ЄС, Новини, Світ

Man Kills Mother, Sister; IS Claims Attack

A man with severe psychiatric problems killed his mother and sister and seriously injured another woman in a knife attack Thursday in a Paris-region town, officials said.

 

Police shot and killed the man soon afterward. The Islamic State group, which has a history of opportunistic claims, swiftly claimed responsibility.

 

French prosecutors weren’t treating the attack in Trappes, west of Paris, as a terrorism case, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said. He noted the attacker suffered from serious mental health issues although he had also been flagged for glorifying terrorism.

 

Collomb said that the man killed his mother at her home and stabbed the other women outside. Still wielding the knife, he then ignored police warnings and was shot and killed, the minister said after meeting officers and prosecutors in Trappes.

 

He described the man as “unstable, rather than someone who was engaged, someone who could respond, for example, to orders and instructions from a terrorist organization, in particular from Daesh.” Daesh is another name for IS.

A long-time friend of the attacker named him as Kamel Salhi, 36. The friend, Said Segreg, said Salhi had no obvious problems, didn’t abuse drugs or alcohol and wasn’t fervently religious.

 

A government official confirmed Salhi’s name and age. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss such details publicly.

 

Salhi was divorced and living with his mother, said Adama Traore, another of his acquaintances in Trappes.

 

The Islamic State group, via its Aamaq news agency, claimed responsibility. The agency said the attack was motivated by calls from the IS leadership to attack civilians in countries at war with the extremist group. Hours earlier, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urged followers to attack enemies everywhere.

 

The Islamic State group, which has lost most of the territories it once controlled in Iraq and Syria, has been known to make opportunistic claims in the past, even when there was no established link between an attacker and the extremist group.
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US, China Raise Tariffs in New Round of Trade Dispute

The United States and China imposed more tariff hikes on billions of dollars of each other’s automobiles, factory machinery and other goods Thursday in an escalation of a battle over Beijing’s technology policy that companies worry will chill global economic growth.

The 25 percent increases took effect as envoys from both sides held their first high-level talks in two months in Washington. No details were released about the two-day meeting that started Wednesday.

The penalties, previously announced, apply to $16 billion of goods from both sides including automobiles and metal scrap from the United States and Chinese-made factory machinery and electronic components. They follow last month’s first round of tariff increases of the same size by both sides on $34 billion of each other’s imports.

The Chinese government criticized the U.S. increase as a violation of World Trade Organization rules and said it would file a legal challenge. 

Beijing has rejected U.S. demands to scale back plans for state-led technology development that its trading partners say violate its market-opening commitments and American officials worry might erode the United States’ industrial leadership.

With no settlement in sight, economists warn the conflict could spread and knock up to 0.5 percentage points off global economic growth through 2020.
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Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

US, China Exchange New Round of Tariffs in Trade War

A new set of tit-for-tat tariffs imposed by the United States and China on each other’s goods took effect Thursday.

The U.S. announced earlier this month that it would impose 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods, on top of the 25-percent tariffs it imposed on $34 billion worth of Chinese products in early July. Beijing has followed suit in each case with an identical percentage of tariffs in retaliation.

China’s commerce ministry issued a statement Thursday criticizing the U.S. tariffs as a violation of World Trade Organization rules, and says it will file a legal challenge under the WTO’s dispute resolution mechanism.

The new round of tariffs took effect the day after delegations from both nations met in Washington for first of two days of talks aimed at resolving the dispute, the first such formal discussions since June.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview this week he does not expect much progress from the discussions.

When asked about the issue at Wednesday’s news briefing by VOA, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “As you said, these conversations are continuing. I don’t have any announcements on them. They’re ongoing. Certainly, what we’d like to see is better trade deals for the United States. he president wants to see free, fair, and more reciprocal trade between other countries, particularly with China, and we’re going to continue in those conversations.”

The Trump administration is demanding that Beijing change its practice of heavily subsidizing its technology sector and open its markets to more U.S. goods.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office on Monday began six days of public hearings on the president’s plans to impose tariffs on a wider array of Chinese imports, affecting an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.

Economists warn that the trade war between the world’s biggest economies would reduce global economic growth by around 0.5 percent through 2020.
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Bouquinistes of Paris Turn to UNESCO to Save Ancient Trade

David Nosek is buried in a novel, glancing only occasionally at the scrum of tourists strolling by. A few of them pause to examine the old editions, engravings and brightly colored paintings arranged on his green, metal stand. A riverboat cuts lazily across the Seine River below.

Sporting a graying ponytail and tan vest, Nosek looks like a throwback to the bouquinistes of old — the booksellers of Paris who have plied their wares along the banks of the Seine for more than four centuries.

“I like to read, I like old things, and there’s an independence to the business,” he said. “We certainly don’t get into it to get rich.”

Nosek’s business is increasingly facing 21st century threats. Kindles and online dealers are eating into his profits. At other riverside stands, Eiffel Towers and other souvenirs are edging out dusty editions of Honore de Balzac and Victor Hugo — which is why a group of bouquinistes is now on a mission to save the trade’s very identity by getting it added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

“We thought it would be good to have a label which maintains the quality of our products, without sticking to the 400 years of our past,” said Sophie Leleu, one of the bouquinistes involved in the effort. “If we’re on the UNESCO list, we become like the Egyptian pyramids, or the Venetian gondoliers — nobody can remove us.”

But the bid is controversial — even among some bouquinistes. Some fear they will no longer be able to sell the souvenirs that help them survive.

Bigger challenges

In some ways, the bouquinistes’ sliding fortunes mirror broader challenges facing the traditional book industry in capitals like New York and London — although business for some independent sellers is rebounding. In France, where legislation has curbed the onslaught of chain book stores and online retailers, a number of small dealers are also thriving — but not all. Last year, the French publishing industry saw its figures plunge, compared to the previous year.

“There’s an urgency to defend the bouquinistes’ trade,” said Florence Berthout, mayor of Paris’ 5th Arrondissement, and a leading champion of the UNESCO drive. “Every year, every month, counts.”

Berthout’s district is located in the heart of the Latin Quarter, home to the Sorbonne, one of the world’s first universities. The town hall faces the Pantheon, where some of France’s greatest authors and academics are buried. The neighborhood is also home to the majority of Parisian book stores and publishing houses — and most of the city’s bouquinistes.

“There’s nothing more democratic than books,” said Berthout, the daughter of farmers from central France who discovered Shakespeare and Emile Zola, thanks to inexpensive paperbacks her parents bought. “They’re cheap, they’re easy to carry, and unlike computers, they don’t break down.”

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Status would raise the profile of bouquinistes, Berthout says, adding, “We hope there’ll be an uptick in their sales — which will allow them to stick to the heart of their trade, not the cheap souvenirs.”

Making ‘Parisians laugh’

Few believe the bouquinistes will disappear from the city’s landscape altogether. There are more than 200 today, compared to under two dozen in the 17th century. Unlike traditional bookstores, the riverside sellers don’t pay overhead. They ply their wares rain or shine, summer or winter.

“We’ve never sold new books, but we’ve never sold really old books,” said Leleu, who comes from a family of booksellers. “We’ve always sold cartoons, to make Parisians laugh. Stamps, coins, paper … this and that.”

A few bookstands away, Philadelphia native Meghan Patton wrapped up the purchase of a colorful print.

“You get the feel of Paris,” she said of the bouquiniste stalls. “They’re part of what makes the city so special.

Other tourists are underwhelmed.

Colorado author Mike McPhee, who has visited Paris for years, said he was shocked at how touristy the stands had become. Even when it came to traditional wares, “I wouldn’t trust the authenticity,” he said. “I would buy from a reputable dealer.”

Competition and politics

The bouquinistes first need to make France’s intangible heritage list before any upgrades to UNESCO status. Even this step is challenging.

“If they manage to get their application finished this year, it would be really fast,” said Isabelle Chave, who oversees the French Culture Ministry’s intangible heritage division. “Most candidates take three or four years, if not longer.”

And of the 400 so-called elements that have made the French list, only 15 have been accepted by UNESCO — including French cuisine and a type of Corsican polyphonic music. France’s culture ministry can only support one candidacy every two years for the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage bid; bouquinistes may end up competing against zinc rooftops and Parisian cafes, among other rivals.

Ahead of 2020 municipal elections in Paris, the bouquinistes’ campaign is also taking on a partisan edge. Some bouquinistes, including Nosek, say the city’s leftist mayor, Anne Hidalgo, has not done enough to spearhead their drive — a sentiment shared by the 5th arrondissement mayor Berthout, a member of the center-right.

“The day she sees their dossier is likely to win, she’ll be only too happy to support it,” Berthout said of Mayor Hidalgo. “But it’s today that we need to fight.”

In an email, Paris City Hall noted it had voted to back the bouquinistes’ bid for UNESCO status, and petitioned Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen to do the same.

