U.S. signed North Korea document to pay for Otto Warmbier's care but didn't fork over $2 million: top official

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The United States signed a document agreeing to pay North Korea for the care of American Otto Warmbier but never paid the $2 million Pyongyang demanded, White House national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday. Bolton, who said he was not part of the administration at the time, confirmed newspaper reports that North Korea demanded the money before Warmbier was flown out of Pyongyang in a coma on June 13, 2017. Asked whether U.S. envoy Joseph Yun signed the document when he went to retrieve Warmbier, Bolton told “Fox News Sunday” in an interview: “That is what I am told, yes.” He said no payment was made. “It is very clear to me from my looking into it in the past few days that nobody was paid. That is clear,” Bolton said. Warmbier, a University of Virginia student visiting North Korea, was imprisoned in January 2016. North Korea state media said he was sentenced to 15 years hard labor for trying to steal an item bearing a propaganda slogan from his hotel. Bolton said Trump was ready to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a third summit to reach a deal for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons. The second summit in Vietnam collapsed without an agreement after Trump and Kim failed to agree on the extent of economic sanctions relief for North Korea in exchange for giving up its nuclear program. During the meeting, Trump demanded full denuclearization, including the transfer of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and bomb fuel to the United States. “He still looks for the possibility of a third summit with Kim. He feels pretty strongly about it,” Bolton said, rejecting a return to six-party talks to persuade Pyongyang to shut its nuclear program. The six-party format, which included Russia, China, Japan and South Korea, as well as the United States and North Korea, has been sidelined by unilateral U.S. efforts to broker a deal. “The six-party approach failed in the past. That doesn’t mean we don’t consult” with other countries, Bolton added. “Kim Jong Un has wanted the one on one contact with the United States, which is what he has gotten.” Kim met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for their first face-to-face talks on Thursday. “I think both Russia and China could tighten up their enforcement of the sanctions,” said Bolton, “I think they have been pretty good about it in recent months, but I think they could always tighten up.”

north korea
otto warmbier
john bolton
kim jong un
nuclear weapons
u.s .
donald trump


U.S. sends two warships through Taiwan Strait just days after China marks 70th anniversary of navy

Abstract: The U.S. Navy sailed warships through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday and Monday, a move that angered China just days after it marked the 70th anniversary of its navy. The guided-missile destroyers USS Stethem and USS William P. Lawrence “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit on April 28-29,” U.S. 7th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Clay Doss told The Japan Times, adding that the sailing has been done “in accordance with international law.” “The ships’ transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Doss said. “The U.S. Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows.” In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China had paid close attention to the sailing and had expressed concern to the United States. “The Taiwan issue is the most important and sensitive issue in Sino-U.S. relations,” the state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted him as saying. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry confirmed the sailing, saying in a statement Monday that the U.S. ships were free to sail through the strait as part of their “strategic Indo-Pacific tasks.” The U.S. has ramped up its transits of the strait over the past year, sailing through the 180-km waterway that separates Taiwan from China at least seven times in about eight months. Prior to that, such operations were considered relatively rare, occurring at a pace of about once a year. Although the strait is regarded as an international waterway, China has long been sensitive about the presence of U.S. military forces there. This week’s transit also comes just days after China celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army Navy with a massive parade and international fleet review overseen by President Xi Jinping on Tuesday. Last week’s celebrations wrapped up under a cloud after it was revealed last week that a French Navy warship also passed through the Taiwan Strait on April 6. That rare move by a European country, which the Chinese Defense Ministry reportedly blasted as “illegal,” was believed to have cost France its invitation to the fleet review. The U.S. did not send warships or senior military officers to the celebrations, an apparent snub by Washington even as U.S. allies Japan and South Korea sent their own vessels and officials. This year also saw an extremely rare flight by two Chinese fighter jets across the so-called median line of the strait, prompting Taiwan to protest the move as “reckless” and “provocative.” The Taiwan Strait separates mainland China from self-governed and democratic Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province that must be brought back into the fold — by force if necessary. The U.S. has no formal ties with Taiwan but is bound by law to help it defend itself and is the island’s main source of arms. The Pentagon says Washington has sold Taipei more than $15 billion in weaponry since 2010. China has grown suspicious of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, along with any push for the island’s formal independence. Xi said in January that Beijing reserves the right to use force to bring Taiwan under its control, but would strive to achieve peaceful “reunification.” Beijing has called Taiwan “the most important and sensitive issue in China-U.S. relations” and has bolstered its military presence near the island, sailing its sole operating aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait in January and March of last year and holding large-scale “encirclement” exercises and bomber training throughout last year and into this year. In an editorial published late Sunday, ahead of the U.S. warships’ passage through the strait, the state-run Global Times even urged a build-up of China’s nuclear arsenal as a means of deterring the United States from conducting operations near Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea. Washington and Beijing have frequently jousted over the militarization of the South China Sea, where China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines all have competing claims. “Chinese people should be clear that US’ arrogant strategy toward China mainly lies in the difference of magnitude between US’ and China’s strategic nuclear force,” the nationalist tabloid wrote in the editorial. “If China’s nuclear warheads were in the thousands, the US will never conduct such frivolous ‘free navigation’ in the South China Sea and its moves in the Taiwan Straits would be more restrained. “We believe China should boost its scale and quality of its strategic nuclear force,” it went on. “The more urgent security situation of China allows of no delay of such a mission and other considerations should give way.” Experts say that while the tabloid is not an authoritative mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, it is often seen as a testing ground for possible future debates.


Bangladesh jails three Rohingya extremists busted with bomb-making materials for 10 years

Abstract: DHAKA - A Bangladesh court Sunday sentenced three Rohingya extremists of a now defunct militant group to 10 years in jail for possessing bomb-making materials, a prosecutor said. The trio were arrested in 2014 in Dhaka with materials to be used for making improvised explosive devices (IEDs), said Salahuddin Howlader, a prosecutor at the Metropolitan Special Tribunal in the capital. They were found guilty and sentenced immediately under the country’s explosives laws, the prosecutor said, adding one of them was sentenced in absentia as he was on the run. “They were involved with several international militant outfits including the RSO,” he told AFP, referring to the Rohingya Solidarity Organization, a small militant group that was active in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state in the 1980s and 1990s. Local media, citing the police charge-sheet on the case, said the three men were suspects in the 2014 Burdwan blast in the neighboring Indian state of West Bengal that killed at least two people and wounded several while they were allegedly making IEDs. “The charge-sheet read the accused admitted planning sabotage in Bangladesh with the assistance of international Islamist extremist outfits,” the online edition of the mass circulation Bengali daily Prothom Alo said. In recent years, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army has emerged as the main Rohingya militant group operating in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state that borders Bangladesh’s southeast. In August 2017, ARSA attacked several police posts in Rakhine prompting a massive military crackdown that forced some 740,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh, where they are housed in squalid refugee camps. The refugees joined some 300,000 Rohingya who have been living in the camps for years and even decades. Bangladeshi security officials say no extremist groups such as ARSA or RSO operate in the camps, but this week the International Crisis Group said militants were increasing their grip on the settlements and were responsible for the murder of at least one Rohingya camp leader. The conflict research group has urged Bangladesh to step up its police presence in the camps, saying gangs and extremist groups were now operating openly in the settlements. Threats from extremists had left Rohingya leaders fearful for their lives and frequent murders were rarely investigated, the group said. Bangladesh police said the creation of seven new police posts, the deployment of armed officers and better intelligence had improved security.

bangladesh rohingya courts myanmar refugees conflict terrorism prison ethnicity


Singapore activist fined for Facebook post critical of courts

Abstract: SINGAPORE - A Singaporean activist on Monday was fined for questioning the independence of the judiciary on Facebook, the latest case to highlight what critics say is the country’s heavy-handed approach toward dissent. While it is wealthy and modern in many ways, tightly controlled Singapore is regularly criticized by rights groups for restricting freedom of expression with tough laws. In the latest case, activist Jolovan Wham was found guilty in October of contempt of court for posting on Facebook that Singapore’s judiciary lacked integrity and independence in cases involving the government or politicians. On Monday, High Court Judge Woo Bih Li sentenced him to a fine of 5,000 Singaporean dollars ($3,674) or a one-week jail term if he fails to pay. He was also ordered to pay more than SG$7,000 in legal and other costs. State prosecutors had asked for a fine up to three times higher, with a maximum three weeks in jail if he failed to pay. Wham, who is also an advocate for migrant workers’ rights, said he will appeal the conviction and sentence. “It’s not over yet,” the 39-year-old said. The judge said Wham “did not show any remorse” even after conviction, but did not agree to a request from prosecutors for the court to order him to apologize and remove the post. It was Wham’s latest run-in with the authorities. In February, he was fined SG$3,200 for organizing an illegal public discussion that featured prominent Hong Kong democracy campaigner Joshua Wong speaking via Skype. He is also appealing that ruling. His cases are among several that have alarmed rights groups. In December, the editor of a Singaporean website was charged with defamation for publishing a letter alleging corruption among the country’s leaders. The same month, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sued a blogger for defamation after he shared an article on Facebook linking the leader to a corruption scandal in neighboring Malaysia. Lee said the article was false and without basis.


Abe and Canada's Justin Trudeau look to rule of law in resolving dispute over Huawei

Abstract: OTTAWA - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau to seek the rule of law in resolving international issues, including China’s arrest of two Canadian citizens. Beijing has detained the pair since December on allegations of harming national security. Their detention followed Canada’s arrest of Meng Wanzhou — chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co. — at the request of the United States, which has accused her of helping the company evade U.S. sanctions on Iran. During a meeting Sunday in the Canadian capital, Trudeau voiced his concern to Abe. The two agreed to request that China play a constructive role in the international community, Japanese officials said. Japan is hosting the Group of 20 summit in Osaka in June, where Trudeau is likely to join other leaders — including Chinese President Xi Jinping — to discuss issues ranging from free trade for economic growth to empowering women and tackling marine plastic debris. Huawei, a leader in next-generation 5G mobile communications networks, this year filed a lawsuit with a federal district court in Texas against the U.S. government. The arrest of Meng, daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, came as Washington was pressing allies, including Japan, to exclude the company from government contracts due to fears its products may facilitate spying and disrupt communications networks. The two leaders also touted the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that U.S. President Donald Trump walked away from and said the pact should serve as a model for future agreements. The landmark 11-country deal, now formally known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), is a revamped version of the TPP. The deal, which took force last December, does not include the United States, which pulled out of talks on the initial TPP in 2017. Trudeau said exports of some beef products from Canada to Japan have increased nearly threefold under the CPTPP. “(This deal) has benefited tremendously Canadian citizens, Japanese citizens and businesses and indeed people throughout the region,” he told a news conference after meeting with Abe. “(That) stands in stark contrast with the United States withdrawal … continuing to move forward on freer more open trade, according to the rules we can all agree on, is something we need more in the world,” he said. Trump, whose administration is working on a bilateral trade deal with Japan, said Friday after meeting Abe that an agreement could be reached next month. Both men, however, made clear they differed in some areas, with Trump citing Japanese tariffs on American agricultural products and Abe bringing up U.S. tariffs on Japanese autos. Abe said the CPTPP “should be a model going forward,” describing it as a meaningful way “to disseminate a 21st century type of free and fair rules-based (trade).” Abe told the news conference that Canada and Japan will work to expand the number of nations covered by the CPTPP. On global trade, Abe said that “it is essential to reform (the World Trade Organization) to ensure it works to settle disputes.” On Friday, Japan denounced a recent WTO ruling that supported a South Korean ban on imports of some Japanese fishery products in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Tokyo said the ruling was not based on scientific evidence. Other WTO members, Abe said, have also raised questions about the ruling. Abe and Trudeau agreed to maintain U.N. sanctions against North Korea to achieve Pyongyang’s denuclearization, the Japanese officials said. Trudeau expressed support for Abe’s efforts to address the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.

justin trudeau
shinzo abe
osaka
trade
g20
canada-japan relations
huawai


Thai students learn art of wooden architecture in Japanese village

Abstract: TONDABAYASHI, OSAKA PREF. - A community in Nara Prefecture has taken five Thai college students under its wing, training them in wooden architecture as the Southeast Asian country hopes to put such structures back on the map. The village of Mitsue aims to revive its aging forestry industry through a plan to export model homes using local timber to Thailand, where wooden architecture is disappearing. About 90 percent of Mitsue is forested land and it once had a thriving timber industry. But due to a prolonged slump in timber prices and depopulation, the village was forced into seeking alternative ways to make use of its abundant natural resources. The idea was hatched when the village reached out to professor Shin Murakami of Sugiyama Jogakuen University in Aichi Prefecture to help come up with a town renewal project. Murakami had been conducting joint research with Bangkok’s Sripatum University on environmentally friendly wooden architecture. The decline of timber as a building material in Thailand is mostly due to a lack of good quality teak wood and an overabundance of coarse timber, which is easily infested by termites that thrive in the country’s tropical climate. Most buildings in Thailand are now made of reinforced concrete, and the culture of wooden architecture has not been properly handed down through generations due to a lack of technology to support the industry, according to the project website. Based on Murakami’s suggestion to export model homes using Matsue timber, the three parties signed an agreement to collaborate on the project focusing on popularizing wooden architecture in Thailand. The five Thai students study architecture at Sripatum University. Their three months of training that started in March includes learning about the designs of stilt houses for Thailand, as well as gaining an understanding about construction processes through observation. Oros Loasantisuk, 26, one of the five students in the program and an aspiring architect, touted the advantages of the village’s hands-on practical approach. “The designs of wooden architecture may differ from country to country, but wood is environmentally friendly,” Oros said. “We hope they learn about the brilliance of wooden architecture, Japan’s high technology and the high quality of housing here,” said Takefumi Nakako, who works in Matsue’s community development department. “We’d be happy if (the experience) leads to the spread of wooden architecture in Thailand.”

students architecture osaka thailand environment


In pictures: The Imperial Couple

Abstract: Emperor Akihito, who will abdicate Tuesday, has reigned for three decades from 1989 through the Heisei Era as a “symbol of the state and of the unity of the people” with Empress Michiko at his side. The Imperial Couple have made it their mission to stand beside the Japanese people, visiting disaster shelters and evacuation centers to comfort victims. They have also worked to heal past wounds — a top priority of the couple — visiting World War II battlegrounds at home and abroad to mourn those who died in the conflict Japan fought in the name of the Emperor’s father. The Emperor was born on Dec. 23, 1933, the eldest son of Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako, who are known posthumously as Emperor Showa and Empress Kojun, respectively. In April 1959, the Emperor married Michiko Shoda, the first commoner ever to wed an heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. The Emperor nurtured the image of a new Imperial family to which the public, still recovering from the war, could better relate. At 85 years old, he will now pass the torch to his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, who is expected to carry on his father’s mission after he ascends the throne on Wednesday, kicking off the Reiwa Era. Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visit an evacuation shelter for victims of the March 2011 earthquake-triggered tsunami in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, in May 2011. | KYODO Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko offer prayers to victims of the 1944 Battle of Saipan at ‘Banzai Cliff’ at the northern end of Saipan on June 28, 2005. The cliff was named after the cry ‘Tenno Heika, banzai’ (‘Long live the Emperor’) that the Japanese shouted before throwing themselves over the edge. | POOL / VIA KYODO U.S. President Barack Obama and Emperor Akihito toast during a banquet at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on April 24, 2014. | POOL / VIA KYODO Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko are surrounded by their children and grandchildren in a family photo at the Imperial Palace on Dec. 3. | IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD AGENCY / VIA KYODO Emperor Akihito pledges to observe the Constitution during the ceremonies marking his accession to the Chrysanthemum Throne on Nov. 12, 1990. | REUTERS Chinese President Yang Shangkun leads Emperor Akihito as they review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony outside Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Oct. 23, 1992. The Japanese government saw the Emperor’s visit to China as an opportunity to heal wounds left by Japan’s wartime aggression. | AP Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko parade through Tokyo on April 10, 1959, after they were married. | KYODO Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa, reads a newspaper next to Empress Kojun and Crown Prince Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo in this photo taken in the 1950s. | AFP-JIJI Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko dance during a charity event at a Tokyo hotel on April 12, 2013. It was the first time in 20 years that the couple had danced in public. | POOL / VIA KYODO

emperor akihito
abdication
heisei
empress michiko
imperial family
royalty
imperial change
emperor naruhito


Imperial swindle: Scammers reportedly handing out Japanese flags and then asking for money

Abstract: Reports of scammers across Japan taking advantage of the celebratory mood ahead of this week’s Imperial succession have caused a stir on social media. The nation is now in the middle of an unprecedented 10-day Golden Week holiday period, made longer this year after the government designated Wednesday a national holiday to put Japan in a festive mood for the Imperial changeover. After Emperor Akihito abdicates Tuesday, his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne the following day. But the occasion has apparently become a golden opportunity for con artists trying to make a profit by selling tiny Japanese flags on the streets of major cities, according to reports from social media users who either fell victim to the scam or managed to escape it. It is customary for Hinomaru flags to be displayed during national holidays, and well-wishers wave them when greeting the Emperor at the Imperial Palace. On Thursday, a Twitter user with the handle @makibikeisi warned of an encounter with a foreign man who was trying to hand over a Japanese flag and then showed a card with a message asking for ¥500 in payment. The user, who said the incident occurred in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, refused to pay and managed to get away. “Everyone watch out,” @makibikeisi wrote in a post last Thursday. 【注意】 秋葉から御茶ノ水の間で いきなり日本の国旗を 白人の方に手渡されました 「何ですか？」 と聞いたら小さい紙を見せられ 500円を払って欲しい旨と オリンピック のマークを見せられました 「ノーセンキュー」 と言って返したら捕まれそうになりましたが すり抜けました 皆さん気をつけてね pic.twitter.com/w6y4S4UhpD — まきびけいし🌸スイッピと仲間たち (@makibikeisi) April 25, 2019 In response to the message, which was shared almost 33,000 times, others reported similar experiences. They said the scammers claimed to be hearing-impaired. Some users said they had seen scammers, including women, working in pairs and that they had spotted them in numerous locations around Tokyo and Osaka. In most cases, the individuals tried to trade the flags for money while showing cards with similar messages saying they came to “learn about your culture.” For example, one of them said: “If you pay me ¥500 for the flag I will be able to learn about Japan’s richness.” Some people said they fell victim to the scam. Twitter user @JzglGv wrote: “I bought a flag from that person … It’s the guy who shows you a small card, right?”

abdication hinomaru tokyo osaka fraud police


Japan trade ministry official arrested over alleged attempt to smuggle stimulant

Abstract: A 28-year-old trade official has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to smuggle a stimulant from the United States, police said Monday. According to the police, Tetsuya Nishida, deputy director of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s automobile division, received a dummy package he allegedly believed contained the substance on Saturday at his home in Tokyo. The original package had been intercepted and replaced by investigators, the police said. The career-track bureaucrat denied the allegation, saying he was not aware of the contents of the parcel, according to the police. They claim that the original package arrived in Japan on April 15 and that it contained 22 grams of a stimulant, worth about ¥1.3 million, in a plastic bag stuffed between the pages of a magazine. The package was addressed to another location, but Nishida instructed the postal service to deliver it to his home instead, the police said. “It’s truly regrettable. We will cooperate fully in the investigation,” METI said in a statement after Nishida’s arrest was announced.


