Síntesis informativa - 5 de agosto 2019
THE NEW YORK TIMES
India Revokes Kashmir’s Special Status, Raising Fears of Unrest
NEW DELHI — The Indian government said on Monday that it was revoking a constitutional provision that had for decades given a unique degree of autonomy to Kashmir, a disputed mountainous region along the India-Pakistan border.
In anticipation of the announcement, which many analysts predicted could set off rioting and unrest, India had flooded Kashmir with thousands of extra troops. The Indian authorities also evacuated tourists, closed schools and cut off internet service.
For many years, Kashmir has been governed differently than other parts of India, and the government’s decision to revoke parts of Article 370 of the Constitution is widely seen as a blow to Kashmir’s special status. India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party, known as the B.J.P., has deep roots in a Hindu nationalist ideology and one of its campaign promises during the election this year had been removing the special status of Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/world/asia/india-pakistan-kashmir-jammu.html
After El Paso Attack, Mexico Demands Protections for Mexicans in the U.S.
CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico — Mexico demanded protections for Mexicans and Mexican-Americans living in the United States and threatened legal action on Sunday, a day after the shooting at an El Paso Walmart that left Mexican citizens among the dead and wounded.
Mexican authorities could seek to extradite the gunman on a terrorism charge and were planning legal action against the seller who provided the shooter with his weapon, said the foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard.
“We consider that the issue of arms is crucial,” he said.
The gunman who killed 20 in Saturday’s attack wrote an anti-immigrant manifesto that spoke of a “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” and many Mexicans saw the shooting as an expression of the tensions simmering between the United States and Mexico over immigration, guns and violence.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/world/americas/mexico-el-paso.html
As Japan and South Korea Feud Intensifies, U.S. Seems Unwilling, or Unable, to Help
TOKYO — North Korea had launched its third barrage of short-range missiles in just over a week, parading its growing ability to strike its neighbors with devastating firepower.
But instead of banding together against a common adversary last week, the two American allies in the path of the missiles — Japan and South Korea — were locked in their own bitter battle, whose roots stretch back over 100 years.
The discord stems from Japan’s colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula before and during World War II, and what, if anything, it still owes for abuses committed during that era, including forced labor and sexual slavery. The long-simmering conflict erupted into a full diplomatic crisis on Friday, when Japan threatened to slow down exports of materials essential to South Korean industries.
By Saturday night, thousands of protesters marched in the streets of Seoul, accusing Japan of an “economic invasion” and threatening an intelligence-sharing agreement that the United States considers crucial to monitoring North Korea’s nuclear buildup.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/world/asia/japan-south-korea-feud.html
Iran Says It Has Seized Another Oil Tanker in Persian Gulf
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Iran seized a foreign oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, state television reported on Sunday, the third time Tehran has reported detaining a tanker in the last month as the United States applies its campaign of “maximum pressure,” sanctions and diplomatic isolation against the country.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps detained the tanker on Wednesday along with the seven members of the ship’s foreign crew, according to official Iranian news agencies, which cited a naval commander. Iran said the tanker was “smuggling” fuel to some Arab states, without offering evidence.
The oil tanker was an Iraqi ship, the official IRNA news agency reported, quoting the Revolutionary Guards Corps.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/world/middleeast/iran-oil-tanker-persian-gulf.html
Hong Kong Strike: Spreading Clashes Paralyze City
Riot police officers fired many volleys of tear gas at protesters near government offices, apartment complexes, shopping malls and parks across Hong Kong on Monday, as clashes with demonstrators plunged a broad stretch of the territory into chaos.
Antigovernment demonstrators fanned out across at least a half-dozen districts, occupying roads and hurling objects at police stations as they tested the limits of the police force. They set a fire outside a police station in Sha Tin, in the New Territories region of northern Hong Kong, that quickly swelled until flames licked the sides of the building. Firefighters extinguished the blaze.
Activists called for a general strike and rallies on Monday, leading to service disruptions on several subway and rail lines and the cancellation of more than 200 flights from the city’s airport.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/world/asia/hong-kong-protest.html
THE GUARDIAN
Markets fall sharply amid fears of full-scale US-China currency war
Financial markets around the world have fallen sharply amid growing fears that the US-China trade dispute could escalate into a full-scale currency war, with damaging consequences for the world economy.
