Síntesis informativa - 9 de enero 2019
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Brexit Is Coming Down to a Game of Brinkmanship
LONDON — Though she admits disliking the social side of politics, Prime Minister Theresa May hosted lawmakers at a party in Downing Street this week, hoping to salvage her much-maligned plans for Britain’s departure from the European Union, or Brexit.
But despite wine, canapés and what one guest called a “very pleasant social occasion,” Mrs. May brings her deal to Parliament on Wednesday knowing that she faces virtually certain defeat in a vote next week — one that could mean weeks of perilous political brinkmanship for Britain.
Mrs. May postponed the vote last month, calculating that she would lose, yet has little to show for the delay. More than two and a half years after Britons opted to leave the European Union, a divided country is still wrestling with the implications of that referendum decision and, as ever with Brexit, the answers seem to lie just over the horizon.
Drum Rolls for Trump’s Speech? More Like Eye Rolls in Mexico
TIJUANA, Mexico — With the bullhorn of a nationally televised address and the prestige of the White House around him, President Trump delivered a dark, if familiar, message to the American people on Tuesday night: The United States needs a border wall to stanch the flow of drugs and criminals, and it has no more room for migrants.
In Mexico — the supposed origin and pipeline of these menaces — leaders and citizens reacted with a weary shrug.
In the Mexican border city of Tijuana, where thousands of migrants have gathered seeking entry to the United States, most of the televisions in a downtown restaurant showed soccer matches and basketball games. Mr. Trump’s voice, nearly drowned out by music, emerged faintly from a screen in the back.
Almost no one seemed to care, or even listen to what the American president had to say.
Greek Militants Say They Bombed Media Offices to Protest ‘Capitalist’ Agenda
ATHENS — A far-left militant group in Greece known for staging attacks on political and foreign diplomatic sites has claimed responsibility for a bombing near Athens last month outside the offices of a major broadcaster and newspaper publisher.
In a post on the anti-establishment website Athens Indymedia on Tuesday night, the Group of Popular Fighters claimed responsibility for the Dec. 17 bombing, which caused serious damage to the facade of the building but no injuries. Greek news outlets reported at the time that 10 kilograms, or 22 pounds, of explosives had been used.
In its statement, the militant group said it had targeted the broadcaster Skai and the newspaper Kathimerini, which are part of the same media group and are housed in the same building, because they were among outlets that “played a special role in preserving the rotten economic and political system” during the Greek debt crisis. For a decade, the country was required by international creditors to adopt austerity measures in return for bailouts.
U.S.-China Trade Talks End. Now High-Level Talks Can Begin.
BEIJING — Three days of trade negotiations between midlevel American and Chinese officials ended in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon with progress in identifying and narrowing the two sides’ differences but little sense of when they might reach a deal.
The trade talks could help clear the way for higher-level talks later this month, when President Trump attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Vice Premier Liu He, China’s economic czar, is expected to come to Washington sometime after that.
A United States government official confirmed that the talks had ended but declined to elaborate. Chinese officials had no immediate comment, although the Commerce Ministry is expected to address the negotiations during its weekly news conference on Thursday.
THE GUARDIAN
Donald Trump fuels immigration fears in TV address on 'border crisis'
“This is a humanitarian crisis – a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul,” Trump told primetime viewers, describing at the situation at the border. He argued that the current immigration system allows “vicious coyotes and ruthless gangs” to prey on immigrants, especially women and children.
On Tuesday night, immigrants’ right groups again condemned Trump’s message. Lorella Praeli, deputy political director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said: “With tonight’s speech, President Trump chose to compound the chaos because he can’t convince the majority of Americans that their taxpayer dollars should fund his bogus campaign promise ... The president appears to be more focused on procuring his xenophobic symbol than running the government and upholding democratic norms.”
Venezuela's neighbours turn up heat as Nicolás Maduro begins second term
Lima Group’s unexpectedly firm declaration – which includes plans for financial sanctions, preventing top Venezuela officials entering their countries, and suspending military cooperation – appeared partly designed to persuade the Venezuelan military to abandon their commander-in-chief.
“For the regime to collapse you need to get Maduro out of the country and you need to get the military to stop supporting the regime … The way you do that is by sending signals to the military that in the long run if they stick to Maduro and the regime they will lose power,” said Matias Spektor, an international relations specialist from Brazil’s Getúlio Vargas Foundation.
'It's complete chaos': Brazilian state overwhelmed by rash of gang violence
The PCC and the Red Command are locked in a bitter fight to control Brazil’s drugs trade, and Fortaleza is seen as a strategic prize because it is the closest large port to Europe and Africa.
Security forces say three rival drug gangs have come together to carry out more than 160 attacks in retaliation for a proposal to end the practice of separating gang factions inside Brazil’s prisons.
Buses, mail trucks and cars have been torched. Police stations, city government buildings and banks have been attacked with petrol bombs and explosives. On Sunday, criminals blew up a telephone exchange, leaving 12 cities without mobile service. Other explosions have damaged a freeway overpass and a bridge.
The rash of violence is an early challenge for new president Jair Bolsonaro, who swept to power with his tough-on-crime proposals, which include military takeovers of Brazilian cities and shoot-to-kill security tactics.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/09/brazil-ceara-violence-fortaleza-gangs-bolsonaro
AL JAZEERA
Breaking up hard to do, Turkey says of US and Kurd 'terrorists'
Foreign Minister Cavusoglu chides US about relationship with Kurdish YPG militia after backtrack on troop pullout.
During his visit to Israel on Sunday, Bolton set pre-conditions for the US pullout from Syria that included Turkey guaranteeing the safety of the Washington-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which spearheaded the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).
Matthew Bryza, a former senior US diplomat, said the United States is looking for a replacement to the Kurdish armed group in the fight against ISIL.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/breaking-hard-turkey-kurd-terrorists-190109090737690.html
Future unclear as Sudan protesters and president at loggerheads
Anti-government protests continue across Sudan, as President Omar al-Bashir refuses to step down.
Arwa Ibrahim
Protests, which initially appeared to be tied to an increase in the price of bread and other economic hardships, quickly morphed into growing anti-government rallies demanding Bashir's resignation.
While the majority of the protests have been sporadic, organised marches and nationwide strikes have been spearheaded by the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA).
"In popular terms, the regime of Omar al-Bashir has already fallen," Muhammad Osman, an independent Sudanese analyst, told Al Jazeera. "But in practical terms, the regime remains standing and firmly in control of the various components of its security system (the army, NISS, the police and the Rapid Support Forces)," he added.
Pompeo meets Iraq leaders, US troops in unannounced Baghdad visit
US secretary of state meets Iraqi leaders and American troops in Baghdad during his Middle East tour.
Pompeo told a news conference in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Tuesday that the fight to defeat ISIL and Iran remained the most pressing issues in the region.
Pompeo is also expected to visit Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait.
China permits exit of 2,000 ethnic Kazakhs from Xinjiang region
Kazakh foreign ministry says the group of ethnic Kazakhs will be allowed to drop their Chinese citizenship.
The detention of Uighur, Kazakh and other ethnic minorities in internment camps has been an issue in neighbouring Kazakhstan, a Central Asian country of 18 million people.
With China being a major trading partner, Kazakhstan's state media avoided reporting on the issue. But activists say pressure for action has slowly built following international media coverage.
The Kazakh foreign ministry said the incoming Kazakhs will be allowed to apply for citizenship or permanent residency after their arrival in Kazakhstan.
RT
‘Humanitarian & security crisis’: Trump makes case for border wall amid government shutdown
US President Donald Trump stopped short of invoking emergency powers, appealing instead to Democrats for approval of his border barrier proposal by arguing that illegal immigration via Mexico was causing a humanitarian crisis.
Trump’s address to the nation, broadcast by major networks live from the Oval office, comes amid an ongoing partial shutdown of federal government services, due to the White House’s insistence on Congress spending at least $5 billion on building a border wall, which Democrats are insistent on blocking.
https://www.rt.com/usa/448340-trump-shutdown-border-address/
Ready for Big Brother? Americans increasingly accept unrestricted facial recognition tech
Just one in four Americans want strict government limits on the use of biometric technology – with opposition shrinking further if such technology would help law enforcement, reduce shoplifting, or speed up security screenings at the airport, according to a national poll conducted last month by the Center for Data Innovation. Opposition to biometric surveillance decreases with age, and women are more accepting of the technology than men, the poll results show.
https://www.rt.com/usa/448337-americans-accept-biometric-surveillance/
Mirage fighter jet crash debris found in eastern France, rescuers searching for 2 pilots - report
A French Air Force Mirage 2000D fighter jet is missing after going off radar on Wednesday morning. Debris has been found and search efforts to find the missing crew are ongoing. The jet, which had a pilot and a weapons officer on board, went missing at about 11:00am local time while conducting a sortie in the east of the country near the border with Switzerland. The French Air Force confirmed losing contact with the jet on Wednesday afternoon, adding that rescue crews were dispatched "immediately" to locate the plane.
The missing fighter jet belongs to the 3rd Fighter Wing of an air base in Nancy-Ochey. The crew included a man and a woman, according to some media reports.Two search helicopters were deployed in response, but the area is currently affected by bad weather, with low-hanging clouds obstructing the view, French media reported.
https://www.rt.com/news/448389-mirage-fighter-jet-vanishes-france/
Russia plans to send largest radio telescope beyond moon in 2020s
Russia is designing the largest-ever radio telescope, seeking to put it into space beyond the orbit of the moon. The probe, expected to be completed by mid-2020s, will be able to provide the most detailed pictures of the universe.
The telescope will be put into the so-called halo orbit – the complex three-dimensional orbit beyond Earth’s natural satellite. The Millimetron (Spektr-M) is expected to boast significantly larger capabilities than its predecessor, the RadioAstron telescope, which was launched into space back in 2011 in cooperation between Russia and foreign space-exploring agencies.
The telescope will be able to operate autonomously or work together with a ground-based counterpart. The Millimetron and the ground facility will therefore form a “virtual telescope” with interferometric baselines of a whopping 1.5 million kilometers, reaching deep into the farthest corners of the universe.
https://www.rt.com/russia/448249-russia-telescope-moon-space/
AL MAYADEEN
Venezuela denucia nuevo ataque y acusa a Guyana por mentir sobre incursión de buques en el Delta del Orinoco
La vicepresidenta de Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, expresó que el canciller de Guyana, Carl Greenidge, mintió al asegurar que la Armada Bolivariana "abordó" a los dos buques contratados por ExxonMobil que incursionaron en la fachada atlántica al norte del Delta del Orinoco, en aguas territoriales de ese país sudamericano.
Asimismo, informó que denunciará en la ONU la incursión de los buques al considerar que el hecho fue "una provocación sin precedentes" por parte del gobierno de Guyana.
Por otra parte, el presidente de la Asamblea Constituyente de Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello, solicitó al Tribunal Supremo de Justicia (TSJ) y al Ministerio Público investigar por "traición a la patria" a los políticos que apoyen el comunicado y las acciones de 13 países que integran el autodenominado Grupo de Lima.
Delegación de EE.UU. viaja a Turquía para hablar sobre los S-400 rusos
El titular de Defensa turco añadió que Turquía estudiará la propuesta de Estados Unidos sobre la venta de sistemas antimisiles estadounidenses MIM-104 Patriot, ya que, incluso con la adquisición de los S-400 rusos, su país podría dar uso a los sistemas estadounidenses.
Según fuentes citadas por el periódico, esta misma semana Turquía rechazó una nueva propuesta de EE.UU. para que, en vez de S-400 rusos, comprara los Patriot
Hurriyet también anunció que el Gobierno de Turquía pedirá a los funcionarios estadounidenses que Washington entregue sus 22 bases militares en Siria a Ankara o que las destruya.