“The city of Paris has supported the profession for a long time,” the city’s communications office wrote. “It does not charge them any fee for occupying public space.”

Divided over souvenirs

For his part, Nosek is going a step beyond the UNESCO drive. Last year, he launched an online petition against selling kitch that he claims is distorting the trade. So far, it’s gathered more than 21,000 signatures.

“You hardly find any books anymore, only trinkets made in China,” he said. “It’s sad when the trade and the clients aren’t respected.”

Still, not all bouquinistes agree — or back the UNESCO bid. Tacky Eiffel Towers rule at Francis Robert’s stand across the river. So do keychains, plates and backpacks with Paris logos. Squeezed in between are the old comic books Robert has been selling for 40 years.

“There are days when I can’t sell a single comic book, even with an old and loyal clientele,” Robert said. “Today, it’s souvenirs that help us live — and allow us to continue selling books.”

Intangible cultural heritage status may look good on paper, he added, “But if we’re not careful, we’ll become so intangible, we’ll disappear altogether.”
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Activists Hail Manafort’s Conviction as ‘Victory of Sorts’

Anti-corruption activists in Ukraine welcomed the conviction of Paul Manafort on charges of tax evasion and bank fraud, saying they hope his trial will give fresh impetus to Ukrainian probes into politicians and oligarchs in Kyiv who paid millions of dollars to U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager.

Ukrainian prosecutors should ask for the evidence used by U.S. prosecutors in the trial in the state of Virginia for their stalled probes into political corruption in Ukraine, they say.

Most of the 18 fraud charges Manafort faced — he was found guilty on eight of them — stemmed from his work as a political consultant for ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and his Party of Regions. Manafort masterminded the political comeback in Kyiv of Yanukovych in 2010, six years after Ukraine’s pro-democracy Orange Revolution blocked him from taking office after a disputed election.

“Manafort’s case is [an] important message for Ukrainian society to continue to fight for fair politics,” tweeted Serhiy Leshchenko, a lawmaker and former journalist, who helped expose secret cash payments channeled to Manafort from the Party of Regions between 2007 and 2012. According to U.S. prosecutors, Manafort received from his Ukrainian paymasters more than $60 million — money Leshchenko and anti-corruption campaigners say was stolen from public funds. The payments were recorded in handwriting in a so-called “black ledger” maintained by the Party of Regions.

Like other anti-corruption activists, though, Leshchenko’s satisfaction with Tuesday’s verdict is mixed with frustration — he laments that no high-ranking official from the Yanukovych era has yet been prosecuted in Ukraine for graft. Manafort’s conviction is a victory of sorts for Ukraine, they argue, but will be more complete when officials and oligarchs linked to Yanukovych face jail time.

“We still have no result of prosecution of high rank corrupted individuals,” Leshchenko tweeted.

Some hope is being drawn from an announcement made Tuesday by Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Yuriy Lutsenko, who told reporters in Kyiv that he is opening a criminal investigation into former Yanukovych officials and ministers incriminated in the Manafort trial. Lutsenko said that in February he sent an official request to U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller offering his readiness to provide any assistance needed in the prosecution of Manafort. He said his office had cooperated with the FBI before Mueller’s appointment and that important information had been exchanged.

Lutsenko told reporters that Manafort broke no tax evasion laws in Ukraine and is not under investigation but that former state officials who paid him may be guilty of various offenses. He cited the hundreds of documents presented by U.S. prosecutors in the Manafort trial, as well as the testimony of Manafort’s former deputy, Rick Gates, as the reason for the opening of the new investigation.

“There has been testimony that Manafort received funds for his consulting services for disgraced ex-president Yanukovych and the Party of Regions from specific politicians of Ukraine,” Lutsenko said, according to local news reports.  

The prosecutor general didn’t name the politicians, but in court testimony Manafort’s former business partner, Rick Gates, named politicians Serhiy Lyovochkin, Serhiy Tihipko, Andriy Klyuyev, Borys Kolesnikov and oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. He said they had funneled money into accounts in Cyprus, which was then laundered through offshore companies, and used the money to buy real estate and luxury cars and to support Manafort’s extravagant lifestyle.

But activists fear that for all the talk of new probes, words won’t translate into action and that political obstacles will be thrown up to block investigations, something they say has happened frequently with probes into high-level corruption.  

Part of the problem lies with inter-agency rivalry.  

After the ouster of Yanukovych in the 2013/2014 Maidan uprising, three anti-corruption agencies were established with the encouragement of Western powers — the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, which monitors the process of asset declaration by civil servants, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), which investigates high-level corruption, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), which oversees NABU investigations and mounts state prosecutions in court. All three have been at each others’ throats and NABU officials say they have been purposely impeded, for political reasons, in their probes.

The NABU’s head, Artem Sytnyk, has claimed there have been illegal dismissals of criminal cases against officials, and has accused the SAPO of corruption. Lutsenko has also clashed with the NABU and last year sought to persuade Ukraine’s parliament to dismiss the heads of the anti-corruption agencies. Western powers, including U.S. officials, lobbied against the move.

Some analysts worry the Ukrainian government of President Petro Poroshenko is unlikely to want to prosecute Manafort’s political allies for fear of angering the Trump administration, whose support it needs to counter Russia.

Lutsenko insisted Tuesday no political obstacles will be thrown in the way of the Manafort-related probes, saying no one had tried to give him an order to stop. He said if it is confirmed that anyone paid money illegally to Manafort, “then he will be held liable in accordance with current Ukrainian legislation.”

 
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

After Summer’s Growth Revisions, Macron Has Budget Work Cut Out

French President Emmanuel Macron will make the tough political choices needed to meet his deficit commitments, his government spokesman said, as he looked to put a bodyguard scandal behind him at his first Cabinet meeting after the summer break.

Macron and his ministers in all likelihood need to find savings in next year’s budget, to be presented to parliament next month, if they are to prevent the deficit from ballooning once again.

The president faced his first crisis in the summer when video surfaced of bodyguard Alexandre Benalla beating a protester. Macron’s own aloof response fanned public discontent.

Now the 40-year-old leader returns to work facing difficult political choices as he embarks on a new wave of reforms to reform the pensions system, overhaul public healthcare and shake-up the highly unionized public sector — tasks complicated by forecasts that economic growth is slower than expected.

“A budget is not only figures, but a strategy, and strong political choices,” Griveaux said, without giving details on the budget negotiations. “There will be [spending] increases and then we will require efforts from other sectors.”

The French economy eked out less growth than expected in the second quarter as strikes and higher taxes hit consumer spending, official data showed in July.

Macron has linked fiscal discipline to restoring France’s credibility in Europe, and while the budget deficit — forecast at 2.3 percent of GDP this year and next — should not surpass the EU-mandated 3 percent limit, it is still expected to be one of the highest in the euro zone.

“The budget equation is becoming more complicated,” Denis Ferrand, economist at COE-Rexecode told Reuters.

The Bank of France has revised 2018 growth down to 1.8 percent from 1.9 percent. Budget rapporteur Joel Giraud in July said that a revision down to 1.7 percent could see the public deficit slip by 0.2 percentage points.

Beyond raising eyebrows in Brussels and Berlin, it would also complicate Macron’s efforts to make transfers towards social policies that might help him dispel the impression among leftist critics that he is a “president of the rich.”

“It would be more difficult to find resources for social spending,” Ferrand said.

Elysee officials acknowledge growth was lower than expected in the first half, and say the housing and subsidized jobs portfolios will see sharp cuts to help finance Macron’s priorities in education, security and the environment.

Some 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion) is expected to be saved by changing rules for widely-enjoyed housing benefits, junior minister Julien Denormandie told BFM TV earlier on Wednesday.

Last year, a cut of five euros ($6) per month to the same allowance contributed to a sharp slump in the president’s popularity, which opinion polls show plumbing lows.
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Russian Telecoms Press for Foreign Internet Companies to Pay for Data Storage

Russian telecom operators have proposed legislation that would require foreign Internet companies to share the financial burden of a new law on storing data in the country, a draft bill seen by Reuters shows.

If adopted, the legislation would allow Russian telecom companies to claim compensation from foreign Internet companies, including social media and messenger services such as Google and Facebook, for compliance with the data storage rules that come into effect from October.

If foreign Internet companies refuse to comply, Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor could be allowed to reduce the speed of access to their websites for Russian users.

Google declined to comment and Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The bill will be sent to the government as soon as all operators reach a harmonized position,” a senior manager at one of Russia’s telecom companies told Reuters.

A representative of Rostelecom, a leading Russian telecom operator, said the company supported the notion of spreading the data storage costs with foreign Internet companies.

Russian telecom operators MTS, VimpelCom and Tele2 declined to comment.

Megafon, which would not comment on the draft legislation, told Reuters that all interested parties – not only telecom operators – should take part in the development of Internet resources.

The cost for Russia’s three largest telecom operators – MTS, Megafon and VimpelCom – of creating and sustaining a system to store data to comply with the law will reach 145 billion rubles ($2.17 billion) over the next five years, the companies have said.

Russian telecom operators still do not have the necessary infrastructure in place to store users’ data, industry sources have said.

They will also have to use foreign technology to comply with the data storage law, even though President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to ensure that local companies produce the equipment.

 
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Kabul Rejects Moscow-Hosted Afghan Peace Talks, Taliban to Attend

The U.S.-backed Afghan government announced Wednesday it does not plan to attend next month’s multi-nation conference in Russia on the future of Afghanistan, while the Taliban insurgency confirmed to VOA it has accepted the invitation and will send a delegation to event.

Moscow has invited, beside Kabul and the Taliban, 11 key regional countries, including China, Pakistan and Iran, to take part in the September 4 meeting in the Russian capital.

Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman, Sibghatullah Ahmadi, confirmed to VOA on Wednesday the government has decided against sending its delegation to the talks in Russia, but he did not cite any reasons.

Afghan officials reportedly are upset because Moscow did not consult them before extending an invitation to the Taliban.

Ahmadi stopped short of confirming those reports, saying the “Islamic government of Afghanistan should be a focal point of any developments that are happening around the world about Afghanistan.”

He insisted Kabul has “very good cordial” relations with Moscow and both the countries always consult each other on all issues, “particularly those related to the Afghan government-led peace ad reconciliation process.”

Spokesman Ahmadi asserted that “any discussions that are organized outside the government-led peace process will not yield results.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday an invitation has been extended to the Taliban and the insurgent group plans to attend.

“Representatives of the Afghan leadership and the Taliban were invited to the meeting. Their first reaction was positive and they plan to participate. I hope it will be a productive meeting,” said the top Russian diplomat.

The Taliban confirmed Wednesday insurgent political negotiators will travel to Moscow to participate in the daylong conference.

“The Islamic Emirate [Taliban] has accepted the invitation and it will send delegation led by the head of our Political Office, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai and will present the Islamic Emirate’s stance regarding the Afghanistan problem and its solution,” said Taliban Zabihullah Mujahid.

 

It will be the first time in several years the Taliban would officially participate in such an event and will be a major breakthrough for Russian diplomacy.

Russia defends its contacts with the Taliban, saying it is trying to encourage the insurgents to engage in peace talks with the Afghan government to bring an end to an increasingly deadly war in the country.

“We maintain these contacts primarily for the sake of the security of Russian nationals in Afghanistan, Russian agencies there, and also to convince the Taliban to renounce armed conflict and join the national dialogue with the government,” Lavrov said.

But he rejected Afghan assertions that Moscow’s ties with the Taliban are meant to use the insurgency to fight Islamist State militants who are trying to expand their influence in Afghan areas beyond the control of the Kabul government.

“I cannot imagine how Russia even hypothetically could use the Taliban against ISIS,” he said. “We are fighting ISIS with every tool we have. We support Syria in this fight and provide assistance in equipping the Iraqi army for the same purpose. Of course, we want the Afghan people to get rid of ISIS.”

 
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Myanmar’s Tour Operators Call for Plan to Boost Industry

When reforms began in Myanmar in 2011, its tourism sector was considered as one of those most likely to take advantage of the economic opportunities as the country looked to reconnect with the outside world. 

Authorities and businesspeople were confident that foreign tourists would be drawn to Myanmar, eager to see such sites as the ancient temples of Bagan, the unique culture of Inle Lake, or the picturesque beaches overlooking the Bay of Bengal. 

For a while it worked, as Myanmar’s international reputation improved in-line with the reforms happening at the time, the country was at the top of many visitors’ wish lists. Official figures showed that more than 4.68 million tourists visited the country in 2015, up from 816,000 in 2011. In 2017, 3.4 million tourists visited. 

But the situation has changed again. The tourism sector has been heavily impacted by the crisis in Rakhine State, which has seen 700,000 Rohingya cross into Bangladesh to flee a brutal army crackdown. Myanmar’s military has been accused of ethnic cleansing the Rohingya, leading many tourists to stay away because of ethical concerns. 

Myanmar’s government recognizes the need to take action, and in early August held a meeting for stakeholders to discuss what measures can be taken to improve the situation. 

At that event, de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi said the country should focus on measures such as improving rail and water transport, providing clean accommodation and developing more community-based tourism projects.

“Tourists can get many opportunities such as viewing the beautiful scenery and enjoying new experiences,” Aung San Suu Kyi said. “That is why roads, water ways and railways should be considered aside from air travel.” 

Tourist operators in the country welcomed the remarks, but said that there are more short-term measures that can be made, and have also called for a nationwide strategic plan to tackle the malaise the industry is currently undergoing. 

“What is needed is a comprehensive integrated approach from [the government] and the private sector to improve the tourism sector,” said Aung Kyaw Swar, former principal of the Inle Heritage Foundation. “This should include infrastructure, products, channels of communication, public relations, marketing and sales.” 

He said he welcomed Aung San Suu Kyi’s speech, particularly the calls to improve infrastructure, but said a cohesive plan should be formed, including one that ensures that the respective ministries work closely together. 

He also said that the government should invest in research teams, in order to effectively research potential clients’ expectations when they visit the country.

Foreign visitors to Myanmar have traditionally been drawn towards the major cities of Yangon and Mandalay, as well as Bagan and Inle Lake, but new destinations are emerging, and tourist development in lesser known areas could bring economic benefits. 

U Bawla, a hotelier in Kale, the gateway to Chin State, one of Myanmar’s most scenic but underdeveloped regions, said that government support for tourism development would bring huge improvements for the lives of Chin people. 

“When people come to Chin State, [they say] it is an amazing, and beautiful place,” he said, adding that only a handful of tourists visit each month. “I think that if the government concentrates on [developing tourism] in Chin State, that will bring many improvements for the Chin people, including improvements in roads and transportation.” 

Bertie Lawson, managing director of Yangon-based Sampan Travel, said that Aung San Suu Kyi’s recommendations were “a good start”, but that much more needed to be done. 

As examples, he highlighted the practice by domestic airlines of charging foreigners double the price of Myanmar citizens, and the fact that buses to tourist destinations are often scheduled to arrive in the middle of the night, rather than at times more convenient for visitors. 

“This might seem small and petty, but they add up and make people wonder if Myanmar is really worth it, when they could go elsewhere and not have to deal with this,” he told VOA. 

“People aren’t complaining about the lack of CBT projects, or waterways. They’re complaining about the price, or about the issues they have traveling around the county. Those things can be changed, and should be looked at first,” he said. 

Lawson said he believed the impact of the Rakhine crisis on tourism would likely be long-term, but said there was still reason to be optimistic. 

“Repairing that reputation will take quite a long time,” he said. “I don’t think that means that tourism can’t do well, I just don’t think it will grow quite at the rate many were previously expecting.” 
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‘Leakage’ of Coal From North to South Korea Worries Experts

Following Seoul’s announcement that South Korean companies have illegally imported North Korean coal, U.S. experts are worried about North Korean trade that contravenes international sanctions.

The Korea Customs Service (KCS) announced earlier this month that three South Korean companies illegally imported North Korean coal that was transshipped at Russian ports, in violation of United Nations resolutions.

The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution on August 5, 2017, banning North Korea from exporting coal, iron, lead and other materials. Another resolution later that year, on December 22, called for U.N. members to seize and inspect vessels suspected of transporting prohibited items. 

According to the KCS, in seven shipments between April and October of last year, three South Korean companies imported a total of 35,038 tons of North Korean coal and pig iron with a combined worth of $5.81 million.

North Korean coal on ships registered under a third country set sail either from its ports of Songlim, Wonsan, Chongjin and Daean, and the cargoes were transshipped via the Russian ports of Kholmsk, Vladivostock and Nakhodka before arriving at the South Korean ports of Dangjin, Pohang, Masan, Incheon and Donghae.

Action by Seoul

The South Korean government is now seeking the prosecution of the three companies for the illicit import of the materials and forging customs documents to state the coal and pig iron were of Russian origin. It also banned four ships – the Sky Angel, Rich Glory, Shining Rich and Jin Long – that transported the coal to South Korea from entering its ports. 

Sanctions experts said South Korea’s illegal import of banned North Korean coal is a major violation of U.N. sanctions and that the U.N. panel of experts on North Korea may want to try to further investigate the ships that transported the coal to South Korea. 

“It’s major in the sense that North Korea is very skilled at getting around sanctions,” said Robert Huish, a sanctions expert at Canada’s Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  “The issue with this is that when sanctions are put in place, they are never simple because the target, which is North Korea, will always have the chance to circumvent them.” 

George Lopez, former member of the U.N. Panel of Experts for monitoring and implementing U.N. sanction on North Korea, said although he does not think the U.S. or U.N. will open a new investigation into the case, the panel of experts “may want to follow their own linkages to other sanctions violations, especially regarding particular ships and their owners and insurers.”

