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Amnesty Marks 100 Days of Detention for Turkey Staff, as Ankara’s Rift With West Grows

Human rights group Amnesty International has held events to mark 100 days since several of its Turkish staff were detained in Istanbul. Prosecutors filed terror charges against the activists this week, the latest trials in a widespread crackdown that has soured relations between Ankara and its Western allies, culminating this week in the mutual suspension of visa services between the United States and Turkey. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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China’s Imports From North Korea Fall Nearly 38 Percent in September

China’s imports from North Korea fell 37.9 percent in September from a year earlier, marking the seventh consecutive month of decline, the customs office said Friday.

China-U.S. ties have been strained by President Donald Trump’s criticism of China’s trade practices and by demands that Beijing do more to pressure North Korea over Pyongyan’s nuclear and missile programmes.

China’s exports to North Korea in September dropped 6.7 percent from a year ago, a spokesman for the General Administration of Customs told a briefing, adding no seafood imports from North Korea were recorded last month.

China’s imports from North Korea fell 16.7 percent on-year to $1.48 billion in Jannuary-September, while exports to North Korea rose 20.9 percent to $2.55 billion in the same period.

That created a trade surplus with North Korea at $1.07 billion in the first nine months of this year.
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California Wildfires Threaten Wine Country’s Lifeblood: Tourism

The wildfires burning through Northern California are sending visitors packing, threatening the $2 billion-plus spent annually by tourists on wine tours, fine food, limousine rides and much more, business leaders said.

At the Inn on First bed and breakfast in the famous wine town of Napa, co-owner Jamie Cherry was encouraging callers to postpone rather than cancel visits, as wildfires burned largely unchecked across the region.

“People are canceling as far as November already,” Cherry said. “It’s going to be devastating in terms of financial loss for everybody.”

The fast-moving fires have killed at least 26 people and left hundreds missing in an area less than an hour’s drive from San Francisco.

With hundreds of wineries, expensive restaurants and bucolic rolling scenery, the wine country of Sonoma and Napa counties is a major draw for visitors. Limousines and buses clog parking lots at weekends as visitors sip Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignons in towns known for their mix of rural and cosmopolitan vibes.

Now, with at least 13 burned wineries, shuttered tasting rooms and thick smoke in the air from nearly two dozen fires that have charred more than 190,000 acres across the state, it is unclear how quickly the region can lure back tourists.

‘We’d go back’

Napa Valley welcomed 3.5 million visitors last year, with overnight guests spending on average $402 per day, according to Visit Napa Valley, the region’s tourism marketing group.

“There is a good amount of infrastructure that has burned down, homes have burned down, wineries have burned. There are restaurants that are not going to open quickly,” said Clay Gregory of Visit Napa Valley.

On Thursday, tasting rooms remained closed and the famous Napa Valley Wine Train, which ferries tourists through the vineyards, said it planned to reopen Sunday.

Dozens of limousines and tour buses, their polish dulled by a film of ash, sat in a parking lot and warehouse on the outskirts of Napa. The company’s owner, Michael Graham, said the business had just hit peak demand of 100 reservations a day, but since the fires that had slumped to two.

Graham remains hopeful, however, citing tourism’s quick recovery after the 6.0 earthquake that hit Napa in 2014: “People were out wine-tasting the same day.”

Graham said the region was still largely intact, with vast swathes of countryside untouched by fire.

“It’s just smoky. As soon as they get this contained it will be back to business as usual,” he said.

Others agreed the effect of the fires on tourism would be short-lived.

Roseanne Rosen has fond memories of the trip with her husband to wine country that she just finished ahead of the fires. The couple from Kansas City has been coming for the last decade and has no plans to abandon that tradition.

“It’s one of our favorite destinations and I don’t see that changing,” Rosen said by telephone. “Once people are open and ready for business, we’d go back in an instant.”
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Peru’s Cabinet Seeks New Legislative Powers on Economy From Congress

The government of Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said Thursday that it will request special powers to legislate economic policies from the opposition-ruled Congress, after growth slowed sharply during his first year in office.

During a presentation in Congress, Prime Minister Mercedes Araoz said her cabinet wants to legislate policies aimed at consolidating an incipient economic recovery and making Peru a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a wealthy-country think tank.

In Peru, Congress traditionally grants legislative powers to the executive branch at the start of a president’s term, and it is rare for a prime minister to seek them so far into an administration – underscoring ongoing worries about the economy.

Growth in Peru, one of the region’s most robust economies, faltered early this year after a corruption scandal halted public work projects and severe flooding destroyed billions of dollars in infrastructure.

The government and central bank now expect the economy to grow by about 2.8 percent this year thanks to better prices for Peru’s key copper exports, down from 3.9 percent last year.

Araoz said the economy should expand by at least 4 percent in coming years.

It was unclear whether the opposition would grant the government its request for new legislative powers following a political crisis in September that ended with Congress ousting Kuczynski’s former cabinet.

Kuczynski appointed a more socially conservative cabinet led by Araoz that won initial praise from the right-wing populist party Popular Force, which has an absolute majority in Congress.

But Congress must approve the new cabinet with a vote of confidence scheduled for Thursday.

Araoz said that she would present the request for legislative powers in coming days.

Congress gave Kuczynski legislative authority on economic policies in September 2016, which his government used to pass laws aimed at reducing and expediting bureaucratic permits.
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Dramatic Drop in Number of Migrants Crossing the Sahel to Europe

The International Organization for Migration says there has been a dramatic drop in the number of migrants from West Africa crossing the Sahel region into Niger, on their way to Europe. 

Migration officials attribute the drop in African migration to strong action by the government of Niger against human smuggling networks.  

 

The International Organization for Migration reports Niger has closed three of six transit houses in the town of Agadez, where migrants often stop on their journey.

 

IOM Niger Chief of Mission Giuseppe Loprete says migrants used to wait in the houses for smugglers’ vehicles to take them to Algeria or Libya.

 

“Many vehicles have been withdrawn by the army along the migratory routes.  Smugglers have been arrested,” Loprete said. “So, all this created a context—sent across a message that transiting Agadez is not easy, is not that easy.” 

 

Loprete tells VOA fewer migrants are arriving and staying in Agadez because of the difficulty in finding smugglers to take them to North Africa.

 

“Last year, the first six months, we were estimating five to 7,000 migrants transiting per week going to Algeria or Libya,” Loprete said. “Right now, our numbers show that we are 5,500 migrants per month transiting.  So definitely less migrants.” 

 

While the Agadez route is drying up, Loprate says migration to Europe is not.  He says smugglers are finding alternate, possibly more dangerous routes to transport their human cargo. 

 

He says Africans desperate to carve out a better life for themselves in Europe continue to risk their lives, making the perilous journey across the Sahel and eventually, across the Sahara Desert.
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Kosovo PM: Army Will be Created by Amending Constitution

Kosovo’s prime minister has confirmed that the government will try to transform the nation’s security forces into a regular army through constitutional changes to satisfy the country’s international partners.

 

Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said during a visit to Kosovo Security Force headquarters on Thursday that “we should give the constitutional mandate” to the future army.

 

Haradinaj has been prime minister since September.

 

President Hashim Thaci bowed to pressure from NATO and the U.S. earlier this year and withdrew legislation aimed at accomplishing the transformation.

 

The draft law needed only a majority vote in parliament to pass. Constitutional amendments would require backing from lawmakers representing Kosovo’s ethnic Serbs and other minority groups. They say they won’t back the change.

 

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which Serbia refuses to recognize.

 

 
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Facebook Chief Absolutely’ Supports Releasing Russia-linked Advertisements

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said Thursday she “absolutely” supports the public release of all advertisements produced by a Russia-linked organization during the 2016 presidential election.

Sandberg said the company is “working on transparency” following the revelation last month that a group with alleged ties to the Russian government ran $100,000 worth of ads on Facebook promoting “divisive” causes like Black Lives Matter.

“Things happened on our platform that shouldn’t have happened,” she said during the interview with Axios’s Mike Allen.

Later Thursday, Sandberg is set to meet with Congressional investigators who are looking into what role the advertisements which began running in 2015 and continued through this year may have played in the 2016 presidential election.

The $100,000 worth of ads represent a very small fraction of the total $2.3 billion spent by, and on behalf of, President Donald Trump and losing-candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaigns during the election.

Multiple congressional investigations have been launched, seeking to determine what effect alleged Russian meddling may have played in the election.

In addition, Robert Mueller, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is conducting a criminal probe, including whether President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian operatives during the election season. Trump has denied working with the Russians.

Facebook had previously agreed to disclose the thousands of Facebook ads to congress. Sandberg said Thursday she thinks “it’s important that [the investigators] get the whole picture and explain that to the American people.”

In response to the Russian ad buys, Sandberg said Facebook is hiring 4,000 new employees to oversee ads and content. She said the company is also using “machine learning and automation” to target fake accounts that spread fake news.

She defined fake news as “things that are false hoaxes” and said Facebook is working to stamp out the bad information by teaming up with third-party fact checkers and warning users before they share news deemed fake by Facebook.

She said it is important to be cautious when going after fake news because “a lot of what we allow on Facebook is people expressing themselves” and “when you cut off speech for one person, you cut off speech for all people.”

“We don’t check the information posted on Facebook before people post it, and I don’t think people should want us to,” she said.

Hundreds of fake accounts were used to distribute the Russia-linked advertisements, Sandberg said. But had those ads been posted by legitimate users, “we would have let them run,” she said.
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EU Says Little Progress Made in Brexit Talks With Britain

The European Union’s Brexit negotiator said Thursday that that little progress was made with the U.K. in a fifth round of talks on the country’s departure from the EU in 2019, and that he cannot yet recommend broadening negotiations to include trade.

 

Michel Barnier said that despite the “constructive spirit” shown in this week’s negotiations in Brussels, “we haven’t made any great steps forward.” On the question of how much Britain has to pay to settle its financial commitments, he said: “We have reached a state of deadlock, which is disturbing.”

 

Barnier said he would not be able to recommend to EU leaders meeting next week that “sufficient progress” has been made to broaden the talks to future EU-British relations like trade.

 

The leaders meet in Brussels on Oct. 19-20, and it had been hoped they would agree to widen the talks.

 

The EU says this can only happen when there has been progress on the issues of the financial settlement, the rights of citizens affected by Brexit and the status of the Northern Ireland-Ireland border.

 

But Britain says these issues are closely intertwined with their future relations like trade and must be discussed together.

 

“I hope the member states will see the progress we have made and take a step forward” next week, British Brexit envoy David Davis told reporters.

 

“We would like them to give Michel the means to broaden the negotiations. It’s up to them whether they do it. Clearly I think it’s in the interests of the United Kingdom and the European Union that they do,” Davis said.

 

Barnier said the two sides would work to achieve “sufficient progress” in time for a subsequent meeting of EU leaders in December.

 

Britain must leave the EU on March 29, 2019, but the negotiations must be completed within about a year to leave time for EU states’ national parliaments to ratify the Brexit agreement.

 

Barnier reaffirmed that parting with “no deal will be a very bad deal.”

 

“To be clear, on our side, we will be ready to face any eventualities, and all the eventualities,” he said.
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Evergrande Property Magnate Seizes Top Spot On China Rich List

China has a new richest man, according to the annual Hurun rich list of the country’s top movers and shakers.

Xu Jiayin, the chairman of developer China Evergrande Group, has seized top spot – beating out more familiar faces such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Jack Ma and rival property magnate Wang Jianlin of Dalian Wanda Group.

Xu’s reported $43 billion wealth – a gain of around $30 billion against last year – comes on the back of a surge in Evergrande’s shares, up over 450 percent so far this year amid plans to cut debt and focus on profit over scale.

The Hurun Report, established in 1999, is the leading China-based organization ranking the wealth of the country’s rich and famous, and its list gives a temperature check on the winners and losers in China.

Growth in China stabilized this year, but while the world’s second largest economy averted a hard landing, some major corporations have buckled under the weight of their debt or been sanctioned by authorities over risky investments overseas.

Wanda’s Wang – who took top spot for the last two years – dropped to fifth in the list after Wanda sold off much of the firm’s hotel and theme park assets to rivals in July, after coming under regulatory scrutiny over its high leverage.

Close behind Evergrande’s Xu were China’s top tech titans – Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Tencent Holdings Ltd’s Pony Ma, who has seen his firm’s value rise on the popularity of its WeChat messaging app and its popular online games.

The list also underlined those who have fallen from grace in corporate China.

Jia Yueting, founder of sprawling conglomerate LeEco that once looked to rival both Tesla Inc and Netflix, dropped to 1,978th place from 31st last year.

Yang Kai, chairman of embattled Huishan Dairy – 66th last year – dropped off the list entirely as his firm fights off creditors amid billions of dollars of unpaid debt.

On the up was Wuxi Pharma Tech’s Li Ge and his wife, propelled by China’s push towards drug innovation, Zhang Lei of fast-growing online news portal Toutiao and Li Shufu of carmaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.

“It has been a good year for manufacturing, cars, education, TMT and healthcare,” Hurun founder Rupert Hoogewerf said.

While many of those on the 2,000-strong list were members of the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, only a few were delegates at the upcoming five-yearly Party Congress that begins next week.

These included corn magnate Li Denghai, alcohol billionaire Wu Shaoxun and Pan Gang of dairy giant Yili.

The list, with a combined wealth of $2.6 trillion, saw average wealth rising 12.5 percent – faster than broader economic growth – pointing to the growing financial muscle of China’s super-rich elite.
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Odd Mix of Industry, Environmentalists Fight Trump Coal, Nuclear Plan

The Trump administration says coal is back and nuclear energy is cool. Not at the expense of natural gas, wind and solar, insists an unusual coalition of business and environmental groups.

Dow Chemical, Koch Industries and U.S. Steel Corp. are standing with environmentalists in opposing an Energy Department plan that would reward nuclear and coal-fired power plants for adding reliability to the nation’s power grid and are pressuring the administration to shift course.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry says the plan is needed to help prevent widespread outages such as those caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and a 2014 “polar vortex” in the Eastern and Central U.S. The plan aims to reverse a steady tide of retirements of coal and nuclear plants, which have lost market share as natural gas and renewable energy flourish.

“The continued loss of baseload generation … such as coal and nuclear must be stopped,” Perry wrote in a Sept. 28 letter urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to adopt the new rule. “These generation resources are necessary to maintain the resiliency of the electric grid” amid sharp shifts in the U.S. energy market.

Perry’s plan coincides with President Donald Trump’s vow to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” while ending what he and other Republicans call a “war on coal” waged by the Obama administration. Perry, who has said he wants to “make nuclear energy cool again,” is certain to face questions about the plan and the opposition at a congressional hearing Thursday.

Critics see a bailout

The plan would compensate power plant owners that maintain a 90-day fuel supply protected against the elements. Critics say it could result in subsidies worth billions of dollars.

Environmental groups say the plan would boost dirty fuels and harm consumers, while the energy industry warns about interference in the free market and manufacturers complain about higher energy prices that could be passed on to consumers.

“Rick Perry is trying to slam through an outrageous bailout of the coal and nuclear industries on the backs of American consumers,” said Kit Kennedy, an energy policy expert for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This radical proposal would lead to higher energy bills for consumers and businesses, as well as dirtier air and increased health problems.”

A coalition of industry groups, ranging from the American Council on Renewable Energy to the American Petroleum Institute and the Natural Gas Supply Association, also blasted the plan, saying it could harm “entire industries and their tens of thousands workers.”

Amy Farrell, senior vice president of the American Wind Energy Association, said the proposal could “upend competitive markets that save consumers billions of dollars a year.”

Oil, gas: Let markets work

Marty Durbin, executive vice president of the petroleum institute, the top lobbying group for the oil and gas industry, said officials “need to be careful that government doesn’t put its thumb on the scale” in energy markets. “It’s better to let markets choose, which is what the United States is seeing with the growth of natural gas” as the leading U.S. electricity source, Durbin said.

The Industrial Energy Consumers of America, a trade group that represents Dow, Koch Industries and other manufacturing giants, is among those lobbying against the plan. In a letter to Congress, the group called the proposal “anti-competitive” and said it could distort or “destroy competitive wholesale electricity markets, increase the price of electricity to all consumers” and harm U.S. manufacturing.

The manufacturers and other critics say there is no evidence of a threat to the grid’s day-to-day reliability that would justify the emergency action Perry is seeking.

Indeed, in a report commissioned by Perry and delivered in August, the Energy Department said “reliability is adequate today despite the retirement of 11 percent of the generating capacity available in 2002, as significant additions from natural gas, wind, and solar have come online since then.”

Gerry Cauley, CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corp., an international regulatory authority, said at a conference in June that “the state of reliability in North America remains strong, and the trend line shows continuing improvement year over year.”

Coal, nuclear groups hail plan

Even so, coal and nuclear groups hailed the plan. National Mining Association President and CEO Hal Quinn called Perry’s action “a long-overdue and necessary step to address the vulnerability of America’s energy grid,” while Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, said disruptions caused by hurricanes and other extreme weather events show that “the urgency to act in support of the resiliency of the electric grid has never been clearer.”

The Energy Department seeks final action by mid-December, although industry groups and some members of Congress have pushed for a delay.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said the energy commission should reject Perry’s plan.

“Secretary Perry has embraced an obsolete view of the grid (that) would bail out coal and nuclear power plants at the expense everyone else,” she said.
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Russian Prime Minister Strikes Energy Deals in Morocco

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a string of energy, military and other deals with Morocco during a North Africa tour.

 

Medvedev met Wednesday with Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani and presided at a signing ceremony for 11 bilateral agreements.

 

The agreements cover cooperation in areas such as customs, agriculture, the military and culture, as well as energy efficiency and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

 

The disputed Western Sahara region that Morocco annexed in the mid-1970s also was a topic of the talks.

 

Medvedev is traveling with a large Russian government delegation and Russian business executives. Morocco’s King Mohammed VI hosted a lunch in the prime minister’s honor.

 

He arrived in Morocco after a visit to Algeria, where he discussed oil prices and energy cooperation.
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Italy’s Government Wins Confidence Votes on Contested Electoral Law

The Italian government on Wednesday won two confidence votes on a fiercely contested electoral law that is likely to penalize the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement in next year’s national election.

The proposed voting system is backed by three of the country’s four largest parties, with the center-left government looking to rush it onto the statute books ahead of elections, which are due by May 2018.

Five-Star supporters protested in front of parliament as the Chamber of Deputies approved two confidence motions by a wide margin. A third such vote is scheduled for Thursday ahead of a final ballot in the lower house on the disputed bill.

Unlike the current rules, the new system would allow the formation of multi-party coalitions before the ballot, a factor likely to hurt 5-Star, which is topping most opinion polls and refuses to join alliances.

“They want to take away our right to choose,” said Nicola Zuppa, 45, who said he had paid 175 euros ($200) to travel from Padua in northern Italy to take part in the protest, which drew up to 2,000 people in the heart of Rome.

The use of multiple confidence motions allowed the ruling coalition to truncate discussion on the bill and sidestep dozens of planned secret votes on various amendments. The reform still needs the approval of the upper house Senate.

“If you allow the electoral rules to be changed again so that the scum of the country rises to the top yet again, it will be your children who pay the price,” 5-Star’s founder Beppe Grillo wrote on his blog on Wednesday.

Harmonization

President Sergio Mattarella, the only figure with the power to dissolve parliament, has called for new voting rules because the current system is very different for the upper and lower houses, meaning it could throw up conflicting majorities.

All previous attempts to harmonize the rules have failed, most recently in June when dissident deputies used a secret vote to upend part of the proposed legislation.

Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s Democratic Party (PD) drafted the latest version, which is supported by right-wing parliamentary rivals Forza Italia (Go Italy!) and the Northern League. Five small parties are also backing the proposed law.

Five-Star estimates that the new rules could cost it up to 50 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and potentially scupper its chances of being the largest group in parliament after the vote.

Mattarella is expected to give the formation that gets the most seats the first crack at forming a government. The PD has denied trying to stymie the 5-Star’s chances.

“No one is preventing (5-Star) from making alliances if they want to,” said Ettore Rosato, the parliamentary party leader of the PD who has put his name to the reform. “If they don’t want to do them, they can continue to be an isolated party.”

Analysts say the new electoral system looks unlikely to throw up a clear parliamentary majority, with opinion polls showing the center-left, center-right and 5-Star splitting the vote three ways.

Such a result could lead to the creation of a grand coalition that would need to span the political divide.

($1 = 0.8452 euros)
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EU Withholds $33M Loan to Moldova Over Justice Reforms

The European Union will not transfer a final tranche of loans worth 28 million euros ($33 million) to support Moldovan justice reforms as the authorities have not fulfilled the required conditions, the EU delegation to Moldova said Wednesday.

The European Union is the ex-Soviet nation’s largest external donor, but payments have been frozen or repeatedly delayed by slow reform progress and political upheaval.

“The EU has closely observed the reform process and noted that the Moldovan authorities showed insufficient commitment to reforming the justice sector,” the delegation said in an online statement.

“The Moldovan authorities have not fulfilled the EU’s conditions for receiving the last financial transfer under the justice reform program, which amounts to 28 million euros,” it said.

The disbursement of other EU funding, including a 100 million-euro ($117 million) macro-financial assistance package of loans and grants for 2017-18, has also been delayed.

Last week, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said Moldova would not receive any financing under the agreement this year.

New electoral law

The EU has said a basic precondition for the financial assistance is a respect for the democratic process and the rule of law.

Nevertheless, Moldova this year introduced a new electoral law that a pan-European rights body ruled could make the system more susceptible to undue influence by vested interests.

Moldova’s economy grew 4.1 percent last year, recovering from a contraction of 0.4 percent in 2015 due in part to an economic crisis in nearby Russia that hit exports and remittances from Moldovans working there.

The country, Europe’s poorest, has also been rocked by a scandal that saw the equivalent of an eighth of its gross domestic product stolen from three of its largest banks in 2012-14.

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund have forecast growth of between 4 and 4.5 percent in 2017.
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In the Heart of Manhattan, a Taste of Old Kiev

Restaurant Veselka has made New Yorkers fall in love with Ukrainian cuisine. Featured in movies and frequented by celebrities, the diner is also a staple for locals. In a city that’s tough on restaurants, Veselka’s longevity is legendary. VOA’s Iuliia larmolenko has the story.
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California Vintners Inspect Grapes, Check Buildings After Wildfires

Worried California vintners surveyed the damage to their vineyards and wineries Tuesday as wildfires sweep through counties whose famous names have become synonymous with fine food and drink.

At the Gundlach Bundschu in Sonoma County, workers were not sure the grapes above the winery survived a second night of fires that have destroyed at least two wineries and damaged more.

“We haven’t been able to go up and assess the vine damage,” said Katie Bundschu, vice president of sales. “We’re in the process of salvaging what we can.”

Speedy, wind-driven wildfires that continued to burn Tuesday came as workers in Napa and Sonoma counties were picking and processing ripe grapes to make chardonnay, merlot and other wines that have made the region a global hot spot. Millions of locals and out-of-staters flock to the counties every year to sample wine, sit in mud baths and soak in the region’s natural beauty.

At least five wineries belonging to members have had “complete losses” in facilities, with another nine reporting some damage, said Michael Honig, board chairman of the Napa Valley Vintners trade association and president of Honig Vineyard & Winery. He said the group has not heard from all members, especially those in the most vulnerable parts of the valley.

“We don’t have a good idea of how the vineyards have been impacted,” he said. “The silver lining, if there is one to this fire, this situation, is that most of us have brought in 90 percent of our crop for 2017, so the vast majority of the crops have been picked.”

Most of the remaining fruit, he said, are thicker-skinned cabernet sauvignon grapes that won’t be affected by smoke.

Bundschu, a sixth-generation vintner, recounted a scary Monday night in which the flames licked at the perimeter of the winery but were beaten back by firefighters. A century-old redwood barn and her grandmother’s 1919 home were spared.

Gundlach Bundschu is the oldest family-run winery in California, started in 1858.

Bundschu was eager to dispel reports that the winery had been destroyed, as was Nicholson Ranch winery, also in Sonoma County, which posted on Facebook that news of its demise was premature.

“The winery was in the path of the fire but escaped being engulfed by the flames. We have some damage to fix. The wine is secure in our cellars. We are cleaning up and hoping to have the power back on this week,” it said.

Even wineries that were destroyed may survive. Melted and blackened wine bottles littered the ruined Signorello Estate winery in Napa Valley, but its vineyard looked untouched by flames.

Spokeswoman Charlotte Milan said she could only confirm damage to the winery and a residence, explaining that workers had not been able to go on site. She said the estate’s 2015 reds and 2016 whites were stored off-site.

The Paradise Ridge Winery in Sonoma County posted Monday that it was “heartbroken” to announce that the facility had burned.

About 12 percent of grapes grown in California are in Sonoma, Napa and surrounding counties, said Anita Oberholster, a cooperative extension specialist in enology at the University of California, Davis. But they are the highest value grapes that yield the most expensive wines, she said.

She was optimistic that the fires will not affect the wines to come out of this year’s harvest. Smoke would have to be heavy and sustained to do much damage and even then, she said, the harm would be limited to the fruit, not the vines or soil.

That means next year’s crop should be unharmed, Oberholster said.

Tourism officials said Tuesday that wine country is open for business.

Sara Brooks, chairwoman of the Visit Napa Valley Board of Directors and general manager of the historic Napa River Inn, said she has had some cancellations, but expects tourism to bounce back as it did after the 2014 Napa earthquake.

Honig said the next few days might not be the best time to sample wines, but he wants people to visit in a week or two. He is convinced the Napa brand will survive.

“We’ve suffered with pests, fires, drought,” he said. “We made it through Prohibition. This is a short-term setback.”
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Catalonia-Spain Crisis: What Happens Next?

The standoff between Spain and Catalonia entered a new phase on Tuesday as Catalonia’s leader delayed by several weeks a formal declaration of independence from Spain.

The current political crisis could now take several paths.

  

Government response

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has called an emergency Cabinet meeting for Wednesday to decide the Spanish government’s response to the declaration. Rajoy had a meeting with his main rival, Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez, late on Tuesday.

He could deploy the “nuclear option” — an article of the constitution which enables him to sack the regional government and call an election.            

Before resorting to this option, which has never been used, Rajoy’s government could call a parliamentary vote on whether to try to persuade Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont to abandon the

independence drive.

Rajoy is also scheduled to speak at an extraordinary session of the Spanish parliament at 4 p.m. local time (1400 GMT).

Whichever way he turns, Rajoy is likely to face criticism, either for clamping down too fiercely or for not pushing a hard enough line against separatism.

          

Another possibility is that the judiciary steps in, with the public prosecutor calling Puigdemont and other politicians to Madrid to testify.

Dialogue

A genuine dialogue between the Spanish and Catalan authorities to resolve the standoff remains highly unlikely.

Puigdemont and other regional politicians signed a document on Tuesday proclaiming “full sovereignty” for Catalonia, but it was unclear whether the move had any legal value.

Puigdemont said he was suspending the effects of a declaration of Catalan independence to allow time for dialogue.

          

But the central government immediately responded that any dialogue would have to take place “within the law” and said Puigdemont did not have the right to demand talks.

Meanwhile, far-left group CUP said the ball was in the Madrid government’s court and Rajoy should be the one taking a step in their direction.

  

Formal declaration of independence

Tuesday’s declaration was largely symbolic because it was not formally endorsed by the regional parliament.

The anti-capitalist Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), whose influence is disproportionate to its small size, insists a vote should take place, as stated in the Catalan law.

While it has for now maintained its support for the regional government, it said it had set a one-month deadline for talks.

If talks fail to happen, the CUP and another pro-independence party, Junts pel Si, are likely to ask the Catalan parliament to formally endorse Tuesday’s declaration of independence.

This declaration would be immediately blocked by Spain’s constitutional court and force the Spanish government to step up further its legal and political response to the crisis.

  

Regional election

If talks do not happen and a declaration of independence is not put to a vote in the Catalan parliament, the CUP could withdraw its support, triggering a regional election.

This election could also be called by Puigdemont himself to back up his weakened position or by the Madrid government if it considers Puigdemont and the Catalan authorities have gone too far, for instance if they seek a formal declaration of independence in the regional parliament.

 
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

US: Turkey’s Arrest of US Consulate Staffers ‘Deeply Disturbing’

The United States says it is “very disappointed” by the Turkish government’s arrest of two local staffers of the American Consulate, as diplomatic tensions between the two countries ramp up following the bilateral suspension of all nonimmigrant visa services.

Last week, for the second time this year, Turkish authorities arrested a local staff member of the U.S. diplomatic mission. U.S. Ambassador John Bass later announced a temporary halt to all nonimmigrant visa applications. Turkey retaliated by announcing its own suspension of visa services in the United States.

On Tuesday, the State Department confirmed that Turkish authorities had summoned a third U.S. Embassy staff member over the weekend. That staff member has not been formally arrested.

“These actions are deeply disturbing to us,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said during Tuesday’s briefing.

Nauert also rejected suggestions that Bass had acted unilaterally in suspending visa services in the U.S. Embassy and consulates throughout Turkey.

“Our ambassadors tend to not do things unilaterally,” said Nauert. “This was coordinated with the State Department. It was coordinated with the White House and coordinated with the embassy.”

Officials say U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Saturday. Undersecretary of State Tom Shannon also spoke to his Turkish counterpart prior to the announcement that the U.S. government would suspend nonimmigrant visa services at the U.S. Embassy and consulates in Turkey.

Bass said the suspension of nonimmigration visa service would minimize the number of visitors to U.S. Embassy and consulates in Turkey, while Washington assesses Ankara’s commitment to the security of American diplomatic facilities and personnel.

Erdogan blames U.S. envoy

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday blamed Bass for the diplomatic crisis, saying Turkish officials would boycott farewell meetings with Bass, who is due to leave Ankara soon to take up a position in Kabul as U.S. envoy to Afghanistan.

“An ambassador in Ankara taking decisions and saying he is doing so in the name of his government is strange,” said Erdogan.

Erdogan also accused “agents” of infiltrating U.S. missions.

“No state would allow such spies that pose an internal threat,” Erdogan said Tuesday alongside Serbia’s president in Belgrade.

The dispute has plunged already fragile relations between the two NATO allies to a new low after months of tension linked to the conflict in Syria, last year’s failed military coup in Turkey, and U.S. court cases against Turkish officials.

“I think right now the domestic situation is very prone to anti-Americanism, and he [Erdogan] is playing on that,” Gonul Tol, director of the Middle East Institute for Turkish studies, told VOA on Tuesday.

Extradition effort

Relations between Washington and Ankara have been troubled by disputes over U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in Syria and Turkey’s unsuccessful request for the extradition of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers were blamed by the Turkish government for last year’s coup attempt.

The Turkish government has rounded up about 200,000 people, accusing them of not only stirring up the coup effort but also supporting the Gulen movement.

U.S. courts have also indicted a Turkish banker and a former minister for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran, as well as 15 of Erdogan’s security guards for attacking peaceful protesters during his visit to Washington in May.

It is “definitely a sign of deteriorating relations,” Daniel Serwer of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies told VOA. “Both sides need to stop escalating and start talking.”

Arrest of consulate employee

Last week, Turkey arrested Metin Topuz, a U.S. consulate employee and a Turkish national, accusing him of having regular communication with alleged leading members of what Turkey has deemed a terrorist network blamed for the failed coup against Erdogan last year.

Washington dismissed the allegations, saying it has been unable to determine why the arrest occurred or what evidence exists against the employee.

“The employee works in an office devoted to strengthening law enforcement cooperation with Turkish authorities and ensuring the security of Americans and Turkish citizens,” said Nauert, questioning Ankara’s motivation for the arrest.

“What’s going on here? What are they trying to accomplish by this behavior toward our locally employed staff?” the State Department spokeswoman asked.

Bass, the U.S. ambassador, said in a video statement on October 9 that the suspension of visa services was not a “visa ban” on Turkish citizens, but a suspension of the consideration of new visa applications.

Turkish applicants told VOA’s Turkish service that upon going to the U.S. Embassy and consulates for their appointments, they were simply given a piece of paper instructing them to call a phone number for more information.

Omer Yavuz came from Bursa to the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul for a visa appointment that was postponed to this week. Instead of having an interview, he was given a piece of paper with a phone number on it.

“I’ve been calling the number several times since this morning but couldn’t reach anyone. No one is giving any complete information. I came here today because I’ve read procedures would continue for approved visa applications. But I don’t know what would happen,” Yavuz said.

He said he probably needed to cancel plans to visit his cousin in Houston.

VOA’s Turkish service and Esha Sarai contributed to this report.
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Mexican Billionaire Sees Growth Opportunity After Earthquake

Mexico’s richest man, telecom magnate Carlos Slim, said Tuesday that reconstruction from two destructive earthquakes last month will create jobs and spur growth and announced that more than $100 million has been raised for relief efforts.

Tens of thousands of homes and apartments were destroyed and will have to be rebuilt following the Sept. 19 magnitude-7.1 quake, which killed 369 people, and an earlier, even more powerful one that struck in southern Mexico on Sept. 7 with a magnitude of 8.1.

Slim said Mexico City, which was hard-hit by the later quake, should turn in its recovery phase to the kind of high-rise developments he has constructed.

“Even though it was a very sad tragedy … it will be a big factor in spurring economic activity and employment,” Slim said during a news conference called by his charitable foundation.

Slim, who at one time was estimated to be the world’s wealthiest person, did not appear concerned about the state of the economy in Mexico, where the peso has fallen nearly 6 percent against the U.S. dollar in the last three weeks.

That drop has been blamed on fears of a possible impasse in renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement. But Slim said World Trade Organization rules that would kick in if the NAFTA talks founder are sufficient.

“The WTO rules are very stimulating for commerce,” he said.

Slim said private donors have raised the equivalent of about $22 million for earthquake relief and his foundation matched those donations five to one, for a total of $134 million.

The money will be used for immediate housing and food for quake victims as well as shoring up damaged historic churches and buildings while experts decide how to restore them. The funds will also go to rebuilding hospitals and schools and “constructing better housing, respecting the uses and customs of each place.”

That was an apparent reference to the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, which were badly hit by the Sept. 7 quake. There, Slim proposed building small concrete-frame houses _ the traditional material is brick or adobe _ of about 500 square feet (50 square meters), with enough strength to bear a second-story addition if needed.

He acknowledged that the $7,000 loans the government is offering to people in Oaxaca and Chiapas may not be enough to build such homes, noting “it would be tight” to fit that budget.

Slim called for changes in building regulations to make structures more quake-resistant and said rules should require reinforcement for buildings erected before Mexico’s deadly 1985 earthquake, which spurred tighter construction codes.

As for the capital, Slim said the best thing would be for rebuilding to follow the kind of dense, mixed-use and high-rise development that his companies have done in a west-side neighborhood known as New Polanco.

Those shopping centers, museums and offices were built on the site of former factories and are close to apartment towers. Critics have called the developments sterile and cite traffic problems, however.

“It would be ideal if this could be done throughout all of Mexico City,” Slim said.
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EU Aims to Reopen Embassy in Libya

The European Union is seeking to reopen its embassy in Libya pending security conditions, officials said on Tuesday, offering further political support for the Tripoli government struggling to establish control.

EU leaders will announce at their summit in Brussels on Oct. 19-20 that they “encourage work underway to rapidly establish a permanent EU presence in Libya”, according to their draft joint statement seen by Reuters.

But the statement makes clear no such move is imminent as it would be conditional on improving the security situation on the ground.

The EU moved its mission to neighboring Tunisia in mid-2014 as security worsened in Libya amid escalating fighting between rival factions since the 2011 fall of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi, ousted by rebels during a NATO bombing campaign.

Of 28 EU states, only Italy, Libya’s former colonial master and still the most influential European state on the ground, has an embassy in the country, where the United Nations has officially recognized the government of Fayez Seraj.

The EU has also engaged increasingly with Seraj, especially as it sought Libya’s help in curbing the flow of African refugees and migrants, hundreds of thousands of whom have been boarding smugglers’ boats on the coast of the lawless state to cross the Mediterranean for Europe.

The bloc has financed, equipped and trained Libya’s border and coast guards, despite rights groups sounding alarm over grave abuses refugees and migrants suffer in Libya.
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Europe Expects More Terror Attacks, Even as IS Falters

Will the collapse of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, and the ending of the terror group’s caliphate make much difference when it comes to the recruitment and radicalization of Europeans or reducing “lone wolf” attacks?

With U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces close to finishing off IS in Raqqa, the terror group’s de facto capital in Syria, the question is becoming more pertinent.  But French and Belgian officials don’t believe the killings will stop in Europe, at least not in the foreseeable future.

Analysts say the caliphate was useful in the marketing of IS and attracting foreign recruits, as well as allowing the group to differentiate itself from rival al-Qaida, which opposed the setting up of an Islamic state and ridiculed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s self-appointment as caliph.  Now one of the only ways for the terror group to remain relevant and to try to continue to outshine its jihadist competitor al-Qaida is to strike the West as frequently as it can, experts say.

Last month, al-Baghdadi broke an 11-month public silence by releasing an audio-tape mocking the United States, calling on jihadists to rally against the Syrian regime and insisting IS “remains” despite its rapid loss of territory.  He echoed the message of the late IS propaganda chief Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, who declared that holding territory mattered less than the will to fight.

But much of al-Baghdadi’s focus was on celebrating attacks on the West, saying, “America, Europe and Russia are living in a state of terror.”

Speaking in August, after IS had been ousted from the Iraqi city of Mosul and as Kurdish-dominated forces started their assault on Raqqa, French President Emmanuel Macron said the fight against Islamic terrorism is France’s “top priority” and would remain so for some time.

French and Belgian officials say IS is highly innovative and despite efforts to reduce the group’s “virtual footprint” it is still able to disseminate propaganda, which it carefully calibrates to better mobilize followers, testing new ideas as it shapes narratives for whatever it considers tactically appropriate.

Researcher Charlie Winter says for IS the media war has always been as important as physical victories in Syria and Iraq.

In a paper for the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence, a research center based in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, Winter noted for IS “propaganda production and dissemination is at times considered to be even more important than military jihad.”

He added, “The Islamic State sustainably incites activism, whether from operatives or online volunteers, by venerating information warfare in a manner unparalleled by any other Salafi-Jihadist actor.”

Even with the loss of most of its territory IS can still wage information warfare, recruit and incite.  Winter says, “The international community must be equally as creative and strategic-minded in its approach towards counter-communications.

‘Deadly social model’

The overall problem of radicalization remains the same today as it did before IS’s battlefield defeats, officials and analysts warn.  Former French prime minister Manuel Valls has dubbed radicalization “a deadly social model.”

France isn’t alone in struggling to understand radicalization and to develop effective ways to counter it.  Sixteen years after the 9/11 attacks and Western governments are still unclear about the mechanics of radicalization and why some embrace the radical jihadist vision and do so to the point of staging or participating in murderous attacks.

Sociologist Farhad Khosrokhavar, a professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (School for Advanced Studies of Social Sciences) in Paris, worries radicalization is still seen by governments too much as purely a national security challenge.  Governments, he has argued, fail to study enough the long-term effects of stigmatization, social exclusion and delinquency.  The role of the internet and closed social-media groups in forming jihadist allegiances and creating the cult of what he calls the “negative hero” is only just beginning to be understood.

Psychological factors are also crucial.  At a conference in London last year, Khosrokhavar highlighted how a substantial number of jihadist attackers in the West had been diagnosed with depression or other mental illnesses.

But efforts to deepen understanding of radicalization often meet resistance from political leaders, especially when they are facing public clamor to stop terror attacks.  Valls is famous for once saying he was tired of “social, sociological, and cultural excuses” to explain jihad.  “To explain is to excuse,” he said.

France, which since 2015 has been battered by a series of attacks with the loss of over 240 lives, has more than 350 Islamic extremists locked up in French prisons, nearly 6,000 militants are under police surveillance and a further 17,000 classified as potential threats.  Belgium’s numbers aren’t as high, but the relatively small country occupies an outsized role when it comes to European jihadism. Belgium has contributed per capita more fighters to IS and other jihadist groups in the Levant than any other European country.

Both countries have grappled with shaping de-radicalization programs that work. It was only two years ago that France launched efforts to try to stop the radicalization of disaffected youth, much later than several other European nations.  But its efforts have been troubled and a plan to open 13 de-radicalization centers, one in each of France’s 13 regions, has fallen by the wayside after the first experimental center was closed down earlier this year amid arguments over methods.

 
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India Firecracker Ban Sparks Controversy

As the Indian capital, New Delhi, battles deadly air pollution, it might be missing the customary fireworks during the Hindu festival of lights, following a temporary ban imposed by the Supreme Court on the sale of firecrackers

 

The order has raised a firestorm in the city of about 18 million as it gears up for Diwali on October 19. Complaining that the order strikes at the heart of a quintessential Hindu tradition, critics compared it to banning Christmas trees on Christmas. Jubilant supporters pointed out that the top priority is the health of citizens in a city where the air turns toxic at this time of the year because of slower winds and colder temperatures that trap more pollution.

“Let’s try at least one Diwali without firecrackers,” said one judge as the court announced the order Monday. The Supreme Court ban is not new — it was also imposed last year, but only after the festival, when New Delhi was already enveloped in a haze of smog.

 

The ban was partially lifted last month as Diwali approached, but it has been reimposed in connection with a public interest lawsuit on behalf of three children who are seeking the court’s intervention to better clean up Delhi’s toxic air.

 

Supporters of the ban hope the preemptive measure will prevent pollution from reaching levels of last year, when air quality was nearly 20 times the safe limit set by the World Health Organization in the days following the festival. Many people became sick and that led city authorities to impose emergency measures such as closing schools.

 

But opponents of the ban, who question why only firecrackers are being targeted, say it is more important to tackle the year-round contributors to Delhi’s filthy air, such as the city’s massive vehicle fleet and the burning of crop stubble in neighboring states that worsens air quality. Setting off firecrackers for a few hours, they say, will not diminish the city’s air pollution problem.

