British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday appealed to doubters at home and in other EU capitals to embrace his attempt to reform the 28-member bloc as a chance to boost prosperity rather than writing it off as “Mission Impossible.”
Cameron, under pressure after overseeing what critics see as a lackluster start to the renegotiation of Britain’s ties with the EU, used a speech to offer the most detail yet on four areas where he wants change.
He outlined the strong economic and foreign policy role Britain plays in the EU, but said he did not doubt that Britain could survive if its people voted to leave the EU in a referendum by the end of 2017.
Cameron asked for understanding from Eurosceptics at home and from European partners, some of whom have become frustrated with London’s demands for change.
“There will be those who say, here and elsewhere in the EU, that we are embarked on ‘Mission Impossible,’” Cameron told diplomats, reporters and business leaders at the Chatham House think tank in London.
“I do not believe so for a minute ... The European Union has a record of solving intractable problems. It can solve this one too. Let us therefore resolve to do so, because the prize is a big one,” he said.
Cameron also sent a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, setting out his four main objectives to launch what he described as the renegotiation’s “formal phase” before next month’s summit when EU leaders will hammer out the details of Britain’s new terms.
In his speech, Cameron spelled out what he wanted from Brussels. He said his demands for financial and economic safeguards for countries outside the 19-member eurozone and for the EU to become more competitive must be legally binding and therefore may require treaty change.
He also called for groups of national parliaments to be able to block European laws, part of his move to make sure Britain is excluded from the principle of “ever closer union.”
On migration, he said he proposed that people coming to Britain from the EU must live in the country for four years before qualifying for in work benefits or social housing, and that the practice of sending child benefit overseas should stop.
He appealed to EU governments for understanding, saying none of his demands were “outlandish.”
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of