In Fiery Speeches, Francis Excoriates Global Capitalism - NYT
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In Fiery Speeches, Francis Excoriates Global Capitalismby JIM YARDLEY and BINYAMIN APPELBAUM
Having returned to his native Latin America, Pope Francis has renewed his left-leaning critiques on the inequalities of capitalism, describing it as an underlying cause of global injustice, and a prime cause of climate change.
Pope Francis is wrapping up a weeklong tour of Latin America with a visit to one of the poorest neighborhoods in Paraguay's capital, Asuncion. The pontiff's second trip to the continent since his election to the papacy in 2013 included stops in Ecuador and Bolivia, countries ridden by poverty and crime. Zlatica Hoke reports the pope returns to the Vatican Sunday after the start of a landmark trial in the Roman Catholic Church.
Tourists are continuing to flock to Greece despite the fears of economic catastrophe if there is no bailout agreement with international lenders. Officials say bookings this year are holding up well, but they warn some of the tax increases proposed as part of the bailout could severely affect the industry. From Athens, VOA's Henry Ridgwell reports.
The leader of Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan and Pakistan was killed in a U.S. drone strike, dealing a setback to the extremist group as it seeks to expand.
Archeologists in Arles have unearthed one of the only full Roman murals ever found outside Italy
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Less than a week after they celebrated their rejection of a harsh austerity plan, many Greeks are struggling to understand why Alexis Tsipras is signing up to even deeper spending cuts
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Serbia's prime minister is hurried away from a ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre after the crowd begin jeering him and throwing rocks. Aleksandar Vucic had just finished paying his respects when the crowd suddenly turns on him. Amateur footage shows a group of bodyguards ushering the prime minister away to a nearby vehicle as various objects are thrown Continue reading...
India, Pakistan Hail Shanghai Group As New Economic Axisby support@pangea-cms.com (RFE/RL)
India and Pakistan, the newest prospective members of a growing economic club formed by Russia and China in the Eurasian region, have hailed the emergence of an economic axis not centered around the West.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Russian city of Ufa that the expanded group, which with the addition of India and Pakistan would represent half the world's population, will serve as a "springboard" to make Eurasia's economy one of the most dynamic in the world.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that Russian President Vladimir Putin's "efforts will enhance the political and economic scope of the Eurasian belt."
Modi used the occasion of the summit to schedule a state visit to Pakistan next year, in a sign the two nuclear-armed rivals may see the economic group as a rare forum for mutual cooperation and an easing of tensions.
"We have everything we need to succeed," Modi said. "The time has come to reach out across the region."
Putin showed his pleasure at attracting some of the world's biggest emerging economies, and said that the new entrants would enhance the economic clout and reach of the organization.
"These are powerful nations with strategic prospects, the future leaders of the world and the global economy," he said.
"We will actively develop our relations with those who want to work with us," he said, in a pointed reference to the unwillingness of the West to do new business with Russia after imposing sanctions last year when Russia seized Crimea and backed a separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine.
"It has become clear that economics are being used as a political weapon.... But we should not close ourselves off with some kind of wall," he said. "We will use all the tools of collaboration with all countries -- the United States, Europe, and Asia."
Putin used the Shanghai summit and a previous one involving the world's largest emerging economies to show that Russia is not isolated in the global economy, despite bickering with the West over Ukraine.
Analysts said India and Pakistan likely wanted to join the Eurasian group to develop relations with major energy producers like Russia and Kazakhstan.
The group also includes other Central Asian former Soviet republics Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
"Membership could better position India to benefit from Central Asia's gas riches," said Michael Kugelman, an associate at the Wilson Center in Washington.
But while the addition of India and Pakistan beefs up the group's economic gravitas, "India and Pakistan wouldn't be dominant powers" within the organization, he said. "China and Russia would retain that title."
The Shanghai group did not invite Iran to join, although it has long sought membership. The group says Iran can join only after reaching a deal with big powers on its nuclear program.
With the addition of Iran, the group would control around one-fifth of the world's oil and represent nearly half of the global population. The BRICS account for one-fifth of the world's economic output and 40 percent of its population.
