Síntesis informativa - 4 de marzo 2019
THE NEW YORK TIMES
After India Loses Dogfight to Pakistan, Questions Arise About Its ‘Vintage’ Military
NEW DELHI — It was an inauspicious moment for a military the United States is banking on to help keep an expanding China in check.
An Indian Air Force pilot found himself in a dogfight last week with a warplane from the Pakistani Air Force, and ended up a prisoner behind enemy lines for a brief time.
he pilot made it home in one piece, however bruised and shaken, but the plane, an aging Soviet-era MiG-21, was less lucky.
The aerial clash, the first by the South Asian rivals in nearly five decades, was a rare test for the Indian military — and it left observers a bit dumbfounded. While the challenges faced by the India’s armed forces are no secret, its loss of a plane last week to a country whose military is about half the size and receives a quarter of the funding was still telling.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/03/world/asia/india-military-united-states-china.html
Russian General Pitches ‘Information’ Operations as a Form of War
MOSCOW — The chief of Russia’s armed forces endorsed on Saturday the kind of tactics used by his country to intervene abroad, repeating a philosophy of so-called hybrid war that has earned him notoriety in the West, especially among American officials who have accused Russia of election meddling in 2016.
At a conference on the future of Russian military strategy, Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff, said countries bring a blend of political, economic and military power to bear against adversaries.
The speech outlined what some Western analysts consider the signature strategy of Russia under President Vladimir V. Putin — and what other experts call a simple recognition of modern war and politics.
General Gerasimov said Russia’s armed forces must maintain both “classical” and “asymmetrical” potential, using jargon for the mix of combat, intelligence and propaganda tools that the Kremlin has deployed in conflicts such as Syria and Ukraine.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/02/world/europe/russia-hybrid-war-gerasimov.html
To Woo a Skeptical Trump, Intelligence Chiefs Talk Economics Instead of Spies
WASHINGTON — Intelligence officials who brief the president have warned him about Chinese espionage in bottom-line business terms. They have used Black Sea shipping figures to demonstrate the effect of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. And they have filled the daily threat briefing with charts and graphs of economic data.
In an effort to accommodate President Trump, who has attacked them publicly as “naïve” and in need of going “back to school,” the nation’s intelligence agencies have revamped their presentations to focus on subjects their No. 1 customer wants to hear about — economics and trade.
Intelligence officers, steeped in how Mr. Trump views the world, now work to answer his repeated question: Who is winning? What the president wants to know, according to former officials, is what country is making more money or gaining a financial advantage.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/03/us/politics/trump-daily-intelligence-briefing.html
As Trump and Kim Met, North Korean Hackers Hit Over 100 Targets in U.S. and Ally Nations
SAN FRANCISCO — North Korean hackers who have targeted American and European businesses for 18 months kept up their attacks last week even as President Trump was meeting with North Korea’s leader in Hanoi.
The attacks, which include efforts to hack into banks, utilities and oil and gas companies, began in 2017, according to researchers at the cybersecurity company McAfee, a time when tensions between North Korea and the United States were flaring. But even though both sides have toned down their fiery threats and begun nuclear disarmament talks, the attacks persist.
In 2017, Mr. Trump mocked Kim Jong-un as “rocket man” in a speech at the United Nations, while North Korea tested missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the United States. The attacks began soon after that. Though the two sides failed to reach an agreement last week, Mr. Trump struck a conciliatory tone toward his North Korean counterpart.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/03/technology/north-korea-hackers-trump.html
THE GUARDIAN
The caliphate is a hellscape of smoke and fire – Isis has nowhere left to go
Five years after Isis swept across Syria and Iraq, all that remains of the “caliphate” that at its peak stretched across two countries and controlled 10 million people is a handful of streets in a bend of the Euphrates river running through this desert town, which will be retaken in the next few days.
Trapped from the east and the west by advancing Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and by the Syrian regime and Russia on the other side of the river, the caliphate is a hellscape of smoke and fire. There is nowhere left for the fighters to go.
