Dozens of people in Hong Kong say they were injured by the police during recent mass demonstrations. Hong Kong officials say police officers acted with restraint. Here's what the evidence shows. https://t.co/gkIbZ2DEImpic.twitter.com/V1sxiyQxK6
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019. President Trump took a historic step into North Korea, drawing on his penchant for showmanship and surprise to pull off talks with Kim Jong Un in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the two Koreas. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
A state-run broadcaster said four civilians including a baby killed while Syrian military said it confronted the attack.
Israeli warplanes have fired missiles targeting Syrian military positions in Homs and the Damascus outskirts in Syria in an attack that killed at least four civilians and wounded another 21, Syrian state media said.
The Syrian military said on Monday that its air defences had confronted the attack, which was launched from Lebanese airspace.
An Israeli military spokeswoman, asked about the report, said: "We don't comment on such reports."
* Anna Campbell was killed by an air strike at the age of 26 in March last year * She is the only British woman to have died alongside Kurdish forces in Syria * Anna: The Woman Who Went To Fight Isis is on BBC2 at 9.30pm on Wednesday
Four young women in dusty, sweat-soaked fatigues hold AK-47 rifles high above their heads beneath the fierce Middle Eastern sun.
They are in training, desperate to join the Kurdish defence force and its famous female fighting units which are attempting to drive back the forces of Isis that swept across Syria and Iraq.
As Dirk Campbell watches the figures moving across the screen in the militia group's shaky footage, one young fighter stands out.
She is noticeably taller than the others, with paler skin and short blonde hair. She is also unmistakably his daughter, Anna.
* The Institute for the Study of War published a report about a possible resurgence * ISIS has reportedly been regrouping in Iraq since its defeat in Syria this year * There are several sleeper cells and billions of pounds at the group's disposal
ISIS could be set for a 'devastating' comeback despite its defeat earlier this year - a bombshell study has revealed.
US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War published a report suggesting the caliphate is alive and well and is set to re-emerge imminently with deadly consequences.
According to the report, ISIS still maintains several sleeper cells and has accrued billions of pounds worth of funding which has allowed it to remain a threat.
A divided America is failing to counter Moscow's efforts to undermine democracy and cast doubt on U.S. alliances, says the report, which warns of a surge in 'political warfare.'
The U.S. is ill-equipped to counter the increasingly brazen political warfare Russia is waging to undermine democracies, the Pentagon and independent strategists warn in a detailed assessment that happens to echo much bipartisan criticism of President Donald Trump's approach to Moscow.
The more than 150-page white paper, prepared for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and shared with POLITICO, says the U.S. is still underestimating the scope of Russia's aggression, which includes the use of propaganda and disinformation to sway public opinion across Europe, Central Asia, Africa and Latin America. The study also points to the dangers of a growing alignment between Russia and China, which share a fear of the United States' international alliances and an affinity for "authoritarian stability."
* Merkel, 64, endured a gruelling long distance flight and negotiations with Trump * She appeared out of sorts as she flew into Japan for the G20 summit on Friday * The Chancellor and her team insisted she is 'fine' after latest shaking attacks * Spy agencies have reportedly opened their own investigations into the tremors
Global spy agencies are trying to get their hands on Angela Merkel's medical records in an effort to discover what caused her recent shaking episodes, it has been revealed.
Mrs Merkel, 64, kept a low profile as she attended the G20 summit in Osaka following the latest incident of tremors on Thursday.
Her office blamed dehydration for the first bout of tremors ten days earlier and said the second was psychological, caused by memories of the first.
According to Germany's Bild newspaper, however, several of the world's spy agencies are not convinced by the explanation and have started their own investigations into Mrs Merkel's condition. Read more ....
WNU Editor: No one is buying the story that she was dehydrated or "psychological", and neither am I.
* Stephanie Grisham, 42, came out of meeting with bruises following the scuffle * US reporters were against Korean security guards as they jockeyed for position * Journalists tried to enter room in Freedom House on south side of Panmunjom * It was where President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un were meeting today * President Trump took the historic walk from the DMZ into North Korean territory
Incoming White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham was in an 'all out brawl' with North Koreans ahead of the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un as she tried to get the US press pool into position.
Grisham, who officially starts on Monday, joined the President on his trip to the G20 summit in Japan - and was with him for his historic walk from the DMZ into North Korean territory on Sunday.
But she has reportedly come out of the meeting with bruises after a scuffle between reporters and security guards from the secretive state as they tried to block the press.
* The president visited the DMZ on Sunday * He shook hands with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un * He walked across the demarcation line into North Korean territory * Trump repeatedly touted a potential meeting starting Saturday * He stoked the drama saying nothing was 'final' until hours before it occurred * Become the first U.S. president to step inside North Korea * North Korea said at first said it was waiting for a formal invitation to meet Trump * It then called the idea an 'interesting suggestion' * Trump and Kim ended up meeting for 50 minutes inside 'Peace House' * No immediate sanctions relief * Mentioned a Kim visit to the U.S. but with no date * Trump tweeted on Saturday morning inviting Kim to 'shake his hand and say Hello(?)!' * South Korean leader said he could 'truly feel the flower of peace was blossoming on the Korean peninsula' * Trump said he knows 'for a fact' DPRK's main negotiator is alive * Said he hopes the rest of the negotiators are too
President Donald Trump has taken the historic walk from the DMZ into North Korean territory in order to embark on a meeting with dictator Kim Jong-un.
Shortly after the pair greeted each other with a handshake Sunday, Trump was hailed as 'courageous' by the North Korean leader. Trump in turn praised the 'power' of Kim's voice – then criticized his predecessor and faulted the media for down-playing his achievements.
'This has a lot of significance because it means that we want to bring an end to the unpleasant past and try to create a new future, so it's a very courageous and determined act,' Kim told Trump through a translator after smiling during their initial handshake greeting.
'You're the first U.S. president to cross this line,' Kim told him, moments after Trump became the first American president to venture into North Korean territory. Trump announced after the meeting that in the 'near future' the two sides would be able to 'get some good results after concrete negotiations' – but with nothing tangible other than the commitment to resume talks.
(KABUL, Afghanistan) — A powerful bomb blast rocked the Afghan capital early Monday, rattling windows, sending smoke billowing from Kabul’s downtown area and wounding at least 65 people, including nine children hurt by flying glass, officials said.
The Taliban claimed the attack, which came as the insurgents were holding their latest round of talks with U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the Gulf state of Qatar, where they have a political office.
The explosion occurred as the streets in the capital were packed with morning commuters. Officials and police were at the scene of the blast and few details were available. Ambulance sirens screamed throughout the downtown area.
Mohammad Karim, a police official in the area of the attack, said a car bomb exploded outside a Defense Ministry building. Militants then ran into a nearby high-rise located in a crowded market and began firing down on the ministry. Police and special Afghan security forces poured into the area and cordoned it off.
Mohammad Farooq, the owner of a nearby restaurant, said the explosion blew out the windows of a private school, wounding several students.
Kabul’s chief police spokesman, Firdous Faramaz, confirmed the explosion but did not provide details on the target or the type of explosive device. Health Ministry official Wahid Mayer said at least 65 people were wounded. He said it is difficult to reach the area because of the ongoing gunbattle between police and militants.
The capital has been relatively quiet in recent months following a spate of bombings, many claimed by the local Islamic State affiliate. The Taliban have carried out scores of attacks in Kabul, mostly targeting Afghan and U.S. military installations or convoys.
Pakistan condemned Monday’s attack, saying “such attacks are detrimental to the cause of peace, security and stability in Afghanistan.” Pakistan and Afghanistan routinely exchange accusations of harboring the other’s militant enemies.
Pakistan has reportedly pressed the Taliban __ many of whom have homes in Pakistan __ into talks. Last week it hosted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for the first time as the two countries sought to reset their troubled relationship.
The latest talks between the United States and the Taliban meanwhile stretched into a third day. The Taliban said their focus is on getting an announcement of a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan. The announcement is likely to be accompanied by a Taliban promise to hold intra-Afghan talks and agree to an eventual cease-fire.
Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Doha, told The Associated Press on Monday that “our main concern is to make sure a timeline for troop pullout is announced.”
Taliban officials have previously told the AP they want all foreign troops withdrawn within six months, while Washington has pushed for a longer timeline of a year to 18 months.
The Taliban have refused to hold talks with the Afghan government, calling it a U.S. puppet, and have continued to carry out daily attacks on Afghan forces. They say Washington is the final arbiter on the troop withdrawal, which the insurgents see as the central issue.
Washington accelerated attempts to find a negotiated end to America’s longest war with the appointment last September of Khalilzad, who was a special presidential representative to Afghanistan and later U.S. ambassador in Kabul in the years immediately following the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban.
During a visit last week to the Afghan capital, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would like to see an agreement before Sept. 1, considered an ambitious deadline by analysts but likely linked to Afghan presidential polls scheduled for later that month. Washington has expressed concern the elections could hamper a peace deal and has quietly advocated for an interim administration for up to two years following an agreement.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan has resumed commercial whaling after 31 years, meeting a long-cherished goal of traditionalists that’s seen as a largely lost cause.
Whaling boats embarked Monday on their first commercial hunts since 1988, when Japan switched to so-called research whaling, but will stay within the country’s exclusive economic waters. Japan’s six-month notice to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission took effect Sunday.
The Fisheries Agency said the catch quota through the end of this year is set at 227 whales, fewer than the 333 Japan hunted in the Antarctic in recent years. The quota for this season’s catch, planned for release in late June, was withheld until Monday apparently to avoid criticism during the Group of 20 summit that concluded over the weekend in Osaka.
As the boats left port, whalers, their families and local officials in two major whaling towns, Shimonoseki in southwestern Japan, which is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s electoral constituency, and Kushiro in the north, celebrated the fresh start, hoping for a safe return and a good harvest.
While the resumption of commercial whaling is condemned by many conservation groups, others see it as a face-saving way to let the government’s embattled and expensive whaling program gradually succumb to changing times and tastes.
Despite the massive attention and tax money and political support from ruling party lawmakers, whaling in Japan involved only a few hundred people and accounted for less than 0.1 percent of total meat consumption in fiscal 2017, according to the latest government data on food sufficiency.
Whale meat was an affordable source of protein during the lean times after World War II, with consumption peaking at 223,000 tons in 1962. But whale was quickly replaced by other meats. Whale meat consumption was down to 6,000 tons in 1986, a year before the commercial whaling moratorium imposed by the IWC.
Under the research hunts, which was criticized as a cover for commercial hunts as the meat was sold on the market, Japan at its peak caught as many as 1,200 whales but has drastically cut back on its catch in recent years after international protests escalated and whale meat consumption slumped at home.
Today, about 4,000-5,000 tons are supplied to Japan annually, or 30-40 grams of whale meat consumed per person a year, Fisheries Agency officials say.
The research whaling program lost money for years — 1.6 billion yen ($15 million) in the last year alone.
Japan will stick to a very strict catch quota with respect to the IWC findings, and will continue conducting research, said Hideki Moronuki, a Fisheries Agency official and a chief negotiator at the IWC. He said Japan’s commercial whaling will never harm its stock.
The commercial whaling will be carried out by two groups. The mother boat Nisshin-maru and two support boats that used to go to the Antarctic will travel as far as the 200 nautical mile EEZ to catch minke, Bryde’s and sei whales. Five other smaller ships will stay closer to the coast but also hunt minkes, in addition to Baird’s beaked whales and dolphins that they used to catch under an IWC loophole. Altogether, they will catch 52 minkes, 150 Bryde’s and 25 sei whales through Dec. 31.
Whales caught in coastal waters are expected to be brought back for fresh local consumption at any of six local whaling hubs that are mainly in northern Japan but include Taiji, the home constituency of ruling Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight Toshihiro Nikai. The town is also known for dolphin hunts because of the documentary film “The Cove.”
Whale meat caught further off the coast will be frozen and distributed for wider consumption.
Moronuki says the fate of commercial whaling depends on whether whale meat is widely accepted by consumers since it won’t be getting as much subsidies as it used to get.
Moronuki said he hoped whale meat would be reasonably priced so that it will gain popularity in the long-term instead of becoming an expensive delicacy for a limited clientele. The government used to sell portions of whale meat caught in the scientific program for school lunch programs at discounted prices, he said.
“The future of commercial whaling depends on how popular whale meat can be,” he said. “Whale meat is a traditional food in Japan and I would like many people to try and develop taste for it, especially younger people.”
A 2017 survey by the Japan Whaling Association showed about 64 percent of respondents in ages ranging from teens to 50s said they have eaten whale meat but most of them said they haven’t eaten once for more than five years.
Ultimately, the resumption of the traditional whaling may end up saving both huge government subsidies and the lives of many whales, experts say.
“What we are seeing is the beginning of the end of Japanese whaling,” said Patrick Ramage, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. “It is a win-win solution that results in a better situation for whales, a better situation for Japan, a better situation for international marine conservation efforts and is therefore to be welcomed.”
Whaling is losing support in other whaling nations including Norway and Iceland, where whalers have cut back on catches in recent years amid criticism that commercial hunts are bad for their national image and tourism.
Iceland caught only 17 whales, while Norway hunted 432 for the 2017-2018 season, way below their catch quota of 378 and 1,278 respectively, according to the IWC.
Japanese are also beginning to see ecotourism as a better option for whales than hunting them for food.
“People in coastal communities all do better when whales are seen and not hurt,” Ramage said.
BERLIN (AP) — High-level support and almost three-quarters of a million dollars in donations poured in Sunday for the German captain of a migrant rescue ship who was arrested after she defied repeated orders to stay out of Italy and struck a police boat while bringing 40 people to port.Carola Rackete remained under house arrest a day after her ship, the Sea-Watch 3, rammed the Italian border police motorboat that was blocking the entry to the port at Italy’s Lampedusa island.
Rackete, 31, “had no intention of hurting anyone” and only wanted to get her passengers to land, Italian lawyer Salvatore Tesoriero said.
The Sea-Watch 3 picked up the migrants adrift in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya on June 12 and had been in a standoff with Italian authorities for weeks before the captain decided to force the issue, reportedly saying she feared some of her passengers might harm themselves.
“Whoever saves lives isn’t a criminal,” two German TV personalities wrote in an appeal for contributions to help support Rackete and Sea-Watch, the German nonprofit group that owns the rescue ship. More than 24,000 donors responded, giving over 655,000 euros ($745,390) as of Sunday evening.
Rackete could face up to 10 years in prison, if she is convicted of resisting a warship, a charge that refers to plowing into the border police motorboat. She also could be fined up to 50,000 euros ($58,000) under a recent law designed to strengthen Italian government policies targeting private migrant rescue vessels.
The Sea-Watch 3 entered Lampedusa’s port 17 days after it picked up 53 migrants off Libya; 13 of the rescued passengers were allowed to disembark earlier for medical reasons.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier questioned Italy’s handling of the situation.
“Italy is at the heart of the European Union, a founding state of the European Union,” Steinmeier told German public broadcaster ZDF in an interview late Sunday. “And that’s why we can expect a country like Italy to deal with such a case differently.”
His comments were met with a swift retort from Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who earlier called the Sea-Watch 3 captain a “criminal” who committed an “act of war” by ignoring orders to keep out of Italy’s waters.
“We ask the German president to keep busy with what’s happening in Germany and possibly invite his fellow citizens to avoid breaking Italian laws, risking the killing of Italy’s law enforcement forces,” Salvini said in a tweet Sunday evening.
No one was injured when Sea-Watch 3 struck the border police vessel, but Italian authorities said some officers had to scramble out of the way and the motorboat’s side was damaged.
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte said Rackete could have sailed to many other ports in the Mediterranean to seek permission to dock. He accused the captain of carrying out “political blackmail…using 40 people.”
Some in Germany agreed with the Italian government’s position.
Petr Bystron, a foreign policy spokesman for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, said Rackete was “a common criminal.” Speaking to German daily newspaper Welt, Bystron said she should have taken the rescued migrants to Africa or the Netherlands, since the ship sailed under the Dutch flag.
At Italy’s insistence, five fellow European Union nations including Germany said they would take the remaining 40 migrants who landed on Lampedusa.
On Sunday, another Italian coast guard boat was escorting 40 severely dehydrated migrants to tiny Lampedusa after the rescue ship of a Spanish humanitarian group spotted the migrants’ boat at sea, according to the group.
Proactiva Open Arms spokeswoman Laura Lanuza told The Associated Press that three pregnant women and four children are among the people on the migrant boat that departed Libya three days ago.
Lanuza says Malta’s coast guard was contacted but an Italian coast guard vessel arrived to escort the migrants because their boat was closer to Lampedusa than to Malta.
The governments of both Italy and Malta have repeatedly denied the rescue ships of nonprofit groups permission to port. However, the coast guards of the two countries also carry out rescues of migrants on the often unseaworthy vessels people smugglers launch from Libya.
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Frances D’Emilio in Rome contributed to this report.
The 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong’s retrocession to China was marked Monday with violent street battles between riot police and protesters, who smashed windows and doors at the legislature, forcing its evacuation.
The deteriorating security situation also forced a humiliating scaling down of a flag raising ceremony meant to be a focus of national pride.
Some 5,000 police, including armed marine police, had been deployed to put the area around the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on lockdown. A small, carefully vetted audience gathered there in the morning to watch, on closed-circuit television, the flag raising taking place outside.
The government said the indoor location was to spare guests from having to stand in the light drizzle, but there could only have been relief that dignitaries were shielded from the violent unrest breaking out nearby. At a flagpole less than a kilometer away, a Chinese flag was taken down by protesters overnight and the Black Bauhinia, the emblem of the Hong Kong rebellion, was run up in its place.
“I know that the Government has a lot to improve,” Hong Kong’s embattled top official, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, said in her address to the official gathering. “We will continue to listen to the community’s views and make continuous improvement to our work.”
Democratic legislator Helena Wong heckled Lam’s speech—an unheard of disruption at what is normally a tightly choreographed event—and was evicted from the hall.
Street clashes began in the early morning. Black-clad protesters attempted to march on the Convention Centre as the ceremony was taking place but were repelled by police. Protesters also occupied Harcourt Road and Lung Wo Road—major thoroughfares in the political heart of the city—and armed themselves with bricks and metal poles taken from a nearby construction site. Police responded with pepper spray and batons.
Asked what message he had for the Chinese government on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s reunification with China, protester Don Lee, 26, said: “I’d tell them that we want universal suffrage.”
Another protester, Daniel Chan, 20, added: “I want them to know that Hong Kong is not China.”
Demonstrators also besieged the legislature and pelted the building with eggs and other objects. Pro-democracy legislator Claudia Mo was seen being stretchered into an ambulance. A handful of democratic legislators who attempted to calm the crowd were abused and jeered. Some protesters used metal poles as battering rams and broke through the glass doors, smashing the building’s entrance and forcing an emergency evacuation. Others tore down the building’s fence.
Nearby subway stations were shuttered and a small fleet of ambulances was seen parked in the shadow of the legislature in anticipation of further clashes. Police said 13 officers required hospital treatment after protesters attacked them with quicklime. Other police, guarding the central government offices, were pelted with objects and forced to retreat.
In the afternoon, hundreds of thousands took part in a march, ostensibly to call for the withdrawal of a proposed law that would allow, for the first time, extradition to mainland China.
The government says the law is necessary to prevent Hong Kong from becoming a haven for criminals; detractors say Beijing will use it to order the arrest of dissidents and critics. In any case, the marchers’ original demand—that the extradition bill be withdrawn—has since been eclipsed by a broad push for greater democracy and even a repudiation of Chinese sovereignty itself.
After the morning’s disturbances, police attempted to persuade organizers to call off the procession, but organizers refused. Police sealed off part of Victoria Park, the march’s starting point, and, citing a “serious safety threat,” refused to given permission for marchers to proceed through the Admiralty district, where Hong Kong’s legislature and government offices are located.
“China needs to respect our rights as Hongkongers,” said Juliana, a 34-year old advertising worker, defying police to march with others. She added: “The situation is very tense because our government is not acting in the best interest of Hong Kong.”
As marchers began to arrive in Admiralty in the late afternoon, they reinforced those who had set up barricades across Harcourt Road, swelling the crowd considerably. Protesters appeared to be preparing for pitched battles, and could be seen passing out face masks and carting trolleys filled with bricks.
A protester in her mid-20s, who would only give her name as Mary H. and stated that she was a civil engineer, said “Today is the flag raising ceremony. We wanted to be here early to show our opposition to that. Everything the Chinese government is doing is suppressing our freedoms.”
The furore over the bill has laid bare political and social faultlines in the former British colony. Monday’s clashes come in the wake of an unruly rally Sunday that saw pro-government mobs abuse and assault journalists and foreigners. Scuffles and tense standoffs between pro- and anti-government groups also took place in the area around the legislature and central government offices.
Local media meanwhile reported late Sunday that a 29-year-old woman had fallen to her death from the retail podium of the International Finance Centre, after leaving a Facebook post saying that she would not be attending anti-government protests planned for today and encouraging Hongkongers to ga yau. Literally meaning “add oil,” in the sense of injecting fuel into a tank, the Cantonese phrase is a common exhortation among protesters.
Her death follows that of a 35-year-old man who died on June 15 after unfurling a protest banner on the side of a shopping mall, and a 21-year-old student, who fell from a building yesterday after leaving a note calling for Lam’s resignation. Memorials for all three are planned today.
University student Nicole Cheung, 19, said the deaths “make us heartbroken. I respect them but I don’t want anyone to do the same. We want everyone fighting to see the future.”
Kandice, an 18-year-old protester, who had written the deceased student’s last words on her back, added: “The whole government system is the problem. This is not democracy.”
—With reporting by Kamakshi Ayaar, Laignee Barron, Aria Hangyu Chen, Abhishyant Kidangoor and Hillary Leung / Hong Kong
JERUSALEM — American officials looked on Sunday as Israel opened a newfound Roman-era street at a divisive archaeological site in east Jerusalem, a move that deepened Palestinian animosity toward the White House’s mediation efforts.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman attended the event along with three other visiting American ambassadors as well as President Donald Trump’s Mideast negotiator, Jason Greenblatt, and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
The City of David Foundation unveiled what it called “the pilgrimage road,” a 2,000-year-old main thoroughfare from Roman-era Jerusalem that it says served visitors to the ancient Jewish Temple. The multi-year project to excavate beneath the mostly Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan cost over $100 million, with donors including Russian billionaire Roman Abramovitch, Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson and Oracle founder Larry Ellison.
Adelson attended the event, as did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara.
Visitors will be able to “touch history” by walking in the footsteps of ancient pilgrims through a 350-meter (yard) stretch of tunnel along the ancient street that ran uphill to the Jewish temple, the City of David Foundation said.
But the presence of the American officials sparked new accusations that the U.S. is helping Israel “Judaize” east Jerusalem. The Palestinians severed ties with the White House after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, home to the city’s most sensitive holy sites, in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed the area in a move that is not internationally recognized. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state.
The competing claims to east Jerusalem lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and are a frequent flashpoint of violence. Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem also suffer from prolonged poverty and neglect, adding to the tensions.
The City of David Foundation’s excavations, located on the steep slope beneath the contested site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, are part of a popular archaeological and tourist site the group runs in Silwan.
The site contains some of the oldest remains of the 3,000-year-old city, what many believe to be the centerpiece of ancient Jewish civilization. Some even claim it is linked to the Bible’s King David.
“Whether there were any doubts about the accuracy, the wisdom, the propriety in President Trump’s recognizing of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, I certainly think this lays all doubts to rest,” Friedman said.
But critics accuse the site’s operators of pushing a nationalistic agenda at the expense of local Palestinian residents.
The project’s parent group, Elad, helps settle Jewish families in Arab neighborhoods, raising suspicions that its tourism projects aim to erase the line between east and west Jerusalem. The Palestinians view the excavations as part of Israeli efforts to dominate the contested city.
Although Trump has said his recognition has no bearing on the city’s final boundaries, the participation of senior American officials at an Israeli ceremony in the heart of east Jerusalem raised fears among the Palestinians that the U.S. is recognizing Israeli control over the sensitive area.
“The Israeli occupation is trying to legalize colonial practices in Jerusalem by using a religious cover,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Friedman and Greenblatt are ready to fake history for this colonial purpose.”
The new “pilgrimage road” has also drawn criticism from Israeli peace activists and archaeologists. Unlike conventional archaeological excavations, the City of David and the Israel Antiquities Authority burrowed horizontally along the ancient road, stripping away later periods as they went to expose remains from the period associated with the golden age of the second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
Emek Shaveh, an organization opposed to the politicization of archaeology in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, noted the lack of scientific publications on the subject and questioned the City of David’s methodology. It said the project isolates a specific historical period and “does not enable us to establish with certainty when the road was built and how it fit into the layout of the city of Jerusalem.”
In a statement on Twitter, Greenblatt dismissed the criticism as “ludicrous.”
“We can’t ‘Judaize’ what history/archeology show,” he wrote. “We can acknowledge it & you can stop pretending it isn’t true! Peace can only be built on truth.”
Sunday’s event came amid simmering tensions in east Jerusalem. Israeli police clashed overnight Sunday with residents of another Palestinian neighborhood, leaving at least 15 Palestinians and two officers wounded, officials said.
The clashes in Issawiya erupted last Thursday following the shooting death of a Palestinian man by Israeli police.
Residents say police have stepped up their presence in Issawiya for several weeks and that demonstrators were protesting police violence when 20-year-old Mohammed Obeid was shot.
Police say he hurled fireworks at officers and presented a lethal threat. But residents accuse police of using excessive force and shooting Obeid from close range.
Mohammed Abu Homus, a community leader, said the family was demanding an autopsy. The family has also asked a court to order the release of Obeid’s body. Israeli authorities sometimes hold bodies of Palestinians, fearing the funerals will turn violent.
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Associated Press reporter Shahar Golan contributed.
Two former high-level White House officials flatly denied President Donald Trump’s claims on Sunday that President Barack Obama repeatedly sought meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
In a joint news conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, President Trump claimed that his predecessor had tried to meet with Kim on multiple occasions, only to be rebuffed.
“President Obama wanted to meet, and Chairman Kim would not meet him,” the President said. “The Obama administration was begging for a meeting. They were begging for meetings constantly, and Chairman Kim would not meet with him.”
“Trump is lying,” tweeted Ben Rhodes, who served as Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications during the Obama administration. “I was there for all eight years. Obama never sought a meeting with Kim Jong Un. Foreign policy isn’t reality television it’s reality.”
Trump is lying. I was there for all 8 years. Obama never sought a meeting with Kim Jong Un. Foreign policy isn’t reality television it’s reality.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper adamantly denied Trump’s statements as well.
“I don’t know where he’s getting that,” said Clapper during a Sunday appearance on CNN. “In all the deliberations I participated in on North Korea during the Obama administration I can recall no instance whatever where President Obama ever indicated any interest whatsoever in meeting with Chairman Kim.”
On Sunday, Trump met with Kim at the Korean demilitarized zone, which separates North and South Korea. Stepping across the border, Trump became the first sitting American President to visit North Korea’s isolated state. The two leaders met for nearly an hour, and agreed to restart talks on North Korea’s nuclear program.
In a later tweet on Sunday, Rhodes further excoriated the current President, calling his foreign policy a “failure.”
“Photo ops don’t get rid of nuclear weapons, carefully negotiated agreements do,” the former official wrote.
Photo ops don’t get rid of nuclear weapons, carefully negotiated agreements do. Trump’s foreign policy is a failure – from NK to Iran to Venezuela. https://t.co/cpBiWPb1N0
As White House senior adviser Jared Kushner rolled out the first stage of a long-awaited Middle East peace plan in Bahrain last week, Palestinian store owner Abdul Al-Mohtaseb was serving cardamon coffee outside his shop in Hebron, the largest city in the occupied West Bank.
Al-Mohtaseb’s store sells sodas, ceramics, traditional fabrics, and tote bags printed with the images British artist Banksy graffitied on the separation barrier meant to divide Israelis from Palestinians in the West Bank. It also occupies prime real estate, overlooking the sacred site where both Muslims and Jews believe Abraham, the “father of the faithful” is buried. The 58-year-old told TIME on June 26 that settlers backed by an Australian mining magnate once offered $100million for his store and adjoining house. He turned it down, he says. “They called me crazy Abdul.”
Kushner too believes monetary incentives can appeal to Palestinians in the occupied territories, judging by the first glimpse at his proposal to resolve the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At the “Peace to Prosperity Workshop” in Manama on June 25-26, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law called on private investors from the Gulf and other countries to raise as much as $50 billion over ten years for infrastructure and development projects, including a a transportation link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. “Today is not about political solutions — we will get to them later,” Kushner said.
But the West Bank’s Ramallah-based leadership boycotted the event, and in a June 27 interview with TIME one of its most senior diplomats called the summit a “conspiracy” aimed at furthering the ambitions of Israelis who would annex the West Bank completely.
Kushner’s plan “puts the economic cart before the political horse,” said Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Mission to the U.K, and is “not meant to work.” Instead it is designed “to kill time for Israel to finish off the swallowing and annexing off what is left of the Palestinian occupied territories, while blaming the Palestinians for not riding a dead political horse.”
Before his U.K assignment, Ambassador Zomlot had served as head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) delegation to the United States. But Trump closed the Washington liaison office in September 2018. The White House has moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, cut funding to Palestinian refugees, and signed a proclamation recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights—a rocky plateau that the rest of the international community considers part of Southwestern Syria. “All the carrots were taken away and given to Israel. The only stick that is used is against us, the Palestinians,” says Zomlot.
Rather than presenting a viable plan for peace, he claims, the Bahrain conference was an opportunity to gift Israel another carrot: normalization of its relations with the Arab world. While neither Israeli nor Palestinian officials attended, state representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Gulf countries were present. Bahrain granted Israeli journalists—and at least five rabbis—unprecedented permission to visit the tiny Gulf Kingdom.
Trump’s senior advisor calls his plan a novel approach to resolving the decades-long conflict, and it succeeded in bringing some powerful international actors to Manama. Attendees at the conference included IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. But also present were an array of real estate developers, bankers, and PR executives, many of whom with no ties to the conflict.
Media reports in Bahrain described a smorgasbord of panel discussions in which speakers compared Gaza to a “hot IP”, and a TED talk-style presentation from the president of world soccer governing body FIFA that advised on how the sport could help Arabs improve their image. Kushner reportedly delivered a speech in which he envisaged the impoverished Gaza Strip as a tourist destination, omitting mention of Israel and Egypt’s 12-year blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory, as well as Israel’s 52-year-long occupation of the West Bank, which restricts trade and labor movements.
During a live interview at the TIME 100 summit in April, Kushner said past attempts at resolving the conflict started with a process and then tried to arrive at a solution. Instead, “we started with a solution and then we’ll work on a process to try to get there.”
