Government World Magazine | Government related news stories and press releases

May112017

Press Releases: Secretary Tillerson’s Meeting With Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

USAUnited States • Democrats • OECD – United States • Republicans • White House

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

May 10, 2017

The below is attributable to Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert:

Secretary Tillerson met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today in Washington for more than an hour to discuss a range of issues including Ukraine, Syria, and bilateral concerns.

The Secretary and Foreign Minister discussed the importance of defeating ISIS, de-escalating the violence in Syria, and ensuring that humanitarian assistance reaches hundreds of thousands of civilians throughout the country. Additionally, the Secretary and Foreign Minister restated support for the UN-led political process in Geneva, which is central to international efforts to bring about an enduring resolution to the conflict.

On Ukraine, Secretary Tillerson stressed the need for progress toward full implementation of the Minsk agreements. Sanctions on Russia will remain in place until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered them.

The United States and Russia agreed to continue discussions to resolve other issues of bilateral concern, including strategic stability.

May112017

Press Releases: Rewards for Justice – Reward Offer for Information on al-Nusrah Front Leader Muhammad al-Jawlani

USAUnited States • Democrats • OECD – United States • Republicans • White House

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

May 10, 2017

The U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of Muhammad al-Jawlani, leader of the al-Nusrah Front (ANF) terrorist group.

This is the first Rewards for Justice reward offer for a leader of al-Nusrah Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaida.

In April 2013, al-Jawlani pledged allegiance to al-Qaida. and its leader Ayman al-Zawahiri after he had a public falling out with ISIS. In July 2016, in a video posted online, al-Jawlani praised al-Qaida. and al-Zawahiri and claimed the ANF was changing its name to Jabhat Fath Al Sham (“Conquest of the Levant Front”).

In May 2013, the U.S. Department of State, under the authority of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, named al-Jawlani a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, blocking all his property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting U.S. persons from dealing with him. On July 24, 2013, the UN Security Council ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida. Sanctions Committee placed al-Jawlani on its list of sanctioned terrorists, making him subject to an international asset freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo.

Under al-Jawlani’s leadership, ANF has carried out multiple terrorist attacks throughout Syria, often targeting civilians. In April 2015, ANF reportedly kidnapped, and later released, approximately 300 Kurdish civilians from a checkpoint in Syria. In June 2015, ANF claimed responsibility for the massacre of 20 residents in the Druze village Qalb Lawzeh in Idlib province, Syria.

In January 2017, ANF merged with several other hardline opposition groups to form Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). ANF remains al-Qaida. ’s affiliate in Syria. Jawlani is not the leader of HTS, but remains the leader of ANF, which is at the core of HTS.

ANF has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under the Immigration and Nationality Act and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity under E.O. 13224. The UN Security Council ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida. Sanctions Committee has also added ANF to its sanctions list.

More information about al-Jawlani is located at www.rewardsforjustice.net. We encourage anyone with information about al-Jawlani to contact the Rewards for Justice office via e-mail on the website, (info@rewardsforjustice.net), by phone (1-800-877-3927 in North America), or by mail (Rewards for Justice, Washington, D.C., 20520-0303, USA). All information will be kept strictly confidential.

The Rewards for Justice Program is administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Since its inception in 1984, the program has paid in excess of $125 million to more than 80 people who provided actionable information that helped bring terrorists to justice or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide. Follow us on Twitter: @Rewards4Justice.

May112017

8 dead, 11 injured in Xinjiang earthquake

GovWorldMagEast Asia

Residents receive treatment at Kuzigun Village in Taxkorgan County, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 11, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Eight people have been confirmed dead and 11 others were injured after a 5.5-magnitude earthquake jolted Taxkorgan County in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 5:58 a.m. Thursday.

Witnesses said frequent tremors have been felt after the quake.

The search and rescue work is underway.

The injured people have been sent to hospital for treatment.

The epicenter, with a depth of about 8.0 km, was monitored at 37.58 degrees north latitude and 75.25 degrees east longitude in the southeast part of the Pamir Plateau.

Taxkorgan, some 1,250 kilometers from Urumqi, capital of the region, borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

May112017

China issues regulation on military legislation

GovWorldMagEast Asia

President Xi Jinping, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, has signed a decree that will release a regulation on military legislation.

The regulation, which took effect Monday, defines the rules for establishing military laws and regulations as well as the drafting of standard documents.

The regulation standardizes the formulation of military laws and regulations, spanning the drafting, submission, modification and issuance stages.

In addition, it regulates the review and compilation of records, and suggests measures to improve the management system for documents.

May112017

The political compromise on the implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty will give a better access to books for blind and other disabled people

GovWorldMagEU

The negotiators of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have reached tonight a compromise on draft legislation to implement the Marrakesh Treaty in the European Union. The objective of the proposals, made by the Commission as part of the ongoing modernisation of the EU copyright law, is to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, have other visual impairments or are otherwise print disabled. The deal will be now subject to the formal approval by the two EU co-legislators.

Following the political compromise, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip said: “ I am delighted that EU copyright rules will now be adapted to allow visually impaired and people with reading disabilities to access a wider range of reading material in the EU and in third countries that they can use for their education, work and entertainment. I am particularly pleased that our Digital Single Market strategy creates more social inclusion. And I am also confident that this compromise today will pave the way for a rapid ratification of the Marrakesh treaty by the EU”.

The adoption of the compromise between the EU institutions comes eight months after the Commission tabled the legislative proposals in September 2016, as part of the copyright proposals to modernise the EU copyright law and help create a truly functioning Digital Single Market. The deal will allow the implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty into EU law by introducing a mandatory, harmonised EU exception to copyright rules which will allow the making and dissemination, including across borders, within the EU and with third countries parties of the Marrakesh Treaty, of special formats of print material for people with print disabilities, such as braille or daisy.

Thanks to these new rules, people who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled within the European Union and from other countries will now be able to access more books and other print material in accessible formats, including adapted audio books and e-books, from across the European Union and the rest of the world.

Background

Tonight’s political compromise is another achievement under the Digital Single Market strategy. The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled was adopted at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in 2013. It provides for the cross-border exchange of copies under exceptions and limitations to copyright. It is considered an important instrument to fight the ‘book famine’. It is estimated that only one to seven percent of books are available in accessible format across the world.

The compromised text agreed tonight by the EU negotiators must now be formally confirmed by the European Parliament and the Council.

The EU signed the Marrakesh Treaty in April 2014. In February this year, the Court confirmed the Commission’s view, that EU has exclusive competence for the ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty.

For More Information

Press release Commission proposes modern EU copyright rules for European culture to flourish and circulate

Q&A modernisation of EU copyright rules

Vice-President Ansip’s statement on the European Court of Justice ruling on the ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty