Síntesis informativa - 30 de agosto 2019
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Tensions Over Kashmir Rise as India Tightens Security
NEW DELHI — The Indian government imposed fresh restrictions on the disputed Kashmir region on Friday, telling people to stay off the streets as the crisis there dragged into its fourth week.
According to reports in the Indian media — foreign journalists have been barred from entering Kashmir — security forces set up barricades, more businesses closed down, and public transportation had ground to a halt.
The Indian government is coming under more criticism for the intensifying restrictions it has imposed in Kashmir since Aug. 5, when the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi unilaterally scrapped the autonomy that the disputed region had held for decades.
On Friday, Imran Khan, Pakistan’s prime minister, said in an op-ed in The New York Times that “if the world does nothing to stop the Indian assault on Kashmir and its people, there will be consequences for the whole world as two nuclear-armed states get ever closer to a direct military confrontation.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/world/asia/kashmir-india-pakistan.html
Hong Kong Arrests Joshua Wong and Other Activists Before Anniversary
HONG KONG — The police in Hong Kong on Friday arrested prominent activists and blocked plans for a march on Saturday, a sensitive political anniversary, as the authorities intensified their crackdown on an opposition movement that has shaken the semiautonomous Chinese city for months.
Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow, student leaders of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong five years ago that presaged the current protests, were arrested on Friday morning, their political organization said. They were later released on bail. Andy Chan, who led the now-banned Hong Kong National Party, was taken into custody Thursday night at the Hong Kong airport, he said on Facebook.
The arrests were the latest in a dramatic week of events in Hong Kong, where tensions were running high after three months of protests touched off by widespread anger over legislation, since suspended, that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China for trial.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/world/asia/joshua-wong-hong-kong.html
Ally Attacks Ally in Yemen’s War Within a War
CAIRO — Yemen’s government accused the United Arab Emirates of bombing its troops on Thursday as they tried to retake the southern city of Aden from Emirati-backed separatists.
At least 25 soldiers were killed and 150 wounded in the airstrikes on Thursday morning, a government commander said by phone from the scene of the attack. Warplanes had struck the same position 14 hours earlier but inflicted no casualties, the commander added.
The attack came weeks after the Emirati-backed rebels ousted the Saudi-backed Yemeni government from Aden and widens the rift between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which are allies in Yemen’s war.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/world/middleeast/yemen-saudi-emirates.html
In Iran’s Hierarchy, Talks With Trump Are Now Seen as Inevitable
In the power circles of Tehran, where “Death to America” is regularly chanted, the idea has taken hold that Iran must eventually negotiate with President Trump, according to several people with knowledge of the shift.
These people said Iran’s leadership had concluded that Mr. Trump could be re-elected and that the country cannot withstand six more years of the onerous sanctions he has imposed.
It is a remarkable turnabout for the political establishment in Tehran, which for the past 40 years has staked its legitimacy on defiance of the United States but has been particularly hostile toward Mr. Trump.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/world/middleeast/iran-trump-talks.html
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THE GUARDIAN
Amazon fires show world heading for point of no return, says UN
Cristiana Paşca Palmer, the executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said the destruction of the world’s biggest rainforest was a grim reminder that a fresh approach was needed to stabilise the climate and prevent ecosystems from declining to a point of no return, with dire consequences for humanity.
“The Amazon fires make the point that we face a very serious crisis,” she told the Guardian. “But it is not just the Amazon. We’re also concerned with what’s happening in other forests and ecosystems, and with the broader and rapid degradation of nature. The risk is we are moving towards the tipping points that scientists talk about that could produce cascading collapses of natural systems.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/30/amazon-fires-biodiversity-united-nations
Hong Kong protests: Joshua Wong and other pro-democracy figures arrested
The democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow, former student leaders of pro-democracy protests in 2014, were arrested on Friday and Andy Chan, the head of a now banned pro-independence party, was detained by police on Thursday. Wong and Chow were charged with offences including taking part in an unlawful assembly on 21 June 21 at Hong Kong police headquarters and released.
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XINHUA
U.S. Chamber of Commerce warns of recession risk from escalating trade tensions
WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Thursday warned of the rising risk of an economic recession from escalating U.S.-China trade tensions, urging both countries to withdraw the new tariffs and resume trade talks.
"At this moment of uncertainty, it is critical that our leaders take decisive steps to bolster the economy and avoid actions that could turn talk of recession into reality," Thomas Donohue, chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, wrote in an opinion piece published on U.S. daily Washington Post.
"For the Trump administration's part, the escalation of trade tensions with China must come to an end," Donohue said, adding that a U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey of 138 recent earnings calls of Fortune 500 companies revealed that executives are overwhelmingly concerned about the economic impact of tariffs.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/30/c_138351020.htm
India, Pakistan hold talks over Kartarpur Sahib corridor
NEW DELHI, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- India and Pakistan on Friday held talks over the Kartarpur corridor being built in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province, media reports said.
This was one of the key dialogues amid rising tensions between the two countries after the abrogation of Article 370 by India creating two union territories out of India-controlled Kashmir.
The meeting is hoped to revive the diplomatic ties between the two countries which were downgraded recently as a reaction to the abrogation of Article 370.
The corridor on the Pakistan side is being built in Narowal district of Pakistan's Punjab province. It will be constructed from the Indian border to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, a historic shrine of the Sikh community located nearly four km from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district of India's state of Punjab.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/30/c_138351580.htm
Yemeni gov't condemns UAE for launching airstrikes on its troops
ADEN, Yemen, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Defence Ministry on Thursday blasted the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for launching airstrikes that have killed and injured about 300 Yemeni government soldiers.
"The Defence Ministry condemned the UAE aerial bombardment launched against the legitimate government in Aden's outskirts and Zinjibar city of neighboring southern Abyan province," the ministry said in a press statement released by the state-run Saba news agency.
It added that the UAE airstrikes killed and inured more than 300 army members and civilians.
Around 10 airstrikes have been launched by the UAE in Aden and Abyan since Wednesday evening, and more airstrikes were underway, the statement added.
In another developement, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition targeted a military convoy of Yemeni government forces near Aden earlier Thursday.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/30/c_138349169.htm
Brazilian government launches pilot project to fight violent crimes
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government on Thursday launched a pilot project to fight violent crimes in five towns across the country.
The project called "Ahead, Brazil" involves joint actions by the federal government, as well as the administrations of states and towns, who planned to invest four million reals (959,000 U.S. dollars) for each town to tackle the crimes.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Justice and Public Security Minister Sergio Moro and representatives of local administrations signed cooperation documents at the launching ceremony in Brazilia.
The towns, which are located in Brazil's five major regions respectively, all registered significantly high murder figures in recent years, according to Moro.
The actions also sought to tackle the causes of rising crime rates, which may result in urban decay, said Moro.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/30/c_138351106.htm
Over 17,000 suspects sacked from Turkish army since coup attempt
Terrorist Organization (FETO) have been dismissed from Turkish military since the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, state-run Anadolu Agency reported Friday.
A total of 17,498 people have been purged from the Turkish army so far, and the expulsions will continue until "not a single traitor wears a Turkish military uniform," Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying.
Referring to Turkey's ongoing military operations in northern Iraq, the minister said 676 terrorists have been "neutralized" since the beginning of this year.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/30/c_138351849.htm
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AL JAZEERA
UAE: 'Terrorist militias' targeted as fractures with Saudi grow
Yemen's defence ministry says more than 300 people were killed and wounded in United Arab Emirates air raids.
The armed groups planned to target the Saudi-led military coalition - of which the UAE is a key member - backing the Yemen government against the Houthi rebels who control northern Yemen, it said.
The UAE acted in "self-defence" after attacks by "armed groups affiliated with terrorist organisations," the ministry said.
"The military operation against the terrorist militias was based on confirmed field intelligence that the militias prepared to target the coalition forces - a development which required a preemptive operation to avert any military threat," it added.
Abu Dhabi has trained and supported secessionists who seek an independent southern Yemen, despite being a key pillar in the Saudi-led coalition backing the government against the Houthi rebels.
Russia announces ceasefire in Syria's Idlib from Saturday
The announcement comes after Syrian forces advanced on the rebel-held bastion, the last holdout against al-Assad's rule.
Moscow's dispatch of ground forces had made a breakthrough after months of costly battles that yielded little or nothing for al-Assad's side and risked humiliating Moscow, according to Western intelligence sources.
Moscow and Damascus deny they have targeted civilians and say they are responding to "militant attacks" by the al-Nusra Front, an armed alliance now known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, that is the dominant force in Idlib.
UN chief Guterres fears eruption of 'full civil war' in Libya
Libya conflict could spiral into all-out civil war unless 'political solution' reached soon, UN secretary-general warns.
UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame also denounced "external interference" in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde.
GNA chief Fayed al-Sarraj is supported by Turkey and Qatar, while Haftar is backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and has received political support from the United States, Russia and France.
Libya is one of the main departure points for people fleeing poverty and war in the Middle East and Africa who attempt to reach Europe by boat via the Mediterranean Sea.
Nearly 5,000 migrants and refugees are currently held in detention centres across the country, according to the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR).
Outside of the detention centres, about 50,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers, as well as some 800,000 migrants, are currently living elsewhere in the country, UNHCR estimates.
Trump launches US Space Command to address new threats
Describing space as 'the next war-fighting domain', US president says SpaceCom will defend the US's interests in space.
Laura Winter
Speaking at a White House ceremony, Trump described space as "the next war-fighting domain" and that Space Command is essential for defending the US's vital space interests.
The Defense Intelligence Agency in February wrote in an unclassified report that Russia and China “are developing jamming and cyberspace capabilities, directed energy weapons, on-orbit capabilities, and ground-based anti-satellite missiles that can achieve a range of reversible to non-reversible effects.”
The administration sees SpaceCom as the first step in an ambitious five-year plan to establish the Space Force - a new, sixth branch of the US armed forces.
https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/trump-launches-space-command-address-threats-190829225519436.html
Ebola deaths in east DRC outbreak top 2,000
This is second deadliest on record behind 2013-2016 epidemic in West Africa that killed more than 11,300 people.
Uganda, meanwhile, reported another fatal case of Ebola after a nine-year-old girl who crossed the border from neighbouring DRC and tested positive for the disease died on Thursday evening.
The new case is likely to heighten fears of the outbreak, which has largely been confined to eastern DRC, spilling over into neighbouring countries.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/ebola-deaths-east-drc-outbreak-top-2000-190830053340351.html
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AL MAYADEEN
Renuevan mandato de cascos azules en El Líbano
El Consejo hizo un llamamiento para apoyar al Ejército libanés en el cumplimiento de la resolución 1701 de la ONU que puso fin a la guerra entre Hizbullah y el régimen de Tel Aviv en 2006.
Asimismo, instó a (Israel) para que se retire de la aldea de Ghajar que El Líbano reclama como suya al igual que los territorios de la Granja de Sheeba y las colinas Kfar.
Cuba denuncia agresión de EE.UU. para desacreditar colaboración médica
La declaración del Minrex refirió que es una "injuria contra los programas bilaterales e intergubernamentales de cooperación, todos legítimamente establecidos entre el gobierno cubano y gobiernos de decenas de países".
Puntualizó que esos programas de colaboración son consecuentes con las pautas de las Naciones Unidas sobre la cooperación Sur-Sur y responden a los requerimientos de salud que esos propios gobiernos definen soberanamente.
Líder del ELN saluda regreso a las armas de grupo de las FARC en Colombia
"El bando popular está abierto para todos aquellos que quieran aportar y hay una trinchera de combate a la medida del compromiso, a la medida de las posibilidades y las capacidades de toda persona que esté dispuesta a pensar en un futuro mejor", aseguró el jefe guerrillero que encabeza uno de los frentes más activos del ELN y ha logrado construir un bastión guerrillero en la región colombiana del Chocó.