Incoming Imperial monarchs offer Japan something new

Abstract: Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife, Crown Princess Masako, represent a lot of firsts for the nation’s next Imperial monarchs: university-educated, multilingual and with years of experience living overseas, during which the monarch-to-be even did his own laundry. As they prepare to carve out identities as emperor and empress, hopes are high they will make the role both more international and more in touch with the lives of ordinary Japanese. “I think there’s opportunities for this newest generation of Imperial family members to embrace causes that push the envelope a little,” said Shihoko Goto, an analyst at the Wilson Center, citing the 55-year-old Crown Princess’ experience as a diplomat. “They have a unique background and they have the interest, I believe, and they should have the skill sets to be more engaged,” she added, noting how far the family has come from World War II, when Emperor Hirohito (posthumously called Emperor Showa), was considered a god. Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko reached out to ordinary people, especially to comfort them after disasters. The impending abdication of the Emperor, the first in nearly 200 years, sparked discussion about whether that was the correct way to approach the role. “There were clearly two views. One, that, like Akihito, the emperor must be active and interact with people, and the other, that all he needs to do is pray,” said a former official of the Imperial Household Agency. “But considering the future, I don’t think we have both options. An emperor who simply exists would not gain the trust and empathy of the people.” Though the Crown Prince, 59, intends to carry on his parents’ work, he also says the monarchy needs to adapt. Observers said that could mean speaking up and reaching out more, leveraging the family’s value as part of Japan’s identity. “Given these times, the Imperial family should use things like social networking to express their opinions to a certain degree,” said Rika Kayama, a psychiatrist and author of a book on the Imperial women. “If not words, then photos on Instagram,” she added, noting that the Crown Prince has posed for selfies with bystanders overseas and that the Crown Princess in particular may have things she wants to express. The Crown Princess’ long struggle with what palace officials term an “adjustment disorder” is on everybody’s mind, especially because it kept her out of the public eye for roughly a decade. By contrast, the Empress is often termed “flawless” in her dedication. “When Masako visits disaster victims, they’ll feel she’s gone through hard times, like them,” said Hideya Kawanishi, assistant history professor at Nagoya University. “More than the sense of gratitude they have with Empress Michiko, it’ll be a sense of empathy. She’ll seem closer.” The Crown Princess’ frequent expressions in birthday messages of concern for impoverished or troubled children suggest those are likely to be causes she will pursue. The Crown Prince, who studied medieval river transport, is interested in water issues and conservation, and has hinted he may take up climate change as well. “It plays to his interests, also the national interest, and a cross-border interest too. There are many issues like that … they have a unique platform they could really use,” Goto said. “Things like the environment, or reaching across borders for greater understanding and dialogue at a time when the world is becoming myopic and insular.” Patience will be needed in change-averse Japan, however. “Even the current Emperor and Empress came in for lots of criticism at the start — for example, when Michiko got on her knees to console people and took their hands, she was criticized for ‘damaging the authority of the Emperor,'” Kawanishi said. “So they’ll move gradually to put their imprint on things. They’ll change something, wait, then change again.”

imperial family
emperor akihito
empress michiko
abdication
royalty
emperor naruhito
empress masako


U.S. waiver concern sees Iranian oil buyers put imports on hold

Abstract: SINGAPORE/BEIJING - The biggest buyers of Iranian oil are reportedly putting their purchases on hold as they wait to see whether the White House will extend waivers allowing them to keep buying the crude. Most Asian buyers are avoiding imports for next month as it’s unclear what will happen to the exemptions that are set to expire in the first week of May, according to sources with knowledge of that matter. Even if the waivers are extended, it would be too late to order and receive cargoes for the month, they said. Washington’s surprise decision last year to allow eight nations to keep buying Iranian oil was a big contributor to the plunge in crude prices in the fourth quarter. While the White House appears keen to keep the pressure on the Persian Gulf nation, analysts have speculated that preventing further gains in oil prices is a bigger priority for U.S. President Donald Trump. Given that crude has recovered strongly this year, this suggests that at least some of the waivers may be extended. At least five refiners in South Korea, Japan and China are not planning to import Iranian crude and condensate loading in May, the sources said. Some Korean and Japanese processors have already bought alternative cargoes for the period, while Iran is being flexible with its customers on timing, they said. Iranian shipments take over 20 days to reach East Asia, meaning there won’t be enough time for the cargoes to load and arrive during the same month. India, on the other hand, may take some shipments next month if the waivers are extended because shipping time from Iran is only about a week, the sources said. The South Asian nation was already in discussions for an extension of the waiver and the country’s processors are allowed to import 9 million barrels of Iranian oil every month under the 180-day exemption.

iran
oil
donald trump
south korea
china
u.s .


Carlos Ghosn improperly charged Renault for €3,000 scooter, sources allege

Abstract: PARIS - Carlos Ghosn improperly charged Renault SA for a €3,000 (¥380,000) scooter, according to sources familiar with the matter, in the latest allegation by the carmaker against its jailed former chairman. The two-wheeler was retrieved by Renault from its headquarters near Paris after company auditors questioned whether Ghosn was entitled to the benefit as part of his compensation, said one of the sources, who declined to be named because the details aren’t public. The scooter was purchased in 2018, the source said. A spokesman for Renault declined comment, as did Ghosn’s lawyer in Paris, Jean-Yves Le Borgne. A spokeswoman for the Ghosn family couldn’t be reached for immediate comment. Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo in November on allegations of financial misconduct at Nissan Motor Co. He has denied the charges. Ghosn’s legal woes have cast a spotlight on his lavish lifestyle that included use of luxury homes in four countries, a corporate jet and a Marie Antoinette-themed wedding party at the Chateau de Versailles outside Paris. The scooter is a relatively small expense for Renault compared with Ghosn’s €7.4 million pay package in 2017 and other details revealed by the carmaker from its investigation. Earlier this month, Renault said Ghosn made questionable payments to a distributor in the Middle East and an outside lawyer, and it raised concerns about expenses of several million euros by RNBV, a holding company also headed by Ghosn.


U.S. slaps sanctions on alleged new Islamic State financiers

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on financiers with bases in Belgium, Kenya and Turkey on charges they funneled money internationally for the Islamic State extremist group. The Treasury Department said it had pinpointed successors to Fawaz Muhammad Jubayr al-Rawi, who was killed in a U.S.-led coalition air strike in Syria in 2017 after allegedly sending millions of dollars earmarked for the jihadis. The United States imposed sanctions on seven people, including Mushtaq Talib Zughayr al-Rawi, who as of late 2018 was living with his family in Belgium, according to the Treasury Department. Forces seized evidence during a raid on the Islamic State group last year that showed Mushtaq was helping fund them by exploiting the Iraqi government’s electronic payment machines designed to distribute payments to public employees and retirees, the Treasury Department said. “Treasury is dedicated to ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS by cutting off all remaining sources of their terror funding around the globe,” said Sigal Mandelker, the department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. Rawi’s network dates from the 1990s in Iraq, when it used the region’s hawala system, the informal network of money transfers conducted through face-to-face guarantees, to evade biting international sanctions on the country then ruled by Saddam Hussein. The Treasury Department also sanctioned a money exchange company, Al-Ard Al-Jadidah, said to connect Iraq’s hawalas with the northern Turkish city of Samsun. An Islamic State member in Iraq allegedly received $1 million through the exchange last year, it said. Also targeted in the latest sanctions was Kenya-based Halima Adan Ali, who the Treasury Department said was part of a network that moved more than $150,000 through the hawala system to Islamic State fighters in Syria, Libya and central Africa. She has been arrested twice by Kenyan authorities and also served as a recruiter for Somalia’s al-Shabab militants, according to the Treasury Department. With the announcement, the United States will seize any assets it finds that belong to the sanctioned individuals and bar any Americans from financial dealings with them.

sanctions
islamic state
fawaz muhammad jubayr al-rawi
u.s .


Boeing under pressure amid scrubbed flights and Trump tweets to rebrand

Abstract: NEW YORK - Boeing faces a wave of flight cancellations by U.S. airlines and pressure from President Donald Trump to rebrand its top-selling 737 Max aircraft, a month after the plane was grounded worldwide in the wake of deadly crashes. American and Southwest Airlines say the grounding will disrupt scheduled flights through the summer, during the peak travel season which helps generate corporate profits. American is canceling all 737 Max flights through August 19 while Southwest, which owns the largest 737 Max fleet, with 34 planes, is canceling them until August 5. United Airlines, which also ordered the 737 Max 9, did not respond to an AFP query. In all, an average of 275 flights a day will be canceled, which are likely to put a dent in airline profits and could cause the companies to raise airfares. American already cut a key industry revenue metric — Total Revenue per Available Seat-Mile, or TRASM — saying it will rise one percent in 2019, down from a prior estimate of 2 percent. Southwest is allowing affected passengers to reschedule flights at no additional cost. “Neither Airbus nor Boeing like cancellations and there are stiff contracts which make this very difficult,” said Scott Hamilton, managing editor of the aviation news site Leeham News and Analysis. “The companies will swap airplane types, however, if it comes to this.” All 737 Max aircraft have been banned from the world’s skies since mid-March after suffering two fatal crashes less than five months apart: a Lion Air flight crashed in the Java Sea in October, leaving 189 dead, and the Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10, which killed 157 people. Crash investigators have zeroed in on the planes’ anti-stall system, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS. And Boeing, which has already ceased 737 Max deliveries and slowed the pace of production, a buildup of delays could increase the penalties it must pay client airlines, Hamilton said. Trump tweeted early Monday that Boeing had to give its scandal-stricken aircraft a new image. “What do I know about branding, maybe nothing (but I did become President!), but if I were Boeing, I would FIX the Boeing 737 MAX, add some additional great features, & REBRAND the plane with a new name,” he said. But Hamilton said Trump was right to doubt his own expertise. “Trump is a boob. Boeing isn’t going to rebrand the 737,” Hamilton said, pointing to Boeing’s log of more than 4,600 back orders, a key sales revenue driver, and adding that the order cancellations so far were “inconsequential.” Aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia of Teal Group agreed. “Pretty much all of President Trump’s pronouncements on aviation are safely and best ignored,” he said. Boeing is finalizing software upgrades for the MCAS, which it has pledged to submit to regulators in the coming weeks so that the 737 Max grounding order can be lifted. “We’re focused on testing and implementing the software update and rebuilding the trust of our airline customers, pilots and the traveling public,” a spokesperson told AFP. “We know we have a deep responsibility to everyone who flies on our airplanes to ensure that the Max is one of the safest aircraft ever to fly.” Rebranding the aircraft would impose additional costs on the airlines which would be required to fully retrain pilots, while an updated model involves less intense additional training. Flight cancellations show the airlines, that had hoped to have the planes back in the air by May, now expect it will be longer before the aircraft can return to service. Aviation analysts largely agree and expect the grounding to be lifted by the end of August. In the meantime, the industry is working to regain the trust of the flying public. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which must certify the 737 Max’s airworthiness, released a video last week in which its interim chief Daniel Elwell said the agency was working to keep pilots informed. The FAA also said the agency would not rush to get the 737 Max flying again.

