Palestinians attend funeral for American activist ‘shot dead by Israeli troops’

Palestinians attend funeral for American activist ‘shot dead by Israeli troops’

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi (Courtesy of the Eygi family/International Solidarity Movement via AP) (AP)

By Imad Issied, Associated Press 

September 09, 2024

The Palestinian Authority has held a funeral procession for a US-Turkish dual national activist who a witness says was shot and killed by Israeli forces while demonstrating against settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Dozens of mourners — including several leading PA officials — attended the procession.

Security forces carried the body of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi which was draped in a Palestinian flag while a traditional black-and-white scarf covered her face.

The 26-year-old’s body was then placed into the back of a Palestinian ambulance.

A Palestinian honor guard carries the body of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi (Nasser Nasser/AP) (Nasser Nasser/AP)

Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oncu Keceli said Turkey was working on repatriating Ms Eygi’s remains for burial in the Aegean coastal town of Didim as per her family’s wishes, but “because the land crossing from the Palestinian territories to Jordan was closed as of Sunday, the ministry was trying to have the body flown directly to Turkey”.

US officials did not respond to a request for comment.

Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli peace activist who participated in Friday’s protest, said Israeli forces shot her on Friday in the city of Nablus while posing no threat, adding that the killing happened during a period of calm after clashes between soldiers and Palestinian protesters.

Security forces carried the body of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi which was draped in a Palestinian flag.

Mr Pollak said he then saw two Israeli soldiers mount the roof of a nearby home, train a gun in the group’s direction and fired, with one of the bullets striking Ms Eygi in the head.

The Israeli military said it was looking into reports that troops had killed a foreign national while firing at an “instigator of violent activity” in the area of the protest.

The West Bank has seen a surge of violence since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, with increasing Israeli raids, attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis, and attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians⍐.

Chinese, US officials hold ‘pragmatic’ talks on trade issues

 

Chinese, US officials hold ‘pragmatic’ talks on trade issues

Wang Cong and Chen Qingrui  GT Sep 08, 2024

Chinese and US officials on Saturday held "professional, rational and pragmatic" talks about policy issues of mutual concern and specific issues raised by the business communities of the two countries, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said, adding to increasing exchanges between officials of the two countries aimed at stabilizing bilateral ties.

The growing interactions between Chinese and US officials send a positive signal that the world's two biggest economies remain committed to maintaining communication, despite growing tension. However, to remove major hurdles for bilateral cooperation, Washington must stop its crackdown campaign against China's development, Chinese experts said on Sunday. 

According to a statement from the MOFCOM, China International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen and US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago co-chaired the second vice-ministerial meeting of the China-US commercial and trade working group on Saturday in North China's Tianjin Municipality.

"A modern China with a massive population means opportunity for the US, not a threat," Wang said.

Crucially, the Chinese side raised concerns about the US' so-called Section 301 tariffs against Chinese products, Section 301 probes into shipbuilding and other Chinese industries, overstretching of the concept of national security, sanctions on Chinese companies, restrictions on two-way investments and other trade remedy measures against China, and unfair treatment toward Chinese firms operating in the US. 

"The Chinese side opposes the use of claims such as 'overcapacity' as pretext to impose restrictive measures on trade and investment," the MOFCOM said. The two sides agreed to offer necessary support for trade and investment promotional activities, maintain communication on cross-border data flow and other areas.  

The meeting on Saturday comes as the US government reportedly plans to announce final decision for additional tariffs on a slew of Chinese products, including electric vehicles (EVs). However, amid growing opposition from US domestic businesses and industries, the US has delayed the announcement twice.

Positive signal

Despite tension between the world's two biggest economies, holding more talks on various levels is a positive signal and critical for the two sides to better understand each other's positions and avoid miscalculation, Chinese experts said. 

"Certainly, this shows the two sides can put some issues on the table and hold talks about them, which in itself is a constructive move," He Weiwen, a senior fellow from the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Sunday, noting the agreement on supporting trade and investment promotional activities offer a positive signal for businesses. 

Saturday's meeting also comes amid communication between Chinese and US officials at various levels. 

"The frequent interactions indicate positive attitude from both sides. Although such talks cannot immediately resolve all differences, they are constructive in managing and reducing tension, because the two sides can better understand each other's intensions so as to avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation," He Weiwen said. 

To address issues and remove hurdles for bilateral ties, the US must treat China's development fairly and objectively, stop politicizing trade and economic issues, stop imposing additional tariffs and other crackdown measures against Chinese businesses and products, experts said. 

"While some in the US business community are opposed to the US' policies, generally speaking, the US government's intention to suppress China is already very clear," Liu Weidong, a research fellow at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday, pointing to the US' ever-growing list of crackdown measures against China. 

Despite lingering tension, particularly in the area of national security, there is a real need for stability and cooperation in the economic area from both sides, Liu said. "The meeting mainly showed that there is still room for cooperation between China and the US in the economic field."  

The US' approach of suppressing China while pursuing talks with China at the same time is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future, experts said. 

"We need to have a comprehensive view of the China-US relationship, in which both positive and negative elements exist. Given such duality, we need to maintain a pragmatic attitude. Dialogue is essential, but actions are also necessary," He Weiwen said⍐.

Lagging EU-Now we cannot ignore it any longer.

 Draghi urges reform, investment drive to revive lagging EU

By Philip Blenkinsop  September 9, 2024

Former European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi
attends a press conference on his report on EU competitiveness
and recommendations, in Brussels, Belgium
September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman

BRUSSELS, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The European Union needs far more coordinated industrial policy, more rapid decisions and massive investment if it wants to keep pace economically with rivals the United States and China, Mario Draghi said on Monday in a long awaited report.

The European Commission asked the former European Central Bank chief and Italian prime minister a year ago to write a report on how the EU should keep its greening and more digital economy competitive at a time of increased global friction.

"Europe is the most open economy in the world so when our partners don't play according to the rules, we are more vulnerable than others," Draghi told a news conference.

In the opening section of a report set to run to some 400 pages, Draghi said the bloc needed additional investment of 750-800 billion euros ($829-884 billion) per year, up to 5% of GDP - far higher even than the 1-2% in the Marshall Plan for rebuilding Europe after World War Two.

"Growth has been slowing down for a long time in Europe, but we've ignored (it)," Draghi said.

"Now we cannot ignore it any longer. Now conditions have changed: World trade is slowing, China is actually slowing very much and is becoming much less open to us... we've lost our main supplier of cheap energy, Russia."

EU countries had already responded to the new realities, Draghi's report said, but it added that their effectiveness was limited by a lack of coordination.

Differing levels of subsidies between countries was disturbing the single market, fragmentation limited the scale required to compete on a global level, and the EU's decision-making process was complex and sluggish.

"It will require refocusing the work of the EU on the most pressing issues, ensuring efficient policy coordination behind common goals, and using existing governance procedures in a new way that allow member states who want to move faster to do so," the report said.

It suggested so-called qualified majority voting - where an absolute majority of member states need not be in favour - should be extended to more areas, and as a last resort that like-minded nations be allowed to go it alone on some projects.

While existing national or EU funding sources will cover some of the massive investment sums needed, Draghi said new sources of common funding - which countries led by Germany have in the past been reluctant to agree to - might be required.

"If the political and institutional conditions are met, these projects would also call for common funding," the report said, citing defence and energy grid investments as examples.

EU growth had been persistently slower than that of the United States in the past two decades and China was rapidly catching up. Much of the gap was down to lower productivity.

Draghi's report comes as doubts emerge over the economic model of Germany, once the EU's motor after Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), opens new tab weighs its first ever plant closures there.

Draghi said the EU was struggling to cope with higher energy prices after losing access to cheap Russian gas and could no longer rely on open foreign markets.

The former central banker said the bloc needed to boost innovation and bring down energy prices while continuing to decarbonise and both reduce its dependencies on others, notably China for essential minerals, and increase defence investment.

What is productivity and why is Europe so desperate to crack the code? 

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