But that solution remains unclear. Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for early elections last year delayed the unveiling of the full plan, which Kushner told TIME in April would be released after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But following Netanyahu’s failure to form a government last month, it is now not expected until at least the fall, after Israelis have taken to the polls again and whoever is elected forms a new government.
The role of Arab countries would be key to any potential peace plan, and the GCC has expanded its friendship with Israel in recent months. Secretive military cooperation between Israel and some Arab countries dates back to the 1960s, and Israel established open relations with Qatar and Oman during the Oslo talks. But the current detente, largely driven by shared opposition to Iran, is “the closest and the most open relationship under what’s possible in these circumstances,” says Ehud Eiran, a political science expert at Israel’s University of Haifa.
In the run up to Bahrain, Arab leaders reiterated their commitment to a two state solution where the Palestinians would have an independent state. According to polling by the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) about half of Israelis also support a two-state solution. But that support is coupled with a “deep skepticism about whether there’s any tangible prospect for that to take place,” says IDI President Yohanan Plesner.
While Netanyahu bears some responsibility, Plesner says, the skepticism is enforced by the failure of past peace talks, the bloodshed of the Second Intifada, Hamas turning Gaza into a failed state and attacking Israeli civilians, and the “continued levels of incitement” from the Ramallah-based Palestinian leadership. Kushner, in an June 26 interview with CNN, refused to say whether the U.S. still supports a two state solution.
Whenever his full peace plan is revealed, he is likely to find positions on every side are set in stone. Opposite Hebron’s ancient religious site, Al-Mohtaseb tells TIME that six generations of his family have lived in his house, which dates back about 350 years. He was nine when Israel took over the West Bank and while he has no problem living side by side with Jewish people “in equality” he stands by his decision not to sell to settlers. “You can buy a car, a horse, a donkey,” he says, “But you can’t buy a person who has honor.”
ISTANBUL — Activists gathered in Istanbul to promote rights for gay and transgender people Sunday before police dispersed the crowd at a pride event that Turkish authorities had banned for the fifth year.
The rally on a side street to Istanbul’s main pedestrian avenue drew several hundred people, who cheered and waved rainbow flags. Istanbul Pride organizers said the Istanbul governor’s office banned the march from central Taksim district as well as a square designated for demonstrations west of the city.
Police allowed representatives to make a short statement to the media before officers dispersed the crowd with tear gas, blocking the street. Police dogs were also at the scene.
The Istanbul Pride group said it would continue activism to get sexual orientation and gender identity recognized in Turkish laws.
Amnesty International had urged Turkey to lift the “arbitrary ban” on the pride march. It said authorities rejected all suggested locations in the city by deeming the LGBT community “societally objectionable.”
Istanbul had up to 100,000 people attend a pride march in 2014, but police have blocked such marches since.
Though homosexuality has been legal in Turkey for decades, rights groups say discrimination is widespread.
The new mayor of Istanbul told a group of international journalists Friday that any group should be free to demonstrate as long as protests do not disturb the peace. Ekrem Imamoglu said he’d discuss the reasons for the ban with relevant authorities.
KHARTOUM, Sudan — Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Sudan’s capital and elsewhere in the country on Sunday calling for civilian rule nearly three months after the army forced out long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
The demonstrations came amid a weekslong standoff between the ruling military council and protest leaders. Talks between the two sides over a power-sharing agreement collapsed earlier this month when security forces violently broke up a protest camp in Khartoum.
The ensuing clampdown killed at least 128 people cross the county, according to protest organizers. Authorities say the toll was 61, including three security forces.
The marches, the first since the June 3 crackdown, also mark the 30th anniversary of the Islamist-backed coup that brought al-Bashir to power in 1989, toppling Sudan’s last elected government. The military removed al-Bashir in April amid mass protests against his rule.
The crowds gathered at several points across the capital and its sister city of Omdurman before marching toward the homes of those killed since the uprising began.
“This is a very important day for the Sudanese people,” protester Hamdi Karamallah said.
The protest movement erupted in December, triggered by an economic crisis. The protesters remained in the streets after al-Bashir was overthrown and jailed, fearing that the military would cling to power or preserve much of his regime.
Osman Mirghani, a Sudanese analyst and the editor of the daily newspaper al-Tayar, said the marches “changed the equation” in favor of the Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, which represents the protesters.
“Now, all pressure cards are in the hands of the FDFC. The marches corrected the situation,” he said.
On Sunday, protesters chanted anti-military slogans like “Burhan’s council, just fall”, according to video clips circulated online. Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan is head of the military council.
Video clips showed protesters running away from security forces in the streets of Khartoum and seeking shelter from clouds of tear gas.
On a highway leading to Khartoum’s international airport, a convoy of troops and riot police allowed some demonstrators to pass through as they headed toward the house of a protester who was killed earlier this month.
The protester’s mother was standing outside and joined the demonstration. They waved Sudanese flags and chanted slogans calling for civilian rule.
Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, a leading protest organization, told The Associated Press that security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters in Omdurman and the district of Bahri in the capital.
He said protests also erupted in Atbara, a railway city north of the capital and the birthplace of the uprising that led to al-Bashir’s ouster.
The Sudan Doctors Committee, the medical arm of the SPA, said a protester in his 20s was shot dead in Atbara. Khaled Mohi, a member of the committee, said another protester was wounded in Khartoum.
The SPA later called on protesters to march on the Nile-side presidential palace in Khartoum, as security forces closed off roads and bridges leading to the palace. The groups later said security forces barred the protesters from reaching their destination.
The FDFC called on protesters to head to other squares in Khartoum and Omdurman.
Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the military council, said the generals want to reach an “urgent and comprehensive agreement with no exclusion.”
“We in the military council are totally neutral. We are the guardians of the revolution. We do not want to be part of the dispute,” he told a gathering of army supporters.
He said three troops from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were wounded during the protests in Khartoum. Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, is the leader of the Rapid Support Forces.
“Our mission is to protect people and any peaceful revolution,” he said.
The previous day, the military council said it did not oppose the demonstrations but warned protest leaders that they would be held responsible for any vandalism or violence during the marches.
The African Union and Ethiopia have meanwhile stepped up their efforts to mediate an end to the crisis and reach a deal over setting up a new transitional government.
Earlier this week the AU and Ethiopia extended a joint proposal. The generals and the protesters voiced their approval but did not immediately restart negotiations.
The military council said in a statement that it submitted its response to the envoys, and that the generals are ready to resume negotiations on Sunday based on the AU and Ethiopian proposal. Lt. Gen. Shams Eddin Kabashi, a spokesman for the council, said it was hoping to reach a “comprehensive political solution” under the umbrella of the AU.
However, the Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, which represents the protesters, said talks could only begin once the military has officially ratified the AU-Ethiopian proposal. Al-Mustafa said talks would resume “directly after the military council signs the proposal.”
SEOUL, South Korea — South Koreans watched the historic meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday with a mixture of hope and skepticism, wondering whether it will be enough to relieve their biggest security concern — North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
The impromptu get-together at the inter-Korean border, where an armistice was signed 66 years ago to stop the fighting of a war that killed or injured millions, was Trump and Kim’s third overall meeting and first since their summit in February in Hanoi, Vietnam, collapsed over disagreements over sanctions relief.
Some South Koreans said Sunday’s meeting — which saw Trump briefly step into North Korean territory to become the first U.S. president to cross into the country — would help resolve a deadlock in nuclear negotiations and revive a positive atmosphere for peace. Others, however, said it was yet another summit that was all style and no substance. They also raised concerns over what they viewed as South Korea’s declining voice in international efforts to deal with the North.
Since the Hanoi summit, North Korea has significantly slowed down dialogue and engagement with South Korea, while demanding that Seoul break away from Washington and resume inter-Korean economic projects held back by U.S.-led sanctions against the North. Sunday’s meeting between Trump and Kim at the border village of Panmunjom came days after the North vowed to “never go through” South Korea again when dealing with the United States.