Lopez continued, “Their own connecting of the dots might lead to a critique of the [South Korea] customs service or an encouragement to other nations to follow this case as a model.” 

Joshua Stanton, a Washington-based attorney who helped draft the North Korean Sanctions Enforcement Act for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, thinks the U.S. or U.N. should probe the case further if there is an indication that the South Korean government knowingly committed the illegal acts.

“If the evidence shows South Korea did it willfully or that it stood by after having enough knowledge to know that the coal was North Korean, they should be sanctioned [by the U.S.],” Stanton said. “I think there are things that the U.S. law enforcement and the U.N. panel of experts can investigate and should investigate. And the fact that the South Korean government denies it, is not persuasive to me.” 

Some experts are concerned that South Korea’s illicit import could have a significant impact on the U.S. policy to apply maximum pressure on North Korea. 

“Sanctions leakage does lessen the pressure on Pyongyang,” said Troy Stangarone, senior director at Korea Economic Institute specializing in South Korean trade and North Korea, adding, “North Korea has a long history of working to evade sanctions, and it is unsurprising that some of its efforts are coming to light.”

Length of investigation

The South Korean government faced a criticism that the investigations into this case, which took over 10 months, were overly drawn out, reflecting its reluctance to enforce sanctions. 

In an interview with VOA’s Korean Service last week in Seoul, Cho Hyun, the vice foreign minister of South Korea, said the pace of the investigation reflected nothing other than a desire for accuracy.

“It took time to accurately probe the case, and following the principle of being presumed innocent until guilty, [we] could not inform [the public of the investigation] in the interim period,” he said.

Kim Yung-moon, the commissioner of Korean customs, also told VOA’s Korean Service that it took time to prove the coal was actually from North Korea.

“Because the North Korean coal entered [South Korea] after being transshipped from Russia, taking three months at times, we needed to prove that the coals were, in fact, from North Korea,” he said.

The Trump administration remains cautious about making accusations against the South Korean government for failing to enforce sanctions, stressing the importance of fully implementing U.N. sanctions. 

The U.S. Treasury Department said in an email sent to VOA last week, the “Treasury strictly enforces OFAC (Office of Foreign Asset Control) sanctions and U.N. Security Council Resolutions prohibiting illicit transactions with North Korea and works closely with our South Korean partners to continue to implement existing sanctions.” It further stated that the department does not speculate publicly on possible violations. 

In July, the State Department issued a “North Korea Sanctions and Enforcement Actions Advisory” warning that businesses “should be aware of deceptive practices employed by North Korea,” emphasizing that the OFAC has “authority to impose sanctions on any person determined to … have sold, supplied, transferred, or purchased, directly or indirectly, to or from North Korea or any person acting for or on behalf of the government of North Korea.” The advisory was distributed in five foreign languages, including Korean.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two Russian individuals, three companies, and six Russian-flagged ships for doing business with North Korea.

Christy Lee of the VOA Korean Service contributed to this report.
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Chile’s Pinera Promises to Spur Investment with Tax Reform

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said on Tuesday that his overhaul of the country’s tax structure would “modernize” Chile’s revenue system and stimulate investment by local and foreign companies.

The conservative leader said in a televised address that reform would, among other proposals, calibrate taxes paid by conventional companies with those paid by digital technology companies. The reform aims “to create a simpler and more equitable and fully integrated tax system for all Chilean companies.”

Digital commerce companies with local operations like Netflix and Uber are likely to be affected under the reform.

E-commerce is gaining traction in Latin America after a slow start. Last month, an Amazon Web Services vice president met with Pinera to discuss Amazon investing in the country as part of a longer-term regional expansion plan.

Pinera, a billionaire second-term president, whose first term as president was marred by protests over rising inequality, in June detailed a $26 billion spending plan and called for unity as Chile continues its “vigorous march towards development.”
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

US Lawmakers Seek to Impose More Sanctions on ‘Menace’ Russia

U.S. lawmakers pushed for more aggressive steps to counteract the Russian “menace” on Tuesday, despite Trump administration officials insisting current sanctions were having an effect and vowing to impose more economic pain if Moscow does not change its behavior.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he would like better ties with Moscow, but although he met Russian President Vladimir Putin last month, relations between the two countries have been further strained.

Members of Congress, where both chambers are controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans, have called for more action, including introducing new sanctions legislation “from hell,” to punish Russia for its annexation of Crimea, involvement in Syria’s civil war and cyberattacks seeking to influence U.S. elections.

They held three hearings related to Russia on Tuesday, in the Banking and Foreign Relations committees and a Judiciary counterterrorism subcommittee. Lawmakers chastised administration officials for doing too little to change Russian behavior.

Both Republicans and Democrats have criticized Trump, particularly after his Helsinki summit with Putin last month, for failing to stand up to Moscow and not fully enacting a sweeping sanctions law passed nearly unanimously a year ago.

“It’s not often that Congress acts together in such a strong manner,” said Republican Senator Mike Crapo, chairman of the Banking Committee, which oversees sanctions policy. “… But then, Russia is a menace on so many different levels, today, that Congress can be compelled to act with a single voice.”

Senator Bob Menendez noted that the administration has not designated any new oligarchs for sanctions since April and has eased some sanctions.

“We’re told to judge the administration by its actions and not the president’s words, but these actions seem to be more aligned with the president’s accommodating and disturbing rhetoric than a tougher approach to the Kremlin,” Menendez said at the banking hearing.

Menendez vowed that Congress will act, with or without the administration.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters later Tuesday there was strong interest in legislation to punish Moscow, although he said chances were “probably pretty slim” such a measure would come up for a vote before the Nov. 6 congressional elections.

New cyberattacks

Microsoft said late Monday that hackers linked to the Kremlin sought to launch cyberattacks on the Senate and conservative American think tanks, warning of broader attacks ahead of the November vote.

The Kremlin rejected the Microsoft allegations.

Moscow has repeatedly denied attempting to influence U.S. elections, including the 2016 presidential vote that brought Trump into office.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in 2016, seeking to tilt the vote in Trump’s favor, and, backed by lawmakers, warned that more would come in upcoming elections.

“America is under cyberattack. We’re beginning to act, but not quick enough and not forcefully enough,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said at the Judiciary subcommittee hearing.

‘Economic pain’

Administration officials insisted existing sanctions were hitting Russia.

“Though Russia’s malign activities continue, we believe its adventurism undoubtedly has been checked by the knowledge that we can bring much more economic pain to bear using our powerful range of authorities — and that we will not hesitate to do so if its conduct does not demonstrably and significantly change,” senior Treasury official Sigal Mandelker told the banking panel.

The Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on two Russians, one Russian company and one Slovakian firm over actions it said helped another Russian company avoid penalties over cyber-related activities.

The United States also announced sanctions on Russian shipping over violations of U.N. restrictions on North Korea.

Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell told Foreign Relations that concern about sanctions has cost Russia $8 to $10 billion in arms deals. Mitchell also said foreign direct investment in Russia has fallen by 80 percent since 2013, “which is a pretty stunning number.”

“I think this administration has been clear that we are prepared to take additional steps,” Mitchell said. “There is an escalatory ladder to sanctions. We are aware of what additional steps would be needed to make an even bigger point.”

In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Trump said he would only consider lifting sanctions against Russia if it were to do something positive for the United States, for instance in Syria or in Ukraine.
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President: Serbia May Reintroduce Compulsory Military Service

Serbia might reintroduce compulsory military service, nine years after abolishing it, to help improve the combat readiness of its army in the Balkans, where tensions occasionally flare, President Aleksandar Vucic said Tuesday.

The armed forces of Serbia, which emerged as an independent state after the bloody collapse of former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, were fully professionalized in 2011, but remain poorly paid and equipped.

Serbia, which is a candidate for European Union membership, has retained voluntary service and reserve units.

Vucic said Belgrade was considering reintroducing compulsory military service of between three and six months after 2020.

“We are still thinking about that. … It depends on the finances,” he told reporters at the air force base of Batajnica, just outside Belgrade.

Young people who served would have an advantage when seeking jobs in the public sector, Vucic added, without elaborating.

Serbian politicians have repeatedly floated the idea of reintroducing conscription. But many military experts say it would be too costly and that such a short period of service would contribute little to the country’s defense capabilities.

Under its 2018 budget, Serbia allocated $703 million, or 1.39 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for its 40,000-strong military, up from $693.8 million in 2017.

In recent years Serbia has sought to improve its defense capabilities through a donation of six MiG-29 fighters by Russia, with which it has strong historic and cultural ties, and through the purchase of 10 helicopters manufactured by Airbus.

Vucic and Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin have frequently spoken of procuring surplus tanks, attack helicopters and armored personnel carriers from Russia and more jet fighters from Belarus, but such deals have yet to materialize.

Serbia, which maintains military neutrality, joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in 2006 and in 2015 it signed the Individual Partnership Action Plan — the highest level of cooperation for countries not aspiring to join the alliance.

Although it strives for a balance between Moscow and the West, Serbia in 2017 took part in more than 100 joint activities with NATO or its member states, including 13 training drills, seven bilateral activities with the United States and only two with Russia.
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Britain Confident Trump Will Stand Up to Putin

Britain’s foreign secretary is calling for traditional Western allies to join in a united front against Russia’s “aggressive and malign behavior,” expressing confidence that the United States under President Donald Trump will lead the way. 

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told an audience in Washington it is essential for the U.S., Britain and the European Union to stand firm against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s increasingly dangerous attacks on long-standing international norms. 

“Those who don’t share our values, need to know that there will always be a serious price to pay if red lines are crossed by the territorial incursions, the use of banned weapons, or increasingly cyberattacks,” Hunt said Tuesday prior to talks with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

“He [Putin] is testing us,” Hunt added. “He is just wanting to see just how robust and how united the West is.” 

Actions against Russia

Hunt said there are several reasons for optimism, praising the United States for its strong stance on Russia following the March poisoning of a former Russian agent and his daughter in the British town of Salisbury. 

The U.S. expelled 60 Russian diplomats and imposed sanctions, pointing to the use of a Soviet-era nerve toxin known as Novichok. 

U.S. and British officials have also accused Russia of seeking to interfere with their elections. 

At the same time, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on assertions that Russia sought to meddle in the U.S. election, taking to social media to dismiss an investigation into Russia’s actions as a “rigged witch hunt.” 

And in an interview Monday with the Reuters news agency, Trump said he would consider lifting sanctions against Russia in exchange for cooperation in Syria or Ukraine. 

Hunt downplayed such concerns. 

“President Trump is the most active president on social media that there’s ever been,” the British foreign secretary said. “It’s a different style of politics, but I think it’s important to look at what he does as well as what he says.” 

“What you see is an approach to foreign policy that is different to his predecessors but is absolutely focused on upholding the international order,” Hunt said. “If you look at his actions he is also prepared to be very tough — tougher actually than a number of his predecessors to make sure people get the message about vital red lines.” 

As if to back up Hunt’s assertions, top administration officials told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday they are prepared to impose additional sanctions on Russia if its behavior does not change. 

Strategy against Russia

The administration’s strategy is to “continue raising the costs until Russian aggression ceases, while keeping the door open to dialogue,” Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

Already, existing sanctions are believed to have cost Russia up to $10 billion in arms sales alone, while slashing foreign investment by 80 percent. 

“Though Russia’s malign activities continue, we believe its adventurism undoubtedly has been checked by the knowledge that we can bring much more economic pain to bear,” Acting Deputy Treasury Secretary Sigal Mandelker told the Senate Banking Committee. “We will not hesitate to do so if its conduct does not demonstrably and significantly change.” 

Separately Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions against two Russian companies and a Russian individual for helping Moscow try to avoid existing sanctions due to Russia’s cyber activities.

It also slapped Russian shipping companies with new sanctions for violating United Nations restrictions transferring refined petroleum products to North Korea.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov responded Tuesday in a statement on the ministry’s website, saying the new U.S. sanctions were groundless, promising a response from Moscow.

Still, some lawmakers and other officials are concerned Russia’s behavior is not changing quickly enough. 

Microsoft said late Monday it had detected and disrupted efforts by the Kremlin-linked group known as Fancy Bear or APT28, to hack into or attack conservative U.S. think tanks as well as several U.S. senators. 

Moscow has rejected Microsoft’s allegations, saying there is no evidence to support them. 

Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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US Weakens Environmental Controls on Coal Production

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration weakened environmental controls on coal production Tuesday, overturning national regulations set by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.

The Environmental Protection Agency said it will now allow individual coal-producing states to set their own rules for carbon emissions rather than have to adhere to an overall country-wide standard. The plan is subject to a 60-day comment period before it is finalized.

The action marks a fulfillment of a 2016 Trump campaign pledge to boost the fortunes of coal companies and coal-producing states.

It came hours before the president headed to a political rally for a Senate candidate in West Virginia, the second biggest U.S. coal production state, where he was expected to promote the plan. During his successful run for the White House, Trump supporters in coal states often held signs saying, “Trump Digs Coal.”

The EPA decision is Trump’s latest effort to topple Obama’s environmental legacy, following his withdrawal of the U.S. from the 2015 international Paris climate control accord championed by the former president.

At the time that he revoked U.S. participation in the agreement, Trump said, “I was elected by the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.”

The EPA said its new rule is designed to replace Obama’s 2015 Clean Power Plan that targeted greenhouse gas emissions from coal plants and sought to shift power production away from coal to abundant natural gas supplies in the U.S., along with wind and solar energy. Trump’s EPA called the Obama rules “overly prescriptive and burdensome.”

The White House said the policy change will “significantly decrease bureaucratic red tape and compliance costs” for coal companies, “keeping American energy affordable and competitive on the world stage.”

But environmental groups immediately attacked the Trump administration edict, with the Natural Resources Defense Council calling it a “Dirty Power Plan.”

Environmental advocates said the Trump policy change, assuming some states weaken their regulations compared to the current national standards, will boost emissions from coal-fired power plants and worsen global warming.

Congressman Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat, said “once again, this administration is choosing polluters’ profits over public health and safety.”
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UK, EU Give Glimmer of Brexit Optimism Amid No-Deal Warning

British and European Union negotiators expressed cautious optimism Tuesday that they would reach a deal to prevent a disorderly U.K. exit from the bloc, saying talks will be intensified and take place “continuously” over the next few crucial months.

After meeting U.K. Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab in Brussels, chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said differences remained between the two sides on future economic relations and maintaining an open border between EU member Ireland and the U.K.’s Northern Ireland.

 

Barnier said the challenge “for the coming weeks is to try and define an ambitious partnership between the U.K. and the EU, a partnership that has no precedent.”

 

Raab said there were “significant” issues to overcome, but that if both sides showed ambition and pragmatism, an agreement could be reached by October.

 

That’s the deadline the two sides have set themselves for a deal on divorce terms and the outlines of future trade, so that it can be approved by individual EU countries before Brexit day on March 29.

 

But negotiations have got bogged down amid infighting within British Prime Minister Theresa May’s divided Conservative government about how close an economic relationship to seek with the EU after Brexit.

 

Last month the government finally produced a plan, proposing to stick close to EU regulations in return for free trade in goods and no customs checks on the Irish border. But to some EU officials that smacks of cherry-picking benefits of EU membership without the responsibilities — something the bloc has explicitly ruled out.

 

Last week Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics put the chances of getting a Brexit deal at 50-50.

 

British businesses have warned that leaving without a deal could cause mayhem for trade and travel, bringing higher food prices, logjams around U.K. ports and disruption to everything from aviation to medical supplies.

 

A group that represents U.K. hospitals and ambulance services has said that its members may run out of drugs if Britain leaves the European Union without an agreement on future relations.

 

In a letter published Tuesday, NHS Providers said a lack of “visible and appropriate communication” from the government is hampering preparations for a so-called no-deal Brexit.

 

In a letter to National Health Service bosses that was leaked to the Times of London, the group’s chief executive said it would be more efficient to develop contingency plans nationally rather than “have to reinvent the wheel 229 times.”

 

Chris Hopson said “the entire supply chain of pharmaceuticals” could be affected by the failure to reach a deal, adding that it could also “jeopardize” the EU workforce “on which the NHS relies.”

 

The U.K. government says it remains confident of reaching a deal, but is preparing for all outcomes. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Tuesday that the chance of no deal was “not negligible,” and that outcome would be bad both for Britain and for the EU.

 

On Thursday, the U.K. government plans to publish the first in a series of technical reports outlining the effects a no-deal Brexit would have on various sectors and offering advice to businesses and the public on how to prepare.

 
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Small Firms Thrive as Customers Seek More Unique Clothing

Claudio Belotti knows he cut the denim that became the jeans Meghan Markle wore on one of her first outings as the fiancee of Britain’s Prince Harry.

 

That’s because he cuts all of the fabric for Hiut Denim Co., a 7-year-old company that makes jeans in Cardigan, Wales. Belotti is a craftsman with 50 years of experience that gives his work a personal touch — something that’s not quite couture but not exactly mass-produced either.

 

“There’s a story behind each one,” Belotti said. “You’re paying for the skill.”

 

Customer demand for something unique is helping small companies like Hiut buck the globalization trend and set up shop in developed countries that had long seen such work disappear. While international brands like H&M and Zara still dominate the clothing market, small manufacturers are finding a niche by using technology and skill to bring down costs and targeting well-heeled customers who are willing to pay a little more for clothes that aren’t churned out by the thousands half a world away.

 

Profits at smaller national clothing firms grew 2 percent over the last five years, compared with a 25 percent decline at the top 700 traditional multinationals, according to research by Kantar Consulting.

 

Their success comes from promoting their small size and individuality, said Jaideep Prabhu, a professor of enterprise at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School.

 

“It’s a different kind of manufacturing,” he said. “They are not the Satanic mills. These are very cool little boutiques.”

 

Hiut, which makes nothing but jeans, employs 16 people in Cardigan and makes 160 pairs a week. Women’s styles range from 145 pounds ($192) to 185 pounds ($244), men’s go for 150 pounds to 235 pounds. Each is signed by the person who sewed it, known in the company as a “Grand Master.” By contrast, Primark says it sources products from 1,071 factories in 31 countries and keeps costs down by “buying in vast quantities.” The most expensive pair of jeans on the company’s website sells for 20 pounds.

 

Many of these small manufacturers also try to stand out by embracing social issues, from reducing waste to paying a living wage.

 

Hiut, for example, highlights its efforts to put people back to work in a small town that was devastated when a factory that employed 400 people and made 35,000 pairs of jeans a week shut down. Underscoring the years of craftsmanship that go into each pair of jeans, the company offers “free repairs for life.”

 

This kind of customer service helps form a “personal relationship” between a brand and the shopper that is valuable, says Anusha Couttigane of Kantar Consulting.

 

Customers notice. Laura Lewis-Davies, a museum worker who from Wales, says she wants to support independent businesses when she can and bought a pair of Hiut jeans after seeing a story about Markle wearing the brand.

 

“Well-crafted things bring more joy,” she said. “I’d rather buy fewer things but know they’re good quality [and] made by people who are working in good conditions for a fair salary.”

 

The rise of small clothing makers reflects a broader shift in consumer preferences away from big brands — as evident, say, in the boom in craft beers. In fashion, technology is fueling the trend.

 

The internet provides a cheap way to reach customers, while off-the-shelf artificial intelligence programs allow companies to accurately forecast demand and order materials so they can make small batches and avoid unwanted stock. That makes it possible to produce clothes that are more customized.

 

“Data is the backbone for this and the trigger,” said Achim Berg, a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. in Frankfurt who advises fashion and luxury goods companies.  “It’s not custom-made, but it gives the consumer the opportunity to be more individual.”

 

A survey of 500 companies by McKinsey and The Business of Fashion, an influential industry news website, identified personalization as this year’s No. 1 trend. Consumers are willing to hand over personal information to get more customized products and services, according to a 2016 survey by Salesforce.com, which provides online sales and marketing tools for businesses.

 

Established brands have recognized the trend and offering to customize products, too. Adidas, for example, offers the chance to mix and match colors and materials on things like the sole and laces on some of its shoes.

 

But making clothes on a smaller scale has also gained a moral tinge after scandals about sweatshops, child labor and unsafe working practices hit global brands in recent years. The 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, which killed 1,100 and injured 2,500 others, highlighted the grim conditions in factories that export to the United States and Europe.

 

Jenny Holloway, who employs 100 people at Fashion Enter in London, said she’s not interested in making as many garments as possible and selling them as fast as she can.

 

“I’d like to say we’ve done a massive business plan and we refer to it. We don’t,” Holloway said. “We sit down and have a cup of tea and we have a chat and we evaluate how things sit with us. How does that client fit our ethics? … It isn’t about money and making that big buck. It’s about sustainability.”

 

Prabhu sees this as part of a bigger shift away from the model of outsourcing production to low-cost countries like China. “You’re trying to constantly keep up with your customers. Your competitive advantage is to give them something closer to their needs.”

 

Hiut Denim is an example of this backlash.

 

The company is based in a town of some 4,000 people where 10 percent of the population once made jeans. Then, a decade ago, the factory shut down as the owners moved production to Morocco and later to China.

 

When David and Clare Hieatt decided to start making jeans again, they were determined to take advantage of the years of professional experience going to waste. They hoped that would give their products a “story” to market.

 

Markle’s decision to wear Hiut jeans in Wales boosted that effort. The company now has a waiting list of three months.

 

“For the town it’s been incredible because it gives people a confidence to go, ‘Wow. This town makes a world-class product,'” David Hieatt said. “We lost our mojo when we lost 400 jobs, but now we’re getting it back. That’s a very cool story.”
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Outgoing UN Human Rights Chief Warns UN Could Collapse

The outgoing United Nations’ human rights chief says the power held by the five permanent members of the Security Council could cause the U.N. to “collapse.”

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein spoke to reporters Monday in Geneva as he prepares to step down from office at the end of the month.

He said the five Council members with veto power — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — are “running too much of the business” and have created a “logjam.”

“When they cooperate, things can move. When they don’t, everything becomes stuck and the organization in general becomes so marginal,” Zeid said, referring to vetoed resolutions on Syria and Israeli polices toward the Palestinians.

Zeid also alluded to rising nationalism across the globe, warning that humanity may be forgetting the lessons of World War II.

“My sense is the further away we get from those historical and dreadful experiences, the more we tend to play fast and loose with the institutions created to prevent repetition,” he said.

Zeid, a Jordanian, declined to seek another four-year term as the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet is replacing him. 
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Trump Demands Fed Help on Economy, Complains About Interest Rate Rises

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he was “not thrilled” with the Federal Reserve under Chairman Jerome Powell for raising interest rates and said the U.S. central bank should do more to help him to boost the economy.

In the middle of international trade disputes, Trump in an interview with Reuters also accused China and Europe of manipulating their respective currencies.

American presidents have rarely criticized the Fed in recent decades because its independence has been seen as important for economic stability. Trump has departed from this past practice.

The president spooked investors in July when he criticized the U.S. central bank’s over tightening monetary policy. On Monday he said the Fed should be more accommodating on interest rates.

“I’m not thrilled with his raising of interest rates, no. I’m not thrilled,” Trump said, referring to Powell. Trump nominated Powell last year to replace former Fed Chair Janet Yellen.

U.S. stock prices dipped after Trump’s comments to Reuters and the U.S. dollar edged down against a basket of currencies.

Trump, who criticized the Fed when he was a candidate, said other countries benefited from their central banks’ moves during tough trade talks, but the United States was not getting support from the Fed.

“We’re negotiating very powerfully and strongly with other nations. We’re going to win. But during this period of time I should be given some help by the Fed. The other countries are accommodated,” Trump said.

The Fed has raised interest rates twice this year and is expected to do so again next month with consumer price inflation rising to 2.9 percent in July, its highest level in six years, and unemployment at 3.9 percent, the lowest level in about 20 years.

After leaving its policy interest rates at historic lows for about six years after the 2008 global financial crisis, the Fed began slowly raising rates again in late 2015.

Trump said China was manipulating its yuan currency to make up for having to pay tariffs on imports imposed by Washington.

“I think China’s manipulating their currency, absolutely. And I think the euro is being manipulated also,” Trump said.

“What they’re doing is making up for the fact that they’re now paying … hundreds of millions of dollars and in some cases billions of dollars into the United States Treasury. And so they’re being accommodated and I’m not. And I’ll still win.”

Trump has frequently accused China of manipulating its currency, but his administration has so far declined to name China formally as a currency manipulator in a semi-annual report from the U.S. Treasury Department.

The U.S. dollar has strengthened this year by 5.35 percent against the yuan, reversing most of its large drop against the Chinese currency in 2017.

The euro is off by about 4.3 percent against the greenback this year, beset by concerns over the pace of economic growth in the EU trading bloc and over U.S.-European trade tensions.

Trump has made reducing U.S. trade deficits a priority and the combination of rising interest rates and a strengthening dollar pose risks for export growth.

A Fed spokesman declined to comment on Trump’s remarks on Monday.

Powell last month said in an interview that the Fed has a “long tradition” of independence from political concerns, and that no one in the Trump administration had said anything to him that gave him concerns on that front.

“We’re going to do our business in a way that’s strictly nonpolitical, without taking political issues into consideration, and that carries out the mandate Congress has given us,” he said.

Asked if he believed in the Fed’s independence, Trump said: “I believe in the Fed doing what’s good for the country.”

Powell took over as Fed chief earlier this year.

“Am I happy with my choice?” Trump said to Reuters about Powell. “I’ll let you know in seven years.”
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Islamic Militants Launch Attacks in Chechnya, 5 Killed

Islamic militants launched a series of attacks Monday in Russia’s southern province of Chechnya, leaving five young militants dead and several police officers wounded, officials said.

The violence indicated the Islamist insurgency remains active in the mostly Muslim province despite authorities’ claims that it has been eradicated. It follows an attack on a Russian Orthodox church in May that left four attackers, two policemen and a churchgoer dead.

Chechnya’s regional leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, sought to downplay the attacks, saying they were quickly fended off by police. He insisted the young attackers were brainwashed by Islamic militants and don’t have any public support in Chechnya.

Dzhambulat Umarov, the information minister in the regional government, told the Tass news agency the attackers were between 11 and 16 years old. He said the Islamic State has increasingly focused on teenagers in its efforts to recruit supporters in the region.

