| | | | Huawei Says It's Open to Scrutiny—But the US Won't Talk | | Huawei, the Chinese tech giant being turned away by US allies over spying fears, tells Global Briefing it's open to greater scrutiny by the US—but that it hasn't been able to meet with US officials to discuss concerns over "back doors" in its 5G technology, as President Trump reportedly mulls a ban and encourages allies to block Huawei from building networks.
"In recent years we have been unable to get meetings with US government officials about possible approaches to address US-government-professed concerns about Huawei," Huawei USA Chief Security Officer Donald Purdy, himself a former DHS official, told Global Briefing in an email. "I'm asking for a conversation about a security assurance framework that makes sense for the US relative to all vendors," Purdy said in an interview.
Added scrutiny could mean letting US agencies review Huawei code, as German regulators are doing. Huawei also acceded to UK demands for technical changes, after a UK board said it couldn't guarantee cybersecurity in Huawei-built networks.
It's unclear if any higher-level dialogue is happening, but it's not as if Huawei has been completely out of contact with US government officials: The Justice Dept. interviewed its founder in 2007, and Huawei officials have testified before Congress. Regardless, Purdy said talks have ground to a halt since 2013 and repeated Huawei's denials that it would ever spy for China. | | As the UK Plays Brexit Chicken, Europe Isn't Having It | | "This is not a game": It was a stern, parental kind of warning that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker issued to the UK, after Parliament declined to delay Brexit and instead sent PM Theresa May back to the negotiating table. This could be viewed as a win for May, as Parliament's amendment votes this week signaled both 1) opposition to no-deal Brexit and 2) openness to a withdrawal deal, as long as changes were made regarding the Irish border.
But it's a pyrrhic one, the Financial Times writes, and outside of Parliament, no one is having any of it: Leaders from Juncker to European Council President Donald Tusk to French President Emmanuel Macron to Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar have said May's Brexit deal is not open for renegotiation—which leaves May with an impossible mission.
The Guardian summed it up: MPs are engaging in "fantasy" if they think any new Brexit options will emerge. | | Fewer Are Crossing, but the Journey Is Getting Deadlier | | | Europe's migration crisis continues to be deadly for the people fleeing war, poverty, and violence in the Middle East and Africa: One person dies crossing the Mediterranean Sea into Europe for every 51 who arrive, according to a new UN High Commissioner on Refugees report—a high since 2015.
Overall crossings are down, but the report points a finger at Europe for reducing its search-and-rescue efforts and placing more restrictions on NGOs. Europe remains divided over how to respond, CNN's Simon Cullen points out. | | A government commission in Germany has recommended phasing out coal by 2038—an ambitious plan for Europe's top coal consumer—that follows plans to phase out coal by 2030, from a group of nations led by Canada and the UK, E&E News reports. The Wall Street Journal's editorial board, no fan of German spending on renewables, calls it the "world's dumbest energy policy"—even as environmentalists say the deadline is too far off.
| | Will the US Find an Ally in Brazil? | | Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has been called a right-wing populist—indeed, the Donald Trump of Brazil—but Sen. Marco Rubio argues the US should seize this as an opportunity to become fast friends with Brazil's new government, developing a partnership that could counter leftist currents in Latin America.
It might be an easier way for the US to bolster its influence in the region than, say, suggesting 5,000 US troops go to Colombia. | | | | | | |
