Historically, the top 10 most powerful passports in the world were mostly European, with Germany having the lead for the past two years. Since early 2017, the number one position was shared with Singapore, which was steadily going up, it said.
India ranked 75th in the global passport ranking, three notches better than the previous time
Singapore: Singapore has the world's "most powerful" passport, according to a global ranking topped for the first time by an Asian country with India figuring at 75th position, three notches better than its previous ranking.
According to the 'Global Passport Power Rank 2017' by global financial advisory firm Arton Capital, Germany is ranked second, followed by Sweden and South Korea in third place.
Paraguay removed visa requirements for Singaporeans, propelling Singapore's passport to the top of Passport Index' most powerful ranking with a visa-free score of 159, the company statement said.
Historically, the top 10 most powerful passports in the world were mostly European, with Germany having the lead for the past two years. Since early 2017, the number one position was shared with Singapore, which was steadily going up, it said.
"For the first time ever an Asian country has the most powerful passport in the world. It is a testament of Singapore's inclusive diplomatic relations and effective foreign policy," said Philippe May, managing director of Arton Capital's Singapore office.
India, which was listed 78th last year, has improved its ranking, figuring at 75th position with a visa-free score of 51.
Coming in at last place on the list is Afghanistan, ranked 94 with a score of 22, followed by Pakistan and Iraq at 93 with a score of 26, Syria at 92, having a score of 29 and Somalia at 91 with a score 34.
"Visa-free global mobility has become an important factor in today's world," said founder and president of Arton Capital Armand Arton at the recently held Global Citizen Forum in Montenegro.
"More and more people every year invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a second passport to offer better opportunity and security for their families," Mr Arton added.
While Singapore quietly climbed the ranks, the US passport has fallen down since President Donald Trump took office. Most recently Turkey and the Central African Republic revoked their visa-free status to US passport holders, the statement said.
Passport Index has become the most popular interactive online tool to display, sort and rank the world's passports.
The index ranks national passports by the cross-border access they bring, assigning a "visa-free score" according to the number of countries a passport holder can visit visa-free or with visa on arrival.
Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary in the Trump administration, shares business interests with Vladimir Putin’s immediate family, and he failed to clearly disclose those interests when he was being confirmed for his cabinet position.
Ross — a billionaire industrialist — retains an interest in a shipping company, Navigator Holdings, that was partially owned by his former investment company. One of Navigator’s most important business relationships is with a Russian energy firm controlled, in turn, by Putin’s son-in-law and other members of the Russian president’s inner circle.
Wilbur Ross Latest Trump Official to Fall Under Scrutiny for Russia-Relations1:59
Some of the details of Ross’s continuing financial holdings — much of which were not disclosed during his confirmation process — are revealed in a trove of more than 7 million internal documents of Appleby, a Bermuda-based law firm, that was leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The documents consist of emails, presentations and other electronic data. These were then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists — a global network that won the Pulitzer Prize this year for its work on the Panama Papers — and its international media partners. NBC News was given access to some of the leaked documents, which the ICIJ calls the “Paradise Papers.”
Wilbur Ross, picked by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as his commerce secretary, arrives to testify at his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill on January 18, 2017 in Washington. Joe Raedle / Getty Images file
Overall, the document leak provides a rare insight into the workings of the global offshore financial world, which is used by many of the world’s most powerful companies and government officials to legally avoid paying taxes and to conduct business away from public scrutiny. More than 120 politicians and royal rulers around the world are identified in the leak as having ties to offshore finance.
The New York Times reported Sunday that the documents also contain references to offshore interests held by Gary Cohn, Trump's chief economic adviser, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. There is no evidence of illegality in their dealings.
Ross' widespread financial interests
In Ross’s case, the documents give a far fuller picture of his finances than the filings he submitted to the government on Jan. 15 as part of his confirmation process. On that date, Ross, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for commerce secretary, submitted a letter to the designated ethics official at the department, explaining steps he was taking to avoid all conflicts of interest.