The regional police said in a statement that two knife-wielding attackers broke into a police station in the southern town of Shali and stabbed two officers. Police shot and killed them.

In another clash in Shali, two attackers tried to blow up a truck loaded with gas canisters in a suicide attack, but the vehicle failed to explode, Kadyrov spokesman Alvi Karimov said on Kommersant FM radio. He said the two were shot dead by police.

Russian news agencies also reported an attack in the village of Mesker-Yurt, outside Shali, in which an attacker blew himself up near a police checkpoint. Police were unhurt and Kadyrov said the suicide bomber survived and was hospitalized.

And in yet another attack in the regional capital of Grozny, an attacker driving a car hit two traffic police officers, injuring them, officials said. Police later shot and killed the driver.

The Kremlin has relied on the strongman Kadyrov to stabilize Chechnya after two separatist wars in the 1990s, and has provided generous subsidies to help rebuild the region.

International human rights groups, however, have accused Kadyrov of rampant rights abuses, including arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings by his feared security forces.

Radical Islamic militants, some of whom have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group, have conducted sporadic raids in Chechnya, defying Kadyrov’s assurances that the region is stable.
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China to Keep Providing Aid to Pacific for Sustainable Development

China will continue to provide aid to Tonga and other countries in the Pacific to help them achieve sustainable development, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday, amid a mounting debt problem in the region.

Tonga’s prime minister on Friday backed down on calls for Pacific island nations to collectively lobby China to forgive their debts, after a source said China had complained about the plan.

Tonga is one of eight island nations in the South Pacific carrying significant debt to China, and had started building support to press China to cancel repayments.

Pacific nations were due to discuss the plan at a forum of regional leaders scheduled to be held in the tiny island nation of Nauru early next month, Tongan Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva told Reuters on Thursday.

Pōhiva said in a statement on Friday that “after further reflection” he believed the forum was not the proper platform to discuss Chinese debt, and that Pacific nations should each find their own solutions.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he noted Pōhiva’s statement of “clarification” and his positive appraisal of ties with China.

“I would like to stress that China and Tonga are strategic partners of mutual respect and common development,” Lu told a daily news briefing in Beijing.

“China will continue to provide support and assistance to Tonga and other Pacific island countries in achieving sustainable development to the best of its ability,” he added, without elaborating.

A recent Reuters analysis of the financial books of South Pacific island nations showed China’s lending programs had gone from almost zero to more than $1.3 billion outstanding in a decade.

The debt burden of small economies with little earning power has stoked fears the region could fall into financial distress and become more susceptible to diplomatic pressure from China.
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With Inflation Soaring, Venezuela Prices Shed Five Zeros

Venezuela on Monday slashed five zeros from prices as part of a broad economic plan that President Nicolas Maduro says will tame hyperinflation but critics call another raft of failed socialist policies that will push the chaotic country deeper into crisis.

Streets were quiet and shops were closed due to a national holiday that Maduro decreed for the first day of the new pricing plan for the stricken economy, which the International Monetary Fund has estimated will have 1 million percent inflation by year end.

The price change comes with a 3,000 percent minimum wage hike, tax increases meant to shore up state coffers and a plan to peg salaries, prices and the country’s exchange rate to the petro, an elusive state-backed cryptocurrency.

Economists say the plan, which was announced last Friday, is likely to escalate the crisis facing the once-prosperous nation that is now suffering from Soviet-style product shortages and a mass exodus of citizens fleeing for other South American countries.

Venezuelans were skeptical the plan will turn the economy around.

“I can’t find a cash machine because all the banks are closed today,” said Jose Moreno, 71, a retired engineer in the central city of Valencia, complaining of chronically dysfunctional public services. “There’s no money, there’s no water, there’s no electricity

  • there’s nothing.”

After a decade-long oil bonanza that spawned a consumption boom in the OPEC member, many citizens are now reduced to scouring through garbage to find food as monthly salaries currently amount to a few U.S. dollars a month.

The new measures have worried shopkeepers already struggling to stay afloat due to hyperinflation, government-set prices for goods ranging from flour to diapers, and strict currency controls that crimp imports.

‘The Plan is Incoherent’

Venezuela’s main business organization, Fedecamaras, on Monday slammed Maduro’s economic plan as “improvised” and said it will cause confusion and put the country’s economic activity at “severe risk.”

“Pegging the bolivar to the petro to us seems to be a serious mistake,” said Fedecamaras President Carlos Larrazabal at a news conference. “The plan is incoherent.”

The bolivar traded on the opaque black market on Monday at around 96 bolivars to the dollar, a rate reflecting the monetary overhaul and which implies a depreciation in real terms of nearly 30 percent since last week. The rate may not be representative of the overall market because trading volumes were thin due to the public holiday, industry experts said.

Growing discontent with Maduro has spread to the military as soldiers struggle to get enough food and many desert by leaving the country, along with thousands of civilians.

Two high-ranking military officers were arrested this month for their alleged involvement in drone explosions during a speech by Maduro, who has described it as an assassination attempt.

The chaos has become an increasing concern for the region.

In recent days, Ecuador and Peru have tightened visa requirements for Venezuelans, and violence drove hundreds of Venezuelan migrants back across the border with Brazil on Saturday.

Maduro, re-elected to a second term in May in a vote widely condemned as rigged, says his government is the victim of an “economic war” led by political adversaries with the help of Washington, and accuses the United States of seeking to overthrow him.

The United States has denied the accusations. But it has described the former bus driver and union leader as a dictator and levied several rounds of financial sanctions against his government and top officials.
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Europe Sees Sharp Rise in Measles: 41,000 Cases, 37 Deaths

The World Health Organization says the number of measles cases in Europe jumped sharply during the first six months of 2018 and at least 37 people have died.

The U.N. agency’s European office said Monday more than 41,000 measles cases were reported in the region during the first half of the year — more than in all 12-month periods so far this decade.

The previous highest annual total was 23,927 cases in 2017. A year earlier, only 5,273 cases were reported.

The agency said half — some 23,000 cases — this year occurred in Ukraine, where an insurgency backed by Russia has been fighting the government for four years in the east in a conflict that has killed over 10,000 people.

France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Russia and Serbia also had more than 1,000 measles infections each so far this year.

Measles, among the world’s most contagious diseases, is a virus that’s spread in the air through coughing or sneezing. It can be prevented with a vaccine that’s been in use since the 1960s, but health officials say vaccination rates of at least 95 percent are needed to prevent epidemics.

Vaccine skepticism remains high in many parts of Europe after past immunization problems.

Measles typically begins with a high fever and also causes a rash on the face and neck. While most people who get it recover, measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children, according to the WHO.

Italy has introduced a new law requiring parents to vaccinate their children against measles and nine other childhood diseases. Romania also passed a similar bill, including hefty fines for parents who didn’t vaccinate their children.

The U.N. agency on Monday called for better surveillance of the disease and increased immunization rates to prevent measles from becoming endemic.
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Iran Oil Minister: France’s Oil Giant Total Pulls Out of Iran

Iran’s oil minister says France’s oil giant Total SA has pulled out of Iran after cancelling its $5 billion, 20-year agreement to develop the country’s massive South Pars offshore natural gas field over renewed U.S. sanctions.

The parliament’s website ICANA.ir quoted Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh as saying on Monday that since Total first announced its decision a while ago, Iran has been in the process of “looking for an alternative” to Total. He didn’t elaborate.

 

There was no immediate comment from TotaI.

 

Earlier this month, Iran said China’s state-owned petroleum corporation took a majority 80 percent share of the project. CNPC originally had some 30 percent of shares in the project.

 

The renewed U.S. sanctions took effect in August, after America’s pullout from the nuclear deal in May.

 

 
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Pope: ‘No Effort Must Be Spared’ to Ensure End to Clergy Sexual Abuse

Pope Francis said Monday every effort must be made to ensure the culture of the Catholic Church prevents future clerical sexual abuse of children and to make sure that if such abuses do take place, they cannot be covered up.

The pope’s comments came in a letter to the world’s Catholics in response to the latest revelations of abuses by clergy members.

Last week, a U.S. grand jury report said more than 300 predator priests had abused more than 1,000 children in six Pennsylvania dioceses over the span of 70 years.

“Even though it can be said that most of these cases belong to the past, nonetheless as time goes on we have come to know the pain of many of the victims,” Francis said in his letter.

He said with “shame and repentance” the Catholic Church acknowledges it did not act in a timely manner and realize the amount of damage the abusers have done to so many people.

Francis said “no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient.”

The church has long faced cases of sexual abuse by the clergy in many countries. In the past month alone, the pope accepted the resignation of an Australian archbishop convicted in May for covering up child abuse, as well as the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who has also been accused of sexual abuse.

Francis noted in his letter ongoing efforts to address the problem and ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults while holding responsible those who commit abuses.

“We have delayed in applying these actions and sanctions that are so necessary, yet I am confident that they will help to guarantee a greater culture of care in the present and future,” he wrote.

