U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Heather Nauert
The U.S. on Friday announced it is cutting all of its funding for the UN's Palestine refugee agency.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington "will no longer commit further funding" to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
"The fundamental business model and fiscal practices that have marked UNRWA for years – tied to UNRWA’s endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries – is simply unsustainable and has been in crisis mode for many years," she said.
The U.S. was by far UNRWA's largest funder, giving $350 million annually, or about one-quarter of the agency's budget.
The agency is responsible for a number of critical programs for the more than 5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It provides them with schooling, health services and food security, among other services.
UNRWA earlier this week warned that if Washington went through with its funding cut, it would likely result in greater instability in the region.
“You have to ask yourself the question: what would the Middle East look like if the most vulnerable people in that region were not to be receiving services from a UN humanitarian organization?" agency spokesman Chris Gunness told Anadolu Agency.
"I think the answer is there would be a lot more angry, and hungry, and ill-educated people, and that does not bode well for peace in the Middle East,” he added.
In her statement, Nauert called UNRWA a “deeply flawed” organization, a charge Gunness rejected “in the strongest possible terms” in a series of tweets posted after the announcement.
“These very programs have a proven track record in creating one of the most successful human development processes and results in the Middle East. The international state community, our donors and host countries have consistently praised UNRWA for its achievements and standards,” Gunness said.
“Following today’s announcement, UNRWA will pursue with even greater determination and engagement its mobilization of existing partners - 20 of whom have to date contributed more money than in 2017, including countries from the Gulf, Asia and Europe - and of new ones,” he said.
“This is what UNRWA stands for and as an organ of UN General Assembly we will continue to provide high quality services and assistance to over 5.4 M Palestine refugees.”
Nauert acknowledged the impact Washington's decision would have "upon innocent Palestinians" but placed the blame for the U.S. action with UNRWA.
Referring to school children affected by the decision, she said: "These children are part of the future of the Middle East. Palestinians, wherever they live, deserve better than an endlessly crisis-driven service provision model. They deserve to be able to plan for the future.
"Accordingly, the United States will intensify dialogue with the United Nations, host governments, and international stakeholders about new models and new approaches, which may include direct bilateral assistance from the United States and other partners, that can provide today’s Palestinian children with a more durable and dependable path towards a brighter tomorrow," she said.
U.S. prosecutors on Friday charged a business associate of Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian-Ukranian political consultant indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, with failing to register as a foreign agent for lobbying on behalf of a Ukranian political party.Samuel Patten was charged by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department's National Security Division with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act for his work for the Ukranian Opposition Bloc between 2014 and 2018.Patten did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Canada and the United States will make a final push to iron out differences on a pact to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Friday, with Mexico on standby to return to talks aimed at ending a year of hard-fought negotiations.U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland were unable to clinch a deal despite meeting late into the evening on Thursday. They will reconvene on Friday morning.Mexico is also expected to rejoin the talks at some point on Friday, allowing for three-way negotiations to resume after a two-month break. A bilateral deal announced by the United States and Mexico on Monday was a breakthrough that infused renewed optimism around a new NAFTA.The latest talks between Canada and the United States have been intense but constructive, marking a departure from acrimonious tit-for-tat that surrounded past rounds.EU deeply disagrees with US on trade despite detente"The mood is cooperative and it's positive. I think everybody is working towards a deal," said Flavio Volpe, president of Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association."This isn't like some of the other NAFTA rounds where people were introducing poison pills for political reasons or otherwise," he said.U.S. President Donald Trump has set a Friday deadline for the three countries to reach an agreement, which would allow outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to sign it before he leaves office at the end of November. Under U.S. law, Trump must wait 90 days before signing the pact.However, Trump hinted that the Friday deadline may be flexible, saying that a deal with Canada may come that day, or "within a period of time."As clock ticks, Canada and US seek ways to salvage NAFTAThe new NAFTA agreement that is taking shape will likely strengthen North America as a manufacturing base by making it more costly for automakers to import a large share of vehicle parts from outside the region.New chapters governing the digital economy and stronger intellectual property, labor and environmental standards could also work to the benefit of U.S. companies, possibly helping Trump to fulfill his campaign promise of creating more American jobs.But challenges remain. The United States wants to eliminate Chapter 19, a dispute-resolution mechanism that has hindered it from pursuing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases. Lighthizer said on Monday Mexico had agreed to cut the mechanism but Canada wants to keep dispute resolution in NAFTA.Canada, US set for second day of NAFTA talks amid growing optimismMexico-US NAFTA agreement close, but item still pendingCanada has reportedly offered to make concessions to its protected dairy industry, which has come under repeated attack from Trump, in an effort to retain Chapter 19.Trump argues Canada's hefty dairy tariffs are hurting U.S. farmers, an important political base for his Republican party. But dairy farmers have great political clout in Canada, too, and concessions could hurt the ruling Liberals ahead of a 2019 federal election."To continually undermine the industry is absolutely devastating and it weakens our industry overall," said David Wiens, vice president of Dairy Farmers of Canada. Trump wanted changes that would destroy family farms across Canada, he said.
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Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Friday slammed the United States for sparking a diplomatic crisis with Turkey.“The U.S. is pressurizing all its allies lately. This does not befit an alliance. Had our allies sold us an air defense system, we would have purchased it. We needed it urgently, so we bought it,” said Çavuşoğlu, referring to the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries Ankara is due to procure in 2019.A U.S. delegation had indicated that if Turkey backed down from its deal to purchase the Russian S-400s then it would remove obstacles preventing Ankara’s purchase of the F-35s.Russia's Putin to meet Erdoğan, Rouhani on Sept. 7Speaking about relations between Turkey and the U.S., Çavuşoğlu said: "The U.S. president does not only have problems with Turkey, but also he has problems with every EU member country."The U.S. House and Senate of Congress in late July agreed to bar the delivery of any F-35s to Turkey until the Pentagon delivers a plan evaluating the ramifications of axing Turkey from the program, and the state of Washington-Ankara ties.'Turkey essential to preventing bloodbath in Syria’s Idlib’Attack on Syria's Idlib would be "disaster"Turkey is very much concerned over a possible attack on Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, Çavuşoğlu said."Turkey is trying to prevent an attack on Syria's Idlib, which would be a disaster," he added.Located near the Turkish border, Idlib in May was designated as a de-escalation zone where acts of aggression are expressly forbidden as part of the ongoing Astana process.Nevertheless, for the past two months, the Idlib de-escalation zone has been the target of particular fierce airstrikes by Russia and Assad regime forces.Turkey will win the economic war, says FinMinPurchase of Russian missile defense systemsÇavuşoğlu also responded to a question over Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems."Turkey bought the Russian S-400 missile defense system. Period. There will be no more arguments on that. Turkey needs the systems urgently," Çavuşoğlu added.Turkey needs Russian S-400s, will procure them soon: ErdoğanLast December, Turkey announced it had concluded an agreement with Russia for the purchase of two S-400 systems by early 2020.This April both parties agreed on early delivery of the systems.The S-400 is Russia's most advanced long-range anti-aircraft missile system, with the ability to carry three types of missiles capable of destroying targets, including ballistic and cruise missiles.
US moves against Turkey do not befit alliance, says FM
U.S. prosecutors on Friday charged a business associate of Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian-Ukranian political consultant indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, with failing to register as a foreign agent for lobbying on behalf of a Ukranian political party.Samuel Patten was charged by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department's National Security Division with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act for his work for the Ukranian Opposition Bloc between 2014 and 2018.Patten did not immediately respond to requests for comment. US charges associate of indicted Russian with lobbying violation