British PM faces defeat in historic Brexit deal vote
AFP / Adrian DENNISBritain's Prime Minister Theresa May's appeals to MPs to back her Brexit deal appear to have fallen on deaf ears
British Prime Minister Theresa May faces crushing defeat in a historic vote in parliament on Tuesday over the Brexit deal she has struck with the European Union, leaving the world's fifth biggest economy in limbo.
With just over two months to go until the scheduled Brexit date of March 29, Britain is still bitterly divided over what should happen next and the only suspense over the vote is the scale of May's defeat.
The British leader's last-minute appeals to MPs appear to have fallen on deaf ears and how much she loses by could determine whether she tries again, loses office, delays Brexit -- or if Britain even leaves the EU at all.
AFP / Sophie RAMISThe composition of the UK parliament
"When the history books are written, people will look at the decision of this house... and ask: did we deliver on the country's vote to leave the European Union," May asked MPs on the eve of the vote, expected after 1900 GMT.
- 'No Deal? No problem!' -
Opposition to the deal forced May to postpone the vote in December in the hope of winning concessions from Brussels.
EU leaders have offered only a series of clarifications but German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in Strasbourg on Tuesday raised the possibility of further talks while ruling out a full re-negotiation of the text.
"Everything has been done in recent weeks and months to signal our interest in a positive decision," Maas said.
"However, I am sceptical that the agreement can be fundamentally reopened once again," he said.
AFP / Oli SCARFFCampaigners on both sides of the Brexit debate have continued to take to the streets -- long after the referendum -- to get their voices heard
The vote is the climax of over two years of intense national debate after the shock Brexit referendum of 2016 -- a result mostly pro-Remain MPs have struggled with.
Hardline Brexiteers and Remainers oppose the agreement for different reasons and many fear it could lock Britain into an unfavourable trading relationship with the EU.
Pro- and anti-Brexit campaigners rallied outside parliament ahead of the vote. One placard read "EU Membership is the Best Deal", another said: "No Deal? No Problem!"
Uncertainty over Brexit has hit the British economy hard.
AFP / Daniel LEAL-OLIVASPro- and anti-Brexit campaigners rallied outside parliament inb London ahead of the historic vote expected in the evening
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders lobby group warned MPs that Britain crashing out of the EU would be "catastrophic".
Financial markets will also be watching the result closely, with several currency trading companies roping in extra staff for the vote and at least one putting a cap on trades to avoid excessive currency movements.
"Today's vote is a foregone conclusion so sterling is unlikely to move significantly," said Rebecca O'Keeffe, an analyst with online trader Interactive Investor.
"The fireworks will happen after today -- when it is clear what happens next," she said, predicting that a decision not to leave the EU would send sterling shooting up while a no-deal Brexit would send it down to record lows.
- Frustration -
Rather than heal the divisions exposed by the Brexit referendum, the vote has reignited them.
Pro-European MPs campaigning to force a second vote say they have faced death threats.
Brexit supporters have also voiced growing frustration with what they see as parliamentary blockage of their democratic vote.
AFP / Daniel LEAL-OLIVASDespite the Leave campaign winning the EU referendum in 2016, Remainers believe Britain is better off in the bloc
Criticism of the deal is focused on an arrangement to keep open the border with Ireland by aligning Britain with some EU trade rules, if and until London and Brussels sign a new economic partnership which could take several years.
Sammy Wilson, Brexit spokesman with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the Northern Irish party on whom May relies for her Commons majority, told the BBC his party would not be forced into backing the deal by fears over the border.
"We fought (against) a terrorist campaign (in order) to stay part of the United Kingdom," he said, evoking Northern Ireland's past conflict.
"We are not going to allow bureaucrats in Brussels to separate us from the rest of the United Kingdom."
His boss Arlene Foster stressed "we cannot accept the backstop...it does violence to the union."
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said May must call an election if she loses on Tuesday and has threatened to hold a confidence vote in her government if she does not.
- Risk of no deal -
In the event of a defeat, the government must set out what happens next by Monday at the latest.
Speculation is growing on both sides of the Channel that whatever the outcome May could ask to delay Brexit.
But a diplomatic source told AFP any extension would not be possible beyond June 30, when the new European Parliament will be formed.
The withdrawal agreement includes plans for a post-Brexit transition period to provide continuity until a new relationship is drawn up, in return for continued budget contributions from London.
Without it, and if there is no delay, Britain will sever 46 years of ties with its nearest neighbours with no agreement to ease the blow.
'Hostage politics': Death sentence heightens China, Canada tensions
HO/AFP / HANDOUTChina sentenced Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, 36, to death at a retrial after his previous 15-year prison term was deemed too lenient
China on Tuesday vociferously defended a court's decision to impose the death penalty on a convicted Canadian drug smuggler, escalating a diplomatic row that experts say has descended into a high-stakes game of "hostage politics".
China's foreign ministry blasted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's "irresponsible remarks" after he criticised the death sentence imposed on 36-year-old Robert Lloyd Schellenberg.
Beijing and Ottawa have been squabbling since last month, when Canada arrested the chief financial officer of top Chinese telecom company Huawei on a US extradition request related to Iran sanctions violations.
In a move observers see as retaliation, Chinese authorities detained two Canadian citizens -- a former diplomat and a business consultant -- on suspicion of endangering national security.
Then authorities revisited the little-known case of Schellenberg, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in November for drug offences.
A month later, an upper court took up his appeal and ordered a hasty retrial in the northeastern city of Dalian after ruling that the punishment was too lenient.
The timing and swiftness of Schellenberg's sentence, and the inclusion of new evidence presenting him as a key player in a plan to ship 222 kilogrammes (490 pounds) of methamphetamine to Australia, raised suspicion among observers.
"Playing hostage politics, China rushes the retrial of a Canadian suspect and sentences him to death in a fairly transparent attempt to pressure Canada," Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth said in a tweet.
Donald Clarke, a George Washington University professor specialising in Chinese law, coined an even grimmer term for the situation: "death threat diplomacy".
"The Chinese government is not even trying to pretend that there was a fair trial here," he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed "extreme concern" that China had "chosen to arbitrarily" apply the death penalty.
But Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying denied Beijing had politicised Schellenberg's case, calling on Canada to "respect China's judicial sovereignty... and stop making such irresponsible remarks".
Ottawa had issued a new travel advisory urging citizens to "exercise a high degree of caution in China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws".
Beijing issued a similar response hours later, calling on Chinese citizens to "travel cautiously" after a Chinese citizen was "arbitrarily detained on the basis of a request of a third-party country", an apparent reference to Meng's arrest.
The court in Liaoning said on Tuesday its actions were "in compliance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law", the state-run Legal Daily reported.
- Suspect timing -
China executes one or two foreigners every year -- nearly all for drug offences, according to John Kamm, director of the US-based Dui Hua Foundation rights group.
AFP / John SAEKISchellenberg had been sentenced to 15 years in prison prior to Monday's death penalty verdict
Experts said retrials are rare in China, especially ones calling for a harsher sentence, but rights groups note that courts are not independent and can be influenced by the ruling Communist Party.
"What's unusual is how this case shifted from extremely slow handling to suddenly rapid fire movement," said Margaret Lewis, a law professor at Seton Hall University.
The rare decision to allow three foreign journalists, including one from AFP, to attend the hearing makes it "clear that the Chinese government wants (the) international spotlight on this case".
"The timing is suspect and certainly his nationality makes it all the more glaring," she said.
- Meng at home -
Schellenberg, who claimed he was innocent and framed by an acquaintance, has 10 days to appeal to the same high court that rejected his first appeal.
Lewis said the court was likely to confirm the sentence and the case would move up to the Supreme People's Court.
The top court could confirm the death penalty, give him a two-year suspended death sentence that would be converted into a long prison term or reduce his punishment, she said.
Clarke said: "My prediction is that the Supreme People's Court will sit on the review decision for as long as Meng's fate remains undetermined."
The fate of the other two Canadians, who have been held in undisclosed locations, remains a mystery.
Last week, Trudeau accused China of "arbitrarily and unfairly" detaining former diplomat Michael Kovrig and business consultant Michael Spavor, who were rounded up nine days after Canada arrested Meng.
The Chinese foreign ministry rejected Trudeau's assertion that Kovrig, who now works for the International Crisis Group, still enjoyed diplomatic immunity.
Meng, meanwhile, was granted bail by a Canadian court last month, allowing her to wait for the US extradition hearing in a Vancouver house.
Beijing on Tuesday repeated its calls for her immediate release, calling on Canada to correct its "severe mistake".
New envoy in Syria to revive UN mediation efforts
AFP / LOUAI BESHARAThe new UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, arrives in Damascus on his first visit since taking up post as the fourth head of the world body's efforts to bring an end to the civil war which erupted in 2011
The new special UN envoy to Syria began his first trip to Damascus on Tuesday, facing the daunting task of rekindling moribund peace talks and succeeding where his three predecessors failed.
Norway's Geir Pedersen, who replaces Staffan de Mistura, is the fourth negotiator to have been appointed UN special envoy to Syria since the civil war broke out in 2011.
The seasoned diplomat, 63, was seen entering a Damascus hotel and is expected to hold talks with senior officials, although no official programme for his visit was published.
Pedersen simply said on social media that he was "looking forward to productive meetings here".
Officials in the government of President Bashar al-Assad set the tone for the new envoy's tenure shortly after news of his appointment in October last year.
"Syria will cooperate with the new UN envoy Geir Pedersen provided he avoids the methods of his predecessor," Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Meqdad said, quoted by Al-Watan newspaper.
Assad opponents have said the change in UN envoy would have little impact on the fate of the country as international will and consensus were lacking.
Pedersen has not yet spoken publicly about his mission and it remains unclear what his approach will be.
De Mistura, who announced in October he was resigning for "purely personal reasons", ended his four-year tenure with an abortive push for the formation of a committee tasked with drawing up a post-war constitution for Syria.
- Low expectations? -
In December, he acknowledged that the committee would not be formed by year's end as was hoped.
"I deeply regret what has not been achieved, and I am sorry more was not possible," said the Swedish-Italian diplomat.
A track of peace talks in Geneva between the regime and opposition delegations is clinically dead and observers argue Assad will see little need to revive it.
Three years into the conflict that erupted when the government repressed anti-regime demonstrations, Assad was clinging to barely a third of Syrian territory and his days at the helm looked numbered.
The Syrian president, who has been in power for more than 18 years, has now reclaimed much of the territory he lost at the beginning of the war, largely thanks to the military backing of veto-wielding UN Security Council permanent member Russia.
Non-jihadist opposition groups across Syria have little or no clout on the ground and negligible bargaining power in negotiations with Damascus.
De Mistura had been appointed in July 2014 after veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi resigned following two years in the position.
Brahimi stepped in after late UN chief Kofi Annan quit just six months into the role which he described as "mission impossible".
Pedersen was a member of the Norwegian team to the secret negotiations that led to the signing of the 1993 Oslo accord between Israel and the Palestinians.
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