Dictate News

Ethiopian Airlines brand new Boeing 737 MAX crashes on way to Kenya with 157 people on board

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 10:28:00 +0700

Months after a deadly crash in Indonesia involving the same model, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 has crashed on its way to Nairobi, Kenya, carrying 149 passengers and eight crew members, minutes after take-off.

Operated by Ethiopian Airlines, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 was on a routine flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to the Kenyan capital. The airline confirmed that there were no survivors.
The Ethiopian prime minister’s office was the first to comment on the crash, tweeting that the government “would like to express its deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning.”
Ethiopian Airlines said that nationals of 33 different countries were among the dead. Three passengers traveled under UN passports and their nations of origin are still being determined.
The Boeing aircraft was reportedly brand new and had been delivered to the airline just four months ago.
The company said in a statement that it was "deeply saddened" about the tragic accident and would provide technical assistance to find out why its aircraft crashed.

The aircraft model has been plagued with problems. In October, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by Lion Air crashed minutes after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 189 passengers and crew.
After the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it would review Boeing’s previous safety analyses of the aircraft.

Bloomberg reported in November that the plane is prone to making “abrupt dives” due to a faulty flight-monitoring system.
Two pilots unions have accused Boeing of failing to properly explain a safety feature on the 737 MAX 8 aircraft in their manuals, claiming that the oversight may be responsible for the Lion Air crash.
The company issued a safety update in November to pilots flying the 737 MAX 8, warning of a possible fault in a sensor that could send the aircraft into a violent nosedive.

Despite its flaws, the 737 MAX still remains a popular choice for airlines. An estimated 200 Boeing aircraft currently ferrying passengers around the world are at risk of experiencing similar deadly malfunctions, Elmar Giemulla, a leading German expert in air and traffic law, told RT in November.

China grounds its 737 MAX fleet after modern Boeing jet suffers 2nd crash in 5 months

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 10:26:00 +0700

Chinese airlines have been ordered to ground their Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes, after the modern jet suffered a second fatal crash in just five months – with its aviation watchdog noting disturbing similarities between the incidents.

“Given that two accidents both involved newly delivered Boeing 737-8 planes and happened during take-off phase, they have some degree of similarity,” the Civil Aviation Administration of China said Monday, emphasizing its principle of zero-tolerance on any safety hazards.

All Chinese domestic airlines were requested to suspend operation of the 737-8s by 6:00pm local time (10:00am GMT) and, according to local media and flight tracking resources, on most routes the jet has already been replaced with older-generation planes.

Chinese carriers account for about 20 percent of the plane’s sales, with dozens of Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets already in operation and many more scheduled for delivery. China Southern Airlines Co. has the biggest fleet, with 16 of the aircraft, while Air China Ltd. currently operates 14 jets. China Eastern Airlines Corp. has 13.
With the first 737 MAX crash in late October still under investigation, this second tragedy might well have been a coincidence, but security concerns and the potential grounding of the entire MAX fleet would severely impact Boeing’s business. A Boeing spokesman declined Reuters’ request for a comment.

Paris Saint-Germain 1 Manchester United 3 (3-3 agg): Last-gasp Rashford penalty secures historic comeback

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Thu, 7 Mar 2019 11:33:00 +0700

Paris Saint-Germain blew a 2-0 first-leg lead to be eliminated from the Champions League by Manchester United, who won 3-1 in France.

Manchester United made Champions League history as Marcus Rashford's last-gasp penalty secured a 3-1 win away to Paris Saint-Germain, sending the English side through on away goals after a 2-0 loss in the first leg.
No side had ever progressed in a knockout match in Europe's elite competition after losing a home first leg by two or more goals, but United did the unthinkable, Rashford adding to Romelu Lukaku's brace after VAR drama.

Although PSG controlled the first half, seeing 76 per cent of the ball, Thilo Kehrer and Gianluigi Buffon were guilty of gifting the in-form Lukaku two goals either side of Juan Bernat's equaliser, meaning United led at the break.

PSG looked as though they had done enough, but with the use of technology, Presnel Kimpembe was penalised for handball and Rashford emphatically dispatched the opportunity, seeing the Ligue 1 team eliminated at the last-16 stage for a third year in succession.

A poor Kehrer pass in behind Thiago Silva gifted United the early boost they needed, as it released Lukaku and he duly slotted home after skipping past Buffon in the second minute.
But PSG swiftly began to dominate and drew level 10 minutes later - Bernat applying a straightforward finish after Kylian Mbappe's pass across the face of goal.
Despite their dominance, PSG fell behind again before half-time, as Buffon spilled Rashford's long-range shot and Lukaku punished him, shortly before United – who are already dealing with a lengthy injury list – withdrew Eric Bailly following a mistimed Marco Verratti challenge.
PSG should have put the tie beyond United late on, but Mbappe slipped when trying to round David de Gea, while Bernat hit the post when the loose ball ran into his path.
United made them pay.
Diogo Dalot's long-range strike hit the arm of Kimpembe in the box and, following a review, a contentious penalty was given, with Rashford confidently smashing his kick beyond Buffon to spark mayhem among the United fans and book a place in the last eight.

What does it mean? Solskjaer has the magic touch
If there were any doubts about Solskjaer getting the job on a permanent basis inside United, there surely cannot be any remaining now. While the Red Devils were certainly aided by two PSG gifts and VAR controversy, the fact remains they pulled off a truly remarkable turnaround, one only possible for a team all playing for each other.
Lukaku's hot streak continues
Another very effective display from the Belgian, as he scored a brace for the third game on the bounce. Rashford was ultimately the hero, but Lukaku was immensely sharp and United would not have been in the position to complete their comeback were it not for his earlier efforts.
Thilo never recovers from a Kehr-less start
When you essentially give away a goal in under two minutes, it is always going to take something to pick yourself up again. The defender simply never really recovered, constantly looking nervous against Rashford. In the end, Kehrer's error proved costly.

French senators say ex-Macron aide should be investigated for perjury

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 23:21:00 +0700

Emmanuel Macron is under renewed pressure after a senate committee recommended his former security aide Alexandre Benalla should be investigated for perjury and accused the French president’s office of “serious failings”.

The committee’s report on the “Benalla Affair” said “major dysfunction” was apparent in the president’s office and said they believed there was evidence that Macron’s security had been compromised.
The report came following an investigation into the violent conduct of Benalla, a former security aide of the president and part of his inner circle, during a Paris street protest.
It suggested Benalla’s alleged links to a Russian oligarch posed a serious conflict of interest and a potential threat to presidential security and national interests.

The damning 120-page report was published on Wednesday following a six-month inquiry, during which the committee quizzed Benalla, 27, after he was filmed attacking two protesters at a May Day demonstration, at which he was observing a police operation, last year.

The senate committee concluded Benalla was “inexperienced” and had been granted excessive powers. It said Macron and his team had been wrong not to immediately report him to the authorities after the incident, instead allowing him to remain in his job until a video of the demonstration became public. The report said facts had initially been kept from the legal authorities.
The committee also expressed doubt over whether Benalla had been properly disciplined and questioned why he had been reportedly allowed to keep at least two diplomatic passports.
Benalla and a second man, Vincent Crase, a former Republican Guard and gendarme employed by Macron’s centrist La République En Marche party, both under investigation over the May Day demonstration, were arrested and placed in police custody after reportedly breaching their parole conditions. They are in prison after the investigative website Mediapart published transcripts of conversations between them after they were ordered by a magistrate not to communicate with each other.
When the Benalla scandal broke last summer, Macron described it as a “storm in a tea cup”; seven months on the president and his closest aides continue to suffer the fallout from increasingly damaging revelations.
One of the president’s special advisors reportedly implicated in the scandal, Ismaël Emelien, resigned last week though the Elysée insisted his departure was not connected to the investigation.

On Wednesday morning, Philippe Bas, the president of the cross-party Sénat commission, presented the report. He said the investigation encompassed several issues, including “an affair over the irregular carrying of weapons, an affair of Russian contracts, an affair of diplomatic passports, an affair of the muddling of a head of mission in the proper functioning of presidential security”.

It criticised a “lack of precaution and diligence” by Macron in the “prevention of a conflict of interest between certain aides”.
In a statement, senators said they were not seeking to interfere with ongoing investigations, but that Benalla had clearly played an “essential role” in Macron’s security.
“He had at his disposal important, top-level, means – unprecedented at the Elysée – including permission to carry a weapon obtained under questionable conditions,” it found.
“Efforts of the highest officials of the presidency of the Republic to present his missions as limited to organisational tasks remain, however, barely credible.”
The report also expressed concern about Benalla’s reported connections with a Russian oligarch. “Those business relations could have made Messers Benalla and Crase the weak links in the head of state’s security, by placing them under the control of a foreign interest,” it said.
“In addition, the law commission has stressed the need to recall that those who work with political authorities should not interfere with the correct functioning of administrations, what are not under their authority but that of the government and and the directors of the central administration.”
It concluded: “Finally, it is not in the spirit of the Constitution that those working for the Prime Minister are simultaneously working for the President of the Republic.”
It added that some of Macron’s closest aides, including his office director, had given misleading information about Benalla’s role at the Elysée that had been “contradicted by factual elements collected during the work of the committee”.

It is now up to the senate’s president to decide whether to follow through on the recommendations of the committee and file a complaint with the prosecutor’s office.

EU Chief Jean-Claude Juncker Defies Protests to Deliver Heartfelt Defence of Karl Marx

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 11:06:00 +0700

Delivering an impassioned defence of Karl Marx’s legacy, EU boss Jean-Claude Juncker argued the radical should not be judged for the Communist atrocities that took place in his name.

The President of the European Commission defied protests to deliver his speech at an event commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Communist Manifesto writer’s birth in Trier, west Germany.

Speaking at a church in the city, he said: “Karl Marx was a philosopher, who thought into the future, had creative aspirations, and today he stands for things which is he not responsible for, and which he didn’t cause, because many of the things he wrote down were redrafted into the opposite.

He added: “One has to understand Karl Marx from the context of his time and not have prejudices based on the review, these judgements shouldn’t exist.”
During the event, where he unveiled a statue of Marx donated by China’s authoritarian government, Juncker also highlighted goals of furthering EU integration and “social rights” in the bloc as Marx’s contribution to the European project.

His speech, which was briefly interrupted by an anti-Communist protest, came in the face of pleas from politicians around the world for him to boycott the event, which critics argued represented a whitewashing of “the most destructive ideology in human history”.

Members of the U.S. Congress urged the top Eurocrat “not to honour Karl Marx in any way”, asserting that with a death toll of more than 100 million, Marxism is a “toxic ideology that has led to mass death, torture, and enslavement wherever it has been applied.”
“Marx’s defenders often say he cannot be held accountable for what Communist regimes did long after his life and death; but Marxist dictators who massacred their own people were applying Communist ideology to political practice,” the U.S. Congressional group on Victims of Communism wrote in a letter last week.
“Violence and Marxism go hand in hand,” said caucus chair Representative Chris Smith, pointing to examples including Marx’s praise of “revolutionary terror” as the only method that can shorten “the murderous death agonies of the old society and the bloody birth throes of the new society.”
The letter concludes with a plea to Juncker “not to honour Karl Marx in any way, rather to speak the truth about this man whose writing indeed called for the tyranny and murder that have been and continue to be committed in his name.”.

Juncker was also urged not to attend by a group of MEPs from Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, who warned the EU boss that his gracing the event would be “particularly appalling for the citizens of countries which suffered for decades under Communist dictatorships”.

Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski, who fled Soviet-ruled Poland with his family when he was a child, added his voice to calls for Juncker to cancel his appearance at the lavish ceremony, urging the EU leader to “remember that Marxism was all about ripping power and individual means away from people and giving to State.”
“Marxism led to the killing of millions around the world as it allowed a small band of fanatics to suppress the people,” he added.
“We must learn the lessons from this and share with our children.”
A spokesman for the European Commission defended Juncker’s speech and appearance at the event, claiming that “not speaking of [Marx] would come close to denying history.”
“After decades of experience in politics at a national and European level, President Juncker is very well aware of the historical facts and sensitivities,” she said.

“Whatever peoples’ views on Karl Marx, I think that nobody can deny that Karl Marx is a figure who shaped history in one way or another.”

What does it meme? The rise and rise of the fashion viral

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 10:50:00 +0700

Fashion loves a meme. What better way to bring a sense of humour to the once po-faced world of fashion. But with some labels now designing clothes for this very reason, what is it like to become one?

I have never worn anything that could be considered “online content”. And, to the best of my knowledge, I have never gone viral. That is until one spring morning, enjoying a snack by the canal, alone save for the ducks, I realised someone on the bridge was taking a photograph of me. I glanced down at the dress I had on – less a dress, actually, and more a length of elegant bedding – and realised I had never looked more shareable.
The elegant bedding in question was a vast, diaphanous day gown by London-based designer Emilia Wickstead, from her spring/summer 2019 collection. It comes with a coif cap in the same 18th century-style print and there is a train, of sorts, which billows underfoot, and holes within the folds for my hands.

It is gorgeous to wear, like weighted swaddling – until the breeze inflates the whole thing like a balloon. Still, with the right Photoshop tinkering, a pithy caption and an Instagram account, it could easily morph into a visual gag – a giant eiderdown, a pair of curtains or, with the headpiece, a chintzy version of a Handmaid’s dress. In short, this is a dress that could become a meme.

Morwenna enjoying some Monster Munch in a very memeable Emilia Wickstead dress. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

If you use social media, you will have seen a meme on Instagram or laughed at one on Facebook, even if you don’t really know what it is. This is forgivable – it has become amorphous as a term – but the original concept dates back to 1976, when the word was coined by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene. He took it from the Greek root “mimeme” (“that which is imitated”), shaved it into a neat monosyllabic word to make it snappier (you know, like a meme) and used it to describe a unit of cultural transmission that shows the spread of ideas or culture.

Nowadays anything can become a meme, be it an idea, song or theory; a lolcat, distracted boyfriend or dancing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The successful ones are hard to predict – it’s usually about flinging something against the wall and seeing what sticks. But occasionally one sticks so well, it goes viral. And often these come from fashion. Consider the following: Angelina Jolie in Versace at the 2012 Oscars, flashing her right leg, a stance that bore memorable memes such as “Jolie’ing” and leg-bombing. Or Rihanna’s yolk-yellow 2015 Met Gala outfit, dubbed “the omelette dress” for its resemblance to breakfast. Quickly memeified, the viral attention put designer Guo Pei on the map.
The fashion-meme industry relies on two things: designers to make meme-friendly pieces and social media whizzes to turn them into memes. If fashion finds beauty and profit in designing familiar objects in an unfamiliar way, then placing high-fashion in a non-fashion context is the next logical step. Accounts such as @freddiemade and @siduations are probably the best examples of fashion meme makers, with both using a sort of cut-and-paste recontextualisation method. Say model Bella Hadid in Versace trainers “running” a marathon, a plastic-caped Balenciaga model superimposed into that apartment scene in American Psycho, or Viktor & Rolf couture Photoshopped with the head of Fyre festival’s Andy King from the Netflix documentary. It’s these gags that make their work chime with a demographic who live their lives – and tell their jokes – online.

It might seem cynical, but right now, if you were to pit the dress on the catwalk against the dress in some sort of witty meme-y context, you’d get more likes for the latter. Humour is integral – partly because, to use the correct parlance, it provides that crucial “if you know, you know” lol. Instagram artist Hey Reilly, who’s had his illustrations on the catwalk through a collaboration with Fendi, explains: “I look for a hit in the image that reflects a sense of almost subconscious recognition in the viewer. An effective route to this jolt is by playing around with recognised fashion and celebrity imagery: it gets me lolling and hopefully others, too.”
With the fashion landscape so crowded, the ability of these memes to cut through our daily barrage of images hasn’t gone unnoticed by brands. Now, the most successful designers aren’t avoiding the viral end of pop culture. Instead, they’re actively trying to create something meme-friendly, an “it” item that piques our interest and sets the internet on fire.
Under Demna Gvasalia, Balenciaga is a leader of memeable fashion – see last year’s layered anoraks recalling a memorable Joey Tribbiani scene from Friends – as many memes on social media happily pointed out. In 2017, Marc Jacobs even collaborated with Instagram bootlegger @avanope on a T-shirt collection that looked like bad market stall copies of Jacobs’ work, and showcased her in-joke irony to a new – and in the know – audience. Gucci is in on it as well: the models carrying casts of their own heads, as they did for SS18, were arguably more memorable – and certainly more memeable – than the clothes themselves.
Even more sober houses such as Valentino have been pulled into the viral ecosystem. Any designer who showed a long red gown recently could have found their work superimposed on to a scene from the TV version of The Handmaid’s Tale, and became a totem for women’s rights. For pre-fall, Valentino’s collection had 33 head-to-toe red looks, begging for Elisabeth Moss’s bonneted head to be Photoshopped in. Whether or not it was designed with woke memes in mind is unclear, but it certainly lends itself to the genre.

This season, meme-friendly fashion continued. See the supersized bag that dwarfed models at Jacquemus, a ginormous wide-brimmed hat at Valentino, giant bows at Marc Jacobs and half of Jeremy Scott’s collection for Moschino – which reworked a sewing basket’s contents into designer dresses.
Intentional or not, creating clothes that become memes is a sure-fire way to set yourself apart from the old guard. With around 60% of luxury customers of a millennial age, clicks not only lead to sales: as a marketing strategy, they are arguably more important for getting your brand out there. “Designer brands are gradually realising they must lose their haughty image if they want to sell their clothes to a generation consumed by the internet,” says Holly Friend, foresight writer at The Future Laboratory.
If comparing a coat or dress with a cat meme seems reductive, it certainly gives the label an edge. For Moschino designer Jeremy Scott, this is no bad thing. “For something to be meme-worthy, sure, it could be a negative,” he says. “But what I do is playful. If you can’t find something funny around it, well, oh dear you.”
For Simon Porte Jacquemus, of hip French label Jacquemus, it goes with the territory. “I often start [designing] with a specific photograph,” he says. “And when I think of the silhouettes, I think of styling from the beginning. I also see how clothes would look through a screen. I come from a digital generation.”

With his giant hats and postcard-backdrop shows, Jacquemus is arguably the crown prince of meme-friendly fashion. His infamous 2018 La Bomba hat is already a classic and he obviously approved of its online reception – if its sequel, SS19’s equally mega-bag, is anything to go by. The element of absurdity, the fact that they photograph well and their being – like Wickstead’s dress – larger than life helped make them deliciously memeable.
Still, memes paraded on the catwalk, or your Instagram feed, are one thing. But let’s not forget these are clothes and meant to be worn. If you put on that hat in public, you’d probably block out the sun. As for the Jacquemus bag, imagine wedging it into an easyJet locker. This stuff looks funny, but isn’t easy to wear.

I should know, having spent the best part of the morning in a floor-length Moschino gown covered in three-inch gold needles. Sure it’s elegant, and riffs on a Franco Moschino original, but, like the most memorable pieces from Scott’s show, it is more than a dress: it’s a cartoon, a commentary, riffing on the idea of fast fashion. It even comes with a thimble to wear on your head. And given it weighs 20kg and takes two people to lift it off the hanger, it’s unwearable. The hat falls off as soon as you move. You carry the entire weight of the dress on your shoulders. But it is designed to be seen, and photographed, and shared on social media rather than to walk down the street. By wearing it, I’m showing I’m in on the joke.

The next day, my shoulders still sore, I take it down a notch by moving from the Moschino dress into a monochrome Erdem look, which by contrast is normality itself. The cape hangs beautifully, allowing air to circulate. The trousers are stiff but wearable. The beekeeper’s veil – yep – would be essential wearing if I worked in a hive. Standing on a street that is bee-free, I wonder what would compel me to wear a delicate veil like this in public and realise nothing, save a funeral. Until I see myself transplanted on to a meme, at which point it all makes sense.
Scott was making a salient point about the fashion industry when he designed his collection but he’s also well aware of the shareability of his designs. I put this point to Dawkins. He claims he had fashion in the back of his mind when he came up with the term meme. “Changing styles and the epidemic spread of trends – people noticing what someone is wearing and copying it and that being repeated over and over – this is the ideal medium for illustrating how a meme works.”

Labels that meme well arguably do well, too. Kering, the conglomerate that owns Gucci and Balenciaga, gets over half its revenue from meme-happy millennials, suggesting there is financial method in them. In 2016, Instagram – where memes thrive – claimed a third of its then 500m users, 90% of whom are under 35, had bought clothing through the social network.

Erdem’s bee-keeper hat makes no sense at all – until you realise how meme-able it is. Illustration: Guardian Design

But it’s also about lifting clothes out of their safe space, into the gaze of a wider audience. Part of the reason Demna Gvasalia’s Balenciaga gets so much attention is because it turns fashion into a cultural moment, as with the recontextualising of a Bernie Sanders logo on to a scarf (AW17) or a computer font into a print (SS19). This is outward-facing fashion. Gvasalia actively wants to be part of the cultural conversation, and knows some of that is communicated through the language of memes.
I suspect Wickstead – a designer more at home in the rarefied environs of Kensington Palace than a meme – would probably be horrified that I compared her dress to a duvet. But Gvasalia is regularly accused of trolling his own customers with designs such as the infamous T-shirt with a DHL logo, sold for £185, and his customers are A-OK with that. This sort of ironic publicity is the bread and butter of the industry now and we want to participate in it. “By creating, sharing or buying these products, we can demonstrate our alliance to internet culture,” Friend says. “After all, we want to be in on the joke.” Even if that means we become the joke.

Phil Foden ‘brilliant’ for Manchester City against Newport, says Pep Guardiola

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 10:42:00 +0700

Pep Guardiola praised Phil Foden for producing a “brilliant” performance against Newport County after the 18-year-old scored twice to help Manchester City reach the quarter-finals. Leroy Sané and Riyad Mahrez scored the other goals as the Premier League champions won 4-1 to break Newport’s brave resistance.

“Phil has to compete with Kevin [De Bruyne], with [Ilkay] Gündogan, with Bernardo Silva, with David Silva, but he’s a player who is ready – ready to play,” Guardiola said.
“And today was a good test for him, with second balls, long balls, he had to adapt. He learned a lot, I’m sure, and he helped us to win the game with two incredible goals. We know that he’s a guy who [gets] close to the box and has this mentality to score goals, and he has the ability to do that. He was brilliant. He was top.”

