The Brexit effect: how leaving the EU hit the UK | FT Film
Financial Times – 18-10-2022
The UK’s recent disastrous “mini” Budget can trace its origins back to Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. The economic costs of Brexit were masked by the Covid-19 pandemic and the crisis in Ukraine. But six years after the UK voted to leave, the effect has become clear. In this film, senior FT writers and British businesspeople examine how Brexit hit the UK economy, the political conspiracy of silence, and why there has not yet been a convincing case for a ‘Brexit dividend’.
Jolie’s nerves were running high as she walked into the campus of Goldsmiths, the University of London, last Friday morning. She’d planned to arrive early enough that the campus would be deserted, but her fellow students were already beginning to filter in to start their day.
In the hallway of an academic building, Jolie, who’d worn a face mask to obscure her identity, waited for the right moment to reach into her bag for the source of her nervousness – several pieces of A4-size paper she had printed out in the small hours of the night.
Finally, when she made sure none of the students – especially those who, like Jolie, come from China – were watching, she quickly pasted one of them on a notice board.
“Life not zero-Covid policy, freedom not martial-lawish lockdown, dignity not lies, reform not cultural revolution, votes not dictatorship, citizens not slaves,” it read, in English.
A Russian nuclear missile during the military parade in Moscow’s Red Square in 2020, marking the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty ImagesThe world is on the cusp of a new era where nuclear weapons are likely to play a more prominent role. Read more on Project-Syndicate.org
Truss’s Departure Kicks Off Another UK Leadership Contest
Lawmakers from the ruling Conservative Party in the United Kingdom (UK) will hold a preliminary vote (FT) on Monday to choose candidates to succeed Liz Truss, who announced her resignation yesterday. Party members will then choose from the final two candidates in an online poll next Friday. The victor will become the UK’s fourth prime minister in four years and take the helm of a country rattled by inflation and market turmoil under Truss’s six week tenure. Ex–finance minister Rishi Sunak, who opposed Truss’s controversial tax cuts, is expected to stand for the role. Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, an immigration hard-liner, and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson could also join (The Economist) the race. Markets have calmed after Truss’s second finance minister reversed her budgetary plans, but the Conservative Party still trails the opposition Labour Party by around 30 percent in opinion polls.
U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said at a news conference Oct. 18, 2022, that Lafarge and its Syrian subsidiary were responsible for providing significant funds to ISIS. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)
NEW YORK — Global cement company Lafarge will pay the U.S. government nearly $780 million for conspiring with Islamic State militants to run a production plant in war-ravaged Syria during its civil war — a move that helped bolster the terrorist group’s meager finances, officials said Tuesday.
A top executive of Lafarge, which was acquired by Swiss-based Holcim in 2015, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn to a count of conspiring to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations, admitting that Lafarge knowingly engaged in a deal with Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and the al-Nusrah Front (ANF), a Syrian Islamist militia, in 2013 and 2014.
The guilty plea marked the first time a corporation was prosecuted under a U.S. statute that prohibits a person or entity from assisting foreign terrorist groups, officials said. The Justice Department has a broad ability to bring such cases in U.S. courts even if the conduct generally occurred abroad but also involves at least one wire transaction locally.
Justice Department officials said Tuesday that the two groups obtained at least $6 million in payments from Lafarge. The payoffs allowed Lafarge to operate the plant in the Northern region of Syria, near the Turkish border, and bought them protection from the militias.
The Islamic State also made more than $3 million directly through the sale of cement it obtained at the end of Lafarge’s operation there starting in late 2014.
In total, Lafarge agreed to forfeit $687 million and pay $91 million in criminal fines to the United States.
U.S. District Judge William F. Kuntz, who accepted Lafarge’s guilty plea, said the case “impacts global communities [and] the national security of the United States,” as well as victims of the terrorists.
Lafarge, which is based in France, had dealings with ISIS at a time when the group was responsible for capturing and killing journalists and aid workers in the devastated region.
Justice Department officials said the company paid for access to the plant and for protection from ISIS at a time when other corporations were fleeing Syria.
The Islamic State even issued stamped driving permits for Lafarge workers to get access to the plant.
“To the brothers at the checkpoints of Qarah Qawzak Bridge, may Allah keep you safe,” a translation of the permit read. “Kindly allow the employees of Lafarge Cement Company to pass through after completing the necessary work and after paying their dues to us.”
U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said at a news conference Tuesday that Lafarge and its Syrian subsidiary were responsible for providing significant funds to ISIS, which “otherwise operated on a shoestring budget.”
“This conduct by a Western corporation was appalling and has no precedent or justification,” Peace said.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said greedy intentions by Lafarge fueled rampant violence.
“In its pursuit of profits, Lafarge and its top executives not only broke the law, they helped to finance a violent reign of terror that ISIS and [ANF]imposed on the people of Syria,” Monaco said.
In France, six former executives and Lafarge are facing pending criminal charges in connection with their relationships in Syria. Those six people were referred to in court papers in the New York case but were not named.
“We deeply regret that this conduct occurred and have worked with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve this matter,” Lafarge said in a statement.
The conduct did not involve “Lafarge operations or employees in the United States and none of the executives who were involved in the conduct are with Lafarge or any affiliated entities today,” the statement also said.
The powerful explosion that crippled Vladimir Putin’s showcase bridge over the Kerch Strait linking Russia and Crimea increased pressure on the cornered Kremlin potentate to do something shocking, as he loses control on the battlefield and inside his royal court. But will he stop at the intensified missile bombardments that are hitting apartments and playgrounds in Kyiv and other civilian infrastructure across Ukraine?
TTCT – Ngày 16-9-2022, thiếu nữ 22 tuổi người Kurd Mahsa Amini bị cảnh sát đạo đức Iran tại thủ đô Tehran bắt giữ về tội “ăn mặc không đứng đắn” và mang về đồn.
Một phụ nữ người Iran tự cắt tóc trong cuộc biểu tình bên ngoài lãnh sự quán Iran tại Istanbul, Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ. Ảnh: AFP
Chuyện này rất phổ biến tại Iran, vì phụ nữ ra đường phải có khăn che tóc. Tùy thời điểm và địa điểm, lúc gay gắt thì phải khoác cả áo choàng đen hay không được dùng khăn màu. Có lúc không được dùng cả vớ trắng vì phụ nữ không được hở cổ chân, họ tuân thủ nhưng đi vớ trắng để phản đối. Có lúc nới thì tóc được hở ít nhiều và khăn quấn nhiều màu lượt là đẹp mắt.
Cách mạng thần quyền ở Iran thành công năm 1979 và lúc này lúc kia, khắt khe và cởi mở tùy tình hình. Ngược lại với các chế độ Hồi giáo quân chủ thân Mỹ ở vùng Vịnh, Iran có bầu cử quốc hội và tổng thống dân chủ và thật thà ít nhiều. Còn nhớ Cách mạng xanh năm 2009, quần chúng xuống đường phản đối cuộc bầu cử tổng thống bị cho là gian lận.
Is there a way to bridge the US political divide? | Vantage Point Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera English – 11/9/2022
A culture war is raging in the United States. Every issue seems to be a matter of identity – left or right, liberal or conservative. It’s getting louder — and violent. Is there a way out? Or is the U.S. culture war its new forever war? Malika Bilal looks at the issue for #AJVantagePoint.
Analysis by Nadeen Ebrahim and Abbas Al Lawati, CNN
Updated 11:20 AM EDT, Fri October 14, 2022
Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, center, speaks during a news conference following a meeting of OPEC+ countries in Vienna, Austria, on October 5.Akos Stiller/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.Abu DhabiCNN —
The Saudi-American relationship appears to have hit rock bottom.
After a move by the Saudi-led OPEC+ oil cartel to cut oil production, which could see inflation in the United States soaring just weeks ahead of the midterm elections, President Joe Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper that it’s time for the US to rethink its relationship with Saudi Arabia.
‘Are the best days behind China now?’ Disillusioned Chinese ponder future
14:05 – Source: CNNHong KongCNN Business —
When Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago, China had just overtaken Japan to become the world’s second largest economy.
It has grown at a phenomenal pace since then. With an average annual growth rate of 6.7% since 2012, China has seen one of the fastest sustained expansions for a major economy in history. In 2021, its GDP hit nearly $18 trillion, constituting 18.4% of the global economy, according to the World Bank.
BREAKING The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that condemns #Russia‘s “illegal so-called referendums” in regions within #Ukraine‘s internationally-recognized borders, and demands it reverses its annexation declaration.
Russian Missiles Strike Across Ukraine Following Bridge Attack
Russia launched (FT) its most extensive air strikes on Ukraine in months after a Russian bridge was bombed over the weekend. At least ten people were killed across Ukraine, including at least five people in the capital, Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the strikes a retaliation for Ukraine’s “terrorist attack” on a bridge linking Russia to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the bridge attack. The Russian strikes hit at least ten Ukrainian cities, targeting infrastructure and civilian areas. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the attacks (Reuters) “horrific and indiscriminate.” Meanwhile, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he ordered troops to deploy (Reuters) alongside Russian fighters near Ukraine.
Is the Ukraine war at a turning point? The Ukrainian army has been gaining territory fast while in Russia we’ve seen more unease about how the war is going — even on state TV. #AJStartHere with Sandra Gathmann explains the recent news from Ukraine and Russia.
Human Rights Advocates From Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine Win Nobel Peace Prize
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded (AP) to jailed Belarusian rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian rights group Memorial, and the Ukrainian rights group Center for Civil Liberties. Norwegian Nobel Committee Chair Berit Reiss-Andersen celebrated their work toward anti-militarism, the rule of law, and “peace and fraternity between nations.” Bialiatski founded the human rights organization Viasna and was jailed without trial following his participation in the 2020 protests against the reelection of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. A Russian court shut down Memorial in December, and the Center for Civil Liberties has worked to document Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians. While Reiss-Andersen said the prize is not intended to send a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, it is seen as an implicit rebuke of Russia’s continued onslaught on Ukraine (Reuters).
OPEC+ Weighs Deep Supply Cuts Despite U.S. Concerns
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and oil producers such as Russia are considering a sizable cut (NYT) in their oil output as they meet in Vienna today. The bloc and its allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, could cut production by two million barrels per day, or about 2 percent of global supply. The United States has lobbied Saudi Arabia against such a measure. Also today, European Union (EU) countries agreed (Reuters, AFP) to impose a price cap on Russian oil sales to third countries as part of a new sanctions package on Russia. The idea for a price cap was originally proposed by the Group of Seven (G7). G7 countries that aren’t part of the EU are expected to enact laws (NYT) similar to the EU’s to enforce the price cap.
Đọt Chuối Non 