London-listed shares on the FTSE 100 fell by about 160 points, just over 2%, on Monday as stock markets across Europe came under sustained selling pressure, following losses on Asian markets overnight.
El Paso shooting comes amid global rise in white nationalist violence
Reports that the suspected gunman at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, saw his mass shooting as “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas” has prompted bipartisan calls for the US to treat the threat of domestic “white terrorists” as seriously as the threat of attacks by supporters of al-Qaida or Isis.
But experts who study racist violence say the attack must be understood not just as a domestic problem within the United States, but as part of a global network of white nationalist radicalization and violence.
AL JAZEERA
India revokes disputed Kashmir's special status with rush decree
Indian government scraps Article 370 in a bid to integrate its only Muslim-majority region with the rest of the country.
Home Minister Amit Shah told parliament on Monday that the president had signed a decree abolishing Article 370 of the constitution that gave a measure of autonomy to the Muslim-majority Himalayan region.
Article 370 of the constitution forbid Indians outside the state from permanently settling, buying land, holding local government jobs and securing education scholarships.
Iran has two nuclear options
The Islamic republic can go either the Israeli way or the Egyptian way.
Hamid Dabashi.- Khamenei is leading a state that lacks enduring institutional legitimacy and must act in its own best interests in the sea of troubles where it is located. But the best interests of the ruling Islamic republic rarely coincide with the best interests of the Iranian people. Most of the time they diverge.
Iran could choose to follow Israel's example and develop nuclear weapons in defiance of international agreements on denuclearisation. It could withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and build with haste a nuclear arsenal to match Israel's. The Iranians have the knowledge, the technology, and the raw materials. Whatever they do not have, they can adopt the Israeli approach to acquire it illicitly.
Why should Israel have nuclear power and not Iran - just because they are a European white settler colony? It does not make sense.
The second option, the one that a peaceful and sane world would prefer and propose, is the Egyptian one. Iran should follow in the footsteps of Egypt and mobilise other countries in the region to launch a global quest for a nuclear-free Middle East.
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/iran-nuclear-options-190729112714738.html
Syrian army to resume operations in rebel-held Idlib
Announcement carried by state media comes days after truce was brokered in Kazakhstan after weeks of deadly bombardment.
Syrian state media said on Thursday the ceasefire would depend on armed groups fulfilling a Russian-Turkish deal, the Sochi agreement, that tried last year to create an Idlib buffer zone.
Under the deal, armed groups in the last rebel-held province were required to retreat 20 kilometres from demilitarised areas around the stronghold, close to the front lines.
They were also required to withdraw their heavy weapons from the front lines.
AL MAYADEEN
Irán difunde primeras imágenes del petrolero detenido en el Golfo
La Oficina de Relaciones Públicas de la Segunda Zona Naval del Cuerpo de Guardianes de la Revolución Islámica (CGRI) de Irán difundió las primeras imágenes de un petrolero con 700 mil litros de combustible de contrabando, detenido el pasado miércoles en el Golfo.
Al respecto, la istitución armada explicó en un comunicado que el petrolero detenido se dirigía a Estados árabes en el Golfo y transportaba combustible de contrabando.
Netanyahu cancela visita de canciller israelí a Brasil
Según un artículo escrito por el analista político Shalom Yerushalmi, la cancelación del viaje obedece a que Netanyahu y Likud han visto indicadores de presión en los últimos días, ya que Avigdor Lieberman propuso que Likud elija a otro candidato para el liderazgo del partido, con el objetivo de formar el gobierno después de las elecciones de septiembre.
Ansar Allah aconseja a los EAU retirada y anticipa a Arabia Saudita próximos golpes
El líder de Ansar Allah señaló que Arabia Saudita debería darse cuenta de que sus intereses y los de la región se mantienen mediante la paz y la estabilidad; sin embargo, "no tenemos otra opción si la agresión saudita continúa, vamos a escalar más y más".
