Senior U.S. diplomat for North Korea to retire - Reuters

FEBRUARY 27, 2018 / 3:15 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO

Senior U.S. diplomat for North Korea to retire

Josh Smith, David Brunnstrom

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department’s special representative for North Korea policy, Joseph Yun, plans to retire on Friday, just as signs are emerging that Pyongyang may be willing to talk with Washington.

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun answers questions from reporters following meeting with Japan and South Korea chief nuclear negotiators to talk about North Korean issues at the Iikuraguest house in Tokyo, Japan April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Yamanaka/Pool

The South Korean-born Yun has led the U.S. outreach to North Korea, quietly pursuing direct diplomacy, since taking his post under former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2016.

But his authority to negotiate with North Korea appeared to be undercut by the tug-of-war between the White House and State Department over the direction of North Korea policy under President Donald Trump.

Yun, a 32-year foreign service veteran, traveled to North Korea last June to help secure the release of comatose American student Otto Warmbier, whose detention and subsequent death further soured relations between Washington and Pyongyang.

His departure comes amid glimmers of hope for a diplomatic opening between Pyongyang and Washington.

In the latest attempt to defuse the crisis over North Korea’s weapons program, South Korea urged Washington and Pyongyang to give ground to allow for talks, and U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated he would negotiate with North Korea, but only under the right conditions.

“Ambassador Joe Yun, a respected member of the Senior Foreign Service, has decided to retire for personal reasons,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “has reluctantly accepted his decision and wished him ‎well,” she added.

Yun told CNN “it was completely my decision to retire at this time”, but he declined to comment to Reuters when asked in an email why he was leaving.

“CONSUMMATE DIPLOMAT”

Serving under an administration often riven by divisions over how to handle Pyongyang, Yun has sought direct diplomacy with North Korean officials at the United Nations, a senior State Department official told Reuters late last year.

Despite the daunting obstacles, Yun told colleagues and others he hoped his diplomatic efforts would lower the temperature in a dangerous nuclear stand-off, according to Reuters interviews with current and former U.S. officials and South Korean diplomats late last year.

Most were deeply skeptical about his chances.

“He’s such a dreamer,” a White House official said at the time, with a note of sarcasm.

Many Korea observers lamented Yun’s departure at a time when relations between Pyongyang and Washington are at a nadir.

“He is a consummate diplomat. Thoughtful, experienced, knowledgeable, and effective,” former deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia Abraham Denmark said of Yun on Twitter. “A huge loss for the U.S. government at a critical moment.”

South Korea’s foreign ministry said it had been aware that Yun planned to step down and said the South Korean government “highly appreciates Yun’s role while he was serving as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy.”

Yun’s departure comes as Trump has yet to nominate an ambassador to South Korea, and the administration’s failure to fill that post and a number of other key foreign policy positions has brought criticism in Congress and among former U.S. official and experts.

Nauert said despite the shakeup “our diplomatic efforts regarding North Korea will continue based on our maximum pressure campaign to isolate the DPRK until it agrees to begin credible talks toward a denuclearized Korean peninsula.”

Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Heekyong Yang in Seoul.; Editing by Michael Perry

Rupert Murdoch's Sky bid challenged by Comcast - BBC News

27/2/2018

Rupert Murdoch's Sky bid challenged by Comcast

US cable TV giant Comcast has made a £22.1bn takeover bid for Sky, challenging an existing offer from 21st Century Fox.

Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox had already agreed an £18.5bn deal to buy the 61% of Sky it does not already own.

Comcast said its bid of £12.50 per share was a 16% higher than the 21st Century Fox offer.

Comcast is the biggest US cable TV firm. It also owns the broadcast TV network NBC and Universal Pictures.

The company's chief executive Brian Roberts, said: "We would like to own the whole of Sky and we will be looking to acquire over 50% of the Sky shares," he said.

Mr Roberts added that the UK "is and will remain a great place to do business" and that Comcast wanted to "use Sky as a platform for our growth in Europe".

Comcast said Sky News was "an invaluable part of the UK news landscape", and said it intends to "maintain Sky News' existing brand and culture".

Fox's Sky bid has not been viewed favourably by the UK's competition authority, which in January provisionally found that it would not be in the public interest.

