Two Russians killed in coalition’s airstrike in Syria

GROZNY, January 4. /TASS/. An international coalition’s airstrike targeting the militants of the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) has killed a resident of Chechnya’s Nadterechny District Khava Akhyadova, 35, and a four-year-old boy in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor, Kheda Saratova from the civil society and human rights council under the Chechen president told TASS on Friday.

"Women and children die there," she said, naming Khava Akhyadova who "died today," leaving "five girls without parents." Saratova added that a four-year-old boy, a grandson of a woman from Dagestan, was also killed. According to the activists’ data, those killed by the airstrike were Russian nationals.

"The atmosphere is very strained there now, there is no humanitarian corridor, while those suffering are women and children who are used by bandits as human shield," Saratova’s aide Zalina Tatayeva told TASS. "Everyone is asking for a humanitarian corridor to be provided at least to women and children," she noted, adding that activists will be standing up for opening of humanitarian corridors and saving civilians.

http://tass.com/emergencies/1038969

Departed Interior Sec. Zinke Under Investigation by DOJ

The Justice Department is looking into whether former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lied to investigators at the Department of Interior, The Washington Post reports. Anonymous sources tell the Post that investigators at the Interior's inspector general's office raised the issue with the DOJ after suspecting Zinke may have lied during questioning over his real estate deals in Montana and his review of a Native American casino project in Connecticut.

The Justice Department has not yet decided whether Zinke should face legal action, the Post reports. Zinke, who left the agency Wednesday following a series of high-profile scandals, denied the allegations to the Associated Press, blaming conservation groups for creating a "playbook" designed to use "frivolous allegations, sources, rumors, innuendo and false accusations" to boot him and other Cabinet members from office.

As reported by The Washington Post:

"Zinke, who submitted his resignation last month, had faced intense pressure to step down because of the probes into his conduct, though President Trump had soured on him for other reasons, too, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. In particular, this person said, Trump was upset Zinke would not challenge Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) in last year's election and over how Zinke handled the administration's plan to expand offshore drilling.

Last January, Zinke flew to Florida and, without consulting the White House, announced in a news conference with then-Gov. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) that Interior would exempt the state from offshore drilling. The move raised ethics questions, along with an outcry from other governors whose coastal states were affected by the plan."

The Associated Press reported that Zinke blamed conservation groups such as Montana Conservation Votersand Western Values Project for making it "impossible for Zinke and other Trump Cabinet members to serve."

"A representative of Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund, Whitney Tawney, noted that the group had endorsed Zinke when he was a state lawmaker but expected more out of him in terms of protecting natural resources.

'The accusation that groups like Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund made his job impossible proves once again that he's continuing to point fingers at anyone he can instead of accepting responsibility for his own failures,' Tawney said."

#Zinke Leaves #Interior to His Pro-Polluter, Anti-Environment Deputy https://t.co/KRdLDQausl @Interior @greenpeaceusa @Earthjustice

— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) January 3, 2019

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/70111/departed-interior-sec-zinke-under-investigation-by.html

Canada charity used donations to fund Israel army bases

A Canadian charity has been investigated for using its donations to fund infrastructure projects on Israeli army and naval bases.

The Jewish National Fund of Canada – an affiliate of parent organisation Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael or the Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) – used its donations to fund infrastructure projects on Israeli army, air and naval bases, in contravention of Canadian law.

The revelation came as JNF Canada was subjected to an audit by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), a federal agency that administers tax laws for the Canadian government, after a Canadian researcher filed a complaint about the charity’s spending. According to local news site CBC:

While no law bars a Canadian citizen from writing a cheque directly to Israel’s Ministry of Defence, rules do ban tax-exempt charities from issuing tax receipts for such donations, and also ban donors from claiming tax deductions for them.

CBC further explains that: “In its guide for Canadian registered charities carrying out activities outside Canada, the CRA states plainly that ‘increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of Canada’s armed forces is charitable, but supporting the armed forces of another country is not’.”

Though JNF Canada claims it stopped funding such projects in 2016, CBC points out that this would not stop the Canada Revenue Agency from taking action against the charity for funding projects in contravention of these clearly-stated guidelines.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190104-canada-charity-used-donations-to-fund-israel-army-bases/

Ex-Credit Suisse bankers arrested on US charges over $2bn fraud scheme

Three former bankers of the second-largest bank in Switzerland, Credit Suisse Group AG, were arrested in London over an alleged connection to a $2bn Mozambique fraud scheme, according to US justice authorities cited by media.

The three suspects – former managing directors Andrew Pears and Surjan Singh, as well as the vice president in the global financing unit, Detelina Subeva – were charged with conspiring to violate US anti-bribery law, money laundering, and securities fraud in an indictment issued in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, Reuters reported.

The three men were released on bail after their arrest in the British capital on Thursday but may face extradition to the US.

The bank itself was spared of the charges and says it was kept in the dark by its own staff.

“The indictment alleges that the former employees worked to defeat the bank’s internal controls, acted out of a motive of personal profit, and sought to hide these activities from the bank,” Credit Suisse said in a statement.

The arrests of the three former Credit Suisse employees came less than a week after the former finance minister of Mozambique was arrested in South Africa as part of the same case. Manuel Chang is now fighting extradition to the US. A fifth suspect was also arrested earlier this week.

Between 2013 and 2016, Credit Suisse and other banks arranged $2 billion loans for Mozambique state-owned companies. The loans were initially aimed at maritime projects and coastline protection in one of the poorest countries in the world, but instead were plundered, with at least $200 million diverted for bribes and kickbacks. The companies created to operate planned maritime projects were a cover for the suspects to enrich themselves.

The loans were partly concealed from international donors and creditors, including the International Monetary Fund. After they were disclosed in 2016, international aid was withdrawn, sending the nation into crisis. The state-owned companies missed more than $700 million in loan payments after defaulting in 2016 and 2017, according to the indictment.

A similar case has recently been brought against Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs. In December, Malaysia filed criminal charges against the US bank and two of its key bankers over its role in the multi-billion dollar scandal with 1MDB state fund. Kuala Lumpur wants $7.5 billion in reparations from Goldman Sachs, which it claims covered up the looting of the fund.

https://www.rt.com/business/448075-credit-suisse-bankers-arrested/

North Africa Situation Overview – Late 2018

By the end of the year, the situation has grown more tense. This is particularly true of Algeria which will undergo a change in supreme leadership. The current president is ill, his surrounding and political elites are in a state of uncertainty, the new configuration of alliances is difficult of predict. The situation is no less fluid in Tunisia due to the conflict among party blocs, and Libya where attempts to resolve the conflict have been failing irrespective which external actors are backing these efforts.

Algeria

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika could not receive Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman Al Saud due to a persistent cold, which was reported by Reuters citing the presidential chancellery. The Crown Prince came to Algeria from Mauritania and before that from Argentina, where he took part in G-20 summit. The president feels so poorly that he may not run in the next election. This led the government to start negotiations with a range of political actors from the structural opposition. The proposal to postpone elections until April 2019 so far has not been approved by Bouteflika’s entourage, though it was agreed upon by some of its members including a leading figure in the presidential alliance Amar Gul, and an opposition representative Abderazak Makri.

The presidential plan headed by the Said brothers and Abderagim Bouteflika waits for the doctors’ report, but it has been forced to approve consultations. President’s inner circle decided in favor of a fifth term and so far as not abandoned this option. But the president’s health has worsened so much that he can’t appear at the Constitutional Council in order to register his candidacy, as demanded by law. The situation is made more complicated by the absence of a successor from the ruling party. The National Liberation Front (NLF) General Secretary Jamel uld Abbas has been in retirement due to health problems. The acting NLF head is Muaz Bushareb, who in late October became the new chairman of the People’s National Assembly, the lower chamber of Algeria’s legislature.

The idea of establishing a vice-presidency was rejected since it would require changing the constitution, which took five years the last time it happened. Said Bouteflike has eliminated potential competitors for the post of presidency in the last three years, including the former PM Abdelmalek Sellal and the police head Abdelgani Hamel. Their dismissals were foreordained already in 2016 due to the president’s brothers suspecting them of leaking compromising photos demonstrating the president’s incapacity which were published on Twitter by the former French PM Manuel Valls. The current PM Akhmed Uakhya is also a suspect in that plot, though he’s retained his post due to his rejection of presidential ambitions.

https://southfront.org/north-africa-situation-overview-late-2018/