Síntesis informativa - 30 de noviembre 2018
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Argentina Saw G-20 Summit as a Chance to Shine. Bad News Got in the Way.
BUENOS AIRES — When plans were first made for Argentina to play host to the heads of state of the world’s top economies at this week’s Group of 20 summit meeting, the government saw the gathering as a golden opportunity to portray Argentina as a prosperous, stable nation.
But when the world leaders arrive in Buenos Aires on Friday, they will find a country reeling from a severe recession and rattled by a recent string of security incidents.
Among them are an attack on soccer players by a pack of unruly fans just last weekend, a suspected bombing plot by vegan activists and the recent arrest of a pair of brothers in Buenos Aires suspected of ties to the Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, public worker strikes have led to the cancellation of scores of flights this week and snarled commutes in much of the country.
In Yemen, Lavish Meals for Few, Starvation for Many and a Dilemma for Reporters
SANA, Yemen — At a restaurant in the Yemeni capital, Sana, a waiter brought bowls of slow-cooked lamb served with mounds of rice. For dessert there was kunafa, the classic Arab dish of golden brown pastry filled with cheese.
An hour later I was back at work, in a hushed hospital ward filled with malnourished children with skeletal faces, hanging between life and death for want of money and a good meal.
If that juxtaposition strikes you as jarring, even distasteful, it felt that way to me, too.
Crisis zones are often places of stark contrast, but in Yemen the gulf is particularly uncomfortable. The problem isn’t a lack of food; it’s that few people can afford to buy what food is available.
Years of blockades, bombs and soaring inflation have crushed the economy. A crushed state means there is no safety net.
Cuban Doctors Accuse International Agency of Profiting From Their Work
As a member of Cuba’s international medical mission, Dr. Ramona Matos Rodríguez received $400 a month while posted in Brazil, a small fortune in her home country.
It was not long before she figured out that physicians from other countries also working in Brazil’s “More Doctors” program were taking home 20 times as much. Even the Pan American Health Organization, an international agency affiliated with the United Nations that brokered the arrangement, received a percentage for the doctors’ work.
“We realized that they fooled us Cuban doctors,” said Dr. Matos, 56, who now lives in Miami. “They tricked us.”
PAHO, a division of the World Health Organization, made about $75 million off the work of up to 10,000 Cuban doctors who earned substandard wages in Brazil, according to the allegations in a lawsuit filed on Friday in the United States District Court in Miami.
Trade Pact Is Signed, but U.S.-Canada Rift Remains
He has called Justin Trudeau “very dishonest and weak.”
He also, perhaps jokingly, accused Canada — which came into formal being in 1867 — of burning down the White House during the War of 1812.
But on Friday morning, as President Trump, Mr. Trudeau and Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, signed a North American trade pact after 14 months of acrimonious negotiations, the leaders of the United States and Canada appeared cordial — Mr. Trudeau even addressed his counterpart as “Donald” — even though their words and body language in recent months have suggested that their once-warm rapport had become as icy as a Canadian winter.
Speaking at the Group of 20 meeting in Buenos Aires, with Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Peña Nieto on either side of him, Mr. Trump acknowledged that the road to a deal had been difficult. “We’ve taken a lot of barbs and a little abuse,” he said.
Afghan War Casualty Report: Nov. 23-29
The following reports compile all significant security incidents confirmed by New York Times reporters throughout Afghanistan. It is necessarily incomplete as many local officials refuse to confirm casualty information. The toll here does not generally include claims of insurgents killed by the government, because of the difficulty of verifying such claims. Similarly, the reports do not include attacks on the government claimed by the Taliban. Both sides routinely inflate casualties of their opponents.
The death toll greatly increased this week among pro-government forces, to 89, a figure that includes five security contractors killed in a brazen attack on their base in Kabul, and three American Special Forces soldiers killed by a roadside bomb, the worst loss of American life in a year. Civilian deaths were 53, many of them from airstrikes — including 22 members of one family in Helmand Province.
At Stake When Xi and Trump Meet: The Possibility of a New Cold War
BUENOS AIRES — When President Trump sits down with President Xi Jinping for dinner here on Saturday, their meeting will be about more than salvaging a cordial personal relationship or trying to contain a trade dispute between the United States and China.
It could foretell whether these two giants — one an established but anxious superpower, the other an ambitious, impatient rising power — are destined to enter a new era of Cold War-like confrontation.
Remarkably, given the stakes involved, the two sides plan no other formal meetings during this gathering of the Group of 20 industrialized nations that begins on Friday. Nor do they appear to have much of an agenda, beyond the trade grievances that Mr. Trump has complained about for months.
That is a testament to how much trade and the personal chemistry between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi have come to dominate the relations between the United States and China. While these are only subplots in a larger drama that also includes a military contest in the Pacific and nuclear negotiations with North Korea, they could also define the next chapter in that relationship.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/us/politics/trump-xi-g-20.html
NASA Chooses Private Companies for Future Moon Landings
Astronauts may one day set foot on the moon again, and small robotic spacecraft will be there waiting for them.
NASA announced on Thursday that it had selected nine companies that will compete for billions of dollars in contracts to take small payloads for the agency to the surface of the moon.
“We are building a domestic American capability to get back and forth to the surface of the moon,” said Jim Bridenstine, the NASA administrator. NASA astronauts last landed there in 1972, and no American spacecraft has touched down on the lunar surface in one piece since then.
The Trump administration sees the moon as an opportunity to test technologies as well as new strategies that could reduce the price tag for trips to space, and jump-start new commercial companies.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/science/nasa-moon-landers.html
THE GUARDIAN
Ukraine bans Russian men from entering the country
The move comes amid rising tensions after Russian border guards opened fire on and captured three Ukrainian vessels and 24 crew on Sunday, prompting Ukraine to institute martial law in 10 regions to prevent what it described as a possible land invasion by Russia.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/30/ukraine-bans-russian-men-from-entering-the-country
Michael Cohen pleads guilty to lying to Congress over Trump project in Russia
Cohen made his disclosure as he pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the Moscow project. He said he made false statements to hinder the Trump-Russia investigation and to protect Trump, who was identified in court as “Individual 1”.
Berta Cáceres: seven men convicted of murdering Honduran environmentalist
The court ruled the murder was ordered by executives of the Agua Zarca dam company Desa because of delays and financial losses linked to protests led by Cáceres. The murder was contracted to a group of hitmen who were paid to kill Cáceres.
The seven men convicted of orchestrating her murder by a court in Tegucigalpa were Sergio Ramón Rodríguez, communities and environment manager for Desa; Douglas Geovanny Bustillo, former Desa security chief and ex-US trained army lieutenant; Mariano Díaz Chávez, US-trained special forces major who served with Bustillo; Henry Javier Hernández, former special forces sergeant who served with Díaz; Edwin Rapalo; Edilson Duarte Meza; and Oscar Torres.
AL JAZEERA
Gibraltar will be included in post-Brexit trade deals: official
Following Spain drama, top Gibraltar official tells Al Jazeera peninsula will be covered by withdrawal arrangements.
Joe Wallen
Gibraltar Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Garcia's comments in an interview with Al Jazeera came after the issue of Gibraltar was propelled to the top level of Brexit negotiations. This comes following Spain's threat to oppose a deal on the UK's withdrawal from the EU unless it was assured over the disputed peninsula.
Garcia also rejected the claim that Spain will be able to exclude Gibraltar from any post-Brexit trade deal.
US, Mexico and Canada sign new USMCA trade deal
Donald Trump calls new trade pact as 'model agreement that changes the trade landscape forever'.
Legislators from the three countries still have to approve the pact, officially known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), before it goes into effect and replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
If ratified, most of the new agreement's provisions are expected to go into effect in 2020.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/mexico-canada-sign-usmca-trade-deal-181130130126984.html
'Extremely abominable': Chinese gene-editing scientist faces law
China condemns the work of He Jiankui as institutions distance themselves from the academic who gene-edited twin girls.
Michael Standaert. Xi said genetically engineering the DNA of twin girls so they would not develop HIV, breached scientific ethics, adding that gene-editing of human embryos for reproduction purposes was "explicitly banned" in China.
Southern University of Science and Technology, where He is an associate professor and is said to have conducted the research without the full knowledge of the university, has sealed off his lab and suspended him pending an investigation. The website on genome research related to He's work now appears to be inaccessible.
AL MAYADEEN
Defensa antiaérea siria intercepta objetivos enemigos en el sur del país
Esta es la primera agresión después de una suspensión de penetración en el espacio aéreo sirio desde hace 75 días.
EE.UU. incrementa sanciones contra Hizbullah
29 de noviembre. Es poco probable que las sanciones económicas y financieras resulten efectivas para frenar la amenaza de un actor no estatal como Hizbullah, que tiene poco o ningún bien conocido de activos lícitos con base en los Estados Unidos o compromiso económico que pueda ser bloqueado por las sanciones estadounidenses.
Hizbullah no es un exportador global que depende de las relaciones con las principales compañías y bancos internacionales. Por lo tanto, amenazar a los bancos y compañías internacionales con la exclusión del mercado estadounidense para tratar con Hizbullah no afecta al grupo de la misma manera que afectaría a un exportador mundial de petróleo como Irán.
Además, precisa The Soufan Gruop, es poco probable que el gobierno de los Estados Unidos sancione a la economía libanesa para obligar a Beirut a actuar contra Hizbullah. Si lo hace, podría causar inestabilidad económica y política en El Líbano que probablemente fortalecería, no debilitaría a Hizbullah, al mismo tiempo que perjudicaría a la parte del público libanés que no apoya al "Partido de Dios".
http://espanol.almayadeen.net/news/Hizbullah/279208/ee-uu--incrementa-sanciones-contra-hizbullah/
