Síntesis informativa - 23 de mayo 2019
THE NEW YORK TIMES
How China Uses High-Tech Surveillance to Subdue Minorities
KASHGAR, China — A God’s-eye view of Kashgar, an ancient city in western China, flashed onto a wall-size screen, with colorful icons marking police stations, checkpoints and the locations of recent security incidents. At the click of a mouse, a technician explained, the police can pull up live video from any surveillance camera or take a closer look at anyone passing through one of the thousands of checkpoints in the city.
To demonstrate, she showed how the system could retrieve the photo, home address and official identification number of a woman who had been stopped at a checkpoint on a major highway. The system sifted through billions of records, then displayed details of her education, family ties, links to an earlier case and recent visits to a hotel and an internet cafe.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/world/asia/china-surveillance-xinjiang.html
Saudi Warplanes, Most Made in America, Still Bomb Civilians in Yemen
CAIRO — After five days of treatment in a shabby Yemeni hospital, Luai Sabri died on Tuesday. The 20-year-old had a cracked skull, a ruptured spleen and a damaged liver, according to a relative, injuries caused by a bomb that dropped from a warplane flown by the Saudi-led coalition.
The airstrike was part of a wave of bombings over the Yemeni capital, Sana, last Thursday that coincided with a spike in tensions between the United States — which supports the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen — and Iran — which backs the coalition’s enemies, the Houthi rebels.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/world/middleeast/saudi-yemen-airstrikes-civilians.html
U.S. Yet to Find Evidence of New Chemical Weapons Attack in Syria
WASHINGTON — The United States has found no evidence so far that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have begun again using chemical weapons in Syria’s continuing civil war, the top American diplomat for Syria said on Wednesday, a day after the State Department warned of an “alleged chlorine attack” in the country’s northwest.
The diplomat, James F. Jeffrey, the special representative for Syria and a veteran Foreign Service officer, said during a congressional hearing that the Syrian military had been carrying out bombings in the area around Idlib, the last rebel stronghold, that “have been indiscriminate and very vicious.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/world/middleeast/syria-chemical-weapons.html
Iran Stiffens Its Resolve as the Trump Administration’s Pressure Mounts
BEIRUT, Lebanon — In its campaign to throttle Iran into submission, the Trump administration has in the last several weeks applied smothering force — blocking the country’s last avenues for selling oil, classifying the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization and deploying ships and bombers to the Persian Gulf.
But if the goal of increased pressure was to force Iran to change its behavior or to send angry Iranians into the streets to ultimately sweep the nation’s clerical leadership from power, it has so far achieved neither.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/world/middleeast/us-iran-trump-administration.html
Pentagon to Build Temporary Shelter for 7,500 Migrant Adults Facing Deportation
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said on Wednesday that it would build temporary housing along the southwestern border for 7,500 migrant adults facing deportation, the latest step in the administration’s efforts to respond to a surge of undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers trying to enter the United States.
The Defense Department will loan military-style tents to the Department of Homeland Security, Pentagon officials said. In a statement emailed to reporters, Maj. Chris Miller, a Pentagon spokesman, said that military personnel would only set up the tents and that the operation of the facilities would rest with homeland security.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/us/politics/pentagon-border-deportation.html
House Panel’s Assent Gives Life to Effort to End 9/11 Military Authorization
WASHINGTON — For the first time in years, Democratic and Republican lawmakers intent on repealing the authorization of military force passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are expressing hope that they can finally rein in a resolution that has been stretched like elastic to justify open-ended warfare against Islamist militants around the globe.
The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved a bipartisan amendment that would repeal the 2001 authorization for the use of military force, which provided Congress’s blessing to use military force only against nations, groups or individuals responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. When it was first passed, the enemies targeted were Al Qaeda and its Taliban host in Afghanistan, but since then, presidents of both parties have invoked the war authority to justify military force in many other places.
The move is the latest in a yearslong debate over whether to curtail the president’s war powers that has heated up in recent months as lawmakers fret over intractable conflicts. It has taken on new urgency as the administration has escalated tensions with Iran.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/us/politics/authorization-military-force-congress.html
THE GUARDIAN
'We'll fight to the end': China's media ramps up rhetoric in US trade war
As trade tensions mount between the US and China, Beijing faces the difficult task of appealing to national pride to shore up confidence in the leadership while also keeping public anger in check.
After the breakdown of trade talks and US moves to list Huawei and potentially other Chinese companies on a trade blacklist, voices within Chinese state and private media are growing more strident.
An editorial in the People’s Daily on Wednesday accused the US of “bullyism”, while a bulletin on the state broadcaster CCTV said the US was “delusional” if it believed “technological bullying” could contain China. “This shows some American politicians are extremely narrow-minded and cannot tolerate the normal pursuit of development and progress of other countries,” the announcer said.
India election results 2019: Modi claims landslide victory for BJP
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has claimed a landslide victory in national elections that cements the Hindu nationalist leader as the country’s most formidable politician in decades.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/23/india-election-results-narendra-modi-bjp-victory
Humans causing shrinking of nature as larger animals die off
The researchers estimate that more than 1,000 larger species of mammals and birds will go extinct in the next century, from rhinos to eagles. They say this could lead to the collapse of ecosystems that humans rely on for food and clean water.
Animal populations have fallen by 60% since 1970, suggesting a sixth mass extinction of life on Earth is under way caused by the razing of wild areas, hunting and intensive farming. Scientists said this month that human society was in danger from the decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems, with half of natural ecosystems now destroyed and a total of a million species at risk of extinction.
enlace al artículo de nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10284-z
China factories releasing thousands of tonnes of illegal CFC gases, study finds
Since 2013, annual emissions of the banned chemical Chlorofluorocarbon-11 (CFC-11) from that region have increased by about 7,000 tonnes, according to a report in peer-reviewed journal Nature.
Reports last year from the Environmental Investigation Agency blamed Chinese foam factories in the coastal province of Shandong and the inland province of Hebei, which surrounds Beijing. Suspicions were strengthened when authorities subsequently shut down some of these facilities without explanation.
A trail of toxicity: the US military bases making people sick
In 2016, irrigation water was found to be contaminated with elevated levels of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs). A 2007 study estimated that PFAS are in the blood of 98% of Americans, while last year an analysis by the not-for-profit Environmental Working Group found that more than 1,500 drinking water systems nationwide could be contaminated by PFAS, affecting as many as 110 million people.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/23/chemical-colorado-springs-military-communities-pfcs
AL JAZEERA
Libya's rebel commander Haftar tells Macron no ceasefire for now
French President Macron has for weeks called on warring sides in Libya to reach an unconditional ceasefire.
The flare-up in the conflict in Libya - which has been gripped by anarchy since Muammar Ghaddafi was toppled in 2011 - began in early April, when Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) advanced on the capital Tripoli.
President Emmanuel Macron and French officials have for weeks repeated their official support for the GNA and have called for an unconditional ceasefire.
But some European countries, including France, have also supported Haftar as a way to fight the armed groups in the country.
Both Macron and Conte had already met al-Sarraj, who has accused Paris of supporting Haftar and tacitly backing his assault on Tripoli, claims denied by French officials.
Pakistan military says it test-fired ballistic missile Shaheen-II
Test conducted as early results from Indian election put Prime Minister Modi in line for re-election.
Asad Hashim.- Pakistan's military has said it successfully conducted a test of its surface-to-surface ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, a day after the country's foreign minister reiterated an offer to India to resume peace talks.
The Shaheen-II missile, test-fired on Thursday, can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads to a range of up to 1,500km, the military said.
Trump refuses to work with Democrats until they end probes
The president's comments come as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accuses Trump of engaging in a 'cover-up'.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will not negotiate policy with congressional Democrats while they continue to investigate him.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/trump-refuses-work-democrats-probes-190522172337796.html
Turkey-backed fighters join forces with HTS rebels in Idlib
Rival armed groups ally with each other in northern Syria against President Assad's forces in a 'battle for survival'.
Anchal Vohra.- Hay'et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) seized the town of Kfar Nabuda in Idlib province on Tuesday with the help of the National Liberation Front (NLF), a conglomeration of rebel groups supported by Ankara. The town had been retaken by the Syrian government in its recent assault.
NLF has clashed with HTS, formerly the al-Qaeda wing in Syria, over ideological differences and also over territorial control. HTS took over numerous NLF-run towns and villages, but united with its adversary to oppose Assad's army.
RUSSIA TODAY
Pakistan tests Shaheen-II ballistic missile as India counts election votes (VIDEO)
Pakistan has said it test-fired a ballistic missile, amid tensions with India, while also claiming it wants peace with its rival. The statement comes as India counts election votes, with Narendra Modi expected to retain power.
Pakistan’s military claims the missile is capable of delivering conventional and nuclear weapons at a range of up to 1,500 miles in a possible warning to India.“Shaheen-II is a highly capable missile which fully meets Pakistan’s strategic needs towards maintenance of deterrence stability in the region,” Pakistan’s military said in a statement. Shaheen has been in service since 2014 and is thought to be based on a Chinese design.
https://www.rt.com/news/460080-pakistan-missile-launch-india/
Russian forces destroy 4 rockets fired by terrorists at Syria’s Hmeymim airbase – military
Russia's air defense forces destroyed four rockets which terrorists fired at the Hmeymim airbase in Syria from multiple launch systems, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
According to the military the attack took place on Wednesday evening. “All the rockets were timely detected by the Russian air defense capabilities and destroyed,” the ministry said in a statement.
In a precision strike, Russia’s air task force aircraft “destroyed the terrorists’ launcher in the Idlib de-escalation zone,” it added. Two drones launched by terrorists also, attacked the al-Zara electric power plant located in the northwest of the city of Hama, TASS reported, citing the military.
https://www.rt.com/newsline/460085-russia-syria-rockets-hmeymim/
SpaceX sues US Air Force for awarding lucrative contracts to 'paper rocket' builders like Bezos
Elon Musk's SpaceX is taking the US government to court over what it claims was an "arbitrary and capricious" move to favor its rivals, including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, with multimillion contracts and turn down SpaceX's bid.
The lawsuit, a redacted version of which was released on Wednesday, claims that US Air Force catered to the needs of the nation's largest and longtime spacecraft launch service provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) when it awarded lucrative contracts to the ULA and two other competitors. This gave the ULA, which itself a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, an unfair advantage, the lawsuit alleges, since the other two favored companies – Blue Origin owned by Elon Musk's rival billionaire Jeff Bezos, and Northrop Grumman – both produce "major components" for the ULA.
https://www.rt.com/usa/460041-musk-spacex-lawsuit-pentagon/
Ankara rejects media reports of US two-week ultimatum on S-400 deal
Ankara has rejected news reports that the US has set an official deadline for Turkey to pull out from the S-400 deal with Russia by the end of the first week of June, according to Turkish TV channel A Haber.
“Nothing of that kind [has occurred] at the official level,” Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kiran said, “In March the US renewed its previous proposal on supplies of Patriot missile systems. Actually, we believe that this [media report] concerned this proposal.”
https://www.rt.com/news/460066-turkey-reject-ultimatum-s400/
No ceasefire in Libya for now, Haftar tells Macron
Speaking to French President Emmanuel Macron Libyan eastern commander Khalifa Haftar ruled out a ceasefire and said he wanted to rid Tripoli of militias that had “infested” the UN-backed government, according to a French presidential official.
“The distrust we see between the Libyan actors is stronger than ever today,” the official said on Wednesday, after the meeting between Macron and Haftar in Paris. In early April, Haftar’s Libyan National Army advanced on the capital Tripoli. The LNA is now bogged down in southern suburbs by fighters loyal to PM Fayez al-Serraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA). Macron had asked Haftar to make a public step toward a ceasefire, the official said. Haftar responded by saying that an inclusive political dialogue was necessary and he would be ready for it if the conditions for a ceasefire were in place, Reuters reported.
https://www.rt.com/newsline/460069-ceasefire-libya-haftar-macron/
AL MAYADEEN
Pentágono considera envío de cinco mil soldados adicionales a Medio Oriente, revelan funcionarios de EE.UU.
El Departamento de Defensa de EE. UU. está considerando una solicitud para enviar alrededor de cinco mil soldados adicionales a Medio Oriente, en medio de las crecientes tensiones con Irán, dijeron dos funcionarios estadounidense, informó Reuters.
Los funcionarios, hablando bajo condición de anonimato, dijeron que la solicitud la hizo el Comando Central de los Estados Unidos, pero agregaron que no estaba claro si el Pentágono aprobaría la solicitud y que las tropas solicitadas serían defensivas por naturaleza.
OLP podría abortar el "Acuerdo del siglo" impulsado por EE.UU.
El miembro del comité ejecutivo de la Organización para la Liberación de Palestina (OLP), Ahmed Majdalani, expresó al canal Al Mayadeen una posición clara sobre el rechazo del comité al proyecto estadounidense para la liquidación de la causa palestina llamado Acuerdo del siglo.
Enfatizó que esa invitación es prácticamente una parte integral del plan, y explicó que cualquier persona que quiera celebrar una conferencia en apoyo del pueblo palestino será a través de la cooperación con el gobierno palestino oficial, y esta conferencia no ha sido consultada ni coordinada con la OLP.