 

Environmental experts, however, point out the measure would help at a time when the air is already saturated with pollutants.

 

India’s environment minister, Harsh Vardhan, welcomed the order and urged people to abide by it and “give green Diwali and our environment a chance.”

 

But there were sharp divisions. Some in his Hindu nationalist party voiced anger at what they saw as a blow to an age old Hindu custom. Diwali is known as the festival of lights, when homes are decorated with oil lamps, but it is also customary to set off firecrackers at night.

Pointing out that the ban only covered the sale and not the lighting of firecrackers, a BJP spokesperson in the state unit in Delhi, Tajinder Singh Bagga, vowed not to give up his annual custom of distributing firecrackers among slum children in the city. He says he got a massive response from social media. “When I tweeted yesterday we are going to distribute, many people sent the message we also want to distribute, because of this ban, because people were in anger.”

 

A popular author, Chetan Bhagat, compared the ruling to “banning Christmas trees on Christmas” and tweeted “Regulate. Don’t ban. Respect traditions.”

 

It is unclear who will win out on Diwali day — environmentalists, thousands of ordinary citizens and school children, who have conducted campaigns for several years to abandon the tradition and rejoice in other ways or diehard enthusiasts, who say the order has left the door open for them to bring in firecrackers from neighboring towns.

 

No one, however, including the critics, dispute that Delhi’s air pollution needs urgent attention. A 2015 study said that the lungs of half the children in the city have been damaged due to the toxic air. Doctors also link the dirty air to a rise in respiratory diseases and heart attacks and advise elderly people to leave the city in winter.

 

After last year’s experience, city authorities have put in place an action plan starting Sunday to tackle any alarming rise in pollution levels. That will include banning trucks from the city, halting construction activity and restricting traffic.

 
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Catalonia’s Secessionists Divided on Whether to Announce Breakaway

Pressure is building on Catalonia’s hardline secessionist leaders, from moderates and business leaders in the restive north-east Spanish region, to pull back from the brink and to refrain from issuing a declaration of independence later on Tuesday.

Carles Puigdemont, the region’s president, and other secessionist leaders have vowed to announce a breakaway state after last week’s controversial plebiscite, which was declared illegal by the government and courts in Madrid.

But an exodus of businesses, including two of Spain’s leading banks, a major telecommunications company and a construction group, as well as a massive weekend protest in Barcelona by 350,000 Catalans opposed to separation, is starting to take its toll among moderates, who are alarmed at the prospects of economic collapse and civil unrest.

They are calling for a pause and for more efforts to open up negotiations with the center-right government of Mariano Rajoy, who is under pressure from his party to maintain a strong line with the secessionists. Barcelona’s mayor, Ada Colau, argued Monday night against declaring independence, saying it would threaten Catalonia’s “social cohesion.”

She called for urgent negotiations, warning that Spain faced its “greatest institutional crisis” since its return to democracy following the death of Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975. “We cannot allow ourselves to jeopardize either social cohesion or Catalan institutions,” she said.

She added: “The results of 1 October cannot be used as a guarantee for the declaration of independence. But they do represent an opportunity to open dialogue and international mediation.”

The secessionists’ coalition, Together For Yes, commands only a thin majority in Catalonia’s regional government and it isn’t clear whether a majority will approve an independence declaration. The far-left Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) is urging Puigdemont to honor the result of the disputed referendum, pointing out that under the referendum law the regional parliament passed ahead of the plebiscite, the legislature pledged to do so.

Puigdemont is set to reveal his plans later Tuesday in an address to the regional parliament — his first comments before the legislature since the referendum a week ago that saw an overwhelming majority of Catalans vote for secession. The turnout, though, was under 50 percent and opinion polls have suggested consistently that more Catalans want to stay with Spain than breakaway.

He had originally promised to make a unilateral declaration of independence within 48 hours of a victory for the secessionist campaign, but held off doing so, calling instead for talks with the Madrid government.

But even senior members of Puigdemont’s own more moderate Catalan European Democratic Party are urging caution, including Ramon Tremosa, a member of the European Parliament. He is counseling following Slovenia’s strategy when it broke away from the then Yugoslavia. Slovenia announced secession but suspended implementation pending negotiations with its Yugoslav neighbors and European powers.

“Nobody can recognize internationally an independence that has not been achieved,” he said. “We know from the experience of Slovenia and other countries that this experience may take weeks or months,” he added.

But inching Catalonia closer to breaking away may well invite as firm a response from Madrid as an open declaration of independence. Spanish prime minister Rajoy is expected by analysts to invoke Article 155 of the constitution, which allows the central government to take control of an autonomous region, if it fails to “fulfill the obligations imposed upon it by the constitution or other laws, or acts in a way that is seriously prejudicial to the general interest of Spain.”

Article 155 has never been invoked before and it risks angering even more secessionist Catalans, who are still furious at the Spanish national police’s efforts to disrupt the October 1 referendum, which saw officers raiding polling stations, beating voters and firing rubber bullets at crowds. Thousands of Guardia Civil and national police who were deployed by Madrid to stop the vote have remained in the region.

At the weekend Rajoy warned he would do everything in his power to prevent Catalonia from breaking away. In an interview with Spain’s El País newspaper. “We are going to prevent independence from occurring… I can tell you with absolute frankness that it will not happen,” he said.

Pedro Sánchez, leader of the opposition Socialists, said Monday his party will support the government against any unilateral attempt to dismember the country.

How Catalonia’s own regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, responds in the coming days, either to a declaration of independence or imposition of direct rule, remains unclear. The force was accused of behaving passively when it came to shuttering polling stations with national police unions accusing it of “clear disobedience.”

The force’s commander, Josep Lluís Trapero, is being investigated for sedition by Spain’s national court.

 

 

 

 

 
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ILO: Global Unemployment Rises to More than 200 Million

Global unemployment this year stands at more than 201 million, an increase of 3.4 million compared to 2016, says the International Labor Organization.

The ILO says the private sector, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, plays a crucial role in creating decent jobs around the world.

The ILO study (World Employment and Social Outlook 2017: Sustainable Enterprises and Jobs) reports private businesses account for nearly 3 billion workers, or 87 percent of total global employment. It says a strong public sector is the foundation for growth, job creation and poverty reduction.  

Deborah Greenfield, the ILO deputy director general for policy, says investing in workers is a key to sustainability. She also says providing formal training for permanent employees results in higher wages, higher productivity and lower unit labor costs. Greenfield says temporary workers are at a disadvantage.

“But, intensified use of temporary employment is associated with lower wages and lower productivity without achieving any gains in unit labor costs,” Greenfield said. “The report also finds that on-the-job training is an important driver of innovation. Since temporary workers are rarely offered training, this might also affect innovation in firms in a negative way.”  

The ILO report says in some cases, innovation has led to the hiring of more temporary workers, mainly women. It notes, however, that while this might be beneficial in the short term, in the long term, it depresses wages and leads to lower productivity because of the instability of temporary work and lack of benefits.

The report, however, finds innovation increases competitiveness and job creation for enterprises. It says innovative firms tend to be more productive, employ more educated workers, offer more training and hire more female workers.
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Catalan Leaders Face Growing Pressure Over Independence Threat

The leader of Spain’s Catalonia region is due to address members of the regional parliament Tuesday, while the government in Madrid worries Catalan representatives will vote for a unilateral declaration of independence.

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont did not reveal ahead of time what his message would be Tuesday.

Political leaders, both domestically and internationally, urged Catalan leaders on Monday to back down to ease growing tensions in the country.

Major speaks out

Barcelona’s mayor was the latest to speak out against a declaration of independence, saying this would put “social cohesion” at risk. Ada Colau called on all sides to de-escalate tensions to solve “the most severe institutional crisis since the re-establishment of democracy in Spain.”

The head of Spain’s main opposition party, Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez, also called for Catalan leaders to drop an attempt to declare independence, saying “a universal declaration of independence doesn’t have a place in a state ruled by law.”

Germany and France also weighed in Monday against a split. German Chancellor Angela Merkel “affirmed her backing for the unity of Spain,” but also encouraged dialogue, according to her spokesman.

France said it would not recognize Catalonia if the region declared independence. “This crisis needs to be resolved through dialogue at all levels of Spanish politics,” France’s European affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau said.

Tensions have grown in Spain since last week when Catalonia held a regional vote for independence, an election deemed illegal by Madrid. Police cracked down on the vote, firing rubber bullets and storming crowds to disrupt the voting, leading to hundreds of injuries.

Huge support at the polls

Catalan leaders say 90 percent of those who went to the polls voted to break with Spain. However, opponents of the referendum say the vote did not show the true will of the region because those who want to stay in Spain mainly boycotted the polls.

Police say about 350,000 demonstrators attended an anti-independence protest on Sunday.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters gathered at rallies in Barcelona, Madrid and other Spanish cities to demand dialogue to end the dispute.

Banks, businesses may move

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he would not rule out using constitutional powers to take away Catalonia’s autonomous status if the region declares independence.

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais published Sunday, Rajoy said that he will consider employing any measure “allowed by the law” to stop the region’s separatists.

The crisis has prompted several major banks and businesses to announce they will move their headquarters out of Catalonia to other parts of Spain so they can be sure they will remain in the European Union common market.

 

Catalonia, a northeastern region in Spain, has its own language and cultural traditions. It is home to 7.5 million people and accounts for about a fifth of Spain’s economy.
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NATO to Launch Black Sea Force as Latest Counter to Russia

NATO is set to launch a new multinational force in Romania on Monday to counter Russia along its eastern flank and to check a growing Russian presence in the Black Sea following the Kremlin’s 2014 seizure of Crimea.

Initially a small force relying on troops from 10 NATO countries including Italy and Canada, as well as Romania, the land, air and sea deployments will complement about 900 U.S. troops already in place.

“Our purpose is peace, not war,” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis told the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Bucharest. “We are not a threat for Russia. But we need dialogue from a strong position of defense and discouragement.”

Russia accuses NATO of trying to encircle it and threatening stability in Eastern Europe, which NATO denies. Around the Black Sea, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey are NATO members while Georgia and Ukraine aspire to join.

The NATO force aims to develop its allied presence in the Black Sea region, rich in oil and gas, without escalating tensions, as it seeks to counter Russia’s own plans to create what military analysts say is a “buffer zone.”

The 2008 Russian operation to put troops in Georgia’s South Ossetia’s region, its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and its annexation of Crimea have raised the stakes, with all sides warning of a new, Cold-War style scenario.

Details of the new force size were unclear. Based inland at a base near the southern Romanian city of Craiova, the land component of the force involves a brigade-size multinational NATO force, typically some 3,000 to 4,000 troops, but the contribution of non-Romanian troops is modest.

Aside from Romania, Poland is the biggest troop contributor.

Bulgaria, Italy and Portugal will train regularly with the force in Craiova, and Germany is also expected to contribute.

In addition to existing NATO Black Sea naval patrols, a maritime presence will include more allied visits to Romanian and Bulgarian ports, training and exercises.

NATO air forces will also be limited at first, but Britain is deploying fighter planes to Romania. Canada is already patrolling Romanian air space, along with national pilots. Italy is patrolling Bulgarian air space.

“It sends a signal of NATO’s resolve,” said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who will visit the troops later Monday, stressing that NATO also had a 40,000-strong response force in case of a conflict.

‘West Berlin’ model

Some Eastern Europeans want NATO’s new ballistic missile defense shield, which includes a site in Romania, to be part of NATO’s eastern posture vis-a-vis Russia.

“The Aegis Ashore system would add another level of deterrence,” said Maciej Kowalski, an analyst at the Polish Casimir Pulaski Foundation, referring to the U.S.-built system. NATO says the system is to intercept any Iranian rockets.

As in the Baltics and Poland, where the U.S.-led alliance has some 4,000 troops, NATO says the relatively light multinational model recalls allied support for West Berlin in the 1950s, when British, French and U.S. forces ensured the Soviet Union could not control all Berlin.

Under NATO’s founding treaty, an attack on one ally is an attack on all, meaning all 28 NATO nations would be required to respond in the case of any potential Russian aggression.

While months in planning, the establishment of the force comes as Russia winds down its biggest war games since 2013.

The Zapad, or West, games were a show of its latest weaponry and its ability to quickly mass soldiers on NATO’s borders.

The enhanced NATO presence in Romania and Bulgaria marks a diplomatic success for Bucharest, which gained greater persuasive power because it is set to reach a NATO goal of spending 2 percent of economic output on defense this year, a priority for U.S. President Donald Trump.

Romania pushed for bigger NATO naval presence on the Black Sea for over a year, but found its neighbor Bulgaria wary of provoking Russia. Turkey only supports limited NATO reinforcements, concerned about breaking international rules limiting the scale of patrols in the Black Sea.

Turkey has played down the extent of Russia’s militarization of Crimea, which NATO says involves a laying of surface-to-air missiles and communications jamming equipment.
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Russia Warns US-Funded RFE/RL It May Face ‘Restrictions’

The Russian Justice Ministry has warned U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that it may impose restrictions on some of the broadcaster’s operations in Russia in response to what Moscow claims is pressure on Russian state-funded outlets in the United States.

The ministry said in a letter dated October 9 that the operations of Current Time television, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with Voice of America, fall under Article 2 of Russian law on NGOs and foreign agents, and that Russia therefore retains the right to impose restrictions on Current Time.

“The activity of your organization may be subjected to restrictions envisioned in the legislation of the Russian Federation,” the statement, signed by ministry official Vladimir Titov, said.

RFE/RL’s Russian Service, known as Radio Svoboda, and Idel Realii, a Russian-language site run by the broadcaster’s Tatar-Bashkir Service, received similar letters.

“Current Time, Radio Svoboda, and Idel Realii are journalistic organizations. We trust we will be able to continue our work,” RFE/RL Vice President and Editor in Chief Nenad Pejic said in a statement in response to the letter.

U.S. law enforcement agencies have been looking into the operations of at least two Russian media outlets — the satellite TV channel RT and the news website Sputnik.

Funded by the Russian government, RT was accused in a U.S. intelligence report of being one of the primary channels through which the Kremlin sought to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Since then, calls have grown in Washington to force RT and Sputnik to register under a 79-year-old law initially aimed at restricting Nazi propaganda. During the Soviet era, some Russian-language media, including the newspaper Pravda and the wire agency TASS, registered as foreign agents.

Last month, RT chief editor Margarita Simonyan said U.S. officials had ordered the channel to register under the foreign-agent law. The Justice Department has repeatedly declined to comment.
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ЄС, Новини, Світ

Where Is the Ball? UK and EU Exchange Volleys Over Brexit

British Prime Minister Theresa May urged the European Union on Monday to show “leadership and flexibility” in unblocking Brexit talks, saying the ball is in the bloc’s court.

But the EU lobbed the ball straight back. European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said the responsibility for progress is “entirely in the U.K. court.”

 

More than six months have passed since Britain triggered the two-year countdown to its EU exit. A fifth round of divorce negotiations opened Monday in Brussels, with both sides frustrated by the lack of progress.

 

On Monday May is due to update British lawmakers on developments since her major speech in Florence, Italy, last month. May’s Downing St. office said she will say that “the ball is in their court. But I am optimistic we will receive a positive response.”

 

In the Florence speech, intended to kick-start the foundering negotiations, May said Britain would be willing to abide by EU rules and pay into its coffers for two years after Brexit in 2019.

She also signaled Britain would pay what it owes to settle financial commitments it has made to the EU, but without naming a figure.

 

EU leaders called her suggestions positive but asked for more details.

 

The U.K. is increasingly anxious to move talks on to discussing future trade relations, but so far the EU says there hasn’t been “sufficient progress” on the major divorce terms – the size of the Brexit bill, the status of the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland and the rights of EU citizens living in Britain and Britons living in other member states.

 

Schinas, the EU spokesman, said “there has been so far no solution found on step one, which is the divorce proceedings.”

 

“So the ball is entirely in the U.K. court for the rest to happen,” he said.

 

Some EU countries are striking a more conciliatory note. Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen has called for compromise, saying “this will never be a 100 percent win for one side or the other side.”

 

Jensen said the sides “are now on the same page” and “it is rather important we get on to a more close and more speedy process of concluding some of the issues.”

 

May’s official spokesman, James Chapman, said Britain believed May’s speech in Florence had created “momentum.”

 

“The response from the EU and its leaders has been constructive,” he said. “But let’s see what happens in the next round of talks.”
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Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

American Richard H. Thaler Wins Nobel Prize in Economic Science

American Richard H. Thaler was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize for Economics — officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

The award committee said Thaler was chosen “for his contributions to behavioral economics.”

 

“By exploring the consequences of limited rationality, social preferences, and lack of self-control,” Thaler “has shown how these human traits systematically affect individual decisions as well as market outcomes,” the Swedish Academy said.