boeing
airlines
donald trump
737 max
southwest airlines
lion air
ethiopian airlines
american airlines
air accidents


Japan and U.S. kick off first day of trade talks with focus on cutting tariffs on goods

Abstract: WASHINGTON - Japan and the United States agreed Monday to focus mainly on tariffs on goods such as agricultural and industrial products as they started negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement, according to economic revitalization minister Toshimitsu Motegi. Speaking to reporters after the first day of a two-day meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington, Motegi signaled his opposition to the potential inclusion of a currency provision in any trade deal. He said currency matters should be handled by the respective finance ministers. Motegi said he and Lighthizer affirmed they will conduct negotiations in line with an agreement struck between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Donald Trump last September. The agreement said the two governments “will enter into negotiations … for a Japan-United States trade agreement on goods, as well as on other key areas including services, that can produce early achievements.” During three hours of talks Monday, Motegi said he mainly discussed goods trade with Lighthizer, and that he also discussed how negotiations could progress. “I think we have come to see some priority areas for discussions going forward through our talks today,” Motegi said, without elaborating. A statement issued by Abe and Trump last Sept. 26 indicated Washington would not demand deeper farm tariff cuts than levels Japan has agreed in other trade pacts such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership — the regional free trade agreement from which Trump withdrew the United States in 2017 — and its FTA with the European Union. The first round of Japan-U.S. trade negotiations came as American agriculture lobbies have stepped up calls on the Trump administration to take swift measures to increase access to the Japanese market. A revised TPP — an 11-member FTA including Japan and farming nations such as Australia and Canada — as well as a Japan-EU FTA have put American farmers and ranchers at a disadvantage. While Japan has said the two governments aim for a trade agreement on goods only, the United States has called for a comprehensive pact that would cover a range of areas such as goods, services, investment and currency. Motegi and Lighthizer will continue talks Tuesday in an effort to determine the scope of their future negotiations. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday that any agreement with Japan would include a requirement to refrain from manipulating currencies to gain an advantage in international trade. In a summary of negotiating objectives for bilateral talks with Japan, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in December that the Trump administration would push for reducing or eliminating tariffs on U.S. agricultural imports, and to address nontariff barriers in the automobile sector. The U.S. will also seek to include trade in services such as telecommunications and financial services in a trade deal. Trump regards automobiles as a symbol of the trade imbalance with Tokyo, because automobiles and auto parts accounted for about 75 percent of the U.S. deficit with Japan as of 2017.

trade
toshimitsu motegi
robert lighthizer
tpp
u.s.-japan relations


Foreign Minister Taro Kono asks U.K. counterpart Jeremy Hunt to ensure a smooth Brexit

Abstract: In a meeting Tuesday in Tokyo with U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Minister Taro Kono expressed a “strong hope” that Britain will make a smooth exit from the European Union and avoid a “no deal” Brexit. Because the recent impasse over Brexit has led to the postponement of bilateral ministerial security talks that were originally slated for April, Kono and Hunt agreed to set a new schedule for the “two-plus-two” meeting at an early date, the Foreign Ministry said. In their second face-to-face meeting in a month, Kono welcomed that a no-deal Brexit has been avoided “for the time being,” after the U.K. and the other 27 EU members agreed last week to extend the exit deadline from April 12 to Oct. 31. But Kono also asked Hunt to minimize the negative impact of Brexit on Japanese companies and the world economy. Hunt was quoted by the ministry as telling Kono that the U.K. is determined to avoid leaving the EU without an agreement, which could disrupt business activities. On Monday, Hunt reassured Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that a no-deal departure would be unlikely, and asked Toyota Motor Corp. Vice Chairman Shigeru Hayakawa to continue production in the U.K. even after Brexit, a source with knowledge of the matter said. The Japanese automaker is reportedly considering the possibility of withdrawing from production in Britain to prepare for a possible no-deal Brexit. Toyota, Nissan Motor Co., and Honda Motor Co. are among the Japanese manufacturers that have production plants in the U.K. Honda has announced it will close its Swindon factory in England in 2021, in the latest example of Japanese firms reviewing their business strategies to cope with uncertainty over Brexit. During a meeting in Tokyo on Monday, Hayakawa reportedly called on Hunt to avoid an exit by the U.K. without an agreement. According to sources, Hayakawa is believed to have expressed concern that if a no-deal Brexit becomes reality, the introduction of high tariffs between the U.K. and the EU would make it difficult for Toyota to continue operations in the country. Hayakawa is also believed to have asked the U.K. to pay due consideration to Toyota’s management. According to Toyota, the meeting was held at the request of the U.K. government. Toyota produces engines and finished vehicles at a British plant with parts and components procured from the EU and other places, and exports them to the EU and other destinations.

taro kono
jeremy hunt
brexit
eu
toyota
u.k .


Asian Development Bank chief says Japan-backed lender will continue loans to China

Abstract: The Asian Development Bank will keep lending billions of dollars to China, taking a different stance from the World Bank and its plans to reduce loans to the world’s second-biggest economy, the ADB chief said. “We don’t intend to significantly cut the amount of lending to China,” ADB President Takehiko Nakao said during an interview with media outlets in Tokyo on Monday. “We will keep the current level (to finance projects) related to climate change and those that will positively affect neighboring countries.” Last year China borrowed about $2.6 billion from the Japan-backed ADB, the Manila-based development bank, making it the second-biggest borrower after India. Yet China is now a major economy and has also been reportedly lending billions of dollars to other developing countries for its “Belt and Road” initiative. Whether China should continue to depend on loans from the World Bank, which focuses on middle- and low-income nations, has been a hot topic at the bank where the U.S. boasts the most voting power. Last year, its shareholders agreed to slash the amount in coming years. Moreover, starting this month, the World Bank has a new chief backed by U.S. President Donald Trump: David Malpass, a former senior U.S. Treasury official and advocate of cutting loans to China. The World Bank lent about $2.4 billion to China in 2017 and $1.8 billion in 2018. Nakao said the ADB’s stance is a bit different from the World Bank, saying income from Chinese loans helps poorer nations borrow at lower interest rates while it diversifies the bank’s portfolio. “In that sense, the lending to China benefits the bank and other countries,” he said, adding it also contributes to maintaining ties with China. Regarding U.S.-China relations, the world has been keenly watching how their trade friction will affect other communities. The ADB estimated last year that if tariffs were imposed on all traded goods between the two nations, Chinese gross domestic product would fall 1 percentage point while U.S. GDP would decline 0.2 percentage point. For now the impact seems limited, but Nakao said further damage to consumer and investor sentiment might more seriously hamper growth in other regions. As for Asia’s growth outlook, the ADB projects that it will slow down to 5.7 percent from 5.9 percent in 2018 and 6.2 percent in 2017. However, Nakao is optimistic about the region’s economy, saying it is still “solid” with developing territories, excluding Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, expected to stay above 6 percent this year and next year. Nakao also stressed the bank’s plan to boost commitment to climate change-related projects, saying the ADB wants at least 75 percent of its three-year rolling financing projects to help such initiatives by 2030, from 52 percent between 2016 and 2018.

asian development bank
china
world bank
india
singapore


Dollar almost flat around ¥111.90 in Tokyo

Abstract: The dollar was almost flat around ¥111.90 in Tokyo trading Tuesday as investors retreated to the sidelines to see the outcome of trade talks between Japan and the United States. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥111.89-89, slightly down from ¥111.91-91 at the same time Monday. The euro was at $1.1310-1310, down from $1.1316-1316, and at ¥126.55-55, down from ¥126.63-68. The dollar topped ¥112 in the wake of the Nikkei 225 stock average’s upturn after a weak start. But a wait-and-see mood spread later, forcing the dollar to move in a tight range between ¥111.90 and ¥112. In late hours, the greenback eased below ¥111.90 on selling induced by a drop in U.S. long-term interest rates in off-hours trading, traders said. “Anxious about the trade talks, players held active transactions in check,” an asset management firm official said. After the first day of talks with his U.S. counterpart on Monday, economic revitalization minister Toshimitsu Motegi told a news conference that he will brief reporters on results of discussions on specific matters, such as vehicle trade and currency, on Tuesday.


Nikkei extends gains, lifted by heavyweight components

Abstract: The Nikkei 225 average extended its winning streak to a fourth session Tuesday, boosted by brisk purchases of only a few heavily weighted component issues. The benchmark index added 52.55 points, or 0.24 percent, to end at 22,221.66, after surging 298.55 points Monday. But the Topix, which covers all first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, finished 1.47 points, or 0.09 percent, lower at 1,626.46. It jumped 22.53 points Monday. The market got off to a weak start following an overnight drop in U.S. equities. Stocks also met with selling to lock in profits, brokers said. But after the initial wave of selling subsided, both indexes returned to the sunny side, with the Nikkei remaining higher for the rest of the session. Meanwhile the Topix bowed to selling later in the morning and failed to gather steam until the day’s closing. The Nikkei’s buoyancy owed thanks to the popularity of closing store chain Fast Retailing, technology investor SoftBank Group and mobile phone carrier KDDI, all heavily weighted Nikkei components. The three issues pushed the Nikkei higher by over 90 points, brokers said. Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Naito Securities Co., said the market’s upside was limited as investors were “sitting on the fences” to wait for the outcome of Japan-U.S. trade talks in Washington through Tuesday. A major brokerage house official forecast that a solid market would continue, pointing to a pickup in market sentiment due partly to a rosier outlook for the Chinese economy. “The Nikkei will likely consolidate at levels above 22,000 for the time being,” the official said. Despite the continued rise in the key market gauge, losers outnumbered winners 1,346 to 698 in the first section, while 97 issues were unchanged. Volume decreased to 1.050 billion shares from 1.225 billion Monday. KDDI shot up 5.85 percent and SoftBank Group 3.5 percent. The other major mobile phone carrier, NTT Docomo, jumped 3.56 percent. Investors actively bought them back cheering Docomo’s announcement Monday of cuts in mobile communications service fees by up to 40 percent. Fast Retailing went up 2.32 percent to extend its winning streak to an eighth session. Among other winners were technology giant Sony and pharmaceutical firm Shionogi. By contrast, oils, including Idemitsu, Cosmo energy and JXTG, met with selling. Cybermall operator Rakuten, which is set to enter into mobile phone business, was downbeat following Docomo’s markdown announcement. Also on the shady side were factory automation equipment maker Keyence and optical equipment producer Olympus.


Mitsubishi Fuso recalls 40,000 vehicles due to engine trouble

Abstract: Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. informed the transport ministry Tuesday it will recall 40,316 vehicles due to fears over potential engine trouble. The recall affects five models, including the Super Great truck, produced between March 2010 and August 2017. According to the ministry, Mitsubishi Fuso outlined faulty recommendations for engine oil change intervals that could lead to oil deterioration. As a result, the oil filter could clog with soot, causing the engine rotation speed to rise and leading to damage. A total of 240 cases of defects have been reported, including a June 2017 incident in which a Super Great caught fire while traveling in Okayama. An incident involving a vehicle catching fire occurred in Toyama Prefecture in February. No injuries were reported in connection with either incident. In addition to the Super Great, the models covered by the recall are the Aero Ace and Aero Queen buses, as well as the Space Arrow A and Space Wing A buses manufactured on behalf of UD Trucks Corp. The three in-house models were targets of a recall involving 12,125 vehicles in March.


Toyota unveils first electric SUVs at Shanghai motor show

Abstract: SHANGHAI - Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday unveiled the first two electric SUV models it plans to mass market in China as a major auto show got underway in Shanghai showcasing the newest vehicles by the world’s automakers. China is the largest auto market on Earth, but vehicle demand has grown sluggish due to a slowdown in the Chinese economy, intensifying the race among carmakers to develop models attractive to Chinese drivers. Toyota will begin selling the electrified C-HR and IZOA models in 2020. Executive Vice President Moritaka Yoshida said they represent the first in the Japanese automaker’s plan to roll out more than 10 EV models globally by the first half of the 2020s. At Auto Shanghai 2019, which was open to the media Tuesday, rival Nissan Motor Co. debuted a new model of the Sylphy compact sedan. China saw roughly 28.08 million new cars sold in 2018, the first drop in 28 years. The Chinese government has been promoting electric and other environmentally friendly vehicles, spurring intense competition among automakers to develop models that can beat out gasoline-powered vehicles in the vast market. The auto show will be open to the public from Saturday to April 25. Meanwhile, Toyota plans to sell electric vehicle technology to Chinese EV startup Singulato Motors, sources close to the matter said Monday. Shanghai-based Singulato, set up in 2014, is considered promising in the crowded Chinese EV industry. The deal is expected to be announced at the Shanghai auto show. Toyota said last week it has allowed royalty-free access to nearly 24,000 patents related to electrification technology, seeking to become a “supplier” of low-emission technology as the industry adopts stricter emissions regulations. It hopes that opening up its technology to other companies will enlarge the global market for electric vehicles, in particular gasoline-electric hybrids, a field the Japanese auto giant leads with its Prius vehicles that were first released in 1997.


Nissan sales chief latest to quit after arrest of ex-boss Carlos Ghosn

Abstract: Nissan Motor Co.’s global sales chief is expected to resign soon, the latest executive to quit following the arrest of former boss Carlos Ghosn, a source close to the matter said Tuesday. The resignation of Executive Vice President Daniele Schillaci, also in charge of electric vehicles strategy, could deal a blow to the automaker as it seeks to rebuild after the November arrest and ouster of Ghosn as chairman over alleged financial misconduct. Schillaci, who is believed to have already told his bosses about his intention to resign, is expected to leave after taking part in the Shanghai motor show running through April 25 and before Nissan’s ordinary general shareholders meeting in June, the source said. Nissan declined to comment. Schillaci was recruited by Ghosn to join Nissan as executive vice president from Toyota Motor Corp. in 2015. In 2017, he also became the chief official overseeing operations in Asia and Oceania. Although the reason of his resignation remains unclear, he may have wanted to avoid being involved in the turmoil following the arrest of Ghosn, the once-feted auto tycoon who led Nissan for nearly two decades after saving it from the brink of bankruptcy in the late 1990s. Jose Munoz, Nissan’s former executive in charge of the key Chinese market, resigned in January. He was regarded as being close to Ghosn. Arun Bajaj, former senior vice president in charge of human resources who was targeted in Nissan’s in-house investigation of Ghosn’s alleged financial misdeeds, stepped down in March. Board member Toshiyuki Shiga, former chief operating officer who was seen as Ghosn’s right-hand man, has said he will resign at the June shareholders meeting.

nissan
carlos ghosn
corruption
scandals
carmakers


Japan's NTT looks to set up new firm in London despite Brexit risks

Abstract: LONDON - NTT Corp. is planning to set up a new company in London to manage the group’s overseas operations, according to a source close to the matter, despite risks posed by the U.K.’s planned exit from the European Union. The telecommunications giant will integrate its affiliate Dimension Data Holdings PLC and the overseas business of NTT Communications Corp. to establish the new firm in July, judging that the city will remain a hub of talent and information, the source said Monday. Jason Goodall, group CEO at Dimension Data, is expected to take the helm of the new company, the source said. NTT is looking to strengthen its overseas business amid its shrinking domestic market. Uncertainty over Brexit has already led some major Japanese firms to reduce investment in Britain or transfer their European bases to other EU countries due to fears they could face higher trade barriers for access to the bloc’s market. Nissan Motor Co. said in February it was canceling a plan to produce the new model of the X-Trail sport utility vehicle in Britain, while Honda Motor Co. followed with an announcement that it was closing its British plant in 2021. Toyota Motor Corp. has also hinted that it could end production in the country around 2023 if the U.K. leaves the European Union without a trade deal.


South Korea conglomerate to sell Asiana Airlines

Abstract: SEOUL - A major South Korean conglomerate has decided to sell its controlling stake in Asiana Airlines Inc., the country’s second-largest carrier. Kumho Industrial Co.’s decision to effectively put the carrier up for sale came after Kumho Asiana Group’s former chairman, Park Sam Koo of the founding family, stepped down in March over accounting issues at the heavily indebted group. The conglomerate holds a 33.47 percent stake in the airline. The buyer has not yet been identified, but media reports say multiple South Korean conglomerates could be among the potential candidates to purchase the stake. “We’ve come to a conclusion that selling Asiana Airlines would be the best way to recover trust from the market,” the group said in a statement Monday. Trading in Asiana Airlines shares was suspended between March 22 and 25 after an auditing company failed to sign off on financial statements submitted by the carrier March 22, according to local media.

asiana airlines
acquisitions
kumho industrial co .


