Wednesday, August 6, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH ETIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER DESALEGN
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks With Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn Before Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
August 5, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you all very much. I just want to welcome Prime Minister Hailemariam of Ethiopia, who has been enormously engaged with us on many different issues. And I’ve had the privilege now of visiting several times. Most recently, I was there in the spring. And we talked a lot about Ethiopia’s help, very important help, to try to move the process in Sudan and South Sudan. Particularly, Ethiopia has been a leader in bringing countries together to try to effect a ceasefire and move the parties into a negotiation. Ethiopia has also been really key to us with respect to the transition taking place in Somalia – we’re very grateful for that – and frankly, a regional leader.
In addition to that, the United States has committed some $800 million to assist with issues of economic development, education, capacity building, health, and other things. Our relationship is strong and productive, and we’re very, very grateful for their leadership most of all at a difficult time in some difficult places. Thank you, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER DESALEGN: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary of State. I think the relationship between Ethiopia and the United States is deepening, and we have been engaging ourselves in many issues. Like the Secretary said, we are working very hard on pacifying the region, which is the basis for all the engagements and economic development that take place. And peace and stability and security in the region is the pillar of our cooperation at this time.
And beyond that, I think United States and Ethiopia are working very hard to bring investors from the United States, which we have great opportunity this forum and summit, and we have been working with many U.S. companies who are interested to invest in my country. Beyond peace and stability, which is a prerequisite for investment to take place in the region, Ethiopia is also spearheading bringing investors into my country.
And we are also working on continental and global issues like the climate change and food security issues, which you mentioned yesterday. You have had a very good speech, which we go along with you to see that the climate change impact on the continent and specifically also on the Horn of Africa is a most important issue that we have to cooperate. We are also working very hard to fight terrorism and extremism, which is an important issue for all of us. And I thank you very much for your leadership on all these issues, and we are keen to work closely with you on all those issues. Thank you very much.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Prime Minister. Appreciate it. Thank you very much, everybody.
In addition to that, the United States has committed some $800 million to assist with issues of economic development, education, capacity building, health, and other things. Our relationship is strong and productive, and we’re very, very grateful for their leadership most of all at a difficult time in some difficult places. Thank you, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER DESALEGN: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary of State. I think the relationship between Ethiopia and the United States is deepening, and we have been engaging ourselves in many issues. Like the Secretary said, we are working very hard on pacifying the region, which is the basis for all the engagements and economic development that take place. And peace and stability and security in the region is the pillar of our cooperation at this time.
And beyond that, I think United States and Ethiopia are working very hard to bring investors from the United States, which we have great opportunity this forum and summit, and we have been working with many U.S. companies who are interested to invest in my country. Beyond peace and stability, which is a prerequisite for investment to take place in the region, Ethiopia is also spearheading bringing investors into my country.
And we are also working on continental and global issues like the climate change and food security issues, which you mentioned yesterday. You have had a very good speech, which we go along with you to see that the climate change impact on the continent and specifically also on the Horn of Africa is a most important issue that we have to cooperate. We are also working very hard to fight terrorism and extremism, which is an important issue for all of us. And I thank you very much for your leadership on all these issues, and we are keen to work closely with you on all those issues. Thank you very much.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Prime Minister. Appreciate it. Thank you very much, everybody.
U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CONTRACTS FOR AUGUST 5, 2014
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
CONTRACTS
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Parker Hannifin Corp., Irvine, California, has been awarded a maximum $238,050,000 firm-fixed-price contract in support of multiple aviation weapon systems. This is a sole-source contract. This is a five-year base contract with one five-year option period. Locations of performance are California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio and South Carolina, with a July 31, 2019, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and the Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation Huntsville, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPE4AX-14-D-9413).
NAVY
Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is being awarded a $43,991,627 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-12-C-2002) for the design, development, and engineering analysis of the AIM-9X Block II Missile System for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and the governments of Turkey, Oman, Belgium, Netherlands, Singapore, Malaysia, and Morocco. This modification includes the necessary replacements for the AIM-9X Control Actuation System, inertial measurement unit, electronics unit processor and improvements in insensitive munitions performance in the hardware development and Operational Flight Software versions 9.4X, 9.15X and 10.X. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (91.6 percent); Minneapolis, Minnesota (6.5 percent); Pinellas Park, Florida (1.3 percent); and Andover, Massachusetts (0.6 percent), and is expected to be completed in July 2015. Fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy and Air Force) funds and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $22,092,354, will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Air Force ($23,620,000; 53.7 percent); U.S. Navy ($8,155,233; 18.5 percent); and the governments of Turkey ($4,095,000; 9.3 percent); Oman ($2,590,000; 5.9 percent); Belgium ($2,100,000; 4.8 percent); Netherlands ($1,680,000; 3.8 percent); Singapore ($980,000; 2.2 percent); Malaysia ($701,394; 1.6 percent); and Morocco ($70,000; 0.2 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales Act. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is being awarded a $25,648,075 modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-2110) for the detailed design and construction efforts to support the Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) construction. Huntington Ingalls Inc. will complete the detailed design and construction efforts of 40 headquarters modification requisition changes to CVN 78. These efforts include: structure and outfitting construction, installation and integration of government furnished material, non-recurring engineering, drawing and work package development, advanced planning, design weight estimate, production planning, test and evaluation, and other efforts necessary to support construction. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2015. Fiscal 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $9,038,931 will be obligated at contract award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Newport News, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Triton Marine Construction Corp., Bremerton, Washington, is being awarded a $17,866,411 firm-fixed-price contract for structural repairs to Piers 2 and 15 at Naval Submarine Base New London. The work to be performed provides for repairs to above and below deck deterioration, structural jacketing of steel piles, repair/replacement of pier fendering systems, repair of double bitts and bases, repair of longitudinal concrete beams and pile caps, coating of mooring hardware and seal coating of the pier decks. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed by February 2016. Fiscal 2014 operation and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $17,866,411 are being obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with six proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-14-C-5204).
ARMY
Mike Hooks, Inc., Westlake, Louisiana, was awarded a $19,530,000 firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance dredging Calcasieu River and pass, mile 5.0 to mile 15.0, and Sabine Unit 1A and Devil’s Elbow, in Calcasieu and Cameron Parishes, Louisiana. Work will be performed in Lake Charles, Louisiana, with an estimated completion date of May 25, 2015. Bids were solicited via the Internet with three received. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $14,789,316, and fiscal 2014 other funds in the amount of $4,740,682, are being obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, Louisiana, is the contracting activity (W912P8-14-C-0047).
U.S. CONGRATULATES PEOPLE OF BOLIVIA ON THEIR INDEPENDENCE DAY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
August 5, 2014
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of Bolivia as you celebrate the 189th anniversary of your independence on August 6.
Bolivia is rich in natural beauty and ancient culture – from Illimani’s high peak, to the historic Ciudad Blanca of Sucre, to the pristine Lake Titicaca, and the extraordinary salt flats of Uyuni.
The Bolivian people possess a special richness of culture and unlimited human capital. The United States and the people of Bolivia share a common interest in building tolerant, inclusive societies that reflect the diversity of our two nations.
I wish Bolivians everywhere health and happiness on the anniversary of your independence.
Bolivia is rich in natural beauty and ancient culture – from Illimani’s high peak, to the historic Ciudad Blanca of Sucre, to the pristine Lake Titicaca, and the extraordinary salt flats of Uyuni.
The Bolivian people possess a special richness of culture and unlimited human capital. The United States and the people of Bolivia share a common interest in building tolerant, inclusive societies that reflect the diversity of our two nations.
I wish Bolivians everywhere health and happiness on the anniversary of your independence.
DOD CONDOLENCE STATEMENT ON ASSIGNATION OF MAJ. GEN. GREENE IN AFGHANISTAN
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Condolence Statement from the Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno for the Loss of Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene
Our thoughts and prayers are with Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene's family, and the families of our soldiers who were injured today in the tragic events that took place in Afghanistan. These soldiers were professionals, committed to the mission. It is their service and sacrifice that define us as an Army.
Our priority right now is to take care of the families, ensuring they have all the resources they need during this critical time.
We remain committed to our mission in Afghanistan and will continue to work with our Afghan partners to ensure the safety and security of all coalition soldiers and civilians.
WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET ON DOING BUSINESS IN AFRICA CAMPAIGN
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
FACT SHEET: The Doing Business in Africa Campaign
Through the Doing Business in Africa (DBIA) Campaign, the U.S. government is strengthening its commercial relationship with the continent of Africa, a diverse region that offers substantial trade and investment opportunities across national and regional markets. With a 5.4 percent growth rate predicted for 2014, Africa is outpacing global growth. U.S. goods and services exports to Africa reached a record high of $50.2 billion in 2013, up 40 percent since 2009. These exports supported 250,000 U.S. jobs.
New Commitments to Significantly Expand the DBIA Campaign
At today’s U.S.-Africa Business Forum, President Obama announced $7 billion in new financing to promote U.S. exports to and investments in Africa under the DBIA Campaign. U.S. companies announced new deals in clean energy, aviation, banking, and construction worth more than $14 billion, in addition to $12 billion in new commitments under the President’sPower Africa initiative from private sector partners, the World Bank, and the government of Sweden. Taken together, these new commitments amount to more than $33 billion,supporting economic growth across Africa and tens of thousands of U.S. jobs.
The DBIA Campaign encourages U.S. commercial engagement in Africa by harnessing the resources of the U.S. government to assist businesses in identifying and seizing opportunities and to engage with members of the African Diaspora in the United States. The DBIA Campaign, which was launched in November 2012, has four main objectives:
- Connect American Businesses with African Partners
- Support Existing and New American Investment in Africa
- Expand Access for American Businesses to Finance Their Exports to Africa
- Reduce Barriers to Trade and Investment in Africa
The U.S. government’s newly announced two-year commitments to support the DBIA Campaign are provided below.
An Executive Order to Create a President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa
Today the President signed an Executive Order (E.O.) to promote broad-based economic growth in the United States and in Africa by encouraging U.S. companies to trade with and invest in Africa.
The E.O. directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish a President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa that will be comprised of not more than 15 members from the private sector, including small business. The Advisory Council will provide information, analysis, and recommendations to the President, through the Secretary of Commerce, including on developing strategies for creating jobs in the United States and Africa through trade and investment; developing strategies by which the U.S. private sector can identify and take advantage of trade and investment opportunities in Africa; and building lasting commercial partnerships between the U.S. and African private sectors.
New U.S. Government Resources to Support U.S. Exports and Investment in Africa
Interagency Initiatives
- The Principals of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will mobilize private capital for Africa’s infrastructurethrough a series of at least three outcome-oriented roundtables in Africa that will advance project- and sector-specific investment opportunities and needed regulatory reforms. These agencies will implement the initiative in coordination with DBIA Campaign agencies, African governments, and the U.S. and African private sectors.
- The U.S. Department of Commerce and USTDA launched the 20x20 Initiative to support a total of 20 trade and reverse trade missions by 2020, to promote U.S. industry engagement in Africa. Working with federal, state, and local government partners, these missions will foster U.S. business partnerships with key African stakeholders.
- The Small Business Administration (SBA) and Ex-Im Bank will collectively support 50 DBIA Campaign-themed activities and outreach sessions over the next two years to facilitate U.S. trade finance, provide counseling and training on their programs, and conduct business development to support U.S. exporters, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises.
U.S. Export-Import Bank
- Ex-Im Bank will commit up to $3 billion in financing to support U.S. exports to Africa over the next two years. This is in addition to Ex-Im Bank’s existing commitments of $5 billion for Power Africa and a planned commitment of $1 billion to support U.S. exports in connection with new and ongoing Angolan infrastructure projects (through the Angolan Ministry of Finance).
- Ex-Im Bank will commit $563 million in financing to support the sale of General Electric locomotives to Transnet, South Africa’s largest integrated freight transport company. Major components of the locomotives will be manufactured at GE’s facilities in Erie, PA and Grove City, PA supporting an estimated 2,500 American jobs.
Millennium Challenge Corporation
- MCC will commit up to $2 billion in funding for new compacts in Africa that facilitateprivate sector-led economic growth and poverty reduction, creating potential opportunities for U.S. companies. This commitment includes $498 million over the next five years to support the turnaround of Ghana’s electricity sector and stimulate private investment. This Compact represents an example of the catalytic impact of Power Africa interventions which will help create the enabling environment to catalyze billions of dollars of private investment in Ghana.
- MCC will also lead its first ever investment mission to Africa to introduce U.S. businesses to the opportunities for investing in and around its Compacts. In addition, MCC will hold at least eight Procurement Promotion sessions with U.S. companies to promote Compact contracting opportunities and developing five Trade and Investment Prospectuses, one for each new Compact in Africa, that outline the specific business opportunities that are expected to arise from MCC’s investments.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
- OPIC will commit up to $1 billion in financing and insurance support to catalyze private sector investments in Africa. This is in addition to OPIC’s existing $1.5 billionPower Africa commitment. OPIC reaffirmed its plan to place personnel on the ground in sub-Saharan Africa to help facilitate increased U.S. trade and investment and will support an investment mission to the region, with a focus on the power sector.
- OPIC will coordinate approximately a dozen U.S. government meetings on August 6, 2014, for U.S. and African private sector investors and project developers to discuss discrete transactions for financing support consideration to OPIC, as well as other DBIA investment agencies.
U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA)
- USTDA, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Transportation, hosted two African Leaders Visits in association with the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. These reverse trade missions highlighted the United States’ experience fostering economic growth through strategic infrastructure investments in the energy and transportation sectors.
- USTDA announced it will partner with the Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company of South Africa to evaluate satellite-based automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast across the African continent, the implementation of which will improve air traffic safety and create over $100 million in U.S. export opportunities.
- USTDA reaffirmed its plan to have local representation in Nigeria for the first time.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation will make available up to $1 billion in financing guarantees available for agricultural exports to Africa over the next two years. USDA also will conduct outreach seminars to Africa in 2015 to promote the use of its credit guarantee program for the export of U.S. agricultural products.
U.S. Department of State
- The U.S. Department of State intends to commit $10 million toward the expansion of the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance Initiative (US-ACEF), which aligns USTDA’sproject planning expertise and OPIC’s financing and risk mitigation tools in new ways, to support private sector investment and increase support for U.S. businesses and exports in sub-Saharan Africa’s clean energy sector.
- The U.S. Department of State will sponsor a medical technology trade mission to sub-Saharan Africa led by a senior State Department official.
U.S. Department of Commerce
- The U.S. Department of Commerce reiterated its commitment to double its presence in sub-Saharan Africa by opening new offices in Angola, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Mozambique, while expanding its operations in Ghana, and re-establishing a position at the African Development Bank.
- The U.S. Department of Commerce will host its next Trade Winds Conference and Mission in Africa in 2015. The Trade Winds program brings hundreds of U.S. companies to a region to hear about opportunities, meet one-on-one with Africa businesses, and get counseling from U.S. Commercial Service officers. Past Trade Winds have been held in Asia and Latin America and resulted in over $100 million in deals at each event.
- The U.S. Department of Commerce launched a One-Stop-Shop website (www.trade.gov/DBIA) to offer American businesses and entrepreneurs a convenient instant access to critical African market information, financing tools available to them, projects to consider, key contacts, and much more.
- To celebrate the second anniversary of the DBIA Campaign, the U.S. Department of Commerce will host a “Discover Sub-Saharan Africa” conference in Atlanta on November 4-6, 2014. Its Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) will join the Constituency for Africa in hosting a “Doing Business in Africa” workshop in October to promote business and trade opportunities in Africa and resources for reaching the African marketplace. MBDA also committed to host a U.S.-Africa Investors Forum on August 6, 2014, in association with the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.
- Through its Global City Teams Program, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in partnership with the U.S. private sector, will target at least 25 African metropolitan areas to join their counterparts worldwide in an interactive platform to accelerate smart city and smart grid goals.
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
- USAID will commit to a bond guarantee through its Development Credit Authority that will allow Dakar, Senegal, to issue the first ever non-sovereign backed municipal bond in sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa (with technical assistance support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation). The guarantee will enable the city to raise $41.8 million on the regional stock exchange. In addition, USAID guaranteed transactions are expected to mobilize $381 million in new private sector lending to small and medium enterprises across the continent.
- USAID will launch the Africa Private Capital Group – a platform in South Africa to mobilize U.S., South African, and international private sector investment in key sectors to development, including agriculture, energy, trade, infrastructure, and health.
- USAID will upgrade its existing African Trade Hubs into “U.S.-African Trade and Investment Hubs” that will now create new opportunities for U.S. investment in and exports to Africa. These hubs are located in Accra, Ghana, Nairobi, Kenya, and Gabarone, Botswana, and cover the West Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa regions, respectively.
- USAID will roll out its Benchmarking the Business of Agriculture (BBA) project this fall, to assesses the ease of doing business and investing in Africa’s agriculture. The BBA provides businesses worldwide with objective information on a country’s ease of doing business in agriculture.
U.S. Department of Transportation
- The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Secretary Anthony Foxx will lead a transportation mission to Africa in early 2015, to discuss opportunities for improving regional connectivity, promoting safety and efficiency, and sharing best practices on increasing investment in transportation infrastructure.
- The U.S. Department of Transportation launched its Tomorrow’s Transportation Leaders initiative, which will include up to five workshops over the next two years to engage 100 young African transportation professionals on adopting U.S. best practices. The workshops will address transportation policies and regulatory framework, transportation investment planning, and the efficient management of transportation systems.
- The U.S. Department of Transportation intends to direct $1 million toward strengthening civil aviation safety through the Safe Skies for Africa program.
U.S. Department of Energy
- The U.S. Department of Energy will support the “Clean Energy Solutions Center,” a multilateral initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial to connect policymakers in Africa with clean energy experts and best practice resources. The Clean Energy Solutions Center is a web-based resource that draws on knowledge from global experts to help governments design and adopt policies and programs that support the deployment of clean energy technologies. Through the partnership, the Solutions Center will provide expert policy consultations free of charge to Power Africa countries in response to requests received.
Office of the United States Trade Representative
- On August 5, USTR signed at its headquarters a new Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to provide a coordinated mechanism for engaging on trade and investment issues with the 15 West African countries that are part of ECOWAS.
U.S. -ANGOLA SIGN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING TO ST TRADE
FROM: U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Ex-Im Bank and Angola Sign Memorandum of Understanding To Boost U.S.-Angolan Trade
Ex-Im Bank-Angola MOU Signed During U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.: – The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Angola to boost job growth in both countries by strengthening collaboration on the financing of American exports to Angola.
The MOU signing between Ex-Im Bank President Fred P. Hochberg and Angola’s Minister of Finance, Mr. Armando Manuel, took place in conjunction with the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit convened by President Barack Obama this week in Washington, D.C. The three-day summit, which has drawn heads of state and ministers from across the African continent, is designed to advance shared priorities, and strengthen ties between the United States and one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.
“Ex-Im Bank’s financing can assist Angolan buyers in purchasing almost any kind of ‘Made in the USA’ product or service to meet their needs,” said Hochberg. “And those purchases not only create jobs here in America, but contribute to job growth and an infrastructure built to last in Angola as well.”
In the MOU, Ex-Im Bank and Angola’s Ministry of Finance agreed to exchange information on trade and business opportunities to enable the procurement of U.S. goods and services by both state-owned and private-sector enterprises in Angola. The MOU identifies the following sectors for business development: energy, infrastructure, railways and roads, mining, telecommunications, agriculture, and environment, including water and sanitation projects.Ex-Im Bank has authorized a record of more than $1.7 billion for U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa through the first ten months of FY 2014.
In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has authorized more than $5 billion for U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa, exceeding the Bank’s authorizations of $4 billion for the region approved over the previous decade.
The MOU signing between Ex-Im Bank President Fred P. Hochberg and Angola’s Minister of Finance, Mr. Armando Manuel, took place in conjunction with the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit convened by President Barack Obama this week in Washington, D.C. The three-day summit, which has drawn heads of state and ministers from across the African continent, is designed to advance shared priorities, and strengthen ties between the United States and one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.
“Ex-Im Bank’s financing can assist Angolan buyers in purchasing almost any kind of ‘Made in the USA’ product or service to meet their needs,” said Hochberg. “And those purchases not only create jobs here in America, but contribute to job growth and an infrastructure built to last in Angola as well.”
In the MOU, Ex-Im Bank and Angola’s Ministry of Finance agreed to exchange information on trade and business opportunities to enable the procurement of U.S. goods and services by both state-owned and private-sector enterprises in Angola. The MOU identifies the following sectors for business development: energy, infrastructure, railways and roads, mining, telecommunications, agriculture, and environment, including water and sanitation projects.Ex-Im Bank has authorized a record of more than $1.7 billion for U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa through the first ten months of FY 2014.
In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has authorized more than $5 billion for U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa, exceeding the Bank’s authorizations of $4 billion for the region approved over the previous decade.
SEC CHARGES 4 PROMOTERS WITH MANIPULATING THE SECURITIES OF MICROCAP MARIJUANA-RELATED STOCKS
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
The SEC alleges that the four promoters bought inexpensive shares of thinly traded penny stock companies on the open market and conducted pre-arranged, manipulative matched orders and wash trades to create the illusion of an active market in these stocks. They then sold their shares in coordination with aggressive promotional campaigns that urged investors to buy the stocks because the prices were on the verge of rising substantially. However, these companies had little to no business operations at the time. The promoters reaped more than $2.5 million in illegal profits through their schemes.
Two of the companies manipulated in this case – GrowLife Inc. and Hemp Inc. – claim to be related to the medical marijuana industry. The SEC has issued an investor alert warning about possible scams involving marijuana-related investments, noting that fraudsters often exploit the latest growth industries to lure investors into stock manipulation schemes. Other schemes by these four promoters involved an oil-and-gas company – Riverdale Oil and Gas Corporation – and three other microcap stocks, ISM International, Allied Products Corp, and Aden Solutions.
The SEC was able to unearth the schemes through the work of its recently created Microcap Fraud Task Force.
“Our Microcap Fraud Task Force is taking direct aim at abusive practices and serial violators within the microcap markets like these four promoters seeking to exploit retail investors for personal gain,” said Michael Paley, co-chair of the SEC’s Microcap Fraud Task Force. “In this case, we meticulously reviewed trading records and developed the evidence necessary to connect these four promoters and their coordinated trading efforts.”
The SEC’s complaint filed in federal court in Tacoma, Wash., charges the following individuals:
Mikhail Galas, a stock promoter who lives in Vancouver, Wash.
Alexander Hawatmeh, a member of Worthmore Investments LLC, which owns a stock promotion website called stockhaven.com. He formerly lived in Vancouver and currently resides in Lincoln City, Oregon.
Christopher Mrowca, a stock promoter who operates Money Runners Group LLC, which has an affiliated stock promotion website called MoneyRunnersGroup.com. He lives in Bradenton, Fla.
Tovy Pustovit, who owns a stock promotion website called Explosive Alerts. He also lives in Vancouver.
In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington announced criminal charges against Galas, Hawatmeh, and Mrowca.
According to the SEC’s complaint, GrowLife Inc. was part of a broader online promotion of several marijuana-related stocks in early 2014. Mrowca specifically promoted GrowLife through his Money Runners Group website and predicted that the stock price would nearly double. Mrowca, Galas, and Hawatmeh meanwhile engaged in manipulative trading designed to increase the price and volume of GrowLife stock, and they later sold their shares for illicit profits.
Similarly, the SEC alleges that Hawatmeh, Galas, and Mrowca bought and sold approximately 41.7 million shares of Hemp Inc. in January and February 2014 while the stock was actively promoted on the Internet. For example, one Internet tout on February 6 claimed that Hemp could reach “a REAL Possible Gain of OVER 2900%.” During the promotion, Hawatmeh, Mrowca, and Galas engaged in manipulative wash trades and matched orders to manipulate Hemp’s common stock before selling their shares for illegal gains.
“This was a carefully planned operation by Galas, Hawatmeh, Mrowca, and Pustovit to distort the performance of specific penny stocks as they were simultaneously promoted through social media and the Internet. As the companies’ stock prices increased, these four promoters opportunistically dumped their shares for illicit gains,” said Amelia A. Cottrell, associate director in the SEC’s New York Regional Office.
The SEC’s complaint charges Galas, Hawatmeh, Mrowca and Pustovit with violating antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC seeks temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctions along with an emergency asset freeze, disgorgement, prejudgment interest, financial penalties, and orders barring the promoters from participating in a penny stock offering.
The SEC’s complaint names Nadia Hawatmeh as a relief defendant for the purposes of recovering ill-gotten gains in her brokerage account, which was used by the promoters to conduct some of their manipulative trades.
The SEC’s investigation has been conducted by Michael Paley, Eric M. Schmidt, Mona Akhtar, Joseph Darragh, and Tejal Shah. The case was supervised by Ms. Cottrell, and the litigation will be led by David Stoelting. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS FOOD SECURITY IN A CHANGING CLIMATE
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at a Working Session on Resilience and Food Security in a Changing Climate
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
National Academy of Sciences
Washington, DC
August 4, 2014
Thank you very, very much. My apologies that we are beginning just a couple of minutes late, and we’re delighted to welcome everybody here. Let me just say at the outset I had the chance to speak here earlier today on civil society, but I want to reemphasize the degree to which President Obama and the whole Administration are genuinely very excited about these several days. This summit has been long in the making. It is an historic gathering. And we want it to be as substantive, as productive – in the end, as agenda-driving as possible. And in the end, of course, that will depend on all of you and the participation of the next days.
But I want to begin by thanking all of their excellencies who are here – presidents and prime ministers, foreign ministers, others representing more than 50 countries – mostly I would say to you heads of state, but for a few who are unable to make it for a number of reasons. We are distinctly pleased to be able to welcome you here to one of the signature events, really, of these next three days. And it’s on a topic that means a great deal to many of us on a personal level in the Administration. I know John Podesta, who will be taking part momentarily, Raj Shah, and others who are deeply, viscerally connected to this issue and all that it entails.
But it also affects every person on earth in very real ways. Climate change, food security, and resilience are interrelated challenges that we all need to be thinking about as we plan for the future, and I’m delighted that so many of you are here to think about this and to sort of take idea from laboratory to shelf, and in some cases augment what is already on the shelf.
So let me start by thanking all of the remarkable leaders who have agreed to serve on the panels coming up. Each of them are true leaders in their sectors or their countries, and you will judge that for yourselves. But particularly, we are grateful to several heads of state and the African Union chairperson herself, leaders from the private sector, in addition from the nonprofit world – all of the partners that we really need if we’re going to be able to achieve what we want to achieve and to get this right.
I want to especially thank the two moderators of the panel – the Administrator of USAID Raj Shah, who I’ve already mentioned, and John Podesta, likewise. Finally, thank you to the Second Lady of the United States, Jill Biden, who will join us here a little later to share some of her thoughts.
When you talk about food security, it doesn’t take very long to have the name, Norman Borlaug, come up. Norman would have been 100 years old this year, and he dedicated his entire life and career to feeding the world’s hungry. He won a Nobel Prize for his work. And he pursued that path for one reason. As he put it, “You can’t build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and human misery,” pretty simple.
It’s been five years since Norman passed away, and you don’t have to be a Nobel Laureate to understand that the statistics around hunger today are nowhere near what he hoped for. Every day, 8,000 children die because they don’t have enough to eat. They don’t have a healthy, nutritious diet – 8,000 children every single day. Around the world, one in eight people suffers from chronic hunger. And in Sub-Sahara Africa, that number, regrettably, is one in four.
So looking to the future, it’s only going to become more difficult to bring these numbers down, if you look at the realities of what is happening. For one thing, over the next several decades, the population of Earth is expected to grow and it’s expected to grow quickly. The 7 billion people that we’re focused on feeding today is going to become more than 9 billion people by 2050 – 35 years. And more than half of this population growth, I would add, is expected to occur in Africa.
But on top of that, the growing impacts of climate change are going to put extraordinary stress on our ability to be able to produce the amount of food that we need to be able to feed those increasing numbers, and, I might add, to feed from increasing numbers from increasingly – from agricultural locations that are increasingly under greater stress and duress.
Now, one thing to understand here this afternoon: We’re not talking about some distant future. We’re not talking about some pie-in-the-sky unproven set of theories as they were in the earliest days of population growth or other challenges that we face. The impacts of climate change are already being felt everywhere in the world, from the Arctic to the Antarctic and everywhere in between and around. And they’re only going to get worse unless we are successful next year in President Obama’s and many other leaders’ goal to go to Paris and get a global agreement with respect to the reduction of greenhouse gases.
All you have to do is look at the extreme conditions that farmers are dealing with around the world: hotter temperatures, longer droughts – just look at California, for our instance, and other parts of the world – unpredictable rainfall patterns. I just came from Delhi where they’re having torrential rains in some parts way above the levels they’ve ever had, and as – India as a whole, 25 percent below their average. Intense wildfires, and you can run the list; I’m not going to run it today. But there’s a legitimate question that has to be asked, which is: How do livestocks thrive or even survive under those conditions? What happens if the great rivers of the Himalayas that literally are the life source for so many billions of people on both sides begin to be diverted and dry up because the glaciers are disappearing and the snow levels change?
All you have to do is look at our ocean. The same carbon pollution that drives climate change is literally changing the ocean’s chemistry. And we just had two days of a major conference in the State Department on the subject of the oceans. That is making it more and more difficult for species like clams and mussels to exist in its waters. Crustacea, all crustacea, are affected by increased acidity.
Between ocean acidification, over-pollution – excessive pollution and overfishing, the three great challenges of the ocean, our fish stocks are in serious trouble in almost every fishery of the world. And what will that mean for the 3 billion people who today exist on seafood as their major source of protein? In some African countries, the importance of fish to nutrition and to their economies is particularly high. In Sierra Leone, 70 percent of the animal protein people absorb comes from fish. In Ghana, it’s 51 percent. In Gambia, 49 percent. So what will people do if those fish stocks change because the ecosystem itself begins to collapse?
But the intersection between climate change and food is not just about quantity. We’re now seeing that carbon pollution is also making some of the food that we do grow less nutritious than it used to be. For example, rising carbon dioxide levels translate into lower levels of zinc and iron in wheat and other cereal grains. This means that people not only struggle to have enough food to eat; they may also suffer from a so-called hidden hunger; they’re eating, but they’re still deficient in certain micronutrients that keep them healthy.
President Obama has made clear how committed he is to cutting carbon pollution and reducing emissions, and this Administration has taken unprecedented, unilateral administrative steps in order to try to keep faith with those promises. But we also have to make sure that we are asking ourselves: On top of our efforts to deal with the causes of climate change, how do we help ensure that farmers, fishermen, and the billions who depend on the food that they produce are able to endure the climate impacts that are already being felt, let alone yet to come?
The answer is clear: By focusing our efforts on the intersection of climate and food security, by adopting creative solutions that increase food production and build resilience to climate change, all the while cutting greenhouse gases. That’s how you do it.
And now, another part of this story is that certain agricultural processes can actually release carbon pollution and help contribute to the problem in the first place. It’s a twisted circle, always complicated. But we also know there are ways to change that. For example, rather than convert natural areas to new farmland, a process that typically releases significant amounts of carbon pollution, we can instead concentrate our efforts on making existing farmlands more productive.
Now this is an area where African leaders have actually been ahead and significantly ahead of the game for some time. More than a decade ago, the AU launched the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program, which requires all member-states that sign on to create and implement national, effective food security investment plans. These national plans are by nature created to cater to each country’s specific needs, abilities, and limitations, and they’re actually the basis for the work that we do with African nations through various joint initiatives that we’re currently engaged in.
This year, the AU went even further, not only by naming 2014 the year of agriculture and food security, but also by launching the Malabo Declaration. This declaration requires all signatories to pursue investments that protect people and ecosystems. And each of these countries have signed on to an agreement to ensure that over the next decade or so, at least 30 percent of all African farm, pastoral, and fisher households should be resistant to climate and weather-related shocks.
Now, these are challenges that have frankly been on the top of President Obama’s agenda since he first came into office. I know that they were there the day that I sat down with him to discuss becoming Secretary of State. And he told me that food security was one of those looming issues that he really wanted to make a difference on and address. And he’s proven as much by spearheading a number of initiatives in order to do just that.
Feed the Future, his signature initiative, is supporting farmers in 19 different countries, including 12 in Africa, by investing in various ways to make the food that they farm more plentiful, more accessible, and more nutritious.
Another important initiative that President Obama launched is the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition. At the 2012 G8 Summit at Camp David, several African heads of state, corporate leaders, and G8 members pledged to help raise 50 million people out of poverty in Africa by 2022 by increasing private investment in agriculture. After two years, the New Alliance now includes 10 African countries, 180 African and international companies, and it has leveraged 8 billion in planned private investment in agriculture. Commitment to this partnership is strong, and we are looking forward to announcing more updates throughout this week.
These initiatives are actually really making a difference, my friends. But in light of the enormity of this challenge, they are not going to be enough by themselves. We need more governments, more businesses, more research institutions, more civil society, more people all over the world focused on improving agricultural productivity, on investing in innovation and technology like seeds that withstand drought and floods, and on ensuring the world’s agricultural sector is operating as sustainably as possible.
That is the idea behind the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture. Now I know that governments and other partners around the world are still in the process of deciding exactly what this alliance is all about; what’s it going to look like? But I encourage all to get on board, particularly countries and organizations represented here at the African Leaders Summit. This is a priority for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who will hope to formally launch this initiative at the Climate Summit in New York this September. And today, I’m happy to announce that the United States intends to formally sign on.
I know that several other – (applause) – I know that several other African countries here are prepared to make similar announcements, and we are working together to produce a declaration announcing our mutual intent to join this effort. Let me add that we are planning to leave this document open until the end of this leaders summit, and we invite as many other leaders as possible to join us in committing to the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture.
So obviously, we have to continue to foster efforts like this. This is a gigantic initiative. And all of us who have had the privilege of traveling somewhere in the world, almost anywhere, have seen too many pockets of poverty, including right here in the United States – too many people still struggling, too many kids going to bed at night hungry, and perhaps in some cases never waking up to see the next day. We also have to continue to innovate, and we have to, above all, cooperate. That’s how we’re all going to help end hunger and malnutrition and cut carbon pollution and improve the resilience of our farms, our forests, our fisheries. And if we do that, we will live up to our responsibilities for the future that help empower another generation that follow to do the same.
Now, I think that all of us know what Norman Borlaug believed is absolutely true: Whether you’re talking about countries in Africa or right here in North America, when people don’t have to worry about where their next meal will come from, they have a greater ability to fulfill their dreams and become constructive, contributing citizens of the world.
Like so many of the global issues that we deal with, what we have here is a question of political will. We have solutions, but none of these solutions will implement themselves. The will of governments, of companies, of civil society, of research institutes and international organizations – all of these are the key. We know the challenges. We know what it’s going to take to address them. It’s a matter of all sectors coming together, applying their energies and efforts to make sure that we make the right decisions, the right commitments, so that millions of families living in poverty – really, an anachronism – it’s so contrary to everything that’s possible when we look at the affluence in so many parts of the world. We can change this. We can set goals and we can pledge money, but unless people’s lives have improved, unless we buy into the realities of what’s staring us in the face in terms of better agriculture and better food production, the better distribution we will fail.
So that is exactly what this portion of the African Leaders summit is all about, and let’s get started. We have a terrific panel. It’s my pleasure to turn it over to my friend and my colleague and a great advocate for this, a passionate advocate for this, the Administrator of USAID Raj Shah. Thank you. (Applause.)
But I want to begin by thanking all of their excellencies who are here – presidents and prime ministers, foreign ministers, others representing more than 50 countries – mostly I would say to you heads of state, but for a few who are unable to make it for a number of reasons. We are distinctly pleased to be able to welcome you here to one of the signature events, really, of these next three days. And it’s on a topic that means a great deal to many of us on a personal level in the Administration. I know John Podesta, who will be taking part momentarily, Raj Shah, and others who are deeply, viscerally connected to this issue and all that it entails.
But it also affects every person on earth in very real ways. Climate change, food security, and resilience are interrelated challenges that we all need to be thinking about as we plan for the future, and I’m delighted that so many of you are here to think about this and to sort of take idea from laboratory to shelf, and in some cases augment what is already on the shelf.
So let me start by thanking all of the remarkable leaders who have agreed to serve on the panels coming up. Each of them are true leaders in their sectors or their countries, and you will judge that for yourselves. But particularly, we are grateful to several heads of state and the African Union chairperson herself, leaders from the private sector, in addition from the nonprofit world – all of the partners that we really need if we’re going to be able to achieve what we want to achieve and to get this right.
I want to especially thank the two moderators of the panel – the Administrator of USAID Raj Shah, who I’ve already mentioned, and John Podesta, likewise. Finally, thank you to the Second Lady of the United States, Jill Biden, who will join us here a little later to share some of her thoughts.
When you talk about food security, it doesn’t take very long to have the name, Norman Borlaug, come up. Norman would have been 100 years old this year, and he dedicated his entire life and career to feeding the world’s hungry. He won a Nobel Prize for his work. And he pursued that path for one reason. As he put it, “You can’t build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and human misery,” pretty simple.
It’s been five years since Norman passed away, and you don’t have to be a Nobel Laureate to understand that the statistics around hunger today are nowhere near what he hoped for. Every day, 8,000 children die because they don’t have enough to eat. They don’t have a healthy, nutritious diet – 8,000 children every single day. Around the world, one in eight people suffers from chronic hunger. And in Sub-Sahara Africa, that number, regrettably, is one in four.
So looking to the future, it’s only going to become more difficult to bring these numbers down, if you look at the realities of what is happening. For one thing, over the next several decades, the population of Earth is expected to grow and it’s expected to grow quickly. The 7 billion people that we’re focused on feeding today is going to become more than 9 billion people by 2050 – 35 years. And more than half of this population growth, I would add, is expected to occur in Africa.
But on top of that, the growing impacts of climate change are going to put extraordinary stress on our ability to be able to produce the amount of food that we need to be able to feed those increasing numbers, and, I might add, to feed from increasing numbers from increasingly – from agricultural locations that are increasingly under greater stress and duress.
Now, one thing to understand here this afternoon: We’re not talking about some distant future. We’re not talking about some pie-in-the-sky unproven set of theories as they were in the earliest days of population growth or other challenges that we face. The impacts of climate change are already being felt everywhere in the world, from the Arctic to the Antarctic and everywhere in between and around. And they’re only going to get worse unless we are successful next year in President Obama’s and many other leaders’ goal to go to Paris and get a global agreement with respect to the reduction of greenhouse gases.
All you have to do is look at the extreme conditions that farmers are dealing with around the world: hotter temperatures, longer droughts – just look at California, for our instance, and other parts of the world – unpredictable rainfall patterns. I just came from Delhi where they’re having torrential rains in some parts way above the levels they’ve ever had, and as – India as a whole, 25 percent below their average. Intense wildfires, and you can run the list; I’m not going to run it today. But there’s a legitimate question that has to be asked, which is: How do livestocks thrive or even survive under those conditions? What happens if the great rivers of the Himalayas that literally are the life source for so many billions of people on both sides begin to be diverted and dry up because the glaciers are disappearing and the snow levels change?
All you have to do is look at our ocean. The same carbon pollution that drives climate change is literally changing the ocean’s chemistry. And we just had two days of a major conference in the State Department on the subject of the oceans. That is making it more and more difficult for species like clams and mussels to exist in its waters. Crustacea, all crustacea, are affected by increased acidity.
Between ocean acidification, over-pollution – excessive pollution and overfishing, the three great challenges of the ocean, our fish stocks are in serious trouble in almost every fishery of the world. And what will that mean for the 3 billion people who today exist on seafood as their major source of protein? In some African countries, the importance of fish to nutrition and to their economies is particularly high. In Sierra Leone, 70 percent of the animal protein people absorb comes from fish. In Ghana, it’s 51 percent. In Gambia, 49 percent. So what will people do if those fish stocks change because the ecosystem itself begins to collapse?
But the intersection between climate change and food is not just about quantity. We’re now seeing that carbon pollution is also making some of the food that we do grow less nutritious than it used to be. For example, rising carbon dioxide levels translate into lower levels of zinc and iron in wheat and other cereal grains. This means that people not only struggle to have enough food to eat; they may also suffer from a so-called hidden hunger; they’re eating, but they’re still deficient in certain micronutrients that keep them healthy.
President Obama has made clear how committed he is to cutting carbon pollution and reducing emissions, and this Administration has taken unprecedented, unilateral administrative steps in order to try to keep faith with those promises. But we also have to make sure that we are asking ourselves: On top of our efforts to deal with the causes of climate change, how do we help ensure that farmers, fishermen, and the billions who depend on the food that they produce are able to endure the climate impacts that are already being felt, let alone yet to come?
The answer is clear: By focusing our efforts on the intersection of climate and food security, by adopting creative solutions that increase food production and build resilience to climate change, all the while cutting greenhouse gases. That’s how you do it.
And now, another part of this story is that certain agricultural processes can actually release carbon pollution and help contribute to the problem in the first place. It’s a twisted circle, always complicated. But we also know there are ways to change that. For example, rather than convert natural areas to new farmland, a process that typically releases significant amounts of carbon pollution, we can instead concentrate our efforts on making existing farmlands more productive.
Now this is an area where African leaders have actually been ahead and significantly ahead of the game for some time. More than a decade ago, the AU launched the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program, which requires all member-states that sign on to create and implement national, effective food security investment plans. These national plans are by nature created to cater to each country’s specific needs, abilities, and limitations, and they’re actually the basis for the work that we do with African nations through various joint initiatives that we’re currently engaged in.
This year, the AU went even further, not only by naming 2014 the year of agriculture and food security, but also by launching the Malabo Declaration. This declaration requires all signatories to pursue investments that protect people and ecosystems. And each of these countries have signed on to an agreement to ensure that over the next decade or so, at least 30 percent of all African farm, pastoral, and fisher households should be resistant to climate and weather-related shocks.
Now, these are challenges that have frankly been on the top of President Obama’s agenda since he first came into office. I know that they were there the day that I sat down with him to discuss becoming Secretary of State. And he told me that food security was one of those looming issues that he really wanted to make a difference on and address. And he’s proven as much by spearheading a number of initiatives in order to do just that.
Feed the Future, his signature initiative, is supporting farmers in 19 different countries, including 12 in Africa, by investing in various ways to make the food that they farm more plentiful, more accessible, and more nutritious.
Another important initiative that President Obama launched is the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition. At the 2012 G8 Summit at Camp David, several African heads of state, corporate leaders, and G8 members pledged to help raise 50 million people out of poverty in Africa by 2022 by increasing private investment in agriculture. After two years, the New Alliance now includes 10 African countries, 180 African and international companies, and it has leveraged 8 billion in planned private investment in agriculture. Commitment to this partnership is strong, and we are looking forward to announcing more updates throughout this week.
These initiatives are actually really making a difference, my friends. But in light of the enormity of this challenge, they are not going to be enough by themselves. We need more governments, more businesses, more research institutions, more civil society, more people all over the world focused on improving agricultural productivity, on investing in innovation and technology like seeds that withstand drought and floods, and on ensuring the world’s agricultural sector is operating as sustainably as possible.
That is the idea behind the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture. Now I know that governments and other partners around the world are still in the process of deciding exactly what this alliance is all about; what’s it going to look like? But I encourage all to get on board, particularly countries and organizations represented here at the African Leaders Summit. This is a priority for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who will hope to formally launch this initiative at the Climate Summit in New York this September. And today, I’m happy to announce that the United States intends to formally sign on.
I know that several other – (applause) – I know that several other African countries here are prepared to make similar announcements, and we are working together to produce a declaration announcing our mutual intent to join this effort. Let me add that we are planning to leave this document open until the end of this leaders summit, and we invite as many other leaders as possible to join us in committing to the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture.
So obviously, we have to continue to foster efforts like this. This is a gigantic initiative. And all of us who have had the privilege of traveling somewhere in the world, almost anywhere, have seen too many pockets of poverty, including right here in the United States – too many people still struggling, too many kids going to bed at night hungry, and perhaps in some cases never waking up to see the next day. We also have to continue to innovate, and we have to, above all, cooperate. That’s how we’re all going to help end hunger and malnutrition and cut carbon pollution and improve the resilience of our farms, our forests, our fisheries. And if we do that, we will live up to our responsibilities for the future that help empower another generation that follow to do the same.
Now, I think that all of us know what Norman Borlaug believed is absolutely true: Whether you’re talking about countries in Africa or right here in North America, when people don’t have to worry about where their next meal will come from, they have a greater ability to fulfill their dreams and become constructive, contributing citizens of the world.
Like so many of the global issues that we deal with, what we have here is a question of political will. We have solutions, but none of these solutions will implement themselves. The will of governments, of companies, of civil society, of research institutes and international organizations – all of these are the key. We know the challenges. We know what it’s going to take to address them. It’s a matter of all sectors coming together, applying their energies and efforts to make sure that we make the right decisions, the right commitments, so that millions of families living in poverty – really, an anachronism – it’s so contrary to everything that’s possible when we look at the affluence in so many parts of the world. We can change this. We can set goals and we can pledge money, but unless people’s lives have improved, unless we buy into the realities of what’s staring us in the face in terms of better agriculture and better food production, the better distribution we will fail.
So that is exactly what this portion of the African Leaders summit is all about, and let’s get started. We have a terrific panel. It’s my pleasure to turn it over to my friend and my colleague and a great advocate for this, a passionate advocate for this, the Administrator of USAID Raj Shah. Thank you. (Applause.)
FORMER CITIGROUP DIRECTOR TO PAY $500,000 FOR DEFRAUDING COMPANY
FROM: U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
Federal Court Orders Former Citigroup Director, John Aaron Brooks, to Pay $500,000 for Defrauding Two Citigroup Companies by Mismarking and Inflating the Value of His Position in Ethanol Futures to Conceal His Trading Losses
Washington, DC –The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that Judge Kimba M. Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a Consent Order against Defendant John Aaron Brooks for defrauding Citigroup, Inc. and Citigroup Energy, Inc. (collectively, Citi) by mismarking and inflating the value of his position in ethanol futures in Citi’s proprietary account. Brooks currently resides in Houston, Texas.
The court’s Order requires Brooks to pay a $500,000 civil monetary penalty. The Order also permanently bans Brooks from registering with the CFTC; bans him for seven years from trading any CFTC-regulated products for or on behalf of others; and bans him for five years from trading, or having others trade, CFTC-regulated ethanol products on his behalf. The Order further permanently enjoins Brooks from violating the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and a CFTC Regulation, as charged.
The Order finds that from November 2010 through October 2011 (the Relevant Period), Brooks was employed by Citicorp North America Inc. and served as a Director in the commodities business of Citigroup, Inc. According to the Order, Brooks cheated and defrauded Citi by inflating and mismarking the value of his position in New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) Chicago Ethanol (Platts) Futures contracts (NYMEX ethanol futures) in Citi’s proprietary account, by misrepresenting his profits and losses to Citi, and by knowingly offsetting and masking the losses in his other futures positions. The Order finds that, by this conduct, Brooks violated the anti-fraud provisions of the CEA and a CFTC Regulation.
Additionally, the Order finds that at the end of each trading day during the Relevant Period, Brooks knew or recklessly disregarded the fact that he was entering false values for NYMEX ethanol futures into Citi’s computer system. The total losses to Citi as a result of Brooks’s mismarking were approximately $42.4 million.
The court’s Order, entered on August 1, 2014, stems from a CFTC Complaint filed on September 27, 2013, that charged Brooks with, among other things, employing manipulative or deceptive devices and contrivances, cheating and defrauding, and concealing trading losses from a large commercial bank and its affiliate by inflating the value of NYMEX ethanol futures, in violation of the CEA and a CFTC Regulation (see CFTC Press Release and Complaint 6716-13).
CFTC staff members responsible for this case are Janine Gargiulo, Michael Geiser, Trevor Kokal, David Acevedo, Lenel Hickson, and Manal Sultan.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
U.S. OFFERS BEST WISHES TO PEOPLE OF JAMAICA ON THEIR INDEPENDENCE DAY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Jamaica's Independence Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
August 5, 2014
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I offer best wishes to the people of Jamaica on the occasion of your 52nd anniversary of independence.
The United States and Jamaica share an important and thriving partnership through our mutual commitment to strong democratic governance.
Our collaboration in the areas of climate change, health, security, and trade continues to benefit both our nations and the Caribbean region.
We applaud your recent efforts to pass the Disabilities Act, which ensures equal rights for people with physical, mental, and intellectual disabilities.
Our mutual efforts through the Climate Adaptation Plan, the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief have made a lasting mark on the region.
As you mark this day across the island, the United States remains committed to strengthening our partnership and looks forward to an enduring friendship.
The United States and Jamaica share an important and thriving partnership through our mutual commitment to strong democratic governance.
Our collaboration in the areas of climate change, health, security, and trade continues to benefit both our nations and the Caribbean region.
We applaud your recent efforts to pass the Disabilities Act, which ensures equal rights for people with physical, mental, and intellectual disabilities.
Our mutual efforts through the Climate Adaptation Plan, the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief have made a lasting mark on the region.
As you mark this day across the island, the United States remains committed to strengthening our partnership and looks forward to an enduring friendship.
WILDFIRE SUPPORT CONTINUES FROM DOD
Right: A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter drops water from a Bambi bucket onto wildfires near the Chiwaukum Creek and Carlton Complex wildfires near Leavenworth, Wash., July 31, 2014. Washington National Guard photo by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dave Goodhue
DOD Continues Support to Wildfire Battle
From a U.S. Northern Command News Release
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo., Aug. 4, 2014 – Two Defense Department C-130 aircraft equipped with U.S. Forest Service’s Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems and under the command and control of U.S. Northern Command are assisting with wildfire suppression efforts in the Northwest, the Great Basin, and elsewhere in the West at the request of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
Since July 20, 2014, DoD aircraft have conducted 65 airdrops and have discharged more than 114,300 gallons of fire retardant.
In the last 24 hours, crews have conducted two airdrops and discharged about 3,000 gallons of retardant at the Hard Creek fire in Idaho, four airdrops discharging about 9,000 gallons of retardant at the Thompson River fire in Montana, and four airdrops discharging about 3,000 gallons of retardant at the Warland fire in Montana, officials said.
The supporting unit flying the MAFFS mission is the Wyoming Air National Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing, based in Cheyenne.
Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard C-130 aircraft assigned to units in California, Colorado, North Carolina and Wyoming are capable of dropping fire retardant using U.S. Forest Service MAFFS units, officials said. Aircrews, maintenance crews and support personnel undergo special National Interagency Fire Center training and certification to perform these missions each year, they added.
U.S. Northern Command, established in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, is responsible for homeland defense and defense support of civil authorities.
OFFSHORE SWEEPSTAKES SCHEMERS PLEAD GUILTY TO DEFRAUDING HUNDREDS OF ELDERLY AMERICANS
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, August 4, 2014
Two North Carolina Residents Plead Guilty to Defrauding Elderly Through Offshore Sweepstakes Scheme
A North Carolina couple pleaded guilty for leading a Costa Rican sweepstakes fraud scheme that defrauded hundreds of elderly Americans.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina made the announcement.
Jessica Anne Brown, 39, of Greensboro, North Carolina, pleaded today in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her husband, Jason Dean Brown, 41, formerly of Burleson, Texas, pleaded guilty on July 30, 2014. The Browns pleaded guilty to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to the plea agreement, from November 2004 through March 2013, Jessica and Jason Brown owned, operated and worked in sweepstakes call centers located in Costa Rica. The Browns and their co-conspirators placed telephone calls to U.S. residents, many of whom were elderly, and falsely informed them that they had won a substantial cash prize in a sweepstakes. The victims were told that in order to receive the prize, they had to send money to Costa Rica for a purported refundable insurance fee. After receiving the fee, the Browns and their co-conspirators contacted the victims again, and falsely informed them that the prize amount had increased, either because of a clerical error or because another prize winner was disqualified, and therefore the victims had to send additional money to pay for new purported fees, duties and insurance to receive the now larger sweepstakes prize. The attempts to collect additional money from the victims continued until a victim either ran out of money or discovered the fraudulent nature of the scheme. To mask that they were calling from Costa Rica, the Browns and their co-conspirators utilized VoIP phones that displayed a (202) area code, giving victims the false impression that the calls were coming from Washington, D.C. The Browns often falsely claimed that they were calling on behalf of a U.S. federal agency to lure victims into a false sense of security.
The defendants admitted that, along with their co-conspirators, they were responsible for causing more than $840,000 in losses to hundreds of United States citizens.
Jason and Jessica Browns were indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 15, 2012. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Miami Office. This case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Patrick Donley and Trial Attorney William Bowne of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
REMARKS: SECRETARY KERRY AND BURKINA FASO PRESIDENT BLAISE CAMPAORE
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks With Burkina Faso President Blaise Campaore Before Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
August 4, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: Good afternoon, everybody. My pleasure to welcome the president of Burkina Faso, President Campaore. And I’m very happy to welcome him here, but I must do so first by expressing our condolences to him and to the families of the 28 Burkinabe citizens who were among the 116 passengers on the Air Algeire flight that crashed just the other day on July 24th. So Mr. President, we extend to you and your people our condolences, and obviously, we hope that those families can be eased in their burden of their loss and their sorrow.
Burkina Faso has made very significant contributions that we are very grateful for to advance regional peace and security. We are very appreciative for their contributions to the UN peacekeeping and regional mediation efforts, and we also particularly appreciate what they have done with respect to the negotiations taking place recently begun in Algiers, the negotiations regarding Mali. There are serious challenges in that region. Everybody knows this. We’ve been deeply engaged in trying to help in a number of different places to build stability. And every country that contributes to that is making an important contribution to the future stability and development of Africa itself.
So Mr. President, (in French).
PRESIDENT CAMPAORE: (Via interpreter) Mr. Secretary of State, of course, I would like to thank you, first of all, for this expression of compassion towards the victims of the air crash, and please convey our gratitude to President Obama for this invitation, this invitation sent to Africa to share with the United States, to talk about the issues of today, the development, the stability of the continent and our region. But also, we need to work together to see what we can do to contribute together to international peace.
We are delighted to be here to be able to take part in this major discussion which is organized around the great themes pertaining to the future, the consolidation between the African continent and the United States. Thank you very much.
Burkina Faso has made very significant contributions that we are very grateful for to advance regional peace and security. We are very appreciative for their contributions to the UN peacekeeping and regional mediation efforts, and we also particularly appreciate what they have done with respect to the negotiations taking place recently begun in Algiers, the negotiations regarding Mali. There are serious challenges in that region. Everybody knows this. We’ve been deeply engaged in trying to help in a number of different places to build stability. And every country that contributes to that is making an important contribution to the future stability and development of Africa itself.
So Mr. President, (in French).
PRESIDENT CAMPAORE: (Via interpreter) Mr. Secretary of State, of course, I would like to thank you, first of all, for this expression of compassion towards the victims of the air crash, and please convey our gratitude to President Obama for this invitation, this invitation sent to Africa to share with the United States, to talk about the issues of today, the development, the stability of the continent and our region. But also, we need to work together to see what we can do to contribute together to international peace.
We are delighted to be here to be able to take part in this major discussion which is organized around the great themes pertaining to the future, the consolidation between the African continent and the United States. Thank you very much.
NSF: RESEARCHERS INVESTIGATE REMARKABLE APPROACH TO DESALINATION
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Rice scientists reprogram protein pairs; attempt to modify bacterial decisions
Desalination has come a long way, baby.
On Aug. 3, some 330 years ago, a certain Captain Gifford of His Majesty's Ship Mermaid, was asked to conduct onboard his 24-gun Royal Naval vessel what may have been the first government-sponsored, scientific desalination experiment.
Diarist and later Secretary to the Admiralty Commission in England Samuel Pepys wrote to Gifford saying, "Whereas a Proposal has been made to Us of an Engine to be fixed in one of Our Ships for the making an Experiment of producing fresh water (at Sea) out of Salt."
We do not know whether Gifford actually conducted the experiment, but we do know desalination--the pulling of salt, minerals and other contaminants from soil and water--has become a worldwide concern. Population increases, the scarcity of fresh water in arid regions and a greater need for environmental cleanup has scientists scrambling to improve the process.
Researchers at Rice University in Houston, Texas, for example, are computationally investigating ways to rewire one of desalination's most useful tools: Bacteria.
Bacteria as an environmental cleaning agent is based on the microorganisms' ability to sense its environment, consume pollutants, break them down and excrete different, less-harmful substances than the original contaminant. But bacteria's response mechanisms can do many other things such as provide scientifically discrete information, diagnose levels of toxins in food and water, detect poisonous chemicals, report dangerous compounds in the human body and more.
That's why Jose Onuchic and Herbert Levine, co-directors of Rice's Center for Theoretical Biological Physics are working to treat bacteria like computers with the intention of reprograming them to perform specific activities.
The researchers have a plan to modify the proteins responsible for how bacteria respond to external stimuli, triggering the bacteria to predictably "decide" what actions to take when confronted with targeted environmental conditions.
Directed bacterial responses, the researchers believe, could revolutionize bacteria-based environmental cleanup, modern desalination and a host of medical and industrial applications.
The project, "Molecular Underpinnings of Bacterial Decision-Making" is one of a number of high-risk, potentially high-reward projects in the National Science Foundation's INSPIRE program. INSPIRE funds potentially transformative research that does not fit into a single scientific field, but crosses disciplinary boundaries.
"This research project by two highly respected scientists and their colleagues is an excellent example of basic research that can have tremendous societal benefits," says Kamal Shukla, program director in NSF's Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences.
The project is co-funded by NSF's Directorates for Biological Sciences and Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
Special molecules...
"The information encoded in the genome not only contains the blueprint for making proteins that fold into unique 3-D structures," says Onuchic explaining the basis of the research, "but also contains rich information about functional protein-protein interactions." Two-component signaling (TCS) systems, found mainly in bacteria, are an example of this idea.
TCS systems are the dominant means by which bacteria sense the environment and carry out appropriate actions. These signaling pathways, determine how bacteria respond to heat, sunlight, toxins, oxygen and other environmental stimuli.
They also regulate characteristics such as how poisonous bacteria are, their ability to produce disease, their nutrient uptake, their ability to yield secondary organic compounds, etc.
"Our research tries to understand and potentially re-engineer two-component signaling systems," says Ryan Cheng, a postdoctoral fellow at Rice working on the project. "A successful understanding of the special molecules that make up these systems would allow us to take them apart like Lego blocks and start building new blocks or circuits to achieve a specific goal."
Earlier this year in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers revealed a scoring metric they devised to interpret how TCS proteins interact with each other and to predict how signaling modifications might affect TCS systems.
The metric, based on sequence data from the coevolution of TCS proteins, could form a framework for fine tuning TCS signals and/or mix-matching TCS proteins leading to novel bacterial responses.
"Many proteins have evolved to produce specific behaviors under the additional constraint that they physically bind to another protein," says Faruck Morcos, a postdoctoral fellow at Rice, whose research focuses on computational biology and bioinformatics.
"Random mutations that may occur to one protein over geological timescales need to occur alongside mutations to the second protein in order to maintain their ability to interact with one another."
However, when the signal between two proteins that have evolved together is modified or a protein is matched with a non-evolutionary signaling partner, directed responses can occur.
"Hence, by applying methods from statistical physics, one can quantify and extract the statistical connections associated with amino acid coevolution between families of interacting proteins," Morcos says, and determine which proteins can successfully signal each other to produce predetermined outcomes.
Practical applications...
With this operating premise, Onuchic and Levine, along with a small cadre of colleagues, plan to use the framework to engineer new, predictable behaviors in a model bacterium called Bacillus subtilis. Moreover, they plan to use B. subtilis as the prototype for changes in other protein-based systems.
"The potential applications for sanitation engineers are both numerous and profound," says Joshua Boltz, senior technologist and the biofilm technologies practice leader at CH2M HILL, a U.S. engineering company with major sewerage programs in London and Abu Dhabi, as well as clean water projects in the United States, Europe and Canada.
"Using membranes as a desalination tool to separate solids from liquids has emerged as a mature technology that is widely used globally," says Boltz zeroing in on an area where the research could benefit his industry. But, "A key concern with using membranes is their fouling, or a reduction in filtration capacity due to orifice clogging as a result of biofilms."
The researchers at Rice believe they can help reduce the buildup of biofilms in desalination equipment. Biofilms are thin layers of cells that stick to each other on a surface and have the ability to obstruct the flow of liquids in water purification systems.
"It has been shown experimentally that wrinkle formation in the biofilms of B. subtilis result from localized cell death," says Cheng. "Since cell death is regulated by two-component and related signaling systems, the potential for controlling the morphology and mechanical properties of biofilms exists."
The researchers surmise that this can perhaps be accomplished by introducing engineered bacteria to existing biofilms that can mechanically weaken existing biofilms through programmed cell death.
"While our research so far has exclusively dealt with quantifying the degree of interaction between a single pair of TCS proteins, a significant challenge will be to extend this work to make in vivo predictions," says Levine.
"Extending our methodology to complicated systems containing many potentially competing protein-protein interactions, e.g. living systems, will be a significant challenge for us in the future. We hope to extend this methodology to predictively understand how making a specific site-directed mutation affects the characteristics of an organism."
-- Bobbie Mixon,
Investigators
Jose Onuchic
Herbert Levine
Related Institutions/Organizations
William Marsh Rice University
REMARKS BY SECRETARY KERRY AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO PRESIDENT KABILA
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks With Democratic Republic of the Congo President Joseph Kabila Before Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
August 4, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: I don’t think we need these big, formal podiums, but let me – it’s my great pleasure to welcome President Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo to Washington. I’m very, very happy he’s here. He received me in May on my trip to the D.R.C. We then talked about the efforts that he is making with respect to strengthening democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
And we’re very grateful to him for the efforts that he has made, the leadership that they’ve offered to help deal with the problems of the FDLR and the problems with the M23 group, which with his military effort and MONUSCO, they were able to help disarm. That process is continuing and it is a process that will help bring peace and stability ultimately to the region.
We also talked about economic development and the future. We have a lot to work on and we look forward to a good conversation today. Thank you, Mr. President, for being with us. Thank you.
PRESIDENT KABILA: Thanks a lot, Secretary of State. Of course, first of all, I am, myself, and my delegation glad and happy that we finally meet again in Washington, as I promised I would come for this particular summit. And I’m glad that on the sidelines of this particular summit that we’re going to raise, once again, the three or four issues in as far as the situation is concerned, not only in the Congo but the region.
But it’s worth noting that since we met, I believe one, two months ago, the situation has continued to evolve and move forward in the right direction, and that now the Congo is living the era of peace and that we are moving towards stability and long-term stability in all sectors – not only security but also economic development and the development of the region as a whole.
So once again, I’m glad that we’re here as per the invitation, and I hope that in our discussions we definitely are going to raise those issues and chart the way forward in our relations. Thanks a lot.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, my friend. Thank you, sir.
TECH SUPPORT OPERATORS TO PAY OVER $5.1 MILLION FOR MASQUERADING AS MAJOR COMPUTER COMPANIES
FROM: U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
A U.S. District Court has ordered the operators of several international tech support scams to pay more than $5.1 million, acting on Federal Trade Commission charges that they masqueraded as major computer companies, tricked consumers into believing their computers were riddled with malware and then charged consumers to “fix” them.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued default judgments against fourteen corporate defendants and fourteen individual defendants that allegedly operated the tech support scams. The operations were mostly based in India and targeted English-speaking consumers in the United States and several other countries.
The default judgments permanently ban the defendants from marketing any computer security-related technical support service. The judgments also ban them from continuing their deceptive tactics and from disclosing, selling or failing to dispose of information they obtained from victims. The judgments in each case are:
The FTC filed the complaints in September 2012 as part of an FTC crackdown on tech support scammers. According to the complaints filed by the agency, the defendants claimed they were affiliated with legitimate companies, including Dell, Microsoft, McAfee, and Norton, and told consumers they had detected malware that posed an imminent threat to their computers. The defendants then charged these consumers hundreds of dollars to remotely access and “fix” the computers.
The FTC charged the defendants with violating the FTC Act, which bars unfair and deceptive commercial practices. In five of the cases, the FTC also charged the defendants with violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule and with illegally calling numbers on the Do Not Call Registry.
On April 24, 2013 and November 12, 2013, two of the individuals in the PCCare247 case agreed to settle FTC charges and give up ill-gotten gains. On April 25, 2013, two of the defendants in the Marczak case agreed to settle FTC charges and give up ill-gotten gains. The default judgments entered by the U.S. District Court apply to the remaining defendants in the tech support cases.
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