Thaler developed the theory of “mental accounting,” explaining how people simplify financial decision-making by creating separate accounts in their minds, focusing on the narrow impact of each individual decision rather than its overall effect.

Thaler was born 1945 in East Orange, New Jersey and received his Ph.D. in 1974 from the University of Rochester, New York. He is a Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Illinois.

 

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award Monday. It carries a $1.1 million prize.
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Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Gas Trucks Boom in China As Government Curbs Diesel in War On Smog

On a recent morning in Yutian, a dusty town bisected by the highway that connects Beijing to the sea, Su Meiquan strolled into a dealership packed with hulking trucks and prepared to drive off with a brand new rig.

After years of driving a diesel truck for a trucking company, he had decided to buy his own vehicle — a bright red rig fueled with liquefied natural gas, capable of hauling as much as 40 tons of loads like steel or slabs of marble.

Su hopes the LNG truck – less polluting and cheaper to operate than diesel ones – will be the cornerstone of his own business, plying the route to the western fringes of China.

“Everybody says gas is cleaner with nearly no emissions,” he said after signing a stack of paperwork in the dealer’s office.

In front of him, photos of proud drivers posing in front of their own new LNG trucks had been taped to the wall.

Sales of large LNG trucks are expected to hit record levels in China this year as the government steps up an anti-pollution campaign that includes curbs on heavy-duty diesel vehicles.

LNG trucks account for about four percent of the more than six million heavy vehicles able to haul 40 to 49 tonnes of goods that are currently on China’s roads. The vast majority of the 43 billion tonnes of freight transported across China last year was by highway.

A demand for LNG trucks

But demand for LNG trucks is soaring as companies and manufacturers shift to vehicles that run on the gas that Beijing sees as a key part of its war against smog.

Sales of LNG heavy trucks surged 540 percent to nearly 39,000 in the first seven months of the year, according to Cassie Liu, a truck analyst with the IHS Markit consultancy.

That was partly fueled by a ban this year on the use of diesel trucks to transport coal at northern ports in provinces like Hebei and Shandong, and in the city of Tianjin.

“We are seeing a blowout in LNG trucks this year, thanks to the government’s policy push,” said Mu Lei, marketing manager for China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, known as Sinotruk, the country’s largest manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks.

The shift to gas trucks is helping fuel demand for LNG in China, as are other government measures aimed at clearing the air, especially in the north, which is shrouded in a hazardous coal-fueled smog for much of the winter.

One major project is piping gas to 1.4 million households across the north for heating this winter, shifting away from coal.

China, already the world’s No.3 LNG consumer, has seen imports jump 45 percent so far this year.

Chinese companies like Jereh Group and ENN Energy Holding , which build LNG filling stations, and Zhangjiagang CIMC Sanctum Cryogenic Equipment Co., Ltd, which specializes in LNG tanks, are expected to benefit from the gas boom, analysts said.

Overload, Ports

Government restrictions on cargo overloading last year, for safety reasons, has also driven truck sales as operators rushed to buy bigger trucks.

Next month, Beijing will also impose restrictions on thousands of northern factories using diesel trucks, forcing many to use more rail and others to consider gas-powered lorries.

Sales of new heavy-duty trucks, including diesel and LNG vehicles, jumped 75 percent in the January-August period to 768,214, according to industry website www.chinatruck.org.

It did not break down the numbers, but companies say that diesel growth is being dwarfed by that of the LNG trucks.

Last week, Sinotruk netted new orders for 1,371 heavy-duty trucks, 900 of which run on LNG, at an event bringing together coal transport companies from seven northern Chinese cities, Mu said. In the first half of this year, Sinotruk sold 5,200 LNG trucks, up 650 percent year on year.

“Gas trucks are both more environmentally friendly and more economic,” said Lai Wei, general manager of Tianjin Shengteng Transport Company, a privately-run trucking company.

Lai is tripling his LNG fleet to more than 100 by the end of this year, adding 65 new trucks made by Shaanxi Heavy Duty Automobile Co. Ltd, the country’s largest LNG vehicle producer.

He is also cutting back his diesel fleet to 30 from 50 previously because of the new emissions rules in Tianjin that come into effect this month.

Only vehicles meeting “National Five” emissions standards, similar to Euro V standards for trucks and buses in Europe, will be allowed to operate at the port.

Lai said he was also concerned that there might be further restrictions on diesel trucks in a few years.

Cleaner, Cheaper

China, the world’s top energy guzzler, wants gas, which emits half the carbon dioxide as that of burning coal, to supply 15 percent of energy demand by 2030, up from 6 percent currently.

That effort stalled in 2014 as an oil price slump lifted demand for diesel. But as oil prices have risen in the past 20 months, rebounding to above $50, LNG sales, especially from Australia and the United States, have soared.

Diesel costs between 10-30 percent more than gas on average currently at Chinese gas stations, according to truck companies.

For Su, the new truck owner in Yutian, about 140 kilometers to the east of Beijing, price is a major reason for making the switch from diesel.

He plans to hire two drivers to shuttle the 3,500 kilometers between Yutian and Urumqi, in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, to carry steel products west and coal or other goods on the way back.

“It really suits our journeys as the longer the trip, the more you save on fuel on an LNG truck,” he said.

He is paying 390,000 yuan for a Sinotruk rig, about 60,000 yuan more than a diesel truck would have cost.

“On a return trip, we can save 3,000 yuan in fuel,” he added. “That means we’ll be able to recoup within a year the extra cost on the vehicle.”
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Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Bugs in the Food by Design at Bangkok Fine-dining Bistro

Ants and beetles in the kitchen? Normally that’d close down a restaurant immediately, but for a unique eatery in Bangkok, bugs in the beef ragu and pests in the pesto are the business plan.

 

Tucking into insects is nothing new in Thailand, where street vendors pushing carts of fried crickets and buttery silkworms have long fed locals and adventurous tourists alike. But bugs are now fine-dining at Insects in the Backyard, a Bangkok bistro aiming to revolutionize views of nature’s least-loved creatures and what you can do with them.

 

“In Thailand, there is a long history of local populations, of people consuming insects and they continue to do, in large amounts. But it’s essentially as a snack, not a part of dishes, not a part of cuisine,” said Regan Suzuki Pairojmahakij, a Canadian partner at the eatery. “We are interested in moving people away from seeing insects from purely as a snack to be a part of a gourmet and a delicious cuisine.”

 

That’s the responsibility of executive chef Thitiwat Tantragarn, a veteran of some of Thailand’s top restaurants. Together with his team he’s designed a menu that features seven different insects, including ants, crickets, bamboo caterpillars, silkworms and giant water beetles.

“It’s a new thing,” Thitiwat said. “You live in the world, you need to learn the new thing.” He said he’s cooked with pork and chicken for a long time, but insects are “a new world of cooking [and a] new lesson.”

 

For Kelvarin Chotvichit, a lawyer from Bangkok, the menu has been a revelation of taste and texture.

 

“When I taste this, it’s opened my new attitudes about foods: that insects are one of the foods that’s edible,” he said. “And it’s tasty too. It’s not weird as you thought. And the feeling — it’s crispy; it’s like a snack. Yeah, I like it.”

 

United Nations food experts have pushed insects as a source of nutrition for years. Studies show they’re higher in protein, good fats and minerals than traditional livestock. Even when commercially farmed, their environmental impact is far lower, needing less feed and emitting less carbon.

 

Wholesaler Amornsiri Sompornsuksawat is one the suppliers to Insects in the Backyard. The prospect of a new market — the fine-dining sector — is enough to make her salivate.

 

“I hope that people will eat more of my bugs and I can sell more of them,” she said. “We can have new menus, replacing the old familiar ones. It’s great.”

 

Insects in the Backyard has only been open a matter of weeks, so it’s too early to tell whether its mission to metamorphose insect cuisine is on track.

Amornrat Simapaisan, a local shop manager, tucked in quite happily to her watermelon and cricket salad on a recent evening.

 

“It’s tasty. It’s munchy,” she said.

 

But her dining partner exemplified the biggest problem the restaurant faces: that lingering feeling of disgust.

 

“I still have a barrier, something on my mind to stop me from eating it,” said Patr Srisook, a freelance photographer. “But, yes, it kind of tastes like normal, nothing, like normal food.”

 

And that is the message from the restaurant itself: Judge us on our food.

 

“There is obviously the shock value with insects and that might bring some people into through the door,” Pairojmahakij said. “But, essentially, for the longevity or sustainability of the restaurant, and, for the sector of the edible insects as a whole, it has to stand on its on legs, so to speak. It has to be attractive. It has to be delicious. And it actually has to add something to the cuisine as we know it.”
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