Síntesis informativa - 25 de julio 2019
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Mueller Warns of Russian Sabotage and Rejects Trump’s ‘Witch Hunt’ Claims
WASHINGTON — Robert S. Mueller III warned lawmakers on Wednesday that Russia was again trying to sabotage American democracy before next year’s presidential election, defended his investigation’s conclusions about Moscow’s sweeping interference campaign in 2016 and publicly rejected President Trump’s criticism that he had conducted a “witch hunt.”
The partisan war over Mr. Mueller’s inquiry reached a heated climax during nearly seven hours of his long-awaited testimony before two congressional committees. Lawmakers hunted for viral sound bites and tried to score political points, but Mr. Mueller consistently refused to accommodate them, returning over and over in a sometimes halting delivery to his damning and voluminous report.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/24/us/politics/trump-mueller-testimony.html
Ricardo Rosselló, Puerto Rico’s Governor, Resigns After Protests
Ricardo Rosselló said Wednesday night that he would resign as governor of Puerto Rico, effective Aug. 2. The announcement came amid protests against his administration and looming impeachment proceedings.
But the governor appeared to leave open the possibility that a different successor could be in place by the time he steps down.
His ouster by popular demand meant more to Puerto Ricans than a rejection of Mr. Rosselló’s administration. It amounted to a resounding repudiation of decades of mismanagement and decline that everyday people blamed on politicians in San Juan and Washington.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/24/us/rossello-puerto-rico-governor-resigns.html
Trump Vetoes Bipartisan Resolutions Blocking Arms Sales to Gulf Nations
WASHINGTON — President Trump vetoed a series of bipartisan measures on Wednesday that would have blocked the sale of billions of dollars of arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Lawmakers from both parties sent an angry joint message to Mr. Trump last month, saying that he could not go around Congress in his bid to help Persian Gulf allies prosecute their war in Yemen.
But in a veto message, Mr. Trump said blocking the arms sales “would weaken America’s global competitiveness and damage the important relationships we share with our allies and partners.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/24/us/politics/trump-veto-arms-saudi-arabia.html
North Korea Launches Two Short-Range Missiles, South Korea Says
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired two short-range missiles off its east coast on Thursday amid stalled efforts to resume talks on ending the country’s nuclear weapons program, the South Korean military said.
The first short-range missile, launched from near Wonsan, a coastal town east of the capital, Pyongyang, flew 430 kilometers (267 miles), reaching a height of 50 kilometers (31 miles) before landing in waters between North Korea and Japan, South Korean defense officials said. The second missile flew 690 kilometers (430 miles) further, the officials said, citing analytical data from United States officials.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/24/world/asia/north-korea-launched-projectiles.html
Sánchez Loses Bid to Form a Government, Prolonging Deadlock in Spain
MADRID — The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, lost a bid to form a government on Thursday after failing to form a multiparty alliance, raising the chances that the country will be forced to hold another national election to try to break the political deadlock.
Mr. Sánchez and his Socialist Party won a national election in April that was hailed as a victory for Europe’s embattled left but fell well short of an absolute majority in Parliament at a time of deepening fragmentation and polarization in Spanish politics. While leading a caretaker administration, Mr. Sánchez has sought the support of some smaller parties, but the most recent talks with the other major left-wing party, Unidas Podemos, broke down overnight.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/world/europe/spain-socialists-government.html
Hong Kong Police Ban a March to Protest Mob Violence
HONG KONG — The Hong Kong police on Thursday blocked plans for a weekend march in a satellite town where a mob of men armed with sticks and poles had earlier injured dozens of people in an attack apparently designed to intimidate participants in a weekslong protest movement.
The march organizer said he would appeal, and some protesters have signaled that they will go ahead with the event whether it is approved or not, a sign that police opposition and increasingly strident denunciations from Chinese officials and local leaders are doing little to curb the demonstrations.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/world/asia/hong-kong-protest-yuen-long.html
THE GUARDIAN
How the state runs business in China
From the Mao era onwards, Chinese state firms have always had a predominant role in the economy, and the Communist party has always maintained direct control over state firms. For more than a decade, the party has also tried to ensure it played a role inside private businesses. But in his first term in office, Xi has overseen a sea change in how the party approaches the economy, dramatically strengthening the party’s role in both government and private businesses.
'No doubt left' about scientific consensus on global warming, say experts
The scientific consensus that humans are causing global warming is likely to have passed 99%, according to the lead author of the most authoritative study on the subject, and could rise further after separate research that clears up some of the remaining doubts.
Three studies published in Nature and Nature Geoscience use extensive historical data to show there has never been a period in the last 2,000 years when temperature changes have been as fast and extensive as in recent decades.
AL JAZEERA
Ukraine seizes Russian tanker in Black Sea
Ukraine says the Russian ship was involved in the naval confrontation between the two countries last year
In a statement on Thursday, Ukraine's SBU security service said the vessel, now called Nika Spirit and formerly named the Neyma, was identified and detained on Wednesday after it entered the Black Sea port of Izmail.
Vladimir Dzhabarov, a senior Russian legislator, described the tanker's seizure as "absolutely illegal" and said the move was detrimental to relations between the two neighbours, according to the RIA news agency.
The SBU said the tanker was used in the Russian operation to block Ukrainian vessels from sailing through the Kerch Strait, a waterway that links the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov on November 25 last year.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/ukraine-seizes-russian-tanker-black-sea-190725115303166.html
'Relief and joy' in Puerto Rico as governor announces resignation
Ricardo Rossello says he will step down on August 2 after two weeks of mass protests over obscenity-laced text messages.
"I announce that I will be resigning from the governor's post effective Friday, August 2 at 5 pm," Rossello said in a video posted on Facebook. The protesters' demands "have been overwhelming", he said, adding: "And I've received them with highest degree of humility."
The 40-year-old, a Democrat elected in 2016, is the first governor to resign in the modern history of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States with more than three million American citizens who do not have full representation in the country's Congress or the right to vote for president.
Rossello said Justice Secretary Wanda Vazquez will temporarily succeed him.
The upheaval comes as the island tries to restructure part of $70bn in debt and cope with a 13-year recession that has led to an exodus of nearly half a million people to the US mainland in the past decade.
Many Puerto Ricans are resentful over the resulting pension cuts, school closings and other austerity measures.
Can China become a military superpower?
Beijing has outlined its defence plans that include a modern and advanced army.
In a national defence paper released on Wednesday, Beijing declared it wants greater modernisation of its armed forces and weapons.
It says its ambitious plans are peaceful, but not if Taiwan tries to achieve independence from the mainland.
China's defence ministry has warned it is ready to go to war to safeguard its national unity. And it says it will take all necessary measures to defeat those it calls "separatists"
AL MAYADEEN
Triple atentado en la capital afgana deja al menos 12 muertos y 41 heridos
El Gobierno afgano culpó en varios comunicados a los talibanes del triple atentado, pero los insurgentes se desvincularon de los dos primeros y, sobre el tercero, aseguraron que estuvo dirigido contra un convoy de las tropas extranjeras desplegadas en el país.
La misión de la OTAN en Afganistán negó, sin embargo, que sus tropas estuvieran implicadas en los atentados de este jueves en Kabul, dijo a EFE un portavoz de la misión internacional, que pidió el anonimato.
El triple atentado se produce en medio de la visita a Kabul del jefe del Estado Mayor Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas estadounidenses, el general Joseph Dunford, y del enviado especial de EE.UU. para la reconciliación de Afganistán, Zalmay Khalilzad. Khalilzad se reunió el miércoles con el presidente afgano, Ashraf Ghani, y el jefe de Gobierno, Abdullah Abdullah, para formar "un equipo inclusivo y efectivo" para negociar con los talibanes, reveló este jueves en Twitter.
Trump veta resoluciones para bloquear venta de armas a países árabes
La Casa Blanca anunció la decisión de veto de Trump sobre las tres resoluciones el miércoles por la noche, e indicó que las mismas "debilitarán la competitividad global de Estados Unidos" y dañarán las relaciones del país con aliados y socios.
Es la tercera vez que Trump utiliza su poder de veto.
Parece que ninguna de las cámaras podrá obtener los votos necesarios para anular los vetos.
El gobierno de Trump anunció en mayo que invocaría la disposición de "emergencia" de la Ley de Control de Exportación de Armas para completar las ventas de las mismas por 8 mil 100 millones de dólares a los socios regionales de Estados Unidos para disuadir las presuntas amenazas iraníes.
Bin Salman busca cambiar de imagen ante el régimen israelí
De acuerdo con medios israelíes, el príncipe heredero saudita, Mohammed bin Salman, trata de acercarse al régimen israelí para mantenerse a salvo de las consecuencias del asesinato de Khashoggi.
Por tanto, añadió, se dio cuenta de que si quiere seguir en el poder debe hacer todo lo posible para conseguirlo y para esto está intentando acercarse a Israel más que antes. La llamada “amenaza iraní” también es otra causa de estos cambios en el comportamiento del príncipe heredero saudita.
La televisora afirmó que durante las últimas dos décadas Arabia Saudita fue la fuente del wahabismo y lo transfirió al mundo a través del grupo terrorista Daesh y el fundador del grupo terrorista Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden. Pero ahora, ha dado un giro y se ha convertido en un admirador de Israel para adelantar sus políticas.
Turquía insatisfecha con nuevas propuestas de EE.UU. sobre zona segura en Siria
Turquía y Estados Unidos no han llegado a ningún acuerdo sobre el tamaño de la posible zona segura, sobre quién la controlará ni sobre la remoción de los militantes kurdos de la zona, señaló Cavusoglu (ministro turco de Relaciones Exteriores,) en una conferencia de prensa en Ankara.
Turquía desea tener pleno control la mencionada zona, pero Estados Unidos insiste en un área sin un despliegue permanente de soldados turcos.
