| Pompeo talks maritime security, Iran with Saudi crown prince Posted: 07 Aug 2019 05:37 PM PDT  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed maritime security, Iran and Yemen with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a phone call on Wednesday. "The secretary discussed heightened tensions in the region and the need for stronger maritime security in order to promote freedom of navigation," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. Iran has seized three tanker ships in strategic Gulf waters in less than a month, and the United States has accused it of carrying out multiple attacks on ships in the region.
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| PRESS DIGEST- British Business - Aug 8 Posted: 07 Aug 2019 05:25 PM PDT ![PRESS DIGEST- British Business - Aug 8]( "PRESS DIGEST- British Business - Aug 8") The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government needs to loosen regulations and automatically authorise tens of thousands of companies to trade with the European Union to minimise disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit, industry leaders have warned. The executive chairman of Debenhams will step down next month as the owners of the department stores chain appoint Stefaan Vansteenkiste, a so-called "company doctor", as its next chief executive.
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| UN official says over 100,000 detained and missing in Syria Posted: 07 Aug 2019 04:12 PM PDT  Reports suggest more than 100,000 people in Syria have been detained, abducted or gone missing during the eight-year conflict, with the government mainly responsible, the U.N. political chief said Wednesday. Rosemary DiCarlo urged all parties to heed the Security Council's call for the release of all those arbitrarily detained and to provide information to families about their loved ones as required by international law.
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| Raab Says EU’s Brexit Stance Makes Progress on Deal ‘Difficult’ Posted: 07 Aug 2019 04:01 PM PDT ![Raab Says EU's Brexit Stance Makes Progress on Deal 'Difficult']( "Raab Says EU's Brexit Stance Makes Progress on Deal 'Difficult'") (Bloomberg) -- The European Union's uncompromising stance on Brexit makes progress toward a new deal "very difficult," U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in the latest signal Britain may crash out of the bloc without an agreement.The U.K. will "strive every sinew" to reach an "acceptable" deal, Raab said Wednesday at a news conference in Washington alongside his U.S. counterpart, Michael Pompeo."There is a deal to be done," he said. "If the EU's position is that there can be no change to the withdrawal agreement, then that will be a choice that they've made and that makes it very difficult to see how we can move the negotiations forward," Raab said.The U.K. is on course to tumble out of the EU on Oct. 31 if Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in office for just two weeks, can't reach an accommodation with Brussels. He's vowed to take Britain out of the EU by that deadline "do or die," even if it means doing so without an agreement. That threatens to hurt the economy, crash the pound and strangle trade.'Whatever It Takes'Johnson is demanding that the EU drops the "Irish backstop" -- a fallback provision agreed with the bloc by his predecessor, Theresa May, to ensure the border with Ireland stays open. That's something EU leaders including Irish Premier Leo Varadkar say they won't countenance because it would threaten the Northern Ireland peace agreement."In any no-deal scenario, we will do whatever it takes to avoid any hard border" with Ireland, Raab said.Johnson is set to be tested when Parliament returns in September. Opponents of a no-deal Brexit -- including members of his own Conservatives -- are plotting to thwart him. With a paper majority of just one, Johnson is vulnerable to any rebellion, and opposition Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn has signaled he'll call for an "early" vote of no confidence in the government.If Corbyn's maneuver succeeds, Parliament could force the appointment of a new premier at the helm of a government of national unity, Tory former Attorney General Dominic Grieve said Monday. He later told the Times of London it would be unconstitutional for Johnson to stay in power through Brexit day by scheduling a general election for after Halloween.That's led to a war of words with Johnson's influential aide, Dominic Cummings, one of the architects of the Brexit campaign in 2016, who said in a Sky News interview on Wednesday that "the prime minister believes that politicians don't get to choose which votes they respect." It was a reference to the 2016 referendum, whose result Grieve wants to overturn.Labour would seek to lead its own government rather than broker a unity administration, its finance spokesman, John McDonnell, said on Wednesday in Edinburgh.The Guardian reports in its Thursday edition that lawmakers may force Parliament to sit during its autumn recess -- when there would normally be a break for party conferences -- to give themselves more legislative time to stop a no-deal Brexit.Against the backdrop of a fractious Parliament and an EU that's reluctant to budge, Johnson has ratcheted up preparations for a no-deal Brexit, including earmarking an extra 2.1 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) for the contingency.U.S. Trade DealOn Wednesday, Home Secretary Priti Patel, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and the cabinet minister in charge of no-deal Brexit preparations, Michael Gove, went to the port of Dover in southeast England to assess preparations there. The ministers met with representatives from the hauling, freight and port industries to discuss preparations for Brexit day.Dover is a crucial chokepoint through which the biggest portion of cross-channel trade enters the country from France.In the U.S., Raab said Britain is looking to embrace the "opportunities" of Brexit, including striking a trade deal with the U.S., the country's biggest individual trade partner. Such a deal has been held up by Brexit supporters as one of the great prizes of leaving the European Union, and Raab said he wants one as soon as possible after Oct. 31. In that endeavor, he was offered encouragement by Pompeo.After Brexit, "we'll be on the doorstep pen in hand ready to sign a new free trade agreement at the earliest possible time," Pompeo said.Raab was in Canada on Tuesday and heads to Mexico on Thursday as the U.K. seeks to burnish ties with economies outside the EU. In Mexico, he's set to sign "the most wide-ranging agreement ever concluded" between Britain and the Latin American nation, his office said in a statement. The deal promotes greater investment and trade in sectors including energy, financial services and environmental technology, it said, estimating that business opportunities to U.K. companies valued at more than 450 million pounds would be created by 2026.International Trade Secretary Liz Truss is also in the U.S. for a four-day visit during which she's meeting government and congressional officials including U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Larry LiebertFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| UN committee condemns Mexico in forced disappearance case Posted: 07 Aug 2019 03:51 PM PDT ![UN committee condemns Mexico in forced disappearance case]( "UN committee condemns Mexico in forced disappearance case") A United Nations committee says Mexico is responsible for a forced disappearance that occurred in Veracruz state in 2010 and has asked for a renewed investigation. The victim's lawyer says it marks the first time a U.N. body has issued a binding resolution condemning Mexico for forced disappearances. The U.N. Human Rights Committee said Wednesday that its experts believe local police worked with gangs to disappear Christina Téllez Padilla.
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| Separatists clash with presidential guards in southern Yemen Posted: 07 Aug 2019 03:36 PM PDT ![Separatists clash with presidential guards in southern Yemen]( "Separatists clash with presidential guards in southern Yemen") Yemeni separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates clashed Wednesday with forces loyal to the internationally backed government near the presidential palace in the southern city of Aden, security officials and witnesses said. The UAE is a key member of a Saudi-led coalition that has been battling rebels in northern Yemen, known as Houthis, since March 2015 on behalf of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's government.
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| China Rejects One Demand That Could Help Ease Hong Kong Protests Posted: 07 Aug 2019 03:34 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The Chinese authorities acknowledge Hong Kong's unrest is the worst since they regained the former British colony 22 years ago. Yet they have so far denied a key protester demand that even Beijing sympathizers support.On Wednesday, the head of China's top agency overseeing the city ruled out an independent inquiry into the unrest, one of the few protester requests with support from business leaders and others who typically back the government. Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Director Zhang Xiaoming told a gathering of city representatives that the disturbances must end before any investigation, according to Michael Tien, a pro-establishment Hong Kong lawmaker who was at the event."They spent the whole morning stating the central government's stance: There's no room for any compromise," said Tien, adding that he was hopeful Beijing might eventually reconsider. "This is a long battle."The response shows how positions have hardened in recent days as some radical protesters focus their attacks on symbols of Chinese sovereignty and opposition figures accuse the government of colluding with stick-wielding mobs. After two months of unrest -- including marches of more than 1 million and the ransacking of the city's legislature -- Chief Executive Carrie Lam has refused to satisfy the protesters' main requests.While the largely leaderless demonstrators have circulated numerous lists of demands, calls for some kind of independent inquiry feature high on most. The suggestion has been endorsed by pro-Beijing lawmakers, foreign governments and others sympathetic to the establishment, with the American Chamber of Commerce calling for an "internationally credible" investigation.The protests initially began in opposition to Lam's legislation that would allow extraditions to mainland China and have since expanded into broad complaints about the Beijing-appointed government. Increasing clashes between demonstrators and police have prompted calls for an investigation into authorities' use of force, while others want a more general probe of the unrest and its causes."People are saying and I've said it publicly, we need an independent inquiry," said Allan Zeman, chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Holdings Ltd. An investigation could help "to settle things down. Because it has morphed into something beyond the bill. The bill is gone. It's now about unhappiness."Although Lam has declared the extradition legislation "dead," she has refused to formally withdraw the bill, meaning it could be resurrected with little notice. She has said that specific grievances against the police would be reviewed by a complaints council dominated by pro-establishment appointees."Some people may not agree with our response, but we have considered every factor involved and come up with the response that we have made," Lam told a news briefing Monday. The police have denied links to groups of men that have attacked protesters in recent days, calling on all sides to refrain from violence.Protesters argue government intransigence has helped sustain their movement through nine straight weeks of rallies, marches, sieges and strikes, including a successful citywide effort Monday to disrupt train services and commercial flights. Several strike participants told Bloomberg News they decided to join after Lam's briefing, in which she vowed a firm police response, without signaling any new concessions.The Hong Kong government has appointed several "commissions of inquiry" before and after its return to Chinese rule, including an investigation into violent labor disputes in Kowloon in 1966. The remarks by Zhang, China's top government official overseeing Hong Kong, came during a gathering of city representatives in Shenzhen, in which the lawmaker Tien advocated an inquiry.Zhang said that such an inquiry was inappropriate while the disturbances were ongoing, but one could be considered after the protests subsided. He described the unrest as the worst the city had experienced since the 1997 handover, an assertion few would question. "It won't serve any useful purpose if it's just to apportion blame or to point the finger at the police," pro-establishment lawmaker Regina Ip said in an interview in her office on Tuesday, a copy of the 1966 inquiry report sitting on the desk. "And if you want reconciliation, it can't be done now, when violence is ongoing."The refusal to consider an inquiry illustrates Beijing's determination not to show any weakness against the protesters, some of home whom have defaced the national emblem, destroyed flags and chanted pro-independence slogans. Still, supporters counter that an inquiry would help Chinese President Xi Jinping buy time -- six months or more.Some, such as Hong Kong Baptist University President Roland Chin, have suggested a "truth commission" that wouldn't apportion blame. The investigation might at least help deescalate confrontations between protesters and police, supporters say.Opposition lawmaker Claudia Mo, who has been a prominent participant in several of the largest protest marches, said she worried it was too late to mount an investigation that was viewed with credibility."The effectiveness, if any, would be cut by about half, but I personally hope they would do that," Mo said. "It could provide an opportunity for a more decent climb down, without a loss of face."(Updates with Zhang Xiaoming comment under "Use of Force" chart.)\--With assistance from Sheryl Tian Tong Lee and Natalie Lung.To contact the reporters on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.net;Blake Schmidt in Hong Kong at bschmidt16@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Netanyahu's Boxed In and Could Be Finished at Next Election Posted: 07 Aug 2019 02:00 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Time may be running out for Benjamin Netanyahu. An unprecedented loyalty oath suggests just how rocky his standing might be.Weeks after becoming Israel's longest-serving leader, Netanyahu seems no better positioned to form a government following the Sept. 17 election than he was after failing in May and calling a snap revote, opinion polls show. To prevent any defections within his Likud party, its entire election slate has been signed on to a written pledge to support only a Netanyahu-led government.Surveys indicate a close race between blocs led by the prime minister's right-wing Likud and the centrist Blue and White headed by former military chief Benny Gantz. They're also showing the premier could again find himself at the mercy of onetime ally Avigdor Liberman, whose refusal to join Netanyahu's cabinet after the April 9 election led to the breakdown of coalition talks and the calling of a second vote.Liberman's Yisrael Beitenu party has only emerged stronger from the showdown, and looks poised to double its strength to 10 of parliament's 120 seats. Without the hawkish former defense minister's support, Netanyahu has no easy path to forming a government, and if another coalition-building impasse emerges, he may be pressed to resign."If there is a result as we see in the polls today, there will be formidable pressure for a national unity government" yoking Likud and Blue and White, "and this can go through only without Netanyahu," said Gayil Talshir, a senior lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "And he has no intention of leaving of his own will."In a column in the Israel Hayom newspaper on Wednesday, Netanyahu vowed that he was committed to establishing a strong, right-wing coalition and that "there will be no national unity government." Blue and White says it won't join a unity government led by Netanyahu because of the corruption allegations against him, but would team up with Likud if it's led by someone else.Liberman, who's been pushing for a unity government, urged Likud last week to dump the prime minister if he's chosen to form a coalition and fails again.Surprise BreakdownThe prime minister's failure to form a government weakened him as he tries to fend off what he says are baseless graft allegations cooked up by left-wing opponents who haven't been able to unseat him at the ballot box. Remaining in office could be Netanyahu's best bet for heading off any indictment: He's been trying to change Israel's law to shield a sitting prime minister from trial.While decision-making is paralyzed, challenges are building: The release of the Trump administration's Middle East peace plan has been held up, Israel's troubling fiscal deficit isn't being addressed, and the slow-burn faceoff with Iran and its proxies could easily explode into bigger confrontations.Netanyahu is down, but he may have a way out. There's been speculation he might offer to rotate the premiership with Liberman -- an option Liberman hasn't ruled out.The prime minister may also be able to persuade the center-left Labor party or defectors from that camp to join his government, Hebrew University political scientist Reuven Hazan said. What's more, he could legally form a minority government as long as he's able to pass laws."Essentially Netanyahu could have a government of 59 or 60 as long as everyone else doesn't vote against it," Hazan said. "It wouldn't survive for long, but he will have a government."Currently, without Liberman and Labor, surveys show Netanyahu corralling about 55 parliamentary seats. A Gantz-led bloc without Liberman polls in that ballpark, but includes an Arab party unlikely to be included in a Zionist-led government. Because of that breakdown, analysts expect Netanyahu to get first shot at cobbling together Israel's next coalition.There's nothing to stop Netanyahu from calling a third election should coalition talks fail again, but most commentators say that's unlikely because it would drag out the political paralysis further and cost hundreds of millions of shekels without necessarily offering a resolution.By the time the next coalition is formed, Israel will have been controlled by a caretaker government for almost an entire year, said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute research center."This is a lost year, a lost opportunity to make progress on agendas relevant to the Israeli people and the Israeli state," Plesner said.To contact the reporter on this story: Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at gackerman@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Mark WilliamsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| UN to release new report detailing how climate change impacts land, food Posted: 07 Aug 2019 01:36 PM PDT  The United Nations body focused on climate change is set to release a new report about the relationship between climate change and land on Thursday, including how warming temperatures impact agriculture and food security around the world. The report is expected to summarize research on issues, such as the impact of climate change on land around the world, as well as look at how some changes to our relationship with land could help limit future warming. The report, set for release this week, is one in a series produced by the UN panel to inform international discussions on climate change, including at a UN climate summit in New York next month.
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| Lawyer: Iraqi refugees removing tethers to avoid deportation Posted: 07 Aug 2019 01:34 PM PDT ![Lawyer: Iraqi refugees removing tethers to avoid deportation]( "Lawyer: Iraqi refugees removing tethers to avoid deportation") Some Iraqi refugees in Michigan are removing GPS tethers to evade immigration officials and deportation before their court cases are heard, according to an attorney representing nearly two dozen refugees. Detroit-based lawyer Shanta Driver told The Detroit News that at least seven Iraqi nationals have removed tethers in Michigan over the past month.
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| Jewish sisters find swastikas in Indiana college's dorm room Posted: 07 Aug 2019 01:23 PM PDT ![Jewish sisters find swastikas in Indiana college's dorm room]( "Jewish sisters find swastikas in Indiana college's dorm room") The University of Indianapolis is investigating after two Jewish sisters from Israel found swastikas drawn inside their dormitory room just after arriving on campus for the fall term. Michal Sasson said she and her twin sister, Shira, were still carrying their suitcases when they discovered two pinkish-red swastikas Monday night on a wall in their room at Roberts Hall. "I just said: 'We're miles and miles away from home, and this is our home away from home,'" Sasson told The Indianapolis Star .
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| Pompeo: NKorea missiles don't impact negotiations Posted: 07 Aug 2019 01:09 PM PDT  Us Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday downplayed North Korea's latest missile launches, saying they won't alter the prospects for negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons. One day after North Korea called a new round of short-range missiles a "warning" against joint US-South Korea military exercises, Pompeo told reporters that it didn't impact Washington's approach to the region.
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| Turkey, US appear closer to establishing safe zone in Syria Posted: 07 Aug 2019 12:05 PM PDT  Turkey and the United States appeared Wednesday to be edging closer toward setting up a so-called safe zone in northeast Syria, saying they had agreed to form a joint operations center to coordinate and manage its establishment. The vague announcement issued at the end of three days of Turkish-U.S. talks in Ankara also appeared to avert — for now— a possible new Turkish incursion into Syria. Meanwhile, Syrian government forces captured two northwestern villages in an intensified offensive on the last rebel-held part of the country, inching closer to the town of Kfar Zeita, which has been held by insurgents since 2012, according to opposition activists and state media.
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| US, Britain back rapid trade deal post-Brexit Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:56 AM PDT  The top US and British diplomats said Wednesday they were prepared to move "as soon as possible" on a trade deal after Britain's planned withdrawal from the European Union on October 31. Speaking in Washington, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab urged the EU to negotiate a new pact on Britain's departure to avoid a potentially calamitous "no-deal" Brexit.
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| US will be 'on doorstep' ready to sign UK trade deal after Brexit, says Pompeo Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:46 AM PDT  On first trip to Washington as UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab says Trump was 'effusive in his warmth' for BritainDominic Raab, left, and Mike Pompeo arrive before speaking during a joint press event on Wednesday. Photograph: Zach Gibson/Getty ImagesThe secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has said that the US will be "on the doorstep, pen in hand", ready to sign a new trade deal with the UK as soon as possible after Brexit.Pompeo was speaking alongside Dominic Raab, who was making his first trip to Washington as UK foreign secretary. Raab restated the British government's determination to leave the EU at the end of October, and claimed that Donald Trump, whom he met at the White House on Tuesday evening, "was effusive in his warmth for the United Kingdom"."It was amazing to hear an American president talk about our country in such warm terms," the foreign secretary said, adding that there was "huge appetite on both sides" for achieving a deal."Of course, America is our single largest bilateral trading partner," Raab said. "President Trump has made clear again that he wants an ambitious free trade agreement with UK. So I hope we can make that happen as soon as possible after we leave the EU on 31 October."After meeting with Raab on Wednesday at the state department, Pompeo said: "We support the United Kingdom's sovereign choice, however Brexit ultimately shakes out. And the we'll be at the doorstep, pen in hand, ready to sign a new free trade agreement at the earliest possible time."He said he was confident that the manner of the UK's departure from the EU would safeguard the principles of the Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland.A no-deal Brexit without any resolution to what would happen to the border between the two Irelands is likely to jeopardise the 1998 peace agreement, which relies on the unrestricted flow of people and goods.Any US trade deal with the UK would have to be approved by Congress and the Democratic leadership. It would also need approval from the Irish American Republicans in the House of Representatives who have warned that they would block a deal if Brexit affects the Irish border, and therefore the Good Friday peace agreement.In the Senate, 45 Republicans have signed a letter pledging unconditional support for a US-UK trade deal, but that falls short of a majority the administration will need to get an agreement through the upper chamber.Pompeo thanked the UK for its decision to join a US-led maritime protection force in the strait of Hormuz, to defend oil tankers following the Iranian seizure of a British-flagged vessel, the Stena Impero."This is a victory for meaningful, effective multilateralism," he added. Pompeo also expressed US gratitude for "contributions towards alleviating Iranian-caused suffering in Yemen"."We hope the UK will keep taking new steps to hold the Islamic Republic of Iran responsible for its rash of destructive behaviour," the secretary of state said.Raab, however, made clear the UK upheld its commitment to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which the Trump administration abandoned in May last year."We continue to want to make the deal work, and more broadly..de-escalate tensions so far as we can," he said.
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| The Latest: Erdogan hails Turkey-US efforts on Syria zone Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:45 AM PDT  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hailed a decision by Turkish and U.S. officials to set up a joint operations center as a first step toward the creation of a safe zone in northeast Syria. The Turkish and American officials ended three days of talks in Ankara to discuss plans for a safe zone on Wednesday, saying they had agreed to set up an operations center in Turkey "as soon as possible." They gave no details but said Turkey's security concerns regarding the region would be addressed.
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| UN raises fears over Ivorian migrants turned back by Tunisia Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:42 AM PDT  The United Nations sounded the alarm Wednesday over the safety of 36 Ivorian migrants, including children and women, turned back by Tunisian authorities on the border with Libya. The UN office in Tunis said it had been informed that the migrants, including a pregnant woman, were sent back on August 4. It expressed concern over sanitary conditions, food supplies and the group's safety if they were sent back to Libya.
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| US hopes for North Korea nuclear talks despite missile tests Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:38 AM PDT  The U.S. is still hoping to hold another round of nuclear talks with North Korea despite the country's recent missile tests, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday. "We watch the actions that they are taking, the actions that are taking place inside of North Korea," he said.
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| UPDATE 1-Despite missile tests, Pompeo hopeful N.Korea talks will resume in weeks Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:23 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Despite missile tests, Pompeo hopeful N.Korea talks will resume in weeks]( "UPDATE 1-Despite missile tests, Pompeo hopeful N.Korea talks will resume in weeks") U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday he was hopeful denuclearization talks would resume between North Korea and the United States soon, in spite of repeated North Korean missile tests and the lengthening delay in restarting the talks. "We are hopeful that in the coming weeks we will get back to the negotiating table," Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed at a June 30 meeting to resume talks between working-level officials stalled since a failed summit in Hanoi in February.
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| Trump administration to seek Britain trade deal after Brexit Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:21 AM PDT  The Trump administration will pursue a free-trade agreement with Britain as soon as possible after it leaves the European Union, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday as the country's new foreign secretary made his first official visit to the United States. Pompeo also thanked the government of new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for agreeing to join a U.S.-led maritime security initiative in the Persian Gulf. Speaking at a news conference with visiting British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Pompeo said the Trump administration remains committed to respecting whatever Britain's final decision on Brexit is and is eager to conclude a trade deal.
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| US, Britain back rapid trade deal post-Brexit Posted: 07 Aug 2019 11:10 AM PDT The top US and British diplomats said Wednesday they were prepared to move "as soon as possible" on a trade deal after Britain's planned withdrawal from the European Union on October 31. Speaking in Washington, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab urged the EU to negotiate a new pact on Britain's departure to avoid a potentially calamitous "no-deal" Brexit. Raab said after meeting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo the two sides agreed on the need for quick negotiations on a two-way trade deal after Brexit strands Britain outside the current US-EU trade pact.
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| U.S.' Pompeo hopeful talks with N.Korea will resume in coming weeks Posted: 07 Aug 2019 10:06 AM PDT ![U.S.' Pompeo hopeful talks with N.Korea will resume in coming weeks]( "U.S.' Pompeo hopeful talks with N.Korea will resume in coming weeks") U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday he was hopeful that denuclearization talks would resume between North Korea and the United States in coming weeks. "We are hopeful that in the coming weeks we will get back to the negotiating table," Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed at a June 30 meeting to resume talks between working-level officials stalled since a failed summit in Hanoi in February.
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| More than 1.8M pilgrims gather in Mecca ahead of the hajj Posted: 07 Aug 2019 09:57 AM PDT  Saudi Arabia says more than 1.8 million Muslims from around the world have arrived in the country to take part in the hajj pilgrimage that starts on Friday. The Director General of Passports, Gen. Suleiman al-Yehya, announced the figure Wednesday, saying close to 970,000 male and 868,000 female pilgrims had arrived to Saudi Arabia for the hajj. In total, more than 2 million people, including Saudis and expatriate residents of the kingdom, are expected to take part this year.
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| Kashmir residents say they are starving as first accounts surface of lock-down Posted: 07 Aug 2019 09:39 AM PDT  Fears are growing of food shortages among Kashmir's poorest residents as the region enters the third day of an unprecedented lock-down. In some of the first accounts to surface after India shocked the world by stripping the area of Kashmir's special status, witnesses have told The Telegraph of mounting desperation as food supplies and money has dried up. India announced a strict curfew and communications blackout on Monday, with the movement goods and people in and out of the region also strictly controlled. But panic buying last week, as rumours circulated of an imminent curfew, saw shelves stripped of food, ATM's emptied and prices rocket - leaving many of Kashmir's poorest without key supplies. Sanna, 23, a Kashmiri student, was one of few residents to have been allowed to leave the region so far. When leaving she told The Telegraph she had been approached by "five or six" different people who claimed their families were starving. Indian migrant workers wait outside the government transport yard as they seek to buy bus tickets out of Kashmir Credit: AP Recalling the panic buying, she said: "Everyone flooded into the grocery markets, the livestock markets, the spice markets; thousands and thousands of people buying essentials. "Gas stations had cars lined up from blocks and the bank ran out of cash because people had got so much out of ATMs." Muzamil Jaleel, the Deputy Editor of the Indian Express, told The Telegraph he had also visited around ten different neighbourhoods in Srinagar and every ATM was out of money. Residents are now surviving with what they had to hand and many of the state's poorest residents have no cash savings. Kashmiri residents have been entirely cut off from the outside world since the Indian government scrapped legislation on Monday that had granted the state's population autonomy since 1947. Activists of the 'Youth Forum for Kashmir' group shout slogans as they burn a picture of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lahore Credit: AFP Media and television reports have been severely restricted to state sanctioned broadcasts. One top Indian official denied there were shortages, saying the "Kashmir Valley has more than three months' food supply". Activists say the blackout – which includes mobile networks, internet and landlines – is allowing the Indian authorities to act with impunity by detaining those in opposition to the removal of Article 370. Article 370 had allowed Kashmiris to self-govern themselves excluding foreign policy and forbade non-Kashmiris from settling in the state and buying land. Opponents of the Indian Government say the ruling BJP party intends to change the region's demographics by encouraging Hindu migration. Sanna said the blackout triggered widespread chaos and confusion. "It was a very painful, very scary mess," she said.. "You are going to muzzle us and blind us and then you are going to make your decision behind this tall black wall that you have carved out between Kashmir and everyone else." A senior official within the Jammu and Kashmir administration told news agency PTI over 100 people had been arrested so far. This includes two former state Chief Ministers, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah. A source told AFP that at least six people had been admitted to hospital in Srinagar with gunshot wounds while sporadic protests had erupted across the state. Several deaths have also been reported although this is difficult to confirm due to the blackout. The curfew which has been implemented since Monday morning is also contributing to growing hunger as residents are too scared to leave their homes. A Kashmiri source living outside the state told The Telegraph her parents had been informed they would be shot on sight if seen out in public. "You know you have to listen because there is 30 men in a 20 foot area with giant AK-47s so you are not going to try and pick a fight," Sanna said. "It didn't matter where you were, if you walked five minutes in any direction they would tell you to go back home." She said Kashmiris could only leave their homes to travel to the airport or the hospital, and she had struggled to leave even though she had a plane ticket purchased before the crackdown. Pakistan, which also claims ownership of Jammu and Kashmir in its entirety, escalated its unyielding response to the removal of Article 370 today. It announced it would be suspending bilateral trade with Delhi and expelling the Indian High Commissioner, as well as taking its objections to the United Nations Security Council.
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| Pakistan Suspends Trade With India, Downgrades Diplomatic Ties Posted: 07 Aug 2019 09:02 AM PDT ![Pakistan Suspends Trade With India, Downgrades Diplomatic Ties]( "Pakistan Suspends Trade With India, Downgrades Diplomatic Ties") (Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here. Pakistan downgraded diplomatic relations and suspended bilateral trade with India after New Delhi revoked seven decades of autonomy for the disputed Muslim-majority state of Kashmir.Prime Minister Imran Khan's government announced Wednesday a series of measures to oppose what it called "unilateral and illegal actions" by India. He also said Pakistan will take the matter to the United Nations Security Council and ensure the army remains vigilant. India's foreign ministry didn't respond to a request for comment.There may be relatively little at stake commercially: Bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to about $2.5 billion in 2018, roughly 3% of Pakistan's total trade and about 0.3% that of India.Politically and strategically, however, every escalation is serious. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision on Kashmir fulfilled a campaign promise made to his Hindu base, which opposed special treatment for the region. The state, officially known as Jammu and Kashmir, has been the main flashpoint between the two nuclear powers, which have fought three wars since the British left the subcontinent in 1947."Pakistan's move is wholly expected," said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center. "Despite its bluster, Islamabad has limited true retaliatory options," he said. "There's no way it can get India's decision to be reversed, and it's not about to send troops into Kashmir, and so naturally it will take the few risk-free punitive steps at its disposal."Relations between the nations have been strained since February, when a suicide bombing in Kashmir killed 40 Indian paramilitary troops. There was an exchange of airstrikes following that attack.Kashmir, in the Himalayas, has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence, and is claimed in full by both. Two of the nations' three wars were fought over the territory. While artillery and small-arms exchanges across the disputed border have been common, the airstrikes marked an escalation not seen in decades.India accuses Pakistan of supporting armed extremists in Kashmir, its only Muslim-dominated state. Pakistan denies the charges and says it offers only moral support to separatists.As part of the diplomatic downgrade, Pakistan told India to withdraw its high commissioner from Islamabad, and informed the Indian government that it wouldn't be sending its designated commissioner, according to a statement on the Pakistan Foreign Ministry website.India would have factored in a response when it made the move to revoke autonomy for Kashmir, and probably won't be overly alarmed by Pakistan's reaction, said Harsh Pant, professor of international relations at King's College London."Pakistan is desperate to bring the international community into this discussion," he said. "It is hoping that by raising the stakes it would be able to force others to respond."(Adds Pakistan FM statement in third paragraph from end.)\--With assistance from Katerina Petroff, Bibhudatta Pradhan and Khalid Qayum.To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah Jacob in Amsterdam at sjacob19@bloomberg.net;Archana Chaudhary in New Delhi at achaudhary2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Benjamin HarveyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Bolsonaro rejects 'Captain Chainsaw' label as data shows deforestation 'exploded' Posted: 07 Aug 2019 08:25 AM PDT  Data says 2,254 sq km cleared in July as president says Macron and Merkel 'haven't realized Brazil's under new management' An aerial view of deforestation in the western Amazon region of Brazil. Photograph: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty ImagesDeforestation in the Brazilian Amazon "exploded" in July it has emerged as Jair Bolsonaro scoffed at his portrayal as Brazil's "Captain Chainsaw" and mocked Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel for challenging him over the devastation.Speaking in São Paulo on Tuesday, Brazil's president attacked the leaders of France and Germany – who have both voiced concern about the surge in destruction since Bolsonaro took office in January."They still haven't realized Brazil's under new management," Bolsonaro declared to cheers of approval from his audience. "Now we've got a blooming president."The far-right populist repeated claims that his administration – which critics accuse of helping unleash a new wave of environmental destruction – was the victim of a mendacious international smear campaign based on "imprecise" satellite data showing a jump in deforestation.Bolsonaro ridiculed what he called his depiction as "Capitão Motoserra" ("Captain Chainsaw").But as he spoke, official data laid bare the scale of the environmental crisis currently unfolding in the world's biggest rainforest, of which about 60% is in Brazil.According to a report in the Estado de São Paulo newspaper, Amazon destruction "exploded" in July with an estimated 2,254 sq km (870 sq miles) of forest cleared, according to preliminary data gathered by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, the government agency that monitors deforestation.That is an area about half the size of Philadelphia and reportedly represents a 278% rise on the 596.6 sq km destroyed in July last year.Rômulo Batista, an Greenpeace campaigner based in the Amazon city of Manaus, said the numbers – while preliminary – were troubling and showed a clear trend of rising deforestation under Bolsonaro. What was not yet clear was if the devastation was "going up, going up a lot, or skyrocketing".Batista blamed Bolsonaro's "anti-environmental" discourse and policies – such as slashing the budget of Brazil's environmental agency, Ibama – for the surge."It's almost as if a licence to deforest illegally and with impunity has been given, now that you have the [environmental] inspection and control teams being attacked by no less than the president of the republic and the environment minister," Batista added. "This is a very worrying moment."The spike in destruction under Bolsonaro – who was elected with the support of powerful mining and agricultural sectors – has come as a shock to environmentalists, but not a surprise.During a visit to the Amazon last year Bolsonaro told the Guardian that as president he would target "cowardly" environmental NGOs who were "sticking their noses" into Brazil's domestic affairs."This tomfoolery stops right here!" Bolsonaro proclaimed, praising Donald Trump's approval of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines.Bolsonaro returned to that theme on Tuesday during a gathering of car dealers in Brazil's economic capital, São Paulo, complaining that "60% of our territory is rendered unusable by indigenous reserves and other environmental questions"."You can't imagine how much I enjoyed talking to Macron and Angela Merkel [about these issues during the recent G20 in Japan]," Bolsonaro added to guffaws from the crowd. "What a pleasure!"In June Merkel described the environmental situation in Bolsonaro's Brazil as "dramatic".In recent weeks the globally respected National Institute for Space Research has found itself at the eye of a political storm as a result of the inconvenient truths revealed by its data.Earlier this month, with alarm growing about the consequences of the intensifying assault on the Amazon, its director, Ricardo Galvão, was sacked after contesting Bolsonaro's "pusillanimous" claims he was peddling lies about the state of the Amazon.Galvão's successor, the air force colonel Darcton Policarpo Damião, looks set to follow a more Bolsonarian line. In an interview this week Damião said he was not convinced global heating was a manmade phenomenon and called such matters "not my cup of tea".Pope Francis – who is preparing to host a special synod on the Amazon in October – has also incurred Bolsonaro's wrath on the environment.In June the Argentinian leader of the Catholic church questioned "the blind and destructive mentality" of those seeking to profit from the world's biggest rainforest. "What is happening in Amazonia will have repercussions at a global level," he warned.Asked about those comments, Bolsonaro offered a characteristically unvarnished response, suggesting they reflected an international conspiracy to commandeer the Amazon."Brazil is the virgin that every foreign pervert wants to get their hands on," Bolsonaro said.
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| Watchdog: Israel pushes ahead with hundreds of settler homes Posted: 07 Aug 2019 08:16 AM PDT ![Watchdog: Israel pushes ahead with hundreds of settler homes]( "Watchdog: Israel pushes ahead with hundreds of settler homes") Israel is moving forward with more than 2,300 housing units for settlers in the West Bank, a watchdog group said Wednesday, drawing condemnation from the Palestinians and the international community. The committee also authorized three small outposts that were initially built without government approval, according to Peace Now's Hagit Ofran. The Palestinians seek the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip — territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war — for their hoped-for state.
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| Back in May One of Iran's Last F-14 Tomcats (Made in America) Crashed Posted: 07 Aug 2019 08:07 AM PDT  What happens next? As reported by Scramble Facebook News Magazine, one of the few remaining Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) F-14A Tomcats was involved in a crash at home base Esfahãn-Shahid Beheshti International Airport (Iran).The IRIAF F-14A from the 8th Tactical Air Base crashed while it was landing. The aircraft reported an emergency to air traffic control during its training flight, subsequently the fighter was approved to make a quick landing at Esfahãn, but the aircraft was not able to hold position and skidded of the runway. Both pilot and Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) were forced to eject. They parachuted safely to mother earth.The damage to the Tomcat is not known yet. Hopefully, pictures will become available soon.It is said that the IRIAF only have some twelve to fourteen operational F-14A and F-14AMs left. The IRIAF faces large problems to keep their Tomcats in the air (the AM version is locally modified and equipped with new avionics and multi-function displays in the cockpit, countermeasure systems, radar warning receivers and an inertial navigation system).
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| Israeli library displays last batch of obtained Kafka works Posted: 07 Aug 2019 08:06 AM PDT  After a lengthy legal saga, Israel's National Library unveiled on Wednesday a batch of personal letters, illustrations, diaries and handwritten manuscripts previously unseen by the public belonging to famed German language author Franz Kafka. The released materials are the final unseen portion of a collection inherited by Max Brod, Kafka's longtime friend and editor, and the publication marks the end of an 11-year battle in court. Although the collection does not include substantial unpublished work by Kafka, researchers believe that it will help shed light on the life and thinking of one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.
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| U.N. Yemen envoy "alarmed" by military escalation in Aden - statement Posted: 07 Aug 2019 08:03 AM PDT ![U.N. Yemen envoy "alarmed" by military escalation in Aden - statement]( "U.N. Yemen envoy \"alarmed\" by military escalation in Aden - statement") The United Nations special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, expressed concern on Wednesday about a military escalation in the southern port city of Aden, the seat of Yemen's internationally recognized government, and he called for dialogue. "I am alarmed by the military escalations in Aden today, including reports of clashes in the vicinity of the Presidential Palace.
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| North Korea stole $2bn for weapons from cyberattacks: UN report Posted: 07 Aug 2019 07:58 AM PDT  North Korea has stolen up to $2 billion from banks and cryptocurrency exchanges through cyberattacks to fund its nuclear missiles program, according to a United Nations report seen by AFP Wednesday. The UN is investigating at least 35 reported instances of Pyongyang "attacking financial institutions, cryptocurrency exchanges and mining activity designed to earn foreign currency," it said.
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| Africa party in colonial museum sparks anger after partygoers dressed in pith helmets and blackface Posted: 07 Aug 2019 07:58 AM PDT  Congolese community groups in Belgium are furious after revellers turned up to an Africa-themed party held in the grounds of a colonial museum dressed in pith helmets and blackface. For more than a century, the Royal Museum for Central Africa has stood as a monument to the worst excesses of Belgium's brutal occupation of the Congo, which inspired Joseph Conrad's nightmarish Hearts of Darkness. On Sunday, about 2,000 people attended an open-air party organised by company Thé Dansant. Photos posted on social media showed one partygoer blacked up and others in leopard skin print and others dressed as colonial era explorers. "Ethnic, exotic or African is not a costume that you can put on and take off," Emma Lee Amponsah of the Café Congo organisation told the Bruzz newspaper. She criticised the organisers for festooning a stage with skulls on sticks for evoking voodoo and cannibalism. "In this way stereotypes are constantly being maintained," she said, "explain to me how an event like this can still exist in 2019." In 1897, a human zoo of 267 Congolese people were exhibited in the grounds of the former Royal estate in the leafy Brussels suburb of Tervuren. Seven Congolese died of exposure after being shown to about a million Belgians during the World Exhibition. A reveller in colonial-style pith helmet at the controversial party Credit: Jelle Dreesen Packed to the brim with more than 180,000 looted items, including the beheaded skulls of vanquished tribal chiefs, and more than 500 stuffed animals slaughtered by hunters, the museum celebrated the exploits of the Belgians who turned a huge swathe of Africa into a slave state. The museum was reopened as the Africa Museum last year after a decade-long detoxification project to modernise it. Primrose Ntumba, a museum spokeswoman, said it could do nothing to stop the event because it did not manage the grounds. " I think it is very unfortunate that Thé Dansant does not see that an 'African fancy dress party' can cause angry reactions, and all the more so at this location," she said. "Even if one person painted his face black, it was not meant to be offensive. Many people of African origin were enthusiastic about the concept and were present," said party organiser Kjell Materman. The United Nations has called on Belgium to apologise for its colonial past and accused the museum of not doing enough to exorcise the ghosts of its racist past. The party was held outside the palatial 1910 museum built on the orders of King Leopold, who ruled the Congo Free State as his personal fiefdom.
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| Let Down by China, Mauritius Turns to Saudi Arabia for Growth Posted: 07 Aug 2019 07:45 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Let down by falling numbers of Chinese visitors and fretting about Brexit, the tourism industry of Mauritius is turning to an unexpected savior: Saudi Arabia.While surging numbers of Chinese visitors to the Indian Ocean island's resorts helped underpin an 11% annual growth rate in tourists in 2015, that slowed to 4.3% last year, partially as a result of the scrapping of direct flights by China Southern Airlines Co. In 2015 Mauritius attracted 90,000 visitors from China. The total this year is likely to be less than half that, according to figures from the national statistics agency. A weakening pound and the prospect of a further currency plunge if the U.K. exits Europe this year, is another cause for concern: The U.K. is Mauritius's fourth-biggest source of tourists.But now the Saudis are coming and for the country, famed for white-sand beaches and dramatic mountains, that's a bonus. Tourism accounts for 8% of its gross domestic product and indirectly employs a fifth of its workforce. In the first half of this year, Saudi visitors almost doubled to 9,219 from the previous year, thanks to three flights a week from Riyadh and Jeddah introduced by Saudi Arabian Airlines in 2017. Diplomatic ties between the two countries have strengthened since, with Mauritius opening an embassy in Saudi Arabia last year and a state visit from Saudi's interior minister a few weeks later.Lavish vacations"It's really been a happy surprise," Jean-Michel Pitot, chairman of Mauritius's association of hotel and restaurant owners, said in an interview in the capital, Port Louis. "Those planes are well-filled. I didn't expect that."While the Indian Ocean island nation has traditionally enjoyed a steady stream of visitors from Europe, a legacy of its colonial history, it's been struggling for years to draw tourists from other continents. For Americans, it's simply too far away. The African market, despite its proximity, remains largely untapped because of poor flight connections and the relatively high cost of vacationing in Mauritius. Mauritius has at time been occupied by Holland, the U.K. and France.Even though the Saudis represent only a tiny fraction of the island's 1.4 million annual visitors - more than its population of 1.27 million - their spending power has helped compensate for the drop in arrivals from China. Saudis typically stay in private luxury villas and they tend to spend lavishly on meals and services.Outrageous PonchosStill, that wealth has a downside. Mauritians expressed their outrage on social media when a news outlet reported that a Saudi tourist had paid 85,000 rupees ($2,200) for two woolen ponchos - a price considered so extortionate they said it could scare off future travelers. The shopkeeper promptly went on local radio to announce he'd reimburse the customer.The poncho dispute highlighted the wider debate between the government and hotel owners association as they publicly argue over the causes of the slowdown. Arrivals rose only 0.5% to June, well below a target of 2.5% for the year.While some tourist operators blame fierce competition from more luxurious destinations, such as Maldives and the Seychelles, others say it's because of the weather, or point to the numerous stray dogs that roam the country's winding roads. The government pledged earlier this year to increase spending on cleaning campaigns and keeping the country pretty and efficient - with a metro in and around the capital as one of its projects."Politicians tend to focus on quantity, but we say it's a bit wider than that," said Pitot. "The beaches aren't as beautiful as they were 30 years ago. There's more pollution, there are more traffic jams. On top of that, the tourism industry worldwide has changed enormously in recent years. Just beach and sun is no longer enough. People want an experience."The government said the reasons for the fall in Chinese numbers is more mundane. There aren't enough planes."We've done a lot of marketing campaigns on Chinese social media and we invited Chinese artists and bloggers," Gayan said. "But I think, to capture the Chinese market, we need more regular flights. A Chinese tourist who isn't satisfied wants to be able to leave the next day. They don't want to wait five days before they can leave."So the government is lobbying new countries to keep the tourists coming, with a roadshow planned in Kenya this year, Tourism Minister Anil Gayan said."Historically our hotel industry has always looked at Europe," Gayan said. "If I say, let's do a roadshow in Saudi Arabia, they won't even come. They're not interested. But we think we shouldn't have more than 20% of whichever nationality in one hotel at any given moment. We need that diversity."(Adds details on colonial history in sixth.)To contact the reporters on this story: Pauline Bax in Johannesburg at pbax@bloomberg.net;Kamlesh Bhuckory in Port Louis at kbhuckory1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Antony Sguazzin, Hilton ShoneFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Huge appetite for post-Brexit US-UK trade deal but needs lot of work -UK's Raab Posted: 07 Aug 2019 07:33 AM PDT ![Huge appetite for post-Brexit US-UK trade deal but needs lot of work -UK's Raab]( "Huge appetite for post-Brexit US-UK trade deal but needs lot of work -UK's Raab") British foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Wednesday after a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump that there was a huge appetite for forging a post-Brexit trade deal between the two countries but it still would require a lot of work. "He was effusive in his warmth for the United Kingdom - it was amazing to hear an American president talk about our country in such warm terms," said Raab, who met Trump in Washington on Tuesday.
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| Ryanair to shut Faro base in Portugal in 2020: union Posted: 07 Aug 2019 05:54 AM PDT  Ryanair has decided to close its base at Faro International Airport in southern Portugal from next year with the loss of at least 120 jobs, the SNPVAC cabin crew union, which had called a strike for Aug. 21-25, said on Wednesday. The budget airline told the union the decision to close the base, which operates 10 aircraft in summer, was part of wider planned cuts flagged last week due to weaker earnings, the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX and concerns over Brexit, said SNPVAC director Fernando Gandra. The timing "appears at least strange as it comes within days of our calling a strike in Portugal and as the company is telling staff its passenger numbers have risen 9% in July from a year earlier," Gandra said.
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| China rare earths group supports counter-measures against U.S. 'bullying' Posted: 07 Aug 2019 05:53 AM PDT ![China rare earths group supports counter-measures against U.S. 'bullying']( "China rare earths group supports counter-measures against U.S. 'bullying'") China's rare earths association said it would support Chinese counter-measures in the escalating trade row with the United States, which it accused on Wednesday of "bullying". The Association of China Rare Earth Industry issued a statement after a special working meeting on Monday to discuss the "guidance" given by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to a rare earth plant in Jiangxi in May. Xi's visit stoked fears China would use its dominance over production of rare earths, a group of 17 chemical elements prized for their use in consumer electronics and military equipment, in the escalating trade war, although no restrictions on supplies have so far been announced.
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| North Korea's Missile Tests a "Warning": How Should Trump Respond? Posted: 07 Aug 2019 05:46 AM PDT  North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un said Wednesday that the country's ballistic missile test Tuesday was a "warning" to both South Korea and the United States.Kim said the test was "an occasion to send an adequate warning to the joint military drill now underway by the U.S. and South Korean authorities," Reutersreported, citing the state-operated Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).Kim's comments came a day after North Korea launched two missiles from the western airfield across the country to an area near Pyongyang and "precisely hit" an eastern island target, KCNA reported.The news agency added that the tests "clearly verified the reliability, security and actual war capacity" of the country's missiles.U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday that the United States will not overreact to North Korea's missile tests, according to Reuters.The launch was the fourth test in just 13 days beginning on July 25.
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| Trump says South Korea paying more for military protection Posted: 07 Aug 2019 05:38 AM PDT  President Donald Trump said Wednesday that South Korea has agreed to pay the United States "substantially more" for protection against North Korea and that talks have begun to further increase payments. South Korea and the U.S. in March signed a deal to increase Seoul's payments for U.S. troop deployment there from $850 million in 2018 to $924 million in 2019.
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| Trump: South Korea agreed to pay U.S. more to defend from North Korea Posted: 07 Aug 2019 05:16 AM PDT  North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles early Tuesday into the sea as a warning to the U.S. and South Korea.
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| Domino’s stockpiling ingredients for Brexit: Britain facing major food shortages with no-deal Posted: 07 Aug 2019 05:02 AM PDT ![Domino's stockpiling ingredients for Brexit: Britain facing major food shortages with no-deal]( "Domino's stockpiling ingredients for Brexit: Britain facing major food shortages with no-deal") "Britain will experience shortages of some fresh foods for weeks or even months if a disorderly no-deal Brexit leaves perishable produce rotting in lorries at ports," Britain's food and drink lobby said Wednesday.
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| Egypt president urges nation to back push against militants Posted: 07 Aug 2019 04:51 AM PDT  Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is urging the nation to back his government's efforts to defeat Islamic militants, saying it's the mission of every Egyptian. Wednesday's appeal came after a car packed with explosives detonated earlier this week outside Egypt's main cancer hospital in Cairo, killing at least 20 people.
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| Lawyer of British teen in Cyprus false rape case quits Posted: 07 Aug 2019 04:36 AM PDT  A lawyer representing a 19-year-old British woman who faces a public nuisance charge for falsely accusing 12 Israelis of rape withdrew from the case Wednesday because of a "serious disagreement" with his client. Paralimni court judge Tonia Antoniou on Wednesday approved lawyer Andreas Pittadjis' request to quit, and adjourned the case until Aug. 19 to give the woman time to find a new lawyer. Pittadjis said his decision to resign was made after consulting with the woman and her family, but wouldn't disclose the nature of his disagreement.
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| How to Make Russia Great Again Posted: 07 Aug 2019 04:33 AM PDT  In 2012 Russian president Vladimir Putin was confronted by mass protests in Moscow and was able to more or less legitimately win the presidential elections and move his protégé and predecessor Dmitri Medvedev to the chair of prime minister. Today, as a fresh round of protests takes place over upcoming Moscow municipal elections, however, Russia is experiencing a more profound and protracted crisis. It is time for Russia to reinvent itself as a patriotic nation through local self-governance.Until now, Putin's regime has been supported in elections, not just by a dark unenlightened majority eager to swear its allegiance to any "iron fist" that has guaranteed a minimum of living standards. Rather, Putin's regime has also been supported by enlightened conservative voters who recognized the value of state sovereignty and national greatness but didn't want to see their country as a patrimonial dictatorship in the Central Asian-style. This conservative voter was ready to back Putin in future elections provided that the president they voted for is following the evolutionary road to a modern society with a fair court and free parliament. This type of voter reconciled himself with the elements of authoritarianism in Russia for the sake of national revival, while viewing such developments as merely a temporal phenomenon prompted by real national interests rather than by self-serving desires of elite circles.
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| Ukrainian leader urges Russia's Putin to help end fighting Posted: 07 Aug 2019 04:24 AM PDT ![Ukrainian leader urges Russia's Putin to help end fighting]( "Ukrainian leader urges Russia's Putin to help end fighting") Ukraine's new leader said he called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to urge him to help halt fighting in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he asked the Russian leader to "influence the other side so that they stop killing our people." Zelenskiy's call came a day after four Ukrainian soldiers were killed by pro-Russia insurgents. Separatist rebels said they were returning fire after Ukrainian shelling of a school.
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| British ministers in US to 'fast-track' post-Brexit trade deal Posted: 07 Aug 2019 03:21 AM PDT  Britain was seeking to fast-track a crucial post-Brexit trade deal with the United States on Wednesday after new Prime Minister Boris Johnson dispatched his top diplomat and foreign trade minister to Washington. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was due to hold talks with his US counterpart Mike Pompeo at the State Department while the International Trade Secretary Liz Truss has lined up meetings with top American trade officials. With Johnson determined to ensure Britain leaves the European Union on October 31, with or without a deal, striking some kind of trade accord with the Trump administration has taken on even greater importance.
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| U.K.'s Future Just Got a Little More Uncertain Posted: 07 Aug 2019 03:04 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Want to receive this post in your inbox every day? Sign up for the Balance of Power newsletter, and follow Bloomberg Politics on Twitter and Facebook for more.The U.K's constitutional future swung back into focus yesterday.In London, Michael Gove, the U.K. minister charged with planning for a no-deal Brexit, complained that the European Union seemed unwilling to negotiate, calling it "sad." Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was in Canada, where he expressed a determination to "fire up" Britain's economic ties with non-EU partners.But the most significant intervention of the day came in Scotland. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, used an appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to say the Labour Party would not stand in the way of a second referendum on Scottish independence.Assuming he has Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn's backing, that's not just a challenge to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who refuses to countenance another vote. It turns Labour Party policy in Scotland on its head.The political calculus seems clear. Labour may well need Scottish National Party votes to form a coalition government if, as is widely speculated, Johnson calls early elections. A Labour-SNP pact could keep the Conservatives out of power and, just possibly, defy a no-deal Brexit.But the cost is another Scottish referendum, which a poll this week suggested would yield a "Yes" vote to independence.Many hurdles remain to a referendum, let alone an independent Scotland. But when it comes to countries breaking free, Brexit might just be the start.Global HeadlinesBig bets | The relationship between their countries is at its lowest point in decades, but neither U.S. President Donald Trump nor his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, has a domestic incentive to reach a compromise. Instead, they've unleashed tit-for-tat trade and currency moves that risk exacerbating a wider geopolitical fight between the world's two biggest economies. The latest Chinese goods slapped with U.S. levies: $4.4 billion in cabinets.Subscribe to Bloomberg's Terms of Trade newsletter to receive all the big developments in your inbox each weekday.Empty promises? | Democratic presidential candidates are vowing bold executive action as they respond to two mass shootings in 24 hours last weekend. But, as Gregory Korte reports, they may only manage timid steps. No president can unilaterally ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines or require universal background checks — the most sought after changes. Both would require action by Congress, where gun measures have stalled.Trump will seek to console the grief-stricken residents of El Paso and Dayton today — a presidential duty he's never quite mastered and that is made harder by local reticence about his visit.Democrats' opportunity | An early wave of Republican retirements from the U.S. House is bolstering Democrats' chances of holding -- or perhaps even expanding -- their majority in 2020. Texas Representative Kenny Marchant yesterday became the 11th Republican to announce he's not running for re-election. His district is one of several in the state where demographic and political shifts are favoring Democrats, Billy House reports. The fossil fuel industry is squarely in the crosshairs of 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls, evoking growing alarm from a sector that's found a cheerleader in the Trump administration.Missile message | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fired off his fourth volley of a new short-range ballistic missile in two weeks and delivered a message through his official state media to Trump, telling him to halt joint military drills with South Korea or risk seeing his efforts at nuclear diplomacy fall apart. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper justified the exercises, saying: "We need to maintain our readiness."Argentine crossroads | Argentina faces a momentous choice in this fall's presidential election: Stay on the current market-friendly path or reverse course. The first act plays out on Sunday, when Argentines vote in a mandatory primary that is effectively a nationwide poll, with the result indicating potential support ahead of October's first round. The performance of the incumbent — investors' favorite, Mauricio Macri — will be key to gauging his chances of re-election. What to WatchChinese authorities meeting in Shenzhen acknowledged the historic unrest across the border in Hong Kong is the worst since they took control in 1997. But they ruled out a key demand that could help halt the protest movement's momentum. Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi signed a peace deal with the biggest opposition party in a third attempt to end more than four decades of fighting as the nation prepares for elections.And finally...A quarter of the world's population is facing a water crisis, with the potential of severe shortages looming, according to a new report by the Washington-based World Resources Institute. As Hannah Dormido shows, drought knows no geographical bounds, with countries from Portugal to Chile at high risk of water stress. India is of most concern: Its population of 1.4 billion is more than three times that of the other 16 countries in the extremely high-risk category combined. \--With assistance from Kathleen Hunter, Karen Leigh, Jon Herskovitz and Juan Pablo Spinetto.To contact the author of this story: Alan Crawford in Berlin at acrawford6@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| The American right wing is enabling a dual crisis: gun violence and white supremacy Posted: 07 Aug 2019 03:00 AM PDT  The right can no longer hide behind claims that the two issues should not be 'political''Trump has lit a match to this powder keg.' Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/ReutersThe increasingly intertwined threat posed by gun violence and white nationalist terrorists is real, evil and deadly – and it is being enabled and encouraged by Donald Trump and the right wing that he has emboldened and embraced.Gun violence is the deadliest violent threat facing America today. The Centers for Disease Control recorded 39,773 deaths by firearm in 2017. And while it pales in comparison with the gun epidemic, white nationalist terrorism is a growing threat made more deadly by the availability of guns. The Anti-Defamation League noted that of the 50 deaths caused by domestic extremists in 2018, "white supremacists were responsible for the great majority of the killings".If this many Americans were killed in a war or foreign terror attack, the US government would be in crisis mode. The president would be convening meetings of the cabinet and state and local officials. Congress would be rushing legislation through the door quicker than legislators could read the bills. The media would cover the issue as religiously as it covers Trump's tweets.And yet, these issues hardly register in national policy debates, and the reason is the American right wing.For a long time, the right wing has thumped their chests in attempts to show how tough they are on national security. They invaded Iraq because one war in response to 9/11 wasn't enough. The right wing regularly hype threats of terrorism to advocate for militaristic policies, whether it's on Iran or Yemen. They constantly demand more defense spending – just because more is somehow better. They advocate for more and new kinds of nuclear weapons, as though the thousands we already have couldn't blow up the world enough times.Perhaps the right wing feels the need to show how "tough" they are because they know they are aiding and abetting a genuine national security threat. The systematic rightwing effort to make it easier to access guns, alongside policies and rhetoric that spew racism and bigotry, make the rightwing enablers of mass murder and inspirations to white nationalist terrorism.Ask just about any expert, law enforcement official, or national security professional who is focused on the issue and they will tell you that commonsense gun-violence-prevention legislation can significantly reduce gun violence. A glance at other countries with stricter gun laws and virtually no gun violence confirms this fact. And yet, the right wing is not only opposed to these laws that would save lives – it has been working for years to make it easier for Americans to obtain assault weapons.While guns kill tens of thousands every year, white nationalists are using them more and more to carry out their terrorist attacks. A New York Times report showed how murders by white nationalists are not only growing around the world – they are also becoming more and more connected. And the right wing in the United States are helping these terrorists by leading the way with hateful, racist language and policies that terrorists cite in explaining their murderous acts.Trump has lit a match to this powder keg. Rightwing support for white nationalists can now be seen weekly in the Oval Office. Trump regularly refers to immigrants and minorities as part of an "invasion" and "infestation", fueling the white nationalist conspiracy theory of the "great replacement" in which "other" people are supposedly trying to replace white Americans. In Charlottesville in 2017, white supremacists murdered Heather Heyer at a neo-Nazi rally where people were chanting "Jews will not replace us" – after which Trump called them "very fine people". At a rally in May, Trump laughed when an attendee suggested shooting immigrants. It is not difficult to understand why the alleged killer in El Paso cited the "great replacement" conspiracy as a justification for the massacre.And yet, combating white nationalist terrorism is not even remotely a partisan issue for the American public. In a recent survey, 87% of Americans said that white supremacists and other domestic extremists were just as important to focus on as foreign terrorists. And according to another 2019 poll, there is even broad-based support for more restrictions on firearms, with 69% of the American people in favor.While some think this shouldn't be a political issue, it is. It is because the killers are telling us it's political in their manifestos. It's political because progress – getting legislation passed – requires politics. And it's political because it is overwhelmingly one side of the political spectrum that is fueling the threat.America must act. There are plenty of commonsense pieces of legislation and executive action that could be put into effect immediately to reduce gun violence. Congress and the executive branch could easily focus on combating white nationalist terrorism and provide the resources to do so. And the current president and his allies could stop talking like white nationalists.But until they change, let everyone make clear that the actions of the right wing are undermining the safety and security of the American people and enabling mass murderers. We can't beat around the bush any more with pleasantries and thoughts and prayers.• Michael H Fuchs is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and a former deputy assistant secretary of state for east Asian and Pacific affairs
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| There's an old word for Trump's brand of nationalism: 'hatriotism' Posted: 07 Aug 2019 03:00 AM PDT  The term perfectly describes people who cloak toxic intolerance in patriotism. Let's bring it back 'Trump taunted Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley, telling them to "go back home" – even though all are American citizens.' Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/APSeveral weeks ago, as President Trump used the pretext of patriotism to unleash a nativist assault on four Democratic women of color in Congress, I was inspecting a sewer. By which I mean that I was doing historical research into Gerald LK Smith.For the mercifully uninitiated, Smith was a kind of proto-Trump in the 1930s and 1940s. An all-purpose racist, antisemite, and Red-baiter, Smith founded the America First political party and espoused a "Christian Nationalist Crusade". One biographer described his speeches as "a combination of high school pep rally and a Klan cross burning".In an episode that anticipated Trump's recent rhetoric treating representatives Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley as disloyal foreigners and telling them to "go back home" – even though all are American citizens and all but Omar were born here – Smith told a whooping crowd, "If the Jews don't like our country, they can go back where they came from!"As I slogged through such muck, I found a 1945 article from the New York Herald Tribune. It recounted Smith and similarly minded demagogues trying to crash a United Nations conference in San Francisco. Describing Smith's crew, both the headline and the story used the word "hatriots".That term, a pithy conflation of "hate" and "patriots", struck me as perfectly suited to our current moment. Read in the context of Smith's divisive career, the word clearly referred to people who wrap toxic intolerance in the perfumed cloak of patriotism.Clearly, "hatriots" is an epithet we need now. My curiosity about the word's source led me not only through online searches of Google, newspapers.com, and ProQuest but into contact with several experts on hate speech and what one might call forensic etymology.Two scholars – Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, and Fred Shapiro, editor of the authoritative Yale Book of Quotations – separately traced "hatriot" to the same citation: an unsigned editorial column on page 11 of the Seymour, Indiana, Tribune on 2 July 1941. The article had no byline and it seems to have been syndicated to other small newspapers, because over the next week it appeared verbatim in papers in Sayre, Pennsylvania, and Billings, Montana, among other places.In that first iteration, the anonymous writer explained "hatriot" in almost bemused terms as just one then recent example of portmanteaus like "Republocrat". By the mid-1940s, though, writers were using "hatriots" in a more specific way – to identify, among others, Nazi sympathizers charged with sedition and opponents of nonwhites serving in the US military.Such examples still left the provenance vague. But an unsigned column in the Indianapolis Star on 10 July 1945 enticingly noted: "A coast commentator saluted a Manhattan gazette for coining the word 'hatriots' to describe rabble-rousing 'Patriots'." Nine years later, a spate of articles ascribed "hatriots" to Walter Winchell, the popular columnist.That detail brought me to Neal Gabler, author of the acclaimed biography Winchell: Gossip, Power and the Culture of Celebrity. As Gabler reminded me, Winchell was an early and outspoken opponent of the Nazis and their American supporters and he considered ridicule one of his cudgels, most famously in his invented insult "Ratzis"."'Hatriot' sounds exactly like the kind of word Walter Winchell would have coined, and he certainly had no affection for the rightwingers of his day, including Gerald LK Smith," Gabler explained. "But I don't recall ever coming upon that particular word, and I have dug through my notes as best I could, and didn't find it.""Hatriots" fell out of common parlance beyond the 1950s. Despite the rising tide of Islamophobia, antisemitism, and racism over the past decade, as documented by hate-crime statistics, "hatriot" has re-emerged only sporadically to characterize the contemporary right. I've found it on a blog called AmericanHatriots, in a Daily Beast article by John P Avlon, and on the radio shows and website of the political commentator David Pakman. And, oh yes, there's a thrash metal band called Hatriot.The time is overdue for the return of "hatriot" to the political vocabulary. Words are weapons, and "hatriot" is a weapon that neatly names and describes some of the most dangerous forces on the American landscape.Rightwingers have long known how to name-and-shame their opponents. Think of "libtard", "feminazi" and "snowflake". Progressives need similar ammunition. Consider how much impact the snarky nickname and hashtag MoscowMitch has already had on Senator McConnell, providing both a slogan and a platform for trying to defeat him in 2020.The historically accurate descriptors of the Trump movement – "white nationalism", for instance – just don't have the necessary zing. And correctly referring to the president as racist is almost taken as a compliment by some elements of his base, proof that only Trump can speak the unutterable truth. So it is time to revive "hatriot" and make it go viral."It's useful to be able to name a phenomenon, like the politics of Trump, that combines two ideas into a toxic mix," said Kenneth Stern, director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate. "'Hatriotism' is the perfect shorthand." * Samuel G Freedman is a journalism professor at Columbia University, a former New York Times columnist, and the author of eight books
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| Trump’s Hollow New Venezuela Sanctions Posted: 07 Aug 2019 03:00 AM PDT ![Trump's Hollow New Venezuela Sanctions]( "Trump's Hollow New Venezuela Sanctions") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- To hear National Security Adviser John Bolton tell it, the U.S.'s new sanctions on Venezuela are meant to finally bring Nicolas Maduro to his knees.At a conference in Lima, Peru, this week, Bolton said the sanctions would target foreign concerns that continue to do business with Maduro's despotic regime, risking their access to U.S. markets. These are the same kinds of penalties imposed on Iran and Cuba, or as Bolton calls it, "the club of rogue states."Bolton didn't say it, but the real targets of these sanctions are Russia and China, both of which are owed billions by Venezuela. Unable to sell his oil on the world market because of sanctions on the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, Maduro is now paying his debts with shipments of oil.The new restrictions, if they go into effect, will prevent even that. In effect, says Fernando Cutz, a former senior official at the National Security Council under both presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama, "We are telling the Russians and Chinese they can no longer be paid back."The problem is that the executive order Trump issued on Aug. 5 leaves it to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — in consultation with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — to designate the Russian and Chinese oil companies that are receiving Venezuela's oil. As Cutz told me, the success of Trump's strategy depends on the Treasury Department's willingness to name names.And if recent history is any guide, Mnuchin will not be acting swiftly. He has been a consistent voice inside the administration against sanctions in general, and against sanctions on China and Russia in particular. He advised U.S. firms in June to seek exemptions to the executive order barring most transactions with Chinese telecom giant Huawei. The Treasury Department also negotiated a deal earlier this year with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska allowing him to divest from his companies to avoid U.S. sanctions.What's more, Russia and China both have enormous leverage right now over the U.S. For China, there is the escalating trade war. China showed this week that it can retaliate in ways that will sink the U.S. stock market. Russia, meanwhile, can still play spoiler in Syria, where the U.S. is urging Turkey not to follow through on threats to attack Syrian Kurds who aligned with America in recent years against the Islamic State.Over time, then, these new Venezuela sanctions could come to seem rather hollow. Consider, by way of comparison, the sanctions on Iran's oil exports. In May, the Trump administration announced that it was ending exemptions for China and four other countries. But China continues to receive shipments of Iranian oil.Perhaps the best way to understand the new sanctions is as a form of political messaging. The timing is important; U.S. officials have become impatient with talks between Maduro's regime and the administration of Juan Guaido, the man America and more than 50 other countries recognize as Venezuela's interim president. U.S. officials say the announcement is meant to pressure Maduro's envoys to begin real negotiations about a transition of power.That's a worthy goal, but it's not the best way to strengthen Guaido's hand. More creative thinking is needed. One way to pressure Maduro is to establish an international fund for Guaido's interim government to begin providing some of the services Maduro's regime cannot. Trump can also instruct the Pentagon to help make it easier for average Venezuelans to access the Internet and evade the regime's efforts to monitor and control that access.It's also possible that Mnuchin has every intention of using the new executive order to crack down on Russian and Chinese entities propping up Maduro. But if he fails to act, then this week's sanctions will serve as a mere irritant to America's adversaries, and as yet another setback for American credibility.To contact the author of this story: Eli Lake at elake1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Trump’s Hollow New Venezuela Sanctions Posted: 07 Aug 2019 03:00 AM PDT ![Trump's Hollow New Venezuela Sanctions]( "Trump's Hollow New Venezuela Sanctions") (Bloomberg Opinion) -- To hear National Security Adviser John Bolton tell it, the U.S.'s new sanctions on Venezuela are meant to finally bring Nicolas Maduro to his knees.At a conference in Lima, Peru, this week, Bolton said the sanctions would target foreign concerns that continue to do business with Maduro's despotic regime, risking their access to U.S. markets. These are the same kinds of penalties imposed on Iran and Cuba, or as Bolton calls it, "the club of rogue states."Bolton didn't say it, but the real targets of these sanctions are Russia and China, both of which are owed billions by Venezuela. Unable to sell his oil on the world market because of sanctions on the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, Maduro is now paying his debts with shipments of oil.The new restrictions, if they go into effect, will prevent even that. In effect, says Fernando Cutz, a former senior official at the National Security Council under both presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama, "We are telling the Russians and Chinese they can no longer be paid back."The problem is that the executive order Trump issued on Aug. 5 leaves it to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — in consultation with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — to designate the Russian and Chinese oil companies that are receiving Venezuela's oil. As Cutz told me, the success of Trump's strategy depends on the Treasury Department's willingness to name names.And if recent history is any guide, Mnuchin will not be acting swiftly. He has been a consistent voice inside the administration against sanctions in general, and against sanctions on China and Russia in particular. He advised U.S. firms in June to seek exemptions to the executive order barring most transactions with Chinese telecom giant Huawei. The Treasury Department also negotiated a deal earlier this year with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska allowing him to divest from his companies to avoid U.S. sanctions.What's more, Russia and China both have enormous leverage right now over the U.S. For China, there is the escalating trade war. China showed this week that it can retaliate in ways that will sink the U.S. stock market. Russia, meanwhile, can still play spoiler in Syria, where the U.S. is urging Turkey not to follow through on threats to attack Syrian Kurds who aligned with America in recent years against the Islamic State.Over time, then, these new Venezuela sanctions could come to seem rather hollow. Consider, by way of comparison, the sanctions on Iran's oil exports. In May, the Trump administration announced that it was ending exemptions for China and four other countries. But China continues to receive shipments of Iranian oil.Perhaps the best way to understand the new sanctions is as a form of political messaging. The timing is important; U.S. officials have become impatient with talks between Maduro's regime and the administration of Juan Guaido, the man America and more than 50 other countries recognize as Venezuela's interim president. U.S. officials say the announcement is meant to pressure Maduro's envoys to begin real negotiations about a transition of power.That's a worthy goal, but it's not the best way to strengthen Guaido's hand. More creative thinking is needed. One way to pressure Maduro is to establish an international fund for Guaido's interim government to begin providing some of the services Maduro's regime cannot. Trump can also instruct the Pentagon to help make it easier for average Venezuelans to access the Internet and evade the regime's efforts to monitor and control that access.It's also possible that Mnuchin has every intention of using the new executive order to crack down on Russian and Chinese entities propping up Maduro. But if he fails to act, then this week's sanctions will serve as a mere irritant to America's adversaries, and as yet another setback for American credibility.To contact the author of this story: Eli Lake at elake1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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