Some are moving factories out of China. Others are strategically redesigning products. Some are seeking loopholes in trade law or even mislabeling where their goods originate — all with the goal of evading President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on goods from China.
But most of the companies that stand to be hurt by Trump’s tariffs are hunkering down and waiting because they don’t know when, whether or how his yearlong trade war with China will end or which other countries the president might target next.
Consider Xcel Brands, a New York-based company that owns such brands as Halston, Isaac Mizrahi and C. Wonder. Two years ago, it made all its clothing in China. Now it’s on the move — diversifying production to Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Canada and considering Mexico and Central America as well. By next year, it expects to have left China completely.
“You have to keep moving things around,” said CEO Robert D’Loren.
Trump launched the world’s biggest trade war since the 1930s by imposing tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods and threatening to tax $300 billion more. He has pursued separate battles with America’s allies, too — from South Korea, Mexico and Canada to Japan and the European Union — over trade in steel, aluminum and autos.
Faced with the prospect of a forever war with America’s trading partners, numerous businesses say they’re delaying investment decisions and reviewing their business relationships until they have a clearer view of how Trump’s trade wars might end — if they will.
Shifting to other countries could slash Xcel Brands’ labor costs in half. This is crucial, D’Loren said, because fashion companies have little ability to raise prices and would have to absorb the cost of higher import taxes.
The trend of manufacturers leaving China predates Trump’s trade wars. With wages and other costs in China rising, companies were already shifting toward lower-wage countries, from Vietnam to Mexico.
A few have considered shifting production to the United States.
Hurt by Trump tariffs on the metals used to make brass, Coins 4 U, which markets coins for awards and promotions, last year moved production from China, where it had been manufacturing since its founding in 2013, to Lake Ronkonkoma, New York.
“Our costs didn’t rise too much, about 10%,” said Sam Carter, sales manager for the company, based in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
But it isn’t simple for some companies to completely abandon China, where specialized suppliers cluster in manufacturing centers and make it convenient for factories to obtain parts when they need them.
Over the past five years, Columbia Sportswear has cut its manufacturing presence in China by more than 60%. But some products can’t be made elsewhere, the company says, because they’re highly specialized and dependent on significant investments in tooling, machinery and personnel training.
Columbia’s Sorel Style shoe, for example, features a hidden wedge heel that requires proprietary tooling and machinery. Moving its remaining production out of China, Columbia says, would cost at least $3 million in machinery, require it to hire and train a new workforce and delay production at least a year.
Increasingly, clothing and shoe companies are trying to design their way out of paying tariffs. Some have used a strategy called “tariff engineering.” It involves altering products just enough to change how they’re classified under the U.S. International Trade Commission’s Harmonized Tariff Schedule to evade or reduce import taxes.
Small changes can make a big difference. Add drawstrings or pockets below the waist to a blouse and the import tax drops from 15.4% to 8.1% for a cotton version and from 26.9% to 16% for one made of polyester.
U.S.-based companies are also scouring customs laws for loopholes. Increasingly, e-commerce companies are looking to ship directly to U.S. homes from warehouses in Mexico, Hong Kong, and Canada. Federal regulations allow U.S. -based companies to send packages worth less than $800 to American homes from countries like Mexico and pay no tariffs.
Some are trying not-so-legitimate means, too. Chinese exporters have tried to evade U.S. tariffs by sending honey, steel, ceramic tiles and other goods through Vietnam and relabeling them as Vietnamese, according to the country’s customs agency.
The standoff over Beijing’s combative technology policies has dragged on for more than a year and consumed 11 rounds of negotiations. Even if the two sides forge an agreement, it’s far from clear that it would stick. The uncertainty is chilling investment.
A survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in South China found that U.S. manufacturers had suspended nearly half their investment projects valued above $250 million because of uncertainty in U.S.-China trade relations.
Some companies worry that there may be no way out of Trump’s trade wars. Disputes that seemed to have been resolved can suddenly flare up again.
Less than two weeks after the U.S. lifted steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico — a move that seemed to signal a return to harmony in North American trade Trump in May threatened to impose heavy tariffs on Mexican imports — to pressure Mexico to stop the flow of Central American migrants to the southern U.S. border. Though Trump later dropped that threat, the incident highlighted the way the mercurial president can upend the rules of trade on a whim.
…
Month: July 2019
Sudanese Protesters Rally to Condemn June Crackdown
Hundreds of Sudanese have joined protests condemning a deadly crackdown last month, as tensions remain high despite recent progress toward a power-sharing deal with the ruling military council.
The Sudanese Professionals’ Association, which has spearheaded months of protests, says security forces fired tear gas to disperse Thursday’s demonstrations in the capital, Khartoum. There were no reports of serious injuries.
The military overthrew long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April, but the protesters remained in the streets, calling for a swift transition to civilian rule. On June 3, security forces dispersed their main sit-in, killing scores of protesters.
The pro-democracy movement and the military signed a document outlining a power-sharing deal on Wednesday but remain divided on key issues, including whether military leaders should be immune from prosecution over last month’s violence.
…
Canberra: Australian-Chinese Writer Has Been Moved to Beijing Detention Center
Australia says it has learned that a dual Chinese-Australian dissident and writer who has been detained in his native country since January has been moved to a detention center in Beijing. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Thursday it learned from Yang Hengjun’s family about his transfer, and was seeking confirmation from its Chinese counterparts. The ministry says Yang is facing possible charges of endangering state security.”Australia continues to have consular access and have again asked that he be granted immediate access to his lawyers,” the ministry said in a written statement.In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters that Yang’s case is being investigated by state security authorities, and that Yang’s legal rights are being fully protected.Security agents detained the former Chinese diplomat turned democracy activist and novelist at the airport in the southern city of Guangzhou after he, his wife and stepdaughter arrived on a flight from New York. The family was set to take a connecting flight to Shanghai.Yang is currently a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York. The latest development comes amid the detention of two Canadian nationals in China in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a senior Chinese executive in Canada.Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer for Chinese telecom giant Huawei, was arrested in Vancouver last December on behalf of the United States, which is seeking her extradition over alleged violations of U.S. trade sanctions on Iran.Yang may also be the latest in a string of activists and human rights lawyers who have been detained in a sweeping crackdown on dissidents since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.
…
South Korean Political Parties Back Moon in Japan Trade Row
Setting aside their usual bickering, South Korean liberal and conservative parties on Thursday vowed to cooperate to help the Seoul government prevail in an escalating trade row with Japan.
After a meeting between the parties’ leaders and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at Seoul’s presidential office, they announced plans to create a pan-national'' emergency body to respond to tighter Japanese trade controls on certain technology exports to South Korea.unjust economic retaliation” that would seriously harm bilateral relations and cooperation.
The meeting came amid growing concerns in South Korea that Japan's trade curbs, which could possibly be expanded to hundreds of trade items in coming weeks, would rattle its export-dependent economy.
South Korean political leaders urged Japan to immediately withdraw the measures they described as
The leaders of conservative parties also called for Moon to take more aggressive diplomatic steps, such as pushing for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe or sending a special envoy to Japan.Earlier on Thursday, South Korea’s central bank lowered its policy rate for the first time in three years to combat a faltering economy that faces further risks created by the trade row with Japan.“Japan’s export restriction measures are an unjust economic retaliation that violates the order of free trade and seriously damages friendly and mutually beneficial relationships between South Korea and Japan,” the South Korean parties and presidential Blue House said in a joint statement after the meeting.
Moon during the meeting said that a united front between the government and political parties would “send a good message to Japan and increase the negotiation leverage of our government and companies.”Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the conservative Liberty Korea Party, called for Moon to push for a quick meeting with Abe or send high-level special envoys to Tokyo and Washington, a treaty ally with both Asian nations, to help resolve the standoff.
“The government doesn’t have concrete plans and is just appealing to the emotions of our people with words. However, words and emotions cannot solve this problem,” Hwang said. “Core issues should be resolved between the leaders of both countries … I think the president should solve this with a top-down approach.”
The dispute erupted earlier this month when Tokyo tightened controls on the exports of photoresists and two other chemicals to South Korean companies that use them to produce semiconductors and display screens for smartphones and TVs.
Seoul has accused Tokyo of weaponizing trade to retaliate against South Korean court rulings calling for Japanese companies to compensate aging South Korean plaintiffs for forced labor during World War II, and plans to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization.
Tokyo said the issue has nothing to do with historical issues between the countries and says the materials affected by the export controls can be sent only to trustworthy trading partners. Without presenting specific examples, it has questioned Seoul’s credibility in controlling the exports of arms and items that can be used both for civilian and military purposes.
South Korea has rejected the Japanese claims and proposed an inquiry by the United Nations Security Council or another international body on the export controls of both countries.
South Korea is also bracing for the possibility that Japan will take further steps by removing it from a 27-country “whitelist” receiving preferential treatment in trade.Its removal from the list would require Japanese companies to apply for case-by-case approvals for exports to South Korea of hundreds of items deemed sensitive, not just the three materials affected by the trade curbs that took effect July 4. It will also allow Japanese authorities to restrict any export to South Korea when they believe there are security concerns.“The Japanese government should immediately withdraw its economic retaliation measure and clearly understand that additional measures such as the removal from the whitelist would threaten South Korea-Japan relations and the security cooperation in Northeast Asia,” said Choi Do-ja, spokeswoman of the conservative Bareun Mirae Party.
…
Britons Fear Rising Lawlessness
Is Britain becoming a lawless country? While Brexit is seen by most as being the number one political issue that needs resolving — one way or another — crime is now seen as the second most important priority facing the country, Britons are telling pollsters.For more than five years now, Britain has been roiled by deadly knife-crime, that shows no signs of abating, contributing to the public fears that the country is descending into lawlessness. The stabbings have attracted international attention, too, and been the subject of taunts by U.S. President Donald Trump in Twitter skirmishes with London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, who Mr. Trump accuses of being soft on crime. FILE – Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, right, speaks during a media conference at London Bridge in London, June 5, 2017.It is not just knife crime that is alarming Britons, but the overall state of policing and the sense that the country’s over-stretched and increasingly demoralized police forces, which have seen deep cuts in officer numbers and sharp reductions in their budgets, are now floundering and losing control just as more complex challenges mount.Five former chiefs of London’s Metropolitan Police, the largest of Britain’s police forces, issued a joint statement this month, criticizing what they described as an austerity-driven “emasculation” of policing under Britain’s outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. They warned the public had lost confidence in policing.Police cordon tape is seen at the scene of a fatal shooting at Exeter House in Feltham, LondonArguing that police resources in Britain have been “drained to dangerously low levels” and victims of crime have “perilously low expectations,” they called on whoever replaces May as the next prime minister — most probably former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson — to restore police resources.“It is the first duty of any government to protect its citizens from harm,” they said. Lurid tabloid headlines focusing on knife violence add to the sense of rising alarm but they partly obscure an even broader and deeper law and order crisis affecting not just urban but rural areas, too, say analysts.Not enough policeTowns outside big conurbations can sometimes have no police cover overnight — or not enough for officers to be able respond rapidly to emergency calls for help. A recent BBC documentary team found Hull, a city of 284,000 people in northern England, had no police officers to respond to emergency calls for several hours while suspects were being transported several kilometers away to a lock-up.“You almost dare not arrest anybody for the sake there would be nobody out there at all to drive a police car or answer calls,” Inspector Andrew Berry told reporters in the south-west county of Devon. He revealed that frequently on overnight shifts, there only two police officers and a sergeant available to cover a 563-square-kilometer area of Devon. Sometimes officers just let suspects go when it comes to minor offenses and they determine there is no obvious risk to life.More than a third of Britons have not seen a single police officer on the beat in their local area in the past 12 months, according to a poll taken earlier this year.FILE – Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt appear on BBC TV’s debate with candidates vying to replace British PM Theresa May, in London, Britain, June 18, 2019.The candidates vying to replace Theresa May, Johnson and current foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, have pledged to boost police numbers by 20,000 officers, partly replacing the 30,000 officers who have been lost since 2010 because of budgetary cuts.But Britain’s top police watchdog, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, has warned the increases may not be enough. There are “indications that some forces are straining under significant pressure as they try to meet growing complex and high-risk demand,” it has warned.In London, the Metropolitan Police has been so stretched that some frauds are labeled as “civil matters” rather than criminal ones — so officers do not have to investigate.Rising impunity Landlords in the capital complain that this is what has happened with a major ongoing and sophisticated scam in which fraudsters rent their apartments and houses, fail to pay the rent, and then lease the properties to tourists and visitors.Evicting the fraudsters can take months and cost thousands of pounds, giving the fraudsters ample time to pocket the proceeds. Hundreds of London landlords have been targeted in the organized crime scam which, according to London real estate agents, involves thousands of properties.“It cannot be right that criminals roam the districts of London, and the police just look the other way,” Kim Taylor-Smith, a West London politician told The Times.Structural problemsBut boosting the numbers of police officers may not be enough. Sophisticated crime, from money-laundering to hi-tech so-called “anonymized” fraud, is testing to breaking point the structure of Britain’s polices forces. The country has 43 police forces broken up by geography and smooth coordination is lacking, say analysts, who worry the criminals glide through the cracks.Three policemen patrol past various Brexit flags and banners outside the Houses of Parliament in London, April 2, 2019.Away from the cut and thrust of drug and gang-related street stabbings, organized crime has become more complex and sophisticated, leaving the police trailing behind. The country’s National Crime Agency has estimated that $122 billion of criminal money is being laundered through Britain every year, equivalent to about 4% of the country’s GDP. According to Duncan Campbell, The Guardian newspaper’s veteran crime reporters, “London has become the global capital of money-laundering and the beating heart of European organized crime.”“English is now the international underworld’s lingua franca. Crime is an essential part of the British economy, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs,” he argues.Britain has almost 5,000 criminal gangs and they are not the old-fashioned “firms” of lore based heavily on family and guided by tough grizzled villains tutoring their sons and cousins in the dark arts of crime. Hanging out at neighborhoods pubs, they were well known to the locals and the beat officers traditionally known as “bobbies.” The gangs now are multinational, diversified and tech-savvy, says Campbell.
…
Pompeo Latin American Trip to Focus on Immigration, Terrorism, Venezuela
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is heading to Latin America to meet face to face with leaders there, amid difficult negotiations with Mexico and Central American countries over how to best stem the flow of migrants to the southern U.S. border.State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus gave an overview of the full agenda for the trip that begins at the end of the week.“From July 19th to the 21st, the secretary will visit Buenos Aires, Argentina; Ecuador, Mexico City, San Salvador, where he will expand cooperation on security issues; reinforce U.S. commitment to human rights and democracy, particularly support for the people of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, and their struggle for freedom; and to enhance economic partnerships and to expand economic opportunities for our citizens,” she said a the daily briefing.Counterterrorism in ArgentinaWhile in Argentina, Pompeo will participate in a counterterrorism conference with regional allies, timed to mark the 25th anniversary of the bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people, and has been linked to Hezbollah and Iran by Argentine prosecutors.No one has ever been held accountable for the worst terrorist attack in Argentine history.FILE – Members of the Border Patrol and U.S. military talk with migrants who illegally crossed the border between Mexico and the U.S. to request political asylum, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, July 6, 2019.Stemming migrationMigration is likely to be a major issue at his other stops. Some experts say the U.S. must address the root causes, or “push factors” that are compelling people to flee their homes.“You have to look at the lack of opportunity, the gang activity, the weak institutions in this region, in Central America if you are ever going to stop people from making what is a difficult and dangerous journey to the United States. These people don’t leave taking the decision lightly,” Benjamin Gedan of the Wilson Center said.He said there is broad consensus among most U.S. lawmakers that President Donald Trump should not have cut U.S. foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, while at the same time asking them to reduce the flow of migrants.Other experts reject criticism of Trump for cutting aid to the so-called Northern Triangle countries.“So I think the criticism of just, ‘Oh, the president is just making things worse.’ Well, honestly, really? Because how worse can things get?” asked James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation. “People are flooding north. It is obvious that money is not achieving anything.“So if we’re going to give them money, I think we have to come up with programs that are actually going to have impact,” he added.Venezuela’s self-proclaimed interim President Juan Guaido speaks during a protest in Caracas, Venezuela, July 5, 2019.Venezuelan crisis The ongoing crisis in Venezuela, where millions have fled to neighboring countries, is likely to be an important topic for Pompeo at every stop on his journey.The U.S. and more than 50 other countries support opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s leader.Guaido contends President Nicolas Maduro’s re-election last year was invalid and wants early presidential elections. Maduro accuses the opposition of fomenting violence.Pompeo will also stop in Guayaquil, Ecuador and San Salvador, El Salvador, to deepen the U.S. relationship with those countries, according to the State Department.
…
Man Screams ‘You Die,’ Sets Japan Animation Studio on Fire
A man screaming “You die!” burst into an animation production studio in Kyoto and set it on fire early Thursday, killing one person, leaving 12 others presumed dead and a dozen possibly trapped inside.The blaze injured another 36 people, some of them critically, Japanese authorities said.The fire broke out in the three-story Kyoto Animation building in Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto, after the suspect sprayed an unidentified liquid to accelerate the blaze, Kyoto prefectural police and fire department officials said.One person died of severe burns, said fire department official Satoshi Fujiwara. Most of the 10 seriously injured had burns. Rescuers found 12 people presumed dead on the first and second floors, Fujiwara said.As many as 18 others could be still trapped on the third floor, he said.The suspect was also injured and taken to a hospital, officials said. Police are investigating the man on suspicion of arson.Survivors who saw the attacker said he was not their colleague and that he was screaming “(You) die!” when he dumped the liquid and started the fire, according to Japanese media reports.Footage on Japan’s NHK national television showed gray smoke billowing from the charred building. Other footage showed windows blown out.“There was an explosion, then I heard people shouting, some asking for help,” a female witness told TBS TV. “Black smoke was rising from windows on upper floors, then there was a man struggling to crawl out of the window.”Witnesses in the neighborhood said they heard bangs coming from the building, others said they saw people coming out blackened, bleeding, walking barefoot, Kyodo News reported.Rescue officials set up an orange tent outside the studio building to provide first aid and sort out the injured.Fire department officials said more than 70 people were in the building at the time of the fire and many of them ran outside.Kyoto Animation, better known as KyoAni, was founded in 1981 as an animation and comic book production studio, and is known for mega-hit stories featuring high school girls, including “Lucky Star,” “K-On!” and “Haruhi Suzumiya.”
…
US Removes Turkey From F-35 Fighter Jet Program
U.S. officials say Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 defense system is ‘inconsistent’ with its commitments to NATO
…
Protesters Arrested Trying to Stop Giant Hawaii Telescope
Police have begun arresting protesters gathered at the base of Hawaii’s tallest volcano, Mauna Kea, to stop the construction of a giant telescope on what they say is their most sacred ground.Protest leader Kealoha Pisciotta told The Associated Press that police had arrested 30 elders, called kupuna in Hawaiian, on Wednesday. Some of the elders used canes and strollers to walk, while others were taken in wheelchairs to police vans. Those who could walk on their own were led away with their hands in zip ties.The elders were among about 2,000 people blocking the road to the summit of Mauna Kea in an attempt to stop construction material and workers from reaching the top. The $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope is expected to be one of the world’s most advanced. Opponents of the the telescope say it will desecrate sacred land. According to the University of Hawaii, ancient Hawaiians considered the location kapu, or forbidden. Only the highest-ranking chiefs and priests were allowed to make the long trek to Mauna Kea’s summit above the clouds.Supporters of the telescope, however, say it will not only make important scientific discoveries but bring educational and economic opportunities to Hawaii. The company behind the telescope is made up of a group of universities in California and Canada, with partners from China, India and Japan. Astronomers hope the telescope will help them look back 13 billion years to the time, just after the Big Bang, and answer fundamental questions about the universe.
