* On June 6 1944, wave upon wave of Allied troops poured onto the beaches of Normandy to hails of Nazi fire * Bombers thundered through the sky to rain devastation on the towns and cities of Normandy in the attack * Hundreds of civilians were killed and ancient architecture destroyed by the infernos which lit up the night * And the settlements of northern France were further blown to pieces as battles raged in months of fighting * Seventy-five years on photos from then and now allow a glimpse into the violent liberation of Normandy
Stunning before and after images show how northern France has recovered from the months-long battles which followed D-Day when Allied bombardments and paratroopers forced the Nazis out.
Warships, bombers, rubble, refugees. That was the Normandy landscape of 1944, as Allied forces fought to wrest France from Nazi control.
Today, the region's towns and beaches are startlingly calm, as still-grateful residents prepare to welcome veterans commemorating 75 years since D-Day.
Please pay attention to Sudan tonight. The army is breaking up months of a sit-in outside military complex. Military had been violent in the past and seem intent on doing the same again. They also got a boost from Gulf allies in recent visit. Praying this is not an Egypt repeat.. https://t.co/4X76DSljxO
Marine Corps Cpl. Chris Anderson fires an AT4 rocket launcher during live-fire training at Combined Arms Training Center at Camp Fuji, Japan, May 22, 2019.
President Trump, during a state visit in November 2017, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Artyom Ivanov / Tass)
What started out two years ago as an effort by President Trump to wring better terms from China on the nuts and bolts of foreign trade now threatens to become a far wider and more ominous confrontation.
The conflict continues to be framed as a "trade war" between the world's two biggest economies — as Washington and Beijing pursue an escalating series of tariff hikes and other retaliatory measures.
Even as Trump moved Thursday to open a new, potentially damaging trade war with Mexico, however, the conflict with China has widened beyond the original trade-based issues.
Beneath the surface, a new tone has begun to emerge since trade talks broke down in early May and Trump ratcheted up tariffs on imported goods from China, an action met with retaliatory duties from Beijing. Officials on both sides of the Pacific have begun to portray the U.S.-China relationship in nationalistic and emotion-charged terms that suggest a much deeper conflict.
WNU editor: In my opinion China's policies and behaviour has not changed. What has changed is the U.S. is now doing to China what China has been doing to the U.S. for the past ten to fifteen years. For the Chinese this has been more than a shock. They always expected $400 to $500 billion dollar trade surpluses with the U.S.. Little if any action on intellectual property theft. And certainly no blow-back on their actions in the South China Sea and on their other maritime territorial claims.
Defence minister Wei Fenghe said China would 'fight to the end' on trade issues but was open to talks.
Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe criticised the United States on Sunday for its support for self-ruled Taiwan and for naval operations in the disputed South China Sea, but said conflict or war between the two countries would be a disaster.
Wei told the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia's premier defence summit, that China would "fight to the end" if anyone tried to split China from Taiwan, which Beijing considers a sacred territory to be taken by force if necessary.
"No attempts to split China will succeed. Any interference in the Taiwan question is doomed to failure," said Wei.
SEOUL (Reuters) - Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Sunday that for now it was not necessary to resume major joint military exercises with South Korea that were suspended in the last year to support diplomatic efforts with North Korea.
The United States and South Korea have suspended a number of combined military exercises in the past year after talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
However, since then negotiations between the United States and North Korea have stalled.
"I don't think it is necessary," Shanahan told reporters traveling with him to Seoul when asked about restoring any of the major exercises.
* The North's counterpart to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was sent to a labour camp following the collapse of the Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi in February
A senior North Korean official reportedly purged after talks collapsed between leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump appeared at an arts performance with the country's top brass, official media reported Monday.
Kim Yong-chol, the North's counterpart to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in nuclear talks, was sent to a labour camp following the collapse of the Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi in February, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper had reported Friday.
A factory explosion in the Russian city of Dzerzhinsk has injured 79 people and damaged 180 homes nearby.
City officials say that the factory was used to produce and store high-explosive bombs for the military.
They add that the processing facility at the JSC Kristall Research Institute plant has been completely destroyed by the blast.
A factory official says five people were inside at the time, but they were safely evacuated.
Most of the people who were hurt were cut by flying glass from the explosion, which also caused a shockwave that smashed windows in homes and other factories in the city.
* Muslim worshippers at Al-Aqsa mosque compound were angry over Jewish visits to the sacred site * Police said protesters barricaded themselves in the mosque in the capital but they argue police were brutal * The Muslim organisation which oversees the site said police used rubber bullets as they arrested seven
Palestinian worshippers clashed with Israeli police at a highly sensitive Jerusalem holy site on Sunday as an Israeli holiday coincided with the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Muslim worshippers at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound were angered over Jewish visits to the site holy to both religions, with some even taking to the dome of the mosque to shout Muslim slogans as the clash took place.
According to police, protesters barricaded themselves in the mosque, from where they threw chairs and stones at forces who 'dispersed' them but a Muslim organisations claimed that police chained the mosque doors.
Video footage appears to show a large crowd of people inside the building throwing objects towards the door as smoke bombs are launched into the room.
Economic ties between Russia and Venezuela range from oil and loans to arms sales [File: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters]
WNU Editor: The Wall Street Journal is reporting this story (it is behind a pay-wall) .... In a Blow to Maduro, Russia Withdraws Key Defense Support to Venezuela (Wall Street Journal). Russian state defence contractor Rostec has cut its staff in Venezuela from one thousand to just a few dozen. This is a major blow to Venezuelan President Maduro. It looks like Moscow is abandoning him.
google cloud is down google compute engine is down gmail is down google drive is down nest is down youtube is down snapchat is down uber is down nextDNS is down Pokemon Go is down App Engine is down ... google advertising up
At 3pmET, it appears that Google Cloud (affecting Gmail, YouTube, SnapChat, Instagram, and Facebook among others) mysteriously (and almost unprecedently) went offline.
WNU Editor: This all started around 15:00 EST. In all of my years from working on the web (and I have been involved since the early 1990s), I have never seen anything like this. In my case Google Analytics and Adsense is down. I cannot post pictures on this blog. Youtube is working. Facebook is slow. Something big just happened.
A new video shows one of the most fascinating and terrifying weapons in modern military arsenals: the multiple rocket launcher. The video shows a full barrage of nearly 240 artillery rockets launched by Finnish artillerymen, their five-inch rockets training orange flames at night. A second barrage impacts at the edge of a forest, flower-like explosions throwing lethal shrapnel in all directions.
It's one of the most effective examples of the power of artillery ever recorded.
WNU Editor: Russia has always deployed multiple rocket launchers in war zones, and the above video (even though it is from the Finnish Defense Ministry) reveals why.
* Hollywood presents a lot of misconceptions and downright errors around how firearms work and are used. * But sometimes the movies show things so well that even the pros use them as training demonstrations.
It's no secret that movies get a lot wrong about firearms and the ways they're used in a fight. From every 80's protagonist refusing to shoulder their rifles when they fire, to the seemingly infinite magazine capacity in every hero's gun, filmmakers have long prized what looks cool over what's actually possible in their work, and to be honest, it's hard to blame them.
After all, diving sideways while firing pistols from each hand does look pretty badass, even if it's just about the dumbest thing someone could do in a firefight.
Since 2015 Russia has been using eastern Ukraine and Syria for testing new EW (Electronic Warfare) equipment. New gear is tested "under combat conditions" to discover weaknesses and promote export sales as "combat proven". Equipment still in development is also tested. A recent example of that is the truck mounted Tirada-2 orbital jamming system that recently showed up in eastern Ukraine. Tirada-2 was seeking to hack the control signals and video feeds from American RQ-4B Global Hawk UAVs that regularly operate over eastern Ukraine. This would provide a look at what these UAVs see when they monitor Russian activity. Some RQ-4Bs are equipped with "space satellite quality" electronic sensors and the Russians are hoping to get an opportunity to monitor and perhaps hack those systems. Ukrainian and Western intelligence was aware of the existence of Tirada-2 if only because a less capable export model was being offered for sale. But now the more capable non-export Tirada-2 appears to have shown up in Eastern Ukraine (Donbas) but, as one would expect, no one is providing any details of who has been able to do what to whom.
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is maneuvered by tugboats in the James River during a turn ship evolution on March 17, 2019 Gerald R. Ford is currently undergoing its post-shakedown availability at Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding. US Navy photo.
* The Advanced Weapons Elevators on the USS Gerald R. Ford supercarrier are not going to be ready by the time the ship wraps up maintenance and is returned to the Navy this fall, according to the Navy acquisition chief. * The elevators are critical pieces of technology that directly affect the aircraft sortie rate and overall lethality of the carrier. * Not only is this another developmental setback amid rising costs on a $13 billion aircraft carrier already over budget, but the Navy secretary publicly bet his job on these elevators working.
The weapons elevators on the USS Gerald R. Ford supercarrier aren't expected to be fully operational anytime soon, not even when the ship leaves the shipyard and returns to the fleet later this year.
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition James Geurts said Wednesday that only some of the 11 Advanced Weapons Elevators (AWEs) on the Ford will be operational when the ship completes its post-shakedown availability (PSA) maintenance prior to returning to the fleet, USNI News reported. Maintenance began last summer after the Ford returned to port early due to a number of different problems.
Russia is designing an anti-ship missile for its Su-57 stealth fighter.
But is hunting ships the best mission for such an advanced aircraft?
Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko made the announcement while visiting the Detal Design Bureau, which is developing a new anti-ship missile, according to Russian news agency TASS.
"Today the enterprise is working on developing an active homing warhead for the promising anti-ship missile that is planned to be carried by the Su-57 fighter as well," Krivoruchko said.
"A working meeting was held on the premises of the Detal Design Bureau to discuss the issue of signing a contract with Tactical Missiles Corporation on acquiring the entire range of air-launched weapons for the Su-57 fighter jets," TASS said.
WNU Editor: I agree with Michael Peck's assessment. It makes no sense. But being one who has followed Russia's defense procurement process for a long time, this is more proof to me that their system is just as messed up as everyone else's.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Harvard graduates Thursday to "tear down walls of ignorance and narrow-mindedness" in a speech that was an apparent rebuke of President Donald Trump's policies and worldview.
In her commencement address at the university, Merkel warned against the perils of isolationism and nationalism, pushed for action on climate change and said to never "describe lies as truth and truth as lies."
The Chancellor spoke in German and used a translator, but notably switched to English to close out her speech and said, "Tear down walls of ignorance and narrow-mindedness, for nothing has to stay as it is."
Merkel, who grew up in Soviet-controlled East Germany, said the tearing down of the Berlin Wall almost 30 years ago had allowed her to start her political career.
Regular readers of this column will not have been surprised by the outbreak of the Second Cold War. Ever since President Trump imposed the first tariffs on Chinese imports last year, I have argued that the trade war between the United States and China would last longer than most people expected and that it would escalate into other forms of warfare.
The tech war — exemplified by last week's measures by the United States against the Chinese telecom company Huawei — is now in full swing. If you still think peace will break out when Trump meets Xi Jinping at the G20 meeting in Osaka next month, you're in for a disappointment.
Historical analogies are powerful. As the former US defense secretary Ash Carter said at a recent conference at Harvard, in the corridors of power "real people talk history, not economics, political science or IR [international relations]." The first question they ask is: What is this like? And yes, this sudden escalation of Sino-American antagonism is a lot like the early phase of the Cold War.
* An armed F-16 crashed into a warehouse in California in mid-May. * Footage recorded by a dashcam in a passing car caught the moment the pilot ejected from the aircraft over a freeway.
Last Thursday afternoon, commuters driving down the 215 Freeway adjacent to Riverside County, California's March Air Reserve Base witnessed an incredible sight.
A pilot was forced to eject from his F-16 Fighting Falcon carrying live ordnance over the highway, deploying his chute as the fighter careened into the roof of a nearby warehouse.
The single-engine fighter was headed back to March Air Reserve Base after completing a routine training mission in the nearby Moreno Valley when the pilot reported a hydraulics failure in the aircraft.
WNU Editor: this is something that you do not see everyday. You can see the pilot ejecting in the far left corner of the video. The image is small, but you can see him ejecting.
UPDATE: Algeria's constitutional council said Sunday it was impossible to hold elections to choose a successor to ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika early next month as planned, after the only two candidates were rejected.
The U.A.E.'s ruler became the most powerful in the Arab world by following America's lead. Now he has his own agenda and President Trump's ear. https://t.co/RHLqMvfk8w
An engineer stands under a base station antenna of 5G in Huawei's SG178 multi-probe spherical near-field testing system at its Songshan Lake Manufacturing Center in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China May 30, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee
WNU Editor: The above picture came from this photo-gallery .... Inside Huawei (Reuters).
ANGELA MERKEL's ruling coalition has received another shattering blow that raises serious doubts about the durability of the current German government.
MOSCOW has hit out at Washington's decision to ban Russian-made rockets over 'unacceptable cybersecurity risks' - the latest move to force the country out of the space launch services market.
IVANKA TRUMP arrived in the UK this past weekend ahead of her father President Donald Trump's three-day state visit. But why did she once have a meltdown with her father?
DONALD TRUMP has arrived for his visit to the UK today, accompanied by his whole family and a vast number of personal aides. According to a recent report, Donald Trump's daughter chose the President over his ex-wife after their divorce.
PRESIDENT Trump's daughter Ivanka arrived in London over the weekend and shared a photograph of her and a friend at the iconic Victoria and Albert museum.
EGYPT historians uncovered a "unique find" inside the tomb of the ancient Pharaoh Unas which helps explain more about this advanced civilisation, a documentary revealed.
(KHARTOUM, Sudan) — Sudanese security forces have moved against a protest sit-in camp in the capital Monday, besieging the site and setting fire to tents, witnesses and protest leaders said. Machine gun fire and explosions were heard and smoke rose from the area.
Protest organizers said at least five people were killed.
The military’s move came after a weeks-long standoff with protesters seeking a speedy transition to civilian rule following the April ouster of long-time strongman Omar al-Bashir.
Dura Gambo, an activist, said large numbers of troops had besieged the sit-in area outside the military’s headquarters in Khartoum on Monday and arrested protesters trying to leave.
“They have used the heavy rain yesterday and moved in the early morning to disperse people,” she said.
Amal al-Zein, another activist, said security forces set fire to the tents in sit-in area. “They are surrounding the sit-in from all directions,” she said.
The Sudan Doctors’ Committee said at least five people were killed early Monday and an unspecified but high number had been wounded. The group said medical personnel and injured people were trapped in clinics in the area, and demanded that they be allowed to leave.
Earlier, a statement by protest leaders said the military is trying to disperse the sit-in, and urged supporters to come to the area.
“The protesters holding a sit-in in front of the army general command are facing a massacre in a treacherous attempt to break up our sit-in,” said the Sudanese Professionals Association, which has been spearheading the protests against al-Bashir and the military rulers since late last year.
The SPA called Monday for the Sudanese people to take part in “total civil disobedience.” The Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, which is representing the protesters in transition negotiations with the ruling generals, called for toppling the military council and urged people to take to the streets in protest.
An Associated Press journalist saw buses and soldiers on foot blocking roads leading to the protest site. Civilians were not allowed to walk in the streets, including women and children.
Videos circulating online appeared to show protesters standing at low brick barricades in the street, then being driven back by walls of blue-clad security forces carrying sticks.
Other videos showed protesters running through streets lined with sit-in tents, heads down, as the sound of gunfire filled the air.
Tens of thousands of protesters have been camped since April 6 outside the military’s headquarters, the epicenter of Sudan’s uprising that led to the military overthrow of al-Bashir.
Protesters vowed to remain in the streets after Bashir’s ouster, saying an end to his 30-year rule did not go far enough.
Protest leaders and military officials have been negotiating over the makeup of a transitional government, as protesters call for “limited military representation” in a sovereign council that would lead the country as it transitions to civilian rule over three years.
Both sides are split over the makeup and leadership of the council, with the ruling generals refusing to relinquish power.
(MEXICO CITY) — Mexican officials have copied a page from President Donald Trump’s playbook in recent days, taking to Twitter to communicate that they are working flat-out to de-escalate tensions over immigration and avoid punitive tariffs on all Mexican exports to the U.S.
Announcements of meetings in Washington, selfies and carefully crafted messages of optimism for cool-headed discussions are some of the tactics on display in social media to respond to an economic and diplomatic emergency that few anticipated. Trump’s threat on Thursday to impose tariffs to pressure Mexico to do more to curb the flow of migrants came the same day that Mexico declared it would begin the process of ratifying the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade.
Many are questioning the legality of mixing immigration policy goals with trade retaliation, and U.S. business groups are already considering legal action against the proposed tariff, arguing that the countries both produce for each other and together.
“Almost everyone was caught flat-footed,” said Antonio Ortiz-Mena, an international trade consultant based in Washington with the Albright Stonebridge Group who represented Mexico as part of the team that negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement in the early 1990s.
Ortiz-Mena said he spent much of the weekend on phone calls and crafting strategies to advise clients in the U.S.-Mexico supply chain on how to navigate the situation. His advice to Mexican officials would be to stay calm and show good faith by ratifying the USMCA trade deal.
“We’re neighbors. We’re not going anywhere,” Ortiz-Mena said.
Mexico overtook Canada to become the top trade partner for the U.S. in April.
And Mexico’s message has been consistently friendly. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Mexico won’t panic, signing off on a Thursday letter to Trump as “your friend” and repeating that his country doesn’t want this confrontation, much less a trade war.
There has also been some expert trolling. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard posted a picture of himself at a Mexican airport Friday waiting to depart for Washington via Houston, with a Huawei-branded cellphone charging station behind him. The subtle implication: If the U.S. pushes Mexico away, China, a geopolitical and economic adversary, could move in to fill that space.
Mexican Economy Minister Graciela Marquez said she will meet with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in Washington on Monday. Ebrard said a delegation he is leading will hold talks Wednesday with one headed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Ebrard said Mexican Agriculture Minister Victor Manuel Villalobos also is to meet with his U.S. counterpart, Sonny Perdue, as tariffs would “severely” affect the U.S. agricultural sector. The objective is for the U.S. to avoid “shooting itself in the foot,” Ebrard said.
Mexico is the top export market for U.S. corn and pork, and Mexico supplies one out of three fresh fruits and vegetables consumed in the United States. Tariffs on Mexican agricultural exports are seen raising the cost of avocados, tomatoes and berries for U.S. consumers.
Over the weekend, Mexico’s economy minister joined what Mexican Twitter users have dubbed the “Ebrard Selfie Challenge,” posting pictures of herself smiling next to the U.S. commerce secretary at the inauguration of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.
The Mexican strategy of killing with kindness has been met with skepticism and increasingly harsh words from Trump.
“Mexico is sending a big delegation to talk about the Border,” Trump tweeted Sunday. “Problem is, they’ve been ‘talking’ for 25 years. We want action, not talk.”
That followed an earlier tweet in which Trump labelled Mexico an “abuser” that takes but never gives to the U.S. He threatened to lure U.S. companies and jobs back via tariffs unless Mexico stops what he called an “invasion” of drug dealers, cartels, human traffickers, people smugglers and immigrants.
The addition of drugs to the complaint adds another layer of complication to negotiations.
“It’s asking the impossible,” said Maureen Meyer, director for Mexico and migrant rights at the Washington Office on Latin America, a group that researches and advocates for human rights. “It certainly overlooks how much Mexico is trying to cooperate with the U.S.”
Mexican authorities have raided migrant caravans traveling through the country’s southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca this year. They have deported thousands of migrants and frustrated thousands more who wait endlessly for permits that would allow them to travel legally through Mexico.
Meyer expects U.S. officials will again push this week for Mexico to sign onto a “Safe Third Country” agreement, which would designate Mexico as an adequate waiting spot for migrants wishing to claim asylum in the U.S. She said Mexico should stand firm and resist because it lacks the financial and human resources to process thousands of refugee cases, even if it were willing to do so.
A complete militarization of Mexican borders is also a very tall order. Just as the Mexican border with the U.S. has proven porous, Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala features dense jungle and a river that makes it difficult to patrol.
Over the weekend, The Associated Press witnessed migrants arrive in small batches by raft at Tapachula, a border town in Chiapas. Federal helicopters, boats and police were not patrolling the Suchiate River as they have in the past to halt caravans.
But the AP also has seen a migrant woman and two children pulled from a bus in recent days to be transported to a detention center. Residents of Tapachula are routinely asked to show ID while riding public transportation as officials search for migrants without permission to be in Mexico. There were few migrants in the streets or camping in the public parks of Tapachula.
Those passing through Mexico without transit visas have opted to maintain a low-profile over the past weeks as Mexico seeks to detain and deport more migrants — and to draw attention to those efforts.
The National Migration Institute tweeted a picture Saturday of a plane transporting 64 Cubans back to their country from the Gulf state of Veracruz.
Trump says he will impose a 5% tariff on Mexican goods beginning June 10 as a way to force the government of Mexico to keep mostly Central American migrants from crossing into the U.S. He says that until he is satisfied with Mexico’s results, the import tax will be increased five percentage points every month through October, topping out at a total tariff of 25%.
Yet there are no concrete benchmarks for Mexico to prove that it is stemming immigration flows.
Mick Mulvaney, acting White House chief of staff, said on “Fox News Sunday” that Trump is “deadly serious” about imposing tariffs on imports, adding that “there’s no specific target, there’s no specific percentage” that Mexico needs to hit.
“They have to get dramatically better and they have to get better quickly,” Mulvaney said.
López Obrador said Mexican officials will try to better communicate their immigration efforts in Washington this week. He issued a memo to “the people” of the U.S. on Sunday saying he wishes to remain Trump’s friend and professing that Mexicans are their friends, too.
He closed the letter by saying: “Let nothing and nobody separate our beautiful and sacred friendship.”
(LONDON) — President Donald Trump arrived in Britain on Monday in a trip that the White House is billing as a chance to honor shared sacrifice and service between the United States and its longtime ally across the Atlantic.
The agenda for Trump’s weeklong journey is largely ceremonial: a state visit and an audience with Queen Elizabeth II in London, D-Day commemoration ceremonies on both sides of the English Channel and his first presidential visit to Ireland, which will include a stay at his coastal golf club.
But the U.S. president will arrive at a precarious moment, as he faces a fresh round of impeachment fervor back home and uncertainty on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. British Prime Minister Theresa May will step down days after Trump visits and French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to use the 75th anniversary of the World War II battle that turned the tide on the Western Front to call for strengthening the multinational ties the U.S. president has frayed.
“My greatest hope is this: the president and all the leaders stay focused on the extraordinary heroism of that of D-Day and focusing on what brought allies to that position,” said Heather Conley, senior vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Dark clouds are forming once again in Europe, and rather than encourage those forces, we need to find much better tools to defeat them.”
Trump and his family are facing a two-day whirlwind of pomp, circumstance and protests, including meetings with the royal family and an extravagant state dinner at Buckingham Palace. Demonstrators are expected, including the possible return of an inflatable balloon depicting the president as a baby.
A year ago, Trump was an ungracious guest, blasting May in an interview just hours before Air Force One touched down in England. He has done it again, this time sparing May but praising her rival, prime ministerial hopeful Boris Johnson, just before she steps down as Conservative leader Friday for failing to secure a Brexit deal.
“I think Boris would do a very good job. I think he would be excellent,” Trump told The Sun. “I like him. I have always liked him. I don’t know that he is going to be chosen, but I think he is a very good guy, a very talented person.”
It was not clear if the Trump endorsement would hurt or help Johnson’s chances of becoming Britain’s next leader.
Before leaving the White House Sunday evening, Trump waded in again to his hosts’ domestic affairs. He told the Sunday Times that Britain should “walk away” from Brexit talks and refuse to pay a 39 billion pound ($49 billion) divorce bill if it doesn’t get better terms from the European Union. He said he might meet with another pro-Brexit politician, Nigel Farage, during his visit, and claimed Farage should be given a role in the Brexit negotiations.
Trump also fired back at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who called the U.S. leader a “growing global threat” and said he should not get the red-carpet treatment in Britain. Trump said he has no interest in meeting Khan and that “I don’t think much of him.” Trump added that “he’s the twin” of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, one of the Democratic candidates entering the 2020 U.S. presidential race.
Khan supporters have accused Trump of being racist against London’s first Muslim mayor.
At least some of Trump’s fancy welcome should have awkward moments. The formal tea hosted by Charles brings together a future king who has warned repeatedly about the perils of climate change with a president who is actively dismantling U.S. policies designed to slow global warming.
In the interview with The Sun, Trump weighed in on the American-born Duchess of Sussex. The former Meghan Markle, who gave birth to a son in May and will not attend the week’s events, was critical of Trump in the past, prompting the president to tell the tabloid, “I didn’t know that she was nasty.” He said later in the interview that he thought Markle would be “very good” as a royal.
Trump will make his first presidential visit to Ireland on Wednesday. But what should have been a routine visit with the prime minister grew complicated due to Trump’s unprecedented blending of government duties and his own business promotion. Trump will spend two nights at his golf club in Doonbeg, which sits above the Atlantic. After Dublin balked at holding a meeting there, a deal was struck for Trump to meet Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar at Shannon Airport.
The centerpiece of the president’s visit will be two days to mark the 75th anniversary of the June 6, 1944, D-Day anniversary, likely the last significant commemoration most veterans of the battle will see. The anniversary events will begin in Portsmouth, England, where the invasion was launched, and then move to Normandy, France, where Allied forces began to recapture Western Europe from the Nazis.
The day is normally a heartfelt tribute to unity and sacrifice, outweighing any national or political skirmish. But some on both sides of the Atlantic are nervous about Trump, who has shown a willingness to inject partisanship into such moments. Trump also has been embroiled in simmering disputes over trade and military spending with fellow Western democracies.
On his most recent European visit, last November in France, Trump was heavily criticized for skipping a ceremony at an American military cemetery to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I when rain grounded his helicopter. European leaders, meanwhile, stood in the rain to honor the dead.
___
Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
ON OMAHA BEACH, France (AP) — All at once, Charles Shay tried to stanch the bleeding from a ripped-open stomach, dull the pain with morphine and soothe the mind of a dying fellow American army medic. It was a tall order for a 19-year-old who had just set foot on the European mainland for the first time.
But nothing could have prepared him for what happened on June 6, 1944, on five cold, forbidding beaches in northern France. It was D-Day, one of the most significant 24-hour periods of the 20th century, the horrifying tipping point in World War II that defined the future of Europe.
That morning, Shay could not yet fathom what the event would ultimately mean. He was more concerned with the bleeding soldiers, body parts and corpses strewn around him, and the machine-gun fire and shells that filled the air.
“You have to realize my vision of the beach was very small. I could only experience what I could see,” he told The Associated Press, speaking from the now-glimmering Omaha Beach, where he landed 75 years ago.
International leaders will gather again this week to honor the dwindling number of D-Day veterans. U.S. President Donald Trump is set to join a commemoration Wednesday on the southern English coast in Portsmouth before traveling to Normandy and the U.S. cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, which stands on a bluff overlooking the English Channel where some 160,000 made the perilous D-Day crossing.
There, Shay plans to be among the crowd Thursday to welcome Trump as he pays homage to 9,388 dead Americans, most of whom lost their lives on D-Day or in the aftermath of the Normandy offensive.
After World War II, Shay continued to witness history — fighting the Chinese during the Korean War, participating in U.S. atomic tests in the Marshall Islands and later working at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. With all the wisdom gathered in his 94 years, he knows another war can never be discounted.
“Some men cannot get enough of power,” Shay said. “And it still continues today.”
These days, crimson wild roses bloom where blood seeped into the Normandy dunes, and American flags whip in the westerly winds, many flown by locals still grateful to the U.S. soldiers who liberated the first French soil from four years of Nazi occupation.
Omaha and adjacent Utah Beach were America’s to take, but similar acts of sacrifice and heroism happened on three other beachheads to the east where Britain and Canadian troops sought to break Hitler’s stranglehold on the continent. In all, the invasion covered 80 kilometers (50 miles) of French shoreline.
Shay survived, but he did not talk about the experience for well over half a century.
“So many dead. So many young men, young boys, killed on the spot,” he said. “It was difficult to see and absorb.”
Virginia Mayo—AP In this May 1, 2019, photo, World War II and D-Day veteran Charles Norman Shay, from Indian Island, Maine, poses on a dune at Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France.
‘Didn’t know what I was getting into’
When Shay, a Penobscot native American from Indian Island, Maine, was born in 1924, the world was only starting to recover from World War I, which had been a coming-of-age moment for the United States. U.S. intervention proved decisive in beating Germany and heralded the century ahead.
Shay was barely 5 when the Great Depression hit. As a child, nicknamed Little Muskrat, he and his family performed in ceremonial native garb and sold traditional goods.
“My aunt employed me as a young Indian dancer,” he said. Times were tough.
Across the ocean, Germany also faced economic misery that, together with lingering bitterness over its defeat in the war, paved the way for Adolf Hitler’s rise.
When containment failed, war in Europe erupted again in 1939, and Hitler’s Nazis swarmed over much of the continent. They took Paris and were quickly at the Normandy coastline. Britain, across the English Channel, remained out of reach.
The United States, which had slumbered into isolationism after its victory in 1918, entered World War II after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Germany declared war on the U.S. in support of its ally.
The rumble of war was quickly closing on Shay. He was trained to be a machinist but could not get a job because he was expected to be drafted into the Army.
So before he knew what life was really about, Shay found himself in a hammock in the hold of the RMS Queen Elizabeth. He was sailing from New York to England, his final destination unknown.
“I never had a sense of fear because I didn’t know what I was getting in to,” Shay said.
To ease pressure on his homeland, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had increasingly leaned on the United States and Britain to open a second front on Germany. In November 1943, he was promised as much for the upcoming spring. Soon, Shay found himself training for the biggest amphibious operation in history.
The Germans knew an invasion was coming but had no idea when or where, and the most likely options were 400 kilometers (250 miles) apart. Hitler prepared an Atlantic Wall of defenses.
England and Normandy’s notoriously fickle weather thwarted possible attacks as April passed into May and June. Then, finally, it was time for Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to distribute the orders that he had honed for months.
“The eyes of the world are upon you,” he told his men. “You will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny.” The death toll was sure to be enormous.
On the two American beachheads, the United States suffered 2,501 killed in action on June 6, 1944. In all, an estimated 4,414 men died on that single day, according to the latest figures.
“However, it was absolutely necessary,” said Scott Desjardins, the superintendent of the American cemetery off Omaha Beach.
Virginia Mayo—AP In this May 2, 2019, photo, the sun shines through storm clouds on Omaha Beach in St. Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France.
‘Not too worried,’ until the ramps went down
Few soldiers in the first wave fully realized the risks.
That night before D-Day, the men of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, aka the Big Red One, had more immediate problems — sea sickness, finger-numbing cold and a dangerous descent into landing crafts using rope nets slung over the side of transports that were rolling in heavy seas.
“If you landed in the water between the boat and the troop transport ship, you were dead,” Shay remembered.
The roar of planes dropping paratroopers and the boom of bombs trying to blunt the German defenses told them the fateful hour was near.
Shay can still recount that day as if it just happened.
It started at dawn when a Navy man shouted, “I am dropping the ramp.” But they were nowhere near close enough to the beach.
“I wasn’t too worried about it — until the ramps went down,” Shay recalled.
He landed in water up to his chest. Many soldiers who were overloaded with equipment “sank immediately and a lot of men drowned,” he said.
Those who stayed afloat had to face withering German gunfire. Many of the men standing in front “were hit immediately and killed on the spot,” he said.
The Germans had built a barricade of metal tripods to stave off the landings. Shay moved from one tripod to another in the water. Once on dry land, he sought cover behind the “high portions” of the beach and started treating the wounded.
“While I was doing that, I happened to look back out to the water, to the ocean,” he said. There, he saw many wounded men who were lying on the beach as the tide began rising. Without help, they would drown.
“So I dropped what I was doing, and I returned to the water,” Shay said. Germans were still shooting at any American who moved under their protected Widerstandsnest 62, a bunker that still stands above Omaha Beach.
With bullets hitting the sand, he started pulling men — he doesn’t know how many — out of the water. Many of the soldiers were much bigger and heavier than he was.
“In such a situation, the adrenaline starts to flow,” Shay said. “It gives you strength that you did not know that you had.” He received the Silver Star for his bravery.
“I have always said that my mother’s prayers protected me,” he said, the medal sparkling in the afternoon sun.
‘Surrounded by dead people’
When the shooting on the beach slowed, he found fellow F Company medic Edward Morozewicz, who had “an open stomach.” Shay administered morphine and applied bandages. It was to no avail.
“I stayed with him until he died. I tried to converse with him a little bit. I tried to comfort him,” he said.
He left the bloodied beach late that afternoon, completely separated from his company, which had lost all officers and many non-commissioned officers.
Wandering around in a daze of fatigue, “I fell down in a field someplace and I went to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I saw that I was surrounded by dead people — American and German.”
From that moment on, the war moved inexorably in the Allies’ favor. D-Day was also the starting gun in a race with the Soviets to control as much territory as possible by the time Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945.
The competition between the Allies and the Soviets effectively set the stage for the Cold War lines that defined Europe for the next five decades and possibly right up to this day.
“This was democracy’s beachhead,” former President Barack Obama said in 2014. “And our victory in that war decided not just a century, but shaped the security and well-being of all posterity.”
Such words would have been lost on Shay as he advanced into Germany, living from day to day. He was briefly taken prisoner after crossing the Rhine, but was soon liberated by U.S. troops and heading home.
All these decades later, he is back at the same shores, walking across the immaculate lawns covered with white gravestones and pondering the sacrifice.
“Oh, yes. Definitely it was worth it,” he said. “It was a rogue regime that was trying to take over the world, and the people had to be stopped.”
___
Associated Press photographer Virginia Mayo and video journalist Mark Carlson contributed to this report.
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, rebuked the United Kingdom’s efforts to welcome President Donald Trump for his three-day state visit to the European nation that begins Monday.
In an 841-word opinion piece published by The Guardian on Saturday, Khan condemns Trump for starting an immigration policy that separated children from parents, using racism and xenophobia as election tactics and introducing a travel ban on predominantly-Muslim countries.
“No, these are not the actions of European dictators of the 1930s and 40s. Nor the military juntas of the 1970s and 80s. I’m not talking about Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong-un. These are the actions of the leader of our closest ally, the President of the United States of America,” Khan writes.
Khan, the first Muslim to be elected London’s mayor, and a member of Britain’s Labour Party, warns readers of an expanding allegiance to far-right politics, and classifies Trump as “one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat.”
Khan and the President have a contentious history. When terrorists killed eight people and badly injured 48 more during an attack on the London Bridge in 2017, Trump criticized the mayor in a tweet.
“At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!'” Trump wrote. Though Khan’s fuller remarks were that Londoners should not be alarmed by an increased police presence in the days after the attack.
A spokesperson for the mayor called Trump’s tweet “ill-informed” at the time.
Khan’s op-ed comes right after Trump gave a preliminary endorsement to Boris Johnson, saying the Conservative party member “would be excellent” and would do a “very good job” running the country after current Prime Minister and fellow Conservative party member Theresa May steps down for failing to to deliver the Brexit she had promised.
In his op-ed, the 48-year-old mayor writes that politicians on the far-right are “constructing lies to stoke up fear and to attack the fundamental pillars of a healthy democracy — equality under the law, the freedom of the press and an independent justice system.
“That’s why it’s so un-British to be rolling out the red carpet this week for a formal state visit for a President whose divisive behaviour flies in the face of the ideals America was founded upon.”
In light of these things, Khan argues, the Prime Minister should publicly decry Trump.
“Theresa May should issue a powerful rejection – not of the U.S. as a country or the office of the presidency, but of Trump and the far-right agenda he embodies. She should say that the citizens of the U.K. and the U.S. agree on many things, but that Trump’s views are incompatible with British values,” he says.
Trump is visiting the U.K with his wife, Melania Trump, and senior advisors Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. His adult children Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. will also reportedly in attendance.
When U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump travel through central London to Buckingham Palace on Monday, they will be greeted by more than one hundred thousand protestors, activists say.
Trump arrives in London on Monday for his first official state visit to the U.K. During the three-day visit the President is set to dine with Queen Elizabeth, attend discussions with British Prime Minister Theresa May and commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, when 150,000 allied troops pushed German forces from France.
Wherever Trump goes over the next three days, he’ll almost certainly be met with heated protests. Anti-Trump demonstrations are set to take place in London and across the U.K. during the visit. Kate Hudson, Secretary General of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), tells TIME she expects hundreds of thousands to gather from all around the country. “There’s very strong opposition to Trump in the U.K.,” she says.
Demonstrations will begin on Monday afternoon outside Buckingham Palace, with a protest called “Spoil Trump’s Banquet”, organized by a group named ‘Together Against Trump.’ Lindsey German, one of the protest’s organizers and a founder of the UK’s Stop The War Coalition calls it a “special unwelcome.”
On Tuesday, the largest anti-Trump protests are planned from 11am as Trump lunches with May at her 10 Downing Street residence. In response the Metropolitan Police are launching what they have called a “multi-faceted security operation” during Trump’s visit, according to apress release, issued Saturday June 1.
Police are blocking off part of the surrounding area on Tuesday, and several road closures and diversions will be in place. German says, “we’ll get as close to Downing Street as possible so that we effectively surround Trump and he won’t be able to ignore us.”
Once again activists plan to inflate a 20 ft tall balloon depicting Trump as an orange baby wearing a diaper, made possible by crowdfunding more than $37,000. Last year, Leo Murray, the creator of the balloon,told TIME “This is not a protest against America or Americans,” but a “protest against what Donald Trump is turning America into.”
Inflatable Trump flew over heads duringmass protestslast year on July 13 when the President visited the U.K. Even though Trump avoided London for most of his visit, it didn’t stop 250,000 people flooding the city center, and a total of about 400,000 protesters across the U.K. “It showed the strength of feeling. And that hasn’t diminished,” says Hudson.
Activists will also gather in Portsmouth on Wednesday when Trump, May and the Queen are to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Local authorities have erected a “ring of steel” to shield world leaders from the public.
Mohammed Ateek, a protest organizer from Stand Up To Trump and Syrian refugee activist, says he’s standing against Trump’s “harmful and divisive” policies. “It’s very important that people like me – immigrants, refugees – make our voices heard,” he says. “His policies affect the whole world.” Ateek believes climate issues will be at the heart of this year’s anti-Trump protests now that “so many more people are aware of it.” The President has repeatedly voiced skepticism about global warming, even when his own cabinet presented a report in 2018 warning of its devastating effects.
There’s now a greater “sense of urgency” to show opposition to Trump, says Hudson from CND. She’s opposed to Trump withdrawing from theIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty – a major treaty with Russia to eliminate intermediate and shorter range missiles. “We want him to stay in the deal to prevent nuclear arms proliferation,” says German, who also criticizes Trump’s pressure on NATO members to increase spending.
Trump’s complaints about NATO date back his 2016 presidential campaign. Hehas since said theU.S. would not protect other members unless they increased their agreed upon 2% gross domestic product (GDP) spending on defense. “This is a violation of our national sovereignty. Only our government should decide how much it spends,” says Hudson.
A U.K. official said Trump’s NATO criticisms have been a “good thing.” The U.K. is one of the few countries in the NATO alliance which meets the 2% GDP defense spending target. “The reality is, the President’s pressure on this point has got results,” he said. “We agree others should be spending more […] but we think everyone should be at 2% now.”
But not everyone is marching to the same angry beat. Some Londoners are intent on giving Trump a warmer welcome. Republicans Overseas U.K., a political organization created in 2013 for U.S. citizens living abroad, is hosting a ticketed event in a central London restaurant on Tuesday evening to celebrate “the special Anglo-American relationship, the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, and the President’s visit of course,” says Sarah Elliott, U.K. Chair of Republicans Overseas.
For Elliott, the visit is an important sign of increasing cooperation between the U.S. and “it’s most important” ally. “We hope it’ll lay the groundwork for more trade between the countries,” she says. “With Brexit happening soon, the U.K, needs to focus on building stronger ties outside Europe.” The U.K. is currently the 7th largest goods trading partner with some $127 billion (two way) in total trade during 2018. U.S. exports to the U.K. were $66 billion last year, up by approximately 18% from 2017.
For the second year running, awest London pub will celebrate the arrival of the U.S. President by rebranding itself the “Trump Arms”. The weekend before Trump’s 2018 visit the Jameson pub was decorated in U.S. flags and brought together Trump supporters, wearing red caps reading “Make America Great Again”.
“Someone has to show Americans that we’re their friends,” says pub owner Damien Smyth, 54. “A lot of young people tell me they’re afraid to tell their friends they support Trump because they don’t want to be lambasted. It’s awful.”
May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump after his inauguration. He’ll be the last foreign leader to visit her before she resigns as head of the Conservative Party on June 7, drawing her three-year tenure to a close. May has said it’s a chance for the U.S. and U.K. “to strengthen” its already “close relationship.” But other U.K. politicians, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, areboycotting the banquet.
In interviews ahead of the visit, Trump did not hold back from commentating on Britain’s current political situation. Conservative Party leadership contender Boris Johnson would be an “excellent” leader, he told the Sun.
Whoever it is, the U.K. official says, a strong relationship with Trump will be a “priority.”
BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed Sunday to continue with her government after the leader of the center-left Social Democrats, a junior partner in the coalition, resigned following a series of disappointing election results.
In a surprise announcement hours earlier, Andrea Nahles had announced she planned to quit, saying she wanted “clarity” after questions were raised about her ability to lead the Social Democrats. The party finished third in last month’s European Parliament election, receiving 15.8% of the vote behind Merkel’s center-right Union bloc with 28.9% and the Greens with 20.5%.
“The necessary support for me to carry out my duties isn’t there anymore,” Nahles said in a statement. The 48-year-old said she would be stepping down from her post as chairwoman of the Social Democrats and leader of its parliamentary faction in the coming days to ensure that her successors are found “in an orderly fashion.”
Merkel voiced respect for Nahles’ decision, calling her a “fine character” who she had worked with closely over the years.
“Of course I also respect the decisions that the Social Democratic Party now needs to take,” she told reporters in Berlin.
“We will continue the work of government, with all seriousness and especially with a great sense of responsibility,” Merkel added, noting the numerous challenges that need to be tackled in Germany, Europe and beyond.
The leader of Merkel’s party also sought to downplay the possibility that the “grand coalition” of Germany’s two biggest parties would collapse.
“I’m working on the assumption that the Social Democrats will now swiftly make the necessary personnel decisions and the grand coalition’s ability to act won’t be compromised,” Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told reporters.
“We continue to stand by the grand coalition,” she added. In a swipe at her own critics within the Christian Democrats, Kramp-Karrenbauer warned that “this is not the hour for tactical considerations within the party.”
Nahles took over as party leader in February 2018, as the Social Democrats reluctantly extended their coalition with Merkel’s conservatives following a poor showing in the previous year’s German election.
While the Social Democrats have managed to push through their agenda of improving social welfare and working conditions for millions of Germans, voters haven’t rewarded the party for it in the polls.
Instead, many have turned to the environmentalist Greens, the far-right anti-migrant Alternative for Germany, the socialist Left party or Merkel’s increasingly centrist Union bloc in recent years.
An election loss last week in a longtime bastion of the Social Democrats, the tiny northwestern state of Bremen, and the prospect of further defeats in upcoming regional votes in eastern Germany this fall has alarmed many in the party.
“The party is in an extremely serious situation,” said Nahles’ deputy Malu Dreyer, the governor of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. “If we don’t manage to stick together and find a way out of it then things will look really bleak.”
Dreyer told reporters in Berlin that senior party officials would meet Monday to discuss the next steps.
Former party leader Sigmar Gabriel told the daily Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung that the Social Democrats needed a “detox” to prevent internal power struggles from further harming the party.
The Social Democrats had planned to hold a midterm review of the coalition with Merkel’s bloc later this year, raising the prospect of an early end to the coalition.
A recent opinion poll indicated that the Social Democrats may not have hit rock bottom yet.
The survey conducted last week for broadcaster RTL by the Forsa research institute found the Greens at 27%, ahead of Merkel’s Union bloc with 26% and the Social Democrats at 12%.
The poll had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
Merkel, who handed the leadership of her Christian Democratic Union party to Kramp-Karrenbauer in December, has said she wants to stay on as chancellor until her fourth term ends when Germany holds its next national election in late 2021.
The Christian Democrats were meeting late Sunday to review their own election result, but that is likely to be overshadowed by discussions about the future of the governing coalition.
WASHINGTON — A top White House official said Sunday that President Donald Trump is “deadly serious” about slapping tariffs on imports from Mexico but acknowledged there are no concrete benchmarks being set to assess whether the U.S. ally was stemming the flow of migrants enough to satisfy the administration.
“We intentionally left the declaration sort of ad hoc,” Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“So, there’s no specific target, there’s no specific percent, but things have to get better,” Mulvaney said. “They have to get dramatically better and they have to get better quickly.”
He said the idea is to work with the Mexican government “to make sure that things did get better.”
Trump claims Mexico has taken advantage of the United States for decades but that the abuse will end when he slaps tariffs on Mexican imports next week in a dispute over illegal immigration.
Trump tweeted Sunday: “America has had enough.”
The president said last week that he will impose a 5% tariff on Mexican goods on June 10 to pressure the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to block Central American migrants from crossing the border into the U.S.
Trump said the import tax will increase by 5% every month through October, topping out at 25%.
But the president has been here before, issuing high-stakes threats over his frustration with the flow of migrants only to later back off. They include his threat earlier this year to seal the border with Mexico.
Republicans on Capitol Hill and allies in the business community have signaled serious unease with the tariffs that they warn will raise prices for consumers and hurt the economy. Some see this latest threat as a play for leverage and doubt Trump will follow through.
GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, on Sunday called the tariffs a “mistake.” He said it’s unlikely Trump will actually impose them.
The president “has been known to play with fire, but not live hand grenades,” Kennedy said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“It’s going to tank the American economy,” he said. “I don’t think the president’s going to impose these tariffs.”
Mexican officials are due to meet later this week with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a bid to come to a resolution.
“I think what the president said, what the White House has made clear, is we need a vast reduction in the numbers crossing,” Kevin McAleenan, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Mulvaney, who also spoke Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said Mexico could take various steps to decrease the record numbers of migrants at the border.
He suggested the Mexican government could seal its southern border with Guatemala, crack down on domestic terrorist organizations and make Mexico a safe place for migrants seeking to apply for asylum.
“There are specific things that the Mexicans can do,” he said on Fox.
Mulvaney insisted that Trump’s threat is real. “He’s absolutely, deadly serious,” Mulvaney said.
Economists and business groups are sounding alarms over the tariffs, warning they will hike the costs of many Mexican goods that Americans have come to rely on and impair trade.
But Mulvaney downplayed those fears, saying he doubts business will pass on the costs to shoppers. “American consumers will not pay the burden of these tariffs,” he said.
He also suggested the tariffs were an immigration issue, separate from the trade deal the United States is trying to negotiate with Mexico and Canada.
The tariff threat comes just as the administration has been pushing for passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which would update the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Several top GOP lawmakers have expressed concerns that Trump’s tariff threat could upend that deal. The chairman of the Finance Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, said last week the tariffs would “seriously jeopardize” passage of the USMCA, which needs approval in Congress.
A colossal cruise ship crashed into a smaller tourist boat and a dock in Venice on Sunday, injuring at least four tourists.
Footage of the collision shows an approximately 900-foot-long MSC Opera blaring its horns and failing to slow down as it approached the San Basilio Terminal on the Giudecca Canal. A much smaller tourist boat, the River Countess, was docked and couldn’t move away from the terminal in time.
Four female tourists, including one American, were injured while falling or trying to run away, according to the Associated Press.
The incident incited renewed calls to block off the cramped Giudecca canal from large vessels that drop off up to tens of thousands of visitors in the Italian city each day.
The cruise ship’s operator, MSC, attributed the collision to a “technical problem” in a statement.
MSC said it was performing an investigation to “understand the exact dynamic of the facts,” the operator said, according to the New York Times.
Italy’s Minister of the Environment, Sergio Costa, said the crash proved what experts have long been warning.
“What happened in the port of Venice is the confirmation of what we have been saying for a long time: big ships must not pass by Giudecca,” he tweeted in Italian.
Quello che è successo nel porto di #Venezia è la conferma di quello che diciamo da tempo: le #GrandiNavi non devono passare dalla Giudecca. Per questo da mesi insieme ai ministri @DaniloToninelli e @BonisoliAlberto stiamo lavorando per spostarle e siamo vicini alla soluzione
The Northeastern Italian city passed an ordinance in 2013 that sought to ban ships over 96,000 tons from entering the port, and reduce by 20% the number of ships over 40,000 tons, but the ban was suspended only months later after a regional court argued that alternative routes were not yet in place, and that the risks the large ships posed were not yet proven.
In 2017, Italy banned the largest cruise ships from Venice’s Grand Canal, but also estimated it would take four years before the new port in a nearby town was complete, according to the BBC.
Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro urged immediate action to open an alternative route, according to Italian news agency, ANSA.
“It’s no longer thinkable that big ships can pass through the Giudecca Canal,” Brugnaro said. “Now we must urgently make sure that ships no longer pass in front of St. Mark’s.”
According to the cruise line, the MSC Opera is 65,591 tons, has 1,071 staterooms and fits 2,150 passengers and 728 crew members.
BEIJING — China issued a report Sunday blaming the United States for the countries’ trade dispute and said it won’t back down on “major issues of principle,” but offered no clarification about what additional steps it might take to up the ante.
The report from the Cabinet spokesman’s office said that China has kept its word throughout 11 rounds of talks and will honor its commitments if a trade agreement is reached. It accused the U.S. of backtracking three times over the course of the talks by introducing new tariffs and other conditions beyond what was agreed on.
“But the more the U.S. government is offered, the more it wants,” it said, accusing America’s negotiators of “resorting to intimidation and coercion.”
“A country’s sovereignty and dignity must be respected, and any agreement reached by the two sides must be based on equality and mutual benefit,” the report said.
The report, delivered at a Sunday morning news conference, appears to be a bid to shore up China’s arguments and justify its tougher position in the face of what looks to be a protracted dispute. Over recent days, China has been mobilizing its representatives abroad to sell its position with foreign audiences, while the domestic propaganda apparatus has been working overtime to convince the public of the righteousness of the government’s stance.
The U.S. has accused China of stealing trade secrets and forced technology transfers. The Trump administration has imposed 25% tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese imports and is planning to tax the $300 billion in imports that have so far been spared. It also escalated the stakes this month by putting Chinese telecom giant Huawei on a blacklist that effectively bars U.S. companies from supplying it with computer chips, software and other components without government approval.
Beijing responded by imposing tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. products, which went into effect Saturday. It also retaliated against the U.S. blacklisting of Huawei by announcing Friday that it will establish its own list of “unreliable entities” consisting of foreign businesses, corporations and individuals.
Wang Shouwen, China’s vice commerce minister and deputy international trade representative, said that China would issue more detailed information on the unreliable entities list soon, but that it was aimed at enterprises that “violated market principles” and cut supplies of components to Chinese businesses for non-commercial reasons.
China’s statement that it intends to publish such a list follows additional measures last week that deepened the bite of U.S. sanctions imposed on Huawei in mid-May.
Several leading U.S.-based global technology standards-setting groups announced restrictions on Huawei’s participation in their activities under U.S. Commerce Department rules that bar the sale and transfer of U.S. technology to Huawei without government approval.
Wang also repeated suggestions that China could restrict the export of exotic minerals known as rare earths that are widely used in electric cars and cellphones. Foremost among them is lithium, the main component in modern batteries.
The threat to use China’s rich supply of rare earths as leverage in the conflict has contributed to sharp losses in U.S. stocks and sliding long-term bond yields.
“If some countries use China’s rare earth metals to produce products to contain China’s development, this is unacceptable by standards of both minds and hearts,” Wang said.
Sunday’s report lays out China’s argument for blaming Washington for the frictions as well as the costs to both sides, and said China has room for fiscal policy changes to maintain the health of its economy amid the dispute.
Wang said China had been forced to “take forceful measures in response” to U.S. actions and denied China had backtracked on its earlier commitments.
He said the U.S. had made unacceptable demands, including on tariffs and compulsory requirements that infringed on Chinese sovereignty. “You give them an inch, they take a yard,” he said.
President Donald Trump has touted the tariff increases as a way of reducing China’s trade surplus with the U.S., which hit a staggering $379 billion last year. However, Wang questioned how much China was actually benefiting from its surplus, saying a joint Chinese-U.S. study showed the U.S. figure could be inflated by as much as 20%.
He also said many of those exports were produced by foreign companies operating in China and that Chinese firms often pocketed only a relatively meager fee for assembling. Subtracting the U.S. surplus in the services trade with China, the actual surplus came to just $152.6 billion last year, Wang said.
The U.S. deficit with China has actually been worsening since tariffs were first imposed, Wang said, pointing to a 50% decline in soy bean exports to China and a drop-off in U.S. auto sales in the country. The average U.S. family, meanwhile, will pay an additional $831 for consumer items over the year due to the higher tariffs, he said, while the dispute’s impact on businesses could end up costing 2.23 million U.S. jobs overall.
“That shows that the deepening trade restrictions hurt U.S. workers,” Wang said.
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NEW DELHI: The Union government is looking at replacing fee subsidy across top educational institutes, like IITs, with direct transfers to students and is planning a national crowd-funding platform to assist students and institutions.A key proposal being considered is a nationwide movement—Each One, Teach One—exhorting each family to support at least one student. This donation movement will be operated on a national digital platform (modeled on the Vidyadhan portal) that will connect donors with students and institution. The target is to raise well over Rs 25,000 crore and support over 10 lakh students across disciplines based on clearly specified criteria to ensure full transparency.These recommendations have come from the 10 expert groups, constituted by the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry, formed to give shape to a five-year project—Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme' (EQUIP)—to revamp higher education. The groups were headed by the likes of former revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, principal scientific advisor K VijayRaghavan, Rediff founder Ajit Balakrishnan and former Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan.The PMO is learnt to be largely on board with the EQUIP project that is expected to be taken to the Cabinet and rolled out within the first 100 days of the government. 69626162 EQUIP also reflects several of the issues raised in the Draft National Education Policy released last week. The policy has also advocated a more hands off approach on fee regulation in both schools and higher education but with the caveat that institutes must ensure full financial disclosure and put in place comprehensive scholarship and policies to ensure students from disadvantaged sections are not deprived in any way.EQUIP's expert group on Higher Education Financing, chaired Gopalkrishnan, has recommended a massive government funding but wants to link it to students. It has called for fee rationalisation to raise standards and accountability at institutes but with equitable access options.It has suggested that instead of subsidising the institute, say an IIT, for the education of students, the student's tuition fee should be reimbursed directly to his account through direct benefit transfer. Other students should be given loans. It has called for full tax exemptions for donations to education to encourage philanthropy and alumni contributions. It suggests philanthropy offices to be set up at all institutes, better FCRA regimes for foreign donors and reduction or even waiver of GST on educational services.
MUMBAI: Timely intervention by the Reserve Bank could have led to the crisis at the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) being detected earlier, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office has said in its chargesheet. Crucially, IL&FS subsidiary IL&FS Financial Services (IFIN) — the entity at the heart of the investigation — was allowed to continue operations despite adverse RBI inspection reports, as per the SFIO. The chargesheet suggests the RBI should conduct an internal probe and take "appropriate action"."Action at the right time may have prevented ballooning of the matter," the SFIO said in its chargesheet on the IL&FS matter. "It is observed that RBI had repeatedly pointed out noncompliance with the group exposure norms and wrong calculations of net owned funds (NOFs) in its inspection reports for the year 2015 onwards."No penalties were imposed during the period and subsidiary IFIN was allowed to continue operations without any corrective measures, it said. "It was only in November 2017 (that) the classification of group companies in order to arrive at NOF and credit to risk assets ratio (CRAR) as per RBI Act was strongly conveyed to IFIN," said the chargesheet, seen by ET.FINGER POINTED AT RBI'S OVERSIGHTThe investigation arm of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs recommended that its report be shared with the central bank. 69626241 "RBI should conduct an internal investigation as to the reason for the delay and take appropriate action and also take suitable policy measures to prevent such fraudulent action," it said.The central bank didn't respond to queries.This is the first time an official body has pointed a finger at the RBI's oversight of IL&FS.The SFIO relied on RBI inspection reports in its investigation and these form part of the chargesheet submitted last week to a special court in Mumbai against 30 individuals and entities in the IL&FS case.The central bank had expressed reservations on loans granted to borrowers and group companies in violation of the RBI Act. Optionally Convertible Debentures (OCD) of Rs 190 crore to the Siva Group were "used to evergreen the earlier loan", the RBI had said.Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) shares had been pledged as collateral by the Siva Group with IFIN. In its FY15 inspection, the RBI asked IFIN to make full provision against the TTSL shares of Rs 254 crore. In another loan to the Siva Group, the SFIO said the RBI had asked for full provision of Rs 190 crore against OCDs during the FY16 inspection report. Provision of Rs 108 crore was made in FY18.LOANS WITHOUT SUFFICIENT COVERThe RBI had said loans had also been given to ABG International without sufficient security cover, according to the chargesheet."RBI in its report for FY15 had pointed out insufficient security cover in case of exposure to ABG International Pvt Ltd, and in the year FY16-17, insufficient security cover has been pointed out on the loan to Onaway Industries Ltd," the chargesheet said. "Whistleblower in its letter dated March 3, 2017, has pointed out the connivance of the management of IFIN and also Ravi Parthasarathy and Ramesh Bawa to release the security cover in case of ABG."The SFIO also cited the manner in which the IFIN board loaned money to group companies, especially IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd (ITNL). In its November 2017 report, the RBI had observed that IFIN had loaned money to eight entities belonging to its group for onward lending to ITNL. It is pertinent to note that the IL&FS crisis first came to light in July 2018, when the road arm was facing difficulty in making repayments due on its bonds."RBI in its inspection report for FY16 had advised that the classification of group companies in order to arrive at NOF and CRAR needs to be done as specified in the RBI Act, listed out group companies and pointed out exposure in excess of 10% of own funds to arrive at NOF… The company should run down its exposure to group companies with no fresh lending to them," the chargesheet said. "In a letter dated July 20, 2018, signed by Bawa (to RBI), it has been stated that IFIN has not undertaken any fresh exposure post November 2017 to IL&FS group entities."CIRCUMVENTING RBI RULESThe SFIO probe has revealed that the accused directors, in order to circumvent RBI directions, gave loans to external parties that were then transferred to IL&FS group companies, mainly ITNL.In his statement, accused erstwhile IFIN director Vibhav Kapoor has stated that the former IFIN board had asked the company to request the RBI to give it time till 2021."RBI had instructed IFIN to reduce group exposure below 10% of owned funds," the chargesheet said. "Since many of the group companies were going through difficult conditions... the IFIN board felt that the company would need more time to meet this instruction of RBI and accordingly the board requested IFIN to request RBI to give time till 2021 to accomplish this."IFIN falsified financial statements and did not disclose details of NOF and CRAR observations of RBI to credit rating agencies, which continued to give it the highest rating till the latter part of 2018, the SFIO said. Investors in the NCDs (nonconvertible debentures) also relied upon this information.The chargesheet states that IFIN did not disclose the negative NOF amount as assessed by the regulator for FY14-15, FY15-16 and FY16-17 in its financial statements. "The users of the financial statements were unaware of the critical information regarding negative NOF, negative CRAR," it said. "This information was very critical and material for investors of NCDs."
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) can't complain. Compared to when it last met early April, just days before the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, it is now faced with much less uncertainty when it meets tomorrow for the second bi-monthly monetary policy statement due June 6. Sure, as legendary baseball coach Yogi Berra said, 'The future ain't what it used to be'. But then it never is.The fact is, both on the political and economic front, MPC has a much clearer picture than in April last. Fourth quarter GDP numbers for 2018-19, released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) on May 31, show the economy in even poorer shape than most observers had feared, with growth falling to 5.8%, the lowest in five years. Without doubt, things are far from hunky-dory on the economic front.No Poll PositionOn the political front, the picture is more mixed. Depending on which side of the political spectrum your sympathies lie, the election results could be cause for celebration or anxiety. But to the extent we now have a government with a clear majority in the Lok Sabha (and likely to get a majority in the Rajya Sabha by 2020), political uncertainty is certainly not a factor MPC members will have to contend with as they decide what to do with interest rates.With BJP in pole position in GoI, it is reasonably certain that broad adherence to fiscal discipline will continue. To that extent, monetary policy can afford to take a chance. Especially since inflation continues to be low, despite the hike in fuel prices.The combination of low inflation and lacklustre, falling growth should be a no-brainer for any committee of wise men and one wise woman charged with deciding the monetary policy stance for the next two months. Reinforce the shift in the growth-inflation dynamics seen in the April monetary policy announcement. The question is by how much. Should rates be cut 25 or 50 basis points? Should the stance shift from neutral to accommodative?Here, MPC will do well to heed the words of Claudio Borio, chief economist of the Bank for International Settlements, de facto sage of central banks globally. In a speech in September 2017, Borio admitted, "…the behaviour of inflation is becoming increasingly difficult to understand. If one is completely honest, it is hard to avoid the question: how much do we really know about inflation process."The answer, as US Federal Reserve former chair Janet Yellen was honest to admit, is not very much. "Our understanding of the forces driving inflation is imperfect…the conventional framework for understanding inflation dynamics could be mis-specified in some fundamental [emphasis added] way" - central bank speak for saying even the mighty US Fed has no clue.A Cut AboveUnlike the US, where President Donald Trump has raged against the Fed for having "incessantly lifted interest rates" amid "wonderfully low inflation", and praised China for adding 'great stimulus' to its economy and keeping borrowing costs low, the Narendra Modi government has been restrained in its reactions throughout the MPC's overkill under the chairmanship of former RBI governor Urjit Patel. That is how it should be. Monetary policy is best left to technocrats.At the same time, fiscal and monetary policy cannot function at cross-purposes with each other. Not when the economy is showing clear signs of stress. Monetary policy independence is all very well. But as the US showed us during the time of the global financial crisis, there are times when both macroeconomic policy levers (monetary and fiscal) must work in tandem. Responsibly.From the monetary policy perspective, this means cutting rates 25 basis points. And following this up with a change in stance from 'neutral' to 'accommodative'. RBI, while operationalising the MPC's mandate, must continue its deft liquidity management, using all the tools at its disposal judiciously to ensure more effective transmission of its signals.Sure, inflation is likely to move up if MPC follows up on its two earlier rate cuts. Indeed, in all probability it will, given rising oil prices and the growing prospect of a US-China trade war. But MPC's target range is 2-6%, not 3-4%, which is where inflation has been stuck for the better part of the past year.Sure, lower interest rates can do little on their own to kick-start growth. But if we are to move to investment, rather than consumption, as the engine of growth (given signs of close-to-full capacity utilisation), we can't continue with real interest rates of 4%.To tweak what Brutus told Cassius in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, there is a tide in the affairs of nations, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.The economy will not soar 'like a rocket' if the MPC were to cut rates, as Trump avers the US would if only the Fed would cut rates. But it must do 'all it takes'.
SEOUL: About half of the world's air passenger growth in the next 20 years is set to come from India and China, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Sunday."India and China alone are forecast to account for around 45% of all additional passenger trips over the next two decades. Even more than today, the travellers of the future will come from all walks of life and economic means," said IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac.According to the data available with IATA, a grouping of around 290 airlines, India registered the highest year-on-year growth of about 19% in 2018, followed by China's 13%. India's growth has slowed, of late, though, owing to the grounding of the country's largest private sector airline, Jet Airways, after it ran out of cash.Reposing confidence in the Indian market, IATA's chief economist Brian Pierce said, "The decline in India's passenger growth is temporary and the country will be back to its earlier levels, as there is demand in the Indian market. Also, a few airlines have started adding Jet Airway's aircraft into their fleets."SpiceJet and Vistara have taken some of Boeing 737 aircraft, operated earlier by Jet, on lease and are operating them on routes vacated by Jet. IATA also predicted that the profitability of airlines will take a hit on the back of rising fuel prices and weakening world trade.(The reporter is in Seoul at the invitation of IATA)
MUMBAI: China's largest utility vehicle maker, Great Wall Motors, is set to invest over $1 billion in India, which is expected to become the third-largest market in the world in the next three-five years. This comes close on the heels of the largest Chinese carmaker SAIC committing Rs 5,000 crore to India.Great Wall Motors has approved an India unit under Haval India to be headquartered at Gurgaon in the national capital region and the team is being put in place to define the blueprint, said people with knowledge of the matter. The company is also planning to participate in the upcoming Auto Expo in 2020.Great Wall approved a $1.6-million investment in February to set up the local office, which may be named India Haval Auto, India Haval or India Haval Auto Sales. The final name is subject to approval by local authorities, said a news report.The commitment from Chinese manufacturers comes at a time when their home country, the world's largest car market, has shrunk for the first time in decades. Despite a slowing Indian market, they see Asia's third-largest economy driving their global ambitions, experts said.69626315 Several people in the know said a senior executive contingent from Great Wall's headquarters is currently in India scouting for a manufacturing location. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are potential sites for the plant, which is expected to roll out its first SUV by the fourth quarter of 2022.FORMER MARUTI EXEC ROPED INGreat Wall is likely to follow a similar game plan as MG Motor and may come out with a range of locally produced SUVs in India from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.While the immediate priority is to look at conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, Great Wall is also exploring electric vehicles for the Indian market, with the company having in-house expertise in making batteries and EVs, said the people cited above.Great Wall sold 1.1 million vehicles at home last year, registering a marginal decline of 1.6%. However, its overseas sales grew in double digits in 2018, albeit on a low base, to about 50,000 units."The immediate focus is to localise some of the Chinese products in the Indian market," one of the people said, though the existing portfolio is exported to about 60 global markets. "However, over the medium term, there may be a dedicated emerging market architecture, which will be driven by India — approval on the same is awaited."The company hired former Maruti Suzuki executive Kaushik Ganguly last year to define its product road map in India. Besides that, it has hired Mainak Chanda to lead overseas procurement. Chanda worked briefly with another Chinese company Changan, in its bid to enter the Indian market, before Great Wall.Chanda was with Mahindra's sourcing team before moving to Changan. His presence in the global office could help bolster the India operation.Great Wall didn't respond to queries."One thing is for sure, dynamics of the Indian market are in for a big transformation with new regulations and new entrants like Kia, PSA, MG Motor and now Haval who will change the competitive landscape," said Gaurav Vangaal, country lead for production forecasting at IHS Markit. "For Great Wall, it may make logical sense to explore acquisition of plants of other vehicle makers which are highly underutilised in the market to get a quick access."
MUMBAI: Timely intervention by the Reserve Bank could have led to the crisis at the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) being detected earlier, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office has said in its chargesheet. Crucially, IL&FS subsidiary IL&FS Financial Services (IFIN) — the entity at the heart of the investigation — was allowed to continue operations despite adverse RBI inspection reports, as per the SFIO. The chargesheet suggests the RBI should conduct an internal probe and take "appropriate action"."Action at the right time may have prevented ballooning of the matter," the SFIO said in its chargesheet on the IL&FS matter. "It is observed that RBI had repeatedly pointed out noncompliance with the group exposure norms and wrong calculations of net owned funds (NOFs) in its inspection reports for the year 2015 onwards."No penalties were imposed during the period and subsidiary IFIN was allowed to continue operations without any corrective measures, it said. "It was only in November 2017 (that) the classification of group companies in order to arrive at NOF and credit to risk assets ratio (CRAR) as per RBI Act was strongly conveyed to IFIN," said the chargesheet, seen by ET.FINGER POINTED AT RBI'S OVERSIGHTThe investigation arm of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs recommended that its report be shared with the central bank. 69626241 "RBI should conduct an internal investigation as to the reason for the delay and take appropriate action and also take suitable policy measures to prevent such fraudulent action," it said.The central bank didn't respond to queries.This is the first time an official body has pointed a finger at the RBI's oversight of IL&FS.The SFIO relied on RBI inspection reports in its investigation and these form part of the chargesheet submitted last week to a special court in Mumbai against 30 individuals and entities in the IL&FS case.The central bank had expressed reservations on loans granted to borrowers and group companies in violation of the RBI Act. Optionally Convertible Debentures (OCD) of Rs 190 crore to the Siva Group were "used to evergreen the earlier loan", the RBI had said.Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) shares had been pledged as collateral by the Siva Group with IFIN. In its FY15 inspection, the RBI asked IFIN to make full provision against the TTSL shares of Rs 254 crore. In another loan to the Siva Group, the SFIO said the RBI had asked for full provision of Rs 190 crore against OCDs during the FY16 inspection report. Provision of Rs 108 crore was made in FY18.LOANS WITHOUT SUFFICIENT COVERThe RBI had said loans had also been given to ABG International without sufficient security cover, according to the chargesheet."RBI in its report for FY15 had pointed out insufficient security cover in case of exposure to ABG International Pvt Ltd, and in the year FY16-17, insufficient security cover has been pointed out on the loan to Onaway Industries Ltd," the chargesheet said. "Whistleblower in its letter dated March 3, 2017, has pointed out the connivance of the management of IFIN and also Ravi Parthasarathy and Ramesh Bawa to release the security cover in case of ABG."The SFIO also cited the manner in which the IFIN board loaned money to group companies, especially IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd (ITNL). In its November 2017 report, the RBI had observed that IFIN had loaned money to eight entities belonging to its group for onward lending to ITNL. It is pertinent to note that the IL&FS crisis first came to light in July 2018, when the road arm was facing difficulty in making repayments due on its bonds."RBI in its inspection report for FY16 had advised that the classification of group companies in order to arrive at NOF and CRAR needs to be done as specified in the RBI Act, listed out group companies and pointed out exposure in excess of 10% of own funds to arrive at NOF… The company should run down its exposure to group companies with no fresh lending to them," the chargesheet said. "In a letter dated July 20, 2018, signed by Bawa (to RBI), it has been stated that IFIN has not undertaken any fresh exposure post November 2017 to IL&FS group entities."CIRCUMVENTING RBI RULESThe SFIO probe has revealed that the accused directors, in order to circumvent RBI directions, gave loans to external parties that were then transferred to IL&FS group companies, mainly ITNL.In his statement, accused erstwhile IFIN director Vibhav Kapoor has stated that the former IFIN board had asked the company to request the RBI to give it time till 2021."RBI had instructed IFIN to reduce group exposure below 10% of owned funds," the chargesheet said. "Since many of the group companies were going through difficult conditions... the IFIN board felt that the company would need more time to meet this instruction of RBI and accordingly the board requested IFIN to request RBI to give time till 2021 to accomplish this."IFIN falsified financial statements and did not disclose details of NOF and CRAR observations of RBI to credit rating agencies, which continued to give it the highest rating till the latter part of 2018, the SFIO said. Investors in the NCDs (nonconvertible debentures) also relied upon this information.The chargesheet states that IFIN did not disclose the negative NOF amount as assessed by the regulator for FY14-15, FY15-16 and FY16-17 in its financial statements. "The users of the financial statements were unaware of the critical information regarding negative NOF, negative CRAR," it said. "This information was very critical and material for investors of NCDs."
Untitled Carousel 69626167 A last-minute technical snag kept the Goldman Sachs CEO from visiting India, in what would have been his first since taking over as the boss of the one of the world's largest investment bank. But he took time out for a freewheeling interview over video conference to discuss a wide ranging topics about growth in India, trade wars, the fintech disruption, Breaking up Big Tech and the backlash against Wall Street bankers. Edited excerpts:We've just seen an election and the return of Prime Minister Modi with an increased majority. Consequently, there is now an expectation for a stable government that will implement radical reforms of the sort that international investors would like to see. What are your thoughts on that?Ans: Under a second term for Prime Minister Modi, we are hopeful that the reform program will continue and accelerate to provide a great deal of upside for the Indian economy and Indian people. If that continues, it will be exciting for our business platform in India as well. The results of the election give us increased confidence in the investments we have made, as well as the investments we will continue to make in our Indian businesses, in both Bengaluru and Mumbai, but also with our clients, both as an investor and as an allocator of capital. Our base case on GDP growth is 7.5%, but if you look at our research, it indicates that if the reform program accelerates there can be considerable upside in the GDP growth on a forward basis. We are thrilled and watching closely. Is there anything specific you would like him to do in his second term?Ans: Continue the pace of reform. To the degree the reform process can continue to accelerate, I think it can lead to higher rates of economic growth, which obviously is tied to our franchise and investment businesses. What will be the key pillars of growth for Goldman Sachs over the next 5 years in India? How do you see the India franchise business play out over the next few years?Ans: If you think about the continuing digitization of the economy in India, obviously that's going to create many opportunities. As the talent and technology in the country becomes more and more integrated, it is going to need significant amounts of capital. As a proven investor, who has already helped grow Indian companies, there will be significant opportunities for us across a number of our businesses to add value. Additionally, as a market intermediary and a market investor, our firm will bring more foreign investors and facilitate direct investment to India. Our growth will closely match that of the growth of the Indian economy.What has been your India experience been so far? Great potential, but always a missed opportunity?Ans: We have always been very clear-eyed about the long-term opportunity in India and are now very hopeful that the pace of reforms will accelerate in a way that continues to promote higher rates of economic growth, which will present more opportunities for our business. To date, we've deployed a significant amount of capital as an investor in India, more than $3.6 billion over the last decade. We've built great client relationships, where we serve as an advisor and a facilitator for them.Based on that clarity and understanding of the Indian economy, our business here have met our expectations, but it's also always been a place where we've had hope for greater growth and opportunity. The re-election of Prime Minister Modi gives us more confidence in our investments as we continue to take a long-term view that will pay off for our businesses and our shareholders.What are the risk factors that are still attached to India?Ans: I would look at it slightly differently. I am looking at it over 10 year increments and think there has been a general direction of progress over the last 10, 20 and 30 years that will continue. India is still a place where the regulatory impact on business slows economic growth and while there is now progress being made to unleash some of that, I am hopeful that that progress will continue and accelerate.Is the progress too slow? Our bankruptcy law is still grappling with teething problems. So a lot of investors are running out of patience, too tired of waiting.Ans: It's par for the course when you are driving change in a major economy. While I am sure there are investors who are frustrated and want things to go quicker, we take a very long-term view and the context to that is that our firm continues to be very optimistic looking at the coming decades in India and the long-term opportunity for us to serve our clients in India.What does this new office in Bangalore mean?Ans: We are very excited about the new Bengaluru campus. The investment that we're making is reflective of the fact that it's a very important place where high-quality work is done from India for the worldwide Goldman Sachs network. It is also a further reflection of our global platform and that we think Bengaluru offers a great opportunity to bring high-quality people into our firm. We've had a big focus on engineering in that office as it has been a global innovation center for the firm. That will obviously continue given the availability of talent in India broadly and in Bengaluru. This new office represents a great global opportunity for us as technology and finance continue to converge.At times foreigners appear to be more bullish on India than Indian businessmen. Any thoughts on why that might be the case?Ans: I don't have a good answer for that, but look, I am focused on the next 10, 20, 30 years. I understand why you are trying to focus on shorter-term trends, but when Goldman Sachs makes a big business commitment to a place like this, when we open a huge office like Bengaluru and when we hire thousands of people, we've made a long-term bet. It would take a very significant dislocation to change that trajectory or direction.Tech companies have been under a lot of political pressure in the US especially when it comes to on-shoring of jobs. Why have US banks like Goldman not had to do the same?Ans: We run a global business. If you look at our business and the revenues of Goldman Sachs, only about 55% of it is in North America, and the rest of it is spread around the world. While there are pressures, particularly around manufacturing businesses, we try to strike the right balance as we are ultimately in the business of talent, technology and capital, which is spread around the world. Our footprint needs to match that. It is very important to our clients, who want us positioned globally. THE GLOBAL BEATIf the US-China tariff wars are not resolved soon, what kind of an impact do you see that having on the world economy?Ans: It is unclear whether or not we'll get some sort of a trade deal in the coming months. A month or two ago, it felt more likely than it feels today - obviously, very hard to gauge. I would highlight though what's at stake here is a fundamental rebalancing of the economic arrangement between the US and China. While we might have a trade deal, it's only one small part of that rebalancing that is going to require a compromise over the long-term from both sides. I actually think that it's going to be a difficult bumpy road and not as simple as whether or not we get a short-term trade deal. The degree that that relationship is bumpy over the coming decade versus when it is not, will have an impact on global growth given the size of both economies.Most MNCs will be or are tweaking their global supply chains even if there were to be an agreement sometime this year. Do you see India as benefiting from that? Ans: There is clearly a movement of people rethinking supply chains all over the world. In that context, anybody that is not China will benefit from the movement of these global supply chains - so sure at the margin there has to be some benefit. On the other hand, as I am talking to CEOs that are rethinking those supply chains, India is not the place that is immediately coming up the most in terms of such repurposing. Some are looking at repurposing back to North America, which is also benefiting. Vietnam and Indonesia are two that come up in conversations with CEOs.In Davos earlier this year you talked about a 50% chance of a recession in 2020. Now with the trade tensions, what's the chance today?Ans: I will start by saying the same thing that I said while being interviewed in Davos: I am not a good predictor of economic recessions. The general consensus at Goldman Sachs however is not different. The chance of a recession in 2020 is probably no higher or lower than 50-50. Certainly the time that I made the comment, we were talking about the chance of a recession being 50-50 at the back half of the year.While there's no question that trade is leading to a slowdown and affecting the growth trajectory, it still feels like the chance of recession in the next 12 months is low. Maybe it's slightly higher than it was in Davos, but if you are asking me: Do I think there will be a recession in 2020? I'll tell you it's a toss-up and can give you a distribution of outcome scenarios where there is and there isn't – so we will have to watch it more closely. You also had talked about the Fed switching over from being too hawkish to doveish in just a matter of 6 months. Where do you now stand on rates? Have they peaked in this cycle?Ans: Part of it depends on the cycle, obviously. If we enter a recession in the next 6-12 months, rates will probably peak. The consensus sentiment now is that we won't see a rate increase for well into late 2020 at the earliest. That was a big move and change from where we were last fall. If economic activity continues at trend, which is kind of where it sits at the moment, I would be surprised if that perspective is the same 6-12 months out. All these things you are asking tie back. What does the earnings momentum look like? Why is the bond market predicting more of a slowdown? All those things will have an impact as to whether or not there will be further interest rate increases before the cycle ends, but at the moment the consensus is that we certainly won't see anything until at least late 2020. That's a big shift from where we were at the beginning of the year.Is that the reason why you pushed back your strategy review to 2020? You find the environment difficult to predict, tougher than what was anticipated earlier?Ans: The rates environment has absolutely nothing to do with the timing on when we'll continue to communicate to the market about our plans. We have a lot of things that we are working through as we finish up and look at front to back reviews in our business and think about our continued push to increase transparency and disclosure in the firm. We are very, very focused on increased transparency and we are continuing to work through that.It is ultimately a process that has to be worked through and has nothing to do with the environment of the macro conditions at all.How are you preparing Goldman Sachs, yourself and your shareholders around the risk involved with 1 IMDB?Ans: We are working and cooperating with officials to get 1 IMDB behind us. It is not existential for Goldman Sachs, but we certainly want to resolve it and move forward.Bankers in the US have faced relentless bashing since the Great Recession. Do you think that has peaked or is it still more of the same?Ans: There is always going to be political rhetoric that challenges lots of different businesses at different points in time. Banks have had rhetoric that challenges them and in the US election cycle and there will be certain candidates that will continue to use that rhetoric.Today, technology companies have a great deal of political rhetoric challenging them around a whole variety of topics. In the last election cycle, big manufacturing businesses with jobs and supply chains offshore saw a significant amount of political rhetoric. My guess is in this election cycle we'll see some more. It ebbs and flows.From our perspective, we continue to be focused on how as an organization we help our clients by putting together talent, technology and capital. How do we help them grow? How do we give them the right kind of advice so they continue to make investments that benefit their shareholders and stakeholders? We feel very good about our client franchise and their ability to do that. While there may be political noise directed at businesses, including large financial institutions, it doesn't stop us from focusing on serving our clients.Technology companies clearly seem to have become the new villains. What are your thoughts on this talk of breaking up companies like Facebook?Ans: Facebook is a very big business. It has grown very, very quickly. It's has a big impact on society broadly, but it's also a very young company. Facebook was founded in 2004, so it's a 15 year old company that has grown to be one of the largest companies in the world with a huge customer base.Breaking up a company is a very, very difficult complicated thing to do. Like any other business that becomes big and influential, Facebook will have to make adjustments and I am sure there will be pressure on them to continue to adjust. They have just become a big business and will continue to be a big business. With that they will go through that evolution, as any other growing, highly-successful company does.So you are obviously not in favor of drastic action? Would you allow them some more time to self-regulate? Is that what you are saying?Ans: I'm not a regulator. In this case I'm an observer, an observer of the government's regulatory process. As a student of our own market in the United States, I will make the following observations.The prospect of the government breaking up a big company is something that happens very rarely here. It is a very, very complicated process. So my inclination is the chance of that happening is small.The chance of government regulation putting more rules, guard rails and parameters in place for the operation in some of these big businesses over some period of time is higher, especially around issues like privacy as we have seen in other parts of the world at an increasing pace.What I think is likely to happen because these are big influential businesses, just like financial services and they will have to deal with an evolutionary regulatory and government process.OF INDIAN REGULATIONS, DEAL FLOWS, CHINDIA & MOREComing back to India, do you think India is really welcoming to foreign capital as it were a few years ago? In the last 1 year, we've seen major policy interventions or changes related to things like commerce or fintech and payments which has upset many global companies. You advise many such players like Amazon, Walmart etc. Aren't they upset with the goalpost shifting all the time?The review is over too short a period of time. The goal posts in any economy can keep shifting, including the US. We take a long term-view as we think about serving our clients and it's not the way we think about things to be commenting on short-term gyrations in any given year. There are times when progress is slower than we like it to be and then there are times where it accelerates, but ultimately there is enormous opportunity in India.We saw India Inc. being one of the most aggressive acquirers of assets around the world a few years back. Now most of them are saddled with a broken balance sheets. So will the deal continue to remain more inbound?We are going to see more foreign direct investment and more inbound capital, especially if Prime Minister Modi in his second term continues his reform trajectory. Conglomerates using leverage and adding assets around the world, I think we will see less of in the short term. There is no question that the digitization of the economy is attracting foreign capital and that will continue. Are you looking to double down on your PE portfolio?There is no number. We look for opportunities to deploy our capital for our clients. Goldman Sachs is one of the largest alternative investors in the world for clients around the globe and of our own balance sheet, so it's not surprising given that footprint and the global nature of our business, that we'd be one of the largest foreign investors in India.We've seen Goldman do very interesting collaborations with companies people like Apple. Since you talk about digitization of the financial services sector, is there a possibility of Goldman partnering with an Indian company in the fintech or payments space?Ans: We're just building our consumer businesses in in the United States. The expertise is more geared towards that market. In the future there may be opportunity and we are certainly open to it, but for now we focused on executing in our home market.So this pivot towards building out a consumer finance business in various parts of the world, will not have an India bearing?Ans: In the context of our building our deposit platforms around the world, we may indeed come to India, but that is not in our immediate plans. How do you see the whole fintech startups disrupt big banks and global banking?Ans: Banking is no different than any other industry. The combination of talent and technology is disrupting the way business is done. Personal financial services is a business where there is still a great deal of room for disruption. Are there some fintech platforms that will have a meaningful impact on the disruption? Absolutely. Are there incumbent players that will have a meaningful impact on the disruption and continue to be very strong in their incumbency? Absolutely.Then there are also those like Goldman Sachs, who haven't traditionally played in some of those markets, but are actually are very good at building technology platforms, have global reach, have balance sheet, have funding and have risk management capabilities which are deeply rooted that make us also very good disruptors. There is lots of room for people to disrupt and compete.I like our position in that and we are going to try to be successful in delivering products, particularly in the US, where we are consumer-focused to give them a much better experience than the current products that they have. We are optimistic that we can make a contribution in a small way and run a good business.It is often said, India is not a deep market, especially in investment banking. So GS's strategy of hunting with the elephants locally can be challenged. Your comments?In all major markets around the globe, we aim to work with the largest companies. As our franchises in local markets get stronger, in certain places we then expand to cover more of the market. Looking solely at investment banking, as an international firm in India, we are thinking of and engaging Indian businesses related to global capital flows and technology led disruptions. Given the strength of our network, capital and talent, the Goldman Sachs platform is going to be better suited in its ability to assist companies with needs for capital and strategic global partners. As an investor I think we've been much broader in terms of the companies we have allocated capital to and that will continue.You have obviously observed India and China over a long period of time. If you look at China it was a completely communist country till 1978. Yet 40 years later we find that China has giant private companies like Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu. There could be a dispute about how private they are but nonetheless they are bigger than the biggest Indian private companies. Why do you think that has happened? What has India done wrong? And how can that change?It is not a matter for right or wrong. While the Chinese have managed their economy, they have allowed for technology to become very significant and dominant in the way they have networked into that economy. When you look at individual economic capital, China is currently ahead with a significant portion of the population that can tie into, transact, and consume from these platforms. India has similar companies. It also has a much more open market system and that allows for more competition and many players competing for that footprint. Most importantly, it also has the same opportunity.
by Julian LeeHas OPEC reached the point where the benefit of bringing in outsiders to achieve its goals is outweighed by the difficulty of managing the expanded group? It certainly seems so.Six months ago, the group couldn't reach a deal on production levels without help from Russia. Now it can't even agree on the date of a meeting, and Russia seems to be the problem. So much for any hope members might have of putting a floor under oil prices.The rot really became evident in December. A deal to extend a policy of output restraint was reached only after Russian oil minister Alexander Novak took over an office at the heart of OPEC's headquarters in Vienna and brokered a compromise that both Iran and Saudi Arabia would accept.Russia had taken the reins of a group that it didn't even belong to because it had become too dysfunctional to run itself. Saudi Arabia and Iran were at loggerheads over production policy – not for the first time – as well as how the group should respond to the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Tehran.The Saudis haven't started to snap up Iran's customers – yet. They want to make sure that, unlike last year, the Iranian barrels have really gone before they start pumping more of their own. They have already indicated that they will meet any requests for more oil from Iran's customers who find themselves in need.So much for solidarity. 69618586 But if the group turned in a poor performance at the end of 2018, its current chaos looks pitiful. Having agreed to meet in April to review the current production deal, seemingly at the insistence of Russia, the group cancelled that gathering just a month before it was due to take place. That decision may also have been initiated by Russia – Novak said at the time that it made sense for OPEC and its friends to discuss any potential extension of output cuts in May or June.The regular half-yearly OPEC meeting is now scheduled for June 25, with a gathering of the bigger OPEC+ group the following day. That's a bit late to discuss the future of a deal that's due to expire four days later, as it will take at least a month to implement any changes.But now even that has been thrown into doubt.Two weeks ago, most OPEC+ ministers met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to assess the output deal and make recommendations for the June meeting. But things didn't quite go according to plan. Novak, who signed up to the original schedule, seems to have a more pressing commitment and wants the date changed.One suggestion is to hold the OPEC+ gathering on July 4. Another is for the weekend of June 22-23. Neither is popular.Several of the group's members have already pushed back against a change. Arrangements have already been made, diaries set, flights and hotel suites booked. There is still no decision on when to hold the meetings and public holidays across the Muslim world this week will probably delay one even further. 69618594 And then there is the nagging sense that Russia is starting to control OPEC just a little too much.Its level of influence over the group is out of all proportion to its participation in the collective output cuts. Four months into the current deal, Russia's compliance was still only around 80%, compared with 150% for the whole of OPEC. It really isn't pulling its weight. It is still only the OPEC countries that are making the sacrifices to try to prop up oil prices. 69618600 And they are being hampered by a lengthening list of U.S. import tariffs that is beginning to have a chilling effect on economic growth forecasts. Crude prices fell about 7% in two days last week, after data showed U.S. stockpiles barely fell the previous week and President Donald Trump announced tariffs on all imports from Mexico. Russia's commitment to output cuts has always seemed shaky, particularly since prices have recovered from the 2016 lows that triggered this whole OPEC+ process. Saudi Arabia clearly values the partnership with Russia, although it may be losing its shine – negotiations between Saudi Aramco and Russia's Novatek PJSC to jointly develop liquefied natural gas in the Arctic are currently on hold.Most of the non-OPEC contribution to the production cuts are from natural decline that will happen anyway. The group may be better served by cutting the ties now and getting on with the job on its own.The group needs to show competence and unity of purpose if it really wants to put a lower limit on oil prices. Right now it seems they would struggle to organize a bun-fight in a bakery, even if they could decide when to hold it.(This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of economictimes.com, Bloomberg LP and its owners)
MUMBAI | BENGALURU: A government bid to democratise access to accounting software by making it free for small companies and ensure compliance with the indirect tax regime will give a leg-up to Indian software product companies, helping them scale their user base and strengthen business. The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) last week allowed small businesses, with a turnover of 1.5 crore or lower, to download a software that would help create invoices and account statements, manage inventory and prepare GST returns. Six firms are listed on the GSTN website which will offer software free of cost to the targeted 8 million small businesses, or nearly a seventh of India's estimated 55 million SME base. The move by the government is aimed towards making digitisation easier for small companies, said a senior executive of GSTN."The GST Council wanted to help small businesses digitise and thereby have hassle-free compliance. These should also help them in streamlining day-to-day operations," said the official, who did not want to be named.Zoho Books, part of Zoho Corporation, one of the selected vendors, said that this would encourage higher adoption of the software and increase engagement with its entire cloud suite of software products. "We definitely want to help SMEs maintain proper books so that getting access to credit becomes easier and we also want to expose them to latest technologies," said Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, director, product management at Zoho Corporation."Once they start using Zoho Books and when they grow beyond the particular size, we are assuming they will stick to us and that will increase the subscriber base."Iswaran said that the 1.5 crore turnover figure is the "magic number", beyond which companies may be in a position to afford a decent software, even if they can't afford a big accounting team. India is witnessing a surge of software product firms that offer their software as a service. They also adopt a freemium model of business that encourages customers to use their basic product for free and pay a monthly rental fee to use additional features. Other home-grown companies also feel that the move would increase their visibility and help them target a large base of potential users."For us, reaching out to every nook and corner and to 3 million taxpayers who have turnover of 1.5 crore and below would not have been easy. So we thought it could help us get more visibility," said Nitin Patel, director, Relyon Softech, which offers Saral Accounts, a GST software. He said the agreement to offer these accounting and billing software services is for two years. "In cases where some companies use our solution beyond the listed free applications, it would be a paid service. (Also), the assumption is some of these companies may continue to use our solutions after two years." An industry analyst said that these companies may treat this as a marketing cost to onboard more small businesses, which eventually may buy services which are not free.Tally Solutions, a large Indian service provider of enterprise resource planning software, which also offers a GST compliance software tool, only offers a paid version. The company believes that free and paid software vendors will be able to co-exist."We are happy with the initiative taken by the government since it will be a major driver for automation in SMEs," said Tejas Goenka, MD of Tally Solutions. He added, "We do not have a free version of Tally and are not intending to offer it anytime soon. Having said that, this situation of co-existence of free and paid software has been there for decades and finally businesses will choose whatever is best for them."Analysts say that technology investments will help improve compliance across the industrial ecosystem."It is incumbent upon the government to provide some support, especially for smaller taxpayers, to contain the cost of compliance," Uday Pimprikar, partner & national leader, Indirect Tax, EY India.
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Rally to spread awarenesson Guru Nanak's message Prakash Yatra, a nation-wide rally to spread awareness of the message of humanity given by Guru Nanak, was inaugurated in the Gurdwara Guru Nanak Jhir
Curbing imports, fuelling expansion projects priorities for new steel minister India became a net importer of steel, after a gap of three years, in 2018-19. The industry has already asked the government to reimpose a safeguard duty of 25% in line with such protectionist steps being taken by the US, the EU, Turkey etc.
