Prime Minister Theresa May will gather together squabbling British ministers at her country residence after this month’s European Union summit

to settle on details of a much-anticipated Brexit policy paper.

May has yet to agree on some of the fundamental details of what type of trading relationship she wants to have with the European Union after Britain leaves next March. As a result, talks with the EU have all but ground to a halt, raising fears among businesses and in Brussels that Britain could end up crashing out of the bloc without an agreed-upon deal.

“There’s going to be a lot happening over the next few weeks. You know, people want us to get on with it, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” May told reporters on her way to a G-7 summit in Canada.

May will look to the June 28-29 EU summit as a chance to pin down some of the most troublesome details of Britain’s exit agreement and pave the way for more intensive talks on the all-important future economic partnership between the world’s fifth-largest economy and the world’s biggest trading bloc.

But senior ministers are still at odds about what type of post-Brexit customs arrangement will be best for Britain, meaning talks on the future are unlikely to move far in June.

Before leaving for Canada, May was forced into crisis talks with her Brexit minister who had challenged her so-called backstop plan to ensure no hard border on the island of Ireland.

Then her foreign minister, Boris Johnson, was recorded saying there could be a Brexit meltdown.

‘Away day’

With that in mind, May said she was planning to summon ministers to Chequers, her country residence, for an “away day” aimed at ending months of squabbling and agreeing upon the contents of a so-called “white paper” policy document.

The white paper is expected to set out in more detail what Britain wants from its long-term relationship with the EU. May did not give a firm date for when it would be published.

Ministers had said it would be published before the June EU summit, suggesting rows had helped delay the paper.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, criticized the delay. “The government promised a ‘detailed, ambitious and precise’ Brexit white paper this month setting out their negotiating priorities. Once again it’s been postponed. The Tories are botching Brexit and risking jobs and our economy in the process,” he said in an emailed statement.

May said her government and the EU were still working toward an October deadline in talks to secure an agreement on the terms of Britain’s withdrawal and an outline of the future partnership.

“We’re all, both we and the European Union, working to that timetable of October,” May said. “From my point of view, what we’re doing is working to develop that future relationship, because there’s a big prize for the U.K. here at the end of this.”
…

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he had instructed his representatives not to sign a communique by all seven leaders attending the G-7 summit in Canada, citing statements by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made after he left.

“Very dishonest and & weak,” Trump tweeted in response to Trudeau’s remark that the new U.S. tariffs on aluminum and steel were “insulting.”

“Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers, and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!” Trump added.

Retaliatory measures

Trudeau closed the summit Saturday by refusing to budge on positions that place him at odds with Trump, particularly new tariffs on steel and aluminum that have irritated Canada and the European Union.

He said in closing remarks that Canada would proceed with retaliatory measures on U.S. goods as early as July 1.

“I highlighted directly to the president that Canadians did not take it lightly that the United States has moved forward with significant tariffs,” Trudeau said in the news conference following the two-day summit. “Canadians, we’re polite, we’re reasonable, but we will also not be pushed around.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May echoed Trudeau, pledging to retaliate for tariffs on EU goods. “The loss of trade through tariffs undermines competition, reduces productivity, removes the incentive to innovate and ultimately makes everyone poorer,” she said. “And in response, the EU will impose countermeasures.”

Trudeau and May also bucked Trump on another high-profile issue: Russia. Trump wants to have Russia — which was pushed out in 2014 over its aggression in eastern Ukraine — rejoin the group. Trudeau said he was “not remotely interested” in having Russia return to the group, made up of the world’s seven most advanced economies.

May added that she also welcomed the G-7’s recognition of the need to continue sanctions on Russia, given “Russia’s failure to fully implement the Minsk agreements” of 2014 that were meant to end the war in Ukraine. “We have agreed to stand ready to take further restrictive measures against Russia if necessary,” she said.

​’Fair and reciprocal’ trade

Before leaving the summit Saturday, Trump said there must be “fair and reciprocal” trade between the U.S. and other countries.

