Excerpts: Iran re US export licenses for aircraft. Soros pledges $500m to
help businesses started by refugees and migrants. "Successful' N.Korean new
rocket engine September 20, 2016

+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 20 Sept.’16:”Iran expects US export licenses for
aircraft at end of Sept.”,by Reuters
SUBJECT:Iran re US export licenses for aircraft

QUOTE:”Approval had been expected by the end of August, but that has been
pushed back to the end of September”

FULL TEXT:Iran has been told that the United States will issue export
licenses within weeks to facilitate the purchase of Boeing and Airbus jets
and European ATR turboprop planes, a senior Iranian official said on
Sunday[18 Sept].

Approval had been expected by the end of August, but that has been pushed
back to the end of September, Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister
Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan said.

“Today we are expecting that (approval) by the end of September for Boeing,
Airbus and ATR,” he told the CAPA Iran Aviation Finance Summit in Tehran.

The US Treasury can veto sales of modern aircraft to Iran, including non-US
ones, due to the high proportion of US parts.

Failure to issue the required US approval would breach an agreement between
Tehran and world powers to ease sanctions in return for curbs on Iran’s
nuclear activities, Kashan said.

An Iranair official said the airline is meanwhile looking to acquire
second-hand aircraft or hire crewed aircraft to help meet its most urgent
needs.




+++SOURCE:Naharnet (Lebanon)20 Sept.’16:”Soros to Invest 500Million to Help
Refugees and Migrants”,by Associated Press
SUBJECT:Soros pledges 500m to help businesses started by refugees and
migrants
FULL TEXT:Billionaire George Soros is pledging to invest up to $500 million
in startups, established companies, "social impact initiatives," and
businesses started by refugees and migrants.

Soros, who chairs the Open Society Institute, made the announcement
Tuesday[20 Sept], following the first-ever U.N. summit on migrants and
refugees and ahead of a meeting chaired by President Barack Obama to spur
pledges to help the world's 65.3 million displaced people.

"Our goal is to harness the private sector for public good," Soros said.
"These investments are intended to be successful. But our primary focus is
to create products and services that truly benefit migrants and host
communities."

He expressed hope his commitment "will inspire other investors to pursue the
same mission."

U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi said the investments "will help refugees
become self-reliant."


+++SOURCE:Naharnet(Lebanon 20 Sept.’16:”N.Korea Hails ‘Successful’Test of
New Rocket Engine”,by Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:’Successful’N.Korean new rocket engine
FULL TEXT: North Korea has successfully tested a new, high-powered rocket
engine, state media said Tuesday[20 Sept], a move experts say will bolster
its already burgeoning weapons program.

The ground test comes after more than 20 missile launches and two nuclear
explosions this year, and adds to the sense that the isolated state is
quickening the development of its arsenal, despite fierce global opposition.

State-run news agency KCNA said the engine would give the country
"sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites".

Rocket engines are easily re-purposed for use in missiles, and outside
observers say that Pyongyang's space programme is a fig leaf for weapons
tests.

After supervising the test at the country's Sohae satellite-launching site,
leader Kim Jong-Un called on officials, scientists and technicians "to round
off the preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible", KCNA
news agency reported.

Kim also called for more rocket launches to turn the country into a
"possessor of geostationary satellites in a couple of years to come",
according to KCNA.

The front page of the North's Rodong Sinmun showed a picture of a long flame
bursting from an engine propped up by a cement structure; another photo
showed Kim watching the test and a separate picture showed him laughing
excitedly.

Rocket scientist Chae Yeon-Seok at the South's Korea Aerospace Research
Institute said with the new engine, the North is "coming close to having an
inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could hit the US mainland".

Pyongyang regularly parades homegrown missiles and boasts of its plan to
develop long-range missiles capable of targeting the United States.

"North Korea's space programme is focused on developing launch vehicles that
can easily be used for missiles rather than developing decent satellites",
Chae told AFP.

South Korea's military Joint Chiefs of Staff also said the test was to
verify the performance of "a high-power engine that can be used for
long-range missiles."

US-Korea Institute said on its closely-watched website, 38North, said this
test represents a "significant step" in the continued development of larger,
more advanced space launch vehicles.

North Korea has already carried out a series of long-range missile tests
presented as satellite launches, most recently in February.

It has also fired missiles from a submarine.A proven submarine-launched
ballistic missile system would allow deployment far beyond the Korean
peninsula and a "second-strike" capability in the event of an attack on the
North's military bases.

Earlier this month it said an underground nuclear test -- its most powerful
yet -- was of a miniaturised device that could be mounted on a missile.

- ICBM test -Kim "expressed great satisfaction" with the results of the
engine test, according to KCNA.

He said the North had made cutting-edge scientific advances "despite the
difficult economic conditions of the country", the report said.

North Korea has been hit by five sets of United Nations sanctions since it
first tested a nuclear device in 2006, but has insisted it will continue,
come what may.

KCNA gave no date for the test but it is customary for state media to report
Kim's activities with a day's lapse.

Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies said the
North had set a five-year space development programme that ends this year.

"This new test heralds an upcoming landmark ICBM test. The next test,
disguised as a satellite launch, is likely to come when the UN Security
Council adopts new sanctions over its last nuclear test or around the time
when the US presidential election takes place in November", Yang said.

The United States has a range of missile-defence technologies at its
disposal, including the Aegis Combat System, Patriot missiles and
sophisticated radars.

Washington is also working with Seoul to install a missile defense system
known as THAAD in South Korea, though the move has infuriated Beijing, which
says the hardware poses a significant threat to regional security.
===============
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA