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Magyarország
2017. XI. 6. Gulyás: nemzetbiztonsági kockázat az alkotmányos alapjog korlátozására is lehetőséget ad. Semmilyen újabb mecset építésére nincs szükség Magyarországon. A ma velünk élő iszlám közösség a jelenlegi keretek között - ahogyan eddig, úgy ezután is - maximálisan élni tud a lelkiismereti és vallásszabadság jogával, melyet a magyar alaptörvény mindenkinek biztosít. A közösségi gyakorlás feltételeinek kialakult keretei vannak, melyek ma is adottak. Ezeket bővíteni - mivel a magyar kormány a migrációt a déli határnál megállította - szükségtelen. Már a ’90-es években a magyar Alkotmánybíróság egyértelműen kimondta, hogy a történelmi egyházak kiemeltként kezelése összhangban van az alkotmánnyal. Ezt az értelmezést az Alaptörvény csak megerősítette. Az Országgyűlés helyes döntést hozott akkor, amikor az iszlám közösség számára is egyházi keretek között biztosította a lelkiismereti és vallásszabadság gyakorlását. Ez az elismerés sem járt együtt mecsetépítéssel. Egy dolgot látni kell, és ebben minden, az iszlám vallást békésen gyakorló hívőnek partnernek kell lennie: igenis Európában az iszlám közösségek radikalizálódása komoly problémát jelent, komoly biztonsági kockázatot eredményezett, és nem véletlen, hogy minden állam szembesül azzal a kérdéssel, hogy az ország polgárai biztonságának szavatolása és a lelkiismereti és vallásszabadság érvényesülése hogyan egyeztethető össze. A magyar államnak pedig az a kötelessége, hogy azt a zsidó-keresztény kultúrát, amely Magyarországon hosszú évszázadok alatt kialakult, megóvja és megőrizze. Látni kell, hogy Nyugat-Európában tapasztalható aggasztó biztonsági kockázat a muszlim közösségek radikalizálódásával is összefügg és ez olyan nemzetbiztonsági kockázatot eredményez, amelynek elhárítása érdekében az iszlám békés híveinek és követőinek nem megtámadni kell minket, hanem támogatást adni abban, hogy Magyarországon hasonló helyzet ne állhasson elő. Nekünk szövetségeseink azok, akik a muszlim közösség részeként ennek a vallásnak a békés gyakorlását tűzik ki célul, de ma Európában valamennyi, a saját biztonságát szavatolni kívánó állam számol a radikalizáció veszélyével. (Forrás: ATV)
Germany
6 Nov 2017 The German army has war-gamed the break up of the European Union in study of security crises that could face the country by 2040. The scenario was one of six examined in a study of security challenges German generals believe could unfold over the next 23 years. "The increasingly disorderly, sometimes chaotic and conflictual world has dramatically changed the security policy environment for Germany and Europe." The other five include one in which some central and east European states enter an "Eastern bloc," presumably a reference to the growing influence of Russia. Other scenarios envisaged European countries embracing "state capitalism" and a halt to globalization. The study, called Strategic Perspective 2040, made "robust predictions" but did not attach probabilities to them. (Source: Telegraph)
Great Britain
7 November 2017 Dementia is now Britain’s biggest killer, overtaking heart disease for first time. Some 70,366 people died from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia last year compared to around 66,076 deaths from heart disease. Projections suggest that 1.2 million will be living with dementia by 2040. Around 850,000 people in Britain are living with dementia, the majority of whom have Alzheimer's disease. People with Alzheimer’s disease who received blood plasma from people aged between 18 and 30 were found to be able to dress and feed themselves more easily. (Source: Telegraph)
Russia
November 8, 2017 Russia says it will field a robot tank that outperforms humans. The robot, called the Nerehta, can carry a 12.7mm or 7.62mm machine gun or an AG-30M grenade launcher. Russian forces tested small unmanned ground vehicles, including the Nerehta-like Platforma-M during last September’s Zapad-2017 exercises in Belarus. The Russian military has also created a larger semi-autonomous tank called the T-14, which sports a remotely operated turret. (Source: DefenseOne): http://tinyurl.com/ybotpyzr
Madagascar
3 November 2017 The World Health Organization now states in Madagascar are 1,801 suspected plague cases. There have been 127 deaths. This year's outbreak has started earlier as forest fires have driven rats into rural communities, which has then spread into cities for the first time. The International Federation of Red Cross has set-up a makeshift treatment clinic at the Andouhatapenaka Hospital in Antananarivo. Twenty beds are available to be used in the clinic. Thousands of infected adults are unwilling to seek help because they are scared of hospitals. Concerned health officials have also warned an ancient ritual, called Famadihana, where relatives dig up the corpses of their loved ones, may be fueling the spread. Experts have long observed that plague season coincides with the period when Famadihana ceremonies are held from July to October. Relatives invite all their fellow villagers to attend the ceremony and to take part in the procession as well as musical and food festivities, but the wrapping of the body is a purely family affair. The dead may be 'turned' more than once but only every five, seven or nine years, and can be wrapped in several shrouds if different parts of the family or loved ones want to honour them in an intense celebration accompanied by music, dancing and singing, fuelled by alcoholic drinks. As soon as the ritual is over, the mats on which the bodies are laid were pulled up. Many participants store them under their mattresses in the belief it will bring them good luck, harboring bacteria. In 2014, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists found large outbreaks tend to coincide with the fluctuation of air pressure and sea surface temperature, partly driven by El Nino. It was based on 48 years worth of data. El Nino, along with its little sister La Nina, are part of a recurring shift in climate that occurs as warm water shifts from one side of the Pacific to the other. It is caused by a shift in the distribution of warm water in the Pacific Ocean around the equator. Usually the wind blows strongly from east to west, due to the rotation of the Earth, causing water to pile up in the western part of the Pacific. This pulls up colder water from the deep ocean in the eastern Pacific. However, in an El Nino, the winds pushing the water get weaker and cause the warmer water to shift back towards the east. This causes the eastern Pacific to get warmer. But as the ocean temperature is linked to the wind currents, this causes the winds to grow weaker still and so the ocean grows warmer, meaning the El Nino grows. This change in air and ocean currents around the equator can have a major impact on the weather patterns around the globe by creating pressure anomalies in the atmosphere. (Source: Mail)
Uganda
Nov 4, 2017 Deadly virus worse than plague and with no cure breaks out. The disease, known as Marburg virus disease (MVD), is similar to Ebola and can be lethal in up to 90 per cent of cases. “The virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected persons or wild animals (e.g. monkeys and fruit bats)” - WHO said. Early symptoms include fever, chills, headache, and myalgia. (Source: Express)
Antarctica
November 3, 2017 This year in September the ozone hole over Antarctica shrank to its smallest peak since 1988, NASA said yesterday. It was 19.6 million square kilometers wide. Stormy conditions in the upper atmosphere warmed the air and kept chemicals chlorine and bromine from eating ozone. Ozone is a colorless combination of three oxygen atoms. High in the atmosphere, about 7 to 25 miles (11 to 40 kilometers) above the Earth, ozone shields Earth from ultraviolet rays that cause skin cancer, crop damage and other problems. (Source: Yahoo)
China Kína
8 November 2017 Trump is on a five-country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. He said in Japan that he's fond of Xi, the newly-elevated communist party chair of China, and the foreign leader likes him. But he won't allow their mutual affection to cloud his judgement, Trump asserted, as he pledged to take 'very, very strong action' against China and other countries that have been treating the United States 'unfairly' in the trade arena. Trump left South Korea yesterday after delivering a speech to the country's National Assembly. He said in a tweet that he was looking forward to again seeing Xi, 'who is just off his great political victory.' None of the major western platforms for social media are even allowed to operate in China. Beijing is the third destination on a five-nation hustle across eastern Asia. As with every other stop on this trip, North Korea is expected to dominate Xi and Trump's discussions. The administration believes that China is behind as much as $600 million in IP theft through forced technology transfers. Trump could unilaterally impose tariffs on Beijing through Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 if USTR determines that China is engaging in 'unfair trade practices' - a powerful weapon if he decides to use it. Trump has been hesitant to act against Beijing so long as Xi goes along with his plans to suffocate North Korea's nuclear ambition. (Source: DailyMail)
Kína
2017. XI. 1. Erős a verseny a régió államai között kínai befektetések elnyerése iránt. A „16+1 együttműködés” - transzregionális platform Kína és 16 közép-kelet-európai állam közötti kapcsolat elmélyítése céljából. Jiabao, a Kínai Népköztársaság korábbi elnöke, 2011-es hivatalos magyarországi látogatásán kijelentette, hogy Kína elkötelezett a közép-kelet-európai (KKE) országokkal történő kapcsolatok fejlesztése iránt, melynek érdekében egy új mechanizmus megalakítását is bejelentette. Egy évvel később Varsóban, Kína és a 16 KKE állam, kapcsolataik intézményi koordinálására létrehozta a „16 + 1 együttműködés” elnevezésű platformot. A részt vevő 16 KKE állam: Albánia, Bosznia-Hercegovina, Horvátország, Macedónia, Montenegró, Szerbia, Szlovénia, Bulgária, Románia, Csehország, Magyarország, Lengyelország, Szlovákia, Lettország, Litvánia és Észtország. Növelve befolyását a világpolitikában, a „16 + 1 együttműködés” fontos jellegzetessége, hogy Kína nagy külpolitikai terve, az „Egy övezet egy út” részét képezi. 2012-ben Kína és a KKE országok miniszterelnökeinek varsói csúcstalálkozóján elfogadták a „Tizenkét intézkedést”. Ennek legfontosabb pontja a Pekingben működő, a Kínai Külügyminisztériumnak alárendelt Titkárság felállítása volt. Kína bejelentette, hogy egy 10 milliárd dolláros különleges hitelkeretet hoz létre, amelynek egy része kedvezményes kölcsönök formájában hívható le, elsősorban az infrastruktúra, a zöld gazdaság, stb. területén. A KKE országok kínai pénzintézeteknél pályázhatnak a projektek finanszírozására. Mgállapodtak, hogy létrehoznak egy 500 millió dollárból álló fejlesztési alapot. Együttműködést írtak elő pénzügyi, turisztikai, kulturális és tudományos területen. Kína ígéretet tett arra, hogy a következő öt évben 5000 hallgatónak biztosít ösztöndíjat a régióból. 2013 novemberében bukaresti csúcstalálkozón rögzítették, hogy az érintett államok kormányfői évente fognak találkozni. Megállapodtak, hogy kidolgozzák a „16 + 1 együttműködés” középtávú programját. Kína és a KKE országok kereskedelmi kamarájának felállításáról született döntés. Magyarország, Szerbia és Kína bejelentette, hogy közösen újítják fel a Budapest és Belgrád közötti vasúti kapcsolatot. 2014 decemberében, belgrádi csúcstalálkozón kifejezték, hogy az együttműködés alapjának a „EU–Kína 2020 stratégiai együttműködési menetrend” dokumentum irányelveit és az EU jogszabályait tekintik. Aláírták a „16 + 1 együttműködés” első nagyszabású infrastrukturális projektjét, a Budapest-Belgrád vasútvonal felújítására. Támogatták a Kína-KKE Üzleti Tanács felállítását Varsóban. Döntés született a Kína-KKE Turisztikai Koordinációs Központ létrehozásáról Budapesten, és a Kína-KEE Befektetési Koordinációs Központ létrehozásáról Varsóban és Pekingben. 2015. novemberében, Suzhou-i csúcstalálkozón hangsúlyozták a „16+1 együttműködés” és az EU kapcsolatának a további erősödését, nevesítették a Kína-EU Összeköttetési Platformot. Külön hangsúlyt kapott a Magyarország és Kína között aláírt egyetértési nyilatkozat. Elfogadták, hogy a két régió közötti vasúti kapcsolatot – a már működő, Lodz és Chengdu városok közötti áruszállítás mintájára – fejlesztik. Működésbe lépett a vámkezelési együttműködési mechanizmus Görögország, Macedónia, Szerbia és Magyarország között, annak érdekében, hogy Pireusz kikötőjéből minél zavartalanabbul juthassanak el az áruk az EU-ba (China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line). Támogatták az Adriai-, a Balti-, és a Fekete-tengeri kikötők és kapcsolódó ipari parkok együttműködésére és azok gazdasági folyosókkal való összeköttetésére irányuló tervet (Adriatic-Baltic-Black Sea Seaport Cooperation). 2016. november, rigai csúcstalálkozó. Megalapítják a Kína–KKE Befektetési Alapot. Megegyeztek, hogy infrastrukturális fejlesztéseiket egyeztetik a transzeurópai közlekedési hálózat (TEN-T) útvonalaival. Rigában felállították a Kína-KKE Logisztikai Együttműködés Titkárságot, amely saját virtuális platformot is kapott (www.ceec-china-logistics.org). Támogatták a mechanizmus második nagyszabású infrastrukturális projektjét, a Belgrád-Bar vasúti vonal modernizációját. A „16 + 1 együttműködés" mechanizmus három szintje: az állami vezetők fóruma; a szakértői egyeztetések szintje; és a Pekingben működő, az érintett országok nagykövetségével folyamatos kapcsolatot ápoló központi szerv, a Titkárság. Kritikus hangok szerint Kína egy saját nemzetközi szervezetet igyekszik létrehozni az EU-n belül. A 16 KKE országból 11 az Európai Unió tagállama, 12 a NATO tagja. A 16 ország földrajzilag nagyon különböző és rendkívül eltérő történelmi tapasztalatokkal rendelkezik, az egyetlen közös történelmi tényező, hogy egykor mindannyian a kommunista blokk részei voltak. A 16 + 1 együttműködés” hosszabb távon hozzájárulhat egyfajta regionális identitást erősítéséhez. A gazdaság dominál - eredményorientált pénzügyi együttműködés (kölcsönök vagy beruházások) és az infrastruktúra-támogatás. Az együttműködés motorja Kína; ez az aszimmetria intézmények létrehozásában és működtetésében érhető leginkább tetten. A mechanizmus megalakulásakor kitűzött célt - hogy Kína és a KKE régió közötti kereskedelmet 100 mrd. USD-ra növeljék - nem sikerült elérni. Kína exportja 2015-ben 42,2 milliárd dollárt tett ki, míg a 16 ország exportja Kínába 14,1 milliárd USD. Nem figyelhető meg nagy felfutás a kínai befektetésekben. A zöldmezős beruházások elmaradnak, holott ezek munkahelyteremtő képességük miatt rendkívül népszerű eszközei a belpolitikáknak. A KKE régió kormányai pozitívan ítélik meg az „Egy övezet, egy út” projektet, amely optimista vélekedés szerint alkalmas a kereskedelem bővítésén keresztül arra, hogy a régió kitörjön az Európán belüli fél-periférikus helyzetéből. Egyes uniós vezető körök és tagállamok kormányai - pl. Németország - szerint a régiónak nincs szüksége új, EU-n kívüli csatornára a Kínával való kapcsolatok menedzseléséhez s ez, mint irányelv a tagjelölt öt balkáni országra is igaz. Aggodalom szerint a mechanizmus keretén belül a közös projektek – főként az infrastrukturális beruházások és annak finanszírozási formája – ellentétesek EU-s jogszabályokkal; a projektek nem átláthatóak, sértik az EU belső piaci szabályait (közbeszerzés, környezeti hatásvizsgálat, műszaki szabványok stb.). Eszerint a mechanizmus nem felel meg az európai elveknek és értékeknek és nem követi azt a modellt, amelyet az EU képvisel a KEE régióban. Egyes kritikus hangok szerint Kína igyekszik éket verni Európán belül, a „16+1 együttműködést” egyenesen Kína trójai falovának tekintik. A „16 + 1 együttműködés” működő transzregionális platformmá vált, létrejött intézmény, mechanizmus, amely javította Kína és a KEE régió kapcsolatát. (Forrás: Geopolitika)
Lebanon
November 4, 2017 Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hariri resigned today, saying he believed there was an assassination plot against him and accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world. Hariri flew to Saudi Arabia yesterday after a meeting in Beirut with Velayati, the top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. The resignation risks exacerbating sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shi‘ite Muslims and returning Lebanon to paralysis in government. Since taking office, Hariri had worked to garner international aid for Lebanon to cope with the strain of hosting some 1.5 million Syrian refugees. The United States is considering new sanctions on Hezbollah, as part of a tougher stance against Iran and its allies, that Lebanese politicians have fretted could hurt the economy. (Source: Reuters)
Saudi Arabia
Nov. 7, 2017 The Saudi government is aiming to confiscate cash and other assets worth as much as $800 billion in its broadening crackdown on alleged corruption among the kingdom’s elite, according to people familiar with the matter. (Source: TheWallStreetJournal)
November 6, 2017 Hezbollah acts of “aggression” on the Kingdom “were considered acts of a declaration of war against Saudi Arabia by Lebanon and by the Lebanese Party of the Devil” - Saudi Gulf affairs minister Sabhan said. (Source: Reuters)
November 5, 2017 Future Saudi king tightens grip on power with arrests including Prince Alwaleed, a nephew of the king and owner of investment firm Kingdom Holding 4280.SE, which invests in firms such as Citigroup (C.N) and Twitter (TWTR.N). He was among 11 princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers detained. (Source: Reuters): https://tinyurl.com/y7qlnbb4
Nov 4, 2017 Some have suggested may be a countercoup attempt. Prominent billionaire, member of the royal Saudi family, and one of the biggest shareholders of Citi, News Corp. and Twitter - not to mention frequent CNBC guest - Talal, along with eleven senior princes, and over thirty ministers, has been arrested for corruption and money laundering charges on orders from the new anti-corruption committee headed by Crown Prince Salman. Among those fired and/or arrested are the head of National Royal Guards, Abdullah, the Minister of Economy and Planning, Fakeih, and Admiral Sultan, the Commander of the Saudi Naval Forces. The heads of the main three Saudi owned TV networks were arrested, too. (Source: ZeroHedge): https://tinyurl.com/ydd9cdlm
Nov 4, 2017 Yemen's air force targeted an airport in Saudi Arabia's capital with a ballistic missile, according to Yemen's Houthi-controlled Defense Ministry. The attack was conducted using a Yemeni-made, long-range missile called the Burqan 2H. The missile intercepted by the Patriot missile defense system, leading to shrapnel falling over an uninhibited area east of the airport the Saudi Ministry of Defense said in a statement. Saudi Arabia has been leading a coalition of states against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who toppled Yemen's internationally recognized government in 2015 which now is based in the southern city of Aden. (Source: CNN)
United States
Nov 10, 2017 Trump, Xi push opposing views on trade. At Asia summit, U.S. president disavows multilateral agreements that ‘tie our hands’ “What we will no longer do is enter into large agreements that will tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible,” Mr. Trump said. Mr. Xi’s campaign has drawn skepticism, especially in Asia: At the same time that he has embraced the rhetoric of free trade, he and his government have solidified their control of the Chinese economy and espoused a “Made In China 2025” industrial policy that seeks Chinese leadership in a wide range of sectors, from robotics to self-driving cars. China continues to face a long list of allegations of unfairly priced and illegally subsidized exports, and complaints by foreign firms about restrictions on access to its market. Asian partners have been concerned by Mr. Trump’s bid to renegotiate - and threats to kill - a five-year-old bilateral free-trade pact with South Korea and the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. (Source. TheWallStreetJournal)
(November 9, 2017) The National Archives is releasing documents previously withheld in accordance with the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act. (Source: NationalArchives): https://tinyurl.com/ycpqr98k
Nov 6, 2017 A day after a gunman massacred parishioners in a small Texas church, the Air Force admitted yesterday that it had failed to enter the man’s domestic violence court-martial into a federal database that could have blocked him from buying the rifle he used to kill 26 people. (Source: TheNewYorkTimes)
November 1, 2017 The CIA is releasing hundreds of thousands of documents, images, and computer files recovered during the May 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The newly-available material provides invaluable insights into the terrorist organization that struck America on September 11, 2001. FDD’s Long War Journal has advocated for the release of bin Laden’s secret cache since 2011, arguing that such transparency would help to better inform the American people, experts and policymakers. Today’s release goes a long way toward satisfying that goal. (Source: TheWeeklyStandard)
5 November, 2017 At least 26 people were shot dead by gunman and at least 24 others are being treated for injuries. Kelley, 26, a married father, was wearing black, tactical gear and carrying a military style assault rifle when walked into the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs in Texas and opened fire. Kelley, of New Braunfels, a suburb of San Antonio, was confronted by a neighbor armed with a rifle. Kelley, who was married, was an Air Force veteran and ex-Bible studies teacher. He was dishonorably discharged from the Air Force for assaulting his wife and child in 2014. Sutherland Springs is a rural community in Wilson County, Texas, that's made up of about 400 people. (Source: DailyMail)
November 3, 2017 FBI documents dated March 12, 1968, compiled background information on King, allege King Jr. had secret lovechild, orgies. “Throughout the ensuing years and until this date King has continued to carry on his sexual aberrations secretly while holding himself out to the public view as a moral leader of religious conviction.” King was assassinated April 4, 1968. (Source: SacBee)
Nov 3, 2017 List: all of the Hollywood power players accused of sexual assault or harassment (Source: USAToday): https://tinyurl.com/ybjoqe36
November 1, 2017 Of the 3.35 million Muslims in America right now, 2.05 million are adults - and “a majority of them, 58 percent, are migrants.” They weren’t born here. They were let in the gate. The demographic projections estimate that Muslims will make up 2.1 percent of the U.S. population by the year 2050, surpassing people who identify as Jewish on the basis of religion as the second-largest faith group in the country (not including people who say they have no religion). (Source: TheWashingtonTimes)
Globalization
Nov 10, 2017 How to survive a Robot apocalypse: just close the door. Robots are mastering math, but hand-eye coordination continues to elude them. (Source. TheWallStreetJournal): https://tinyurl.com/yb7o73f4
Nov. 5, 2017 The Paradise Papers: the latest in a series of leaks made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists shedding light on the trillions of dollars that move through offshore tax havens. Appleby helps clients reduce their tax burden; obscure their ownership of assets like companies, private aircraft, real estate and yachts; and set up huge offshore trusts that in some cases hold billions of dollars. The core of the leak, totaling more than 13.4 million documents, focuses on the Bermudan law firm Appleby, a 119-year old company. The records date back to 1950 and up to 2016. Americans - companies and people - dominate the list of clients. (Source: TheNewYorkTimes): https://tinyurl.com/y9edkyom
November 5, 2017 When the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. A trove of 13.4 million records exposes ties between Russia and U.S. President Trump’s billionaire commerce secretary, the secret dealings of the chief fundraiser for Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and the offshore interests of the queen of England and more than 120 politicians around the world. The leaked documents, dubbed the Paradise Papers, show how deeply the offshore financial system is entangled with the overlapping worlds of political players, private wealth and corporate giants, including Apple, Nike, Uber and other global companies that avoid taxes through increasingly imaginative bookkeeping maneuvers. One offshore web leads to Trump’s commerce secretary, private equity tycoon Ross, who has a stake in a shipping company that has received more than $68 million in revenue since 2014 from a Russian energy company co-owned by the son-in-law of Russian President Putin. In all, the offshore ties of more than a dozen Trump advisers, Cabinet members and major donors appear in the leaked data. Milner invested $850,000 in Cadre, a real estate firm co-founded by Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, Kushner. Milner is a Russian citizen who lives in Silicon Valley. His ties to Twitter, Facebook and Kushner’s firm have been previously disclosed. But his links to the Kremlin financial institutions weren’t known. Private equity funds controlled by Democratic mega-donor Soros, a hedge fund billionaire, use Appleby to help manage a web of offshore entities, including an investment in one company engaged in reinsurance, or insurance for insurers. The new files come from two offshore services firms as well as from 19 corporate registries maintained by governments in jurisdictions that serve as waystations in the global shadow economy. The leaks were obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and a network of more than 380 journalists in 67 countries. While having an offshore entity is often legal, the built-in secrecy attracts money launderers, drug traffickers, kleptocrats and others who want to operate in the shadows. The most detailed revelations emerge in decades of corporate records from the white-shoe offshore law firm Appleby and corporate services provider Estera, two businesses that operated together under the Appleby name until Estera became independent in 2016. At least 31,000 of the individual and corporate clients included in Appleby’s records are U.S. citizens or have U.S. addresses, more than from any other country. Clark, a one-time Democratic presidential hopeful and a retired four-star U.S. Army general who served as NATO’s supreme commander in Europe , was a director of an online gambling company with offshore subsidiaries, the files show. Appleby also counted clients from the United Kingdom, China and Canada among its biggest sources of business. Nearly 7 million records from Appleby and affiliates cover the period from 1950 to 2016 and include emails, billion-dollar loan agreements and bank statements involving at least 25,000 entities connected to people in 180 countries. Appleby is a member of the “Offshore Magic Circle,” an informal clique of the planet’s leading offshore law practices. The firm was founded Bermuda and has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and other offshore centers. The leaked cache of documents includes more than half a million files from Asiaciti Trust, a family-run offshore specialist that is headquartered in Singapore and has satellite offices from Samoa in the South Pacific to Nevis in the Caribbean. Appleby provides nuts-and-bolts legal help to corporations that seek to reduce their taxes in the countries where they do business. America’s most profitable company, Apple Inc., shopped around Europe and the Caribbean for a new island tax shelter after a U.S. Senate inquiry found that the tech giant had avoided tens of billions of dollars in taxes by shifting profits into Irish subsidiaries. One of Appleby’s top corporate clients was Glencore PLC, the world’s largest commodity trader. The files contain decades of deals, emails and multimillion-dollar loans to bankroll ventures in Russia, Latin America, Africa and Australia. The offshore industry is a globe-circling labyrinth of accountants, bankers, money managers, lawyers and middlemen who get paid to serve the interests of the rich and well-connected. Over the past decade or more, the European Union and other international organizations have pressured offshore havens to reform their laws and require that offshore go-betweens aggressively screen clients. Progress has been slow. (Source: InternationalConsortiumofInvestigativeJournalists): https://tinyurl.com/y8ukc7tt
Space
9th November 2017 China lost control of its 8.5-tonne Tiangong-1 space station last year and it started plummeting towards Earth. It will meet its fiery end in early-2018. Krag, Head of ESA’s Space Debris Office, said there is a chance of debris raining down on Spain, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria and Greece. He said: “Owing to the geometry of the station’s orbit, we can already exclude the possibility that any fragments will fall over any spot further north than 43 degrees North or further south than 43 degrees South. The Tiangong-1 spacecraft is 12 metres long with a diameter of 3.3 metres and had a launch mass of 8,506 kg. There has been no contact at all with it since 2016. (Source: DailyStar)
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