“The United States has been taken advantage of for decades and decades and we can’t do that anymore,” he told reporters shortly before leaving the summit for Singapore, where he will meet next week with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

WATCH: President Trump on Trade

Trump said many “unfair foreign trading practices” are getting “straightened out slowly but surely.”

He blamed past U.S. leaders for the current global trade landscape and congratulated other world leaders for “so crazily being able to make these trade deals that were so good for countries and so bad for the United States.”

Trump declared “those days are over” and said that talks this weekend with G-7 leaders convinced him they are “committed to a much more fair-trade situation for the United States.”

At a bilateral meeting Friday with Trudeau, the U.S. president joked that the Canadian prime minister had agreed to “cut all tariffs.”

Despite the two leaders exchanging criticism of each other’s trade policies the previous day, Trump described the cross-border relationship as very good, stating “we’re actually working on cutting tariffs and making it all very fair for both countries. And we’ve made a lot of progress today. We’ll see how it all works out.”

In a subsequent sit-down meeting with Emmanuel Macron, Trump said the French president had been “very helpful” in efforts to address trade deficits with the European Union.

Macron responded that he had a “very direct and open discussion” with Trump, and “there is a critical path that is a way to progress all together.”

Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, confirmed she met Friday with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to discuss the tariffs and the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). She said Canada, however, would not change its mind about the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, which she termed “illegal.”

Trump imposed the tariffs on the ground that weak domestic industries could affect U.S. national security. ​Canada, Mexico and the European Union are introducing retaliatory tariffs.

“I think the only way this moves toward a deal is if the concern grows among the G-7 countries about the economic impact of this, that Trump begins to feel some pressure from farmers and small manufacturers and others that are harmed, that other countries are feeling the pressure from the decline in their steel and aluminum exports to the United States and it causes some reconsideration of the current positions,” said Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

On the eve of the summit, Trump had lashed out on Twitter at Macron and Trudeau, who had criticized Trump’s trade stance at a joint news conference Thursday in Ottawa. The White House then announced Trump would skip some of the G-7 sessions and depart for Singapore on Saturday morning, several hours earlier than planned.

Trudeau, alongside Trump, was asked if he was disappointed the U.S. president was leaving early. He did not reply, but Trump grinned broadly and said “he’s happy” before appearing to stick out his tongue.

Some attending the summit were openly expressing strong concern about Trump’s positions.

“What worries me most is that the rules-based international order is being challenged,” Donald Tusk, the chairman of European Union leaders, said at a news conference just prior to the start of the G-7 talks. “Quite surprisingly not by the usual suspects, but by its main architect and guarantor — the United States. Naturally, we cannot force the U.S. to change its mind.”

Should Trump disassociate with the group, reducing it to a G-6, it would leave the collective virtually inconsequential, according to some analysts.

“The United States accounts for more than half of the GDP of the total G-7. So, without the United States, the G-7 really isn’t anything,” according to Sebastian Mallaby, a CFR senior fellow for international economics.

Russia invitation?

Before departing the White House for Canada, the president told reporters that Russia should be invited back to the summits of leading advanced countries.

When asked about Russia on Saturday in Quebec, Trump said, “I think it would be good for the world. We’re looking for peace in the world. We’re not looking to play games.”

WATCH: President Trump on Russia

One other G-7 leader, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, said Friday in a tweet that he supported Trump’s suggestion.

But other G-7 leaders said it was not going to happen at this time.

European Union leaders are in agreement “that a return of Russia to the G-7 format summits can’t happen until substantial progress has been made in connection with the problems with Ukraine,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters.

A spokesman at the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, brushed it all off.

“Russia is focused on other formats apart from the G-7,” Peskov said, according to the Sputnik news agency.
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French President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policy is viewed as favoring the rich and must change to address inequalities, according to a memo written by three economists who worked on his campaign program, Le Monde newspaper said on Saturday.

The criticism is the latest sign of the trouble created by Macron’s economic reforms among the center-left supporters who propelled him to power last year.

