Síntesis informativa -24 de abril 2019
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Sri Lanka Calls Bombers ‘Well Educated’ and Warns of Ongoing Threat
Sri Lanka’s president asked two top security officials to resign, amid anger that the government had ignored multiple warnings that churches could be attacked — one of which came just hours before the bombings Sunday. One lawmaker called for the two officials to be arrested and prosecuted.
• The American ambassador warned of “ongoing terrorist plots,” and a Sri Lankan official said people involved in the bombings could still be at large.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/world/asia/sri-lanka-bombings.html
Made in China, Exported to the World: The Surveillance State
QUITO, Ecuador — The squat gray building in Ecuador’s capital commands a sweeping view of the city’s sparkling sprawl, from the high-rises at the base of the Andean valley to the pastel neighborhoods that spill up its mountainsides.
The police who work inside are looking elsewhere. They spend their days poring over computer screens, watching footage that comes in from 4,300 cameras across the country.
The high-powered cameras send what they see to 16 monitoring centers in Ecuador that employ more than 3,000 people. Armed with joysticks, the police control the cameras and scan the streets for drug deals, muggings and murders. If they spy something, they zoom in.
This voyeur’s paradise is made with technology from what is fast becoming the global capital of surveillance: China.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/technology/ecuador-surveillance-cameras-police-government.html
U.S. and Afghan Forces Killed More Civilians Than Taliban Did, Report Finds
KABUL, Afghanistan — For the first time since the United Nations began documenting civilian casualties in Afghanistan a decade ago, more civilians are being killed by Afghan government and American forces than by the Taliban and other insurgents, according to a report on Wednesday.
Civilian deaths attributed to pro-government forces rose in the first quarter of this year even as overall civilian casualties dropped to their lowest level in that period since 2013.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/world/asia/afghanistan-civilian-casualties-united-nations.html
Navy SEALs Were Warned Against Reporting Their Chief for War Crimes
Stabbing a defenseless teenage captive to death. Picking off a school-age girl and an old man from a sniper’s roost. Indiscriminately spraying neighborhoods with rockets and machine-gun fire.
Navy SEAL commandos from Team 7’s Alpha Platoon said they had seen their highly decorated platoon chief commit shocking acts in Iraq. And they had spoken up, repeatedly. But their frustration grew as months passed and they saw no sign of official action.
Tired of being brushed off, seven members of the platoon called a private meeting with their troop commander in March 2018 at Naval Base Coronado near San Diego. According to a confidential Navy criminal investigation report obtained by The New York Times, they gave him the bloody details and asked for a formal investigation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/us/navy-seals-crimes-of-war.html
Europe Not Feeling Much Pain From Trump Tariffs, Central Bank Says
FRANKFURT — President Trump’s trade war was supposed to make Europeans feel so much pain they would beg for mercy at the negotiating table. But it’s not working very well, according to a new study by the European Central Bank.
Almost a year after the White House imposed tariffs on European steel and aluminum, the actual damage to European exports has been surprisingly mild, according to the study, released on Wednesday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/business/europe-us-tariffs-trade-war.html
THE GUARDIAN
Kim Jong-un arrives in Vladivostok by train for Putin summit
“I have heard a lot of good things about your country and wanted to visit it for a long time,” Kim said hours earlier at the Khasan border crossing, according to the regional administration. “Seven years have passed since I took charge of the country, but I did not have a chance to visit Russiauntil now.”
He is expected to tour Vladivostok on Wednesday and then prepare for the summit with Putin to be held on Thursday on the island campus of the Far Eastern University.
North Korea is seeking diplomatic support in its negotiations with the US over its nuclear programme, and material support for its sanctions-hit economy. Russia opposes the west’s sanctions-led approach but also, like China, wants to see North Korea roll back its nuclear efforts. Putin is expected to propose modest financial support, because Russia will not openly flout the economic sanctions and sees North Korea as a questionable investment.
Sri Lanka attacker studied in UK and Australia, says minister
“We believe that one of the suicide bombers studied in the UK and later did his postgraduate [studies] in Australia before coming back and settling in Sri Lanka,” said Ruwan Wijewardene at a media briefing on Wednesday.
“This group of suicide bombers, most of them are well-educated and come from middle or upper-middle class, so they are financially quite independent and their families are quite stable financially. That is a worrying factor in this,” he said. “Some of them have I think studied in various other countries, they hold degrees, LLMs [law degrees], they’re quite well-educated people.”
DEUTSCHE WELLE
NATO, Afghan forces kill more civilians than Taliban
Security forces in Afghanistan killed more civilians in the first part of 2019 than the Taliban and other terrorist groups. At the same time, casualty numbers fell compared with the previous year.
Afghan civilians were killed in greater numbers by NATO and pro-government security forces in the first three months of 2019 than by armed militants, according to UN figures.
It's the first time that fatalities caused by security forces in Afghanistan have exceeded those caused by the Taliban.
https://www.dw.com/en/nato-afghan-forces-kill-more-civilians-than-taliban/a-48454671
XINHUA
Putin se reunirá con Kim el 25 de abril en ciudad rusa de Vladivostok, dice asesor de Kremlin
MOSCU, 23 abr (Xinhua) -- El presidente de Rusia, Vladimir Putin, y el máximo líder de la República Popular Democrática de Corea (RPDC), Kim Jong Un, se reunirán el 25 de abril en la ciudad de Vladivostok, en el Lejano Oriente de Rusia, informó hoy el asesor del Kremlin Yury Ushakov.
"Esta reunión será el primer contacto entre nuestro presidente y el líder de la RPDC", dijo a los reporteros Ushakov, cuyas palabras fueron citadas por la agencia de noticias RIA Novosti.
Las conversaciones se sostendrán de manera directa antes de negociaciones ampliadas entre las delegaciones y de una recepción oficial, dijo Ushakov.
Las conversaciones se enfocarán principalmente en una solución política y diplomática a la cuestión nuclear de la península coreana, dijo.
Ushakov indicó que Rusia tiene la intención de ayudar a mantener la estabilidad en la península coreana en todas las formas y que trabajará con otros países involucrados para "crear los prerrequisitos y una atmósfera favorable para alcanzar acuerdos serios para resolver el problema de la península coreana".
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2019-04/23/c_138002554.htm
Embajador chino dice que EEUU debería adherirse a la Iniciativa de la Franja y la Ruta
WASHINGTON, 23 abr (Xinhua) -- Estados Unidos debería aprovechar las oportunidades asociadas con la Iniciativa de la Franja y la Ruta propuesta por China, escribió el embajador de China en EEUU, Cui Tiankai, en un artículo que apareció este martes en el sitio web de la revista Fortune.
Al referirse a la Franja y la Ruta como "el proyecto de desarrollo más ambicioso de la historia", Cui dijo que el escenario en el que China y Estados Unidos, las dos economías más grandes y dinámicass del mundo, colaboren en la iniciativa "no es una fantasía".
Propuesta en 2013, la Iniciativa de la Franja y la Ruta "eventualmente conectará una vasta franja del mundo, generando enormes rendimientos en la actividad económica y uniendo al mundo como nunca antes", dijo Cui.
"Estados Unidos permanece al margen, y esto tiene implicaciones no solo en términos de oportunidades perdidas de crecimiento en EEUU sino en la causa del desarrollo global que necesita el ingenio y la industria de Estados Unidos", dijo el embajador.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2019-04/24/c_138004377.htm
Autoridades de Sri Lanka confirman participación de nueve atacantes suicidas en atentados de Pascua
COLOMBO, 24 abr (Xinhua) -- Investigaciones de la Policía de Sri Lanka confirmaron que nueve atacantes suicidas participaron en los atentados del domingo, ocho de los cuales han sido identificados, dijo hoy el ministro de Defensa del Estado, Ruwan Wijewardene.
El líder del grupo extremista local que llevó a cabo los atentados fue uno de los terroristas suicidas, detalló el ministro en una conferencia de prensa.
Wijewardene dijo que hasta el momento 60 sospechosos han sido arrestados en relación con las explosiones y 32 de ellos han sido entregados al Departamento de Investigaciones Criminales.
http://spanish.xinhuanet.com/2019-04/24/c_138005199.htm
AL JAZEERA
Trump 'opposed to' his staff testifying over Mueller report
US leader says no reason for his aides to talk to Congress over probe into Russia meddling in 2016 polls, report says.
Trump told The Washington Post that the White House cooperated with Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and did not need to comply with congressional committees, which are probing possible obstruction of justice on the president's part.
On Tuesday, The Washington Post also reported that the White House was planning to oppose a subpoena issued by the House Committee on the Judiciary for former White House Counsel Don McGahn to testify.
The newspaper, quoting White House officials who asked to remain anonymous, said the White House planned to assert executive privilege to prevent McGahn and other current and former Trump administration officials from testifying.
North Korea's Kim Jong Un to meet Putin in Russia
Summit is the first between Putin and the North Korean leader and will focus on nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula.
Kim will meet Putin on Thursday in the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok to discuss the international standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear programme, a Kremlin official said.
Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have continued to simmer in the wake of the two summits, with North Korea recently calling for the replacement of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a negotiator.
In addition to the increasing hostility towards Pompeo, North Korea last week tested a "new type of tactical guided weapon", its state news agency reported. It was the country's first known weapons test since February's failed US-North Korea summit in Hanoi.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/north-korea-kim-jong-meet-putin-russia-190423144905805.html
Libya: GNA forces repel Haftar's offensive, retake Tripoli suburb
Forces aligned to UN-recognised government in Tripoli retake control of the town of Aziziya, 60km south of the capital.
The latest military action is a setback to Haftar's plans to install himself as the ruler of the country and could ease a dangerous situation that has divided and confounded foreign governments with an interest in Libya.
Libya is also the main departure point for migrants from elsewhere in Africa trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean, a big concern for European Union nations.
UN: Pro-government forces kill more Afghans than armed groups
Afghan and international forces killed at least 305 civilians and wounded 303 between January and March, UN says.
Afghan and international forces, including NATO, killed more civilians in the first three months of this year than the Taliban and fighters from other armed groups, a new UN report has said.
According to findings from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released on Wednesday, at least 305 civilians were killed by pro-government forces between January and March, 52.5 percent of all deaths in that period.
AL MAYADEEN
Irán no ha abandonado la mesa de negociaciones y le corresponde a EE.UU. regresar a ella, opina Zarif
El ministro de Relaciones Exteriores iraní, Mohammad Javad Zarif, criticó la política estadounidense que no respeta las normas y estándares internacionales, y dijo que Irán no abandonó la mesa de negociación y que, por lo tanto, el asunto de regresar a las negociaciones le corresponde a Estados Unidos.
En declaraciones a Al Mayadeen, Zarif dijo -al comienzo de su visita a Nueva York- que la "administración Trump se convirtió en peón en el juego del primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu, muy peligroso para la seguridad y la estabilidad de la región".
Ninguna pena reducida es justa para un hombre que no cometió ningún crimen, afirma en Brasil expresidente Lula
"El juicio de hoy es un capítulo más de un juicio totalmente político”, explicó Lula. "Un juicio donde no vale la prueba, las pruebas de defensa son totalmente desconsideradas y la palabra del delator vale más que cualquier cosa", siguió Emídio de Souza.
La reducción de la pena por el STJ ocurrió en una decisión unánime; sin embargo, mantuvo el castigo contra el exdirigente obrero y los votos fueron pronunciados durante el juicio ante un recurso presentado por su defensa.
El fallo hizo emerger la posibilidad de que Lula abandone este año el régimen cerrado y pueda cumplir la sanción a fines de septiembre en prisión domiciliaria.