Although City dominated possession, the scoreline flattered them a little, given that it was 2-1 with only one minute of normal time remaining. Pádraig Amond, capitalising on a mistake by Aymeric Laporte, lobbed Ederson to briefly spark hopes of a Newport fightback, only for Foden and Mahrez to strike again for City.
Guardiola, who picked a strong team, was full of praise for Newport on and off the field. Asked about the atmosphere, the City manager said: “I’m quite surprised. The support of the team was incredible, chanting ‘Who are you?’ was nice. I understand completely why Leicester and Middlesbrough suffer a lot in this stadium. It was tight [tonight] – we scored the third goal just before 90 minutes. But we knew the game would be tight.

“What they do, they do incredibly. They attack the channels with long balls, in the second balls they are physical and strong, every throw-in and free-kick they are always dangerous because they train a lot and do it really well.”

Russian minister calls Gavin Williamson 'minister for war'

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 10:39:00 +0700

Sergei Lavrov criticises UK defence secretary after he says Russia has ‘blood on its hands’

Russia’s foreign minister has described Gavin Williamson as “minister for war” after the UK defence secretary said Russia had blood on its hands for its actions in Ukraine and Syria in a speech on Friday.
Comments by Williamson on the possibility of sending a naval frigate to patrol the South China Seas has already led China to cancel a trade trip by Philip Hammond – a move that has infuriated the Treasury.
Sergei Lavrov’s dismissal of Williamson came in answer to a question at the Munich security conference on ways to secure peace in the Arctic.
“We want to understand what kind of mandate Nato is going to have in the Arctic,” Lavrov said. “If you listen to some people like the minister of war – oh, sorry the minister of defence – of the United Kingdom then you might get an impression that nobody except Nato has the right to be anywhere.”
It was not the first time Lavrov and Williamson have clashed. Last year, after Williamson told Russia to “go away and shut up”, Lavrov said: “Maybe he lacks education.”
The disagreement came as Sir Alan Duncan, the Foreign Office minister responsible for Russia, met Vladimir Titov, Russia’s first deputy foreign minister on Saturday in the margins of the Munich conference.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Sir Alan underlined that we have deep differences, and the Russian state would need to choose a different path and act as a responsible international partner before there can be a change in our current relationship with Russia. The Foreign Office minister reiterated the UK and allies’ firm stance in response to the Russian state’s reckless use of chemical weapons in Salisbury.
“He noted that functional channels of engagement are important to raise concerns and discuss international issues. But he made clear that Russia must address the concerns of the international community. This includes ending its destabilising activity in Ukraine; and the persecution of the LGBT community in Chechnya.”
Lavrov accused Europe of allowing itself to be involved in a meaningless confrontation with Russia, which suffered billions of dollars in losses after sanctions were imposed upon it.
Lavrov also refused to answer a question from a Washington Post reporter asking him if he intended to secure peace in Syria and prevent Bashar al-Assad from committing further atrocities on his people. Lavrov said: “Whatever I answer, you will write whatever you want, so do it.”
Elsewhere, Jeremy Hunt said the UK had no plans to contribute to any joint international force proposed by the US as a way of forming a buffer zone to protect Syrian Kurds from Turkey in a post-Islamic State northern Syria.
The idea has been mentioned by Senator Lindsey Graham as something Donald Trump is discussing with allies as a way of filling a vacuum caused by the imminent withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria.

Turkey wants to form a buffer zone without any partners, a move that might lead Syrian Kurds to join forces with Assad.

Italy vetoed EU recognition of Venezuelan opposition leader Guaido

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Mon, 4 Feb 2019 23:23:00 +0700

Rome has effectively derailed an EU statement meant to recognize Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim leader if President Nicolas Maduro fails to set up snap elections, a Five Star Movement source confirmed to RT.

Italy announced the veto at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers that started on January 31 in Romania, the source said. The statement, which was supposed to be delivered by EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini recognized Guaido as interim president if snap elections were not held.

The European Parliament is the first European body to recognize Guaido “as the only legitimate interim president of the country until new free, transparent and credible presidential elections can be called in order to restore democracy.”
The parliament urged the EU to follow suit but the effort stalled due to internal discord. A range of European nations have separately recognized the opposition chief as Venezuela’s acting president, including the UK, France, Sweden, Spain, and Austria. The coordinated move came after an eight-day deadline for Maduro to call presidential elections expired on Monday.
The US announced that it is backing the new interim leader and pledged their full support immediately after what has been labeled “a coup” by officials in Caracas. However Russia, China, Turkey and Iran said they see Maduro as the only legitimate leader, warning against meddling in Venezuela’s domestic affairs.
Maduro himself rejected the EU ultimatum but promised to push for political reform. He suggested that parliamentary elections be held earlier than 2020, arguing that the National Assembly – a legislative body dominated by the opposition and headed by Guaido – needs to be “re-legitimized.”
Following the announcement, Venezuela witnessed massive rallies, both for and against Maduro. Some of the country’s high-ranking officials, including a defense attaché in the US, voiced their support for Guaido, but the majority remained loyal to Maduro, including the army.

Political turmoil escalated in Venezuela after a plummeting economy led to skyrocketing prices, and management flaws left most of its population in poverty.

Maduro proposes early parliamentary elections in Venezuela

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Sun, 3 Feb 2019 11:57:00 +0700

Venezuelan President Niсolas Maduro has called for early elections to the National Assembly – a legislative body dominated by the opposition and led by Juan Guaido who declared himself interim leader last week.

Maduro's statement comes as thousands are rallying in the streets of Caracas both in support of and against his government.
Guaido's coup received immediate support from the US and its allies in Latin America and Europe while Russia, Mexico, China and other countries urged not to interfere into the domestic situation in the country. The political turmoil comes as Venezuela's economy has been plummeting due to low oil prices, sanctions and mismanagement leaving most of its population in poverty.

The regular parliamentary elections were expected to be held in Venezuela in 2020. However, Maduro said that the body needs to be “re-legitimized” as he addressed a large crowd of his supporters during a rally in Caracas.
The president said that he would consult the Venezuelan Constituent Assembly – a body elected in 2017 to draft the new constitution – on the issue. If the assembly backs the proposal the vote will be scheduled for some time this year. Earlier, Venezuela’s Supreme Court declared all acts of the National Assembly, headed by Guaido, as null and void.

Meanwhile, Venezuela continues to witness both pro and anti-government rallies. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the Venezuelan capital on Saturday to join a pro-government demonstration to celebrate 20 years since the late Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, launched the Bolivarian revolution.
A sea of people can be seen flooding a kilometers-long stretch of Bolivar Avenue in downtown Caracas to listen to Maduro’s speech. Crowds were waving Venezuela’s national flags and holding placards with portraits of Chavez.
Tens of thousands of people also gathered in the eastern part of the capital for a rally organized by the opposition. The national flag-waving crowds also occupied a long stretch in the city as they came to listen to Guaido.

In his speech, Maduro hailed the determination and “deep loyalty” of the people as demonstrated over the last 20 years, and called on Guaido-led opposition to engage in a dialog.
The president appealed to the reason of the opposition politicians and said he is ready to meet them “the day they want.” He also said economics and “national peace” would be the focus of the conversation.

‘We apologise’: Google disables its data-collecting app for violating Apple’s policies

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Fri, 1 Feb 2019 12:13:00 +0700

Internet giant Google has been forced to disable its private iOS app collecting data from users after it was revealed that it too, like Facebook, was violating Apple’s policies. It follows the shutdown of FB developer apps on iOS.

The Screenwise Meter app launched by Google in 2012 allowed iOS and Android users over the age of 18 to earn gift cards in exchange for letting internet companies track their data.

However, the iOS version of the app needed to use Apple’s enterprise program,which allows for the distribution of apps with special privileges. Those are only supposed to be given to company employees.
While it remains in Google’s Play Store, the company have now disabled the iOS app, after it was exposed that they violated Apple’s distribution policies.
“The Screenwise Meter iOS app should not have operated under Apple’s developer enterprise program – this was a mistake, and we apologize. We have disabled this app on iOS devices,” read a statement from a Google spokesperson to The Verge.
Google claimed they had been “upfront with users about the way we use their data in this app,” adding that they have no access to encrypted data.
Apple earlier punished Facebook by revoking the license to its developer apps after it emerged that the company monitored personal data of users as young as 13 for some $20 a month. Facebook denied that it has ever “spied” on users and said all who downloaded the app went through a “clear on-boarding process asking for their permission and were paid to participate,” adding that “less than five percent” of them were teenagers.
Scenes of anger and confusion have been described in reports from Facebook HQ as thousands of employees realized that their developer builds of both internal and basic apps no longer work.

EU parliament urges member states to recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Fri, 1 Feb 2019 12:11:00 +0700

The European Parliament voted to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela and urged EU leaders to do the same.

The resolution, voted on Thursday, called on the EU leadership to adopt “a strong, unified stance,” and recognize Guaido as the “only legitimate” interim president of the South American nation until new elections are held to “restore democracy.”
The MEPs also pledged “full support” for Venezuela’s opposition-controlled parliament, the National Assembly, urging the EU states to “accredit” the envoys appointed by the opposition.
The document was adopted with 439 votes to 104, with 88 MEPs abstaining.

Guaido thanked the European Parliament for the vote. “We made a big step in our fight for democracy,” he wrote on Twitter.
European Union Foreign Affairs Chief Federica Mogherini had earlier promised“full support” for the National Assembly. On Saturday, Germany, France and Spain threatened to recognize Guaido as the nation’s interim president unless the current head of state, Nicolas Maduro, declared a snap election within eight days.
Maduro firmly rejected the ultimatum, saying that the EU nations have no right to make such demands and the election will take place, as scheduled, in 2025.

Guaido thanked the European Parliament for the vote. “We made a big step in our fight for democracy,” he wrote on Twitter.
European Union Foreign Affairs Chief Federica Mogherini had earlier promised“full support” for the National Assembly. On Saturday, Germany, France and Spain threatened to recognize Guaido as the nation’s interim president unless the current head of state, Nicolas Maduro, declared a snap election within eight days.
Maduro firmly rejected the ultimatum, saying that the EU nations have no right to make such demands and the election will take place, as scheduled, in 2025.

Parliament speaker Juan Guaido declared himself interim president last week, in opposition to Maduro who ruled Venezuela since 2013. Guaido was instantly endorsed by the US and subsequently recognized as the sole legitimate ruler by Canada and the majority of South American countries, including neighboring Colombia and Brazil.
States such as Russia, China, Iran and Turkey continue to recognize Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s democratically-elected president. Moscow stressed that all nations should respect Venezuela’s sovereignty and vowed to defend its national interests in the country “with all mechanisms available.”

Over the years, Venezuela has been plagued by a severe economic crisis that led to numerous protests, some of which descended into violent clashes with police. Maduro accused the US of stoking protests against the government, as well as harboring plots to oust or assassinate him.

France, Germany & Spain issue ‘identical’ threats to recognize Venezuela’s self-appointed president

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 23:49:00 +0700

Warnings from Germany, France and Spain to recognize the self-proclaimed president of Venezuela unless new elections are held came at the same time and were even similarly worded, Russia’s FM spokesperson noted.

“The statements are not simply identical but they are even made simultaneously,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, wrote on Facebook.
Earlier on Saturday, Paris, Berlin and Madrid announced their readiness to recognize the self-proclaimed “interim president” of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, unless the country holds snap presidential elections within eight days.
The messages appeared to be well-coordinated indeed.
“The government of Spain gives Nicolas Maduro eight days to call free, transparent and democratic elections,” Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in statement. “If that doesn't happen, Spain will recognize Juan Guaido as interim president in charge of calling these elections.”
The ultimatum was almost instantly echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who took to Twitter issuing a similar threat in French and Spanish – to get the message through, apparently.

The Venezuelan people must be able to freely decide their future. Without elections announced in 8 days, we could recognize [Guaido] as ‘interim president’ of Venezuela to launch this political process,” Macron said, adding that he was working with “European partners.”
Exactly the same message was posted on Twitter by the deputy spokeswoman of the German government. Later in the day, the European chorus was joined by the UK, with its Foreign Ministry voicing the ultimatum again.

Guaido proclaimed himself “interim president” of Venezuela on Wednesday, swiftly receiving strong support from abroad. The US was the first to recognize the unelected “president,” and over a dozen countries – including almost all the South American states – have followed suit.
Russia, China, Turkey, Cuba and other states, however, vowed support to the elected president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, condemning the externally-fueled coup attempt. Maduro, on his part, did not take Washington's actions lightly, and severed diplomatic ties with the US.
Over the past few days, the country has seen massive anti-government protests, as well as counter-protests staged by supporters of the legitimate authorities.
Venezuelan military and state officials have also vowed their support to the president. On Friday, Maduro announced massive military drills to be held in early February, which are supposed to warn any potential adversaries from staging open aggression against the country.
On Saturday, Russia, China, South Africa, and Equatorial Guinea blocked the US push for a UN Security Council statement expressing support for the Guaido-led National Assembly as the “only democratically-elected institution,” of Venezuela. The move came ahead of the UNSC meeting, requested by the US, in which the Venezuelan crisis is set be discussed.

Soros calls Xi ‘the worst enemy of free societies,’ China says it’s not even worth a response

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 11:38:00 +0700

Liberal billionaire and renowned political meddler George Soros has labeled Chinese leader Xi Jinping ‘the most dangerous opponent of open societies.’ China says it’s a gross distortion not even worthy of a rebuttal.

Speaking at the Davos economic forum in Switzerland, Soros attacked China’s “social credit” system and technological advances, saying artificial intelligence and machine learning, put “in the hands of repressive regimes,” are a “mortal danger facing open societies.”

“China isn’t the only authoritarian regime in the world, but it’s undoubtedly the wealthiest, strongest and most-developed in machine learning and artificial intelligence,” said Soros, known for using his money to organize and support movements against the governments he deems oppressive.
The “main source of hope” against Xi are the Chinese people, whose aspirations, according to Soros, are sharply distinct from the regime’s.

Beijing brushed off Soros’ attack.
“It’s obvious who is opening doors and building roads and who is closing doors and building walls. Statements by certain people, which portray black as white and distort facts, are completely pointless and not worthy of even a rebuttal,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.
“We hope the relevant American can correct his attitude, not be shortsighted, and hold an objective, rational and correct opinion of China’s development,” Hua added.
Hedge fund billionaire Soros runs the Open Society Foundations (OSF), a vast grant-giving network with the stated goal of making governments open to participation and accountable to the people.
Soros’ controversial political ventures include attacks against US President Donald Trump, donating to campaigns promoting a second Brexit referendum in the UK, and helping along the Ukrainian revolutions in both 2004 and 2014, among others. This has earned him the adoration of liberals around the globe and got the OSF banned in Hungary and Turkey. It’s also on the list of “undesirable” organizations in Russia.
Trump and his supporters have accused the billionaire of funding protests against the US president – accusations that have been branded conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic.
Soros, the Financial Times “person of the year” for 2018, is also at odds with Facebook and Google. He called the tech giants a “menace” during his Davos speech last year.

Venezuela orders closing of embassy & consulates in US

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 11:35:00 +0700

President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the closing of Venezuela’s embassy and consulates in the United States, a day after severing diplomatic ties with Washington over the US recognition of an opposition leader as president.

On Wednesday, Maduro ordered all US diplomats to leave Venezuela within 72 hours. However, the self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido has countermanded that order – and the State Department announced no US diplomats would be leaving, threatening consequences if anything happened to them.

Guaido is the leader of the Venezuelan National Assembly, a legislative body last elected in 2015. He claims Maduro, who was sworn into his second term earlier this month, is an illegitimate usurper. The US led the way in recognizing Guaido’s claim, followed quickly by Brazil, Canada, the EU leadership, and most of the Organization of American States members.

Mexico has not recognized Guaido, however, and Bolivia has openly declared support for Maduro.

Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has accused the US – and President Donald Trump personally – of fomenting a coup in Caracas. In an interview with RIA Novosti, Arreaza described the countries who recognized Guaido as “carrying out the orders of their master” in Washington.

Russia has condemned the US-led recognition of a rebel government, with President Vladimir Putin saying it constituted “destructive external interference that grossly violates the most basic norms of the international law.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Washington’s “handpicking” of leaders in Venezuela best demonstrates the actual attitude of the “progressive Western community” regarding international law, sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

US will 'quit all treaties' & 'make militarization of space inevitable' with new Trump doctrine

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 00:02:00 +0700

President Donald Trump's promise to be "far worse than anybody, if need be" by developing space weapon tech "faster than the rest of the world" will spark a new arms race without ensuring US safety, says leading Russian expert.

"The militarization of space is inevitable, and the United States will quit any relevant non-proliferation treaty that stands in the way," Mikhail Khodarenok, military expert and retired colonel who served in Russian missile defense forces, told RT.

On Thursday, the US president presented a personally-commissioned 108-page Pentagon report on missile defense that has been two years in the making. Trump promised the creation of a "space-based missile defense layer," saying the "new and advanced tech" would replace "incremental progress."
Khodarenok believes that these are not empty claims, but a "matter of the near future."
"There are no missile defense systems capable of firing in space right now, but there is reason to believe they will appear imminently. Their role will not just be to provide missile defense, but also to offer cover to America's orbital fleet," he said.
But Khodarenok is less sure that despite the likely cosmic expense, the innovations, which could vary from ground-based interceptors in Alaska, to "space sensors" to "directed-energy weapons" in orbit, will decisively alter the strategic balance.

If a block of maneuvering ICBMs on a descent trajectory, or hypersonic gliders such as Russia's Avangard, are deployed against US missile defense," said Khodarenok, "its effectiveness will be reduced, and in some cases may be close to zero."
Khodarenok noted that the new technologies may offer the United States protection against purported rogue states, such as Iran and North Korea. Both are mentioned in the report. For him, questions remain over the capability of even the already-built state-of-the-art defensive systems such as THAAD and AEGIS, which remain untested in field conditions, not to mention the ones that still only exist on paper.

Lindsey Graham warns of ‘Iraq on steroids’ if Trump doesn’t delay Syria withdrawal

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0700

Sen. Lindsey Graham says Syria might face the same bleak future Iraq saw when the US pullout in 2011 arguably gave rise to Islamic terrorism there, warning that sending US troops home will turn it into “Iraq on steroids.”

Graham (R-SC), who has styled himself as one of the main opponents of the withdrawal of 2,000 US troops from Syria, announced by President Donald Trump late last year, was speaking from Ankara when he urged Trump to take his time with the drawdown of forces.
"So I told President Trump – if you withdraw and do not think this through, you're creating a nightmare for Turkey," Graham said.

The hawkish senator has previously pleaded with Trump to "slow down" things in Syria, arguing that an immediate withdrawal would endanger Israel, embolden Iran, and incite a war between the Turkish forces "and our allies the Kurds."
Speaking on Saturday, Graham struck a far more conciliatory tone with Turkish officials compared to Trump, who last week threatened to "devastate Turkey economically" if it mounts an offensive on Kurds, while stressing that "it is now time" to bring the troops back home.
Graham said the US military is working on a plan together with the Turkish Army that would allow them to create a buffer zone between Turkey and Kurdish fighters in Syria "so that Turkey doesn't believe they are threatened by [the People's Protection Units] YPG elements in Syria."

The YPG is the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed alliance of mainly Kurdish militias that have enjoyed Washington's protection throughout its campaign in Syria, including material support.

Graham said that in order to secure Turkey's interest, Kurds need to lay down heavy arms and move away from the Turkish border. Turkey remains a key NATO bastion in the Mediterranean and along with the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany hosts 150 US-made B61 bombs.
In recent years, relations between the two allies have soured, in particular, over Washington's support for Kurdish militias, which Ankara considers an extension of the Kurdistan's Workers' Party (PKK) and therefore terrorists.

Despite worsening ties, Washington has refused to abandon the Kurds completely.
"And having said all of that, the people who fought with us against ISIS, we do owe them something," Graham said, noting that unless that complex preparatory work is done, US troops must stay in Syria.
He argued that otherwise, the war-torn country will follow in the footsteps of Iraq, but it would be even worse this time.

So If we don't think this through, this is going to be Iraq on steroids.

While US troops left Iraq in 2011, ending nearly nine years of the American war that began with the intervention in 2003, they returned in 2014 as the country, devastated by years of conflict and resurgent sectarian violence, was struggling with the advent of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).
Iraq has been receiving a steady stream of financial aid from Washington, which has not worked out as planned, with a 2013 report by the Special US Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) finding that $60 billion allocated to the Middle Eastern country "had underperformed."
Iraqi woes are to a great extent linked to its infamously corrupt government, with Iraq's prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, acknowledging this month that the widespread corruption "has been distorting the image of the [Iraqi] state and society, and the reputation of its citizens in general."
In contrast with Iraq, Syria has a capable government that, with the help of Russia, has asserted itself by defeating IS and quashing attempts by the Western-backed opposition to oust it from power.

EU 'is prepared to delay Brexit until at least July and could be extended even LONGER' to give Theresa May extra time to get deal to quit Europe through Parliament

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 11:09:00 +0700

EU leaders are preparing to delay Brexit until July or possibly longer if Parliament cannot agree a deal, it has been claimed.

Brussels is reportedly expecting the British government to ask for an extension to Article 50, allowing Theresa May more time to get a deal through Parliament.

Mrs May is expected to lose Commons the vote on her withdrawal deal on Tuesday, raising the prospect of a no-deal departure on March 29.

Brexit could be postponed even longer if a general election or second referendum takes place, the Guardian reported.

EU leaders could delay Brexit past March 29 to give Theresa May, pictured outside church today, more time to get a withdrawal deal through Parliament

An EU source told the newspaper: 'Should the prime minister survive and inform us that she needs more time to win round parliament to a deal, a technical extension up to July will be offered.'

EU leaders could reportedly agree to delay Brexit at a leaders' summit organised by Donald Tusk.

Should the EU not agree to a postponing of Brexit then the UK would leave the EU without a deal on March 29.

A longer extension could clash with the European Parliament elections scheduled for May.

Britain is currently not expected to take part in the elections and will no longer have any MEPs.

But if Britain were still in the union when the new European Parliament meets in July then the UK could be expected to provide members.

Mrs May is facing a heavy defeat on Tuesday as Conservative backbenchers prepare to unite with Labour to vote the deal down.

Brussels is preparing to offer fresh assurances over the Irish backstop, which Tory rebels fear could leave Britain tied to the EU's trading rules indefinitely.

Meanwhile Mrs May warned of a 'catastrophic and unforgivable breach of trust' in democracy if Brexit is stopped.

One of her predecessors, Sir John Major, called for Article 50 to be revoked as he warned it would be 'morally reprehensible' to crash out without a deal.

'When you turned out to vote in the referendum, you did so because you wanted your voice to be heard,' she said.

'Some of you put your trust in the political process for the first time in decades. We cannot - and must not - let you down.

Labour is also facing calls to put forward a vote of no confidence in Mrs May and a general election could take place should the Government lose.

Trump threatens to ‘devastate Turkey economically’ if it attacks Kurds amid US withdrawal from Syria

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 11:05:00 +0700

Donald Trump has warned its NATO ally to beware of the devastative wrath of US economic pressure if Turkey dares to attack the Kurdish allies America is leaving behind in its “long overdue” pull-out of troops from Syria.

The US military, Trump promised, will still use an “existing nearby base,” apparently in Iraq, to attack the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants if the terrorist organization re-emerges in Syria. Using his typical mode of communication to reaffirm the withdrawal of American troops from the ground, the US president warned Ankara against seeing this as an opportunity to stage any military campaign against Syrian Kurds.
“Will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds,” Trump tweeted, urging Ankara to create a “20-mile safe zone.”

At the same time, Trump urged the Kurd-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which the US trained and armed for years, not to “provoke” Turkey.

In an apparent gesture to save face, following a questionable outcome of four years of uninvited American presence in Syria and an abrupt withdrawal, Trump has once-again credited the US military for destroying IS, disregarding the fact that most of the country was liberated from terrorists by the Syrian army, with the help of the Russian military.

“Russia, Iran and Syria have been the biggest beneficiaries of the long term US policy of destroying ISIS in Syria – natural enemies. We also benefit but it is now time to bring our troops back home. Stop the ENDLESS WARS!” Trump tweeted.
Trump made the decision to withdraw some 2,000 American troops from Syria last month, amid consultations with the Turkish military over their planned operations in Syria. National Security Advisor John Bolton even said that US forces will not leave Syria until Turkey guarantees the safety of the US-backed Kurdish militias.

Turkey, however, remains firmly committed to removing what they call a Kurdish “terrorist” threat coming from the Euphrates River valley, and is actively preparing for a possible cross-border operation. “Our preparation continues intensely,” the Turkish defense minister said Friday.
“We have no problems with our Kurdish brothers, Arab brothers in Syria, Turkmens and other ethnic and religious groups. Our only targets are terrorists Daesh and PKK/YPG,” Hulusi Akar added. Ankara sees the YPG Kurdish fighting units of the SDF as an extension of the outlawed Kurdish PKK movement that for decades has waged an insurgency inside Turkey.

American-Turkish relations are far from tranquil and have frayed in the years following the July 2016 coup attempt against Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which Ankara believes was masterminded by Fethullah Gulen, who is living in exile in Pennsylvania. Washington and Ankara also sparred over the fate of American Presbyterian minister Andrew Brunson, who was convicted in Turkey of aiding terrorism, and who Ankara was forced to extradite after Trump exerted unprecedented economic pressure.
The bilateral relations have been further aggravated by US threats to halt the transfer of military tech to its NATO ally, including the fifth generation F-35 stealth fighter jets, and even to impose sanctions over Turkey’s commitment to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems, a diversification of weapons suppliers that enhances its national security.

‘Humanitarian & security crisis’: Trump makes case for border wall amid government shutdown

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Wed, 9 Jan 2019 18:10:00 +0700

US President Donald Trump stopped short of invoking emergency powers, appealing instead to Democrats for approval of his border barrier proposal by arguing that illegal immigration via Mexico was causing a humanitarian crisis.

Trump’s address to the nation, broadcast by major networks live from the Oval office, comes amid an ongoing partial shutdown of federal government services, due to the White House’s insistence on Congress spending at least $5 billion on building a border wall, which Democrats are insistent on blocking.
Despite speculation ahead of the speech that Trump might invoke a declaration of national emergency and unlock sweeping presidential powers that would allow him to command the Pentagon to build the border wall, the president ended up asking for another meeting with congressional Democrats to resolve the impasse.

Democrats have repeatedly vowed Trump will “never” get a penny for the border wall, declaring it outdated, ineffective, and “immoral.” Trump addressed those arguments by saying the steel barrier was proposed by professionals at the Department of Homeland Security and the US Border Patrol. And if walls are immoral, he asked, why do wealthy politicians build walls, fences and gates around their homes?
“They don’t build walls because they hate the people on the outside. They build walls because they love the people on the inside,” Trump said. “The only thing immoral is for politicians to do nothing.”

The US president went down the list of arguments about the harm of illegal immigration, saying that it disproportionately harmed African-Americans and Hispanics, women and children. He noted that more Americans would die from drug overdoses this year than in the entire Vietnam War, and said that 90 percent of those drugs comes in via the southern border.

How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job?

There was nothing new, however, in the president’s address that he has not already argued since announcing his candidacy in 2015, or over the past two years of his term in office.

Nor was there any evidence his rhetoric persuaded the Democrats: in their rebuttal address, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said Trump was “manufacturing a crisis” and “holding the American people hostage," demanding once again that he cave in to their resistance and reopen the government without funding the wall.

“The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty, not a 30-foot wall,” said Schumer, who accused Trump of “stoking fear” and trying to “govern by temper tantrum.”
Pelosi declared the wall to be “expensive and ineffective,” and said the US should fund innovation and “new technology” to better police border crossings instead.

Turkey calls for joint control with Russia & Iran over US troop pullout from Syria

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Wed, 9 Jan 2019 18:06:00 +0700

As the US is experiencing “certain difficulties” with the withdrawal from Syria, it should be coordinated with Iran and Russia to prevent “terrorists” from taking up the vacated space, the Turkish foreign minister said.

“The United States [has] been facing certain difficulties with the process of the troops' withdrawal from Syria. We want to coordinate this process with Russia and Iran, with which we had arranged work in the framework of the Astana process,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday.

Cavusoglu visited Moscow late in December to discuss the situation in Syria. On Wednesday, he mulled bilateral talks between Turkey and Iran, giving no timeframe, however.
At the same time, Cavusoglu revealed that a summit between all three partiesis being prepared in Moscow.
The proposal comes as Ankara and Washington are engaged in a bitter war of words over the US troop withdrawal from Syria. On Tuesday, US National Security Advisor John Bolton blasted an opinion piece penned by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the New York Times as both “offensive and wrong.”
Erdogan praised his own efforts in combatting terrorism in Syria, while criticizing the US-backed operations in Raqqa and the Iraqi city of Mosul, as well as recalling the “lesson of Iraq” and the “premature declarations of victory” which led to the emergence of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).
Prior to that exchange, Bolton demanded safety guarantees for Syria’s Kurds from Turkey, calling it a precondition for US withdrawal. The Turkish president called Bolton’s demands a “huge mistake” and refused to “swallow” them. He also reiterated Ankara’s resolve to fight “terrorism” in Syria, stressing that it actually seeks to protect the “Kurdish brothers” in the neighboring country.

Russia, along with Turkey and Iran, is a guarantor of the ceasefire in Syria, which has been successfully implemented in several areas throughout the country. Moscow has actively undertaken efforts to settle the years-long conflict, supporting the Syrian government forces in the fight against terrorism, bringing humanitarian relief to civilians, and working on the bringing warring parties to the negotiating table.
The abrupt decision to withdraw troops from Syria announced by President Donald Trump in December was met in Moscow with a great deal of skepticism.
“Concerning the pullout of US troops, I don’t know what that is. The US has been in Afghanistan for 17 years already, and almost every year they say that they’re pulling their troops out. But they’re still there,” President Vladimir Putin said at the time.

75% of French disapprove of Macron govt, poll reveals as Yellow Vest rallies simmer

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Fri, 4 Jan 2019 15:49:00 +0700

A 'Macron Resign' slogan was painted on the Arc de Triomphe amid 'Yellow Vest' rallies in Paris © REUTERS / Stephane Mahe

Three-quarters of the French are dissatisfied with President Emmanuel Macron’s policies and have appallingly little trust in his ministers, a new poll by Odexa has revealed.

Just 25 percent of the people surveyed by Odoxa and Dentsu Consulting for France Info and Le Figaro said they were happy with the way the government is running the protest-plagued country, while 75 percent disapprove of Macron and the ministers in his cabinet.

This indicates a dramatic loss of popularity for Macron compared to the 59 percent of unhappy citizens in April 2018, according to France Info. The current poll included 1,004 people across the country and was carried out in early January.

Interestingly, the least favorable opinions came not only from low-paid workers and farmers, but also the upper-middle income class.

People are equally dissatisfied with a number of key government officials, including Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, with 54 and 53 percent negative ratings respectively.

Yellow Vest protesters – so called due to the distinctive high-visibility jackets they wear – launched massive rallies across the country in November of last year. At first, the rallies targeted a hike in fuel prices proposed by Macron’s government, which was later dropped in the wake of almost war-like battles between angry protesters and police.

Efforts to pacify the people failed as the Yellow Vest movement quickly snowballed into a wider protest against deteriorating living conditions and social inequality in France.

One of the protest leaders, Eric Drouet, was arrested in Paris late on Wednesday, sparking outcry among his supporters who chanted ‘Dictatorship! Dictatorship!’
The authorities earlier charged him with organizing and leading an unauthorized protest, sparking outrage among the Yellow Vests in the capital. Tweeting support for Drouet, left-wing politician Jean-Luc Melenchon called the arrest an “abuse of power” and political policing.

U.S. retail vacancies rise marginally in fourth quarter: Reis

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Fri, 4 Jan 2019 15:42:00 +0700

(Reuters) - U.S. retail vacancies inched higher in the fourth quarter, underscoring how the retail sector has withstood many store closures across the country, real estate research firm Reis Inc said in a report.

Shoppers ascend and descend escalators at the King of Prussia Mall, owned by Simon Property Group, United State's largest retail shopping space, in King of Prussia

The retail vacancy rate rose to 10.2 percent from 10.0 percent a year earlier, the report said.

Many feared that vacancy rates would soar and rents would plummet, given the store closure announcements by Sears Holdings Corp, Kmart and JC Penney Co Inc at the end of 2017, Reis said.

"This did not occur as the doomsday prognostications proved to be overblown," the report said.

A number of stores are still expected to close in the coming months and the industry continues to face a number of headwinds, including gains in online shopping, according to Reis.

"If the retail sector was able to sustain the store closures over the last year, it can survive anything," the research firm said.

Both the mall sector and the neighborhood and community shopping center sectors have seen significant volatility over the last year. The mall vacancy rate rose to 9.0 percent from 8.3 percent.

Net absorption was 1.4 million sq ft in the quarter, compared with 3.6 million sq ft a year earlier.

The national average asking rents, as well as the effective rent rose 1.6 percent.

Only 1.9 million sq ft of new construction was completed in the quarter, a 51.9 percent drop, according to the report. Vacancy rose in 32 of 77 metros.

With minimal construction in the pipeline, vacancy rates are expected to hold steady in the coming year, the report said.

(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

These expensive Arowana fish cost as much as a new car — and people have gone to jail trying to sell them in the US

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Fri, 4 Jan 2019 15:36:00 +0700

As far as fish go, the Asian arowana is one of the most expensive aquarium species sold in the pet trade. It is a freshwater fish that has people paying in the tens of thousands of dollars for the most sought after colorations.

Narrator: What would you rather have, a new car, or this fish? Turns out they cost around the same. A single dragon fish can go for tens of thousands of dollars. So, what's so special about it? Well, it might not look it, but this endangered fish is so coveted, people have actually gone to prison over it.

The dragon fish gets its nickname for how it resembles a dragon in flight as it swims. However, its real name is the Asian arowana. It's a freshwater fish native to Southeast Asia, and it has taken the aquarium market by storm. Today, these fish are so prized that some have their own motorcades, and breeders protect their stock with layers of concrete walls, complete with guard dogs and watchmen. There's even a market for cosmetic surgery to help subpar fish who need eye lifts or chin tucks. And that may sound like overkill, but it's really not.

Emily Voigt: It's a very valuable commodity, and that had driven a tremendous amount of crime around the areas where it's bred.

Narrator: That's Emily Voigt, who explores this world for her book, "The Dragon Behind the Glass." We're talking murder and midnight fish-napping. This wasn't always the case, however.

Up until the second half of the 20th century, these fish weren't flaunted. They were filleted and eaten by locals. Then, in 1967, an aquarium trader traveling through northern Malaysia saw a dead arowana at a food market and found it so attractive that he sought one out to keep as a pet. By the 1980s, arowanas had turned up in Taiwan, and eventually people all over Asia wanted one. In particular, the red and gold varieties of arowana came to symbolize luck and wealth in several Asian cultures.

Voigt: All that has led to a whole mythology about the fish. It's supposed to bring good luck and prosperity, even to jump out of its tank to save its owner.

Narrator: Nowadays, breeding for new color combinations is all the rage. Like this fish, called the chili red, which you can get for around $1,400 each. Or the emerald violet fusion super red, which goes for about $12,000 each. But no fish is more rare and valuable than the albino. In 2009, one of these supposedly set a record, selling for $300,000 to an anonymous high ranking official in the Chinese government. In fact, most people who buy dragon fish are middle-class Chinese men, who'll collect the fish as a status symbol.

Voigt: So keeping this fish is very much a macho hobby. There's not a lot of women that do it. And it's almost like collecting cars or something like that.

Narrator: So in the mid-90s, when dragon fish were successfully bred in captivity on certified farms, it was a big deal, because they were becoming rare in the wild due to overfishing and harvesting for the pet trade. Since then, more demand has led to breeding operations all over Southeast Asia. And while it's perfectly legal to buy a dragon fish in the area, it may not be in other non-Asian countries. In the US, for example, you can only find the Asian arowana on the black market. And in fact, you can't bring it into the country legally, because it's banned by the US Endangered Species Act. People have actually gone to prison for trafficking this fish. So if you have an itch to have a dragon-like pet, maybe you should stick to something safer, like bearded dragons.

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South Korea bans plastic bags from supermarkets

noreply@blogger.com (Ketnoi) — Thu, 3 Jan 2019 00:04:00 +0700

South Korea is to ban disposable plastic bags from all supermarkets, it has emerged (file picture)

They are already barred from giving out plastic bags for free.

But the new rules will mean single-use bags will now be outlawed - except for wet goods such as meat or fish, CNN reports.

Anyone caught flouting the rule could face a fine of up to three million won (£2,120).

Customers will be offered alternatives, like cloth and paper bags instead.

Officials are probing crackdowns on other products, including plastic drinking straws.

It comes after ministers in Britain launched a consultation on plans to double the charge for single-use carrier bags in England from 2020 and extend the scheme to cover all shops in a bid to cut plastic waste.

Since October 2015, large retailers in England have been legally required to impose a charge of 5 pence for plastic bags, a measure which the government says has taken 15 billion bags out of circulation.

However, Britain's seven largest supermarkets still supplied about 1 billion bags with smaller shops supplying another 3.6 billion.

In August, the government announced plans to extend the charge to all retailers and increase the minimum price to 10p from the beginning of 2020 and on Thursday launched a consultation on its proposals.

'We would like to see an overall reduction by 90 percent on figures ... before the levy,' junior environment minister Therese Coffey told BBC radio.

The Marine Conservation Society says since the charge was brought in, there had been a significant fall in the number of bags found on beaches.