With reporting by Reuters and dpa
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Iran’s insistence on the lifting of a ban on shipments of conventional weapons in and out of the country has become an obstacle to an accord.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran, the United States and other major powers struggled on Saturday to break a deadlock in nuclear talks that has held up a historic deal that would bring sanctions relief for Tehran in exchange for curbs on its atomic program.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Someone else's sex tape is proving to be costly for 50 Cent: A jury ordered the rapper-actor Friday to pay $5 million to a woman who said he acquired a video she made with her boyfriend, added himself as a crude commentator and posted it online without her permission....
ODESSA, Ukraine (AP) -- Striding through headquarters, Todor Panevsky gleefully announced that comrades in his self-defense unit had detained a pro-Russian separatist sympathizer in this picturesque port city....
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CHICAGO (AP) -- Police departments across the country that have spent years boasting about plummeting crime numbers are now scrambling to confront something many agencies have not seen in decades: more bloodshed....
Counterfeiter evades US lawsuits and gets green cardby By ERIKA KINETZ and ELLIOT SPAGAT
SHANGHAI (AP) -- This could be the story of an American dream. An immigrant family builds a successful business and buys a four-bedroom house in a quiet neighborhood with good schools for their young son. But not all is as it seems on the steep, curving streets of San Diego's Rancho Penasquitos....
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U.S. Intercepts Russian Planes, Gets Snub From Putin - Daniel Davis - Townhall
Town Hall Russia gave the United States a disparaging snub this past July 4 when it sent long-range bombers off the coasts of both Alaska and California, followed by a congratulatory letter to President Obama. U.S. fighter aircraft intercepted both sets of the ... Russia's Putin upbeat on Ukraine crisis solution | ReutersReuters all 44 news articles » |
Europeans Rush to Seek Cuba Deals in Light of US-Cuba Thawby webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
European officials and businesses are visiting Cuba in unprecedented numbers, attracted by its market-oriented reforms and hastened to act by Havana's improved relations with the United States. Seventy-five companies accompanied Jose Manuel Soria, Spain's minister of industry, energy and tourism, during his visit this week, and 140 Italian firms also visited with Italy's deputy minister for economic development, Carlo Calenda. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was also scheduled to lead a delegation of 100 businesses to Cuba, but that trip was postponed because of ongoing talks with Iran and the crisis in Greece. Similar delegations from France, Britain and the Netherlands have arrived in recent weeks. "No one wants to miss the train," said Herman Portocarero, the European Union's ambassador to Cuba. Since President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro announced last December they would restore diplomatic ties, scores of U.S. businesses have come calling, including conglomerates such as Johnson & Johnson, Dow Chemical , Microsoft, Google, Dell and U.S. airlines. They remain largely shut out by a U.S. economic embargo, which Obama is asking Congress to lift, so the Europeans are attempting to seize the moment while they still have an advantage. "The crowning glory was when President Raul Castro visited Rome [in May]. He told us to hurry up and come with our companies, and we did so quickly," Mario Giro, Italy's undersecretary for foreign affairs, told reporters in Havana late Wednesday. Italian companies have 14 projects planned for Cuba's Chinese-style special development zone around the newly built container port at Mariel, he said. Spain is Cuba's third-largest economic partner after Venezuela and China, and its hospitality companies led by Sol Melia manage dozens of hotels on the island. "For the government of Spain and the majority of Spanish companies, a new moment full of opportunity has begun," Soria, the Spanish industry, energy and tourism minister, said. The Mariel economic zone was especially attractive for investors, because it allows wholly owned foreign companies to repatriate profits under a favorable tax regime, he added.