Global war on drugs could harm efforts to abolish death sentences - study
Bangladesh has instituted a brutal anti-narcotics crackdown, with the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, ordering police to deal with the drugs trade using tactics similar to those they would employ to counter violent extremism. In Sri Lanka, where the death penalty has not been used since 1976, President Maithripala Sirisena – who has praised the brutal campaign against drugs in the Philippines as an “example to the world” – recently announced that convicted drug dealers will be hanged.
Although drug offences can still be punished by death in at least 35 countries and territories, only four states carried out such sentences last year. At least 59 people were killed in Saudi Arabia, while a minimum of 23 died in Iran and nine in Singapore.
Death sentences were also imposed in China, but the country’s figures are shrouded in secrecy, said Girelli, who warned the actual number of deaths in 2018 was probably far higher than the 91 noted in the study.
Globally, at least 7,000 people – many illiterate and from impoverished backgrounds – are on death row after being forced to act as “drug mules”, according to the study. “In short, it appears that the death penalty for drug offences is primarily reserved for the most marginalised in society,” wrote Girelli.
'We are fighting': Brazil's indigenous groups unite to protect their land
Brazil’s 1988 constitution prohibits commercial farming and mining on indigenous reserves without specific congressional approval, but Brazil’s new hard-right president, Jair Bolsonaro – who has described indigenous people as “like animals in zoos” – wants to change that. He has singled out Raposa for its reserves of gold, copper, molybdenum, bauxite and diamonds.
“It’s the richest area in the world. You can explore it rationally beside the indigenous, giving royalties and integrating the indigenous to society,” he said in December. Brazil’s national mining agency has 97 requests, some dating back to 1980, to prospect in the reserve
Europe’s forests threatened by biodiversity collapse, warn campaigners
Campaigners blame the EU’s own use of biomass to meet most of its renewable energy goals for encouraging logging in Europe’s virgin forests.
The EU expects to lose about 125m tonnes of carbon sequestration potential from forests between 2010 and 2030, with countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Austria transforming from carbon sinks to carbon sources.
DEUTSCHE WELLE
Solomon Islands deal with oil spill from cargo ship in UNESCO sanctuary
Three weeks after a cargo ship ran aground, efforts are being made to prevent an oil leak onto the world's largest raised coral atoll becoming an ecological disaster in the Solomon Islands. The area is a UNESCO site.
Fuel oil from the grounded freighter Solomon Trader has spread for hundreds of meters along a coral reef on the coast of Rennell Island, the southernmost island in the Solomons and the largest raised coral atoll in the world.
It is three weeks since the vessel was driven onto a reef on February 5 by a storm. Aerial photos indicate no spill containment boom in place around the stricken vessel.
An estimated 75 tonnes of oil have escaped from the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier, out of 600 tonnes on board. The oil poses a major threat to the World Heritage-listed marine sanctuary, which is home to many species found nowhere else.
La ciberguerra ruso-estadounidense acaba de empezar
EE. UU. descubrió que el presidente de Rusia sólo respeta la fuerza. Pero tras las revelaciones de los ciberataques estadounidenses contra objetivos rusos, Putin seguramente tomará represalias, dice Konstantin Eggert.
Según The Washington Post, el día de los elecciones de medio término de EE. UU. en noviembre, el recientemente establecido Comando Cibernético del Ejército de EE.UU. bloqueó completamente los servicios de Internet a la Agencia de Investigación de Internet en San Petersburgo, más conocida como la fábrica de trolls del Kremlin
Se dice que la agencia está financiada por Yevgeny Prigozhin, un multimillonario que se cree que es cercano a Vladimir Putin. También se cree que es el principal patrocinador de los mercenarios rusos en el este de Ucrania, Siria y África. La agencia -que, según se informa, está detrás de la interferencia de Rusia en las elecciones presidenciales de 2016 en Estados Unidos, así como de una serie de otras actividades maliciosas en el ciberespacio occidental- estuvo completamente bloqueada, lo que provocó confusión y pánico entre sus directivos, según publicó el diario.