That explanation was vital to his confirmation, because Ross held financial interests in hundreds of companies across dozens of sectors, many of which could be affected by his decisions as commerce secretary. Any one of them could represent a potential conflict of interest, which is why the disclosures, by law, are supposed to be thorough.
“The information that he provided on that form is just a start. It is incomplete,” said Kathleen Clark, an expert on government ethics at Washington University in St. Louis. “I have no reason to believe that he violated the law of disclosure, but in order … for the Commerce Department to understand, you’d have to have more information than what is listed on that form.”
Ross, through a Commerce Department spokesperson, issued a statement saying that he recuses himself as secretary from any matters regarding transoceanic shipping, and said he works closely with ethics officials in the department “to ensure the highest ethical standards.”
The statement said Ross “has been generally supportive of the Administration’s sanctions of Russian” business entities. But the statement did not address the question of whether he informed Congress or the Commerce Department that he was retaining an interest in companies that have close Russian ties.
In his submission letter to the government, Ross pledged to cut ties with more than 80 financial entities in which he has interests.
Wilbur Ross testifies before a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee confirmation hearing on his nomination to be commerce secretary at Capitol Hill on January 18, 2017 in Washington. Carlos Barria / Reuters file
Ross’s apparent ethical probity won praise, even before he signed the divestment agreement, from both sides of the political aisle.
'Our Committee Was Misled'
The documents seen by NBC News, however, along with a careful examination of filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, tell a different story than the one Ross told at his confirmation. Ross divested most of his holdings, but did not reveal to the government the full details of the holdings he kept.
In his letter to the ethics official of the Commerce Department, Ross created two lists: those entities and interests he planned to get rid of and those he intended to keep. The second list consisted of nine entities, four of which were Cayman Islands companies represented and managed by the Appleby law firm, which specializes in creating complex offshore holdings for wealthy clients and businesses. The Wilbur Ross Group is one of the firm’s biggest clients, according to the leaked documents, connected to more than 60 offshore holdings.
The four holdings on the list of assets that Ross held onto were valued by him on the form as between $2.05 million and $10.1 million. These four, in turn, are linked through ownership chains to two other entities, WLR Recovery Fund IV DSS AIV L.P. and WLR Recovery Fund V DSS AIV L.P., which were listed in Ross’ financial disclosure prior to confirmation, but were not among the assets he declared he would retain. According to an SEC filing, those entities hold 17.5 million shares in Navigator, which constitutes control of nearly one-third of the shipping firm.
“You look at all of these names,” Clark said, referring to the financial entities, “and they actually look like a code. And what we actually have to do is find — in a sense — a code that decrypts what these names mean and what these companies actually do.”
She said the way the companies were listed was deliberately vague. “I would say this gives the appearance of transparency,” she said, referring to Ross’s disclosure documents. “It’s sort of fake transparency in a sense.”
EXCLUSIVE: Commerce Sec. Ross Has Financial Ties to Putin-Connected Business2:07
The Office of Government Ethics, which is responsible for executive branch oversight, approved Ross’s arrangement, and it was left almost entirely unchallenged by the Senate.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said members of Congress who were part of Ross’ confirmation hearings were under the impression that Ross had divested all of his interests in Navigator. Furthermore, he said, they were unaware of Navigator’s close ties to Russia.
“I am astonished and appalled because I feel misled,” said Blumenthal. “Our committee was misled, the American people were misled by the concealment of those companies.” Blumenthal said he will call for the inspector general of the Commerce Department to launch an investigation.
And a cursory look at Navigator’s annual reports reveal an apparent conflict of interest. Navigator’s second-largest client is SIBUR, the Russian petrochemical giant. According to Navigator’s 2017 SEC filing, SIBUR was listed among its top five clients, based on total revenue for the previous two years. In 2016, Navigator’s annual reports show SIBUR brought in $23.2 million in revenue and another $28.7 million the following year.
The business relationship has been so profitable that in January, around the time Ross was being vetted for his Cabinet position, Navigator held a naming ceremony for two state-of-the-art tankers on long-term leases to SIBUR.
The Kremlin's inner circle
One of the owners of SIBUR is Gennady Timchenko, a Russian billionaire on the Treasury Department’s sanctions list. He has been barred from entering the U.S. since 2014 because authorities consider him a Specially Designated National, or SDN, who is considered by Treasury to be a member “of the Russian leadership’s inner circle.”
The Treasury Department statement said that Timchenko’s activities in the energy sector “have been directly linked to Putin” and that Putin had investments with a company previously owned by Timchenko, as well as access to the company’s funds.
Daniel Fried, who was the State Department sanctions coordinator under President Barack Obama, said the connection to Timchenko’s interests should have raised alarm bells.
“I would think that any reputable American businessman, much less a Cabinet-level official, would want to have absolutely no relationship — direct, indirect — … with anybody of the character and reputation of Gennady Timchenko,” Fried said. “I just don’t get it.”
Another major SIBUR shareholder is Leonid Mikhelson, who, like Timchenko, has close ties to the Kremlin. One of his companies, Novatek, Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer,was placed on the Treasury’s sanctions list in 2014.
Included in the Appleby documents are details of an internal discussion that resulted in the law firm dropping Mikhelson as a client in 2014, over concerns regarding his financial affiliations.
“I would say to anybody who asked,” said Fried, “treat SDNs as radioactive. Stay away from them.”
Wilbur Ross, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Commerce Secretary, wears a 'Make America Great Again Hat' as he speaks briefly to reporters at Trump Tower on November 29, 2016 in New York City. Drew Angerer / Getty Images file
A third shareholder of SIBUR – and deputy chairman of the board – is Kirill Shamalov, husband of Vladimir Putin’s daughter, Katerina Tikhonova. After the wedding, Shamalov’s meteoric rise to wealth led him to own as much as 21.3 percent of SIBUR’s stock until April, when he sold off around 17 percent for a reported $2 billion.
“It’s a new generation which is currently being prepared and groomed... to inherit whatever power and wealth Putin's team has accumulated over the past years,” said Vladimir Milov, a former deputy energy minister in Putin’s government who is now working with the opposition.
Milov also said companies like SIBUR are often the way sanctioned Kremlin insiders have to keep doing business despite restrictions.
The Commerce Department statement said Ross never met Timchenko, Mikhelson, or Shamalov. It said he was not on the board of Navigator in March 2011 when the ships in question were acquired, or the following February when the charter agreement with Sibur was signed. It said Sibur was not under U.S. sanctions now or in 2012. The statement said Ross was on the board of Navigator from March 30, 2012 to 2014, and that no funds managed by his company ever owned a majority of Navigator’s shares.
But as The Guardian reported Sunday, other public documents suggest a different story. A Navigator news release on March 2, 2012, said that Ross was already on the board at that point, and Sibur's annual report for 2012 said the deal with Navigator was signed in March. In addition, Ross' company issued a news release on Aug. 10, 2012, saying that the company had agreed to acquire a majority stake in Navigator.
Fried said he has no doubt of the connections between SIBUR and the Kremlin.
“If any senior official of the U.S. government, much less a Cabinet secretary … had any business dealings with sanctioned individuals, direct or indirect,” he said, “I would be appalled.”
Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer during the George W. Bush administration, said there needs to a close examination of whether Ross’ testimony to the Senate violated perjury laws. Painter also said Ross must recuse himself from all Russia-related matters because of the SIBUR connection.
“Secretary Ross cannot participate in any discussion or decision-making or recommendation about sanctions imposed on Russia or on Russian nationals when he owns a company that is doing business with Russian nationals who are either under sanctions or who could come under sanctions in any future sanctions regime,” Painter said. “That would be a criminal offense for him to participate in any such matter.”
TEXAS GOVERNOR HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE AFTER CHURCH SHOOTING
The shooter entered the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a small community south east of San Antonio before firing at defenceless worshippers, including a six-year-old and a two-year old child.
Hero local resident risked his life to tackle gunman
Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Freeman Martin said that Kelley was spotted at 11.20am at a Valero petrol station, ‘dressed in all black, tactical gear, wearing a ballistics belt.’
Martin added: “He crossed the street to the church, exited his vehicle and began firing on the church. He moved to the right side of the church and continued to fire, and entered the church and continued to fire.”
But as he left the church, a hero local man intervened, risking his life to tackle the shooter.
“A local resident grabbed his rifle and engaged the suspect,” Martin told MailOnline. “The suspect dropped his rifle, an assault-type rifle, and fled from the church. A local citizen pursued the subject at that time.”
Martin said that law enforcement tracked down the suspect, who went off the road and crashed near state lines.
Pentagon confirms suspect was in the Air Force
The Pentagon has confirmed that suspected gunman Devin Patrick Kelley was once a member of the US Air Force.
It has been reported that the 26-year-old was court martialled from the US Air Force three years ago, although the Pentagon gave no further details about Kelley’s service.
Chilling Facebook post showing assault rifle just a week before massacre
A since-deleted Facebook profile believed to belong to Devin Patrick Kelley showed an assault rifle with a post from a week ago reading: “She’s a bad b****.”
It also included a Mark Twain quote reading: “I do not fear death.”
The profile picture showed a man with two young children and stated that the man was married, while a LinkedIn profile indicated he and had once taught bible studies to children as young as four.
Kelley lived in New Braunfels, a suburb of San Antonio, and was reportedly court martialled from the US Air Force three years ago.
Earlier, it was reported that the suspect was a white male in his mid-20s with a possible US military background.
strong”
Donald Trump has addressed the media from Japan, where he is on a 12-day tour of Asia.
The President said “you cannot put into words the pain and grief we all feel” for the victims.
Trump was speaking in Tokyo where his visit was overshadowed by the shooting in southeastTexas.
(Image: REUTERS)
“Americans do what we do best, we pull together,” Trump said at the start of a meeting with business leaders. “We stand strong, so strong.”
He added federal authorities would help Texas in the aftermath of the shooting and that all of America was praying to God.
Pregnant woman among those killed
Representative Henry Cueller of Texas reported the death toll, and added that a pregnant woman and children were killed.
Shooter chased by brave resident before being found dead in his car
Kelley was chased off from the scene by a brave local resident who engaged him with a rifle, forcing him to drop his weapon and flee the scene.
He was later found dead in a vehicle, which had multiple weapons inside, in neighbouring Guadalupe County.
It is not clear whether the fatal wound was self inflicted or as a result of the clash with the member of the public.
Shooter entered church wearing tactical gear and bullet proof vest before opening fire
The shooter entered the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a small community south east of San Antonio and fired at defenceless worshippers.
He was wearing all black tactical gear and a bullet proof vest as he shot people of all ages.
(Image: REUTERS)
Death toll confirmed at 26 - youngest victim aged just five
Authorities have confirmed 26 people died in the shooting.
Of the victims, 23 were found inside the church while two were discovered outside the building.
The youngest victim is five years old and the oldest is 72 years of age.
there" - witness
Jeff Forrest, a 36-year-old military veteran who lives a block away from the church, said what sounded like high-caliber, semi-automatic gunfire triggered memories of his four combat deployments with the Marine Corps.
“I was on the porch, I heard 10 rounds go off and then my ears just started ringing,” Forrest said. “I hit the deck and I just lay there.”
Suspect is local Texan, authorities confirm
The suspect, Devin Kelley, is from New Braunfels, near San Antonio in Texas, law enforcement officials have said.
New Braunfels is 35 miles from the scene of the shooting in Sutherland Springs.
(Image: REUTERS)
President Trump 'monitoring' the situation from Japan
President Donald Trump said he was monitoring the situation while in Japan on a 12-day Asian trip.
He wrote on Twitter: “May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI & law enforcement are on the scene.”
KEY EVENT
Shooting suspect named
The suspect in the Texas church massacre has reportedly been named as Devin Patrick Kelley, aged 26.
Earlier, it was reported that the suspect was a white male in his mid-20s with a possible US military background.
The suspect’s identity was reported by the New York Times and CBS News.
