No Suspects Yet in Murder of British Businessman

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January 25, 2017 1:58 pm

Tony Kenway seen in a photo posted Dec. 2, 2015. Image: Facebook / Tony Kenway

CHONBURI — Police said Wednesday they have yet to determine a motive or perpetrator behind the slaying of a British expat near the resort town of Pattaya.

Tony Kenway, 39, was shot dead at point blank range in broad daylight as he sat in his car in the Bang Lamung district on Tuesday. Police described Kenway as a British national who lived in the Jomtien neighborhood and made a living in Thailand as a website designer.

“We have no information [about the motive] so far,” Jirawut Tanthasri, chief of Nong Prue police, told reporters. “We are collecting information. We are questioning his wife and his team.”

Security footage shows Kenway getting into the driver’s seat of his Porsche in front of a sports club on Tuesday at which point an unidentified man approaches and shoots him in the head. The masked gunman then flees on a motorcycle with an accomplice.

According to Kenway’s Facebook account, he and his wife, Somporn Kenway, recently had a child.

Somporn told reporters Tuesday that he had no history of conflict with anyone, thought she mentioned he had a “business dispute” with a former company partner.

No suspects have been identified so far.

Bangkok’s Top Cop Ordered To Clarify Salary From Brewery

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

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January 25, 2017 1:10 pm

Police Lt. Gen. Sanit Mahathavorn demonstrates techniques for vocational students to make loving gestures when they run into one another instead of fighting in July

BANGKOK — The state ombudsman on Tuesday ordered Bangkok’s police chief to report whether he still receives 50,000 baht every month from the country’s largest beverage conglomerate.

Bangkok police commander Sanit Mahathavorn was asked to respond within seven days on whether he remains an active advisor to ThaiBev, which owns Chang beer and SangSom, for which he has been paid 50,000 baht per month since 2015.

The ombudsman’s secretary-general, Raksagecha Chaechai, said he also asked ThaiBev to clarify the issue within a week.

Sanit, who was officially appointed chief of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police force in October, has consistently declined to answer questions on the topic. A call to his office Wednesday was not returned.

It came up after his earnings were exposed by an investigative news outlet on Dec. 8. Isranews Agency published a document Sanit submitted to the National Anti-Corruption Committee, or NACC, which disclosed the monthly salary and his role as adviser to ThaiBev.

Sanit was obligated to disclose his financial information upon his appointment in October to a position in the junta’s interim legislature.

The version of his financial disclosure posted online by the NACC did not mention the ThaiBev salary. It did state he holds 93 million baht worth of property.

Sanit’s total remuneration is 1,425,600 baht per month, according to the document.

The ombudsman also asked the NACC to report in 15 days whether Sanit listed the salary in his financial disclosure document.

The news has drawn strong criticism by those who say it’s inappropriate for the police chief to be on the payroll of an alcohol producer.

A police spokesman last month said Sanit was not guilty of professional misconduct, as the law only prohibits officers from being executives in private enterprise, while taking advisory roles is allowed.

Asked about the issue on Dec. 20, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha declined to comment, saying it was a personal matter.

What Trump’s Trade and Geopolitical Moves Mean for China

By

Associated Press

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January 25, 2017 12:29 pm

An image of US President Donald Trump seen alongside an image of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Image: The Next News Network / YouTube

BEIJING — With his rejection of an Asian trade pact, U.S. President Donald Trump has tackled the first in a promised series of far-reaching policy changes that could inadvertently give China room to assert itself as a regional leader and worsen strains over the South China Sea and Taiwan.

The U.S. departure from the Trans-Pacific Partnership could help President Xi Jinping’s effort to cast Beijing as a champion of free trade and might increase official interest in a Chinese-led alternative trade deal. The TPP, which excluded China, has been seen as a gambit by Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, to counter Beijing’s influence.

It could also strengthen ties with China’s neighbors as Beijing prepares for potential challenges from Washington on thorny issues including claims over the South China Sea and the status of Taiwan, the self-ruled island Chinese leaders claim as part of their territory.

Here is a look at these issues and what they mean for China.

TPP and the Rise of China

The U.S. withdrawal from TPP gives China an opening to step up as a leader in forging Asian trade agreements.

In an implicit rejection of Trump’s promises to restrict imports, Xi defended free trade in a speech last week at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, calling on other governments to reject protectionism.

“China is likely to play a much stronger lead role in the future Asia Pacific trade architecture,” Rajiv Biswas, chief Asia economist for IHS Markit, said in a report.

Beijing has launched its own initiatives to develop Asian trade centered on China including a bank to finance roads, ports and railways and the “One Belt, One Road” project to develop links with European markets.

The cost of Trump’s decision will fall most heavily on Chinese neighbors such as Vietnam and Malaysia that stood to gain from easier access to the U.S. market.

That could increase interest in another Chinese-led initiative, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. It is less sweeping than the TPP and would allow more protection for state-owned industry.

At the same time, Trump also has promised to pursue trade deals with individual TPP countries.

“This bilateral approach may also provide opportunities for further trade liberalization,” Biswas said.

Trump and Trade

Trump’s rejection of TPP is the first step in an ambitious agenda aimed at rearranging trade with Asia – with sweeping potential repercussions for regional economies.

Trump has promised to raise tariffs on Chinese goods to 45 percent and to induce American manufacturers to shift production to the United States. He says he will negotiate bilateral trade deals with individual Asian countries, which could redirect trade flows.

Those moves could erode China’s influence, which stems in part from being its neighbors’ biggest export market on the strength of demand by Chinese factories for raw materials and components that go into U.S.-bound goods.

The American Chamber of Commerce in China said last week that Beijing is preparing to retaliate in the event Trump goes ahead with measures to restrict imports. The chamber said Chinese authorities already have toughened their stance by imposing unusually high duties in an anti-dumping case in January aimed at a U.S. chemical used in livestock feed.

Disruption in U.S.-China trade “could have negative impact effects on supply chains throughout Asia,” said Biswas. Trump’s plan to shift manufacturing to the United States “could also have some negative investment diversion effects on manufacturing investment away from China.”

South China Sea and Taiwan

Trump’s choice for secretary of state has rattled Beijing by saying Washington might try to block access to artificial Chinese islands in the South China Sea, prompting warnings the United States might face a military clash if it does.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday the Trump administration would “defend international territories” including in the South China Sea, a region of conflicting claims by China and its neighbors. Trump’s nominee for top U.S. diplomat, Rex Tillerson, said earlier the United States should stop Beijing from constructing artificial islands and deny it access to them.

Beijing has protested the sailing of U.S. warships in the waters as provocative.

“If the U.S. takes actions against China’s moves to protect their own sea territories, it may result in serous military confrontation,” said Sun Hao, an international relations expert at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.

Teng Jianqun, a scholar at the China Institute of International Studies, said he didn’t believe the U.S. would follow through on the threat of a blockade, saying: “it’s like announcing war. That would be ridiculous.”

China’s island building has irritated neighbors including the Philippines that have competing claims. They worry the islands will be used to expand China’s military reach or perhaps block shipping.

“Both Tillerson and Spicer seem to be trying to show China that the Trump administration will adopt a tougher approach on the South China Sea, but it’s evident that they haven’t yet developed a policy,” said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Glaser said the Trump administration needed to send “clear, consistent” signals to China.

Before his inauguration, Trump raised concern in Beijing over how Washington will treat Taiwan.

Trump questioned a policy under which Washington since 1979 has recognized Beijing as China’s government. He said the United States should not be bound by it without getting trade or other benefits from China. Chinese officials responded that the issue is non-negotiable and warned U.S. challenges would disrupt peace in the region.

Story: Joe McDonald

Shophouse Fire Kills 5 in Northeast Bangkok

By

Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter

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January 25, 2017 12:06 pm

A shophouse in flames early Wednesday morning in Soi Nawamin 99 in Bangkok’s Bueng Kum district.

