Selasa, 12 Oktober 2021

IMF board backs Georgieva to continue as managing director - Financial Times

The IMF’s executive board has opted to retain Kristalina Georgieva as the institution’s managing director and said it had “full confidence” in her ability to carry out her responsibilities, despite allegations she pressured World Bank staff when she was its chief executive to manipulate data to China’s benefit.

The announcement followed marathon meetings of the IMF board, which struggled over several days to reach an agreement on Georgieva’s fate as sharp divisions emerged among its 24 directors.

France, Germany, Italy and the UK had aligned alongside China and Russia to advocate on her behalf, while two of the fund’s largest shareholders, the US and Japan, were more resistant and called for a robust review. But a consensus for Georgieva to serve out her term emerged on Monday after further deliberations.

In a statement released on Monday night, the IMF board said the evidence presented “did not conclusively demonstrate” that Georgieva played an “improper” role in China’s ranking in a flagship report while at the World Bank.

“Having looked at all the evidence presented, the executive board reaffirms its full confidence in the managing director’s leadership and ability to continue to effectively carry out her duties. The board trusts in the managing director’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of governance and integrity in the IMF.”

Georgieva, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, was accused of artificially boosting China’s placement in the 2018 edition of the World Bank’s widely followed Doing Business annual report during her time at the helm of the institution.

Her alleged efforts were detailed last month in a report commissioned by the World Bank and written by representatives at WilmerHale, a law firm. The IMF board met eight times to discuss the matter, including two “extensive” meetings with WilmerHale lawyers and Georgieva.

The decision comes at the outset of the IMF’s annual meetings with the World Bank, which began this week under a cloud of uncertainty about whether Georgieva would stay on. She participated in multiple events on Monday and is scheduled to speak at several others in the next few days.

On Monday, Janet Yellen, the US Treasury secretary, called Georgieva to tell her that while the World Bank report “raised legitimate issues and concerns” the US believed that “absent further direct evidence with regard to the role of the managing director there is not a basis for a change in IMF leadership”.

But Yellen appeared to put Georgieva on notice, telling the IMF chief that the Treasury would “monitor, follow up closely, evaluate any new facts or findings” and the episode highlighted the “need for shareholders to be vigilant in defending the integrity of both the bank and the fund”. 

President Joe Biden’s administration is also vowing to push for changes at the IMF and the World Bank to prevent further instances of possible manipulation — something the IMF board also signalled it would consider.

“The US believes proactive steps must be taken to reinforce data integrity and credibility at the IMF, and that the institution and its leadership must renew their commitment to upholding transparency and whistleblower protections surrounding policies, research and analysis,” the Treasury said.

The Biden administration’s decision not to insist on Georgieva’s ousting triggered an immediate backlash from Republicans in Congress.

“This decision reflects terribly on US leadership at the IMF,” said Patrick McHenry, the top Republican on the House financial services committee. “Republicans and Democrats in Congress were alarmed by the investigation into Ms Georgieva’s actions. It is shocking that the administration looked past these bipartisan concerns and caved to pressure from other countries who want to sweep this scandal under the rug.”

In a statement released on Monday, Georgieva expressed “unyielding support for the independence and integrity” of the World Bank and the IMF.

“I am pleased that after a comprehensive, impartial review of the facts, the IMF board agrees that the allegations were unfounded,” she said. “I want to thank the board for expressing its full confidence in my leadership. Trust and integrity are the cornerstones of the multinational organisations that I have faithfully served for more than four decades.

“This has obviously been a difficult episode for me personally,” she added.

European governments selected Georgieva, who is Bulgarian, to join the IMF in 2019 after a two-year stint running the World Bank — an institution she joined in 1993 as an environmental economist and left in 2010 to work at the European Commission, among other postings, before rejoining the World Bank in 2017.

She replaced Christine Lagarde, who now serves as the president of the European Central Bank, and her appointment required the IMF to scrap the age limit stated in the fund’s bylaws for the position.

Throughout her tenure, she has won plaudits for her efforts to help emerging and developing economies weather the coronavirus pandemic, spearheading the allocation of $650bn in special drawing rights, which is the equivalent of newly minted money, earlier this year.

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2021-10-12 03:20:04Z
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Senin, 11 Oktober 2021

End of Macron! New right-wing contender to rock French President – 'serious challenge' - Daily Express

Theis now under threat from right-wing possible presidential candidate Eric Zemmour. Mr Zemmour has pushed aside the far-right Marine Le Pen in popularity, and now poses a serious challenge to Mr Macron. Mr Zemmour, a French far-right writer who supports Bonapartism, has been considered in news media as a possible right-wing anti-establishment candidate in the 2022 presidential election.

