Khashoggi's children deny considering settlement over murder

RIYADH (Reuters) - The children of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi denied on Wednesday discussing any sort of settlement over his killing by Saudi agents after a report of compensation awards. “Currently the trial is taking place and no settlement has been discussed or is being discussed,” said the statement, published on Twitter by Khashoggi’s elder son Salah.

The Washington Post, where Khashoggi was a columnist, reported last week his children were given million-dollar houses and monthly five-figure payments as compensation. But it said that was separate from any potential “blood money” payment that could be negotiated after the murder trial under the Saudi justice system. While ruling out a “settlement,” the family statement did not, however, explicitly deny receiving compensation. In fact it added: “Acts of wisdom and generosity arise from high morals and humanity and are not an admission of guilt or error. We were raised to be grateful for favors and not reject them.” Family members could not be immediately reached for further comment.

Eleven suspects are on trial for last year’s murder, which the CIA and some Western governments believe was ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The authorities deny he had any role in or knowledge of the killing, which sparked an international outcry and limited sanctions by Western allies. Reuters reported last month that a royal adviser fired and sanctioned by Washington over the murder is not among those on trial at secretive hearings in Riyadh.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-khashoggi/khashoggis-children-deny-considering-settlement-over-murder-idUSKCN1RM1LX?il=0

Mexico government slams U.S. border slowdown as 'very bad idea'

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s foreign minister on Wednesday criticized hold-ups in the flow of goods and people at the U.S-Mexico border, and said he planned to discuss the matter with U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials later in the day. After days of traffic delays at sections of the border that have alarmed businesses, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the disruptions were raising costs for supply chains in both countries. “Slowing down the flow of people and goods at the northern border is a very bad idea,” Ebrard said in a post on Twitter, using unusually frank language on an issue that has caused constant friction between Mexico and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Ebrard said his ministry would get in contact on Wednesday with the new leaders of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The department’s former secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who had overseen Trump’s bitterly contested immigration policies during her tenure, stepped down at the weekend.

The border slowdowns have occurred after Trump late last month threatened to close the frontier if Mexico did not halt a surge in undocumented migrants reaching the United States. On Monday, a judge in San Francisco said the Trump administration’s policy of sending some asylum seekers to Mexico while their claims worked through a backlogged immigration court system was not authorized by U.S. law. The White House said on Tuesday it would appeal the ruling and that its policy was part of a “cooperative program extensively negotiated with the government of Mexico.”

However, in a sign of ongoing tensions over the issue, Mexico’s foreign ministry noted afterwards that the return of the migrants was a “unilateral” measure with which it did not agree but was allowing on a “temporary” basis. On Wednesday morning, only one of six lanes for commercial vehicles was open at the Bridge of the Americas border crossing between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, according to online data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-mexico/mexico-government-slams-u-s-border-slowdown-as-very-bad-idea-idUSKCN1RM21J?il=0

Eleven killed in Sudan protests including six 'state forces': government spokesman

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Eleven people were killed in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Tuesday, including six members of “state forces”, the government’s spokesman said on Wednesday, as protesters campaign for an end to President Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year rule.

Uniformed personnel from Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) twice tried to disperse the thousands of anti-government protesters camped outside the Defence Ministry, the minister said, citing a report by the Khartoum state police chief. But government soldiers guarding the compound came out both times to protect the demonstrators, firing shots in the air and deploying troops around the area. The protests are the most sustained challenge Bashir has faced in his three decades in power.

The Defence Ministry is in a compound that also houses Bashir’s residence and the NISS headquarters. The government spokesman and information minister Hassan Ismail said the Khartoum state police chief had delivered a report stating that 11 people had died in “incidents yesterday (Tuesday), including six members of the regular forces”. He gave no further details on how they died. Ismail also quoted the police chief as saying the authorities had foiled a “criminal plot” to burn down some police stations in some parts of the capital. The head of the main opposition Umma Party, Sadiq al-Mahdi, said on Tuesday that around 20 people have been killed and dozens wounded in dawn attacks on the sit-in outside the defense ministry since it began on Saturday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sudan-protests/eleven-killed-in-sudan-protests-including-six-state-forces-government-spokesman-idUSKCN1RM1RA?il=0

>>6121936

Stage is set! All to unfold now, soon…is near!

U.S. puts 37 Chinese companies and schools on red-flag 'unverified' list

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department said on Wednesday that it is adding 37 Chinese companies and schools to a red-flag list of “unverified” entities that U.S. companies should treat with caution, according to a notice in the Federal Register. The list, which takes effect on Thursday, also includes six organizations in Hong Kong, four in the United Arab Emirates, two in Malaysia and one in Indonesia. One company on the list is the Aisin Nantong Technical Center, a Chinese subsidiary of a Japanese auto parts manufacturer. Another is Beijing Bayi Space LCD Materials Technology Co Ltd, which has received patents for high-end screen technology. Several other of the companies named specialize in precision optics, electronics, machine tools or aviation.

The listing means that the U.S. companies will treat the organizations with caution, said Kevin Wolf, a former assistant secretary of commerce for export administration. Being put on an “unverified” list means that U.S. suppliers to the unverified companies and schools can no longer use license exceptions to, for example, sell products to repair goods that were sold previously but instead will have to get a new license, said Wolf, now at the law firm Akin Gump. “Even though it’s not an embargo, because of the hassle sometimes suppliers will treat it as an embargo. It has a practical effect that’s greater than the legal effect,” said Wolf.

The Commerce Department will put entities on the “unverified” list if the organizations decline to answer questions about how U.S. goods are used. Schools on the list include the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, whose website says it specializes in physics and chemistry research aimed at defense and economic development as well as training graduate students. Other schools on the list are the Guangdong University of Technology in Guangzhou, Renmin University, Tongji University in Shanghai and two schools in Xi’an, China. The listing also removes five Russian companies, three Chinese entities and one Finnish firm from the list.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-unverified/u-s-puts-37-chinese-companies-and-schools-on-red-flag-unverified-list-idUSKCN1RM26T?il=0