Extinction Rebellion at forefront of shift toward nonviolent civil disobedience to fight climate change

Abstract: PARIS - Playing the role of a riot cop dispersing a peaceful but illegal sit-in on the steps of France’s National Assembly, Axel struggled to dislodge a woman whose arms and legs were enmeshed in a Gordian knot of activists. It was like trying to pull a limpet off a rock — he couldn’t get a grip. Welcome to Non-Violent Civil Disobedience 101, a one-day basic training for people who have decided they may need to break the law to further a good cause. For most of the 55 people attending a course in Paris on Saturday, the driving concern was climate change and the gathering pace at which Earth’s species are disappearing. Since October, the world has seen a crescendo of grassroots protests around these issues, especially in Western Europe and North America. High school students in a dozen countries have poured into the streets every Friday to raise the alarm about their climate-blighted futures, a movement inspired by 16-year-old Swedish wunderkind Greta Thunberg. On Monday, a loosely knit but well-organized group called Extinction Rebellion, born in Britain, launched a week-long campaign in major cities worldwide, vowing to “bring London to a standstill” by blocking traffic at Waterloo Bridge, Parliament Square and other iconic locations. XR, as the group is known, looked to historic examples of civil disobedience — the U.S. civil rights movement, the push for Indian independence — for inspiration. What triggered the sudden uptick in climate activism is unclear, but several participants in the course mentioned a landmark U.N. science report last fall warning that only a deep change in the way humanity produces and consumes energy can minimize global warming devastation. “I’ve been teaching several sessions a month for the last six or seven months,” said Remi Filliau, the instructor in Paris and founding member of a small NGO called Les Desobeissants (The Disobedient Ones). “Before, it was a lot less.” Back in class, Filliau gave Axel a tip on how to pry loose his quarry. Reaching from behind, Axel placed an index finger under the young woman’s nose and pulled up sharply. Her arms instantly flew open and he yanked her free within seconds, dragging her across the floor into mock detention. “Police are allowed to use that technique,” Filliau told the class. “But they are not allowed to tickle — that is considered sexual harassment,” he added. Seated in a large circle, the class began with an exercise designed to force participants to think about how far they are willing to go, and the risks they are willing to take. Filliau presented a scenario: friends propose slipping into a farmer’s field at night while wearing masks to destroy a experimental crop of genetically modified corn. Commercial production of genetically modified crops has been effectively banned in France, and most people in the room were clearly anti-GMO. That was not the issue. What they didn’t agree on was tactics. Everyone situated themselves in relation to four signs he had posted at compass points in the room, depending on how they answered two questions: Are you willing to do this? Do you consider this to be a violent act? Two thirds of the group clustered in the two “nonviolent” quadrants, but were evenly divided on whether to carry out the raid. As for those who considered it to be an act of violence, some balked at ransacking the crops while a few said they would do it anyhow. In the ensuing discussion, people moved around the room as their positions changed. Some said damaging property did not rise to the level of a violent act. Others countered that a struggling farmer might not see it that way. Still others pointed out that farmers have insurance. The group was at loggerheads. In a second scenario, the same action was to be done in broad daylight without masks. The media was to be alerted beforehand and the activists stayed to face the music, including arrest. This, it became clear, was the “correct” approach, and Filliau explained why. “We have to legitimize our actions in the eyes of the public,” he told the group. “And we have to take responsibility for what we do.” Successful campaigns in France over the last decade — pressuring a bank into divesting from fossil fuel projects, getting the state ban a particular GMO crop — were all done openly and non-violently, he said. “But if you’re not ready to be arrested by the police, then you probably shouldn’t come,” he added, referring to a climate change action planned for the end of the week. Julie, a university student, said she was deeply worried about the threat of climate change. “Just marching in the streets is not enough anymore,” she said. “But I’m not sure if I’m ready to go to jail.”

extinction rebellion
climate change
protests
europe
rights
environment


Destitute Venezuelan migrants who fled to Brazil border live in abandoned bus going nowhere

Abstract: PACARAIMA, BRAZIL - Ten destitute Venezuelan migrants who fled their country’s crisis did not get far when they crossed into Brazil: they have been living for three months on an abandoned bus just across the border. They sleep on cardboard, except for the lucky one who gets the hammock. They cook on a wood fire just outside the door of the motor-less 1983 Mercedes Benz bus. Two children go to the local school every morning. The penniless migrants work at odd jobs for spare change, loading the cars and pickups of Venezuelans who cross over to buy food and goods in short supply back home. “We’ve been living in this bus for three months,” says Hildemaro Ortiz, 24, from Punta de Mata in eastern Venezuela, who hopes to move to a bigger Brazilian city once his son makes it across the border. Ortiz and his bus-mates are part of a flood of Venezuelans pouring into the rest of Latin America, often driven by hunger and desperate to escape an economy in free-fall as food shortages and blackouts rattle their oil-rich nation. Tens of thousands of migrants have fled the political and economic upheaval in Venezuela through Pacaraima, the only road crossing to Brazil, creating tension at the border. About 3.7 million people have left Venezuela in recent years, mostly via its western neighbor Colombia, according to the World Bank. Ixora Sanguino, 27, sweeps the floor of the bus and folds the blankets. “I never thought I would ever live in a bus, and least of all in another country like this,” said the mother of three who had to leave her children behind in Ciudad Bolivar. “There is nothing in Venezuela right now,” she said. When she first crossed the border, Sanguino slept in the street. The bus is an improvement, sheltered from tropical rain. Now she is trying to gather enough money for a bus ticket to Boa Vista, the nearest Brazilian state capital, to find work and send cash to her hungry family back home. The occupants of the rusty metal structure, once an express bus, dream of returning to their homeland one day when things improve there, but for now survival is a daily struggle. Rice cooks in a pot held over the fire on an improvised grill. Usually they eat rice and bones, or rice and chicken when there is enough money between them to buy meat, she said. A Spanish priest provides a coffee and bread roll breakfast for 350 Venezuelans daily at his mission house, but migrants must arrive before 6 a.m. to get a place, she said. The bus offers some protection from mosquitoes and the cold of night, Ortiz said. When the bugs get bad, he starts a cardboard fire to smoke them out. He is impatient to move to bustling cities to the south. “If only this bus had an engine, we would have been on our way to Manaus by now,” he said.

venezuela
brazil
immigration
poverty
refugees
nicolas maduro


Boko Haram fighters plunder Nigeria village near Chibok on kidnapping anniversary

Abstract: KANO, NIGERIA - Boko Haram militants raided a village near the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok just as locals marked the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls five years earlier, vigilantes and residents said Monday. The militants late Sunday stormed into Kwarangulum village, 16 km (10 miles) from Chibok Town, looting food and destroying property. The gunmen, who arrived aboard four trucks, were “shooting indiscriminately and setting homes on fire,” local vigilante David Bitrus told AFP. The militants, believed to be from a Boko Haram faction loyal to longtime leader Abubakar Shekau, “burned the whole village after taking what the trucks could carry” in terms of food, he said. A Chibok community leader, Ayuba Alamson, said village residents had fled hours before the jihadis’ arrival after receiving tip-offs from local people who had seen the gunmen heading in their direction. The attack came just hours after hundreds of Chibok residents rallied at the girls boarding school in the nearby town to commemorate the April 14, 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls. Their disappearance sparked outrage and calls for their release from around the world. Fifty-seven girls escaped shortly after the kidnap, 107 were released after negotiations and 112 remain in captivity. Recently re-elected President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday promised to rescue the remaining girls. “We will not rest until all the remaining girls are back and reunited with their families,” he said in a statement released on his Twitter account. He also promised to secure the rescue of Leah Sharibu, the last remaining captive of the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Dapchi Town, Yobe State, last February. Boko Haram’s decade-long conflict has killed 27,000 people and displaced around 2 million from their homes in northeast Nigeria. The violence has spread to nearby Niger, Chad and Cameroon, with the affected counties forming a regional military coalition to fight the group.

boko haram
nigeria
abduction
conflict
terrorism
chibok girls


A day after Notre Dame blaze, Parisians and tourists still in shock

Abstract: PARIS - Early morning runners stopped in their tracks, dumb-founded. Across the river, still smouldering, loomed the burnt-out form of Notre Dame Cathedral, its spire collapsed, its bell towers and buttresses standing silent in the dawn light. “Blessee, mais vivante,” tweeted Henrik Enderlein, the director of the Jacques Delors Institute, alongside pictures of the shattered shell of the gothic masterpiece that sits at the heart of Paris. “Wounded, but alive.” After a night during which more than 400 firefighters toiled for 15 hours to quell a blaze that tore through the 12th century cathedral, Parisians and visitors were struggling to absorb the enormity of the disaster. Days before the commemoration of Easter, a church that has stood as a monument to the Catholic faith and a symbol of France for nearly nine centuries had been eviscerated by an inferno that police believe may have started by accident. Lech Kurek, a 38-year-old visiting with his wife from Poland, said they had been left shell-shocked. “I am praying and my wife is singing,” he said. “It is just crazy and surreal. … For Christians, it is terrible ahead of Easter.” President Emmanuel Macron visited the site on the Ile de la Cite, an island in the River Seine, on Monday night and pledged that Notre Dame would be rebuilt, no matter what it takes. The rival owners of France’s two biggest luxury and fashion empires, Francois-Henri Pinault of Kering and Bernard Arnault of LVMH, said they were donating €100 million and €200 million to the restoration, respectively. Oil company Total pledged €100 million. The city of Paris said it would provide €50 million. For Olivier Lebib, an artisan who has lived in Paris for 40 years, it is essential the cathedral is restored to its glory. “Notre Dame is our sister, it is so sad, we are all mourning — Parisians, French people, tourists, the Chinese, the whole planet,” he said. “Thank God that the stone structure has withstood the fire.” The cathedral is one of Paris’s most popular landmarks, welcoming more than 13 million visitors a year, and no doubt features in the photo albums of just about anyone who has taken snapshots in the French capital. Gone, now, is the 91-meter spire that has stood atop it since the mid-1800s. “It’s an emotional strain for the whole nation,” said Pierre-Herve Grosjean, 41, a priest from Versailles, who noted the cathedral’s role as a national rallying place in 2015 after Islamist gunmen and bombers killed 130 people in a rampage in Paris. “No one is left indifferent. After the terror attacks, everyone gathered at Notre Dame.” On Tuesday morning, there were still groups standing vigil on the banks of the Seine looking toward the cathedral, some singing, some in silent prayer in the week that Christians mark the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus. “This fire is a prophetic message, it is a call for repentance,” said Josiane, a retired shop assistant and devout Christian. “During the holy week, the virgin has covered herself with ashes, it is a call for repentance. Only God can save us.”


YouTube flags Notre Dame fire as 9/11 conspiracy, then says system made 'wrong call'

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO - Soon after a fire engulfed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Monday, news outlets began streaming live broadcasts on YouTube. Below several of the clips was an odd box of text: A snippet from Encyclopedia Britannica about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. YouTube, a division of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, introduced this text box feature last year to combat the spread of conspiracy theories, including those that question the 9/11 attacks. On Monday, YouTube’s software mistakenly labeled the plumes of smoke in Paris as footage from 2001, triggering the panel below the video. “We are deeply saddened by the ongoing fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral,” said a YouTube spokesman. “These panels are triggered algorithmically and our systems sometimes make the wrong call. We are disabling these panels for live streams related to the fire.” YouTube has been battered with criticism over extreme and misleading videos, especially around breaking news topics. While the service has become the world’s largest video site, it has struggled to use software and human reviewers to understand and police the millions of hours of footage that gets uploaded daily. Last month, video of an attack on mosques in New Zealand was streamed on YouTube and other social-media services. Videos questioning important facts, such as the moon landing and the efficacy of vaccines, have also run rampant on YouTube, prompting inquiries from U.S. lawmakers. Last year, YouTube Chief Executive Officer Susan Wojcicki unveiled the information boxes as a solution that she hoped would help quell conspiracy theories. The text is pulled from websites including Wikipedia to counteract misleading videos with well-established facts. The company has said it shows “tens of millions” of the text panels below videos each week.

youtube
notre dame
fires
paris
conspiracy theories
france
internet
terrorism


Global measles cases surge 300% year-on-year, as anti-vaccination concerns grow: WHO

Abstract: GENEVA - Measles cases rose 300 percent worldwide through the first three months of 2019 compared to the same period last year, the U.N. said Monday, as concern grows over the impact of the anti-vaccination movement. Measles, which is highly contagious, can be entirely prevented through a two-dose vaccine, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has in recent months sounded the alarm over slipping vaccination rates. “Preliminary global data shows that reported cases rose by 300 percent in the first three months of 2019, compared to the same period in 2018. This follows consecutive increases over the past two years,” it said in a statement. “While this data is provisional and not yet complete, it indicates a clear trend. Many countries are in the midst of sizeable measles outbreaks, with all regions of the world experiencing sustained rises in cases,” it added. The agency noted that only about one in 10 actual measles cases are reported, meaning that the early trends for 2019 likely underestimate the severity of the outbreaks. So far this year, 170 countries have reported 112,163 measles cases to the WHO. At this time last year, 163 countries had reported 28,124 cases. Measles — an airborne infection causing fever, coughing and rashes that can be deadly in rare cases — had been officially eliminated in many countries with advanced health care systems. But the so-called anti-vax movement — driven by fraudulent claims linking the MMR vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella with a risk of autism in children — has gained traction. Repeated studies — the most recent involving more than 650,000 children monitored for more than a decade — have shown that there is no such link. But according to the WHO, global coverage for the first vaccine dose has been “stalled” at 85 percent, while 67 percent of people have received the second dose. The provisional 2019 data shows that cases have spiked “in countries with high overall vaccination coverage, including the United States,” WHO warned. “The disease has spread fast among clusters of unvaccinated people,” it added. New York’s mayor declared a public health emergency in parts of Brooklyn last week after a measles outbreak emerged in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, where some had resisted vaccination on religious grounds. Calls have mounted in several countries to make measles vaccinations mandatory, including in Germany. Australia earlier this month launched a major education campaign to encourage residents to get vaccinated. Turning the tide against measles will require “effective public-facing communication and engagement on the critical importance of vaccination, and the dangers of the diseases they prevent,” WHO said. While WHO has identified the junk science behind anti-vax propaganda as a public health threat, the data highlighted that measles still hits hardest in unstable countries with weak health systems. The most dramatic rise in cases through the early part of the year was reported in Africa, which has weaker vaccination coverage than other regions. The continent saw a 700 percent increase in cases compared to last year. At least 800 children have died from measles since September in Madagascar, where rampant malnutrition and a historically poor vaccine rate are driving the world’s worse current outbreak. In conflict-scarred Yemen cases shot up more than 300 percent in 2018 compared to 2017. Venezuela, where the disease was once contained, has also seen tens of thousands of cases as the country’s economic and political crises continue to push the health care system to the brink of collapse.

measles
vaccinations
who
health
children
medicine
u.n .


Remote mountain areas no refuge from airborne microplastic pollution, with levels similar to big cities

Abstract: PARIS - A secluded mountain region that was thought to be free of plastic pollution is in fact blanketed by airborne microplastics on a scale comparable to a major city, such as Paris, alarmed researchers reported Monday. Over a five-month period in 2017-2018, an average of 365 tiny pieces of plastic settled every day on each square meter of an uninhabited, high-altitude area in the Pyrenees straddling France and Spain, according to a report in the journal Nature Geoscience. “It is astounding and worrying that so many particles were found in the Pyrenees field site,” said lead author Steve Allen, a doctoral student at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. The study focused on microplastics mostly between 10 and 150 micrometers across, including fragments, fibers and sheet-like pieces of film. By comparison, a human hair is, on average, about 70 micrometers in width. “We would never have anticipated that this study would reveal such high levels of microplastic deposits,” added co-author Gael Le Roux, a researcher at EcoLab in Toulouse, in southwestern France. Plastic litter has emerged in the last few years as a major environmental problem. Up to 12 million tons of plastics are thought to enter the world’s oceans every year, and millions more clog inland waterways and landfills. Plastic takes decades to break down, and even then continues to persist in the environment. Scientists are only now beginning to measure the damage to wildlife and potential impacts on human health. A study earlier this year uncovered plastic fragments in the guts of animals living more than 10 kilometers below the ocean surface. Two whales found beached since the start of the year — one in the Philippines, the other in Sardinia, Italy — had 40 and 20 kilos, respectively, of plastic in their stomachs. Microplastics have also been found in tap water around the world, and even the furthest reaches of Antarctica. “Our most significant finding is that microplastics are transported through the atmosphere and deposited in a remote, high-altitude mountain location far from any major city,” co-author Deonie Allen, also from EcoLab, told AFP. “This means that microplastics are an atmospheric pollutant.” Researchers used two monitoring devices to independently measure particle concentration in an area long considered to be among the most pristine in western Europe. The nearest village is seven kilometers (more than four miles) away, and the nearest city, Toulouse, is more than 100 kilometers. While the scientists were able to identify the types of plastic, they could not say with certainty where they came from or how far they had drifted. Analyzing the pattern of air flows, they surmised that some particles had traveled at least 100 kilometers. “But due to the lack of significant local plastic pollution sources, they probably traveled farther,” Deonie Allen said. Samples — transported by wind, snow and rain — were also collected at the meteorological station of Bernadouze at an altitude of more than 1,500 meters. The researchers were stunned to find that the concentrations of microplastic pollution were on a par with those found in major cities, including Paris and the southern Chinese industrial city of Dongguan. “Our findings are within the range of those reported for greater Paris, and can thus be considered comparable,” said Deonie Allen. “We did not expect the number of particles to be so high.”

mountains
pollution
plastic
pyrenees
france
nature geoscience
plastic waste


Aegean farmers replaced hunter-gatherers of ancient Britain 6,000 years ago: study

Abstract: BERLIN - A wave of migrants from what is now Greece and Turkey arrived in Britain some 6,000 years ago and virtually replaced the existing hunter-gatherer population, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature. Scientists examining samples of ancient remains dating as far back as 8500 BC found the dark-skinned foragers who had inhabited the British Isles since the last Ice Age left comparatively little trace in the genetic record after the transition to farming, suggesting there wasn’t much interbreeding with the newcomers who arrived around 4000 BC. By contrast, the same Aegean migrants had mixed extensively with local populations when they introduced farming to continental Europe about 1,000 years earlier, according to previous DNA studies. “It is difficult to say why this is, but it may be that those last British hunter-gatherers were relatively few in number,” said Mark G. Thomas, a professor of evolutionary genetics at University College London who co-wrote the study. “Even if these two populations had mixed completely, the ability of adept continental farmers and their descendants to maintain larger population sizes would produce a significant diminishing of hunter-gatherer ancestry over time.” The researchers from the U.K. and the United States found that the remains of Britain’s early farmers were genetically similar to those discovered in what is now Spain and Portugal, indicating that this population traveled east to west through the Mediterranean, and then up to Britain. Strikingly, the newcomers appear to have arrived first on the western coast before spreading to other parts of Britain, suggesting they didn’t cross the English Channel using the shortest possible course but instead braved the wilder Atlantic route. “This route is a continuation of the Mediterranean coastal dispersal route but of course in much more complicated maritime circumstances,” said Carles Lalueza-Fox of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona, Spain. Lalueza-Fox, who wasn’t involved with the study, said the findings match what is known about the spread of megalithic structures along Europe’s Atlantic coast. Perhaps the best-known of these structures is Stonehenge in Britain. “This work highlights the complex population turnovers affecting a rather marginal area of Northwestern Europe and points out the need to investigate all regions with ancient data to understand the shaping of modern human genetic diversity,” said Laluelza-Fox. In their paper, Thomas and his colleagues also note the “considerable variation in pigmentation levels in Europe” during the Stone Age as shown from the genetic samples they examined. Whereas Britain’s outgoing hunter-gatherers — including the oldest known Briton, “Cheddar Man” — likely had blue or green eyes and dark or even black skin, the farming populations migrating across Europe are believed to have had brown eyes and dark to intermediate skin.

aegean
britain
greece
turkey
ice age
cheddar man
migration


Israeli scientists debut 'first' 3D print of heart with human tissue, and vessels