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US Senators Introduce Bill to Expand Sanctions on North Koreaby webdesk@voanews.com (Jee Abbey Lee)
Two U.S. senators have introduced a bill to toughen sanctions against North Korea, responding to a House measure introduced earlier this year. The North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2015 was introduced Thursday by Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican. It followed a House measure aimed at tightening sanctions against the communist country in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear development and human rights violations. That bill, pushed by Representative Ed Royce, a California Republican, passed a House committee and was sent to the full chamber for further action earlier this year. The Senate measure aims to expand the U.S. government’s ability to sanction “property and seize funds of the people or organizations that provide support” to the North Korean regime. It also would expand the government’s ability to sanction “support for cyber attacks or cyber vandalism,” according to a statement released by Menendez’s office. “The malicious actions and relentless pursuit of nuclear weaponry by North Korea must be prevented at every turn," Menendez said. "This bipartisan legislation will strengthen the hand of the administration to continue holding back the threat posed by the terrible regime in North Korea.” Mixed views Analysts have expressed mixed opinions about the efficacy of sanctions on the North. Proponents of sanctions say they are a viable means to press the North to change course. Critics argue sanctions have a limited impact on the North because of China’s reluctance to cooperate. Joshua Stanton, a Washington attorney and blogger who helped draft the House legislation, said the United States needs tough sanctions to win diplomatic concessions from the North. Stanton said the Senate bill was an important step toward “putting a sanctions enforcement bill on the president’s desk this year.” “If diplomacy has any prospect of success, it lies in an approach that gives our diplomats enough leverage to win concessions to improve human security for the North Korean people, for the region and for us,” Stanton wrote in his blog. Frank Jannuzi, president of Mansfield Foundation, a U.S.-Asia policy and research group, disagreed. “The current sanctions regime is not working," he wrote in an email to VOA. "Senators Menendez and Graham are right to reassess the U.S. approach. That said, enhanced sanctions won’t work if not complemented by a serious plan for talks.” Gregg Brazinsky, a professor at The George Washington University, expressed a similar opinion. “I don’t think additional sanctions will do very much to change the behavior of the regime," he said. "They have not had much effect in the past, and the [Senate] bill mostly seeks to tighten the enforcement of sanctions that are already on the books.” Quick action unlikely Marcus Noland, senior fellow and director of studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, raised doubts that Congress would act on the measures quickly. “My guess is that this legislation is going nowhere unless North Korea does something provocative like a fourth nuclear test," Noland said. "If that happens, this legislation and the Royce bill would pass easily.” The latest Senate move came amid a diplomatic standoff between the United States and North Korea, with nuclear talks deadlocked. The multistate talks have been stalled since December 2008. The United Sates insists the North show commitment to denuclearization before it agrees to resume the talks, whereas the North demands the United States withdraw what it says are hostile policies against the country. Recently, the two sides clashed over Pyongyang’s treatment of its citizens. Washington has expressed support for the United Nations effort to try to hold Pyongyang accountable for human rights violations. Pyongyang has rejected the criticism, accusing Washington of using human rights to try to overthrow its political and social systems. Eun Jung Cho contributed to this report.
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Russian Soldiers Increasingly Deserting Their Units to Avoid Being Sent to Fight in Ukraineby paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)
Paul Goble
Staunton, July 11 – Several dozen contract soldiers in a Russian motorized rifle brigade based in Maikop have deserted in order to avoid being sent to fight in Ukraine. They now face up to ten years in prison, are being kept in “inhuman” conditions, and are constantly urged to agree to go to Ukraine as “volunteers,” according to a Moscow newspaper.
The actual numbers may be much higher. A lawyer who is involved with the defense of five of the soldiers who have been charged told the two Moscow journalists that commanders had told her that the number of soldiers facing these charges is so large that it has overwhelmed the military justice system there.
One of the soldiers facing charges has filed a brief with the court, the two journalists say. It specifies that he “did not fulfill a criminal order since he did not want to go against the oath which [he] took and did not want to participate in military actions on the territory of Ukraine.”
Other soldiers involved say they were under intense pressure to volunteer to fight in Ukraine, with senior officers from other units coming and offering them as much as 8,000 rubles (160 US dollars) a day. But according to the lawyer, Tatyana Chernetskaya, “no one wants to fight in the Donbas for 8,000 a day as the recruiters promised or even for 28,000.”
These recruiters, the soldiers say, wore camouflage uniforms without any indication that they were in the Russian army but with signs of rank clearly visible – an indication that this whole operation was part of Moscow’s efforts to maintain deniability about Russian involvement and possibly of Moscow’s fears that regular commanders won’t be effective in such recruiting.
The two journalists say the Russian defense ministry was unable to provide any comment. “However,” they point out, that institution “has frequently given ‘Gazeta.ru’ the official position: reports about the presence of Russian soldiers on the territory of Ukraine are a lie, and rumors about agitation in Russian units to go as volunteers to the Donbas are unreliable.”
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US, World Leaders Resume Iran Nuclear Talksby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are meeting Saturday in Austria in the latest round of discussions on reaching a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Kerry and Zarif met on Saturday with European Union foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini and were conferring with other foreign ministers involved. German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius are both in Vienna. British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond was expected later Saturday. The Russian and Chinese foreign ministers -- Sergei Lavrov and Wang Yi, respectively -- have said they will come to Vienna if a deal appears close. An interim nuclear agreement has been extended through Monday, to provide negotiators in Vienna more time for talks on a comprehensive deal, a senior State Department official said Friday. "To allow for the additional time to negotiate, we are taking the necessary technical steps for the measures of the Joint Plan of Action to remain in place through July 13," the official said. The interim agreement was reached in April and an original June 30th deadline for a final deal has already passed. Having missed a Friday morning U.S. congressional deadline, U.S. and European Union officials said they were extending sanctions relief for Iran under an interim deal through Monday to provide more time for talks on a final deal. WATCH: VOA's Heather Murdock reports on the Iran nuclear program negotiations from Vienna Any agreement now faces a 60-day review by the Republican-led Congress, rather than 30, extra time U.S. President Barack Obama's administration worries could derail it. The sides remain divided over issues that include a U.N. arms embargo on Iran, which Western powers want to keep in place; access for inspectors to military sites in Iran, and access to Iran's nuclear scientists to determine whether Tehran conducted research in the past on how to potentially weaponize its nuclear stockpiles. Friday, Kerry said progress had been made in negotiations. "We still have a couple of very difficult issues, and we’ll be sitting down to discuss those in the very near term," Kerry said to reporters as he met with his team in Vienna. "But I think we have resolved some of the things that were outstanding and we’ve made some progress." British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Friday, "We are making progress, it's painfully slow." Hammond also echoed Kerry's assessment of the talks, adding, "There are still some issues that have to be resolved." He and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, both of whom had left Vienna Friday, returned Saturday morning. Intense discussions Zarif has been holding intense meetings for two weeks with Kerry, trying to hammer out a deal limiting Iran's nuclear program in return for withdrawing economic sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy. But the negotiations have become bogged down, with final deadlines extended three times in the past 10 days. On Friday, Zarif sought to blame the West for the impasse. A prominent Republican in the House of Representatives who heads the influential Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Edward Royce, spoke out Friday to criticize what he has seen from the negotiations to this point. Although Royce noted there is no agreement yet, he said indications are that Iran will prevail on many of its major demands. "How is that a deal," the California congressman asked rhetorically in a television interview. Some material for this report came from AP and Reuters.
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Analyst: Ending Iran Sanctions Could Push Down Oil Pricesby webdesk@voanews.com (Jim Randle)
Iran’s economy has been hammered by a series of sanctions that have pushed it into recession, slashed the value of its currency, sparked soaring inflation, and hurt its oil sector. If and when Iran works out a deal with the United States and other nations to limit its nuclear program, some of those sanctions will end. One economic expert said the end of sanctions could bolster growth in some of Iran’s neighbors and push global oil prices down further. Peterson Institute for International Relations scholar Gary Hufbauer said ending sanctions could cut oil prices from their current $50 a barrel range to around $35 per barrel. Crude prices Hufbauer said after sanctions, Iran could boost production by half a million barrels a day in a few months, and the additional supply could put downward pressure on crude prices worldwide. While that would not be a large percentage of the approximately 90 million barrels of oil a day consumed by the global economy, Hufbauer said the market is oversupplied right now and is sensitive to additional supplies. But U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said it is a “myth” that Iran’s economy would “instantly recover” because sanctions have pushed it into a “deep hole.” Lew said sanctions have cost Iran “over $160 billion” in oil revenue since 2012. The gross domestic product shrank 9 percent in the two years ending in March 2014, and is “15 to 20 percent smaller” than it would have been otherwise. Lew said Iran needs “half a trillion dollars” in domestic investment. The U.S. Congressional Research Service said sanctions cut Iran’s oil exports by half, and falling oil prices cut revenue in half again. Value of currency The economic problems caused the value of the Iran’s currency, the rial, to fall about 56 percent on unofficial markets, and inflation is estimated to have hit 50 percent at one point. The departure of a number of foreign oil firms has reduced Iran’s access to the technology needed to update its oil industry, crimping the long-term outlook for the sector. Sanctions also hurt efforts to modernize Iran’s non-oil industrial sector by blocking access to imported parts and materials. That is one reason that Peterson Institute scholar Hufbauer said opening up Iran’s economy could provide a welcome boost to business in nearby nations in a region with many troubled economies. He said the sanctions effort aimed at Iran was effective because of an unusual level of cooperation among other nations. Also, he added Iran’s economic troubles created the political pressure that prompted the nation’s leaders to bargain with the United States and other nations.
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Some US Locales Cool to Same-Sex Marriage Rulingby webdesk@voanews.com (Hu Wei)
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage has sparked a furious backlash in some conservative states across the country. While most state and county governments followed the ruling, some county clerks have stopped issuing marriage licenses or even quit their jobs in apparent defiance of the high court’s decision. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott accused the Supreme Court of abandoning its role as an impartial judicial arbiter and turning itself into a non-elected legislative branch where five of the nine justices imposed their personal views onto the entire country. Religious rights In his state, Abbott said citizens’ religious rights continued to be protected. He has issued a directive to state agencies instructing them to prioritize the protection of Texans’ religious liberties. Many citizens said same-sex marriage is in conflict with their religious beliefs. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also told those county clerks who have refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples that numerous lawyers were ready to assist them in any litigation to defend their religious beliefs. In Kentucky, Casey County Clerk Casey Davis made himself an overnight media star as well as a hate mail target when he refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples who have come to his courthouse. Davis said he had stopped issuing marriage licenses to all couples following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. Earlier in the week, Davis tried to meet with Democratic Governor Steve Beshear to ask him to call for a special session of the state legislature so it can pass a law allowing people to purchase marriage licenses online instead of going to the courthouse, similar to the process of purchasing a hunting or fishing license. 'My conscience' Davis told VOA that although he took an oath to perform the office of county clerk to the best of his ability, but that ability should not go beyond his conscience. “My conscience does not stop with the issuance of marriage licenses; my conscience is included in every decision that I make, whether I’m at work or whether I’m at home, trying to raise my family,” he said. “My ability is governed by my conscience." Davis argued that the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage left out the rights of the people who didn’t agree with same-sex marriage. "Somewhere along the line, someone needs to say ‘Hey, I still have rights. I don’t mind you having yours. But would you please give me the same courtesy and give me mine?’ ” he said. Davis said he believed “the First Amendment of the Constitution of this nation put religious freedom there because if we lose that (freedom), we’ve lost everything.” Resignation In Mississippi, a Grenada County circuit clerk did not want to be responsible for issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and chose to resign after serving in that office for 24 years, saying that the Supreme Court ruling violated his core values as a Christian. Sam Marcosson, a constitutional law professor at the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law in Kentucky, said clerks who refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples risk criminal official misconduct charges. “It’s a misdemeanor, not a serious crime, but it’s a crime,” Marcosson said. “That would be within the discretion of the prosecutors to bring those charges and begin the prosecution in the county, because as a government official, you have the responsibility to all the citizens to perform the duties of your office, so a potential criminal charge could be filed, if it got to that point,” he said. Marcosson said judges could also enforce fines that would continue to grow as long as the clerks remained out of compliance with the law. In the end, the clerks could either quit or be charged. Marcosson said marriage license issuance is one area "in which the law is not settled from state to state.” Businesses affected He also noted that the Supreme court ruling affects business owners as well as government officials. “In some states, there are nondiscrimination requirements that tell them (business owners) if you are going to be in business, you have to be in business and provide your services to all, whether it’s a same sex couple or opposite sex couple," Marcosson said. In other states, however, there isn’t such non-discrimination requirement. “They can pick and choose which weddings they will open their business to,” he added. Amber Duke, communication manager of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said three counties in that state are not issuing marriage licenses to any couples. She noted her agency filed a lawsuit against one of them, Rowan County, and its clerk on behalf four couples: two same-sex couples and two opposite-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses by the county clerk. Government duty The lawsuit argued that while the clerk had the absolute right to believe in whatever she wanted, as a government official sworn to uphold the law, she could not pick and choose which duties her office would perform. “Not only (did) the Supreme Court ruling come out and say that same gender couples have the right to marry, the governor of our state, just a couple of hours after that ruling came out, issued guidelines to all of the clerks in the state and asked them to act immediately, to distribute licenses to same gender couples,” Duke said. She said the Kentucky state attorney general had also put out statements since the ruling, saying that marriage equality is the law of the land and that county clerks need to follow the law. “So it’s definitely very clear, and we see no legal justification that any of these clerks has for denying anyone’s marriage license,” Duke added.
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