In the confidential memo sent to Macron and plastered across Le Monde’s front page, the economists said his policy was failing to convince “even the most ardent supporters.”

“Many supporters of the then-candidate express their fear of a lurch to the right motivated by the temptation to steal the political space left vacant by a struggling conservative party,” the economists wrote.

Jean Pisani-Ferry, the Sciences Po Paris university professor who coordinated Macron’s economic program and is an influential voice in Franco-German academic circles, is one of the authors. He declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

The other two, Philippe Martin, a former Macron adviser who heads France’s Council of Economic Analysis (CAE), and Philippe Aghion of the elite College de France, did not return Reuters’ requests for comment.

Macron, who campaigned on a promise to be “neither left nor right”, moved swiftly in his first year to loosen labor rules and slash a wealth tax, earning himself the nickname “president of the rich.”

The economists said there was a risk the French would find these measures unfair and think the government is deaf to the needs of the poorest in society.

“The president must talk about the issue of inequalities and not leave this debate to his opponents,” the economists wrote.

Among proposals to reduce inequalities, the economists suggested a rise in inheritance tax for the richest, scrapping tax credits on property investments, and cancelling Macron’s promise to abolish a housing tax for the wealthiest 20 percent.

Macron’s office confirmed it had received the note, but said it did not foretell government policy. Macron is currently in Canada with other Group of Seven

leaders, locked in a battle over trade tariffs with U.S. President Donald Trump.
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Australia’s Commonwealth Bank has agreed to pay a $530 million fine for breaching anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing laws. The scandal relates to more than 53,000 suspect transactions that the bank did not immediately report to authorities.

If approved by the Federal Court, this will be the largest civil penalty in Australian corporate history.

At the heart of the case were so-called smart cash machines that allowed customers to anonymously deposit and transfer money. Thousands of suspect transactions of more than $7,600 each were not referred to the authorities as required by law.

An investigation by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (AUSTRAC), the federal financial intelligence agency, along with state and federal police found the machines were being used to launder the proceeds of crime. 

Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison says the bank must now rebuild its reputation.

“It is for them to rebuild that trust, it is for them to make these admissions, it is for them to incur these penalties and get on with the job of restoring trust in the conduct of the CBA and this, I think, is another important step toward doing that,” Morrison said.

The Commonwealth Bank said its actions were not deliberate but it understood “the seriousness of the mistakes” it had made. It had reportedly been anticipating a fine of about $285 million.

“For AUSTRAC, it is able to demonstrate that there has been serious failings by Commonwealth Bank (CBA), one of our major financial institutions,” said Ian Ramsey, a director at Melbourne University’s Center for Corporate Law. “I am sure what the bank did not want was a very lengthy trial where every day more evidence is brought before the court and then promptly reported in the media of systemic, serious failings by CBA.”

AUSTRAC said the penalty would send a strong message to Australia’s financial industry. Since February it has been investigated by a Royal Commission, Australia’s highest form of inquiry, which has unearthed widespread misconduct within the banking and financial services sector.
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Pope Francis has told the world’s oil executives that a transition to less-polluting energy sources “is a challenge of epochal proportions.”

On the last day of a two-day conference Saturday, the Roman Catholic leader urged the executives to provide electricity to the one billion people who are without it, but said that process must be done in a way that avoids “creating environmental imbalances resulting in deterioration and pollution gravely harmful to our human family, both now and in the future.”

Reuters reports the unprecedented conference was held behind closed doors at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

The news agency says the oil executives, investors and Vatican experts who attended the summit, believe, like the pope does, that science supports the notion that climate change is caused by human activity and that global warming must be curbed.

Pope Francis told the conference, “Our desire to ensure energy for all must not lead to the undesired effect of a spiral of extreme climate changes due to a catastrophic rise in global temperatures, harsher environments and increased levels of poverty.”

 

 
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Shoppers in the Afghan capital are going online for everything from fashion to furniture to avoid bomb attacks and sexual harassment, with dozens of startups doing a brisk trade where there were few on the ground two years ago.

Suicide bombings and other attacks in Kabul have killed and wounded hundreds of people this year, and security is expected to deteriorate ahead of elections planned for October. Sexual harassment on the street is widespread.

The new retailers, with names like AzadBazar.af, afom.af, JVBazar.com and zarinas.com, sell goods ranging from cosmetics, computers, kitchenware and furniture to cars, rugs and real estate. One website advertises foreign brands including Rolex, Adidas and Zara.

Harassment an issue

Student Asila Sulaimani described online shopping as a “good experience” in a country at war, with U.N. figures putting those younger than 25 at more than 60 percent of the population, the vast majority of them enthusiastic smartphone users.

“Who dares go out shopping these days?” she said.

“I am sure there are some people, but for me it has always been difficult. … Fears of an explosion, an attack and the most common thing, harassment, follow me like my shadow.”

Growing after 8 months

Tamim Rasa, 28, is the founder of Rasa Online, which he started with $30,000 eight months ago. He has since signed contracts with more than 60 stores and traders, with 80 percent of his customers women and cosmetics “a big part of business.”

The store has no physical presence in terms of stock, just an office of eight.

“We work as a connecting bridge between people and large stores and traders. A month ago, we were hardly managing to earn our expenses — we were making a loss — but now we are making a profit of 1,000 to 3,000 afghanis ($14 to $42) a day. It shows we are growing.”

He is now looking to expand to Herat province in the west, Kandahar in the south, Balkh in the north and Nangarhar, neighboring Pakistan, in the east.

Esmatullah, 27, owner of Afghan Mart, which he set up just more than a year ago, has a shop with 500,000 afghanis ($7,000) worth of goods.

“Big companies contact me to sell their imported goods. An average of 50 customers call me daily and we deliver,” he said, adding that he too is looking to expand into the provinces by the end of the year.

Diversionary tactics

The biggest challenge, he said, was security in a city where one bomb blast can be followed by a second in the same area.

Many people who have to go out take diversionary routes through narrow side alleys, sometimes through people’s homes and gardens, to avoid the threat and traffic of major roads and intersections.

“We have seen more bomb blasts in Kabul that delayed our delivery services,” Esmatullah said. “When that happens, we stop delivering in that direction or that part of the city.

“But the insecurity is one of the reasons that our business has found its way. And besides the insecurity, there is a bad culture of street harassment that unfortunately our women face in cities,” Esmatullah added.

Goods are delivered by motorcycle or public transport where possible and the deliverymen get paid up to 8,000 afghanis ($112) a month.

Began 2 years ago

Commerce Ministry spokesman Musafer Qoqandi described online shopping as “unique” for a country at war for more than four decades, with about 50 companies in business, most of them unlicensed.

“The culture of online stores only started two years ago in Kabul and right now more than 20 online stores have a license to trade — there are many more that have yet to get their license and we encourage them to come forward,” he said.

“Around the world, online stores are dealing with billions of dollars annually. It is time for us to join this convoy. … It is hope-giving when we see the growing number of such stores in Afghanistan,” Qoqandi added.

Student Roya Shakeb agreed.

“I needed some books for my exams. I searched shops and libraries without success, then I came across online stores. The book was on my doorstep the next day. Unbelievable.”
…

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been signaling his desire to open up the reclusive state’s economy, ushering in what some analysts believe could be a “reform and opening up era” similar to what happened in China four decades ago. But how far North Korea is willing to go and what concrete measures it is willing to or could take remain unclear, especially with sanctions still firmly in place.

Next week’s Singapore summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to shed light on what steps Pyongyang is prepared to take toward denuclearization and that, in turn, could pave the way for a possible boom in economic activity after sanctions are removed.

Though many hurdles and much uncertainty remain, the glimmer of opportunity for business options in North Korea is an improvement, said Jacob Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

“Given how hermetically closed North Korea has been for decades, any uncertainty about the future and any potential opening up is actually an improvement on the status quo for foreign businesses,” Kirkegaard said in an emailed response to VOA.

​Mission accomplished

In a key address in late April, Kim declared that North Korea had completed the development of its nuclear arsenal and would no longer carry out nuclear or missile tests. In the speech, he also proclaimed that the “new strategic line” for the ruling “Workers’ Party” would be developing the economy.

That shift toward focusing more on improving the people’s livelihood has been a key driver behind the North’s about face in recent months, analysts note. And its stated shift of priorities from nuclear weapons to economic development presents an opportunity for more fundamental changes.

Lu Chao, a North Korea expert at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, said that if sanctions are loosened, areas likely to see a boom in investment are ones with fewer hurdles such as travel and tourism.

Infrastructure is likely to be another key area of focus, he said, with the majority of initial foreign investment expected to come from China and South Korea. 

“Currently, power and transportation are two areas that are in urgent need of transformation [in North Korea] from an economic perspective. In the near future, developments are likely to focus on this area,” Lu said.

​Neighbors first

Analysts said that China and South Korea are likely to benefit the most in the beginning from any opening up of the economy. Few see the United States playing a significant role inititally, let alone taking up a significant portion of North Korea’s trade.

China currently is North Korea’s biggest trading partner and investor, but analysts see Seoul also playing a key role. 

South Korea’s economy is massive by comparison to its northern neighbor. The total value of goods and services produced and sold in South Korea in 2016 was $1.34 trillion. North Korea’s gross domestic product, or GDP, for that same year was estimated to be just under $30 billion.

South Korea’s vast resources could provide crucial investment support to North Korea. But to get investors into the country, Pyongyang will not only need to make policy adjustments, but pass legislation that provides guarantees for investors as well, said Jia Qingguo, a political science professor at Peking University. 

“When companies look to invest, they are not just pursuing a vision, but more than that they are looking to grow profits,” Jia said. “And if there is no way to make profits, why would they go in the first place?”

​Adapting to change

Analysts said that as North Korea looks to transform its centrally planned economy, it will adopt some measures from China and other countries, but will never admit that it is doing so.

“North Korea won’t adopt a China, Vietnam or Cuba model,” Lu said. “In the beginning, [North Korea] is likely to create development zones where special economic policies can be put into place.”

Lu said that such zones would have some similarities to those in China, but would be completely cut off from the broader economy and public — fenced in by barbed war.

Starting in 2013, Kim Jong Un began stepping up efforts to open more than a dozen special economic zones, but international sanctions have seriously slowed the development of those projects, analysts said.

North Korea has cautiously approached such changes in the past and that is not likely to change going forward. Jia Qingguo said Kim will need to do more than create a narrative to explain why the country is shifting its focus toward economic development.

“As he tries to open up North Korea’s economy, he will also need to pay attention to political stability and make adjustments to the country’s system [of governance],”Jia said. “Whether he can do that or not is uncertain.”

VOA’s Saibal Dasgupta and Joyce Huang contributed to this report.
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China’s trade surplus with the United States rose to $24.58 billion in May, from $22.15 billion in April, according to Chinese customs data published Friday.

China’s export growth in May was 12.6 percent, slightly down from 12.9 percent in April, but well above the 10 percent that economists polled by the Reuters news agency had predicted.

Chinese imports also increased year over year in May, rising 26 percent.

For the first five months of the year, China’s trade surplus with U.S. was $104.85 billion.

Both countries have threatened to hike tariffs on goods worth up to $150 billion each, as President Donald Trump has demanded Beijing open its economy further and address the U.S. large trade deficit with China.

Earlier this week, China warned the U.S. that any trade and business agreements between the two countries “will not take effect” if Trump’s threatened tariff hike and other measures on Chinese goods are implemented.

The warning came after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu He ended two days of talks in Beijing aimed at settling the simmering trade dispute, in which Beijing pledged to narrow its trade surplus.

The White House renewed a threat last week to raise duties on $50 billion of Chinese technology-related goods over that dispute.
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Just less than $6 billion worth of U.S. waste was sent to China last year to be converted into packaging and products, and then shipped back to the United States and other markets. Scrap recyclers had taken advantage of low shipping costs for empty containers returning to China after the ships had unloaded their goods on the U.S. West Coast.

Today, that flow of trash is just a trickle, the result of a Chinese ban that went into effect Jan. 1 on many types of foreign garbage, from mixed papers to waste textiles.

The result of the ban is seen at a recycling facility in Anaheim, California, owned by Republic Services, a national company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. The parking lot of the materials recovery facility (MRF) is brimming with 2,400 bales of mixed paper that once would have been bound for China.

The surplus is a result of an unprecedented 12-day backlog, said James Castro, the facility’s general manager.

And it’s not clear where it’s all going.

China has banned imports of mixed paper, as well as low-grade plastics, certain metals and other types of waste. In April, it expanded the ban, to go into effect later this year, to include more metals and chemical waste. A ban on additional kinds of scrap, including waste timber, is being targeted for the end of 2019.

 

WATCH: China Trash Ban Creates Crisis for US Recyclers

Less-contaminated scrap

It has also imposed stricter contamination standards on the scrap it does accept, allowing only 0.5 percent contaminants, down for most materials from 1.5 percent.

That has slowed the sorting process, said Richard Coupland, Republic’s vice president of municipal sales.

Further complicating matters, the ban has led to a huge reduction in worldwide prices on recyclable goods, such as mixed paper.

One year ago, bales of unsorted paper, like those now stacked in the parking lot, would have been worth $100 a ton. Today, each ton is worth “less than $5, or negative in some markets,” including shipping costs, Coupland said. He added that much of the industry’s backlog may end up in landfills.

To the north in the city of Azusa, Waste Management’s MRF is also dealing with tightened standards for the workers and sorting machines that use magnets, optical sensors and other means to separate the waste. Executives say they are tweaking a costly system that was designed to meet China’s insatiable craving for scrap.

Asia-based journalist Adam Minter, author of the book Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade, sums up the dilemma facing these companies.

“Recycling is about manufacturing,” Minter said, “and if somebody doesn’t want to use those raw materials, then putting stuff in your recycling bin is doing nothing more than playing with your garbage.”

He says China’s trash ban is spurred partly by a desire to clean up the environment, but even more by nationalism and a desire for political control.

“When you see China pushing against the recycling industry,” Minter said, “it’s really pushing against private industry and in favor of state-owned enterprises, and that is very much in line with the way that Chinese economic policy has been going for the last five years.”

​‘Shockwaves around the world’

Some environmentalists have welcomed the trash ban.

Greenpeace East Asia plastic campaigner Liu Hua said it will send “shockwaves around the world” and force countries to confront their attitudes toward waste, especially environmental contaminants like plastics.

China expert Joshua Goldstein of the University of Southern California said the ban will have social repercussions in China.

Goldstein has studied the informal sector of 3-5 million small-scale recyclers, entrepreneurs whom he says are “picking through (trash) and making their lives slightly better every day through the money that they made.”

“It had environmental repercussions,” he said, “but it also raised 3 to 5 million households out of poverty.”

Goldstein said China faces hurdles to create an operation as efficient.

Companies are also searching for new markets. More recyclable scrap from the United States will now go to India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia, but industry experts say shipping costs are high and demand in those countries is limited.

As commodity prices drop, there is hope for increased use for scrap such as mixed paper in the United States.

​Cleaning up waste

Brent Bell, vice president of recycling operations for Waste Management, said his company is also cleaning up its waste to meet the higher standards that China and other countries are demanding.

“I think as an industry, we’re all at fault to some degree,” Bell said, noting the company is working to educate consumers about better recycling. “Something we all missed as an industry,” he added. “Whether we’re shipping material to China, to India, or even to Louisiana, our customers all want to make sure the material is as clean as possible.”

Republic’s Coupland said the waste and recycling industry needs to work with local communities to find a new business model to replace one that has become unsustainable. It could mean, he said, an increase in the rate that consumers pay for hauling away their trash.

China may yet make adjustments to its policies, USC’s Goldstein added.

Paper fiber is hard to replace, he notes, and China may loosen its bans to bring in the raw materials that its manufacturers require.

“What parts of this reform, this ban, are going to be long term and what parts are going to be short term is still quite unclear,” Goldstein said. But he noted that the economics of the recycling industry are changing.
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Ukraine’s parliament has voted to establish an anti-corruption court in an effort to meet the criteria to receive $17.5 billion from the International Monetary Fund.

 

Before the IMF releases the funds needed to shore up Ukraine’s struggling economy, it will have make sure the court’s laws are IMF compliant. The West has repeatedly called on Ukraine to reform it political system and establish an independent body to fight corruption.

 

“What we’ll be looking to see is that it ensures the establishment of an independent and trustworthy anti-corruption court that meets the expectation of the Ukrainian people,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said at a briefing Thursday.

 

President Petrol Poroshenko said the court was in line with Western recommendations and Ukrainian law.  

 

Last year Poroshenko rejected the need for an anti-corruption court, saying such institutions are needed in “Kenya, Uganda, Malaysia and Croatia” but not in Western Europe or the United States.

 

While the approval of the court was seen as a positive, Ukraine also likely dismayed the West by firing Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk, a respected reform advocate.

Danylyuk’s ouster came after he took on Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, accusing him of stalling reforms of the state tax service that are needed to combat corruption.

 

Before the parliament voted on his ouster, Danylyuk addressed the lawmakers, telling them he had been accused of “defending the interests of international organizations.”

 

But, “I am defending the interests of Ukrainians,” he said.
…

The Trump administration said Thursday it would spend $4 million on construction projects in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in preparation for oil drilling in the nation’s biggest wildlife park.

In an announcement that touted planned improvements to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service visitor facilities, the Department of the Interior said it has approved spending on projects for “Oil Exploration Readiness” in the coastal plain of the Arctic refuge.

The Trump administration is pushing for an oil lease sale in the refuge as early as next year. The tax-overhaul bill passed by the U.S. Congress last December includes a provision mandating two oil lease sales, each offering at least 400,000 acres (161,874.26 hectares), within seven years.

True wilderness refuge

The 19-million-acre (7.7 million-hectare) Arctic refuge, the largest in the U.S. national wildlife refuge system, contains some of the wildest territory in North America. There are no roads, established trails or buildings within the refuge border, and no cell phone service, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“This is a true wilderness refuge,” the Arctic refuge website advises.

Political and business leaders in oil-dependent Alaska have tried for decades to pry open the refuge’s coastal plain, which is believed to hold potential for billions of barrels of oil.

But the plain, between the mountains of the Brooks Range and the Arctic Ocean, is prized for its importance to caribou, polar bears and other wildlife. Oil development there had been banned until Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski led a move to insert a pro-drilling provision into the 2017 tax bill signed by President Donald Trump.

Some Alaskans opposed

In Alaska, the development plan is largely embraced, but not universally so. Drilling opponents gathered outside of last week’s Anchorage and Fairbanks hearings about the proposed lease sales to protest the plan.

Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift, in an email, said the $4 million “will be used to support six projects designed to improve and construct existing outbuildings, facilities and research operations.”

That work will include improvements to facilities outside the refuge, in the Inupiat village of Kaktovik and at Galbraith Lake along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline corridor, she said in the email.

Large appropriation

The $4 million appropriation for Arctic refuge projects is one of the largest single items in a total of $50 million in planned DOI construction spending.

“The president is a builder, he loves to build and he loves our public lands, so it is a natural fit that the Trump administration is dedicating so much attention to rebuilding our aging Fish and Wildlife Service infrastructure,” Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement Thursday.

A partnership of three companies is seeking to do seismic surveys in the refuge starting this winter. That plan, from SAExploration and two Alaska Native corporations, was panned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Washington Post reported last month.

There has been no decision on that application, Swift said Thursday. “It was a draft application. The department does not make decisions based upon early drafts,” she said by email.
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