…
Trump Veto of F-35s for Turkey Could Force Ankara to Buy Russian Aircraft
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to block the sale of the advanced F-35 jet to Turkey means Ankara may look elsewhere to replace its aging air force.Trump’s veto in response to Turkey’s acquisition of Russian missiles could prompt Ankara to turn to Moscow again.Trump’s announcement followed the first deliveries of Russia’s S-400 air defense missile system to Turkey. Washington had repeatedly warned Ankara that the S-400’s advanced radar could compromise the F-35 stealth technology, making delivery of the jet impossible.However, Trump’s decision appears to have taken Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by surprise.FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, second right, looks on, in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019.”Tayyip Erdogan really trusted Trump,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. “In last month’s G-20 meeting in Japan, they were sitting together and Trump [was] saying it’s easy to do business with this these guys.”It created the expectation that he will prevent the embargo on the F-35, but Trump gave into strong domestic pressure,” he added.Vital to military fleet Turkey is one of the biggest international buyers of the F-35, with an order of 100 of the expensive planes. The jets were a vital part of the Turkish military’s long-term plan to replace its fleet of F-16s, some of which are decades old.Further complicating the situation, Turkey’s neighbor and rival, Greece, could acquire the F-35, gaining a decisive military edge.”Future potential foreign military sales customers include Singapore, Greece, Romania, Spain and Poland,” Vice Admiral Mathias Winter, the head of the Pentagon’s F-35 office, said in testimony to the U.S. Congress.Athens and Ankara have a series of territorial disputes, and Turkish and Greek jets routinely contest airspace in mock dogfights. For now, both sides are equally matched with F-16s.Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar insisted in April that Turkey was prepared for any termination of the F-35 sale.”We have short-term, medium-term and long-term plans,” Akar said.Ankara has taken some initial steps to build its own fighter, but many experts dismiss the project as fanciful, based on cost and expertise.”Probably Turkey will look now to the Chinese- or Russian-produced jet fighters, which would further alienate Turkey to the West and push Turkey to the East. There will be a restructuring of course in the Turkish army if the F-35 is not provided,” Bagci said.Moscow indicated its openness to selling its latest fighter jet, the Su-57.”These fifth-generation Russian fighter jets [the Su-57] have outstanding qualities and show promise for export,” Sergey Chemezov, head of Rostec, which manufactures the Su-57, said in a May interview with Turkey’s news agency.FILE – Two Russian Air Force Sukhoi SU-57 warplanes are seen in a July 23, 2017, photo.Su-57 buyers sought Rostec is urgently looking for buyers of the Su-57 since India pulled out of the project. Moscow initially was able to buy a handful of the expensive planes, although last month it ordered another 76.However, analysts warn any move by Ankara to further deepen its dependence on Russian weapons would further strain its relations with its NATO partners. NATO has voiced strong concerns about Turkey’s purchase of two batteries of S-400 missiles.A significant procurement of advanced Russian jets could push Turkey’s NATO’s ties to a breaking point.”Logically, it’s possible you can buy S-400, you can buy Russian fighter bombers,” Haldun Solmazturk, head of the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute, said.”But this would require a fundamental political decision,” he added, “not just the Turkish government, but including Turkish parliament, Turkish public. This would be a national decision similar in 1946 when Turkey opposed the Soviet Union and applied to join NATO in 1949.”Such a decision would be equally important, equally critical. It would be a junction point in Turkish political, military history,” Solmazturk said.However, given that Erdogan appears to have been wrong-footed by Trump’s vetoing of F-35s, analysts suggest Ankara is most likely scrambling to form a new strategy.”We have got to this point by a series of diplomatic accidents, not by intention,” Bagci said. “The Turkish mind is confused. There is no clear mind in the heads of Turkish politicians. Erdogan, his defense and foreign ministers, this trio have to talk now on what to do. There is always the possibility to keep the channels open to Washington to find a solution.”Otherwise, it’s bye-bye, Washington relations and NATO,” he said.
…
Arrested Reporter Slams Conditions at US Detention Centers
MEMPHIS, TENN. — A Spanish-language reporter who was recently released from immigration custody said Wednesday that he was held for 15 months in detention centers that were plagued by insects and he had to bathe with cold water from hoses.
During a news conference, Manuel Duran discussed what he called inhumane conditions at immigration detention facilities in Louisiana and Alabama. Duran was released from an Alabama facility on bail last week as immigration courts consider his request for asylum.
The El Salvador native was arrested while covering an April 3, 2018, rally protesting immigration policies in Memphis. Protesters had blocked a street in front of a downtown courthouse on the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Protest-related charges were subsequently dropped, but Duran was picked up by immigration agents and detained after he was released from jail.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said Duran was taken into custody because he had a pending deportation order from 2007 after failing to appear for a court hearing. Duran has said he did not receive a notice to appear in court with a time and date on it. Death threats drove him north
Duran has lived in Memphis for years. He ran the Memphis Noticias online news outlet and reported on the effects of U.S. immigration policies on the Hispanic community. Duran’s lawyers have said he came to the United States without permission in 2006 after receiving death threats related to reporting on corruption in El Salvador.
Duran spoke Wednesday from a statement he delivered in Spanish that was later translated into English and read to reporters. Duran questioned his arrest and criticized U.S. policies of arresting immigrants who don’t have permission to be in the country and targeting them for deportation.
“I have seen the cruelty of the mass incarceration of immigrants firsthand and it is unnecessary and inhumane,” Duran said.
Reporter Manuel Duran speaks during a news conference discussing the 15 months he spent at U.S. immigration detention facilities, July 17, 2019, in Memphis, Tenn.Food portions were small in the detention facilities where he was held, Duran said. Facilities were infested by spiders and cockroaches, and for two months detainees at the Etowah County Detention Center in Alabama only had water hoses with which to bathe, he said.
“At Etowah, for two weeks, for no reason, the heater was turned on to its full capacity,” Duran said in the translated statement. “This happened during the summer and it was very difficult to sleep.”
Duran also said there were no recreation facilities at Etowah and detainees “were locked up without being able to see the sunlight.”
“This experience has been very difficult for me and my family, psychologically and economically,” Duran said. “I feel that my life has turned 180 degrees and I’m still trying to adapt.” Account challenged
ICE spokesman Bryan Cox challenged Duran’s assertion about bathing with hoses in a phone interview with The Associated Press.
“If that were true, I would simply ask you, `Does it seem remotely plausible that you would not have heard about it at the time?’ ” Cox said.
Cox said all ICE facilities are subject to regular inspections. The Etowah detention center has repeatedly been found to operate in compliance with ICE’s standards, Cox said.
Cox said outdoor recreation at Etowah takes place within the detention center, but the recreation area has a fenced roof open to the outside.
As Duran returns to life in Memphis, his deportation case continues. Lawyers with the Southern Poverty Law Center who have been working to free Duran are now concentrating on his request for asylum, said Gracie Willis, one of the center’s attorneys.
Lawyers argue that conditions have worsened for journalists in El Salvador and Duran could be in danger if he returns. In granting his release, the Board of Immigration Appeals acknowledged that conditions for reporters have changed for the worse in Duran’s home country since his initial deportation order, Willis said.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has granted Duran an indefinite stay from deportation as his case is argued.
“His individual case epitomizes the crushing weight of the immigration incarceration system and the toll it takes on individuals, families and communities,” Willis said at the news conference.
…
Civil Rights Groups File to Temporarily Block Trump Asylum Rule
Several civil rights groups on Wednesday sought a temporary restraining order to block a Trump administration asylum rule that went into effect the day before.The new rule would categorically bar asylum for migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border without applying for and being denied asylum in any country they pass through on their way to the United States.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the regulation.
“We filed the complaint yesterday, and we filed the motion for a temporary restraining order early this morning. We’re trying to block this new draconian rule that went into effect yesterday,” Melissa Crow, a senior supervising attorney at the SPLC and co-counsel in the case, told VOA.
“The new rule would have really dire consequences for thousands of people, especially those who have been waiting in Mexico for long periods of time, due to the government’s long-standing practice of turning back asylum seekers at the southern border through metering and other tactics,” Crow said.
Trump administration officials have said the new rule is meant to ease the strain on the U.S. asylum system.
Before the rule went into effect, Attorney General William Barr noted in a statement a “dramatic increase in the number of aliens” arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, adding that “[o]nly a small minority of these individuals” qualify for asylum.
A hearing on the motion for a temporary restraining order could happen as early as next week, Crow said.
The organizations are seeking to relate the case to a November 2018 case challenging the Trump administration’s previous asylum ban, which would have made people who entered the U.S. between ports of entry ineligible for asylum.
In that case, the court issued a preliminary injunction, which is still in place. The government’s appeal of that injunction is before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear arguments next fall.
Documents show that Tuesday’s case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge William Orrick III.
…
Brother of Manchester Bomber Extradited from Libya to Britain
The brother of the suicide bomber responsible for killing 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester has been extradited from Libya to Britain. Hashem Abedi, 22, was arrested after he landed at a London airport on Wednesday. Salman Abedi, who detonated the bomb at the end of the concert in May 2017, died in the explosion, which also wounded more than 500 people, many of them teenagers. British authorities have sought Hashem’s extradition for nearly two years, saying he was involved in planning the lethal attack.Libyan police arrested Hashem, who was then 18, and his father after the attack in Britain. Hashem told investigators that both he and his brother belonged to the Islamic State group and that he knew about the attack. The father was not charged and was later released.The Abedi family fled Libya during the rule of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The brothers grew up in Manchester but moved back to Libya in 2017. But after just three weeks there, Salman returned to Manchester and within days, carried out the attack on the Manchester Arena.Hashem faces charges of murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.
…
WHO Declares Ebola in DRC a Global Public Health Emergency
GENEVA — The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s conflict-ridden North Kivu and Ituri provinces a public health emergency of international concern. The declaration by an emergency committee at WHO headquarters in Geneva elevated the disease and the efforts needed to combat it to a significantly higher level of concern. Nevertheless, committee chairman Robert Steffen cautioned against overreacting to the meaning of the decision.
“This is still a regional emergency and by no way a global threat,” he said. “And, why this change of opinion … there is concern about the spread of Ebola from Goma, a gateway, even though so far no cases were newly infected in the city.”
On Sunday, the first case of Ebola was discovered in Goma, a city of 2 million. The pastor infected with the virus later died.
Steffen said the recurrence of intense transmission in Beni, an earlier epicenter of the disease, and the recent killings of two Ebola health workers were among other factors that fed into the committee’s decision.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged that the risk that the disease could spread in the DRC was very high but said that the risk of spread outside the region remained low. No curbs on travel, trade advised
Although the committee declared Ebola to be a global health emergency, Tedros said WHO did not recommend any restrictions on travel or trade.
Such restrictions “can actually hamper the fight,” he said. “Closing borders could have disastrous consequences for the lives and livelihoods of the people who cross the border every day for trade, education or to visit relatives.”
WHO said that since the Ebola epidemic was declared last Aug. 1, there have been more than 2,500 cases, including nearly 1,670 deaths. This is the 10th outbreak of the disease over the last four decades in the DRC. It is the second-largest outbreak after the 2014 historic epidemic in West Africa that killed more than 11,300 people.
WHO said insecurity due to conflict in North Kivu and Ituri provinces and tepid international financial support were the main impediments to stopping the Ebola virus.
…
Zimbabwe’s Foreign Currency Ban Spurs Demand for Cryptocurrency
Zimbabwe’s ban on foreign currency, and the nation’s record inflation, has spurred demand for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin to try to preserve wealth. Zimbabwean authorities last year banned banks from processing bitcoin and is warning that cryptocurrencies are open to hacking. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare.
…
Jailed Uighur Scholar’s Daughter Pleads for His Freedom
STATE DEPARTMENT — “My father is a fixer, a bridge-builder, a connector. He knows that a better future is one where Han Chinese and Uighur children are in school together, are friends together and have the same opportunities,” said Jewher Ilham, who pleaded for the release of her father, prominent jailed Uighur scholar and economist Ilham Tohti.
She also petitioned Chinese authorities to release all Uighur girls from so-called re-education camps before Beijing hosts the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Tohti has been serving a life sentence on separatism-related charges since 2014. Chinese authorities accused him of encouraging terrorism and advocating separatism in his lectures, articles and comments to foreign media.
The scholar and economist founded the website Uyghur Online, which is aimed at promoting understanding between Uighurs and Han Chinese. He also has been outspoken about Beijing’s treatment of the minority Muslim Uighurs in the far-western Xinjiang region.
“I have not spoken to him since 2014, and I have not seen him since we were separated at the airport in 2013. We were on our way to Indiana University, where my father was supposed to start a yearlong residency,” Jewher Ilham told participants of the second annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, hosted by the U.S. State Department on Tuesday. U.S. lawmakers’ push
The appeal came amid a renewed push from American lawmakers urging China to change how it treats Uighurs in Xinjiang.
“The violations [in Xinjiang] are of such scale, are so big, and the commercial interests are so significant that it sometimes tempers our values in terms of how we should act,” said Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said Tuesday at the ministerial.
“Unless we are willing to speak out against the violations of religious freedom in China, we lose all moral authority to talk about it any other place in the world,” added Pelosi.
The House speaker also called for U.S. sanctions against Chinese Communist Party leaders in Xinjiang, who are responsible for the re-education camps.
More than 1 million Muslim Uighurs have been detained in re-education camps that critics say are aimed at destroying indigenous culture and religious beliefs.
American officials say the United States has stressed to Chinese authorities the importance of differentiating between peaceful dissent and violent extremism. They say Tohti’s arrest “silenced an important Uighur voice that peacefully promoted harmony and understanding among China’s ethnic groups, particularly Uighurs.”
In January 2019, Tohti was nominated by a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers for the Nobel Peace Prize.
China rejected the nomination, calling Tohti a separatist.
“Ilham Tohti is convicted of dismembering the nation. What he did was meant to split the country, stoke hatred and justify violence and terrorism, which cannot be condoned in any country. The international community should have a clear understanding of this,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said this year.
…
Sudan’s Power-Sharing Deal Missing Key Details
After months of on-again, off-again talks, Sudan’s military and opposition leaders have signed a power-sharing deal that rotates control of an executive council, but leaves other key details to be determined.Under the deal, the 11-member Sovereign Council, the top level of government, will be made up of five civilians, five military officials, and one additional civilian to be selected by the 10 members.Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Transitional Military Council, will head the council for 21 months. A representative of the Forces for Freedom and Change Coalition then will head the council for the next 18 months. The transitional government will last for 39 months before a regular government is formed.The agreement stipulates that a Council of Ministers, which shall not exceed 20 people, shall be appointed by a civilian prime minister and that a legislative body will be formed within three months of the beginning of the transition.The more contentious details over a constitutional agreement that would spell out the division of powers has yet to be worked out.African Union and Ethiopian mediators celebrate after Sudan’s protesters and ruling generals inked an agreement in Khartoum, July 17, 2019.Omer Ismail, a senior adviser at the Washington, D.C.-based Enough Project, says those missing parts are important.”It is not there; it was postponed for 90 days. Instead of talking about that, and talking about it as an important institution, they are spelling out their reservations,” Ismail told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus.But Mohammed Hassan Labat, the African Union’s special envoy to Sudan, believes the agreement paves the way for a constitutional deal.”This agreement opens a new era and eases the ground for the next level, and the parties shall be able to revise and amend the constitutional declaration before the transitional period,” Labat said.’Great moment’An emotional Mahamood Direr, the Ethiopian envoy to Sudan who helped mediate the deal, shed tears after the signing ceremony, describing how the Sudanese people have been waiting patiently to see the fruits of their revolution.”It is a great moment that the people of the Sudan have reached this historic moment, the gallant army of the Sudan, the Transitional Military Council and, of course, the revolutionary, youth, intellectuals, pioneers who have taken to the streets. God bless the Sudan and God bless Africa,” Direr said.Ethiopian mediator Mahmoud Direr inks an agreement between Sudan’s protest leaders and members of the country’s Transitional Military Council in Khartoum, July 17, 2019.Mohammed Hamdan Himetti, the deputy head of the Transitional Military Council who signed the agreement on behalf of the military junta, also praised the protesters for demanding change in Sudan.”This agreement is a fruit of efforts of all Sudanese people who have waited for so long to witness, which shall bring them freedom, peace and justice. I salute all martyrs of the December revolution; I salute their mothers and all Sudanese women and youth,” Himetti said.Commission of inquiry A commission of inquiry will be created to investigate the deaths of protesters, according to the agreement. In June, Sudanese security forces killed dozens when they stormed a site outside the Defense Ministry where protesters were demanding the military hand over power to civilians. The military seized control of Sudan after ousting president Omar al-Bashir in April, following months of mass protests against his rule.Umaima Faruq, a third-year student of engineering at Sudan University, said the power-sharing agreement means a lot to her and millions of other Sudanese.”It is a big day for Sudanese people, especially the youth. It is my priority for me this day to be here and witness this historical day,” Faruq, 26, told South Sudan in Focus.Labat said the parties will hold more talks Friday to discuss the roles and responsibilities of the Sovereign Council and the Council of Ministers, whose duties include appointing the head of the judiciary, the chief justice, and state governors.
…
NATO Commander Meets with Serb Leaders, Agrees to Kosovo Hotline
This story originated in VOA’s Serbian Service. Some information is from AP.WASHINGTON — NATO’s supreme commander met with Serbian political and military leaders in Belgrade on Wednesday in his first visit to Serbia since assuming the alliance’s top military post.U.S. Air Force General Tod Wolters, who in May was sworn in as supreme allied commander in Europe, a post always held by a U.S. military officer, was first hosted by General Milan Mojsilovic, head of the Serbian Armed Forces, before meeting jointly with President Aleksandar Vucic and Defense Minister Aleksandr Vulin.”We spoke about a wide range of topics and I am glad to say that through hard work and dedication, Serbia is promoting peace and stability in the Western Balkans,” Wolters told VOA’s Serbian Service in a prepared statement.Wolters did not immediately respond to questions about whether or not he planned to visit Kosovo on this trip to the region.Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as a country, but the EU has set normalized relations between the two countries as a condition for Serbia to advance to EU membership.Talks mediated by EU officials have been stalled for months.President Vucic issued a statement after meeting with Wolters, in which he called NATO-led international peacekeepers on the ground in Kosovo a guarantor of security for Serbs living in Kosovo.Vucic also said Wolters agreed to set up an emergency communications hotline between Serbian forces and the NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR) to rapidly defuse tensions or episodes of violence.”Good communication between the Serbian Armed Forces and the KFOR is important so that any crisis situation in Kosovo and Metohija could be immediately prevented,” Vucic said. “This is a security guarantee for the Serbian people in Kosovo.”Wolters, in response, expressed his support for Serbia’s efforts to maintain stability and develop cooperation in the region.French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic shake hands during an event at Veliki Kalemegdan Park in Belgrade, Serbia, July 15, 2019.French President Emmanuel Macron met with Vucic in Belgrade on Monday, when he vowed to help jumpstart stalled negotiations to resolve Serbia’s independence dispute with former province Kosovo so a lasting solution can be found for the decades-long Balkan crisis.Macron, making the first visit to Serbia by a French president since 2001, also expressed support for the country’s stated goal of joining the European Union even as he reiterated his belief that the EU must adopt reforms before adding more members.Historically close ties between Belgrade and Paris were severely damaged when NATO forces bombed Serbia in 1999 over the country’s actions in Kosovo, and by France’s recognition of Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence.Serbia has officially been on the path to becoming an EU member since 2008. The country also maintains close ties with Russia and China, whose mounting influence in the Balkans has raised Western concerns.”I urged France to help us on our European road and in solving the Kosovo crisis,” Vucic said of his meeting with the French president.
…
Media Advocates Decry Burundi’s Increasing Restrictions
Updated: July 17, 2019 3:55 PM.NAIROBI/WASHINGTON — Press freedom advocates are coming down hard on Burundi, after increasing restrictions prompted the BBC to shut down its bureau in the central African country this week.Burundian authorities have also suspended VOA from operating in the country since March and have threatened sanctions against Radio France International.Reporters Without Borders wrote Wednesday that it is “extremely concerned about the fate of press freedom and pluralism in Burundi in the run-up to next year’s election.”“How many independent media will be left when Burundi holds its presidential election in 2020?” the group asked.Ernest Sagaga, the International Federation of Journalists’ head of human rights and safety, told VOA that the British broadcaster’s decision to close “shows that the BBC has now realized Burundi has no will to respect media freedom.”Burundi’s government did not respond to calls from VOA for comment about the BBC decision.BBC, VOA suspensionThe ImbonerakureLast week, the media regulatory body also warned Iwacu, a weekly newspaper, that it could be shut down over alleged bias and defamation. A journalist working for Iwacu has been missing since July 2016.In another development, President Pierre Nkurunziza recently appointed the head of the ruling party’s youth wing, the Imbonerakure, to be head of the national broadcaster.The Imbonerakure is regarded as a “militia” by the United Nations and is being investigated by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of crimes against humanity. It was used in the 2015 crackdown against opponents of the president’s decision to run for a third term, which critics said was unconstitutional.
…
North, South Korea to Meet in 2022 World Cup Qualifiers
North Korea and South Korea have been drawn together in an Asian qualifying group for soccer’s 2022 World Cup.The Korean neighbors will play each other home and away in the five-nation Group H that includes Lebanon, Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka.Saudi Arabia and Yemen were also paired in Wednesday’s draw that involved 40 national teams and some political sensitivities.The Saudis, which played at the 2018 World Cup, are top-seeded in Group D that also has Uzbekistan, Palestine and Singapore.Top-ranked Iran was drawn with neighboring Iraq, plus Bahrain, Hong Kong and Cambodia, in Group C.United Arab Emirates is top-seeded in a Group G loaded with Southeast Asian derbies, involving Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.Australia, which plays in the Asian soccer confederation, will play Jordan, Taiwan, Kuwait and Nepal in Group B.World Cup host Qatar also plays as this group stage doubles up as qualifiers for the 2023 Asian Cup being played in China. Qatar will play Oman, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh in Group E.China is in Group A with Syria, Philippines, Maldives and Guam. Japan is in Group F with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Myanmar and Mongolia.The eight groups play from September through June.Group winners and the four best runners-up advance to another group stage, played from September 2020 to October 2021. Those 12 teams also qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup.Four Asian teams will qualify directly for the World Cup. A fifth nation can advance to Qatar in an intercontinental playoff round in March 2022.
…
US House Holding Trump Impeachment Vote
The U.S. House of Representatives is voting Wednesday on whether to immediately consider impeaching President Donald Trump. It’s a proposition likely to fail, although the vote could show where the Democratic-controlled chamber stands on attempting to begin the process of removing the Republican from office.The impeachment vote is being forced by Congressman Al Green, a Democrat from the southwestern state of Texas, against the wishes of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She and other House leaders instead have supported numerous legislative investigations of Trump’s 2016 campaign links to Russia, his finances and taxes, and whether, as president, he obstructed justice by trying to thwart special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of the election.Green has previously used the legislative rules in the House to force two impeachment votes, in December 2017 and a month later, with the then-Republican-controlled House overwhelmingly voting both times against his efforts. But the new vote is the first time Green has pressed the issue since Democrats took control of the chamber in January.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., arrives for a closed-door session with her caucus before a vote on a resolution condemning what she called “racist comments” by President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington, July 16, 2019.Pelosi has blocked the start of a House impeachment inquiry in favor of the ongoing investigations. She has voiced fears of the political fallout for Democrats pursuing an impeachment effort when, even if the House did vote to impeach Trump, the Republican-controlled Senate is highly unlikely to convict Trump of wrongdoing by the required two-thirds vote to remove him from office.Pelosi was non-committal Tuesday about how it would handle Green’s demand for the impeachment vote.”That will be up to our leadership team to decide,” she said.House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said, “We haven’t really discussed how to dispose of it. I’m not going try to discourage him, you know, he has to do what he thinks is right.”FILE – Robert Mueller, then-special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, departs Capitol Hill following a meeting with lawmakers, in Washington, June 21, 2017.Mueller is set to testify before two House investigative committees for hours next week about his 22-month probe.He concluded that Trump and his campaign did not conspire with Russia, while laying out several instances in which Trump possibly obstructed justice, the basis for about 80 of the 235 Democrats in the House, and one Republican-turned-independent lawmaker, to call for Trump’s impeachment or at least the start of an impeachment inquiry. Roughly two-thirds of the Democratic majority has not weighed in on Trump’s possible impeachment or voiced support for the current legislative investigations.Mueller reached no conclusion on whether Trump should be charged with obstruction, in part because of a long-standing Justice Department policy that sitting U.S. presidents cannot be criminally charged. Subsequently, Attorney General William Barr and then Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein decided no charges were warranted against Trump. The president has often claimed exoneration.Green omitted references to Trump’s alleged obstruction of Mueller’s investigation in his impeachment resolution, instead citing Trump’s incendiary comments this week telling four progressive lawmakers, all women of color, to “go back” to their homelands and other racially-provocative comments Trump has made during his presidency. The House condemned Trump’s remarks about the four congresswomen as racist.Green said he believes that if the House does not impeach Trump, it “will only intensify his ugly behavior. It just seemed to me that we should bring these articles before the House of Representatives so that we could not only condemn him, but impeach him so that he will understand that there are some boundaries.”
…
Turkish Diplomat Killed in Irbil
An official with Turkey’s consulate in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Irbil was killed Wednesday when a gunman opened fire at a restaurant, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed.Turkey’s Anadolu news agency, citing the restaurant’s owner, said the attacker with two weapons fired on a group of consulate workers shortly after arriving at the restaurant.Iraq’s state-run news agency reports the victim was Turkey’s deputy general consul. The news agency also reported several other members of the group were killed.Kurdish security members gather near a restaurant where a gunman opened fire in Irbil, Iraq, July 17, 2019.Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said the victim had been “martyred as a result of a heinous attack” and called on Iraqi and regional authorities “to find the perpetrators of the attack swiftly.”Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the attack as “hateful.” There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting. Kurdish security officials said the attacker fled the scene in a car driven by an accomplice.The attack occurred at a popular restaurant in a high-security area near the Turkish consulate.Turkey is in the midst of a large military offensive in Iraq’s mountainous northern region to rid the area of pockets controlled by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).The PKK has been designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union. The group, which has waged a revolt against Turkey since 1984, operates bases in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.
…
Boeing to Spend $50 Million to Support 737 MAX Crash Victim Families
Boeing Co said on Wednesday it will dedicate half of a $100 million fund it created to address two crashes of its 737 MAX planes to financial relief for the families of those killed, with compensation expert Ken Feinberg hired by the world’s largest plane maker to oversee the distribution.The announcement of Feinberg’s hiring came minutes before the start of a U.S. House of Representatives hearing that featured dramatic testimony by Paul Njoroge, a father who lost three children, his wife and mother-in-law in a 737 MAX Ethiopian Air crash in March.Feinberg told Reuters his team will “start immediately drafting a claims protocol for those eligible,” with the first meeting with Chicago-based Boeing later this week in Washington.The 737 MAX, Boeing’s best-selling jet, was grounded globally in March following the Ethiopian Airlines crash after a similar Lion Air disaster in Indonesia in October. The two crashes killed 346 people.Njoroge told reporters after he testified that he did not think the public would trust Boeing going forward. “Do you want to fly in those planes? Do you want your children to fly in those planes?” he asked. “I don’t have any more children.”Njoroge told a House subcommittee that he still has “nightmares about how (his children) must have clung to their mother crying” during the doomed flight.Njoroge said Boeing has blamed “innocent pilots who had no knowledge and were given no information of the new and flawed MCAS system that could overpower pilots.”Boeing did not immediately comment on his testimony.A Boeing official told Reuters last month that after a new software flaw emerged the company will not submit an MCAS software upgrade and training revision until September, which means the planes will not resume flying until November at the earliest. U.S. airlines have cancelled flights.Boeing said on July 3 it would give $100 million over multiple years to local governments and non-profit organizations to help families and communities affected by the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.Feinberg, who will jointly administer the fund with lawyer Camille Biros, said the other $50 million in the fund is earmarked for government and community projects.Boeing reiterated on Wednesday that the money distributed through the fund would be independent from the outcome of any lawsuits.The company is facing a slew of litigation from the families of victims of both crashes.”Through our partnership with Feinberg and Biros, we hope affected families receive needed assistance as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement.Feinberg has administered many compensation funds including for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, General Motors ignition switch crashes and numerous school shootings.Boeing’s initial announcement of the $100 million fund was met with anger by some victims’ families, who described the offer as a publicity stunt.At the hearing in Washington, Representative Peter DeFazio, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said he would call Boeing officials to testify at a hearing. DeFazio said the committee is in the middle of an in-depth investigation and had just received a “trove” of documents that panel investigators are reviewing.
…
Victims’ Families, Nations Commemorate MH17 Tragedy
Families of victims and their countries’ embassies are marking the fifth anniversary of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine, amid mounting evidence of Russia’s involvement in shooting the passenger plane out of the sky.The airliner flying between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a Buk missile on July 17, 2014, over territory in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists, killing all 298 people on board, including 80 children.In the Netherlands, which lost 193 citizens, commemorations began on July 16, when family members of 15 of the victims assembled in the town of Hilversum for a vigil.It was led by a priest who grows sunflowers from seeds brought from eastern Ukraine where the plane was shot down.A separate MH17 conference took place in the Netherlands on July 16, as well as a roundtable in Washington, D.C.Speaking in Washington, George Kent, deputy assistant secretary of state at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, said that “Russia set the stage for the shoot-down of MH17 by financing, organizing, and leading proxies in eastern Ukraine.”He also said that “Russia continues to deny the presence of its forces and materiel” in non-government-controlled parts of Ukraine.Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement in the MH17 tragedy.Nine embassies whose citizens perished on the flight plan to hold a memorial on July 17 in Malaysia, which lost 43 citizens.Another memorial is taking place at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam that is closed to the media.Investigators from the Dutch-led Joint Investigative Team (JIT) have concluded that a Russian antiaircraft-missile brigade transported the sophisticated projectile system from and back to Russia into Ukraine.The JIT in June furthermore indicted three Russians with military and intelligence backgrounds and a Ukrainian man with no prior military experience on murder charges.The four suspects are scheduled to be tried starting in March 2020 in the Netherlands, although all are believed to be in Russia.And investigators promised to continue investigating suspects, including those in the “chain of command.”Western states imposed sanctions on Russia after the incident, bolstering existing measures that were put into force after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in March 2014.Dutch prosecutors might get to question a possible key witness of the events after an elite Ukrainian unit on June 27 detained Volodymyr Tsemakh at his home in a separatist-held city in the Donetsk region.Tsemakh oversaw an air-defense unit in a town near the crash site.His lawyer and daughter told local media that Ukrainian authorities are charging him with terrorism that carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence.Meanwhile, Tsemakh’s wife sent a pro-Moscow separatist official a picture of her husband after he was arrested with a bandaged wound on his forehead, according to online open-source sleuth Bellingcat.TV footage uncovered by Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, showed Tsemakh claiming that he was in charge of an antiaircraft unit and that he helped hide the Buk missile in July 2014.He furthermore shows the interviewer where the civilian airliner fell.A July 15 RFE/RL report also outlined how Russian and Moscow-controlled media in nongovernment-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine first reported that separatists had downed a Ukrainian military plane during the time when MH17 was downed.
…