However, he has yet to publicly declare that he will run for office.

Associate editor at The Spectator Douglas Murray, writing in the Daily Telegraph, described Mr Zemmour as saying "many things that the public had not previously dared".

Mr Murray added: "He called for halts on immigration.

"He controversially lamented the demographic alteration of the French population and also called for direct measures to counter these changes.

"Today he is a celebrity in France.

"Paris Match recently put him on their front cover because of a photo snatched of him in the sea bathing with his attractive young female assistant."

The writer went on to suggest that Mr Zemmour's rise is "not just a political earthquake in France but across Europe".

He added: "The EU has survived in recent decades on a technocratic class that occasionally registers deep public concerns, but does little or nothing to address them.

READ MORE: Andrew Neil brutally shuts down Remainer in Brexit clash

However, if Mr Zemmour was to run as a candidate, it looks possible that he could go through to the final round as a major contender to go up against President Macron.

Mr Zemmour divides opinion in France, he has been convicted for inciting hatred in the country.

Gaspard Gantzer, a former advisor to ex-President François Hollande said that Mr Zemmour has "checkmated the media, just like Trump".

He added: "Zemmour is very well-known in a splintered media landscape.

"He is ahead of the pack because those who make the most outrageous statements have the advantage today.”

The first round of the 2022 French presidential election will be held on 10 April 2022.

The election will be held just before the 2022 legislative election.

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2021-10-11 21:07:15Z
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Moldova requests EU help after Gazprom reduces gas flows - Financial Times

Moldova is requesting emergency gas supplies from EU countries after Russian state-controlled exporter Gazprom slashed its shipments to the country amid a wider European gas crunch.

The former Soviet state of 2.6m people is seeking a deal to supply more gas via Romania to alleviate shortages and surging prices after a supply contract ran out last month, according to two people involved in the talks. Officials are unwilling to agree to new terms with Gazprom at a significantly higher price.

Supply to Moldova, wedged between Romania and Ukraine, has fallen by around one-third while prices have shot up from $550 per thousand cubic meters last month to $790 this month — nearly five times the average that the country paid last year.

The prices are “not justified and not realistic for Moldova,” deputy prime minister Andrei Spinu said on Monday.

Spinu said Moldova was negotiating with Gazprom over a new contract but was also exploring “alternative ways to supply gas” from Russia, Romania, Ukraine and other EU countries.

Moldova, caught in a tussle for influence between Moscow and the west, elected Maia Sandu, a staunchly pro-EU president, last year. Her party won a landslide victory in July’s parliamentary elections.

“The amounts of gas involved are very small for a company of Gazprom’s size, but they are significant for Moldova,” said Aura Sabadus at market information service, ICIS.

“The most plausible explanation for their action is that Moldova has a pro-EU president and government and Russia is happy to use this situation to pressure the country.”

The shortage comes as Europe wrestles with skyrocketing gas prices blamed on strong demand globally and an unwillingness by Gazprom to provide additional supplies to the European market beyond those secured through long-term contracts.

Moldovan government officials are in talks with EU counterparts seeking to arrange emergency gas shipments from neighbouring Romania, but Bucharest is also struggling to cover its own needs amid broader fears over low storage levels across Europe.

Moldova has long been susceptible to over-reliance on Moscow, its former imperial and Soviet capital. It relies entirely on a pipeline from Russia through Ukraine for its gas needs, although a gas connector with Romania will start to operate this year after construction finished last week.

Moscow has also regularly imposed trade embargoes on Moldovan exports, such as wine, while Russian troops are the de facto security guarantors for Transnistria, an unrecognised breakaway state on the country’s eastern border with Ukraine.

The International Energy Agency has said it believes Russia could send 15 per cent more gas to Europe to help cool prices.

But Russia’s ambassador to the EU told the FT that Europe’s best way to avoid gas supply shocks was to mend relations with Moscow, while denying that Gazprom had played any role in the current crisis.

The Kremlin has blamed the European Commission for forcing Gazprom into shifting sales from long-term contracts on to freely traded market sales, where prices can fluctuate.

ICIS’s Sabadus said Ukraine had offered Gazprom capacity to ship the gas into Moldova, using capacity that had previously been earmarked for shipments to Hungary. Those flows were recently diverted to another pipeline.

“The Moldovans quite rightly say there’s daily capacity, there’s plenty of flexibility if Gazprom wants to supply them the full amount,” Sabadus said.

Gazprom did not respond to a request for comment.

Additional reporting by Marton Dunai in Budapest

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2021-10-11 17:10:17Z
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Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: Army launches offensive on all fronts - rebels - BBC News

Photo of soldiers walking in a field carrying large weapons
AFP

The Ethiopian army has launched co-ordinated attacks on all fronts against forces from the northern Tigray region, the rebels say.

They said the government was using artillery, tanks, jets and drones in an attempt to "reinvade" the region.

A senior rebel source said Tigray forces were holding their ground.

The Ethiopian government has not confirmed any fighting, and a communications blackout makes independent verification impossible.

A senior member of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Getachew Reda, said the government offensive launched last week was now in "full swing".

Asked if a ground offensive had been launched, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's spokeswoman Billene Seyoum said the government had a responsibility to protect its citizens across the country from acts of terrorism but gave no further details.

The 11-month conflict has caused a humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations warning that about 400,000 people were living in famine-like conditions in Tigray in July.

Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, and another two million have been forced to flee their homes.

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Difficult to justify an offensive

Analysis by Kalkidan Yibeltal, BBC News, Addis Ababa

The Ethiopian government has not confirmed reports of a major offensive against the Tigray rebels, but a mobilisation of the country's forces and allied militia over the past few months left no doubt that a huge operation was in the offing.

With elections out of the way and the rainy season at its end, Prime Minister Abiy seems focussed on a military solution to the long-drawn out conflict.

The war has already taken its toll on the country: thousands have been killed, millions displaced and hundreds of thousands are facing famine.

But both sides have sent mixed signals about their willingness to accept a peaceful resolution.

It will, however, be a difficult task for Mr Abiy to justify another major offensive at a time when his government is facing a lot of international pressure to open talks with the rebels.

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The Ethiopian army took control of most of Tigray in November 2020, after TPLF forces seized a military base.

In June 2021, the rebels recaptured Tigray in a surprise attack, and then moved into parts of neighbouring regions like Amhara.

Ethiopia has declared the TPLF a terrorist organisation, but the TPLF insists that it is the legitimate government in Tigray.

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Tigray - the basics

  • Since 1994, Ethiopia has been divided into states, now numbering 10; they are defined on ethnic grounds by the constitution and described as largely autonomous, but with central institutions
  • In 2018, following anti-government protests, Abiy Ahmed took over as prime minister and introduced reforms
  • Powerful politicians from Tigray, Ethiopia's northernmost state, accused Mr Abiy of trying to increase federal power
  • Relations worsened and, after the government accused Tigrayan rebels of attacking military bases, the Ethiopian army moved in in November, backed by Eritrean troops
  • Mr Abiy declared the conflict over in late November, but fighting has continued

Mr Getachew said the current offensive was taking place in towns in Amhara region, and also involved Amharan regional forces fighting alongside the army.

The Tigray forces' statement says "hundreds of thousands of regular and irregular fighters" have been fielded in the current assault.

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Map
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2021-10-11 20:29:24Z
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Kim Jong-un's absences explained . . . he was designing bus logos - The Times

Every few months the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un suddenly and mysteriously vanishes from public view, provoking anxious speculation from foreign observers.

Is he ill, dead or merely dieting? Is he plotting world domination or just taking a holiday? Now the truth about his recent absences is out: he has spent the time helping to design wine bottles, cargo ships, school uniforms and review plans for two new tourism developments.

The clues are found in photographs released by state media of a new exhibition of industrial design by North Korean artists from buses to company logos. One panel lists the days when Kim himself scrutinised such designs and all coincide with periods when he was absent from public view.

Kim working on designs for a tourist resort in the north of the country

Kim working on designs for a tourist resort in the north of the country

KCNA

Meticulous micromanagement has always been one

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2021-10-11 11:00:00Z
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Fire breaks out at Lebanon’s Zahrani oil facility - Al Jazeera English

Energy Minister Walid Fayyad said cause of the fire remains unknown.

Beirut, Lebanon – A ‘huge fire’ that broke out in a fuel storage tank at Lebanon’s Zahrani oil facility has been contained, the country’s energy minister said from the site.

“The fire has been contained,” Energy Minister Walid Fayyad said, according to a tweet by the prime minister’s office.

Earlier, Fayyad told Al Jazeera that an army fuel tank was on fire. After reaching the Zahrani oil facilities, he told reporters he was not sure what caused the fire and whether it was intentional or not.

“We need to wait for the results of the investigation, and we have to be ready to take all the necessary based on the results,” Fayyad said. “The priority now is the people’s safety.”

The National News Agency had earlier said “a huge fire broke out in one of the tanks at the Zahrani facilities containing petrol”.

“The cause is not yet known,” it added.

At least 25 firetrucks are at the oil facility as firefighters put out the fire while cooling down surrounding tanks to prevent the blaze from spreading.

Translation: A large fire has broken out in the oil facility in Zahrani, south of Lebanon

A spokesperson for the Lebanese Army told Al Jazeera on Monday that the fuel tank contained benzene.

“We’re now focusing on clearing residents from the area as we try to put out the fire,” the official said. “The priority now is to prevent the fire from reaching other tanks.”

The tanks at the Zahrani oil facilities store petrol and diesel that the Lebanese government has purchased.

“In addition to that, there is also some fuel for the army and reserve stock,” Energy Researcher Marc Ayoub told Al Jazeera.

One of Lebanon’s key power stations is also located in the vicinity.

The Zahrani power plant went out of commission on Saturday after running out of fuel. The Lebanese army donated some of its reserve stock on Sunday.

In late September, a vessel unloaded 16,000 tonnes of Iraqi fuel at the Zahrani facility, the first shipment in a swap deal between Beirut and Baghdad.

In March, then-outgoing Prime Minister Hasan Diab said experts discovered “dangerous chemicals” at a warehouse in the Zahrani oil installations.

He said German company Combi Lift had reported the matter to Lebanon’s atomic energy authority, which concluded that the material was “nuclear”.

Combi Lift, however, said there were no concrete results yet, and the issue has not been discussed since.

Monday’s blaze comes just over a year after the massive port blast in Beirut that killed more than 200 people, wounded thousands and destroyed nearby neighbourhoods in the capital.

Combi Lift had been hired after the blast to examine the destroyed Beirut Port and discovered 58 containers of hazardous material that had reportedly been stored there for decades.

The fire is another setback for cash-strapped Lebanon as it continues to struggle with a crippling gasoline and fuel crisis that has paralysed public life.

State electricity is virtually non-existent, as most households and businesses rely primarily on private generators.

Fuel prices have been hiked almost weekly, as the government slowly rolls back on expensive subsidies.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that resolving the fuel and electricity crisis is one of his government’s key priorities, as he tries to steer Lebanon into recovery from an economic crisis that plunged three-quarters of the population into poverty and devalued the local currency by around 90 percent.

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2021-10-11 08:48:45Z
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Minggu, 10 Oktober 2021

US concludes first direct talks with Taliban since withdrawal - BBC News

The Taliban's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
Getty Images

The first talks between the US and Taliban leaders since the withdrawal of American troops in August have concluded in Doha.

The talks in Qatar focused on containing extremist groups, the evacuation of US citizens and humanitarian aid.

US officials said that while the group would be judged by its actions, talks had been "candid and professional".

The US insists the meeting does not amount to recognition of the Taliban.

In a statement issued on Sunday night, the Taliban claimed that the US had agreed to begin to provide humanitarian aid to the country.

"US representatives stated that they will give humanitarian assistance to Afghans and will provide facilities for other humanitarian organisations to deliver aid," the group said.

It added that it will "cooperate with charitable groups in delivering the humanitarian assistance to those deserving transparently, and will facilitate the principled movement of foreign nationals".

However, the US has yet to formally confirm this claim.

Spokesperson Ned Price said that the two sides had discussed the provision "of robust humanitarian assistance, directly to the Afghan people," without providing further details.

"The US delegation focused on security and terrorism concerns and safe passage for US citizens, other foreign nationals and our Afghan partners, as well as human rights, including the meaningful participation of women and girls in all aspects of Afghan society", he said.

The Taliban ruled out cooperation with Washington on tackling the activities of the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K).

Nonetheless, the Taliban's spokesperson in Qatar, Suhail Shaheen, told the Associated Press that the regime is "able to tackle Daesh independently".

Mr Shaheen's comments come after an ISIS-K suicide bomb attack on a mosque in the northern city of Kunduz killed at least 50 people on Friday in the deadliest attack since US troops left the country.

More than 100 others were injured in the blast at the Said Abad mosque, used by the minority Shia Muslim community.

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2021-10-11 04:24:29Z
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