RTC Director

Greek PM Hints He Won't Pursue Further Austerity

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says he will respect the outcome of an upcoming referendum on his country's economic future if voters back a new round of European austerity measures that he opposes.

But Tsipras said his far-left government will not be the one to carry out those new reforms, which European creditors are demanding from Athens in exchange for billions of dollars in new bailout money.

Tsipras spoke late Monday on national television, as anti-austerity protesters marched in Athens and speculation grew that the government will formally default Tuesday on a $1.8 billion loan repayment due to the International Monetary Fund.  A default would set the stage for a possible Greek exit from the 19-nation euro currency bloc.

In Paris, European Central Bank board member Benoit Coeure told the French financial daily Les Echos that a Greek exit from the eurozone "can, unfortunately, not be excluded anymore."

World markets tumbled Monday as the Greek public awakened to shuttered banks and sharp new limits on withdrawals from sidewalk cash machines.  The Athens stock exchange, like the cash-strapped banks, is closed for six days until referendum results are tallied.

Stocks in Asia, Germany and France plunged 3 percent or more, while the New York Stock Exchange was down almost 2 percent near the end of trading.

Additionally, the Standard & Poor's financial services company cut Greece's credit rating further into "junk" status.  It also said there is a 50 percent chance the country will become the first to exit the eurozone in the 16-year history of the currency.

European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker and British Prime Minister David Cameron both warned Monday that a Greek vote against austerity would mean that Greece wants to divorce itself politically from Europe.

"A 'no' [vote] would mean, regardless of the question posed, that Greece had said 'no' to Europe," Juncker said in Brussels. Cameron said he would "find it hard to see" how a negative vote "is consistent with staying in the euro."

Greece broke off negotiations with its creditors over the weekend and there was no sign of new talks. Tsipras then called on voters to reject more European austerity demands on July 5.

At ATMs across Athens, there are long lines to withdraw cash. The doors to the banks will remain firmly closed for the rest of the week. Arguments broke out as the waiting crowds debate their economic fate.

Pensioners lined up early at bank branches, hoping they would be able to access their funds through the cash machines, but they were not successful.  The Finance Ministry said pensions were exempted from the new restrictions and said it would explain later how pension payments would be disbursed.

by RTC Director

US, China to Hold 'Very Direct' Talks

U.S. officials are promising a "very direct" conversation with Chinese officials during a high-level, annual dialogue that continues Tuesday in Washington. 

Cybersecurity, China's disputed maritime claims and bilateral efforts to combat climate change are among the main topics expected to be raised during the meetings.

The talks opened Monday with a series of wide-ranging Strategic Security Dialogue meetings, which a senior State Department official described as frank.

"They've been candid and to the point in dealing with issues where we disagree and are very good for trying to find ways to narrow our differences on these most sensitive issues in the relationship," the official said.

China's official Xinhua news agency said the two sides held an "in-depth exchange of views on issues of common concern" and said they agreed to continue working to promote trust and improve relations.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew will join Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi at Tuesday's broader U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. 

Source-VOA

by RTC Director

UN Opens Human Rights Office in Seoul to Investigate N. Korea

The United Nations officially opened a new field office in Seoul Tuesday to document human rights abuses in North Korea. The world body has been trying to increase pressure on the repressive Kim Jong Un regime to end ongoing systematic human rights violations that it calls “without parallel in the contemporary world."

Phil Robertson, with the non-government group Human Rights Watch, called the opening of the U.N.’s field office in Seoul a critical step forward in the campaign to hold North Korea’s leaders accountable for committing crimes against humanity.

“This is something that Kim Jong Un should be staying awake at night thinking about, because he is going to be facing a determined team of professional investigators looking and speaking to people to find out the abuses that are taking place against them,” said Robertson.

International pressure has been intensifying on Pyongyang since the release of a U.N. report last year documenting a network of political prisons in North Korea holding 120,000 people and a list of atrocities that include murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, and rape. 

The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution to refer Pyongyang to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, but the process was stalled in the U.N. Security Council. It has not been brought to a vote there because it is believed that North Korea's allies, China and Russia, would veto any punitive action.

Investigators working in the U.N. human rights field office in Seoul will document further atrocities and cases of abuse inside the North for possible legal action in the future.

Human Rights Watch’s Robertson said North Korean officials at the U.N. initially offered to cooperate in exchange for immunity. 

“They also insisted that certain things be granted as a concession upfront to North Korea, that there will be no reference to any sort of leadership accountability. And the international community and the human rights systems don’t work that way,” he said.

Since then, North Korea has responded to human rights criticisms with strong denials, threats of retaliation and further isolation. 

This week Pyongyang said it would boycott next month's World University Games in South Korea to protest the opening of the U.N. human rights office in Seoul.

Choi Yong-sang, with the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, said it important to clarify that the U.N. office in Seoul is looking into abuses by the leadership and is not targeting the people of North Korea. 

Choi said the purpose of the activities of the office is to observe Kim Jong Un and other top members who suppress North Koreans’ human rights. They should know, he added, that the activities of the office are not the suppression or isolation of North Koreans.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently said North Korea has also alienated its allies Russia and China by rejecting overtures to restart talks to end Pyongyang’s nuclear program in exchange for increased aid and development assistance. 

In 2013, the United Nations imposed harsh sanctions on the regime after North Korea conducted its third nuclear test. 

Source-VOA

International food aid, especially from South Korea and the United States, has also been drastically cut.

At the same time the U.N. is trying to pressure the Kim Jong Un regime to curb human rights abuses, the U.N. World Food Program is appealing for over $100 million in food aid for North Korea.  The North is suffering through a severe drought that could cause significant food shortages for millions of Koreans.

by RTC Director

US Condemns Taliban Attack on Afghan Parliament

A group of heavily armed Taliban suicide bombers stormed Afghanistan’s parliament Monday as the House was in session to decide whether to endorse Defense Minister-designate Masoom Stanekzai.  

Witnesses reported a series of explosions and gunfire from inside the building following the raid. The attack began with a massive blast at the main gate.

Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said seven Taliban gunmen with explosives strapped to their bodes took part in the attack and security forces killed all of them, ending a siege that lasted nearly two hours.

The minister said no lawmakers were hurt, but officials say at least 30 other people were wounded, including five women and three children - some seriously.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the group was behind what he called a suicide mission aimed at members of the “slave” parliament.

The U.S. Embassy strongly condemned the attack saying in a statement that it "shows blatant disrespect for democracy and the rule of law." 

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families at this time," the statement said, expressing sympathy to the Members of Parliament who were targeted in the attack.

Television footage showed heavy smoke coming out of the area where the parliament building is located, with Afghan soldiers and police deployed on roads leading to the site.  

Afghan media circulated pictures from inside the parliament showing the main hall full of smoke and lawmakers rushing outside.  

The area where Monday’s attack took place also houses offices of foreign aid organizations and diplomatic missions. 

Reacting to news of the attack, the top U.N. envoy in Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom, told the Security Council Monday  greater regional cooperation is necessary to address the threat.

“Foreign fighters from Afghanistan’s northern neighbors and elsewhere present a particular challenge," Haysom said. "There also remains considerable concern that ISIL, referred to in Afghanistan as Da’esh, is seeking to establish a foothold.”

The Taliban attack happened a day after the insurgent group captured a key district in the northern Kunduz province and Afghan security forces are battling the insurgents just outside the provincial capital.

Margaret Besheer contributed to this report from the United Nations

by RTC Director