He said without the participation of all Catholics, the efforts to “uproot the culture of abuse” will fail.

“It is essential that we, as a Church, be able to acknowledge and condemn, with sorrow and shame, the atrocities perpetuated by consecrated persons, clerics, and all those entrusted with the mission of watching over and caring for the most vulnerable,” Pope Francis said.
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Shots Fired at Gate of US Embassy in Turkey, No One Hurt

Shots were fired at a security booth outside the U.S. Embassy in Turkey’s capital early Monday, but U.S. officials said no one was hurt.

Private Ihlas news agency said four to five rounds were fired from a moving white car and targeted the booth outside Gate 6 at the embassy in Ankara. Police were searching for the car.

 

U.S. Embassy spokesman David Gainer thanked police for their “rapid response”‘ and said no injuries had been reported.

 

The U.S. mission is closed this week as Turkey celebrates the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

 

Ties between Ankara and Washington have been strained over the case of an imprisoned American pastor, leading the U.S. to impose sanctions, and increased tariffs sent the Turkish lira tumbling last week.

 

Evangelical pastor Andrew Craig Brunson — currently under house arrest after more than 1 1/2 years in prison — is facing up to 35 years in prison if convicted of espionage and terror-related charges.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump has called for his immediate release and threatened more sanctions. The continued detention of a Turkish-American NASA scientist and three local consular staff members adds to the tensions.

 

Last week, the U.S. president signed a defense spending bill that includes delaying the delivery of F-35 fighter jets pending a Pentagon report. U.S. senators have been working to block their delivery in response to Brunson’s arrest and Turkey’s pledge to buy Russian S-400 missile systems.

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for a boycott on U.S.-made electronic products, with some citizens heeding his call and filming themselves breaking their iPhones. Turkey has also increased imports tariffs on some products.

 

 
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Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Euro Fund: Greece Has Officially Exited Bailout Program

“For the first time since early 2010, Greece can stand on its own feet,” the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) rescue fund said as Athens exited its final, three-year international bailout program on Monday.

The ESM allocated about $71 billion over the past three years, after an agreement was reached in August 2015 to help the country cope with fallout from an ongoing debt crisis.

“Today we can safely conclude the ESM program with no more follow-up rescue programs,” Mario Centeno, the chairman of the ESM’s board of governors, said in a statement. “This was possible thanks to the extraordinary effort of the Greek people, the good cooperation with the current Greek government and the support of European partners through loans and debt relief.”

In 2010, Greece was declared at risk of default after struggling with massive debt, loss of investment and huge unemployment. Overall, nearly $300 billion in emergency loans were provided in three consecutive bailout packages from a European Union bailout fund and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In exchange, Athens was required to put in place severe austerity-based measures and reforms.

The completion of the loan program is a major accomplishment for Greece, but the country still faces an uphill battle to regain its economic stability.

 

The office of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras described the final bailout loan last week as the “last act in the drama. Now a new page of progress, justice and growth can be turned.”

“Greece has managed to stand on her feet again,” his office said.

 

Economic growth in Greece is slowly growing again, tourism is up nearly 17 percent in Athens this year, and once-record levels of joblessness are finally receding.

 

However, the country still faces massive challenges, including weak banks, the highest debt load in the European Union at 180 percent of GDP, and the loss of about a half-million mostly younger Greeks to Europe’s wealthier neighbors. Greece will also need to continue to repay its international loans until 2060.

The country’s three international bailouts took Europe to the brink of crisis.

 

The financial troubles exposed dangers in the European Union’s common currency and threatened to break the bloc apart. The large debt that remains in Greece and an even larger debt in Italy continue to be a financial danger to the EU.

The bailouts also led to regular and sometimes violent demonstrations in Athens by citizens angry at the government’s budget measures required by international lenders in return for the bailouts.

 

While Greece has begun to make economic progress, economics say the bulk of the austerity measures will likely need to remain in place for many years for the country to tackle its massive debt.

Some international economists have called for part of Greece’s loans to be written off in order for Greece to keep its ballooning debt payments in check. However, any kind of loan forgiveness would be a tough sell in Germany where the initially bailouts were unpopular.

The austerity measures included massive tax hikes as high as 70 percent of earned income and pension cuts that pushed nearly half of Greece’s elderly population below the poverty line.

Pensioner Yorgos Vagelakos, 81, told Reuters that five years ago he would go to his local market with 20 euros in his pocket, while today, he has just 2 euros. He says for him, the bailout will never end.

“It’s very often that just like today, I struggle, because I see all the produce on display at the market and I want to buy things, but when I don’t have even a cent in my pocket, I get really sad,” Vagelakos said.
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Italy Threatens to Return Migrants to Libya in New Standoff

Italy’s firebrand interior minister is threatening to return to Libya 177 migrants who have been aboard an Italian coast guard ship for days following another standoff with Malta.

Interior Minister Matteo Salvini demanded Sunday that other European countries take in the migrants after his Maltese counterpart, Michael Farrugia, insisted that the “only solution” is for the Diciotti ship to dock at the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.

The Diciotti has been off Lampedusa after rescuing the migrants Aug. 16. Italy asked Malta to take them in, but Malta refused, saying the migrant boat wasn’t in distress and that the migrants declined Maltese assistance, preferring to continue toward Italy.

In a tweet Sunday, Farrugia accused Italy of rescuing the migrants in Maltese waters “purely to prevent them from entering Italian waters.”
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Death Toll Rises to 43 in Italian Bridge Collapse

The death toll of Genoa’s bridge collapse has risen to 43 as rescuers confirm they found remains believed to be of a missing family.

Firefighters discovered the three bodies, reported to be those of a couple and their nine-year-old daughter, early Sunday inside a car extracted from the rubble of the viaduct.

All those reported missing after Tuesday’s collapse have now been accounted for, although rescuers say they will continue combing the wreckage.

The announcement followed the discovery Saturday of the body of a man in his 30s in the rubble and the death of another man in hospital.

Italy observed a national day of mourning Saturday for the victims of the tragedy.

Applause broke out at state funerals in Genoa as rescuers and members of the civil defense department arrived to take part in the service.

Authorities used an exhibition center in the area of the Genoa fairgrounds as a church.

Large screens were set up outside as Italians from all over the country and tourists turned out to follow the service. Many said they came out of solidarity with relatives of the victims because what happened could have happened to anyone.

The archbishop of Genoa, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, presided over the solemn service. Italy’s top officials and politicians, including head of state Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, attended.

But not all the families of the victims agreed to take part. Some decided to bury their dead relatives in their towns of origin, while others declined to participate in anger at having lost their loved ones in an accident that may have been caused by poor design or improper maintenance.

President Sergio Mattarella, who visited the site of the disaster and the injured in the hospital before attending the service, has defined the bridge collapse as “absurd and frightening,” saying the tragedy “struck not only Genoa but the whole nation.”

The government has set up a commission to investigate the causes of the bridge collapse. The disaster sparked a huge debate in Italy about the state of the country’s infrastructure.

 

Autostrade per l’Italia, the company that manages Italy’s highway system, held a news conference Saturday in Genoa, maintaining it has always acted responsibly as the operator of the toll road. CEO Giovanni Castellucci said it was premature to respond to the government’s plans to revoke the company’s concession, but said his company could build a new bridge in eight months.

The Morandi viaduct dates from the 1960s and has been riddled with structural problems for decades, leading to expensive maintenance and criticism from engineering experts.
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Serb Rejection of Report on Srebrenica Massacre Sows Division

Senior U.N. Human Rights officials condemn the decision by the Republika Srpska National Assembly in Bosnia and Herzegovina to take back its endorsement of a report acknowledging the massacre of thousands of Muslims in Srebrenica.

U.N. Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, warns the decision by the Republika Srpska National Assembly to revoke its endorsement of the 2004 Srebrenica Commission Report is a step backwards for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

He says it undermines the rule of law and efforts to achieve justice for victims of crimes committed against people of all ethnicities during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra-ad al-Hussein agrees.

 

He says this action will worsen the divisive, nationalistic rhetoric ahead of the general elections in October. His spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, says this decision will disrupt reconciliation efforts among the splintered communities.

“The 2004 Srebrenica Commission Report established that from the 10th to the 19th July 1995, between 7,000 and 8,000 Bosniaks went missing in the area of Srebrenica,” she said. “It also found that more than 1,000 Bosniaks were killed during this period. Two international courts have determined that this massacre of Bosnian Muslims constituted genocide.”

 

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina broke out after the breakup of Yugoslavia, pitting Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Muslims against each other. When it ended in 1995, around 100,000 people had been killed and more than two million displaced, making this the most devastating conflict in Europe since the end of World War II.

 

High Commissioner Zeid accuses the Srpska Parliament of withdrawing from the agreement for political gain ahead of the October elections. He says he fears it will increase existing tensions, divisions and mistrust in the country.

 

 
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