Month: May 2019

Texas Waterway Remains Partially Closed After Collision 

Posted on by SeeUS

A busy commercial waterway near Houston remains partly closed following a collision involving four vessels that caused a toxic gasoline product to leak into the water. 

 

Authorities said at a news conference Saturday that the hull of a 755-foot (230-meter) tanker punctured storage tanks on a tugboat that was pushing two barges along the Houston Ship Channel. 

 

One barge capsized Friday. The other was damaged. 

 

The Coast Guard hasn’t revealed the cause of the collision. It’s trying to determine how much reformate leaked into the channel. The gas product is colorless, flammable and toxic to touch, inhale or ingest. 

 

The National Weather Service warned that people living nearby might be able to smell gasoline fumes. 

 

The Houston Chronicle reported the closure had halted 29 inbound ships and 17 outbound. 
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Acting Pentagon Chief Wants Secure Border Without Continuous Military Aid

Posted on by SeeUS

On a trip to a border city in Texas, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Saturday he intends to accelerate planning to secure the border and bolster the government’s ability to accomplish that without the Pentagon’s continuous help.

He also offered assurances to perhaps two dozen Border Patrol agents and other officials at the McAllen Border Patrol Station that the Pentagon would not withdraw its military support prematurely.

“We’re not going to leave until the border is secure,” he said, adding, “This isn’t about identifying a problem. It’s about fixing a problem more quickly.”

Shanahan told Congress this past week that there are 4,364 military troops on the border, including active-duty and National Guard. They are erecting barriers, providing logistics and transportation service and other activities in support of Customs and Border Protection. The troops are prohibited from performing law enforcement duties. Troops have been deployed on the border since last October and are committed to being there through September.

While flying to Texas, he dismissed any suggestion that active-duty forces will extend their mission for the long haul. “It will not be indefinite,” he told reporters traveling with him.

Shanahan also said he has instructed a two-star Army general, Ricky Waddell, to develop a plan soon that will answer this question: “How do we get more badges back to the border?” — a reference to ensuring Homeland Security Department is fully capable of securing the border, its core mission.

Shortfalls in personnel and other resources have prompted DHS to periodically ask for the military’s help on the U.S.-Mexico border, without a plan for how to fix the underlying resource problems.

“What we want is for DHS to be effective and stand alone,” Shanahan said, with the Pentagon always available to help in an emergency, as it has in the past.

DHS on Friday submitted another request for Pentagon assistance, defense officials said Saturday. That request, which has not previously been disclosed, is for shelter for detained migrants, and would include tents to be set up but not secured by an undetermined number of military troops, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.

Shanahan announced on Friday that he was transferring $1.5 billion from numerous defense projects, including $604 million originally intended for use in support of Afghan security forces, to a Pentagon counterdrug fund that will help finance construction of barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border. That is in addition to $1 billion the Pentagon transferred for wall construction in March.

Shanahan has supported the use of active-duty troops, in addition to the National Guard, to bolster CPB efforts to handle surging numbers of Central American migrants seeking to cross the border. But recently he has hinted at impatience with the lack of a long-term strategy for ensuring border security.

In congressional testimony May 1, Shanahan said he and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been considering the question of how long the military will be needed at the border and how best it can support that need.

“The question he and I are trying to answer,” Shanahan said, “is, how long will we be at the border.” He added, “We really need to get back to our primary missions and continue to generate readiness” to undertake conventional military operations.

On May 3, Shanahan told reporters that the border crisis had developed more quickly than anyone had anticipated, putting extra pressure on DHS.

“I don’t think anybody thought it would be this bad, the situation would deteriorate like it has, and that distress would be as high on those front-line (DHS) employees,” he said.

Many Democrats have questioned the use of active-duty troops on the border.

“The longer the Southwest border mission continues, the line of demarcation starts to blur in terms of where we’re drawing a line saying this is not a military responsibility, this is law enforcement, immigration, internal security responsibility,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said at a recent hearing.

As a prelude to the trip, the White House on Thursday announced that Trump intends to nominate Shanahan as defense secretary, ending months of speculation about Pentagon leadership. He has served in an interim capacity since Jan. 1, an unprecedented period of uncertainty at the helm of the Pentagon.

Trump elevated him from deputy secretary to replace Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who resigned in December.

The White House has never explained why it took Trump so long to decide to nominate Shanahan, a former Boeing Co. executive. Trump himself has said he likes to keep Cabinet members in an acting status because gives him more flexibility, although it also frustrates the Senate’s efforts to exercise its constitutional role of providing advice and consent.

In March, the Defense Department’s inspector general investigated accusations that Shanahan had shown favoritism toward Boeing during his time as deputy defense secretary, while disparaging Boeing competitors. The investigation appeared to stall his nomination, but the internal watchdog wrapped up the inquiry in April and cleared Shanahan of any wrongdoing.

 
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Polish Nationalists Protest US Over Holocaust Claims

Posted on by SeeUS

Thousands of Polish nationalists have marched to the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, protesting that the U.S. is putting pressure on Poland to compensate Jews whose families lost property during the Holocaust.

The protesters included far-right groups and their supporters. They said the United States has no right to interfere in Polish affairs and that the U.S. government is putting “Jewish interests” over the interests of Poland.

The nationalists say that Poland was a major victim of Nazi Germany during World War II and that it is not fair to ask Poland to compensate Jewish victims when Poland has never received adequate compensation from Germany.

“Why should we have to pay money today when nobody gives us anything?” said 22-year-old Kamil Wencwel. “Americans only think about Jewish and not Polish interests.”

 
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Yemen’s Houthis Begin Withdrawal Under UN Peace Deal

Posted on by SeeEA

Yemen’s Houthis started withdrawing Saturday from the ports of Hodeida, Salif, and Ras-Issa, under a United Nations peace deal.

Michael Lollesgaard, the chair of the U.N.’s Redeployment Coordination Committee, announced Friday that the redeployment would start Saturday and conclude by Tuesday. He said the RCC welcomed the offer by the Houthis to begin redeployment.

Lollesgaard said this move amounts to a “first practical step” since the conclusion of the Hodeida Agreement, which provides for a cease-fire between the warring parties in Yemen and withdrawal of fighters from the three ports.  He said the redeployment must be followed by committed, transparent and sustained actions of the parties involved to fully deliver on their obligations.

Lollesgaard added that the full implementation of the April 15 Hodeida Agreement will help ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to millions of people in Yemen who need life-saving assistance. The U.N. said it would continue to support that goal and work to return peace and stability to Yemen.   

 
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Iraqi Foreign Fighters Lurk in Syrian Shadows

Posted on by SeeEA

This is part four of a four-part series.

By late February and early March, it had become a common scene on the far outskirts of the northeastern Syrian town of Baghuz: evacuees from the Islamic State terror group’s final scrap of territory huddled on the desert floor, empty water bottles littering the ground as they waited to be vetted and taken to a displaced persons camp.

Only something had changed. These huddled masses were no longer civilians trapped by the terror group’s steady retreat or those who had been held as slaves or prisoners.

These women and children were the families of the IS fighters, many of them from outside Syria and Iraq. And they were unabashed in making one thing clear.

“I don’t want to go back,” Dorothée Maquere, the wife of French foreign fighter Jean-Michel Clain, told television cameras for the French news agency AFP.

“Let France leave me alone,” she added. “They killed my husband, my children, my family. That’s it. It’s finished.”

Maquere had plenty of company. By the time Baghuz finally fell, U.S.-backed forces had captured more than 2,000 foreign fighters and nearly 8,000 of their wives, children and relatives, many of whom had chosen to stay.

More may still be at large. A U.N. report issued in February estimated that of the 14,000 to 18,000 IS fighters active in Iraq and Syria at the time, up to 3,000 were foreign fighters.

And those estimates may be low.

U.S. and Syrian Democratic Forces officials admit they vastly underestimated both the size of the IS force and the fighters’ civilian family members hunkered down for a last stand in Baghuz.

Many may have also joined Iraqi and Syrian IS fighters who chose to shift away from the pressure as the SDF closed in on their shrinking territorial holdings.

“ISIS fighters in Syria responded to the loss of a territorial ‘caliphate’ by crossing the border into Iraq and taking refuge in that country’s northern and western desert regions,” U.S. Principal Deputy Inspector General Glenn Fine, using an acronym for the group, wrote in the latest report on Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led effort to destroy the caliphate.

So, too, there are indications foreign fighters have found a way to hide, at times, in plain sight.

According to coalition officials, IS maintains a series of “well-supplied” clandestine cells throughout Syria and Iraq, many just on the outskirts of major urban centers.

Unknown factors

And many current estimates often cannot account for IS numbers in parts of Syria where the U.S. and U.S.-backed forces are not able to operate.

“We have much less insight into what’s going on in [Syrian] regime- and Russian-controlled areas,” according to a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity given the sensitive subject matter. “We’re concerned and we have regular conversations with the Russians about the idea of this ISIS fight moving out of areas that the coalition controls.”

Officials with the U.S.-backed coalition also worry that across Syria and Iraq, IS still benefits from pockets of support among Sunni Arabs and some tribal leaders, which may give foreign fighters additional options.

“A lot fewer moved back to their countries of origin than had been suspected,” Seth Jones, director of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told VOA. “I think they’ve done a reasonable job of blending in and waiting to fight for another day.”

Still more foreign fighters may have left without going very far.

“There are also reports that foreign fighters are lying low in countries outside of Iraq and Syria, essentially biding their time until conditions are suitable for their return,” said Jade Parker, a former counterterrorism analyst in support of U.S. military activities.

Not everyone is convinced, and there is disagreement about the extent to which IS foreign fighters have been able to entrench themselves in areas once controlled by the group’s caliphate.

“When they lose territory, it is very difficult for them to integrate those folks [the foreign fighters] into what the rest of the locals are doing,” Craig Whiteside, a senior associate with the Center on Irregular Warfare at the Naval War College, said regarding the terror group’s clandestine activities.

“Their transition to insurgency does not include foreign fighters,” he said.

Yet even if foreign fighters are not aiding in the insurgency now, it may just be a matter of time.

Continued entry

Even as the IS caliphate crumbled and countries like Turkey worked to shut down transit routes to Syria, coalition officials said handfuls of foreign fighters were still finding ways in.

And spirits among the remaining IS fighters are improving.

“The morale of ISIS fighters in Iraq increased since last quarter, because of the weather improving and the influx of fighters returning from Syria,” the most recent U.S. inspector general report on counter-IS operations in the Middle East concluded.

“Core ISIS is the main game still in terms of the threat,” said Linda Robinson, a senior researcher with the RAND Corporation, a global policy research group.

“We have about six to 12 months before a kind of full-blown insurgency could come back to life and a level of violence that goes beyond what the state [Iraq] is capable of managing,” she said.

U.S. Central Command officials have given similar assessments for Syria, “absent U.S. counterterrorism pressure.”

Even the IS foreign fighters and their families in SDF custody are a growing cause for concern.

The U.S. has been pushing for Western countries to take them back and prosecute them, though officials admit some countries are still struggling to develop the necessary legal framework. But these officials say dealing with those issues can be put off for only so long.

“It’s an immediate problem,” Alina Romanowski, the State Department’s principal deputy coordinator for counterterrorism, said at a recent forum in Washington.

“You can’t just let them wander around the globe for however long they’re going to be around, but they’re also in these detention camps,” she said. “They’re recruiting like crazy. And what are we doing about that?”
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US Sending More Military Power to Counter Iranian Threat

Posted on by SeeUS

The United States military is once again ramping up its arsenal in the Middle East to counter a potential attack from Iran. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has more on the Iranian threat and the American military response.
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French Military Frees Foreign Hostages from Burkina Faso

Posted on by SeeUS

French special forces have rescued four foreign hostages from Burkina Faso but lost two of their elite soldiers in the mission.

France’s military said the special forces carried out the raid during a predawn operation Friday, supported by U.S. intelligence.

President Emmanuel Macron’s office said all four hostages were safe. Two of the hostages are French, one is American and one is South Korean.

French Defense Minister Florence Parly told a news conference Friday that no one involved in the operation knew about the presence of the American and South Korean hostages, only the French ones.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department said the United States was grateful for the successful recovery of the hostages.

The two French tourists went missing last week during a visit to the Pendjari National Park wildlife reserve in Benin. Their guide was later found dead and their captors were tracked to neighboring Burkina Faso.

Macron expressed condolences in a Friday statement over the deaths of two French commandos who were killed during the operation. A military ceremony is planned for them next week.

France’s army chief Francois Lecointre told reporters that four kidnappers were killed in the operation and two escaped. He described the kidnappers as “terrorists.”

France has about 4,500 troops in Africa’s Sahel region to help local governments fight Islamist extremists. The region has seen an increase in violence by militants linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State in recent years.
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Trump Starts Process to Raise Tariffs on Remaining China Imports

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered officials to begin the process of raising tariffs on “essentially all remaining imports from China,” valued at about $300 billion, according to the U.S. trade representative.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer made the announcement in a statement Friday after the United States increased tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.

He said details on the process for a public comment period on the proposal for more tariffs will be published shortly.

The development comes after the United States and China ended their latest round of trade negotiations without announcing any agreement.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Lighthizer met briefly Friday with the Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He. After the talks, Mnuchin briefly spoke to reporters saying that discussions had been “constructive.”

After the talks ended, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Friday that the relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping remains “a very strong one” and that conversations “will continue” but that the U.S. is imposing tariffs on China which “may or may not be removed.”

Earlier in the day, Trump sent a series of tweets on the escalating trade war with China. Beijing has vowed to retaliate for the U.S. action.

“We have lost 500 Billion Dollars a year, for many years, on Crazy Trade with China. NO MORE!” 

Trump went on to tweet that trade talks with China are proceeding in a “congenial manner” and “there is absolutely no need to rush” to finalize a trade agreement.

​The president noted that Washington sells Beijing about $100 billion worth of goods, and with the more than $100 billion in tariffs received, the U.S. will buy agricultural products from U.S. farmers and send them as humanitarian assistance to nations in need.

While some taxes are paid directly to the government when products are imported, these taxes, also known as customs duties, are frequently added to the price of the imported product. This means the taxes are paid by those who buy the product. In this case, it would be the American consumer.

Trump also chided China for trying to “redo” the deal at the last minute after the terms already had been set.

Trump said he also received “a beautiful letter” from Chinese President Xi Jinping that expressed a sentiment of “let’s work together.”

Trump told reporters he believes “tariffs for our country are very powerful,” and would benefit America’s economy.

Some economists, however, predict such tariffs would cut the U.S. economic growth rate.

David French of the U.S. National Retail Federation said in a VOA interview “a negotiating strategy based on tariffs is the wrong direction” and expressed hope the Chinese “make substantial concessions to avert this disaster.”

Shanghai University economics professor Ding Jianping told VOA the tariffs would also adversely impact the U.S. financial markets, which have climbed to record highs. Jianping said the record performance makes the markets “most vulnerable” because they are “not supported by science and technology.” He added, “The peak created by fiscal and monetary policy is unsustainable.”

The Trump administration hopes the new tariffs will force changes in China’s trade, subsidy and intellectual property practices. The two sides have been unable to reach a deal due, in part, to differences over the enforcement of an agreement and a timeline for removing the tariffs.
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Medics: Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian at Gaza Border Protest

Posted on by SeeEA

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian on Friday during weekly protests along the border with Israel, Gaza health officials said.

In addition to the 24-year-old male fatality, 30 other people were wounded by live gunfire during the protest, in which thousands participated, they said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said troops, facing around 6,000 Palestinians at the border with Gaza, opened fire when some of them approached the fortified fence.

Egyptian security mediators were visiting the region to cement ceasefire understanding between Israel and Gaza militants, led by the Islamist Hamas group. Their visit follows last weekend’s flare-up in fighting, which killed 29 Palestinians, over half them civilians, and four Israeli civilians.

The protesters are demanding an end to an Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza and Palestinians’ rights to lands from which their families fled or were forced to flee during Israel’s founding in 1948.

Israel sees the protests as potential cover for cross-border attacks and a bid by Hamas to distract from its internal governance problems.

More than 200 Gazans have been killed by Israeli troops since the “Great March of Return” started on March 30, 2018, according to Gaza health officials. An Israeli soldier was also killed by a Palestinian sniper.
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Libya Rescues More Than 200 Europe-Bound Migrants Off Coast

Posted on by SeeEA

Libya’s navy says it has rescued 213 Europe-bound African and Arab migrants off the Mediterranean coast. 

 

The navy released a statement online Friday saying its coast guard came to the aid of two rubber boats that had sailed separately on May 8. One of the two boats was carrying 88 men, 12 women and seven children. The second boat carried the remaining 106.

The statement says the migrants — nationals of several Arab and African countries — were handed over to Libya’s police after having received humanitarian and medical aid. 

 

Libya became a major conduit for African migrants and refugees fleeing to Europe after the uprising that toppled and killed Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Libyan authorities have stepped up efforts to stem the flow of migrants, with European assistance.
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Iran Rejects Trump’s ‘Call Me’ Invitation

Posted on by SeeEA

Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency on Friday quoted a top commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as saying Tehran would not negotiate with the United States. The statement followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s indirect invitation to Iranian leaders to give him a call.  

 

Trump called for negotiations with Iran several times on Thursday. He told reporters, “What I’d like to see with Iran, I’d like to see them call me.” 

 

But Tasnim on Friday quoted Gen. Yadollah Javani as saying “there will be no negotiations with America.” He also said the United States would not dare to take military action against Iran. 

Show of force

 

On Thursday, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and four B-52 bomber aircraft arrived in the Middle East in response to concerns that Iran might be planning an attack against American targets. 

 

The carrier strike group completed its transit Thursday through the Suez Canal, U.S. Central Command spokesman Navy Capt. William Urban told VOA. He also said two B-52 bombers arrived in the region Thursday, while two others arrived Wednesday. 

 

The bombers are now positioned at the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a defense official confirmed on condition of anonymity. 

 

The request for more military assets in the Middle East was “in direct response to a number of troubling and escalatory indicators and warnings” from Iran, CENTCOM commander Marine Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie Jr. said Wednesday in Washington. 

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told VOA the swift military movement “sends a message that we can face any threat at a time and place of our choosing.” 

 

The American military assets arrived in the Middle East as European leaders denounced threats from Iran that it would stop curbing its nuclear program, a move that would breach a landmark global agreement. 

 

Hours before new sanctions were imposed Wednesday by the United States, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would enrich uranium beyond allowable limits if world powers didn’t protect Iran from the sanctions within 60 days. 

 

“We reject any ultimatums and we will assess Iran’s compliance on the basis of Iran’s performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments,” the European Union and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany said Thursday in a joint statement.

Support for accord

The European leaders also said they wanted to preserve the 2015 agreement, which requires Iran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the elimination of sanctions. The deal was signed by China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the U.S. and the EU. The U.S. abandoned the agreement one year ago.

Trump introduced new sanctions Wednesday on Iranian metal exports, major sources of revenue for the country. The U.S. had previously slapped sanctions on Iranian oil, which have devastated its economy.

The sanctions have created a quandary for Washington’s European allies, which have said they share concerns about Iran’s behavior but believe Trump’s strategy will most likely backfire.
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Nigeria Losing $1B Annually to Medical Tourism, Authorities Say

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Nigerian authorities say the country is losing more than $1 billion annually to medical tourism as tens of thousands of Nigerians travel abroad in search of the best treatment. Nigeria’s Health Ministry says it is building six world class health centers to address the issue; but, as Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja, not even the president seems to trust health care in Nigeria.
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HOW TO SHOP IN THE UK AND SHIP WORLDWIDE – ULTIMATE GUIDE

Posted on by BoorSell

We know that many of our customers (that’s you!) are pretty savvy when it comes to cheap online shopping. The fact they you use a parcel forwarding service for your UK online shopping means that you know the tricks of the trade – putting you one step ahead.

But being a savvy shopper doesn’t end there.

HOW TO SHOP IN THE UK AND SHIP WORLDWIDE – FORWARD2ME’S ULTIMATE GUIDE

To help you make the most of your UK online shopping experience, and to ensure you pay the best price, we’ve put together a guide to help you get the best out of your forward2me account.

Select from one of three warehouses

Forward2me’s parcel forwarding service has three warehouse options for customers to choose from – so you can pick the one that suits you best. As well as our original warehouse in the UK, we also have additional warehouses in Guernsey and Germany. Our Guernsey warehouse gives shoppers based internationally access to duty free prices, whilst our German warehouse opens up a whole world of shopping in mainland Europe. You can choose to use any of our warehouses for each individual order – so if you’re unsure, contact our team and we can advise of the cheapest and quickest option for your UK online shopping.

Take advantage of deals and savings!

The days of paying full price are long-gone and savvy shoppers will know that there is often a saving to be made and cheap online shopping to be done…

Sign up to voucher code sites.
Although they don’t always advertise them on their own websites, many retailers will have additional discounts available when voucher codes are applied. It is always worth checking for discount codes before you hit the ‘Pay Now’ button for an extra 10% or 20% off your order, or sign up to vouchercodes.co.uk for daily emails of the best deals around. Another way go about cheap online shopping is to sign up with cashback sites (topcashback.co.uk and quidco.com are just two). Although you don’t usually save on your shop at the point of payment, you’ll be awarded cashback in your account, which you can build up and turn into cash or vouchers.

Sign up for a Nectar Card.
Another good way to earn rewards as you shop is to sign up for a Nectar Card. A number of sites – including eBay – allow you to earn Nectar points on their site, so you can build up points which you can later turn into vouchers.

Join Amazon Prime.
If you buy a lot from a specific retailer, it might be worth signing up for membership or an annual delivery pass (if available). Amazon’s Prime membership is hugely popular – giving customers access to free, speedy delivery on Prime products and a whole host of other benefits. Forward2me’s customers can get FREE priority shipping on Prime products to your forward2me address in the UK. Other retailers including ASOS and New Look have annual delivery passes, so all UK deliveries will be included in one single price, meaning you’ll just have to pay for your ongoing parcel forwarding costs.

Sign up for points cards.
There are several UK retailers that have points cards and loyalty schemes. One of the best is the Boots Advantage Card – which gives you 4 points for every pound you spend. What’s more, if you buy baby products regularly or even need a large baby item (such as a pram, a car seat or a buggy), you can sign up to the Boots Parenting Club and receive 10 points per pound! Points make £’s!

Keep up with all the latest deals by visiting moneysavingexpert.com. This website is packed full of up to date information on cheap online shopping deals and sales to help you make access the best savings as you shop. You can even sign up to receive a weekly email – so you get shopping tips and tricks delivered straight to your inbox.

PAY WITH CONFIDENCE:
PayPal, VISA, MasterCard, Bitcoin

Range of payment options
forward2me has a wide range of safe and secure payment options. These include PayPal, credit cards, debit cards, bitcoin (BitPay) and bank transfer. Coming soon, we will also be offering payment via Blue Snap – giving customers the option to pay in theis own currency and therefore avoid currency exchange rate charges. Please note that not all options are available in all countries – if in doubt, please double check before you place your order.

Save time by letting us do the research
Our team like a deal as much as our customers do and we’re always on the lookout for sale bargains and discounts on the products our customers love. There are two ways you can keep track of all our information to access cheap online shopping…

Sign up to our emails (in ‘My Account’) for information about UK online shopping deals and up to the minute offers, sales and new releases.
Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook to see the latest deals and hot off the press releases.

Make the most of our services
Many customers will know about our basic parcel forwarding service, but did you know that we also have a range of other options, some of which could help you save on shipping costs? For example, if you’re using your forward2me account to place several orders within a week or two, our combine and reship service lets you receive all your items in one package rather having to pay for multiple separate shipments. We also offer large item shipping for bulky or heavy items. We also give customers the option to purchase Protect+ at the time you order your shipping service. Protect+ covers qualifying goods up to the value of £5,000 against loss or damage – giving you peace of mind.

WE SHIP WORLDWIDE WITH:
DHL, UPS, TNT, DPD, DSV

International Shipping Options
Over the years, forward2me has built up relationships with the world’s best international shipping companies, allowing us to bring the very best shipping options to our customers at the best prices. We work with DHL, UPS, TNT, dpd and DSV. Depending on where you’re located and how quickly you need your items, we’ll provide the best priced delivery options for you to choose from.

Enter our Competitions
We have 2 permanently running competitions that give customers the chance to save on future parcel forwarding costs.

  1. Upload a video in response to our Feefo request (sent after your shipment has completed) and be in with the chance of winning 50% of your next shipment.
  2. Guess the date & time of delivery of your shipment to within the hour & be in with a chance of winning £200 shipping credit. Rules here

More information here

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Is it Curtains for Daylight Saving Time?

Posted on by SeeUS

Twice a year, Americans change their clocks in accordance with the federally mandated switch to daylight saving time (DST), a concept first introduced during World War I in order to save energy by maximizing sunlight.

The idea was to take an hour of sun from the morning, when people were likely to be asleep, and tack it to the end of the day, when most Americans were still awake.

“I hate losing an hour of sleep, and I hate the disruption in the fall,” DST activist Scott Yates told VOA in an email. “But I’m trying not to complain as much about things that I can’t do anything about, so I’m doing something!”

The Colorado technology entrepreneur wants to remain on DST year-round and runs a website dedicated to achieving that goal.

The Uniform Time Act of 1966 requires most Americans to comply with the semiannual time change.

Daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March, when clocks “spring forward” an hour. Daylight saving time ends on the first Sunday in November, when clocks “fall back” an hour. That means we lose an hour of sleep in the spring and gain an extra hour of sleep in the fall.

South Carolina is the latest U.S. state to call on Congress to authorize DST year-round. The southern state joins more than two dozen other states that are considering or have already passed similar legislation.

Changing the clock is not only annoying to some people, but it might also be bad for your health.

Researchers say the risk of stroke is 8% higher during the first two days after a DST transition, and a 2012 study suggests the risk of having a heart attack is 10% higher on the Monday and Tuesday after the clocks move ahead one hour in March. There’s also a significant increase in vehicle accidents.

“If someone proposed today that we start changing the clocks around twice a year, we’d all say they are crazy,” Yates says. “There has been a ton of research showing that it’s just plain dangerous in terms of heart attacks, workplace accidents, traffic accidents, strokes. The list goes on and on.”

Critics of making DST permanent say the change will hurt high school students, who already have a hard time waking up in the morning, by forcing the teens to get up earlier from November to March.

There are also concerns that children would be walking to school, or waiting for the school bus, in the dark on winter mornings, which could lead to more pedestrian accidents.

Even President Donald Trump has weighed in on the issue, tweeting that, “Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me!”

Yates is delighted that his cause appears to be gaining momentum.

“When I first started this movement there were a lot of bills, but they never passed,” Yates says. “This year they are passing, and now there’s some movement on the federal level. People laughed at me a lot at the start, but now they seem to appreciate all the work I’ve put into it.”
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Ugandan Legislator-Singer Vows to Continue Protest in Music

Posted on by SeeAF

The Ugandan singer and legislator known as Bobi Wine has vowed to continue using music to denounce longtime President Yoweri Museveni. But his music increasingly faces stiff controls from the state.

Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has been singing and entertaining Ugandans since he was a teenager.

Now 37 and a member of parliament, his songs today carry a political message. Wine says it’s time for the country’s young people to awaken and challenge Museveni.

“Our message has been primarily a message of mental emancipation. Of knowing that Ugandans are actually the owners of this country and the leaders must do everything they do in the benefit of the people, which is not the case here today,” he said.

Concerts canceled

It’s rare that Wine gets to sing these days. Since 2017, more than 120 of his planned concerts have been canceled by the police, who say his management failed to meet minimum security standards required to host revelers.

To stop his concerts, police have used arrests and tear gas to clear the crowds.

Wine’s supporters, such as Kifampa Nsambu, are not happy.

“He’s singing about the Ugandan who is suffering, and he’s talking about the reality on ground. Those who are living in posh houses and posh cars, moving in AC (air-conditioned) cars, they do not feel the situation that is having here. But, it’s the government that is destroying the peace that is here,” Nsambu said.

Under house arrest, the musician once again turned to his music to send a message to the police.

His message? I am fighting for you and not against you.

Days later, he was arrested again on charges of unlawfully engaging in a protest against Uganda’s 2018 social media tax. He was released on bail.

Message part of appeal

Political analyst Miria Matembe says the message of Wine’s music helped get him elected to the legislature.

“They elected him because they believe in what he stands for. Now, why should you? Why should you brutalize him, torture him, simply because you fear, that he’s threatening your position as a president of Uganda,” Matembe said.

Solomon Silwanyi, deputy chief whip of the ruling National Resistance Movement party, says he does not have a problem with Wine as long as he can differentiate between music and politics.

“Of course, as a musician I love Bobi Wine so much. I love the music. I support his music. But, as a president of Uganda, of course I don’t support him. I support President Museveni because I believe he still has a vision for this country,” Silwanyi said.

During the 2011 election campaign, Museveni’s team created a song off a rhyme he made during a speech.

Museveni isn’t competing with Wine on the music stage, but he will have to test his popularity next to Wine in the political arena if the legislator decides to run for president in 2021.
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Uganda Legislator, Musician Vows to Continue Anti-Government Songs

Posted on by SeeAF

Robert Kyagulanyi, the Ugandan singer and legislator better known as Bobi Wine, has vowed to continue using music to denounce longtime President Yoweri Museveni. But, as Halima Athumani reports from Kampala, his music is now facing stiff control from the state.
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China ‘Fed Up’ With US Criticism of Belt and Road

Posted on by SeeUS

China has expressed annoyance at U.S. criticism of its Belt and Road Initiative, inspired by the Silk Road, an ancient network of trade routes that connected parts of Asia, Africa and Europe. Xi Jinping’s administration has promoted the initiative as a development strategy involving investment and infrastructure in more than 150 countries. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned that China’s opaque financing could trap many countries in unsustainable debt. VOA’S Zlatica Hoke reports.
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Remains of Nazi Victims to be Buried in Berlin

Posted on by SeeEU

More than seven decades after the end of World War II, the remains of political prisoners executed by the Nazis and dissected for research will be given a proper burial in Berlin.

The microscopic remains — 300 tissue samples each a hundredth of a millimeter thin and about 1 centimeter square — were uncovered by the descendants of the late Hermann Stieve, an anatomist who worked on the bodies of Third Reich opponents.

“Such small tissue samples are usually not deemed worthy of burial,” Andreas Winkelmann, who had been tasked to determine the origin of the histological samples, told AFP. “But this is a special story, because they came from people who were actively denied graves so that their relatives would not know where they are buried.”

Monday ceremony

A ceremony will be Monday with descendants of the victims expected to attend, before the remains are laid to rest at the Dorotheenstadt cemetery in central Berlin.

The site was picked because there are many graves and memorials for the victims of Nazism there, said Johannes Tuchel, director of the German Resistance Memorial Center, which is organizing the special event along with Berlin’s university hospital Charite.

Tuchel said a decision was made to bury the specimens because they are “the last remains of people who were victims of the Nazi unjust justice system.”

“They were denied a grave at that time, and so today, a burial is a matter of course,” he said.

A plaque will also be put up to explain the find.

Research specimens

More than 2,800 people held at Berlin-Ploetzensee prison were put to the guillotine or hanged between 1933 and 1945, and most were then sent for dissection at the Berlin Institute of Anatomy.

Most of the 300 specimens found in Stieve’s estate stemmed from women, adds the plaque, which would not list the names of individual victims at the request of relatives.

Winkelmann, who had done extensive research into Stieve and his controversial experiments, said it was unclear how many individuals’ remains were included in the batch of specimens.

Some 20 specimens came with names, others only numbers.

The clues have however helped draw a firm link with the Ploetzensee victims.

Crucially for the history books, the specimens each set on 2 by 7 centimeter (0.8 by 2.7 inch) glass plates provided rare concrete proof that prisoners’ bodies were sent for dissection.

Stieve was the director from 1935 to 1952 of the Berlin Institute of Anatomy, where he carried out his controversial research on the female reproductive system.

Among those executed at Ploetzensee were 42 resistance fighters from the Berlin group Red Orchestra.

Stieve is believed to have dissected at least 13 of 18 female Red Orchestra fighters executed.

He was never charged with a crime and continued his career after the war as did many other scientists who collaborated with the Nazis.

Only the highest-ranking physicians under the Third Reich were prosecuted at Nuremberg for grotesque human experimentation and mass murder under the “euthanasia” program.

Winkelmann said it was particularly objectionable that while Stieve did not directly experiment on live victims, he was examining the physical impact of fear experienced by the women sitting on death row.

“That’s of course very cold-hearted and turned these people into mere objects,” Winkelmann said.

‘Open questions’

“The Nazi justice system found that interesting for them, not because they wanted to back Stieve’s research, but because it was a way to humiliate the victims once again,” Winkelmann said.

“First, by sending them to anatomy … and it was also a way to deny the victims a grave,” he said.

Adolf Hitler’s regime sought to dump the remains in unmarked mass graves because it did not want sites where relatives could mourn the victims, and from where political demonstrations could ensue.

While Monday’s burial may finally provide a form of closure to relatives of victims, Winkelmann said “there are still open questions that haven’t been answered about Hermann Stieve and how he went about his research.”

“I don’t want to close this chapter, because the future generations need to be informed about what happened there and why we think it was wrong. All that is relevant for the future.”
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US Voters to Have Mueller Report Final Say in 2020 Election

Posted on by SeeUS

President Donald Trump’s approval rating in the latest Gallup poll is up to 46 percent, the highest it has been in that poll since the earliest days of his presidency.

Some Republicans say the time is right for the president to move on from the aftermath of the Russia probe, led by special counsel Robert Mueller. But it seems neither Trump nor his Democratic critics are in any hurry to let the issue go.

On the campaign trail in Florida Wednesday, President Trump made sure to remind his supporters about the outcome of the Mueller report.

“Did you see what just happened, by the way? No collusion. No obstruction. No anything!” Trump said to cheers at a rally in Panama City, Florida. “They want to do what they are doing, which looks so foolish. And maybe I read it wrong, but I think it drives us right on to victory in 2020 because people get it.”

WATCH: Russia Probe Debate Likely Won’t be Resolved Until Election

​What report found

The Mueller report found insufficient evidence of a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to meddle in the 2016 election.

Mueller did not reach a conclusion on the issue of obstruction of justice, but he pointedly did not exonerate the president either, a claim Trump often makes.

The president still likes to gripe about the Russia probe on Twitter. On Sunday, Trump tweeted:

Republicans: Move on

The president’s Republican allies in Congress have closed ranks around the idea that it is time for the country to move on.

“It’s over. I mean, I can understand why our friends on the other side are disappointed. They have been trying to look for some way to overturn the 2016 election for two long years,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told reporters earlier this week.

Democrats including Senate leader Chuck Schumer have countered that the president and his Republican allies have no interest in preventing another Russian attack on the U.S. election system in 2020.

“This Russian interference or any foreign government interference in our election erodes at the root of our democracy and could actually topple the mighty oak that has been our republic for 200 years, and they are doing absolutely nothing,” the New York senator said.

Congressional Democrats have also vowed to keep the pressure on with oversight hearings and investigations.

They are also moving toward citing Attorney General William Barr with contempt of Congress for not producing an un-redacted version of the Mueller report.

“They are stonewalling the American people from all information and this cannot be,” said Democrat and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York.

​Oversight crisis

On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she agreed with Nadler’s view that the country now faces a “constitutional crisis” over the Trump administration’s resistance to congressional oversight, particularly demands coming from the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.

But it is also clear that Democrats remain divided over whether to pursue Trump’s impeachment.

“We won’t go any faster than the facts take us or any slower,” Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol Thursday.

Last week, Pelosi told reporters at a speaking engagement in Massachusetts that she is being cautious because “impeachment is one of the most divisive and dividing paths that you can take. And if you go down that path, you have to have a prospect for success.”

Republicans control the Senate, making any Democratic impeachment bid a long shot, according to University of Miami legal expert David Abraham.

“An impeachment proceeding that enjoys zero Republican support will be effectively portrayed in the presidential election as more of this ‘witch hunt’ by sore losers.”

​Campaign fight

As a political issue, many analysts said the Russia investigation appears far from over and could figure prominently in next year’s presidential campaign.

“Democrats are very unhappy with the president while many Republicans are very happy with him,” said John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. “So that is a formula for enthusiasm even though it may not be a very pretty sight, it is likely that we are going to see people wanting to turnout in this next election.”

So far, the president’s poll numbers do not appear to be suffering in the wake of the Mueller report. But it has also been clear for some time that the strong U.S. economy has done little to boost Trump’s standing in the polls, according to George Washington University expert Matt Dallek.

“His ceiling is pretty low, around 44 percent of the public. He has never cracked 50 percent, the first time in the history of polling that a president has not gone above 50 percent approval. But his floor is also pretty solid, pretty hard and he has rarely gone below 36 percent.”

Both Republicans and Democrats expect Trump will continue to proclaim vindication in the Russia investigation right through next year’s presidential campaign.

And for their part, Democrats will persevere with their oversight hearings and may eventually have to make a decision about whether to press the issue of impeachment.

But in the end, it is U.S. voters who are likely to render a final verdict on Trump when they go to the polls in November of 2020.
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British Royals Launch Mental Health Texting Service

Posted on by SeeEU

Britain’s young royals, brothers Prince William and Prince Harry and their wives Kate and Meghan, launched a new phone messaging service Friday to help people suffering a mental health crisis.

The two princes have been widely praised for speaking out about their own struggles with mental health in the wake of the death of their mother, Princess Diana, in a 1997 car crash and have made the issue one of their main charitable causes.

Shout

The new text messaging service, called “Shout,” aims to provide 24/7 support for people suffering from crises such as suicidal thoughts, abuse, relationship problems and bullying by connecting them to trained volunteers and helping them find longer-term support.

“We are incredibly excited to be launching this service, knowing it has the potential to reach thousands of vulnerable people every day,” the four royals said in a statement. “We have all been able to see the service working up close and are so excited for its future. We hope that many more of you will join us and be part of something very special.”

The service is particularly aimed at younger people and using text messaging means it is silent and private, allowing people to use it at school, on a bus or at home, the organizers said. 

Appeal for volunteers

As part of the launch, William appears in a video appealing for people to come forward as the service seeks to expand from 1,000 to 4,000 volunteers.

The initiative is one of the first to involve the quartet of royals who are joint patrons of the Royal Foundation, their primary vehicle for helping charities and good causes and which is supporting the Shout scheme.

It comes after the British media has been rife with speculation of a rift between the brothers and their wives, although there has been no public indication of any disagreements.

On Monday, Meghan, 37, and Harry, 34, celebrated the birth of their first child Archie, with William, 36, and Kate, 37, saying they were absolutely thrilled at the news.
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Blast Rocks Baghdad Marketplace; Accounts on Casualties Differ

Posted on by SeeEA

A blast rocked Baghdad’s northeastern Sadr City district on Thursday, but there were differing accounts on whether it caused any casualties.

Police Colonel Jamal Hameed told Reuters a parcel had been found on the side of the road near a market and detonated in a controlled explosion, hurting no one.

He said an earlier statement by the joint military-police Baghdad Operations Command mentioning a suicide bomb and several deaths had been released in error.

That statement had said a bomber detonated an explosive belt surrounded by security forces. Local media reported that at least eight people were killed. Reuters was unable to independently verify whether there were any casualties.

The blast hit days after the start of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset and tend to congregate in public places after breaking their fast.
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Report: EU Nations Living Far Beyond Earth’s Means 

Posted on by SeeEU

The European Union’s 28 countries consume the Earth’s resources faster than they can be renewed and none of them has sustainable consumption policies, a report released Thursday said, as EU leaders met to discuss priorities for the next five years.

“All EU countries are living beyond the means of our planet. The EU and its citizens are currently using twice more than the EU ecosystems can renew,”  the report  by the World Wide Fund (WWF) and Global Footprint Network said.

It was issued as leaders met in the Romanian city of Sibiu to set the course for the bloc after Britain’s planned departure from the EU.

Climate change key priority

French President Emmanuel Macron said before the summit that climate change was among his key priorities and it was included in the bloc’s 10 “commitments” for the future until 2024, agreed by all the 27 leaders meeting in Sibiu.

But the bloc is divided on how to achieve any ambitious climate goals and it remains far from clear how the Sibiu declaration would be implemented.

Some 100 Greenpeace activists and students from several European countries marched through Sibiu carrying a huge banner saying “Broken Climate Broken Future.”

“We cannot talk about a prosperous future without a healthy climate,” Greenpeace climate activist Alin Tanase told Reuters.

Views on concrete action to be taken to combat climate change differ between EU countries, influenced greatly by their dominant industries, such as carmakers in Germany or the coal industry in Poland.

Tusk sensitive to climate change

The chairman of the summit, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, said there was no future for politicians who were not sensitive to climate change and environment protection issues.

“The young generation is much more united on this than the member states. The truth is that nothing has changed when it comes to this divide and different opinions about this. What is new is this very fresh and energetic pressure,” he told a news conference after the summit.

Climate protection and sustainable development is also an important topic in the election campaign for the May 23-26 European Parliament elections, which will influence the leadership of European institutions and their programs.

The European Commission has been pushing for the EU to become climate neutral by 2050 through reducing carbon emissions that will otherwise boost the Earth’s average temperatures with devastating consequences.

“The EU uses up almost 20 percent of the Earth’s bio-capacity although it comprises only 7 percent of the world population,” the WWF report said.

“In other words, 2.8 planets would be needed if everyone consumed at the rate of the average EU resident,” it said.

Luxembourg smallest but fastest

It said the EU’s smallest and richest country, Luxembourg, was also the one which used up renewable resources the fastest last year. Just 46 days into the year, it had consumed its full share of the Earth’s resources, it said.

The EU’s poorest nation, Romania, took the longest to arrive at that point, on July 12th. But that was still earlier than the world’s average of Aug. 1, called Earth overshoot day.
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US Prosecutors Add Hate Crime Charges in Synagogue Shooting 

Posted on by SeeUS

Federal officials announced Thursday that they have filed 109 hate crime charges against the 19-year-old man accused of opening fire in a Southern California synagogue.

Prosecutors say the gunman, identified as John T. Earnest, killed a woman and wounded an 8-year-old girl, her uncle and Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who was leading the service at the Chabad of Poway synagogue on the last day of Passover, a major Jewish holiday.

In a court appearance last month, Earnest pleaded not guilty to state charges of murder and attempted murder. In a separate case, he has pleaded not guilty of burning a mosque in nearby Escondido. 

 

Authorities say he fired at least eight shots in the synagogue before fleeing.

Earnest would be eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted of murder that is classified as a hate crime. California Gov. Gavin Newsom in March issued a moratorium on executions while he is in office.

‘Intent to harm’

Prosecutors say Earnest expressed his “intent to harm Jews” in an online posting. He also acknowledged using gasoline to spark a blaze that charred a wall of the Escondido mosque and scrawling graffiti praising the gunman who killed 50 people at two New Zealand mosques last month. 

 

Earnest was an accomplished student, athlete and musician whose embrace of white supremacy and anti-Semitism stunned his family and others closest to him. He lived with his parents and made the dean’s list both semesters last year as a nursing student at California State University-San Marcos. 

 

Earnest frequented 8chan, a dark corner of the web where people often post extremist, racist and violent views.

“I’ve only been lurking here for a year and half, yet what I’ve learned here is priceless. It’s been an honor,” he wrote. 

 

Federal hate crime charges were also filed against the gunman who last fall opened fire at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, killing 11 worshippers. Authorities in that case say Robert Bowers also expressed hatred of Jews. Bowers, 46, has pleaded not guilty.
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Trump: Paperwork Started for New Tariffs on Chinese Products 

Posted on by SeeUS

“We’re starting that paperwork today” for imposing new “very heavy tariffs” on Chinese products,” U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters just hours before trade talks in Washington are to resume between officials of the world’s two largest economies. 

The United States is set to impose Friday an increase in tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Vice Premier Liu He is leading the Chinese negotiating team for the talks which threatened to collapse after the Trump administration accused Beijing of backtracking.

“We were getting very close to a deal, then they started to renegotiate the deal,” Trump said Thursday in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. 

“It was their idea to come back” and resume discussions ahead of the Friday deadline for additional tariffs, the president said. 

Liu He, who is Chinese President Xi Jinping’s top economic adviser, is to sit down with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. 

Trump said he had also received “a beautiful letter” from Xi that expressed a sentiment of “let’s work together.” 

Trump told reporters that he happens “to think tariffs for our country are very powerful,” in line with a view he has been expressing that such increased punitive taxes would be good for America’s economy.

Some economists, however, predict such tariffs would cut in half U.S. economic growth seen in the first quarter of this year. 

Officials in Beijing say they have “made all necessary preparations” if Trump follows through on the pledge to impose the new set of tariffs. 

Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that China will not bow to any pressure, and warned it has the “determination and ability to defend its own interests.”

The ministry issued an earlier statement vowing to take any necessary countermeasures if the tax is implemented.

The Trump administration hopes the new tariffs will force changes in China’s trade, subsidy and intellectual property practices.

The two sides have been unable to reach a deal due, in part, to differences over the enforcement of an agreement and a timeline for removing the tariffs.

Trump says despite being poised to impose the additional tariffs, he is not looking for a trade war with Beijing. 

“I want to get along with China,” he told reporters. 
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