Síntesis informativa - 26 de agosto 2019
THE NEW YORK TIMES
South Korea Launches Military Exercise for Islets Also Claimed by Japan
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea on Sunday kicked off its biannual military exercises aimed at demonstrating control over a set of islets that are the source of a territorial dispute with Japan, a move that was likely to heighten tensions between Washington’s two key Asian allies.
Relations between Seoul and Tokyo are already in their worst state in years as the two nations have engaged in a tit-for-tat escalation of tensions over historical and trade disputes.
The two-day military exercise began three days after South Korea announced that it would terminate a military intelligence-sharing deal with Japan to retaliate against trade restrictions Tokyo had imposed earlier.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/25/world/asia/south-korea-japan-islands.html
Israel Says It Struck Iranian ‘Killer Drones’ in Syria
JERUSALEM — Israeli warplanes struck targets in Syria where Iran was preparing to attack Israel using explosive-laden “killer drones,” Israel’s military said, and top commanders were on alert early Sunday to see how Iran might respond.
In what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a “major operational effort,” Israeli fighters hit the Syrian town of Aqraba, between downtown Damascus and the city’s airport, around 11 p.m. Saturday.
“If someone rises up to kill you, kill him first,” Mr. Netanyahu said on Twitter, alluding to a Talmud passage justifying self-defense.
Hezbollah Says Drones That Crashed in Beirut Suburbs Came From Israel
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Two drones crashed in the southern suburbs of Beirut early Sunday, an area that is home to many supporters of the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah, which said the aircraft came from neighboring Israel.
The crashes came a day after Israeli warplanes struck targets in Syria where, according to the Israeli military, Iran had been preparing to attack Israel using explosive-laden “killer drones.” Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of forces to Syria to fight in support of President Bashar al-Assad, said two of its fighters were killed in that strike.
The weekend events further heightened tensions between the United States and its regional allies on one side and Iran and the local forces it backs on the other. So far, the struggle has played out mostly through the diversion of oil tankers, drone attacks, covert support to militant groups and strikes on military bases said to be used by the Iranians.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/25/world/middleeast/israel-drones-beirut-hezbollah.html
Trump Offers Contradictory Signals on China Trade War
BIARRITZ, France — President Trump offered deeply contradictory signals about his trade war with China on Sunday, ending the day by escalating his threats of higher tariffs even as he remained isolated from fellow world leaders on a strategy that has rattled the global economy.
A day after defending his authority to order American companies out of China, Mr. Trump started Sunday by conceding that he was having “second thoughts” about a new round of levies on Chinese goods. Within hours, he abruptly reversed himself again, saying that he only regretted not raising tariffs even higher.
The president’s rhetorical whipsaw came against the backdrop of tense but cordial meetings in Biarritz, France. It injected fresh uncertainty into Mr. Trump’s efforts to try to change Chinese behavior by gambling on the fate of hundreds of billions of dollars in products that flow between the two countries.
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THE GUARDIAN
G7: Trump's demands for Russia's readmission cause row in Biarritz
The disagreement led to heated exchanges at a dinner on Saturday night inside the seaside resort’s 19th-century lighthouse. According to diplomatic sources, Trump argued strenuously that Vladimir Putin should be invited back, five years after Russia was ejected from the then G8) for its annexation of Crimea.
Of the other leaders around the table, only Giuseppe Conte, the outgoing Italian prime minister, offered Trump any support, according to this account. Shinzo Abe of Japan was neutral. The rest – the UK’s Boris Johnson, Germany’s Angela Merkel, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, the EU council president, Donald Tusk, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron – pushed back firmly against the suggestion.
G7 leaders agree plan to help Amazon countries fight wildfires
Emmanuel Macron says $20m fund and long-term initiative to protect rainforest agreed on in Biarritz. Macron said the US supported the initiative, although he acknowledged that U.S. President Donald Trump had skipped Monday’s working session on the environment.
Satellites have recorded more than 41,000 fires in the Amazon region so far this year — with more than half of those coming this month alone. Experts say most of the fires are set by farmers or ranchers clearing existing farmland.
White House insists Trump not having second thoughts on China trade war
Donald Trump admitted on Sunday to having second thoughts about raising tariffs against China, sparking brief hopes of a possible truce in the trans-Pacific trade war. But his spokeswoman later insisted the only regret the president had was not imposing even greater tariffs.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/25/donald-trump-second-thoughts-china-trade-war
Shares across Asia fall sharply amid US-Chinese trade tensions
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index in Sydney closed down 83 points, or 1.27%, and the pattern was the same across markets in Asia Pacific where Hong Kong saw the heaviest losses. The Hang Seng index was off 3% in afternoon trading, the Nikkei in Tokyo was down more than 2%, Seoul’s Kospi was down 1.5% and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.3%
The escalation in trade tensions over the weekend sent the Chinese yuan tumbling to an 11-year low in onshore trade on Monday as investors went into cautious mode. The Australian dollar dropped 0.4% to US67.32c.
US companies tell Apple and Amazon to put planet before profits
A group of more than 30 American business leaders, including the heads of outdoor clothing brand Patagonia, The Body Shop owner Natura, Ben & Jerry’s (part of Unilever) and Danone’s US business, have taken the extraordinary step of taking out a full-page ad in Sunday’s edition of the New York Times to champion a more ethical way of doing business. The advert is aimed at members of the influential Business Roundtable (BRT) lobby group, which represents 181 of the US’s biggest companies.
'There's no one to help': Russian mercenary industry's toll on families
Central to many of these operations is Wagner, which first emerged on the battlefields of Ukraine. Since then it has grown from a simple paramilitary outfit to providing military training, political consultancy, and intelligence and online influence operations.
Wagner’s footprint has been largest in CAR, where its fighters have served as military advisers, trainers and armed guards in exchange for gold and diamond mining concessions.
In Sudan, Wagner mercenaries were first filmed training military personnel to storm buildings in 2017. Mercenaries were also spotted near this year’s anti-government protests, although they were not directly involved in efforts to put them down
Leaked documents have shown Wagner’s efforts to make inroads to other countries in Africa by dispatching mercenaries and political consultants.
Wagner’s core asset has always been its willingness to send paid mercenaries to places where the Russian government can not openly go. Some operations have ended in disaster. Hundreds of mercenaries, some tied to Wagner, were reportedly killed in clashes with US forces during a doomed attempt to seize an oil refinery in Syria in February 2018.
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XINHUA
Erdogan says Turkish troops to enter east of Euphrates in Syria "very soon"
ANKARA, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the Turkish land troops will enter the east of the Euphrates in Syria "very soon," reiterating his determination to clear the region of "terrorists."
Speaking at an event in the eastern city of Mus to mark the 948th anniversary of Battle of Malazgirt, Erdogan said the Turkish forces are "slowly covering ground" regarding the establishment of a safe zone in northern Syria agreed upon with the United States.
He warned the United States against any delays over the safe zone agreement, saying Turkey will proceed with its own plans if the cooperation with the United States does not go well.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/26/c_138340050.htm
Kremlin hopes G7 will show "common sense" in restoring ties with Russia
MOSCOW, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Moscow expects the Group of Seven (G7) member countries to be reasonable in the matter of restoring relations with Russia, the Kremlin has said.
"So far, it has not been possible to restore relations with some countries, but we hope that common sense will prevail sooner or later," the TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Sunday.
Peskov recalled that Russia was restoring relations with the overwhelming majority of the G7, which worsened after the Russian incorporation of Crimea in 2014, and Russia was suspended from what was formerly known as the G8.
He mentioned France and Italy as countries with which Russia's relations were "on a fairly positive track," adding that traditionally, Russia enjoyed close relations with Germany and Japan.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/26/c_138340101.htm
Yemen's Houthi rebels say launch multiple attacks on Saudi capital
SANAA, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi rebels said they launched multiple drone attacks on a vital military site in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday, the group's al-Masirah TV reported.
"We called on civilians to stay away from military sites because they become legitimate targets," the television said, citing a statement by the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea as saying.
Sarea did not name the target.-
There was no comment yet from Saudi Arabia on the alleged attack.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/26/c_138339981.htm
Large military drills kick off in southern Russia
MOSCOW, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Large-scale command and staff drills, involving 8,200 troops, have kicked off on the territory of Russia's Southern Military District, RIA Novosti news agency reported Monday.
The exercises will be held until Saturday at 12 training grounds involving combined formations of the Army, Navy, Air Defense and Air Force located in the Rostov, Volgograd, Astrakhan, Stavropol and Krasnodar regions and Crimea, it quoted a spokesman for the district as saying.
More than 2,500 units of military hardware, including about 30 warplanes and over 60 helicopters, as well as over 100 tanks and ships of the Black Sea Fleet and the Caspian Flotilla will take part in the drills.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/26/c_138340181.htm
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AL JAZEERA
Iran's Zarif holds surprise talks with Macron at G7 summit
Unannounced visit comes as France ramps up efforts to ease tensions between Iran and US over Tehran's nuclear programme.
Macron decided to invite the Iranian foreign minister to Biarritz after hosting a dinner of G7 leaders on Saturday night, a French official told AFP.
The invite had been made "in agreement with the United States", the official added, contradicting a claim by the White House that Trump had not been informed of Zarif's arrival.
After its exit, Washington reimposed punishing sanctions on Iran, including on its oil and banking sectors.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the meeting between Zarif and Macron, saying it was worth taking every opportunity to avoid further escalation of the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme.
PM Hamdok seeks to remove Sudan from US terror list
Hamdok says getting off US terror list and cutting military budget will revive country's faltering economy.
A sovereign council, comprising six civilians and five members of the armed forces, is set to rule the country for a little over three years until elections can be held.
Sudan is almost $60bn in debt, and Hamdok said the interest on the debt payments is roughly $3bn.
He called for drastically reducing military spending - from 80 percent of the state budget - to rescue the nation's faltering economy, hoping for a "peace dividend" if current efforts to negotiate deals with armed rebels are successful.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/pm-hamdok-seeks-remove-sudan-terror-list-190826055440915.html
Israeli warplanes hit Gaza after Palestinian rocket fire: Army
Hamas denies group's involvement saying factions in Gaza were not responsible for rockets fired from the besieged Strip.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem denied the group's involvement, Maan news agency reported, saying that Palestinian factions in the enclave were not responsible for any rocket fire.
Earlier, the Israeli military said three rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel overnight.
Israeli authorities also announced a punitive reduction in the flow of fuel to the strip's main power station, meaning a deep cut in the already rationed electricity supply.
The commercial crossing, known to Palestinians as Karam Abu Salem, is the primary passageway through which necessities, including cooking gas, wheat and flour, are transferred to Gaza's nearly two million residents.
DR Congo announces new gov't 7 months after president inaugurated
Coalition government under President Felix Tshisekedi dominated by former leader Joseph Kabila's FCC movement.
Announced on Monday by the president's spokesperson, the power-sharing agreement saw 23 members of the executive drawn from Tshisekedi's Direction For Change party, and the remaining 42 from former long-time president Joseph Kabila's Common Front for Congo (FCC) coalition.
Tshisekedi took office in January after winning a December 30 election which observers said was marred by irregularities and opponents denounced as rigged.
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A MAYADEEN
Armada de EE.UU. está lista para “lo que hay que hacer” en Venezuela, reitera el Jefe del Comando Sur
En declaraciones ofrecidas a los periodistas en la ciudad brasileña de Río de Janeiro, en ocasión del inicio de las maniobras navales estadounidenses en Latinoamérica, en lo que se conoce como el Ejercicio Multinacional de Maniobras Militares (UNITAS, por sus siglas en inglés), Faller reiteró que la Armada de EE.UU. está lista para hacer “lo que hay que hacer” en Venezuela, y afirmó que UNITAS “envía un mensaje” al resto del mundo.
Irán despliega el avanzado destructor Sahand en el golfo de Adén
Este grupo naval tiene la misión de garantizar la seguridad de navegación de la República Islámica de Irán en las aguas internacionales, anunció este lunes el coordinador adjunto del Ejército iraní, el contralmirante Habibolá Sayari.
El alto oficial militar explicó que la flota participará, además, como escolta de buques y petroleros iraníes en el mar de Omán y en el golfo de Adén.
Este nuevo buque de guerra rápido está equipado con lanzadores de torpedos, sistemas de misiles precisos superficie-superficie, cañones antiaéreos y misiles antisuperficie: capacidades que le permiten resistir eficazmente el ataque de barcos y aviones enemigos. Destaca, asimismo, por su gran capacidad de maniobrabilidad y resistencia en guerras antisubmarinas.
