irish backstop when the pair meet over lunch in Luxembourg on Monday.

Johnson told the Mail on Sunday there were “real signs of movement” in Berlin, Paris and Dublin on getting rid of the backstop, the persistent stumbling block to a Brexit agreement. “A huge amount of progress is being made,” he said.

But EU officials involved in talks with Johnson’s envoy, David Frost, have dismissed his upbeat account. » | Jennifer Rankin and Daniel Boffey | Sunday, September 15, 2019