Daily Archives: June 24, 2022

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Originally posted here:

Hong Kong and Macau - USEmbassy.gov

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is set to travel to Tehran on Friday for a surprise visit that could breathe new life into stalled talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Borrell was due to arrive in the Iranian capital at night to meet Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials, Irans foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

Diplomacy is the only way to go back to full implementation of the deal and to reverse current tensions, Borrell tweeted as the EU confirmed his two-day trip in a statement.

News of his previously unannounced visit comes after Amir-Abdollahian said last week that Iran still believed the negotiations could succeed.

The landmark deal has been hanging by a thread since 2018, when then US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord and began imposing crippling economic sanctions on Americas arch enemy.

The administration of incumbent US President Joe Biden has sought to return to the agreement, saying it would be the best path with the Islamic republic.

The talks in Vienna, which began in April last year, aim to return the United States to the deal, including through the lifting of its sanctions on Iran, while ensuring Tehrans full compliance with its nuclear commitments.

The negotiations stalled in March amid differences between Tehran and Washington, most notably due to a demand by Iran to remove its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from a US terror list.

Amir-Abdollahian on Thursday stressed Iran was serious about reaching an agreement.

I hope we can reach the final point of the agreement in the near future with realism from the American side, he said, adding that the nuclear negotiations train has reached difficult stops as they near the end.

On Thursday, Enrique Mora, the European Unions coordinator for the talks, tweeted a picture of himself dining together with Borrell and US negotiator Robert Malley at a restaurant in Brussels.

In depth conversation about #JCPOA and regional perspectives in the wider Middle East. Malley reiterated firm US commitment to come back to the deal, he wrote, referring to the accord by its formal name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The agreement reached between Iran and six major powers Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US gave the Islamic republic relief from sanctions in return for guarantees it could not develop an atomic weapon.

Iran has always denied wanting a nuclear arsenal.

In April, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States still believed a return to the accord was the best way to address the nuclear challenge posed by Iran.

Blinken warned at the time that the breakout time for Iran to develop a nuclear bomb if it so chooses was down to a matter of weeks after the deal pushed it beyond a year.

The International Atomic Energy Agencys board of governors adopted a resolution this month censuring Iran for failing to adequately explain the previous discovery of traces of enriched uranium at three sites which Tehran had not declared as having hosted nuclear activities.

On the same day, June 8, Tehran said it had disconnected a number of IAEA cameras that had been monitoring its nuclear sites.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi later confirmed that 27 cameras had been disconnected, leaving about 40 still in place.

The move by Iran, he warned, could deal a fatal blow to the negotiations unless the UN nuclear watchdogs inspectors were given access within three to four weeks.

The visit by Borrell, however, could be a determining factor in the fate of the deal.

During the talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the accord, Iran has repeatedly called for guarantees from the Biden administration that there will be no repeat of Trumps pullout.

by Payam Doost Mohamadi

Here is the original post:

EU top diplomat bids to 'reverse tensions' on surprise Iran visit - Macau Business

Police in Ecuadors capital fired tear gas Thursday to disperse Indigenous protesters who tried to storm congress on the 11th day of crippling demonstrations over fuel prices and living costs.

Protesters had earlier won a concession from the Ecuadoran government when President Guillermo Lasso, isolating because of a Covid-19 infection, granted them access to a cultural center emblematic of the Indigenous struggle but commandeered by police over the weekend.

However, later in the day, a group of Indigenous protesters, led by women, headed towards congress only to be pushed back by police as violent clashes broke out.

Police fired tear gas while protesters threw rocks, fireworks, and Molotov cocktails.

This is a very bad sign, given we asked our base to march peacefully, said protest leader Leonidas Iza.

Thursdays clashes, which spread to a neighboring park, left a 39-year-old protester dead by gunfire, according to the Alliance of Human Rights Organizations, bringing to four the total of number protest-related deaths since the marches began on June 13.

An estimated 14,000 protesters are taking part in the mass show of discontent, and some 10,000 of them are in Quito, which is under a night-time curfew.

Six of the countrys 24 provinces are under a state of emergency.

The protesters demands includea cut in already subsidized fuel prices which have risen sharply in recent months, as well as jobs, food price controls, and more public spending on healthcare and education.

Francisco Jimenez, Ecuadors minister of government, announced the concession earlier Thursday, saying it was made for the sake of dialogue and peace.

The aim, he said, was to to stop roadblocks, violent demonstrations, and attacks.

The protesters hailed the move.

It is a triumph of the struggle, Iza proclaimed over a megaphone, advancing on the center with hundreds of others in jubilatory mood.

The Alliance of Human Rights Organizations said a 38-year-old man died on Wednesday in the southern town of Tarqui in clashes between protesters and police, which it accused of violent tactics.

Dozens of people have also been injured in the countrywide demonstrations that Indigenous groups have vowed to continue until their demands are met.

The police, for its part, said the man had died of a medical condition that occurred in the context of the demonstrations.

Two other people died on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Alliance, which also reported 92 wounded and 94 civilians arrested in 11 days of protests.

Officials say 117 in the ranks of police and soldiers have been injured.

On Wednesday night, some 300 protesters occupied a power plant in southern Ecuador and briefly took its operators hostage, authorities said.

Ecuador, a small South American country riddled with drug trafficking and related violence, has been hard hit by rising inflation, unemployment and poverty all exacerbated by the pandemic.

The protests, which have involved the burning of tires and tree branches by vocal marchers brandishing sticks, spears and makeshift shields, have paralyzed the capital and severely harmed the economy with barricades of key roads.

The government has rejected demands to lift the state of emergency imposed in response to the sometimes violent demonstrations called by the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie).

I cry to see so many people mistreated by this government, protester Cecilia, an 80-year-old who did not give her full name, told AFP as she marched with an Ecuadoran flag and a banner reading: Lasso, liar.

Conaie led two weeks of protests in 2019 in which 11 people died and more than 1,000 were injured, causing economic losses of some $800 million before the then-president abandoned plans to reduce fuel price subsidies.

Lassos government has ruled out cutting fuel prices this time, as it would cost the State an unaffordable $1 billion per year.

Conaie credited with ending three presidencies between 1997 and 2005 insists the state of emergency be lifted before it will negotiate, but the government has said this would leave the capital defenseless.

It was unclear whether the group was ready to negotiate after Thursdays concession.

Official data showed the economy was losing about $50 million per day due to the protests, not counting oil production the countrys main export product which has also been affected.

Producers of flowers, another of Ecuadors main exports, have complained their wares are rotting as trucks cannot reach their destinations.

by Santiago PIEDRA SILVA / Lina VANEGAS

Read the rest here:

Clashes, tear gas, even as Ecuador protesters win government concession - Macau Business

The US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it was ordering all products produced by Juul Labs off the market after finding the vaping giant had failed to address certain safety concerns.

The decision, which Juul said it would appeal, clears the way for rival brands to increase their share of the market it once dominated.

It is also a blow for tobacco giant Altria, maker of Marlboro cigarettes, which acquired a 35 stake in Juul in 2018 to diversify its business strategy in the face of falling smoking rates.

Todays action is further progress on the FDAs commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards, said FDA Commissioner Robert Califf in a statement.

Products affected include the Juul device and its pods, which currently come in the flavors Virginia tobacco and in menthol, at nicotine concentrations of five and three percent.

After completing a two-year review of the companys marketing application, the FDA found the data presented lacked sufficient evidence regarding the toxicological profile of the products, it said.

In particular, some of the companys study findings raised concerns due to insufficient and conflicting data including regarding genotoxicity and potentially harmful chemicals leaching from the companys proprietary e-liquid pods, it added.

Juul said in a statement that it respectfully disagrees with the FDAs findings and that its products met the statutory standard of being appropriate for the protection of the public health.

We intend to seek a stay and are exploring all of our options under the FDAs regulations and the law, including appealing the decision and engaging with our regulator, Juuls chief regulatory officer Joe Murillo said.

Juul was blamed for a surge in youth vaping over its marketing of fruit and candy flavored e-cigarettes, which it stopped selling in 2019.

In January 2020, the FDA said sale of e-cigarettes in flavors other than tobacco or menthol would be illegal unless specifically authorized by the government.

The agency has approved some e-cigarette products from other makers such as Reynolds American, the current market leader, NJOY and Logic Technology Development.

Juul has argued that vaping products can provide a solution to the harmful health impacts from conventional cigarettes.

Juuls products exist only to transition adult smokers away from combustible cigarettes, Chief Executive KC Crosthwaite said on the companys website, adding that the company is working hard to rebuild its reputation following an erosion of trust over the past few years.

The impact of the FDAs decision is far from certain given the likelihood of an appeal, Goldman Sachs said in an analysis issued before the announcement. There are already several precedents for reversal of such orders, it noted.

Juul currently holds around 36 percent share of the US vaping market, a substantial reduction on the roughly 70 percent it held before the FDAs actions on flavored e-cigarettes, the Goldman Sachs note said.

On Tuesday, President Joe Bidens administration announced it would develop a new policy requiring cigarette producers to reduce nicotine to non-addictive levels, a move that, if successful could upend the tobacco industry.

Read the original here:

US orders all Juul vaping products off the market - Macau Business

The largest banks operating in the US market have sufficient resources to withstanda severe economic downturn and continue providing financing to American families and firms, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.

The Fed subjected 33 banks to its annual stress test exercise, to gauge whether they would be able to weather a steep global recession.

In the hypothetical crisis, financial markets plummet, commercial real estate and corporate debt markets face substantial strain, US unemployment reaches 10 percent and the economy contracts by 3.5 percent.

The results showed that banks continue to have strong capital levels, allowing them to continue lending to households and businesses during a severe recession,the Fed said.

The scenario for this years test was even bleaker than the one used last year, but the outcome was the same, showing all the banks would maintain a sufficient cushion despite total projected losses of $612 billion, according to the report.

Despite the larger post-stress decline this year capital ratios remain well above the required minimum levels throughout the projection horizon of nine quarters, the report said.

The stress tests, implemented in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, apply to banks with at least $100 billion in total assets, including the top tier designated as global systemically important banks.

Smaller banks are only subjected to the stress tests every two years, so the results are not directly comparable to 2021, which tested 23 institutions.

Among the banks examined in both years, there were an additional $50 billion in losses under the tougher scenario, a Fed official told reporters.

However, the official stressed that the dire case applied is only hypothetical and not a forecast.

With the results in hand, banks can announce any plans for dividend payments and share buybacks starting Monday at 2030 GMT, the official said.

The Fed ordered limits to such distributions in June 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic caused a sharp economic downturn, but relaxed the restrictions in December 2020 before removing them following last years tests.

Read more from the original source:

Major US banks can weather severe economic downturn: Fed - Macau Business