| Over 20,000 rally in Moscow as election anger boils over Posted: 20 Jul 2019 05:13 PM PDT  More than 22,000 people packed a Moscow square Saturday to demand free and fair local polls, incensed by the authorities' refusal to put popular opposition candidates on the ballot. Staging their largest protest in years, opposition leaders such as President Vladimir Putin's top opponent Alexei Navalny and ordinary Muscovites rallied after authorities refused to register independent candidates seeking to contest the September vote for the capital's parliament. "This is my city!" the crowd chanted during the two-hour-long sanctioned rally.
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| UPDATE 1-Britain says Iran approached tanker in Omani waters - letter to U.N. Posted: 20 Jul 2019 04:11 PM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Britain says Iran approached tanker in Omani waters - letter to U.N.]( "UPDATE 1-Britain says Iran approached tanker in Omani waters - letter to U.N.") "The ship was exercising the lawful right of transit passage in an international strait as provided for under international law," Britain's U.N. mission wrote to the Security Council. The letter, seen by Reuters, was also sent to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
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| British Airways, Lufthansa suspend Cairo flights Posted: 20 Jul 2019 04:07 PM PDT  British Airways and Lufthansa both said Saturday they were suspending flights to Cairo for unspecified reasons related to safety and security. The British carrier said it was canceling flights to the Egyptian capital for a week. Lufthansa said it was suspending its flights as a precaution, mentioning "safety" but not "security" as its concern.
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| Irish, EU governments sound out Johnson to avoid no-deal Brexit -Sunday Times Posted: 20 Jul 2019 03:04 PM PDT ![Irish, EU governments sound out Johnson to avoid no-deal Brexit -Sunday Times]( "Irish, EU governments sound out Johnson to avoid no-deal Brexit -Sunday Times") Ahead of Boris Johnson's likely election next week as Britain's prime minister, EU countries are secretly wooing him in a bid to thrash out a new Brexit plan that would avoid a no-deal disaster, the Sunday Times newspaper reported. German and French figures as well as the Dutch and Belgian governments have also established contact with Johnson's team and signalled an intention to do a deal, it added. In a limited extract released on Saturday evening ahead of publication, the paper reported that Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has indicated Dublin is prepared to compromise.
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| Iran's poking at West heightens risks of military missteps Posted: 20 Jul 2019 02:40 PM PDT  Rather than tangle with a stronger U.S. military, Iran is poking and prodding its Western antagonists in ways apparently designed to avoid triggering war but that nonetheless seem to heighten the risk of missteps and miscalculation that could lead to an armed conflict with global consequences. The tensions picked up Friday with Iran reporting it had seized a British-flagged oil tanker in the Persian Gulf , one day after the U.S. said it destroyed an Iranian drone that had flown within threatening range of an American warship in the Strait of Hormuz. In June the Iranians shot down a U.S. Navy drone in the same area, prompting President Donald Trump to authorize a military strike on Iran, only to call it off at the last moment .
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| Twitter blocks accounts of Iranian state media outlets Posted: 20 Jul 2019 01:55 PM PDT  A day after Twitter suspended the accounts of several Iranian state media outlets, the social networking service said Saturday it acted after harassment of people linked to the Baha'i faith. Amid soaring tensions in the region, heightened by Iran's seizure on Friday of a British-flagged tanker, some of the affected media outlets had speculated that the suspensions were related to their coverage of the seizure.
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| Iran Has Its Own 'Maximum Pressure' Campaign Against Trump Posted: 20 Jul 2019 12:52 PM PDT  For one year, Tehran continued adhering to the JCPOA. However, the destabilizing effects of the new sanctions proved intolerable.By most accounts, the United States and Iran came within minutes of armed conflict with each other on June 20, 2019. Around 4:30 AM that morning, a U.S. Navy RQ-4N Global Hawk spy drone flying a routine circuit over international airspace in the Persian Gulf was shot down by an Iranian Ra'ad surface-to-air missile system.Later that day, U.S. forces were ostensibly "ten minutes" away from striking three Iranian bases likely with air- and sea-launched missiles when President Donald Trump changed his mind and canceled the attack. He later cited concerns that killing an estimated 150 Iranians over the loss of an unmanned drone was a disproportionate response.(This first appeared in June 2019.)
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| Iran crisis: How a British oil tanker was seized by Iran's balaclava-clad Revolutionary Guards Posted: 20 Jul 2019 12:14 PM PDT  "Allahu akbar", or God is great, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard marine was heard shouting off camera as the group took control of the British-flagged Stena Impero. Scaling down ropes onto its bow, the balaclava-wearing hijackers made a daring - and seemingly well-rehearsed - raid of the oil tanker, as seen in alleged footage released by Fars news agency last night. The wind was choppy, the skies overcast. With no navy escort, the Stena stood little chance. Publication de la vidéo de l'arraisonnement du pétrolier britannique par le CGRIpic.twitter.com/NLSOSHpdYD— ISNA International (@Isna_Int) July 20, 2019 Minutes later, at 4.19pm on Friday afternoon, the Stena Impero would "go dark" - not something normally done by commercial oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. The first clue as it what happened was its abrupt change of course, which was picked up by marine tracking services. Its destination was a port in Saudi Arabia, but it had taken a sharp turn and was heading into Iranian waters. Minutes earlier it had been boarded by Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who had hijacked the vessel using speedboats and a helicopter and turned off its communication systems. Approximately 40 minutes later, a British-owned, Liberian-flagged ship Mesdar also went dark. The trackers picked it up following the same route as the Stena Impero. The crew onboard was questioned for an hour before the vessel was released, unlike the Stena which was escorted on to the coast of Bander Abbas in southern Iran. British authorities were alerted back home and quickly called a meeting of Cobra to figure out their response. The capture of one of their ships was something they had been dreading, though not something that had come entirely as a surprise. Tensions have been heating up in recent weeks in the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil chokepoint. At the start of the month, Gibraltar authorities - aided by a detachment of Royal Marines - detained a tanker which was suspected to be carrying Iranian oil destined for a refinery in Syria in breach of European Union sanctions. "If Britain does not release the Iranian oil tanker, it is the authorities' duty to seize a British oil tanker," an Iranian official tweeted on July 5, the following next day, in response to the news. Revolutionary Guards issued similarly direct threats. Fearing they would make good on them, the Navy sent Type-23 frigate HMS Montrose to shadow its tankers through the strait and dispatched another, HMS Duncan, for support. The Montrose sped to help Stena from Omani waters on Friday, but was an hour too late. Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Secretary, had tried to defuse the situation last weekend by suggesting the UK was willing to release the supertanker, but a court in Gibraltar on Friday ruled to hold it for another 30 days. The decision would have further angered Tehran, which has denied the oil was bound for Syria and accused the UK of acting in bad faith. Rising tensions between UK, US and Iran The legality of Britain's impounding of the Grace 1 has been questioned, however sanctions lawyers say that as it had been travelling through British overseas territory it was subject to EU laws. Revolutionary Guards yesterday tried to justify their seizure of the Stena with alternating claims, including that it had "violated maritime law", had been driving on the wrong side of the water, risking an accident, and had in fact collided with an Iranian fishing boat whose distress call it ignored. No such distress call was picked up by any other ship in the area. Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, spokesman of Iran's Guardian Council, which rarely comments on state matters, said they did not need an excuse to take the Stena and spelled out that it had been a tit-for-tat response. "The rule of reciprocal action is well-known in international law and Iran's moves to confront the illegitimate economic war and seizure of oil tankers is an instance of this rule and is based on international rights," he said. There is now something of a Mexican stand-off in the Gulf, with both countries seemingly unwilling to hand over the other's ship. "Iran has responded in a way that presents the UK with a problem," Michael Stephens, Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank in London, told the Sunday Telegraph. "The ball is now in our court. "The UK could choose to detain more Iranian ships, or look to gather a group of states around the table, such as France, Germany and the US, to see how, and in what ways, more pressure can be placed on Iran both economically and strategically," he said. However, he believed no major decision would be agreed on until Prime Minister Theresa May's handover to Boris Johnson later this week. The Foreign Office has stressed it is keeping separate the issues of Iranian threats in Gulf waters, EU sanctions policy on Syria, and the nuclear deal. But inevitably they have all become intertwined. The latest Iranian aggressions can be tracked back to last year, when President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord and reimposed sanctions. The Islamic Republic has legitimate frustrations over the American withdrawal to the deal - which it had been adhering to - that was supposed to swap limiting its nuclear programme for an end to sanctions crippling its economy. At the same time as ratcheting up tensions, however, Mr Trump has made it clear he wants to avoid all-out war with Iran, as has the UK. Iran tensions | Read more Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, on Thursday offered an olive branch to Mr Trump - a deal which would see Tehran accept enhanced inspections of its nuclear programme in return for the permanent lifting of sanctions. Mr Trump has sent Senator Rand Paul, rather than John Bolton, his hawkish anti-Iran national security adviser, for meetings with Mr Zarif, who is in New York on United Nations business. Neither has publicly responded to Mr Zarif's proposal. However, hardliners and the Revolutionary Guard back home want out of the deal, saying the US's pullout only proved what they always knew - that it cannot be trusted. "I suspect Stena is a bargaining chip," Charles Hollis, a former British diplomat in Iran, told the Telegraph. "It came only days after Zarif showed some willingness to open negotiations, which may have led some hardliners to want to disrupt things a little. "I still don't think any side is looking for a conflict," said Mr Hollis, who is now managing director of risk management company Falanx Assynt. "The fact that there are some people on both sides were seeking a deescalation means there may be a deal to be found." He warned however, that Friday's incident showed the margins for manoeuvre are "shrinking" and "the risks of unintended consequences growing."
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| Secrets: Everything You Wanted to Know About Israel's Nuclear Weapons Posted: 20 Jul 2019 12:00 PM PDT  The Iranian nuclear nonproliferation agreement has been the top foreign policy issue throughout Washington for the past two months. Approving or disapproving the deal was the first order of business for the U.S. Congress until the very last day of congressional action under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (September 17). Hours of debate have been conducted on the floors of the House and Senate, both chambers have held roll call votes, and Senate Democrats bonded together to filibuster a motion of disapproval — a resolution that would have prevented President Obama from providing the Iranians sanctions relief.The Obama administration's main selling point for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is based on the theory that forcing Tehran to downgrade its nuclear program will make the threat of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East — the world's most frenetic and violent region even without nuclear weapons— far less urgent. Yet we should remember that there is in fact a state in the region that already possesses nuclear weapons. That state happens to be Washington's closest ally in the Middle East: Israel.(This first appeared in September 2015.)There are a lot of mysteries surrounding Israel's nuclear arsenal. That is partly due to the Israeli security establishment's unwritten rule of never speaking about the country's nuclear weapons program in public in order to preserve the principle of deterrence. But there are indeed some basic elements of Israel's nuclear program that are acknowledged by defense analysts in the United States and around the world.1. The Number is in Doubt:
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| Iran tanker crisis 'ominous' for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, husband says Posted: 20 Jul 2019 11:59 AM PDT  The husband of jailed British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said he is worried her future has become "more uncertain and ominous" after Iran's seizing of a UK tanker in the Gulf. Richard Ratcliffe has expressed concerned for his wife, whom he has not heard from since she was moved on Monday from Tehran's Evin prison to a psychiatric hospital. Mr Ratcliffe said Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 40, who had recently ended a 15-day hunger strike, has not been allowed contact for almost a week. "We were hoping now it is the start of a new week in Iran that we might at least get access. Nazanin's dad is going down today again to try," Mr Ratcliffe told the Telegraph. "I told the Foreign Office yesterday that in my view we should now regard Nazanin as held incommunicado." He said it was not known what treatment she was receiving or how long she was expected to remain in hospital. At Evin prison, she had been allowed regular phone calls to Mr Ratcliffe and her lawyer. "With the tankers, obviously everything feels rather more uncertain and ominous," he said. "It reminds me of the very earliest days when she disappeared under IRGC control," he added. "But I have promised myself I will wait a full week before really panicking." Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, whose British nationality is not recognised by Tehran, is serving a five-year sentence for espionage, charges she denies. Days before she was transferred, she told relatives: "Three and a bit years later (...) look at me now - I ended up in an asylum. It should be an embarrassment. "Prison is getting harder and harder for me. I hate being played in the middle of a political game. I just hate it." Mr Ratcliffe said he was concerned what the decision by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to move her to hospital meant, as when they were involved "bad stuff happens". It was the powerful Revolutionary Guard which on Friday seized the British-flagged Stena Impero after warning it would retaliate the UK's "unlawful" impounding of an Iranian ship. Amid statements on the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Secretary, tweeted on Saturday that he was "very concerned about this week's transfer of Nazanin to an IRGC (Revolutionary Guard Corp) hospital. "We'd hoped this meant she was getting medical treatment she needs but the fact that she has been cut off from contact with her family is giving us huge cause for concern." The Foreign Office has tried to keep separate Mrs Zaghar-Ratcliffe's case and the military manoeuvrings in the Persian Gulf, but there are concerns they are being linked by the Islamic Republic.
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| New Greek Leader Unveils Economic Plan in First Policy Speech Posted: 20 Jul 2019 11:55 AM PDT ![New Greek Leader Unveils Economic Plan in First Policy Speech]( "New Greek Leader Unveils Economic Plan in First Policy Speech") (Bloomberg) -- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is moving into policy implementation mode, starting with plans to revive the economy and cut taxes.Lawmakers will vote late Monday on a procedural confidence motion in the new government after a debate that started Saturday. At the outset, Mitsotakis presented his four-year economic agenda in his first plenary speech to parliament since winning national elections on July 7.Greece's 2020 budget will show the country's "fiscal balance isn't disrupted nor are the primary surplus targets of the previous government," Mitsotakis said. By achieving the targets for this year and next, the government will have the ability to lower the primary surplus level in the coming years "to a more realistic level," he said.The premier's priority is a reform of Greece's complex tax system to create a more pro-business environment, necessary for attracting investment to boost the economy's recovery. Mitsotakis wants to make good on election pledges to alleviate the tax burden for crisis-weary Greeks, specifically for the middle classes who were targeted the most by the previous administration.Creditors SupportiveWhile Greece's creditors are generally supportive of the proposed tax changes, they want him to make sure that agreed fiscal targets won't be endangered. Greece should make growth its top priority while at the same time maintaining the agreed primary surplus, ESM Managing Director Klaus Regling said in Athens this week.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday she is "convinced" that Mitsotakis's program "will bring with it good chances for more growth, and a strengthening of impulses for growth in Greece."Mitsotakis said he will introduce legislation as soon as next week to reduce the so-called Enfia property tax by as much as 30%, according to the value of properties. Other measures, including cutting business taxes, will be introduced later.The government plans to reduce the corporate tax rate to 20% in two phases. The first step, in September, will cut the rate to 24% from 28% in 2019 and to 20% in 2020. The tax on dividend payments will be slashed by half to 5%, while payment of property gains tax and the sales tax for building work will be suspended for the time being.Power ProviderMitsotakis said his government will seek a strategic investor for the country's ailing state-run electricity provider Public Power Corporation SA and to kick-start stalled projects, starting with Hellinikon.The flagship investment that envisages the transformation of a former airport site on the Athens riviera -- more than twice as big as New York's Central Park -- into a metropolitan park including luxury hotels, a casino resort, marinas and apartments. The investment "will start immediately and will be a symbol of the new Greece," Mitsotakis said.Also planned is the privatization of Hellenic Petroleum SA and the sale of a 30% stake in Athens Airport, he said.\--With assistance from Antonis Galanopoulos and Iain Rogers.To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Tugwell in Athens at ptugwell1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Sotiris Nikas at snikas@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann, Tony CzuczkaFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| UK 'asked US not to sabre rattle over tanker seized by Iran' Posted: 20 Jul 2019 11:41 AM PDT  The UK is believed to have asked its US ally to initially refrain from making inflammatory public statements about the seizure of the Stena Impero by Iran as they sought a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Donald Trump was noticeably muted in his immediate response and Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said little in the immediate aftermath. Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, spoke with his counterpart Mike Pompeo, who was in Argentina, on Friday night. British and US officials continued to speak through the night on Friday. White House officials did not push back on reports that the UK conveyed a message to the US that it wanted to try to de-escalate the situation. Mr Trump had already spoken to Boris Johnson on Thursday, although it was not clear whether they discussed Iran. The following day, when asked about the Stena Impero, Mr Trump did not give his usual full-throated response to acts of Iranian aggression, instead saying he had "heard about it" and would "work with the UK" Mr Pompeo was asked about Iran during an interview in Argentina late on Friday, but aid only: "We're doing everything we can in the United States to de-escalate with Iran. We want them simply to cease being the world's largest state sponsor of terror." The softened tone also came as Mr Trump confirmed he had authorised Rand Paul, the anti-interventionist Republican US senator, to speak to Iranian officials Mr Paul wants to become Mr Trump's "go-between" with Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, and asked Mr Trump for permission duding a round of golf a week ago. A helicopter hovers over British-flagged tanker Stena Impero near the strait of Hormuz Credit: Reuters Mr Trump confirmed late on on Friday: "Rand is a friend of mine. And Rand asked me if he could involved. The answer is yes. We'll see what happens. Iran is showing their colours. It's going to work out very nicely." However, there are also suggestions that, in private, Mr Trump has become increasingly frustrated with the Iran situation in recent days. He is believed to have been displeased at the reluctance of Iran's top leaders to meet with him, especially since he stepped back from a planned military strike last month. There were indications of that frustration during his muted response on Friday when he said: "This only goes to show what I'm saying about Iran. Trouble. Nothing but trouble." Meanwhile Lt Gen. Robert Ashley, head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, said he believes Iran "does not want war," and "the outcome would be very horrific for all". Iran was aiming to drive a wedge between the Us and its European allies, he said Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, he added: "What you see is an attempt to break that status quo, to look to divide us with our European powers." The US is already monitoring its commercial cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz using military aircraft. Meanwhile, Russia accused the US of "taking advantage" of rising tensions in the region to deploy hundreds of extra troops to Saudi Arabia. Around 500 are being being sent to the Prince Sultan Air Base, east of Riyadh, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said: "Neither Iran nor the United States, by and large, are interested in a real war. However, the game of nerves and the raising of stakes will continue." Germany's called the seizure of the British tanker an "unjustifiable intrusion" on shipping which "further exacerbates an already strained situation." A German foreign ministry spokesman said: "Another regional escalation would be very dangerous, it would also undermine all ongoing efforts to find a way out of the current crisis." France condemned the seizure and said it "harms the needed de-escalation of tensions." A US defence official told CNN the US is using armed military aircraft to monitor American commercial cargo ships on their passage through the strait, which can take eight hours. There were no further details given and it was not clear whether the monitoring was being extended to non-US ships.
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| Where Are the Trump Officials? Aspen Forum Goes Without in 2019 Posted: 20 Jul 2019 10:52 AM PDT ![Where Are the Trump Officials? Aspen Forum Goes Without in 2019]( "Where Are the Trump Officials? Aspen Forum Goes Without in 2019") (Bloomberg) -- Call it the Case of the Vanishing Trump Administration Officials.That was the mystery that played out at the 2019 Aspen Security Forum, where senior officials, thought leaders and reporters gather annually in one of America's wealthiest ski and sun playgrounds to debate timely matters of national security and foreign policy. The event was established a decade ago to bring Republicans and Democrats together for robust, bipartisan discussions.But this year's gathering was marked chiefly by the absence of any of President Donald Trump's top officials. They either had scheduling conflicts or opted to stay away from an event that became synonymous a year ago with the contortions top officials must perform in defending Trump's more unpredictable policies."We've got very senior people here -- and we're very grateful to them for being here -- but there's no question that we don't have some of the cabinet level people here that have been here in past years," said Nicholas Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO who now heads the Aspen Strategy Group, which took over running the event in January."I hope very much that we can assure the Trump administration next year that they can come and they can present their views and be heard," Burns said.Too PolarizedThe absence of administration officials begged the question of whether the U.S. is currently too polarized to even discuss national security, an area decision-making without adequate debate can have devastating consequences.On the lush green lawns of the Aspen Meadows Resort, attendees even had a name for the phenomenon: the "Coats Factor." That's a reference to the moment a year ago when Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, was caught off guard when told Trump had invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington."Say that again?" a visibly surprised Coats asked his interviewer. "O.K...That is going to be special."The Coats Factor isn't just about Coats. Attendee Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of homeland security at the time, had to backtrack after she said Russia's 2016 election interference efforts weren't designed to favor one candidate or another. And FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein were asked to account for the president's actions, days after the Helsinki summit with Putin.Pence, PompeoPerhaps as a result, invitations sent this year to Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and numerous other top administration officials went largely unaccepted, according to organizers.Several officials accepted and then canceled at the last minute. They included acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan, who stayed in Washington to testify Thursday to a House panel about the situation at the U.S. border.The Trump administration has portrayed developments at the U.S.-Mexican border as a top national security threat, but the topic was barely raised at Aspen.McAleenan may have wished he was enjoying Aspen's cool conditions instead of facing heated questions from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, who grilled him about the treatment of migrants in U.S. detention facilities. "We're doing our level best," McAleenan told the lawmakers.Civil SparringSome administration officials did attend, though. The most senior was Sigal Mandelker, the undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence. She sparred civilly on Friday with Wendy Sherman, a former State Department undersecretary who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal that Trump abandoned. Amy Hess, executive assistant director of the FBI's criminal, cyber response and services branch, also spoke on Saturday.Among others in attendance included Philip Davidson, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and Robert Ashley, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. John Rood, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, also spoke on Saturday.But there was, among participants, a distinct feeling of being let down. Officials may have stayed away out of fear for hurting their careers: Coats remains in his job, but has faced speculation for months that Trump wants him gone, in part because of his remarks a year ago.Vacant PostsThe absences were also a reminder of how many officials occupy key posts in the Trump administration on an "acting" basis.Some conservatives complained they were invited only to provide token opposition. Other potential invitees were told to stay away because administration officials felt the 2018 conference was too anti-Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified."There has long been an insular phenomenon in foreign policy circles where a few Washington types go to conferences to speak to a few more Washington types," Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany said by email, describing a larger issue. "The latest trend is to shrink the circle even more by having Washington types discuss issues with just one side of the political aisle."While Trump and most of his team didn't show up, the president was on everyone's mind. As panelists discussed a resurgent Russia's implications for European security, Trump continued to rage against four congresswomen of color. And as the sun rose in a cloudless sky on Friday in the Roaring Fork Valley, Trump unloaded on New York Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman -- who spoke at the forum as recently as 2018 -- whom he called "the Chin" and "a weak and pathetic sort of guy."Standing OvationThe political leanings of the audience were clear. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright got a standing ovation when she declared that Trump is "dividing our country and dehumanizing those with whom he disagrees."And jokes about Robert Mueller's Russia report were frequent, days before the former special counsel is scheduled to testify to lawmakers about his investigation."Why is the president unfailingly uncritical of Vladimir Putin and yet incessantly critical of the Democratic leaders?" Burns asked on a panel with former Acting Central Intelligence Agency director John McLaughlin."Well isn't that the $64,000 question," McLaughlin cracked. "And if I knew it, my name would probably be Robert Mueller."That theme reached its apex when Susan Rice, President Barack Obama's national security adviser, appeared alongside NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell, who passed along Trump's Putin invitation to Coats a year ago while the pair were on stage, eliciting the "that's going to be special" response.Rice had sharp words for the president, yet offered a succinct response when an audience member asked what should be done about the group that seemed very removed from Aspen this year -- the 63 million Americans who cast their vote for Trump in 2016."You respect them," Rice said. "They're fellow Americans who are entitled to their opinions."To contact the reporters on this story: Alyza Sebenius in Washington at asebenius@bloomberg.net;Nick Wadhams in Aspen, Colorado at nwadhams@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann, Ros KrasnyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Suspect in shooting of Turkish diplomat arrested Posted: 20 Jul 2019 10:32 AM PDT  Kurdish security officials say they have arrested the lead suspect in the shooting of a Turkish diplomat in Iraq's semi-autonomous region. A gunman opened fire in a restaurant in Irbil on Wednesday, killing the Turkish diplomat and an Iraqi national. There was no claim of responsibility although suspicion fell on Kurdish militants, who operate in parts of Iraq's Kurdish region and have waged an insurgency against Turkey.
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| Is a new US-led war looming with Iran? Posted: 20 Jul 2019 10:17 AM PDT  The United States is deploying troops in Saudi Arabia as tensions soar with its arch-rival Iran raising concerns over navigation in the Gulf's strategic Strait of Hormuz. It will be the first deployment of its kind since 2003, when American forces withdrew from the kingdom after a 12-year presence and two US-led wars with Iraq that culminated with the toppling of dictator Saddam Hussein. Separate statements from Riyadh and the US Central Command, or CENTCOM, say the Saudi deployment aims to ensure stability in the turbulent Gulf.
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| Iraqi forces launch anti-IS operation north of Baghdad Posted: 20 Jul 2019 10:11 AM PDT ![Iraqi forces launch anti-IS operation north of Baghdad]( "Iraqi forces launch anti-IS operation north of Baghdad") Iraq's military said Saturday its troops in partnership with security agencies and paramilitary forces launched the second phase of an operation aimed at clearing remnants of the Islamic State group from north of Baghdad and surrounding areas. The military said the new target area is north of Baghdad and in the Diyala, Salahuddin and Anbar provinces. Although Iraq declared victory against IS in July 2017, the extremists have turned into an insurgency and continue to carry out deadly attacks in the country.
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| UPDATE 1-Iranian ship repaired in Saudi Arabia heads back to Iran Posted: 20 Jul 2019 10:07 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-Iranian ship repaired in Saudi Arabia heads back to Iran]( "UPDATE 1-Iranian ship repaired in Saudi Arabia heads back to Iran") An Iranian ship which had gone to Jeddah port in Saudi Arabia because of technical problems in May is heading back to Iran, Iran's ISNA news agency reported on Saturday. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities. The Mehr news agency reported in early July that Saudi officials were not allowing the ship, the Happiness 1, to leave the port because of a dispute over the payment of repair costs.
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| Space Force: The long and bumpy road to getting Trump’s pet project off the ground Posted: 20 Jul 2019 09:07 AM PDT  After decades of research and hundreds of missions there are currently around 2,000 active satellites in space. But with Elon Musk's SpaceX having recently launched 60 of what it hopes to be up to 12,000 satellites and Amazon planning to launch more than 3,000 of its own, the cosmos is due to get a lot more crowded and potentially a lot more dangerous. It is into this arena that China, Russia, France, India and a number of other nations are looking to expand their national defence programmes. But one government stands above all others at the moment in looking to "dominate" this frontier. The US and Donald Trump.In announcing the creation of one of his pet projects – the Space Force – last year, Trump said: "It is not enough to have an American presence in space, we must have American dominance in space."In February this year the president added that his administration "has recognised space as a war fighting domain – there will be nobody that come close to matching us".For Alexandra Stickings, a research fellow for space policy and security at the the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank, this mix of rhetoric and the current picture in space is "terrifying"."There are millions of pieces of debris alongside the thousands of satellites up there, that we have trouble tracking … That is going to get more and more difficult when you have thousands of new satellites and a number of new operators involved."With the 50th anniversary of the moon landing this weekend, the movement towards the creation of the sci-fi-sounding Space Force has been put back into the spotlight – with Charles Miller, a space policy advisor during both the Barack Obama and Trump administrations, and who was part of the Trump transition team for Nasa, believing that more urgent discussions are needed over the idea being "inevitable"."It is the next level of national security ... The greatest risk for a third world war right now is allowing us to be so open to having our national security disrupted by having a country such as China or Russia destroy our satellites."For Trump the vision is simple – the US must counter the threat from Beijing and Moscow as part of his "America first" doctrine, but not unusually for the Trump administration, the bombast clouds what is a complex picture both on the ground and in space.* * *Space is seen by officials in governments around the world as important in so many areas – from communications to experimental science and the tracking of military assets – and space policy experts have repeatedly made clear important international conversations need to be had about how a balance will be struck between nations.The United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (Unoosa) is integral to laying out a framework for the peaceful use of space, but there is also the military element. Nato is expected to declare space a war-fighting domain later this year, which will have implications for Article 5, the mutual defence clause among other issues.Article IV of the international 1967 Outer Space Treaty forbids member states from placing nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction in orbit around the Earth, on celestial bodies or stations in outer space. Military bases, installations and fortifications, weapons testing and conduct of military manoeuvres on celestial bodies are also forbidden. But the legality of other military uses in space is still a question without a definitive answer and that is a gap Trump's Space Force, or anything similar by other nations could exploit.Stickings says it is about keeping a "particularly fine balance" especially between the big three nations of the US, China and Russia."US allies are quite dependent on them for their space capabilities, for example the UK and a lot of Europe don't have a lot of sovereign capability – so in that sense, they are dependent on how the US is protecting its own satellites and what it's doing to counter threats," she says. This is part of what makes the Space Force so important."But there is a flip side to that as well," according to Stickings. "If you are dependent on another country and that country starts to use provocative rhetoric, is that putting you more at risk? So there is a sense of other countries needing to up their their own game." France has already announced the creation of its own space force as part of its national defence programme and the UK is assessing its capabilities too.The type of rhetorical brinkmanship Trump has partaken in with Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programmes, and the risk of mistakes that brings, is also true in space."One of the things about space is that attribution is very difficult," says Ms Stickings. "If your satellite stops working was it solar energy? A piece of debris that hit it? A meteorite? Or was it an actual attack?"By putting it at that war footing, you have the worry that people will jump to conclusions there will be a miscalculation when nobody was actually at fault – so there are a lot of conversations around the question of 'what do we mean by a hostile attack and how do we prove hostile intent?'."And if you are using the idea of war, it makes those conversations a lot more important and potentially fraught," she adds.* * *Trump and his administration also face difficulties in congress. With a conversation that is still so hypothetical, there is often friction, despite the need to act fairly swiftly.There are competing visions as to what to tackle first and whether separate departments are needed – whether the military elements in space are just there to support the armed forces or are a different entity."It all requires technology that we don't actually have right now," says Russ Rumbaugh of the Aerospace Corporation, a nonprofit, independent group that houses the only federally funded research and development centre in the US committed to space."That means that conversation is always a little bit clouded as we are not talking about any near-term view," says Rumbaugh, who is systems director for the corporation's Centre for Space Policy and Strategy. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have different views on what the Space Force should be and cost, with estimates ranging from $3bn to $5bn. There is also the added complication of the new Space Development Agency (SDA), created in March this year.According to Miller, who was on the Trump-Nasa transition team, it is there to help "rapid innovation and development". "The current air force space programmes are slow and bureaucratic and take a decade to create a new system – and that is a recipe for failure," he says.In the SDA's first call for ideas ideas from contractors, released on 1 July, it said its mission is to "rapidly develop and deploy a threat-driven, next-generation space architecture to counter near-peer efforts to contest or deny our space-based systems". But congress is not convinced.The chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee recently denied a Pentagon request to allocate $15m to the SDA, citing confusion over its position and the resignation of the agency's first director Fred Kennedy in June, less than fourth months after the SDA was created."The committee is concerned about the turmoil surrounding the Space Development Agency and uncertainty about programme plans and leadership, shortly after its establishment in March 2019," a letter denying the money said.There is speculation that there was infighting over the direction of the SDA, which was exasperated by the recent departure of the acting US secretary of defence, Patrick Shanahan, who had been a big champion of the SDA amid some pushback from other officials that the agency would just be duplicating the work of the armed forces."It is a real problem in having this churn in leadership", says Miller, adding that it stops the agency being able to move forward effectively.Stckings also sees an issue with the way the issues of space infrastructure is dealt with politically. "One of the problems is that the understanding of space is still worryingly low," she says. "The number of policy makers that can understand the importance of space is very limited."I think people are starting to see that they need to get involved now … that we need to protect those orbits and the sustainability of those orbits because if not we risk losing everything that we have up there."Rumbaugh says that all sides in the US and nations around the world need to make sure the conversations are clear. "We are living through a very important time and these questions are not going away."Stickings says the US and the world "can't afford to wait" but that the difficult questions need to be asked and decisions need to be thought through carefully to ensure the correct ones are being made."We need to do it now," she says. "But if you don't get how you are organising your military operations right, you are going to have a problem as space enables so much of the military."
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| The Air Force Has Sent Stealth F-22 Raptors to Qatar to Deter Iran Posted: 20 Jul 2019 09:00 AM PDT  Since becoming operational in 2005, the F-22 has achieved roughly a 50-percent readiness rate, on average -- one of the lowest rates of all U.S. fighter types. The Raptor's complex systems and delicate, radar-absorbing coating require intensive maintenance.The U.S. Air Force on June 27, 2019 deployed F-22 Raptor stealth fighters for the first time to Qatar as part of a build-up of forces ahead of a possible clash with Iran.The Air Force did not specify how many F-22s traveled to Qatar. Photographers spotted 12 of the radar-evading jets with "FF" tailcodes indicating they belong to the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.The F-22s could fly alongside stealthy F-35s that the Air Force deployed to the United Arab Emirates in April 2019.(This first appeared in June 2019.)Raptors previously flew from the UAE for missions over the Persian Gulf, Syria and Iraq. But a readiness crisis in March 2019 compelled the Air Force to return the F-22s to the United States.Since becoming operational in 2005, the F-22 has achieved roughly a 50-percent readiness rate, on average -- one of the lowest rates of all U.S. fighter types. The Raptor's complex systems and delicate, radar-absorbing coating require intensive maintenance.Hurricane Michael didn't help. The October 2018 storm devastated Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida's panhandle region. Tyndall at the time housed two squadrons together flying 55 F-22s. the 43rd Fighter Squadron is a training unit. The 95th Fighter Squadron is a combat unit.
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| British warship was an hour from tanker seized by Iran in 'hostile act' Posted: 20 Jul 2019 08:02 AM PDT  Alan Mendoza: The only surprise about Iran's seizure is that it didn't happen sooner Analysis: Boris Johnson could face early test as Iran 'exploits' political uncertainty US developing 'coalition' of navies to protect ships amid Iran tensions Mark Almond: Brexit myopia and a fatal lack of foresight has enabled Iran to put Britain on the spot Former head of Navy questions why British ships weren't protected Foreign office summon Iranian diplomats Britain has admitted its nearest warship was one hour away from the merchant vessel seized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday and could do nothing to help. Penny Mordaunt, the defence secretary, said the incident happened in Omani waters and was a "hostile act". But she said the British Type 23 frigate HMS Montrose was 60 minutes away from being able to help the Stena Impero when it was boarded by Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The Foreign Office summoned Iran's charge d'affaires, Mohsen Omidzamani, following the seizure of the British-flagged oil tanker. It came as Jeremy Hunt spoke to his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif to express Britain's concern over the latest hike in tensions in the region. Mr Hunt wrote on Twitter: "Just spoke to Iranian FM Zarif and expressed extreme disappointment that having assured me last Saturday Iran wanted to de-escalate situation they have behaved in the opposite way. "This has to be about actions not words if we are to find a way through. British shipping must and will be protected." Just spoke 2 Iranian FM Zarif &expressed; extreme disappointment that having assured me last Sat Iran wanted 2 deescalate situation they have behaved in the opposite way.This has 2 be about actions not words if we are to find a way through.British shipping must & will be protected— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) July 20, 2019 Mr Zarif hit back with his own tween, stating: "Unlike the piracy in the Strait of Gibraltar, our action in the Persian Gulf is to uphold int'l maritime rules. As I said in NY, it is IRAN that guarantees the security of the Persian Gulf & the Strait of Hormuz. UK must cease being an accessory to EconomicTerrorism of the US." Dramatic footage purporting to be of the Stena Impero being boarded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards was released on Saturday afternoon, showing the tanker being followed by smaller vessels and combat troops, thought to be from Iran's marine forces, being lowered from a helicopter hovering above the deck. Following a meeting of the Government's emergency committee Cobra, a spokesman said the seizure was "a clear challenge to international freedom of navigation", adding: "As the Foreign Secretary has said, our response will be considered and robust and there will be serious consequences if the situation is not resolved." Iran has directly linked the seizure of the tanker with Britain's role in detaining a tanker carrying Iranian oil earlier this month. A spokesman for Iran's Guardian Council was quoted as saying "the rule of reciprocal action is well-known in international law" and that Tehran made the right decision in the face of an "illegitimate economic war and seizure of oil tankers". The explanation, contrasts with Iran's earlier claims that the Stena Impero collided with a fishing vessel in the Persian Gulf, as tensions mount in the strategic waterway, a chokepoint for around a third of the world's sea-borne oil. Allahmorad Afifipour, the head of Ports and Maritime Organisation in southern Hormozgan province claimed the Swedish-owned Stena Impero was in an accident with an Iranian fishing boat whose distress call it ignored. The 30,000-tonne ship had been en route to Saudi Arabia, but abruptly changed course and began sailing towards the Iranian island of Qeshm, data relayed by maritime tracking services showed. It then "went dark", meaning its transponder was turned off, at 4.29pm UK time and nothing has been heard from her or her 23 crew since. British oil tanker seized in the Gulf The tanker's operator, Stena Bulk, said on Friday the ship had been "in full compliance with all navigation and international regulations", but was no longer under the crew's control and could not be contacted. Guards say it was taken to Bander Abbas port, where its Russian, Ukrainian, Indian, Latvian and Filipino crew are being questioned. Mr Hunt said this morning that he was worried that Iran had taken a "dangerous path". "Yesterday's action in Gulf shows worrying signs Iran may be choosing a dangerous path of illegal and destabilising behaviour after Gibraltar's LEGAL detention of oil bound for Syria," Mr Hunt said on Twitter. "Our reaction will be considered but robust. We have been trying to find a way to resolve Grace1 issue but WILL ensure the safety of our shipping." Rising tensions between UK, US and Iran A Whitehall source told the Telegraph: "It looks as though the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have boarded and taken a UK-flagged ship. It appears to be linked to events around the Grace 1 tanker." British authorities seized the Iranian Grace 1 supertanker off the coast of Gibraltar on July 4, on suspicion it was carrying crude to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. The fate of the tanker has been at the centre of escalating tensions between the UK and Iran and was seen as a pawn in the standoff between the Islamic Republic and the West. The head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, Army Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, has concluded that Iran does not want to start a war with the U.S. or its allies. He said that none of the United States' major adversaries or competitors, including Iran, China and Russia, wanted to start a war, adding: "The outcome would be very horrific for all." According to the Washington Post the British government asked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to hold back from public comments that might further inflame the situation, while London tries to resolve the crisis through diplomacy. In response to the crisis, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for the tanker to be released, but also suggested the US was to blame for escalating tensions with Iran. Mr Corbyn wrote on Twitter: "The UK tanker under Iranian control, and its crew, must be released. Escalation risks a deeper conflict, all sides must show restraint. "Trump tearing up the Iran nuclear deal has fueled confrontation. Its negotiated reinstatement is essential to defuse threat of war in the Gulf." Mr Hunt replied: "@jeremycorbyn for factual accuracy the UK flagged tanker was seized following Gibraltarian enforcement of EU sanctions preventing oil exports to Syria...nothing to do with @realDonaldTrump however disappointing that must be." Why was the ship not protected in face of Iran threat? British Ministers "failed" in allowing merchant ships to continue sailing through the Gulf when the nearest Royal Navy escort was an hour away, former defence chiefs said yesterday. Lord Dannatt, former Chief of the General Staff, said it was surprising measures had not been taken to protect British shipping in the face of threats by the Iranians to retaliate over the impounding of one of their ships in Gibraltar. Following the seizure of the British-flagged vessel the Stena Impero by Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Friday, British ministers are facing difficult questions about the decision to seize the Iranian Grace 1 supertanker off Gibraltar on July 4, without ensuring that it could first protect British-owned shipping in the Straits of Hormuz. The UK had sent an extra navy ship to protect British-flagged oil tankers travelling through the Gulf last weekend after "specific" threats from Iran. But it has now emerged that HMS Montrose, a Type 23 frigate dispatched on Friday to help the Stena, was an hour away from reaching the tanker - by which time the Stena had already been diverted into Iranian waters by Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Lord Dannatt told The Telegraph: "It would have been prudent to marshall out resources in the area to prevent our shipping being seized. We failed. "It was known that the Iranian would try to seize a British ship and it would have been wise to ensure none of our ships were in danger. It's perfectly possible to come up with an escort for ships through the Straits." His words were echoed by Lord West, the former 1st Sea Lord, who said it had been "foolhardy" and "unacceptable", for UK shipping to transit the area without a Royal Navy escort. "We have to run convoys of merchant ships with a Navy escort so we can look after them. It was very stupid of us to allow a merchant ship to go through those waters before HMS Montrose was close enough to look after her," said Lord West. "As soon as we seized Grace 1 we should have been aware the Iranians would retaliate. We should have instituted protection measures for the control of merchant shipping and said to the Stena Impero to wait in port until we could escort you through the Stratis with one or two warships." Both Lord West and Lord Dannatt argue that while in the long term Britain needs more ships as part of a bigger defence budget, it has the capability to protect merchant ships sailing through the Gulf if they coordinate their movements with the Royal Navy. They also urged ministers to make efforts to assemble a coalition of allies to provide protection for merchant vessels in the Gulf, something that already appears to have been rejected in Whitehall. "It needs an international response to look after merchant shipping," said Lord West. Their warnings came as senior MPs and Peers said the new prime minister will need to boost defence spending if Britain wants to remain a significant global player. The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy will warn today that the Global Britain agenda championed by Theresa May's Government was "meaningless" against a backdrop of "reduced diplomatic spending and under-powered defence". Between 15 and 30 British-flagged tankers pass through the strait every day, with only seven Royal Navy vessels, accompanied by Royal Marines, for force protection in the Gulf. Critics have already questioned whether the UK confronted Iran by seizing the Grace 1 knowing that the Gulf waterways were not adequately policed. Chris Parry, a former Royal Navy officer, who now runs a strategic forecasting company, wrote on Twitter: "Why are ship owners dumb enough to sail their ships independently through a threat area? Convoys are needed as in the 1980s to counter a weak Iranian regime that has lost control of the organised crime bosses of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. UK government should declare an exclusion zone around all British flagged ships." Shortly before the Stena Impero was seized the MoD released a statement on the state of the Royal Navy presence in the area. It said: "Since 1980, units of both the Royal Navy (RN) and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) have maintained a presence in the Gulf 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. "We have approximately 1,200 UK personnel deployed and are committed to de-escalation in the Gulf and maintaining free navigation through the region." It added: "The UK regularly reviews the number of RN and RFA vessels in the region."
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| Mexico City Says Ex-Government Altered Data to Hide Crime Rate Posted: 20 Jul 2019 07:47 AM PDT ![Mexico City Says Ex-Government Altered Data to Hide Crime Rate]( "Mexico City Says Ex-Government Altered Data to Hide Crime Rate") (Bloomberg) -- Mexico City's government has been under attack by critics who say violence has spun out of control since a new, left-leaning administration took over in late 2018.Run by Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum since December, the city now says that the previous administration extensively under-reported crime. As a result, while it appears that the crime rate has shot up in 2019 under new leadership, by some measures it's actually fallen.Reviews of tens of thousands of criminal files from 2018 show the city's homicides haven't risen this year by more than a third, as previously reported, but by only about 12%, said Ernestina Godoy, Mexico City's chief prosecutor. Violent crimes as a whole have dropped by 8% this year, she said.The new figures, which will be released as part of official federal data on Saturday, are bound to raise questions about how trustworthy any government's crime statistics are in Mexico. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador won election in a landslide a year ago on promises to crack down on rampant corruption and violence. Sheinbaum, Mexico City's first elected female mayor, is a member of his party and a close ally.Registry 'Distorted'Godoy says United Nations officials oversaw the process of reclassifying the criminal cases."The registry was distorted," Godoy said in an interview at her office. "In cases of rape they were classified as sexual harassment or abuse, or just injuries."Out of 214,000 files reviewed from 2018, more than 24,000 so-called "high-impact" criminal cases had been doctored, she said. Rape last year had actually been double the number reported by the administration of Miguel Angel Mancera, mayor since 2012.A spokeswoman for Mancera, now a senator, said he was traveling and couldn't immediately comment. He denied the allegations when they were first made by Godoy in January in more general terms.Official data currently shows murders in Mexico's capital city jumped 36% during January to May compared with the same period a year ago. Godoy says homicides will now formally be registered as having risen by about 12% in January-June from a year ago.That's still far too many, Godoy added. "This is not being done to justify our government," she said. "We won't deny the situation we are in."To contact the reporter on this story: Nacha Cattan in Mexico City at ncattan@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Juan Pablo Spinetto at jspinetto@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Ian FisherFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Germany marks 75th anniversary of plot to kill Hitler Posted: 20 Jul 2019 06:40 AM PDT  German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Europeans to confront populism, nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism as she paid tribute to the Nazi resistance in her own country. Speaking Saturday at a solemn ceremony marking the anniversary of the failed attempt to kill Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, Merkel said the courage and sacrifice of the conspirator should serve as an example to people today. "They put humanity over their own human lives," she told the crowd at the site where plot leader Col. Claus von Stauffenberg and others were executed.
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| Iran tanker seizure linked to earlier act by UK marines Posted: 20 Jul 2019 06:10 AM PDT  Taken on its own, Iran's seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz may seem like a brazen act of aggression, a provocative poke in the nose to both Britain and its ally, the United States. While Britain says it acted near Gibraltar because the Iranian tanker Grace 1 was busting sanctions by delivering oil to Syria, Iran says it intervened because the British-flagged tanker hit an Iranian fishing boat.
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| Ukraine's comedian-turned-president seeks parliamentary majority via rock star coalition Posted: 20 Jul 2019 05:40 AM PDT  Comedian-turned-president Volodymyr Zelenskiy will try to take control of Ukraine's parliament in a snap election on Sunday to begin enacting his programme of sweeping anti-corruption reforms. Mr Zelenskiy called the early vote as soon as he was elected in a landslide in April, essentially moving up the planned election by three months in an attempt to turn his initial popularity into a viable power base. Despite the new president's mandate, a recalcitrant old-guard parliament have refused to approve his ministerial appointments or take action on his reform initiatives. Mr Zelenskiy's new Servant of the People party, named after the hit television show in which he played a teacher who becomes president, is expected to win 40 to 50 per cent of the vote on Sunday. None of the party's candidates have previously served in parliament, meaning the lawmaking body is set to receive a major influx of young blood. In a sign of his intentions to shake up the existing system, Mr Zelenskiy, who has openly clashed with the foreign minister appointed by his predecessor, fired 11 ambassadors on Friday. Last week he called Vladimir Putin, whose government backs breakaway republics in a simmering conflict in eastern Ukraine, to begin discussing a possible prisoner exchange. Besides continuing Ukraine's bid to join the European Union and Nato, Servant of the People is pledging to cancel MPs' immunity from prosecution, ban proxy voting in parliament and introduce prison sentences for illegal enrichment. Mr Zelenskiy will also be looking to display his independence from Ihor Kolomoisky, the notorious oligarch who owns the television channel that aired his shows. Servant of the People is hardly guaranteed a majority, however, as 199 of the 424 seats will be filled not by party list but rather first-past-the-post races that could be dominated by local political players. A pro-Russian opposition party led by Viktor Medvechuk, who counts Vladimir Putin as a friend and godfather to his daughter, is polling in second place. Its calls to grant amnesty to Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and autonomy to the areas they control are extremely divisive after more than five years of war and 10,000 killed. Former President Petro Poroshenko's European Solidarity and former PM Yulia Tymoshenko's Fatherland faction are also fielding candidates. Even rock star Svyatoslav Vakarchuk has thrown his hat into the race as head of Holos, another new party that is refusing to put current MPs on its list. Rock star Svyatoslav Vakarchuk served in Ukraine's parliament once before, quitting after a year Credit: Ukrinform/Barcroft Although Holos is only polling to get 8 to 10 per cent of the vote, it could become a kingmaker as the most likely coalition partner for Mr Zelenskiy's party. Holos candidate Yaroslav Yurchyshyn told the Telegraph that it was already holding talks with Servant of the People. While a popular musician would seem like a natural fit for a TV comedian, Mr Yurchyshyn said the two parties also shared a commitment to reform. "We're not talking about rock star or comedian, we're talking about someone who can be part of a new type of political leadership without any connection to oligarchs without any connection to pro-Russian forces, without any connection with the past," he said. "We need an example for our society, for our people, that can rebuild trust in the political system."
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| Putin Hints at Rapprochement With Ukraine on Eve of Vote Posted: 20 Jul 2019 05:28 AM PDT ![Putin Hints at Rapprochement With Ukraine on Eve of Vote]( "Putin Hints at Rapprochement With Ukraine on Eve of Vote") (Bloomberg) -- Virtually on the eve of Ukraine's parliamentary elections, the Kremlin released comments by President Vladimir Putin, saying that the two countries will mend ties despite their five-year conflict.Putin went as far as to say that Russians and Ukrainians are one people. "We have many things in common, we can use this as our competitive advantage during some form of integration," Putin said, according to the transcript of a June 19 interview with American film director Oliver Stone. "Rapprochement is inevitable."Ties between the former allies deteriorated after protesters in Kiev unseated the country's Kremlin-backed leader in 2014 and Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea before fomenting a war in which he still denies involvement. A party backed by Ukrainian businessman Viktor Medvedchuk, whose daughter counts Putin as her godfather, is campaigning for the Sunday elections and he met with Putin on Thursday to discuss potential cooperation.President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a former comedian elected in April, entered into his first negotiations with Putin earlier this month as he seeks to diffuse the conflict and negotiate the release of 24 Ukrainian sailors detained by Russia in 2018.Speaking about another election, Putin said it was "nonsense" to assume that comments by Russians on social networks could have influenced the result of the 2016 U.S. presidential vote."No matter what our bloggers –- or whoever's job it is to comment on the internet -– might say about the situation in the U.S., this could not have played a decisive role," he said. But Russia's "sympathies" were with Donald Trump "because he said he wanted to restore normal relations with Russia," Putin said.To contact the reporter on this story: Anatoly Medetsky in Moscow at amedetsky@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Andrew Davis, James AmottFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Libyan militia declares 'zero hour' for capturing Tripoli Posted: 20 Jul 2019 05:24 AM PDT ![Libyan militia declares 'zero hour' for capturing Tripoli]( "Libyan militia declares 'zero hour' for capturing Tripoli") The self-styled Libyan National Army is declaring "zero hour" in its offensive to capture the capital, Tripoli, from the U.N.-backed government. The LNA, led by commander Khalifa Hifter, called on the young people of Tripoli to work with its forces, via a post on its Facebook page published early Saturday. Meanwhile, the internationally-recognized government in Tripoli issued a statement saying it had gathered intelligence about possible airstrikes by LNA forces against key sites in the capital, including the only functioning airport.
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| New Battle Lines, Arch Enemies and a Softer Putin: Weekend Reads Posted: 20 Jul 2019 04:51 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.It was "The Squad" versus Donald Trump this week after the U.S. president told four Democratic congresswomen to "go back" to where they came from. The war of words between the U.S., U.K. and Iran continued, and in Brussels, the European Union got its first female leader — Ursula von der Leyen.Dig into these and other key stories from the past seven days in this edition of Weekend Reads.In Donald Trump vs. Jay Powell, New Battle Lines Are Being DrawnStoicism, the classical philosophy of emotional resilience, logic, and virtue, has long been a handy guide for anyone dealing with a crazy boss. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell also seems to be a fan, Christopher Condon reports.Hard Man Putin May Be Showing Softer Side to Russia's NeighborsThe stage was set last week for Russian President Vladimir Putin to hammer tiny Georgia with new economic sanctions after parliament called on him to punish anti-Kremlin protests, Marc Champion, Helena Bedwell and Henry Meyer report. Instead, Putin refused.Puerto Rico Erupts at Governor, but Real Power Resides Far AwayInfuriated by years of recession, corruption and living under a bankrupt government, Puerto Ricans are demanding the ouster of Governor Ricardo Rossello after leaked text messages showed him and his aides to be vindictive, sexist and profane, Michelle Kaske writes.Trump Picked His Perfect Education Secretary in Betsy DeVosBetsy DeVos is rolling back Obama-era student protections in a way that could change the U.S. education landscape for decades. As Devin Leonard and Shahien Nasiripour report, she's encountered opposition not just from Democrats and their teachers' union allies, but also Republicans in rural states where traditional public schools are often the sole option. Devils on Horseback Leader Holds Fate of Sudan in His HandsA one-time camel trader turned leader of a Sudanese militia known as the "devils on horseback" now holds the fate of Africa's third-largest nation in his hands, write Mohammed Alamin and Okech Francis. Known popularly as Hemeti, Mohamed Hamdan dominates the military council that overthrew President Omar al-Bashir in April.New Cabinet Pledges 'Quiet Revolution' Against Graft in MoldovaNatalia Gavrilita used to run a charity. Now she's finance minister of a country that has become a byword for corruption and says her modest goal is just to make it normal. As Jasmina Kuzmanovic writes, that will be a lot harder than it sounds.Women in Japan Fight for Their Identity — Starting With Their NameJapan's women are going through an identity crisis. They're fighting to overturn a centuries-old law that bars married couples from having different last names, which creates complications for women who have established careers and reputations. As Marika Katanuma reports, the issue played a part in the campaign for the upper house, which goes to the vote tomorrow.Australia Leader Channels Mike Pence With Religious Freedom LawAustralia's first Pentecostal prime minister has taken a leaf out of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's campaign for "religious freedom" laws. But Scott Morrison's message has sparked concerns among gay-rights groups it will lend weight to a push by religious organizations to enshrine in law their right to discriminate, as Jason Scott reports.The Next Neil Armstrong May Be Chinese as Moon Race IntensifiesFifty years after Neil Armstrong took one small step, there's a renewed race to put human beings back on the moon — and the next one to land there may send greetings back to Earth in Chinese. Bruce Einhorn, Justin Bachman, Hannah Dormido and Adrian Leung explain.And finally … When Nancy Whiteman founded her marijuana edibles company almost a decade ago the legal industry was relatively diverse and dominated by local startups. These days it's increasingly controlled by men and the influx of venture money and Wall Street dollars has made things harder for female-led businesses, write Ellen Milligan, Kristine Owram and Jordyn Holman. \--With assistance from Karl Maier.To contact the author of this story: Ruth Pollard in New Delhi at rpollard2@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| FACT: A War with Iran Would Be Terrible and Kill Countless Americans Posted: 20 Jul 2019 02:30 AM PDT  Attacking Iran could trigger a prolonged, costly nightmare in both treasure and blood. Kenneth Adelman, a former assistant to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and a prominent figure in the U.S. foreign policy community, famously predicted in 2002 that a war to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would be a "cakewalk." President Donald Trump apparently learned nothing from Adelman's hubris and rosy optimism. Although he aborted a planned airstrike on Iran at the last minute, Trump later warned Iranian leaders that the military option was still very much on the table. He added that if the United States used force against Iran, Washington would not put boots on the ground but would wage the conflict entirely with America's vast air and naval power. There was no doubt in his mind about the outcome. He asserted that such a war "wouldn't last very long," and that it would mean the "obliteration" of Iran.
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| China's war chest of rare earth patents give an insight into total domination of the industry Posted: 20 Jul 2019 02:30 AM PDT  China is strengthening its grip on the rare earths supply chain and could use its dominant position as a bargaining chip in its trade war with the US.China has been investing heavily on facilities to do the bulk of the dirty and environmentally damaging mining and ore processing work for the world, systematically turning its know-how and methodologies into patents that could give it a competitive edge against its rivals.The country, which already supplies more than 80 per cent of the world's rare earth metals, is rapidly amassing patents related to the elements, says James Kennedy, president of St Louis, Missouri, based ThREE Consulting, who last year initiated a global patent search to back up his lobbying effort to the US government.As of October, China had filed for 25,911 patents on all the rare earth elements, far ahead of 9,810 by the US, 13,920 by Japan and 7,280 by the European Union since 1950 when the first US filing was made, based on data from Kennedy's research supplier PatentManiac.Samples of rare earth minerals from left: cerium oxide, bastnaesite, neodymium oxide and lanthanum carbonate. Photo: Reuters alt=Samples of rare earth minerals from left: cerium oxide, bastnaesite, neodymium oxide and lanthanum carbonate. Photo: ReutersThe number of Chinese patents filed on rare earths has jumped since 2011, accounting for more than half its accumulated total and more than double that of the rest of the world combined.Five general patent data sources including Google Patent and World Intellectual Property Organisation as well as 47 country databases were used in the search."The reason I commissioned the work was to alert the US government [about] China's relative investment and commitment to [the] material science, technology and mining industry of China," Kennedy said. "Sadly there was literally no interest or response from anyone [in the US]."I have repeatedly warned members of Congress, the Pentagon and the administration that China will use its war chest of patents and intellectual properties against the US in the future."Kennedy has long advocated that the US government build a full domestic supply chain for rare earth materials, through the creation of a federally sanctioned cooperative and a centralised rare earth refinery.He is not alone in lobbying the US government to reduce reliance on a Chinese supply of 17 elements that are widely used in consumer electronic products such as televisions and DVD players, electric cars, wind turbines, medical and military equipment and oil refineries.The Washington-based lobby group Strategic Materials Advisory Council has been urging the US government to nurture a domestic rare earth supply chain after China banned exports to Japan following a territorial dispute in 2010.Chinese President Xi Jinping gets a tour of JL MAG Rare-Earth's processing facilities in Ganzhou, in east China's Jiangxi province, on May 20, 2019. Photo: Xinhua alt=Chinese President Xi Jinping gets a tour of JL MAG Rare-Earth's processing facilities in Ganzhou, in east China's Jiangxi province, on May 20, 2019. Photo: XinhuaA rare earth price index compiled by the China Rare Earth Industry Association spiked by as much as 38 per cent following Washington's move to raise tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 25 per cent in May. The index has since fallen 5.5 per cent since it peaked in late June.While details on China's advantages in patent filings were short, anecdotal evidence from companies and analysts' observations suggest it has gained a competitive edge upstream and downstream in the supply chain.SCMP Graphics alt=SCMP Graphics"There is no doubt that China is far ahead than anybody else in the world in terms of intellectual property and knowledge with respect to rare earths, both on the materials processing side and downstream applications," said Ryan Castilloux, managing director of rare earth and electric battery metals consultancy Adamas Intelligence."This is partly because China has become the largest producer and such research is needed to support the development of new usages to help the industry grow," said Castilloux, citing new uses for oversupplied elements such as cerium and lanthanum as examples.Chinese scientists have also done a lot of research on the expensive and highly sought-after magnetic rare earth elements like praseodymium and neodymium that are used in electric motors."It enables China to focus on the part of the value chain that generates more value and is also environmentally friendlier," he said."It also helps China to be more self-sufficient with a complete supply chain from metals to magnets to motors to batteries and electric vehicles."China Minmetals Rare Earth, one of the nation's largest miners and producers of the elements, said in its latest annual report that it had won four new patents last year, including one for a piece of software.A rare earth metals mine in Nancheng county, Jiangxi province. Photo: Reuters alt=A rare earth metals mine in Nancheng county, Jiangxi province. Photo: Reuters"[Our] key core technologies include rare earth elements separation systems, ultra-high purity rare earth production technology and materials recycling know-how," it said.The Ganzhou, Jiangxi province-based subsidiary of state-backed metals mining and trading giant China Minmetals Group did not provide details on the patents and did not respond to queries.Also based in Ganzhou in southern China, known as the nation's "capital of medium and heavy rare earth," is Shenzhen-listed JL Mag Rare-Earth, a major maker of rare earth permanent magnets used heavily in wind turbines, speakers and computer hard drives.The company said it has built up a database of different rare earth formulations, which led to its success in lowering rare earth elements content while maintaining its products' magnetic power.Soil containing rare earth elements are ready for exports at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province. Photo: Reuters alt=Soil containing rare earth elements are ready for exports at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province. Photo: ReutersTogether with advances in newly developed heat-resistance and anti-corrosion coating know-how and a new production process letting it cut heavy rare earth consumption in the production process, it has won three patents in China and one in the US.Between April 2010 and the end of last year, JL had obtained 22 patents in China, one in Europe and one in the US. Of the total, 13 were added last year.Also in downstream operations is Hong Kong-listed rare earth-magnesium alloys producer REMT Group, a subsidiary of Century Sunshine Group Holdings controlled by mainland businessman Chi Wenfu.REMT owns 22 patents " two in the US and the rest in China " relating to the production process and application of magnesium alloys.Half the patents pertain to the use of rare earth elements in the production process of the alloys, a company spokesman said.In 2017 REMT acquired 12 patents related to the production process from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, which has been working with its parent on developing alloy technology. Roughly half its revenue last year was from alloys containing rare elements.The patents give it market exclusivity protection for 10 to 20 years, and were valued at HK$40 million (US$5.1 million) at the end of last year, according to REMT's annual report.Some of its alloys have been successfully applied to aerospace vehicles, said the company, whose production facilities are located in the northwesters Xinjiang autonomous region and northeastern Jilin province.The Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California. Photo: Reuters alt=The Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California. Photo: ReutersBeing light, strong, vibration and noise-abating and resistant to electromagnetic radiation, the alloys find use in cars, railway equipment and electronic and communication gadgets like mobile phones and computers.Besides being easy to recycle, magnesium alloys are up to a third lighter than those of aluminium.As a superior alternative to aluminium alloys, some 70 per cent of the world's magnesium alloys are used in the transport sector, 20 per cent are found in electronic products and the rest in other sectors such as military and biomedical, according to a spokesman for REMT."By adding rare earth elements such as lanthanum, praseodymium, cerium and yttrium to magnesium alloys based on customer requirements, we can enhance their tenacity, strength, corrosion resistance and ease of casting," he said.According to Dierk Raabe, a director at Germany's Max-Planck Institute for Iron Research " which focuses on microstructure physics and alloy design " adding rare earth elements to magnesium alloys "drastically" improves their ductility and strength in high temperatures.A ball mill turns during processing at the Mountain Pass mine in California. America's only rare earths producer exports all its output to China. Photo: Bloomberg alt=A ball mill turns during processing at the Mountain Pass mine in California. America's only rare earths producer exports all its output to China. Photo: BloombergCastilloux noted that if the US-China trade war worsens and Beijing decides to restrict rare earth and downstream product exports as a tool to fight US sanctions, trade and investments barriers, it could have major supply implications for US firms that need the products.And even if US companies could buy some motors or magnets from Japan or Europe, those products are likely to be made from Chinese rare earths and suppliers may be worried about getting caught in the crossfire.Meanwhile, US government reports have noted that it would take years for the US to build enough domestic processing capacity to match China's.Castilloux said given that the Mountain Pass rare earth mining project in California has restarted and is aiming to have its downstream processing plant operational by the end of next year, it may only take the US three to five more years to build up a supply chain for permanent magnets.Two other processing projects have been planned but are not expected to be operational until 2022 the earliest, according to a Reuters report.Lynas, an Australian mining company focused on rare earths, has joined forces with Blue Line, a Texas chemical company, to develop a rare earths separation facility in the US."Once the processing facilities are operational, there is nothing stopping a magnet maker from starting production in the US for the domestic market," Castilloux said.Until then, US companies will have to keep their fingers crossed, hoping there is no further escalation in the trade war that could possibly disrupt rare earth supplies.This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2019 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| UPDATE 1-UK's Hunt says Iran may be on "dangerous path" after seizing tanker Posted: 20 Jul 2019 01:39 AM PDT ![UPDATE 1-UK's Hunt says Iran may be on "dangerous path" after seizing tanker]( "UPDATE 1-UK's Hunt says Iran may be on \"dangerous path\" after seizing tanker") British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said on Saturday that he was worried that Iran had taken a "dangerous path" after it seized a British-flagged tanker on Friday in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Fars news agency reported that the Stena Impero had been taken to the port of Bander Abbas, which faces the strait, after it said the tanker had been involved in an accident with an Iranian fishing vessel.
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| Europe Considering Brexit Extension for Next PM, Guardian Says Posted: 20 Jul 2019 01:07 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- The European Union is preparing to offer the next British Prime Minister a Brexit extension beyond Oct. 31 to provide yet another attempt to reach an agreement, The Guardian reported, citing unidentified EU officials.The extra period of membership, while allowing for an agreement to be reached, could be billed to members of the Conservative Party as an opportunity to prepare for leaving without a deal, helping to hold together the party which is split over on what terms to leave the bloc.Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming European Commission president, has indicated she's open to a further delay. "I stand ready for further extension of the withdrawal date should more time be required for a good reason," she told the European Parliament July 16.The British Parliament has voted against a no-deal Brexit, limiting the scope of maneuver for its next prime minister, likely to be be Boris Johnson. Johnson has generally been in favor of leaving without an accord, though he's been vague about how such an abrupt departure would be handled.Johnson is ahead in polls of grassroots Conservatives who will choose the next leader. The party's members are overwhelmingly in favor of Brexit and regard Johnson as more likely to deliver on the referendum result of three years ago than his rival, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. The winner of the leadership contest will be announced on July 23.U.S. President Donald Trump Friday said Johnson will do a "great job" on Brexit, and would clean up the "disaster" left by his predecessor, Theresa May.To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Paris at gviscusi@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Andrew Davis, Sam UnstedFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Oliver Stone Asks Vladimir Putin to Be His Daughter’s Godfather Posted: 19 Jul 2019 08:13 PM PDT  Alexey Nikolsky/AFP/GettyFilmmaker and conspiracy theorist Oliver Stone has made no secret of his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, but now he has taken it to a whole new level by trying to make him his 22-year-old daughter's godfather. "Does she want to become an Orthodox Christian?" Putin asked when Stone floated the idea during a sit-down in the Kremlin. "We'll make her that [Orthodox]," Stone replied, according to a transcript of the interview put out by the Kremlin Friday. Putin appeared to wriggle his way out of the proposal ("You have to ask her," he said) before Stone went on to complain about "American culture," taking particular issue with what he described as a focus on gender identity and people labeling themselves as "transgender" and "cisgender." Stone quickly steered the conversation toward a controversial 2013 Russian law banning "homosexual propaganda" among minors, a law which experts say has prompted a surge of homophobic violence in the country. "It seems like maybe that's a sensible law," Stone said. The interview, transcripts of which were released Friday, took place in mid-June, shortly before Stone announced the upcoming premiere of his new documentary Revealing Ukraine, which purports to "investigate" the "ongoing Ukrainian crisis" but seems instead to serve as a promotional spot for pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and Putin ally Viktor Medvedchuk. The "documentary" has been hyped up by Russian state media, where it premiered on Friday. It was also due to air on Ukraine's 112 TV channel, which Medvedchuk reportedly took control of late last year, but the station said it was forced to cancel the broadcast after protests. Stone has claimed his dabblings in Ukraine offer viewers a new perspective on the 2014 Maidan revolution and war in Donbass that he says "Western media has largely ignored," but that "perspective" has relied solely on claims fed to him by pro-Russia politicians, Putin allies, and Putin himself. In his sit-down with the Russian president, Stone vacillated between spouting off common Kremlin propaganda on Ukraine and fawning over Putin as a "peacemaker." After echoing the Kremlin conspiracy theory that the pro-Russian leaders in Kyiv accused of gunning down innocent protesters in the 2014 revolution were actually framed in some vast conspiracy that may or may not have involved former U.S. President Barack Obama, and that Ukraine, not Russia was to blame for interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Stone expressed concerns about Putin's emotional well-being. "You sound very depressed, much more depressed than last time," he said, later adding, "I am very worried about you." The two ended the interview by taking a parting picture together. Oliver Stone's Latest Piece of Pro-Putin Propaganda May Be His Most Shameless Move YetRead more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Bloody Ridge: The Horrific Korean War Battle You Never Heard About Posted: 19 Jul 2019 06:00 PM PDT  The Korean War had been raging for more than a year. The U.S. Forces had almost been routed off the peninsula at Pusan, driven the North Koreans to the brink of defeat, then been beaten back by a flood of Chinese "volunteers." Seoul had suffered through five battles, changing hands four times. Both sides recognized the war could not be won on the battlefield and began seeking an armistice. The bloodiest of the fighting, however, was yet to come.By the summer of 1951, it was becoming clear that the war was not going to be won by either side on the battlefield. North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung and South Korean leader Syngman Rhee both wanted to outright defeat the other and unify the peninsula by force. The United States, however, was not willing to support Rhee because they had concluded the cost to defeat North Korea was prohibitively expensive. Moscow and Beijing likewise told Kim they would not support a new, major offensive to win the war. Both sides then began discussing ways to end the war.After the last Chinese attempt to retake Seoul in April 1951, the communist forces had been driven back about 35 miles to the north, and the battle lines between the two armies stretched across the peninsula, roughly along the 38th parallel. Both sides chose a similar strategy in trying to get the best terms possible during negotiations for the armistice: fight to possess the most defensible terrain along the 38th parallel and put as much pressure on the other side so as to extract concessions at the negotiating table. A series of three hills between the two armies north of Seoul provided such commanding terrain.And both sides were willing to pay a high price to win the hills.
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| StanChart Whistle-Blower Says U.S. Missed Billions in Trade Posted: 19 Jul 2019 05:15 PM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Standard Chartered Plc's transactions with Iran were worth tens of billions of dollars more than previously known, a whistle-blower said in a lawsuit claiming the British bank actively pursued Iranian business in violation of U.S. sanctions.The whistle-blower, a bank executive who isn't named in court papers, was the bank's global head of transaction banking and foreign exchange sales. He and another plaintiff -- described only as an American currency trader -- say StanChart handled more than $56 billion in transactions from 2009 to 2014, compared with $240 million cited by the Justice Department between 2007 and 2011 in an April settlement with the bank.StanChart's illicit trade with Iran has cost it more than $1.7 billion in penalties from prosecutions in 2012 and 2019 by the Justice Department and regulators. The whistle-blower claims the bank's wrongdoing was more extensive than the U.S. alleged and seeks an order forcing it to pay an unspecified additional sum to the government.The illicit transactions enabled Iran to aid U.S. adversaries, the plaintiffs claim. "Beneath the green eye-shade complexity and deception of the international financial transactions involved in this case, the unavoidable fact is that [StanChart] used its resources to help terrorists kill and wound American, British, and other Coalition military personnel and thousands of innocent civilians," they say in a complaint filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court.The bank dismissed the lawsuit as "baseless," noting that the U.S. chose not to join the whistle-blower lawsuit. "The U.S. authorities have been aware of these claims for several years and have not seen fit to join this suit or include the claims as part of our resolution of historical sanctions compliance issues," it said in a statement.The lawsuit opens a window on a seven-year saga in which the StanChart executive secretly aided U.S. prosecutors and regulators.Read More: Standard Chartered May Face Fresh Fine for Sanctions BreachJust a week after the first settlements between the bank and U.S. authorities in 2012, the executives filed a sealed whistle-blower case and met with authorities to further develop their investigation, according to the complaint. That settlement covered $250 billion in transactions for the years from 2001 to 2007, but the whistle-blower says the true number was closer to $280 billion.A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.The FBI and Justice Department asked one of the plaintiffs to get more internal bank information from a source in Dubai, a key locus of the bank's Iran operations. Two data sticks containing 79 files detailing thousands more illegal transactions were turned over to the FBI, according to the complaint. The whistle-blower's lawsuit was dismissed in 2017 and refiled last year, and was unsealed this month.The plaintiffs brought the case through a holding company called Brutus Trading.The prior U.S. enforcement cases focused on Standard Chartered's method of "stripping" identifying Iranian information from payment messages. The suit claims the bank used other methods to process –- and hide -– Iranian business. Iranian clients were allowed to conduct transactions through a currency trading platform that was designed not to maintain records of illegal transactions, Iranian transactions were parked in so-called sundry accounts where they would remain undetected, and Iranian accounts were placed under another business unit to conceal their existence, according to the complaint.Read More: Standard Chartered Gets Seven More Months Under U.S. ProbeThe plaintiffs also claim StanChart's pursuit of Iran business was "no haphazard affair." Instead, it involved senior bank executives who actively sought to recruit clients blocked from the U.S. financial system, an effort dubbed "Project Green." Among them were the National Iranian Oil Company and National Iranian Tanker Company, as well as several banks and a unit of Mahan Air, an Iranian airline the U.S. suspects of aiding the country's ballistic missile system."Project Green was designed to assist, conspire, aid and abet non-United States customers that have been made the subject of United States economic sanctions to evade those sanctions and engage in international financial transactions," according to the complaint.The case is Brutus Trading v. Standard Chartered Bank, 18-cv-11117, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).(Updates Justice Department declining to comment)To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Berthelsen in New York at cberthelsen1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter JeffreyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| An Open Secret: Russia Will Never Become a Stealth Fighter 'Superpower' Posted: 19 Jul 2019 03:09 PM PDT  Speaking on May 15, 2019, Putin said the Kremlin would buy scores of Su-57s over the next eight years. If Putin is serious and the Russian defense ministry follows through on the pledge, Russia soon could possess a meaningful number of stealth fighters. But there are good reasons to be skeptical.But buying into the Su-57 program won't magically solve the program's problems. The Su-57 is an immature design whose production line is small and inefficient. That won't quickly or cheaply change.Russian president Vladimir Putin made a big show on May 14, 2019 of visiting the 929th Chkalov State Flight-Test Center in Russia's Astrakhan region.(This first appeared in May 2019.)Six Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighters -- fully half of the Su-57s that Sukhoi has built since the type first flew in 2010 -- escorted Putin's Il-96 VIP plane on the trip from Moscow to Astrakhan.Speaking on May 15, 2019, Putin said the Kremlin would buy scores of Su-57s over the next eight years. If Putin is serious and the Russian defense ministry follows through on the pledge, Russia soon could possess a meaningful number of stealth fighters.But there are good reasons to be skeptical. The Su-57 still isn't a mature design. It lacks key combat systems. Sukhoi hasn't set up a big, efficient production line for the type. And Moscow almost certainly doesn't have the money to buy a large number of stealth fighters.
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