Min Jung-won, a 26-year-old graduate student in Seoul, expressed hope that the Trump-Kim meeting would help thaw bilateral relations between the Koreas.
“I hope this meeting serves as an opportunity for the Koreas to revive economic cooperation and move a step forward toward the reunification of the Koreas,” said Min, who also called for the Koreas and the United States to formally declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War.
But Kim Dae-won, a 40-year-old office worker in Suwon, a city just south of Seoul, said the Trump-Kim meeting was a made-for-TV spectacle that failed to address fundamental differences between Washington and Pyongyang that were exposed in Hanoi. He said the display of U.S. and North Korean flags and the absence of South Korean flags at the South Korean side of the border village where the leaders met symbolized how Seoul got sidelined in the process to resolve the nuclear standoff.
Seoul played a pivotal role in brokering the first summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un last June in Singapore, where they issued a statement calling for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without describing how or when it would occur. The lack of substance and fruitless working-level discussions set up the failure in Hanoi, which the Americans blamed on what they said were excessive North Korean demands for sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of the North’s nuclear capabilities limited to an aging nuclear facility in Yongbyon.
“(South Korean President) Moon Jae-in has insisted on being in the driver’s seat in the process, but it now seems he only lent out his car for Trump and Kim Jong Un,” Kim Dae-won said.
“With Kim Jong Un, it’s clear a tweet works much better than a hotline,” he said, referring to a hotline between the Korean leaders that was established last year during a flurry of engagement but has so far never been used, according to South Korean presidential officials.
Choi Yong-chul, a 65-year-old business owner in Seoul, said Trump and Moon were both trying to serve their domestic political interests, rather than pursuing substantial progress in nuclear negotiations. Trump is now entering his re-election campaign, while Moon faces critical parliamentary elections next year.
“I think (the meeting) was a one-time event for Trump’s re-election,” Choi said.
During their three meetings last year at Panmunjom and Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, Kim and Moon shared drinks and laughs and issued vaguely worded statements pledging denuclearization and peace. They also vowed to resume operations at a jointly run factory park in North Korea and South Korean tours to the North’s Diamond Mountain resort when possible, expressing optimism that sanctions would end, greenlighting such business activities.
The mood has drastically changed since Hanoi, with Kim accusing South Korea of acting like an “overstepping mediator” and demanding that it diverge from Washington to support Pyongyang’s position more strongly. The North also conducted short-range missile tests in May that experts saw as a warning to Seoul that last year’s inter-Korean peace progress could become nothing if the South fails to coax major concessions from the United States.
Sunday’s meeting between Trump and Kim came during the U.S. president’s visit to South Korea following meetings in Japan of the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies. Moon accompanied Trump to the border and briefly chatted with Kim, but was left out of the meeting between the U.S. and North Korean leaders.
“It was a summit that clearly shows the characteristic of Trump, who likes to use mass communication … but it’s still unclear whether these colorful diplomatic shows between the leaders could lead to progress,” said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Seoul’s Korea University, who described Kim as the “main actor” of a Trump-made drama.
Nam cautioned against South Koreans getting their hopes up too high after the Panmunjom summit.
“The bigger the hopes, the bigger the disappointments,” he said. “I wonder if this (diplomacy) will have a happy ending.”
Kim Dong-yub, an analyst from Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, expressed a different view, saying that the summit was worth it alone for creating momentum for reviving working-level negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang.
“This is just the beginning,” he said. “I am waiting for the day when Trump goes to Pyongyang and Kim goes to Seoul and Washington.”
___
Associated Press videojournalist Kim Yong-ho contributed to this report.
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EU leaders this morning find themselves no closer to replacing Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission president despite holding through-the-night talks for the last 15 hours.
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Kicking off celebration to mark two years of the GST implementation, the finance ministry will on Monday come up with further reforms in the indirect tax system with introduction of new return system, rationalisation of cash ledger system and a single refund-disbursing mechanism, among others.Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur will preside over the event alongside key secretaries and officials of various departments, the finance ministry said in a release on Sunday.The introduction of GST was a game changer for the Indian economy as it has replaced multi-layered, complex indirect tax structure with a simple, transparent and technology-driven tax regime, it said.The ministry said it will introduce the new return system on a trial basis from July 1 and on mandatory basis from October 1."Sahaj & Sugam returns for small taxpayers are proposed," it said.With regards to single cash ledger, the govt will rationalise the ledger in such a manner that earlier 20 heads are merged into 5 major heads, it added.There is only one cash ledger for tax, interest, penalty, fee and others.A single refund-disbursing mechanism will come into play wherein the government which sanctions refund disburses all four major heads of refunds namely CGST, SGST, IGST and cess, the ministry said."Threshold limit of Rs 40 lakh is offered of suppliers of goods as per the choice of states. Introduction of composition scheme for small service providers up to an annual turnover of Rs 50 lakh with a tax rate of 6 per cent, electronic invoicing system in a phase-wise manner for B2B transactions is proposed to be introduced and GST Appellate Tribunals are being established at various state headquarters and area benches also," it said.The goods and services tax (GST) was implemented through a gala ceremony held in the central hall of Parliament at the midnight of June 30, 2017 and came into effect from July 1, 2017.The government said GST has integrated India into a single common market by breaking barriers to inter-state trade and commerce.By eliminating cascading of taxes and reducing transaction costs, it will enhance ease of doing business and provide an impetus to 'Make in India' campaign.During the course of the past two years, the government brought in various changes in the GST system both with regard to quantum of taxes and inclusion and exclusion of items (goods and services).At the event, a book on 'GST for MSME' will also be released.The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs' officers who have put in hard work in the implementation of GST will be awarded 'GST Commendation Certificates' by Thakur, release said.
The failure of the BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh to fulfil their promises of air connectivity for Agra and upgradation of the local Kheria airport are becoming a major cause of concern for the people of the district.Connecting Agra with the country's other major airports will help boost tourism in not just the city of Taj, but also in neighbouring Mathura, Vrindavan, Aligarh and Firozabad. Before 2014, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders accused previous governments of ignoring Agra's demand for direct flights. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself assured at an election rally in November 2013 that once in power, he would take up the matter on priority.A lot of water has flown down the Yamuna since, without any progress on the demand. To rub salt into Agra's wounds, the international airport has been hijacked by politicians to Jewar in Bulandshahr district.Social activist Sanjay Chaturvedi said that even as dozens of smaller centres were air connected, it was shocking that the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh failed to connect Agra -- the only city with three world heritage monuments -- with major Indian cities under the Udaan scheme despite a formal clearance and announcement. "Smaller cities have regular flights, but not India's tourist destination number one," said Anil Sharma, who is spearheading a movement for an international airport in Agra for the past three years."Clearly, there is a collective lack of interest at the highest level of policy making. The people's representatives have not been able to press for Agra's case convincingly.""The international airport project has already been sabotaged... They are dragging their feet even on the construction of an enclave at the Kheria airport, citing one obstacle after another," said Sharma.The long-delayed Rs 400 crore terminal building at the Kheria airport, now renamed Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya airport, is expected to directly employ 200 people and benefit around 2,000 indirectly.However, sources said work on the terminal was held up due to the wrong categorisation as "industry" by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) ignoring the Taj Trapezium Zone Authority members' assertions that it was an "infrastructure project". The district authorities said that they had no idea as to how soon the mandatory permissions from the Union Ministry of Environment, the CPCB and finally the Supreme Court would come. But industrialists in Agra know who is stalling the process and why. "The Delhi lobby of hotels and travel agents fear loss of business once Agra is air connected with major cities of India. At present, tourists land in Delhi and then proceed to Agra by road or train. This benefits hotels and travel agents in Delhi," said Surendra Sharma, founder of the Agra Hotels and Restaurants Association."Only strong political will can help clear the road blocks," says activist Rajiv Saxena.
NEW DELHI: India has outlined its rebalancing strategy to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), highlighting its offer of soft loans for several development and capacity building projects across continents.India has a robust development cooperation agenda, constituting a significant dimension of its close and multifaceted ties with many partner countries, including in India's neighbourhood, said V Muraleedharan, the minister of state for external affairs, answering a query in the Lok Sabha last week, while expressing strong reservations against the BRI and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor."Extension of Government of India (GoI) Lines of Credit (LoCs) on concessional terms is an important component of this development partnership in diverse areas of socio-economic development such as power, transport, connectivity, agriculture and irrigation, manufacturing industries, water and sanitation, healthcare," the minister said. "As part of the GoI LoC programme, 279 LoCs have been extended to 63 countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, O c e a n i a a n d Commonwealth of Independent States worth nearly $28 billion," Muraleedharan informed the lower house of Parliament. Of this, 254 projects aggregating nearly $4.70 billion have been completed, while 194 projects worth nearly $19 billion are under implementation, he said. These include 94 connectivity projects in five countries in India's immediate neighbourhood that are being taken up with GoI LoCs worth nearly $6.6 billion, he informed the House.Interestingly, there was no mention of any Indo-Japan bilateral project in the Indo-Pacific region or the proposed trilateral cooperation involving India-Japan-USA or any proposed Quadrilateral (India-Japan-USA-Australia) aimed at rebalancing the BRI. Referring to the government's position on China's 'One Belt One Road' (OBOR) or BRI, the minister emphasised this has been clear and consistent. "The inclusion of the so-called 'China-Pakistan Economic Corridor' , which passes through parts of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir under illegal occupation of Pakistan, as a flagship project of 'OBOR/BRI', reflects lack of appreciation of India's concerns on the issue of sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said. The government has conveyed to the Chinese side its concerns.
MUMBAI | BENGALURU: Despite the mushrooming of ecommerce business, malls are still serious business as is evident from the plans and proposals of realty developers. The sector is riding high on the phenomenal rise in consumer spending and renewed interest by institutional investors.India is set to get over 65 million sq ft of new mall spaces by the end of 2022. Of this total new supply, the top 7 cities comprise 72% share and the remaining 28%, or 18.2 million sq ft, is slated to come up in tier-2 and 3 cities, said Anarock Property Consultants report."This new supply is also driven by the increasing interest of institutional investors, including private equity players, who had invested almost $1.9 billion into Indian retail between 2015 and Q1 2019. In fact, over 60% of this investment corpus was infused in 2017 and 2018 alone, making these the best years for the retail sector in recent times," said Anuj Kejriwal, chief executive officer of Anarock Retail.He said notwithstanding the decline in deal activity in the second half of 2018 following the nonbanking finance companies' induced liquidity crisis, the retail segment attracted investments of almost $115 million in just the first quarter of 2019. 70017345 In one of India's biggest transactions to help build a property investment platform, private equity major Warburg Pincus last month entered into a $1-billion alliance with Mumbai-based developer Runwal Group to fund retailled mixed-use projects across the country. This joint venture is planning to develop high-quality shopping malls across tier 1, 2 and 3 cities in India."There is certainly a need for high-quality retail space and that leaves a lot of potential for institutional investments. Both from the retailer and consumer side, there is strong need for retail and social space and that is what has created the opportunity for the platform Runwal and Warburg have formed," said Sanjay Dube, CEO, Virgo Retail Venture, a Warburg-Runwal alliance.Since 2015, Indian real estate has witnessed 25 platforms getting created aggregating to $8.8 billion by global investors such as Warburg Pincus, Goldman Sachs, CPPIB, Allianz, Ascendas, Xander, CDPQ, APG, etc. The main purpose of creation of these platforms was to create a pool that can be invested, if the investment criteria are met, without spending long time before each investment.These deals are mostly sector-focussed and were created with the aim to build longterm partnership with the other partner -- mostly a local developer with good market understanding and established execution track record.Apart from platform-level deals, the retail sector will witness new trends and methods of fund-raising, including Retail Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).Kejriwal reckons that REITs can be a viable tool for mall developers to raise funds, but this fund-raising instrument still needs to mature sufficiently. Also, the retail REIT structure and performance may not be directly comparable with the commercial office sector.Before the launch of official retail REIT in India, issues such as smaller lease tenure, changing business models, etc., needs to be tackled.
NEW DELHI: Starting today, using Paytm will get a little dearer. It will start passing on the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) that banks and card companies charge for digital transactions to consumers to help reduce the burn rate at the Noida company and turn profitable, said two people familiar with the development.The charge amounts to 1% on payments through credit cards, 0.9% for debit cards and up to Rs 12-15 for transactions by net banking and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), one of the sources said. Paytm, backed by SoftBank and the Alibaba Group and a leader in the segment, has been absorbing the charge and hasn't been charging anything extra for payments made through its platform.The new levies will be applicable for all modes of digital payments topping up the wallet, paying utility bills or school fees and buying cinema tickets. "There is a cost associated with every transaction," said one of the persons. "Now (Paytm is) trying to cover that cost by passing them onto the consumers." The person said the additional charges would be effective from Monday.Paytm said it is merely passing on the MDR that banks and card companies charge and denied levying any convenience fees. "In case there is any fee being charged, then it is in fact the MDR being passed on by the merchant to the customer," a spokesperson said. "Paytm does not (itself) charge any convenience fee or MDR from the consumers and has no plans to levy the same in the future."Experts said the decision was economically justified."In 2016, when digital payment was in its infancy, it needed 0% MDR for the uptick of the overall digital payment. But now the market-formation days are long gone, so it is fair for these companies to levy the MDR back onto the consumers because it is an operational cost for them," said Sanchit Gogia, chief analyst at Greyhound Research. "Companies like Paytm would have pressures from investors and would have to prove to them that they can become profitable now. So MDR cannot be funded all the time. You cannot have zero percent MDR situation for five years and that's not how business works."Last year, to promote digital transactions, the government said it will bear MDR charges on transactions up to Rs 2,000 made through debit cards, BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money), UPI or Aadhaar-enabled payment systems.Experts said Paytm's latest decision could have a marginal impact on the overall digital payment business in India that has expanded 10 times since the NDA government assumed charge in 2014."There will be a certain loss of customers, which I am sure that Paytm expects," Gogia of Greyhound said. "But the fact is that ultimately this system cannot be run for the longest time. So, it is short-term loss for the long-term gain."
The Union Budget of 2019-20 is the biggest event to watch out this week. Brokerages say the Budget, to be presented on Friday, is likely to be expansionary given the slowing economy. They expect measures to recapitalise public sector banks and also focus on the rural economy and affordable housing. The interim budget in February had targeted fiscal deficit for the ongoing financial year at 3.4 per cent of GDP but brokerages believe that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman may go for a one-off increase in fiscal deficit, and that such a move is unlikely to impact India's sovereign rating. The Indian stock markets have been relatively muted in the run up to the Budget this time, partly due to the crisis in the non-banking finance space. Since May 23, when the Narendra Modi-led government scripted a decisive victory for the second time in national polls, the Sensex has gained 1.5 per cent. ET takes a look at expectations of brokerages from the upcoming Union Budget:Anand RathiThe brokerage expects the Budget to be expansionary, boosting consumption and investment through tax cuts and additional expenditure. The brokerage expects the finance minister to go for a one-off increase in fiscal deficit to Rs 8 lakh crore or 3.8 per cent of GDP, with the commitment to revert to fiscal consolidation next year. The expected budget-neutral market capitalisation would be positive for PSU banks, it said.Bank of America Merrill LynchThe firm expects finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to try to boost investment by reducing capital costs without major fiscal impact. The interim budget's fiscal deficit target of 3.4 per cent of GDP is likely to be retained, said BofAML, although it prefers 0.2-0.3 per cent of GDP of extra public spend. The bank expects the finance minister to earmark excess RBI capital to recapitalise PSU banks.CentrumBenign inflation trajectory coupled with the slowdown in consumption, exports and private investment establishes a strong footing for the government to defer the fiscal consolidation path for FY20 and announce economic stimulus package for reinvigorating growth impulses, said Centrum. The brokerage expects possibility of a downward revision in the targeted level of tax revenues and does not see much change in the divestment target.69972904 EdelweissThe domestic brokerage said that the budget is likely to focus on the rural economy and affordable housing. Edelweiss does not expect material changes on the tax front. The brokerage said it will be prudent to lift government spending that can offset slowdown in the private sector. Reflation should be prioritised over reforms for now, the brokerage said.Morgan StanleyThe financial services firm said the government is likely to focus on maintaining continuity in policy and spending on schemes allocated as per the interim budget. Morgan Stanley estimates fiscal deficit for FY20 at 3.5 per cent of GDP against interim budget estimate of 3.4 per cent of GDP. The firm expects the government to address capital needs of state-owned banks in the Budget.Phillip CapitalThe brokerage expects the government to maintain policy continuity with focus on agriculture, rural development and infrastructure spending. Phillip Capital said the time is ripe for the government to opt for fiscal expansion as economic growth is weakening. Fiscal deficit of 3.6-3.8 per cent of GDP will provide additional funds of Rs 40,000 crore to Rs 85,000 crore and will not have any adverse impact on Indian sovereign rating, said Phillip Capital. The brokerage does not expect the government to offer meaningful tax rebates (direct as well as indirect).70008792
By Mehul KothariSenior Technical Analyst, Indianivesh SecuritiesNEW DELHI: There could be some consolidation going ahead, but the trend is likely to remain strong till the time 11,600 is not breached by the Nifty, according to technical analysts. Stocks like Tata Motors, Majesco, Canara Bank, HDFC Life, SBI, Bajaj Finserv and Info Edge are likely to move up as per the charts.Where are We? The expiry week remained marginally in favour of bulls since the benchmark indices ended the week with marginal gains. The Nifty spot recovered from the support of 11,600 to close near the 11,800 mark with a weekly gain of (+0.55 per cent). On the other hand, the Bank Nifty surged more than 1.5 per cent during the process.What is in Store? At this juncture, the Nifty has formed an intermediate swing high of 11,911. Also, the daily chart of Bank Nifty depicts a 'Shooting Star' candlestick pattern which is a reversal one and that too exactly at 78.6 per cent Fibonacci retracement level of the previous move. Thus, there could be some consolidation or profit booking going ahead. But the trend is likely to remain strong till the time 11,600 is not breached by the Nifty. On the downside, the index has a support at 11,700-11,600; while the upside hurdle is at 11,920. A move above 11,920 might pull the index towards its life high.What could Investors Do? On the stock front, we are bullish on Tata Motors for the coming weeks. After a relentless correction from Rs 239; the stock found support near the 150 mark which is the 78.6 per cent Fibonacci retracement levels of the previous rise. The stock has formed a bullish 'Hammer' formation at the retracement support. The weekly rising RSI indicates fresh upside going ahead. Thus, traders can accumulate the stock between Rs 162 and Rs 158 with a stop below Rs 150 for the upside target of Rs 170-180. With regards to trend line breakout, stocks like Majesco, Canara Bank and Voltas should be kept on the radar for buy on dips.
New Delhi: India could well have a locally developed solution to the message traceability dispute with social media major WhatsApp. Prof. V Kamakoti of IIT Madras, a member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) which advises the PMO on security matters, said the solution would help WhatsApp to provide the phone number of the sender of a message, without tampering with the encryption which is critical to the Facebook-owned popular chat app.Talking to ET, Kamakoti said WhatsApp can "easily" meet India's demand to trace each message on the messaging platform if it is ready to work with the NSAB. "We are ready to work with WhatsApp in case they need any help in getting this implemented... This message has been conveyed to WhatsApp," he said.The expert on artificial intelligence and cyber space said the solution would not require WhatsApp to read the messages at any stage, thus keeping its encryption in place while at the same time avoiding violating any privacy rights."A request to WhatsApp is that the phone number of the author of a message be made part of the message whenever it is created," he said. "Then the author's phone number 'travels' as part of the encrypted message as and when it is forwarded multiple times from one recipient to the next.This enables the recipients of a message to know the phone number of the author so that they can clarify or verify about the contents of a message from its author.WhatsApp does not need to open or read the messages to enable this feature," he said. The government has been insisting on the traceability of WhatsApp messages, especially after misinformation and rumours floating on the platform had led to a spate of lynchings in 2018. The US company has pushed back, saying it would infringe on the privacy of its users. Besides, it would have to change its entire architecture to embed elements to trace messages. India is the largest market for WhatsApp with 350-400 million people using the messaging application. Further explaining the mechanism, Kamakoti said when the creator of the message first sends it to his contact(s), these contact(s) will know who the author is, even in the current version of WhatsApp.Further, if the author of a message has no objection to these contact( s) forwarding the message to others, then there is no issue with what is proposed. If the author has an objection and yet the receiver forwards it, then it is a breach of privacy between the two parties.Here, the social media platform is not responsible for it. In addition, suppose the author wants that the message should not be forwarded by the recipients, then he/she can be provided an option to choose between "forward-able/not forwardable" at the time of creation of the message.This needs only one bit -- a fraction of a byte -- to be added to the message, which does not allow the receiver to forward it further.
Mumbai: Two officers refused to become Waqf board CEO The MSBW has no full-time CEO since July 2017 and S C Tadvi, the department's joint secretary is holding an additional charge.
Unable to secure visa, forum asks company to refund fee The matter pertains to on Global Education Services from Ahmedabad that had been approached by one Mukesh Chauhan for a permanent resident visa for Canada.
Congress to initiate talks with Prakash Ambedkar for Maharashtra assembly poll tie-up Congress, which was routed in the state in the recently held Lok Sabha election, hopes by bringing Ambedkar on board there will not be division in anti-BJP and most importantly in the secular votes in the coming assembly election.
Creative margins of India: Tapping art and innovation in Gadchiroli In every Shodhyatra we come across numerous instances of technological, institutional and educational inertia which remain to be addressed
Be vigilant about child's digital exposure: Experts Prachi Mihir Shah, founder of The Milestone Preschool brought to the notice of the audience that with the advent of digital age, children have been reduced to mere spectators rather than participants.
DSK SCAM: 'Hands tied' RERA returns homebuyers empty-handed In March, MahaRERA chairperson Gautam Chatterjee had put on hold hearing of DSK group's realty projects.
Mumbai: Group plans to bring back butterflies in their township Members informed that they are planning to involve the nearby school, which could help in significant ways including looking after the plantations and even encourage their children to develop a hobby of watching butterflies
Ahmedabad to remember heroes of harmony Some say that the memorial is for sacrifices made during Mahagujarat Movement, which was exactly a decade later, while others insist that the duo had laid their lives in 1946.
Gujarat Congress begins farmers' rally, says distress, scams rampant Claims to expose corruptions in the agriculture sector and raise them in Monsoon Session
Mumbai: Unused parking lot has space for 900 cars DNA takes a look at various parking slot projects promised by the new breed of real estate players, which seem to have failed
Data analytics: A nemesis of corruption Just like fashion, most corruption trends start because someone gets a creative idea and then it spreads across the sector. So, at any given time a specific modus operandi (MO) can found to be trending, and the flavour of this season is a brilliant MO that must be yielding crores of rupees for various stakeholders, so it has forced me to ponder over the possibility of using of data analytics as a tool to fight corruption.
More big cats add to Maharashtra glee, but poachers lay new traps Lurking Danger: Number of tiger deaths in the state this year has reached eight so far
