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Novembre 2017 - page 8

China ready to deliver promises in full: top climate envoy

in ASIA/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

China’s special representative on climate change affairs, Xie Zhenhua, pledged that China will deliver its promises in full, and will continue contributing “Chinese wisdom” and “Chinese proposals” to the global fight against climate change, while addressing a high-level meeting of UN climate talks held here on Thursday. “China is ready to play the role, all along, as a participant and contributor in global climate governance, sustainable development, as well as a guardian of multilateral processes”, said Xie. The special representative pledged that China will work with other countries to speed up works in three aspects, including accelerating follow-up negotiations on the Paris Agreement, making arrangement for facilitative dialogues to be held in 2018, and implementing pre-2020 actions and commitment so as to lay solid foundation for trust-building. “China has over delivered on achieving its targets in fighting climate change, and reversed the rapid rise of CO2 emission that had lasted for years”, Xie said. “This year, we will jumpstart the nation-wide carbon-trading market”, Xie said, adding China has set aside a total of 100 million U.S. dollars for South-South cooperation with 27 developing countries over the years.

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OSCE; Russia to Stop Branding Media as ‘Foreign Agents’

in PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir expressed his concern on Thursday about measures by the United States requiring the RT broadcaster to register as “foreign agent” and the subsequent tit-for-tat response from Moscow. On Wednesday, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, passed a legislative amendment that would allow foreign media working in Russia and funded from abroad to be classified as foreign agents. The move came as a response to the United States’ pressure on Russian media, including the US Department of Justice’s demand that RT America registers under US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). “Branding media entities as ‘foreign agents’ is a dangerous practice, as it can narrow the space for freedom of the media…. I call on both the United States and the Russian Federation to reconsider and refrain from requiring media entities to register as ‘foreign agents’ and not take further steps”, said OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir.

 

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OSCE SG Greminger: Macedonia to focus on implementing ambitious reform agenda

in PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

New window of opportunities are opening which will help Macedonia to focus on implementing the ambitious reform agenda, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger said Thursday after meeting Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.’I wish to support the future efforts of PM Zaev to realize all reforms in favor of the country’s progress,’ Greminger said.Macedonia, he said, should focus on key spheres, such as the rule of law, media freedom, democratic governance and security sector, he said.Zaev commended OSCE assistance to Macedonia’s progress, saying that all recommendations, including the ones of the European Commission, have been incorporated in the government’s reform plan.Under this plan, Macedonia will work on establishing democratic institutions, independent judiciary, free media. Special attention is being paid to establishing fair, efficient judicial system and advancing the country’s relations with its neighbors, Zaev said.Reaffirming the country’s strategic goals – the EU, NATO membership and economic prosperity – Zaev said the government had been working eagerly to that effect.

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Save the Children: 130 Yemeni children die each day due to Saudi blockade

in MIDLE EAST/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

According to prominent humanitarian organisation Save the Children, no less than 130 children die every single day in Yemen due to malnutrition and preventable disease caused by the Saudi-led near total blockade of the country. The organisation furthermore warned that the situation will deteriorate even further if the lockdown of Yemen isn’t immediately lifted. The warning comes less than two weeks after Saudi Arabia announced that it would further restrict all access to Yemen by sea, air and land. The increased lockdown comes after a Yemeni missile was fired at Riyadh in retaliation for the two-year long military campaign the Saudi kingdom has been waging on its southern neighbour. Along with humanitarian organisations, three UN agencies, the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the WHO, have also made an official plea to Saudi Arabia to lift its blockade of Yemen, stating that unless Riyadh complies, “untold thousands of innocent victims, among them many children, will die”.

 

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Venezuela wins Russia and China backing as it says it is honoring debt

in AMERICAS/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

Venezuela has ottenied easier debt terms from Russia and got a vote of confidence from China on Wednesday, as the oil-rich country said it had starting making interest payments on bonds after a delay that had threatened to trigger a default. A debt restructuring deal with Russia that allows Caracas to make “minimal” payments to Moscow in the next six years, together with a separate statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry that Venezuela was capable of handing the debt issue “appropriately”. It was underlined that the reserve of support its socialist government enjoys of easy measures from both two countries. Venezuela has borrowed billions of dollars from Russia and China over the years, primarily through oil-for-loan deals. The two countries could provide a lifeline to Venezuela as it seeks to keep its deeply depressed economy solvent, even as U.S. and European sanctions target the government of President Nicolas Maduro.  On Wednesday, the Economy Ministry said it had started transferring $200 million in interest payments on those bonds, which mature in 2019 and 2024.

 

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Poroshenko, Mitchell agree on priority steps in Ukraine-U.S. relations

in EUROPE/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell have agreed on priority steps in relations between the two countries, the presidential press service has reported. “The interlocutors discussed in detail a number of issues of bilateral relations between Ukraine and the United States and coordinated priority steps as part of strengthening them, in the best interests of both sides and joint defense and promotion of freedom and democracy, the rule of law and human rights”, the statement reads. In addition, during the meeting, the sides noted the importance of “new approaches and bold initiatives” in the issue of a strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States – from enhanced political, trade, economic and energy cooperation to strengthening defense and security partnership between the countries. The sides also discussed the reform process in Ukraine.

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EU recommends Ukraine accelerate implementation of reforms

in EUROPE/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

The European Union says that the evaluation of Ukrainian reforms shows considerable progress but Ukraine needs to accelerate their implementation to reap full benefits, according to an EU report”. A report produced by the European External Action Service and the European Commission highlights that Ukraine has pursued the implementation of a number of reforms identified in its Association Agenda in 2017, with several significant successes. Progress in other areas has been less forthcoming, with accelerated implementation needed to bring about real change for the Ukrainian people”, the European Commission said in a statement. “Since last year’s report, we have seen a number of long-awaited achievements. Our Association Agreement entered into force, and Ukrainian citizens were granted visa-free travel for short stay visits to the Schengen area. We now expect the implementation of reforms to be accelerated so that Ukrainian citizens can fully reap the benefits of our partnership. Ukraine can count on the European Union’s continued support in order to make this possible”, the statement quoted High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini, as saying.

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House Dems introduce impeachment articles against Trump

in AMERICAS/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

A half-dozen Democrats on Wednesday introduced articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, accusing him of obstruction of justice and other offenses, in a long-shot effort that stands little chance in the Republican-led House. Indeed, the large majority of Democrats seem intent on having nothing to do with the effort either as lawmakers await the results of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Democratic leaders have argued that the impeachment campaign riles up Trump’s GOP base, a critical bloc in next year’s midterm elections. The five articles accused the president of obstruction of justice related to the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, undermining the independence of the federal judiciary and other offenses. “We have taken this action because of great concerns for the country and our Constitution and our national security and our democracy”, Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., said at a news conference to announce the effort.

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Iranian President: outsiders harming the region

in MIDLE EAST/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

During a cabinet session on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the presence of foreign powers hasn’t done any good for the region. By getting involved in the Middle East, foreign powers only upset the Middle East’s security by interfering in the region and seeking to market and sell their arms, preparing the ground for interference in the regional market, and playing with oil prices to pursue and maximize their own purposes. “Foreign presence in the region has only caused troubles”, as he said. President Rouhani criticized some regional countries for depending on foreign powers, such as Britain and the US, and for believing that big powers could establish and guaranteed security in the Middle East. Criticizing trans-regional powers for conducting wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen, he also condemned Saudi Arabia for committing crimes against the defenseless Muslim people of Yemen. In fact, since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its allies have launched a military campaign against Yemen to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh and because of several attacks more than 14.000 people have been killed and millions have been forced from their homes while the country is facing severe famine and a deadly cholera outbreak.

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Macron’s tag: France is sceptical, but he has the upper hand

in EUROPE/PRESS RELEASE/REGIONS by

Adrien Taquet, an advertising executive who entered parliament as one of Macron’s novice MPs, and one of the most closest member of the group of Macron from the beginning, has spoken about Macron after six months of Presidence. He has stressed the importance of the reforms that Macron is carrying on with his executive. Among them the most important concerns three legislative changes: “a law to clean up politics including banning MPs from hiring family members, flagship reforms to loosen France’s complex labour code, making it easier to hire and fire […] and controversial anti-terror legislation that allowed Macron to end France’s two-year state of emergency by writing hardline special policing powers into law”. He’s trying now to find a solution to challenge the name that has be given by the opposition to Macron, as the president of the rich.

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