ЄС, Новини, Світ

Hacker Attack on German Parliament May Be Linked to Election

A top police official says a recent hacking attack on the German Parliament may have led to a “significant drain of data” which may be used to try influence the outcome of the country’s general election in September.

Holger Muench, the head of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, didn’t tell reporters Thursday who might have been behind the most recent hacking attack. The offices of at least 10 members of Parliament were attacked last month, the German news agency dpa reported.

In the summer of 2015, the Bundestag suffered another hacker attack, which meant several networks and servers had to be taken offline for days.

 

German authorities have repeatedly expressed fears that foreign countries could try to influence the outcome of the elections by releasing hacked information during the campaign.
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

Britain’s Young Royals Promote Conversation on Mental Health

Prince William, his wife Kate and his brother Prince Harry are spearheading a campaign to encourage people to talk openly about mental health issues.

 

The young royals released 10 films Thursday as part of their Heads Together campaign to change the national conversation on mental health.

 

The videos feature celebrities and members of the public talking about the breakthrough conversation that helped them come to terms with their mental health problems.

 

The former England cricket captain Andrew Flintoff and former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spin doctor Alastair Campbell are among those seen speaking about their experiences of anxiety or depression.

 

The films can be viewed on the Heads Together website and YouTube page.

 
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

UK Negotiator Denies Government Blackmailing EU on Security

Britain’s chief negotiator in the country’s divorce from the European Union on Thursday rejected suggestions the U.K. has threatened to end security cooperation unless it gets a good trade deal, as the U.K. announced plans for the huge task of replacing thousands of EU laws and regulations with domestic law.

Brexit Secretary David Davis said Prime Minister Theresa May’s letter triggering talks on Britain’s departure made clear Britain wants to continue to work with the EU on a range of issues, including security, for both sides.

“We want a deal, and she was making the point that it’s bad for both of us if we don’t have a deal,” Davis told the BBC. “Now that, I think, is a perfectly reasonable point to make and not in any sense a threat.”

May’s six-page letter triggering two years of divorce negotiations makes 11 references to security, and said that without a good deal, “our cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism would be weakened.”

The tabloid Sun was in no doubt about what May meant: “Your money or your lives,” was its front-page headline Thursday, along with the words “PM’s Brexit threat to EU.”

Britain is a European security powerhouse — one of only two nuclear powers in the bloc and with some of the world’s most capable intelligence services.

May said Wednesday that Britain will probably have to leave the EU police agency, Europol, after Brexit but wants to “maintain the degree of cooperation on these matters that we have currently.”

Home Secretary Amber Rudd, whose responsibilities include intelligence and security, also denied there was a threat, but told Sky News: “If we left Europol, then we would take our information … with us. The fact is, the European partners want to keep our information.”

Senior European leaders responded positively to the warm overall tone of May’s letter — but they could not miss the steely undertone.

“I find the letter of Mrs. May very constructive generally, but there is also one threat in it,” said European Parliament Brexit coordinator Guy Verhoftstadt, saying May seemed to be demanding a good trade deal in exchange for continued security cooperation.

“It doesn’t work like that,” he told Sky News. “You cannot abuse the security of citizens to have then a good deal on something else.”

A day after triggering its EU exit process, the British government began outlining Thursday how it intends to convert thousands of EU rules into British law when it leaves the bloc in 2019.

The government published plans for a Great Repeal Bill that will transform more than 12,000 EU laws in force in Britain into U.K. statute so that “the same rules will apply after exit day” as before.

The bill is designed to prevent Britain plunging into a legislative black hole once it extricates itself from the EU.

Davis told lawmakers it would ensure that British laws are made not in Brussels but “in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.”

But opposition lawmakers are unhappy at plans to give government ministers power to change some laws without votes in Parliament.

They fear the Conservative government will use it as a chance to water down workers’ rights and environmental protections introduced in Britain during four decades of EU membership.

Labour Party Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said the proposed bill “gives sweeping powers to the executive” and lacks “rigorous safeguards” on their abuse.

The government insists executive powers will be time-limited and will only be used to make “mechanical changes” so laws can be applied smoothly. It says it is trying to balance “the need for scrutiny and the need for speed.”

The government says Parliament will be able to scrutinize all “substantive policy changes,” including new customs and immigration laws, and that environmental, workplace and human rights standards will stay in force.

 
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Migrant Fruit Pickers Win European Court Case Against Greece

A group of strawberry pickers from Bangladesh has won a case against Greece at Europe’s highest human rights court, after being shot at by employers for demanding unpaid wages.

The Council of Europe’s Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday in favor of 42 Bangladeshi nationals, and ordered the Greek state to pay them damages of 12,000-16,000 euros ($13,000-$17,000) each for having “failed in its obligations to prevent the situation of human trafficking, to protect the victims.”

 

The 2013 incident occurred near the southern Greek town of Manolada, 260 kilometers (160 miles) west of Athens, when more than 20 migrant strawberry pickers were shot and wounded by foremen wielding shotguns after demanding delayed pay.

 

The European case was launched after a Greek court convicted two of the shooting suspects but they were released pending their appeal.

 

Morsed Chowdury, the lead applicant in the European case, and the human rights watchdog Amnesty International welcomed the decision taken by the court in Strasbourg, France.

 

“We are very pleased and excited by today’s judgment. The Greek court’s acquittal of the farmers for the crime of forced labor was a great disappointment to us,” Chowdury said.

 

“We hope that the Greek government will learn from our experiences and recognize our important role in the Greek economy.”

 

The shootings were widely publicized, highlighting the frequent mistreatment of migrant workers in Greek farming jobs.

 

“Today’s judgment is an important vindication for them and their families and will hopefully help prevent future abuse,” Amnesty International’s Gauri van Gulik told the AP.

 

“Amnesty has met and interviewed the migrant workers about their exploitation in 2013 just after the incident and saw for ourselves their living conditions.”
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

US Arrests Turkish Banker in Iran Sanctions Case

Turkish banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a prominent ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, came to New York this week to school investors on his state bank’s plans to sell new dollar bonds.

Instead, he was placed under arrest by U.S. authorities and accused of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran by teaming with wealthy Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars of illegal transactions through U.S. banks to Iran’s government.

“United States sanctions are not mere requests or suggestions; they are the law,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said in a statement in New York, where Atilla was arraigned Tuesday.

He was arrested at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday.

Gold, currency allegedly sent to Iran

Atilla “protected and hid Zarrab’s ability to provide access to international financial networks,” U.S. authorities said in documents filed in the U.S. court. The documents allege that gold and currency were sent to Iran, while documents were forged to disguise the transactions as food shipments so as to comply with humanitarian exceptions to the sanctions law.

Atilla’s arrest and the case of Zarrab — arrested last year in Florida — drew a sharp rebuke from the Turkish government, which said it planned to raise the matter with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when he visits Ankara this week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkish media.

Relations between the U.S. and Turkey are frayed over the Syrian civil war and Turkish demands for the extradition of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the Turkish leadership blames for July’s failed coup in Turkey.

Diplomatic dispute?

In terms of the impact of the recent development on the U.S. Turkish relationship, some analysts suggest it could potentially be an issue as the two sides view the case through different lenses.

“For the U.S., it is a case of sanctions law violation,” said Ihan Tani, a journalist who follows U.S.-Turkish relations. “But some people close to the Turkish president seem to be involved with Reza Zarrab.”

Tani added that because of the involvement of close aides of the Turkish president, the issue could escalate into a diplomatic dispute.

But Tani said Atilla knew that U.S authorities viewed him as a potential suspect.

“He knew that he was part of the U.S. investigation here. So why did he come to this country? It is hard to understand. If he took a risk, now he is paying for it,” Tani said.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment on his motives to travel to the U.S.

Lender’s shares drop

The arrest could have major financial implications for Turkish state lender Halkbank. Bank shares posted their biggest one-day fall on Wednesday.

Halkbank, Turkey’s fifth-largest bank in terms of assets, vowed to investigate.

“Our bank and relevant state bodies are conducting the necessary work on the subject, and information will be shared with the public when it is obtained,” Halkbank said in a statement.
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Farmers’ Use of Groundwater for Irrigation Called Unsustainable

Farmers around the world are using an unsustainable amount of well water to irrigate their crops, which could lead to an uptick in food prices as that water runs low, international researchers warned Wednesday.

Farmers are increasing their use of groundwater to grow staple crops such as rice, wheat and cotton, the scientists said. But much of that water use is unsustainable, as water is being pumped out faster than it can be naturally replenished.

“Groundwater depletion is increasing rapidly, especially in the last 10, 20 years, due to the increasing populations and also associated food production,” said Yoshihide Wada, deputy water program director at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, a science organization in Austria.

The shortages are occurring in some big agricultural producers such as India, China and the United States, he said.

But they could have an impact on a much wider area of the world because “much of the agricultural production is traded internationally,” he said.

An estimated 11 percent of crops irrigated with nonrenewable groundwater are traded internationally after harvest, the researchers said in a report published in the journal Nature.

Countries such as Pakistan, Iran and India, which use the most groundwater to grow food, are already suffering from water scarcity, the report said.

For many countries “it doesn’t really make sense that you’re exporting a lot of food that comes from groundwater depletion,” Wada said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Effect on food prices

Unsustainable use of groundwater could lead to rising future food prices, as countries are forced to spend more money to find water to irrigate their crops, he said.

Depleted supplies of groundwater could also hurt local people, who rely on the water for day-to-day use and for other things, including fighting fires or dealing with other emergencies, the scientists said.

Droughts, which are expected to increase as a result of climate change, could also increase the shortages of groundwater and affect food supplies, lead author Carole Dalin added in a statement.

“Where and how the products are grown is crucial, and basic foods like rice and bread could have a damaging impact on global water supplies,” said Dalin, a research fellow at University College London’s Institute for Sustainable Resources.

Unless both food producers and food buyers adopt strategies to use water more wisely, “most of the world’s population risks seeing increased food prices or disrupted food supply,” she warned.

Wada said governments should more closely monitor the use of groundwater and invest in things like drip irrigation technology, which can dramatically cut water use, to better prepare for the future and conserve natural resources.
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

Face of Anti-Kremlin Protests Is Son of Putin Ally

Russian high school student Roman Shingarkin had some explaining to do when he got home after becoming one of the faces of anti-Kremlin protests at the weekend. His father is a former member of parliament who supports President Vladimir Putin.

At the height of a protest in Moscow on Sunday against what organizers said was official corruption, 17-year-old Shingarkin and another young man climbed onto the top of a lamp-post in the city’s Pushkin Square.

Hundreds of protesters in the square cheered and whistled as a police officer, dressed in riot gear, shinned up the lamp-post and remonstrated with the two to come down. They refused, and the police officer retreated, to jubilation from the protesters down below.

As images of the protests, the biggest in Russia for several years, ricocheted around social media, Shingarkin’s sit-in on top of the lamp-post was adopted by Kremlin opponents as a David-and-Goliath style symbol of defiance.

Shingarkin was eventually detained when, after the protest in Pushkin Square had dispersed, police persuaded him to climb down. He was taken to a police station but as a minor, he could not be charged. From the police station, he had to ring his father to ask to be picked up.

His father, Maxim Shingarkin, was from 2011 until 2016 a lawmaker in the State Duma, or lower house of parliament. He was a member of the LDPR party, a nationalist group that on nearly all major issues backs Putin.

Putin last year gave the party’s leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a medal for services to Russia. With Putin standing next to him, Zhirinovsky proclaimed: “God protect the tsar.”

Shingarkin had not told his father he would be going to the protest, but the former lawmaker quickly guessed what had happened.

“When I rang my dad from the police station, he immediately understood why I was there,” Shingarkin, wearing the same blue and black coat he had on during the protest, said in an interview with Reuters TV.

“I went there [to the rally] out of interest to see how strong the opposition is, how many people would take to the streets, and at the same time to get a response from authorities to a clear fact of corruption.”

He decided to climb up the lamp-post because he “could see nothing from the ground.”

Contacted by telephone on Wednesday, Shingarkin senior said he was sympathetic with his son’s motives for attending the protest.

“He has a social position, against corruption, I support it completely,” Maxim Shingarkin said.

But he emphasised that his son’s actions did not mean that he or the family were opponents of Putin.

The Russian leader, Shingarkin senior said, is popular among voters and there is no one to replace him, but he is let down by the officials around him.

Roman Shingarkin said for now he would not attend any more protests unless they were approved by the authorities.

He said he might venture to a non-approved demonstration once he turns 18, because if he gets into trouble then, the police will charge him and not involve his parents.
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

PDVSA Manager Arrested in Venezuela Fuel Corruption Probe

Venezuela has arrested a senior manager of state oil company PDVSA on suspicion of “irregularities” in contracts to supply fuel to the domestic market, authorities said on Wednesday.

The detention of international commerce manager Marco Malave, 47, followed a shakeup of personnel at PDVSA’s trade department since January and amid gasoline shortages around the South American OPEC nation last week.

“PDVSA representatives denounced a series of irregularities in the protocol for contracting companies with vessels to supply the referred hydrocarbon to the Venezuelan market,” the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The situation affected fuel distribution in seven states, including the capital Caracas, it said. Malave was arrested last week in Caracas and his bank accounts have been frozen.

Vow to battle corruption

President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government and Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., familiarly known as PDVSA, have repeatedly vowed to take steps to combat corruption, which has affected Venezuela and its oil industry for decades.

Earlier this month, the heads of Venezuela-based subcontracting companies Castillo Max and Guevara Training were arrested and charged with corruption for overbilling in equipment sales at the main oil-exporting port Jose.

Jesus Osorio, the former manager of Jose terminal, was jailed in February over the purchase of two floating platforms costing $76.2 million.

Opposition leaders have said that PDVSA has been crippled by malfeasance under 18 years of socialist rule.

A probe last year by the opposition-run Congress said $11 billion had gone missing from PDVSA. The government dismissed that as part of a right-wing smear campaign.

Change at the top?

Rumors are rife inside PDVSA and in the wider oil sector that company president Eulogio del Pino may depart soon, to be replaced by Oil Minister Nelson Martinez. There has been no official word on this. Attempts to reach Del Pino have been unsuccessful.

“Del Pino’s apparent replacement Nelson Martinez is part of this broader trend of promoting loyalists,” Eurasia consultancy analyst Risa Grais-Targow wrote in a report on Wednesday.

“Martinez is close to Maduro, who has long wanted him to head PDVSA. Martinez represents the most viable alternative to Del Pino considering a shallow bench of skilled oil sector technocrats.”
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Study Finds Correlation Between Good Health, Economic Prospects

A study by U.S. economic experts and a major health insurance company says a healthy population is a key ingredient in a healthy and growing economy.

Blue Cross and Moody’s Analytics used data from millions of insurance customers to draw a statistical relationship between health and prosperity in the United States.

In counties throughout the 50 states where the population had top health scores, per capita incomes were nearly $4,000 a year higher than in counties where people had just average health scores.  

Unemployment showed a similar pattern: The healthiest counties had a jobless rate eight-tenths of a percent better than communities where health was average. Economic growth also was measurably stronger in the healthiest areas.

The report’s authors cautioned that the statistical correlation did not prove that healthier people cause a stronger economy, but it did make researchers suspect that such a relationship exists. The report also noted that healthier people lose less time from work and bring better skills to the job, because they didn’t miss school lessons.

Obamacare debate

The report came in the midst of a long-running national debate among American lawmakers about how to devise and pay for a system of health insurance.

Since President Donald Trump took office, his Republican Party has been planning to repeal the Affordable Care Act that former President Barack Obama signed into law seven years ago, claiming it is ineffective and financially ruinous.

The sentiment among lawmakers in Congress conflicted with many American families’ feelings about the value of the ACA, also known as Obamacare, and a divided Republican majority in Congress proved unable to repeal or replace the law.
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

Counterterror Efforts High on Agenda in Tillerson’s Meetings with Turkey, NATO

The United States is examining its next steps in the campaign to defeat Islamic State militants and stabilize the refugee crisis with regional allies, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson embarks on trips to Turkey and NATO headquarters this week. The top U.S. diplomat will press NATO allies to demonstrate a clear path to increase defense spending, in his first meeting with counterparts from this security bloc.

U.S.-led forces are increasing their campaign to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State militants. Stabilizing areas where militants have fled and allowing refugees to return home is high on the agenda for the U.S. and its anti-Islamic State coalition partners.

In Turkey, Tillerson will try to build on progress from last week’s meeting of coalition partners in Washington.

“While a more defined course of action in Syria is still coming together, I can say the United States will increase our pressure on ISIS and al-Qaida, and will work to establish interim zones of stability through cease-fires to allow refugees to go home,” he said, using a common acronym for Islamic State, which is also known as ISIL and Daesh.

But it could be a tall order, according to Middle East expert Daniel Serwer.

“The Turks would like to have safe zones; they have been proposing them for years,” he said. “But they are, in fact, extraordinarily difficult to create, and to defend, and to maintain.”

NATO

Days before Tillerson’s first meeting with NATO foreign ministers, Tillerson met with his counterparts from the Baltic states. They expressed confidence in Washington’s support for NATO.

“We’re passing what we consider very important messages of the need to develop transatlantic security and economic links, so it was, overall, a very good introductory meeting,” Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics told VOA’s Ukrainian Service.

After Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, NATO agreed to send troops to Lithuania and to Estonia, Latvia and Poland, in a move to deter potential Russian aggression.

“I wouldn’t say the military presence is insignificant,” Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Misker told VOA’s Russian Service. “These are very well-trained, well-equipped forces. But when you look at the numbers, the presence is slightly modest compared to what Russia has in place on the other side of the border. So it shouldn’t be viewed as escalatory in any way … but I think it’s sufficient to make Russia change its calculus. It makes clear to Russia that they should not launch a provocation and think that they can do it with impunity.”

Tillerson is going to the NATO talks before he goes to Moscow, a move that ends the controversy over his earlier decision to skip the event.

“[NATO allies] want the commitment by Tillerson to maintain sanctions [on Russia for its actions] on Ukraine; they want a commitment from Tillerson that his president isn’t going to sell out the alliance to the Russians,” Serwer said.

Tillerson will make it clear that it is no longer sustainable for the United States to maintain a disproportionate share of NATO’s defense spending. He also will consult with allies about their shared commitment to improve security in Ukraine and the need for NATO to push Russia to end aggression against its neighbors.

NATO member states have until 2024 to meet a shared pledge to contribute 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.

Estonia is the only Baltic nation to spend 2 percent of the GDP for defense purposes. Lithuania and Latvia have pledged to reach that level by 2018.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOA’s Russian and Ukrainian services.
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

California, Washington Face Off Over Vehicle Fuel Standards

California and a dozen other states could be heading for a showdown with the federal government as the Trump administration reviews rules on fuel efficiency and vehicle emissions, rules President Donald Trump has said curtail growth in the auto industry.

California has a waiver under federal law to set its own standards, and other states have the option to follow them.

California has been a leader in promoting fuel-efficient cars and sport utility vehicles, and the state says it will keep its strict standards, despite a review of federal regulations ordered by Trump.

Separately, the president signed an executive order Tuesday to reduce the federal role in regulating carbon emissions in the energy industry to promote “energy independence,” although scientists view carbon emission from fossil fuels as a major cause of global warming.

Vehicle fuel standards were strengthened in the final days of the Obama presidency, as the administration hurriedly completed a review of fuel economy targets through 2025, imposing goals that bring a corresponding reduction in tail-pipe emissions.  

Fueled by 1973 oil embargo

Therese Langer of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy says Obama was continuing a process that started in California in the 1960s, then moved to the rest of the country with federal legislation.

After the Arab oil embargo of 1973, Congress set targets with the CAFE, or Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards.

Langer says the rules helped reduce dependence on foreign oil, but “the dominant effect of bringing down that pollution from tail pipes of cars through a combination of changes to the cars and changes to the fuel is a human health benefit. And it’s really hard to overstate how dramatic that has been over the years.”

CAFE fuel economy standards are locked in through 2021, but the Trump administration is reconsidering the rules for the following years through 2025.

Supporters say strict standards help to cut the greenhouse gases that are fueling global warming, save consumers money, and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

The president says he wants to cut government regulations.

Thomas Pyle of the industry-aligned American Energy Alliance says the president’s review will ask, “How [do] you balance the desire for fuel efficiency, for more fuel-efficient vehicles, with other things that are important when consumers go and purchase vehicles, such as size, safety, whether or not they need a truck for their job.”

Environmentalists push electric cars

Existing standards aim to improve fuel economy by promoting hybrid gasoline-electric and battery-powered electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles, or EVs, are just one percent of the market and pose a special challenge. Environmentalists say they have great promise, but need government incentives to spur development.

Laura Renger oversees air and climate issues for Southern California Edison, and she says the electric utility company is doing its part.

Renger drives an electric car to work and charges it outside the company office. She says EV drivers like her feel “range anxiety,” but the utility is installing 1,500 charging stations where people park their cars, “on campuses, work places, and shopping centers.”

Other companies are engaged in similar programs.

Renger says the market will expand as battery technology gets better and the charging infrastructure grows.

Critics say that government subsidies for electric vehicles are not needed, and Pyle, of the American Energy Alliance, says people who drive EVs can afford to do it without tax breaks.

Finding ‘the right balance’

Jessica Caldwell of the auto research site Edmunds.com disagrees, and she says online behavior shows that buyers are sensitive to price and are looking for incentives.

“People in real time are very deal oriented,” she said, “so my fear is if you take away the federal subsidy, this market is really going to collapse,” she said.

California says it has no intention of removing its subsidies.

Langer, of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, says current government fuel-and-emission standards help consumers.

“If you look at the whole time period for which the standards were adopted under the last administration, that’s model year 2012 through 2025,” she said, “the consumer savings from buying less gasoline exceed a trillion dollars.”

But critics like Pyle ask, “What is the right balance, and who makes those choices, the government, or consumers and the auto industry together?”

He applauds Trump’s goal of improving the productivity of the energy and auto industries.

Twelve other states and the U.S. capital now follow the California standards, and if federal rules are weakened, car makers confusingly could face two different sets of vehicle standards, one based on California’s rules and one on Washington’s.
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

Serbia: Putin Agrees to Large Weapons Delivery to Balkans

Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to sign off on a delivery of fighter jets, battle tanks and armored vehicles to Serbia, the Balkan country’s defense minister said Tuesday, in what could worsen tensions with neighboring states and trigger an arms race in the war-weary region.

Defense Minister Zoran Djordjevic said that Putin agreed to approve the delivery during a visit by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to Moscow on Monday. He said six MiG-29 fighter jets, 30 T-72 tanks and 30 BRDM-2 armored vehicles will be delivered soon.

“The president of the Russian Federation said he will sign that decree, and when it’s signed, we will act accordingly,” Djordjevic said. “We are waiting for the process to be finalized in Russia and see how (the equipment) will be delivered to Serbia.”

The jets would have to fly over NATO-member countries before reaching Serbia. Or, they would have to be taken apart and flown in transport planes, if the neighboring countries approve.

Djordjevic said that the jets, tanks and fighting vehicles — donated from Russian arms reserves for free — will be “fully modernized and refurbished” in Serbia by Russian technicians for an undisclosed sum. It is estimated that the overhaul of the MiGs alone would cost Serbia some 200 million euros ($216 million.)

Djordjevic said earlier that Serbia is also interested in buying a Russian air defense system as well as opening a repair center for Russian MIL helicopters which, analysts believe, would be tantamount to opening a Russian military base on its territory.

Serbia formally has been on the path to join the European Union, but under political and propaganda pressure from Moscow has steadily slid toward the Kremlin and its goal of keeping the countries in the Balkan region out of NATO and other Western integrations.

EU officials have voiced their alarm over increasing Russian influence in the western Balkans, which has seen a bloody civil war in the 1990s.

Meanwhile, Serbia’s archrival and NATO-member Croatia is shopping for a new fighter to replace the nation’s aging MiG-21s.

 

The two leading contenders for the planned contract reportedly include American Lockheed Martin’s F-16 and Swedish Saab JAS-39 Gripen.
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Lawmakers: Trump Team Wants More NAFTA Access for US Goods, Services

Trump administration trade officials want a revamped North American Free Trade Agreement to improve access for U.S. farm products, manufactured goods and services in Canada and Mexico, said lawmakers who met with them Tuesday.

Members of the House Ways and Means Committee met with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and acting U.S. Trade Representative Stephen Vaughn to discuss the administration’s plans for renegotiating the 23-year-old trade deal.

Representative Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat, said Ross told lawmakers in the closed-door session that the administration was still aiming to complete NAFTA renegotiations by the end of 2017.

‘Ambitious’ schedule

That time frame is viewed by some members as “ambitious,” especially because it is not clear when the administration will formally notify Congress of its intention to launch NAFTA renegotiations, Pascrell said.

The notification will trigger a 90-day consultation period before substantial talks can begin. Tuesday’s meeting was a legal requirement to prepare the notification and preserve the “fast track” authority for approving a renegotiated deal with only an up-or-down vote in Congress.

President Donald Trump has long vilified NAFTA as draining millions of manufacturing jobs to Mexico, and he has vowed to quit the trade pact unless it can be renegotiated to shrink U.S. trade deficits.

Lawmakers said Ross and Vaughn discussed broad negotiating objectives, but did not get into specific issues such as U.S. access to Canada’s dairy sector or rules of origin for parts used on North American-assembled vehicles.

Key objectives

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican, told reporters that market access, modernizing NAFTA and “holding trading partners accountable” were key objectives articulated by Ross and Vaughn.

“They were very clear. They want to open access in ag, manufacturing and services as well, so they want this to be a 21st-century agreement,” Brady said.

Spokesmen for the Commerce Department and USTR were not immediately available for comment on the meeting.

Lawmakers said the administration has not settled on the form of the negotiations, whether NAFTA will remain a trilateral agreement or whether it would be split into two bilateral trade deals.

“My sense is that they are not prejudging the form. They are focused on the substance of the agreement itself with Mexico and Canada,” Brady said.

Some lawmakers expressed frustration that the Trump officials were short on specific answers.

“I wouldn’t exactly call this meeting as moving the ball forward very much,” said Representative Ron Kind, a Wisconsin Democrat.
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

Scotland to Seek New Independence Referendum

Scotland’s Parliament voted Tuesday to seek a new referendum on independence from Britain, clearing the way for the country’s first minister, its top lawmaker, to ask the British government to approve such a vote.

The legislature in Edinburgh voted 69-59 to seek Britain’s parliamentary endorsement, which is required, for a referendum that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants to hold within two years — before Britain has completed its departure from the 28-nation European Union.

British voters narrowly approved a departure from the EU last year, and London will begin the formal process leading to Britain’s exit from the union on Wednesday.

Despite the overall vote last year in favor of leaving the EU — based on ballots cast in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — nearly two-thirds of Scottish voters elected to remain in the bloc. Since then, Sturgeon has insisted that independence is the only way for Scotland to maintain its formal EU relationship.

Scottish voters chose not to declare independence from London in a referendum three years ago, but that was months before discussions began about Britain’s possible departure from the Brussels-based EU.  

‘Democratically indefensible’

Sturgeon has argued that last year’s Brexit vote necessitates a new independence referendum. On Tuesday, she said “it would be democratically indefensible and utterly unsustainable” for London to block a new Scottish vote.

Sturgeon first predicted a push for a new independence referendum last year, hours after British voters elected to leave the EU. She said it would be “unacceptable” for Scotland to be forced to leave the EU along with the rest of Britain, in light of Scots’ strong support for remaining in the bloc.

For her part, British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will not support a new Scottish vote until Britain has formally departed the EU — a process of negotiations that experts say could take take several years.

“Now is not the time,” May said of a new Scottish referendum, adding that Britons “should be working together, not pulling apart,” as the Brexit unfolds.
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

British Royal Mint Says New Pound Coin Will Be Tough to Fake

Britain has launched a new pound coin that authorities say will be difficult to counterfeit.
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Brazil Police Raid Brokerage for Allegedly Laundering ‘Car Wash’ Bribe Cash

Brazil’s federal police on Tuesday raided a brokerage in Rio de Janeiro which they allege helped launder money for corrupt former executives of state-run oil firm Petrobras, as part of their sprawling “Car Wash” anti-graft probe.

Police said they searched the offices of the Advalor Distribuidora de Titulos e Valores brokerage firm in Rio, which they allege facilitated the movement of bribes from big construction firms to the then-Petrobras executives, often to their overseas bank accounts.

A person who answered the phone at Advalor’s Rio de Janeiro office did not respond to requests for comment.

Goncalves arrested

Former Petrobras executive Roberto Goncalves was arrested in Tuesday’s operation on the order of federal judge Sergio Moro, who oversees Operation Car Wash.

Police allege Goncalves received at least $5 million in bribes paid into overseas bank accounts.

The arrest warrant issued by Moro states that Goncalves had at least five Swiss bank accounts. In just one of those, he received $3 million in bribes from construction giant Odebrecht, according to police.

Allegedly took bribes for several projects

Goncalves allegedly took bribes in connection with several projects, one of the largest being a contract awarded to a consortium composed of Odebrecht and UTC Engenharia for work on the Comperj refinery outside Rio de Janeiro.

He does not yet face any formal charges. Under Brazilian law, only prosecutors can level charges. The prosecutor’s office did not respond to request for comment about Goncalves’ case.

A lawyer for Goncalves could not immediately be reached.
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Souq.com says Amazon has Bought it After $800M Counteroffer

Amazon purchased the Middle East’s biggest online retailer Souq.com on Tuesday for an undisclosed amount, a day after a state-backed firm disclosed an $800 million counteroffer.

 

A joint statement described the purchase as expanding Amazon’s influence into the Mideast as the state-supported firm Emaar prepares to launch its own retail website in a country known more for its luxury malls than online shopping.

 

That could put Seattle-based Amazon in a head-to-head competition with a firm helmed by one of the sheikhdom’s favored business magnates.

 

“This is a milestone for the online shopping space in the region,” Souq.com co-founder and CEO Ronaldo Mouchawar said in a statement.

 

The announcement said the two companies expect the sale to close this year.

 

“Together, we’ll work hard to provide the best possible service for millions of customers in the Middle East,” Russ Grandinetti, a senior vice president at Amazon, said in a statement.

 

On Monday, Emaar Malls PJSC made public its bid for Souq.com in a filing on the Dubai Financial Market. The short filing, signed by Emaar Malls vice chairman Ahmad Thani al-Matrooshi, said the bid was made “in line with the strategy to align e-commerce with physical shopping.”

 

Rumors about Amazon’s interest in Souq.com have circulated for months. In November, Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar reportedly met Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos at the state-backed firm’s cavernous Dubai Mall, home to a massive aquarium and in the shadow of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building it built.

 

Dubai, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and the world’s busiest international airport, also has luxury malls that even include an indoor ski slope. Its summer heat of over 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) makes malls a major attraction for both shopping and leisure time in the city.

 

While Uber and other online services firms work in Dubai, online retail shopping has yet to truly take off like it has in Western countries.

 

       ___

 

       Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap . His work can be found at http://apne.ws/2galNpz .

       AP-WF-03-28-17 0927GMT

 
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Indiana Board Set to Endorse $7M Carrier Deal Trump Brokered

An Indiana board is poised to endorse a deal directing $7 million in tax breaks and grants for a deal brokered by President Donald Trump to keep hundreds of jobs at the Carrier Corp. factory in Indianapolis.

 

The incentive package is set for a vote by an Indiana Economic Development Board committee on Tuesday, nearly four months after Trump celebrated the deal at the furnace factory.

 

Carrier is pledging to keep nearly 1,100 jobs at the factory, including about 800 production jobs that the company had planned to outsource to Mexico. But about 550 jobs are still being lost. Carrier is also investing $16 million for automation at the factory.

 

Plant union president Chuck Jones says the deal means Indiana taxpayers are rewarding a very profitable corporation for cutting jobs.
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

Cheney Blasts Russia’s Alleged Interference in US Election

Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has criticized Russia’s alleged interference in the U.S. presidential election, calling it a hostile act.

 

Cheney said Russian President Vladimir Putin had made a serious attempt to interfere in the 2016 election and other democratic processes in America.

 

In a speech at a speaker’s conference in New Delhi, Cheney said, “In some quarters, that would be considered an act of war.”

 

Cheney’s accusation comes at a time when both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees are investigating possible Russian interference in the election that brought President Donald Trump to power.

 
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

Paris Clashes Over Police Killing of Chinese Man; 3 Injured

Violent clashes in Paris between baton-wielding police and protesters outraged at the police killing of a Chinese man in his home injured three police officers and led to the arrest of 35 protesters, authorities said Tuesday.

The tensions have prompted China’s Foreign Ministry to express its concern to French authorities over the killing of the man, who it says was shot by a plainclothes officer.

 

Demonstrators from the Asian community gathered Monday night outside the multicultural 19th district’s police station in Paris’ northeast, said Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, of the Paris Prosecutor’s Office.

 

They were angry at rumors the man was shot in his home in front of his children while cutting up fish and had not hurt anyone. Police say an officer fired in self-defense during a raid because the victim wounded an officer with a “bladed weapon.”

 

With chants of “murderers” and candles that spelled “opposition to violence” lining the road Monday night, scores of demonstrators broke down barricades, threw projectiles and set fire to cars during the brutal clashes with police that lasted several hours.

 

Authorities said 26 demonstrators were held for participating in a group planning violence, six for throwing projectiles, and three others for violence against police that saw a police car damaged by arson.

 

China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency said that, according to witnesses, one man of Chinese origin was injured in the clashes.

 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China had summoned a representative of the French embassy in Beijing Tuesday and urged French officials to “get to the bottom of the incident as soon as possible.”

 

Hua said Chinese authorities “hope that Chinese nationals in France can express their wishes and demands in a reasonable way.”

 

France is home to Europe’s largest population of ethnic Chinese, a community that routinely accuses police of not doing enough to protect them against racism.

 

“Chinese are victims of racist attitudes in France — especially from other ethnic groups like Arabs. They are targets for crime because they often carry cash and many don’t have residence permits, so can be threatened easily. They’re angry with police for not protecting them enough,” said Pierre Picquart, Chinese expert at the University of Paris VIII.

 

“Chinese people do not like to protest or express themselves publicly, so when we see them like this it means they are very, very angry. They’ve had enough of discrimination,” he added.

 

He estimated that there are 2 million people living in France of Chinese origin.

 

Last September, 15,000 people rallied in the French capital to urge an end to violence against the Asian community after the beating to death of Chinese tailor Chaolin Zhangh called new attention to ethnic tensions in Paris suburbs. The victim’s lawyer said the August 2016 attack was ethnically motivated, and the area’s Chinese immigrant community says it is routinely targeted by armed robbers and violence.

 

The recent killing and clashes also come just days after thousands marched in Paris in a show of anger over the alleged rape in February of a young black man by police. The alleged incident in the Paris suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois turned the 22-year-old, identified only as Theo, into a symbol for minorities standing up to police violence.
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

3 Hurt in Paris Clashes Over Police Killing of Chinese Man

Violent clashes in Paris between police and protesters angry at the police killing of a Chinese man in his home have left three police officers injured and 35 protesters arrested, authorities said Tuesday.

 

Demonstrators, who were from the Asian community, had gathered in the multicultural 19th district on the French capital’s northeastern edge, police official Agnes Thibault Lecuivre said.

 

They were paying homage to a Chinese man killed Sunday by a police officer, outraged by reports that he was shot in his home in front of his children while he was cutting up fish. Police say the officer fired in self-defense during a raid because the victim, whom Chinese media say is Chinese, wounded an officer with a bladed weapon.

 

With candles spelling “violence” lining the road Monday evening, scores of protesters broke down barricades, threw projectiles and set fire to a car during the clashes with police that lasted several hours.

 

The latest violence comes just days after several thousand people marched in Paris against police violence, in a show of anger sparked by the alleged rape in February of a young black man with a police baton, and other police abuse. Anarchists faced off with riot police at the end of that march, and tear gas was fired. But clashes remained limited in scope and violence.

 

The alleged police rape of Theo in the Paris suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois turned the 22-year-old into a symbol for minorities standing up to police violence. His last name hasn’t been publicly released.
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Free WiFi Touted as Airlines Grapple with Laptop Ban

Turkish and Gulf airlines are touting free WiFi and better in-flight connectivity for smartphones as they scramble to mitigate the impact of a ban on laptops in plane cabins bound for the United States.

The restrictions could deal a blow to fast-growing Gulf airlines, which depend on business-class flyers stopping over in Dubai or Doha for far-flung destinations, and to Turkish Airlines with its high volume of transit passengers.

A Turkish Airlines official said it was working on rolling out a system to allow passengers to use 3G data roaming on mobile phones to connect to the internet in-flight, and planned to make WiFi freely available on some aircraft from next month.

“We’ve sped up infrastructure work after the latest developments. … If the work is complete, we’re planning on switching to free WiFi services in our Boeing 777 and Airbus 330 aircraft in April,” the official told Reuters.

Emirates said Thursday it was introducing a “laptop and tablet handling service” for U.S.-bound flights which would allow passengers to use their devices until just before they board. The devices would be “carefully packed into boxes” and returned on arrival in the United States, it said.

Emirates passengers can access limited free WiFi or pay $1 for 500 MB.

Fellow Gulf carrier Etihad encouraged passengers to pack their electronics in check-in luggage but said it would also allow devices to be handed over at boarding, a spokesman said. Turkish said it had introduced a similar measure.

Qatar Airways did not respond to questions on how it planned to mitigate the impact of the new security measures, but in a Facebook posting this week it said its in-flight entertainment was “the only entertainment you’ll need on board.”

Royal Jordanian also took a tongue-in-cheek approach, listing on Twitter “12 things to do on a 12-hour flight with no laptop or tablet,” including reading, meditating, saying hello to your neighbor, or “reclaiming territory on your armrest.”
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Trump Convenes Panel on Empowering Women in Business

President Donald Trump says that empowering and promoting women in business are priorities in his administration.

 

In a round-table discussion, the president is telling a group of female business owners that his team will work on barriers women face. He says the administration is also trying to make childcare more affordable and accessible.

 

WATCH: Trump’s comments during roundtable discussion

The gathering comes on the first work day since the Republican-led plan to repeal and replace the nation’s health care law was pulled before a House vote, a major setback for the Trump administration.

 

The White House is trying to focus this week on another campaign priority: creating jobs and economic issues.
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

Britain Wants Social Media Sites Cleared of Jihadist Postings

Islamic State propagandists are seeking to capitalize on last week’s terror attack in London, which left five people dead and 40 injured, by flooding YouTube with hundreds of violent recruitment videos.

