Síntesis informativa - 13 de junio 2019

THE NEW YORK TIMES

In Battle for Hong Kong, the Field Has Tilted Toward Beijing

HONG KONG — An attempt by Beijing’s hand-selected chief executive in Hong Kong to push through a bill seen as a threat to civil liberties. A defiant crowd of hundreds of thousands marching against it. The deployment of the police to keep demonstrators out of the legislature.

It has been a tumultuous few days for Hong Kong. On Wednesday, the police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at a huge throng of protesters who forced lawmakers to postpone a debate on legislation to allow extraditions to mainland China — a measure Hong Kong residents fear would subject them to the Communist Party’s whims.

The legislation is being championed by Hong Kong’s current leader, Carrie Lam, a lifetime civil servant chosen two years ago by Beijing to head the territory. On Wednesday, she compared the protesters to spoiled children and vowed to keep fighting for the extradition law.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/world/asia/hong-kong-china.html

Tankers Attacked Again in Gulf of Oman, Raising Fears of Wider Conflict

LONDON — Two oil tankers came under attack on Thursday in the Gulf of Oman, forcing their crews to abandon ship and setting at least one vessel ablaze, a month after four tankers were damaged in the same waterway, a vital thoroughfare for much of the world’s oil products.

The early morning attacks escalated tensions in an already tense region, where Iran has long been at odds with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and they are backing opposite sides in the civil war in Yemen. Relations between the United States — allied with the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia — and Iran have also worsened.

Frictions have become so intense that other nations have pleaded with all sides to stay calm rather than provoke an all-out war. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, who was visiting Iran and trying to bridge the gap between Iran and the United States, warned of the risk of stumbling into military conflict.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/13/world/middleeast/oil-tankers-attack.html

Mortar Fire Breaks Syria Cease-Fire Negotiated by Russia and Turkey

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A cease-fire negotiated between Syrian rebels and government forces in the country’s war-battered northwest was on shaky ground after intermittent bombing and shelling resumed overnight Thursday in Idlib Province, the country’s last piece of rebel-held territory.

Russia and Turkey, two of the dominant foreign powers in the area, had negotiated the cease-fire between the groups. It took effect on Wednesday, and was aimed at ending more than six weeks of fighting, bombing and shelling as the Syrian government moved to reclaim parts of the northwest.

But amid sporadic breaches of the agreement, the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, told reporters on Thursday that “it is not possible” to call it a “full cease-fire right now.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/13/world/middleeast/syria-cease-fire-russia-turkey.html

Trial of Catalan Independence Leaders Ends in Spain

MADRID — After listening to 422 witnesses in four months, the Spanish Supreme Court on Wednesday closed the trial of 12 leaders of the Catalan independence movement accused of staging a rebellion during their botched attempt to secede from Spain in 2017.

A verdict in the trial, one of the most important in Spain’s judicial history, is not expected until the fall, by which time Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is hoping to form a new government, led by his Socialist Party.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/world/europe/spain-catalan-leaders-trial.html

Houthis Strike Saudi Airport, Escalating Yemen Conflict

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked an airport in southern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, wounding 26 people in the latest escalation of a conflict that threatens to further strain relations between the United States and Iran.

A Houthi official, Mohamed Abdul Salam, said the strike was in retaliation for the Saudi-led coalition’s continued “aggression and blockade,” against Yemen.

Saudi Arabia, which considers the Houthis Iranian proxies, described the attack as a “continuation of the Iranian regime’s support and practice of cross-border terrorism” and vowed to retaliate.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/world/middleeast/saudi-airport-attack.html

Sinking of Philippine Boat Puts South China Sea Back at Issue

MANILA — Tensions in the disputed South China Sea ratcheted up on Thursday as the Philippine government protested the sinking of a Filipino boat by a Chinese fishing vessel, which left 22 Filipino fishermen floating at sea before they were rescued by a Vietnamese boat.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman, Salvador Panelo, demanded that China investigate the Sunday collision and punish the crew of the Chinese boat, which the Philippine government said had intentionally struck the vessel, leaving the Filipino fishermen at the “mercy of the elements.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/13/world/asia/south-china-sea-philippines.html

Justice Dept. Seeks to Question C.I.A. in Its Own Russia Investigation

WASHINGTON — Justice Department officials intend to interview senior C.I.A. officers as they review the Russia investigation, according to people briefed on the matter, indicating they are focused partly on the intelligence agencies’ most explosive conclusion about the 2016 election: that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia intervened to benefit Donald J. Trump.

The interview plans are the latest sign the Justice Department will take a critical look at the C.I.A.’s work on Russia’s election interference. Investigators want to talk with at least one senior counterintelligence official and a senior C.I.A. analyst, the people said. Both officials were involved in the agency’s work on understanding the Russian campaign to sabotage the election in 2016.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/us/politics/russia-investigation-cia.html

State Department Defends Saudi Arms Sales Before Hostile House Panel

WASHINGTON — A senior State Department official on Wednesday defended the Trump administration’s use of an emergency declaration to push through arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, telling a hostile House committee that holding back the weapons would have offered an opening to commercial rivals in China and Russia.

In a contentious hearing, lawmakers from both parties pressed R. Clarke Cooper, the assistant secretary of state in the bureau of political-military affairs, to detail when the administration first developed the plan to declare an emergency and sell weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against Congress’s will.

Lawmakers are outraged by the decision by President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in late May to use a loophole in the Arms Export Control Act to push through more than $8 billion worth of weapons sales, almost all to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The two countries are leading an air war against rebels in Yemen that has resulted in a humanitarian disaster and thousands of civilian deaths, many of them children. In both chambers, bipartisan groups of lawmakers are already moving to block the sales, many of which Democrats had informally held up since last year.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/us/politics/arms-sales-saudi-arabia.html


THE GUARDIAN

11 de junio

Leaked documents reveal Russian effort to exert influence in Africa

Russia is seeking to bolster its presence in at least 13 countries across Africaby building relations with existing rulers, striking military deals, and grooming a new generation of “leaders” and undercover “agents”, leaked documents reveal.

The mission to increase Russian influence on the continent is being led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman based in St Petersburg who is a close ally of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. One aim is to “strong-arm” the US and the former colonial powers the UK and France out of the region. Another is to see off “pro-western” uprisings, the documents say.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/11/leaked-documents-reveal-russian-effort-to-exert-influence-in-africa

Energy industry's carbon emissions rise at fastest rate in nearly a decade

BP’s annual global energy report revealed for the first time that fluctuating temperatures are increasing the world’s use of fossil fuels in spite of efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

The recorded temperature swings – days which are much hotter or colder than normal – helped drive the world’s biggest jump in gas consumption for more than 30 years.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/11/energy-industry-carbon-emissions-bp-report-fossil-fuels


AL JAZEERA

Explosions reported on two tankers in Gulf of Oman

One ship ablaze after presumed attacks on vessels near the Iranian coastline push oil prices up and prompt global alarm.

Two oil tankers have been evacuated in the Gulf of Oman following reported attacks on the vessels, prompting international alarm and sending oil prices spiralling upwards.

The cause of the blasts was unclear, but one operator said it suspected its ship had been hit by a torpedo.

Front Altair, meanwhile, had been chartered by Taiwan's state oil refiner CBC Corp and was carrying 75,000 tonnes of naphtha, a petrochemical feedstock, when it was "suspected of being hit by a torpedo" around noon Taiwan time (04:00GMT), Wu I-Fang, CPC's petrochemical business division CEO, told the Reuters news agency. He said all crew members had been rescued. 

Norway's Frontline shipping company, which owns the Front Altair, said its vessel was on fire.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/uk-maritime-group-warns-incident-gulf-oman-190613054602630.html

Israel attacks Gaza after rocket 'intercepted' from territory

Military says planes attacked 'underground infrastructure' after air defences intercepted a rocket launched from Gaza.

In a statement on Thursday, Israel's military said fighter planes attacked "underground infrastructure" in a compound belonging to the Hamas group that rules the Gaza Strip after Israeli air defences intercepted a rocket launched from the besieged territory. There were no reports of injuries or casualties.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/israel-strikes-gaza-rocket-intercepted-territory-190613093436947.html

Erdogan: Purchase of Russian S-400 air defence systems complete

The Turkish leader says he will speak to President Trump, as Washington threatens to cut Ankara from F-35 programme.

Turkey has already purchased S-400 defence systems from Russia and hopes they will be delivered in July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, an announcement likely to ratchet up tensions with NATO ally Washington.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/erdogan-purchase-russian-400-air-defence-systems-complete-190613022248596.html


AL MAYADEEN

Irán no negociará con EE.UU., advierte el ayatollah Khamanei

El líder supremo de Irán, Ali Khamenei, advirtió este jueves que su país no negociará con Estados Unidos y que el presidente Donald Trump ni siquiera merecía una respuesta.

“La República Islámica de Irán no confía en absoluto en EE.UU. y nunca repetirá la amarga experiencia de la anterior conversación con este país en el marco del pacto nuclear, ya que ninguna nación libre y sabia acepta dialogar bajo extorsión”, subrayó el ayatollah Khamanei durante una reunión con el primer ministro de Japón, Shinzo Abe.

http://espanol.almayadeen.net/news/politica/287750/teher%C3%A1n-no-negociar%C3%A1-con-ee-uu--y-trump-no-merece-un-mensaje/

Revelaciones en Brasil evidencian trama siniestra contra expresidente Lula, denuncia comité solidario

El Comité Internacional Paz Justicia y Dignidad a los Pueblos afirmó que son muchas las evidencias de injusticia en Brasil alrededor del caso del expresidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva y las recientes revelaciones sacan a flote "la trama siniestra" él y el odio al Partido de los Trabajadores (PT)

Dallagnol formó el grupo de tareas de fiscales "anticorrupción" cuyo caso recayó intencionalmente en el exjuez de instrucción Sergio Moro, premiado con el cargo de ministro de Justicia por el ultraderechista presidente Jair Bolsonaro.

http://espanol.almayadeen.net/news/politica/287744/revelaciones-en-brasil-evidencian-trama-siniestra-contra-exp/

Tipo de contenido geopolítica