https://www.dw.com/es/la-ciberguerra-ruso-estadounidense-acaba-de-empezar/a-47748659
XINHUA
Administración de EEUU no teme recurrir a "Doctrina Monroe" en cuestión venezolana, dice Bolton
WASHINGTON, 3 mar (Xinhua) -- El asesor de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos, John Bolton, dijo hoy que Estados Unidos planea formar una coalición para cambiar el gobierno venezolano y añadió que su administración no teme recurrir a la "Doctrina Monroe" en la cuestión venezolana.
"Realmente intentamos sumar apoyo a la transición pacífica del poder de Maduro a Juan Guaidó, a quien reconocemos como el presidente", dijo Bolton durante una entrevista en el programa "State of the Union" de CNN.
"Quisiera ver la coalición lo más amplia posible que podamos formar para reemplazar a Maduro... Eso es lo que estamos intentando hacer", señaló Bolton.
Bolton explicó que la administración Trump no teme utilizar la frase "Doctrina Monroe" en su agresiva política hacia Venezuela, en referencia a una antigua doctrina de política exterior que defiende el liderazgo de Estados Unidos en el hemisferio occidental mediante la intervención en los asuntos internos de los demás países de la región.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2019-03/04/c_137866376.htm
Corea del Sur y EEUU empiezan reducido ejercicio militar conjunto
SEÚL, 4 mar (Xinhua) -- Las fuerzas combinadas de Corea del Sur y Estados Unidos comenzaron hoy lunes un ejercicio militar conjunto de una semana llamado Dong Maeng, que se redujo en comparación con las anteriores maniobras de primavera, dijo el Ministerio de Defensa de Corea del Sur.
El ejercicio Dong Maeng, que significa alianza en inglés, duraría hasta el 12 de marzo excepto el sábado y el domingo, y se hace en reemplazo del ejercicio de puesto de mando Key Resolve, un juego de guerra simulado por computadora.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2019-03/04/c_137868155.htm
Egipto y Francia realizan ejercicios navales conjuntos en mar Rojo
EL CAIRO, 3 mar (Xinhua) -- Fuerzas navales egipcias y francesas realizaron ejercicios militares conjuntos en el mar Rojo, informó hoy el ejército egipcio.
Los ejercicios navales se realizaron como parte del plan conjunto entre los ejércitos egipcio y francés para llevar a cabo varias misiones de combate con tecnologías navales modernas, dijo Tamer al Refai, vocero de las fuerzas armadas egipcias.
En los ejercicios navales participaron fragatas y lanzacohetes de Egipto y Francia, así como unidades de fuerzas especiales de los dos países.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2019-03/04/c_137866413.htm
OLP condena acción de EEUU para rebajar representación diplomática ante palestinos
RAMALA, 3 mar (Xinhua) -- Hanan Ashrawi, integrante del Comité Ejecutivo de la Organización para la Liberación de Palestina (OLP), describió hoy a la acción de Estados Unidos de rebajar su representación diplomática ante los palestinos como "perjudicial y hostil".
"La administración Trump tiene intención de no dejar lugar a dudas sobre su hostilidad hacia los palestinos y sus derechos inalienables, así como de su desacato abyecto al derecho internacional y a sus obligaciones bajo la ley", declaró en un comunicado.
Ashrawi hizo las declaraciones en respuesta al anuncio de funcionarios estadounidenses el sábado de que Estados Unidos ha decidido rebajar su representación diplomática ante los palestinos, lo cual entrará en vigor el lunes.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2019-03/03/c_137866268.htm
Rusia ayudará a Venezuela a resolver problemas socioeconómicos, dice presidenta de cámara alta rusa
MOSCU, 3 mar (Xinhua) -- Rusia seguirá brindando asistencia a Venezuela para la solución de sus problemas socieconómicos, incluso proporcionando asistencia humanitaria, dijo hoy la presidenta del Consejo de la Federación, Valentina Matviyenko.
