Síntesis informativa - 21 de noviembre 2019
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Impeachment Inquiry Live Updates: Fiona Hill and David Holmes to Testify
Fiona Hill, the former top Russia expert on the National Security Council, will criticize Republicans on Thursday for propagating what she calls a “fictional narrative” that Ukraine, not Russia, meddled in the 2016 elections, according to a copy of her opening statement for the impeachment hearing.
The impeachment inquiry centers on the accusation that President Trump withheld a White House visit for Ukraine’s president and security aid for the country as leverage to push the government to announce investigations into his political rivals and to validate the claim that Ukraine conspired to help Democrats in the 2016 election.
Ms. Hill calls the claim a fake story invented by Russian intelligence services to destabilize the United States and deflect attention from their own culpability. In her opening statement, Ms. Hill will urge the committee to focus on Mr. Trump’s actions instead of the conspiracy theories put forth by Republicans.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/us/politics/impeachment-hearing.html
U.S.-India Defense Ties Grow Closer as Shared Concerns in Asia Loom
WASHINGTON — As Indian helicopters touched down this week on the deck of an American warship in the Bay of Bengal, what was billed as a modest military simulation became the latest sign of progress in a growing great power partnership in Asia.
The United States and India on Thursday will conclude the first land, sea and air exercise in their history of military exchanges, a step forward in White House efforts to deepen defense cooperation between the countries.
The exercise, Tiger Triumph, brought together 500 American Marines and sailors, and about 1,200 Indian soldiers, sailors and air force personnel to train side-by-side for nine days. While the official focus was to prepare for rescue operations and disaster response, it also included search-and-seizure training and live-fire drills.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/world/asia/india-military-exercises-trump.html
With Impeachment as Backdrop, Democrats Direct Fire at Trump in Debate
The Democratic presidential candidates yielded to the furor surrounding the impeachment inquiry in Washington in their primary debate on Wednesday, for the first time training their fire more steadily on President Trump than on one another and presenting a largely united front on vital issues like climate change and abortion rights.
One month after the party’s moderate wing led a ferocious attack against Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at the previous debate, the leading Democrats opted to mute their rivalries and restrain their language, mainly detailing their disagreements in gentle or at most passive-aggressive terms. There were moments of direct friction, especially in the final minutes of the debate over matters of national security, but in many cases the candidates’ criticism was couched within jocular one-liners or pragmatic arguments about electability.
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THE GUARDIAN
'What happened was a massacre': grief and rage in Bolivia after day of deadly violence
Eight young Bolivians were killed in El Alto on Tuesday, and locals say the interim government of Jeanine Áñez is to blame
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XINHUA
NATO includes space as new operational domain amid divergences on future development
BRUSSELS, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) agreed to include space as its new operational domain alongside air, land, sea and cyber, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday. Following the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of foreign ministers, Stoltenberg defended the decision by saying that space "can be used aggressively."
For a long time, NATO, led by the United States, has been paving its way for Wednesday's decision. In February this year, U.S. President Donald Trump signed Space Policy Directive-4, directing the Pentagon to draft legislation on creating a U.S. Space Force. In August, he unveiled the new Space Command and called space "the next warfighting domain".
Russia has repeatedly warned the risks of space arms race. In September this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that a new arms race might be developing between Russia and the United States -- one that could spread into outer space.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-11/21/c_138570776.htm
Iran delivers "deviant" inspector's documents to IAEA
TEHRAN, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Thursday that Iran has delivered the documents of a "deviant" inspector to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Mousavi said that the inspector was carrying "dangerous" material with himself.
Last month, Iran banned the unnamed IAEA inspector who was intending to enter an Iranian nuclear establishment for regular inspection tasks. Iran is waiting for the IAEA response in this regard, Mousavi said. Iran expects the IAEA and its inspectors to respect the security and safety of Iran's sensitive nuclear centers, he said.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-11/21/c_138573145.htm
Bolivia's interim gov't submits bill to Congress to call for elections
LA PAZ, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia's Jeanine Anez, leader of the interim government supported by the opposition, presented a bill to the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday that calls for new elections. The bill also calls for the creation of a new Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) to oversee the process.
Anez, a conservative lawmaker, declared herself interim president after President Evo Morales and Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera resigned more than a week ago, following anti-government protests and a military coup. The protests were sparked by Morales' re-election to a fourth term in the Oct. 20 elections, with the opposition refusing to accept the results issued by the existing TSE.
Interim Justice Minister Alvaro Coimbra said the bill submitted to lawmakers has "three main objectives," which were recommended by the Organization of American States and the European Union, namely, declaring the results of the Oct. 20 elections null and void, calling for new elections, and designating new members to the TSE.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-11/21/c_138572168.htm
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AL JAZEERA
Trump hopes Afghanistan prisoner release prompts ceasefire
Earlier this week, Afghan government released 3 Taliban commanders in exchange for 2 Western captives.
United States President Donald Trump has said he hopes the release of two Western prisoners held hostage by the Afghan Taliban this week could help pave the way to an end to the war in Afghanistan.
The prisoner swap came after Ghani announced on November 12 that Haqqani and the two other commanders would be freed.
At the time, Ghani said the decision was made after consultations with the US and was aimed at "facilitating face-to-face negotiations directly with the Taliban", who have, until now, refused to engage with what it calls an illegitimate, US-backed "puppet" government.
Renewed efforts to end the country's 18-year conflict have been stepped up recently, with US special representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad visiting Pakistan last month to meet the Taliban's top negotiator, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar
Syria: Idlib IDP camp hit by deadly missile attack
At least 22 people killed in two separate attacks by Syrian government forces, volunteer medic group says.
At least 22 civilians have been killed in Syria's northwest region as Russian-backed government forces continued air raids and shelling in the last rebel-held territory in the war-torn country, according to volunteer medics.
At least 16 people were killed and scores wounded when a ground-to-ground missile struck a camp for displaced people in the village of Qah on Wednesday, said Ahmed Yarji, a spokesman for Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets.
The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said in a statement that the two missiles exploded 25 metres away from its maternity hospital, injuring four of its staff members.
Idlib province is facing a serious lack of adequate medical facilities.
The attack on the Qah maternity hospital marks the 65th attack on 47 health facilities in northwest Syria since the end of April 2019.
US denies claims it is pulling up to 4,000 troops from S Korea
Pentagon denies media report that US was considering a cut to its troop numbers if Seoul did not contribute more costs.
The US secretary of defence has denied a news report in South Korean media that Washington was considering a significant cut to its troop numbers in the country if Seoul does not contribute more to the costs of the deployment.
The US broke off talks on defence costs with South Korea this week after demanding Seoul raise its annual contribution to $5bn, more than five times what it pays now, in a rare public display of discord in the alliance.
A typical US military brigade numbers about 3,000 to 4,000 troops. There are about 28,500 American troops currently stationed in South Korea, which remains technically in a state of war with nuclear-armed neighbour North Korea following a 1950-1953 conflict.
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AL MAYADEEN
China promete contramedidas ante nueva ley de EEUU encaminada a "destruir la estabilidad de Hong Kong"
El viceministro de Relaciones Exteriores de China, Ma Zhaoxu, advirtió que su país tomará "fuertes contramedidas" si Estados Unidos "no deja de interferir inmediatamente en los asuntos de Hong Kong y otros asuntos internos de China", informó Xinhua.
La norma establece sanciones personales y contempla someter a examen el estatus especial otorgado por Washington a Hong Kong en materia de comercio.
Ejército sirio arrebata nueva localidad a terroristas en Idleb
El avance de las fuerzas gubernamentales se produce tras intenso bombardeo con artillería, morteros y cohetes contra las posiciones del grupo terrorista Hayat Tahrir Cham, otrora Frente Al-Nusra.
Con este avance, ya los uniformados sirios se posicionan al norte del poblado de Um Jalajil, cerca del estratégico municipio de Maaret Nouman, en la autopista entre Hama y Alepo.
Por otro lado, el grupo terrorista Frente al Nusra atacó con proyectiles de mortero el barrio Hamdaniyeh de la ciudad norteña de Alepo.
Manifestantes iraquíes bloquean acceso a terminales portuarias nacionales
Los puertos de Khor al-Zubair y Umma Qasr, en el sur de Irak, amanecieron con operaciones a media capacidad por la presencia de manifestantes que obstruyen la carga y descarga de mercancías.
Los manifestantes recurrieron a la táctica de las sentadas en esos dos puertos y al bloqueo de carreteras para obligar al Gobierno a escuchar sus reclamos de mejores condiciones de vida.
El primer ministro Adel Abdul-Mahdi ordenó a las fuerzas de seguridad alejar las protestas de la infraestructura clave y la policía antidisturbios impuso a la fuerza la apertura de los caminos.
