Síntesis informativa - 28 de septiembre 2018
The Guardian
US groups raise millions to support rightwing UK thinktanks
American donors are giving money to US fundraising bodies that pass the donations to four thinktanks in Britain. A Guardian analysis has established that $5.6m (£4.3m) has been donated to these US entities since 2008.
The Institute of Economic Affairs, the Adam Smith Institute, Policy Exchange and the Legatum Institute have all received financial support from US backers via this route.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/28/us-groups-raise-millions-to-support-rightwing-uk-thinktanks
Duterte confesses: 'My only sin is the extrajudicial killings'
Duterte made the admission during a speech at the presidential palace on Thursday, where he directly challenged anyone who criticised how he ran the country. “I told the military, what is my fault? Did I steal even one peso?” said Duterte. “My only sin is the extrajudicial killings.”
According to official statistics, 4,500 people, mostly small-time drug dealers and addicts, have been killed by the police in what have been described as “legitimate” anti-drug operations since Duterte became president. However, the 77-page report submitted to the ICC alleged the death toll was more than 8,000, with some rights groups estimating it is as high as 12,000.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/28/duterte-confesses-my-only-sin-is-the-extrajudicial-killings
Unilever's Dutch move faces further shareholder opposition
Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), which owns a near 2% stake in Unilever, is the fourth major shareholder to oppose the move. It follows Columbia Threadneedle, Aviva Investors and M&G in confirming it will attempt to derail the company’s decision to abandon its dual Anglo-Dutch structure in favour of a single base in Rotterdam.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/sep/28/unilever-dutch-move-faces-more-opposition-shareholders-legal-general
Orca 'apocalypse': half of killer whales doomed to die from pollution
Although the poisonous chemicals, PCBs, have been banned for decades, they are still leaking into the seas. They become concentrated up the food chain; as a result, killer whales, the top predators, are the most contaminated animals on the planet. Worse, their fat-rich milk passes on very high doses to their newborn calves.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/27/orca-apocalypse-half-of-killer-whales-doomed-to-die-from-pollution
The New York Times
Afghan War Casualty Report: Sept. 6-27
Beginning in September, the Times bureau in Kabul mobilized all of its stringers and Afghan reporters to record every attack on the Afghan security forces that they could find, as a daily chronicle of the war. This first entry goes back to the week of Sept. 6, a period when 400 Afghan soldiers and police officers were reportedly killed, a record number. The average this year, officials say, is between 30 and 40 deaths per day. Many local Afghan officials say they have been told not to cooperate with the press in reporting casualties, so this accounting is necessarily incomplete.
Israeli-Palestinian Divide Deepens, With No Sign of Compromise at U.N.
The Israeli and Palestinian leaders gave diametrically different appraisals of their protracted conflict on Thursday, with speeches at the United Nations General Assembly that suggested the dispute is more intractable than ever.
There were no hints of compromise in speeches by the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr. Abbas, who spoke first, described as racist a new Israeli law on self-determination. Mr. Netanyahu upbraided him as a hypocrite. What Mr. Abbas vilified as a brutal occupier, Mr. Netanyahu exalted as a vibrant democracy.
While Mr. Abbas pilloried the Trump administration for actions that he said had stripped Palestinians of their rights, Mr. Netanyahu thanked President Trump and Nikki R. Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, for their support.
5 Takeaways on President Trump's Foreign Policy From the U.N. General Assembly
This week's gathering of the annual United Nations General Assembly was dominated by President Trump.
He emphasized his "America First" vision in his speech to the assembly and at a rambling news conference the next day. In smaller meetings, he touched on global issues that continue to vex the United States and other nations — from North Korea's nuclear program to election interference by foreign powers. And he shrugged off laughter from other world leaders at his typically boastful words.
"I was struck by how he wanted to use this audience and this opportunity to reject some of the key tenets of global multilateralism," said Dafna Rand, a former State Department official who is now vice president for policy and research at Mercy Corps, a humanitarian aid organization.
"He was using this speech to reject the very premise of the U.N.," she said.
Between espousing those ideas, Mr. Trump and his senior administration officials detailed specific policy positions and gave a clearer view into how the United State is grappling with some big dilemmas. Here are five takeaways on their vision of United States foreign policy, as presented at the world body's summit meeting.
Israeli Leader Claims Iran Has 'Secret Atomic Warehouse'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told the United Nations on Thursday that his intelligence agents had discovered a "secret atomic warehouse" in downtown Tehran, escalating a growing confrontation with Iran and setting up a direct challenge to its government to open the facility to inspectors and prove it is not in violation of the 2015 nuclear deal.
Mr. Netanyahu's claim, made at the same podium at the General Assembly where in past years he argued vociferously against signing the nuclear accord with Iran, came with photographs and map coordinates of the facility. He described it as a warehouse only three miles from the one that Israeli agents broke into last January, making off with 50,000 pages of documents and computer discs full of atomic weapons, warhead designs and production plans.
"Today, I am disclosing for the first time that Iran has another secret facility in Tehran," Mr. Netanyahu said. "A secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and material from Iran's secret nuclear weapons program."
Mr. Netanyahu did not describe what kind "equipment and material" was contained in the warehouse. Some types of equipment, especially if it was dismantled or could be put to a variety of industrial uses, may be permissible under the terms of the accord.
Human Rights Council Ratchets Up Pressure on Myanmar
The United Nations Human Rights Council stepped up pressure to punish Myanmar's military commanders for a brutal campaign against Rohingya Muslims, deciding on Thursday to create a body to expedite criminal prosecutions.
The council overwhelmingly supported a resolution to set up an "independent mechanism" that will collect and analyze evidence of the "most serious international crimes" and prepare dossiers that will make it easier for prosecutors to bring cases to trial in national, regional or international courts.
The council's action came a month after a United Nations fact-finding team said Myanmar's army commander, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and other top generals should be prosecuted in an international court. It recommended prosecution on charges of genocide for a campaign that forced some 750,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh, and crimes against humanity in connection with actions against other ethnic minorities.
The team presented a 444-page report to the council this month, setting out harrowing details of a Myanmar Army campaign that led to the systematic slaughter of thousands of people, the mass rape of women and girls, and the wholesale destruction of villages.
Duterte Says, 'My Only Sin Is the Extrajudicial Killings'
President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines on Thursday said for the first time that extrajudicial killings had happened under his government's brutal war on drugs, an admission that could bolster two cases filed against him at the International Criminal Court.
In a rambling speech before government executives at the presidential palace, Mr. Duterte again touched on the government's drug war that has left thousands dead, a common theme in his two-year-old presidency.
He said he had challenged the country's military and police brass to remove him from office if they were not satisfied with the way he was running the country.
"I told the military, what is my fault? Did I steal even one peso?" Mr. Duterte said. "My only sin is the extrajudicial killings."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/world/asia/rodrigo-duterte-philippines-drug-war.html
Deutsche Welle
Hong Kong bans pro-independence political party
The party founded by independence activist Andy Chan is the first political party to be outlawed in the city's history. Police had sought a ban on the outfit in July, citing "national security" concerns.
The Hong Kong government on Monday banned a political party advocating independence from China, citing national security concerns.
The Hong Kong National Party (HKNP), founded by independence activist Andy Chan, is the first political party to be banned in Hong Kong since its handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
https://www.dw.com/en/hong-kong-bans-pro-independence-political-party/a-45611613
US to sell Taiwan military gear worth $330 million
Taiwan is due to get millions worth of spare parts for its fighter jets from the US. With the Trump administration and Beijing already locking horns over a trade war, the military sale is likely to exacerbate tensions.
US President Donald Trump's administration approved a military sale to Taiwan totaling $330 million (€281 million), officials announced on Monday.
The pending sale involves spare parts for several of Taiwan's military aircraft, including its F-16 fighter jets and C-130 cargo plane, the State Department said in a statement.
The announcement of the sale also occurred the same day as the Trump administration's tariffs against Chinese goods came into effect. The tariffs amount to some $250 billion in China's US exports.
https://www.dw.com/en/us-to-sell-taiwan-military-gear-worth-330-million/a-45622899
China vows 'consequences' over US sanctions on Russian weapons purchase
Washington's decision to impose sanctions on the Chinese military over their purchase of Russian fighter jets has left Beijing and Moscow fuming. Russia has accused the US of trying to suppress economic competition.
Chinese officials demanded on Friday that the United States cancel its economic sanctions against a Chinese military agency over a Russian weapons purchase.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that Beijing was "strongly outraged" over the decision and had logged several formal complaints.
On Thursday, the US added China's Equipment Development Department and its director to a sanctions blacklist. Another 33 Russian intelligence and defense officials were also set on the blacklist.
Who will gain from South Sudan's expanded oil production?
Juba is keen to see the black gold pumping as South Sudan emerges out of a civil war that caused close on 400,000 deaths. DW asked Sudan expert Alex de Waal who stands to gain from expanded oil production.
South Sudan's post-independence civil war meant billions lost in oil revenue. Expanded production is now on the cards as part of a power-sharing peace deal signed in August. The war between the parties to that deal has caused the death of at least 382,900 people since 2013, a studycommissioned by the US Institute for Peace shows.
https://www.dw.com/en/who-will-gain-from-south-sudans-expanded-oil-production/a-45663526
Xinhua
Corea del Sur consulta con el Comando de las Naciones Unidas vías para detener actos hostiles con la RPDC
SEUL, 27 sep (Xinhua) -- Corea del Sur consultó y consultará con el Comando de las Naciones Unidas maneras para detener los actos hostiles en el límite intercoreano, lo que fue acordado entre Seúl y la República Popular Democrática de Corea (RPDC) durante la cumbre entre los dos países que se celebró en Pyongyang la semana pasada.
La portavoz del Ministerio de Defensa surcoreano, Choi Hyun-soo, dijo en una rueda de prensa este jueves que el Comando de las Naciones Unidas comparte puntos de vista sobre el acuerdo intercoreano en temas militares, el cual fue firmado por los jefes de defensa de las dos coreas en las reuniones paralelas a la cumbre entre el presidente surcoreano, Moon Jae-in, y el máximo líder de la RPDC, Kim Jong Un.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2018-09/27/c_137496768.htm
Netanyahu promete continuar ataques aéreos en Siria a pesar de despliegue de sistema S-300 ruso
JERUSALEN, 25 sep (Xinhua) --El primer ministro israelí Benjamin Netanyahu prometió hoy que las Fuerzas de Defensa Israelíes (FDI) seguirán atacando objetivos iraníes en Siria, a pesar del despliegue ruso del sistema de misiles antiaéreo S-300.
"Seguiremos actuando para prevenir la concentración de soldados iraníes en Siria y para continuar con la coordinación de seguridad entre las FDI y el ejército ruso", dijo Netanyahu a los reporteros antes de salir con rumbo a Nueva York para asistir a la Asamblea General de la ONU.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2018-09/26/c_137492408.htm
Presencia israelí en territorios palestinos es inaceptable, dice Abbas
RAMALA, 27 sep (Xinhua) -- El vocero del presidente palestino Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, declaró hoy que "no se aceptará que ni un sólo soldado israelí permanezca en territorio palestino".
El vocero expresó sus comentarios en respuesta a las declaraciones del primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, en Nueva York respecto a mantener a las fuerzas de seguridad israelíes en áreas al oeste del río Jordán.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2018-09/28/c_137497445.htm
Compañías de ingeniería ferroviaria de China entregan 4 puentes a Laos
VIENTIANE, 27 sep (Xinhua) -- Compañías de ingeniería china que están construyendo el ferrocarril China-Laos en el norte de Laos han entregado cuatro puentes al gobierno laosiano.
Una ceremonia de entrega se llevó a cabo el miércoles en el Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transporte de Laos en la capital Vientiane.
El primer ministro de Laos, Thongloun Sisoulith, firmó una orden de distinción para la Compañía Ferroviaria Laos-China, el Grupo Ferroviario No. 2 de China (CREC2) y Energía de China.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2018-09/27/c_137497313.htm
Noticias de América Latina
Los países latinoamericanos ratifican un acuerdo para proteger a los ecologistas
al menos 14 países de Latinoamérica, entre ellos México, Brasil y Guatemala, han ratificado este jueves tratado con medidas para proteger a los activistas ecologistas. Este nuevo acuerdo, sellado en el marco de la Asamblea General de la ONU y bautizado como Acuerdo de Escazú (Costa Rica), fuerza a los países a "garantizar un entorno seguro para las personas, grupos u organizaciones que promuevan y defiendan los derechos humanos relacionados con temas medioambientales".
La propuesta llega en un momento crítico para el continente, marcado por la impunidad. Más de 200 activistas fueron asesinados el año pasado en el mundo (el presente año se contabilizaban hasta julio unos 60) y el 60% de estos homicidios, registrados por la ONG Global Witness, ocurre en América Latina.
https://elpais.com/internacional/2018/09/27/actualidad/1538080423_836704.html
Demanda marítima: los escenarios que podrían presentarse para Chile y Bolivia tras el fallo del lunes
Este lunes 1 de octubre, la Corte Internacional de Justicia emitirá su veredicto respecto a la demanda boliviana.
"Hay tres grandes posibilidades. Una es que rechace de plano la petición boliviana, otra es que acepte de plano la petición boliviana y una solución intermedia es que inste, convoque, invite a las partes a negociar de buena fe".
En concreto, la acción judicial presentada por el gobierno de Evo Morales ante el mentado tribunal solicita que se reconozcan tres puntos: que Chile tiene una obligación de negociar acceso soberano del Océano Pacífico con el vecino país; que esa obligación ha sido incumplida; y que, por tanto, esta debe cumplirse.
En esta línea, tanto el actual Presidente Piñera, como su antecesora, Michelle Bachelet, y las respectivas autoridades que han intervenido en el proceso han sido enfáticos en señalar que, en ningún caso, la decisión de la Corte Internacional de Justicia de La Haya pone en juego la soberanía sobre el territorio nacional, toda vez que en la cuestión preliminar del proceso judicial se estableció el reconocimiento del Tratado de 1904 firmado entre ambos países.
Lava Jato: Petrobras deberá pagar multa millonaria a Brasil y a EEUU
Las autoridades de Estados Unidos y Brasil multaron al gigante petrolero brasileño Petrobras por más deUS$ 853 millones por pagar sobornos a políticos de ese país y a partidos políticos, anunció el Departamento de Justicia estadounidense.
Ejecutivos de Petrobras de "los más altos niveles", incluyendo miembros del directorio, facilitaron cientos de millones de dólares en coimas "y luego prepararon los libros para ocultar los pagos de sobornos a inversores y reguladores", señaló el fiscal general adjunto Brian Benczkowski en un comunicado.
Las autoridades brasileñas recibirán 80% del monto de la multa.
La empresa brasileña admitió haber falsificado sus cuentas y reconoció que "algunos dirigentes fallaron en el control de las cuentas para facilitar el pago de sobornos".
https://www.nodal.am/2018/09/lava-jato-petrobras-debera-pagar-multa-millonaria-a-brasil-y-a-eeuu/
Chile se abstiene de firmar el acuerdo más grande de la región para proteger a defensoras del ambiente
El histórico Acuerdo Regional, el primer tratado ambiental de América Latina y el Caribe y el único en su tipo en el mundo que ha emergido hasta ahora de la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre Desarrollo Sostenible (Río+20), quedará a partir de hoy a disposición de todos los Estados que deseen firmarlo, para luego poder ratificarlo. La ratificación, aceptación o aprobación del acuerdo podrá realizarse a continuación de la firma y para su entrada en vigor requerirá de 11 Estados Parte.
La firma del texto quedó pactada para este 27 de septiembre y venía a consolidar un proceso internacional que comenzó en 2012, y del cual Chile y Costa Rica impulsaron y lideraron.
Sin embargo, la rúbrica de Chile quedó en suspenso luego de que la ministra de Medio Ambiente, Carolina Schmidt, informara que la Cancillería había pedido postergar la participación de Chile en el acuerdo. La decisión del Gobierno generó dudas y críticas por parte de parlamentarios y organizaciones de defensa del Medio Ambiente.
Honduras. Siguen acciones violentas contra indígenas: Empleados de hidroeléctrica DESA atacan a comunidad lenca de Río Blanco
Empleados de la empresa DESA que constituyen la familia Madrid fueron acusados de atacar con armas a la comunidad de Río Blanco en la zona de la Vega del Achotal, zona de cultivo cuidada por la comunidad Lenca, este 26 de septiembre de 2018, según lo denunció el Consejo de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas en un comunicado de prensa.
"Ya es imposible cerrar los ojos ante la represión en Nicaragua"
El estallido de la crisis nicaragüense, la represión del Ejecutivo de Daniel Ortega y la ola migratoria de nicaragüenses que buscan refugio en su vecino sureño.
Costa Rica sintió de inmediato los efectos a través de dos vías: las exportaciones hacia el país centroamericano, que cayeron y siguen sin recuperarse, y las miles de solicitudes de refugio de personas que se sienten amenazadas en Nicaragua, que no han dejado de crecer. Desde que comenzó la crisis han llegado más de 25.000 peticiones, hoy en distintas fases de tramitación. En paralelo se ha activado el germen de la xenofobia y la inquietud por la capacidad del país centroamericano -una de las economías más avanzadas de América Latina- de absorber a los nuevos inmigrantes.
https://elpais.com/internacional/2018/09/28/actualidad/1538094262_494276.html