Durante las conversaciones con la vicepresidenta venezolana, Delcy Rodríguez, de visita en Rusia, Matviyenko enfatizó la necesidad de incrementar la cooperación económica bilateral y alcanzar acuerdos en la Comisión Intergubernamental de Alto Nivel ruso-venezolana, que tendrá lugar a principios de abril.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2019-03/04/c_137866338.htm
AL JAZEERA
US and China appear close to deal to roll back tariffs
Reports suggest Presidents Xi and Trump to 'close' a deal at a summit in coming weeks at Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The United States and China appear close to a deal that would roll back US tariffs on at least $200bn worth of Chinese goods as Beijing makes pledges on structural economic changes and eliminates retaliatory tariffs on American goods.
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could seal a formal trade deal at a summit around March 27 given progress in talks between the two countries, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/china-close-deal-roll-tariffs-190304065337566.html
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, a shrinking pro-freedom space
Politics in Azad Jammu and Kashmir dominated by Pakistan's national parties as pro-freedom voices struggle to be heard.
Assad Hashim.- Last month, court hearings were held in a "treason" case lodged against 19 activists of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), a Srinagar-based pro-freedom party, for allegedly shouting slogans calling for both India and Pakistan to leave Kashmir.
Since 1989, thousands have fought in an armed movement for the separation of Kashmir from Indian control. Some armed groups demand accession to Pakistan, others advocate complete independence for the territory, home to 16 million people.
Pakistan has historically supported the Kashmiri movement for self-determination in India-administered Kashmir, both diplomatically and politically. India alleges that its neighbour also supports armed groups who have been fighting Indian security forces for decades, a charge that Pakistan has repeatedly denied.
South Korea's Moon looks for early resumption of US-N Korea talks
Despite the Vietnam summit's failure to bring about a deal, Moon hopes Trump and Kim will resume talks soon.
The South Korean president said the two parties "will reach an agreement in the end" but urged them to work for an early resumption of working-level dialogue "because we do not want the stalemate to be prolonged".
Moon noted that improving relations between the two Koreas within the boundaries of sanctions could also foster relations between the US and North Korea.
US shuts Jerusalem consulate, downgrades Palestinian mission
Palestinian leaders see the decision as another move against them by US President Donald Trump's administration.
The administration also has slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, including assistance to hospitals and peace-building programmes.
It has cut funding to the UN agency that provides aid to Palestinians classified as refugees. Last fall, it shut down the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington.
Modern life fails to intrude on Djibouti's 'White Gold' miners
Home to more than six million tonnes of salt, camel caravans still take the precious resource to Ethiopia.
Faisal Edroos.- Created a millennia ago by volcanic eruptions, the receding waters at Lake Assal have left behind an expanse of crystal white salt that is stunningly beautiful, but excruciatingly painful to walk upon barefoot.
With more than six million tonnes of salt being deposited in the area every year, and the thickness of Assal's crust varying between 20 and 80 metres, a Chinese-funded industrial plant has started work. The government has also tabled the Lake Assal Salt Project to further commodify the lake.
RUSSIA TODAY
Car runs over Israeli soldiers in West Bank, 3 attackers shot – IDF
Several Israeli soldiers were rammed by a car in the occupied West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have said. Two of the attackers were killed by retaliation fire.
"IDF soldiers who stopped on the side of the road NW of Ramallah were run over by terrorists," the official IDF account tweeted, without specifying the number of the soldiers or the extent of their injuries. The troops shot back at the three attackers who were in the vehicle, "neutralizing" two and lightly wounding the third.
https://www.rt.com/news/452940-idf-soldiers-rammed-attack/
Russia suspends INF Treaty with US - Kremlin
President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree enacting Russia’s suspension of the INF Treaty, a move that was announced after a similar decision by the US. The weapons control agreement was set to expire in less than six months. Russia is putting on ice the Cold War-era agreement, which resulted in significant demilitarization of the European continent. The US will be formally notified about the decision.
