Síntesis informativa - 31 de mayo 2019

 

THE NEW YORK TIMES

North Korea Executed and Purged Top Nuclear Negotiators, South Korean Report Says

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has executed its special envoy to the United States on spying charges, as its leader, Kim Jong-un, has engineered a sweeping purge of the country’s top nuclear negotiators after the breakdown of his second summit meeting with President Trump, a major South Korean daily reported on Friday.

Kim Hyok-chol, the envoy, was executed by firing squad in March at the Mirim airfield in a suburb of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, Chosun Ilbo, South Korea’s largest daily, reported on Friday, citing an anonymous source. Mr. Kim faced the charge that he was “won over by the American imperialists to betray the supreme leader,” the newspaper said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/world/asia/north-korea-envoy-execution.html

Julian Assange Suffering Psychological Torture, U.N. Expert Says

GENEVA — A United Nations expert on torture sharply rebuked Britain, Sweden and the United States on Friday for what he called a concerted campaign of persecution and abuse against the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and said he should not be extradited into American hands.

The United Nations special rapporteur on torture and ill treatment, Nils Melzer, who is also an international law professor, said the evidence was “overwhelming and clear” that Mr. Assange had been deliberately exposed for several years “to progressively severe forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the cumulative effects of which can only be described as psychological torture.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/world/europe/julian-assange-torture-un.html

China Plans a List of U.S. Firms to Block, in Answer to Trump

BEIJING — The Chinese government said on Friday that it was putting together an “unreliable entities list” of foreign companies and people, an apparent first step toward retaliating against the United States for denying vital American technology to Chinese companies.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said the list would contain foreign companies, individuals and organizations that “do not follow market rules, violate the spirit of contracts, blockade and stop supplying Chinese companies for noncommercial reasons, and seriously damage the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/business/china-list-us-huawei-retaliate.html

Trump Says U.S. Will Hit Mexico With 5% Tariffs on All Goods

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Thursday that he would impose a 5 percent tariff on all imported goods from Mexico beginning June 10, a tax that would “gradually increase” until the flow of undocumented immigrants across the border stopped.

The announcement, which Mr. Trump made on his Twitter feed, said the tariffs would be in place “until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP.”

 In a presidential statement that followed, he said that tariffs would be raised to 10 percent on July 1 “if the crisis persists,” and then by an additional 5 percent each month for three months. They would remain at 25 percent until Mexico acted, he said. 

 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/us/politics/trump-mexico-tariffs.html

Huge Wave of Syrians Flee Intensified Bombing on Last Rebel-Held Province

ANKARA, Turkey — Syrian doctors and humanitarian workers voiced growing alarm at the plight of civilians in northwestern Syria this week, as fighting intensified in the nation’s last rebel-held province and hundreds of thousands of people fled north toward the Turkish border.

Turkey has closed that border, after eight years of civil war in Syria spurred more than three million people to seek safety in its boundaries. Now, refugees are camping in open fields and in desperate conditions, moving repeatedly as Syrian and Russian forces have escalated artillery and aerial bombardments in a concerted attempt to advance into the province, Idlib.

Over a quarter-million people have been displaced in the past month and 160 people have been confirmed killed, the United Nations said on Thursday, warning of an impending disaster if the violence is not stopped. Officials say the actual number of dead is much higher than 160.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/world/middleeast/syrian-bombing.html

Afghan War Casualty Report: May 24-30

 At least 134 pro-government forces and 47 civilians were killed in Afghanistan during the past seven days, in the deadliest week of fighting in 2019. Insurgent attacks intensified before and during a meeting between Afghan politicians and Taliban leaders in Moscow, a familiar Taliban tactic in which they intensify their attacks before high-profile talks on peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. 

  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/30/magazine/afghan-war-casualty-report-may-24-30.html