Abstract: TEL AVIV - Scientists in Israel unveiled a 3D print of a heart with human tissue and vessels on Monday, calling it a first and a “major medical breakthrough” that advances possibilities for transplants. While it remains a far way off, scientists hope one day to be able to produce hearts suitable for transplant into humans as well as patches to regenerate defective hearts. The heart produced by researchers at Tel Aviv University is about the size of a rabbit’s. It marked “the first time anyone anywhere has successfully engineered and printed an entire heart replete with cells, blood vessels, ventricles and chambers,” said Tal Dvir, who led the project. “People have managed to 3D-print the structure of a heart in the past, but not with cells or with blood vessels,” he said. But the scientists said many challenges remain before fully working 3D printed hearts would be available for transplant into patients. Journalists were shown a 3D print of a heart about the size of a cherry, immersed in liquid, at Tel Aviv University on Monday as the researchers announced their findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Science. Researchers must now teach the printed hearts “to behave” like real ones. The cells are currently able to contract, but do not yet have the ability to pump. Then they plan to transplant them into animal models, hopefully in about a year, said Dvir. “Maybe, in 10 years, there will be organ printers in the finest hospitals around the world, and these procedures will be conducted routinely,” he said. But he said hospitals would likely start with simpler organs than hearts. In its statement announcing the research, Tel Aviv University called it a “major medical breakthrough. Cardiovascular disease is the world’s leading cause of death, according to the World Health Organization, and transplants are currently the only option available for patients in the worst cases. But the number of donors is limited and many die while waiting. When they do benefit, they can fall victim to their bodies rejecting the transplant — a problem the researchers are seeking to overcome. Their research involved taking a biopsy of fatty tissue from patients that was used in the development of the “ink” for the 3D print. First, patient-specific cardiac patches were created followed by the entire heart, the statement said. Using the patient’s own tissue was important to eliminate the risk of an implant provoking an immune response and being rejected, Dvir said. “The biocompatibility of engineered materials is crucial to eliminating the risk of implant rejection, which jeopardizes the success of such treatments,” said Dvir. Challenges that remain include how to expand the cells to have enough tissue to recreate a human-sized heart, he said. Current 3D printers are also limited by the size of their resolution and another challenge will be figuring out how to print all small blood vessels. But while the current 3D print was a primitive one and only the size of a rabbit’s heart, “larger human hearts require the same technology,” said Dvir. 3D printing has opened up possibilities in numerous fields, provoking both promise and controversy. The technology has developed to include 3D prints of everything from homes to guns.

heart
israel
tel aviv university
3d laser printing


Redacted Mueller report expected to be released on Thursday

Abstract: WASHINGTON - The president isn’t waiting. As Washington counts down the final hours until publication of the redacted special counsel report — now expected Thursday — Donald Trump stepped up his attacks in an effort to undermine potential disclosures on Russia, his 2016 campaign and the aftermath. He unleashed a series of tweets Monday focusing on the previously released summary of special counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusions — including a crucial one on obstruction of justice that Trump again misrepresented — produced by Attorney General William Barr. “Mueller, and the A.G. based on Mueller findings (and great intelligence), have already ruled No Collusion, No Obstruction,” Trump tweeted. “These were crimes committed by Crooked Hillary, the DNC, Dirty Cops and others! INVESTIGATE THE INVESTIGATORS!” Press secretary Sarah Sanders repeatedly tried to make the same case on TV talk shows on Sunday. But the political battle is far from finished over the special counsel’s investigation of Russian efforts to help Trump in 2016 and whether there was cooperation with his campaign. Democrats are calling for Mueller himself to testify before Congress and have expressed concern that Barr will order unnecessary censoring of the report to protect the president. The House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, is poised to try to compel Barr to turn over an unredacted copy as well as the report’s underlying investigative files. The Justice Department announced Monday that it expects to release the redacted version Thursday morning, sending the findings of the nearly two-year probe to Congress and making them available to the public. Mueller officially concluded his investigation late last month and submitted the confidential report to Barr. Two days later, the attorney general sent Congress a four-page letter that detailed Mueller’s “principal conclusions.” In his letter, Barr said the special counsel did not find a criminal conspiracy between Russia and Trump associates during the campaign. However, contrary to Trump’s false claim, Mueller did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. Instead, Mueller presented evidence on both sides of that question. Barr said he did not believe the evidence was sufficient to prove that Trump had obstructed justice, but he noted that Mueller’s team did not exonerate the president. Portions of the report being released by the Justice Department will be redacted to protect grand jury material, sensitive intelligence, matters that could affect ongoing investigations and damage to the privacy rights of third parties, the attorney general has said. The scores of outstanding questions about the investigation have not stopped the president and his allies from declaring victory. They have painted House Democrats’ investigations as partisan overreach and have targeted news outlets and individual reporters they say have promoted the collusion story. The president himself seethed at a political rally that the whole thing was an attempt “to tear up the fabric of our great democracy.” He has told confidants in recent days that he was certain the full report would back up his claims of vindication but was also convinced the media would manipulate the findings in an effort to damage him, according to two Republicans close to the White House not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. In the waiting game’s final days, the White House continued to try to shape the narrative. “There was no obstruction, which I don’t how you can interpret that any other way than total exoneration,” press secretary Sanders said on “Fox News Sunday.” While the president unleashed his personal grievances, his team seized on any exculpatory information in Barr’s letter, hoping to define the conversation in advance, according to White House officials and outside advisers who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss private deliberations. The victory lap was deliberately premature, they said. But Trump’s inner circle knows there will likely be further releases of embarrassing or politically damaging information. Barr’s letter, for instance, hinted that there would be at least one unknown action by the president that Mueller examined as a possible act of obstruction. A number of White House aides have privately said they are eager for all Russia stories, good or bad, to fade from the headlines. And there is fear among some presidential confidants that the rush to spike the football in celebration could backfire if bombshell new information emerges. Trump and his allies also continue to attack the origins of the Russia investigation, portraying it as an effort by Democrats and career officials in the Justice Department to bring him down. “The Mueller Report, which was written by 18 Angry Democrats who also happen to be Trump Haters (and Clinton Supporters), should have focused on the people who SPIED on my 2016 Campaign, and others who fabricated the whole Russia Hoax. That is, never forget, the crime.” Trump tweeted Monday. His long-asserted accusation — though not supported by evidence — that his campaign was spied upon was given new life last week when Barr, testifying before Congress, said he thinks “spying did occur” in 2016. Barr may have been referring to a surveillance warrant the FBI obtained in the fall of 2016 to monitor the communications of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing. The warrant was obtained after Page had left the campaign and was renewed several times. Critics of the Russia investigation have seized on the fact that the warrant application cited Democratic-funded opposition research, done by a former British spy, into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. Barr later softened his tone to “I am not saying improper surveillance occurred.” The attorney general’s comments have frustrated Democrats, already anxious for the release of the full, uncensored report and concerned that Barr may withhold pertinent information. The report could provide new information that could prompt further investigations or even consideration of impeachment proceedings, a tricky political calculation since Mueller did not conclude there was collusion or obstruction. The Russia probe began on July 31, 2016, when the FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s efforts to influence the presidential campaign and whether anyone on the Trump campaign was involved. That probe was prompted by former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos’ contacts with Russian intermediaries, including a Maltese professor who told the young aide that the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton in the form of emails.

donald trump
robert mueller
william barr
russia probe


Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning had reason to believe leaks would hurt U.S., prosecutors say

Abstract: WASHINGTON - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning had reason to believe that leaking U.S. military reports “would cause injury” to the country, federal prosecutors alleged in a newly unsealed court filing on Monday. In the affidavit submitted to federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, prosecutors said U.S. military reports from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq included information about the “identity and significance of local supporters of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan.” When U.S. forces raided the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was hiding out, for example, they found a letter that showed the Al Qaeda leader was interested in copies of Pentagon documents that were published on WikiLeaks, the prosecutors said. According to prosecutors, leaked reports on the Afghan war included information on militants’ attacks and designs for improvised explosive devices, as well as details of U.S. and coalition countermeasures against such home-made explosive devices and their limitations. The prosecution’s affidavit is dated Dec. 21, 2017, but was made public on Monday. It follows the unsealing last week of a U.S. indictment charging Assange with conspiring with Manning to gain access to a government computer as part of one of the largest compromises of classified information in U.S. history. Lawyers for Assange could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday. They have previously said Assange may be at risk for torture and that his life would be in danger if he were to be extradited to the United States to face charges. U.K. police arrested Assange at Washington’s request after Ecuador revoked his seven-year asylum on Thursday. He was dragged out of the Ecuadorean Embassy in London and is being held in prison while he faces extradition to the United States. The U.S. indictment, originally issued in secret by an Alexandria, Virginia-based grand jury in March 2018, said that in March 2010 Assange had engaged in a conspiracy to help Manning crack a password for a classified U.S. government network. In the unsealed affidavit, prosecutors said Manning also had access to other U.S. government databases, including one relating to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and a State Department database containing military cables.

julian assange
chelsea manning
wikileaks
military
afghanistan
iraq
conflict
u.s .
espionage


Exotic, dangerous cassowary bird kills owner in Florida

Abstract: WASHINGTON - A large, flightless and highly dangerous bird called a cassowary killed its owner in Florida, news reports said. The man was raising it and other exotic animals on his property in Alachua county in the north central part of the state, the local TV station WCLB said. The breeder, 75-year-old Marvin Hajos, fell to the ground by accident Friday and the bird attacked him, the report said. Cassowaries have a four-inch dagger-like claw on each foot, and are the world’s most dangerous bird, according to the San Diego Zoo website. “The cassowary can slice open any predator or potential threat with a single swift kick,” the website says. Hajos was rushed to the hospital but died. These birds are similar to emus, can be nearly 6 feet tall (1.8 m) and weigh up to 170 pounds (75 kg) in the case of females and somewhat less for males, according to the website. With powerful legs, they can jump seven feet straight up in the air. Only ostriches are heavier in the world of birds. Cassowaries can run up to 31 mph. The birds are native to Australia and New Guinea.