The online propaganda offensive comes as Britain demands social media companies scrub their sites of jihadist postings.

Amber Rudd, the country’s interior minister, has vowed to “call time” on internet firms allowing terrorists “a place to hide” and has summoned some of the leading social media companies, including Facebook and Twitter, for what is being dubbed by British officials as “showdown talks” later this week.

Rudd says she is determined to stop extremists “using social media as their platform” for recruitment and for operational needs.

Britain’s security services are in a standoff with WhatsApp, which has refused to allow them access to the encrypted message the London attacker sent three minutes before he used an SUV to mow down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and stabbed to death a policeman outside the House of Commons.

British security services are powerless to read that final message, which might cast light on whether the attack was a “lone wolf” or one aided and directed by others. Police investigators believe the terrorist acted alone and have seen no evidence that he was associated with IS or al-Qaida.

WhatsApp, which has a billion users worldwide, employs “end to end encryption” for messages, which the company says prevents even its own technicians from reading people’s messages.

Officials want voluntary action

Rudd and other government ministers have launched a media onslaught, saying they are considering legislation to require online companies to take down extremist material. They argue this wouldn’t be necessary if the companies recognized their community responsibilities.

Rudd told the BBC that Facebook, Google and other companies should understand they are not just technology businesses, but also publishing platforms. “We have to have a situation where we can have our security services get into the terrorists’ communications,” she argued. “There should be no place for terrorists to hide.”

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson joined in the condemnation of social media and online companies. “I think it’s disgusting,” he told The Sunday Times. “They need to stop just making money out of prurient violent material.”

At a security conference last week in the United States, Johnson called for action.

“We are going to have to engage not just militarily, but also to stop the stuff on the internet that is corrupting and polluting so many people,” he said. “This is something that the internet companies and social media companies need to think about. They need to do more to take that stuff off their media — the incitements, the information about how to become a terrorist, the radicalizing sermons and messages. That needs to come down.”

Recruiting criminals

The furor over extremist use of the internet was fueled Monday by front-page articles in the Times and Daily Mail newspapers highlighting the IS propaganda videos posted on YouTube since last Wednesday’s slaughter in the British capital. The high-definition videos, some of which contained references to the London attack, include gory scenes of beheadings and “caliphate violence” carried out by child adherents of the terror group.

U.S. and European officials have long complained online companies are, in effect, aiding and abetting terrorism. A year ago in January, much of the U.S. national security leadership of the Obama administration sat down with Silicon Valley chiefs to discuss jihadist use of the internet to recruit and radicalize people and plot attacks.

Also last year, British spy chief, Robert Hannigan, singled out messaging apps as especially worrisome for the security services, saying they had become “the command-and-control networks of choice for terrorists and criminals — precisely because they are highly encrypted.”

Some cooperation

After initial resistance to complaints from Western governments, Facebook, Google and Twitter have in recent months been more cooperative with authorities and have removed large amounts of extremist material. Twitter said in the second half of 2016 it suspended 376,890 accounts for violations related to promotion of terrorism.

But some services have resisted providing governments with encryption keys, or so-called back doors.

Apple has developed encryption keys that message users can use that are not possessed by the company. Apple’s chief executive, Timothy Cook, argued last year, “If you put a key under the mat for the cops, a burglar can find it, too.”

Silicon Valley chiefs say they fear violations of privacy and their priority is their customers, not national security, an argument that has resonated since former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed the extent of electronic surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies.

Last year, WhatsApp was blocked several times in Brazil for failing to hand over information relating to criminal investigations. 

Messages sent on a rival service by Telegram are also encrypted, but after bad publicity and immense pressure from Western governments, the company does provide a backdoor for security and law-enforcement agencies.

Not that access to encrypted communications always helps.

Sunday, it emerged that German police knew the Christmas market attacker in Berlin who drove a truck into a crowd of shoppers was planning a suicide attack. Police had intercepted his Telegram messages nine months before the attack.

A police recommendation that he be deported was declined by state government prosecutors because they feared the courts would reject the request.
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

Rights group: More than 1,000 arrested in Belarus protests

A Belarusian human rights group says more than 1,000 people have been arrested for weekend protests in the former Soviet Republic and that about 150 of them have been sentenced to jail terms of up to 25 days.

Opponents of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko held unsanctioned demonstrations Saturday in Minsk, the capital, and other Belarusian cities, at which arrests were widespread. Other arrests took place in Minsk on Sunday when demonstrators demanded to know the detainees’ whereabouts.

 

Authorities have made no comment on the arrests.

 

Vladimir Lobkovich of the Vesna human rights group on Monday called the sentencings a “judicial conveyor.”

 

The weekend demonstrations were part of an unusually persistent wave of anti-government protests in the former Soviet republic.

 
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

US, Russia, China, Others Sit Out Nuclear Ban Talks at UN

The United States, Russia, China and more than a score of other countries are sitting out new talks at the United Nations toward a treaty that would ban nuclear weapons.

 

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley and colleagues from Britain, France and about 20 other nations gathered Monday outside the General Assembly to show opposition to the talks starting inside. Haley says the U.S. wants a nuclear-weapons-free world but has to be “realistic” about how to get there while protecting its people.

 

She says the U.S. has already reduced its nuclear weapons by 85 percent under the decades-old Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

 

More than 100 countries backed a General Assembly resolution that set up the talks. Backers of the proposed treaty say prohibiting nuclear weapons would be a powerful step toward eliminating them.

 
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Economic Report Predicts Rise in Global Counterfeiting, Piracy

The global trend in counterfeiting and piracy is forecast to increase during the decade with China at the heart of production of fake goods from clothes to electronics, and risky fake medicines and cosmetics.

But governments and businesses are looking to challenge the commercial threats posed by counterfeiting with steps to detect fake goods and protect brands and jobs.

A report commissioned by the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the International Chamber of Commerce, said the global economic value of counterfeiting and piracy could reach $2.3 trillion by 2022. The global value of the counterfeit market in 2015 stood at $1.7 trillion.

The February 2017 report, by research firm Frontier Economics, said the wider social, investment and criminal enforcement costs could take the total to $4.2 trillion, leaving at risk about 5.4 million “legitimate jobs”.

Analysts say while counterfeiting and fraud have been a part of commercial life, the quickening pace of fake products has come with the globalization of business.

Plague on world economy

A recent report by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime says “counterfeit goods and fraudulent medicines pose a serious risk to public health and safety”.

The goods range from automotive supplies, to chemicals and pesticides, consumer electronics, electrical components, food, drink and agricultural products.

While deaths and sickness have been reported from key foods such as baby milk powder in Asia, the full human toll as a result of fake mechanical, food and medicines is unclear.

China said to be at center

The UNODC and the World Customs Organization estimate 75 percent of counterfeit products seized worldwide in 2010 were manufactured in East Asia, mostly in China.

Australia-based product security firm, YPB Group executive chairman, John Houston, says the “problem [of counterfeiting] essentially is in China”.

“The Chinese counterfeiter can now copy the best packaging, they actually put holograms on things that the original brand owner doesn’t have a hologram on, to create the aura of authenticity,” Houston said.

“So what you need is a traceable, identifiable, authenticable technology in products and you would be absolutely amazed how little there is in the world,” he said.

The UNODC says India and China are the largest sources of fraudulent medicines, with China the lead “departure point” of nearly 60 percent of counterfeit medical products seized globally.

But even as China takes steps to crack down on counterfeit medicines, “key aspects of production” are likely to move elsewhere, including to North Korea, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Major problem

The major driver of the sales of counterfeit goods has come through e-commerce and major online distribution channels. In December the United States placed China’s Alibaba Group on a ‘counterfeit goods watch list’.

Since then Alibaba, the $270 billion e-commerce powerhouse, led by chief executive Jack Ma, said it was taking steps to crackdown on counterfeit sellers on its network, including a digital ledger system designed to track genuine food products through a supply chain.

Alibaba also called on China’s authorities to introduce tougher laws, stricter enforcement and stiffer penalties to crackdown on producers of counterfeit goods in China. The company blamed China’s “ambiguous counterfeiting laws” that hampered authorities’ ability to build legal cases against counterfeiters.

Steps by Alibaba, included the taking down of 380 million product listings and the shutdown of 180,000 Taobao stores, and 675 operators as a result of anti-counterfeiting measures.

Countries fighting back

Governments are also taking action against elements in the counterfeiting trade. Thailand regularly carries out high profile raids on counterfeit goods’ suppliers and well publicized destruction of the goods.

In Cambodia, where the key health challenge is counterfeit medicines, the Interior Ministry recently said it had closed down over 60 illegal pharmacies, as well measures to curb production of fake currencies, notably U.S. dollars.

In Vietnam, faced with a “tidal wave” of counterfeit cosmetics flooding the market, the Health Department of Medicine Management suspended the distribution of more than 30 beauty products.

Businesses in Vietnam have also complained that fake products from China were costing the firms “hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in lost revenue”.

Anti-counterfeiting measures

YPB’s Houston said there is increasing demand for technologies to thwart counterfeiting or forgery, especially with issues of cross border migration and terrorism in many parts of the world.

A report by MarketsandMarkets.com said the value of anti-counterfeiting packaging is set to reach $153.95 billion by 2020, from $82.05 billion in 2015.

Houston said Asian governments were looking to anti-counterfeiting technology realizing “the burden and loss of revenue that counterfeit and the black economy place on developing economies.”
…

Бізнес, Новини, Фінанси

Snap Shares Rise as Underwriters Start Coverage with ‘Buy’

Snap Inc., owner of messaging app Snapchat, received top ratings from a number of its IPO underwriters on Monday, sending its shares up more than 3 percent in premarket trading.

Snap had a red-hot debut on March 1 in what was the largest listing by a technology firm in three years. However, many investors have been critical of the company’s lack of profitability and decelerating user growth.

At least six brokerages, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, rated the stock “buy” or higher, citing the company’s long-term growth in a highly competitive market.

As of Friday’s close, the stock had risen nearly 34 percent from its $17 initial public offering price. The stock was trading at $23.52 before the bell on Monday.

The Los Angeles-based company’s app, which allows users to share short-lived messages and pictures, is popular with young people but faces intense competition from larger rivals such as Facebook Inc.’s Instagram. Snap has warned it may never become profitable.

“SNAP’s engaged/hard-to-reach millennial users and unique video offerings should attract significant ad dollars,” said Morgan Stanley analysts, who started the stock with an “overweight” rating.

The analysts also said that Snap’s ad monetization was still in its infancy.

Among other underwriters, Jefferies, RBC, Cowen & Co and Credit Suisse rated the stock a “buy.” RBC was the most bullish with a $31 price target.

“The big question is whether SNAP’s user base can ‘age up,'” analysts at Cowen & Co. said in a note.

However, JP Morgan, also an underwriter, started with a “neutral” rating.

“[The] neutral rating is driven by an increasingly competitive social media landscape which includes Facebook and others implementing successful Snap features across a broader user base, potentially weighing on user growth, and lack of profit until 2019E,” JP Morgan analysts said.

Including the latest actions, Snap now has eight “buy” or higher ratings, six “sell” and seven “neutral” ratings, according to Thomson Reuters data.

 
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

Pro-Europe Party Wins Bulgaria Elections, Socialists Yield

The leader of Bulgaria’s Socialist party has conceded defeat after exit polls showed her party placing second in the parliamentary election held Sunday.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova congratulated former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov’s GERB party as the election’s winner.

An Alpha Research exit poll said GERB won 32.2 percent of the vote, with the Socialist Party coming in second with 28 percent. A separate exit poll by Gallup International Balkan had GERB with 32.8 percent and the Socialists with 28.4 percent.

 

Official results are expected Monday.  

The election had been seen as a test of Bulgaria’s loyalties to the European Union and to Russia, with which it has historic political and cultural links. Bulgaria is set to take over the bloc’s presidency in 2018.

GERB and the Socialists both campaigned to revive economic ties with Russia to benefit voters in the European Union’s poorest nation. But the Socialists vowed to go further, even if it meant upsetting the country’s European Union partners.

GERB did not win enough votes to govern alone, and will likely form a coalition government with the United Patriots, an alliance of three nationalist parties that the exit polls showed placing third.

The Socialists ruled out any option of serving in a coalition government. But Ninova said her party would look at options for forming a government should the center-right GERB party find it cannot do so on its own.

Borisov, 57, resigned as prime minister after his party lost the presidential election last year.  Parliament was dissolved in January, and the president appointed a caretaker government that will stay until a new government is formed.

 

 

 
…

ЄС, Новини, Світ

German Chancellor Center-Right Party to Win State Election, Exit Polls

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right party won a state election by large margin, exit polls said Sunday, in an early setback to center-left hopes of unseating her in the September national vote.

Early results from the voting in Saarland state had Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) leading with 40 percent while the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) had around 30 percent.

The SPD was facing its first electoral test since nominating Martin Shultz to face off against Merkel in September.

The party has seen a recent surge in popularity.

Merkel is expected to run for fourth term as chancellor.
…