President Donald Trump walks back to the White House in Washington after greeting guests on the South Lawn, Thursday, October 3, 2019. AP
President Donald Trump walks back to the White House in Washington after greeting guests on the South Lawn, Thursday, October 3, 2019. AP
President Donald Trump walks back to the White House in Washington after greeting guests on the South Lawn, Thursday, October 3, 2019. AP
President Donald Trump walks back to the White House in Washington after greeting guests on the South Lawn, Thursday, October 3, 2019. AP

Democrats demand files from White House as impeachment probe intensifies


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Democratic lawmakers on Friday demanded that the White House turn over documents related to allegations that President Donald Trump pressured Ukraine for political favours, as the explosive impeachment investigation against the US leader intensified.

The congressional committees leading the probe cranked up the heat on the White House as evidence mounted that Trump illicitly used his office to enlist Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky's help to damage 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden in exchange for military aid.

"The White House has refused to engage with - or even respond to - multiple requests for documents from our Committees on a voluntary basis. After nearly a month of stonewalling, it appears clear that the President has chosen the path of defiance, obstruction, and cover-up," the Democratic chairmen of the House oversight, intelligence and foreign affairs committees said in a statement.

"We deeply regret that President Trump has put us - and the nation - in this position, but his actions have left us with no choice but to issue this subpoena."

The committees sent a letter to acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, demanding that he turn over the requested files by October 18.

The subpoena followed a broad demand earlier Friday for documents from Vice President Mike Pence.

The investigators pointed to Mr Pence's knowledge of Mr Trump's calls to Mr Zelensky and his own meeting on September 1 with the Ukraine leader, as well as discussions he may have made with Mr Trump and US diplomats about Ukraine and obtaining political dirt on Mr Biden.

A series of text messages between US diplomats dealing with Ukraine supported Democratic accusations that Trump had illegally sought foreign help for his re-election effort.

And the Wall Street Journal reported that, in an interview, Republican Senator Ron Johnson said he had learned that a quid pro quo had been proposed to Zelensky's government by Mr Trump's emissaries, tying military aid to a Ukraine corruption investigation into Biden.

Mr Trump pushed back hard, saying there was no quid pro quo and, in an effort to recast the entire saga, insisted it was his responsibility to investigate "corruption."

"I don't care about Biden's campaign but I care about corruption," he told reporters.

"I don't care about politics," he said. "I believe there was tremendous corruption with Biden."

The democratic presidential candidate responded by saying Mr Trump was himself corrupt and was trying to intervene in the Democrats' process for choosing a presidential candidate, a race that Mr Biden currently leads.

Mr Trump is "the most corrupt president we've had in modern history," Mr Biden said at a campaign event in Los Angeles.

"I am not going to stand for it," the candidate said, calling Mr Trump "unhinged."

"He has indicted himself by his own statements," Mr Biden said, one day after the president openly called for both Beijing and Kiev to investigate the former vice president for corruption.

Mr Trump has alleged that Joe Biden's son Hunter earned "millions" from a business association in which he sat on the board of directors of a Ukraine tycoon's gas company.

But no evidence has surfaced showing any wrongdoing on the part of either Mr Biden, and the diplomats' text messages showed that some had doubts about Mr Trump's pressure on Mr Zelensky, including by temporarily freezing a $400 million aid package, for help in Mr Trump's "domestic, re-election politics," as one wrote.

Also on Friday, Democrats interviewed Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community's inspector general, who handled the anonymous whistleblower complaint about Mr Trump's Ukraine dealings that broke open the scandal two weeks ago.

The release last week of the complaint and a summary of Mr Trump's July 25 call with Mr Zelensky, in which he asked for a "favour" and referred to investigating Mr Biden ignited the Democrats' impeachment inquiry.

Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Mr Atkinson's testimony offered further justification to his decision to label the whistleblower's complaint urgent and credible.

The July 25 call record "shows that Trump pressured a foreign leader to interfere in the 2020 election by investigating a political opponent. Those facts cannot be seriously contested," Mr Schiff said.

As Democrats raised their attacks on the president, many Republicans remained muted, supportive of Mr Trump but keeping a distance.

Breaking with the pack, Republican Senator Mitt Romney blasted Mr Trump's comments that Beijing and Kiev should investigate Mr Biden for corruption.

"By all appearances, the President's brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling," tweeted Mr Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012.

"When the only American citizen President Trump singles out for China's investigation is his political opponent in the midst of the Democratic nomination process, it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated."

Joe Biden's campaign called Mr Trump's comments already-debunked "conspiracy theories" and accused Mr Trump of "a grotesque choice of lies over truth and self over the country."

"Mr. President, you cannot extort foreign governments to help you win re-election. It's an abuse of power. It violates your oath of office. And it jeopardises our national security," Mr Biden tweeted separately.

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Green ambitions
  • Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
  • Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
  • Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
  • Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water 
BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP

Group A

Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA

Group B

Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti

Group C

Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia

Group D

Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria

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Based: Riyadh

Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Day 5, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance

Moment of the day When Dilruwan Perera dismissed Yasir Shah to end Pakistan’s limp resistance, the Sri Lankans charged around the field with the fevered delirium of a side not used to winning. Trouble was, they had not. The delivery was deemed a no ball. Sri Lanka had a nervy wait, but it was merely a stay of execution for the beleaguered hosts.

Stat of the day – 5 Pakistan have lost all 10 wickets on the fifth day of a Test five times since the start of 2016. It is an alarming departure for a side who had apparently erased regular collapses from their resume. “The only thing I can say, it’s not a mitigating excuse at all, but that’s a young batting line up, obviously trying to find their way,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach.

The verdict Test matches in the UAE are known for speeding up on the last two days, but this was extreme. The first two innings of this Test took 11 sessions to complete. The remaining two were done in less than four. The nature of Pakistan’s capitulation at the end showed just how difficult the transition is going to be in the post Misbah-ul-Haq era.

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'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster

Wednesday's results

Finland 3-0 Armenia
Faroes Islands 1-0 Malta
Sweden 1-1 Spain
Gibraltar 2-3 Georgia
Romania 1-1 Norway
Greece 2-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Liechtenstein 0-5 Italy
Switzerland 2-0 Rep of Ireland
Israel 3-1 Latvia

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

What is the definition of an SME?

SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.

A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors. 

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
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  • Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets