Obama in Kenya for First Visit to Africa Since Leaving White House
16/07/2018
Former U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Kenya on Sunday for his first visit to Africa since leaving the White House. On Monday, he spoke at the small village that was his late father’s homeland.
This is the fifth time that Obama has visited Kenya, his father’s birthplace.
Upon arriving in Nairobi on Sunday, he held talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga. On Monday, he inaugurated the Sauti Kuu Foundation, a sports and vocational training center set up by his half-sister in the small western Kenyan town of Kogelo.
Kogelo was the hometown of Barack Obama Sr. The former president last visited the village in 2006 when he was a U.S. senator.
In his speech Monday, Obama stressed the need for youth empowerment for development to occur in Africa.
“It begins with our young people in places like this, all of us providing the educational and economic and cultural opportunities that can empower some of the remarkable young people that you saw here today with the skills and the self-reliance to first change their own lives and then change their communities.”
The former president applauded efforts by Kenyatta and Odinga to work together, after a prolonged and disputed presidential election in 2017.
“There has been real progress in this amazing country, and it should inspire today’s young Kenyans to demand even more progress,” he said. “The good news is that Kenya has a new constitution, it has a new spirit of investment and entrepreneurship. Despite some of the tumultuous times that seem to attend every election, we now have a president and a major opposition leader who have pledged bridges and have made specific commitments to work together. So, what we see here in Kenya is all part of an emergent, more confident and more self-reliant Africa.”
Obama also urged Kenyans to move past the ethnic tensions that have fueled violence during past election cycles and root out corruption that limits Kenya’s economic growth.
“It means no longer seeing different ethnicities as enemies or rivals but rather as allies and seeing the diversity of tribes not as a weakness but a strength,” he said. “It means making sure that economic growth reaches everyone, and not just a few at the top, that’s broadly shared across regions. It means guaranteeing educational opportunities to everybody, not just our boys but also our girls, because a nation that gives our daughters the same opportunities as our girls is more likely to succeed.”
The former U.S. president left Monday evening for South Africa, where he will deliver the 16th annual Nelson Mandela Lecture in Johannesburg.
China Suffers Setback in Its EU Trade Rapprochement
16/07/2018
As the United States ratchets up trade threats, China suffered a setback on Monday for its calls for international cooperation in counteracting what it calls U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies.
Luca Jahier, the president of the European Economic and Social Committee, said that the European Union won’t “gang up” on America with China even if the trade bloc opposes the U.S. leader’s tariff measures.
Jahier said, ahead of Monday’s annual China-EU summit in Beijing, he strongly opposes protectionism, but escalating the situation would not be the appropriate response, the South China Morning Post reported.
Analysts say that China is probably barking up the wrong tree if it plans to seek a united trade front with European countries.
China’s unfair practice
Like the U.S., the European Union is firm in its fight against China’s unfair trade practice and intellectual property rights infringement, although it disagrees with Trump’s aggressive tariff measures, said Darson Chiu, a research fellow at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.
The researcher added that there’s not much China can do to hit back but play the victim’s game internationally should the U.S. next escalate with an extra 10 percent tariffs on US$200 billion-worth of Chinese goods in two months.
“China only imports $130 billion in American goods [annually], so, it is already out of elbows when it comes to the imposition of retaliatory tariffs,” Chiu said, adding that any talks in China about dumping U.S. treasuries it holds as a retaliatory move will only backfire and hurt its own economy.
Ball in US court?
The ball is thus in the U.S. court, and only a poor performance in the U.S. midterm elections in November will force Trump to re-evaluate his trade strategies against China, Chiu added.
The dispute, moreover, has escalated from trade volume to the broad economic interests of both countries, said Raymond Yeung, senior economist of Greater China at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.
“The tension between the two countries is not simply on trade, but in anything that the Chinese government thinks happens to the U.S. economic interests” Yeung said.
In other words, there is yet no end in sight to Trump’s trade war with China.
Protracted trade war
In preparation for a protracted trade war, China continues to put the blame on the U.S. and play down the tariffs’ impact at home, while tightening media censorship.
Chinese officials had nothing but angry words before any official efforts to seek rapprochement or renew negotiations with the U.S.
China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen, representing Beijing during the country’s policy review at the World Trade Organization last week, called Washington a “trade bully,” which should “keep its gun” off China’s head.
In a statement last week, China’s Ministry of Commerce argued that the U.S. practice would drag the global economy into the “cold war,” “recession trap” and “the trap of uncertainly to worsen global trade environment and industrial supply chains.”
Controlling the narrative
Chinese censors have also stepped up efforts to control the narrative and public discussion about the trade dispute.
Most media in China were reportedly told not to hype up the trade war or link it to stock market fluctuation, the Chinese yuan’s depreciation, or the country’s economic and financial vulnerability to avoid spreading panic.
In its editorial, state media Global Times, on Sunday, heralded “China’s advantages in a protracted trade war.”
“Some are concerned that … China seems to have no tools with which to hit back. This is a huge misconception. The tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods are meant to be a bluff,” the editorial read.
‘Strategic risk’
The paper called the Trump administration complacent in telling its society that the U.S. will clench an easy win and hence “against this backdrop, arrogant Washington has created a tremendous strategic risk for itself.”
And it concluded that “China will likely find losses lower than expected while the U.S. will be shocked by unexpected real losses.… China has to play hardball and knock the Trump administration forcibly out of its dream to conquer us.”
State censorship on social media appeared to have also reached its peak to silence unwanted comments since late last week.
On Friday, the Sino-U.S. trade war was the second top-trending censored topic on freeweibo.com.
The screening of critical voices continued this week with most online postings share the similar nationalistic nature.
Echoing the Chinese official statement, one Weibo user on Monday wrote “the U.S. is shooting itself in the foot and got so scared that it peed its pants. China will be the biggest winner.”
Another user said that he will always support China. “Maybe after the war [with the U.S.], we will also be able to reclaim Taiwan.”
China Suffers Setback in Its EU Trade Rapprochement
16/07/2018
As the United States ratchets up trade threats, China suffered a setback on Monday for its calls for international cooperation in counteracting what it calls U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies.
Luca Jahier, the president of the European Economic and Social Committee, said that the European Union won’t “gang up” on America with China even if the trade bloc opposes the U.S. leader’s tariff measures.
Jahier said, ahead of Monday’s annual China-EU summit in Beijing, he strongly opposes protectionism, but escalating the situation would not be the appropriate response, the South China Morning Post reported.
Analysts say that China is probably barking up the wrong tree if it plans to seek a united trade front with European countries.
China’s unfair practice
Like the U.S., the European Union is firm in its fight against China’s unfair trade practice and intellectual property rights infringement, although it disagrees with Trump’s aggressive tariff measures, said Darson Chiu, a research fellow at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.
The researcher added that there’s not much China can do to hit back but play the victim’s game internationally should the U.S. next escalate with an extra 10 percent tariffs on US$200 billion-worth of Chinese goods in two months.
“China only imports $130 billion in American goods [annually], so, it is already out of elbows when it comes to the imposition of retaliatory tariffs,” Chiu said, adding that any talks in China about dumping U.S. treasuries it holds as a retaliatory move will only backfire and hurt its own economy.
Ball in US court?
The ball is thus in the U.S. court, and only a poor performance in the U.S. midterm elections in November will force Trump to re-evaluate his trade strategies against China, Chiu added.
The dispute, moreover, has escalated from trade volume to the broad economic interests of both countries, said Raymond Yeung, senior economist of Greater China at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.
“The tension between the two countries is not simply on trade, but in anything that the Chinese government thinks happens to the U.S. economic interests” Yeung said.
In other words, there is yet no end in sight to Trump’s trade war with China.
Protracted trade war
In preparation for a protracted trade war, China continues to put the blame on the U.S. and play down the tariffs’ impact at home, while tightening media censorship.
Chinese officials had nothing but angry words before any official efforts to seek rapprochement or renew negotiations with the U.S.
China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen, representing Beijing during the country’s policy review at the World Trade Organization last week, called Washington a “trade bully,” which should “keep its gun” off China’s head.
In a statement last week, China’s Ministry of Commerce argued that the U.S. practice would drag the global economy into the “cold war,” “recession trap” and “the trap of uncertainly to worsen global trade environment and industrial supply chains.”
Controlling the narrative
Chinese censors have also stepped up efforts to control the narrative and public discussion about the trade dispute.
Most media in China were reportedly told not to hype up the trade war or link it to stock market fluctuation, the Chinese yuan’s depreciation, or the country’s economic and financial vulnerability to avoid spreading panic.
In its editorial, state media Global Times, on Sunday, heralded “China’s advantages in a protracted trade war.”
“Some are concerned that … China seems to have no tools with which to hit back. This is a huge misconception. The tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods are meant to be a bluff,” the editorial read.
‘Strategic risk’
The paper called the Trump administration complacent in telling its society that the U.S. will clench an easy win and hence “against this backdrop, arrogant Washington has created a tremendous strategic risk for itself.”
And it concluded that “China will likely find losses lower than expected while the U.S. will be shocked by unexpected real losses.… China has to play hardball and knock the Trump administration forcibly out of its dream to conquer us.”
State censorship on social media appeared to have also reached its peak to silence unwanted comments since late last week.
On Friday, the Sino-U.S. trade war was the second top-trending censored topic on freeweibo.com.
The screening of critical voices continued this week with most online postings share the similar nationalistic nature.
Echoing the Chinese official statement, one Weibo user on Monday wrote “the U.S. is shooting itself in the foot and got so scared that it peed its pants. China will be the biggest winner.”
Another user said that he will always support China. “Maybe after the war [with the U.S.], we will also be able to reclaim Taiwan.”
Путін: з Трампом обговорювали «важливість добросовісної реалізації Мінських угод»
16/07/2018
Президент Росії Володимир Путін заявив, що під час переговорів з президентом США Дональдом Трампом обговорювалася «важливість добросовісної реалізації Мінських угод».
«Під час обговорення української кризи звернули увагу на важливість добросовісної реалізації Мінських домовленостей. США могли б більш рішуче наполягати на цьому і налаштовувати українське керівництво на цю роботу», – сказав Путін після переговорів із президентом США Дональдом Трампом у Гельсінкі.
Зустріч Трампа і Путіна віч-на-віч почалася з майже годинним запізненням через те, що президент Росії спізнився на саміт. Згідно з попереднім графіком, переговори тет-а-тет триватимуть близько півтора години, потім запланований початок переговорів у розширеному форматі американської і російської делегацій.
Дивіться також: Перші фото зустрічі Трампа і Путіна
Збройний конфлікт на Донбасі триває від 2014 року після російської анексії Криму. Україна і Захід звинувачують Росію у збройній підтримці сепаратистів. Кремль відкидає ці звинувачення і заявляє, що на Донбасі можуть перебувати хіба що російські «добровольці». За даними ООН, за час конфлікту загинули понад 10 300 людей.
Другі Мінські угоди були підписані 12 лютого 2015 року. Цей документ повинен був змусити сторони конфлікту на Донбасі виконувати так званий «Мінськ-1» – домовленості, укладені у вересні 2014 року. Передбачалося, що другі мирні домовленості зможуть повністю врегулювати ситуацію до кінця 2015 року, однак жоден із 13 пунктів повністю так і не виконали, а припинення вогню та відведення зброї відбулося лише частково, зазначають як сторони конфлікту, так і незалежні спостерігачі.
Росія заявляє, що є лише «гарантом» виконання Мінських домовленостей
…
Путін: з Трампом обговорювали «важливість добросовісної реалізації Мінських угод»
16/07/2018
Президент Росії Володимир Путін заявив, що під час переговорів з президентом США Дональдом Трампом обговорювалася «важливість добросовісної реалізації Мінських угод».
«Під час обговорення української кризи звернули увагу на важливість добросовісної реалізації Мінських домовленостей. США могли б більш рішуче наполягати на цьому і налаштовувати українське керівництво на цю роботу», – сказав Путін після переговорів із президентом США Дональдом Трампом у Гельсінкі.
Зустріч Трампа і Путіна віч-на-віч почалася з майже годинним запізненням через те, що президент Росії спізнився на саміт. Згідно з попереднім графіком, переговори тет-а-тет триватимуть близько півтора години, потім запланований початок переговорів у розширеному форматі американської і російської делегацій.
Дивіться також: Перші фото зустрічі Трампа і Путіна
Збройний конфлікт на Донбасі триває від 2014 року після російської анексії Криму. Україна і Захід звинувачують Росію у збройній підтримці сепаратистів. Кремль відкидає ці звинувачення і заявляє, що на Донбасі можуть перебувати хіба що російські «добровольці». За даними ООН, за час конфлікту загинули понад 10 300 людей.
Другі Мінські угоди були підписані 12 лютого 2015 року. Цей документ повинен був змусити сторони конфлікту на Донбасі виконувати так званий «Мінськ-1» – домовленості, укладені у вересні 2014 року. Передбачалося, що другі мирні домовленості зможуть повністю врегулювати ситуацію до кінця 2015 року, однак жоден із 13 пунктів повністю так і не виконали, а припинення вогню та відведення зброї відбулося лише частково, зазначають як сторони конфлікту, так і незалежні спостерігачі.
Росія заявляє, що є лише «гарантом» виконання Мінських домовленостей
…
Справи щодо Майдану може паралізувати реформа ГПУ – прокурор Донський
16/07/2018
Прокурор Олексій Донський, який представляє державне обвинувачення у справі Юрія Крисіна, не виключає, що справи щодо злочинів проти учасників подій Майдану можуть бути паралізовані через зміни в Генпрокуратурі.
Про це він заявив кореспонденту Радіо Свобода після судового засідання у справі Крисіна.
«Розформування або реформування департаменту, який розслідує справи Майдану (департамент, очолюваний прокурором Горбатюком), може паралізувати всі справи про злочини проти майданівців. Навряд чи одні справи почнуть спочатку, з призначенням інших суддів і прокурорів, а інші – продовжать в нинішньому складі», – зазначив Донський.
За словами Донського, є й інші перешкоди щодо справ Майдану. Зокрема, він не виключає, що захист Юрія Крисіна продовжить спроби затягувати суд у справі, маючи надію, що зрештою призначать нового суддю, коли у вересні суддя Любов Леонтюк, яка її слухає, піде на пенсію.
22 червня депутат Верховної Ради України Мустафа Найєм висловив занепокоєння можливою ліквідацією департаменту спецрозслідувань у Генеральній прокуратурі: «генеральний прокурор готується підписати наказ фактично ліквідує департамент спеціальних розслідувань ГПУ, який займається розслідування справ Майдану.
Тим часом, 23 червня речниця генпрокурора України Лариса Сарган заявила, що департамент спецрозслідувань ГПУ, очолюваний Сергієм Горбатюком, який займається, зокрема, справами Майдану, буде трансформовано у слідче управління, а не ліквідовано. Коли офіційно відбудеться реорганізація, буде повідомлення на сайті ГПУ по факту, додала вона.
Начальник департаменту спецрозслідувань ГПУ Сергій Горбатюк раніше розповідав журналістам, що в Генпрокуратурі не інформують, як має відбуватися подальша робота, перед слідчими зараз стоїть вибір: чи продовжувати вести справи, чи подавати документи до ДБР.
Сергій Горбатюк озвучив один з варіантів, який, на його думку, є прийнятним: автоматичне переведення фахових працівників слідства в ГПУ до ДБР після завершення їхніх повноважень в Генпрокуратурі з подальшою атестацією за результатами роботи.
Водночас, директор Державного бюро розслідувань Роман Труба в інтерв’ю Радіо Свобода заявив, що він категорично проти можливості автоматичного переведення слідчих ГПУ до ДБР.
Він зауважив, що закон передбачає квотний режим прийняття на роботу працівників, а саме: до 30% слідчих, які до цього працювали в органах прокуратури, до 19% – слідчих, які працюють в інших державних органах і не менше 51% – це особи, які протягом останнього року не працювали на посадах слідчих.
…
IMF Warns US of Economic Vulnerability from Trade War
16/07/2018
The International Monetary Fund is warning escalating trade conflicts threaten to curb the world’s economic recovery, saying U.S. exports are especially vulnerable in the face of retaliatory tariffs other nations are imposing on them in response to President Donald Trump’s new levies on foreign imports.
The Washington-based IMF, in its latest World Economic Outlook, continued to project international economic growth at 3.9 percent for this year and 2019, but said Monday “the risk of worse outcomes has increased, even for the near term.”
IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld said, “Our modeling suggests that if current trade policy threats are realized and business confidence falls as a result, global output could be about 0.5 percent below current projections by 2020,” adding that the United States is “especially vulnerable.”
“As the focus of global retaliation,” he said, “the United States finds a relatively high share of its exports taxed in global markets in such a broader trade conflict.”
Trump has imposed higher tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Europe, Canada and Mexico and on an array of products from China, in all instances drawing protests from other world leaders about his actions, along with higher retaliatory levies on U.S. exports.
In addition to the growing trade disputes, the IMF concluded that other risks “have become more prominent” since its last assessment in April.
“Political uncertainty has risen in Europe, where the European Union faces fundamental political challenges regarding migration policy, fiscal governance, norms concerning the rule of law, and the euro area institutional architecture,” the IMF said.
“The terms of Brexit [Britain’s departure from the European Union] remain unsettled despite months of negotiation,” Obstfeld said. “Prospective political transitions in Latin America over coming months add to the uncertainty. Finally, although some geopolitical dangers may appear to be in remission, their underlying drivers in many cases are still at work.”
Despite the back-and-forth tariff increases the United States and China have imposed on each other, the IMF left as unchanged its growth projections for both countries. It pegged the U.S. advance at 2.9 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2019, with China at 6.6 percent this year and 6.4 percent next year.
But the IMF trimmed its outlook for the 19 European countries that use the euro currency, Japan, and Britain. The agency’s report projected 2.2 percent growth in the eurozone this year, Britain at 1.4 percent and Japan at one percent, with all three figures down two-tenths of a percentage point.
The IMF also cut its forecast for Brazil by a half percentage point to 1.8 percent and India by a tenth of a point to 7.5 percent.
IMF Warns US of Economic Vulnerability from Trade War
16/07/2018
The International Monetary Fund is warning escalating trade conflicts threaten to curb the world’s economic recovery, saying U.S. exports are especially vulnerable in the face of retaliatory tariffs other nations are imposing on them in response to President Donald Trump’s new levies on foreign imports.
The Washington-based IMF, in its latest World Economic Outlook, continued to project international economic growth at 3.9 percent for this year and 2019, but said Monday “the risk of worse outcomes has increased, even for the near term.”
IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld said, “Our modeling suggests that if current trade policy threats are realized and business confidence falls as a result, global output could be about 0.5 percent below current projections by 2020,” adding that the United States is “especially vulnerable.”
“As the focus of global retaliation,” he said, “the United States finds a relatively high share of its exports taxed in global markets in such a broader trade conflict.”
Trump has imposed higher tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Europe, Canada and Mexico and on an array of products from China, in all instances drawing protests from other world leaders about his actions, along with higher retaliatory levies on U.S. exports.
In addition to the growing trade disputes, the IMF concluded that other risks “have become more prominent” since its last assessment in April.
“Political uncertainty has risen in Europe, where the European Union faces fundamental political challenges regarding migration policy, fiscal governance, norms concerning the rule of law, and the euro area institutional architecture,” the IMF said.
“The terms of Brexit [Britain’s departure from the European Union] remain unsettled despite months of negotiation,” Obstfeld said. “Prospective political transitions in Latin America over coming months add to the uncertainty. Finally, although some geopolitical dangers may appear to be in remission, their underlying drivers in many cases are still at work.”
Despite the back-and-forth tariff increases the United States and China have imposed on each other, the IMF left as unchanged its growth projections for both countries. It pegged the U.S. advance at 2.9 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2019, with China at 6.6 percent this year and 6.4 percent next year.
But the IMF trimmed its outlook for the 19 European countries that use the euro currency, Japan, and Britain. The agency’s report projected 2.2 percent growth in the eurozone this year, Britain at 1.4 percent and Japan at one percent, with all three figures down two-tenths of a percentage point.
The IMF also cut its forecast for Brazil by a half percentage point to 1.8 percent and India by a tenth of a point to 7.5 percent.
Russian Bots, Trolls Test Waters Ahead of US Midterms
16/07/2018
The sponsors of the Russian “troll factory” that meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign have launched a new American website ahead of the U.S. midterm election in November. A Russian oligarch has links to Maryland’s election services. Russian bots and trolls are deploying increasingly sophisticated, targeted tools. And a new indictment suggests the Kremlin itself was behind previous hacking efforts in support of Donald Trump.
As the U.S. leader prepares to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday, many Americans are wondering: Is the Kremlin trying yet again to derail a U.S. election?
While U.S. intelligence officials call it a top concern, they haven’t uncovered a clear, coordinated Russian plot to mess with the campaign. At least so far.
It could be that Russian disruptors are waiting until the primaries are over in September and the races become more straightforward — or it could be they are waiting until the U.S. presidential vote in 2020, which matters more for U.S. foreign policy.
In the meantime, an array of bots, trolls and sites like USAReally appear to be testing the waters.
USAReally was launched in May by the Federal News Agency, part of an empire allegedly run by Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin that includes the Internet Research Agency — the “troll factory” whose members were indicted by U.S. special investigator Robert Mueller this year.
USAReally’s Moscow offices are in the same building as the Federal News Agency. The original troll factory was also initially based with Federal News Agency offices in St. Petersburg, in a drab three-story building where a huge “For Rent/Sale” sign now hangs. The site believed to house the troll factory’s current offices is a more modern, seven-story complex with reflective blue windows in a different but similarly industrial neighborhood of St. Petersburg. Associated Press reporters were not allowed inside, and troll factory employees declined to be interviewed.
The USAReally site appears oddly amateurish and obviously Russian, with grammatical flubs and links to Russian social networks.
It says it’s aimed at providing Americans “objective and independent” information, and chief editor Alexander Malkevich says it’s not about influencing the midterm election. Yet his Moscow office is adorned with a confederate flag, Trump pictures and souvenirs and a talking pen that parrots famous Trump quotations.
“Disrupt elections? You will do all that without us,” he told The Associated Press. He said Americans themselves have created their own divisions, whether over gun rights, immigrants or LGBT rights — all topics his site has posted articles about.
Most online manipulation ahead of the midterm election is coming from U.S. sources, experts say. They worry that focusing on Russian spy-mongering may distract authorities from more dangerous homegrown threats.
There is Russian activity, to be sure. But it appears aimed less at swaying the U.S. Congress one way or another and more at proving to fellow Russians that democracy is unsafe — and thereby legitimizing Putin’s autocratic rule at home.
While security services are on high alert, “the intelligence community has yet to see evidence of a robust campaign aimed at tampering with election infrastructure along the lines of 2016,” Christopher Krebs, the undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security, told a Congressional hearing Wednesday.
That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to worry about.
National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said Friday that warning lights about overall cyber-threats to the U.S. are “blinking red” — much like “blinking red” signals warned before 9/11 that a terror attack was imminent.
Coats said that while the U.S. is not seeing the kind of Russian electoral interference that occurred in 2016, digital attempts to undermine America are not coming only from Russia. They’re occurring daily, he said, and are “much bigger than just elections.”
Intelligence officials still spot individuals affiliated with the Internet Research Agency creating new social media accounts that are masqueraded as belonging to Americans, according to Coats. The Internet Research Agency uses the fake accounts to drive attention to divisive issues in the U.S., he said.
USAReally plays a similar role.
“USAReally is unlikely to create big momentum in its own right,” in part thanks to stepped-up actions by Twitter and Facebook to detect and shut down automated accounts, said Aric Toler of the Bellingcat investigative group.
However, Toler said the site could build momentum by creating divisive content that then gets passed to other provocative news aggregators in the U.S. such as InfoWars or Gateway Pundit.
He believes that a key role for sites like USAReally is to please the Kremlin and to prove that Prigozhin’s empire is still active in the U.S. news sphere.
Prigozhin, sometimes dubbed “Putin’s chef” because of his restaurant businesses, has not commented publicly on USAReally. Prigozhin and 12 other Russians are personally charged with participating in a broad conspiracy to sow discord in the U.S. political system from 2014 through 2017.
Editor Malkevich confirms his site’s funding comes from the Federal News Agency. But he says he has nothing to do with the indicted trolls, who once operated under the same roof.
“I absolutely don’t understand this spy mania,” he said. He says the site has a few thousand followers, and that his 30 journalists and editors check facts and don’t use bots.
The big question is what Trump plans to do about this.
Trump is under heavy pressure to tell Putin to stay out of U.S. elections when they meet, and he said Friday that he would. But many state lawmakers and members of Congress say it’s taken far too long, and that Trump’s refusal to condemn Russia’s interference in the 2016 election complicates efforts to combat future attacks.
Adding to the pressure on Trump is a new indictment issued Friday accusing 12 Russian military intelligence officials of extensive hacking in 2016 that was specifically aimed at discrediting Trump’s rival, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
After the top U.S. intelligence agencies found a Putin-ordered influence campaign in which Russian hackers targeted at least 21 states ahead of the 2016 election, several state election directors fear further attempts to hack into voting systems could weaken the public’s confidence in elections.
Maryland officials announced Friday that a vendor providing key election services is owned by a company whose chief investor is well-connected Russian businessman Vladimir Potanin. The FBI told state officials no criminal activity has been detected since vendor ByteGrid was purchased in 2015 by AltPoint Capital Partners.
Experts note that governments have been using technology to influence foreign powers for millennia, and caution against assuming the Russians are always at fault.
“Just because it’s a troll doesn’t mean it’s a Russian troll,” said Ben Nimmo of the Atlantic Council. “The really big challenge for the midterms … is differentiating what the Russians are doing, and what the Americans are doing to each other.”
Russian Bots, Trolls Test Waters Ahead of US Midterms
16/07/2018
The sponsors of the Russian “troll factory” that meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign have launched a new American website ahead of the U.S. midterm election in November. A Russian oligarch has links to Maryland’s election services. Russian bots and trolls are deploying increasingly sophisticated, targeted tools. And a new indictment suggests the Kremlin itself was behind previous hacking efforts in support of Donald Trump.
As the U.S. leader prepares to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday, many Americans are wondering: Is the Kremlin trying yet again to derail a U.S. election?
While U.S. intelligence officials call it a top concern, they haven’t uncovered a clear, coordinated Russian plot to mess with the campaign. At least so far.
It could be that Russian disruptors are waiting until the primaries are over in September and the races become more straightforward — or it could be they are waiting until the U.S. presidential vote in 2020, which matters more for U.S. foreign policy.
In the meantime, an array of bots, trolls and sites like USAReally appear to be testing the waters.
USAReally was launched in May by the Federal News Agency, part of an empire allegedly run by Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin that includes the Internet Research Agency — the “troll factory” whose members were indicted by U.S. special investigator Robert Mueller this year.
USAReally’s Moscow offices are in the same building as the Federal News Agency. The original troll factory was also initially based with Federal News Agency offices in St. Petersburg, in a drab three-story building where a huge “For Rent/Sale” sign now hangs. The site believed to house the troll factory’s current offices is a more modern, seven-story complex with reflective blue windows in a different but similarly industrial neighborhood of St. Petersburg. Associated Press reporters were not allowed inside, and troll factory employees declined to be interviewed.
The USAReally site appears oddly amateurish and obviously Russian, with grammatical flubs and links to Russian social networks.
It says it’s aimed at providing Americans “objective and independent” information, and chief editor Alexander Malkevich says it’s not about influencing the midterm election. Yet his Moscow office is adorned with a confederate flag, Trump pictures and souvenirs and a talking pen that parrots famous Trump quotations.
“Disrupt elections? You will do all that without us,” he told The Associated Press. He said Americans themselves have created their own divisions, whether over gun rights, immigrants or LGBT rights — all topics his site has posted articles about.
Most online manipulation ahead of the midterm election is coming from U.S. sources, experts say. They worry that focusing on Russian spy-mongering may distract authorities from more dangerous homegrown threats.
There is Russian activity, to be sure. But it appears aimed less at swaying the U.S. Congress one way or another and more at proving to fellow Russians that democracy is unsafe — and thereby legitimizing Putin’s autocratic rule at home.
While security services are on high alert, “the intelligence community has yet to see evidence of a robust campaign aimed at tampering with election infrastructure along the lines of 2016,” Christopher Krebs, the undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security, told a Congressional hearing Wednesday.
That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to worry about.
National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said Friday that warning lights about overall cyber-threats to the U.S. are “blinking red” — much like “blinking red” signals warned before 9/11 that a terror attack was imminent.
Coats said that while the U.S. is not seeing the kind of Russian electoral interference that occurred in 2016, digital attempts to undermine America are not coming only from Russia. They’re occurring daily, he said, and are “much bigger than just elections.”
Intelligence officials still spot individuals affiliated with the Internet Research Agency creating new social media accounts that are masqueraded as belonging to Americans, according to Coats. The Internet Research Agency uses the fake accounts to drive attention to divisive issues in the U.S., he said.
USAReally plays a similar role.
“USAReally is unlikely to create big momentum in its own right,” in part thanks to stepped-up actions by Twitter and Facebook to detect and shut down automated accounts, said Aric Toler of the Bellingcat investigative group.
However, Toler said the site could build momentum by creating divisive content that then gets passed to other provocative news aggregators in the U.S. such as InfoWars or Gateway Pundit.
He believes that a key role for sites like USAReally is to please the Kremlin and to prove that Prigozhin’s empire is still active in the U.S. news sphere.
Prigozhin, sometimes dubbed “Putin’s chef” because of his restaurant businesses, has not commented publicly on USAReally. Prigozhin and 12 other Russians are personally charged with participating in a broad conspiracy to sow discord in the U.S. political system from 2014 through 2017.
Editor Malkevich confirms his site’s funding comes from the Federal News Agency. But he says he has nothing to do with the indicted trolls, who once operated under the same roof.
“I absolutely don’t understand this spy mania,” he said. He says the site has a few thousand followers, and that his 30 journalists and editors check facts and don’t use bots.
The big question is what Trump plans to do about this.
Trump is under heavy pressure to tell Putin to stay out of U.S. elections when they meet, and he said Friday that he would. But many state lawmakers and members of Congress say it’s taken far too long, and that Trump’s refusal to condemn Russia’s interference in the 2016 election complicates efforts to combat future attacks.
Adding to the pressure on Trump is a new indictment issued Friday accusing 12 Russian military intelligence officials of extensive hacking in 2016 that was specifically aimed at discrediting Trump’s rival, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
After the top U.S. intelligence agencies found a Putin-ordered influence campaign in which Russian hackers targeted at least 21 states ahead of the 2016 election, several state election directors fear further attempts to hack into voting systems could weaken the public’s confidence in elections.
Maryland officials announced Friday that a vendor providing key election services is owned by a company whose chief investor is well-connected Russian businessman Vladimir Potanin. The FBI told state officials no criminal activity has been detected since vendor ByteGrid was purchased in 2015 by AltPoint Capital Partners.
Experts note that governments have been using technology to influence foreign powers for millennia, and caution against assuming the Russians are always at fault.
“Just because it’s a troll doesn’t mean it’s a Russian troll,” said Ben Nimmo of the Atlantic Council. “The really big challenge for the midterms … is differentiating what the Russians are doing, and what the Americans are doing to each other.”
Intrigue Spikes Ahead of Trump-Putin Summit
15/07/2018
Intrigue has soared to new height ahead of Monday’s summit in Helsinki between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports.
…
Intrigue Spikes Ahead of Trump-Putin Summit
15/07/2018
Intrigue has soared to new height ahead of Monday’s summit in Helsinki between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports.
…
With Summit, Helsinki Can Burnish Role as Storied Diplomatic Venue
15/07/2018
On Monday, Finland’s capital will become the venue for talks between the U.S. and Russian leaders for the fourth time since the first American-Soviet summit in Helsinki.
It was August 1975 when Moscow, represented not by Russian, but senior Soviet officials led by the general secretary of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, Leonid Brezhnev, met with an American delegation led by the 38th U.S. president, Gerald Ford.
The so-called Helsinki Accords, resulting in the recognition of post-war European borders, saw the signing of non-binding agreements in which 35 states, including the United States, Canada, and all European states except Albania and Andorra, attempted to improve relations between communists and the West, marking the start of a process called Detente.
Fifteen years later, on September 9, 1990, the 41st U.S. president, George H. W. Bush, and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev met in the Finnish capital to focus on events in the Persian Gulf. This second meeting, wrote Soviet diplomat Alexander Belonogov, “demonstrated in every possible way a high degree of agreement” which was largely unprecedented.
It was on March 21, 1997, that U.S. and Russian presidents, Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin, held negotiations in Helsinki amid a more subdued atmosphere.
“American helicopters circled above the city center, and at all the events there was equipment brought in from the United States,” said Helsinki-based Nikolai Meinert, was among the journalists covering the event. “Of course the attention of local media was great, but there were practically no memorabilia: no flags, no portraits, streets were not blocked off when Clinton and Yeltsin arrived,” he told VOA.
“Yeltsin was not in very good physical condition after the summer 1996 elections and ensuing heart surgery,” he added, explaining that Yeltsin’s physical restrictions made Helsinki a convenient venue, its distinguished contemporary diplomatic history notwithstanding.
Clinton, too, found himself briefly handicapped when he broke his leg just before the summit, relegating him to a wheelchair and forcing him to cancel a solo saxophone performance he’d been invited to give at Helsinki’s “Cotton Club,” a jazz venue located in the Swedish Theater building on Boulevard Esplanadi.
Russia ultimately agreed to have former socialist nations arrange NATO accession in exchange for an invitation to become a member of the G-8.
“The situation is different now than in 1997, and even more so than in 1990,” says Jussi Lassila, a senior researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Relations who has monitored summits since the late ’80s.
Bilateral ties fraught by disagreements over the status of Crimea and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Lassila suggested, give Helsinki President Sauli Niinisto a new chance to showcase his capital city as a prime venue for resolving tough diplomatic issues.
Part of Helsinki’s continued appeal to U.S. officials, says Arkady Moshes, senior researcher and head of the Russia and EU Program at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, is Finland’s unique standing with both Washington and Moscow.
“The choice is due to the fact that the United States does not currently perceive Finland as a country that might be predisposed towards Russia,” he said. “The United States treats Finland as a country that has equal, pragmatic and beneficial relations with both Washington and Moscow.
“Directly or indirectly, this is a success for Finnish foreign policy,” said Moshes, who interprets to the upcoming meetings as an attempt to quell U.S.-Russian diplomatic confrontation.
“Finland is a member of the European Union, and, in general, the European Union, in spite of everything, makes a number of decisions in the field of security,” he said.
“Today, Finland makes it very clear it still wants to be at the heart of the European Union,” particularly as a primary venues for addressing some of the toughest diplomatic issues on the planet.
This story originated in VOA’s Russian Service.
With Summit, Helsinki Can Burnish Role as Storied Diplomatic Venue
15/07/2018
On Monday, Finland’s capital will become the venue for talks between the U.S. and Russian leaders for the fourth time since the first American-Soviet summit in Helsinki.
It was August 1975 when Moscow, represented not by Russian, but senior Soviet officials led by the general secretary of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, Leonid Brezhnev, met with an American delegation led by the 38th U.S. president, Gerald Ford.
The so-called Helsinki Accords, resulting in the recognition of post-war European borders, saw the signing of non-binding agreements in which 35 states, including the United States, Canada, and all European states except Albania and Andorra, attempted to improve relations between communists and the West, marking the start of a process called Detente.
Fifteen years later, on September 9, 1990, the 41st U.S. president, George H. W. Bush, and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev met in the Finnish capital to focus on events in the Persian Gulf. This second meeting, wrote Soviet diplomat Alexander Belonogov, “demonstrated in every possible way a high degree of agreement” which was largely unprecedented.
It was on March 21, 1997, that U.S. and Russian presidents, Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin, held negotiations in Helsinki amid a more subdued atmosphere.
“American helicopters circled above the city center, and at all the events there was equipment brought in from the United States,” said Helsinki-based Nikolai Meinert, was among the journalists covering the event. “Of course the attention of local media was great, but there were practically no memorabilia: no flags, no portraits, streets were not blocked off when Clinton and Yeltsin arrived,” he told VOA.
“Yeltsin was not in very good physical condition after the summer 1996 elections and ensuing heart surgery,” he added, explaining that Yeltsin’s physical restrictions made Helsinki a convenient venue, its distinguished contemporary diplomatic history notwithstanding.
Clinton, too, found himself briefly handicapped when he broke his leg just before the summit, relegating him to a wheelchair and forcing him to cancel a solo saxophone performance he’d been invited to give at Helsinki’s “Cotton Club,” a jazz venue located in the Swedish Theater building on Boulevard Esplanadi.
Russia ultimately agreed to have former socialist nations arrange NATO accession in exchange for an invitation to become a member of the G-8.
“The situation is different now than in 1997, and even more so than in 1990,” says Jussi Lassila, a senior researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Relations who has monitored summits since the late ’80s.
Bilateral ties fraught by disagreements over the status of Crimea and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Lassila suggested, give Helsinki President Sauli Niinisto a new chance to showcase his capital city as a prime venue for resolving tough diplomatic issues.
Part of Helsinki’s continued appeal to U.S. officials, says Arkady Moshes, senior researcher and head of the Russia and EU Program at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, is Finland’s unique standing with both Washington and Moscow.
“The choice is due to the fact that the United States does not currently perceive Finland as a country that might be predisposed towards Russia,” he said. “The United States treats Finland as a country that has equal, pragmatic and beneficial relations with both Washington and Moscow.
“Directly or indirectly, this is a success for Finnish foreign policy,” said Moshes, who interprets to the upcoming meetings as an attempt to quell U.S.-Russian diplomatic confrontation.
“Finland is a member of the European Union, and, in general, the European Union, in spite of everything, makes a number of decisions in the field of security,” he said.
“Today, Finland makes it very clear it still wants to be at the heart of the European Union,” particularly as a primary venues for addressing some of the toughest diplomatic issues on the planet.
This story originated in VOA’s Russian Service.
В ЗСУ немає втрат на Донбасі впродовж дня, бойовики стріляли 5 разів – штаб
15/07/2018
Підтримувані Росією бойовики п’ять разів порушили режим припинення вогню в денні години 15 липня – від сьомої ранку і до 18-ї години. Як повідомляє штаб Операції об’єднаних сил, в результаті цих обстрілів серед військових Збройних сил України втрат немає.
«Важке озброєння ворог не застосовував. Окупанти відкривали вогонь із гранатометів, великокаліберних кулеметів та стрілецької зброї по позиціях Об’єднаних сил у районах населених пунктів Кримське, Новолуганське, Світлодарськ, Піски», – уточнили українські військові в повідомленні на сторінці штабу у Facebook.
В угрупованні «ЛНР» про бойові дії 15 липня не повідомляли, водночас звинуватили українських військових у трьох випадках порушення режиму тиші попередньої доби. В угрупованні «ДНР» стверджують, що ЗСУ напередодні ввечері обстріляли Докучаєвськ.
Тристороння контактна група щодо врегулювання ситуації на Донбасі 27 червня оголосила про чергове «всеосяжне, стале і безстрокове припинення вогню» з 1 липня, з 00.01 за київським часом, цього разу з нагоди жнив. Воно було порушене майже відразу після заявленого початку і відтоді, як і всі попередні перемир’я, порушується постійно.
Це була вже четверта спроба домовитися про перемир’я лише за 2018 рік. Припинення вогню й раніше проголошувалися як безстрокові, але сторони одразу звинувачували одна одну в порушеннях. При цьому сторони заперечують свою вину і посилаються на провокації противників.
Унаслідок російської гібридної агресії на сході України з квітня 2014 року в регіоні загинули понад 10 тисяч людей.
В ЗСУ немає втрат на Донбасі впродовж дня, бойовики стріляли 5 разів – штаб
15/07/2018
Підтримувані Росією бойовики п’ять разів порушили режим припинення вогню в денні години 15 липня – від сьомої ранку і до 18-ї години. Як повідомляє штаб Операції об’єднаних сил, в результаті цих обстрілів серед військових Збройних сил України втрат немає.
«Важке озброєння ворог не застосовував. Окупанти відкривали вогонь із гранатометів, великокаліберних кулеметів та стрілецької зброї по позиціях Об’єднаних сил у районах населених пунктів Кримське, Новолуганське, Світлодарськ, Піски», – уточнили українські військові в повідомленні на сторінці штабу у Facebook.
В угрупованні «ЛНР» про бойові дії 15 липня не повідомляли, водночас звинуватили українських військових у трьох випадках порушення режиму тиші попередньої доби. В угрупованні «ДНР» стверджують, що ЗСУ напередодні ввечері обстріляли Докучаєвськ.
Тристороння контактна група щодо врегулювання ситуації на Донбасі 27 червня оголосила про чергове «всеосяжне, стале і безстрокове припинення вогню» з 1 липня, з 00.01 за київським часом, цього разу з нагоди жнив. Воно було порушене майже відразу після заявленого початку і відтоді, як і всі попередні перемир’я, порушується постійно.
Це була вже четверта спроба домовитися про перемир’я лише за 2018 рік. Припинення вогню й раніше проголошувалися як безстрокові, але сторони одразу звинувачували одна одну в порушеннях. При цьому сторони заперечують свою вину і посилаються на провокації противників.
Унаслідок російської гібридної агресії на сході України з квітня 2014 року в регіоні загинули понад 10 тисяч людей.
Голови МЗС країн G7 перед річницею катастрофи MH17 нагадали Росії про її роль у збитті літака
15/07/2018
Міністри закордонних справ країн «Групи семи» (G7) оголосили заяву перед черговою річницею катастрофи літака рейсу MH17 «Малайзійських авіаліній» над Донбасом в 2014 році, повідомляє 15 липня МЗС Канади, що зараз головує у G7.
«Ми, міністри закордонних справ країн «Групи семи», Канади, Франції, Німеччини, Італії, Японії, Великобританії та Сполучених Штатів Америки і Високого представника Європейського союзу, єдині в нашому засудженні, в максимально можливій мірі, збиття цивільного літака Малайзійських авіаліній рейсу MH17 з Амстердама до Куала-Лумпура 17 липня 2014 року… Ми повністю підтримуємо роботу Об’єднаної слідчої групи, незалежного кримінального розслідування під керівництвом Нідерландів, Австралії, Бельгії, Малайзії та України. Висновки групи про роль Росії в збитті MH17 є переконливими, значними і глибоко тривожними», – йдеться у заяві.
У документі міністри G7 закликають Росію повністю співпрацювати зі слідством, щоб «встановити істину і досягти справедливості щодо жертв МН17 і їхніх найближчих родичів».
Дипломати також закликали Кремль «негайно зв’язатися» з Нідерландами та Австралією, щоб пояснити і відповісти на всі питання, які стосуються будь-яких можливих порушень міжнародного права.
Раніше і лідери країн ЄС закликали Росію визнати свою відповідальність у справі про катастрофу літака рейсу MH17.
Навесні міжнародна спільна слідча група, в яку входять представники п’яти країн, опублікувала проміжну доповідь про катастрофу, з якої випливає, що «Боїнг» 17 липня 2014 року був збитий з установки «Бук», що належала 53-й зенітно-ракетній бригаді російської армії.
Конкретних винних осіб у доповіді не названо. Після публікації звіту Нідерланди й Австралія, які беруть участь в роботі слідчої групи, закликали Росію визнати свою відповідальність за катастрофу літака, жертвами якої стали 298 людей, переважно – громадяни Нідерландів.
У Москві з висновками слідства не згодні і стверджують, що воно ігнорує інформацію, надану російською стороною. У російських ЗМІ і заявах офіційних осіб називалися різні версії катастрофи, в якій звинувачували, зокрема, українських військових, проте в ході слідства вони не знайшли підтвердження.
…
Голови МЗС країн G7 перед річницею катастрофи MH17 нагадали Росії про її роль у збитті літака
15/07/2018
Міністри закордонних справ країн «Групи семи» (G7) оголосили заяву перед черговою річницею катастрофи літака рейсу MH17 «Малайзійських авіаліній» над Донбасом в 2014 році, повідомляє 15 липня МЗС Канади, що зараз головує у G7.
«Ми, міністри закордонних справ країн «Групи семи», Канади, Франції, Німеччини, Італії, Японії, Великобританії та Сполучених Штатів Америки і Високого представника Європейського союзу, єдині в нашому засудженні, в максимально можливій мірі, збиття цивільного літака Малайзійських авіаліній рейсу MH17 з Амстердама до Куала-Лумпура 17 липня 2014 року… Ми повністю підтримуємо роботу Об’єднаної слідчої групи, незалежного кримінального розслідування під керівництвом Нідерландів, Австралії, Бельгії, Малайзії та України. Висновки групи про роль Росії в збитті MH17 є переконливими, значними і глибоко тривожними», – йдеться у заяві.
У документі міністри G7 закликають Росію повністю співпрацювати зі слідством, щоб «встановити істину і досягти справедливості щодо жертв МН17 і їхніх найближчих родичів».
Дипломати також закликали Кремль «негайно зв’язатися» з Нідерландами та Австралією, щоб пояснити і відповісти на всі питання, які стосуються будь-яких можливих порушень міжнародного права.
Раніше і лідери країн ЄС закликали Росію визнати свою відповідальність у справі про катастрофу літака рейсу MH17.
Навесні міжнародна спільна слідча група, в яку входять представники п’яти країн, опублікувала проміжну доповідь про катастрофу, з якої випливає, що «Боїнг» 17 липня 2014 року був збитий з установки «Бук», що належала 53-й зенітно-ракетній бригаді російської армії.
Конкретних винних осіб у доповіді не названо. Після публікації звіту Нідерланди й Австралія, які беруть участь в роботі слідчої групи, закликали Росію визнати свою відповідальність за катастрофу літака, жертвами якої стали 298 людей, переважно – громадяни Нідерландів.
У Москві з висновками слідства не згодні і стверджують, що воно ігнорує інформацію, надану російською стороною. У російських ЗМІ і заявах офіційних осіб називалися різні версії катастрофи, в якій звинувачували, зокрема, українських військових, проте в ході слідства вони не знайшли підтвердження.
…
Trump’s Advice to Britain’s May: ‘Sue the EU’
15/07/2018
U.S. President Donald Trump advised British Prime Minister Theresa May to sue the European Union instead of negotiating with the bloc, as part of her Brexit strategy.
“He told me I should sue the EU,” May told BBC television. “Sue the EU. Not go into negotiations — sue them.”
Her revelation about how Trump advised her ended several days of speculation about what advice the U.S. leader had offered the prime minister.
Trump said last week in an interview with The Sun newspaper that he had given May advice, but she did not follow it. The president told the newspaper ahead of his meeting with May that she “didn’t listen” to him.
“I would have done it much differently. I actually told Theresa May how to do it but she didn’t agree, she didn’t listen to me. She wanted to go a different route,” Trump said.
Trump did not reveal what advice he offered May in a press conference with her Friday. Instead, he said, “I think she found it too brutal.”
He added, “I could fully understand why she thought it was tough. And maybe someday she’ll do that. If they don’t make the right deal, she may do what I suggested, but it’s not an easy thing.”
May also told the BBC that the president had advised her not to walk away from the negotiations “because then you’re stuck.”
For the past few months, British politics have been obscured by squabbling, irritability and bravado about how, when and on what terms Britain will exit the European Union, and what the country’s relationship will be with its largest trading partner after Brexit.
Britons narrowly voted to leave the EU in a referendum in June 2016.
Trump’s Advice to Britain’s May: ‘Sue the EU’
15/07/2018
U.S. President Donald Trump advised British Prime Minister Theresa May to sue the European Union instead of negotiating with the bloc, as part of her Brexit strategy.
“He told me I should sue the EU,” May told BBC television. “Sue the EU. Not go into negotiations — sue them.”
Her revelation about how Trump advised her ended several days of speculation about what advice the U.S. leader had offered the prime minister.
Trump said last week in an interview with The Sun newspaper that he had given May advice, but she did not follow it. The president told the newspaper ahead of his meeting with May that she “didn’t listen” to him.
“I would have done it much differently. I actually told Theresa May how to do it but she didn’t agree, she didn’t listen to me. She wanted to go a different route,” Trump said.
Trump did not reveal what advice he offered May in a press conference with her Friday. Instead, he said, “I think she found it too brutal.”
He added, “I could fully understand why she thought it was tough. And maybe someday she’ll do that. If they don’t make the right deal, she may do what I suggested, but it’s not an easy thing.”
May also told the BBC that the president had advised her not to walk away from the negotiations “because then you’re stuck.”
For the past few months, British politics have been obscured by squabbling, irritability and bravado about how, when and on what terms Britain will exit the European Union, and what the country’s relationship will be with its largest trading partner after Brexit.
Britons narrowly voted to leave the EU in a referendum in June 2016.
«Шпилясті кобзарі»: єдиний в Україні кобзарський коледж – під загрозою закриття
15/07/2018
«Необхідно всього 12 студентів для набору курсу, щоб коледж і далі випускав нових бандуристів та кобзарів. Прийом документів триває до 25 липня»
…
«Шпилясті кобзарі»: єдиний в Україні кобзарський коледж – під загрозою закриття
15/07/2018
«Необхідно всього 12 студентів для набору курсу, щоб коледж і далі випускав нових бандуристів та кобзарів. Прийом документів триває до 25 липня»
…
Largest US Port Complex Braces for Extended US-China Trade War
15/07/2018
Liang Liang is feeling a lot of stress lately. He owns an import wholesale business in Los Angeles.
“I have been watching the news every day — when will the tariffs be put in place? When are my goods arriving; it’s a fight against time. I’m trying to order all my products for the rest of the year,” he said. His goods, such as toys and T-shirts, come from China through the largest port complex in the United States, the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
He expects a 10 to 20 percent increase in shipping costs because of the trade war between the United States and China.
Shipping costs likely to rise
China is the largest trading partner for both ports. As tariffs from both countries increase the cost of goods, manufacturers and retailers may order fewer products, which will cause a decrease in trade volume between the two countries, according to Stephen Cheung, president of the World Trade Center Los Angeles.
“Once that happens, you’re going to see an increase in the rates for shipping because then you don’t have the volume to justify the goods going back and forth,” he said.
Cheung explained that shipping costs will affect all goods between the U.S. and China, not just the ones on the list to be taxed. He said the trade and logistics sector, which includes the ports and the supply chain of trucks and warehouses, will be the first to feel the effects of the trade war.
Liang said he will absorb the cost and live with smaller profits, up to a point.
“If the tariffs increase by another 20 percent, we’ll have to raise our prices,” he said.
“The consumers are going to feel it in their wallets very quickly,” Cheung said.
Supply chain may be less reliable
The U.S. as a manufacturing center depends on parts from China, but that supply may become less reliable as the trade war continues. Cheung said there may be uncertainty about whether the products will be produced or “whether they will be in the same price, so this potentially can have a huge aspect in terms of our exporting capability not only to China but to the rest of the world, Cheung said. “And there are a lot of jobs that are tied to this,” he added.
Officials at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles said it is too early to tell the impact of the trade tariffs.
“We’ll have to wait and see how various businesses restructure their supply networks and adjust to the tariff environment,” said Duane Kenagy, the Port of Long Beach’s interim deputy executive director.
He said so far, the port has seen record container volumes this year, but there is concern.
“The impacts of a sustained long-term trade war could be devastating to both economies,” Kenagy said.
Political theater?
Liang said he has hope, saying he thinks the trade war is actually political theater for the U.S. and China.
“China also has its position on trade. The Chinese government also has to be accountable to the 1.4 billion people of China. I think China and the U.S. will disagree over trade on the surface. (For Trump), it’s a show for the November midterm elections, so he can be accountable to the electorate,” Liang said.
Washington has been critical of China’s unfair trade practices and concerned with a trade imbalance. The U.S. imported more than $500 billion of Chinese goods last year compared to $130 billion of U.S. products exported to China.
These concerns and issues of American intellectual property are reasons the Trump administration announced tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports.
“If you’re utilizing this as a tactic, that’s fine. What are the steps that you’re going to use to mitigate some of these damages that will be happening to the local community? These are huge issues that have not been addressed yet,” Cheung said.
…
Largest US Port Complex Braces for Extended US-China Trade War
15/07/2018
Liang Liang is feeling a lot of stress lately. He owns an import wholesale business in Los Angeles.
“I have been watching the news every day — when will the tariffs be put in place? When are my goods arriving; it’s a fight against time. I’m trying to order all my products for the rest of the year,” he said. His goods, such as toys and T-shirts, come from China through the largest port complex in the United States, the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
He expects a 10 to 20 percent increase in shipping costs because of the trade war between the United States and China.
Shipping costs likely to rise
China is the largest trading partner for both ports. As tariffs from both countries increase the cost of goods, manufacturers and retailers may order fewer products, which will cause a decrease in trade volume between the two countries, according to Stephen Cheung, president of the World Trade Center Los Angeles.
“Once that happens, you’re going to see an increase in the rates for shipping because then you don’t have the volume to justify the goods going back and forth,” he said.
Cheung explained that shipping costs will affect all goods between the U.S. and China, not just the ones on the list to be taxed. He said the trade and logistics sector, which includes the ports and the supply chain of trucks and warehouses, will be the first to feel the effects of the trade war.
Liang said he will absorb the cost and live with smaller profits, up to a point.
“If the tariffs increase by another 20 percent, we’ll have to raise our prices,” he said.
“The consumers are going to feel it in their wallets very quickly,” Cheung said.
Supply chain may be less reliable
The U.S. as a manufacturing center depends on parts from China, but that supply may become less reliable as the trade war continues. Cheung said there may be uncertainty about whether the products will be produced or “whether they will be in the same price, so this potentially can have a huge aspect in terms of our exporting capability not only to China but to the rest of the world, Cheung said. “And there are a lot of jobs that are tied to this,” he added.
Officials at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles said it is too early to tell the impact of the trade tariffs.
“We’ll have to wait and see how various businesses restructure their supply networks and adjust to the tariff environment,” said Duane Kenagy, the Port of Long Beach’s interim deputy executive director.
He said so far, the port has seen record container volumes this year, but there is concern.
“The impacts of a sustained long-term trade war could be devastating to both economies,” Kenagy said.
Political theater?
Liang said he has hope, saying he thinks the trade war is actually political theater for the U.S. and China.
“China also has its position on trade. The Chinese government also has to be accountable to the 1.4 billion people of China. I think China and the U.S. will disagree over trade on the surface. (For Trump), it’s a show for the November midterm elections, so he can be accountable to the electorate,” Liang said.
Washington has been critical of China’s unfair trade practices and concerned with a trade imbalance. The U.S. imported more than $500 billion of Chinese goods last year compared to $130 billion of U.S. products exported to China.
These concerns and issues of American intellectual property are reasons the Trump administration announced tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports.
“If you’re utilizing this as a tactic, that’s fine. What are the steps that you’re going to use to mitigate some of these damages that will be happening to the local community? These are huge issues that have not been addressed yet,” Cheung said.
…
Largest US Port Complex Bracing for Extended US-China Trade War
15/07/2018
As the Trump administration announces tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports, the largest port complex in the United States is bracing for its impact. For the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, China is the largest trader, and what happens at these ports can ripple through the rest of the U.S. economy. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports.
…
Largest US Port Complex Bracing for Extended US-China Trade War
15/07/2018
As the Trump administration announces tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports, the largest port complex in the United States is bracing for its impact. For the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, China is the largest trader, and what happens at these ports can ripple through the rest of the U.S. economy. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports.
…