US passports have weakened under Trump
October 26, 2017 by admin
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Making America great again hasn’t translated well to passport bragging rights.
Singapore was named the country with the most powerful passport in the world — while the US travel document has taken a tumble since President Trump took power, according to a new ranking.
Developed by citizenship advisory firm Arton Capital, the Passport Index sorts and ranks the world’s passports by their cross-border access.
Thanks to a recent decision by Paraguay to remove visa requirements for passport holders of the Asian city-state, they can now easily visit 159 countries — either without a visa or by obtaining a visa on arrival.
Until this decision, Singapore was tied with Germany at 158.
Germany now holds the spot for the second-most powerful passport, closely followed by Sweden and South Korea at 157.
The United Kingdom got a score of 156, while the United States got 154 — tied with Canada, Ireland and Malaysia.
This marks the first time an Asian country has had the most powerful passport, said Philippe May, head of the Singapore office of Arton Capital, the global advisory firm that developed the index.
“Singapore has constantly increased its passport strength since it became independent in 1965,” May told CNN.
The US passport has fallen in favor since Trump became president, the Passport Index said, noting that Turkey and the Central African Republic were the most recent countries to revoke visa-free status for Americans.
This means US citizens will not be allowed to leave Turkish airports during connecting flights.
And American passports could get weaker still, as the European Parliament voted to end visa-free travel for US citizens in March, the UK’s Express reported.
The vote followed Trump’s refusal to allow visa-free travel to members of five EU countries — Croatia, Cyprus, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.
Last year, the US came close behind the UK, ranking in the fourth spot, with its citizens able to travel visa-free to 156 countries.
Passports of 193 United Nations member countries and six territories were considered in the index. Singaporean passport holders need visas to countries such as Pakistan and Bhutan.
The least mobile passport in the world is Afghanistan, with a score of 22, followed by Pakistan and Iraq at 26.
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US Joins With Saudi Arabia, Qatar on New Yemen Sanctions
October 26, 2017 by admin
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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. would impose sanctions on alleged terrorism financiers in Yemen, targeting eight individuals and an organization for supporting the militant groups Islamic State and al-Qaeda in Yemen.
The move was made “in partnership” with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, the Treasury Department said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. Mnuchin described the sanctions in a speech in Riyadh, calling them the first such “multilateral” effort in the Mideast and the result of a new program President Donald Trump established earlier this year to jointly target terrorist financing.
Qatar’s involvement is notable: the nation is the subject of a diplomatic isolation imposed by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE for its alleged financing of Mideast terrorist groups including Hezbollah. The U.S. has been seeking to resolve the dispute, and a senior administration official told reporters on Wednesday that Qatar has made unspecified progress in the matter.
“This bold and innovative multilateral approach is needed because terrorism poses a threat to all of our nations,” Mnuchin said in his speech.
Mnuchin is visiting the Middle East this week to discuss combating terrorist financing with officials in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. He will visit Israel, where he’ll meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the discussions will include the U.S.’s new harder line on Iran.
Trump this month refused to certify that Iran is in compliance with the multinational accord to curb its nuclear program, though he stopped short of repudiating the pact.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar set aside their differences to collaborate on the Yemen sanctions, said a senior administration official who requested anonymity to discuss the talks. The two Gulf Cooperation Council nations are at the center of a months-long dispute ever since the Saudi-led bloc cut off transport and economic links with Qatar.
“Our enemies have felt the effects of being blocked from the world financial system,” Mnuchin said. “They are finding it harder to raise, move, and distribute money. This will continue as a result of our efforts to evolve our counter-terror tools.”
The U.S. wanted to include additional targets in the sanctions, but faced push-back from other countries in the region, the official said.
— With assistance by Toluse Olorunnipa