The Competition and Markets Authority is concerned that if the deal went through, the Murdoch Family Trust would have too much influence over public opinion and the political agenda.

Last week, 21st Century Fox said it would keep Sky News running for at least 10 years, with a fully independent board for the channel, to try to make the proposed deal more attractive to regulators.

The picture was made more complicated in December of last year when Walt Disney agreed to buy the bulk of 21st Century Fox's business, including its 39% Sky stake.

If that acquisition goes through, it could lessen the Murdoch family's UK influence.

Syria conflict: Women 'sexually exploited in return for aid' - BBC News

27/2/2018

Syria conflict: Women 'sexually exploited in return for aid'

By James Landale & Vinnie O'Dowd

BBC News

Aid worker Danielle Spencer: "They were withholding the aid... then using these women for sex"

Women in Syria have been sexually exploited by men delivering aid on behalf of the UN and international charities, the BBC has learned.

Aid workers said the men would trade food and lifts for sexual favours.

Despite warnings about the abuse three years ago, a new report shows it is continuing in the south of the country.

UN agencies and charities said they had zero tolerance of exploitation and were not aware of any cases of abuse by partner organisations in the region.

Aid workers told the BBC that the exploitation is so widespread that some Syrian women are refusing to go to distribution centres because people would assume they had offered their bodies for the aid they brought home.

One worker claimed that some humanitarian agencies were turning a blind eye to the exploitation because using third parties and local officials was the only way of getting aid into dangerous parts of Syria that international staff could not access.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) conducted an assessment of gender based violence in the region last year and concluded that humanitarian assistance was being exchanged for sex in various governorates in Syria.

The report, entitled "Voices from Syria 2018", said: "Examples were given of women or girls marrying officials for a short period of time for 'sexual services' in order to receive meals; distributors asking for telephone numbers of women and girls; giving them lifts to their houses 'to take something in return' or obtaining distributions 'in exchange for a visit to her home' or 'in exchange for services, such as spending a night with them'."

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It added: "Women and girls 'without male protectors', such as widows and divorcees as well as female IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons), were regarded as particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation."

Yet this exploitation was first reported three years ago. Danielle Spencer, a humanitarian adviser working for a charity, heard about the allegations from a group of Syrian women in a refugee camp in Jordan in March 2015.

She conducted a focus group with some of these women who told her how men from local councils in areas such as Dara'a and Quneitra had offered them aid for sex.

"They were withholding aid that had been delivered and then using these women for sex," Ms Spencer said.

Millions of Syrians have been displaced by the civil war and require international aid

"Some had experienced it themselves, some were very distraught.

"I remember one woman crying in the room and she was very upset about what she had experienced. Women and girls need to be protected when they are trying to receive food and soap and basic items to live. The last thing you need is a man who you're supposed to trust and supposed to be receiving aid from, then asking you to have sex with him and withholding aid from you."

She continued: "It was so endemic that they couldn't actually go without being stigmatised. It was assumed that if you go to these distributions, that you will have performed some kind of sexual act in return for aid."

A few months later, in June 2015, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) surveyed 190 women and girls in Dara'a and Quneitra. Its report suggested about 40% had said sexual violence took place when they were accessing services, including humanitarian aid.

An IRC spokesman said: "The assessment concluded that sexual violence was a widespread concern, including when seeking access to various types of services across southern Syria. These services included the distribution of humanitarian aid."

The reports - both of which have been seen by the BBC - were presented at a meeting of UN agencies and international charities hosted by the UNPFA in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on 15 July 2015.

As a result of this meeting, some aid agencies tightened up their procedures.

The IRC said: "Within our own operations, we launched new programmes and systems to better protect women and girls in southern Syria. Those programmes continue to be funded by a range of donors, including DfID (the UK's Department for International Development)."

Abuse 'ignored for years'

The charity Care expanded its monitoring team in Syria, set up a complaints mechanism and no longer hands over aid to local councils.

It also asked various UN agencies, including the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to investigate further and set up new reporting mechanisms. But Care was refused permission to carry out studies in Jordanian refugee camps.

Ms Spencer claims the aid sector turned a blind eye to ensure that aid still got into southern Syria.

"Sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls has been ignored, it's been known about and ignored for seven years," she said.

"The UN and the system as it currently stands have chosen for women's bodies to be sacrificed.

"Somewhere there has been a decision made that it is OK for women's bodies to continue to be used, abused, violated in order for aid to be delivered for a larger group of people."

Another source who attended the July 2015 meeting on behalf of one of the UN agencies told the BBC: "There were credible reports of sexual exploitation and abuse going on during the cross-border aid delivery and the UN didn't make any serious moves to address it or end it."

The UNHCR says prevention measures and reporting processes have been stepped up

A spokesman for UNFPA said it had heard of possible cases of exploitation and abuse of Syrian women in southern Syria from Care. It said it had not received any allegations of abuse or exploitation from the two NGOs it works with in southern Syria. The spokesman also made clear that UNFPA does not work with local councils as implementing partners.

A spokesman for the children's charity Unicef confirmed it was present at the July 2015 meeting. The charity said it carried out a review of its local partners and contractors in southern Syria and is not aware of any allegations against them at this point. But it accepted that sexual exploitation was a serious risk in Syria and said it was introducing a community-based complaints mechanism and more training for its partners.

A DfID spokesman said it was not aware of any cases like this involving UK aid.

"There are mechanisms already in place to raise issues of abuse and exploitation," the department said. "DfID partners in Syria use third party monitors to verify UK aid distributed in Syria."

Zero tolerance

The spokesman added that any systematic abuse should be picked up by those monitors and reported to DfID.

An Oxfam spokeswoman said it had not been working with local councils delivering aid in the south of Syria in the run up to 2015 and was not doing so today.

"Our work inside Syria has been largely focussed on providing large-scale hardware for supplying water to Syrian communities rather than targeting aid at individuals or specific households," she said.

"We did not receive reports about sexual exploitation around aid delivery in 2015, but have a zero tolerance policy on such abuse."

A spokesman for the UNHCR said had been was aware of the allegations at the time but there had been insufficient information to identify and take action against any people or organisations.

However, he said the UNHCR had commissioned new research to find out more and additional efforts were made to strengthen prevention measures, reporting processes and training for local partners.

China censorship after Xi Jinping presidency extension proposal- BBC News

China censorship after Xi Jinping presidency extension proposal

By Kerry Allen

BBC Monitoring

26 February 2018

There has been widespread speculation that Mr Xi will try to extend his presidency beyond 2023

China's governing Communist Party has proposed removing a clause in the constitution which limits presidencies to two five-year terms - which means President Xi Jinping could remain as leader after the end of his second term in 2023.

The controversial move has ignited discussion on Chinese social media and pushed online government censors into overdrive.

Several key terms have suddenly been subjected to heavy censorship on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblog since Sunday.

According to censorship-monitoring websites China Digital Times and Free Weibo, censored phrases include:

I don't agree

migration

emigration

re-election

election term

constitution amendment

constitution rules

proclaiming oneself an emperor

Winnie the Pooh

So what's going on?

Sina Weibo has banned users searching "Winnie the Pooh" to avoid users making derogatory posts against Mr Xi

The tradition of limiting China's presidencies to 10 years emerged in the 1990s, when veteran leader Deng Xiaoping sought to avoid a repeat of the chaos that had marked the Mao era and its immediate aftermath.

Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012 he has shown a readiness to write his own rules.

But many observers have been alarmed at the prospect of Mr Xi becoming an "emperor for life", and critics have suggested this could set China's development back a century.

China employs millions of people to monitor and censor internet activity. So it's not surprising that overtly critical posts, such as these two, were blocked:

"It took over 100 years to overthrow imperialism, and 40 years of reform and opening up, we cannot return to this type of system." - User 'Jianyuan Shunshui'

"One of the reasons why a tenure limit is so valuable and adopted by most countries is that we need fresh blood to maintain the balance of different peoples' opinions." - 'Renzituo 2hao'

Yuan Shikai (1859-1916) made an ill-fated attempt to declare himself emperor

References to emperors, and 19th Century warlord Yuan Shikai, who notoriously tried to restore monarchy, are also being blocked, after censors clocked on that they were cryptic references to Xi Jinping, such as this one:

"Yesterday evening the dream of restoring Yuan Shikai came back to the motherland," says 'Zhang Chaoyang'.

Even posts using the phrase "emigration" have been censored - after several users alleged that there had been a spike in web users searching for "emigration" on search engine Baidu since the announcement was made.

'Yanfei' is one of many users who said searches of "emigration" had soared on search engine Baidu and had their post censored

And what do censors have against Winnie the Pooh?

Well, it's a nickname that social media users have coined for President Xi, which is often used derogatively.

If you search for the phrase "Winnie the Pooh" on Sina Weibo, the site brings up a message saying: "According to relevant laws, regulations and policies... search results are not displayed".

So what is allowed?

The comments remaining on the popular Sina Weibo microblog are mostly monosyllabic statements from users simply say they "like" or "approve" the amendments.

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They are likely to be from China's "50 Cent Party" - a nickname coined for internet commentators who are paid small amounts to post messages supporting the government's position.

Some posts have attracted thousands of comments - but only a few are available to view. This is traditionally indicative of online censorship by government administrators.

The way the proposed changes were announced on Sunday also appeared to be carefully planned.

Whereas English-language media such as broadcaster CGTN prominently reported the removal of the requirement that presidents and vice presidents "shall serve no more than two consecutive terms", its Chinese-language equivalent did not highlight it.

Instead, broadcaster CCTV instead issued the full list of amendments that were being made to the constitution, with the abolition of presidential terms listed 14th in 21 total proposed amendments.

China's state-run Global Times has argued that the change does not mean "that the Chinese president will have a lifelong tenure".

The paper quoted Su Wei, a Communist Party academic and party member, as saying it was a significant decision as China needed a "stable, strong and consistent leadership" from 2020-2035.

Dianne Feinstein loses support of California Democratic party - CBS News

AP February 25, 2018, 6:23 PM

Dianne Feinstein loses support of California Democratic party

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein failed to win the official endorsement of the California Democratic Party as she seeks her fifth term in Washington, but her supporters say it won't hurt her with a broader swath of voters. Party activists were more eager to back her primary challenger, state Senate leader Kevin de Leon, who is crafting himself as a fresh face with stronger progressive credentials. However, he too failed to earn the 60 percent support he needed to win the endorsement.

That means neither candidate will get the party's seal of approval or extra campaign cash leading into the June primary. The decision came from more than 3,000 activists gathered for the party's annual convention this weekend, an event aimed at generating enthusiasm for the midterm elections.

None of the four Democrats running to succeed Jerry Brown as governor secured an endorsement either.

For Feinstein, it's the first time she's failed to win the party's backing since her first successful U.S. Senate campaign in 1994. But she also has never faced a credible primary challenger. This time around, there's no Republican running in the contest, meaning a showdown between de Leon and Feinstein was likely from the start.

The top-two primary system in heavily Democratic California allows the two highest vote-getters to advance to the general election regardless of party identification.

Feinstein backers downplayed her failure to win the party endorsement, saying she remains popular among the wider California electorate and has millions of dollars needed to run a successful campaign.

"I think we're in good shape," said her political strategist, Bill Carrick.

De Leon called it "an astounding rejection of politics as usual" and a boost to his campaign's momentum.

He didn't appear to lose support at the weekend gathering despite a sexual misconduct scandal at the California Capitol, under de Leon's leadership. His former roommate, Tony Mendoza, resigned Thursday after an investigation concluded he likely sexually harassed six women. De Leon had called for him to be expelled.

The battle between Feinstein and de Leon underscores Democratic Party tensions still simmering after the 2016 election. The so-called establishment pick, Feinstein touted her long record in Washington and seniority on important committees as a benefit to California. She also highlighted her track record fighting for a ban on assault weapons, including her successful 1994 bill to do so, and her work to protect U.S. gymnasts from sexual assault.

De Leon, meanwhile, has argued Feinstein has lost touch with progressive California values and hasn't fought hard enough for young immigrants brought to the country illegally.

"It should never take a primary challenge for California's leadership to stand up for California values," he told delegates ahead of the vote.

Brexit threatens everything I fought for in the Second World War. On my 95th birthday, this is what I need people to know - Independent

24/2/2018

Brexit threatens everything I fought for in the Second World War. On my 95th birthday, this is what I need people to know

No political party in my youth advocated isolation, which is what leaving the EU means for Britain. Instead all insisted that our military and political survival depended on cooperation and integration with other nations

Harry Leslie Smith @harryslaststand

Today, the political descendants of Winston Churchill are turning our nation into a hermit kingdom whose wealth and ingenuity are being squandered for an idealised notion that we are still a mighty power PA

It was at the end of February in 1945 that I celebrated, courtesy of the RAF and Hitler, my 22nd birthday in Belgium. I was stationed at a former Luftwaffe airfield that was at that time used for fighter planes to fly short reconnaissance missions to the nearby collapsing German front.

Then the world was in turmoil from five long years of world war that had turned Europe into a charnel house. But at the time I didn’t feel jaded because I believed that the tide of evil that had enveloped my generation’s world since the Great Depression was retreating from the shoreline of civilisation.

On that night, 73 years ago, my future and Europe’s stood before me and I faced it with wonder and the fragile grace that comes from having lived through tumultuous events. I remember on that long-ago evening of my 22nd birthday drinking whiskey to take the edge off the cold breath of winter with mates on a deserted tarmac.

Above me, a darkened sky was torn violently open by an endless stream of artillery shells that were trying to pulverise a German V2 rocket emplacement several miles away from our base. As the earth around me shook with the thunder of war, I was overcome with the realisation that, as this conflict was nearing its end, I had a good chance of walking away from it without a scratch. The premonition that I was going to live whilst millions of others had died because of the evil machinations of tyranny and the indifference of the entitled to the suffering of others humbled me on that long-ago birthday.

It was blind luck that I survived both the Great Depression and the Second World War both physically and emotionally intact, but Britain was a different country from what it is today because all of us, from worker to intellectual, felt we were part of a great cause that was vital for the survival of civilisation. And that spirit of destiny and optimism didn’t die when we’d vanquished Hitler; it lived on through the people’s desire to elect a Labour government intent on changing our nation for the better.

Unlike today, no political party in my youth advocated the isolation that Brexit will bring to Britain. Instead all insisted that our military and political survival depended on cooperation and integration with other nations. Yet today, the political descendants of Winston Churchill are turning our nation into a hermit kingdom whose wealth and ingenuity are being squandered for an idealised notion that we are still a mighty power that the nations of the world want to trade with on our terms.

So much has changed in my mood since those early months of 1945 when I felt optimistic for our world’s future. But then America’s president was Franklin D Roosevelt, a man who had made his country great again not by tax cuts but by making sure that each citizen could afford a decent roof over their heads and food on their tables. Whereas today Donald Trump occupies the Oval Office with the malevolence of a Pinochet-in-waiting who is only restrained by a constitution that maybe can prevent tyrants but never the indifference of citizens addicted to reality TV shows and online shopping.

So, as I stand on the cusp of my 95th birthday the night air still bites but my confidence in humanity’s survival and its march towards progress dims like the afternoon sky just before the approach of rain. In fact, my hope that all will be well for my grandchildren’s generation is circumscribed by a growing anger and frustration towards my children’s generation because they bottled their responsibilities to our country and society in pursuit of personal pleasures.

David Davis tries to dispel post-Brexit chaos fears

The baby boomers were bequeathed by my generation a society built upon a bedrock of personal sacrifice and a commitment to social and economic justice. Yet all of our accomplishments, from the NHS to council housing as well as our unfinished work trying to ensure a more equal Britain, was pawned off by them to the hedge funds, tax-avoiding corporations and political parties that believe governments should be run like businesses.

And now with our nation in chaos over Brexit, and fascism becoming as great a threat to our security as it once was in the 1930s, the majority in this country and the western world sit like the inhabitants of Pompeii the day before Vesuvius destroyed their city and their lives, ignoring the warning calls of imminent destruction.

I have almost a hundred years of lived history pulsing through my blood and memories. So when I tell you that this is the best of times for the one per cent and the worst of times for everyone else, heed my words. It is now time that you gather the spirit of my generation into your hearts to begin the task of rebuilding this country, Europe and the world as it should be. It is time to make our Britain a green and pleasant land for all who live here.

It’s why with the little time I have remaining on this earth, I plan to journey to the refugee hot spots of the world and use my voice to end this crisis and teach people that xenophobia only leads to repression and war. On my 95th birthday, I will toast my longevity with sherry and declare that my last stand as a human being was to not go gently into the good night.