The INF Treaty may be revived if the US “eliminates its earlier violations of its obligations” under the deal, according to the decree published by the Kremlin on Monday. Otherwise it will simply expire and cease to exist.
https://www.rt.com/news/452982-russia-suspends-inf-treaty/
China claims 2 detained Canadians stole state secrets ahead of Huawei exec’s extradition hearing
China is accusing Canadian citizen Michael Kovrig of stealing state secrets obtained from another Canadian, Michael Spavor. The news comes days before Canada weighs in on Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou’s US extradition request.
The Chinese government’s case against Kovrig was laid out by the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission on Monday, which described the update as a “major development.”
“Kovrig's alleged behavior of gathering and stealing secrets and other intelligence for a foreign power has seriously violated Chinese laws,” the statement reads. Spavor, a businessman, had allegedly been providing Kovrig with “sensitive information and other intelligence” since 2017.
https://www.rt.com/news/452988-china-accuses-canadian-state-secrets/
Indian Air Force shoots down Pakistani drone in India's airspace – reports
A Pakistani aircraft, presumed to be a drone, was detected by Indian anti-air defense and subsequently shot down by a Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet, local media reports.
The unmanned aerial vehicle has violated Indian airspace and was scouting military positions in a desert area of the state of Rajasthan, ANI news agency reported, citing sources.
https://www.rt.com/news/452980-india-shoots-down-drone-pakistan/
Greek police pelted with PETROL BOMBS as masked attackers take to Turkish consulate (VIDEO)
It was a tense night in the Greek city of Thessaloniki as dozens of masked assailants attacked police guarding the Turkish consulate with Molotov cocktails. Officers responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
The violence broke out after dark on Saturday when around 50 males, whom the Greek media described as “anarchists,” assaulted the police.
https://www.rt.com/news/452933-greece-petrol-bombs-turkish-consulate/
Wheelchair-bound Yellow Vest protester doused with pepper spray by police in horrifying
A disabled French protester, who was reportedly asking a police officer to give his protective glasses back, was instead pepper-sprayed in the face from close range, an online video shows.
The incident happened in Toulouse during the 16th weekend of the so-called “Yellow Vest” protest against the French government’s economic policies, according to the person who published the short clip.
https://www.rt.com/news/452944-french-protester-sprayed-face/
AL MAYADEEN
EE.UU. amenaza con "reacción inmediata" ante cualquier acto contra regreso de Guaidó a Venezuela
“Cualquier amenaza o acto en contra de su retorno seguro será recibido con una respuesta fuerte y significativa de Estados Unidos y la comunidad internacional", escribió el asesor de seguridad nacional de Estados Unidos, John Bolton, en su cuenta de Twitter. Freddy Bernal, protector político del estado Táchira, advirtió que la oposición venezolana —bajo la coordinación de EE.UU.— planea acciones de violencia en la frontera con Colombia para luego atribuirlas a Venezuela.
Irak: EE.UU. carece de voz y voto en el destino de las Unidades de Movilización Popular
La presión estadounidense por desmantelar a esas milicias, causó rupturas en el gobierno del primer ministro Adil Abdul-Mahdi, quien maniobra para mantener en equilibrio las demandas divergentes sobre el tema.
Las Unidades de Movilización Popular fueron creadas en 2014 para combatir al grupo terrorista Daesh, y en 2016 –aprobado por ley– se convirtió en parte oficial del aparato de defensa iraquí.
Estas fuerzas son integradas por una amalgama de milicias dirigidas por partidos musulmanes chiítas. Formaron parte de los opositores armados del presidente Saddam Hussein y combatieron junto a las tropas iraníes en la guerra entre Irán e Iraq (1980-88). Más tarde, varios se enfrentaron a la invasión y ocupación de 2003 liderada por Estados Unidos y una coalición internacional.
