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The World BusinessMirror
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Investigators: Russian military missile downed Flight MH17
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UNNIK, Netherlands—Detailed analysis of video and photos has unequivocally established that the Buk missile that brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine nearly four years ago came from a Russia-based military unit, an international team of investigators said on Thursday.
It is the clearest link yet published by the team of the involvement of Russian military in the deadly missile strike. Prosecutors said they have presented their findings to Moscow and are seeking answers, but so far have not received a response. The international team running the criminal investigation appealed for help from witnesses who can testify about the involvement of the Russian militar y’s 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade based in the city of Kursk. Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said the new conclusion raised new questions: “Such as the question about how actively involved the brigade itself was in bringing down Flight MH17.” Russia has always denied involvement in the downing of the jet. Westerbeke said the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is not yet ready to name suspects, but added: “I can say that we are now entering the...last phase of the investigation.
When we will be ready, it is not possible to say at the moment because there is still a lot of work to do.” The Boeing 777 passenger jet was headed from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when it was blown out of the sky over easter n U k ra ine on Ju ly 17, 2014. All 298 passengers and crew were killed. Prosecutors said in 2016 that the plane was shot down by a Buk 9M38 missile fired from territory controlled by Russia-backed rebels, using a mobile launcher trucked in from Russia and hastily returned there. T h u r s d a y ’s p r e s e n t a t i o n went a step further by identif ying the exact unit allegedly involved and more details of the rocket, and showing a compilation of videos and photos from social media tracing the missile convoy’s journey. Investigators also displayed parts of the engine casing and exhaust system of a Buk 9M38 series missile recovered from easter n U k raine and showed
A sign reading “Respect for MH17” is shown during a commemoration at Museum Square in Amsterdam on July 21, 2014. AP/Margriet Faber
photos of a unique serial number on the missile. Team members said that careful analysis of video and photos from social media traced the journey of the Russian missile convoy into Ukraine and identified the missile launcher system. The displayed missile’s serial number gave them a “ fingerprint” identifying it and where it was made, but investigators said they could not yet say with certainty that it was the exact missile used to down MH17. They appealed for witnesses to come forward with more information about the missile. “All findings from this forensic investigation confirm the earlier conclusion of the JIT that Flight MH17 was shot down by 9M38 series missile,” Jennifer Hurst of the Australian Federal Police said. In a written statement, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said: “That a sophisticated weapon
belonging to the Russian Army was dispatched and used to shoot down a civilian aircraft should be of grave international concern. We are discussing these findings with our partners and considering our options.” Ultimately, any suspects identified and charged will be prosecuted in Dutch courts—if they can be arrested and brought to trial. Of the 298 people of more than 30 nationalities killed, 196 were Dutch, 42 Malaysian and 27 Australian. Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok welcomed the newly released findings. “This is an important piece of the puzzle,” Blok said. “I am very impressed by the evidence that has been collected.” His Belgian counterpart, Didier Reynders, called on all countries to cooperate fully with the investigation “so that those responsible can be brought to justice.” AP
Yen falls, US stock futures rise on North Korea
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HE yen dropped and US stock futures rose after Nor t h Korea of fered a measured response to President Donald J. Trump’s decision to cancel a summit with that country’s leader. Asian shares were mixed, and crude oil held losses. Shares in Japan, Hong Kong a nd Sout h Korea saw modest dec l ines a nd were head ing for week ly losses as trade tensions simmer and investors eye r isks from emerging markets. Cr ude oi l held losses a f ter Russi a’s energ y minister reiterated t hat t he Orga ni zat ion of t he Pe t role u m E x p or t i n g C ou n t r ies a nd its pa r t ners w i l l d isc uss phasing out supply c u rbs when t hey meet ne x t mont h. Turkey’s lira resumed its slump a s t r aders we ig he d whet her
a n emergenc y rate h i ke wa s enough to stem losses. Geopolitics was back on the agenda with Trump’s letter to the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in which he blamed the “tremendous anger and open hostility” in recent statements from Pyongyang for his decision. North Korea’s government said in a statement that it was surprised at the cancellation and remained willing to meet with the US at any time. Elsewhere, the euro remained weaker, alongside the pound, as questions swirl around the Italian populist government’s economic policies and Brexit negotiations loom large over British assets. These are some key events remaining to watch this week: At the Saint Petersburg Forum
on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe participate on a panel moderated by Bloomberg News Editor in Chief John Micklethwait. Also on Friday, European Union finance ministers discuss the latest on Brexit talks, in Brussels. These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
THE MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 percent as of 3:01 p.m. Tok yo time. Topi x index fel l 0.2 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.5 percent. Kospi index fell 0.2 percent. Futures on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.2 percent.
Currencies
T HE Bloomberg Dol l a r Spot Inde x rose 0.1 percent. T he Japanese yen fell 0.3 percent to 109.53 per dollar. The euro fell 0.1 percent to $1.1702.
Bonds
THE yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 2.99 percent. Australia’s 10 -year yield fell two basis points to 2.785 percent. Ger man bunds were yielding 0.478 percent.
Commodities
W E S T Te x a s I n t e r m e d i ate cr ude fel l 0.3 percent to $70.50 a bar rel. Gold declined 0.2 percent to $1, 302.14 a n ounce. LME copper was f lat at $6,877.00 per metr ic ton. Bloomberg News
N. Korea demolishes nuclear test site as journalists watch
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UNGGYE-RI, North Korea— North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made good on his promise to demolish his country’s nuclear test site, which was formally closed in a series of huge explosions on Thursday as a small group of foreign journalists watched. The explosions at the test site deep in the mountains of the North’s sparsely populated northeast were supposed to build confidence ahead of a planned summit next month between Kim and US President Donald J. Trump. But Trump canceled the meeting on Thursday, citing “tremendous anger and open hostility” in a North Korean statement released earlier in the day. The blasts were centered on three tunnels at the underground site and a number of buildings in the surrounding area. North Korea held a closing ceremony afterward with officials from its nuclear arms program in attendance. The group of journalists that witnessed the demolition, which touched off landslides near the tunnel entrances and sent up clouds of smoke and dust, included an Associated Press Television crew. North Korea’s state media called the closure of the site part of a process to build “a nuclearfree, peaceful world” and “global nuclear disarmament.” “The dismantling of the nuclear test ground conducted with highlevel transparency has clearly attested once again to the proactive and peace-loving efforts of the DPRK government being made for assuring peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and over the world,” the North’s official news agency reported late Thursday. North Korea’s formal name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Kim announced his plan to close the site, where North Korea has conducted all six of its underground nuclear tests, ahead of a summit with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in in April and the planned summit with Trump next month. But even as North Korea made good on its gesture of detente, it lobbed a verbal salvo at Washington, calling Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy” and saying it is just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table. Trump responded by canceling the summit, saying in a letter to Kim, “Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this longplanned meeting.” Nor t h K orea’s dec ision to close the Pung g ye-r i nuclear
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increasingly wealthy China and concentrating her energy on unofficial ties with larger, more inf luential countries, such as the US. “Today #China led #BurkinaFaso to sever diplomatic relations w/ #Taiwan,” Tsai wrote. “It will only bring Taiwan closer to countries that share our values: #democracy & #freedom. It will only strengthen our resolve to look towards the world, rather than across the Strait.” Beijing and Taipei have been competing for diplomatic recognition since 1949, when Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek’s flight to Taiwan established a stalemate with each side claiming to be the legitimate ruler of China. Still, the Communist Party
refrained from wooing any of the island’s allies under former President Ma Ying-jeou, who favored closer economic ties with Beijing. That detente ended when Tsai— whose Democratic Progressive Party supports independence from China— took office in May 2016 and refused to accept Ma’s framework for negotiating with Beijing. Since then, China has established ties with five of Taiwan’s partners, also including Gambia, Panama and Sao Tome and Principe. Julian Ku, a professor of constitutional law at Hofstra University, warned that China’s increased efforts to isolate Taiwan could push the island to formalize its independence. Bloomberg News
test site had generally been seen as a welcome gesture by Kim to set a positive tone ahead of the summit. In a statement earlier T hursd ay, Sout h Korea’s National Security Council called the closing the North ’s “ first measure toward complete denuclearization.” Not everyone was as optimistic, however. The closing of the site is not an irreversible move and would need to be followed by many more significant measures to meet Trump’s demand for real denuclearization. North Korea also did not invite international nuclear weapons inspectors, opting instead for the impact of the television footage to impress the world. The event was, indeed, impressive. The first blast the visiting journalists witnessed came at around 11 a.m. after they made a 12-hour-plus trip by train and convoy through the night and over bumpy dirt roads. That explosion collapsed the complex’s north tunnel, which was used for five nuclear tests between 2009 and last year. Two other explosions, at around 2:20 p.m. and 4 p.m., collapsed the west and south tunnels, according to officials. North Korea’s state media stressed that those two tunnels could have been used to conduct future tests, countering reports the Punggye-ri site had been rendered largely unusable by its earlier tests. Also blown up were observation posts and barracks used by guards and other workers at the facility. A tunnel on the eastern side had already been shut down after an initial nuclear test in 2006. North Korea said the demolition did not cause any leakage of radioactive materials or have any “adverse impact on the surrounding ecological environment.” The journalists were allowed to stay at the site for about nine hours. Getting to the remote site required an overnight train ride from Wonsan, a port city east of the capital, Pyongyang. In typically secretive fashion, officials instructed the media not to open the blinds that covered the windows of their train cars. They also were not allowed to shoot photos from the vehicles they took to the site from the nearest train station, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away. Back in Pyongyang, the outburst directed at Pence, issued in the name of a top Foreign Ministry official, came on the heels of another sharp rebuke of Trump’s newly appointed national security adviser, John Bolton, and raised concerns that a major gap had opened between the two sides. AP
Indonesia passes tough law vs antiterrorism amid bombings
Taiwan is running out of friends fast I as China turns the screws tighter AIWAN’S loss of a second diplomatic ally in less than a month suggests China’s efforts to isolate the island are accelerating. The West African nation of Burkina Faso broke off formal relations with Taipei in favor of Beijing on Thursday, reducing to 18 the number of countries that recognize Taiwan, formally known as the Republic of China. The setback—coming just four weeks after the Dominican Republic did the same—puts Taiwan’s fragile diplomatic position into focus as the rift with Beijing escalates. In a statement posted on Twitter late Thursday, President Tsai Ing-wen reaffirmed her shift from competing for formal diplomatic bonds with an
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NDONESIAN security authorities have been given tougher powers aimed at combating a surge in extremist violence that has seen the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation reeling from the deadliest attacks since the 2002 Bali bombings. Less than two weeks after a wave of attacks including three separate bombings at churches in Indonesia’s second-largest city of Surabaya, lawmakers on Friday gave final approval to a longdelayed revision of the country’s 2003 antiterrorism law. While the review had been proposed in early 2016 after a gun and suicide-bomb attack in central Jakarta, it had been stalled in the parliament for more than two years. Police will now be handed enhanced powers to take preemptive action amid growing concerns about the threat from militants returning from battlefields in northern Iraq and Syria, as well as the
influence in Indonesia from the Islamic State terrorist group. The revised laws will mean people suspected of planning an attack can be detained for longer while making it an offense to take part in militant training at home or abroad. There’s been a rapid rise in the number of Indonesians who’ve sought to join Islamic State, Justice and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly told lawmakers after the revised law was passed. “This clearly threatens the sovereignty and security of Indonesia,” he said. T he at t ac k s i n Su r abay a , claimed by Islamic State, left more than 30 people dead and prompted President Joko Widodo to threaten to use his executive powers if the parliament failed to pass revision by June. It was the deadliest spate of violence since bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. Bloomberg News