BANGKOK — A three-story shophouse went up in flames early Wednesday morning in northeastern Bangkok, killing five people inside.

Four family members were trapped on the third floor when the fire broke out just after 3am at the shophouse in the capital’s Bueng Kum district. A man became the fifth victim after he went back inside to rescue members of his family and died.

Firefighters arrived at 3:50am and tried to put out the flames, which eventually spread to four other houses before being extinguished.

The shophouse where the fire started, Lim Thongchai Charoen Auto in Soi Nawamin 99, sold and installed car remote control systems. Investigators said the fire started on the bottom floor before spreading to the second.

Family members of five people killed in a shophouse fire early Wednesday morning in Bangkok’s Bueng Kum district.

Rattana Thongchaiwatanaampol, 36, the shop owner’s daughter, said she was sleeping on the second floor when she heard what sounded like a transformer exploding. At the sight of flames and smoke, she said she quickly told four relatives sleeping on the same floor to get out as she made her escape.

While they made it to safety, four other family members were trapped on the third floor. Jumrus Thongchaiwatanaampol, Rattana’s younger brother, ran back inside to try and help their mother, sister-in-law and two 1-year-old twins to safety. He perished with them.

Firefighters took about an hour to put out the fire.

Metro police commander Sanit Mahathavorn said the fire was likely unintended.

“It’s unlikely that the cause of the fire is arson, it’s most likely an accident,” Lt. Gen. Sanit said at the scene. “Citizens should take care to unplug electrical appliances when leaving home. It’s also Chinese New Year season, so please be wary of lit candles and joss sticks.”

Police and rescue officials surround the bodies of five people killed early Wednesday morning in Bueng Kum, Bangkok.

Thai Commerce Official Arrested in Japan for Stealing Hotel Paintings

By

Teeranai Charuvastra, News Chief

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January 25, 2017 11:56 am

While the stolen paintings have not been identified, 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa' by 19th century artist Hokusai must be in a few Kyoto hotel halls.

BANGKOK — A senior official from the Ministry of Commerce was arrested in Japan for stealing three paintings from the hotel where he was staying on a business trip, a ministry secretary said Wednesday.

The official, identified by Japanese media as Suphat Saguandeekul, held a rank of deputy department director and traveled to Japan for a meeting about patents with his Japanese counterparts when he was arrested Tuesday, according to Permanent Secretary Wibullak Ruamrak.

“The Thai Consulate and Ministry of Commerce’s Office in Osaka are assisting him,” Wibullak wrote in reply to an inquiry. “Right now the matter is under the Japanese legal process. We will find out the facts after he returns to Thailand.”

Suphat Saguandeekul speaks Nov. 26, 2010, at a convention hall in Bangkok. Image: Thai Home Builders Association

Wibullak declined to confirm the name of the official but according to the website of Sankei Shimbun, the 60-year-old stole three paintings worth JPY15,000 (4,660 baht), from a hallway at a hotel in Kyoto. Security footage camera implicated the man, the report said.

Suphat is the only male deputy director listed on the Department of Intellectual Property’s website.

He was originally scheduled to fly back to Bangkok tonight, but it is unclear whether or not Japanese police will allow him to leave, Wibullak said.

Commerce and foreign affairs ministries are expected to hold a news conference about the incident later today.

It’s not the first time a high-ranking Thai official has had a brush with the law in Japan. In July 2015 a former Bangkok police commander was arrested at Tokyo’s Narita Airport for trying to bring a handgun onboard. Kamronwit Thoopkrachang spent three weeks in detention before Japanese prosecutors dropped the charges against him and deported him to Bangkok.

US Wildlife Officials Recruit Indian Tribesmen to Hunt Pythons

By

Associated Press

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January 25, 2017 11:30 am

A Burmese Python seen here in 2010 at an unspecified location. Photo: Ted / Flickr

MIAMI — Florida has gone halfway around the world to get help with its python problem.

Wildlife officials recruited tribesmen from India to hunt the Burmese pythons believed to be decimating native mammals in the Everglades.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hopes the Irula tribesmen – well-known for their snake-catching skills – reveal a reliable way to track and spot the tan, splotchy snakes that all but disappear in the wetlands unless they’re basking in the sun alongside a road or canal.

“Since the Irula have been so successful in their homeland at removing pythons, we are hoping they can teach people in Florida some of these skills,” Kristen Sommers, head of the wildlife commission’s exotic species coordination section, said in a statement Monday.

The tribesmen removed 13 pythons in just over a week, including four from the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Key Largo. One of the snakes was a female measuring 16 feet long.

Two tribesmen from the province of Tamil Nadu in southern India are joined in their hunt this month by dogs trained by University of Florida and Auburn University researchers to sniff out pythons.

A year ago, the state’s public “Python Challenge” netted 106 snakes. Over 1,000 people signed up for the monthlong hunt. In an average year, about 200 pythons are caught in Florida.

Oscars: Musical ‘La La Land’ Secures a Record 14 Nominations

By

Associated Press

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January 25, 2017 11:16 am

A giant Oscar statuette at the 88th Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon last February in Beverly Hills, California. Photo: Danny Moloshok / Associated Press

History was made across Tuesday’s 89th annual Academy Awards nominations, where the retro musical “La La Land” reaped a record-tying 14 nominations and a wave of African-American films, led by the luminous coming-of-age portrait “Moonlight,” resoundingly toppled two straight years of “so white” Oscars.

The twin forces – Damien Chazelle’s candy-colored love letter to musicals and a broad group of diverse films that also included Denzel Washington’s fiery August Wilson adaptation “Fences” and the uplifting African-American mathematician tale “Hidden Figures” – dominated the nominations.

The 14 nods for “La La Land,” including best picture, best actress for Emma Stone, best actor for Ryan Gosling and best director for Chazelle, matched the record hauls of 1997’s “Titanic” and 1950’s “All About Eve.” A disoriented Chazelle, speaking by phone from Beijing, said, “All that I have in my head is ‘thank you’ a million times over.”

Also a record: the six black actors nominated, including “Fences” stars Washington and Viola Davis, Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris of “Moonlight,” Ruth Negga of “Loving” and Octavia Spencer of “Hidden Figures.” Dev Patel, the British-Indian star of “Lion,” was also nominated, making it seven actors of color nominated out of 20.

It made for a stark contrast to the last two years of all-white acting nominees, a disparity that prompted widespread outrage throughout the film industry and led academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs to revamp the academy’s membership.

Jenkins, who was nominated for directing and adapted screenplay, said the eight nominations for “Moonlight” and those for other films showed that people were eager to put themselves in the shoes of others. “Moonlight,” ”Fences” and “Hidden Figures” were each nominated for best picture.

“I love the American film industry and to see it this year, I feel, really reflect the world that we all live and work in, it gives me hope,” Jenkins said by phone from Amsterdam. “It heartens me. There’s a lot of work being done to make this year not be an anomaly.”

Nine films out of a possible ten were nominated for best picture. The others were: Denis Villeneuve’s cerebral alien thriller “Arrival,” Kenneth Lonergan’s New England family drama “Manchester by the Sea,” the West Texas heist thriller “Hell or High Water,” the “Lion,” and Mel Gibson’s World War II drama “Hacksaw Ridge.”

Redemption was everywhere: for a previously diversity-deficient Oscars, for the old-fashioned musical and even for the long-shunned Gibson. Days after the birth of his ninth child, the “Hacksaw Ridge” director was also unexpectedly nominated for best director over the likes of Martin Scorsese (“Silence”) and Clint Eastwood (“Sully”). The nods seemed to restore his stature in Hollywood since an anti-Semitic tirade while being arrested for drunk driving in 2006 and a 2011 conviction for domestic violence.

“I think finally people are remembering who Mel actually is, not what the tabloids (said),” said Andrew Garfield, who was nominated for his lead performance in the film. “I’m so, so proud of him.

“Arrival” tied “Moonlight” for the second most nominees with eight nods. Yet its five-time nominated star, Amy Adams, was left out of the competitive best actress category.

Instead, Meryl Streep, whom President Donald Trump recently derided as “overrated,” landed her 20th nomination. Her performance in “Florence Foster Jenkins” was among the best actress nominees that included Stone, Natalie Portman (“Jackie”), Ruth Negga (“Loving”) and Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”). Also left out was Annette Bening for “20th Century Women.”

Best-actor favorite Casey Affleck (“Manchester by the Sea”) was joined by Washington, Gosling, Garfield and Viggo Mortensen (“Captain Fantastic”). Along with Ali and Patel, the best supporting actor nominees were Lucas Hedges (“Manchester by the Sea”), Michael Shannon (“Nocturnal Animals”) and Jeff Bridges (“Hell or High Water”).

Viola Davis, the supporting-actress front-runner for her performance in “Fences,” notched her third Oscar nod. Also nominated were Harris, Spencer, Nicole Kidman (“Lion”) and Michelle Williams (“Manchester by the Sea”).

Whether fairly or not, the nominations were taken as a test for the overhauled film academy. The inclusion influx, though, wasn’t driven by any kind of response to the last two Oscars; most of the nominated films have been in development for years. And the awards still left many unrepresented. No female filmmakers were nominated for best director and outside of the EGOT-approaching Lin-Manuel Miranda (up for his song to “Moana”), Latinos were nearly absent .

Still, change was seen all through the Oscar categories, nowhere more so than in best documentary. Four black directors led nominees: Ava DuVernay (“The 13th”), Raoul Peck (“I Am Not Your Negro”), Ezra Edelman (the seven-plus hours “O.J.: Made in America”) and Roger Ross Williams (“Life, Animated”). (The other nominee was the European migrant documentary “Fire at Sea.”)

“Now more than ever it is important to educate ourselves, explore our shared history and elevate our awareness about matters of human dignity,” DuVernay, whose film is about historical connections between slavery and mass incarceration, said in a statement.

Joi McMillon, who edited “Moonlight” with Nat Sanders, became the first African-American woman nominated for best editing. Bradford Young of “Arrival” was just the second black cinematographer nominated. Kimberly Steward, who financed “Manchester by the Sea,” became the second African-American producer to land a best-picture nomination after Oprah Winfrey.

Though “La La Land,” ”Arrival” and “Hidden Figures” are knocking on the door of $100 million at the North American box office, none of the best-picture nominees have yet crossed that threshold, making this year’s best picture nominees one of the lowest grossing bunch ever.

“Deadpool,” this season’s underdog, and the year’s no. 2 box-office hit, “Finding Dory,” were shut out. Only one major studio – Paramount, which distributed “Arrival” and “Fences” – scored a best-picture nomination.

Amazon, however, landed its first best-picture nod for “Manchester by the Sea,” which the streaming retailer partnered with Roadside Attractions to distribute. Propelled by “La La Land,” Lionsgate led all studios with 26 nominations.

The dearth of blockbusters will pose a test for Jimmy Kimmel, host of the Feb. 26 ceremony. Last year’s broadcast, which host Chris Rock introduced as “the White People’s Choice Awards,” drew 34.4 million viewers, an eight-year-low.

Viggo Mortensen is among those expecting a strong political undercurrent.

“The Trump White House,” Mortensen said Tuesday, “is about, to some degree, shutting people up you don’t like or who don’t agree with you, and I think the Oscars will probably be the opposite of that.”

Story: Jake Coyle

Lacking Leverage or Clout, River Residents Give Up Homes For Boardwalk

By

Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Staff Reporter

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January 25, 2017 11:12 am

Communities dwelling over the Chao Phraya River near Krung Thon Bridge are among 12 communities which will have to be evicted to pave way for the boardwalk.

BANGKOK — It will be difficult, Sophee Prae-eiam believes, for some of her neighbors who’ve fished in front of their homes for decades to relocate into a five-story flat offered by the government.

Despite living there for three generations, most of those dwelling over the Chao Phraya River never legally owned the land. Most are built over the water on pylons. So when the military government decided to bulldoze their communities to build a boardwalk along Chao Phraya river, giving up their homes for some compensation was perhaps their best option.

“It’s like you move the fish out of the river to live on the shore,” Sophee said to describe the impact on her neighbors once they can no longer catch fish to sell.

Like all of the riverside residents, Sophee, 59, used to oppose the regime’s 14-billion baht mega project. Her home in the Mittakam 1 community near the Krung Thon Bridge is among 309 households in 12 communities which will be demolished and replaced by a concrete promenade.

The controversial redevelopment project aims to build a riverside landmark of the country will start the first phase for 7-kilometer long distance on both side of the river from the Rama VII Bridge to the Phra Pinklao Bridge.

While it was widely agreed that the river needs development, the project, however, received a lot of criticism for its impacts on the environment, communities and culture.

Activist group Friends of the River submitted a letter to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha earlier this month for a second time asking he suspend the project. The group said its feasibility study was rushed and not inclusive.

The promenade construction is expected to start in June and be completed in 2018.

Asked about the concerns raised by the opposition on a tour of an affected community Monday, Bangkok Gov. Aswin Kwanmuang said City Hall will try its best to communicate with those who disagree with the project.

“Ninety percent of people are pleased,” he said without citing where the figure came from. “We will try to create as few adverse effects on people as possible.”

Even though they are still unsure where exactly they will be moved to, many households accepted the offer to move out.

Like Sophee, Thara Phalodom, 56, said it is better to agree when they can still get some relocation assistance, as they have no leverage to negotiate.

“They can also just move us out without paying because we have no rights over the land,” said a man whose wife has lived there three generations. “It’s a big change, but we have to take it.”

Architect Council Says University Can’t Actually Design River Project

Riverside Design Dropped Under Cloud of Plagiarism Charges

Top Architect Says River Project Plagiarized Design

Opponents, Proponents of Chao Phraya Boardwalk Open Fire

Locals Ready to be Evicted for Chao Phraya Boardwalk, Official Says

River’s Friends Float Hope for Public Hearings on 14B-Baht ‘Promenade’

Radical Makeover of Chao Phraya River Delayed

Chao Phraya Promenade Should be Sent Back to Drawing Board, Architects Say

Israel Pushes Ahead on West Bank Settlements

By

Associated Press

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January 25, 2017 11:07 am

A general view of a construction site in 2011 in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit. B'tselem, Israel. Photo: Oded Balilty / Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Israel announced plans Tuesday to build 2,500 more settler homes on the West Bank, moving to step up construction just days after the swearing-in of Donald Trump brought to power a U.S. administration seen as friendly to the settlement movement.

“We are building – and we will continue to build,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a Facebook post.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer did not answer directly when asked about Trump’s reaction.

“Israel continues to be a huge ally of the United States,” Spicer said. “He wants to grow closer with Israel to make sure that it gets the full respect that it deserves in the Middle East.”

While Trump has signaled that he will be far more tolerant of Israeli settlement construction than his predecessors, he also has expressed a desire to broker a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians, and siding closely with Israel on such a contentious matter could hurt U.S. credibility.

Netanyahu repeatedly clashed with President Barack Obama over settlement construction.

Obama, like the rest of the international community, considered the building of settlements on occupied lands claimed by the Palestinians to be an obstacle to peace. Those tensions boiled over last month when the Obama White House allowed the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution condemning the settlements as illegal.

Trump harshly criticized Obama for going against Israel and promised a new approach after taking office, raising hopes inside Israel’s nationalist government for a new era in relations.

Trump has already invited Netanyahu to visit the White House next month, and both men, after speaking on the phone Sunday, promised close coordination on a range of sensitive matters, including settlements.

Netanyahu’s office would not say whether he had consulted with the White House before Tuesday’s announcement, but just a day earlier, the prime minister told a meeting of his Likud Party that there should be no surprises for the new president.

The construction plans were announced by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who said in a statement that he and Netanyahu agreed on the approval “in response to housing needs.”

He said most of the housing units will be built in settlement “blocs,” densely populated areas where most settlers already live and which Israel wants to keep under its control under any future peace deal with the Palestinians. Some 100 homes were slated for two smaller settlements.

The approvals were for early stages of home development, meaning construction is not expected to begin anytime soon.

“This decision destroys the two-state solution,” said Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official in the West Bank. “We call on the international community to hold Israel accountable immediately.” He said the Israeli government had been encouraged by what it heard from Trump.

The Palestinians want the West Bank and east Jerusalem – areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war – for their hoped-for state, a position that has wide international backing.

In Brussels, the European Union condemned this week’s Israeli settlement announcements, saying they “seriously undermine” the prospects for a peace deal. “It is regrettable that Israel is proceeding with this policy, despite the continuous serious international concern and objections, which have been constantly raised at all levels,” a statement said.

Trump has signaled a softer approach to the settlements. Earlier this week, he did not react to an Israeli announcement to build over 560 new homes in east Jerusalem.

Both his designated ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, now a top aide and Mideast envoy, have deep ties to the settler movement. Friedman and Kushner’s family foundation have both been generous contributors to Beit El, one of the settlements mentioned in Tuesday’s announcement. A delegation of settler representatives was invited to Trump’s inauguration last week.

Oded Revivi, the chief foreign envoy of the Yesha settlers’ council, said he hopes Tuesday’s announcement “is just the beginning of a wave of new building.” Revivi led the delegation to the inauguration, the first time the movement has received such an invitation.

Trump’s ties to the settler movement are just one reason Israel’s nationalist right is encouraged by the new administration.

His campaign platform made no mention of a Palestinian state, a cornerstone of two decades of international diplomacy in the region. Trump also has promised to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move long favored by Israel but vehemently opposed by the Palestinians.

Since Trump took over, Netanyahu has been under heavy pressure from the pro-settler Jewish Home Party to move ahead on an explosive bill that would annex Maaleh Adumim, a major settlement near Jerusalem. A vote on the legislation, which threatens to unleash fresh violence and draw international condemnation, was put on hold this week, apparently so Netanyahu could coordinate his policy with the new U.S. administration.

Despite the positive signs for Netanyahu, Trump remains something of a wild card. Since taking office, for instance, he has appeared to backpedal from his promise to move the embassy.

The Palestinians have warned that moving the embassy would amount to American recognition of Israeli control over east Jerusalem, home to sensitive Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites.

They say this could trigger religious violence, and they have threatened to cancel their diplomatic recognition of Israel, the basis for past interim peace accords.

Neighboring Jordan, which holds custodial rights over Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, has said that moving the embassy would cross a “red line.” Jordan is a key American and Israeli ally in the battle against Islamic militants.

On Tuesday, the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip warned the U.S. not to move the embassy, saying it could “open a new chapter of conflict” and “add fuel to the fire.”

Story: Josef Federman

Trump Admin Orders EPA Contract Freeze and Media Blackout

By

Associated Press

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January 25, 2017 10:53 am

Donald Trump gestures last June during a rally in Richmond, Virginia. Photo: Steve Helber / Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has instituted a media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants, part of a broader communications clampdown within the executive branch.

The prohibitions came to light Tuesday as the agency moved to delay implementation of at least 30 environmental rules finalized in the closing months of President Barack Obama’s term, a potential first step to seeking to kill the regulations.

A summary of the actions posted in the Federal Register includes a long list of regulations that include updated air pollution rulings for several states, renewable fuel standards and limits on the amount of formaldehyde that can leach from wood products. President Donald Trump signed a directive shortly after his inauguration on Friday ordering a “regulatory freeze pending review” for all federal agency rules that had been finalized that have not yet taken effect.

Emails sent to EPA staff and reviewed by The Associated Press also detailed specific prohibitions banning press releases, blog updates or posts to the agency’s social media accounts.

The Trump administration has also ordered what it called a temporary suspension of all new business activities at the department, including issuing task orders or work assignments to EPA contractors. The orders were expected to have a significant and immediate impact on EPA activities nationwide. EPA contracts with outside vendors for a wide array of services, from engineering and research science to janitorial supplies.

Similar orders barring external communications have been issued in recent days by the Trump administration at other federal agencies, including the departments of Transportation, Agriculture and Interior.

Staffers in EPA’s public affairs office are instructed to forward all inquiries from reporters to the Office of Administration and Resources Management.

“Incoming media requests will be carefully screened,” one directive said. “Only send out critical messages, as messages can be shared broadly and end up in the press.”

A review of EPA websites and social media accounts, which typically include numerous new posts each day, showed no new activity since Friday.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday he had no specific information on the blackout.

“I don’t think it’s any surprise that when there’s an administration turnover, that we’re going to review the policies,” Spicer said.

Doug Ericksen, the communications director for Trump’s transition team at EPA, said he expects the communications ban to be lifted by the end of this week.

“We’re just trying to get a handle on everything and make sure what goes out reflects the priorities of the new administration,” Ericksen said.

Beyond what was stated in the internal email, Ericksen clarified that the freeze on EPA contracts and grants won’t apply to pollution cleanup efforts or infrastructure construction activities. The agency later said it would also seek to complete that review by Friday.

State agencies that rely on EPA for funding were left in the dark, with both Democratic and Republican officials saying they had received no information from EPA about the freeze.

“We are actively seeking additional information so we can understand the impact of this action on our ability to administer critical programs,” said Alan Matheson, executive director of Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the Trump administration should immediately reverse the media blackout and contracting freeze.

“This decision could have damaging implications for communities across New York state and the country, from delaying testing for lead in schools to restricting efforts to keep drinking water clean to holding up much-needed funding to revitalize toxic brownfield sites,” Schumer said.

The executive director for the advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Jeff Ruch, said the orders go beyond what has occurred in prior presidential transitions.

“We’re watching the dark cloud of Mordor extend over federal service,” Ruch said Tuesday, referring to the evil kingdom in the epic fantasy “The Lord of the Rings.”

Ruch noted that key posts at EPA have not yet been filled with Republican appointees, including Trump’s nominee for EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt. That means there are not yet the new senior personnel in place to make decisions.

Environmentalists said the orders were having a chilling effect on EPA staff already suffering from low morale. Trump and Pruitt have both been frequent critics of the agency and have questioned the validity of climate science showing that the Earth is warming and man-made carbon emissions are to blame.

Staff at the Agriculture Department’s Agricultural Research Service also received orders not to issue any news releases, photos, fact sheets and social media posts. After an email of the order leaked to the media, USDA’s acting deputy secretary said he would ask agency officials to rescind the memo.

Spokespersons at agencies within the Transportation Department who are career employees received an email Monday morning telling them: “There will be no releases or social media until we hear from new leadership.” The one-sentence email, which was obtained by The Associated Press, came from the department’s top career spokeswoman, rather than a political appointee.

The department said in a statement that transportation officials didn’t receive any guidance on press releases and social media from the White House.

“Everybody’s being very cautious” and erring on the side of not releasing information, one DOT employee said. The employee didn’t have permission to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The AP reported over the weekend that staff employees at the Interior Department were temporarily ordered to stop making posts to its Twitter account after the official account of the National Park Service retweeted a pair of photos that compared those gathered for Trump’s inauguration with the much larger crowd that attended Obama’s swearing-in.

Trump later falsely claimed that more than 1 million people attended his inauguration, which Spicer insisted was the most watched in history.

In a test of what the new administration will tolerate, the official Twitter account of the Badlands National Park published a series of posts Tuesday accurately quoting climate science data that included the current record-setting high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The tweets were soon deleted.

Story: Michael Biesecker, John Flesher

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