UK unveils new immigration points system
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel on Tuesday unveiled details of the country’s new points-based immigration system. The scheme, which will come into effect in January 2021, will require foreign nationals to show they have a job offer from an approved employer, earn a salary above £25,600, have appropriate skills for the post and be able to speak English to be allowed to come to the UK to work, the Express, BBC, the Daily Mail and Reuters report. Patel said the new system would allow “the brightest and the best” to come and work in the UK and would also allow Britain to take “full control” of its borders “for the first time in decades”. But the plans have already come under fire. Shadow minister Diane Abbott said the system may deter workers if their spouses and family are not allowed entry. Lobby group Migrant Watch expressed concern that the scheme did not place an overall limit on migration. And, The Guardian reports, sectors including transport and warehousing, food processing and tourism have warned the rules would have a drastic impact on their businesses.
Trump issues pardons; wants Stone case thrown out
Reuters, CNN, the FT and Wall Street Journal report that US president Donald Trump has pardoned former Wall Street “junk bond king” Michael Milken, who was indicted in 1989 in an insider trading probe as well as six other people serving jail time. The president also commuted the sentence of three felons, including former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich who was jailed for 14 years in 2012 for wire fraud, extortion and soliciting bribes while governor. Blagojevich had attempted to sell Barack Obama’s vacated US Senate seat. The New York Times has a profile of Blagojevich, while The Washington Post has a quick guide to those whom Trump pardoned. CNN reckons it knows the secret to getting a pardon from Trump. Meanwhile, Trump also ramped up his interference in the Roger Stone case, tweeting that any judge in the country would throw out the conviction according to The Guardian and Vox. CNN says Stone will be sentenced on Thursday on the charges of obstruction, lying to Congress and witness tampering that he was convicted for last year.
Coronavirus: criticism mounts over response
China’s health authorities have reported that there were 1,749 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the lowest daily rise since 29 January, Reuters reports. The Guardian says the World Health Organization is “having to perform a diplomatic balancing act” over China’s handling of the outbreak, but Bloomberg pulls no punches and says the WHO must stop “appeasing a major donor to the agency”. CNBC reports that analysts from investment bank Raymond James have likened China’s response to that of the Soviet regime to the Chernobyl disaster. The latest study into the virus shows that the overall death rate is 2.3% of infections, and that the sick and elderly are most at risk, the BBC says. Meanwhile, The Atlantic has an impressive photo essay about life in the time of the Coronavirus.
Sanders opens significant lead
Bernie Sanders has opened up a double-digit lead nationally in the Democratic presidential primary according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Michael Bloomberg’s aggressive advertising campaigning has seen his popularity rise, while one-time front runner Joe Biden has seen his support drop by 11 points. But in a “Think” piece on NBC, Liam Kerr argues that combined support for moderates has overtaken that for progressive candidates. Bloomberg is reported to see Sanders as his only rival for the nomination, according to CNBC, while Megan McArdle in The Washington Post says that Sanders’s undeniable radicalism--she says he “remains considerably to the left of Europe’s moderate social democrats”--presents a problem for Democrats.
VdL sets out tech strategy
Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday visited a centre for artificial intelligence at a university in Brussels, Euronews reports. The European Commission president has written an opinion piece, published exclusively in Luxembourg by Delano, ahead of a scheduled statement on Wednesday that will set out the EC’s vision for a “technologically sovereign Europe”.
Kavala re-arrested in Turkey
Activist Osman Kavala, who was released on Tuesday after being acquitted of trying to overthrow the Turkish government during the 2013 Gezi Park protests in Istanbul, was re-arrested hours later, the BBC and Aljazeera report. A fresh warrant had been issued against Kavala for his part in the 2016 coup attempt. Newsweek says the arrest indicates that the crackdown that followed the 2016 uprising “shows no sign of abating”.
Utah allows consensual polygamy
Utah’s state senate voted by 29 to nil on Tuesday to decriminalize polygamy among consenting adults, Reuters reports. Such cases will be treated as a simple infraction akin to a parking violation, carrying a fine of up to $750 and community service. However, fraudulent bigamy will remain a felony in the predominantly Mormon state.
Extent of Australian fire damage revealed
ABC News has a stunning set of satellite images showing the devastation of Australia's “summer of fire” as seen from space.
Neanderthal skeleton find in Iraq
The skeleton of a Neanderthal unearthed at Shanidar Cave in Iraq is the first in which the bones were still arranged in their original positions to be discovered in a decade, the BBC reports.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts