Síntesis informativa - 23 de octubre de 2018
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Trump’s Plans to Deter Migrants Could Mean New ‘Voluntary’ Family Separations
TUCSON, Ariz. — Facing a surge in migrant families entering the United States and with the midterm elections two weeks away, the Trump administration is weighing an array of new policies that it hopes will deter Central Americans from journeying north.
Each of the policies, which range from a new form of the widely criticized practice of family separation to stricter requirements on asylum, would face significant legal and logistical challenges. But the White House is applying strong pressure on federal immigration authorities to come up with a solution to secure the southwest border.
The Border Patrol apprehended 16,658 people in family units in September — a record figure, according to unpublished government data obtained by The New York Times. The total number of families that entered the country in the 2018 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, exceeded 100,000 for the first time in recent history.
The surge is occurring even as the total number of border crossings, including individual adults and children traveling alone, remains well below the numbers seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Trump Claims ‘Criminals and Unknown Middle Easterners’ Are in Caravan of Migrants
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday said a caravan of migrants making their way toward the United States included “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners,” and blamed Democrats for the state of immigration law.
The “unknown Middle Easterners” Mr. Trump mentioned are a new cohort on the president’s recent list of “bad people” he says want to cross the border into America.
At a political rally on Friday, Mr. Trump said some people traveling in these groups headed toward the United States-Mexico border included “bad people,” “criminals,” “not little angels,” and “tough, tough people.” He did not mention Middle Easterners.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/us/politics/trump-immigrant-caravan-migrants.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus
Disinformation Spreads on WhatsApp Ahead of Brazilian Election
SAN FRANCISCO — Over the past few months, the 120 million Brazilians who use WhatsApp, the smartphone messaging application that is owned by Facebook, have been deluged with political messages.
The missives, spread through the country by the millions, have targeted voters ahead of Brazil’s fiercely contested presidential election. A final runoff between a far-right candidate, Jair Bolsonaro, and Fernando Haddad, the leftist Workers’ Party candidate, will be on Oct. 28.
One popular WhatsApp message displayed the name of a presidential candidate, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, next to the number 17. When Brazilians vote, they punch in a number for a candidate or party in an electronic voting machine.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/19/technology/whatsapp-brazil-presidential-election.html
Turkey’s President Vows to Detail Khashoggi Death ‘in Full Nakedness’
Turkish officials have been leaking lurid details for weeks about the assassination and reported dismemberment of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul. But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, keen to maintain good relations with Saudi Arabia, has until now mostly held his tongue.
On Sunday, Mr. Erdogan broke his silence, promising that within 48 hours he would remove the lid completely from what his spokesmen are now calling a Saudi cover-up.
“We will reveal it,” he said in a televised speech. “It will be revealed in full nakedness.”
With international outrage at Mr. Khashoggi’s killing increasingly focused on the potential culpability of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mr. Erdogan appears to sense an opportunity.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/world/middleeast/erdogan-khashoggi-turkey-saudi-arabia.html
Rebels in Congo Kill 15 and Abduct Children in Area of Ebola Outbreak
JOHANNESBURG — Congolese rebels have killed 15 civilians and abducted a dozen children in an attack in the center of the latest outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, Congo’s military said Sunday. The violence threatened to again force the suspension of efforts to contain the virus.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo was declared on Aug. 1, and has been centered on North Kivu Province, which borders Uganda and Rwanda. On Friday, the World Health Organization said that there had been 118 confirmed Ebola deaths so far and 35 probably caused by the disease, out of more than 200 cases. It is the 10th outbreak in the country since 1976.
Efforts to combat the disease have been complicated by fighting between government forces and armed militias, and by attacks on medical workers.
“We condemn this attack,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization. “Everyone should work on achieving peace and fight Ebola.”
At Least 55 Killed in Communal Violence in Central Nigeria
More than 55 people have been killed in a new eruption of communal violence in central Nigeria, officials said on Sunday.
Security has become a key campaign issue ahead of the election next February, in which President Muhammadu Buhari will seek a second term.
The presidency condemned the latest violence in a statement issued on Saturday.
“The frequent resort to bloodshed by Nigerians over misunderstandings that can be resolved peacefully, is worrisome,” said the statement, issued by Mr. Buhari’s spokesman, Garba Shehu.
A local police commissioner said that 22 people were arrested in the clashes last week between two communities in the Kasuwan Magani area of Kaduna state, in north-central Nigeria.
THE GUARDIAN
Are Donald Trump's claims about the caravan of 7,000 migrants accurate?
Donald Trump is not hiding his ambition to conflate the caravan of around 7,000 migrants heading towards the US border with other issues in order to drum up support for Republicans in the forthcoming midterm elections.
In his bid to make the caravan an election issue, Trump has made a number of false and misleading claims about the migrants that are travelling in it.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/22/fact-check-trumps-claims-migrant-caravan
Palestinian security forces routinely torture critics, rights group says
The Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and its political rival Hamas in Gaza regularly detain and torture critics and dissenters, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said in a report.
Employing techniques HRW said mirrored practices it previously documented by Israelis against Palestinians, the group found that “security forces routinely taunt, threaten, beat, and force detainees into painful stress positions for hours at a time”.
'Yawn cams' and heart monitors: five key facts about the world's longest sea bridge
As well as being the longest bridge of its type, stretching 55km, the $20bn Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is also one of the world’s most unusual roadways, with cameras to detect yawning, drivers forced to wear heart monitors and access restricted to the political elite and charity donors.
Monsanto trial: judge rejects bid to overturn landmark cancer verdict
Monsanto fought to overturn the verdict, arguing the evidence was insufficient. The San Francisco superior court judge Suzanne Bolanos had suggested in an initial written ruling this month that she was considering granting a new trial. But she ultimately denied Monsanto’s request. However, she has ruled to reduce punitive damages from $250m to $39m.
'Explosive device' found in mailbox at George Soros home
Soros, one of the world’s biggest donors to liberal groups and causes, has become a hate figure for rightwing campaigners in the United States and eastern Europe, and the target of a hostile media campaign by the nationalist government in his native Hungary.
DEUTSCHE WELLE
US trumps Russian gas as Poland eyes Gazprom exit
Poland is replacing its Russian gas with imports from the US and Norway. The move could help cement US military security promises, but what price is Warsaw willing to pay as Berlin goes ahead with its Russian gas plans?
Poland's state-run gas firm PGNiG last week signed a 20-year deal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries from the US and the next day announced it was spending €200 million ($229 million) buying into a long-term project to deliver gas from Norway.
https://www.dw.com/en/us-trumps-russian-gas-as-poland-eyes-gazprom-exit/a-45981553
Comienza en Riad reunión de inversores pese a boicot por Khashoggi
Uno de los mayores encuentros mundiales sobre temas económicos comenzó hoy en Arabia Saudí, empañado por la ausencia de numerosos participantes debido al escándalo por el asesinato del periodista crítico Jamal Khashoggi.
La conferencia internacional de inversores es un proyecto de la monarquía saudí para impulsar la reconversión económica del país desde su fuerte dependencia del petróleo hacia otras fuentes de ingresos y ganarse para ello a inversores internacionales.
China advierte que no aceptará ningún "chantaje" de EE. UU. en cuestión nuclear
La portavoz china del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores le dice a Trump que “piense dos veces” sobre la salida de EE. UU. del tratado de armas nucleares firmado en 1987.
China advirtió este martes (23.10.2018) que no aceptará ningún "chantaje" de Estados Unidos, después de que Donald Trump amenazara a Pekín y Moscú con reforzar su arsenal atómico tras anunciar su intención de abandonar el tratado de armas nucleares de rango medio (INF, por sus siglas en inglés).
La directora de la CIA viaja a Turquía en plena crisis por el caso Khashoggi
La directora de la CIA estadounidense, Gina Haspel, partió este lunes rumbo a Turquía ante la creciente presión contra Arabia Saudí por la muerte del periodista Jamal Khashoggi, según The Washington Post.
La llegada de Haspel a Turquía coincidirá con los planes del presidente turco, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, de revelar este martes (23.10.2018) los detalles sobre la investigación del supuesto asesinato sucedido en el consulado saudí en Estambul.
XINHUA
China e India prometen reforzar cooperación en aplicación de la ley y seguridad
NUEVA DELHI, 23 oct (Xinhua) -- China y la India han prometido aquí el martes reforzar la cooperación bilateral, especialmente en áreas de aplicación de la ley y seguridad.
Durante su reunión con el consejero de Estado y ministro de Seguridad Pública de China, Zhao Kezhi, el primer ministro indio, Narendra Modi, dijo que la India está dispuesta a trabajar con China para mantener su comunicación estratégica, mejorar la confianza política mutua y reforzar la cooperación pragmática en varios campos como la aplicación de la ley y la seguridad, así como promover el desarrollo de las relaciones India-China para elevarlo hasta un nuevo nivel.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2018-10/23/c_137552825.htm
Presidente de Turquía dice que asesinato de periodista saudí fue "planeado"
ANKARA, 23 oct (Xinhua) -- El presidente turco, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, dijo el martes que el asesinato del periodista saudí Jamal Khashoggi en el consulado de Arabia Saudita en Estambul fue "planeado".
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2018-10/23/c_137552769.htm
Enviado chino insta a financiamiento de UNRWA para refugiados palestinos
NACIONES UNIDAS, 19 oct (Xinhua) -- El enviado de China ante las Naciones Unidas pidió el jueves una financiación "más adecuada, previsible y sostenible" de la Agencia de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados de Palestina en Oriente Próximo (UNRWA, por sus siglas en inglés).
UNRWA ofrece servicios de alojamiento a los refugiados palestinos registrados en Jordania, Siria, Líbano, Cisjordania y la Franja de Gaza.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2018-10/19/c_137544495.htm
Francia exhorta a EEUU y a Rusia a evitar decisiones "apresuradas" ante pacto nuclear
PARIS, 22 oct (Xinhua) -- Francia advirtió hoy que tomar decisiones "apresuradas" y "unilaterales" con respecto al Tratado de Fuerzas Nucleares de Alcance Intermedio (INF) sería "lamentable" y dijo que este pacto de la época de la Guerra Fría es importante para preservar la seguridad y la estabilidad de Europa, dijo el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores francés.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2018-10/23/c_137551047.htm
Irán promete abortar las sanciones de Estados Unidos
TEHERAN, 22 oct (Xinhua) -- El ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Irán, Mohammad Javad Zarif, dijo que su país se las arreglará para abortar las sanciones de Estados Unidos contra Irán, informó hoy Press TV.
De acuerdo con el ministro iraní, Reino Unido, Francia y Alemania, tres signatarios europeos del acuerdo nuclear iraní de 2015, han asumido compromisos y hecho propuestas a pesar de algunos detalles técnicos sin resolver.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2018-10/23/c_137551183.htm
AL JAZEERA
Citing Russia, China, Trump vows to 'build up' US nuclear arsenal
Trump sparks global concern saying he plans to jettison the 30-year old INF treaty signed by Reagan and Gorbachev.
President Donald Trump said the United States is ready to bolster its nuclear arsenal after announcing it is abandoning a Cold War-era nuclear treaty, as Russia warned the withdrawal could cripple global security.
Trump's announcement has raised global concerns, with the European Commission urging the US and Russia to pursue talks to preserve the treaty, and China calling on Washington to "think twice."
US warships sail through Taiwan Strait as China tensions surge
Multiple Chinese warships shadowed the two US vessels during the transit in a move certain to anger Beijing.
Two American warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait in a move bound to aggravate China amid heightened tensions with Beijing.
The USS Curtis Wilbur and USS Antietam conducted a routine transit on Monday to demonstrate US commitment "to a free and open Indo-Pacific", Commander Nate Christensen, deputy spokesman for US Pacific Fleet, said in a statement.
The voyage risks further heightening tensions with China, but will likely be viewed in self-ruled Taiwan as a sign of support by President Donald Trump's government, amid growing friction between Taipei and Beijing.
China sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunified, despite the two sides being ruled separately since the end of a civil war on the mainland in 1949.
Beijing recently conducted a series of military manoeuvres, including a live fire exercise in the Taiwan Strait in April, declaring its willingness to confront Taiwan's "independence forces". Washington remains Taipei's most powerful unofficial ally and its main arms supplier despite switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979. The Pentagon says Washington has sold Taiwan more than $15bn in weaponry since 2010.
RT
2 US warships pass through Taiwan Strait as ‘freedom of navigation’ feud with China escalates
The USS Antietam, a guided missile cruiser, and the USS Curtis Wilbur, a guided missile destroyer, traveled through the strait Monday, sailing from south to north, the US Navy said, confirming earlier reports from Taiwan’s Defense Ministry. The last time US naval vessels passed through the strait was in July.
The move will likely anger Beijing, which has a territorial claim on Taiwan. US President Donald Trump has previously vowed to honor Beijing’s One China policy, but his actions have left Beijing questioning the sincerity of his pledge.
The Taiwan Strait incident will likely exacerbate the increasingly high-stakes dispute over the South China Sea. Early this month, a Chinese warship came dangerously close to a US destroyer near disputed islands in the waterway.
https://www.rt.com/news/441962-us-taiwan-strait-warships-china/
Washington fears Moscow may play spoiler to US energy-related sanctions against Tehran
The White House has warned Russia over potential help to Iran in bypassing US sanctions by buying up crude from the Islamic Republic and reselling the fuel as its own. The ban on Tehran’s oil exports will be enacted on November 4.
In May, the US administration scrapped a nuclear deal with Iran, clinched between the Islamic Republic and a broad alliance of world powers. Shortly after that US President Donald Trump announced Washington is re-imposing unilateral sanctions against Tehran, threatening secondary sanctions on nations and corporations that continue to do business with Iran.
The first batch of US sanctions, which came into force in early August, hit Iran's auto industry, carpets, metals trading, as well as access to US dollars. Further sanctions, due to take effect in less than two weeks, are set to hit the country’s oil and shipping sectors.
Last month, Russia and Iran agreed a deal allowing the Islamic Republic to evade the US ban on oil exports, claims Israel National News Hadashot. Iran would export crude oil to Russia via the Caspian Sea, Russia would refine the oil in its refineries and export the products worldwide, reported the media citing a document by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
https://www.rt.com/business/442013-us-iran-sanctions-oil-russia/
China turns legendary Soviet plane into ‘world’s heaviest’ transport drone (VIDEO)
The iconic Soviet An-2, the world’s longest-produced plane, has been turned into a drone by China and is now the biggest transport UAV in the skies, according to local media. Chinese producers have been building copies of the plane since 1957, and one of those, the Shifei Y5B, has been given unmanned flight capability by the Chinese Academy of Aerospace Electronics Technology.
The FG-98 has a maximum takeoff weight of 5.25 tons, a maximum capacity of 1.5 tons, and maximum range of 1,200 kilometers. These characteristics make it the world’s biggest transport drone, while its ability to land on pretty much any more or less flat surface 150 meters long make it a potential backbone for a national drone logistics network. FG-98s can deliver bulk cargoes to various regions of China, where individual packages would be loaded into smaller quadcopters for the final stage of delivery.
https://www.rt.com/news/442018-china-an-2-drone/
AL MAYADEEN
¿La muerte de Khashoggi cambia la ecuación entre Riad y Washington?
Por primera vez en la historia reciente de los delitos de Arabia Saudita, hay protestas de todo el espectro político. Algunas de las voces más fuertes que se oponen a los sauditas son los republicanos en el Congreso que, junto con muchos de sus colegas demócratas, han pedido una gran cantidad de castigos para los sauditas, incluidas las sanciones, el bloqueo de la venta de armas y el fin del apoyo de Estados Unidos a la guerra de Arabia Saudita en Yemen.
Siria: Abandono de EE.UU del Tratado de Fuerzas Nucleares ruso-estadounidenses abre camino a la carrera armamentística
Durante el acto de la firma del libro “Siria y las armas químicas, hechos y documentos”, en Damasco, el vicecanciller sirio criticó al gobierno de EE.UU. por no dudar en usar cualquier arma que pueda servir a sus intereses.
De esta manera, Al-Miqdad hizo referencia al ataque de cazas F-15 estadounidenses, perpetrado el 8 de septiembre, con municiones incendiarias de fósforo blanco contra la localidad de Hayín, en la provincia siria de Deir Ezzor. Es preciso señalar que ese ataque es uno de los muchos en que aviones de la llamada coalición anti-Daesh, dirigida por EE.UU., han usado armas prohibidas. En el caso más alarmante, decenas de civiles sirios murieron en la ciudad de Al-Raqa (norte) como consecuencia de bombardeos con fósforo blanco en julio de 2017.
AMÉRICA LATINA
ONU fracasó en objetivos de “guerra contra drogas”: informe
El objetivo que hace 10 años se fijaron los Estados miembros de la Organización de Naciones Unidas (ONU) para “eliminar o reducir” el tráfico, consumo, producción y uso de drogas ilícitas en el mundo ha fracasado y a menudo ha sido contraproducente, apuntó un informe difundido este lunes.
Elaborado por el Consorcio Internacional sobre Políticas de Drogas (IDPC), con base en cifras de la propia ONU y de otros estudios académicos, el informe señaló que las “cifras desgarradoras” demuestran la “carnicería” que la llamada “guerra contra las drogas” ha desatado en la última década.
Bolsonaro amenaza a opositores con “limpiar” Brasil: “Esos marginales serán prohibidos en nuestra patria”
El candidato brasileño de la ultraderecha, Jair Bolsonaro, anunció este lunes 22 que realizará una “limpieza” del ámbito político y que “los marginales rojos” serán vetados de la política.
Esto, en referencia a sus adversarios del izquierdista Partido de los Trabajadores.A través de un mensaje vía streaming, el aspirante a la presidencia de Brasil sostuvo que “esos rojos marginales serán prohibidos en nuestra patria. Nosotros creemos en el futuro de nuestro Brasil, y juntos, en equipo, construiremos el futuro que nos merecemos”.
“No somos criminales, Trump”
La caravana de migrantes centroamericanos que camina rumbo a Estados Unidos continúa su marcha atravesando México. Ayer, el presidente estadounidense, Donald Trump, anunció que su gobierno comenzará a recortar la ayuda a Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador por no haber, según dijo, impedido la salida de los migrantes.
“Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador no fueron capaces de hacer el trabajo de impedir que la gente saliese de su país y viniese de manera ilegal a Estados Unidos. Comenzaremos ahora a recortar, o reducir sustancialmente, la enorme ayuda extranjera que rutinariamente les damos”, afirmó Trump en su cuenta de Twitter. Según los últimos datos oficiales del Departamento de Estado, en el año fiscal 2018, Washington entregó 84 millones de dólares en asistencia extranjera a Guatemala, 58 millones de dólares a Honduras y otros 51 millones a El Salvador.
https://www.pagina12.com.ar/150541-no-somos-criminales-trump
Exvicepresidente de Ecuador, en huelga de hambre por traslado a cárcel
Eduardo Franco, abogado del exvicepresidente ecuatoriano Jorge Glas, informó hoy que su defendido se declaró en "huelga de hambre" por las condiciones "deplorables e infrahumanas" en las que se encuentra recluido, tras su traslado a una cárcel de máxima seguridad en el centro del país.
El presidente de Perú rechaza la ley que evita el reingreso de Alberto Fujimori en prisión
El presidente de Perú, Martín Vizcarra, ha vuelto a marcar territorio ante la mayoría opositora en el Congreso, el partido fujimorista Fuerza Popular. El mandatario no ha querido promulgar la denominada ley Fujimori que el Parlamento aprobó hace 11 días de forma apresurada, con el fin de que el autócrata Alberto Fujimori -y otros de sus excolaboradores presos- puedan cumplir el resto de su condena mediante arresto domiciliario, con grillete electrónico y con derecho a desplazarse en la provincia donde tengan registrado su domicilio. Pese a que Vizcarra ha rechazado la ley, la norma podría llegar a aprobarse, ya que el Congreso tiene potestad para hacerlo "por insistencia", cuando el presidente se niega a ratificarla.
https://elpais.com/internacional/2018/10/23/america/1540267138_199017.html
